The Savannah morning news., 1901-07-07

one knows what great schools in this spe-
cial art arose at Limoges, Geneva and
other places. and hoN~variously the beau
tiful manufacture was developed. In what
way certain of these were employed for
the noblest purposes may be seen on the
tomb of William de Valence, Earl of Penn
broke, in Yves minister abbey, but every
connoisseur is aware how precious and
exquisite were some of the objects pro-
duced in medieval Europe.
Nobody, of course, expects to call up
again such geniuses as Leonard Limousin
or Jean Petitot, the later of whom did
such lovely things for Charles I and
Louis XIV, nor do I myself expect that
we shall ever see another Henry Bone.
Yet really there is nothing impossible,
and nothing which might not be imitated
even ia the choicest grisaile or old
champ-leve labors. The process has al
ways been simple and the methods easy.
There is so little real mystery about en-
ameling, and that too, in an effective
way, that ladies themselves might take
II up 1t all depends upon the single
fact that siHcates of soda and the like
mixed with borax and stannic acid viii
fuse at manageable heats into gloss which
can be colored during fusion by judicious
use of metallic oxides. This makes in
truth a melted glass with which the ar
tihcer paints or embroiders-a glass which
may be either translucent opaque;
either gloriously flashing with light from
the Furnished ground beneath with ruby,
emerald, sapphire and Jacinth SEM
blances; or gravely and tremendously
opaque like the "shippo" of the Japa-
nese. Manufacturers make and sch the
crude materials in the form of cakes or
powder. These are prepared for their
various tints by employing for blue, OK
ide of cobalt; for violet, manganese OK
either cuprous oxide or purple of Cas-
sius, which is n compound of gold. OK
ide of silver or of lead will yield good
yellows, and there are other tints not at
all reconcile which enrich the limited
palette of the artist You powder these
several preparations, and knead them
into a soft paste with oil of lavendar.
Then as to the basis, there are two ways
of working the "cloisonne' and the
"champ-leve." In the first strips of slen-
der metallic ribbon are fixed upon the
previously traced pattern, forming a num-
Der of minute partitions. Into these
the variously tinted pastes are delicately
pressed, each portion receivcing it's APP
propriate tint, and the plaque or cup
thus filed in is submitted to considerable
heat in muffle. Great skill end expert
ence are indeed necessary at this stage
to get the pastes to melt at the right
ing they fasten themselves permanently
to the basis, giving a face which can be
ground to a perfect surface and polished,
the metallic divisions now standing out
like hairlines of silver or gold. This is
the "shippo'' of Japan. In the champ
leve the surface of the base is cut away
into hollows and dividing lines. and the
enamel pastes are fused upon these, the
boundaries being afterward filed down
and gilded In this style were finished
those wonderful pieces of ecclesiastical
jewelry, the crozier heads, ciboria, and
incense vessels of the Middle Ages.
But l am thinking of enamel for its
beauty as an element in jewel work, for
in this respect the art is still sadly neg
lected. In Paris and London enameling
is mainly confined to pencil cases, cigar
cite holders and such trifies, and though
bracelets and brooches are sometimes seen
where diamonds are set in dark blue or
crimson surface nothing really worthy is
being done to revive the lost loveliness
of those translucent marvels of the old
world craft. In Japan, where there is
nothing which the native hand could not
do, the "shippo' work and the enamel
tablets with birds and bamboos are often
beyond praise. But their style and color
are subdued, whereas the essential dUty
of enamel is to be brilliant. In Moscow
the Russian jewelers. execute admirable
little pieces on gold. silver and bronze
in pastes which give sky blues, rubies,
sapphire and emerald hues in delicious
harmony But it is in India, and espe-