Archaeological Journal/Volume 11/Notices of Archaeological Publications: Illustrations of Ancient Art
We have now before us one of the most satisfactory fulfilments of the promise held forth in an attractive prospectus that has issued from the press. When the author of this beautiful volume first invited the encouragement of English Archæologists, and sought to engage their interest in those works of a higher class of Artistic development than the ancient reliques which mostly attract their attention, it may have been supposed that the voluminous and splendid productions of continental authors, and the elaborate treatise by Sir William Gell, had amply supplied the requirements of Antiquarian study, as regards the varied and instructive vestiges of the cities of Campania. The latter work, however, the "Pompeiana," best known probably to English antiquaries, is almost exclusively devoted to the illustration of the architectural examples and accessory features, which are of high value, even for practical purposes in the structures of our own times. The magnificent publications by the Neapolitan government must be regarded, Mr. Trollope truly observes in his preface, as beyond the ordinary reach of the students of antiquity in this country.
In the volume now commended to the notice of our readers, Mr. Trollope has satisfactorily supplied what had been a desideratum in archæological literature, and his labours will be gratefully appreciated by many who have devoted their attention to a most interesting branch of research, the development of Greek and Roman Art in its application to the accessories of daily life in ancient times. The universal display of taste and beauty in form, not less amongst ordinary objects of domestic use, than in the more luxurious furniture or enrichments of the saloon and the triclinium in the gorgeous times of Imperial Rome, or as exemplified by the delicately-wrought ornaments of personal use, is a striking characteristic of the inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum. We find, indeed, as Mr. Trollope's work admirably demonstrates, that the grace of high art derived from the Greeks was applied indiscriminately to the sacrificial vessels of the temple, to the weapons of war, the vases of every description, whether those for ordinary use or the sumptuous candelabra and appliances of the banquet. The tasteful skill by which the hand of the artificer was guided appears even in the culinary vessels, the furniture of houses, the armour and arms, the various musical instruments, and especially in the exquisite jewellery and personal ornaments of the fairer sex.
How often have we wished in younger days, or before foreign travel had enabled us to view the inexhaustible treasures of the "Museo Borbonico," that some Manual such as that now presented by Mr. Trollope had been at hand, to assist our studies, enabling us to realise the allusions of Horace or Juvenal, and comprehend the force of their keen satire in passages of which the point can only be appreciated through an intimate acquaintance with the refinements of the classical age and the usages of domestic life or manners.
The truthful illustrations of this volume, selected evidently with great taste and judgment, comprise all that could be desired within the compass of such an undertaking as has been contemplated by Mr. Trollope. His accurate pencil has been successfully employed in the delineation of examples of every description, chosen amongst the innumerable objects, which, whilst they delight, perplex the visitor of those treasuries of Art. In these examples the eye of the student may trace the type of many a form of beauty admired in the more tasteful adaptations of mediæval or modern times, whether in works in metal, in fictile manufactures, or in glass; and he may mark, possibly, with a feeling of humiliation, how infinitely superior are the productions of the classical age to those designs which have been 
Foculi, portable Brasiers and apparatus for heating liquids.
Portable Bronze Altar from Herculaneum.
Bronze Helmets with Visors.
Bronze Brassarts, Manicæ, and examples of Body-armour.
Bronze Lamp, with figure of Silenus. |
Silve Poculum. Height, 5 inches. |
By the author's kindness, we are enabled to give some examples of these interesting illustrations, reproduced from his drawings by the skilful hand of Mr. Utting. (See the accompanying woodcuts). In the text of the work, Mr. Trollope has presented some valuable explanatory observations and notices from classical writers, conveying information highly acceptable to the general reader. The pen of the accomplished scholar has combined with his talent as a draughtsman in bringing before us a multiplicity of antique objects, of which we seek, in vain, representations in those useful works of reference hitherto available, such as Dr. Smith's "Classical Dictionary" and the volume compiled by Mr. Rich. In Mr. Trollope's pages we gain instruction regarding many details connected with religious and sacrificial rites; we learn how the Roman warrior was armed; how the banquet was prepared, and what were the appliances of the symposia; we see the forms of the instruments to the tones of which the ancient poets tuned their lays; the materials used for writing and painting; the luxurious furniture of the villa, the accessories of the bath, and lastly, the cinerary urns remarkable for the simplicity and elegance of their forms.
The exquisite plates printed in colour portray two of the most remarkable existing examples of the high perfection to which the art of decorating glass had been carried. They are vases of the deepest blue colour, over which was a casing of opaque white glass, and this last was partially cut away, so as to leave a design in relief like a cameo. Both these vases were found at Pompeii; the portions which have been preserved of one of them are now in this country, in the British Museum and in the possession of Mrs. Auldjo, and the fragments in the collection of that lady may be remembered by our readers as the choicest specimen of antique glass in the Exhibition formed in 1850 at the house of the Society of Arts.
To those who are interested in the investigation of military costume, the highly curious representations of antique armour will be specially acceptable. The helmets, cuirasses, and other defences of bronze, such as are here delineated, are objects of great rarity: amongst the former, the fact deserves notice that helmets with visors were occasionally worn by the Roman soldiery, as shown by an example of remarkable interest (see woodcut), having been that of the guard at the Herculaneum gate of Pompeii at the time of its destruction. The form closely resembles that of certain head-pieces worn in the sixteenth century.
The helmet here represented was found with the skeleton of the sentinel, who perished at his post in a small recess near the gate: his arms lay with the remains, and the sword was in remarkable preservation; its length was thirty inches; the sheath had been of leather studded with metal; the rings by which it was fastened to the belt remained; the precise form of the blade could not be ascertained, Mr. Trollope has given a representation of another Roman sword, showing the shape of the blade, and the adjustment, which occurs in some mediæval weapons, of a ring at the end of the handle, through which, obviously, a thong or lace was passed for secure attachment. (Plate iv. figs. 1, 2.)
The fashion of other examples of helmets is most eccentric, and the chasings in high relief, with which they are mostly enriched, are of admirable workmanship; these helmets formed with cheek-pieces (bucculæ), the projectura in front, and the cudo, or defence for the neck behind, were worn by the Roman officers. It is interesting to the English antiquary to compare these curious types with the bronze head-piece discovered at Tring in Hertfordshire, of much more simple fashion, and unfortunately in imperfect condition[1]. No other specimen, as we believe, has been found in this country. There are many objects of other classes which claim attention as illustrative of relics of the Roman age disinterred in England. Such, for example, is the example of scale-armour (see woodcut), which recalls the curious fragment of bronze found at Cataractonium by Sir . Lawson, and figured in this Journal (volume viii., p. 296). The armour here represented is of bone with ligatures of bronze. Many forms of the 3 fictile and other vases are such as are already familiar to us amongst the vestiges of Roman occupation in our own country; one of the glass drinking vessels, with singular ornaments like drops on its surface, may be noticed on account of the resemblance in form to some discovered with Anglo-Saxon remains in England. (Plate xxx., fig. 6.)
In reviewing the instructive results of Mr. Trollope's observations and researches amongst the rich stores of these well-arranged museums, we cannot refrain from an expression of surprise and regret that our own national depository, so rich in some departments of classical antiquity, should not present for public instruction and gratification a more suitable and attractive display of those objects of daily use amongst the Romans, which excite our admiration in continental museums. This deficiency, however, is even less to be deplored than the contempt with which objects essential to a series of National Antiquities have long been viewed, as it would appear, by the Trustees of the British Museum. A hope had at length arisen, through the tardy appropriation of a "British room" in that establishment, that the English Archæologist, and the scientific foreigner, desirous of the opportunity of comparing our antiquities with those of continental countries, might find some collections in the British Museum illustrative of the ancient condition or Britain. This welcome anticipation has been sadly frustrated; the sympathy and interest in such an object evinced by a few generous donors of antiquities, whose liberality has been met for the most part with cold indifference, has apparently done nothing to lessen the apathy of the Trustees. In foreign lands the Directors of Public Establishments are ever watchful to secure everything which may render more complete the collections entrusted to their charge for the public benefit. The recent fate of the invaluable Faussett Museum has shown in too strong a light how disadvantageous to science is the want of enlightened intelligence in the administration of the British Museum; the loss of such a collection must be viewed by English Archæologists as irreparable. Its value has been more worthily appreciated in another quarter; and most honourable record must be made of the spirit and liberality with which Mr. Mayer has come forward to rescue these precious illustrations of ancient arts and manners from being dispersed or transported to some foreign collection.
- ↑ Engraved in the "Vetusta Monumenta," vol. v. plates 26, 27.