condemned to the crucible; some notion, however, of their perfection may be derived from the examination of enamelled works, formed of less precious materials, and preserved in various public and private collections. In our own country, indeed, it is to be regretted that no sufficient exhibition of the enamelled works, produced in different countries at various periods, has hitherto been rendered available to the public. The revived demand for works of this nature renders it highly desirable that the artificer should have ready access to a series of examples, the practical utility of which would not be less fully appreciated, than their interest in connexion with the history of art.
The limits of the present notice will not permit of a detailed enquiry into the speculations respecting the use of enamel in times of remote antiquity, in which some writers have indulged. The Asiatics appear indeed to have preserved to the present time the various processes with which the mediæval enamellers in western Europe were acquainted, and it is not improbable that the art had found its way even to our own shores at a very early period, being transmitted from the East by the migratory tribes who penetrated into the remotest parts of Europe; and that after the lapse of several centuries, when scarcely a trace remained of the primitive tradition, this beautiful art was a second time introduced from the East into France and England.
A remarkable observation of Philostratus merits especial consideration in connexion with this subject[1]. He was a native of Athens, who flourished during the reign of Severus in the earlier part of the third century, and during his later years taught rhetoric in Rome. In his graphic description of the chace, he depicts the gallant hunters, and steeds bearing harness enriched with gold and various colours. For, he remarks, the barbarians of the regions of the ocean are skilled, as it is said, in fusing colours upon heated brass, which become as hard as stone, and render the ornament, thus imparted, durable[2]. The
- ↑ This curious passage has been noticed by Buonarotti, in his Osservazioni istoriche sopra alcuni Medaglioni; and by M. Pottier, in the valuable text of Willemin's Monumens Inedits, tome i. p. 22.
- ↑ "Αργυροχάλινοι καὶ στικτοὶ, καὶ χρυσοῖ τα φὰλαρα. Ταῦτά φασι τὰ χρώματα τοὺς ἐν ὠκεανῷ βαρβάρους ἐγχεῖν τῷ χαλκῷ διαπύρῳ' τὰ δὲ συνίστασθαὶ, καὶ λιθοῦσθαι, καὶ σώζειν ἅ ἐγράφη." Imaginum, lib. i. c. 28, ed. Jacobs, Lips. 1825, p. 44. Olearius remarks, in his annotation on this passage, "Celtas intelligit per barbaros in Oceano," and Heyne observes that the expression seems to denote the Britons, rather than the inhabitants of the northern coasts of Gaul.
