British architects and artists who design for the principal
decorating firms are to-day as conversant with the Renaissance
and succeeding styles of France and Italy as medieval revivalists
were familiar with the Gothic styles with which they made
us so well acquainted. Metal-work more or less based upon
every kind of past style is produced in vast quantities, and in
some cases so skilful are the workers that modern forgeries
and reproductions are almost beyond the power of experts to
detect. This large class of designers and craftsmen, to whom
a thorough knowledge of the history of design is a necessity,
follows and develops traditional lines. The new art school,
on the contrary, breaks wholly with tradition, unless unconsciously
influenced by the Japanese, and awards the highest
place to originality in design. It is not to be expected that
an art-revival following on, and in possession of, all the results
of a period of unprecedented activity in scientific research
should proceed with the same restraint as heretofore; but the
unfettered activity, and the general encouragement to abandon
the traditions of art, have no exact parallel in the past, and may
yet prove a danger. It is perhaps the very rapidity of the
movement that is likely to retard its progress, and to fail to
carry with it the wealthy clients and the decorators they employ,
or perhaps even to increase the disposition to cling to the
reproductions of the styles of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The multiplication of art periodicals, lectures, books, photographs,
meetings of societies and gilds, museums, schools of
arts and crafts, polytechnics, scholarships, facilities for travel,
exhibitions, even those of the Royal Academy, to which objects
of applied art are now admitted, not only encourages many
persons to become workers and designers in the applied arts,
but exposes everything to the plagiarist, who travesties the
freshest idea before it has well left the hands of its originator.
Thus the inspirations of genius, appropriated by those who
imperfectly appreciate their subtle beauty' and quality, become
hackneyed and lose their charm and interest. The keen desire
to be unconventional in applied art has spread from Great
Britain and the United States to Germany, Austria and other
countries, but without well-defined first principles, or limitations.
It seems agreed in a general way that the completed
work in metal is to be wholly the conception and, as far as
possible, the actual handiwork of the designer: casting by the
cire-perdue process, left practically untouched from the mould,
and embossing, being the two most favoured processes. The
female figure is largely made use of, and rich and harmonious
colours are sought, the glitter of metal being invariably subdued
by deadening its lustre, or by patinas and oxides. Gilding,
stains and lacquers, electro-plating, chasing, “matting,”
frosting, burnishing, mechanically produced mouldings and
enrichments, and the other processes esteemed in the 19th
century, are disused and avoided. New contrasts are formed
by the juxtaposition of differently toned metals; or these with
an inlay of haliotis shell, introduced by Alfred Gilbert; or of
coloured wax, favoured by Onslow Ford; or enamelling, perfected
by Professor von Herkomer; or stained ivory, pearls,
or semi-precious stones. The quality of the surface left by
the skilled artist or artisan is more regarded than symmetry
of design, or even than correct modelling. Frequently only
the important parts in a design are carefully finished and the
rest merely sketched: the mode of working, whether by modelling-tools
or hammer, being always left apparent.
The newer kinds of art metal-work have, until recently, reached the purchaser direct from the producer’s workshop; but they may now also be seen in the shops of silversmiths, jewellers, and general dealers, who are thus helping to transfer production from large commercial manufactories to smaller ateliers under artistic control. The production of the larger household accessories, such as bedsteads, fenders, gas and electric fittings, clocks, &c., has hardly as yet come under the influence of the art movement. The services rendered by Mr W. A. S. Benson of Chiswick, who commenced about 1886 to revolutionize the production of sheet-brass and copper utensils, cannot be passed over. The average ecclesiastical metal-work has rather receded than progressed in merit, except when designed by architects and executed under their supervision. Though the demand for good domestic wrought-iron work has enormously increased, adaptations from the beautiful work of the 17th and 18th centuries have been found so suited to their architectural surroundings, that new departures have been relatively uncommon. Of such the gates for Sandringham, by Jeckyll; for Crewe Hall, by Charles Barry; and for the Victoria and Albert Museum, by Gamble, are the earliest and best known. Of the vast number designed upon traditional lines may be cited those for Lambton Castle, Welbeck, Eaton Hall, Twickenham, Clieveden, and the Astor Estate Office on the Victoria Embankment. Cast iron, brought to perfection by the Coalbrookdale Company about 1860, but now little esteemed, owing to the poverty of design which so often counterfeits smiths work, presents great opportunities to founders possessing taste or willing to submit to artistic control. A very large field is also opening for cast-lead work, whether associated with architecture, as in the leaden covered-way over Northumberland Street, in London (see Plate), and the fine rain-water heads of the Birmingham Law Courts (see Plate), or with the revival of the use of metal statuary and vases in gardens. The subdued colour and soft contours of pewter render it once more a favoured material, peculiarly adapted to the methods of the art revival, and perhaps destined to supersede electro-plate for household purposes. In silver-work the proportion of new art designs exhibited by dealers and others is still relatively small; but jewellers, except when setting pure brilliants and pearls, are becoming more inclined to make their jewels of finely modelled gold and enamel enriched with precious and semi-precious stones, than of gems merely held together by wholly subordinate settings.
On the continent of Europe, France was the first to recognize the merits of its bygone designers and craftsmen, and even antecedent to the Exhibition of 1851, when art in Great Britain was dormant, it was possible to obtain in Paris faithful reproductions of the finest ormolu work of the 18th century. At the same time a most active production of modern designs was proceeding, stimulated by rewards, with the result that the supply of clocks, lamps, candelabra, statuettes, and other ornaments in bronze and zinc to the rest of Europe became a monopoly of Paris for nearly half a century. In all connected with their own homes the French adhere to their traditions far more than other nations, and the attempt at originality in the introduction of metal-work into the scheme of decoration of a room is almost unknown. In the domain of bronze and imitation bronze statuary the originality of the French is absolutely unrivalled. And not only in bronze, but in Paris jewellery, enamels, silver, pewter and iron work a cultured refinement is apparent, beside which other productions, even the most finished, appear crude. The French artist attains his ideal, and it is difficult to imagine, from his standpoint, that the metal-work of the present can be surpassed. The best English metal-worker, on the contrary, is probably not often quite satisfied with the results he attains, perhaps because in, Great Britain the pursuit of art has for centuries been fitful and individual, while in France art traditions are hereditary. The metal-work of Belgium is based at present entirely on that of France, without attaining the same standard, unless designed for ecclesiastical uses. In Holland these crafts have not progressed. Italian metal-workers are mainly employed in reproduction; but traditions linger in some remote parts, while; the sporadic appearance of craftsmen of a high order is evidence that the ancient artistic spirit is not wholly extinct. Similarly, the surprising damascening by Messrs Zuluaga of Madrid in the monument to General Prim, and that of Alvarez of Toledo, give hope that the Spanish craftsman only needs to be properly directed. German and Austrian workers had for years shown more energy than originality, but they have recently embraced the newest English developments and carried them to extremes of exaggeration. For really fresh and progressive indigenous art we may perhaps have, in the near future, to turn to America
