French Art.
Connoisseurs of the fine arts naturally regard enamels of Limoges as the greatest achievements of the country (see [Chapter XVIII]). There is, however, much to admire in the early unadorned metal-work, especially that made in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries—effigies in beaten copper, some portions of which were usually adorned by coloured "champlevé" enamel. They were afterwards desired by Englishmen, and some good examples of "imported" effigies are to be seen, a notable example being one on the tomb of William de Valence in Westminster Abbey, erected about 1296. Of domestic metal-work there are not many early pieces. In Fig. 82 is shown a cup or ewer of brass with artistic handle and spout ornamented with a grotesque mouth; the date assigned to it is 1570. It may be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum, where also is deposited a fine seventeenth-century ewer or tankard with plain cylindrical body and a deep and long spout with fancy handle (see [Fig. 81]). There is also a trumpet of brass, dated 1738, in the same gallery; it has upon it the owner's monogram, "S.M.A.," ensigned with a count's coronet and crest.