mantling is less striking than in the Dudley, but it surrounds the shield well, and curves upward about the crest. In the Minot plate, which is very peculiar and rather difficult to classify, the mantling is very unworthy of the name; it does not proceed from the helmet, nor indeed from anywhere in particular, but in wild and very eccentric fashion, envelops the crest and most of the shield; the field of the shield is tinctured azure, and it is enclosed within a border or moulding which nearly surrounds it, but leaves a portion at the base unprotected; a further peculiarity of this moulding is that it is an integral part of the helmet, for it curves over at the top of the shield and actually proceeds from the helmet.
A very fine example of this style is the Francis Page plate.
The next style is the Jacobean, commonly spoken of as existing from about 1700 to about 1745; the styles overlap naturally, and no hard-and-fast period can be established within which only one particular style of plate was used. Examples of the Jacobean plate are found in England which would date later than 1745, and the style which succeeded this was used somewhat before the year which begins its accepted period: the dates of the periods, then, are approximate. The names by which the different styles are known have all a good reason for their acceptance, although each one was suggested by differing circumstances.
The style of book-plate in vogue at the time of the last James is designated as Jacobean; and, while it continued in use long after the death of the deposed monarch who gave it its name, any change in its designation would be misleading. The principal features of this style are its heavy, carved appearance, the evenly balanced proportions, and the exact coincidence of the two sides of the design. The shield, always of regular outline, is usually placed upon an ornamental frame whose background, or lining, is either filled in
with a fish-scale pattern, diapered into the lozenge form or built up solidly with a wall of brick. This lining shows at both sides of the shield, below, and, less often, above it; its sides are convoluted; they run out in foldings and scrolls resembling the carving on wood, and are often worked into elaborate patterns: sometimes, too, the design is surrounded by a carved moulding which makes a heavy frame of rectangular form and massive appearance. This style of plate, well-handled, is exceedingly handsome, and is capable of more repose and dignity than any other. Very forbidding indeed, and over-solemn, are some examples, but in the main the purely Jacobean plates are very pleasing. Among the accessories usually found are a scallop-shell with the concave side turned towards the observer, and placed either below the shield to support it, or above it to set it off: this shell is always looked for in the Jacobean plates, and indeed a shelly motive is apparent throughout very many examples. The helmet and mantling are conspicuous, especially the latter, as it is often enlarged and emphasized by being drawn into the general scheme of decoration; very full, reaching far down the sides of the shield-frame, and indeed often curiously woven into the convolutions of the frame itself, it at times loses its significance: grotesque faces sometimes peer from the ornamentation, and heads of satyrs and demons are frequently used to rest the base of the shield upon. In some instances the name is placed upon a bracket similar to the upper part of the plate in decoration, or, again, it may be seen upon a small curtain or lambrequin caught up at the ends with string. Very often, too, no setting is provided for the name, and it is simply engraved beneath the design. Eagles, lions, termini, cherubs, and sometimes cornucopiæ of fruit or flowers, angels blowing upon trumpets, and stiff stalks of flowers are introduced into the ornamentation. But these do not succeed in enlivening the style of the plate materially, for it is essentially heavy, conservative, and formal in design and spirit. No graceful airiness rests upon it, and it provokes no joyous sentiment, but rather rouses respect and enforces stateliness. The general appearance of the Jacobean plate is as if carved from wood. We do not expect old carving to be anything but solid and immobile, and these characteristics are present in this style of book-plate. Indeed, Warren, in his chapter on the Jacobean style, says that no antiquary can fail to note the strong similarity of treatment and design between the wood-carving preserved in the churches of the time of Charles the Second and the mouldings on the monuments of the same period, and the book-plates of the style we have considered. Our finest example of the Jacobean book-plate is found in the work of Thomas Johnston, who made the plate of William P. Smith, A.M. This is a typical example of the later Jacobean style, and is worthy of particular study. The Elizabethan shield is set against a frame which is very elaborately carved and ornamented; the lining is covered with the fish-scale pattern, and this extends also to the arms and convolutions upon the sides. At the base of the shield the scallop-shell is in position as prescribed, and is surrounded by a little frame of its own; the mantling is very slight indeed, breaking out from the wreath and also from the lower part of the helmet, in short and simple spirals. The motto is found on a ribbon which is gracefully strung upon the scrolls at the bottom of the design.
In the Spooner plate, by Hurd, the shield, also of Elizabethan pattern, is set against a diapered background; beneath the shield, within a little frame, the head of a sphinx is seen; term-figures are placed in the scroll-work at either side, and from their hands depend bouquets of flowers;