Fig. 59.
Fig. 60.
Knobs or bosses may be placed wherever there are wide spaces between patterns. The rule of employing them is either a few large points or many small ones; they must, however, be used sparingly. The principle of introducing them is of very wide extension. Thus, in all kinds of work, especially metal, grapes, melons, and other fruit are introduced solely that, by their roundness and polish, they may make points of light or “shiners.” Old embossed work in leather and wood-carving often owes its chief beauty to the polish, which time and use have given to the reliefs on it. Of course the employment of “shiners” or bosses, and of all kinds of smooth polished relief, should, as a general rule, be sparing, subordinate, and judicious.
Nevertheless, in certain kinds of work, especially in much flat-carving, which is intended to simply ornament a surface, at no great expenditure of labour, just as tiles or tapestry might do, the stems and portions of the leaves, or sometimes all the pattern, may be polished as highly as possible, so as to make a relief against the dark ground. Grounds are pricked or punched or dotted to make them dark, and when the oil soaks into the holes they become permanently darker. Therefore the pattern is to be in contrast; and when the object is no more than to make a general decorative effect, not perfectly finished, but like a sketch, it may be polished.
Fig. 61.