FIG. 80.—DUTCH ORNAMENTAL BRASS CISTERN.
FIG. 81.—FRENCH EWER OR TANKARD WITH FANCY HANDLE.
FIG. 82.—FRENCH EWER WITH GROTESQUE MOUTH (SIXTEENTH CENTURY).
The brass milkcans used by modern milk sellers, and the beautifully ornamented churns and milk perambulators seen in some neighbourhoods, are not altogether new or the outcome of modern advertisement. In Holland brass ornament has been used on tinware for many years, and some very quaint old milkcans and dairy utensils in shining polished brass are met with by collectors who visit Holland. The milkcans of that country, or perhaps more correctly large bowls, in which milk and cream are served have double handles, and make extremely handsome flower-bowls or fern-pots on the table, although perhaps collectors would consider such a desecration an improper use for a genuine antique. Many of the chestnut roasters, skimmers, and brass chimney ornaments used in England in the eighteenth century came from Holland. The artists of that country were famous for the characteristic Dutch scenes engraved on their metal-work, just as they were for their tiles with quaint windmills and pictures of peasants in native costume on them. So famous has the collection of these brasses become that much modern metal-work, copies of genuine antiques, has been sent over for sale in London curio-shops. Some of these reproductions are excellent copies; others are "too new" and would scarcely deceive the amateur. Caution should be observed, especially when buying "old time" fire-brasses, knockers and trivets.
German Metal-Work.
Curios, as well as modern antiques "made in Germany," are not always labelled as such; there is, however, a distinctly German look about old metal-work from that country. Elaborate and massive with its wealth of floral embellishment, some of the German metal-work of early days stands out conspicuously. Some elaborate cast bronze gates and door furniture enriched the churches of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Augsburg and Nuremberg have always been famous centres for artistic metal work, and in those towns many objects large and small have been made. Among minor works are the very handsome lock plates and cases. The shapes of domestic utensils, especially of ewers, were very quaint. There is a German aquamanile or ewer in the form of an animal, embodying a lion and stag, along with several others equally as curious, in the British Museum. Nuremberg contributes to our national collection a variety of hand wash-basins in brass; the earlier examples being richly ornamented with engravings typifying different virtues and vices; St. George, the patron saint of England, also figures on some pieces. Turkish metal-work includes copper ewers, chased and decorated with enamels, mostly with handles and spouts, some of the sets or pairs consisting of ewer (ibrik) and basin (tisht). These copper vessels are sometimes embossed with scale ornaments. There are braziers and some vessels of bulbous form, mostly of bronze, and now and then Turkish collapsible lanterns of brass with pierced decorations are met with.
XVII
SUNDIALS,
CLOCKS,
AND BRASS
INSTRUMENTS