Fig. 134.—Chair of Dagobert; Seventh Century.
In the year 1858 at Guarrazar, near Toledo, in Spain, another valuable “find” was discovered, consisting of no less than eleven votive crowns or diadems, with other valuables, all buried close to the surface of the ground. The crowns are of pure gold, and are set with precious stones, such as sapphires and pearls. The rest of the treasure consists of three crosses, a large emerald stone, and several fragments of gold plates with chains attached.
Fig. 135.—Votive Crown of King Suinthila; Seventh Century.
The stones in these crowns, like those in the Charlemagne and Lombard crowns, and other jewellery of the Middle Ages, were “tallow-cut,” that is, they were polished in the round or oval shapes, without facets, and were also known under the name of “Cabochons.” On one of the crowns of the above treasure—which is now in the Cluny Museum—is the name of “Beccesvinthus Rex” (A.D. 649-672), and another has the letters forming the name of King Suinthila (A.D. 621-631) (Fig. 135). Others of a smaller size were probably those of Spanish queens. The design and work of the articles forming this treasure are in a kind of Romanesque-Gothic. The crown of Charlemagne has already been described under the head of enamels (see Fig. 96). The art of the goldsmith was fostered to a great degree under the rule of Charlemagne. This monarch’s great friend and adviser, the prelate Alcuin (735-804), was the chief spirit of his times in founding monasteries, which were, apart from their religious character, also great schools of art, especially in metal working, where all such articles as were required for church uses, as well as shields, swords, and jewellery for the king and nobles, were also made. Charlemagne was buried with most of his treasures about him, but his enamelled sword and crown are the only objects which belonged to him that now remain, both of which are at Vienna. Gold, silver, and bronze were worked in by Franks on the Continent and by the Saxons in England as early as the fifth and sixth centuries, many examples of which, consisting chiefly of articles of personal adornment, are now in our museums. That the goldsmith’s art was practised in England in the days of Alfred (871-900) we have evidence in the famous ring belonging to this king which is described on page 121.
Fig. 136.—Shrine of St. Patrick’s Bell. (S.)
Another gold ring belonging to Ethelwulf, of the early ninth or eighth century, the enamelled vase or situla found in Essex, the golden altar of St. Ambrose at Milan, and the beautiful Irish chalice found at Ardagh have been described in the chapter on enamels, all of which show evidence of the great skill of the European goldsmiths from the seventh to the tenth centuries.
