The Billet.
The Billet and Lozenge.
sparingly, and the profusion with which it is used in late work is one of the most ready marks by which to distinguish that the work is late. The sunk star is a very favourite ornament throughout the style; it occurs on the abacus of the capitals in the chapel of the White Tower, London, and at Herringfleet, Suffolk, and it seems to have been the fore-runner of the tooth-ornament. The billet is used in the early part of Peterborough, but discontinued in the later work, and does not often occur in late work. It is sometimes square, more frequently rounded, as in this example. The beak-head the cat’s-head, the small medallions with figures, and the signs of the zodiac, all belong to the later Norman period. In the later Norman moldings a mixture of Byzantine character is seen on the ornaments, as at Durham.
Abacus and String.
Sculptured ornament made great progress during the twelfth century. We have seen by the testimony of Gervase that the chisel was not used in the “glorious choir of Conrad” at Canterbury, which was built between 1096 and 1130, and an examination of the old work proves the exactness of his statement; all the sculptured ornament on the old work is shallow, and such as could very well be executed with the axe, which is not a bad tool in the hands of a skilful workman, and is still commonly used in many parts of England and France. On comparing this early work at Canterbury with other early Norman buildings, it is plain that they all had their ornaments executed in the same manner: the chisel is only required for deep-cutting and especially undercutting, and that we do not find on any buildings of ascertained date before 1120. The chisel was used for carving in stone in Italy and the south of France at an earlier period, but not in Normandy nor the north of France much earlier than in England. After this usage was introduced, the workmen seem to have gloried in it, and revelled in it, and the profusion of rich Norman sculptured ornament in the latter half of the twelfth century is quite wonderful.
MOLDINGS AND CAPITALS.
