INTERIOR OF THE ATELIER OF ETIENNE DELAUNE, PARIS, 1576.
There are still some crafts which are worked in this simple artistic co-operative way, and have undergone but little changes of method since the Middle Ages. Indeed, one might say all the finer artistic handicrafts; and it is noteworthy that the tools used are of the same type—the sculptor's mallet and chisel, the painter's palette and brushes, for instance, have remained practically unchanged in form from time immemorial.
Those who have seen glass blowing and the formation of glass vessels must have been struck by the skill and celerity displayed by the craftsmen at the furnace mouth, under very trying conditions, and also by the necessity of effective help at certain movements, when the molten glass is made to revolve upon the bar by one man, while the shape is given to it by another. The master craftsman generally seems to have two assistants, but the amount of co-operation necessary in forming the vessels depends much upon their size, small pieces being completed by one alone.
There are glass works still working, such as those at Whitefriars, which have been there since the sixteenth century. The circle of furnace mouths, the ruddy glow falling upon the faces and figures of the workers, form a striking scene. By a skill of manipulation that might well appear magical seen for the first time, the craftsmen produce vessels of any variety of shape, constantly returning the work as it progresses to the fire. Though the work seems to lend itself to the varying invention of the designer, they can reproduce the section sketched in chalk on a black panel at the side of the furnace in a completed form to exact measurement.
GLASS BLOWING.
The art of the printer of books, to which so much interest has of late been drawn, and which has been revived as an art by Mr. William Morris at his Kelmscott Press, affords another instance of the necessity of intelligent and artistic co-operation.
INTERIOR OF A PRINTING OFFICE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY (FROM JOST AMMAN).