Tobacco-boxes and pipe-stoppers—Snuff-boxes—Handles and Handle-plates—Horse trappings—War relics—Tiny curios—Replicas.

The collectable curios in metal include many which cannot be classified. They are isolated specimens of copper and brasswork representing some special household utensil or workshop appliance which, in the course of time, has become obsolete or has been superseded by more modern contrivances of other materials. Copper was almost exclusively used in works where acids and other chemicals prevented the use of iron until enamelled wares, aluminium, and zinc were available; but such workshop appliances are not usually very attractive, and seldom come within the scope of the collector except as museum specimens. Among the various sundry objects of interest, those mentioned in the following paragraphs are worthy of notice, especially as many of them are quite inexpensive, and can readily be obtained from curio-shops and occasionally picked up cheaply from cottages and farmhouses in out-of-the-way places.

Tobacco-boxes and Pipe-stoppers.

Smokers' sundries include many objects in brass, especially boxes for storing tobacco. Most of the larger receptacles for the storage of tobacco were in olden time of lead or pewter, or, in more recent times, of japanned tin, followed in the present day by pottery and wood. The small boxes in the days before rubber pouches were known were nearly always of brass or other metal, such boxes being often elaborately ornamented. Dutch metal-workers produced some very decorative boxes in the seventeenth century. In some instances the sides are made of copper and the covers or lids of brass, the two metals in contrast presenting a very pleasing appearance. Several of these boxes are to be seen in the Guildhall Museum; on one there is the representation of a bear-pit, on another scriptural subjects, a third being more appropriately covered with tavern scenes. Needless to say, Dutch artists were then—as they have been in after years—famous for their scenic views. The engravers appear to have divided their favours between religious pictures and rural scenes. Battles, too, came in for a share of the engraver's skill, and such pictures are noticeable on many of the larger boxes, some of which possibly were not used as tobacco-boxes. The picture scenes were continued until the close of the eighteenth century, and in some instances a few years in the next. Then there came a time of undecorated metal-work, and the engraving, if any, was stiff and formal. Ornamental borders came into vogue, and the more elaborate boxes were engraved with the crests or monograms of their owners. Some show portraits, such as an eighteenth-century box on which is a portrait of Frederick the Great.

The metal-work so freely imported into this country in the reign of William and Mary, and on into the times of George III, of course included many tobacco-boxes, but there are other pieces of those periods, the uses of which are uncertain; some of the long, narrow boxes were probably made for spectacle-cases, and others as cases or boxes for the money-changers' and traders' scales (see Chapter XI).

Ash-trays of copper and brass, among the fanciful smokers' requisites of the present day, are by no means novel, for among the antiques in metal are found curious copper bowls with inverted feet and wooden handles which were used by smokers in the days when "churchwarden" pipes were mostly smoked; they were known as smokers' ashes pans.

Tobacco-stoppers of metal are of early date, and seem to have been regarded by metal-workers as peculiarly suitable objects on which to display skill in modelling and even engraving. An authentic record of their use in Restoration days is met with in a will referring to a bequest of Boscobel relics: "The owner of an old oak box, dated 1660, mentioned it as the 'one in which was a brass tobacco-stopper.'" Of these curious and interesting stoppers there are many varieties. Under Dutch influence some striking characters were portrayed as the ornamental heads of these pieces. In the days of William and Mary they were chiefly cast, and afterwards tooled and even engraved. James II was chosen as the model of many; and stoppers with his bust as the handle were, it is said, treasured by Jacobean admirers. The human hand in which is seen a "churchwarden" pipe is a favourite type; pugilists, too, figured, and others typified familiar objects of local fame, even animals, birds, and domestic utensils serving the purpose of the designer. In recent days "Punch" has appeared, and among the modern replicas of "early types" (sic) to be seen in the shops are sets of Dickens's characters as tobacco-stoppers.

Snuff-boxes.

There are some of the so-called tobacco-boxes which no doubt were in reality used only for snuff in the days when snuff was taken in larger quantities than it is to-day. A collection of snuff-boxes includes many varieties, among which are some of metal. Some of the boxes made of wood and of shagreen are decorated with tiny brass studs, producing a very pleasing effect. The snuff-boxes were shaped according to popular fancy, and some of the more eccentric patterns were local in their use. In Scotland the curled-shaped mull was a favourite. In connection with snuff-taking it must be remembered that in the earlier days snuff as prepared now was little known. Those addicted to the habit had to prepare their own snuff. For that purpose there came into vogue snuff-rasps of iron enclosed in cases, which, although they were in some instances of boxwood or carved pearwood, were now and then of metal. Incidentally this early home preparation of the snuff produced from a small plug or twist of tobacco gave rise to the popular trader's sign of the "Crown and Rasp" over a tobacco shop. As intimated in another chapter, many of the tobacco and snuff-boxes served a dual purpose, and not infrequently formed part of the tinder box, an essential in early days.

Handles and Handle-plates.

The condition of the metal-work upon old furniture and other curios is a factor in its beauty and in its value too. The handles and handle-plates should be of the same period as the antique, and hinges, lock-plates, handles and their plates, ball feet and castors should be en suite. Indeed, it is better to substantiate a well-made reproduction rather than to admit the use of a later style. The want of harmony in the "brass furniture" of antiques, although all portions appear old, is somewhat puzzling at times. It is explainable in that in early Victorian days when much that was then old was repaired the village shopkeeper and even the cabinet-maker had little regard for the preservation of the old style. To restore meant to them to repair, and where necessary to introduce the then prevailing materials notwithstanding their obvious inappropriateness.

Fortunately, dealers in antiques and restorers have acquired nowadays a genuine love of their work, and have learned how best to please their clients; many of them having quite a store of odd handles and fittings for the curio-hunter and would-be amateur restorer to choose from. To be quite certain about getting a suitable style for the restoration or repairs of old furniture it is desirable to know something of the appropriate styles. The drop handle is a foreign importation, for it is said to have come from Japan, being first seen in this country in the Oriental lacquer cabinets brought here in the seventeenth century. Such handles were at first pear-shaped, but they soon became larger and of a type more adapted for drawers and the heavier furniture then in use. Much hand labour was expended upon their manufacture; even in the latter part of the eighteenth century they were filed up by hand. The earliest form of brass handle-plate was the smooth and shiny "willow brass," the edges of which were filed and shaped by hand. Later they were distinguished from the newer styles as "Queen Ann brasses." The handles were fastened to the plates with brass-headed screw bolts (in the commoner types the "plates" were dispensed with). Chippendale and his followers used an adaptation of the willow brass, placing over the plain plate a fretwork grille or ornamental plate of thin brass. Then came the bail handle and the oval plate with beaded ornamentation, adopted by Hepplewhite and Adams. In the meantime, however, the drop and the bail were made in a fancy design in keeping with Chippendale "shells" and ornament. The rosette and ring handle of the year 1800 and onwards is a feature to be noticed, the round plate being pierced in the centre instead of at the sides as in the bail handle. The ring which formed the handle hung from the central screw. This got over the difficulty of the necessary groove in which the old bail handle had fallen, and allowed for a deeper projection and more ornamental stamping. Such handles were in vogue in the Empire period. There were heavier handles, too, which often took the form of a lion's head instead of an ornamental pattern, the ring hanging from the mouth of the lion, these being often miniature replicas of the brass door knocker. These beautiful handles and the delightful brass knockers which were used on furniture and doors concurrently gave way to the ugly handles of the Victorian age, when wood and glass knobs reigned supreme. It was a sad picture of the decadence of popular taste, for there can be no question as to the more artistic and ornamental decorativeness of the brassfounder's art over that of the wood-turner as exemplified by the products of the nineteenth century.

At the time when the different styles in furniture decoration influenced brasswork, including handles, knobs, lock-plates, and hinges, a gradual change was going on in the castors used on furniture. The square legs required a square-socketed castor; then came the cabrioles or brass collars to the castors, very ornamental and suitable to the style of the shaped legs of mahogany furniture ornamented by carving and curiously turned. The runners of the castors were chiefly of brass and generally very substantial. The brass wheels held sway until the invention of the vitrified bowl, which seemed to harmonize better with Victorian mahogany. In restoration work the collector should see to it that the castors used are in keeping with the furniture, for if no genuine antiques are available there are modern replicas of all the styles.

Horse Trappings.

Horse harness is heavily loaded with brass bands, buckles, chains, and "trappings," many of the latter appearing to be quite superfluous and unnecessary. It would seem that the fanciful frets of perforated brass were introduced from purely artistic motives. That, however, is not quite correct, for even the brass ornaments of to-day are chiefly replicas of more ancient trappings, and although their forms may have deviated somewhat, the ancient idea is quite recognizable, and agriculturists and stablemen still demand their retention. Such brasses, which now make up so entertaining a collection, have meanings; indeed, in the earlier examples the designs are true to well-understood symbols which may or may not in their use have a beneficial influence. To the superstitious they are not merely trappings; they are charms of real purpose (see Fig. 91).

In all parts of the country there is a lingering superstition which aids and abets the continuance of the use of amulets. Indeed, the very general belief in the protective value of symbols, the true history and origin of which may have been forgotten, is truly astonishing. One of the most remarkable indications that old fables and beliefs, antedating in their origin the introduction of the Christian religion in this country, have a hold still on rural districts, is seen in the brass harness trappings used by all classes alike. Years ago the makers of harness fashioned their brasses with care, and the artists who engraved them and cut them out of solid plates of metal laboured long and tediously in producing exact replicas of similar ornaments which had been used from time immemorial. They rarely deviated from the emblems they copied to any material extent, although new designs were at times added, based possibly on some specific local emblem which was then gaining notoriety.

Then came the less expensive processes of reproduction by casting and stamping, which multiplied the designs and very often made them grotesque in the eyes of experts and those who had been accustomed to realize and understand a true meaning in the designs they had been familiar with.

The ornamental brasses which hung in rows round horses' necks, and conspicuously on the foreheads or chests of the animals, deemed inseparable from a set of harness in olden times, were regarded as charms, protective against danger, accident, and, in wilder times, perils unknown to-day.

These very pleasing objects in brass, which look so handsome when polished and arranged on a cloth-covered shield in the harness-room, or, perchance, framed as a trophy for the hall or gun-room, are so varied, and yet for the most part quite distinct, that it is said nearly two hundred designs are collectable. A complete set of brasses, as worn by one horse properly harnessed, includes the face brass already mentioned as the chief ornament on the forehead, ear-brasses hanging behind the ears, three brasses on each side of the shoulders, and ten martingale (a strap passing from the horse's girth between his forelegs) brasses for the breast. To trace their purport and hence their forms it may be pointed out that they are associated with the folk-lore of the districts where they were originally used, and were chiefly intended to keep off the "Evil Eye" or calamity. They go back a long way into the past, and are nearly all attributable to symbols understood by the Saxons, early British, and still older races. Their modern exponents are the gypsies, and strange as it may seem, most of them are either Buddhist, Egyptian, or Moorish. The genuine antiques include such well-known emblems as the crescent, the symbol brought back, it is said, by the Crusaders from Eastern lands. The crescent moon, like the horseshoe brass, is valued. There are others showing the radiated sun's rays indicating the sun worship of our ancestors. Conspicuous among the floral emblems may be noticed the iris; the lotus of Egypt is a common emblem, often enclosed in a crescent-like form, occasionally met with in a shield-like frame. There are the bull's head with horns and the horse of the Saxon banner, both essentially English types. Then there are clubs and diamonds, hearts and spades, and many heathen symbols. In a few instances brasses in the shape of crosses are met with, but these are rare; possibly they were introduced in the days of the Canterbury pilgrims. In this connection may be related a pretty story of the good luck associated with the horseshoe, which comes from Russia, where peasants used to paint a picture of the Virgin Mary with a golden halo round her head outside their doors to protect them from harm. The snows and the rains washed off the paint, but left the more lasting gilding in the shape of the horseshoe. Hence it is said the superstitious legend of the protective power or good luck of the symbolical horseshoe, or the crescent moon, is spread all the world over. Another legend tells us how the Greeks and Romans gave the world the crescent moon as an emblem of good luck, so many thousands of replicas of which have been fashioned in brass and used as horse trappings by horsemen of all races. The crescent moon was to those nations the symbol of their loyalty to the huntress Diana, the goddess they worshipped as a protector under many varied conditions.

An exceptionally fine early brass of crescent form is seen in South Kensington, where there are other early specimens pointing to the ancient and very general acceptance of the belief in the potency of symbolical horse trappings as talismans against evil and dangers of the road, happily unknown now. Almost as common is the brass fashioned like the sun god, whose face was so often looked upon with awe by the ancients. Side by side with these pagan symbols the emblems adapted by pilgrims in days when Christianity had been made the religion of the race can be seen to-day, still adorning the breast of the horse.

The amulet or charm is not altogether banished at the present day. It has been worn at the watch chain, round the neck, on a bangle, and suspended from the chatelaine or the girdle. The greater use of the road by motorist and cyclist has once more brought into prominence the amulet or mascot, carried in front of the rider. The river-girl places a mascot on the prow of her boat, and the aviator screws his mascot into position "for luck." Why this should be done we cannot tell; the general belief is in some mysterious advantage from the presence of the mascot—an accepted theory by the sceptical man who shakes his head and secretly marvels at the folly of the belief.

Strange to say many of the present-day mascots in brass—and that is the favourite metal—are modelled upon amulets such as we have referred to as finding their origin in pagan faiths. There are others used by motorists, such as "CÆsar," the late King Edward's dog, the "Chantecler," and the stag's head, which have no mystic meanings; on the other hand, the most favoured are such brasses as the "star and cresent" and the "rising sun" of pagan worship of our ancestors, and "Mercury" the Greek god.

The brass mascot used in every form, large and small, by motorists and worn by many others so extensively is the "Swastika" of Buddhist fame, traceable in its varied form to Egyptian and other early nations. These mascots in brass, made in thousands to-day, are brass curios in the making; possibly in a century or so they may be classed with the oldest brass amulets described in this chapter, and so add to the metal relics to be collected by future curio-hunters!

Copper Sheathing and Nails.

Copper sheathing has been used by boat-builders and made to serve a useful purpose, protecting the ship's bottom and resisting the action of salt water. Oftentimes this valuable material—costly when new—has been used over again when vessels have been broken up, and not infrequently it is put to curious uses in old seaport towns. Visitors to an old-world village built on the side of a hill near the sea in North Cornwall, have looked with admiration upon two remarkable gateposts in front of a cottage house, and admired their quaint carvings. These relics in oak were once the ends of seats in a neighbouring parish church; but either to preserve them from injury from the village children or to give them a longer life as they would be exposed to the weather, the upper portions have been sheathed with copper from the bottom of some broken-up wreck, and large copper nails keep the casing in place. Copper and brass nails have been used for ornament as well as to resist acids and other metal-destroying chemicals. Old furniture is evidence of this; for at one time the leather covers to the chairs were almost invariably fixed by round-headed brass studs, which from that use became known in the trade as "chair nails." Such nails were used to ornament brass bellows and other domestic utensils. They were also used to "decorate" the skin-covered trunks which our ancestors took with them on their rare journeys of pleasure or business, when they travelled by the mail-coach or less expensive stage wagon. Nails of brass have been used and are still sometimes used for sadder purposes, for they are a feature in the ornament of cloth-covered coffins. That of King Edward VI was decorated (sic) with upwards of two thousand brass nails with gilt heads.

War Relics.

What wonderful antiquities are sometimes found among scraps! Years of neglect cause indifference to the contents of a scrapheap, and we read occasionally of the dispersal of relics among which, unknown to either sellers or buyers, there may be antiquities of more than passing interest if their original ownership could only be traced, for in the personal relics of great warriors in our national museums there clings a halo of hero-worship, and what to many would be considered fictitious values are attached to such curios. A few years ago the relics from the battlefield of Waterloo, which had for some time past been accumulated in a modest looking building at the foot of the Lion Mound, were dispersed. There were upwards of three thousand pieces, including helmets of brass, plates of shining metal, innumerable buttons and ornaments belonging to different French regiments, including officers' regimentals, and some relics of the British and Prussian armies. In old curio-shops many metal relics of battlefields are offered for sale, but they have little or no interest to the buyer, simply because their identity with their original owners has been lost. It is of the greatest importance to future generations of collectors that all records relating to known curios should be chronicled, and that even private collectors should hand on to their successors adequate descriptions which may have been verbally given them, so that private as well as national relics may be identified and the monetary value in such curios increased. Even a brass plate on an old gun, bearing the name of a great man, makes it a relic worth securing, whereas had the identity of ownership been missing the weapon would be of little or no value.

A visit to the United Service Museum at Westminster is full of interest. There is an abundance of personal relics there—not many of brass, it is true—many of which are of special interest. Perhaps the one of greatest historical fame is the much battered copper bugle on which it is said the signal was given for the fatal charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava, resulting so disastrously to that famous regiment. There are some curious trophies of brass, too, which have been brought home by our troops; one known as "Jingling Johnny" is of special interest.

Tiny Curios.

At one time there was quite a rage for miniatures in metal-work. Artists in copper and brass vied with one another in working microscopically. They were very fond of making use of some recognized piece of metal, the size, weight, and substance of which was well understood by the public; hence the difficulties of manipulating the works of art they produced would be realized. Thus, out of a copper farthing, a worker in metal would with very tiny hammers and a still smaller soldering-iron and miniature blow-pipe, fashion a complete copper teakettle with a tiny spout out of which liquid could be poured, a loose lid, a correctly formed knob, and a beautifully shaped handle. Another would make a similar kettle out of a similar piece of metal, and leave some portion of the farthing, perhaps the date, uninjured as the central ornament on the side of the kettle, or on the top of the handle; others would add a stand, like the then fashionable toddy-kettles and stands. In a similar way other little domestic utensils were made by the worker in copper, who used watchmakers' hammers and tools such as jewellers employed in the setting of precious stones. A collector at one time had in his possession a beautifully shaped coffee boiler of the type used on the open fire when coffee was boiled and afterwards allowed to stand on the hob for some time before it was deemed sufficiently brewed. Another charming miniature novelty was a brass stool, perforated, and made to revolve just as the larger toasting stool once common in every fireplace. Fenders and fire-brasses were favourite objects for miniature metal ornaments, and the way in which the skilled worker manipulated the copper "sheets" hammered out by hand from small coins showed mastery of the craft and great patience. Such little objects were frequently displayed on the "parlour" table under a glass shade, the woodworker being sometimes requisitioned to make a stand, possibly a canopied top, on which to show off to the best advantage these tiny ornaments.

In the same way the engraver of brass and copper worked under a strong lens, and sought to produce whole texts of Scripture and quite long inscriptions on an almost impossibly small surface. These little pieces of metal were worn as charms, and similar objects were displayed as trophies. Many of our readers have seen no doubt the whole of the Lord's Prayer or the Ten Commandments engraved on a threepenny-piece or a copper farthing. It is said such microscopic engraving took its rise in the reign of Charles II when Thomas Simon, a noted engraver of the Mint, engraved in double lines on his famous "Petition Crown" a petition to the king. Specimens of the crown are very rare, and are regarded as the scarcest treasures in a numismatic cabinet.

Replicas.

In conclusion, it may be pointed out that there is no branch of curio collecting which has such a close and intimate touch with modern art as that of copper and brass. The tools with which the ancient coppersmiths wrought and fashioned their most beautiful works are still used by the coppersmiths of to-day, for although in the eyes of some the traces of machine-stamped or pressed ornament in the so-called reproductions of the antiques are noticeable blemishes, there are few distinguishing marks between the old and the new. Those modern artists who specialize in providing those who furnish their houses in antique style with replicas of the domestic copper-work of a century or two ago, are very careful to produce their "modern antique" by the use of tools which produce precisely similar effects to the hammered-by-hand copper-work of days gone by. In the production of such work the repoussÉ enrichments are wrought by hand, the anvil still holding sway in the modern coppersmith's shop. Rarely is soldering used, the parts being riveted together. In many cases although jardinieres and other vessels have the appearance of being cast in a mould they are really hollowed up under the rim by hammer and block, and are without seam or joining. They are fashioned exactly the same way as the beaten work of old. Collectors may be warned against these modern reproductions in that they should be careful to pay a modern price for a modern antique.

The styles reproduced are chiefly those of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, particularly those of the Elizabethan and Cromwellian periods. Thus electroliers are made to match antique furniture, the difference being that instead of holding electric bulbs the antique would have been fashioned for candles or oil lamps. Many of the modern reproductions of copper panels used for letting into mantelpieces are designs, carefully copied, taken from old baronial halls. The very grates of ormolu and brass and the canopies of hammered copper and brass are being made to-day by the same firms who manufactured the metal-work designed by the Adam Brothers, and who in the eighteenth century had already become famous as makers of coal stoves and hob-grates. Then, again, in the utilitarian reproductions of to-day there are the copper and brass fender kerbs, reproducing the eighteenth-century fenders without their bottom plates, and for use with them the modern manufacturer makes fire-dogs and fire-brasses of antique styles. Even the builder's brasswork for ornamenting the interiors of houses, such as finger-plates and door handles, are exact copies of the old door-plates and lock-plates found on doors and cupboards in existing houses built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and in their designs and processes of manufacture it is difficult to distinguish the genuine antique from the modern replica. Again, the buyer of such things is warned against the unscrupulous dealer who fills his windows with brass and copper-work, almost hot from the Birmingham foundry, and labels it "Antique." Not long ago some of the shop windows were filled with chestnut roasters in brass, with beautifully designed trivets, with door knockers innumerable, and with even pipe-stoppers and tobacco-boxes, all quite recently made in the Black Country. Yet all these objects, sold as modern by the honest dealer, have been and are still not infrequently palmed off as antique, for they have the finish which age in former years was wont to impart, and in design and style they are correct reproductions of the genuine antique.

The collection of metal has a peculiar charm, for the objects are so numerous and the different alloys produce such a pleasing variety of colour and appearance. The value of such curios is now more fully recognized than formerly, for greater prominence is being given to them in museums, where in those which have been re-arranged recently such objects may be seen with labels on which their uses are fully described and explained.

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