BOSSES, KNOBS, BARS, AND POLISHED ORNAMENTS.

There are several small effects in ornament which the carver should study with care; they are generally applicable to most kinds of decorative art. The first of these is the employment of bosses or knobs, some left plain, and some carved, hemi-spherical or less. They may be almost flat, but are always smooth at the edge and polished. They were very extensively used in early carving and metal-work, and the reader may see many illustrations of them in the works of Hulme. Sometimes the knob becomes a small spot or a mere dot, employed to introduce light into a dark ground. The practical theory is that the knob represents the plain or ornamental head of a nail used to hold the work to the wall, or the rivets of armour, which the Goths transferred from coats of mail to linen and woollen. But the real reason is to introduce points of light.

Knobs or bosses may be placed wherever there are wide spaces between patterns. The rule of employing them is either a few large points or many small ones; they must, however, be used sparingly. The principle of introducing them is of very wide extension. Thus, in all kinds of work, especially metal, grapes, melons, and other fruit are introduced solely that, by their roundness and polish, they may make points of light or “shiners.” Old embossed work in leather and wood-carving often owes its chief beauty to the polish, which time and use have given to the reliefs on it. Of course the employment of “shiners” or bosses, and of all kinds of smooth polished relief, should, as a general rule, be sparing, subordinate, and judicious.

Nevertheless, in certain kinds of work, especially in much flat-carving, which is intended to simply ornament a surface, at no great expenditure of labour, just as tiles or tapestry might do, the stems and portions of the leaves, or sometimes all the pattern, may be polished as highly as possible, so as to make a relief against the dark ground. Grounds are pricked or punched or dotted to make them dark, and when the oil soaks into the holes they become permanently darker. Therefore the pattern is to be in contrast; and when the object is no more than to make a general decorative effect, not perfectly finished, but like a sketch, it may be polished.

There is another curious effect given by crossing the pattern alone, or the ground alone, with bars, lines, or stripes. It was very common at one time. In carving, it may be produced with a small gouge or fluter; though not natural, except where it is given in long and short lines to represent the graining of wood, it has a good effect simply because it distributes shadow evenly. It was probably derived from the effect of “ribs” in cloths, which were much admired by the Venetian painters.

Door-knobs are effectively bosses, that is to say, the same ornamentation may be applied to both, as to handles for bureaus, cabinets, and other furniture. Figs. 59 to 62 will give the pupil some examples and ideas for carving knobs and bosses.