  NO artistic industry in Spain has left behind so little historical information as ivory carving. Only a very small number of examples of this art have reached us which are of undoubted Spanish manufacture, but a group exists among them which has been but little examined or studied; it is worthy of the utmost attention, on account of its artistic character, and the inferences which may be drawn from it. We find no allusion in the works of Pliny or St. Isidoro to the existence of the industry of ivory carving in Spain during the Roman and Visigothic dominations. An interesting example of ivory work of the Roman period, consisting of a consular diptych may be seen at the cathedral of Oviedo, which, although certainly not carved in Spain, must not be overlooked here, in order that it may be included among the number of the carvings which have reached us of this period. The two leaves of this diptych are complete, and in a perfect state of preservation: they are 16 inches long by 6 inches wide; in the centres are two medallions in relief with a bust of the consul, who is represented in the act of throwing down with his right hand the mappa or handkerchief, and holding in his left hand a sceptre. The right angles are ornamented with masks, the rest of the surface is plain. The two following inscriptions run along the upper part of the leaves: FL·STRATEGIVS APION. STRATEGIVS APION V. ILL: COM. DEVV. DOMM. ET · CONS · OR. Flavius Strategius Apius. Strategius Apius, illustrious man, count of the most fervent servants, and consul in ordinary. This consul belongs to the period of Justinian, by which emperor he was invested with this dignity in A.D. 539. We do not know how this diptych came to Spain; it is generally supposed that it belonged originally to the shrine of the cathedral of Toledo, from whence it was removed to Asturias, with other relics, to be concealed there during the invasion of the Arabs at the beginning of the 8th century. The student will find further details in "Corpus Ins." by HÜbner. "Monumentos arquitectonicos." "Mus. Esp. de Antiguedades." Vol. i. p. 385. From the invasion of the Arabs, which began early in the 8th century, and on the foundation of the empire of the Caliphs of Cordova in the year 756, an era of grandeur began for the Arabs in Spain, coinciding with their independence from the Caliphs of Damascus, which lasted for more than two centuries; during this time Cordova became the most important literary and scientific centre in Europe. The direct influence of the East and Constantinople may be traced without interruption from this time on the culture of the Spanish Arabs. At times this culture was transmitted by the objects of every kind which the Spaniards received from the East, at others by the influence exercised by the artists who established themselves on the territory of the Caliphate of Cordova. The greater part of the industrial arts, which were imported at this time, became naturalized in the country, and we find them developed in every locality of the Peninsula, and although we do not possess any positive historical information stating this fact, which distinctly bears on ivory carvings, we are safe in affirming that the industry existed among the Spanish Arabs in a very high state of perfection during the last years of the Caliphate. The description and details of the most important ivories which have reached us of this period confirms this opinion. At the South Kensington Museum there is a cylindrical box No. 217-'65 with rounded cover. I copy Mr. Maskell's description of this object, of which a woodcut is given. (Vide "Ivories, "This beautiful box is carved throughout, except the bottom of it, with interlacing narrow bands forming quatrefoils, in which on the cover are four eagles. These have spread wings and stand erect; well designed and most delicately executed. A small knob serves to lift the lid. IVORY BOX. MOORISH. 10TH CENTURY. SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM. "Round the side, each quatrefoil is filled with a star having a leaf ornament. The same decoration is repeated in the spaces between the larger quatrefoils on the cover. "The whole is carved in pierced work, except a band which forms the upper upright portion of the box, round the side of the lid. This band has an Arabic inscription: "A favour of God to the servant of God, Al Hakem al Mostanser Another very interesting oblong box is preserved in the same Museum, No. 301-'66. The cover and sides are carved with scroll foliated ornament: the hinges and clasp are of chased silver inlaid with niello. Round the sides, immediately below the lid is the following Arabic inscription in Cufic characters: "In the name of God. This (box) was ordered to be made by Seidat Allah, the wife of Abdo-r-rahman, prince of the believers. God be merciful and satisfied with him." IVORY BOX. MOORISH. 10TH CENTURY. SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM. This inscription must allude to Abd er Rahman III. the first Caliph of Cordova who bore the title of Emir, el Mumenin. The formula "God be merciful," &c., denotes that he was dead when it was written. He died A.D. 961. (See woodcut.) Another casket, undoubtedly the most important in size which is known of this period, proceeds from Sanguesa, in the province of Navarre, and is now preserved in the treasury of the cathedral of Pamplona. This splendid box, hitherto undescribed, is 15 inches long, by 9¼ wide. A woodcut is given opposite. It is completely covered with carvings in relief, within circular cusped medallions, with figures in the centres representing different subjects: men seated, hawking, or struggling with wild beasts, and numerous single figures of lions, stags, and other animals. The intermediate spaces contain an ornamentation of leaves and flowers which is accommodated to the geometrical style of Saracenic art. Round the upper part of this box appears an Arabic inscription in fine Cufic characters. "In the name of God. The blessing of God, the complete felicity, the happiness, the fulfilment of the hope of good works, and the adjourning the fatal period (of death), be with the Hagib Seifo daula (sword of the State), Abdelmalek ben Almansur. This (box) was made by the orders (of the said Hagib), under the inspection or direction of his chief eunuch, Nomayr ben Mohammad Alaumeri, his slave in the year of 395," [A.D. 1005]. In the centre medallion, on the opposite side to the lock, is represented the standing figure of a man who is attacked by two lions. He holds on his arm a shield, upon which is engraved an inscription, with the following religious formula: "There is no God but God," or a similar one, for the characters are very illegible and confused. In the centre of this shield may be read Arabic "made by Hair," undoubtedly one of the artists who made the box. Another artist's name may be read with difficulty in a similar inscription which appears on one of the medallions on the left side: it is written on the thigh of a stag, which is attacked by a lion Arabic "it was made by Obeidat." Three other inscriptions of a similar character appear in other MOORISH CASKET. 11TH CENTURY. CATHEDRAL OF PAMPLONA. Among other artistic objects in the shrine of the cathedral of Braga, in Portugal, there is an ivory box of the same period, and the inscription, which runs round the cover, mentions the same persons: "There is no God but God, and Mahomad is his prophet. In the name of God, a blessing, prosperity and fortune for the Hagib Seifo, d. daula, for this work, which he ordered to be made by the hands of"—here the inscription has been broken off—"his principal eunuch." (Vide 'Artes e Letras,' No. 6, 3rd series, p. 94, Lisbon, 1874.) Both these caskets were made for Hadjeb Abd el Melik, a minister of Hischem the second. It is necessary to add to them an ivory diptych, preserved at the Provincial Museum of Burgos, which, as we find by the following inscription, was also made for Abder Rahman III, (A.D. 912-961). "This was ordered to be made by the Iman servant of God Abder Rahman, prince of believers." Two other boxes of the same artistic character, belonging to a private collection, must also be mentioned. They are both cylindrical, and are terminated by a spherical cover. They measure 7½ inches high, by 4-5/8 wide, and are covered with a profuse and splendid ornamentation of figures and animals. Round the lid of one them is a band, with the following inscription in fine Cufic character: "The blessing of God and his favours, joy, and prosperity, for Almogueira was the son of the Caliph of Cordova, Abder Rahman III. On the other may be read in similar characters— ("In the name of God, clement and merciful, blessing")—this part of the inscription is missing—"and prosperity and happiness for Riyadh ben Aflah, captain of the superior guard. It was made in the year 359" [A.D. 969]. The style of the objects which we have hitherto described is undoubtedly Oriental, and we must seek in Persia the origin of this industry. There is, however, every probability that these seven ivory boxes were made in Spain by Spanish Arabs, or artists who had settled there from the East. On all these carvings the names of Spanish historical persons appear, and it is hardly possible that they were ordered in remote countries, especially as some of these objects are small and comparatively unimportant. It must also be borne in mind that we find in contemporary authors many details on the luxury and magnificence of this period of the Spanish Arabs, and the great height which the arts and industries had reached at that time. The ivory carvings which I have described present all the characteristics of the Oriental school, which was copied by European Christian sculptors during the 11th and 12th centuries. We find in Christian productions of this period, too constantly to require any further comment, the same geometrical traceries, flowers, leaves, animals, and birds. The subjects represented on monuments of Christian art have been erroneously interpreted by modern ecclesiologists who have endeavoured to demonstrate the Two other interesting specimens remain of Spanish Moresque art of the 11th century. One is a casket at the South Kensington Museum, No. 10, 66, which Mr. Maskell describes as "richly carved in deep relief with foliage and animals in scrolls interlacing one another, and forming larger and smaller circles. The top and each side is a single plaque of ivory; the sloping lid at the front and back has two panels. On the two are two animals, like does; a large bird stands on the back of each, attacking it with his beak. The sloping sides have, in the large circles, men on horseback, and animals fighting. The intermediate spaces are The other example of this period is that known as the cross of Don Fernando, at the ArchÆological Museum at Madrid. This cross is 20½ inches by 14. On the front is a figure in high relief of Our Lord with the inscription: IHE. NAZARENVS REX IVDEORVM. In the upper part is represented the figure of Our Lord at the moment of his Resurrection, and in the lower a symbolical figure of Adam; both these figures are in high relief. Underneath may be read in two lines,— FERDINANDVS REX. SANCIA REGINA. At the back of the cross appears in the centre the Lamb of God: in the four corners the emblems of the Evangelists. Besides these purely Christian symbols, the ground work is covered with foliage, circles interlacing each other, figures of animals of different kinds, and men struggling with wild beasts. The whole of the ornamentation corresponds to the style of decoration of the moresque objects which I have already described. King Ferdinand I. died A.D. 1065, his wife Sancha A.D. 1071; and documents exist proving that in 1063 they gave this interesting work of art with other artistic objects to the Church of San Isidoro of Leon, where it remained until 1870, when it was given up by the authorities of the church to the Museum at Madrid. The following woodcut represents the back of the cross:— BACK OF CROSS OF KING FERDINAND I. ARCHÆOLOGICAL MUSEUM. MADRID These different specimens represent, in my opinion, the most satisfactory view of the art industry of ivory carving during the 10th and 11th centuries. Several other examples of oriental carving in ivory still exist in Spain in the shrines of different cathedrals; others of less artistic interest may be seen at the ArchÆological Museum at Madrid. These caskets are for the most part not ornamented with carvings in relief, but are decorated with inscriptions painted in gold and colours. The most important are:— A large casket at the ArchÆological Museum of Madrid, decorated with painting in red and green, and a fine inscription in Cufic characters. A similar casket at the same museum, decorated with a design painted in green, red, and blue; an inscription in cufic letters runs round a band in the upper part. "Made by Mohammad Ben Assarag." An ivory casket at the Real Academia de la Historia at Madrid, with an ornamentation and inscription painted in the style of the former ones and the shield of arms of the Kings of Aragon. The inscription reproduces several Suras of the Koran, and the arms of the house of Aragon were probably added when the casket came into the possession of some person belonging to the family. A casket exists at the Church of Santo Domingo de Silos (province of Burgos), which merits a special mention on account of what has remained to us of the inscription. This casket is 13¼ inches long by 7½ inches wide and high. It is ornamented in part with foliage and flowers in the moresque style, alternating with hunting subjects, men shooting with bows and arrows, riding upon lions, fantastic animals and leopards mounted on the back of bulls. The work is inferior in art to the ".....for its owner (may God lengthen his days.) It was made in the town of Cu[enca] in the year 417. (A.D. 1025.) By Mohammad—ibn Zeiyan, his servant. May God glorify him." In the geography of Edrisi, an Oriental author who describes Spain in the beginning of the 12th century, only two names of towns are mentioned which agree with this inscription, Coria and Cuenca Arabic The first of these towns was always a less important centre than Cuenca. Edrisi praises the woollen fabrics made at Cuenca, and there is every probability that this casket was carved there, as there is also an ivory monstrance at the cathedral of PerpiÑan, which has likewise an inscription in Cufic characters, stating it was made for the Hageb Ismail. "The blessing of God. Made at the town of Cuenca, for the Hageb Ismail." Villanueva in his "Viage por EspaÑa," Vol. 5, p. 144, mentions two large ivory caskets with Cufic inscriptions which still exist at the cathedral of Tortosa, CataluÑa. Another of a similar description is preserved in the Treasury of the cathedral of Bayeux. This casket is, as M. AndrÉ tells us in a pamphlet on "Antiquites Arabes de la Normandie," Rennes, 1869, Om 42 L. by Om 28 W. and 13 H. It is decorated with bands of enamelled metal, and covered with a fine running design of peacocks and other birds. Round the lock runs the following inscription in Cufic characters: "In the name of God, clement, merciful, the blessing and His benefits complete." These ivory caskets were made originally to hold perfumes, jewels, or precious stones. For besides the Arabic inscriptions which allude to this, we find the idea distinctly expressed in an inscription in Cufic letters on a casket which came from Cordova belonging to the Caliphate. This casket was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition in 1867; I do not know where it is at present. It appears at first sight difficult to explain why the Spanish Moors decorated these objects with the representations of animated beings, against the precepts of the Koran, and the reason why these objects of undoubtedly Moorish origin have been preserved until the present day in the treasuries of Spanish cathedrals. The prohibition of the Koran to represent animated beings is, however, not so strict as is generally supposed; it is reduced to the following sentences. "O Believers! Wine and games of chance, and statues and the divining arrows, are only an abomination of Satan's work! Avoid them that ye may prosper." [Sura v. ver. 22.] Later commentators on the Koran have added the severest prohibitions against painters and artists who represented animated beings, but to very little effect, and we find in contemporary authors numerous details of the specimens of sculptures and The fact that these Moorish caskets should have been used for preserving the relics of saints in Spanish churches, is explained by the custom common in the middle ages in Spain and other countries, of offering war spoils and treasures brought from long and distant peregrinations, and even objects of natural history, to the different churches. Alligators may still be seen hanging in churches in Seville, Toledo, Valencia, etc. The Moors did the same thing: the famous warrior Almanssor, the minister of Hischem II. at the end of the 10th century, carried off the bells from the cathedral of Cordova, and had them turned into lamps and used at the mosque of Cordova. We find in ancient writers frequent mention of the custom of Spanish Christians of offering these ivory caskets to the churches, as trophies taken in their warfares with the Moors. The ecclesiastical authorities probably placed them at the time with other valuable objects in the treasuries of the churches, filling them with relics, for such is the manner in which they are found; they have remained untouched from the earliest times and are constantly mentioned in local histories of the cathedrals. We must not suppose that the ecclesiastical authorities ignored their Mohamedan origin, for we find at every step during the middle ages the names of priests who knew and interpreted the Arabic language. The principal reason why these objects of Oriental art have been preserved, is, that the hatred of race and belief between Moors and Christians was by no means as great as has been supposed by modern authors, and certainly never went so far as to destroy objects of industrial and artistic interest. In the year A.D. 1275, certain privileges were granted to Moorish workmen who were set apart and ordered to repair the Mosque at Cordova, at that time Objects of ivory carvings of the middle ages, posterior to the 12th century, are frequently met with in Spain. Among the most remarkable is the Virgin de las Batallas, in the cathedral of Seville. This image belonged to St. Ferdinand, early in the 13th century, and the tradition exists that it was carried on the king's saddle in battle. The fine ivory diptychs at the Escorial and ArchÆological Museum at Madrid must also be mentioned, and a large number of ivory caskets, and fragments, existing in the same Museum and in different Spanish churches. Notwithstanding, however, the numerous examples of ivory carvings which are still to be met with in Spanish churches and cathedrals, I find no information which enables us to affirm that this artistic industry existed in Spain during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. We find artists mentioned who carved in wood, iron, and silver work, and numerous details of their work, but ivory carvers are never mentioned, if any existed, their number must have been comparatively small; and I am led, therefore, to suppose that the specimens existing in Spain were imported from Italy or France, and for this reason it is necessary to end at the Renaissance the history of ivory carving in Spain. The inlaid ivory work so constantly used in Spanish furniture of the 16th and 17th centuries, cannot be included in this notice on ivory carvers, owing to its limited character, and the use to which it was employed. One branch of sculpture must be mentioned representing sacred images, which were carved in the 16th and 17th centuries by natives of the Philippine Islands or the Portuguese Colonies. They are frequently met with in Spain, and are remarkable for their bad and careless modelling, a |
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