MEDIÆVAL JEWELLERY

INTRODUCTION

TO the student of jewellery the Middle Ages offer far greater problems than the periods of classic antiquity. The main reason for this is to be found in the fact that throughout mediÆval and later periods ornaments were more closely associated with dress, and dress itself became subject to the most marked changes and constant divergences of fashion. In the days of antiquity, so far as our knowledge goes, the idea of fashion, in the present sense of the term, did not exist. But in the Middle Ages, as Luthmer points out, it becomes an important factor in the history of civilisation. The duration of each prevalent fashion tended to become shorter and shorter, and the new mode was usually an absolute contrast to the preceding one. Though ornaments, owing to their higher material value, did not alter with each successive change in dress, nevertheless they underwent rapid variations of style.

The custom of burying objects in graves, which continued for a considerable time after the introduction of Christianity, affords a tolerably clear idea of the various ornaments worn during the earlier periods of the Middle Ages. Coming to a later period, from the time of the first Crusade onwards, discoveries in the graves are extremely rare, and one has to look in many directions for information respecting the articles then in use. Though there seems to have been an immense production of personal ornaments throughout the whole of Europe, their intrinsic value has been too great to allow of their preservation; and the artistic qualities of those that have survived cause one to regret all the more the wholesale destruction that must have occurred. The jewels of the period are, in fact, so few in number, and furnish such striking varieties, that it is impossible to give an exhaustive synopsis of the different changes that took place in their form. The utmost that can be attempted is to take single characteristic pieces and allow them to stand as types of the whole epoch.

Personal ornaments at this time began to have a wider significance than that of being merely decorations pleasant to the eye. Their material value comes more in the foreground. They began to form the nucleus of family and household treasures. The uncertain conditions of life made it desirable for the individual to have his most precious possessions in a portable form. An unfortunate war or royal displeasure might cost a prince or baron his land or his castles; but his movable goods, consisting of precious stones and gold and silver ornaments, were not so easily exposed to the vagaries of his superiors. Thus the numerous inventories of household goods that have come down from those times show an astounding increase in the matter of jewels and treasures among the great and lesser grandees, both secular and ecclesiastical; while there is a corresponding advance at the same time in craftsmanship. To this change in the significance of ornaments is to be attributed their rarity in graves. Jewellery had, in fact, assumed the character of money passed from hand to hand, and was constantly, so to speak, recoined; for even if held in steadfast possession it had to submit to changes of fashion and undergo frequent resetting.[27] Particularly was this the case at the period of the Renaissance, when almost everything Gothic was remodelled.

Tombs, then, supply little or no information; and for the present purpose one may make shift to use the chance descriptions of romancers, and such pictorial representations of jewellery as are presented by effigies on brasses, tombstones, and other monumental sculpture, and also by illuminated manuscripts. Monumental effigies show a number of accurately executed personal ornaments, which, belonging as they do mainly to sovereigns and individuals of wealth and distinction, may be taken as the highest types of those then worn. The miniatures and decorations of manuscripts executed towards the end of the period under review also afford considerable assistance; for illuminators were intensely fond of introducing jewels among the plants, flowers, birds, and butterflies minutely depicted on ornamental borders. The inventories of personal effects made for various purposes, and often full of graphic details, throughout the whole of the period supply absolutely trustworthy evidence as to contemporary ornaments. Pictures, which are among the chief sources of information, are not at one's disposal until towards the termination of this epoch, but such as were produced during the later Gothic style, particularly in Italy, Germany, and the Low Countries, furnish numerous examples of jewellery painted with loving care and minute detail.

Even from these sources of information, however, one could form but an inadequate idea of the precise character of mediÆval jewellery. But, while the various reasons mentioned have resulted in the general destruction of articles made for secular use, among precious objects consecrated to religious uses a small number of personal ornaments have been preserved. This may be due, perhaps, to the sanctity of the places containing them, or perhaps to the precautions of their guardians, who have hidden them in time of trouble. They have survived many and strange vicissitudes, and their safety is now secured by a new-created archÆological value, in place of the religious devotion which was their former guardian. In the treasury—an edifice attached to the church—there was kept in early times, among the vestments and plate used in its services, a vast collection of reliquaries and jewels gradually brought together, and preserved as memorials of the piety of the faithful. In numerous cases the treasury must have constituted a veritable museum, exhibiting examples of jewellery of each successive style. Some idea can be formed of the immense scope, as well as of the magnificence of its contents, from the early inventories which archÆologists of recent years have taken pains to gather together and publish.

The relative abundance of jewellery of Merovingian and Frankish times, and the great rarity of jewellery from the ninth century onwards, are phenomena observable in every museum. The reason for this lies in the fact that until the time of Charlemagne (742-814) the dead were buried with their weapons and with every article of jewellery. The Emperor forbade this mainly as a heathen practice, but largely because he saw the disadvantage of so many costly objects being withdrawn from circulation, with consequent loss to the national resources.

This almost complete absence of examples renders it difficult to estimate precisely the style of ornaments then in use. But as far as can be judged, Byzantine influence seems to have affected all forms of jewellery. It is known, at all events, that until about the twelfth century active commercial transactions between France and Germany on the one hand, and Byzantium on the other, were carried on by way of Venice. Not only did Byzantine workmen settle in the great seaport of the Adriatic, but imitations of work from the Eastern Roman provinces were probably made there at an early date by native artists. Such traffic appears to have been particularly active during the Carlovingian period; while the close friendship of Charlemagne with Haroun al-Raschid, the celebrated caliph of the Saracens, renders it further probable that models of Oriental art abounded in the West in the ninth century. These were not merely confined to articles of jewellery and other goldsmith's productions, but included also sumptuous dress materials interwoven with threads of gold, embroideries studded with gems and pearls, and other objects which the splendour of the rulers of the West and the princes of the Church borrowed from the magnificence prevalent in the East and at the Byzantine Court.[28]

The Eastern influence which during the fourth and fifth centuries had come westwards by way of Byzantium, and had acquired new power owing to the sovereignty of the Arabs in Spain and Sicily during the eighth and ninth centuries, increased considerably at the time of the Crusades. The knights and princes of the West brought back not only impressions of culture from Syria and Palestine, but also actual specimens of gold ornaments and precious stones. There then began an invasion of skilled workmen from the towns of Asia Minor, and a regular importation of such treasures by the merchants of the Italian republics, to wit, Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, who, under the banner of the Cross, re-established their trade with the East.[29]

Until about the twelfth century ornaments followed for the most part the style of those in use in the Eastern Roman provinces. Some were adorned with cloisonnÉ enamel introduced from Byzantium, and first executed by Continental workmen about the eighth century. CloisonnÉ, however, was, in turn, abandoned for champlevÉ enamel, the manufacture of which upon the Lower Rhine had been encouraged by the Church, through the instrumentality of the Greek monks.

By the beginning of the twelfth century, the West seems to have become lastingly independent of the East, even with regard to its ornaments, as may be inferred from various remarkable productions in gold and silver, and particularly in gilded copper adorned with champlevÉ enamel, such as shrines and other sacred objects. Many of these are still preserved in the ecclesiastical treasuries of Germany, while museums at home and abroad all possess beautiful examples.

Though the personal ornaments of this period are now almost entirely lost to us in the original, there has yet been preserved a treasure of inestimable value in the form of a technological manual handed down from the Middle Ages. The work referred to is the famous treatise of Theophilus entitled Schedula Diversarum Artium, which describes the technical processes of almost all the industrial arts cultivated eight centuries ago—the treatise being written shortly before the year 1100.[30] After describing his workshop, Theophilus mentions his tools, and proceeds to describe minutely the various processes necessary for the metal-worker to understand; and shows how the goldsmith was required to be at the same time a modeller, sculptor, smelter, enameller, jewel-mounter, and inlay-worker. Altogether, to judge from the directions there given, more especially those relating to the technical work of the goldsmiths, these SchedulÆ would seem to reflect the ancient knowledge and practices of Byzantine workmen, of which, however, the goldsmiths of the twelfth century appear to have become completely independent.

The perfection of artistic work attained by the monasteries led to the production of sumptuous objects to meet the requirements of the Church in connection with its services, while costly shrines were made to contain the numerous relics brought home by pilgrims from the Holy Land. During the period of the Romanesque and early Gothic styles personal ornaments became objects of lesser importance than articles for ecclesiastical use.[31] The enamel-work for the decoration of ornaments was mostly executed at Limoges, which was then rising to importance as the chief centre for the production of enamels. The process employed was champlevÉ, generally upon copper. Such ornaments as buckles, and brooches or morses, for the belts of knights or the vestments of ecclesiastics, were produced in considerable numbers at Limoges, and found their way all over the north-west of Europe. The trade-guilds of Limoges were probably more active in this kind of enamel than those situated upon the banks of the Rhine, whose work seems to have been devoted principally to shrines and objects for the use of the Church. Ornaments of the above types were executed during the greater part of the twelfth century and throughout the thirteenth, but their manufacture ceased in the century following, when Limoges was sacked by the Black Prince.

From the beginning of the thirteenth century a change takes place with the appearance of the Gothic style. Forms become slighter and more elegant, and exhibit greater delicacy and detail in their workmanship. Hitherto goldsmith's work, however beautiful from the cumulative effect of precious stones and enamels, was little more than conventional, nay, almost barbaric, in its representations of the human figure; but the revival in the art of figure sculpture led to a considerable use being made of the human figure executed in full relief. Just as in the Romanesque period, so during the time when Gothic art reigned supreme, architecture left its impress on every work of art; and jewellery and other goldsmith's work, as well as ivories, seals, and even shoes, were ornamented with the designs of Gothic architecture and with pierced open-work patterns, like the window tracery of the great cathedrals—termed "Paul's windows" by the masses. Improved skill in design and workmanship became incompatible with the retention of the older and coarser enamel-work, and without relinquishing a medium which by the brilliancy of its colouring was eminently suited to the works of the goldsmith, the thirteenth-century craftsman obtained the desired result by the use of translucent enamel upon metal, usually silver, chased and modelled in low relief.

The beauty of this basse-taille enamel, producing, as it were, transparent pictures, enabled the artist frequently to dispense with coloured gems, and retain only pearls, whose delicate hues harmonised better with his work. Occasionally, however, pearls, precious stones, and translucent enamels were employed together with brilliant effect.

Gothic ornaments of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries show a peculiar love for figurative and architectural motives which exhibit astonishing technique and beauty of form. Towards the middle of the fourteenth century there came into use enamel on full relief (Émail en ronde bosse). In the inventories of the time, where it is frequently mentioned, this enamel, usually opaque white, is termed Émail en blanc. So charming was the contrast of white, marble-like figures by the side of gold, bright coloured stones, and polychrome enamels, that for upwards of three centuries goldsmiths continued to apply this species of enamel to jewels. It was particularly characteristic of the fifteenth century. Several brooches ornamented with it will be referred to later (p. 143); but the most remarkable example of its use is the wonderful votive jewel of French workmanship termed "Das Goldene RÖssel," in the treasury of the abbey church of Altoetting, in Bavaria, which dates from about 1400.[32] The minute repoussÉ figures on sixteenth-century jewels were usually coated with white enamel; and jewellery ÉmaillÉe de blanc is often alluded to in inventories. This species of enamel was discarded in the seventeenth century, when figures in relief went out of fashion for jewellery.

Though towards the close of the Middle Ages the art of cutting precious stones and even diamonds was certainly practised, yet it is to be observed that throughout the whole period jewellery is set as a rule with stones en cabochon, i.e. with their surfaces rounded and polished in a convex shape, but not faceted. The stone treated thus preserves its own character and individuality; and much of the charm of early jewellery is due to this very fact.

From the middle of the thirteenth century enamel in general, though applied to jewels of commoner kinds, is chiefly limited to the more sumptuous ornaments of the clergy. But with the beginning of the fourteenth century the delight in jewellery enriched with enamels and precious stones is again revealed in the costumes of the laity. At the French Court of John II (le Bon, d. 1364) and Charles V (d. 1380), where the princes of the royal blood strove to outrival one another in luxurious display, personal adornments attained an extraordinary degree of splendour, and were worn to an excess of ostentation.[33]

This extravagance of fashion declined for a time owing to the wars with England, but attained its full development in the dress of the Burgundian Court. The splendour of the Burgundian dukes, outshining that of their feudal lieges the kings of France, and casting into the shade the rude grandeur of the German emperors, gave a new impetus to the use of articles for personal decoration, and for a time set the fashion for every country of northern Europe in all matters of style as well as of ornament. Outside of Italy, which perhaps excelled in point of culture, the Court of the dukes of Burgundy during the fifteenth century was the richest and most luxurious in all Europe. The sway of this powerful House extended over the Low Countries, whose ports after Venice were the centres of Oriental commerce and whose inland towns, such as Arras, Brussels, and Ghent, vied with one another in weaving the products of the East into all manner of rich stuffs. Not only silks, but pearls and precious stones of all descriptions, found an entrance through the great port of Bruges; and hardly a garment is depicted by the Flemish masters which, particularly in the case of the ecclesiastics, is not thick-sewn with Oriental pearls and stones. A survey of records containing descriptions of personal property,[34] and an examination of contemporary pictures—always the most fascinating document in regard to personal ornament—reveal a widespread luxury. Not only at Court, but in the everyday life of street and mart, costumes formed of magnificent stuffs were habitually worn, which required to be set off by jewels of an equally rich description. The warmth of the Italian climate demanded no such wealth of apparel as was essential to comfort in the more northerly countries; hence profusion of personal ornament was less generally indulged in throughout Italy during the same period. This special love of jewellery and consequent taste and skill acquired by the goldsmiths was shared by the painters of the day. With a high degree of finish and brilliancy, they introduced into their pictures faithful representations of all the rich ornaments then in vogue. Unfortunately actual examples of the splendid jewels of this time are now of the utmost rarity, but such as have survived, chiefly in the form of rich enamelled brooches, reflect in their execution the technical perfection and in their design the whole-hearted realism which display themselves to the full in the paintings of the early Flemish school.

Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, made in 1432 by John Peutin of Bruges, jeweller to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. (From the portrait of Baldwin de Lannoy by John van Eyck at Berlin.)