Posts Tagged ‘polychrome’

By the beginning of the 18th century earrings had become an essential form The girandole of adornment.
The girandole, first seen around the middle of the 17th century, remained the most popular type of earring. As we have seen, it consisted of a surmount, usually a bow motif, with three pear-shaped drops, the larger one at the centre, suspended from a hook. The hook allowed the drops to be detached, so that the surmount could be worn on its own when occasion required it.
There are several explanations for the popularity of the girandole. The first has to do with fashion in clothes and hair. During the 18th century hair was worn gathered up on the head away from the face, leaving the ears uncovered; and the low cut of dresses for formal occasions left the area around the neck and ears perfectly suited for adornment with earrings. Secondly, earrings and particularly girandoles exploited the qualities of faceted stones, especially diamonds, which had become plentiful after their discovery in Brazil in 1723; before that the supply had been limited to the mines of Golconda in India. Also significant was the improvement in techniques for cutting diamonds: around 1700 it is thought that the Venetian Vincenzo Peruzzi devised the brilliant-cut, a cut that enhanced the optical properties of diamonds, enabling the stone to reflect light and sparkle at its best. The new brilliant-cut diamonds were particularly successful when mounted on girandole earrings with the stones hanging freely on both sides of the face and catching the light. Thirdly, improved domestic candles meant that more social occasions could be held at night, and in these circumstances sparkling diamond-set jewels and especially girandoles were particularly effective. Until the mid-18th century, jewellery was set solely with diamonds. For formal evening occasions, diamond girandole earrings were all the rage, while during the day girandoles set with more sober semiprecious stones such as garnets, cornelians, pearls, aventurine glass and pastes were preferred. For the first time in the history of jewellery a differentiation was made between day-time and night-time jewels, a distinction which remains to this day.
The girandole remained the favoured type of earring throughout the 18th century and in general terms its basic elements — the bow surmount and drops, the emphasis on width rather than length and the practice of wearing matching bodice ornaments called sevignes — are features which had been common since the 17th century. There are, however, certain small differences. The early 18th-century girandole may be distinguished from its 17th-century counterpart mainly by its emphasis on the faceted stones rather than on the setting and enamel-work; in the 17th century the setting was decorated at the front and back with polychrome enamels and engravings, but towards the end of that century enamel-work and engraving were confined to the back and disappeared completely at the beginning of the 18th.
Elements remaining from the 17th century include the rather stiff design with the clearly defined bow and drops as separate units, and the pronounced horizontal de-Engraved design of the ‘Principes de Girandoles’ by L. Van der Cruycen, 1770, showing the proportions of a girandole earring.
Engraved designs for three pearl girandole earrings by L. Van der Cruycen, 177o. The central motifs are flower sprays.
velopment, stressing width rather than length. Such features are clearly visible in the designs engraved by Quien dated 1710 and published posthumously in London in 1762, especially the stiffness of the design, the drops treated as separate elements, the horizontality and the interest in the faceted stone.
Girandoles were popular throughout Europe at the beginning of the i 8th century, but there are small differences which betray their country of origin. In France they were set entirely with diamonds and were characterized by a sense of movement and sculptural quality. In Spain they were sturdier and set typically with a combination of emeralds and diamonds, a fact explained by the relatively easy supply of emeralds from mines in Colombia, which belonged to Spain. Portuguese girandoles were characterized by simple and flat lines and were usually set with topazes and chrysoberyls from Brazil, then a Portuguese colony. In the Adriatic regions and especially Southern Italy girandoles were given bold outlines and were frequently set with seed pearls as opposed to gemstones.
Girandoles of the second half of the 18th century show some slight changes. In France, particularly, they were no longer set only with diamonds but with a combination of diamonds and coloured gemstones such as rubies. Secondly, they gradually develop a more vertical outline with a more elongated central drop, noticeable in the Italian designs of circa 177o and exemplified by the proportions set out in the Principes de Giraindoles designed and engraved by Van der Cruycen in 1770. And thirdly, the basic bow surmount is frequently replaced by a more complex arrangement, for example the combination of ribbon bow and flower spray motif seen in the ruby and diamond girandoles and in Pouget’s designs for girandoles, dated 1762. One of his pages, for instance, shows six different designs for girandoles. The four set with pearls display intricate motifs in the centre other than bows: a floral motif, two hearts, paired doves and a trophy of love with two hearts and arrows. The characteristic intricacy of the central element is evident also in the emerald and diamond examples from Spain; the centre in the form of a flowerhead cluster is set with a large emerald in a border of rose diamonds framed by diamond-set foliate spray motifs. The other typical feature of late i 8th-century girandoles is the working together of the surmount and drops into much more of an ensemble, compared to the early girandoles where they are treated as separate units.
Most girandoles were quite large, and weight was an important aspect which should not be overlooked. It depended on two features, the size of the earring and the setting of the stones. Gemstones were commonly mounted in closed settings with collets closed at the back, which were lined with coloured foils to enhance the colour of the stones and improve the evenness of colour; in the case of diamonds, foils gave a subtle hue to the stones. Gold was used to set coloured stones while silver was normally used to set diamonds, as it suited their whiteness. So much metal was used in the setting that the earrings were inevitably very heavy, something which is stressed by the designer and engraver Augustin Duflos in the ‘Discours Preliminere’ to his
P 56 Recueil des Dessins, published in 1744. The need to alleviate the weight of girandole earrings led to the introduction of a special fitting, consisting of penannular wire hinged on one side to be inserted from back to front into the pierced earlobe. An additional loop soldered off-centre at the top held a ribbon secured to the hair, taking some of the weight off the ears. The Spanish emerald and diamond girandoles illustrated here are approximately 39 grams; today an average of about 22 grams per earring is reckoned to be as heavy as a woman can comfortably wear.
Tolerance of heavy earrings depends, of course, on how long they are worn, how much movement is involved and how the weight is distributed. When the weight of a long earring is concentrated in a small area, it will feel much heavier than when the
P 57 same weight is spread over a larger surface, as in the case of a disc. Duflos mentions this problem of weight. ‘Ladies’, he says, ‘are the principal objects of the Jeweller’s Art, who mainly devotes his work to them. If this work, by chance, falls under their hands, it might perhaps bring them back to noble and simple taste, better suited in differentiating them and in showing their natural graces than the glittering display that has been favoured for some time. Then they will reduce, by their own accord, the enormous size of Flowers and Girandole Earrings, which tires the ears and they will prefer beautiful diamonds, although smaller in size, to a disorderly cluster of small stones which add up to a lot of weight and are ill suited.’
The pendeloque
Another type of earring which became popular in the second half of the i 8th century,
P. 52, 53 although it was well established fifty years earlier, was the pendeloque. Its design is
characterized by a marquise-shaped surmount supporting a central ribbon bow motif
and an elongated drop of a design similar to the surmount, frequently decorated with
P. 57 a swing centre. Variations include one model which has a more elaborate central sec-
tion with a combination of bow and floral spray motifs, and pear-shaped drops. The
pendeloque seems to have come into fashion because its elongated outline counter-balanced the extreme height of hairstyles around the 1770s. This style reached its peak among the upper classes in 1778. A pad made of wool, hemp and wire was placed on the head and either natural or horse hair with pomade and powder was stretched over. They must have been extremely uncomfortable and unhygienic, since they were often kept in place for weeks at a time, becoming breeding grounds for lice and fleas; furthermore, they were highly impractical, obstructing one’s view and making it difficult to fit into a coach. Caricaturists showed servants employed to hold up the weight of the hair, or attending to their mistress’s hair from ladders, and ladies travelling in carriages with the roof opened up for the high coiffures to stick out. But comfort was not the main concern of the fashionable lady; she delighted in the way the sweeping high line of her hair was perfectly counterbalanced by the elongated drops of her pendeloque earrings.
Most of the pendeloques were set with diamonds but few have survived, since the settings were melted down and the stones reset. The great majority of extant examples are set with colourless pastes or crystals such as white topazes and rock crystal imitating diamonds. The interest in imitation diamonds is typical of the 18th century; and paste jewellery of this period can be considered the forerunner of modern luxury costume jewellery. Another favourite type of pendeloque besides those set with dia-P 49 monds or pastes is the one with a pear-shaped pearl drop usually set as a swing centre in a diamond-set frame. In design books one frequently finds variations of girandoles
P 57 and pendeloques illustrated together. In those of Quien (dated 1710) and Saint (dated 1759), there are engravings of three variations of girandoles and six slightly differing pendeloques all on the same page. Similarly, in the designs of Maria, active 1751-70, eight variations of girandoles and three pendeloques are depicted.
Pendeloques were set in much the same way as girandoles with the stones mounted in closed collets, but they were lighter, having a single drop from the bow surmount instead of three. This explains why one frequently finds a different fitting; instead of the hook with additional loop to alleviate the weight, there is a plain long S-shaped wire hook soldered to the surmount of the earrings. This is clearly depicted in some coloured designs of pendeloques (1760-70) by an anonymous Italian jeweller, in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The ‘two-stone’ earring
Another popular mid to late 18th-century earring is the type known as the ‘two-stone’ earring. This consists of two large oval faceted gemstones, the larger one on top, with the plane joining the two embellished with various decorative motifs. The simplest version of this decoration comprises just two small lozenge-shaped stones filling in the gaps at the sides where the two larger stones meet; the more elaborate type, as seen in Duflos’ engraved designs of 1744, presents lateral floral and foliate spray motifs. This type of earring was suited for the display of large and important stones, especially diamonds, but hardly any examples have survived, because such large and important stones tend inevitably to be reset in more up-to-date settings. The extant examples mostly contain pastes and garnets and have survived because there was no advantage in melting them down and resetting the gemstones. Nevertheless even the low value ‘two-stone’ earrings are very attractive: a pair set with translucent blue opaline paste may be seen in the Museum of London; it is also interesting to note how sometimes the simple ‘two-stone’ motif is repeated to form a necklace usually worn en suite with the earrings.
From the 18th century onwards, girandoles and pendoloques continued in favour, though modified as one could expect to meet changing tastes. One finds a variation of the girandole in the I 83os and again in the late 1920s, while the pendeloque enjoyed particular favour in the 18 2os and 18 8os.
A lasting tradition
In certain peripheral areas, however, fashion evolves more slowly than in courtly and
international circles, and the form of the girandole and the pendeloque has remained
p. 63 virtually unchanged from the 18th century to modern times. This can clearly be seen
in provincial jewellery of the Iberian peninsula where one finds a recurring girandole
design: a central stylized bow motif with three pear-shaped drops, pierced in gold
Engraved designs by J. D. Saint, for three girandoles and two pendeloque earrings, 1759.
Two types of earring dominate the i 8th century: the pendeloque and the ,irandole. pendeloque earrings had been ;n favour since the early part of the century, but their greatest popularity came in the 177os. Their basic design consisted of a circular or oval surmount supporting an elongated drop which counterbalanced the excessively high hairstyles of that time. The pair shown here represent one of the commonest of ,he many variants. A diamond and pearl cluster supports a diamond ribbon bow motif suspended with a pear-shaped diamond drop with a pearl swing centre.
decorated with small rose diamonds. Dating these earrings can be problematic. Earlier examples have engraved scrolling on the back, while later ones are stamped out from a die and are coarser in appearance. They are frequently accompanied by a bodice ornament of ribbon bow known as a ‘lava’ which derives from the traditional s6vign6. These Iberian examples are not particularly heavy, having pierced mounts and being set with fewer stones; this explains the fitting which, unlike the conventional i 8th-century girandole, consists of a gold hinged hook which is inserted into the ear from back to front without any additional supporting device.
Other pendeloques follow closely the traditional i 8th-century prototypes. Some have a ribbon bow and pear-shaped drop, others a much more elongated pendant, as long as 8 cms. A typical Portuguese earring derived from the pendeloque is the Brincos a Rainha’, ‘Queen’s earring’. It has a bow surmount and a swing centre, but the drop is usually wider and stones are replaced by faceted gold bead motifs. All our examples are made from a sheet of high carat gold (usually 20 carat) from which the design has been cut out by means of a saw and file, producing a lace-like effect. Inlays were skilfully chiselled by hand and the collets that were placed round the stones, usually rose diamonds, were made separately and embellished by the burin. Later examples in the 19th century were frequently cast in the chosen shape and then finished with the chisel and burin.
In another area of the Iberian peninsula centred around Catalonia, during the late i 8th century, the girandole was the inspiration for the design of the extremely popular ‘Catalan earring’, which remained in vogue virtually unmodified up to the end of the 19th century. Unlike the Portuguese examples, Catalan earrings are extremely long and resemble later 8th-century Spanish girandoles. They are mounted with an abundance of gemstones in closed settings and chased mounts. The stones are never diamonds but semiprecious stones such as hessonite garnets and amethysts. The central ribbon bow motif is greatly stylized, the emphasis being on length rather than width, and all the elements are integrated into the overall design. Some examples have a very large central drop flanked by two smaller ones, thus retaining the structure of the girandole, while others have only a single large drop and are closer in conception to the pendeloque. The long popularity of this type of earring in Catalonia is demonstrated by numerous surviving examples and by its frequent appearance even in i 9th-century portraits, e.g. , the Flower Woman from Valencia by Joaquim Argasot y Juan. The sitter is wearing typical Catalan earrings mounted in gold with dark green gemstones, the usual stylized ribbon bow surmount suspending three drops-, they are so long that they nearly rest on the shawl draped over the woman’s shoulders. Indeed, these Catalan earrings could measure up to 14 cms and were often so heavy that they had to be supported by an additional hook placed over the ear. Sidney Churchill, in an article on ‘Peasant Jewellery’ published in The Studio, mentions the practice of alleviating the weight of a heavy earring by means of a ribbon tied round the ear, which he saw in Nicosia as late as 19 12.

FASHIONS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
Right: Part of a wall-painting from Thebes, New Kingdom, circa 14-00 BC, depicting a scene from a banquet. Three Egyptian beauties are wearing the large earrings or earplugs fashionable at the time. Designed as faience or gold discs, they had a groove round the edge which fitted into a hole in the earlobe.
Below from left to right:
A pair of gold, enamel and glass paste earrings designed as a bunch of grapes suspended from a vine leaf, Canosa, late 3rd/early 2nd century BC. The fragments of green enamel on the leaves and the purple-red glass paste beads display naturalistic interest. Although the type is not very common in the Hellenistic world the design is typical of its age.
A gold disc earring with cone pendant, from Tarentum, late 4th/early 3rd century BC. Note the elaborate decoration of the disc surmount rendered with filigree rosettes and acanthus leaves. Disc earrings with inverted pyramid or cone pendant were used in certain areas of the Greek world as early as the 6th century BC, but it was in the 4th century that they reached the peak of their popularity. The type remained in favour throughout the Hellenistic period.
A pair of gold and garnet earrings, from Altamura (Bari), late 2nd century BC. Eros, god of love and death with his double funerary and erotic symbolism, is a popular motif in Hellenistic goldsmithwork. He is represented here standing with a vine garland across his shoulders and with a patera in his hands. The surmount is set with a garnet.
A gold earring from Crispiano (Tarentum), circa 375-350 BC, of disc-and-pendant type. The disc supports three pendants, the central one in the shape of a female head, a motif not as common as inverted pyramids and cones. The head presents an interesting peculiarity: a small hole at the base for the insertion of a piece of sponge soaked in perfumed oils. There are almost invisible traces of polychrome enamels, a technique that was to be much used in the Hellenistic period.
GEMS OF THE BAROQUE
Front and back views of a pair of gold, enamel, emerald, ruby and pearl pendent earrings, first half of the I 7th century. The front is set with faceted gemstones; the
back is painted with red and black enamel depicting three tulips on a light blue ground.
A pair of gold, polychrome enamel, ruby, turquoise and diamond pendent earrings, circa 1640. Each is designed as an openwork garland of floral motifs carrying a fringe of pearls, the centre decorated with a red and white tulip, and suspended on a flowerhead cluster surmount.
What is noticeable in both these examples, besides the intricacy of design, is the interest in floral patterns, especially the tulip, which had become one of the favourite flower motifs of the time following the ‘tulipomania’of the years around 163 4.
THE RETURN OF ELABORATE EARRINGS
Portrait of Anne of Denmark, consort of James I of England, by De Critz (born Antwerp circa 1552-3 — died London 1642). The fashion for open wing-shaped collars and hair swept up on the head prompted the use of long pendent earrings such as those worn by the Queen, each set with a large pear-shaped pearl, connected by a faceted diamond to a red ribbon bow on the surmount. Although long pendent earrings were not worn in Northern Europe until the beginning of the 17th century, in Italy similar earrings, characterized by satin ribbon bows and pearl drops, are already depicted in mid-16th century portraits.
The three designs in pencil, pen and ink, wash body-colour and gold on vellum circa 161o, are by Arnold Lullus, a Netherlands-born jeweller (active circa 1585—circa 1621) greatly favoured by James I of England, the husband of Anne of Denmark. The second consists of a pendent earring designed as a green enamelled snake from which hangs a ruby within a white enamel crescent supporting three green drops. The first is similar, presenting a green enamel snake suspending a single diamond, a crescent in white enamel set with faceted diamonds and a single green drop. The third is set with eleven table-cut diamonds in a polychrome enamel openwork border supporting two pearl drops and a green gemstone. All three are characteristic of the early 17th century for their size, elaboration of design, interest in enamel-work and faceted gemstones, a consequence of the improved gem-cutting techniques of the time.
THE I 7TH CENTURY: EARRINGS REVIVED
Although the Renaissance is a particularly rich century for jewellery, earrings were not worn. Elaborate head ornaments or coiffures concealed the ears, especially in Northern Europe, and the fashion for very high ruff collars prevented the use of long and elaborate pendent earrings. It was only in the 17th century that change in both hair and dress fashions determined the
reintroduction of large pendent earrings. This is exemplified by the portraits illustrated here.
From left to right
Battista Sforza, Duchess of Urbino, circa 1465, by Piero della Francesca. The Duchess is wearing typically elaborate Italian Renaissance head ornaments: a jewel on the crown of the head and three gem-set brooches fastened to the hair coiled over the ear. (Uffizi, Florence)
Elisabeth Stafford, Lady Drury, English, late 16th century, by Sir William Segar. She is wearing the fashionable high lace ruff collar and hair dressed over paddings to form two puffs concealing the ears.
Barbara Kilingerin, German, 1530, by Hans Maler zu Schwaz. She has her long braids coiled over her ears: a fashionable hairstyle since the late 14th century.
Portrait of a Lady, circa 1660, attributed to the Scottish artist David Scougall. The sitter is shown wearing large and important pendent earrings, each set with a pear-shaped drop on an elaborate diamond and gem-set surmount.
Ann Carr, Countess of Bedford, English, circa 163o, by Sir Anthony van Dyck. The countess wears long earrings, each set with two pear-shaped pearls. This fashionable type of earring was known as the union d’excellence and is always characterized by exceptional size and match of the pearls.
Above: A gold earring of boat-shaped design, from Tarentum, second half of the 4th century BC. The boat motif is enriched with rosettes, nikai and palmette surmounts and is suspended with an elaborate arrangement of chain and pendants. A dramatic chiaroscuro effect is obtained here by the exploitation of gold leaf applications, corded wire, chain and beaded work, replaced in later examples by the use of polychrome enamels.
GREEKS AND ETRUSCANS
Heads on Greek and Roman coins bear witness to the popularity of certain types of earrings, for instance those with vase-shaped pendants. Such earrings appear on Greek vase paintings as early as the 6th century BC.
Above right: A silver dekadrachm of Syracuse by Euainetos, circa 400 BC, depicting the head of the water nymph Arethusa surrounded by four dolphins. She wears an earring with vase pendant. And an electrum tridrachm of Carthage, 3rd century BC, depicting the head of Tanit wearing an earring with vase pendant, copied from the Euainetos prototype.
Right: Front and side views of an Etruscan gold earring of a baule type from Cerveteri, second half of the 6th century BC. The a baule type, so called because of its similarity to a travelling case, is typical of Etruria. It consists of a strip of gold leaf bent round to form a cylinder and is often decorated with very fine corded wire and granulation forming geometrical or stylized floral motifs. In this case the decoration is repeated on the side plaque and the elegant palmette surmount. The type was popular throughout Etruria from about 550 BC to about 470 Bc and was revived in the i 9th century.
Far right: A gold earring, from Volterra, circa 330 BC. Another typically Etruscan form of earring consisting of a horseshoe-shaped surmount supporting a cluster of beads, decorated with corded wire and minute beaded work.
THE RANGE OF ETRUSCAN JEWELLERY
Right: A terracotta statue from Lavinium, first half of the 4th century BC, testifies to the popularity of the Etruscan earring in the form of a horseshoe plaque supporting a cluster of beads, like that shown below centre.
Far right: A gold earring, of uncertain provenance, late 6th century BC, designed as a disc decorated with concentric bands of corded wire and granulation and with rosette motifs at the centre. The origin of this type of earring, or better earstud, is probably to be found in Lydia, from where it spread to Greece proper and Etruria. In Etruria it was particularly fashionable in the second half of the 6th century Be as is confirmed by many tomb paintings at Tarquinia where dancers and ladies banqueting are depicted with disc ear ornaments.
Below: A pair of gold earrings from Spina decorated with heads of the river god Achelous, end of the 5th century sc. Tubular earrings terminating with the heads of men, animals or gods were the most popular form of jewellery in Etruria at the end of the 5th
century BC, and were exported to the Adriatic area and to central Europe. With slight variations the type remained popular throughout the 4th and 3rd centuries BC.
Below centre: A gold earring designed as a cluster of beads on a horseshoe surmount, from Vulci, circa 3 50 BC, stamped out from a single sheet of gold. This is an entirely Etruscan creation popular throughout the region during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The globules are hollow inside and act as perfumed oil containers.
Below right: Gold and glass paste earrings from Tarentum, second half of the 2nd century BC. Earrings with a pendant in the shape of a glass paste or enamel bird were particularly popular in Southern Russia and in Italy in the 2nd and i st centuries BC. Etruscan examples very close to this, dating from 3rd century BC, have been found in Vulci and Chiusi.
A THOUSAND YEARS OF EARRINGS
Top row, left to right:
A pair of gold earrings of hemispherical design. The S-shaped hooks concealed by smaller bosses. Roman, 2nd century AD, from Cyprus.
A pair of gold earrings, each set with an onyx cameo of a Cupid’s head within a reeded gold border. Roman, 2nd century AD. Unknown provenance. The Roman idea of setting
hardstone cameos in simple gold earring mounts became a feature of Neoclassicism.
A pair of gold earrings designed as pear-shaped drops set with an amethyst bead within a border of pearls and beaded wire. Early Byzantine, 6th-7th century AD. From Kyrenia, Cyprus.
A pair of gold earrings, each designed as a plain hoop supporting four chains with pearl drops. Early Byzantine, 6th-7th century AD. From Cyprus.
Centre row, left to right:
A pair of crescent-shaped gold earrings, decorated with scrolls of gold wire. Early Byzantine, 7th century AD, from Polis, Cyprus.
A pair of gold earrings of crescent shape, filled with an openwork design of a vase of flowers between two confronted peacocks. The edges are decorated with gold globules. Early Byzantine, 7th century AD, provenance unknown.
A pair of gold earrings of crescent design, decorated with wire motifs of crosses within medallions and scrolls. Early Byzantine period, 7th century AD, from Polis, Cyprus.
Bottom row:
A pair of gold Greek earrings, 4th century BC, with twisted wire hoops and terminals in the form of Maenads’ heads.
Two Graeco-Roman gold earrings, probably from Egypt, i st century BC/I St century AD, with twisted hoops and terminals in the form of the heads of wild goats, decorated with garnet and green glass beads.
A pair of Roman gold earrings, 1st-2nd century a variation of the popular boss earring, with blue enamel inlays at the centre.
A pair of Roman gold and amethyst earrings, 2nd-3rd century AD, the gold and amethyst circular surmount supporting a gold bead and amethyst drop.
A pair of Merovingian earrings, 6th century AD, designed as a large gold hoop decorated with a polyhedral bead inset with garnets. This type is widely spread through Merovingian, Ostrogothic and Southern Russian areas between the 5th and 9th centuries AD, and seems to be the only original form of earring produced in Europe after the fall of the western Roman empire.
THE GREEK LEGACY TO THE ETRUSCANS
Far left: A pair of gold and amber earrings, from Riparbella, 3rd century BC, designed as negro heads carved in amber, the helmet or headgear decorated with granulation. Hoop earrings decorated at the front with negro heads were very popular in Greek and Etruscan areas in the 3rd century BC. The hook fitting of this Etruscan example is rather uncommon for the type.
Left: A gold earring from Todi, last quarter of the 4th century BC. Designed as an oval boss decorated with filigree and beaded work supporting a female head pendant between chains ending in spindle-shaped drops. An interesting detail is that the female head itself is provided with earrings. The type as a whole derives from Greek prototypes, and shows clear similarities with examples from Tarentum. But this is more than a copy; it is a provincial and overdecorated interpretation, probably created in central Etruria, of more sober and refined Greek or South Italian prototypes. It is very long — over
10 - 5 cms — but such lengths were not uncommon. Such earrings are made out of thin gold leaf and therefore, although large, are light and reasonably comfortable to wear.
Right above: A pair of gold earrings of disc-and-pendant type from Vulci, 3rd/early 2nd century BC. Disc surmounts decorated with fine granulation support miniature amphorae between pairs of chains terminating with tassels and clusters of beads. Earrings of this type were very fashionable in Etruria at the time and widely diffused throughout the Hellenized world.
Right below: A gold and glass paste earring of disc-and-bird pendant from Tarentum, 2nd century BC. The disc surmount is decorated with white and blue glass paste, the hen pendant rendered in white glass paste. Swans, doves, peacocks and cockerels were favourite shapes for pendent earrings throughout the Hellenistic world, from Southern Russia to Greece, from Etruria to Tarentum.

Enamelled glass
The process of enamelling has been known since Roman times, and from the end of the 13th century was used to great effect by Islamic glassmakers to decorate mosque lamps. In Europe enamelling first appeared in Venice in the 15th century, and spread elsewhere during the 16th century. In Vienna in the early 19th century beakers were decorated with transparent enamels
in the Biedermeier style by such artists as Gottlob Samuel Mohr and Anton Kothgasser and in the later part of 19th century copies of earlier styles were made by manufacturers all over Europe, the most outstanding of which were Islamic- and Iznik-style wares, which were made in France, and Histortsmus wares, which were produced in Germany.Enamelling
, which can be used to decorate both colourless and coloured glass, was used extensively in Europe from the 16th century. It was employed most notably to decorate armorial wares, but it was also used to create bright and colourful decoration in naturalistic motifs; naive and charming designs of flowers and animals are highly characteristic. On many wares enamelled decoration was used in conjunction with gilding.
ITALY
The invention of cristallo glass c.14.50 by Angelo Barovier (4.1460) provided a perfectly clear ground that was ideally suited to enamelling in brilliant colours. Enamelling, a technique that the Venetians probably learned from Islamic glassmakers, was at its peak in Venice from the 15th to the mid-16th centuries. The process involved applying a thick paste of powdered glass and a colouring metallic oxide in an oil medium to the surface of the glass, which was then heated in a furnace, where the enamel and glass fused. Each colour required a different firing temperature, and the work could easily burn if overfired. Enamelling is a notoriously difficult technique, and most enamelling of this period is
restricted to the borders, with simple scale and dot patterns. On much more sophisticated wares, such as specially commissioned commemorative tazze (ornamental serving dishes), enamelling was often combined with gilding, and decoration included portraits, coats of arms, family and guild crests, and mythological figures. Although enamelling fell out of favour by the late 16th century, it was revived during the second half of the 18th century by Oswaldo Brussa, who, with his son Angelo, decorated clear-glass beakers, carafes, and bottles with birds, flowers, and biblical scenes in a charming and naive style.
GERMANY AND BOHEMIA
In the 16th century enamelling was developed as a popular form of decoration in the regions of Germany and Bohemia. From the mid-16th century German glass decorators, inspired by finely decorated wares from Venice, used brightly coloured enamels to decorate large, simple shapes made from coarse, robust soda glass. The technique was especially popular for decorating traditional drinking glasses or goblets, particularly the Humpen (simple, cylindrical drinking vessels, the foot rims of which are decorated with white enamelled dashes). Variations on the Humpen include the Reichsadlerhumpen (”Imperial Eagle Beaker”), which was designed to toast and show allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor, and featured the double-headed Imperial eagle with outstretched wings from which hang shields showing the constituent parts of the Empire; the Hofkellereiglas (decorated with armorial decorations), Wilkommhumpen (”greeting glass”), usually of large proportions, and Kurfturstenhumpen (”Elector’s beaker”), decorated with depictions of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Seven Electors of the Empire.
Other German drinking vessels that were enamelled Include goblets and beakers such as the Passglas (a tall cylindrical beaker decorated with horizontal bands, which indicated the amount of beer to be consumed by a drinker before they passed the glass on to the next person) and the Stangenglas (a long narrow beaker on a pedestal base). These wares were enamelled in very bright colours with decoration such as dated armorial and political motifs, Lind designs commemorating guilds and trades.
In Bohemia in the 18th century enamelling was mostly used to decorate flasks, bottles, and tankards made of opaque-white Milchglas (”milk glass”). The white body imitated porcelain, and the decoration featured people, animals, and flowers painted in a naive folk style in bright polychrome enamels.
In the 17th century Johann Schaper (1621-70),
a Hausmaler (”home painter”) based in Nuremberg, developed an enamelling techniques which he used to decorate both glass and porcelain. Schwarzlot (black-lead) enamelling involved decorating glass vessels (mainly tumblers) with black or brown transparent enamel, and was fashionable from c.1650 to 1750. Designs were typically inspired by engravings and depicted battle scenes, landscapes, and mythological subjects.
In the 18th century the popularity of Schwarzlot decoration spread to Bohemia and Silesia. One of the most celebrated exponents of the technique at this time was Ignaz Preissler (1676-1741), a glass and porcelain painter, who used the technique to decorate glass tumblers and flasks with mythological scenes, townscapes, Laub- and Bandelwerk (decoration of interwoven leaves and strapwork), and chinoiserie.
BRITAIN AND SPAIN
Before 17.50 enamelling was relatively rare in Britain. Among the best-known early British enamellers were the Beilby family. In 1760 William Beilby (1740-1819) and his sister Mary Beilby ( 1749-97) moved from Bilston, in Staffordshire, to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the north-east of England, where they enamelled wares between c.1762 and 1774. Their most celebrated wares are large pieces, Such as the “Royal Beilbys” – goblets featuring the Prince of Wales’s feathers and made from 1763 to commemorate the birth of the Prince of Wales (later George IV); their armorial goblets enamelled on the howl and commissioned by local families are also of note. Typical decoration includes simple borders of thinly applied white flowers, fruits, hops, and barley; more ambitious designs include Arcadian landscapes, ruins, and even sporting scenes.
Other British decorators who painted with enamels include-80) and Michael Edkins
,James Giles (1718
(173 1 34-18 11). Giles decorated glassware for the Falcon Glassworks (est. 1693) in London. Edkins, who worked
in Bristol, painted opaque white glass, both with chinoiseries and with charming, naive designs of insects, birds, and other naturalistic motifs.
In Spain enamelled glassware was produced most notably at La Granja de San Ildefonso near Segovia. Established in 1728 by the Catalan glassmaker Ventura Sit (d.1755), near the palace of La Granja, the factory employed French and German glassmakers, who brought with them a variety of techniques and styles that gave the glass an international character. Typical wares include glasses and tumblers, and although many were embellished with gilded decoration, enamelled floral designs, notably tulips and roses, were also popular.
Italy
• GLASS cristallo glass is most typical; some wares appear slightly cloudy due to Grizzling
• DECORATION many pieces feature naive folk art designs of flowers or biblical scenes; on some examples enamelling is used in conjunction with gilding
Germany and Bohemia
• GLASS Milchglas should be a slightly off-white colour
• COLOUR earlier, more collectable glass is often a smoky greyish-green colour; most later glass is a strong green
• DECORATION commemorative designs, rustic scenes, and flowers in bright colours arc typical
• CONDITION damage to enamelling can greatly reduce
the value; worn gilding is common but insignificant
• BEWARE be careful with .Schwarzlot glass that features transfer-printed decoration, as many reproductions were made in the 19th century
Britain and Spain
• GLASS glass is mostly clear, or sometimes blue or white
• DECORATION Britain: some wares by the Beilby family feature armorials; many pieces depict charming, naturalistic designs; Spain: floral designs, especially tulips and roses, arc highly characteristic; designs should be neat and well drawn; enamelling is often combined with gilded decoration
• COLLECTING Britain: “Royal Beilbys” and armorial goblets with coloured decoration are valuable and highly collectable
Styles of enamelled glass produced after 1800 are many and varied. In Germanic Europe (a region that included such cities as Prague, Vienna, Copenhagen, and Berlin) the period known as the Biedermeier period (c.1815–c.1848) was one of middle-class prosperity, and this ensured the continued popularity of such decorative arts as glassmaking. Enamelled wares from the early 19th century are typically decorated with topographical scenes, floral designs, and portraits in bright colours. Following the re-establishment of the German Empire in 1871 there was a revival of the production of traditional German styles of glass; this revival is known as “Historismus”. Exceptional enamelled wares were produced in France in the 19th century, notably elaborate Islamic designs and some delicately decorated opaline wares. In Britain enamelled decoration was mainly restricted to monochromatic transfer-printed patterns on opaque white grounds.
GERMANY AND BOHEMIA
During the Biedermeier period Samuel Mohn (1762-1815), a Hausmaler (”home painter”) in Dresden, pioneered the use of a thin, transparent enamel decoration, which he used to great effect on tumblers and beakers. His son Gottlob Samuel Mohn (1789-1825) learned the technique from his father and in c.1811 went to Vienna, where he
met Anton Kothgasser (1769-1851), a painter at the Royal porcelain factory. Both men used the technique to decorate simple, straight-sided beakers and,
from 1814, a type of beaker known as a Ranftbecher, with a waisted or tapered body and a thick cogwheel-cut base. Kothgasser’s enamelled decorations resembled romantic watercolours; his designs included fine landscapes,
cityscapes (particularly of Vienna), portraits, and allegorical and Neo-classical subjects. Mohn used silhouettes and allegorical subjects as decoration but is best known for his tumblers decorated with topographical motifs – palaces, cityscapes, and tourist views; his beakers typically have gilded borders. Other distinguished contemporary enamellers include Carl von Scheidt and Andreas Mattoni (1779-1864), 79-1864), who established a school at Karlsbad where Ludwig Moser (1833-1916) was a pupil.
Following the unification of Germany in 1871, there was a fashion for reproducing “historic” styles to create a sense of national identity; this trend (which also appeared in Italy in the mid-19th century) is known as “Historismus”. Glassware was just one of the media in which designs were reproduced in the “old German” style, characteristically with decorations of spurious crests, dates, and national insignia. There was a flood of traditional German drinking glasses made, including Humpen (simple, cylindrical beakers), Romer (drinking glasses with flared feet, wide cylindrical stems, and ovoid bowls), the Kuttrolf (a type of pouring flask), and other vessels made in imitation of 16th- and 17th-century originals, with false dates and inscriptions. These copies can usually be recognized by overelaborate decoration in bright, inappropriately coloured enamels, fictitious crests, crests of large towns rather than families, and heavy glass that is free from imperfections (early glass is frequently flawed). Wares, which are often of a very high quality and collectors’ items in their own right, may bear enamelled signatures identifying the manufacturer. The leading producers included the Rhenish Glasshouse (1886-92) in Ehrenfeld, Koln-Ehrenfeld, situated on the Rhine, near Cologne, and Meyrs Neffe of Bohemia (1841-1922) in Adolfov, known for producing copies of goblets with Hochschnitt (”high cut”) decoration during the 1890s. Hausmaler who worked on “Historismus” wares include Fritz Heckert, a glass enameller who established a glass-decorating works in Petersdorf, Bohemia, in 1866 and a glass factory in 1889. The company was active until c.1890 and specialized in the production of Humpen, enamelled with designs copied from traditional woodcuts and engravings. The strong Bohemian enamelling tradition was also continued late into the 19th century by such companies as Ludwig Moser & Sons (est. c.1857) in Karlsbad (now Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic).
FRANCE AND AUSTRIA
In the 19th century French enamellers gained international renown for their fine wares, receiving
commissions from all over the world, particularly
from Arab states, in the Near East. Much French
enamelling was executed on the finest opaline
glass. Some of the best examples arc Vases
decorated with animals, birds, and sprays of
wild flowers. Some of the most impressive,
although quite rare, French enamelled wares
pre produced by Philippe Joseph Brocard
(4.1896) and I.J. Imberton Inspired by 13th-
and l4th-century Islamic lamps, which were
elaborately decorated with arabesques, stylized
scrolls, and floral designs in thick, opaque
enamel, Brocard experimented with this style
from the I 860s. His designs included copies
of mosque lamps, vases, ewers, and dishes;
these pieces, decorated with thick enamelling,
jewelling, and gilding, won first prize at
the Paris Exhibition of 1878. Imberton also
decorated fine Islamic-style wares with stylized
motifs. In Austria the style was taken up by
the glass company of J. &’ L. Lobmeyr- (est. 1823) in Vienna, which designed a range of Islamic style glassware for the domestic and export market, and also won prizes for its Islamic-style wares at the Paris Exhibition of 1878.
BRITAINIn
Britain the firm of W.II.., B. Richardson (est. c. 1836) near Stourbridge, was famous lot- it, high quality wares and patented designs. It produced glass using many patented techniques. One was known as “vitrified colours”, the finest examples of which were shown at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. The commercial process involved transfer printing [)lack or coloured designs such as a pictorial scene onto the glasse
hebody
(which was i opaque:), and then firing the design. Sometimes the enamels were hand-painted onto the body, although this is not so common. The firm of Bacchus (est. c.18 16; later George Bacchus & Sons) in Birmingham also produced a series of wares in the 19th century, which were decorated with transfer-printed enamels, most of which feature Neo-classical scenes.

Delftware
The manufacture of British tin-glazed earthenware began in the 16th century, when it was known as “galley ware possibly named after wares transported by galleys from Spain and Italy. The most important centres of production in Britain were Southwark, Aldgate, and Lambeth in London, Norwich, Brislington, Bristol, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Wincanton.
EARLY DELFTWARE
A record of 1567 tells of the arrival in Norwich of such Dutch potters as Jaspar Andries and Jacob Jansen, who had fled Antwerp to escape religious persecution. These potters established potteries locally and later at Aldgate in the east of London. Very few examples of 16th-
century British tin-glazed earthenware have survived, apart from some tiles and a number of bulbous-bodied jugs (some with silver mounts). Pottery made during the 17th century is far more common. From the late 1620s virtually until the cessation of tin-glazed production in the late 18th century, there is a considerable body of dated and documentary British delftware, which enables collectors to study the changing shapes and styles of this type of ware over a period of nearly 200 years. From c.1600 small quantities of Chinese porcelain began to be imported by the East India Company into Britain, and some British delftware made from c.1620 shows the influence of these Chinese blue-and-white imported wares. After c.1660 until the end of the 17th century those in the so-called “Transitional” style were copied.
The most notable late 17th-century wares include “blue-dash” chargers, named after the blue dashes around the rim, which were boldly decorated in polychrome with stylized tulips, carnations, oak leaves, biblical subjects, and portraits, particularly Of such monarchs as Charles II, William and Mary, and Queen Anne. The majority of this type are covered with a yellowish
lead glaze on the back, through which the body is clearly visible – it was considered unnecessary to waste the expensive tin glaze on a side that was rarely seen. These dishes have a thick foot-rim around which a cord could be wound for hanging the object on the wall. Other wares included wine-jugs, drug jars, salts, and wide-brimmed dishes. While a few examples show traces of the old Italian-Dutch style, most embrace the continuing fashion for Chinese bloc-and-white wares.
18TH-CENTURY DELFTWARE
From c.1720 British delftware became increasingly distinctive, and the decoration less complex and looser in style. Delftware made in the 18th century tends to be more delicate and intimate (with some robust exceptions from Bristol), and a far greater range of wares was made, including punchbowls, plates, flower-bricks, wall pockets, wine-bottles, guglets, fuddling-cups, pear-shaped jugs, puzzle jugs, posset-pots, and, extremely rarely, tea and coffeewares. While many of these wares were painted with contemporary British subjects –figures, buildings, and landscapes – others are decorated in blue with chinoiserie themes – pagodas, pavilions, Chinese figures, birds, and flowers. Production of British delftware virtually ceased at the end of the 18th century because of the competition from creamware (cream- coloured earthenware).
• BODY British delftware is harder and coarser than the softer, thinner Dutch Delftware
• STYLE before 1620 wares are Italian-Dutch in style; after 1620 the influence of Chinese blue and white is clear; 18th-century wares are less formal, and contemporary British figures and landscapes with chinoiserie subjects remained popular
• GLAZE generally smoother than Dutch Delftware and chips easily; mainly pinkish or bluish; 18th-century glaze is smooth, as opposed to the whiter and “peppered” surface of Dutch Delftware
• PALETTE blue and white dominates; polychrome (iron red, yellow, green, brown, and manganese purple) also used, hit rarer and extremely collectable
• DECORATION this is cruder than Dutch Delftware:
monarchs, bold flowers, oak leaves, chinoiseries
• FLATWARES these have knife-like weals under the outer flange or rim since they were fired in the kiln on stilts
• COLLECTING flatvares are most available; dates and inscriptions and more unusual forms of decoration can increase the value of a piece substantially

Middle East Pottery

The countries and regions that embraced early Islam were ideally located to absorb the cultural, commercial, and technical cross-currents of the early medieval world. Chinese commodities were one of the major influences in Islamic lands – an area that stretched from India to the Atlantic Ocean. Trade with China was well established by the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-906), since many Arabs were resident in Guangzhou (Canton), and in addition to spices, perfumes, and silks the Chinese sent ceramics to the Middle East.
EARLY WARES
From the 9th century, potters in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) were so inspired by Chinese wares that they strove to imitate them. The first types of ware made were buff or red earthenwares covered with a tin glaze. In an effort to simulate metals potters also developed the lustre technique, and during the next 300 years this method of decoration spread through Islamic countries, reaching Spain in the 13th or 14th century. Tin-glazed earthen-wares and lustre wares were two of the most important types of pottery bequeathed to Europe by the brilliant Islamic ceramic tradition. In eastern Persia (now Iran) the crisply contoured 10th- and 11th-century slipwares of Nishapur and Samarkand were subtly decorated with abstract leaf or geometric motifs and Kufic script.
PERSIAN WARES
Unique to the Islamic world is fritware, a glassy composition perhaps developed to copy imported Chinese porcelains produced during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). This grainy, white-bodied ware is often covered in a viscous, deep turquoise-blue glaze. Between c.1215 and 1334 plain and lustred wares were made in the town of Kashan, south of Tehran; the technique was probably introduced to Persia in the 12th century by Egyptian potters.
The sophisticated polychrome Mina’i (enamel)
wares of late-12th- or 13th-century Persia may often
seem crowded and confused, but they are nonetheless
outstanding examples of the Islamic decorator’s art.
Mina’i pottery was made in Rayy (now Rhages) near
Tehran, and is decorated with figures and painted in a wide range of colours. Many examples of early Mina’i ware are painted with large-scale figures in the manner of contemporary lustreware, but later the emphasis was
on small-scale, narrative subjects.
Later Persian wares, made during the
Safavid (1501-1732) and subsequent periods, include those from Meshed (eastern Persia), Kirman (western Persia), and Kubachi (northern Persia), most of which were painted in the style of late Ming and Transitional Chinese porcelains. The bodies, glazes, and decorations of these Persian wares Lire very similar and it is difficult to tell them apart.
IZNIK AND KOTAHYA
In the 16th century, extremely fine copies of blue-andwhite Chinese wares were made by the potters in Iznik (east of  Istanbul) and Kutahya in central Anatolia. The potters in these towns created superb, crisply painted
wares with swirling and scrolling foliage, painted either in blue or in a combination of turquoise, green, and, later, a thick red (Armenian bole). In addition to conventional decorative pottery vessels and dishes, Iznik and Damascus potters produced some of the finest tileworks for mosques and secular buildings. These latter wares were highly influential in late 19th-century Europe, as seen in, for example, the work of the English designer William De Morgan (1839-1917).
KEY FACTS
Early wares
•    BODY buff or red earthenware
•    GLAZE tin oxide
•    LUSTRE ruby, brown, yellow, black, red
•    TYPES tin-glazed wares; lustre wares
•    DECORATION fusion of Chinese and Islamic designs, usually abstract
Persian wares
•    BODY Mina’i: coarse; Meshed, Kirman, and Kubachi: white frit paste
•    GLAZE Mina’i: creamy; Meshed, Kirman, and Kubachi: thick and soft
•    DECORATION Mina’i: underglaze colours and overglaze enamels; Meshed, Kirman, and Kubachi: resemble each other; black design outline may suggest a Meshed piece
Turkish wares
•    BODY Iznik: greyish buff, grainy, and absorbent; Kutahya: buff and thinly potted
•    GLAZE Iznik: translucent, but slightly bluish tone; Kutahya: irregular, gathers in bluish or greenish pools
•    STYLES Iznik: “Golden Horn” (c.1530) decorated with knotted pencilled scrolls; “Damascus” (c.1550-70) very sumptuous, with large-scale floral subjects and saw-edged leaf (saz); “Rhodian” (c.1555-1700) mainly floral; Chinese-style blue-and-white wares
•    PALETTE Iznik: wide range of colours dominated by turquoise and a scaling-wax red (Armenian bole)
•    DECORATION Kutahya: crude, floral, and figural
Marks
Islamic pottery is rarely marked, although individual potters’ marks do occasionally appear; corruptions of late Ming seal marks are used on Persian pottery