,transcriber's ,notes3 ,underscores before and after a word or phrase indicate italics in the original text4 ,equal signs before and after a word or phrase indicate bold in the original text4 ,carat symbol designates a superscript4 ,small capitals have been converted to ,,solid capitals4 ,illustrations have been moved so they do not break up paragraphs4 ,antiquated spellings have been preserved4 ,typographical errors have been silently corrected but other variations in spelling and punctuation remain unaltered4 ,the ,,list ,,of ,,full ,,page ,,plates was added by the transcriber it is not part of the original text4 ,,south ,,kensington ,,museum ,,art ,,handbooks4 ,,edited ,,by ,,william ,,maskell4 ,no4 #b4--;,,ivories ,,ancient ,,and ,,medi,,val4 ,these ,handbooks are reprints of the dissertations prefixed to the large catalogues of the chief divisions of works of art in the ,museum at ,south ,kensington2 arranged and so far abridged as to bring each into a portable shape4 ,the ,lords of the ,committee of ,council on ,education having determined on the publication of them1 the editor trusts that they will meet the purpose intended2 namely1 to be useful1 not alone for the collections at ,south ,kensington1 but for other collectors by enabling the public at a trifling cost to understand something of the history and character of the subjects treated of4 ,the authorities referred to in each book are given in the large catalogues2 where will also be found detailed descriptions of the very numerous examples in the ,south ,kensington ,museum4 ,w4 ,m4 ,august1 #ahge4 ,illustration3 ,,pastoral ,,staff ,,carved ,,ivory ,,with ,,figures1 ,,composing ,,together ,a ,,representation ,,of ,,the ,,nativity4 ,,german #ab,,th ,,cent,y ,s4 ,k4 ,m4 7,no4 #bah-fe47 ,a4 ,a4 ,,bradbury4 ,,fecit4 ,,ivories ,,ancient ,,and ,,medi,,val4 ,,by ,,william ,,maskell4 ,,with ,,numerous ,,woodcuts4 ,illustration ,published for the ,committee of ,council on ,education ,,by ,,chapman ,,and ,,hall1 #aic1 ,,piccadilly4 ,,fifty ,,copies ,,on ,,large ,,paper1 ,,with ,,additional ,,illustrations4 ,,list ,,of ,,full ,,page ,,plates ,,following ,,page ,,pastoral ,,staff ,,carved ,,ivory ,,with ,,figures4 ,frontispiece ,,ivory ,,carving4 ,,one ,,leaf ,,of ,,the ,,diptychon ,,meleretense4 #cd ,,ivory ,,carving4 ,,circular ,,mirror ,,cover4 ,,date #acjj-accj4 #gd ,,ivory ,,carving1 ,,head ,,of ,a ,,tau ,,or ,t ,,shaped ,,staff1 ,,in ,,walrus ,,tusk1 ,,the ,,compartments ,,containing ,,the ,,signs ,,of ,,the ,,zodiac4 #he ,,crosier ,,in ,,carved ,,ivory ,,and ,,gilt ,,metal4 #hf ,,triptych1 ,,serving ,,as ,a ,,reliquary ,,in ,,carved ,,ivory ,,about #adhj4 #if ,,horn ,,or ,,oliphant4 ,,ivory4 ,,byzantine4 #aa,,th ,,cent4 #aad ,,plaques ,,or ,,panels ,,of ,a ,,casket1 ,,one ,a ,,fragment1 ,,ivory1 ,,french4 #aaf ,,carved ,,ivory ,,box1 ,,with ,,arabic ,,inscription4 ,,hispano-,,moresco4 #aah ,,list ,,of ,,woodcuts4 ,,page ,prehistoric carving #i ,esquimaux carving #i ,prehistoric carving in relief #aj 0 0 in outline #aa 0 0 of the ,mammoth #aa ,angel2 end of fourth century #cf ,vase2 end of sixth century #df ,book cover2 ,carlovingian #di ,panel of an ,english casket2 eighth century #ec ,another panel of the same #ed ,st4 ,peter's chair #ef ,spanish ,moresque panel #eg ,coffer painted with medallions #ei ,open-work2 two small panels #fd ,italian marriage coffer #fd ,part of a ,predella1 in bone #ff ,cover of a box1 with ,morris ,dancers #fh ,english comb2 eleventh century #gj ,italian comb2 sixteenth century #ga ,mirror case2 fourteenth century #gd ,another 0 0 #ge ,chessman2 twelfth century #hj 0 thirteenth century #ha ,arm of a chair2 eleventh century #hb ,two groups of chessmen1 found in the island of ,lewis #hc ,the volute of a pastoral staff2 thirteenth century #hg 0 0 0 ,english2 twelfth century #ij ,one leaf of a diptych in very high relief2 fourteenth century #ajj ,group1 a ,piet2 late fourteenth century #ajc ,painter at work on a statuette #aje ,chaplet and beads2 and girdle1 with ivory clasps #aab ,horn2 fifteenth century #aac ,two panels in open-work2 fourteenth century #aae ,panel in minute open-work #aae ,leaf of diptych1 executed for bishop ,grandison2 fourteenth century #aag ,,ivories ,,ancient ,,and ,,medi,,val4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,every description or account of ,carvings in ,ivory ought to include similar carvings in bone1 of which last many remarkable examples are to be found in the ,south ,kensington and other museums4 ,the rarity and value of ivory frequently obliged workmen to use the commoner and less costly material4 ,in the strictest sense1 no substance except the tusk of the elephant presents the characteristic of true ivory1 which1 8now1 according to the best anatomists and physiologists1 is restricted to that modification of dentine or tooth substance which1 in transverse sections or fractures1 shows lines of different colours or stri proceeding in the arc of a circle1 and forming by their decussations minute curvilinear lozenge-shaped spaces40 ,upon this subject the reader should consult a valuable paper1 read by professor ,owen1 before the ,society of ,arts1 in #ahef1 and printed in their journal4 ,but1 besides the elephant1 other animals furnish what may also be not improperly called ivory4 ,such as the walrus1 the narwhal1 and the hippopotamus4 ,the employment of walrus ivory has ceased among southern ,european nations for a long time2 and carvings in the tusks of that animal are chiefly to be found among remains of the medival and ,carlovingian periods4 ,in those ages it was largely used by nations of ,scandinavian origin and in ,england and ,germany4 ,the people of the north were then unable to obtain and may not even have heard of the existence of true elephant ivory4 ,in quality and beauty of appearance walrus ivory scarcely yields to that of the elephant4 ,sir ,frederick ,madden tells us1 in a communication published in the ,archologia1 that 8in the reign of ,alfred1 about ,a4,d4 #hij1 ,ohtere1 the ,norwegian1 visited ,england1 and gave an account to the king of his voyage in pursuit of these animals1 chiefly on account of their teeth4 ,the author of the ,kongs-,skugg-sio1 or ,speculum ,regale 7composed in the #abth century71 takes particular notice of the walrus and of its teeth4 ,olaus ,magnus1 in the #aeth century1 tells us that sword-handles were made from them2 and1 somewhat later1 ,olaus ,wormius writes1 #8the ,icelanders are accustomed1 during the long nights of winter1 to cut out various articles from these teeth4 ,this is more particularly the case in regard to chessmen4'0 ,olaus ,wormius speaks in another place of rings against the cramp1 handles of swords1 javelins1 and knives4 ,there is still another kind of real ivory--the fossil ivory--which is now extensively used in many countries1 although it may be difficult to decide whether it was known to the ancients or to medival carvers4 ,in prehistoric ages a true elephant1 says professor ,owen1 8roamed in countless herds over the temperate and northern parts of ,europe1 ,asia1 and ,america40 ,this was the mammoth1 the extinct ,elephas primigenius4 ,the tusks of these animals are found in great quantities in the frozen soil of ,siberia1 along the banks of the larger rivers4 ,almost the whole of the ivory turner's work in ,russia is from ,siberian fossil ivory1 and the story of the entire mammoth discovered about half a century ago embedded in ice is well known to every one4 ,although commonly called fossil1 this ivory has not undergone the change usually understood in connection with the term fossil1 for their substance is as well adapted for use as the ivory procured from living species4 ,with regard to the tusks of elephants1 ,african and ,asiatic ivory must be distinguished4 ,the first1 8when recently cut1 is of a mellow1 warm1 transparent tint1 with scarcely any appearance of grain1 in which state it is called transparent or green ivory2 but1 as the oil dries up by exposure to the air1 it becomes lighter in colour4 ,asiatic ivory1 when newly cut1 appears more like the ,african1 which has been long exposed to the air1 and tends to become yellow by exposure4 ,the ,african variety has usually a closer texture1 works harder1 and takes a better polish than the ,asiatic40 ,it would be mere guessing to attempt to decide the original nature of ancient or medival ivories4 ,time has equally hardened and changed the colour of both kinds1 whether ,african or ,asiatic4 ,we cannot easily suggest any way in which the very large slabs or plaques of ivory used by the early and medival artists were obtained4 ,the leaves of a diptych of the seventh century1 in the public library at ,paris1 are fifteen inches in length by nearly six inches wide4 ,in the ,british museum is a single piece which measures in length sixteen inches and a quarter by more than five inches and a half in width1 and in depth more than half an inch4 ,by some it is thought that the ancients knew a method1 which has been lost1 of bending1 softening1 and flattening solid pieces of ivory2 others suppose that they were then able to procure larger tusks than can be got from the degenerate animal of our own day4 ,mr4 ,mc,culloch1 in his dictionary of commerce1 tells us that #fj lbs4 is the average weight of an elephant's tusk2 but ,holtzapffel1 a practical authority1 declares this to be far too high1 and that #ae or #af lbs4 would be nearer the average4 ,be this as it may1 pieces of the size above mentioned 7and larger specimens probably exist7 could not be cut from the biggest of the tusks preserved in the ,south ,kensington museum2 although it weighs #ij lbs41 is eight feet eleven inches long1 and sixteen inches and a half in circumference at the centre4 ,this tusk is the largest of five which were presented to the ,queen by the king of ,shoa about the year #ahef1 and given by ,her ,majesty to the museum4 ,the other four weigh1 respectively1 #gf lbs41 #hf lbs41 #gb lbs41 and #eb lbs4 ,they are all1 probably1 male tusks4 ,an enormous pair of tusks1 weighing together #cbe lbs41 was shown in the ,great ,exhibition of #ahea2 but these1 heavy as they were1 measured only eight feet six inches in length1 and did not exceed twenty-two inches in circumference at the base4 ,an ingenious mode of explaining how the great chryselephantine statues of ,phidias and other ,greek sculptors were made1 is proposed and fully explained in detail by ,quatremre ,de ,quincy in his work on the art of antique sculpture4 ,he gives several plates in illustration1 more particularly ,plate ,,xxix42 but none of them meet the difficulty of the large flat plaques4 ,the natural form of a tusk would adapt itself easily1 so far as regards the application of pieces of very considerable size1 to the round parts of the human figure4 ,mr4 ,hendrie1 in his notes to the third book of the 8,schedula diversarum artium0 of ,theophilus1 says that the ancients had a method of softening and bending ivory by immersion in different solutions of salts in acid4 8,eraclius has a chapter on this4 ,take sulphate of potass1 fossil salt1 and vitriol2 these are ground with very sharp vinegar in a brass mortar4 ,into this mixture the ivory is placed for three days and nights4 ,this being done1 you will hollow out a piece of wood as you please4 ,the ivory being thus placed in the hollow you direct it1 and will bend it to your will40 ,the same writer gives another recipe from the ,sloane manuscript 7of #aeth century71 no4 #daf4 ,this directs that the ingredients above mentioned 8are to be distilled in equal parts1 which would yield muriatic acid1 with the presence of water4 ,infused in this water half a day1 ivory can be made so soft that it can be cut like wax4 ,and when you wish it hardened1 place it in white vinegar and it becomes hard40 ,sir ,digby ,wyatt1 in a lecture read before the ,arundel society1 quotes these methods from ,mr4 ,hendrie and adds another from an ,english manuscript of the #abth century3 8,place the ivory in the following mixture4 ,take two parts of quick lime1 one part of pounded tile1 one part of oil1 and one part of torn tow4 ,mix up all these with a lye made of elm bark40 ,these various recipes have been tried in modern days1 and the experiments1 hitherto1 have completely failed4 ,considerable variety of colour will be observed in the various pieces of any large collection1 and much difference in the condition of them4 ,some1 far from being the most ancient1 are greatly discoloured and brittle in appearance2 others retain their colour almost in its original purity and their perfect firmness of texture1 seemingly unaffected by the long lapse of time4 ,the innumerable possible accidents to which carved ivories may have been exposed from age to age will account for this great difference1 and a happy forgetfulness1 perhaps owing to a contemptuous neglect at first of their value and importance1 may have been the cause of the comparatively excellent state and condition of many4 ,laid aside in treasuries of churches and monasteries1 or put away in the chests and cupboards of great houses1 the memory even of their existence may have passed away for century after century4 ,it does not appear that any good method is known by which a discoloured ivory can be bleached4 ,all rough usage of course merely injures the piece itself1 and removes the external surface4 ,exposure to the light keeps the original whiteness longer1 and in a few instances may to some extent restore it4 ,it need hardly be observed that any other attempt to alter the existing condition1 whatever it may be1 as regards the colour of an antique or medival ivory is to be condemned4 ,it is quite a different matter to endeavour to preserve works in ivory which have suffered partial decomposition1 and which can be kept from utter destruction only by some kind of artificial treatment4 ,almost all the fragments sent to ,england by ,mr4 ,layard from ,nineveh were in this state of extreme fragility and decay4 ,professor ,owen suggested that they should be boiled in a solution of gelatine4 ,the experiment was tried and found to be sufficiently effectual2 and it is to be hoped that the present success will prove to be lasting4 8,since the fragments have been in ,england10 says ,mr4 ,layard1 8they have been admirably restored and cleaned4 ,the glutinous matter1 by which the particles forming the ivory are kept together1 had1 from the decay of centuries1 been completely exhausted4 ,by an ingenious process it has been restored1 and the ornaments1 which on their discovery fell to pieces almost upon mere exposure to the air1 have regained the appearance and consistency of recent ivory1 and may be handled without risk of injury40 ,we may think it to be sufficiently strange in tracing the early history of the art of carving or engraving in ivory1 that we should be able easily to carry it1 upon the evidence of extant examples1 to an antiquity long before the ,christian era3 through the ,roman1 ,greek1 ,assyrian1 and ,jewish people1 up to an age anterior to the origin of those nations by centuries1 the number of which it may be difficult accurately to count4 ,these very ancient examples are of the earliest ,egyptian dynasties3 yet1 between them and the date of the earliest now known specimens of works of art incised or carved in ivory there is a lapse of time so great that it may probably be numbered by thousands of years4 ,we must go back to prehistoric man for the proof of this2 to a period earlier than the age of iron or of bronze2 to the first--the drift--period of the stone age4 ,we must go back1 as ,sir ,john ,lubbock writes1 8to a time so remote that the reindeer was abundant in the south of ,france1 and probably even the mammoth had not entirely disappeared40 ,lartet and ,christy also 7in their valuable publication1 the ,reliqui ,aquitanic7 make a like remark3 8,it rests with the geologist1 by indicating the changes which have occurred in the very land itself1 to shadow out the period in the dim distance of that far antiquity when these implements1 the undoubted work of human hands1 were used and left there by primval man40 ,within the last few years1 in caves at ,le ,moustier and at ,la ,madelaine in the ,dordogne1 numerous fragments have been found of tusks of the mammoth and of reindeer's bone and horn1 on some of which are incised drawings of various animals1 and upon others similar representations carved in low relief4 ,these objects have been engraved in several works by geologists and writers upon the important questions relating to prehistoric people2 and copies of them may be found in ,sir ,john ,lubbock's book1 8,the origin of ,civilization10 already quoted from4 ,among them are drawings and carvings of fish1 of a snake1 of an ibex1 of a man carrying a spear1 of a mammoth1 of horses' heads1 and of a group of reindeer4 ,sir ,john ,lubbock describes these works as showing 8really considerable skill20 as 8being very fair drawings20 as the productions of men to whom we must give 8full credit for their love of art1 such as it was40 ,but to speak of them in words so cold is less than justice4 ,no one can examine the few fragments which as yet have been discovered without acknowledging their merit1 and attributing them to what may very truly be called the hand of an artist4 ,there can be no mistake for a moment as to many of the beasts which are represented4 ,again3 the sculptor has given us1 in a spirited and natural manner1 more than one characteristic quality of his subject3 and we can recognise the heaviness and sluggishness of the mammoth as easily as the grace and activity of the reindeer4 ,the results of the workman's labour are not like the elephants and camels and lions of a child's ,noah's ark--merely bodies with heads and four legs--but they are executed with the right feeling and in an artistic spirit3 the animals are carefully drawn1 and often with much vigour4 ,there is nothing conventional about them2 they are far beyond and utterly different in style from the ugly attempts of really civilised people1 such as the ,peruvians or ,mexicans1 to say nothing of the works of the savages of ,africa or ,new ,zealand4 ,they are true to nature4 ,the aboriginal nations of ,north and ,south ,america must certainly be spoken of as civilised1 though it is curious to remember how great authorities seem to differ as to what civilisation means4 ,macaulay1 in his ,life of lord ,clive1 writing with a recklessness of statement not unusual with him when aiming at some picturesque contrast1 describes the ancient ,mexicans as 8savages who had no letters1 who were ignorant of the use of metals1 who had not broken in a single animal to labour1 and who wielded no better weapons than those which could be made out of sticks1 flints1 and fishbones1 and who regarded a horse-soldier as a monster40 ,but ,bernal ,diaz1 whose report as an eye-witness has stood the test of years of later investigation and dispute1 describes the appearance of the great cities from without as like the enchanted castles of romance1 and full of great towers and temples4 ,and within1 8every kind of eatable1 every form of dress1 medicines1 perfumes1 unguents1 furniture1 lead1 copper1 gold1 and silver ornaments wrought in the form of fruit1 adorned the porticoes and allured the passer-by4 ,paper1 that great material of civilisation1 was to be obtained in this wonderful emporium2 also every kind of earthenware1 cotton of all colours in skeins1 c4 ,there were officers who went continually about the market-place1 watching what was sold1 and the measures which were used40 ,if we are to take the judgment of ,lord ,macaulay as our guide in determining what may be true civilisation1 we must set down the ,greeks in the reign of ,alexander1 or the ,italians in the days of ,leo the tenth1 as 8savages10 because they were ignorant of the electric telegraph2 or ourselves now1 because we cannot guide balloons through the air4 ,the sculptures and works of art in the ruined cities of ,yucatan are also to be thought of4 ,many engravings of them are given in ,stephens's central ,america4 ,nor is it enough to say that the prehistoric carvings are merely true to nature4 ,their merit is clearly seen when compared with the plates of ,indian drawings and picture writings in ,schoolcraft's history of the ,indian tribes of the ,united ,states3 or again1 of a different character altogether1 the illuminations in ,indian and ,persian manuscripts4 ,in some respects these last are of the highest quality as regards execution1 but the animals are generally drawn in a manner purely conventional1 with scant feeling of truth or beauty1 and little power of expressing it4 ,illustration ,in short1 the prehistoric carvings are from the hands of men who were neither beginners nor blunderers in their art4 ,the practised skill of a modern wood engraver would scarcely exceed in firmness and decision1 nor in evident rapidity of execution1 the outline of the animals in the example which is here engraved4 ,illustration ,other illustrations are given in order that the reader may compare them1 and more especially those also just referred to above1 with a woodcut 7on preceding page7 of drawings incised upon bone by ,esquimaux of our own days4 ,this has been chosen because there seems to be a general disposition1 in the way of theory1 to compare the dwellers in the caves of ,dordogne and the men of the stone age with the ,esquimaux1 and to limit1 as it were1 the unknown amount of civilisation in the one by what we have learnt from our own experience of the latter4 ,yet1 so far as the drawings and the sculptures are concerned1 there is scarcely room for comparison4 ,the work of the stone age is that of a people with whom1 if they were in all other respects savages1 we have no modern parallel4 ,the work of the ,esquimaux is that of men who imitate with the hand of a child1 and the success or power of whose imitation ranges exactly with their advance and culture 7if culture it may be called7 in other arts4 ,illustration ,the first of these illustrations is perhaps the best1 as it is certainly the most delicate and graceful of all the fragments yet discovered4 ,it represents the profile of the head and shoulder of an ibex1 carved in low relief upon a piece of the palm of a reindeer's antler4 ,so exact and well characterised is the sculpture1 that naturalists have no hesitation in deciding the animal to be an ibex of the ,alps1 and not of the ,pyrenees4 ,the next is a group of reindeer drawn upon a piece of slate4 ,and lower down the page1 incised upon a piece of mammoth ivory1 are outlines of the mammoth itself4 ,the original1 rather more than nine inches in length1 is at ,paris in the museum of the ,jardin des plantes4 ,illustration ,illustration ,there is no discovery with respect to primval man--his powers and capabilities1 his possible enjoyments and appreciation of the beautiful1 his certain infinite elevation as a reasonable being above the beasts of the field1 in the most distant age and period to which his existence has been traced1--so full of interest1 so full as yet of unfathomed mystery1 as these wonderful works in ivory and bone4 ,it can scarcely be supposed that1 by a happy accident1 we have lighted on the only specimens which were ever executed of such great merit2 or that there were some two or three men only who for a brief time in the stone age1 by a sort of miracle1 were able to produce work so excellent4 ,further researches and a few more fortunate 8finds0 may enable us to learn much more than we now know of other habits1 and the state of 7what we call7 the barbarism of those ancient races in other respects4 ,nor must we forget that for numberless generations after these men had passed away their descendants lost all the old power and skill4 8,dark ages0 came1 similar 7although incomparably longer in duration7 to those which followed ,greek or ,roman civilisation and science from the sixth to the ninth and tenth centuries after ,christ4 ,again quoting ,sir ,john ,lubbock1 we know that 8no representation1 however rude1 of any animal has yet been found in any of the ,danish shell mounds4 ,even on objects of the bronze age they are so rare that it is doubtful whether a single well-authenticated instance could be produced40 8,even curved lines0 upon the rude and coarse pieces of pottery of later ages 8are rare40 ,once more3 8,very few indeed of the ,british sepulchral urns1 belonging to ante-,roman times1 have upon them any curved lines4 ,representations of animals are also almost entirely wanting40 ,further discussion and speculation upon this subject would here be out of place4 ,we must leave it1 although with great regret4 ,we must pass at one bound to a later period of time which1 however long ago it may seem to us looking back upon it1 is nevertheless1 in comparison with the supposed date of the men who left their ivory and bone carvings in the caves of ,aquitaine1 positively modern4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,although the narrative of the sacred ,scriptures does not1 with the exception of the first eleven chapters of ,genesis1 reach back so far as the known history of the kingdom of ,egypt1 it may be best to mention1 first1 some places in the ,old ,testament in which reference is made to works in ivory4 ,king ,solomon1 we are told1 8made a great throne of ivory1 and overlaid it with the best gold40 8,the ivory house which ,ahab made10 is particularly mentioned among his memorable acts4 ,the ,psalmist speaks of garments brought 8out of ivory palaces10 or from what may rather be translated wardrobes4 ,the original text is 4 ,in the earlier ,hebrew the word meant a small house or palace2 in the later1--and the #deth ,psalm is not of early date1 and was moreover written in a foreign country1--it meant more commonly a wardrobe1 or what we now call a vestry or sacristy4 ,the prophets ,ezekiel and ,amos tell us of 8benches of ivory brought out of the isles of ,chittim10 of 8horns of ivory10 and of 8beds of ivory40 ,there are other evidences in the ,bible of the value and high estimation in which ivory was held by the ,jews2 and its beauty of appearance1 its brightness1 and smoothness are used as poetical illustrations in the ,song of ,solomon4 ,from a verse in the fifth chapter of this last book we also learn that the ivory was sometimes inlaid with precious stones4 ,it is quite evident that in those days works in ivory were regarded in ,juda as a possession only to be acquired by very great and wealthy persons2 nor may it be too much1 perhaps1 to say that they were looked upon as insignia of royalty4 ,we may entirely agree with ,de ,quincy1 in his book upon the statue of ,jupiter at ,olympia3 8,l'ivoire constitua les ornaments distinctifs de la dignit royale chez les plus anciens peuples4 ,l'antiquit ne parle que de sceptres et de trnes d'ivoire4 ,tels taient selon ,denis d',halicarnasse les attributs de la royaut chez les trusques4 ,a leur exemple1 ,tarquin eut le trne et le sceptre d'ivoire1 c40 ,but1 as has been already observed1 there are specimens and remains of ,egyptian works in ivory still existing which date by many centuries from an earlier time than the days of ,solomon or ,ahab4 ,these must be1 of course1 of excessive rarity3 partly because of their antiquity and fragile nature2 partly because of the smallness of their size1 owing to which they must have been frequently overlooked or thrown aside4 ,the collection in the ,british museum includes some examples1 a few of which1 particularly two daggers inlaid and ornamented with ivory1 are of the time of ,moses1 about #a1hjj years before ,christ4 ,several chairs1 ornamented in a like manner1 may be attributed to the sixteenth century ,b4,c4 ,some woodcuts are given of chairs and stools ornamented with ivory1 in ,sir ,gardner ,wilkinson's account of the ancient ,egyptians4 ,among the ,egyptian antiquities in the ,british museum may also be mentioned the handle of a mirror in hippopotamus ivory2 an ivory palette of about the same period2 two ivory boxes1 in the shape of water fowl2 and a very remarkable figure or statuette1 a woman1 of perhaps the eleventh century ,b4,c42 and1 again1 a very curious casket of considerable size but of much later date2 probably of the first century of the ,christian ra3 ,roman work and decoration4 ,this was found at ,memphis1 and is made of ivory plaques laid upon a framework of wood4 ,the plaques are incised with figures and coloured4 ,the shape is oblong1 with a sloping cover2 it measures about twelve by ten inches4 ,the use of ivory for ornament and the adapting it to works of art must have been known by the ,egyptians from a most remote antiquity4 ,there is a small ivory box in the ,louvre1 which is inscribed with a prnomen attributed to the fifth dynasty4 ,labarte1 quoting ,de ,roug1 mentions another of the sixth dynasty3--8,on voit au muse gyptien du ,louvre une quantit d'objets d'os et d'ivoire4 ,ce sont de petits vases1 des objets de toilette1 des cuillers dont le manche est form par une femme nue1 et une bote orne d'une belle tte de gazelle4 ,la pice la plus curieuse est une autre bote d'ivoire trs-simple1 mais d'une excessive antiquit1 puisqu'elle porte la lgende royale de ,merien-ra1 qui est plac vers la sixime dynastie40 ,dr4 ,birch in a paper printed among the transactions of the ,royal society1 on two ,egyptian cartouches found at ,nimroud1 refers to a tablet of the twelfth dynasty1 which describes a figure whose 8arms are to be made of precious stones1 silver and gold1 and the two hinder parts of ivory and ebony4 ,in a tomb at ,thebes record is made of a statue composed of ebony and ivory1 with a collar of gold40 ,the date of the ,egyptian statuette in the ,british museum and of numerous smaller objects in that and in the great foreign collections1 such as spoons1 bracelets1 collars1 boxes1 c41 most of which are earlier than the twenty-fourth dynasty and long before the time of ,cambyses1 brings us to about the same period as the famous ,assyrian ivories1 which were found at ,nineveh1 and which are also preserved in the ,british museum4 ,these were chiefly discovered in the north-west palace2 and almost all in two chambers of that building4 ,we cannot do better than listen to the general description of them given by ,mr4 ,layard himself3--8,the most interesting are the remains of two small tablets1 one nearly entire1 the other much injured4 ,upon them are represented two sitting figures1 holding in one hand the ,egyptian sceptre or symbol of power4 ,between them is a cartouche containing hieroglyphics1 and surmounted by a plume1 such as is found in monuments of the eighteenth and subsequent dynasties of ,egypt4 ,the chairs on which the figures are seated1 the robes of the figures themselves1 the hieroglyphics and the feather above1 were enamelled with a blue substance let into the ivory1 and the whole ground of the tablet1 as well as the cartouche and part of the figures1 was originally gilded1--remains of the gold leaf still adhering to them4 ,the forms and style of art have a purely ,egyptian character1 although there are certain peculiarities in the execution and mode of treatment that would seem to mark the work of a foreign1 perhaps an ,assyrian1 artist4 ,the same peculiarities1 the same anomalies1 characterise all the other objects discovered4 ,several small heads in frames1 supported by pillars or pedestals1 most elegant in design and elaborate in execution1 show not only a considerable acquaintance with art1 but an intimate knowledge of the method of working in ivory4 ,scattered about were fragments of winged sphinxes1 the head of a lion of singular beauty1 human heads1 legs and feet1 bulls1 flowers1 and scroll work4 ,in all these specimens the spirit of the design and the delicacy of the workmanship are equally to be admired40 ,there are altogether more than fifty of these ,assyrian ivories in the ,british museum3 a detailed account of nearly all is given by ,mr4 ,layard in the appendix to his first volume4 ,dr4 ,birch says they cannot be later in date than the seventh century ,b4,c42 and thinks it highly probable that they are much earlier4 ,mr4 ,layard believes that about the year #iej ,b4,c4 is the most probable period of their execution4 ,there can be no doubt that from the year #ajjj ,b4,c4 down to the ,christian ra there was a constant succession of artists in ivory in the western ,asiatic countries1 in ,egypt1 in ,greece1 and in ,italy4 ,long before ivory was applied in ,greece to the making of bas-reliefs and statues it was employed for a multitude of objects of luxury and ornament4 ,inferior to marble in whiteness1 and of course greatly inferior in extent of available surface1 ivory exceeds marble in beauty of polish and is less fragile1 being an animal substance and of true tissue and growth4 ,from the time of ,hesiod and ,homer numerous allusions are to be found in classic authors to various works in this material3 such as the decoration of shields1 couches1 and articles of domestic use4 ,as to statues1 ,pausanias tells us that1 so far as he could learn1 men first made them of wood only2 of ebony1 cypress1 cedar1 or oak4 ,the passages from the earlier classics have been referred to1 over and over again1 by all the later writers on the subject2 and it would be not merely wearying but unnecessary to repeat them here4 ,in the sixth century before ,christ1 ivory statues of the ,dioscuri and other deities were made at ,sicyon and ,argos4 ,sir ,digby ,wyatt1 in the lecture before referred to1 speaks of them as having been rude in character1 but there is no evidence left for so disparaging a decision4 ,other works were statues of the ,hours1 of ,themis1 and of ,diana4 ,the names of some of the sculptors have been preserved3 among them ,polycletus1 ,endoos of ,athens1 the brothers ,medon1 and ,dorycleides4 ,the style in which objects of this kind were executed was called ,toreutic3 from 1 to bore through1 to chase1 to work in relief2 signifying chiefly working the material in the round or in relief4 ,winckelman1 in his history of art1 explains the term at first with insufficient exactness3 8,phidias inventa cet art appel par les anciens toreutice1 c'est dire1 l'art de tourner40 ,in his second edition he corrects this1 and rightly says1 8la racine de cette dnomination est 1 clair1 distinct1 pithte qui s'applique la voix4 ,c'est pourquoi on donne ce nomme au travaux en relief1 par opposition au travail en creux des pierres prcieuses40 ,a long disquisition on the meaning of the word1 and its etymology1 is given by ,de ,quincy4 ,one of the most famous of such toreutic works1 and of which ,pausanias has left us a tolerably accurate description1 was the coffer which the ,cypselid sent as an offering to ,olympia1 about #fjj ,b4,c4 ,it seems to have been made of cedar wood1 of considerable size2 the figures ranged in five rows1 one above the other1 along the sides which were inlaid with gold and ivory4 ,the subjects were taken from old heroic stories4 ,de ,quincy has given a large plate with a conjectural restoration of the chest2 which he supposes to have been oblong with a rounded cover4 ,others believe it to have been elliptical4 ,pausanias1 in his description of ,greece1 mentions the existence in his time of numerous ivory statues and of chryselephantine works4 ,in the first section of the seventeenth chapter of the fifth book he enumerates ten or fifteen1 which he says were all made of ivory and gold2 and a table of ivory4 ,at ,megara he saw an ivory statue of ,venus1 the work of ,praxiteles2 at ,corinth1 many chryselephantine statues2 near ,mycen1 a statue of ,hebe1 the work of ,naucydes2 in ,altis1 the horn of ,amalthea2 and in another treasury there1 a statue of ,endymion entirely of ivory1 except his robe2 at ,elis1 a statue made of ivory and gold1 the work of ,phidias2 near ,tritia1 in ,achaias1 an ivory throne with the sitting figure of a virgin2 at gira1 a wooden statue of ,minerva of which the face1 hands1 and feet were ivory4 ,and1 to name no more1 a statue of ,minerva1 the work of ,endius1 all of ivory1 long preserved at ,tegea1 but at the time when he wrote placed at the entrance of the new forum at ,rome1 having been taken there by ,augustus4 ,there are two men whose travels and the sights they saw we cannot but envy2 one was ,pausanias1 the other our own ,leland4 ,it should be observed that ,pausanias believed ivory to be the horn and not the tooth of the elephant3 and he has a long argument about it in his fifth book1 where he refers to and mentions the ,celtic stag4 ,declaring it to be horn1 he says that1 like the horns of oxen1 ivory can be softened by fire and changed from a round to a flat shape4 ,the famous chryselephantine statues of ,phidias and his contemporaries were somewhat later than the statues of the ,dioscuri and the chest at ,olympia4 ,one of the most celebrated was the figure of ,minerva in the ,parthenon1 which was in height nearly forty ,english feet4 ,it would be wrong to omit all notice of the attempt to reproduce this statue which was made by order of the late ,duc de ,luynes1 and was shown in the ,paris ,exhibition of #ahee4 8,m4 ,simart1 qui l'a excute1 s'est montr le digne interprte de ,phidias1 et a su retrouver1 par ses tudes approfondies1 le vrai sentiment de l'art antique4 ,la statue1 de trois mtres de hauteur1 est d'ivoire et d'argent3 la face1 le cou1 le bras et les pieds1 la tte de ,mduse place sur son gide1 ainsi que le torse de la ,victoire qu'elle tient dans la main droite1 sont d'ivoire de l',inde4 ,la lance1 le bouclier1 le casque1 et le serpent sont de bronze2 la tunique et l'gide d'argent ont t repousses et ciseles40 ,even more colossal than the figure of ,minerva was the ,jupiter at ,olympia2 the god was represented sitting1 and reached to the height of about fifty-eight feet4 ,de ,quincy has some conjectural restorations of this statue engraved in his book4 ,we remember the destruction of these and similar works with the utmost regret2 and the more so1 because that destruction was owing in many instances to the mad violence of ,christian fanatics2 the iconoclasts of the eighth century4 ,the remains which we possess even of smaller objects are not only of excessive rarity1 but they cannot with any certainty be attributed to artists working in ,greece itself4 ,ivory and metal have perished under conditions which have left uninjured fragile vases4 ,there are some examples of carvings in ivory in the ,british museum1 and especially in the collection lately purchased from signor ,castellani which have been found in ,etruscan tombs4 ,many of these are perhaps the work of ,greek artists4 ,etruscan sculpture was probably derived at first from ,egypt3 but the art of the one was entirely and unchangingly conventional1 and never seems to vary from a certain fixed style4 ,the ,etrurian1 on the contrary1 soon cleared itself from the bondage of old traditions and1 even when rudest1 was free and attempted to imitate nature in the representation of muscles1 hair1 and draperies4 ,neither the beauty nor the wonderful spirit of the execution of some of the ivories in the ,british museum has been exceeded or perhaps equalled in any later time4 ,among them the following ought to be particularly mentioned3-- ,a large bust of a woman1 of the ,roman republican period1 and a small carving of the head of a horse1 scarcely inferior to the work of any ,greek artist of the best time4 ,a very important head of a ,gorgon1 as seen on ,athenian coins1 with eyes inlaid in gold1 about two inches in diameter2 probably the button of a woman's dress4 ,two lions1 the heads and part only of the bodies1 lying across each other1 very admirable and full of character2 and another lion's head1 the top perhaps of the handle of a mirror4 ,these were chiefly discovered1 with numerous other fragments1 at ,chiusi and ,calvi4 ,at ,chiusi also were found the panels of two small caskets which have been put together2 both are of early date2 one it may be of the fourth century ,b4,c4 and ,phnician in style4 ,there is also in the same case a fine small ivory statuette1 much later1 perhaps of the second century3 a boy1 still partly embedded in the mortar or refuse in which it was found4 ,the workers in ivory during the first centuries of our ra were1 as a class1 sufficiently numerous to be exempted by law from some personal and municipal obligations4 ,pancirolus1 in his 8,notiti10 gives a list of these bodies of artificers4 ,he mentions as exempt1 architects1 medical men1 painters1 and others1 with references to the various laws under which they were excused2 and among them are 8workmen in ivory1 who make chairs1 beds1 and other things of that sort40 ,nevertheless1 carvings in ivory of the ,roman imperial times before ,constantine are extremely scarce4 ,in the superb collection in the ,south ,kensington museum there are two only which can safely be so attributed4 ,one is the fragment1 no4 #bii2 the other is the beautiful leaf1 no4 #bab4 ,the ,british museum 7not to mention a large number of fragments chiefly of caskets or decorations of furniture1 tesser and tickets of admission to theatres and shows1 dice1 and the like7 possesses a few pieces1 of which one is extremely fine in character and in good preservation4 ,the subject is ,bellerophon1 who is represented on ,pegasus1 killing the ,chimra2 and it is executed in open work4 ,the age is somewhat doubtful4 ,professor ,westwood places it as early as the third century1 and his judgment must be treated with great deference4 ,others1 of no slight authority1 are indisposed to give it an earlier date than the fourth century4 ,this admirable ivory has somewhat of the character of the book-cover in the ,barberini collection1 engraved by ,gori1 in the second volume of his great work on diptychs4 ,that famous piece is not perfect1 nor is there any name upon it4 ,gori fairly argues that it represents the emperor ,constantius1 about the year #ceg4 ,the ,bellerophon is of finer work4 ,the gradual and uninterrupted decline of art from the days of ,augustus is to be traced as distinctly in the ivories which have been preserved as in ancient buildings4 ,but we can scarcely agree with ,d',agincourt as regards its rapidity4 ,speaking of sculpture generally1 he says3 8,on vit celle-ci successivement grande1 noble1 auguste sous le prince qui mrita ce nom2 licencieuse et obscne sous ,tibre2 grossirement adulatrice sous ,caracalla2 extravagante sous ,nron1 qui faisait dorer les chefs-d'uvre de ,lysippe40 ,d',agincourt probably refers to the barbarism of ,caligula1 who proposed to put a head of himself upon the ,olympic ,zeus by ,phidias2 or to ,claudius1 who cut the head of ,alexander out of a picture by ,apelles1 to replace it with his own4 ,suetonius has recorded the first of these atrocities 7can we speak of them by a lighter name87 and ,pliny the last4 ,in the collection given to the town of ,liverpool by ,mr4 ,mayer there are two very celebrated pieces1 possibly of the third century2 they were originally the leaves of a diptych4 ,on one is sculapius1 on the other ,hygieia4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,from the middle of the fourth century down to the end of the sixteenth we have an unbroken chain of examples still existing4 ,individual pieces may1 perhaps1 in many instances be of questionable origin as regards the country of the artist1 and1 sometimes1 with respect to the exact date within fifty or even a hundred years4 ,but there is no doubt whatever that1 increasing in number as they come nearer to the middle ages1 we can refer to carved ivories of every century preserved in museums in ,england and abroad4 ,their importance with reference to the history of art cannot be overrated4 ,there is no such continuous chain in manuscripts1 or mosaics1 or gems1 or textiles1 or porcelain1 or enamels4 ,perhaps1 with the exception of manuscripts1 there never was in any of these classes so large a number executed nor the demand for them so great4 ,the material itself or the decorations by which other works were surrounded very probably tempted people to destroy them2 and we may thank the valueless character of many a piece of carved ivory1 except as a work of art1 for its preservation to our own days4 ,the most important ivories before the seventh century are the consular diptychs4 ,the earliest which still exists claims to be of the middle of the third century1 the latest belongs to the middle of the sixth4 ,anything doubled1 or doubly folded1 is a diptych3 2 but the term was chiefly applied to the tablets used for writing on with metallic or ivory styles by the ancients4 ,when these tablets had three leaves they were called triptychs1 and of five or more leaves pentaptychs or polyptychs4 ,inside1 each leaf was slightly sunk with a narrow raised margin in order to hold wax2 outside1 they were ornamented with carvings4 ,they were not always of ivory2 frequently of citron or of some less costly wood1 and for common use were probably of small size1 convenient for the hand and for carrying about4 ,homer1 in the sixth book of the ,iliad1 speaks of such tablets1 and there are frequent references to them in ,latin writers2 in ,juvenal1 ,martial1 and other authors4 ,many passages are to be found quoted in books upon the ancient ,roman diptychs4 ,it happens also that two ancient specimens have been found4 ,both were discovered in gold mines in ,transylvania1 and have been described by ,massmann in a volume published at ,leipsic in #ahda4 ,each consists of three leaves1 one of fir-wood1 the other of beech1 and about the size of a modern octavo book4 ,the outer part exhibits the plain surface of the wood1 the inner part is covered with wax surrounded by a margin4 ,the edges of one side are pierced that they might be fastened together by means of a thread or wire passed through them4 ,the wax is not thick on either set of tablets2 it is thinner on the beechen set1 in which the stylus of the writer has in places cut through the wax into the wood4 ,there is manuscript still remaining on both of them3 the beginning of the beechen tablets containing some ,greek letters4 ,the writing on the other is in ,latin1 a copy of a document relating to a collegium4 ,the name of one of the consuls is given1 determining the date to be ,a4,d4 #afi4 ,an abridged account of these very curious tablets is given in ,smith's 8,dictionary of antiquities0 under the word 8tabul40 ,the consular diptychs were of much larger size than those made for everyday use3 generally about twelve inches in length by five or six in breadth4 ,diptychs of this kind were part of the presents sent by new consuls on their appointment to very eminent persons2 to the senators1 to governors of provinces1 and to friends4 ,each consul probably sent many such gifts1 and duplicates of more than one example have been preserved4 ,these naturally varied greatly1 not only in the workmanship but in the material4 ,for persons in high station or authority the diptychs would be carved by the best artists of the time1 and if not made entirely of some metal very costly and valuable the material would be ivory1 perhaps also mounted in gold4 ,as we find in the fifth book of the letters of ,symmachus 7consul1 ,a4,d4 #cia71 8,domino principi nostro auro circumdatum diptychon misi1 cteros quoque amicos eburneis pugillaribus et canistellis argenteis honoravi40 ,for others of lower rank or for dependents1 they would be roughly finished and of bone or wood4 ,it is to the custom of sending these diptychs to people of rank in the provinces that we owe the preservation of some still extant1 and which have been kept in the country into which they came by gift or otherwise in very early times4 ,generally1 in somewhat later days1 they were given or bequeathed to churches2 and1 having been first used in the public services1 were afterwards laid by in their treasuries4 ,inside these official diptychs the wax may have been inscribed with the ,fasti ,consulares or list of names of all preceding consuls1 closing with that of the new magistrate1 the donor4 ,as ,ausonius1 himself consul in the year #cgi1 says in one of his epigrams3 8,hactenus adscripsi fastos4 ,si sors volet1 ultra ,adjiciam3 si non1 qui legis1 adjicies4 ,scire cupis1 qui sim8 titulum qui quartus ab imo est ,qure2 legis nomen consulis ,ausonii40 ,this1 however1 as a rule1 is matter of conjecture4 ,outside1 the leaves were carved with various ornaments2 sometimes with scrolls1 or cornucopi1 or the bust of the new consul in a medallion4 ,sometimes--and as the diptychs which we now possess repeat this style the most frequently we may conclude it to have been the usual practice at least for the more important of those presented--the consul was represented at full length and sitting in the cushioned curule chair3 one hand often being uplifted and holding the mappa circensis4 ,he is clothed in the full ceremonial vestments of his office1 as used when he was inducted into it4 ,the dress itself seems to be a splendid imitation of that worn by the old generals at the celebration of a triumph2 a richly embroidered cloak 7toga picta7 with ample folds1 beneath which is a tunic striped with purple 7trabea7 or figured with palm leaves 7tunica palmata74 ,on his feet are shoes of cloth of gold 7calcei aurati71 and in one hand the consular staff or sceptre 7scipio7 surmounted by an eagle or an image of ,victory4 ,the conspicuous representation of a cushion on the seat of the chair is probably not to be overlooked as of small signification or importance4 ,cushions were permitted only to certain privileged classes during the games of the circus2 and ,caligula conceded the use of cushions to senators as a graceful compliment at the beginning of his reign4 ,some will remember also the advice given by ,ovid1 in his 8,art of ,love10 to the lover in attendance on his mistress in the theatre or at public games 7he had just before been speaking of the ivory statues carried in the procession73 8,parva leves capiunt animos4 ,fuit utile multis ,pulvinum facili composuisse manu4 ,profuit et tenui ventum movisse tabella flabello82 ,et cava sub teneram scamna dedisse pedem40 ,not unusually in the lower part of each leaf1 in a separate compartment1 were representations of the shows which the consul intended to give1 of the manumission of slaves1 and of the presents1 money1 bread1 c41 which were also to be distributed among the people4 ,the series of consular diptychs1 having each of them in many cases a known date1 is of essential value and importance in the history of art1 whilst the fashion of them lasted4 ,similar as they are one to another in certain respects1 nevertheless there is a considerable variety of treatment and undoubtedly various degrees of excellence or inferiority of style and execution4 ,when so many would be required by the consul of the year1 it was impossible that all could be made by good artists1 and probably one or two of the best kind were roughly copied by common workmen4 ,it was sufficient if the general character1 dress1 or special ornament of the consul were represented4 ,rapidly as art declined during the three centuries after the birth of ,constantine1 as shown especially in these consular diptychs1 we may nevertheless trace a certain grandeur in the figures and in the attitudes which show that earlier and better models of antiquity were still followed by the sculptors4 ,labarte further observes that the diptychs carved at ,constantinople were far superior to those which were made in ,italy4 ,many of these diptychs are identified by the name of the consul which is carved across the top of one leaf2 the full legend generally running across both being equally divided4 ,it has been said that these legends 7as well as portions of the sculpture7 were sometimes coloured red4 ,we know no extant example1 but the following passage from ,claudian is important1 and not on that particular point alone3 8,tum virides pardos1 et cetera colligit austri ,prodigia1 immanesque simul ,latonia dentes1 ,qui secti ferro in tabulas auroque micantes1 ,inscripti rutilum clato consule nomen1 ,per proceres et vulgus eant2 stupor omnibus ,indis ,plurimus ereptis elephas inglorius errat ,dentibus40 ,we usually find also a profusion of proper names1 according to the fashion and taste of the court of ,constantinople and of the last years of the consulate4 ,following these names was a formula which expressed the style and dignities3 8,vir illustris1 comes domesticorum equitum1 et consul ordinarius40 ,the 8vir illustris0 signified that the new consul had either filled or was of rank great enough to fill high official positions in the state4 ,the 8comes domesticorum equitum0 was his title as commander of the bodyguard of the emperor4 ,the 8consul ordinarius0 declared the true consular dignity itself4 ,some of the consular diptychs also add the names of the persons or communities to whom they were sent4 ,thus1 the diptych of ,flavius ,theodorus ,philoxenus1 ,a4,d4 #ebe1 has the following inscription in ,greek iambics1 part upon one tablet1 part upon the other3 8,i1 ,philoxenus the consul1 offer this gift to the wise senate40 ,another diptych of ,flavius ,petrus1 ,a4,d4 #eaf1 has this inscription within a large circle3 8,i1 the consul1 offer these presents1 though small in value1 still ample in honours1 to my senatorial fathers40 ,this is given by ,m4 ,pulszky1 in his essay on antique ivories4 ,the same writer quotes the often-cited decree of the emperor ,theodosius2 by which1 because of the honour attached to the receiving of these diptychs1 the presenting of them by anyone but the ordinary consuls was forbidden4 ,the law ought not to be omitted here3 8,lex ,,xv4 ,codex ,theodosianus1 tit4 xi4 ,de expensis ludorum4 ,illud etiam constitutione solidamus1 ut exceptis consulibus ordinariis1 nulli prorsus alteri auream sportulam aut diptycha ex ebore dandi facultas sit4 ,cum publica celebrantur officia1 sit sportulis nummus argenteus1 alia materia diptycha40 ,during the period when these ivory diptychs were in use or fashion1 that is 7so far as we know7 from the first or second centuries to the sixth1 the office of consul was entirely in the hands of the emperors1 who conferred it on whom they would1 and assumed it themselves as often as they thought fit4 ,augustus was consul thirteen times2 ,vitellius proclaimed himself perpetual consul2 ,vespasian eight times2 and ,domitian seventeen4 ,the consuls1 therefore1 gradually became mere ciphers in the state4 ,it is true that they presided in the senate and on other public occasions with all the ancient forms2 and the mere title1 down to the extinction of the western empire1 was nominally the most exalted and honourable of all official positions4 ,the most complete list which we have of the existing consular diptychs is given by professor ,westwood in a carefully written paper read before the ,oxford architectural society1 and printed in their proceedings for #ahfb4 ,these are supposed to have been all identified1 and1 in most instances1 by the inscription on the ivory4 ,nevertheless1 we must still acknowledge to a grave doubt about more than one3-- ,a4,d4 #a4 ,m4 ,julius ,philippus ,augustus4 ,in the ,meyer collection at ,liverpool4 ,one leaf #bdh #b4 ,m4 ,aurelius ,romulus ,csar4 ,in the ,british museum4 ,one leaf #cjh #c4 ,rufius ,probianus4 ,at ,berlin4 ,both leaves #cbb #d4 ,anicius ,probus4 ,in the treasury of the cathedral of ,aosta4 ,both leaves #djf #e4 ,flavius ,felix4 ,bibliothque ,impriale1 ,paris4 ,one leaf #dbh #f4 ,valentinian ,,iii4 ,in the treasury of the cathedral of ,monza4 ,both leaves #dcj #g4 ,flavius ,areobindus4 ,at ,milan1 in the ,trivulci collection4 ,both leaves #dcd #h4 ,flavius ,asturius4 ,at ,darmstadt4 ,one leaf #ddi #i4 ,flavius ,aetius4 ,at ,halberstadt4 ,one leaf #ded #aj4 ,narius ,manlius ,boethius4 ,in the bibl4 ,quiriniana at ,brescia4 ,two leaves #dhg #aa4 ,theodorus ,valentianus4 ,at ,berlin4 ,both leaves #eje #ab4 ,flavius ,dagalaiphus ,ariobindus4 ,at ,lucca2 both leaves4 ,at ,zurich2 both leaves4 ,and in private possession at ,dijon2 one leaf #ejf #ac4 ,flavius ,taurus ,clementinus4 ,in the ,meyer collection at ,liverpool4 ,both leaves #eac #ad4 ,flavius ,petrus ,justinianus4 ,bibliothque ,impriale1 at ,paris2 one leaf4 ,and at ,milan1 in the ,trivulci collection2 both leaves #eaf #ae4 ,flavius ,anastasius ,paulus ,probus ,pompeius4 ,at ,berlin2 one leaf4 ,the other leaf in ,south ,kensington museum4 ,bibliothque ,impriale1 ,paris2 both leaves4 ,and ,verona2 one leaf #eag #af4 ,flavius ,paulus ,probus ,magnus4 ,two in the ,imperial library at ,paris2 each one leaf4 ,another1 so attributed1 in the ,mayer collection at ,liverpool2 one leaf #eah #ag4 ,flavius ,anicius ,justinus ,augustus4 ,at ,vienna2 one leaf #eai #ah4 ,flavius ,theodorus ,philoxenus4 ,bibliothque ,impriale1 ,paris2 both leaves4 ,and in the ,mayer collection2 one leaf2 very doubtful #ebe #ai4 ,flavius ,anicius ,justinianus ,augustus4 ,at ,paris #ebh #bj4 ,rufinus ,orestes4 ,south ,kensington museum4 ,both leaves #ecj #ba4 ,anicius ,faustus ,albinus ,basilius4 ,in the ,uffizii1 at ,florence2 one leaf4 ,the companion leaf is in the ,brera1 at ,milan #eda ,a few remarks may be of use to the student with reference to some of these important diptychs4 ,the leaves of no4 #c now form the covers of a manuscript life of ,st4 ,ludgerus4 ,this diptych is erroneously named by ,labarte as the most ancient known to exist4 ,of no4 #e1 the other leaf was lost or stolen during the ,french revolution of #agib4 ,mr4 ,oldfield1 a very high authority1 suggests that no4 #f should be given to ,valentinian ,,ii41 in which case the date would be about ,a4,d4 #chj4 ,the earlier date is supported by the great beauty and admirable execution of the diptych4 ,no4 #g has no inscription3 it bears a monogram which contains all the letters of the name ,areobindus4 ,it is engraved in the ,thesaurus of ,gori4 ,no4 #h was formerly in the church of ,st4 ,martin at ,lige1 and it was long supposed to be lost4 ,professor ,westwood1 however1 has found the greater portion of one leaf1 used as the cover of a book of the gospels in the royal library at ,darmstadt4 ,this1 probably1 is not a fragment of the ,lige diptych1 but of another of the same consul4 ,the two leaves are engraved in ,gori4 ,a folio volume of more than #bjj pages was edited by ,hagenbuch in #agch1 containing a number of learned essays on the diptych of ,manlius ,boethius1 no4 #aj4 ,it has at the beginning engravings of both leaves3 and the consul is represented on one in a standing position2 on the other1 sitting and holding the mappa in his right hand4 ,the inscription is unusually obscure3 how much so may be judged from the fact that the editor of the book has collected more than half a dozen different interpretations of it4 ,some of them are amusing4 ,the inscription on one leaf runs thus3 ,,narmanlboethivsvcetinl1 on the other1 ,,expppvsecconsordetpatric4 ,the members of the ,academy at ,paris1 to whom the difficulty had been referred1 proposed to read 8,natales regios ,manlius ,boethius vir clarissimus et inlustris ex propria pecunia voto suscepto edixit celebrandos consul ordinarius et patricius40 ,but a more probable reading is1 8,narius ,manlius ,boethius vir clarissimus et inlustris1 exprfectus prtorio1 prfectus1 et comes1 consul ordinarius et patricius40 ,again1 against this last some have disputed that the ,,ppp meant three times prefect1 and ,,cc twice consul4 ,we must remember that artists in ivory were driven1 because of the narrow limits at their disposal1 to use extreme forms of contractions and symbols1 scarcely intelligible even in their own time1 instead of words3 far more so1 indeed1 than were the carvers of inscriptions upon monumental stones1 altars1 and sarcophagi4 ,professor ,westwood leaves the date of no4 #aa doubtful3 it is remarkable1 as representing in a medallion1 between the busts of the emperor and empress1 the head of ,christ with a cruciferous nimbus4 ,the ,paris diptych of the consul ,anastasius was long known as the diptych of ,bourges1 under which name it is well engraved in ,montfaucon's 8,antiquities03 and no4 #ah as the diptych of ,compiegne2 having been given by ,charles the ,bald in the ninth century to the abbey church of ,st4 ,corneille1 where the leaves were preserved until its destruction in #agij1 and were then transferred to ,paris4 ,the diptych is admirably figured in the ,trsor de numismatique et de glyptique of ,lenormant1 who refers also to previous writers on this diptych4 ,basilius1 consul of ,constantinople1 whose name is attached to no4 #ba1 was the last of the long and illustrious line of consuls4 ,they had continued1 with a few short interruptions of the tribunes1 for more than a thousand years4 ,after ,basilius1 the emperors of the ,east took the title1 until at length it fell into oblivion4 ,the last consul of ,rome was ,decimus ,theodorus ,paulinus1 ,a4,d4 #ecf4 ,the second leaf of this diptych has been identified by professor ,westwood3 ,m4 ,pulszky believed it to have been lost4 ,it is but a fragment of the right wing of the diptych1 the upper half4 ,gori gives figures of both leaves3 he decides against their being of the same pair4 ,mr4 ,westwood1 however1 says that 8it is certainly the companion0 to the leaf in the ,uffizii4 ,a detailed description and arguments about many of these diptychs will be found in the dissertations printed by ,gori in his ,thesaurus4 ,other authorities are ,du ,cange1 ,mabillon1 and ,montfaucon4 ,their statements have been ably and briefly summed up in the very interesting paper already mentioned1 read before the architectural society of ,oxford1 by professor ,westwood2 and by ,m4 ,pulszky in his essay on antique ivories4 ,a ,roman diptych1 undescribed1 is preserved at ,tarragona in ,spain1 and it is extremely probable that a careful search amongst the treasures still remaining in the churches of that country would discover others4 ,the very learned editor of the ,thesaurus of ,gori 7writing more than a hundred years ago7 says3 8,suspicio enim invaluit in locupletissimis ,hispani sacrariis1 quo totius fere orbis donaria confluxerunt1 multa hujusmodi abscondi1 qu nusquam adhuc comparuere1 quia hactenus nec perquisita nec curata40 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,there are several very important ,roman diptychs and leaves of diptychs1 not consular1 still extant2 some also of greater beauty than any of the examples in the preceding list4 ,among them is the diptych 7already mentioned7 of sculapius and ,hygieia in the ,mayer collection at ,liverpool2 and another1 but smaller1 of the same subject in a private collection in ,switzerland4 ,this last is described by professor ,westwood1 who possesses a cast of it1 as 8in much deeper relief than the ,fejrvry diptych1 and full of energy in the design4 ,here sculapius holds a palm-branch in his right hand1 and supports his club1 round which a serpent is twined1 with his left2 whilst ,hygieia holds a snake in her right hand and1 apparently1 a large melon in her left40 ,another is the diptych of cardinal ,quirini now at ,brescia1 having on one leaf1 as interpreted by ,m4 ,pulszky1 ,phdra and ,hyppolytus2 and on the other ,diana and ,virbius4 ,this is probably of the third century4 ,another is the famous diptych1 long known as the ,tablets of ,sens1 but now at ,paris in the ,imperial library and forming the covers of a thirteenth century manuscript1 containing 8,the ,office of fools10 or1 rather1 the ,office of the feast of the circumcision4 ,in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries some childish and improper jests and plays were allowed in churches on the first day of the year4 ,this 8,office of fools0 seems to have been a complete arrangement for the day2 with mass1 matins1 and hours4 ,the whole affair was something like 7but without the reverential decorum7 the festival of the boy-bishop1 celebrated in more than one of our ,english cathedrals about the same period1 and was probably a relic of the heathen ,saturnalia4 ,these tablets1 which are somewhat similar in style to the sarcophagi of the third century1 are engraved by ,labarte in his album4 ,on one leaf is represented ,bacchus in a car drawn by centaurs2 on the other is ,diana in a chariot drawn by two bulls4 ,both subjects are surrounded by mythological figures4 ,they are engraved also in ,lacroix1 ,arts of the middle ages1 as an illustration of book-binding3 and in the second volume of the ,monumens antiques indits1 by ,millin4 ,there is a diptych of perhaps the fifth century in the treasury of the cathedral of ,monza2 one leaf representing ,calliope sounding the lyre1 and the other some unknown philosopher4 ,mr4 ,oldfield1 in his excellent catalogue with very valuable notes of the ,arundel series of fictile ivories1 supposes the muse to be some ,roman lady in an ideal character4 ,he objects to ,gori's suggestion that the other leaf represents a poet1 taking the characteristics to be those certainly of a philosopher4 ,another is in the public library at ,paris1 the two leaves having six muses1 each of them accompanied by an author4 ,these last have been guessed at by ,m4 de ,witte1 who places the diptych in the fourth century4 ,neither ,m4 ,pulszky nor professor ,westwood is inclined to agree with these guesses1 except that one may perhaps be ,euripides grouped with ,melpomene4 ,the workmanship is rude and the figures carved in high relief4 ,again1 another diptych at ,vienna in the cabinet of antiquities1 is attributed to the time of ,justinian4 ,one leaf has a figure representing ,rome2 the other1 ,constantinople4 ,the above are all named in the essay attached to the catalogue of the ,fejrvry collection by ,m4 ,pulszky2 and professor ,westwood very rightly adds to them one leaf of a diptych in the possession of count ,auguste de ,bastard1 the diptych of ,st4 ,gall1 the mythological figure of ,penthea in the museum of the htel ,cluny1 a perfect diptych in the cathedral of ,novara1 and another in the basilica of ,san ,gaudenzio at the same place4 ,there is no example among all these which surpasses in beauty of execution or in the interest of the subject1 two ivory tablets which were formerly the doors of a reliquary in the convent of ,moutier in ,france1 in the diocese of ,troyes4 ,when ,m4 ,pulszky wrote his essay both tablets were supposed to be lost2 they had been described and engraved in the ,thesaurus of ,gori1 from whose prints alone they were known4 ,happily both since have been recovered4 ,the left tablet1 discovered a few years ago at the bottom of a well1 is in the htel ,cluny1 much injured1 and the other is in the collection of the ,south ,kensington museum4 ,the ,south ,kensington leaf is probably the most beautiful antique ivory in the world4 7,see etching47 ,each leaf represents a ,bacchante2 on both they are standing1 and the ,bacchante on the leaf in the ,english collection is accompanied by an attendant4 ,clothed from the shoulders to the feet in a long tunic1 she stands near an oak-tree before an altar1 on which a fire is lighted1 and she is in the act of dropping a grain of incense from a small box held in her left hand4 ,the whole figure is extremely graceful and dignified1 the expression of the face earnest and devotional1 and the form of the figure rightly expressed beneath the drapery2 the hands and feet also well and carefully carved4 ,on the corresponding leaf1 preserved at ,paris1 the ,bacchante has no attendant4 ,her drapery falls negligently suspended from her left shoulder1 leaving the right arm and breast exposed4 ,professor ,becker in his 8,gallus10 describing the ,lycoris of ,virgil's tenth eclogue1 says3 8,her light tunica1 without sleeves1 had become displaced by her movements and slidden down over her arm1 disclosing something more than the dazzling shoulder40 ,he adds in a note that 8the wide opening for the neck1 and the broad holes for the arms1 caused the tunica on every occasion of the person's stooping to slip down over the arm4 ,artists appear to have been particularly fond of this drapery40 ,such an arrangement1 or rather disarrangement1 of drapery would equally happen when the tunic was fastened over the shoulder by a small fibula1 as it is represented upon the right arm of the young attendant in the ,south ,kensington leaf4 ,the ,paris ,bacchante stands before an altar on which a fire burns1 and holds in each hand a torch with the flaming end downwards1 as if to extinguish them4 ,her hair is gracefully bound with a riband decorated with ivy leaves1 and falls down her back4 ,a pine tree1 stiff in design1 stands close behind the altar2 not to be compared with the oak-tree on the other leaf4 ,illustration3 ,,ivory ,,carving4 ,,one ,,leaf ,,of ,,the ,,diptychon ,,meleretense ,h4 #aa in4 ,w4 #d in4 ,s4 ,k4 ,m4 7,no #bab'f4e7 ,w4 ,,wise ,,fecit ,this admirable diptych was1 perhaps1 a gift on the occasion of some marriage between members of the two patrician families whose names are on the labels3 ,,nicomachorvm4 ,,symmachorvm2 or it may possibly have formed the cover of the marriage contract itself1 the tabul nuptiales of which ,juvenal speaks2 or perhaps it was a joint offering to the temple of ,bacchus or ,cybele4 ,the last supposition would be confirmed if the omitted word was 8religio10 as suggested by ,passeri1 who believes that the two families took the opportunity of recording upon this diptych1 on some occasion of importance common to both of them1 their determination to uphold the old heathen worship against the doctrines and influence of ,christianity1 at that time widely extending4 ,before we pass to the large series of ivory carvings executed between the eighth or ninth and the fifteenth centuries1 there is one very celebrated piece about which a few words may be said3 a superb leaf of a diptych1 preserved in the ,british museum4 ,the other leaf is lost and has probably been destroyed2 nor is there any record 7it is believed7 from whence that museum obtained the ivory4 ,it has been in the collection for many years4 ,illustration ,the plaque itself is one of the largest known3 more than sixteen inches in length by nearly six in width4 ,the subject is an angel1 standing on the highest of six steps under an arch supported on two ,corinthian columns2 he holds a globe with a cross above it in his right hand2 in his left a long staff1 to the top of which1 as if half resting on it like a warrior on his lance1 the hand is raised above his head4 ,he is clothed in a tunic and an ample cloak or mantle falling round him and over the shoulders in graceful folds4 ,his head is bound round with a fillet1 and the feet have sandals4 ,there is no antique ivory carving which surpasses this in grandeur of design1 in power and force of expression1 or in the excellence of its workmanship4 ,although some foreign writers are disposed to place the date of it so late as the time of ,justinian1 we shall be more correct in attributing it1 with ,mr4 ,oldfield1 to the fifth or even to the end of the fourth century4 ,nor1 looking at it1 can we hesitate to claim for the earliest ,christian art1 after ,christianity was recognised by ,constantine1 a place by the side of the best works of pagan times4 ,if we select this1 and the book-covers in the treasury of the cathedral at ,milan1 and the well-known book-cover in the public library at ,paris1 we shall find no western work in ivory to equal them in quality and beauty of workmanship from the fifth to the thirteenth century4 ,we owe the preservation of many of these consular and mythological diptychs to the circumstance that when the practice of sending them as presents had 7it may be7 for some time been discontinued1 another use was found by adapting them to ,christian purposes4 ,in some cases the subjects or titles of the diptychs were altered2 as1 for example1 in one of the diptychs preserved at ,monza4 ,this was originally a consular diptych1 of late work1 coarse in style and manner of execution4 ,the consul is represented on each wing1 raising the mappa circensis in the usual way3 on one1 however1 he is standing2 on the other he is sitting upon a kind of throne4 ,on one leaf the top of the consul's head has been shaved1 to show the clerical tonsure2 and in the blank space of two small panels1 immediately beneath the arch under which he stands1 the title ,san,ctu,s ,,grego,rius is cut in high relief4 ,on the other leaf above the sitting consul1 on the corresponding panels1 ,,david ,,rex is inscribed in similar letters4 ,both the wings are engraved by ,gori4 ,it must not be omitted that some late writers have argued that this diptych is not a palimpsest2 that it is merely an imitation of the preceding consular diptychs1 and not earlier than the seventh or eighth century4 ,but the whole character is unlike mere imitation2 and the shaving of the head1 the alteration of the ornamented top of the sceptre or staff1 and the cutting of the inscription on the tablets1 might without difficulty have been made for the required and more modern purpose4 ,it is easy to understand how later possessors of consular diptychs were induced to make presents of them to their bishops and churches2 and in some instances1 probably1 in the sixth century1 those originally sent to high ecclesiastical persons were at once transferred to pious uses4 ,instead of containing the lists of the consuls1 the diptychs then inclosed the names of martyrs1 saints1 or bishops who were to be commemorated in the public service of the ,church4 ,these lists were read at mass3 of the saints at that part of the canon which is now known as the ,communicantes2 and of the dead at the ,memento1 after the consecration of the ,eucharist4 ,frequent reference to the custom is to be found in the old ritualists1 and full information and a cloud of authorities on the subject in the learned work of ,salig1 on diptychs4 ,the leaves of several such diptychs still exist1 and sometimes with the names not written on wax1 but carved or incised upon the ivory itself4 ,one very remarkable example is the diptych1 now at ,liverpool1 of ,flavius ,clementinus1 consul ,a4,d4 #eac4 ,upon the back of each leaf a long ,greek inscription has been incised1 done1 beyond doubt1 in the first year of pope ,hadrian1 ,a4,d4 #ggb1 when the diptych was given to some church for sacred use4 ,the list of names inscribed1 to be prayed for1 includes that of the donor4 ,the two inscriptions are to be read across both divisions1 and were engraved probably upon the ivory by some one not well skilled in the language4 ,there are several faults1 both in spelling and in the letters3 for example1 we have s2 d2 and often instead of 4 ,the inscription is to this effect3 8,let us stand well4 ,let us stand with reverence4 ,let us stand with fear4 ,let us attend upon the holy oblation1 that in peace we may make the offering to ,god4 ,the mercy1 the peace1 the sacrifice of praise1 the love of ,god and of the ,father and of our ,saviour ,jesus ,christ be upon us1 ,amen4 ,in the first year of ,adrian1 patriarch of the city4 ,remember1 ,lord1 thy servant ,john1 the least priest of the church of ,st4 ,agatha4 ,amen4 ,remember1 ,lord1 thy servant ,andrew ,machera4 ,holy ,mother of ,god2 holy ,agatha4 ,remember1 ,lord1 thy servant and our pastor ,adrian the patriarch4 ,remember1 ,lord1 thy servant1 the sinner1 ,john the priest40 ,another example is the diptych of ,anastasius1 ,a4,d4 #eag1 of which one leaf1 no4 #cfh1 is in the ,south ,kensington collection4 ,upon this leaf the portion of a single word 8,,gisi0 is now alone to be deciphered2 when ,wiltheim saw it1 more than a hundred years ago at ,liege1 he read 8,,igisi10 and supposed it to be part of the name of ,ebregisus1 the twenty-fourth bishop of ,tongres1 in the seventh century4 ,but upon the other leaf1 which is now preserved at ,berlin1 ,gori was able to make out a considerable portion4 8,offerentes 444 ,o 444 eorum p4 pi 444 ecclesia catholica quam eis dominus adsignare dignetur 444 facientes commemorationem beatissimorum apostolorum et martyrum omniumque sanctorum4 ,sanct ,mari ,virginis1 ,petri1 ,pauli1 etc40 ,but he owns that some even of these words are conjectural4 ,the diptych of ,justinianus1 in the public library at ,paris1 is one more example of the same kind4 ,inside are written litanies of the ninth century1 with the names of saints inserted who were particularly revered at ,autun4 ,another half of a consular diptych may be mentioned1 a single leaf1 in which instance the original carving has not only been removed but the ivory has been sawn into two pieces4 ,as it happens1 both fragments are in this country--one in the ,british museum1 the other in the ,south ,kensington collection1 no4 #bff4 ,the two together have still sufficient traces left to enable us to recognise the old design3 a consul seated in the usual way1 under a round arch4 ,below1 there seem to have been the two boys or servants emptying their sacks of money and presents4 ,this mutilation occurred about the eighth or ninth century2 and the other side of the leaf was then carved with subjects taken from the gospels4 ,it was an unnecessary injury to destroy and plane away the first design4 ,as the new purpose was probably to decorate the panels of some shrine or book-cover1 the old carvings might have been concealed when the plaques were inlaid1 in the same manner as the very curious pieces were treated1 now at ,south ,kensington1 nos4 #bec1 #bed1 and #beg4 ,it would be a subject far too extensive to attempt to give a history of the use and purpose of diptychs in the public service of the ,christian ,church4 ,their origin is to be traced to the very earliest times2 perhaps to the apostolic age4 ,mention is made of them in the liturgy of ,st4 ,mark4 ,gori 7or his author7 quotes also the ecclesiastical hierarchy of ,dionysius the ,areopagite4 ,this is certainly not the writing of the true ,dionysius1 the contemporary of ,st4 ,paul4 ,yet1 putting the pseudo-,dionysius as late as the fifth century1 his evidence is valuable1 and he speaks of the use of diptychs as of things long known4 ,numerous treaties and dissertations1 even long books1 have been written on the subject2 and it would be idle work to repeat the names of the authors who are referred to1 over and over again1 by most writers on ivory carvings4 ,in fact1 the learning which some of these exhibit might much better have been shown if their subject had been the primitive history and practices of the ,church4 ,except to state the mere fact of their use1 the connection of ceremonial ecclesiastical diptychs with sculpture in ivory requires only a few remarks4 ,the common use of such diptychs is well and shortly summed up in a dissertation printed by ,gori in his ,thesaurus4 ,the summary may be given in few words1 and1 moreover1 the dissertation itself is written in explanation of the diptych of the consul ,clementinus just mentioned1 which we are now fortunate enough to possess in ,england1 in the ,mayer collection at ,liverpool4 ,inside the leaves1 as has been already observed1 is an inscription in ,greek of the eighth century1 to be read during mass1 desiring the people to be devout and reverent and to pray for the persons whose names were to be recited4 ,the ,christian diptychs were intended for four purposes4 ,first come those in which the names of all the baptised were entered1 a kind of ,fasti ecclesi1 and answering to the registers kept now in every parish4 ,second1 those in which were recorded the names of bishops and of all who had made offerings to the church or other benefactions4 ,this list included the names of many persons still living4 ,third1 those in which were recorded the names of saints and martyrs2 and1 naturally1 in various places the names would be particularly of saints who in their lives had been connected with the locality4 ,such additions are of the utmost importance in tracing the history of ancient lists which have come down to our own time4 ,diptychs of this class were read aloud at mass1 as a sign of the communion between the ,church triumphant and the ,church militant on earth4 ,fourth1 those in which were written the names of dead members of the particular church or district1 who having died in the true faith and with the rites of the church were to be remembered at mass4 ,as regards the living1 the continuance of their names in the diptychs was of the highest consequence2 to be erased was equal to the denunciation of them as heretics and unworthy of communion4 ,in the diptychs also were probably sometimes added the names of people who were sick or in trouble4 ,but besides these four objects for which ,christian diptychs were made1 there was another which must certainly have caused the production of many large sculptured works in ivory from the seventh to the tenth century3 namely1 for the purpose of exciting devotion and as a means also of teaching the ignorant4 ,ivory tablets or diptychs of this description are ordered to be exposed to the people in the old ,ambrosian rite for the church of ,milan4 ,one of the most celebrated relics in ivory was executed about the middle of the sixth century2 the throne or chair made for ,maximian1 archbishop of ,ravenna from the year #edf to #eef4 ,this is now preserved among the treasures of the cathedral at ,ravenna1 and is engraved in the great book of ,du ,sommerard1 and by ,labarte in his handbook4 ,the chair has a high back1 round in shape1 and is entirely covered with plaques of ivory1 arranged in panels richly carved in high relief with scenes from the gospels and with figures of saints4 ,the plaques have borders with foliated ornaments2 birds and animals1 flowers and fruits1 filling the intermediate spaces4 ,du ,sommerard names amongst the most remarkable subjects1 the annunciation1 the adoration of the wise men1 the flight into ,egypt1 and the baptism of our ,lord4 ,sir ,digby ,wyatt 7in his lecture before the ,arundel society7 says that this chair1 having 8always been carefully preserved as a holy relic1 has fortunately escaped destruction and desecration2 and1 but for the beautiful tint with which time has invested it1 would wear an aspect little different from that which it originally presented in the lifetime of the illustrious prelate for whom it was made4 ,this valuable object could hardly have been all wrought at one time1 as ,dr4 ,kugler distinctly traces in it the handling of three different artists1 who could scarcely have all lived at the same period4 ,some of the plates resemble diptychs4 ,thus1 the series pourtraying the history of ,joseph in ,egypt is quite classical2 another1 and less able artist in the same style1 provided the plates for the back1 and in one set of five single figures the ,greek artificer stands apparent4 ,the simplest explanation appears to be that the throne was made up by the last-mentioned artist out of materials provided for him1 and that what was wanting to make it entire was supplied by him40 ,probably the different plaques were carved by several sculptors2 but ,dr4 ,kugler's supposition that the whole chair was not made by contemporary artists 7in short1 at one time7 is scarcely probable4 ,speaking of and praising the ,ravenna chair1 ,passeri offers some very useful remarks by way of caution against the hasty conclusions which some make1 who set down all ancient large plaques of ivory as having been the leaves of diptychs3 8,vidi etiam ,ravenn in chartophilacio principis ecclesi sedem eburneam sancti ,maximiani episcopi quinto seculo operosissime efformatam1 cujus ambitum undequaque adornant tabul eburne amplitudinis fere sesquipedalis1 quam plerumque ebur patitur anaglypho opere1 et scitissima manu elaborat1 qu si disject et singulares occurrent imprudentibus facile imponerent1 ut inter diptycha censerentur4 ,nec ista nominis qustio est1 nam longe alia mente explicand sunt missiles consulum tabell1 atque in illis expressa emblemata1 qu omnia ad consulatum ejusque pompas pertinent1 alia vero sculptur omnes1 qu in alium usum parabantur4 ,hc observatio facile prodit errorem illorum1 qui diptychis adcensuerunt laterculos1 nullo consule designatos1 cum musarum1 poetarum1 ,bacchantum ac deorum imaginibus1 qu mihi nullam aliam ingerunt speciem1 quam quod aliquando libros contexerint1 quibus parerga adluderent4 ,sunt prterea qudam imperatorum inferioris vi simulacra tabellis eburneis incisa1 in quibus nulla cardinum vestigia apparent1 ut potius videatur sedes honorarias decorasse1 quam quod diptychorum loco essent1 quum prsertim exterior illorum ornatus superne in acutum desinat2 quod a diptychorum instituto quam maxime abhorret40 ,,chapter ,v4 ,about the time when the chair of ,ravenna was made1 that is1 in the sixth century1 sculpture in ivory again sensibly declined4 ,the figures in ,byzantine work of that period begin to be characterised by sharpness and meagreness of form1 and lengthiness of proportion2 in the heads1 however1 we yet find a good expression2 and especially in representations of our ,lord dignity and resignation4 ,the costume also gradually became more and more covered with ornaments and jewels2 although the ancient classical robes were still copied1 and apostles were clothed in togas1 or the virgin in a chlamys and tunic1 or the magi in ,phrygian caps4 ,troubles1 moreover1 arose1 and about the year #gej there sprang up in the east very bitter theological quarrels1 especially having reference to the lawfulness of the use of images1 not only in churches but for private devotion4 ,the spirit of ,mahometanism1 strictly and dogmatically condemning without distinction1 whether in sculpture or in paintings1 all representations of the deity and of man1 first shown in the near neighbourhood of the ,holy ,land1 spread rapidly from one country to another4 ,the ,christian iconoclasts of ,constantinople1 even if they did not follow the heresy of ,mahomet in this matter to its fullest extent1 at least equalled it in hatred of all holy images and sacred sculpture1 and in the severity with which they persecuted the workers and purchasers of such works4 ,towards the middle of the eighth century the power and influence of these fanatics reached their height1 and with ,leo the ,isaurian on the throne received the fullest support which an emperor could give4 ,we must attribute to the rage of the iconoclasts1 indiscriminating in its fury1 not only the destruction of ,christian monuments and sculpture 7and especially those which were said to be miraculous1 17 but of many of the most important and most valuable remains1 then still existing1 of the best periods of ancient ,greek art4 ,this persecution continued for more than a hundred years1 until the reign of ,basil the ,macedonian1 ,a4,d4 #hfg2 who1 by permitting again the right use of images1 restored to the arts their free exercise4 ,in consequence of these excesses in the east the west of ,europe gained greatly4 ,not only works of art were brought by fugitives from ,constantinople to ,france1 ,germany1 and other countries1 thus furnishing models from which copies could be multiplied and a better taste introduced1 but the workmen and artists themselves1 driven into exile1 came and were hospitably received and founded everywhere new schools of art4 ,charlemagne especially1 too wise a prince to overlook the certain benefits and advantages which were thus offered1 liberally patronised the strangers and gave them his assistance and protection everywhere4 ,some writers of great authority upon paintings have said that the iconoclast emigration did not much influence art in ,rome and ,italy4 ,the ,roman artists1 as shown in the few mosaics which remain1 8trod the path of decline1 independent in their weakness4 ,to the faults which had been confirmed by centuries of existence1 others were superadded4 ,to absence of composition1 of balance in distribution and connection between figures1 were added neglect and emptiness of form1 a general sameness of feature1 and the total disappearance of relief by shadow4 ,still the reminiscence of antique feeling remained in certain types1 in a sort of dignity of expression and attitude1 and in breadth of draperies1 which1 though defined by parallel lines1 were still massive40 ,crowe and ,cavalcaselle1 from whom the quotation is taken1 may not intend1 however1 to include in this statement sculptures in ivory4 ,illustration ,there are still remaining1 in the collections both at home and abroad1 some examples of carved ivories from the fifth century to the time of ,charlemagne4 ,the woodcut represents one of the most important and remarkable works known of this period4 ,although there is a great similarity of style between this ivory and a silver vase of the sixth century in the ,blacas collection1 in the ,british museum1 there is still difficulty in suggesting even a probable date1 which can scarcely be later than the early part of the seventh century2 nor is it more easy to speculate on the original use of the vase4 ,a loose ring1 cut from the same block of ivory1 surrounds the foot2 and1 if the vase was made for some very sacred purpose1 we may suppose that the ring carried a thin veil to be thrown over the whole for further security and reverence4 ,the cover is of later date1 and where the ivory has cracked there is a repair excellently done by some medival jeweller with a small gold chain which extends from the rim downwards about two inches4 ,this piece is in the ,british museum4 ,unlike the vase1 which is good both in design and workmanship1 the early ivories of western ,europe are rude and many of them even barbarous in manner and workmanship2 but about the year #hjj a sure result of the influx of ,greek artists is to be seen1 and the style advanced with a very evident progression1 subject only to a short interval of deterioration at the end of the tenth century4 ,after this brief check there followed a distinct improvement1 impressed1 however1 with a feeling and type peculiar to the eleventh and first half of the twelfth century4 ,we find the figures calm and1 as it were1 collected in design1 but placed in stiff and unnatural positions1 the draperies close and clinging and broken up into numerous little folds1 ornamented also still more largely than before with small jewels or beads4 ,the school of the lower ,rhine kept itself to a certain extent free from these faults2 their figures preserved more movement1 their modelling was better1 their draperies more natural and disposed with greater art4 ,christianity spread gradually though slowly over western ,europe from the age of ,charlemagne1 and1 as it spread1 ivory was used more and more for the decoration of ecclesiastical furniture1 especially of books and reliquaries4 ,the adaptation of the large tablets given by the consuls has been already spoken of3 and not only were the old diptychs still remaining in the seventh or eighth centuries applied to their new purpose for the public services of the church1 but many new diptychs must also have been provided4 ,pyxes for the consecrated and unconsecrated wafers1 retables or ornamented screens to be placed upon altars1 holy water buckets1 handles for flabella1 episcopal combs1 croziers1 and pastoral staffs were made in fast increasing numbers4 ,there is ample evidence1 not only from examples which have been preserved down to our own times but from contemporary writers1 of the large extent to which the employment of ivory reached in the ,carlovingian period1 from the end of the eighth to the middle of the tenth century4 ,eginhard1 writing to his son1 sends him a coffer made by a contemporary artist1 enriched with columns of ivory after the antique style2 ,hildoward1 bishop of ,cambrai1 ,a4,d4 #gij1 orders a diptych of ivory to be made for him in the twelfth year of his pontificate3 an inventory of ,louis le ,dbonnaire1 in #hbc1 mentions a diptych of ivory1 a statuette1 and a coffer2 his son-in-law1 count ,everard1 leaves in his will writing tablets1 a chalice and coffer1 an evangelisterium ornamented with bas-reliefs1 and a sword and belt with similar decorations1 all of ivory2 ,hincmar1 archbishop of ,rheims1 in #hde1 orders covers to be made for the works of ,st4 ,jerome with plaques of ivory1 and also for a sacramentary and lectionary4 ,several of the most important of the existing examples of this famous ,carlovingian school are named in ,labarte's useful book3 among them1 especially1 the diptych preserved in the treasury of the cathedral of ,milan1 and of which a plate is given in the album1 pl4 xiii42 the two plaques which form the cover of the sacramentary of ,metz1 now in the public library at ,paris2 and a bas-relief of a book of gospels at ,tongres1 in the diocese of ,lige1 remarkable for the simplicity of the composition1 the soberness of its ornamentation and correctness of design1 all of which qualities are frequent characteristics of the work of the ninth century4 ,georgius says that the very ancient tabul eburne which he saw in the church of ,st4 ,riquier in ,picardy 7,centulensi thesauro71 and those given to his church by ,riculfus1 bishop of ,elne1 in ,narbonne1 ,a4,d4 #iae1 were sacred diptychs4 ,mr4 ,oldfield gives an excellent selection of ,carlovingian ivories in his catalogue of the casts of the ,arundel society1 classes #d1 #e1 and #f4 ,illustration ,in the same period we must also place1 contrary to the judgment of ,du ,sommerard1 who would suggest an earlier date1 a book cover in the public library at ,amiens1 carved with the baptism of ,clovis and with two miracles of ,remigius4 ,on the next page is an engraving of this plaque from ,lacroix's book on the arts of the middle ages4 ,in the scene of the baptism of ,clovis1 which occupies the lowest of the three compartments1 the dove is seen descending upon the head of the king with the famous ampulla and sacred oil used in the coronations of the sovereigns of ,france4 ,it is scarcely necessary perhaps to remark that the holy water buckets above mentioned1 p4 #dg1 are not to be confounded with stoups2 the one was carried by an acolyte in attendance on the priest1 the other fixed against the wall at the entrance of the church4 ,that situl or buckets were made of ivory1 and for the especial purpose just named1 is certain from an example preserved in the treasury of the cathedral of ,milan1 which is engraved in the appendix to the third volume of ,gori's ,thesaurus4 ,this situla is richly carved with scripture subjects and round the upper border is incised the legend1 8,vates ,ambrosii ,gotfredus dat tibi sancte1 ,vas veniente sacram spargendum ,csare lympham40 ,gotfred was archbishop of ,milan in the year #ige4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,as time went on1 crucifixes1 statuettes1 triptychs1 diptychs1 and other portable helps to private devotion were made in ivory in great quantity2 a consequence probably of the repeated travels of men to the east during the crusades4 ,the term triptych for religious tablets composed of a centre piece and of one wing on each side1 sufficient in width when folded to cover the centre1 is commonly used in the description of various collections of ivories1 because1 whether or not exactly right1 it is perfectly well understood and fully explains itself4 ,indeed1 although triptych or pentaptych or polyptych may1 in strictness and in its first signification1 mean only 7as it might happen7 three or five or many leaves fastened together on one side by hinges or threads like the leaves of a book1 yet the name triptych may be fairly applied to tablets1 two of which hinge on the outside edges of the opposite sides of the third1 and are intended to fold across and cover it4 ,where these wings are made1 in order to surround the centre1 of more than two pieces 7and in such cases they generally inclose and protect also some larger carving or a statuette7 the name shrine seems to be more appropriate and better to describe the object4 ,triptychs are spoken of more than once by ,anastasius1 the author of the ,liber ,pontificalis4 ,for example1 in his life of pope ,hadrian1 ,a4,d4 #ggb1 he mentions one which had in the centre the face of our ,saviour1 and on each wing images of angels4 ,it is greatly to be regretted that ,anastasius is so miserably concise in his description of the marvellous works of art which he enumerates4 ,we look in vain for any details or for the name of a single artist4 ,the use of ivory in the middle ages1 from the eighth to the beginning of the sixteenth century1 was not confined to church and pious purposes4 ,it was adopted for numberless things of common life4 ,not for common people perhaps1 because its value and rarity were too great2 but for the daily use of wealthy persons4 ,caskets and coffers1 horns1 hilts of weapons1 mirror cases1 toilet combs1 writing-tablets1 book-covers1 chessmen and draughtsmen1 were either made entirely of ivory1 walrus and elephant1 or were largely inlaid and ornamented with it4 ,examples of works of each of these kinds are to be found in the ,south ,kensington museum2 and with regard to some of them it is necessary to make a few remarks4 ,first1 to take caskets4 ,the most beautiful of these is no4 #adf1 a work of the fourteenth century4 ,this is richly decorated on the top and the four sides with subjects taken from romances1 then well known and commonly read4 ,other caskets may be noticed1 nos4 #baf and #bddj1 which are of earlier date2 and nos4 #cja and #aj1 of ,spanish work in a remarkable style1 half ,saracenic1 carrying down to the eleventh or twelfth century the peculiar treatment and ornamentation shown in the small admirably executed round box of the caliph ,mostanser ,billah1 no4 #bag4 ,there are many plaques in the same collection which probably once formed portions of coffers or caskets2 some of them reaching as far back as the ninth century2 but it is not possible to say with certainty whether they were made originally for that purpose or not4 ,the most curious and perhaps the most valuable old ,english casket existing is in the ,british museum1 which it will be well to notice in this place before we pass to other examples in the ,south ,kensington collection4 ,engravings 7kindly lent by ,mr4 ,franks7 of two portions of it are also given4 ,this casket is of the eighth century1 nine inches long1 seven and a half in width1 and a trifle more than five inches in height4 ,the material is not ivory1 not even of the walrus1 but of the bone of a whale4 ,unfortunately it is imperfect and in parts damaged2 of the fourth side only a small piece remains4 ,the cover and the sides are richly carved in sharp and clear relief with mythical and scripture subjects2 and each panel has a runic inscription within a broad border1 except the top on which one word only is carved1 8gili40 ,illustration ,the cover has1 in a single compartment1 men in armour attacking a house which is defended by a man with a bow and arrow2 this panel has been supposed to refer to some local circumstance1 and the name gili is to be read with the two words upon the fourth side1 meaning 8suffers deceit0 or 8treachery40 ,one side has the myth of ,romulus and ,remus3 the two infants with the wolf in the middle2 on either side shepherds kneeling1 and a legend explaining the subject3 8,romulus and ,remulus ,remus twain brothers outlay were exposed close together2 a she wolf fed them in ,rome city40 ,the front of the casket has two compartments2 in one1 the giving up the head of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist whose body lies stretched upon the ground2 the other has the offering of the wise men1 with the word 8magi0 in runes above them4 ,on the back is carved1 above1 the storming of ,jerusalem and the flight of the ,jews1 as explained by the inscription engraved partly in runes1 partly in ,latin1 8,here fight ,titus and the ,jews4 ,here fly from ,jerusalem its inhabitants40 ,below are two other subjects2 the meaning of them very obscure3 to one is attached the word 8doom10 to the other 8hostage20 both in runes4 ,round the whole casket an inscription is carved1 commemorating the taking of the whale which supplied the bone4 ,this has been translated1 8,the whale's bones from the fishes flood ,i lifted on ,fergen ,hill3 ,he was gashed to death in his gambols1 ,as a-ground he swam in the shallows40 ,illustration ,the name ,fergen occurs in a charter of the eleventh century1 and has been identified with the present ,ferry-hill1 in the county of ,durham4 ,the history of the casket is very short1 and cannot be better stated than in the words of ,mr4 ,stephens from whose book on ,runic monuments1 a work of much interest1 the above description is abridged4 ,he says that it 8is one of the costliest treasures of ,english art now in existence4 ,as a specimen of ,northumbrian work and of ,northumbrian folk-speech1 it is doubly precious4 ,but we know nothing of its history4 ,probably1 as the gift of some ,english priest or layman1 it may have lain for centuries in the treasury of one of the ,french churches1 whence it came into the hands of a well-known dealer in antiquities in ,paris4 ,there it was happily seen and purchased1 some years ago1 by our distinguished archologist1 ,aug4 ,w4 ,franks1 ,esq4 ,the price given for it was very great40 ,the casket has been most liberally presented by ,mr4 ,franks to the ,british museum1 and the nation 7once more to quote ,mr4 ,stephens7 8is now in possession of one of the greatest rarities in ,europe40 ,there are several other coffers or caskets in the ,south ,kensington collection especially worthy of remark4 ,among them the ,veroli casket1 no4 #baf1 so called from having been long preserved in the treasury of the cathedral of ,veroli1 near ,rome1 from whence it was obtained in #ahfa4 ,this is the most perfect example known of a peculiar style of art which prevailed in some parts of ,italy from the latter part of the eleventh to the end of the twelfth century4 ,at first sight works of this kind might almost be attributed to a time as early as the third or fourth century1 the imitation of the classic mode of treatment1 as well as the nature often of the subjects themselves1 favouring such a supposition4 ,there seems to be little doubt1 however1 that they must all be placed at a much later date4 ,no one is more entitled to be listened to on any disputed question about the date of ivory carvings than ,mr4 ,nesbitt4 ,he tells us1 in a very able memoir of ,st4 ,peter's chair at ,rome1 printed for the ,society of antiquaries 7speaking on this very point71 that he agrees with padre ,garrucci in the opinion that works like the ,veroli casket date from about the eleventh century4 8,they are all characterised by certain peculiarities and mannerisms4 ,among these are an exaggerated slenderness of limb1 a marked prominence of the knee-joints1 and a way of rendering the hair by a mass of small knobs4 ,the subjects are generally taken from some mythological story1 and some work of classical art has1 in many cases1 evidently been copied by the ivory carver2 but the story is often misunderstood and misrepresented1 and the movement of the figures copied with so much exaggeration1 as often to become ridiculous4 ,animals are generally represented with great truth and spirit1 and in very natural attitudes4 ,the execution is usually remarkably neat and sharp1 and the state of preservation of the ivory very good40 ,caskets of this style and date almost always have the panels surrounded by the same kind of border filled with rosettes4 ,illustration3 ,h4 ,,caienacc1 ,d4 ,the ivories inserted in the so-called ,chair of ,st4 ,peter1 just referred to1 are of great importance upon this question4 ,the woodcut shows1 in a general way1 its present condition and the arrangement of the carvings1 which represent the labours of ,hercules3 and the student should read ,mr4 ,nesbitt's paper1 already quoted from4 ,there is a very curious plaque in the ,british museum which is also of value with regard to the date of such works as the ,veroli casket4 ,it has been perhaps a book-cover1 perhaps a panel of a reliquary4 ,the chief subject is ,christ in glory1 carved in the stiff ,byzantine manner of the tenth or eleventh century2 and in the lower left-hand corner is a group of boys1 having the peculiarities of style just mentioned4 ,mr4 ,nesbitt notices another example which may be found engraved in the ,thesaurus of ,gori3 8a tablet in the museum at ,berlin1 on which ,christ1 attended by angels1 is represented in the usual ,byzantine style1 while below are the forty saints in very natural attitudes1 and with much truth and skill40 ,illustration ,the woodcut shows the lid of a small casket of1 perhaps1 the eleventh century3 ,spanish work1 during the period of the occupation by the ,moors2 and there are frequent references to ivory coffers1 caskets1 and boxes1 in inventories and other documents of the fourteenth1 fifteenth1 and sixteenth centuries4 ,in #aejb the following entry is among the privy purse expenses of ,elizabeth of ,york3 8,item1 the same day the #bhth day of ,may to maistres ,alianor ,johns for money by hir geven in reward to a servaunt of the lady ,lovell for bringing a chest of iverey with the passion of our ,lord thereon3 iij s iiij d40 ,this lady ,lovell was probably the wife of ,sir ,thomas ,lovell1 treasurer of the household1 and one of the executors of the will of ,henry the seventh4 ,six or seven caskets are named among the treasures of ,lincoln cathedral in the year #aecf3 two 8with images round about40 ,in #aeah there belonged to the church of ,st4 ,mary ,outwich1 ,london1 8a box of eivery1 garnyshede with silver0 according to 8the enventorye of all the howrnaments0 of that parish3 and1 8item1 a box of yvory with xj relyks therein40 ,in #aecd1 8a litill box of ivery bound with gymes gimmals of silver0 was among the goods of the guild of the blessed ,virgin1 at ,boston in ,lincolnshire4 ,nearly a hundred years before there was 8a lytill yvory cofyr with relekys0 among the goods belonging to the church of ,st4 ,mary ,hill1 ,london4 ,going back to earlier times--and not to quote from ,french or ,german documents which have been referred to by foreign writers--we find in the inventory of the treasures belonging to ,st4 ,paul's cathedral in #abie1 8,pixis eburnea fracta in fundo1 continens unam parvam pixidem eburneam vacuam40 8,item1 du coffr eburne modo vacu40 ,other caskets are mentioned2 one1 small and beautiful1 with lock and key and silver clamps2 and several pyxes1 containing relics4 ,so1 again1 there were in the treasury at ,durham1 in #achc1 8an ivory casket1 containing a vestment of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist20 8a small coffer of ivory1 containing a robe of ,st4 ,cuthbert20 and other 8ivory caskets with divers relics40 ,caskets and coffers of this period were not uncommonly decorated with small painted medallions of coats of arms1 or of figures1 as in the woodcut on the next page4 ,two examples are in the ,south ,kensington museum1 nos4 #afah and #cfi4 ,illustration ,there are in many collections ivory boxes of round shape1 which are commonly set down as having been used for preserving the consecrated host in tabernacles1 or for carrying it to the sick4 ,frequently1 these may have been originally made for that purpose2 but it is not easy always to determine the fact exactly4 ,the word ,pyx in its earliest meaning included any small box or case1 and particularly for holding ointments or spices2 and often1 when we find the word used in inventories of the middle ages1 it is further explained as containing relics or other things4 ,thus1 there was in the ,durham treasury in the fourteenth century 8item1 a tooth of ,st4 ,gengulphus1 good for the falling sickness1 in a small ivory pyx02 and in ,st4 ,paul's cathedral1 about the same time1 two ivory pyxes1 one containing relics of ,st4 ,augustine1 the other of ,st4 ,agnes4 ,nor is the size a sure guide to determine the doubt3 although by many people all small round boxes of ivory would seem to be understood as having been certainly used for preserving the eucharist4 ,du ,cange quotes from ,leo ,ostiensis1 8in pyxidulis reliqui sanctorum recondit sunt40 ,on the other hand1 there can be no question that for many centuries1 and more especially in the earlier ages1 round boxes of ivory were in constant and general use for preserving and carrying the ,sacrament4 ,thus we see included amongst the property belonging to the church of ,st4 ,faith1 under ,st4 ,paul's1 8una cupa cuprea deaurata1 cum pyxide eburnea sine serura interius clausa1 in qua reponatur eucharistia40 ,from ,waddingham1 in ,norfolk1 the queen's commissioners report in #aefe that they have destroyed 8one pyx of yvorie1 broken in peces40 ,the following also may be quoted from the will of king ,henry the seventh1 though the material is not specified3 8,forasmuch as we have often to our inwarde displeasure1 seen in diverse churches of oure ,reame1 the holy ,sacrament kept in ful simple and inhonest pixes1 we have commaunded to cause to be made furthwith pixes1 in a greate nombre1 after the fashion of a pixe which we have caused to be delyvered to theym1 etc40 ,when1 therefore1 we find a small round box which is ornamented with subjects from the ,gospel or with divine types and emblems or the like1 we may safely call it a pyx1 in its proper ecclesiastical meaning4 ,when an example is carved with subjects relating to any saint it may or may not have been made for a sacramental pyx3 it may indeed have been changed from its first use as a reliquary and afterwards employed for the more sacred use4 ,of this kind1 perhaps1 is the very curious round box of the sixth century with subjects from the life of ,st4 ,mennas1 exhibited in #ahga by ,mr4 ,nesbitt at a meeting of the ,society of antiquaries2 which is further remarkable as being the earliest known representation on an ivory box of events in the life of a saint4 ,du ,cange gives references to three ,english provincial synods of the thirteenth century1 as if ivory pyxes were distinctly ordered by their canons4 ,but it is not so4 ,order is merely given that the ,sacrament should be reserved and carried to the sick in proper pyxes3 8in pyxide munda et honesta20 again1 8circa collum suum in theca honesta1 pyxidem deferat40 ,but the synod of ,exeter in #abhg is more precise and to our present purpose1 which orders the priest to carry the eucharist to the sick 8in pyxide argentea vel eburnea40 ,we find from inventories printed by ,dugdale in the ,monasticon that in the fourteenth century1 ,a4,d4 #achd1 there were in the treasury of ,st4 ,george's1 ,windsor1 8una pixis nobilis eburnea1 garnita cum luminibus argenteis deauratis10 etc43 and 8una pixis de eburneo gemellato argenteo1 cujus coopertorium frangitur40 ,in ,lincoln cathedral1 in #aeeg1 8,a round pix of ivory1 having a ring of silver20 and two others1 both of ivory with similar bands4 ,four other ivory pyxes are named in the earlier inventory of the same cathedral1 before the spoliation in #aecf4 ,two other very important and beautiful caskets1 at ,south ,kensington1 are no4 #agf and no4 #bfc4 ,the subject of the first of these1 the life of the blessed ,virgin1 is unusual1 although that may probably be not because it was unusual at the time but because very few examples have been preserved4 ,the panels of the other are most richly carved and in the best style of the fourteenth century with scenes from the life of ,st4 ,margaret4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,the famous romances of the middle ages supplied endless subjects for sculptors in ivory as well as for the painter1 the illuminator1 and the enameller4 ,they may be referred1 in general1 to four classes1 of which the first and the fourth seem to have been the favourite sources from which were taken the decorations of caskets and mirror cases4 ,they were-- #a4 ,those relating to ,arthur and the knights of the round table4 #b4 ,those connected with ,charlemagne and his paladins4 #c4 ,the ,spanish and ,portuguese romances1 which chiefly contain the adventures of ,amadis and ,palmerin4 #d4 ,what may be termed classical romances1 which represent the heroes of antiquity in the guise of romantic fiction3 such1 for example1 as the romance of ,virgil1 of ,jason1 or of ,alexander4 ,to these may be added one more1 the romance of the ,rose1 an allegorical poem which was probably more widely read than any other of the time4 ,from this1 realising an allegory1 came the frequent subject of the siege of the castle of ,love4 ,many of the romances were written both in prose and verse3 three splendid volumes1 ,french manuscripts of the beginning of the fourteenth century1 in the ,british museum1 contain the ,saint ,graal and ,lancelot du ,lac4 ,the histories of ,merlin1 ,perceval1 ,meliadus1 ,tristan1 and ,perceforest were also amongst the most popular4 ,the ,french manuscripts just referred to 7additional1 #aj1bib7 are full of illuminations1 some illustrating in an especial way the carvings on ivories of the same date4 ,another1 of the same character and of like interest and value1 is in the ,bodleian3 the romance of ,alexander4 ,the romance of the ,rose was a dull and monotonous poem of perhaps ten thousand lines1 from which for nearly three hundred years its readers1 if they looked at it with pious and religious eyes1 learnt their maxims of morality1 of science1 and philosophy4 ,others1 again1 read it as men now read ,ovid's ,art of love and saw nothing of its mysticism or scholastic subtleties4 ,it was written somewhere about the year #acjj1 and1 with the omission of some five thousand lines in the middle1 ,chaucer's translation is very accurate and good4 ,it was frequently moralised3 in ,france1 by ,clement ,marot2 and in ,england 7perhaps from the ,french also7 long before1 by ,grosseteste1 bishop of ,lincoln4 ,these made the ,rose to be the ,virgin ,mary1 and the towers and the defences of the castle are the four cardinal virtues1 and holy chastity1 and buxomness1 and meekness4 ,the castle itself is thus described3 8,this is the castel of love and lisse1 ,of solace1 of socour1 of joye1 and blisse1 ,of hope1 of hele1 of sikernesse1 ,and ful of alle swetnesse40 ,among the many fictions which were founded on the traditions of king ,arthur none were more common or better known than those which related the love adventures of ,lancelot and queen ,guinevre2 and of ,tristan and ,isoude1 the queen of ,mark king of ,cornwall4 ,subjects from both these tales are frequent on ivory caskets and mirror cases4 ,the disgrace of ,aristotle comes from the romance of ,alexander2 and from that of ,virgil we have the poet in his medival character of magician4 ,both the poet and the philosopher1 in spite of their great age and wisdom1 are made fools of by the ladies of the story4 ,one is induced to carry his mistress on his back1 the other is hauled up in a basket to a window and left there dangling at sunrise before all the people4 ,we must not leave caskets without mention of the very graceful open work with which the panels of many of them were often decorated1 and which have come down to us 7speaking generally7 only in parts or fragments4 ,two woodcuts are given here1 full size1 from a series of small panels1 formerly in the ,meyrick collection1 which is1 unhappily1 now dispersed4 ,illustration ,illustration ,the ,south ,kensington museum is rich also in the marriage coffers1 as they are commonly called1 of ,italian work of about the fourteenth century4 ,coffers of this kind1 such1 for example1 as the small casket 7in the two woodcuts7 no4 #befc1 were seldom executed in ivory3 almost always in bone of fine quality1 sometimes nearly equal to ivory in delicacy of grain and colour4 ,it is probably owing to their general use in ,italy at that time that ivory could not be obtained in sufficient quantity1 except at great cost2 for the workmanship is frequently that of artists who must have been of the highest eminence as sculptors4 ,one of the most interesting of the marriage caskets in the ,south ,kensington museum is no4 #efbd1 formerly in the ,soulages collection1 of which there is almost a duplicate in the public library at ,paris4 ,lenormant1 in the ,trsor de glyptique1 has given three plates of the ,paris casket and says also that another1 exactly like it was 7when he wrote7 in the possession of ,m4 ,d',assy1 of ,meaux4 ,the largest casket of this kind in ,england is in the possession of ,mr4 ,julian ,goldsmid4 ,it is in excellent preservation and well finished in every respect4 ,the size is certainly unusual3 two feet three inches in height1 two feet and a half long1 and two feet broad4 ,the separate bones which ornament it are filled with shields and armorial bearings2 ten on the front and back1 seven on each side4 ,the mouldings at the top are richly decorated with bold scrolls of foliage and animals4 ,the top of the coffer and the side mouldings are marquetry1 inlaid in diamond-shaped quarries with large pieces of bone4 ,a coffer of the same school and date1 not much less in size and of much higher quality and workmanship1 is in private possession at ,leamington1 in ,warwickshire4 ,the sides are filled with small statuettes admirably executed1 and perhaps giving the history of some poem or romance4 ,this is1 probably1 the best example of ,italian marriage coffers in this country4 ,m4 ,lenormant also refers1 as of the same school1 to the magnificent ,retable de ,poissy1 in the museum of the ,louvre1 of which ,sir ,d4 ,wyatt has given the following description3 8,it was made for ,jean de ,berry brother of ,charles ,v4 and for his second wife1 ,jeanne1 countess of ,auvergne4 ,they are represented on it kneeling1 and accompanied by their patron saints4 ,it is no less than seven feet six inches wide1 and is one mass of carving4 ,it consists of three arcades1 surmounted by canopies1 and supported by angle pilasters and a base4 ,the subjects are taken from the ,new ,testament and from the legends of the saints4 ,it is believed there can1 rather1 be no doubt that it is of ,italian workmanship1 the little figures having much ,giottesque character in their treatment40 ,this famous retable is1 like the marriage caskets1 carved in bone4 ,illustration ,there is no finer specimen of this style and work than the beautiful predella1 formerly in the ,gigli-,campana collection1 now at ,south ,kensington1 no4 #gfaa4 ,it is1 unfortunately1 not perfect2 the centre panel is a later addition and the original piece has been lost4 ,it is possible that there were at one time also other smaller panels4 ,the woodcut shows well the general style of these carvings in bone4 ,the ,french and ,english caskets of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were frequently ornamented1 like the mirror cases1 the combs1 and the writing-tablets1 with domestic scenes4 ,we have ladies and gentlemen sometimes represented playing at chess or draughts or similar games2 sometimes riding1 or hawking1 or hunting2 sometimes in gardens with birds and dogs2 sometimes dancing4 ,subjects of this character are of great importance and interest1 no less valuable than illuminations in manuscripts1 as showing the dress and the armour and1 to a considerable extent1 the manners and customs of the day4 ,one other class of subjects may be noticed which supplied the decorations of caskets of the fifteenth century1 and which is found occasionally on panels of cabinets or the larger kind of household furniture2 namely1 morris dancers and women playing on musical instruments4 ,generally1 carvings of this description are found upon bone3 two examples are in the ,south ,kensington museum1 no4 #dffj and no4 #fgdg4 ,there was also one in the ,meyrick collection1 of which a woodcut is given on the next page4 ,domestic subjects are of more common occurrence upon combs and mirror cases than on caskets2 and1 upon the former1 scenes also from early legends2 occasionally1 some circumstance from ,scripture4 ,of ,scripture subjects the message from ,david to ,bathsheba is the most frequent2 probably1 because ,bathsheba is represented generally in her bath4 ,there are two examples in the ,south ,kensington museum alone3 no4 #badc and no4 #dfh4 ,it is not difficult to understand why scenes from the old story of the fountain of ,youth should have been a favourite subject4 ,it may be observed that the garden scenes on ivory combs remind us often of the beautiful painting of the 8,dream of life0 by ,orcagna1 in the ,campo santo1 at ,pisa4 ,illustration ,combs of ivory and bone are frequently found in tombs of the ,roman and ,anglo-saxon period in ,england2 and before that time in ,british graves4 ,they are often tinged and coloured green1 from lying in contact with metal objects4 ,a very curious one1 in the shape of a hand1 was mixed with the remains buried in a ,pict's house in the north of ,scotland2 a double tooth-comb was found on the site of the ,roman station at ,chesterford1 in ,essex2 and 7to name no more of this kind1 for the specimens are very many7 an ivory comb was among the relics in the tomb said to be of ,st4 ,cuthbert1 at ,durham4 ,mr4 ,raine also prints an inventory 7dated #achc7 of relics at ,durham1 among which are the comb of ,malachias the archbishop1 the comb of ,st4 ,boysil the priest1 and the ivory comb of ,st4 ,dunstan4 ,somewhat later than this date is an entry in the register of the cathedral of ,glasgow1 where a precious burse is mentioned with the combs of ,st4 ,kentigern and ,st4 ,thomas of ,canterbury4 ,a very curious comb1 but much mutilated1 is preserved in the library of the ,society of antiquaries4 ,it was exhibited in #agfd and engraved in the #hth vol4 of the ,archologia4 ,the statement is that it was found deeply buried under a street in ,aberdeen1 and supposed to have been lost there in the time of ,edward ,,iii4 who burnt the city4 ,but the type of the ornaments upon it is of an earlier character than that date4 ,the comb given by queen ,theodolinda at the end of the sixth century to the church of ,monza is still kept4 ,this last would be a ceremonial comb1 used formerly by a bishop before celebrating high mass or before other great functions1 and included among the vestments and ceremonial ornaments of a bishop of ,england down to the reign of ,edward the sixth4 8,tobalia et pecten ad pectinandum0 were ordered to be provided for the consecration of a bishop elect1 in the ,sarum pontifical4 ,one of the earliest of these combs now known to exist is in the treasury of the cathedral of ,sens1 and said to be of the sixth century4 ,another1 ,english and of the eleventh century1 is in the ,british museum4 ,it is carved in open work with men and interlacing scroll ornament4 ,unhappily1 it is not perfect4 ,a woodcut is given on the next page of this very important ivory4 ,another1 richly carved with subjects from the gospels1 is said to be preserved at ,hardwick court1 in ,gloucestershire4 ,such ceremonial combs are often mentioned in church inventories and other ecclesiastical documents of the middle ages4 ,seven or eight are specified as belonging to ,st4 ,paul's cathedral in the year #abbb3 three large1 three small2 one 8pecten pulchrum0 the gift of ,john de ,chishulle2 and three others2 all of ivory4 ,there were as many in the treasury of the cathedral of ,canterbury1 in #acae4 ,illustration ,when the supposed tomb of ,st4 ,cuthbert was opened in #ahbg it has been already said that there was found1 among other relics deposited with the body of the saint1 an ivory comb4 ,this comb has a double row of teeth1 divided by a broad plain band perforated in the middle with a round hole for the finger4 ,in size it measures six inches and a quarter by five inches4 ,the historian of the proceedings on that occasion says that the comb is probably of the eleventh century1 but he gives no reason2 and if the grave were really the grave of ,st4 ,cuthbert it is almost certain that the comb was his and used by him1 ceremonially1 as bishop4 ,illustration ,the examples in the ,south ,kensington collection were all made for private use1 and the woodcut represents an ,italian specimen1 no4 #badd4 ,english family inventories from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century1 occasionally include combs of that kind4 ,to name one only3 the list of the effects of ,roger de ,mortimer at ,wigmore castle1 in the reign of ,edward the second1 specifies 8j pecten de ebore40 ,one half only of the mirror cases1 speaking generally1 has been preserved4 ,it is very rare to find both covers4 ,originally1 the mirror was fastened to one side1 and the other slid over it or was unscrewed4 ,no example of both parts is in the ,south ,kensington collection1 and only one 7it is believed7 in the ,british museum4 ,people1 as time went on1 probably thought that an unornamented side was not worth taking care of4 ,we find the subjects sculptured on mirror cases to be almost always scenes from domestic life1 or from some poem or romance4 ,naturally it would be so4 ,the only exceptions among all the examples at ,south ,kensington are two1 on one of which is a representation of the ,almighty ,father and the dead ,christ1 on the other the message of ,david to ,bathsheba4 ,the rest1 ten or twelve in number1 have hunting and garden scenes1 or players at chess1 or assaults on the castle of ,love4 ,so it is also with the large collection of ivory mirror cases in the ,british museum4 ,the use of small mirrors is to be traced to the earliest historic period1 and to be found among almost every people of the world4 ,in the most ancient times they were commonly of metal2 and it is believed that none1 except of that material1 has yet been found in any tomb of ,egypt1 or ,greece1 or ,italy4 ,these1 unlike the medival mirror1 had generally flat and broad handles1 and the backs were often incised with various designs1 mythological subjects1 gods and goddesses1 or from stories of the poets4 ,many metallic mirrors have been found in ,roman burial-places in ,england4 ,several are described in modern archological publications2 one especially curious1 found in #ahbc at ,coddenham in ,suffolk4 ,this is important as an early example in respect of the smallness of its size and because it is enclosed in a case4 ,it 8is a portable trinket1 consisting of a thin circular bronze case1 divided horizontally into two nearly equal portions1 which fit one into the other2 and1 being opened1 it presents a convex mirror in each face of the interior40 ,the diameter is scarcely more than two inches1 and on one side is the head of the emperor ,nero4 ,anglo-saxon mirrors have seldom been found4 ,two1 both discovered in a barrow near ,sandwich1 are engraved in the ,nenia ,britannica4 ,mirrors were nevertheless commonly used by ladies at that time2 and there is a letter preserved in ,bede from pope ,boniface ,,iv4 to ,ethelberga1 queen of ,edwin of ,northumbria in #fbe1 wherein he requests her acceptance of an ivory comb and a silver mirror4 ,combs and mirrors are frequent on the sculptured stones of ,scotland2 they occur on more than fifty1 according to a table given in the preface to the admirable work published by the ,spalding club2 and seven stones have representations of mirror cases4 ,dr4 ,stuart in a short paper upon these sculptures1 read before the ,international congress of prehistoric archology in #ahfh1 assigns to them a date not later than the seventh1 eighth1 or ninth century1 and believes that the figures on the rude pillars may be of even an earlier date1 before ,christian times4 ,it is not known when glass covered at the back with lead was introduced in place of the earlier metallic mirror4 ,probably some of the cases which are in various collections were the covers of the new material4 ,john ,peckham1 an ,englishman1 wrote in the middle of the thirteenth century a treatise on optics in which he speaks not only of steel mirrors but often of glass mirrors1 and adds that when the lead was scraped off the back no image was reflected4 ,there is1 or perhaps was #aej years ago1 a curious coat of arms in a painted window of the fourteenth century1 in the chancel of the church of ,thame in ,oxfordshire1 on which was blazoned a mirror in a case with a handle attached to it4 8,he beareth argent10 says ,guillim in his ,display of heraldry1 8a tyger passant1 regardant1 gazing in a mirror or looking-glass1 all proper4444 ,some report1 that those who rob the tiger of her young1 use a policy to detain their dam from following them1 by casting sundry looking-glasses in the way1 whereat she useth long to gaze1 etc40 ,ladies using mirrors at their toilet frequently form a subject for illustration in fourteenth century manuscripts4 ,these mirrors are precisely of the usual shape and size of those which have come down to us in ivory4 ,several may be seen in the manuscript romance of ,lancelot du ,lac in the ,british museum3 in one1 a lady lying on a couch holds the mirror in her hand whilst an attendant dresses her hair with a comb2 in another1 she herself uses both mirror and comb4 ,a hundred years later the same design was engraved on one of a pack of cards1 8la damoiselle10 by 8the ,master of #adff10 now in the national library at ,paris4 ,love scenes1 as in the etching1 or the siege of the castle of ,love are subjects often found on mirror cases4 ,the woodcut on this page is copied from an example at ,south ,kensington1 no4 #afag4 ,another copy of the same romance of ,lancelot1 which has been just referred to1 has an illumination of a real assault upon a castle1 treated in a similar manner4 ,knights place ladders against the wall2 the battlements are defended by the garrison2 the attack is made with cross-bows and a catapult2 and men lie dead upon the ground4 ,another of much interest is given as 8the twelfth battle0 in the manuscript in the ,british museum so well known as queen ,mary's psalter1 written about the year #acbj2 in this1 women look at the attack over the battlements of the town or castle4 ,illustration ,illustration3 ,,ivory ,,carving4 ,,circular ,,mirror ,,cover4 ,,date #acjj-accj4 7,,soltikoff ,,coll47 ,,diam #e in4 #b4,k4,m 7,no #baj4fe7 ,d4 ,,jones ,,fecit4 ,illustration ,knights tilting1 or a tournament1 or ladies and gentlemen riding through woods and preceded by attendants with dogs1 are also common subjects4 ,the contemporary manuscripts illustrate the same design4 ,both on the mirror cases and in the illuminations the lady is generally seen riding astride4 ,women are so represented more than once in the romance of ,lancelot3 for example fol4 #abj;a1 and #afc;a4 ,a queen is riding1 fol4 #aha;b4 ,in queen ,mary's psalter1 the treatment on the mirror cases of people riding is almost exactly repeated1 fol4 #bag2 again1 #bah;b1 and #bbc;b4 ,other examples may be seen in the ,bodleian manuscript of the romance of ,alexander1 fol4 #ajj and #acj4 ,the same custom lasted in ,lithuania until1 at least1 the year #ahjj4 ,there is one other ornamental design very common on mirror cases2 people playing at chess or draughts4 ,margaret ,paston writes in the reign of ,richard the third to her husband1 and says that at the ,christmas following the death of lord ,morley his widow would permit no amusements in her house1 8non dysgysyngs ner harpyng ner lutyng--but pleying at the tabyllys and schesse40 ,this brings us to an interesting and important class of carvings in ivory4 ,the date of the introduction of the games of chess and draughts into ,europe1 and more particularly among the northern nations and our own ancestors the ,anglo-saxons1 is a historical question upon which there has been great dispute4 ,the game of chess was certainly played at a very early period in the east1 and from thence probably passed through the ,arabs into ,greece4 ,there are allusions to chess and chessmen in many writers before the twelfth century1 and these incidental references are of more value than the positive assertions which later authors1 after the manner of their day1 did not hesitate to advance4 ,for example ,caxton1 or rather the author of the 8,playe of the ,chesse40 8,this playe fonde a phylosopher of thoryent whych was named in caldee ,exerces1 for which is as moche to say in englissh as he that louyth ,justyce and mesure40 ,and this decision was not without due consideration of the matter2 for just before we are told3 8,trewe it is that somme men wene that this play was founden in the tyme of the bataylles and siege of troye4 ,but that is not so4444 ,after that cam this playe in the tyme of ,alixaunder the grete in to egypt1 and so unto alle the parties toward the south40 ,this treatise on chess is said to have been written nearly two hundred years before ,caxton lived by ,jacobus de ,casulis1 a ,french ,dominican friar1 about #abij4 ,a copy is in the ,british museum1 ,,ms4 ,harl4 #abge2 and it was printed at ,milan in #adgi4 ,chaucer however1 in 8the ,dreame10 names not ,exerces but ,athalus as the supposed inventor of the game1 in a passage worth quoting3 8,therewith ,fortune saith1 check here1 ,and mate in the mid point of the checkere1 ,with a pawne errant1 alas1 ,ful craftier to playe she was ,than ,athalus that made the game1 ,first to the chesse1 so was his name40 ,we may1 however1 put aside the old guesses of early writers1 for evidence still exists which sets at rest all doubt that chess was known and played in ,france in ,carlovingian times1 and we can understand easily1 therefore1 why medival poets and romance writers so often introduced stories about the game4 ,some ivory chessmen1 six in number1 were long preserved in the treasury of the abbey of ,st4 ,denis1 and the old tradition was that they were given with the chess-table by ,charlemagne himself4 ,the greater number of the pieces and the table had been lost for many years1 as long ago as #afjj4 ,the remainder1 transferred at the revolution from ,st4 ,denis1 are now in the public library at ,paris4 ,sir ,frederic ,madden1 in a very able and learned paper in the ,archologia1 says of them3 8,the dresses and ornaments are all strictly in keeping with the ,greek costume of the ninth century2 and it is impossible not to be convinced1 from the general character of the figures1 that these chessmen really belong to the period assigned them by tradition1 and were1 in all probability1 executed at ,constantinople by an ,asiatic ,greek1 and sent as a present to ,charlemagne1 either by the empress ,irene1 or by her successor ,nicephorus4444 ,one thing is certain1 that these chessmen1 from their size and workmanship1 must have been designed for no ignoble personage3 and1 from the decided style of ,greek art1 it is a more natural inference to suppose them presented to ,charlemagne by a sovereign of the lower empire1 than that they came to him as an offering from the ,moorish princes of ,spain1 or even from the caliph ,haroun al ,raschid1 who gave many costly gifts to the emperor of the west40 ,in the ,east ,india museum almost a complete set of ivory chessmen is preserved1 perhaps the most ancient examples now known to exist3 older even than the chessmen from ,st4 ,denis4 ,these were found about twenty years ago1 mixed with a quantity of broken pottery1 human bones1 and other relics1 amongst the ruins of some houses excavated on the site of the city of ,brahmunabad in ,sind1 which was destroyed by an earthquake in the eighth century4 ,the pieces are turned2 plain in character1 without ornament4 ,several are in a very fragile state1 having perished in the same way as the ,assyrian ivories2 and an attempt should be made to restore1 if possible1 some of the lost substance4 ,a few fragments of a chessboard were also found1 incised with small circles1 not interlacing4 ,the chessmen and the squares of the board are black and white3 ivory and ebony4 ,the kings and queens are about three inches high2 the pawns one inch2 and the other pieces are of different intermediate heights4 ,coins were also found of the caliphs of ,bagdad1 about ,a4,d4 #gej4 ,the medival chronicles1 poems1 and romances are full of references to the game4 ,the anonymous author of the history of ,ramsey monastery1 writing about the year #aajj1 tells us that bishop theric coming late one night to king ,canute found him still playing chess1 8regem adhuc scaccorum ludo longioris tdia noctis relevantem invenit40 ,strutt quotes this passage in his sports and pastimes2 and ,sir ,f4 ,madden adds the following translation from a ,french manuscript of the thirteenth century4 ,it is much to our present purpose1 in illustration of the legends whence the subjects of mirror decorations were derived3-- 8,orgar was playing at the chess1 ,a game he had learned of the ,danes2 ,with him played the fair ,elstrueth1 ,a fairer maiden was not under heaven40 ,the story is of a mission from king ,edgar to earl ,orgar in the tenth century4 ,chaucer again tells us how 8,they dancen and they play at ches and tables20 and in the merchant's second tale he describes a chessboard3-- 8,so when they had ydyned1 the cloth was up ytake1 ,a ches ther was ybrought forth2 444 ,the ches was all of ivory1 the meyne fresh and new1 ,ipulshid and ypikid1 of white1 asure1 and blue40 ,a very curious passage occurs in a book originally written in ,french1 in ,april #acga1 and translated about the reign of ,henry the sixth3 a copy is in the ,british museum2 ,harl4 #agfd4 8,there was a gentille knight's daughter that wratthed atte the tables with a gentill man that was riotous and comberous and hadd an evelle hede1 and the debate was on a point that he plaide1 that she saide that it was wronge3 and so the wordes and the debate rose so that she saide that he was a lewde ignorant fole1 and thane lost the game in chiding40 ,chess-tables and chessmen are often specified in wills and inventories4 ,the inventory of the effects of ,sir ,roger de ,mortimer1 referred to more than once1 speaks of a coffer containing 8j famil' de ebore pro scaccario20 and among the jewels in the wardrobe book of ,edward the first occur 8una familia de ebore pro ludendo ad scaccarium10 and 8una familia pro scaccario de jaspide et cristallo40 ,the 8familia0 in these entries is the same as the 8meyne0 in ,chaucer's lines just above2 that is1 the retinue1 the company1 or the set of domestics4 ,illustration ,to quote from one will2 ,sir ,william ,compton in his will1 dated #aebc bequeathed to ,henry the eighth 8a little chest of ivory whereof one lock is gilt1 with a chessboard under the same1 and a pair of tables upon it1 and all such jewels and treasures as are enclosed therein40 ,the most complete set of ancient ivory chessmen now remaining was found in the isle of ,lewis1 in ,scotland1 about the year #ahca1 and most of them are now in the ,british museum4 ,they are all of one character1 similar to the accompanying woodcut1 which is engraved from another walrus-ivory chessman1 also in the ,british museum1 and which was obtained some few years ago from a private collection4 ,it would be more proper to speak of the ,lewis chess pieces as several sets1 for there are some pieces enough for five or six4 ,they are sixty-seven in number--six kings1 five queens1 thirteen bishops1 fourteen knights1 nineteen pawns1 and ten 7so-called7 warders1 which took the place of the modern rook or castle4 ,this large collection was discovered by a labourer digging a sandbank1 and every piece is accurately described in detail by ,sir ,f4 ,madden in a paper read before the ,society of antiquaries in #ahcb4 ,they are all carved out of walrus ivory4 ,upon this material ,sir ,frederic observes that 8the estimation in which the teeth of the walrus were held by the northern nations rendered them a present worthy of royalty2 and this circumstance is confirmed by a tradition preserved in the curious saga of ,krka the crafty1 who lived in the tenth century40 ,the saga itself is believed to have been written in the fourteenth century4 8,it is there related1 that ,gunner1 prefect of ,greenland1 wishing to conciliate the favour of ,harald ,hardraad1 king of ,norway 7,a4,d4 #ajej71 sent him the three most precious gifts the island could produce4 ,these were1 #a1 a white bear2 #b1 a chess-table1 or set of chessmen1 exquisitely carved2 #c1 a skull of the ,rostungr 7or walrus7 with the teeth fastened in it1 and ornamented with gold40 ,the best ,icelandic scholars take the term ,tan-,tabl in the sense of chessmen made of the teeth of the walrus4 ,illustration ,chessmen were occasionally made of considerably larger size4 ,there is a good example of this kind in the ,south ,kensington collection1 no4 #hihg2 and another1 of which a woodcut is given1 is in the ,british museum4 ,this last remarkable piece was presented in #ahef1 by ,sir ,henry ,cole4 ,scarcely less common than chessmen are small round pieces1 generally of the tusk of the walrus1 which were used for a game probably like the modern game of draughts1 and to which frequent allusion is found in medival books under the name of 8tables40 ,the mirror cases give us several representations of people engaged at this game1 usually a lady and a gentleman4 ,there seem to have been fewer pieces used than in our own days1 and a smaller board or table4 ,these draughtsmen are almost all of the eleventh1 twelfth and thirteenth centuries2 and the subjects men and animals1 with scroll ornament interlacing4 ,occasionally a single bird or a dragon fills the centre space4 ,some of the decorations of the old church of ,shobdon in ,herefordshire 7pulled down about #ajj years ago7 were similar to the carvings upon the draughtsmen and other works of that kind4 ,these also were of the twelfth century4 ,one pillar was ornamented with a series of small medallions tied together1 exactly like the old draughtsmen4 ,they are engraved1 from fragments of three of the principal arches still preserved1 in the first volume of the ,archological journal4 ,illustration ,this style of ornament is shown to great advantage upon the arm of a chair of the eleventh or twelfth century1 formerly in the ,meyrick collection2 carved from two tusks of the walrus4 ,it is not easy to decide in what country this very important ivory was worked4 ,one half of it is given in the accompanying woodcut4 ,the name1 arm of a chair1 must be taken as a probable supposition4 ,that it is one of a pair is apparently certain3 for in the centre on one side is an eagle1 on the other a winged lion2 two of the four symbols of the ,evangelists4 ,these are deeply sunk and enclosed in ornamental borders1 exactly similar to the draughtsmen of the same period4 ,the sides from the centres to the ends are richly carved in admirable style and workmanship with an interlacing scroll ornament1 in the midst of which are twined men and fabulous animals4 ,the ends have1 for terminations1 the heads of lions designed with much spirit4 ,on the under side1 which is left perfectly flat1 are incised some small crosses1 composed of the well-known little circles called the bone ornament4 ,there are other good examples of the same style of decoration upon the specimens of the ancient ,tau in the ,south ,kensington museum4 ,in all of these1 though the men and animals are grotesque yet they have life and movement1 and the foliage and branches with which they are twined and intermingled are well executed4 ,the technical merit of the carving1 deep in relief and often cut clear from the solid substance of the ivory1 is very remarkable4 ,illustration3 ,,two ,,groups ,,of ,,the ,,chessmen ,,found ,,in ,,the ,,island ,,of ,,lewis4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,although it is impossible to enter in detail into any history of an object so well known1 by name at least1 as the pastoral crook of a bishop1 it may yet be not without interest to offer a few remarks upon it in explanation of the varieties of shape of old ivory croziers still existing1 and as a subject not without interest in our own days to many people4 ,the ,tau1 spoken of in the last chapter1 is but a form of the pastoral staff1 adopted in more than one country of western ,europe early in the middle ages4 ,the most ancient shape of the episcopal staff is found represented in the catacombs2 a short handle1 with a plain boss or oval knob bent aside at the top like the pagan lituus4 ,sometimes in the catacombs we also find the truer form of a shepherd's crook1 a plain but complete curve at the extremity4 ,the ,tau is commonly seen and given without apparent distinction to bishops and abbots in manuscripts of the eighth and ninth centuries1 about which period there came in another fashion1 unpleasing and hardly intelligible in its design1 where the crook is but slightly bent and extended almost horizontally from the staff itself4 ,one more shape1 and more rare1 was a double plain crook like horns joined together4 ,after all these came the admirable design1 of which the ,south ,kensington museum possesses one or two splendid examples1 wherein the volute is carried half round again and frequently contains within the circle other ornaments or groups of figures4 ,illustration3 ,,ivory ,,carving1 ,,head ,,of ,a ,,tau ,,or ,t ,,shaped ,,staff1 ,,in ,,walrus ,,tusk1 ,,the ,,compartments ,,containing ,,the ,,signs ,,of ,,the ,,zodiac4 #abth ,,cent 7,,soltikoff ,,coll7 ,l1 #e ,,in ,s4 ,k4 ,m4 7,no #bae '#fe7 ,f4 ,a4 ,,slocombe ,,fecit ,the extremities of the ,taus were often hollowed1 to receive relics4 ,the beautiful ,tau now at ,kensington1 engraved in the etching1 shows the old recesses2 but the crystal ends are lost4 ,it is of this ,tau that a learned author writes as follows1 in the ,mlanges archologiques3--8,avant de quitter ce beau monument1 je ferai observer la riche ciselure du treillis sparant les signes4 ,il est peine croyable que chaque petite perle d'ivoire le long des entrelacs enchsse une pierre prcieuse1 et que les yeux des animaux sont ainsi forms40 ,a very fine ivory of the same admirable kind and style is preserved in the library at ,rouen1 probably of earlier date1 of the tenth century2 and another is in the ,cluny museum1 unusually simple in shape and plain in ornament1 which was found at ,st4 ,germain-des-,prs in the tomb of ,morard1 abbot of that monastery from #iij to #ajad4 ,in the etching is another ,tau1 also at ,kensington4 ,ivory ,taus are of great rarity4 ,they were gradually superseded towards the end of the twelfth century by that form which1 with certain varieties of ornament1 has continued down to our own times4 ,the most common mode of treating the volute itself was to imitate a serpent2 and the termination of the crook was the head of the serpent1 sometimes with widely-expanded jaws4 ,it may appear unreasonable that the serpent was so constantly used as a religious emblem in such a way2 but the symbol was certainly adopted in ,christian art and with several pious significations from the first ages of the ,christian faith4 ,as the chief decoration of a bishop's pastoral staff it might be regarded as an emblem of prudence1 or as a record of the rod of ,moses1 which was changed into a serpent and destroyed those which had been cast down by the magicians2 or again1 as an emblem of the subtlety or wisdom required in a ruler over ,christ's flock4 ,when the serpent is also chained or entangled1 then1 perhaps1 the triumph of the ,church over ,satan is symbolised2 or the contest itself between the two1 when the head and open jaws seem to be on the point of closing over the lamb and cross1 as in the pastoral staff of the ,ashmolean museum at ,oxford4 ,once more1 the triumph would be shown when our ,lord in glory is represented within the sweep of the serpent's body4 ,it is also probable that the men twisted and twined with serpents and animals and branches of trees1 in the older examples1 were meant to typify the struggle against the evil influences of the world1 the flesh1 and the devil4 ,the triumph of ,christianity over the world is of a class of ornament which was largely introduced towards the middle of the thirteenth century1 and which included others of a like character3 such as1 especially1 the ,crucifixion 7as in the etching7 or the ,virgin standing with the ,child in her arms1 sometimes attended by angels1 or the adoration of the ,magi2 and1 a little later1 the coronation of the ,virgin2 or the destruction of the dragon by the archangel ,michael4 ,the author of the paper in the ,mlanges d'archologie speaks of a pastoral staff of ivory having 8the ,coronation0 so early as the time of ,st4 ,gautier1 abbot of ,st4 ,martin de ,pontoise about #ajgj1 to whom it is attributed4 ,an engraving of it is in that publication2 and it is worthy of especial notice because1 although of wood1 the handle is not only enriched with decorations like the handle of the fan at ,south ,kensington1 no4 #cgc and the corresponding piece in the ,british museum1 but the ornaments are placed within exactly similar small square compartments4 ,sometimes the volutes of croziers were filled merely with foliage and twisted branches2 but these were more commonly of copper or silver1 for the further purpose of being enamelled4 ,we must not fail to observe how cleverly in many of the medival ivory heads of bishops' staffs the volute is occupied by a double subject1 placed back to back1 so that one of the two might face the people as it was borne along4 ,these are generally1 on one side the ,crucifixion1 on the other the ,virgin and ,child4 ,the figures standing upon the one side on either hand of the cross are carved on the reverse as angels in attendance on the ,virgin4 ,this is well shown in the woodcut1 from a pastoral staff of the thirteenth century1 preserved in the cathedral at ,metz4 ,illustration3 ,,crosier ,,in ,,carved ,,ivory ,,and ,,gilt ,,metal4 ,,french ,,xiv ,,cent4 7#gieb7 ,w ,m ,mc,g,i,l,l ,illustration ,in remote times the pastoral staff of a bishop was usually made of wood2 at least1 we may suppose so from the jest of ,guy ,coquille3-- 8,au temps pass du sicle d'or1 ,crosse de bois1 vque d'or2 ,maintenant1 changeant les lois1 ,crosse d'or1 vque de bois40 ,these lines are not1 perhaps1 all in jest1 for the wooden staff of ,st4 ,erhard exists at ,ratisbonne3 and another is in the church of ,st4 ,ursula at ,cologne4 ,the two ,benedictines in their famous travels 7as recorded in the 8,voyage littraire07 come to ,maurienne1 and tell us3 8,nous vmes aussi dans le trsor une croce d'yvoire3 car les anciens vques aimoient mieux employer leur argent soulager les pauvres1 qu'en des ornemens vains et superflus40 ,they saw other ivory pastoral staffs before their journeys ended3 one at ,marseilles1 in the abbey of ,st4 ,victor2 and one of the eleventh century at ,st4 ,savin1 in the diocese of ,tarbes2 another1 worthy of special mention1 at ,cluny3 8,la croce de ,s4 ,hugue1 qui est de bois couvert de feuilles d'argent1 dont le dessus est d'yvoire40 ,in later days the use of wood was generally limited to the staffs and croziers which were buried in their graves with archbishops and bishops1 abbots and abbesses4 ,a few of these have been found3 one1 very remarkable and in a fair state of preservation1 in ,westminster abbey in the tomb of bishop ,lyndwood1 the great canonist4 ,this is now in the ,british museum4 ,a full account of the opening of this tomb1 with engravings1 is printed in one of the volumes of the ,archologia4 ,probably the pastoral staff mentioned in the will of ,richard ,martyn bishop of ,st4 ,david's1 who died about the year #adih1 was of wood4 ,he bequeathed to the church of ,lyde 8the cross-hed that ,oliver the joiner made40 ,inscriptions are sometimes found upon ivory pastoral staffs4 ,for example on that of ,st4 ,aunon1 archbishop of ,cologne3 8,sterne resistentes1 stantes rege1 tolle jacentes20 others on those of ,st4 ,saturnin at ,toulouse1 and of ,otho1 bishop of ,hildesheim4 ,the old ,sarum pontificals order1 in the first rubric for consecrating a bishop1 that the baculus pastoralis should be provided with the other necessary episcopal ornaments and vestments2 and the staff is delivered to the new bishop in the course of the office4 8,quum datur baculus dicat ordinator1 ,accipe baculum pastoralis officii10 etc41 and the purpose is further alluded to as the ceremony proceeds4 ,the symbolism of the shape and ornaments of the ivory pastoral staffs is clearly explained by ,hugo ,st4 ,victor3 8,episcopo1 dum regimen ecclesi committitur1 baculus quasi pastori traditur1 in quo tria notantur1 qu significatione non carent1 recurvitas1 virga1 cuspis2 significatio hoc carmine continetur3-- 8,attraho peccantes1 justos rogo1 pungo vagantes1 ,officio triplici servio pontifici40 ,it remains only to notice that the ,pope uses neither pastoral staff nor crozier1 nor is it delivered to him at his consecration1 if at his election he be only a simple priest4 ,it is said1 however1 that he should carry one in the diocese of ,treves because ,st4 ,peter gave his own to the first bishop of that place1 where it is preserved as a famous relic4 ,this tradition is mentioned by ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas3 8,et ideo in dicesi ,treverensi papa baculum portat1 et non in aliis40 ,an engraving is given 7p4 #ij7 of the head of a pastoral staff1 rather more than five inches in height1 not only unusual and remarkable in style but probably of ,english work4 ,this was preserved in the ,meyrick collection and is carved from bone4 ,the outside of the upright part and the volute are decorated with pierced work1 now slightly mutilated4 ,inside the volute1 which terminates with the open mouth of a serpent1 is a man in a grotesque position1 his feet within the serpent's jaws4 ,a rich interlaced scroll decorates both sides of the head of the staff4 ,illustration ,it is perhaps not to be wondered at that a ,tau should be1 as we know it is1 amongst the most rare of ornaments or utensils in ivory which have been preserved4 ,the early and total disuse of them would have naturally led to their destruction and loss1 sometimes wilful1 sometimes accidental4 ,but that the pastoral staff 7that is1 the head of it7 should be of almost equal rarity is less easily to be explained4 ,few collections possess a good example2 still fewer more than one4 ,nevertheless1 in ,england alone pastoral staffs must have been almost without number at the beginning of the sixteenth century2 and although many were probably of metal1 silver or copper enamelled and having some intrinsic value1 yet an equal or perhaps greater number were of ivory4 ,not merely bishops but the heads of religious houses1 abbots and abbesses1 carried them as official tokens of their rank and dignity4 ,we find frequent mention of them in the old inventories4 ,for example1 at ,st4 ,paul's1 in #abie2 8,item1 baculus cum cambuca eburnea1 continente agnum40 8,item1 baculus de peciis eburneis1 et summitate crystallina10 etc4 8,cambuca0 is a word often used in the middle ages for the staff itself2 derived1 perhaps1 from 1 ,i bend4 ,yet numerous as they must once have been1 the heads of ,english pastoral staffs are now among the rarest of ivory carvings4 ,it is true that no4 #bih at ,south ,kensington can1 with some kind of probability1 be attributed to an ,english artist and may have been used in ,england2 but no other in that collection can be referred to4 ,the almost complete destruction in ,england of all ecclesiastical ornaments--books1 vestments1 reliquaries1 and the like--in the middle of the sixteenth century will account for the extreme rarity of them in this country4 ,but it is very difficult to explain the reason why so few should still be found in ,france1 or ,germany1 or ,italy4 ,the bishop's pastoral staff1 again1 has not dropped out of use like the pax or the flabellum4 ,there are examples of the pax in the ,south ,kensington collection1 nos4 #bdf and #bdg4 ,it was used in the middle ages at high mass and sometimes at low mass also1 for sending the kiss of peace from the celebrant1 first to the deacon and subdeacon or to the acolyte1 afterwards to the people4 ,with regard to the custom in ,england1 provincial and diocesan statutes repeat again and again the obligation upon parishes to provide the pax1 8osculatorium0 or 8asser ad pacem10 equally with the proper vestments or books or other furniture of the altar4 ,the rubrics of the ,sarum missal--the use most largely observed in ,england before the reign of queen ,elizabeth--direct the priest1 immediately after the ,agnus ,dei1 to kiss the outside rim of the chalice in which was the ,sacred ,blood1 and then to give the pax to the deacon who delivered it in regular order to the ministers and choristers in the sanctuary4 ,everything connected with the correct text of the plays of ,shakespeare is of the highest interest to every ,englishman2 and will serve1 it is hoped1 as some excuse for a few words by way of remark upon a passage where he alludes to a pax4 ,the unfortunate ,bardolph came to an untimely end on account of it3 8,fortune is ,bardolph's foe1 and frowns on him3 ,for he hath stolen a pax3 and hang'd must'a be4 ----,exeter hath given the doom of death1 ,for pax of little price40 ,,henry ,v41 act iii41 sc4 #e4 ,until lately the editors of ,shakspeare printed pyx on the emendation 7so-called7 of ,theobald4 ,johnson1 who approved the new reading1 informs us in his note upon the place that the two words 8signified the same thing40 ,as far as ,bardolph was concerned it mattered not2 he had 8conveyed0 a sacred thing and1 as ,holinshed tells us1 the king would not move on till the thief was hanged4 ,the quartos of #afjj and #afjh 7and also the three folios7 read pax3 8he hath stolne a packs20 8a packs of pettie price10 in both editions4 ,shakspeare very well knew that a pax exposed or left carelessly on an altar was much more likely to be stolen than a pyx1 which would be taken infinitely greater care of and locked up in the tabernacle4 ,even ,dr4 ,johnson was ignorant upon some subjects2 and the way in which editors 8emend0 their authors is something marvellous4 ,when ,shakspeare lived1 and when the quartos were printed1 people had not forgotten the distinction between the pax and the pyx2 and many even could still remember when that now mysterious thing1 the pax1 had been brought down to them in the services of the ,church from the altar4 ,the introduction of the pax instead of the old practice of mutual salutation was not until about the thirteenth century4 ,the earliest mention in ,england occurs in a council held at ,york1 ,a4,d4 #abej1 under archbishop ,walter ,gray1 where it is called 8osculatorium40 ,a like order was made in the province of ,canterbury1 at the council of ,merton1 #acje1 directing every parish to provide 8tabulas pacis ad osculatorium40 ,several figures of the pax are given in works relating to the subject2 and we find it almost always represented as part of the furniture of an altar in the woodcut which often precedes the service for advent sunday1 in the printed editions of the ,salisbury missal from about #aejj to #aeeg4 ,le ,brun has an interesting disquisition on the pax3 and he tells us in a note that in its turn it also fell into disuse1 because of quarrels about precedency which were occasioned among the people4 ,le ,brun is borne out by ,chaucer who1 in the ,parson's ,tale1 speaking of the proud man explains that 8also he awaited to sit1 or els to go above him in the waie1 or kisse paxe1 or be encenced before his neighbour1 etc40 ,occasionally1 paxes in ivory have inscriptions upon them4 ,one of the three in the ,liverpool museum has the appropriate prayer1 8,da pacem ,domine in diebus nostris40 ,two exhibited at ,norwich in #ahdg had legends4 ,on one1 the ,annunciation1 8,ave ,maria20 on the other1 the ,nativity with the shepherds1 8,gloria in excelsis ,deo1 et in terra pax1 etc40 ,notices of the pax are common in monastic and church inventories4 ,in the ,rites of ,durham abbey we are told that they possessed 8a marvelous faire booke1 which had the epistles and gospels in it1 the which booke had on the outside of the coveringe the picture of our ,saviour ,christ all of silver--which booke did serve for the paxe in the masse40 ,a book which an abbot of ,glastonbury gave to his church there probably answered the same purpose2 and other then existing examples might be referred to4 8,unum textum argenteum et auratum cum crucifixo1 ,maria1 et ,johanne1 splendidus emalatum40 ,a medival ,english pax made of wood does not now1 probably1 exist3 but there is a curious entry in the inventory of church goods belonging to the parish of ,st4 ,peter ,cheap1 in the year #adca2 8item iij lyttel pax breds of tre40 ,many such wooden paxes are mentioned as having been burnt in the diocese of ,lincoln in #aeff by the royal commissioners3 8a paxe of wood0 at ,baston1 another at ,dunsbie1 another at ,haconbie4 ,we have a remarkable illustration of the late use of the pax in ,england in one of the injunctions issued by the king's visitors to the clergy within the deanery of ,doncaster1 in the first year of ,edward the sixth1 and printed by ,burnet in his ,records3 8,the clerk was ordered at the proper time to bring down the pax1 and standing without the church door to say these words aloud to the people4 ,this is a token of joyful peace which is betwixt ,god and men's conscience1 etc40 ,the 8church door0 here means the door in the screen which in those days divided the chancel from the body of the church4 ,as in ,chaucer1 where he says of the wife of ,bath 8,husbands at the church door had she had five40 ,in ,england before the change of religion in the fifteenth century the marriage ceremony was performed outside the chancel1 sometimes at the great door of the church itself2 and then all proceeded towards the sanctuary for mass and communion4 ,one of the most beautiful as well as one of the most rare objects in the ,south ,kensington collection is part of the handle of an ecclesiastical fan1 or flabellum4 ,it is1 probably1 one half of a handle2 and another half1 so nearly alike that it is a question whether it does or does not belong to the same handle1 is in the ,british museum4 ,the fan is still used in the ,catholic ,church in the east1 where the purpose and benefit of it in order to keep off flies from the sacred vessels1 or on account of the heat1 are obvious4 ,but in the west1 except perhaps for part of the year in ,italy1 the fan was a kind of fashion and1 having no symbolism1 an unmeaning introduction from the oriental rite4 ,the various churches of ,france and ,england had dropped the use of it before the sixteenth century2 but we have plenty of evidence that the fan was commonly adopted in the thirteenth and the twelfth4 ,illuminations in two of the manuscripts in the public library at ,rouen are very clear in this matter4 ,one represents the deacon raising the flabellum1 a circular fan with a long handle1 over the head of the priest standing at the altar4 ,in the other1 the deacon is in the act of waving the fan1 holding it by a short handle1 over the head of a bishop who is elevating the ,host4 ,a very curious flabellum1 supposed to be of the ninth century1 is described by ,du ,sommerard2 it had long been preserved in the abbey of ,tournus1 south of ,chalons1 and was said to be in the possession of ,m4 ,carraud about twenty years ago4 ,the fan of queen ,theodolinda1 of purple vellum with ivory handle1 given by her to the cathedral of ,monza is still preserved there4 ,other examples are1 perhaps1 still existing2 two or three are mentioned by writers of the last century4 ,inventories of churches and monasteries include the fan4 ,in one of ,amiens1 about #acjj1 is 8flabellum factum de serico et auro ad repellendas muscas40 ,another1 of the ,sainte ,chapelle at ,paris1 #acfc1 gives 8,item1 duo flabella1 vulgariter nuncupata muscalia1 ornata perlis40 ,nor ought we to omit some entries of the same kind in ,english inventories4 ,in one1 of the cathedral of ,salisbury1 in #acad1 are 8ij flabella de serico et pergameno40 ,the church of ,st4 ,faith1 in the crypt of ,st4 ,paul's1 possessed among its ornaments in #abih 8unum muscatorium de pennis pavonum40 ,still more to our present purpose was the fan given to a chantry in the cathedral of ,rochester1 by bishop ,hanno1 in #acdf2 8unum flabellum de serico cum virga eburnea30 or the 8flabellum de serico0 named in the inventory of the property of ,robert ,bilton1 bishop of ,exeter1 in #accj4 ,john ,newton1 treasurer of ,york minster1 gave to that church about the year #adjj a splendid fan1 which was in the treasury there when everything of the kind was destroyed by the commissioners of ,edward the sixth3 8,manubrium flabelli argenteum deauratum1 ex dono ,joh4 ,newton1 cum ymagine episcopi in fine enameled1 pond' v4 unc40 ,it is not at all improbable that fans were used in ,england at mass even in parochial or country churches until a late period4 ,the following entry occurs in the accounts of the churchwardens of ,walberswick1 in ,suffolk3 a payment in the year #adic for 8a bessume of pekok's fethers1 iv4 d40 ,care must be observed1 however1 not to set down all works in ivory which are similar to no4 #cgc as having been the handles of ecclesiastical fans4 ,other church ceremonies required utensils of the same kind2 though1 probably1 they were seldom if ever so profusely decorated and enriched with carving4 ,for example1 holy-water sprinklers would often have had ivory handles2 and one is specified as belonging to ,st4 ,paul's in #abie1 8aspersorium de ebore40 ,more than this2 whip handles1 which we see on mirror cases and in illuminations1 and other like things were made and ornamented for secular purposes4 ,hearne gives a copy of a curious inscription on the handle of a whip found in the ruins of the abbey of ,st4 ,alban4 ,it commemorates the gift of four horses to the monks of that house from ,gilbert of ,newcastle4 ,hearne leaves the date of the handle doubtful1 but is disposed to put it about the end of the fourteenth century4 ,the wife of ,roger de ,mortimer of ,wigmore castle in ,herefordshire had1 among other valuable things as specified in the inventory taken in ,edward the second's reign 7before quoted7 8item1 j scourgiam de ebore40 ,the etching represents a very beautiful reliquary1 ,french work of the sixteenth century1 in the ,kensington museum4 ,illustration3 ,,triptych1 ,,serving ,,as ,a ,,reliquary ,,in ,,carved ,,ivory ,,about #adhj4 ,,entire ,,width ,,opened #aj in4 ,s4,k4,m4 7,no #dccf7 ,d4 ,,jones ,,fecit4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,the ,south ,kensington museum is rich in ivory statuettes3 many of them are very beautiful1 although none is equal to a large sitting figure of the ,virgin in the ,british museum or to two or three of the finest in the collections at ,paris4 ,almost all of these statuettes represent the ,virgin and ,child2 naturally1 this would be a subject most frequently in demand for private oratories4 ,almost always the ,virgin bears the tokens of her spiritual glory and privileges4 ,to adopt the words of a ,french writer on another class of ivory carvings1 8,la ,vierge mre et reine porte glorieuse les trois signes de son incomparable grandeur2 la fleur de sa puret immacule1 le fruit bni qui1 loin de fltrir1 a embelli sa fleur2 et la couronne qui a consomm ses privilges en couronnant ses vertus40 ,generally speaking1 the statuettes of the latter part of the thirteenth and throughout the fourteenth century are pure and religious in style1 with an admirable expression of love and reverence in the figures1 perfectly natural4 ,there are two or three examples in the collections at ,south ,kensington and the ,british museum1 which may well claim all the praise which ,m4 ,labarte gives to a group of the coronation of the ,virgin and to a ,virgin and ,child1 both now preserved in the ,louvre4 ,he speaks of the simplicity of the composition2 the refinement and truthfulness of the forms2 the appropriate inflexions of the body and limbs2 the imitation of real life2 the just expression given to the faces2 and the natural development and treatment of the draperies4 ,so1 again1 we may quote his exact words1 and say of more than one statuette in these great collections3 8,quelle puret dans le dessin1 quelle noblesse dans la pose1 quelle finesse dans le modle1 quelle ampleur et quelle lgance dans la disposition de la draperie6 ,cette statuette montr quel haut degr de perfection tait parvenue la sculpture chrtienne la fin du quatorzime sicle40 ,the seals attached to medival deeds are important illustrations of the mode of treatment of the subject of the ,virgin and ,child1 so common in the statuettes of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries4 ,take1 for instance1 some in the ,bodleian library4 ,the seal of the prior and convent of ,wyrmeseye 7,wormegay7 in ,norfolk1 attached to a deed of #acdg1 has a seated ,virgin suckling the ,child1 her right hand uplifted4 ,another of the convent of ,castle ,acre1 #abij1 a similar subject4 ,another1 of one of the parties to a deed of the archbishop of ,canterbury1 #acgf1 has the ,virgin sitting1 facing1 and holding the ,child standing on her lap1 a sceptre in her right hand2 another1 showing the peculiar twist of the figure 7presently to be noticed7 is on the seal of the convent of ,west ,acre1 in ,norfolk4 ,there are several also in the ,british museum3 especially a very fine seal of ,southwick ,priory1 early fourteenth century2 the ,virgin sitting and suckling the ,infant1 under a canopy of a single arch2 another1 the same subject1 thirteenth century1 of ,oseney abbey2 another1 same date1 of ,elsing ,spittle priory1 the ,virgin standing with the child under a rich canopy4 ,sometimes ivory statuettes are still found placed under canopies and with shutters or wings to fold round them1 so as either to make shrines for an oratory or1 portable1 to be carried by the owners on their journeys4 ,more often1 examples of this kind are not finished in the back or are still left attached to the ground of the block of ivory1 carved however in very high relief4 ,the shrine no4 #dfhf1 is a good specimen4 ,when so treated1 the shutters are richly decorated on the inside with scenes from the gospels1 usually relating to the ,nativity or to the ,passion of our ,lord4 ,of this style were the shrines or triptychs at ,lincoln1 in #aecf3 8,a tabernacle of two leaves1 gemmels hinges and lock of silver1 containing the coronation of our ,lady20 and 8item1 a tabernacle of ivory standing upon four feet with two leaves1 with one image of our ,lady in the middle1 and the salutation of our ,lady in one leaf1 and the nativity of our ,lady in the other40 ,there are two remarkable and important illuminations in the manuscript psalter of queen ,mary1 which has been more than once referred to 7p4 #gd74 ,in one is a shrine1 open1 with the decorations usual early in the fourteenth century4 ,the centre is divided into two compartments4 ,above is the ,annunciation2 the ,blessed ,virgin and an angel2 each under a pointed arch1 cusped and crocketed4 ,below1 is the ,visitation2 ,elizabeth and the ,virgin meet under a gateway and embrace4 ,the wings are filled with saints1 each standing under a pointed arch4 ,this illumination precedes the psalter1 following the calendar1 after the ,old ,testament history4 ,the other represents a triptych3 in the middle is the ,virgin and ,child2 she is sitting and giving ,him the breast2 two angels stand by1 swinging censers2 in each wing is an angel with a candlestick4 ,the medival artist may have drawn these with examples now in the ,south ,kensington museum before him as his models4 ,figures carved in such deep relief as almost to be statuettes occasionally but very rarely occur in diptychs4 ,a remarkable specimen was in the ,meyrick collection2 an illustration is given 7p4 #ajj7 of one of the leaves4 ,probably no diptych exists in any collection equalling this in the depth to which the figures have been cut in relief4 ,each is brought out from the background three quarters of an inch4 ,on the other leaf is the ,virgin and ,child4 ,an inscription is incised upon the book which our ,lord holds in ,his left hand3 8,ego su4 dns4 ds tuus ,ic4 xpc4 qi4 creavi redemi salvabo te40 ,both figures have great grace and dignity2 and the draperies are arranged with unusual simplicity and breadth4 ,illustration ,there was also another very curious mode of carving statuettes of the ,virgin1 of which extant specimens are extremely rare1 and none 7it is believed7 is to be found in ,england4 ,there is one1 well known1 in the gallery of the ,louvre1 engraved in the useful book of ,m4 ,viollet le ,duc1 dictionnaire de mobilier ,franais4 ,it is a sitting figure of our ,lady1 who is holding the ,infant on her knees4 ,the front part is divided down the middle and two wings fall back on hinges1 leaving a centrepiece and forming a triptych of the usual character4 ,there are scenes from the ,passion on the wings1 and the ,crucifixion is carved upon the centre4 ,the date of the ivory is early in the fourteenth century2 but the fashion of this kind of statuette can be traced to a much earlier time4 ,an entry in an inventory of the church of ,notre ,dame at ,paris in #acdc mentions one3 8qudam alia ymago eburnea valde antiqua scisa per medium et cum ymaginibus sculptis in appertura1 que solebat poni super magnum altare40 ,occasionally statuettes are mentioned in ,english inventories2 thus in the inventory of ,roger de ,mortimer1 a coffer is included1 containing with other things 8j parvam imaginem beat ,virginis de ebore40 ,again1 8a lityll longe box of yvery with an ymage of our lady of yvery therein closyd0 is named among the goods belonging in #aecd to the guild of ,st4 ,mary the ,virgin at ,boston1 in ,norfolk4 ,a very fine statuette of ,english work1 more than nine inches in height1 has been for some years on loan to the ,south ,kensington museum2 it belonged to the late ,mr4 ,hope ,scott1 and was formerly ,lord ,shrewsbury's4 ,the ,virgin is in a sitting position and holds a large flower in her right hand4 ,she wears a crown under which is the veil1 and her drapery falls over her knees to the feet in heavy and deeply-carved folds4 ,the face of the ,virgin is very beautiful and full of affectionate expression2 the head also of the ,child is unusually good4 ,the ends of the throne are carved in relief1 each with a figure of a female saint sitting under a bold decorated canopy4 ,many portions of the original gilding remain upon the hair and on the borders of the vestments4 ,the largest known statuette was in the possession of the late ,mr4 ,alexander ,barker2 and this is not only remarkable for its size and height but is graceful in design1 and from the hand of a good artist4 ,it is ,french1 probably of the ,burgundian school1 and of the fourteenth century4 ,the ,blessed ,virgin is standing1 carrying the ,child2 both hold in one hand a fruit1 perhaps an apple4 ,the figures are vested much in the same manner as the statuette no4 #dfhe at ,south ,kensington1 and the draperies have gilded borders with a running scroll2 the linings of the robes of both are painted dark blue4 ,the hair of the ,virgin and of the ,infant has been gilded4 ,the perpendicular height of this statuette is twenty-three inches1 and the extreme width at the base six inches4 ,the figure is hollow as far as the tusk was so1 and slopes to the left in accordance with its natural growth4 ,the height to the girdle is fifteen inches1 and the ,infant sitting on ,his mother's arm measures seven and a half inches4 ,from the chin to the top of the head of the ,virgin is three inches4 ,the tusk curves inwards at the waist two inches from a line falling from the back of the head to the lowest part of the drapery which covers the feet4 ,every one must have remarked the bend or twist so often given to statues1 carved from stone1 of the ,virgin and of female saints which fill the niches of churches and cathedrals built in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries4 ,the necessity which obliged the workman in ivory to follow the natural form of the tusk in all statuettes of such a size1 or of nearly so great a size1 as that which has been just described1 certainly did not press upon sculptors whose material was stone and comparatively unlimited4 ,but the position had perhaps become1 as it were1 a fashion1 and the style conventional and pleasing to eyes accustomed daily to see statues so leaning aside in their own oratories4 ,the same slope or twist is to be seen often in the figure of the ,virgin in the centre of the volute of the head of a pastoral staff2 where1 so far as abundance of material was concerned1 there was not the least necessity for any deviation from an upright into an unnatural attitude4 ,again1 in statuettes in silver or other metal3 as1 for example1 in the silver ,virgin and ,child in the ,south ,kensington museum2 and in another1 also silver1 standing on the cover of an oblong reliquary1 and said to represent ,jeanne d',evreux1 queen of ,france4 ,this last is among the collections of the ,louvre4 ,before we pass on to another question1 it is impossible not to make a few remarks upon one of the most beautiful and affecting of all the works in ivory which have come down to us from medival times4 ,this is a piece1 small in size and carved upon both sides1 which has probably been in the volute of a bishop's pastoral staff4 ,on one side is a group of our ,lord in the garden of ,gethsemane1 praying in ,his agony1 and with the apostles lying asleep below4 ,on the other is a second group1 a ,piet2 the blessed ,virgin seated and holding the dead body of our ,lord upon her lap4 ,a woodcut is given of this important sculpture4 ,perhaps there are few works of ,michael ,angelo which have been more praised1 or which have excited more enthusiasm than his group of the same subject in ,st4 ,peter's4 ,we will listen for a minute to two or three writers who have especially drawn attention to his famous ,piet4 ,illustration ,one says3 8,the celebrated ,piet now adorns the first right-hand chapel on entering the great door of ,st4 ,peter's4 ,it consists of two figures1 the ,virgin ,mother1 seated in a dignified attitude1 and supporting on her knees a dead ,christ1 ,whom she regards with inexpressible reverence1 tenderness1 and grief4444 ,its touching pathos1 its dignified conception1 and its masterly execution1 are incontestable40 ,a ,french critic writes3 8,cette ,piet fut la premire uvre de ,michel ,ange qui l'leva au premier rang et apprit son nom tous les chos du monde civilis20 and the same author further speaks of the group as having been 8the conception0 of the artist1 and 8a creation0 of his imagination4 ,another writes3 8,when this group was finished it was universally admired10 and goes on to state that 8one of the great sculptors of the present day1 our fellow-countryman ,gibson1 expressed himself in terms of high admiration40 ,once more2 a writer upon the ,tuscan school3 8,in this admirable group the dead body of our ,lord lies upon the lap of the ,madonna1 while her left hand is half opened and slightly turned back1 with a gesture which carries out the pitying expression of her face4 ,the ,christ shows a purity of style and deep feeling1 combined with a grandeur which ,michel ,angelo drew from himself alone40 ,the same writer tells us a few pages before3 8,michael ,angelo1 who was an enemy to tradition in art1 as well as to a positive imitation of nature1 took a path diametrically opposed to that followed by the conventionalists1 the realists1 and the worshippers of the antique40 ,we entirely dissent from the unmeasured laudation here given to the famous statue at ,st4 ,peter's4 ,let the praise of originality of conception1 as well as of merit of execution 7so far as the size of his material would permit7 be given where it is due1 to the sculptor of the fourteenth century1 who died a hundred years before ,michael ,angelo was born4 ,nay1 more than this2 an unprejudiced comparison will show that where the work of the great ,italian differs from the earlier ,piet1 it differs for the worse4 ,in the ivory the position of the head and the cold stiffness of the limbs are more death-like and more solemn than in the marble4 ,in the ivory also the ,mother seems to be thinking more of the past pains and sufferings of her ,divine ,son than of her own sorrows3 tenderly she supports the ,saviour's head with her right hand1 and1 as it were1 still clings to ,him and draws ,him to her with the other2 not1 as in the marble at ,rome1 stretching out and opening her hand as if to show her misery and the terrible extent of her bereavement4 ,the medival artist remembered that the sad cry of the prophet in the book of ,lamentations referred not to ,his mother but to ,christ3 8,was there ever any sorrow like unto my sorrow80 ,it was a common practice in the middle ages to colour statuettes and1 indeed1 also other things1 such as triptychs1 diptychs1 and the covers of writing-tablets4 ,traces of this colouring are still visible on many examples4 ,the robes and vestments were painted red or blue1 with borders of a different colour and often diapered with patterns in gold4 ,the interesting illustration 7opposite7 of a painter at work upon a statuette1 an illumination in a ,french manuscript of the fifteenth century1 is copied from ,m4 ,labarte's work on the industrial arts4 ,illustration ,modern taste runs generally1 with regard to this question1 in opposition to the old2 but we are not1 therefore1 hurriedly to decide against colour as altogether barbarous or improper4 ,sculpture1 people thought in former days1 gained an improved effect by such additional help1 and certainly the use of colour was an attempt to give a more real appearance and more true to nature4 ,the carvers in ivory could moreover 7if they had known the fact7 have appealed to the best period of the ,greek school2 to the works of ,phidias and ,praxiteles4 ,the chryselephantine statues in the temples of ,athens and ,olympia had the same character of ornament and variety of material4 ,writers on art who hold that the legitimate province of sculpture is simply to represent by form are inclined to condemn any addition of colour as interfering with that definition4 ,they say that if sculpture be painted it is a mixture of two arts3 as it is also if a picture be relieved or raised in any part2 after the manner of the ,byzantine pictures by ,italian painters of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries4 ,but it by no means follows that such a mixture is necessarily false in taste2 rather it must be left to the judgment and decision of the time and of the country for which the sculptures are made4 ,a recent contributor to an art periodical1 writing of imitation of nature in statues by colour1 dogmatises without doubt or hesitation and even goes so far as to say that such statues are 8not to be regarded as sculpture4 ,nor can those representations of the human form which are made to counterfeit life itself1 and dressed it may be in the actual attire of the person pourtrayed1 be spoken of as sculpture4 ,regarded from the sculptor's point of view1 such productions can only be regarded in the light of tricks1 or1 at the best1 of clever forgeries of nature40 ,criticism such as this seems to want the right quality of discretion4 ,although it is quite true that the works of the ,greek sculptors1 during the two or three hundred years of the greatest perfection to which the art of sculpture has ever reached1 are not to be praised as the greatest and most successful of all statues because they were coloured or otherwise made to imitate reality2 yet the intention was good1 and in obedience to the universal demand and feeling of a people wonderfully fitted by nature1 education1 and experience to come to a right conclusion on the matter4 ,we are unaccustomed in our own days to statues except those which1 whether draped or undraped1 are left in the original pure whiteness of the ivory or marble2 we think that nothing is to be so much approved as what we call simplicity4 ,we may be right1 not only as to what we hold to be pleasing to ourselves1 but as to what ought to be pleasing to and held to be correct by every one and in every age4 ,on the other hand1 we may not be right after all2 and a little more caution and hesitation might be advisable before we condemn1 merely as a matter of abstract taste1 a practice which seems to have recommended itself to almost every people of the world1 as in some way in accordance with the common sentiment of humanity itself2 which was accepted by highly civilised nations from the days of the ,egyptian and ,assyrian kings down to the fifteenth century of the ,christian ra2 and which can appeal in its support to artists whose works have ever been acknowledged to be the masterpieces of the world4 ,it has just been said that the great works of ,phidias and his pupils are not to be praised merely because they were coloured nor because no mode of enrichment1 gold or jewels or ivory or enamelling1 was grudged as being too costly in order to adorn them4 ,so1 again1 the use of colours is not to be condemned because the statues of some very ancient nations are coarse and rude1 or because the idols of the old ,mexicans or of the savages of ,africa and ,new ,zealand are made by it even more hideous than they would otherwise be4 ,the wide-spread observance of the practice is the point to be considered2 and the fact that it rests upon some deep-seated and universal feeling in the mind of all men1 of all countries1 and of almost every age4 ,regarded as a mode of handing down to future generations the memory of much which would have been lost for want of it1 who can complain of the careful colouring of medival tombs and monuments8 ,we are indebted to it for exact details of dresses and jewelry and armour3 about which there can therefore be no longer any dispute1 and which give the answer at once to many difficulties and many interesting subjects of inquiry4 ,nowadays we should almost shudder at a statue painted and coloured to imitate the muslins and silks worn in ,hyde ,park by women1 and the various coats and trowsers of the men4 ,but five hundred years hence some of our descendants would be grateful if1 in spite of our own prejudices1 we had given them even one statue among the many of our ,queen or of the prince ,consort1 not left in the bare uncoloured silence of the marble4 ,crucifixes in ivory of the middle ages are extremely rare2 they may remain still in use in some churches abroad1 but whether abroad or at home they are seldom found in the collection of any museum4 ,there is one1 although a fragment yet very beautiful1 in the ,south ,kensington collection3 no4 #bab4 ,the figure is represented after death2 but the still suffering expression of the drooping head1 the strained muscles across the breast showing the ribs1 and1 as it were1 the struggle of the legs contracted in the last agony1 are admirably given4 ,the eyes are closed1 the forehead drawn with pain1 the mouth open4 ,the body is clothed with a garment crossed in white folds over the loins and falling to the knees4 ,it is greatly to be regretted that this beautiful figure has been so mutilated4 ,the conception of the artist is full of true feeling and devotion1 and his treatment of the subject an excellent example of the right union of conventionality with enough of what is real4 ,as with regard to the heads of pastoral staffs1 so also it is not easy to say why medival crucifixes should be so uncommon3 for1 although there must have been hundreds wilfully destroyed and broken in ,england in the sixteenth century1 the same reason does not apply to other countries1 where the demand and the supply both for the churches and for private use must have been continual and almost without limit4 ,there are numerous records still remaining in our public offices and in the muniment-rooms of many dioceses1 which leave us in no doubt as to the extent and completeness of the destruction of the furniture and goods of ,english churches and cathedrals from the year #aeej to #aegj4 ,in the very valuable series of returns made by the commissioners for the county of ,lincoln1 the lists of items are generally summed up1 8with the rest of the trash and tromperie wch appertaynid to the popish service40 ,even with respect to objects for which one would have supposed that some slight reverence would have still been felt1 such as crucifixes and altars1 we have entries like the following in one parish alone3 8,item ij altar stones2 which is defacid and layd in high waies and sarveth as bridges for sheepe and cattall to go on20 in another1 8,item1 iij altar stones broken and defacid1 thone the one solde vnto ,thomas ,woodcroft1 who turned it to a cestron bottom1 thother aboute the mending of the church wall and the thirde sett in a fire herthe40 ,an unusually good and large ivory crucifix is preserved in the ,catholic chapel in ,spanish ,place1 ,london4 ,it was given to the chapel about thirty years ago but for some time retained by the late cardinal ,wiseman1 by whose permission it was shown in the ,great ,exhibition of #ahea4 ,the date is1 perhaps1 late in the seventeenth century2 ,spanish work2 about a foot in height2 and the arms of the suspended body are less extended than in the medival times4 ,the figure is coloured with great care to imitate life2 blood flows from the wounds1 and the streams where they meet are jewelled with small rubies4 ,the flesh of the knees is broken and mangled4 ,excellent as this crucifix is as a mere work of art1 it utterly fails in calling forth expression of pure religious sentiment4 ,the reality of treatment in the figure of our dying ,lord is too near truth1 and is at the same time untrue4 ,so far as it has left the old type it has lost power to influence devotion4 ,the earlier conventional crucifix1 which left all to the imagination and never aimed at perfectly representing a man dying on a cross1 was immeasurably more fitting and more reverential4 ,the diptychs of the middle ages for public and private devotion have been already spoken of4 ,but besides these1 two leaves occur not unfrequently which are strictly diptychs and were used for the same purpose as the pugillares in the old days of imperial ,rome4 ,single plaques are very common1 and not only are they usually small in size but may almost always be distinguished from diptychs of the religious class by the form of the reverse or inside page of each leaf4 ,this has been hollowed out to a slight depth1 leaving a narrow raised rim or border2 and wax was spread over the depressed portion1 for writing upon with a pointel or stylus2 the other end of which was flattened to erase with4 ,we thus find brought down through fifteen hundred years the practice of the days of ,ovid3 8,et meditata manu componit verba trementi2 ,dextra tenet ferrum1 vacuam tenet altera ceram4 ,incipit1 et dubitat3 scribit1 damnatque tabellas3 ,et notat1 et delet1 etc40 ,the subjects sculptured on the outside of diptychs of this kind generally also give another and a sufficient distinction1 being perhaps some domestic scene or a story from a romance1 as upon combs or mirror cases4 ,but this is not always so3 for writing-tablets occasionally are found with subjects taken from the ,holy ,scriptures4 ,a few examples of these writing-tablets have been preserved which have several leaves of ivory inside2 although in most instances the plain leaves have been lost and the covers alone remain4 ,a very fine and complete set1 of the fourteenth century1 with four inner leaves is engraved by ,montfaucon 7in his great work ,l',antiquit explique7 from his own collection1 which had scenes carved on it from the romance of ,alexander4 ,montfaucon describes them carefully3 8,notre cabinet en a de cette dernire matire 7d'ivoire71 dont les deux couvertures out des bas-reliefs d'un got barbare4 ,les bords des tabletes sont relevez de tous les ctez3 ces bords relevez laissent un petit creux pour y placer une cire prpare1 laquelle levant un peu le page rendoit une face unie et de niveau avec les bords2 on appelloit ces tabletes tabell cerat4 ,on gravoit sur cette cire prpare ce qu'on vouloit crire1 et l'on effaoit ce qu'on avoit ecrit1 ou en y passant fortement dessus l'autre ct du style1 quand la matire toit plus gluante4 ,c'est ce que les anciens appelloient stylum vertere1 etc40 ,judging from the engraving in ,montfaucon's own book1 it would seem that these tablets were the work of a good artist and of the best time of that particular style2 and that it was hard to speak of them as 8d'un got barbare40 ,ivory writing-tablets were used in the middle ages in ,england by people of all ranks1 and are mentioned in inventories and wills4 ,chaucer tells us of the preaching friar's companion3 8,his felaw had a staff tipped with horn1 ,a pair of tables all of ivory1 ,and a pointel ypolished fetishly1 ,and wrote alway the names1 as he stood ,of alle folk that gaue hem any good-- --,or geve us of your braun1 if ye have any1 ,a dagon of your blanket1 leve dame1 ,our suster dere1 lo here ,i write your name40 ,a characteristic illustration occurs in ,shakespeare1 in the second part of ,king ,henry the fourth4 ,the archbishop of ,york says3 8 444 the king is weary ,of dainty and such picking grievances2 ,and therefore will he wipe his tables clean1 ,and keep no tell-tale to his memory40 ,it is to be observed that in these quotations both ,chaucer and ,shakespeare call these diptychs by the name 8tables10 a word which had several meanings formerly in ,england4 ,we have seen already that the game of draughts was so called1 and it was also frequently applied in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries to carvings in alabaster or to paintings on boards in churches4 ,in #adeh money was bequeathed to the church of ,dunwich in ,suffolk1 8ad novam tabulam de alabastro de historia sanct ,margaret10 and a 8table of ,st4 ,thomas of ,ynde0 was left in #aeaj by ,robert ,clerk to ,batfield church1 in ,norfolk4 ,an interesting paper in the ,archologia1 read before the ,society of antiquaries in #ahdc by ,mr4 ,albert ,way1 on the famous golden ,tabula of ,basle may also be referred to4 ,the writer concludes by expressing his wish that such a monument1 then in private hands1 8could be deposited in a national collection10 and he complains that 8,england alone1 of all the countries of western ,europe1 possesses no national collection which exhibits a series of specimens illustrative of the character and progress of the arts of the middle ages1 and of the taste and usages of our ancestors40 ,happily1 this is a complaint which cannot be made now4 ,chaplets of ivory beads for private devotion were very common in the middle ages1 and are often mentioned in letters and other documents4 ,some good examples still exist in various collections4 ,the woodcut on the next page represents a set1 and a girdle with ivory clasps1 in the collection of ,m4 ,achille ,jubinal4 ,illustration3 ,,carved ,,ivory ,,chaplet ,,of ,,beads ,,and ,,girdle ,,of ,,an ,,abbess3 ,,sixteenth ,,century4 ,another class of small works in ivory was to be found in ,england from an early period1 namely seals4 ,some have been preserved4 ,one is in the ,ashmolean at ,oxford2 oval1 of the archdeaconry of ,merioneth1 in the thirteenth century2 another1 walrus ivory1 of the abbey of ,st4 ,alban is in the ,british museum4 ,robert ,fabyan the chronicler1 in his will dated #aeaa leaves to one of his sons 8that other signet of gold1 with my puncheon of ivory and silver40 ,illustration ,there are several very fine horns in the ,south ,kensington collection1 more especially no4 #gied1 engraved in the accompanying woodcut1 and which is unequalled by any other of its kind known4 ,the style and workmanship are rare2 one1 probably by the same hand1 was lately in the possession of a noble ,english family4 ,the horns which we find frequently mentioned in medival wills and inventories are hunting horns4 ,for example1 ,sir ,john de ,foxle in #acgh leaves to the king his great bugle horn1 ornamented with gold4 8,the ivory horn of ,st4 ,oswald the king0 was preserved at ,durham in the year #achc4 ,near the end of the thirteenth century there were two ivory horns kept in the treasury of ,st4 ,paul's3 8,item1 cornu eburneum gravatum bestiis et avibus1 magnum4 ,item1 aliud cornu eburneum planum et parvum40 ,a common term anciently in ,england for these horns was 8olifant10 from the name then usually given to the elephant2 for instance1 the amusing story in the old life of ,st4 ,clement in ,caxton's ,golden ,legend3 8,when ,barnabe came to ,rome prechynge ye fayth of ,jesu ,christ1 the philosophers mocked hym and despysed hys predicacyon and in scorne put to hym this questyon sayenge1 ,what is ye cause ye culex whyche is a lytell beest hath vj4 feet and two wynges and an olyphaunte whyche ys a grete beest hath but foure feete and no wynges10 etc4 ,st4 ,barnabas replied that it was a foolish question and needed no answer--the more especially as they knew not the ,creator and must necessarily1 therefore1 be ignorant about his creatures4 ,there is only one horn at ,south ,kensington which can be regarded as having been a tenure horn4 ,it is possible that no4 #giec 7see the etching7 may have been a horn of that kind4 ,several of these tenure horns are still preserved in ,england and were shown in the loan exhibition of #ahfb4 ,among them the most famous are the horn of ,ulphus1 in the treasury at ,york2 the horns given by ,henry the first to the cathedral at ,carlisle2 and the ,pusey horn4 ,the ivory hunting horn 7so-called7 of ,charlemagne is kept at ,aix la ,chapelle2 and another said to have been ,roland's in the cathedral at ,toulouse4 ,it will be observed by those who examine the catalogue of the ivories in the ,south ,kensington museum that more are attributed to the fourteenth century than to any other1 and this would be correct with regard also to the collection in the ,british museum1 or at ,liverpool1 or abroad4 ,sculpture in ivory was very general and greatly patronised at that time2 and1 with the exception of a very few examples of ,roman art under the emperors1 there are no carvings existing which equal those made from about the year #abhj to #acej1 either in truth and gracefulness of design or in excellence of workmanship4 ,we find also in carvings of that period the best examples of the very beautiful open or pierced work which has been already spoken of3 and an illustration has before been given 7p4 #fd7 from a series of small panels in the ,meyrick collection4 ,no apology will be required for adding here two more woodcuts from ivories of the same character4 ,both are engraved of the exact size of the originals4 ,one of these contains two compartments from the splendid plaque1 no4 #cff1 in the ,south ,kensington collection4 ,illustration3 ,,horn ,,or ,,oliphant4 ,,ivory4 ,,byzantine4 #aa,,th ,,cent4 #be ,,in4 ,,diam4 #e ,,in4 7,,soltikoff ,,coll47 ,s4 ,k4 ,m4 7,no #giec4-'fb47 ,a4 ,a4 ,,bradbury4 ,,fecit4 ,illustration ,illustration ,the other is a complete row from a book cover in the ,british museum3 divided into thirty compartments1 each an inch by three quarters of an inch4 ,it is impossible in a woodcut to do more than attempt to give some idea of the marvellous delicacy and excellence of the panel itself1 which is beyond all comparison the very finest ivory existing of its peculiar school4 ,small1 even minute1 as the divisions are1 they plainly tell the story which each is intended to convey2 although in some of them there are as many as seven or eight figures1 finished with admirable distinctness and perfection4 ,the subjects in this row are the offering of ,st4 ,joachim2 his departure into the desert2 the message of the angel to ,st4 ,joachim2 the message to ,st4 ,anne2 the meeting of ,st4 ,joachim and ,st4 ,anne at the gate2 and the birth of the ,blessed ,virgin4 ,the etching represents some beautiful panels in open work1 at ,south ,kensington4 ,nothing is more difficult than the determination of the particular country in which many of the ivories of medival times were carved4 ,all acknowledge this1 and they the most readily who have had the widest experience and the best opportunities of examination4 ,it has long been a custom to set down almost every ivory of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as ,flemish or ,french1 leaving but few except the ,italian marriage caskets to the credit of other countries4 ,but 7not to speak of ,germany7 there can be no question that carvings in ivory were then much sought after and bought in ,england1 and that there must have been numerous ,english artists4 ,two unquestionable examples of the ,english school of the fourteenth century are in the ,british museum3 a triptych which was carved for ,grandison1 bishop of ,exeter2 and one leaf of a diptych which was also made for the same great prelate1 and still retains slight traces of the painting of his coat of arms4 ,a woodcut is given 7p4 #aag7 of the single leaf4 ,generally1 we may agree with ,sir ,digby ,wyatt1 who says in the very interesting and able lecture to which reference has been already made 7p4 #e71 that 8a peculiar nez retrouss1 a dimpled1 pouting1 and yet smiling mouth1 a general gentillesse of treatment1 and a brilliant yet rapid mode of technical execution1 stamp the ,french work with an almost unmistakable character4 ,to the ,english style may be assigned a position midway between the ,french and the second ,italian manner4 ,it does not exhibit the gaiety and tenderness of the former1 nor has it quite the grandeur of the latter1 but it is marked by a sober earnestness of expression in serious action which neither of those styles possesses40 ,we may further observe that the ,english school had less of the monotony and mannerism which are the derogatory features of continental examples of the same period2 in fact1 ,english gothic ivories have both a purity and a variety of treatment on a par with the admirable characteristics of contemporary architecture in this country4 ,illustration3 ,,plaques ,,or ,,panels ,,of ,a ,,casket1 ,,one ,a ,,fragment1 ,,ivory1 ,,french1 #adth ,,cent4 ,s4,k4,m 7,n'#bhd'cdb'fg7 ,f4 ,a4 ,,slocombe ,,fecit4 ,illustration ,the names of medival artists in ivory are almost entirely unknown4 ,sir ,digby ,wyatt and ,labarte say that they have been able to meet with the name of one only1 that of ,jean ,lebraellier1 who was carver to ,charles ,v4 of ,france1 and is mentioned in the inventory of that monarch as having executed 8deux grans tableaux d'yvoire des troys ,maries40 ,we may venture to add the name of one other1 the carver of a pax in the ,british museum1 ,jehan ,nicolle2 whose work1 unlike the 8tables0 of ,lebraellier1 fortunately still exists4 ,his name is incised upon the pax in capital letters2 there is also a shield1 bearing a hammer behind two crossed swords4 ,very few ,spanish ivories of the middle ages can be referred to1 and those which we possess have a very distinct ,moorish or ,arabic character about them4 ,they are generally caskets or boxes 7see the etching71 and some are still to be found in the treasuries of churches in ,spain4 ,strangely enough1 it is said that there are more remaining in the north and north-west of ,spain1 where the ,moors did not obtain any permanent footing1 than in the south2 in ,andalusia or ,granada4 ,probably this is owing not only to the circumstance that when taken to other parts of the country they were regarded as valuable curiosities1 but also more especially because of the natural prejudice in the south against keeping works of ,moorish art and manufacture as reliquaries or pyxes1 or for any religious use4 ,in the north of ,spain there seems to have been no obstacle in the way of enclosing relics of a ,christian saint in coffers upon which ,arabic inscriptions had been carved in honour of ,allah and his prophet4 ,but we must remember that these inscriptions were in an unknown language4 ,some of the ancient ,spanish ivories are as old as the days of the ,cordovan caliphs in the ninth and tenth centuries2 a fact which we are now able to decide from the ,arabic inscriptions4 ,but where such evidence is wanting there is scarcely any guide to direct us in fixing the date3 the ivories may have been carved at almost any time down to the conquest of ,granada by ,ferdinand and ,isabella4 ,moorish art1 like the ,egyptian or ,chinese1 changed but little from age to age2 the old process and the old patterns were handed down1 unaltered1 from father to son2 and ivory carvings may have been made in various parts of ,spain by ,moorish workmen as late even as the end of the sixteenth century4 ,it can scarcely be out of place1 before we end1 to add one word of warning with regard to forgeries of ivory carvings4 ,these are sometimes so well done that even experienced persons might be deceived4 ,generally1 the period chosen for imitations is what is commonly called the ,carlovingian1 or a little earlier2 for not only are genuine pieces rare and valuable1 but being often coarse and rude in style are more easily to be executed4 ,forgeries of consular diptychs have been frequently made2 and with regard to one of these it is well to place on record the following facts which have been kindly supplied by ,mr4 ,a4 ,w4 ,franks1 of the ,british museum4 ,illustration3 ,,carved ,,ivory ,,box1 ,,with ,,arabic ,,inscription4 ,,hispano-,,moresco4 ,h #c ,,diam3 #d ,,in3 ,,about #ifa4 ,s4,k4,m47,no #bag3fe47 ,m4 ,,sullivan ,,fecit4 8,the leaf of the diptych of the consul ,anastasius1 now in the ,south ,kensington museum1 was exhibited to the ,society of antiquaries1 ,march #aj1 #ahfd1 and described by me in the proceedings of the society 7#bnd series1 vol4 #b1 p4 #cfd7 as the diptychon ,leodiense4 ,the other leaf was known to have been for some years in the museum at ,berlin4 ,it was therefore with considerable surprise that in the course of the summer of #ahfd1 ,i found exhibited in the ,muse de la ,porte de ,hal at ,brussels a large ivory diptych purporting to be the diptychon ,leodiense4 ,having been asked by a friend at ,brussels my opinion on the recent acquisition of the ,belgian government1 ,i ventured to express some doubts in the presence of a gentleman who proved to be at the head of the commission1 at whose recommendation the purchase had been made4 8,i advised that the ivories should be taken out of the wooden frames into which they were fixed1 and that the inscriptions known to have been on the genuine diptych should be sought for4 ,on this being done1 the falsity of the diptych became evident1 the ivory at the back being fresh and not hollowed out for the reception of wax4 8,an action was thereupon brought against the vendor1 a dealer at ,lige1 and after some delay the amount paid by the ,belgian government 7#hjj7 was recovered4 ,the diptych had been copied from the engraving in ,wilthem's work1 and not from the original leaves1 and this accounted for various errors in the details40 ,it seems strange that the ,belgian authorities should have bought at so great a sum ivories fixed in wooden frames1 without some suspicion or at least without examination4 ,the ,lige dealer1 however1 is not the only one who has attempted impositions of this kind4 ,about ten years ago there were four or five large ivories1 of splendid appearance1 in the hands of some ,london dealers4 ,one was a triptych2 another a diptych2 a third a comb2 and a fourth was a huge shrine with folding shutters and a tall richly decorated canopy1 like the spire of a cathedral1 covering a statuette of the ,virgin and ,child4 7,the statuette was probably genuine47 ,these ivories purported to be of the fourteenth century but were all new1 and out of one shop or manufactory4 ,the forgery in some respects was successful2 but in every piece there was a distinct character and manner of execution--the same exactly in all of them--which proved their falseness4 ,several were traced back to a dealer at ,amiens2 and it is not now known what has become of any of them4 ,the great shrine having been sold to an ,english collector for #ejj was returned2 and not very long ago was still to be seen in a shop window in the ,strand and said to be1 as if to make confusion worse confounded1 an ivory carving of the tenth century4 ,this1 whilst it would show perhaps ignorance on the part of the possessor1 would be an argument that he might be innocent of knowledge of the forgery4 ,the public institutions in ,england in which important ivories may be found are the ,british museum1 the ,ashmolean and ,bodleian at ,oxford1 and the museum given to the town of ,liverpool with noble liberality by ,mr4 ,joseph ,mayer4 ,it is worthy of remark that scarcely any addition has been made to the ivories in the ,ashmolean since the time when they were originally collected by ,elias ,ashmole nearly two hundred years ago2 and they are of especial interest and value1 though not many in number1 because they can reasonably claim with scarcely an exception to be of ,english workmanship4 ,a very large proportion of the other three great collections had also been gathered together before they became the property of the nation4 ,the ,liverpool ivories were chiefly obtained from the representatives of the late ,gabriel ,fejrvry2 and1 in like manner1 the ,south ,kensington museum--begun about the year #ahec and gradually enriched by the acquisition of some rare ,spanish ivories and some of the best pieces from the ,soltikoff collection1 selected with excellent judgment by ,mr4 ,j4 ,c4 ,robinson--has received from time to time during the last four or five years many large and important additions from the collection made by ,john ,webb1 ,esq4 ,more than two-thirds of the ivories in the ,british museum1 and certainly a large number of the most valuable1 had also been previously collected by a private person4 ,,the ,,end4 ,,index4 ,,page ,abbreviations of legends1 #cj sculapius and ,hygieia1 #cb ,all large plaques not originally diptychs1 #db ,angel1 on leaf of diptych1 in ,british museum1 #ce ,arm of chair1 #hb ,artists in ivory1 in middle ages1 #aag ,ashmole collection1 #abj ,assyrian ivories1 #ae ,bardolph1 hanged for stealing a pax1 #ib ,becker's ,lycoris1 #cd ,bellerophon1 #ba ,book cover of ninth century1 #dh ,casket of ,arabic work1 #eg 0 from ,memphis1 #ad 0 ,runic1 in ,british museum1 #eb 0 from ,veroli1 #ee 0 in inventories1 #fj ,caxton1 8playe of the chesse01 #gf ,chair of ,st4 ,peter at ,rome1 #ef 0 at ,ravenna1 #da ,chalice1 c41 of ninth century1 #dh ,charlemagne1 his patronage of ,greek artists1 #de ,chessmen1 in chronicles and poems1 #gh 0 earliest date1 #gh 0 date of invention1 #gf 0 in inventories1 #gi 0 found in ,lewis1 #hj ,chryselephantine statues1 #ah 0 of the duc de ,luynes1 #ai 0 conjectural restoration1 #ai ,civilisation of ancient nations1 #h ,coffer1 sent by ,eginhard1 #dg 0 in inventories1 #eg ,colour in sculpture1 #ajd ,combs1 domestic1 #fg 0 in inventories1 #ga 0 pontifical1 #fi ,consul1 decline of the office1 #ca 0 the last1 #ca ,consular diptychs1 #bc1 c4 ,costume in early ,greek ivories1 #dd ,crucifixes1 #ajg 0 in ,spanish ,place1 #ajh ,cup1 or vase1 in ,british museum1 #df ,cushions1 the meaning in consular diptychs1 #be ,david and ,bathsheba on combs1 c41 #fg ,decline of art in the first four centuries1 #ba 0 after ,constantine1 #bf 0 after sixth century1 #dd ,destruction of religious objects in the sixteenth century1 #ajh ,diptych of ,boethius1 #bi 0 at ,brescia1 #cb 0 of ,compiegne1 #cj 0 ecclesiastical1 #cg 0 ecclesiastical--their purpose1 #dj 0 with ,greek inscriptions1 #ch 0 mutilated and palimpsest1 #ci 0 of ,justinian1 #ch 0 found in ,transylvania1 #bc ,domestic scenes1 #fg 0 works in ivory1 #eb ,draughtsmen1 #ha ,dress and decorations of consuls on diptychs1 #be ,ecclesiastical works in ivory1 #dg ,egyptian ivories1 #ad ,english ivories1 #aaf1 #abj ,etruscan ivories1 #ai 8,familia0 of chessmen1 #gi ,feast of ,fools1 #cc ,fejrvry collection1 #aba ,flabellum in inventories1 #ie 0 of ,theodolinda1 #ie 0 its use1 #id ,forgeries in ivory1 #aah ,fossil ivory1 #b ,grecian ivories1 #af ,handle of fan1 #hf 0 of holy water sprinkler1 #if 0 of whip1 #if ,horns1 for hunting1 #aac 0 tenure1 #aad ,iconoclast fanatics1 #dd ,identification of consular diptychs1 #bf ,importance of works in ivory1 #bb ,improvement in art after seventh century1 #de ,ivory1 ,african and ,asiatic1 #c 0 its characteristics1 #a 0 mode of softening1 #d 0 much employed in #adth century1 #aad 0 variations of colour1 #e ,jehan ,nicolle1 #aag ,jewish ivories1 #ac ,jupiter1 at ,olympia1 #ai ,ladies riding1 #ge ,legends on consular diptych1 coloured red1 #bf ,list of consular diptychs1 #bh ,lycoris1 described1 #cd ,mammoth ivory1 #b ,manumission of slaves1 #be ,marriage caskets1 #fd ,meyer collection1 #abj 8,meyne10 its meaning1 #gi ,minerva1 of the ,parthenon1 #ah ,mirrors1 #ga 0 in illuminations1 #gc ,moorish ivories1 #aah ,morris dancers1 #fh ,nineveh ivories restored1 #f ,oliphant1 explained1 #aac ,open-work in ivory1 #fc 0 other examples1 #aae ,pastoral staff1 with inscription1 #hh 0 not used by the ,pope1 #hi 0 of great rarity1 #ij 0 of ,st4 ,bernard1 ordered in ,sarum pontifical1 #hi 0 of wood1 #hg ,pausanias1 account of ,greek statues1 #ag1 #ah 0 believed ivory to be horn1 #ai ,pax inscriptions1 #ic 0 inventories1 #ic 0 late use in ,england1 #id 0 ordered in ,sarum missal1 #ia 0 its use1 #ia 0 why disused1 #ic 0 of wood1 #ic ,piet1 of ,michael ,angelo1 #ajc 0 in ,british museum1 #ajb ,plaques of ivory1 large size1 #c 0 not originally diptychs1 #db ,prehistoric ivories1 #f ,pugillares1 #aji ,pyx1 in inventories1 #eg 0 of ,st4 ,mennas1 #fj 0 various uses1 #fj ,ravenna chair1 #da ,retable of ,poissy1 #fe ,roman ivories1 #ba 0 ivory sculptors exempt from certain obligations1 #ba ,romance of the ,rose1 #fc 0 subjects1 #fb ,seals in ,british ,museum1 #aaa 0 illustrating statuettes1 #ih ,serpent1 as an emblem1 #he ,shrine1 explained1 #ea 0 in illuminations1 #ii ,siege of the ,castle of ,love1 #gd ,spanish ivories1 #aah ,statuette1 coloured1 #aje ,statuette in inventories1 #ajj 0 the largest known1 #aja 0 opening on hinges1 #ajj 0 under canopies1 #ih 0 very fine examples1 #ig ,style of ,english art1 #aaf 8,symmachorvm10 the omitted word1 #ce ,tabernacles1 at ,lincoln1 #ii ,tables explained1 #aaa ,tablets of ,moutier1 #cd 0 of ,sens1 #cb 0 for writing on1 #aji 8,tan-tabl10 its meaning1 #ha ,tau1 explained1 #hd 0 rarity1 #he ,toreutic1 its meaning1 #ag ,triptychs explained1 #ea 0 in illuminations1 #ii 0 mentioned by ,anastasius1 #ea ,tusks1 size and weight1 #d ,veroli casket1 probable date1 #ee ,volute1 with double subject1 #hg ,webb collection1 #aba ,whip-handles1 #if ,,charles ,,dickens ,,and ,,evans1 ,,crystal ,,palace ,,press4