Arts and crafts in the Middle Ages : $b a description of mediaeval workmanship in several of the departments of applied art, together with some account of special artisans in the early Renaissance — John Shaqi
Arts and crafts in the Middle Ages : $b a description of mediaeval workmanship in several of the departments of applied art, together with some account of special artisans in the early RenaissanceAddison, Julia de Wolf
History
Arts and crafts in the Middle Ages : $b a description of mediaeval workmanship in several of the departments of applied art, together with some account of special artisans in the early Renaissance
Addison, Julia de Wolf
Arts and crafts movement; Decoration and ornament, Medieval; Decorative arts -- History; Illumination of books and manuscripts
A Gothic form of goldsmith's work obtained in Spain in the 13th,
14th and 15th centuries; it was based upon architectural models and
was known as "plateresca." The shrines for holding relics became
in these centuries positive buildings on a small scale in precious
material. In England also were many of these shrines, but few of
them now remain.
The first Mayor of London, from 1189 to 1213, was a goldsmith,
Henry Fitz Alwyn, the Founder of the Royal Exchange; Sir Thomas
Gresham, in 1520, was also a goldsmith and a banker. There is an
entertaining piece of cynical satire on the Goldsmiths in Stubbes'
Anatomy of Abuses, written in the time of Queen Elizabeth, showing
that the tricks of the trade had come to full development by that
time, and that the public was being aroused on the subject. Stubbes
explains how the goldsmith's shops are decked with chains and rings,
"wonderful richly." Then he goes on to say: "They will make you any
monster or article whatsoever of gold, silver, or what you will. Is
there no deceit in these goodlye shows? Yes, too many; if you will
buy a chain of gold, a ring, or any kind of plate, besides that you
shall pay almost half more than it is worth... you shall also perhaps
have that gold which is naught, or else at least mixed with drossie
rubbage.... But this happeneth very seldom by reason of good orders,
and constitutions made for the punishment of them that offend in
this kind of deceit, and therefore they seldom offend therein,
though now and then they chance to stumble in the dark!"
Fynes Moryson, a traveller who died in 1614, says that "the goldsmiths'
shops in London... are exceedingly richly furnished continually
with gold, with silver plate, and with jewels.... I never see any
such daily show, anything so sumptuous, in any place in the world,
as in London." He admits that in Florence and Paris the similar
shops are very rich upon special occasions; but it is the steady
state of the market in London to which he has reference.
The Company of Goldsmiths in Dublin held quite a prominent social
position in the community. In 1649, a great festival and pageant
took place, in which the goldsmiths and visiting craftsmen from
other corporations took part.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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