The Spanish metal-workers do not appear to have developed a very well-defined school of metallic art of their own. They were especially noted for their highly ornamental jewellery; in the common metals they were influenced by Italy, and to some extent Germany. It is said that the finest piece of work accomplished in the country was the great sixteenth-century candelabrum or _tenebrarium_ in Seville Cathedral, the work of Bart. Morel in 1562. French Art. Connoisseurs of the fine arts naturally regard enamels of Limoges as the greatest achievements of the country (see Chapter XVIII). There is, however, much to admire in the early unadorned metal-work, especially that made in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries--effigies in beaten copper, some portions of which were usually adorned by coloured "champlevé" enamel. They were afterwards desired by Englishmen, and some good examples of "imported" effigies are to be seen, a notable example being one on the tomb of William de Valence in Westminster Abbey, erected about 1296. Of domestic metal-work there are not many early pieces. In Fig. 82 is shown a cup or ewer of brass with artistic handle and spout ornamented with a grotesque mouth; the date assigned to it is 1570. It may be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum, where also is deposited a fine seventeenth-century ewer or tankard with plain cylindrical body and a deep and long spout with fancy handle (see Fig. 81). There is also a trumpet of brass, dated 1738, in the same gallery; it has upon it the owner's monogram, "S.M.A.," ensigned with a count's coronet and crest. Dutch Brasswork. The brasswork from Holland, largely imported into this country at the commencement of the eighteenth century, although decorative, cannot be claimed as artistic. Most of the objects are strictly utilitarian, and the ornament stiff and formal; they were hammered by hand, an effective finish being made by small punches, repoussé work being occasionally added. Fig. 80, which represents one of the larger pieces, illustrates a highly ornamental cistern with cover and tap. Its shape is semicircular, a dome-shaped back acting as a hanger; that as well as the perforated grille under the cistern being ornamented. The chief ornament consists of star devices, the points of which are united together by curved lines composed of small straight indentations. In the Victoria and Albert Museum there is a Dutch foot-warmer, the sides of which are ornamented with repoussé panels of flowers and circular bosses; in the centre of the top, which is slightly curved, is a medallion engraved "I.W.H.M. 1733," surrounded by open-work decoration and floral scrolls arranged in geometrical patterns, on either side of which are birds. [Illustration: FIG. 80.--DUTCH ORNAMENTAL BRASS CISTERN.] [Illustration: FIG. 81.--FRENCH EWER OR TANKARD WITH FANCY HANDLE. FIG. 82.--FRENCH EWER WITH GROTESQUE MOUTH (SIXTEENTH CENTURY).]