Shrine of the Magi, Limoges, c. 1200.

Champlevé enamel, engraved, chiselled,

and gilt copper, 20.7 x 19.7 x 8.5 cm.

Musée de Cluny, Paris.

 

 

Gold-work with miniatures. In this class, the importance and number of the paintings inserted on the lid compel us to subordinate the principal to an accessory. Often the most superb miniature is set in a simple tortoise shell box, rimmed and lined with gold; the exquisitely worked piece of gold-work bears a mediocre copy from some second-rate artist. Decades of research have brought forth portraits of the highest interest, the microscopic and lively scenes painted by Blarenberghe, and the miniatures of Peter Adolph Hall, Jean-Baptiste Jacques Augustin, and Reard de Saint-André from their hiding-places; and these wonders of art are secured henceforth against the destruction which once threatened them. The former Lenoir collection contained one of the most curious Blarenberghes, dated 1757, which can be imagined: it shows the duc de Choiseul, Foreign Minister of Affairs for Louis XV, at work in his cabinet. Seated before a desk, the statesman is receiving papers from the hands of his secretary, whilst a valet de chambre lays out the costume and insignia which the minister will wear to attend court. In the composition we see a collection including pieces by Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Philips Wouwerman, the Van Ostades, Gerrit Dou, and Jean-Baptiste Pater all belonging to the Foreign Minister, a lover of pictures. The finest paintings and most curious boxes are now gathered together in France. Iconography found data of inestimable value, and we come across so many perfections that we grow indulgent toward the eccentricities of a fashion which has given us so many beautiful things.

Vernis Martin. We will not repeat what was said of the Martin family, all clever varnishers. They could not help but seize upon a branch of industry as lucrative as the manufacturing of boxes, ultimately succeeding in two essentially different types essentially. The most important, if not the most abundant, is their series of subject-boxes; upon a background reminiscent of a golden shade of amber, compositions in the style of the time stand out. Figures of love and doves surrounded by floral ornamentation, mythological scenes coquettishly framed, or else, with equal vigour, we have subjects copied from the paintings of the great masters, such as those executed in the enamels we have already discussed. Many of these paintings are quite remarkable and we often regret our inability to attach a name to them, for it is certain that the Martins did not produce all of these works themselves, so various in taste, style, and handling. They had, among their assistants, artists of high talent. The second kind comprises those who derived their ideas from personal adornment; these include the Scotch tartan and the stripes imitating the silk of Lyon, all those charming eccentricities which, in their turn, the goldsmiths reproduced through the use of enamels, opaque or translucent. In many examples, the boxes are enriched either with enamels or applied miniatures.