Meyer Franz. A Handbook of Ornament
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METAL
OBJECTS.
411
The
Kev.
Plate
237.
412
The
Hand-Mirror.
—
The Fan.
9.
Renascence, (Guichard).
10. Renascence,
South Kensington
Museum,
London.
11
—
12. Renascence, German.
13
—14.
Bows,
18
th
century,
(Wessely).
15
—
19. Modern,
by
the
architect Otto
Girard, Berlin,
(Geweibehalle).
The Hand-Mirror.
(Plate
238.)
The first
place
in
the
series
of ladies' toilet
requisites
belongs
to the Hand-mirror.
Its history falls
into two
periods.
In Antiquity
and in
the earlier years of the Middle
Ages:
mirrors
were
made of
polished metal,
either bronze
or
silver.
About
the 13
th century,
glass
begins to
be used, the reflecting
surface
being backed
with metal foil.
The
Antique,
and .particulary the Etruscan mirrors, of
which a
large
number
have been preserved
to
ms,
show engraved
ornaments and
figures from
mythology and daily life, mostly of
primitive, but
sometimes
of excellent, workmanship. Glass mirrors are,
generally,
fiat. The fundamental*
shape of the Antique
mirror
is
circular
or
spatulate (figs.
1
—
6);
and that of the glass mirror is
circular or
elliptical
(figs.
8
and
9).
The
plastic decoration of
Antique mirrors
is
confined to the handle,
and the frame. The handle
and frame may
be of a
great variety of materials, wood,
ivory, or
metal. Here,
too,
it
is
the
Renascence which
shows the richest decoration.
Where the
decoration
consists of figures,
these
are in
keeping
with the
object;
and show Amorini and
Aphroditic personages. With
the
increasing
use
of
wall or plate-glass
mirrors, the Hand-mirror
jas lost
much of its
former importance;
so that modern
art
no longer
devotes
much atten
tioil
to it.
Plate
238. The Hand-Mieror.
1.
Egyptian,
bronze.
United
collections, Carlsruhe.
2. Egyptian,
bronze,
handle
of
carved wood,
British Museum,
London.
3
—4.
Greek,
bronze.
5.
Pompeian.
6
—
7.
Etruscan,
engraved
figures,
handles lost.
8.
Renascence,
(Kunst
und Gewerbe).
9.
Renascence,
by Etienne de
Laulne
(1549
to
1583),
(Wessely).
The
Fan.
(Plate
239.)
The Fan
is undoubtedly
the
most
interesting
of all toilet requisites.
Its
history
can be
traced back
uninterruptedly
for 3000
years,
although
METAL OBJECTS.
418
The
Hand-Mirror.
Plate 238.
414
The Fan.
it did
not enjoy the
same measure
of popularity
in every
period.
It
alone
would almost
suffice
to furnish
a historical
picture of the artistic
and
technical
developement
of industrial
art through all
periods. The
object of the
Fan is twofold.
Firstly,
it is used
to
direct
a current
of
cool air
to the
face; and
secondly, to keep off
f}ies
and
other
insects.
From its first
use it derives
its Latin name
of
"fiuhcllum"
(from
flare
=
to blow, French
"eventail"); from its
second use its
Latin
name
"miiscarium"
(from
musca
=
a fly, French
"esmoudioir").
Fans
of this
latter
class are usually called
"Fly-flappers".
Occasion-
ally,
the
fan is
used
to
blow the fire
(as in ancient Persia, where
the
blowing
of the
fire with
the lips was forbidden for religious
reasons);
and as
a Symbol of dignity
in ecclesiastical and court
cere-
monies.
A consideration of its purpose
renders it obvious that
it is
chiefly
employed
in the hotter
countries of the globe.
The manifold
forms of the
fan may
be reduced to 5 diS'erent
piincipal
types:
1. The
Fixed Fan: a leaf
immovably attached
to a
handle (figs.
6—9).
2. The
Pennon Fan: attached
to the side of the handle,
and
movable
round it in a horizontal
direction (figs. 10 and
11).
The forms
and materials of the
fixed and the pennon
fan are
of
the utmost variety.
3. The Radial
Fan: a rectangle of paper, silk
or some other
material, fastened
to
a handle
in
such a manner
that
it
may
be
folded together
and
spread
out in the form
of
a circle
(fig.
12).
4.
The Lamellar fan:
pieces of stiff material e.
g.
slips of ivory,
are
connected
together at one end by a
pin,
which
serves
as
the axis. They
are collapsible into a
narrow
shape,
and
may
be
opened-out
to a semi-circle.
They are
held-together
by a
ribbon drawn through them (fig.
13).
5.
The
Folding fan: distinguished from the preceding
by
the
lamellae being covered
by
a sheet of paper, silk,
&c., which
is
folded
-
together or spread-out
by
the opening of
the
sticks
which compose the frame (fig.
14).
It
appears from this
that
the Fixed,
the Pennon, and the
Radial
fans
have
handles, while the Lamellar and the
Folding
fans have
not.
The
Radial fan,
being a folding fan with a handle, is a
kind of inter-
mediate
form.
The size of the
fan
varies
according
to
fashion and
the purpose for
which
it is
intended, regard being usually
paid
to
convenience
of
handling; as a general rule, it
may
be
said that
the
firmer,
stiffer and
more imper\aous to air
the fan is: the
smaller
it
may be.
Fans for cooling
should have a short, broad form, Fly-
flappers require
a longer, narrower shape.
METAL OBJECTS.
415
The Fan.
Plate
239.
416 The Fan.
On the
subject
of history and style,
the following
may
be said:
The Fixed fan
is
the
oldest and
most primitive.
Its natural
model
is
a leaf on a stalk, just as
savages
at the
present
time make
their
fans
of
dried
palm-leaves or
of plaited work
in
the form
of
leaves (fig.
4).
The feather
may
also
be
regarded as
a natural
model,
and
hence
its
frequent application
to
fans
of every kind.
The Pennon
fan
is the
least practical,
its
domain is the Middle
Ages and
the early
Renascence,
together with certain parts of the
East (India,
Turkey,
Morocco,
Tunis,
&c.).
The Radial fan was also
in use in
the Middle
ages (with
a long handle), and
down
to the present time
in
certain
parts
of Italy,
Persia,
China, and
Japan.
The Lamellar and
the
Folding fan
are of
later date. Their introduction is contemporaneous
with
the
general
use
of
the fan in Europe
(15
th
century).
After
the
period
of the
lamellar fan
in the
17
th
century,
follows the
golden
age
of
the folding
fan
in the Rococo period.
The
Folding fan
is also
the
predominant
form in Modern times.
Egyptian mural paintings
and
Assyrian
reliefs
frequently
show
Fan
-
bearers,
with larger or
smaller
Fly -flappers,
in the
retinue
of,
the kings. The most common Egyptian forms
are
given
in
figs.
1
and
2,
the Assyrian in fig.
3.
Scarcely any
vestige
has
been
pre-
served of Antique Fans. Judging by the
pictures
on vases,
&c., the
Greek Fan consisted of
a
leaf, cut
to
a
palmette
-
shape,
on a long
handle. The
Roman
ladies were somewhat
luxurious
in the
matter
of
fans,
which they
either managed
themselves
or
had
carried
by
slaves; and
under the
Emperors the
men were also.
In the
Middle
Ages,
the fan
entered into
the
service
of
the church;
deacons
and
ministrans
kept- off flies
from the
consecrated host
by means of
the
flabella, which often
took
the form of six-winged
seraphs.
When
the
fan
became
popular for secular
purposes,
its use was
given up
in
churches. As already observed,
the Renascence
passed from
the Fixed,
to
the
Lamellar
and Folding fan.
The Lamellar
fan offered
numerous
opportunities
for carved
and pierced work
in ivory, horn,
tortoiseshell,
filigree, and enamel work. The
Folding fan
offered an
unlimited
field
for
decoration
by
painting; and painters, like Boucher,
Watteau,
and
others, devoted
themselves to
fan -painting
(pastoral
scenes
&c.).
During
this period
the "Puzzle-fan"
was invented,
which
shows differ-
ent pictures according to the way it is
folded.
Lace fans,
fans with
mirrors,
monograms,
and
autographs, and the bespangled
Empire-fans,
complete
the category. The Modern ball-room fan is
a
large
Folding
fan
generally
decorated with
naturalistic
paintings of
flowers.
But
all
possible
forms
ara occasionally
used.
France, China, and
Japan
supply
the fan market.
Heinrich
Frauberger, who
has written
a most
valuable
monograph
on the Fan*,
maintains that
the latter
countries
*
H.
Frauberger
:
"Die
GeschichtG des Fachers."
Leipzig:
K.
Scholtze-
The
Fan.
—
Various
Tools.
417
alone
manufacture
between
them
about
8/4
of
the 400
million
fans
which are
annually
made
on
the
globe.
Finally
we
may
briefly
enumerate
the
materials
which
are
prin-
cipally
used in
the
manufacture
of
fans.
They
are:
bamboo,
palm-
leaves,
wood,
bone,
horn,
ivory,
tortoise-shell,
mother-of-pearl,
metal,
paper,
straw
and
other
plaited
material,
silk,
lace,
gelatine,
mica,
leather,
feathers, &c.
Plate
239.
The
Fan.
1.
Egyptian,
Fly-flapper,
feathers,
handle omitted.
2.
Egyptian,
feather-fan.
.3.
Assyrian,
Fly-flapper,
from a
relief,
British
Museum.
4.
Modem,
Fly-flapper,
plaited
palm-leaves.
South
Caroline Is-
lands,
(Frauberger).
5.
Modern,
Fly-flapper,
plaited
palm-leaves.
United
collections,'
Carlsruhe.
6.
Modem,
palm-leaf, cut
and
bound
at
the
edge.
7
—
8.
Modem,
Japanese,
bamboo
and
paper.
9.
Modern,
printed
paper
with silk
fringe
and gilt
wooden
handle.
10.
Modern,
Siamese,
handle of
whipped
wood,
centre of
paste-
board,
decorated
with
rosettes
and
bordered
with peacock
feathers.
United
collections,
Carlsruhe.
1
1.
Modem,
Hindu,
handle of
wood,
centre
of
pasteboard
covered
with silk,
braid,
and butterfly
wings,
bordered
with
peacock
feathers,
(Frauberger).
12.
Mediaeval,
Radial-fan,
French,
(Viollet-le-Duc).
13.
Modem,
Folding-fan, wood
and grouse
feathers.
14.
Modern,
Folding-fan,
wood,
painted silk,
and
gold.
Various
Tools.
(Plate
240.)
Among
the Tools
and Instruments
which
only
occasionally or
accidentally receive
an
artistic finish
we may
mention:
Hammers,
Tongs, Compasses,
Cocks,
Pestles,
Hour-glasses,
and Clocks,
along
with
many other things. No
attempt can be
made
here
to
treat
these
articles
in
detail. But it
may be said
that,
in
general, the
highly-decorated examples
have been specially
made
for
State-occasions,
6.
g.
the
Ifamraer (fig.
1),
with which Pope
Julius III
inaugurated the
Jubilee
year
(1550)
by
knocking three
times on the
walled-up main-
portal of
S.
Peter's, as
a
sign that it
should be
opened.
Plate
240
exhibits
a
number of such
objects.
Meyer,
Uandboolc
of
Ornament.
-
•
418
METAL
OBJECTS.
Plate
240.
Various
Tools.
Vaxious
Tools.
419
Plate
240.
Various
Tools.
1.
Ceremonial
-Hammer,
silver gilt, Italian, 16th
century,
pre-
sented
by
Gregory XIII
to
Duke Ernest of Bavaria,
beneath
the
enamelled
armorial
bearings is the
inscription:
"Julius III
Pont.
Max.
Jubilaeum VIII
condidit feliciter MCCCCCL.;
the
relief
on the reverse
shows
Moses
striking
water from the
rock, with
the
words: Percussit petram
et
fluxerunt aquae",
National
Museum,
Munich; (Kunsthandwork).
2.
Tongs,
iron,
German, Germanisehes
Museum,
Nuremberg.
3.
Snulfers,
brass,
German,
Renascence,
Germanisehes
Museum,
Nuremberg.
4
—5.
Compasses,
bronze,
chased, engraved,
and gilt,
German,
16th
century,
half
the
size of the original.
6.
Cock,
brass,
cast and chased,
German,
16th century,
ll^j^inc.
long,
(Vorbilder
fiir
die
Kleinkunst in
Bronze).
7.
Match-holder,
bronze,
Modern.
27*
420
c.
FURNITURE.
Furniture, in its
bioader sense, is a collective
name for
all
kinds
of
household
goods and
chattels. It
is
more
strictly confined to such
objects
as Chairs,
Tables,
Wardrobes,
&c.
But even in this narrower
sense
the
examples of
Furniture are so
numerous that
it
is not
possible
to give a
detailed
description
and discussion of each
indivi-
dual
article on the 20
Plates
which are
devoted
to
this
group.
And it .is
the less
necessary to do
this as
our object
is
only
to
give
a
view
of the
application of
decoration
to furniture in
general.
We
show a
series
of the more
important
articles,
while others,
such
as
Pianos, and
Wardrobes, have been
omitted. They
have been so
grouped
that Plates 241 to 250
contain the
different varieties
of Chairs,
while the
follomng
10
Plates
are devoted to
Tables,
Cabinets,
Bed-
steads,
Cradles,
&c.
The examples
have been
chiefly
taken from
the Antique,
the
Renascence,
and Modern
times; while
the
Middle Ages,
the
Barocca
and
Rococo
periods have
only occasionally
been
taken
into
account.
That
particular attention
has been
paid to the
German
Renascence,
is
based
on the fact, that
this period is
specially
distinguished
for
its
achievements in
the field of
richly-decorated
furniture.
This chapter
might seem to
offer an
inducement to
give
a
historical
account
of
the
development of
tectonic
form in
the
different
periods
of art.
But to
do this,
with any
thoroughness,
would
also
require
VIS
to abandon the
conciseness
we have
hitherto
maintained;
and