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IX.—On some points in the History of Inlaid Jewellery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2011

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The Early Teutonic jewellery ornamented with garnets and glass pastes, frequently known as Orfévrerie Cloisonnée, has been so extensively discussed that it may appear almost superfluous to draw attention to it once more. But the publication in the following pages of objects now in the British Museum will, it is hoped, supply fresh links in the chain of evidence connecting it with the East; for it is now universally agreed that this kind of jewellery entered Europe from Asia, and it is with examples of early date from that continent that we are here chiefly concerned. The principal aim of this Paper is to make better known the armlet from the Oxus, and the reliquary from Afghanistan reproduced by figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying coloured plate (Plate XVI.). But in considering these objects it has been difficult to avoid speculation as to the origin of the style of ornamentation which they represent. The early date and pronounced Perse-politan style of the armlet bring us nearer to Egypt than anything hitherto discovered in the East, and in view of these facts, we are tempted to revive the question whether the Cloisonnée jewellery of Central Asia can have been introduced from the banks of the Nile. The opposite theory, which regards this jewellery as indigenous in Asia, has probably the balance of opinion in its favour; but in the present state of our knowledge, its acceptance would appear to involve something of a dilemma. For on this view the great antiquity of the earliest Egyptian jewels in this style would compel us either to prove that their Eastern prototypes were in existence some three thousand years before Christ; or to suppose two independent centres of invention, one in Asia, the other in Africa, thus severing Egypt from all connection with the development of the art on the neighbouring continent. Time may remove the difficulties incident to these alternatives, but at present neither of them is easy of acceptance. The perfection of the famous inlaid jewels of Dashur (figs. 1 and la), which belong to the twelfth dynasty (third millennium, B.C.), would make it necessary to assume from their rude Asiatic forerunners an almost fabulous antiquity. But so far as I am aware, neither Babylonia nor Assyria, Central Asia, or India, have as yet produced anything in this style of so remote a date; and though the early archæology of China is at present so little known that it may have many surprises in store, as matters now stand it is a legitimate inference that the Far East could hardly have exercised an artistic influence towards the West thirty centuries before the beginning of our era. The theory which derives enamelling from Asia, does not involve the same dilemma, because this was not one of the characteristic arts of Ancient Egypt.

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Research Article
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Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1902

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References

page 239 note a Cochet, , Le tombeau de Childéric ler, Paris, 1859.Google Scholar The objects found in this tomb are described in all books dealing with Teutonic jewellery. The sword is finely reproduced in Bock, , Kleinodien des heiligen Römischen Reichs, pl. xlvi.,Google Scholar and in Labarte, Histoire des Arts industriels au Moyen age, vol. i.

page 239 note b Among the numerous accounts of Teutonic inlaid jewellery, especially with regard to its passage across Europe, may be mentioned the following: Linas, C. de, Origines de l'Orfèvrerie Cloisonnée,Google Scholar and L'Orfèvrerie Mérovingienne; Baye, J. de, Origine orientate de l'Orfèvrerie Cloisonnée son introduction en Occident par les Goths., Compte Rendu du congres international d'archeologie prehistorique et d'anthropologie, Moscow, 1892, i. 353Google Scholar ff.; other papers by the same author in various archæological publications; Henszlmann, , L'âge du fer, étude sur I'art gothique, Compte Rendu, as above (Buda Pesth, 1876)Google Scholar; de Lasteyrie, F., Histoire de I'Orfèvrerie (Paris, 1875), 65 ff.Google Scholar; Molinier, E., Histoire des arts appliques a l'industrie, vol. iiGoogle Scholar. L'Orfèvrerie, chapter I. M. de Lasteyrie's account has been reproduced with additional illustrations by M. A. Odobesco in his monumental work on the Treasure of Petrossa. Those unfamiliar with the general appearance of the typical inlaid jewellery of Western Europe may consult Akerman, J. T., Pagan Saxondom (London, 1855)Google Scholar; the early volumes of Archaeologia Gantiana; and Baudot, H., Mémoire sur les sépultures des Barbares de l'epoque Mérovingienne en Bourgogne (Paris, 1860)Google Scholar in which volumes numerous coloured plates will be found. Many of the fine examples from the Caucasus now at St. Petersburg are figured by KondakoffTolstoi, and Reinach, , Antiquités de la Russie Méridionale (Paris, 1892)Google Scholar.

page 241 note a Bock, , Kleinodien, as above, pl. 37;Google ScholarLasteyrie, F. de, Le Trésor de Guarrazar (Paris, 1860);Google ScholarMolinier, , L'Orfèvrerie, 12.Google Scholar The various crowns of Guarrazar, most of which are in the Cluny Museum at Paris, are mentioned in all books treating of barbaric jewellery.

page 242 note a Linas, De, Origines de I'Orfèvrerie Cloisonnée, i. 26.Google Scholar

page 243 note a Cunningham, on Eelics from ancient Persia in gold silver and copper,” in Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. 50, pt. 1 (1881) 151Google Scholar ff., 52, pt, 1 (1883) 64 ff., 258 ff. Kondakoff, , Tolstoi, and Reinaoh, , Antiquitès de la Russie Méridionale (Paris, 1892), 284Google Scholar ff. The place would thus be not far removed from the trade-route from India to the Caspian and Black Seas, which passed from Cabul to Balkh and thence to the Oxus.

page 244 note a Now in the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum respectively. First published by Mr. (now Sir George) Birdwood in The Illustrated London Neics soon after their discovery.

page 244 note b In the British Museum.

page 244 note c Favre, Desor et, Le bel âge du bronze en Svisse, c. xi. p. 24Google Scholar; Chantre, , L'âge du bronze, i. 173 ff.Google Scholar; Lindenschmit, , Alterthümer unserer heidnischen Vorzeit, iv. pl. 43Google Scholar; Monro, R., The Lake Dwellings of Europe (London, 1890), 531Google Scholar; G., and Mortillet, A. de, Le Musée préhistorique, pl. Ixxxix. No. 1069Google Scholar (after Gastaldi, , Frammenti di paletnologia Italiana, pl. xii.Google Scholar fig. 1); Odobesco, , Le Tresor de Pétrossa, 453 ff.,Google Scholar where the ceremonial use of rings is discussed at some length.

page 245 note a e.g. Coste, Flandin et, Voyage en Perse, iii. pls. 123,Google Scholar 151, 152, 157, 164; Perrot, and Chipiez, , History of Art in Persia, i. 145 (English edition). For the mythological combat, seeGoogle ScholarDieulafoy, , L'art antique de la Perse, iii. 81Google Scholar.

page 246 note a For various speculations on the nature of Assyrian jewellery at this period, see Linas, de, Origines, i. 4472Google Scholar.

page 247 note a For other early work in ivory from Praeneste, Chiusi, and Veii, see Helbig, W., in Annali dell' Instituto di Gorrispondenza Arclieologica, xlix. (1877) 398Google Scholar ff., and K. (1879) 5 ff.; Monumenti inediti of the same Institute, x. pl. 38 and figs. 1 and la, and xi. pl. ii. figs. 1-6; Garrucci, R., Archaeologia, xli. (1867) 187CrossRefGoogle Scholar ff. For remarks npon such early ivories, see also Evans, A. J., Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, xxx. (1900) 200.Google Scholar Examples of the hybrid art to which the Nimrud ivories belong will be found in Perrot, and Chipiez, , History of Art in Phoenicia and its Dependencies, ii. 338 ff. and 402 (London, 1885)Google Scholar.

page 247 note b Morgan, J. De, Fouill.es à Dahchour (Vienna, 1895), pl. xv. xvi. xix–xxi.Google ScholarPerrot, and Chipiez, , History of Art in Ancient Egypt (English edition, London, 1883), ii 381, and figs. 311-313Google Scholar.

page 250 note a The cup-like terminations of the horns are most noticeable in the case of the monsters without bird-like heads at the corners of the Takht of the Royal Tomb (Perrot and Chipiez, i. 219). In other examples of the mythological combat, what looks like a horn with expanded end, may be simply part of the mane which the assailant grasps to secure a firmer hold.

page 250 note b Riegl, , Die Spatrömische Kunstindustrie aus den Funden in Oesierreich-Ungarn (Vienna, 1901), 204.Google Scholar

page 251 note a Letter to Mr. C. H. Read.

page 252 note a On these ornaments, see Linas, de, Origines, &c. ii.Google Scholar; KondakoffTolstoi, and Reinach, , Antiquités de la Russie Méridionale, 364 ff.Google Scholar; Odobesco, , Le Trésor de Pétrossa, pt. i. 230Google Scholar.

page 252 note b Aspelin, J. R., Compte Rendu of the International Congress of Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology, Stockholm, 1876, 555–6;Google ScholarRadloff, W., Aus Sibirien (Leipzig, 1884),.ii. 76Google Scholar; Linas, de, Origines &c. ii. 193 ff.Google Scholar; Kondakoff, Tolstoi and Reinach, as above, 368 ff.

page 252 note c Radloff, W., in Materials for Russian Archaeology, Part 15 (1893),Google ScholarAppendix, 53, published by the Imperial Archaeological Commission, St. Petersburg (Russian). In this appendix four of the plates from Witsen's Noorden Ost Tarlarye, representing Siberian antiquities are reproduced.

page 253 note a M. de Kieseritzky, Keeper of the Department of Greek and Scythian Antiquities at the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, will shortly issue a profusely illustrated catalogue of the Siberian ornaments, in which much fresh information is promised.

page 253 note b Radloff, W., Aus Sibirien, ii. 84Google Scholar and 127.

page 253 note c Aspelin, J. R., Antiquités du Nord Finno-Ougrien (translation Biaudet, G., Helsingfors, 1877) 46–7.Google Scholar

page 253 note d On the question of the early inhabitants of the Siberian Steppes, see Radloff, , Aus Sibirien, ii. 129Google Scholar ff.; Kondakoff, , Tolstoi, and Reinach, , Antiquités de la Russie Meridionale, Part iii. 323Google Scholar ff.; Klements, , Antiquities of the Minusinsk Museum, 65Google Scholar ff., Tomsk, 1886 (Russian).

page 253 note e Lappo-Danilevsky, A. in Materials for Bussian Archaeology, Part 13 (1894) p. 14Google Scholar (Russian); Popoff, N., V. Tatischeff and his times (Moscow, 1861), 563–4;Google Scholar Herodotus, Book I. 215, iii. 98, 102; Strabo xi. 8, 6.

page 254 note a Compte Rendu de la Commission Impériale archéologique, 1866, 139Google Scholar ff. Atlas, pl. iv.

page 255 note a Linas, De, Origines, ii. 196Google Scholar; Kondakoff, Tolstoi and Reinach, as above, 379. This bird was reproduced in Archaeologia as early as 1773, see vol. ii. pl. xv., but the figure is very inaccurate.

page 256 note a Linas, De, Origines, ii. 131 ff. and accompanying platesGoogle Scholar; Compte Rendu de la Commission Impérials Archéologique (St. Petersburg, 1864), 20Google Scholar; Lasteyrie, de, Hist, de l'orfevrerie, 67–8;Google Scholar Kondakoff, Tolstoi and Reinach, as above, 488 f.

page 256 note b Figured in Witsen, , Noord en Ost Tartarye,Google Scholar 4th plate of antiquities; reproduced by W. Radloff; in Materials for Russian Archaeology, Part 15 (1894), 134.Google Scholar See also Kondakoff, Tolstoi and Reinach, as above, 367.

page 257 note a Kondakoff, Tolstoi and Reiiiach, as above, 381, fig. 334.

page 257 note b This collar is, I believe, still unpublished.

page 258 note a Aspeiin, , Antiquités du Nord Finno-Ougrien, translated by Biaudet, G., 47.Google Scholar

page 258 note b Koudakoff, Tolstoi and Reinach, as above, 408.

page 258 note c Dr. Bushell, S. W., Oriental Ceramic Art, Section 8, 286Google Scholar

page 259 note a Compte Rendu, 1880, 52–3,Google ScholarPubMed and Atlas, pl. i. figs. 13 and 17. For the enamelled ring, see ibid, 77, and Atlas, pl. iii., fig. 7.

page 259 note b For the formerly inlaid objects in the Nagy Szent-Miklos treasure, see Hampel, J., Der Goldfund von Nagy-Szent-Miklos (Buda-Pesth, 1885), 104Google Scholar; the treasure is also figured in the same author's work in Hungarian, , A Regibb Kozepkor, &c. (Buda-Pesth, 1894).Google Scholar For the treasure of Petrossa, see below.

page 260 note a Antiquités du Bosphore Cimmérien, pl. xvi. figs. 2, 3, 5, 6; Compte Rendu, 1881, pp. 8188,Google ScholarPubMed and Atlas, pl. v. figs. 6-7, 8-9; 1882-8, Atlas, pl. v. fig. 3; Kondakoff, Tolstoi and Reinach, as above, p. 67. Objects showing a direct Egyptian influence have also been found in the tombs of Kertch (Compte Rendu, 1880, 7475),Google ScholarPubMed and it is possible that the Greek inlaid work, especially the wooden sarcophagi, may have owed something to this source.

page 261 note a Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1879, 7779.Google Scholar

page 262 note a Archaeological Survey of India, Report on a tour of exploration of the antiquities of the Tarai, Nepal, the region of Kapilavastu, in 1899, by Mukherji, Babu Puma Chandra, with pref. by Mr. Smith, V.Google Scholar.

page 262 note b Proceedings Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1879, 122 ff.Google Scholar

page 265 note a Rapson, E. J., Indian Coins, vol. iiGoogle Scholar. of the Grundriss der Indo-Arischen Philologie und Altertumikunde (Enyclopædia of Indo-Aryan Research), 3 and 4.

page 265 note b Burgess, J., The Gandhára Sculptures (London, 1899), 6, 7.Google Scholar

page 266 note a Annalen des Vereins für Nassauische Alterthumskunde und Geschichtsforschung (Wiesbaden, 1873), 9Google Scholar and plate i, fig. 3. Trie Wolfsheim ornament is also figured and discussed by Linas, de, Origines, &c. i. 5Google Scholar and pl. i.; and Molinier, , Histoire des arts, &c. L'Orfèvrerie, iv. 15Google Scholar.

page 266 note b Molinier, as above footnote.

page 267 note a See above.

page 267 note b The bibliography of this treasure is now very large. The best account is to be found in the large work by M. A. Odobeseo entitled Le Trésor de Petrossa, in which the earlier books and treatises are mentioned. There is a monograph upon it by Bock, F. in the Mittheilungen des K.K. Central Commission zur Erforschung und Erhaltung der Baudenkmale, &c. (Vienna, 1868)Google Scholar; it was described the Arundel Society by R. H. Soden-Smith in 1869, and is discussed by Labarte in his Histoire des Arts Indusiriels, by Linas, de, Oriyines de I'Orfècrerie Cloisonnée and Orfèvrerie Mérovingienne,Google ScholarVenturi, , Storia dell' Arte Italiana, ii. 5 ffGoogle Scholar.

page 268 note a Le Trésor de Pétrossa, part iii. 6.

page 270 note a Riegl, A., Die Spätrömische Kunstinduslrie in Oesterreich-Ungarn, 172184Google Scholar and 202-207.

page 270 note b Hampel, as above, 165; Pulszky, F. von, Die Goldfunde von Szilógy Somluó (Buda-Pesth, 1890)Google Scholar.

page 271 note a Best reproduced by Bock, , Kleinodien des heiligen Römischen Reichs, pl. xxxv.Google Scholar See also Molinier, , L'Orfèvrerie, 9Google Scholar.

page 272 note a Molinier, as above, 46-48; Didron, , Annales archéologiques, xvii. 337Google Scholar; Aus'm Weerth. Das Siegeskreuz des byzantinischen Kaisers Konstantinus VII. und Romanus, plate i. (Bonn, 1866).Google Scholar This book-cover was brought from the sack of Constantinople in 1204 by a German knight who gave it to the nunnery of Stuben near Trèves. After the French Revolution it was taken to Khrenbreitstein, and in 1815 became the property of the Duke of Nassau, who in 1827 presented it to the Cathedral of Limburg.

page 273 note a Molinier, as above, 17.