engraved in Hutchins's Dorset, iii. 278. Tenbury, Gloucestershire,—cross-legged effigy in mailed armour, 4 ft. long, represented as holding a heart. Ayot St. Lawrence, Herts,—effigy 2 ft. 3 in. long, supposed to have held a heart between the hands, now broken. Bottesford, Leicestershire—effigy 22 in. long, Nichols, ii. 23. Dartington, Devon,—an ecclesiastic, 2 ft. 8 in. long. Other instances may be found at Little Easton, Essex (Gough), Cobberly, Gloucestershire, Anstey, Herts., and Long Wittenham, Berks. An interesting little effigy of white marble, now preserved in the abbey church of St. Denis, near Paris, represents Blanche d'Artois, grand-daughter of Louis VIII., who espoused, in 1269, Henry, king of Navarre, and, after his death, Edmond, earl of Lancaster, brother of Edward I. She died A.D. 1302, and was buried in Paris: her heart being deposited in the choir of the conventual church of the Minoresses at Nogent l'Artault, in Champagne, founded by her. On the destruction of that establishment, the effigy, which measures about 2 ft. in length, was preserved, and subsequently placed amongst the royal memorials at St. Denis. W. S. W.
ANCIENT CHESS-MEN,
WITH SOME REMARKS ON THEIR VALUE AS ILLUSTRATIONS OF
MEDIEVAL COSTUME.
It may merit observation, that the chief interest in the careful examination of objects of medieval date, fabricated even for the most trivial and homely purposes, appears to consist in their conformity to certain established conventional models of form or ornamentation, at each successive period. The singular truth with which their decorative accessories are invariably designed, as regards the costume of the times, the usual forms of letter employed for inscriptions, or similar details, stamp the antiquities of that age, inferior as they may be in comparison with the graceful proportion and chaste design of classical remains, with an attractive character, pleasing even to the eye of the inexperienced observer.
Productions of the highest class of antique art attract our admiration on account of their ideal beauty, and the combination of imaginative conception with perfect mechanical skill
