Page:Scottishartrevie01unse.djvu/223

inlaid with agate, canielia, lapis lazuli, and marbles of various tints, with ivory, tortoise-shell, mother-of- pearl, and with other woods. Specimens of work which illustrate this period of the renaissance in Italy are shown in cabinet No. (iy from Holyrood, which is a good example of tarsia or inlaid work. Marquetry, strictly speaking, is a kind of decoration derived by the Venetians from Persia and India, and consists of a fine inlay of ivory, metal, and woodsj

stained to vary the coloui-. ' Tarsie,' or ' Tai'siatura,' is described by Mrs. Merrifield as a kind of mosaic in woods, and consists in the representation of houses and perspective views of buildings, by inlaying pieces of wood of various colours and shades into panels of walnut wood. Marquetiy is, however, now used indis- criminately to describe both these kinds of inlay. No 145 (seventeenth century ?) is a beautiful example of another class of work, that of ' Pietra Dara,' or mosaic panelling of hard pebbles. In this specimen ebony is used as a base, and the panellings of vari-coloured marbles. Another method of decoration is seen in the cabinet No. 268, in which ivory panels are inlaid upon a base of ebony, and upon the ivory, figure compositions are etched in black lines. No. 372 is an example of marquetry work, with the introduction of flower sprays composed of ivory and mother-of-pearl. Ivory and tortoise-shell are used in the casket No. 97, and, with the addition of engraving on the ivory, in the jewel cases Nos. 62 and 63, whilst, as examples of the treat- ment of pure wood-work, may be instanced Nos. 39, 110, and 314. Other examples are to be found scat- tered up and down the collection, but a specimen of a particular method of treatment has been chosen. A coffer or chest, used generally in Italian households for holding the bride's wardrobe, is seen in No. 381, of which the torus of the base is particularly fine ; and another instance of the common treatment of simple domestic objects is afforded by the carved pair of bellows No. 336, an example well worthy the atten- tion of present students of wood-carving classes. Chairs and tables, though among the richest produc- tions of this period, are here poorly represented. The carved and richly gilded chairs in general use in Venice in the sixteenth centuries, and of which method of treatment mirror No. 88, gives a slight idea, would have afforded an example of a tradition of good work which has lasted down to the modern works exhibited in the recent Italian Exhibition in London. Chair No. 302, though recognised as doubtful Italian, is a remarkable example of beauty combined with utility ; and though queried in the Catalogue, less doubt may be had about the carved settee No. 284, the propor- tions and carving of which are, however, speedily lost in the admiration of the beautiful piece of tapestry that covers the back and sides, and which is barely equalled by a similar specimen, chair No. 314. The marquetry table No. 489, though a good exhibit, is probably of a later date than the period under con- sideration. The various carved panels exhibited lose in value somewhat by their not being in situ, though they should be studied as proofs of the versatility of early Italian and other carvers. A note should here be made of a strongly developed feature in sixteenth- century furniture, namely, the architectural character of the outlines, noticeable here in some of the speci- mens shown. Italy may be said to have beeii a nursing- mother whose sons went north and east and west. No good example of French work of this period is to be seen here if one may except table No. 489, but there are one or two good specimens of Spanish cabinet-work, and of which Nos. 98 and 137i'naybe instanced. A peculiar feature in this class of work is the red tortoise-shell, which colour was usually ob- tained by laying metal under the shell. No. 315 has an inlay of tortoise-shell and ivory. Special mention should be made of the chairs Nos. 33, 43, and 476. These, though called Spanish, are charac- teristic of old Portuguese work, for which see No. 367. The curiously national character of these chairs is obtained in the quality of the leather employed in the construe- ] tion, and which is sufficiently elastic ; to be comfortable, though hard and too stiff to go into holes. The whole of the surface is covered with ara- besques in the best cinquecento design ; and a feature is likewise made of the nails employed. These chairs belong properly to the seven- teenth century, and the same period is exemplified very fully by a large collection of chairs, cabinets, and tables, which, with the French and English work of a later period, really constitute the strong point of the show. The Tudor and Stuart styles may be applied to the work of these times in England and Scotland, but the various examples are most difficult to classify. The Italian taste had grown less pure and more general, and classic details as they came north were mixed with the relics of older styles. The Flemish and Dutch also imported wood-work into Scotland in large quantities, and hence the great like-