style and fashion
Transcription
style and fashion
Chapter 2 STYLE AND FASHION Changing styles of dress affected jewellery design. This chapter explores what type of jewellery was worn and its fashion context. After a general survey of jewellery worn by fashionable men and women and by ecclesiastics, the discussion focuses on jewellery particular to different parts of the body. Detail of Plate 50 Margaret of York (1446–1503) Oil on panel Flanders, anon., c.1468–70 Paris, Musée du Louvre, Dept des Peintures, inv. RF 1938-17 Medieval Jewellery Cultural Contexts 117 Group of badges (from left to right) Badge with the royal arms of England before 1340 Copper alloy with champlevé enamel, traces of gilding England, c.1300–40 V&A: M.315–1921 Badge with the arms of the Visconti or Sforza families 118 Badge with the arms of Bishop Angelo Acciaiuoli Copper alloy, gilt, with champlevé enamel Italy, perhaps Florence, c.1328–57 V&A: 8991–1863 116 Maximilian, Duke of Austria Stained glass from the Chapel of the Holy Blood, Bruges Flanders, c.1496 V&A: C.438–1918 102 Copper, gilt with champlevé enamel Italy, around 1350–1400 119 Joan Nevill, Countess of Arundel Limestone effigy, detail of the head, with original colours England, c.1462 Arundel Castle, Fitzalan chapel V&A : M 73-1923 Badge with the arms of Warenne Copper alloy with champlevé enamel England, c.1300–50 V&A: M.13–1989 effigy of the fashionably dressed Joan Nevill, Countess of Arundel (d. c.1462) ( p lat e 1 19 ). Her Yorkist necklace has been personalized to include her own family badge, sprigs of oak leaves. Badges instantly proclaimed identity and status, and were worn by retainers, servants and even the horses of a great lord. The motifs used on them often derived from a lord’s coat of arms. These livery badges identified the wearer as a person attached to the retinue of a magnate or the king, and thus entitled to their protection. Wealthy clergy also used coats of arms to proclaim their status, just like other powerful statesmen, as exemplified by the badge of Bishop Angelo Acciaiuoli ( pl ate 11 8) , who was successively Bishop of Aquila in 1328, of Florence in 1342–55 and of Monte Cassino in 1355–7. Bishop Angelo has added a bishop’s mitre to the Acciaiuoli family arms. The complex shape of this badge makes its exact function uncertain – it might have been attached to a retainer’s belt or to a horse harness. Horses were central to medieval society, essential for fighting wars, for transport and for such leisure activities as hawking and hunting. Their saddles and harness were often richly decorated, with embroidery and metalwork, as shown on the Devonshire hunting tapestries. Heraldic pendants might be attached either to the leather breast strap or the head harness of the horse. Two small English badges could have been used either by an attendant or to decorate a horse harness. Three lions on a red ground represent the royal arms ( p la te 1 17 ), as used before 1340. The blue and originally gilt chequer pattern represents the Warenne family arms ( p la te 1 17 ). On a smaller scale, but of great legal significance, badges and coats of arms might be used to decorate seal matrices. These were pressed onto softened beeswax and the resultant seal impressions were attached to written documents to authenticate them, just as a signature functions today. Matrices were often inscribed, sometimes with an owner’s name or a motto. A personal seal matrix 103 Medieval Jewellery Style and Fashion 66 Case for a girdle-book, with sliding top: front and back view Silver gilt, with translucent enamel, showing an episode from the romance of Sir Enyas and the Wodewose England or France, c.1325 V&A: 218–1874 classes needed to be robust, and were made of leather with sturdy copper or iron buckles and chapes; although these did not follow high fashion, clear stylistic variations are discernible over time. At different periods, fashionable girdles varied in their width, overall length and exactly where they were worn. It is often difficult to tell from the few surviving luxury girdles whether they were made for a man or a woman. In general, from the eleventh to the fourteenth century, girdles were long and narrow and were worn around the waist. Excessively long and elaborately ornamented girdles seem to have become fashionable 66 during the fourteenth century, combining fine textiles with silver-gilt or enamel fittings. More rarely, girdles were made entirely of precious metal, consisting of plaques curved to fit the outline of the body and hinged together. Two early fourteenth-century plaques ( p la te 6 7) from a girdle of this sort, engraved and once enamelled, show typical scenes from a medieval romance, depicting knights, musicians, and ladies of the court. Girdles occasionally include loving inscriptions, which is a reflection of their role in the courtship rituals of both Jewish and Christian communities (see page 97), where the exchange of girdles played a part. 67 Medieval Jewellery 4 Fishpool hoard: general view Gold, enamel and precious stones England and France, c.1400–60 London, British Museum, PE 1967.12-8.1-9 5 (right) Chalcis treasure: general view Silver, some gilt with niello and enamel Italy, possibly Venice, and Greece, c.1350–1460 London, British Museum, PE AF 2809 etc. pieces, which were pawned and melted down to pay his soldiers’ wages. The early medieval pre-Christian tradition of burying the dead with their jewellery has, incidentally, preserved much for us to see today. Christianity gradually discontinued these practices and, as a result, the number of medieval jewels actually to have survived, dating from c.1000 onwards, is random and relatively small, in contrast to the jewelled magnificence described by many medieval writers and depicted by artists. Numerous existing medieval jewels were lost or hidden for safety by their medieval owners and have subsequently been excavated or discovered by chance. Jewellery made of the base metals (copper and pewter) is surprisingly rare today, given that it was made in great quantities for the less well off. This is because 10 such pieces were less likely to be treasured either as bankable wealth or as heirlooms and, when they became unfashionable, their metal would simply have been melted down and remade, and thus continually recycled. Hoards of eleventh- and twelfth-century pewter jewellery have been found in the course of urban excavations in recent decades in York, Dublin and London, and elsewhere in Europe. These show styles of jewellery that imitated those found in precious metals, as seen in the eleventh- to twelfth-century collection of brooches ( pl at e 3 ), pins and beads found in London’s Cheapside. This district has for centuries been at the centre of the metalworking crafts, and the hoard includes some items that are only partly finished, showing it to be the stock of a working jeweller. Medieval hoards of silver and gold jewellery and coins are known from all over Europe. In France and Germany numerous treasures have been found dating from around 1340–50, which can therefore be linked with the terrible plague known as the Black Death, which afflicted all of Europe at that time. Fifteenthcentury treasure hoards such as that found at Fishpool, Nottinghamshire ( pl ate 4) in England, entirely made of gold, or the one found at Chalcis ( p lat e 5 ) in Cyprus, almost entirely made of silver, were hidden in time of war by their unknown owners, and may represent jewels owned by more than one person. The Fishpool gold hoard includes gem-set jewels and pieces decorated with engraving or enamel, in styles typical of northern Europe, especially France and England. The hoard includes 1,237 gold coins, which indicate that it was buried early in 1464, during the Wars of the Roses. Its richness shows that its owners were exceptionally wealthy, perhaps merchants or members of the nobility caught up in the fighting. The Chalcis hoard has also been preserved because of conflict. When threatened by invasion from the Turks in 1470, the rich Venetian inhabitants of Chalcis on the Greek island of Euboea in the Mediterranean hid their valuables in the castle. Found in the nineteenth century, the Chalcis jewels are today divided between London’s British Museum and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. These silver jewels, rich in brooches, buttons, belts and rings, reflect the riches garnered by trade with Venice and Byzantium. Many are gem-set or engraved, or decorated with niello (see page 00), filigree or enamel, much of it decoration that was typical of southern Europe and was probably made in Venice. 11 Medieval Jewellery BUYING AND COMMISSIONING JEWELLERY Both royalty and the nobility usually had a number of favourite goldsmiths, each making jewellery as well as vessels for dining, although some craftsmen specialized in one or the other. However, these goldsmiths were independent and did not live at court, or generally in a noble household, but rather had their workshops and homes elsewhere and were free to supply other customers. In London the goldsmiths’ quarter centred upon Foster Lane, off Cheapside, near St Paul’s Cathedral. Paris was the largest centre of goldsmiths and jewellers north of the Alps throughout the Middle Ages, and here the goldsmiths were located in the area around Notre-Dame and the nearby bridge across the Seine, le pont des orfèvres (‘the bridge of goldsmiths’). Bruges, Florence, Siena, Venice, Nuremberg and Prague were also significant centres. Goldsmiths would work to special commissions, as well as selling small items at retail, such as the rings or brooches seen displayed in the Petrus Christus painting of St Eloi ( p la te 6), which shows a young couple inside a shop full of jewellery and gems. This painting of c.1449 gives a fascinating glimpse of the stock of a 22 Workmanship and Acquisitions 16 Miniature of a jewellery shop from a Book of Hours Parchment Flanders, c.1490 Baltimore, Walters Art Museum, inv. W 439, f.64 goldsmith-cum-jeweller. Behind the saint, three gem-set jewels, a string of rosary beads, gem-set finger-rings in a box and a fancy belt buckle are visible. Apart from these ready-made jewels, we also see loose gems, a pile of pearls and a branch of coral and crystal, all waiting to be made up into a special commission. Drapers’ shops, which principally sold fine fabrics, often also sold accessories such as belts embellished with metal and enamel, and ready-made small jewels, rings and brooches. Such a shop seems to be depicted in the manuscript illustrated above ( p la te 16 ). The ladies hold wands, perhaps to point out their preferred jewels to the shopkeeper, who could use his own wand deftly to unhook the selected items. Jewels played a significant role in medieval society, where the giving of valuable gifts (often jewellery) was essential as a way of reinforcing diplomatic alliances and strategic friendships, as well as being a sign of affection and love. It is interesting to find that the great French princely collector Jean, Duc de Berry gave valuable jewels not just to his allies, but also to several of his artists: a diamond ring to Milet le Cavelier, a stained- 17 Brooch showing a camel Gold, enamel, sapphire and pearls France, England or Germany, c.1400–20 Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello glass artist; a diamond to the wife of a favourite painter, Michelet Saumon; and many jewels to the great manuscript illuminator, Pol de Limbourg. The New Year was a traditional time for gift-giving. Monarchs and grandees habitually gave out large numbers of New Year gifts made of gold and silver – frequently jewellery – the value of each being carefully graded to the rank of the recipient. Although none of the jewels survive, great lists of them do, such as those given out by King Richard II of England in the 1390s, when many of his dozens of courtiers and friends received New Year presents in the form of small gold and enamel jewels, all of a different design, some perhaps similar to the camel brooch ( p lat e 1 7) now in Florence. But the only surviving medieval jewels that can certainly be identified as New Year gifts are gold rings, 23 Medieval Jewellery GEMS: THEIR SOURCES AND MEANINGS Judging from the medieval jewellery that survives, the most popular precious stones were sapphires, garnets, rubies, amethysts, rock crystal and, to a lesser extent, diamonds. A range of other stones was also used, including turquoises and emeralds ( p la te 2 4) , as well as imitation gems. Large and small pearls were very popular and are frequently mentioned in contemporary descriptions, but generally have not survived, because they disintegrate when buried in the earth for long. Most of the precious stones used in medieval jewellery came from countries far distant from Europe and were extremely valuable. Size, lustrous colour and ‘virtue’ principally determined the cost of a gem, for gems were not elaborately cut for most of this period. Comparatively few surviving medieval gems have been investigated mineralogically, but it is clear that the terms used in medieval sources are often inconsistent or vague, so that certainty of identification is difficult. For instance, the term adamas or adamant, which often means a diamond, sometimes does not. Workmanship and Acquisitions The Italian ports of Venice and Genoa dominated the trade routes to Byzantium (modern Istanbul) and the East, source of the most precious gems. Red, blue and green gems seem to have been especially sought-after. Rubies comprised two sorts – mineralogically very different stones, but similar enough in appearance to be easily confused. The paler pinkish-red ‘balas’ or spinel ruby ( p la te 2 7) came from Afghanistan and was less valuable; the deep-red corundum ruby, almost as hard as a diamond, came from Burma, Sri Lanka and India and was more rarely used. Also from Sri Lanka came sapphires ( p lat e 2 5), from Persia and Tibet came turquoises ( pl ate 28 ), and from India came emeralds and diamonds. Garnets ( p la te 26 ) and opals were obtained from eastern Europe, amethysts from Germany, coral and pearls from Italy and other Mediterranean countries, and amber, jet, crystal and tiny mussel pearls from northern Europe. Gems have always been considered natural talismans because of their brilliance of colour or hardness. In the Middle Ages and beyond, precious stones were believed to possess many potent qualities, both powerfully medicinal and magical. Encyclopaedic texts called 24 Emerald, polished Set into a gold ring Europe, c.1400–1500 V&A: 652–1871 25 Blue sapphire surrounded by purple sapphires, polished Set into a gold ring England, c.1250–1300 26 Garnet, polished Set into a gold ring England or France, c.1300 V&A: M.288–1962 V&A: M.7–1929 22 (far left) Half a natural diamond crystal, set into a gold ring Europe, c.1400 V&A: M.188–1975 23 (left) A polished cabochon sapphire, held in a claw setting in a gold ring England or France, c. 1250-1300 V&A: M 180-1975 27 Spinel ruby, polished and set into a gold thumb ring England, c.1450 28 Turquoise, polished Set into a gold ring England or France, c.1400–50 V&A: M 253-1921 V&A: M.77–1969 29 Style and Fashion 52 (left) Charles the Bold’s hat, with two of his jewels, the White Rose and the Three Brothers The ducal hat was sheathed in gold, adorned with pearls, rubies and diamonds, seized by the Swiss in 1477 Paint on paper South Germany, c.1545 Basle, Historisches Museum, inv. 2007.511 53 (opposite, left) Mary of Burgundy (1457–82) Stained glass, from the Chapel of the Holy Blood, Bruges Flanders, c.1496 V&A: C.439–1918 the necklace incorporates her initials with those of her husband, Charles, Duke of Burgundy. The white and red roses allude to her own family; she was an English princess, sister of the Yorkist king Edward IV. She is also likely to have owned the ‘White Rose jewel’ ( p la te 52 ), the badge of the Yorkists, whose appearance has been preserved in a contemporary watercolour. Jewels attached to necklaces might be gem-set, as worn by Queen Elizabeth Woodville ( plat e 34) and Mary of Burgundy ( p late 53 ). The diamond-shaped gold jewel that Mary wears, edged with pearls, has a central cross, perhaps indicating the presence of a relic inside. It greatly resembles in shape a rare surviving pendant, the Middleham jewel ( plat e 54) of c.1450, which was found 54 (opposite, right) Middleham reliquary pendant Gold, engraved, formerly enamelled, sapphire England, London?, c.1450 York, Yorkshire Museum 55