The remarkable universality of the fret, the simplicity and rhythm of detail, its adaptability and usefulness for surface enrichment, have made the fret one of the best known forms of ornamentation. It was used in the surface decorations of the tombs of Egypt, the temples of Greece, and the civic and domestic buildings of Rome.
The Greek form with its right-angular and equally-spaced keys was used on the simple abacus and plain fascias of the Dorian architecture, in bands upon the painted vases, and in a concentric form when used in the interior of the red-figured circular cylix. The Romans, without imparting freshness, used the same right-angled key pattern, chiefly as borders for mosaic pavements and upon the horizontal soffits of their architecture. The Byzantine using the same type in conjunction with the cross and circle gave more significance to the fret.
The Arabian fret differs in the use of the oblique line together with the right-angled key, obtaining a wonderful degree of complexity and richness.
The Celtic fret is chiefly a diagonal one, but the recurrent angle is rounded to a curve.
Chinese and Japanese frets are usually right-angled, and are used in great profusion, often in a secondary field or background.
The Japanese key or “Fret diaper” is used in the greatest profusion; it is used alike on silks and brocades, damascened in metal, in cloisonné enamel and in lacquered work, and is frequently arranged in irregular shaped compartments or medallions.
The Greek continuous fret border is rarely used by the Japanese, who generally use the disconnected or irregular fret. A similar irregular fret border was used by the Peruvians (plate 41), by the Mexicans, and by the natives of Polynesia.
The Assyrian and Byzantine guilloche is but a curved fret, but additional interest is given by the introduction of radiating forms in the principal interstices of the fret (fig. 5, plate 11.)
in architecture and ornament has always been influenced by tradition, racial influence, and the myths and religious beliefs of the people, and it developed with the progress of the nation, often culminating in some great epoch. Frequently the continuity was carried on by some contemporary or succeeding race, modified by different conditions and environments, yet still retaining the style in its general characteristics, or, this thread of continuity was occasionally lost for a time, only to spring into new life, endowed with fresh vitality and beauty, culminating again in splendour. Then fresh religious ideas and conditions engrafted their symbolism and traditions upon the style, thus forming a new period in the history of art.
Ornament is the expression of the people or of the priestcraft, and in its primitive state was used symbolically. The ornament of Polynesia and Melanesia probably shows this primitive state of ornamentation. Isolated as these islanders were from the influence of Eastern or Western art, and with but little communication among the various islands, the ornamental art of these people has its own traditions and characteristics, each province or group of islands showing different ideas and details in proportion to its culture or state of civilization, New Zealand showing the highest development and Australia the lowest, while with the Marquesans the ornament is almost pure picture writings. The illustration of the beautiful paddle in the Heape collection, with its geometric ornamentation, shows the continuity and ornamental development of the representation of the human figure, which was originally chosen by the priesthood for its significance or divinity.
In Europe and Asia all trace of this primitive stage has ceased to exist. The development and continuity of ideas and customs, the traditions of style and craftsmanship carried on through many centuries of the world’s history have obliterated the early or primitive style of ornament, chosen first for its significance or emblematic character.
Some remarkable examples of pottery and woven textile fabrics have been recently found in the ancient cemeteries of Peru—relics of the Incas—long anterior to the Spanish conquest. Many fine examples of these woven textiles of cotton and wool are now in the South Kensington museum, forming the Smithies collection, and, as in the ornament of Polynesia, floral forms are entirely absent, the ornament consisting of conventional representations of the human figure, with the owl, condor and the toucan, mingled with the wave scroll and the fret, elements doubtless chosen for their significance.
Many beautiful illustrations could be chosen from the history of ornament, showing this continuity and persistency of line and form and its remarkable influence upon contemporary and succeeding races.
Perhaps the form and enrichment of the Architectural Capital offer one of the most interesting and instructive fields of study in the history and evolution of architecture. The remarkable persistency of the capital as a distinctive feature in architecture may be traced through many centuries, though differentiated by climatic conditions and racial influences, yet still preserving a remarkable similarity of form and enrichment among the various nations of the earth.
The function of the capital is to sustain and transmit to the columns the weight of the entablature or archivolt, and the beauty and appropriateness of the capital depends:—
First, upon this functional treatment of strength;
Second, upon the beauty of profile or mass;
Third, upon the enrichment and proportion of the capital.
The dignified Doric capital of the Greeks illustrates these functions and conditions by its perfect adaptability, simple functional strength, beauty of profile, appropriateness of enrichment and proportion and harmony of parts, qualities which are essential to beauty of architecture. In the Parthenon, B.C. 438, we have the finest treatment of this capital—a treatment full of dignity, reserve, and unison of profile (plate 6). The many examples of the Doric Order in Greece and her colonies attest to the esteem in which this order was held by the Greeks. The Indian capital (plate 24) exhibits the same functional treatment by the use of brackets or modillions, which undoubtedly are a survival of a wooden construction, and which are typical of Eastern architecture.
The remarkable persistency of the profile, and enrichment of the capital extending through a period of 4,000 years, may be illustrated by a series of diagrams of typical examples. The profile of the capital has not varied to any appreciable extent in the examples here given, and the enrichment of the bell is remarkable for its persistency, though differentiated by racial influences. The Corinthian capital, with its volutes and acanthus foliage, is but the architectural continuity of the Egyptian capital. The only pure Greek example of this order is from the monument of Lysicrates, but the Romans continued the tradition, assimilating and elaborating until they produced the magnificent capitals of the portico of the Pantheon and the temple of Castor and Pollux. In these examples the leaves are arranged in series of two rows of eight leaves each, the volutes springing from sheaths and stems between the leaves, which support the angle of the volutes. The example of early French Gothic has similar characteristics and illustrates the continuity of style.
The Ionic capital, though one of the most persistent in the history of architecture, never reached the architectonic perfection of other capitals. This was undoubtedly owing to the wooden origin being incompatible with the necessities of stone and marble. There is a want of unity between the volutes and ovolo of the capital; in brief, it has neither coherence nor harmony of parts. The exquisite craftsmanship of the capitals of the Erectheum, with their anthemion enrichment of the greatest purity, the beauty of the ovolo and the subtility of the volutes compensates to some extent for the lack of unison (plate 6). The enrichment of the architectural capital is no doubt a survival of the primitive custom of binding floral forms round the simple functional capital, these forms being afterwards perpetuated in stone or marble.
In early Corinthian examples these floral forms were frequently of beaten metal, which, in turn, gave place to the beautiful marble foliage of the Greeks and Romans.
That the ancients used metal work in their capitals we have abundant proof. In the descriptions of the building of Solomon’s Temple we read of “Two chapiters of molten brass to set upon the pillars, and nets of chequer work and wreath of chain work to set upon the top of the pillars.”
The Composite capital is deficient in coherence and unity of parts, having the same defects as its prototype the Ionic. The annexed illustration from Ancient Rome gives an unusual treatment by the introduction of the human figure in the centre of the face of the capital.
The Byzantine capital differs from those of the Greeks and Romans in its marked symbolism of detail and the prevalence of the cushion form. Functionally, this type of capital is admirable, yet it lacks the vigorous upward growth of the Egyptian and early Gothic capitals.
The Byzantine capitals have a wonderful complexity and variety of detail, such as interlacing circles and crosses with their mystic symbolism, basket work, chequered details, and the traditional sharp acanthus foliage of the Greeks.
These features are seen in the greatest profusion at S. Sophia at Constantinople; S. Apollinare and S. Vitale at Ravenna, and S. Marco at Venice. These splendid capitals of a splendid period are exceedingly beautiful in fertile inventiveness of enrichment, and show the assimilative power of the Byzantine craftsmen. The abundant use of chequer work, wreaths of chain work, and of lily work in Byzantine capitals, many of which are figured in Ruskin’s “Stones of Venice,” show the continuity of style and tradition in architecture.
The Byzantine capitals have the square abacus, usually consisting of a simple fillet and chamfer enriched with the billet, dentil or star pattern. The Dosseret, a singular adjunct to the capital was introduced during this period; it was a cushion-shaped or cubicle stone placed upon the abacus of the capital to give additional height (plate 11).
The Byzantine influence is seen upon the Norman capitals with their square abacus of fillet and chamfer, and the cushion profile of capital. Some remarkable Siculo-Norman capitals are in the cloisters of the Benedictine Monastery of Monreale in Sicily, A.D. 1174-1184. The great fertility of inventiveness in the 200 capitals, their storiation, the intermingling of figures, birds and animals with the classic and Byzantine foliage makes this cloister one of the most remarkable in the history of the world. The Arabian capital, which frequently shows the traditional volute, differs from the typical bell-shaped form in its marked squareness of profile with flat or low reliefs enriched with colour.
The Early Gothic capital is one of the most vigorous and beautiful. The perfect adaptability of its foliage to stone carving, the significance of its detail as emblematic of the Trinity, the spiral growth of its foliage and the vigorous contrast of light and shade are the chief characteristics of this period. Lacking, perhaps, the delicacy or variety of detail of the Byzantine period or the later Gothic work, it excelled them in the appropriateness of its enrichment, which is more beautiful in the Early English examples with their circular abacus than in contemporary French capitals where the square abacus was prevalent. The transition from the circular column to the square abacus was always felt to be a difficulty, and was rarely overcome, but in the circular abacus of the Early English capitals we have a break in the continuity of the style of the capital.
The English foliage of this period differs from the French in the use of a deep mid-rib and simple trefoil leaf. The French examples have a less pronounced mid-rib, and the leaf is convex in form and divided into three lobes, and the foliage adheres more closely to the bell, consequently the brilliant play of light and shade which is so characteristic of Early English work, is generally absent from French examples (fig. 12, plate 16).
The Decorated Gothic capitals differ essentially from those of the Early Gothic period, a more natural type of foliage being used, consisting of the briony, maple, mallow and oak. This foliage was carved with singular delicacy of touch and grace of profile, and is beautiful in its modelling and play of light and shade, yet frequently the capitals are trivial in conception and arrangement, lacking that architectonic character which is so essential to all architectural constructive features.
The perpendicular or late Gothic capital was usually octagonal in form with square conventional foliage of the vine, showing a marked decadence in tradition and craftsmanship (fig. 9, plate 17).
The Renascence capital was frequently marked by a fine feeling for profile, splendid craftsmanship, diversity of enrichment, and vitality of conception, more especially in Italy, where the tradition of architecture culminated in the works of such remarkable men as Leon Battista Alberti, Bramante, Baldassare Peruzzi, San Micheli, Serlio, Palladio, and Sansovenio. The tradition was worthily carried on in France by Pierre Lescot, Jean Bullant, Philipert de Lorme, and De Brosse, and in England by Inigo Jones, Wren, and Chambers.
Ornament is the means by which Beauty or Significance is imparted to Utility. It is either Symbolical or Aesthetic. Symbolic ornament consists of elements or forms chosen for the sake of their significance—Aesthetic ornament consists of forms or elements chosen for their Beauty alone, or their power of appealing to the senses.
Of the historic styles of ornament, the Egyptian, Assyrian, Byzantine, Scandinavian, Persian, Indian, Gothic, Polynesian, and much of the Chinese and Japanese are symbolical, having elements and ornamental details chosen for their significance; while in the Greek, Roman, and Renascence ornament, the purely aesthetic motive is characteristic.
Ornament, again, may be natural or conventional—Imitative or Inventive. The terms “natural” and “imitative” have the same significance—viz., the exact copying of natural forms, so that they become principal—not secondary as perfect ornament should be. Conventional ornament is the adaptation of natural forms to ornamental and technical requirements, and is seen in its greatest beauty in the frank treatment by the Indians and Persians of their flora and fauna for the decorative enrichment of their textile fabrics, pottery, and jewellery.
Inventive ornament is that which consists of elements not derived from any natural source; the Moresque style is a good example of this type.
The elements of ornament are the details or forms chosen for ornamental motives, and the principals of ornament are the arrangement of these forms and details; they comprise repetition, alternation, symmetry, radiation, balance, proportion, variety, eurythmy, contrast, intersection, complication, fitness, and utility.
Repetition is the use of elements in a continuous series; Alternation is the repetition of an element at intervals, with others intervening; Symmetry: when the leading lines are equal or similar (or reciprocal) on both sides; Radiation: when the lines spring from a centre, for example, a bird’s wing and the flower of the daisy; Balance and Proportion: when the relation and harmony of parts is based upon natural laws; Variety implies difference in the details, with respect to form or type; Eurythmy signifies rhythms or harmony in ornament; Contrast is the arrangement in close proximity of colours or forms of opposite characters, as the straight line with the curve, or light with dark; Intersection is the crossing of the leading lines, the Arabian, Moresque and Celtic styles are examples of this principle; Complication is the effect produced by elements so arranged as to be more or less difficult to trace with the eye alone: as in the Japanese key and the Moresque star pattern. Fitness and utility as their names imply are essentials in all good periods of ornamentation.
| Classic and Early Christian Architecture | Roger Smith, | 5/- |
| Gothic and Renascence | Roger Smith, | 5/- |
| Glossary of Architecture | J. Parker, | 7/6 |
| Handbook of Architectural Styles | Rosengarten, | 7/6 |
| Introduction to Gothic Architecture | J. Parker, | 5/- |
| Three Manuals of Gothic Ornament | J. Parker, each | 1/- |
| Classic and Early Christian Sculpture | G. Redford, | 5/- |
| Gothic and Renascence Sculpture | Leader Scott, | 5/- |
| Handbook of Greek Sculpture, 2 vols. | Ed. Gardner, | 10/- |
| History of Greek Art | Tarbell, | 5/- |
| Analysis of Ornament | J. Wornum, | 8/- |
| Handbook of Ornament | Meyer, | 10/6 |
An excellent series of illustrated Handbooks upon the Industrial Arts by writers of repute, is published by the Science and Art Department, and may be obtained at the Bookstall of the South Kensington Museum, at a cost of 1/-each part (paper covers), or they may be purchased through Messrs. Chapman and Hall, at 2/6 each part, bound in cloth, they include:
| The Industrial Arts of India | Sir G. Birdwood | —each in two parts. |
| ” ” Spain | Juan F. Riano | |
| ” ” Denmark | J. J. Worsaae | |
| ” ” Scandinavia | Hans Hildebrand | |
| The Saracens of Egypt | Stanley Lane Poole | |
| Early Christian Art in Ireland | Margaret Stokes | |
| English Earthenware | A. H. Church | |
| ” Porcelain | A. H. Church | |
| French Pottery | P. Gasnault & E. Garnier | |
| Wrought Iron Work | J. Starkie Gardner | |
| Bronzes | Drury E. Fortnum | —complete in one part. |
| College and Corporation Plate | Wilfred Cripps | |
| Furniture | J. H. Pollen | |
| Gold and Silversmith’s Work | J. H. Pollen | |
| Glass | A. Nesbitt | |
| Ivories | W. Maskell | |
| Japanese Pottery | A. W. Franks | |
| Maiolica | Drury E. Fortnum | |
| Persian Art | R. Murdoch Smith | |
| Textile Fabrics | Rev. Daniel Rock | |
| Tapestry | Alfred de Champeaux |
Many excellent “Cantor Lectures,” by experts, upon the practical application of the Industrial Arts, will be found in the Society of Arts Journal.
The following Lectures may be studied with advantage:
| April, 1891 | Cloisonné | Clement Heaton. |
| Feb., 1894 | Decorative Treatment of Artificial Foliage | Hugh Stannus. |
| April, 1891 | Decorative Treatment of Natural Foliage | Hugh Stannus. |
| June, 1897 | Delft Ware | J. W. L. Glaisher. |
| March, 1891 | Enamels | J. Starkie Gardner. |
| Jan., 1892 | Indian Art | Sir G. Birdwood. |
| Feb., 1892 | Japanese Pottery | E. Hart. |
| Feb., 1891 | Lithography | W. Simpson. |
| Jan., 1897 | Material and Design in Pottery | William Burton. |
| April, 1891 | Plaster Work | A. Robinson. |
| Feb., 1891 | Storiation | Hugh Stannus. |
| Feb., 1891 | S’graffito | Heywood Sumner. |
| March, 1899 | Vitreous Enamels | C. Davenport. |
| Feb., 1898 | Some Laws of Form in Applied Art | Hugh Stannus. |
In the transactions of the Rochdale Literary Society for 1891 (Aldine Press) is a most instructive and well-illustrated article on “The Ornamental Art of Savage People,” by Dr. Hjalmar Stolpe, translated by Mrs. H. C. March.
The transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society (1891) contains an excellent article upon “The Pagan Christian Overlap in the North,” by H. Colley March, M.D.
The illustrated articles in the transactions of the Royal Institute of British Architects, may also be studied with advantage, they include:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Z
Alberti, Leon, Battista, 57
Aldus Manutius, 54
Alhambra, 63
Amasis, 77
Anthemion, 7-17
Andreani, Andrea, 54
Apollodorus, 27
Arabesque, 53-54
Arch of Septimus Severus, 21
Architecture
Capitals, 126
Composite, 22
Corinthian, 10
Decorated Gothic, 39-46-130
Doric, 9
Early Gothic, 38-45-129
English Renascence, 60
French Renascence, 58
Ionic, 9
Italian Renascence, 56
Perpendicular Gothic, 46
Tuscan, 22
Atrium, 23
Baccio d’Agnolo, 57
Balducco di Pisa, 50
Baptistery at Pisa, 49
Baptistery at Florence, 50-103
Basilica of Trajan, 27
Black Figure Vases, 77
Boule, André, 59-107
Bramante, 57
Bronzes, 103
Brunelleschi, 51-57
Buen Retiro, 83
Bullant, Jean, 58
Busti, Agostino, 54
Cachrylion, 77
Cambio, Arnolfo di, 49
Caradosso, 51
Caryatides, 9
Castor Ware, 80
Cellini, Benvenuto, 51
Celtic Ornament, 35
Ceramic Art, 78
Chairs, 106
Chaldea, 7
Champlevé Enamels, 35
Chinese Ornament, 71
Chippendale, 106
Chryselephantine Sculpture, 73
Cinque-Cento Ornament, 49-52
Classification of Temples, 11
Classification of Gothic Architecture, 36
Cloisonné Enamels, 91
Coleone, Bartolomeo, 103
Cologne Pots, 82
Column of Trajan, 27
Column of Marcus Aurelius, 27
Compluvium, 23
Continuity of Style, 125
Crockets, 45
Cronaca, 57
Decorated Gothic Details, 46
Delft Ware, 80
Dipylon Ware, 77
Domus, 23
Donatello, 51
Duris, 77
Early Gothic Details, 45
Earthenware, 79
Egyptian Ornament, 5
Elgin Marbles, 13
Elizabethan Ornament, 60
Elizabethan Mansions, 60
Enamels, 91
English Cathedrals, 40
English Renascence, 60
Epiktetos, 77
Euphronios, 77
Exekias, 77
Fauces, 23
Flaxman, 82
Fontana, 57
Fontano, Orazio, 87
French Cathedrals, 40
Frets, 123
Frieze of the Parthenon, 15
Frieze at Phigaleia, 15
Frieze at Pergamos, 16
Frieze from Susa, 17
Georgio, Maestro, 87-88
Ghiberti, Lorenzo, 50-103
Giotto, 49
Glass, 95-97
Gobelin Tapestry, 59
Goldsmith’s Work, 101
Gothic Architecture, 36
Goujon, Jean, 59-107
Gouthière, 59-107
Greek Architecture, 9
Greek Ceramics, 77
Grisaille Enamel, 93
Grisaille Glass, 98
Grinling Gibbons, 107
Grolier, 59
Henri Deux Period, 58
Henri Deux Pottery, 81
Henri Quatre, 58
Hepplewhite, 107
Hieron, 77
Hispano-Moresque Pottery, 87
Impluvium, 23
Indian Ornament, 69
Insular, 23
Ivories, 73
Jacobean, 60
Japanese Ornament, 71
Jean, Juste, 58
Jeweller’s Enamel, 92
Lacunaria, 25
Lancet Period, 38
Leoni, Lione, 51
Leoni, Pompeoni, 51
Lescot, Pierre, 58
Lombardo, Pietro, Tullio and Antonio, 54-56
Lotus, 7
Louis Quatorze, 59
Louis Quinze, 59
Louis Seize, 59
Maiolica, 87
Mantegna, Andrea, 54
Marquetry, 107
Matteo Civitali, 51
Mausoleum, 16
Melanesia, 3
Michel Angelo, 52
Michelozzi, 57
Mino da Fiesole, 51
Mosaics, 75
Mycenæ or Colonial Ware, 77
Nicosthenes, 77
Nineveh, 7
Norman Architecture, 37
Oiron Pottery, 81
Opus Tesselatum, 75
Opus Lithostratum, 75
Opus Miserum, 75
Painted Enamels, 91
Palaces in Italy, 57
Palissy, Bernard, 81
Palladio, Andrea, 56
Pamphæios, 77
Pantheon, 22
Pannitz, Arnold, 54
Parthenon, 13
Pastorino, 51
Patera, 7
Penni, Francesco, 53
Perino del Vaga, 53
Perpendicular Gothic, 46
Persian Ornament, 65
Peristylium, 23
Pethenos, 77
Peruvian Textiles, 118
Peruzzi, Baldassare, 57
Phaleron Ware, 77
Phidias, 13
Pisanello, 51
Pisano, Nicolo, 49
” Giovanni, 49
” Andrea, 50
” Vittore, 51
Plaster Work, 61
Plique à Jour, 92
Polynesian Ornament, 2
Pompeian Ornament, 29
Porcelain, 79-83
Portland Vase, 95
Primaticcio, 54
Printing in Italy, 54
Pythos, 77
Quercia, Jacopo della, 50
Raphael, 53
Red Figured Ware, 77
Renascence Ornament, 49
Renascence Palaces, 57
Rhodian Pottery, 80
Riesener, 107
Robbia, Luca della, 51-87-90
” Andrea ”, 51-90
” Giovanni ”, 51-90
Roentgen, David, 107
Romano, Giulio, 53-54
Roman Ornament, 25
Rosette, 7
Rossellini, 51
Rouen Pottery, 81
Samian Ware, 80
Sangallo, Antonio, 57
” Giuliano, 57
Sansovino, Andrea, 54
” Jacopo, 54
Scandinavian Ornament, 33
Serlio, 56
Settignano, Desiderio da, 51
Sgraffito, 87
Sheraton, Thomas, 107
Sicilian Fabrics, 111
Silversmith’s Work, 101
Sperandio, 51
Stained Glass, 97
Stiacciato, 51
Stoneware, 82
St. Mark’s, 31
“ Apollinare Nuovo, 31
“ “ in Classe, 31
St. Sophia, 31
“ Vitale, 31
“ Paul’s, 61
Sweynheym, Conrad, 54
Tablinum, 23
Tapestry, 118
Terra Cotta, 89
Terms used in Ornamental Art, 131
Textile Fabrics, 109
Theatre of Marcellus, 21
Thermæ, 25
Tijon, Jean, 105
Toft, Thomas, 82
Torrigiano, 60
Trajan, 27
Trecento, 49
Triforium, 41
Triclinium, 23
Udine, Giovanni da, 53
Verrocchio, Andrea del, 51
Vestibule, 23
Vignola, 58
Vincentine, 51
Viridarium, 23
Vitruvius, 56
Watteau, 59
Wedgwood, 82
Well-heads, 57
Wheildon, Thomas, 82
Wrought Iron, 105
Zormorpic Ornament, 35