Bend, Her. One of the Ordinaries. It crosses the field diagonally, from the dexter chief to the sinister base, as in Fig. 81, the arms of Richard Le Scrope: Azure, a bend or.

Bendideia, Gr. (Βενδίδεια). A festival held in the Piræeus in honour of the goddess Bendis (the Thracian name of Artemis or Diana).

Bendlet, Her. The diminutive of Bend.

Bend-wise, or In bend, Her. Arranged in the direction of a bend.

Bendy, Her. Parted bend-wise into an even number of divisions.

Benna, Gaul. and R. This term, borrowed either from the Welsh or the Gauls, denoted among the Romans a four-wheeled cart or carriage made of wicker-work. A benna may be seen on the bas-reliefs of the column of Marcus Aurelius.

Bennoŭ, Egyp. A mythical bird resembling the phœnix, which sprang from its own ashes, and was made the emblem of the resurrection. It symbolized the return of Osiris to the light, and was therefore consecrated to that god.

Benzoin. A gum-resin used as an ingredient in spirit varnishes.

Berlin Porcelain. The manufactory was first founded in 1750, under Frederick the Great. Fig. 83 is a specimen of Berlin hard porcelain.

Beryl. A gem of an iridescent green colour.

Bes, R. (bi, twice, and as). A fraction of value equivalent to two-thirds of an as.

Besa, Gr. and R. A drinking-vessel, also called bessa and bession. It was wider at the bottom than at the top, and in shape much resembled the Bombylos (q.v.).

Bessa (Fr. beysse ferrée), Med. An instrument like a pickaxe or mattock used by the pioneers of an army; 15th century. (Meyrick.)

Bession. (See Besa.)

Bestions, Arch. This term is applied by Philibert Delorme to the fantastic animals which occur in sculptures of the decorative or florid period of architecture.

Beten, O. E. Embroidered with fancy subjects.

Beveled, Arch. Having a sloped surface. (See Splay.)

Bever. A Norman word for “taking a drink” between breakfast and dinner; elsewhere called “a myd-diner under-mete.”

Bezant, Her. A golden “roundle” or disk, flat like a coin.

Biacca, It. White carbonate of lead; a pigment.

Biblia, Med. Lat. A war engine for attack.

Bibliotheca, Gr. and R. (βιβλίον, book, and θήκη, case). Primarily the place where books were kept, and hence used for the collection of books or MSS. itself. The most celebrated library of antiquity was that founded by the Ptolemies at Alexandria, destroyed by the Arabs, A. D. 640.

Bibliothecula, Gr. and R. (dimin. of bibliotheca). A small library.

Bice. The name of certain very ancient blue and green pigments, known also as Mountain (or Saunders’) blue, and Mountain green, and by other names. (See Carbonates of Copper.)

Biclinium, Gr. and R. A couch or sofa on which two persons could recline at table.

Bicos, Gr. (See Bikos.)

Bidens, R. (dens, a tooth). Literally, with two teeth, forks, or blades. The term was applied to a hoe, a pair of scissors, and an anchor (ancora bidens). A two-forked weapon of the same name occurs in some representations of Pluto.

Bidental, R. (bidens). A structure consecrated by the augurs or haruspices, through the sacrifice of an animal. This was generally a sheep of two years old, whence the name bidens applied to the victim. The bidental was often an altar surrounded with a peristyle, as may be seen from the remains of one of them at Pompeii. A bidental was set up in any place which had been struck by lightning. A cippus or puteal placed on the exact spot which had been struck bore the inscription: Fulmen or fulgur conditum.

Bien-hoa or Ben-hoa, Hind. A kind of stone employed by the Khmers or ancient inhabitants of Camboja for their sculpture; they also called it baï-kriem (roasted rice), which it exactly resembles. Its deep yellow colour recalls in a striking degree that of old white marbles which have been long exposed to the sun and air in warm countries.

Bifrons, R. (frons, a forehead). Having two fronts or faces. Libraries and picture galleries generally contained statuary of heads or busts coupled together back to back, but especially of Janus, emblematic of his knowledge both of the past and the future. The illustration represents a Greek vase, in imitation of the statuary described.

Biga, R. (bi and juga, double-yoked). A car drawn by two horses. Bigæ also denoted, like bijugus or bijugis, two horses harnessed together. [The Greeks called this method “Synoris.”]

Bigatus, R. (sc. nummus). A silver denarius (one of the earliest Roman coins) which had a BIGA on the reverse. Other denarii were quadrigati, having a four-horse chariot on the reverse.

Biggon, O. E. “A kind of quoif formerly worn by men;” hence “Béguines,” the nuns at the Béguinage at Ghent, who still wear the biggon.

Bikos, Gr. and R. A large earthenware vase adapted to hold dry provisions, such as figs, plums, &c.

Bilanx, R. (double-dish). A balance with two scales. (See Libra.)

Bilbo. A light rapier invented at Bilboa.

Bilix, R. (double-thread). A texture like “twill,” or “dimity,” made by a double set of leashes (licia).

Bill, O. E. A weapon made of a long staff with a broad curved blade, a short pike at the back, and a pike at the top, used by infantry of the 14th and 15th centuries. (Fig. 86.)

Billet, Her. A small oblong figure.

Billet, Arch. A moulding of the Roman epoch, consisting of short rods separated from each other by a space equal to their own length. Some billets are arranged in several rows.

Bilychnis, Gr. and R. A double lamp with two beaks and two wicks, so as to give out two separate flames.

Binio, R. A gold coin current at Rome. It was worth two aurei or fifty silver denarii. (See Aureus.)

Bipalium, R. A spade, furnished with a cross-bar, by pressing the foot on which the instrument could be pushed into the ground. Representations of this tool occur pretty frequently on tombs.

Bipennis or Bipenne, Gen. (penna, a wing). An axe with a double blade or edge, used as an agricultural implement, an adze, or a military weapon. The Greeks, who called it βουπλὴξ, never made use of it. It was used especially by barbarous nations, such as the Amazons, Scythians, Gauls, &c. Fig. 87 represents a Gaulish bipennis taken from one of the bas-reliefs on the triumphal arch at Orange.

Bird, in Egyptian hieroglyphics, signified the soul of man, and in Christian art had originally a similar meaning afterwards forgotten.

Bird-bolt. A short thick arrow, with a blunt head, about the breadth of a shilling.

Biremis, R. (remus, an oar). A pair-oared boat, or a vessel having two banks of oars.

Biretta, It. A cap. In its restricted meaning the term is applied to that worn by priests and academical persons. The illustration shows the state costume of the Rector of the University of Padua, who wears a sacerdotal biretta.

Birotus and Birota, R. (rota, a wheel). Anything having two wheels, and so a two-wheeled carriage, car, or chariot.

Birrus and Byrrus, R. A russet-coloured capote with a hood. It was made of a coarse cloth (bure) with a long nap. Such was, at first, the meaning of the term, but in course of time birri of a fine quality were made.

Bisaccium (It. bisacce). Saddle-bags of coarse sacking.

Biscuit, Fr. A kind of porcelain, unglazed. The finest is the so called Parian porcelain.

Bisellium, R. (sella, a seat). A seat of honour or state chair, reserved for persons of note, or who had done service to the state. There was room on the seat for two persons.

Bishop’s Length. Technical name for a portrait-canvas of 58 inches by 94 inches.

Bismuth. The pigment, called pearl white, which is the sub-nitrate of this metal, is very susceptible to the action of sulphurous vapours, which turn it black.

Bisomus, Chr. A sarcophagus with two compartments; that is, capable of holding two dead bodies. (See Sarcophagus.)

Bistre. A warm brown water-colour-pigment, made of the soot of beech-wood, water, and gum. It is the mediæval fuligo and fuligine.

Biting-in. The action of aqua fortis upon copper or steel in engraving.

Bitumen. This pigment should be genuine Asphaltum, diluted and ground up with drying oil or varnish. It dries quickly. There is a substance sold as bitumen which will not dry at all. (See Asphaltum.)

Bivium, R. (via, a way). A street or road branching out into two different directions; at the corner there was almost always a fountain.

Bizarre, Fr. Fantastic, capricious of kind.

Black is the resultant of the combination in unequal proportions of blue, red, and yellow.

Black, in Christian art, expressed the earth; darkness, mourning, wickedness, negation, death; and was appropriate to the Prince of Darkness. White and black together signify purity of life, and mourning or humiliation; hence adopted by the Dominicans and Carmelites. In blazonry, black, called sable, signifies prudence, wisdom, and constancy in adversity and love, and is represented by horizontal and perpendicular lines crossing each other.

Black Pigments are very numerous, of different degrees of transparency, and of various hues, in which either red or blue predominates, producing brown blacks or blue blacks. The most important are beech black, or vegetable blue black; bone black, or Paris black, called also ivory black; Cassel or Cologne black, cork black, Frankfort black, and lamp-black. (See Asphaltum.)

Blades, Arch. The principal rafters of a roof.

Blasted, Her. Leafless, withered.

Blautai, Gr. (Lat. soleæ). A richly-made shoe; a kind of sandal worn by men.

Blazon, Her. Armorial compositions. To blazon is to describe or to represent them in an heraldic manner. The representation is called Blazonry. For example, the blazoning of the BADGES on the cornice of King Henry’s chantry in Westminster Abbey is as follows:—On the dexter, a white antelope, ducally collared, chained, and armed or; and on the sinister a swan gorged with a crown and chain. The beacon or cresset or, inflamed proper. (See Fig. 54.)

Blending. Passing over painting with a soft brush of badger’s hair made for the purpose, by which the pigments are fused together and the painting softened.

Blindman’s Buff. Called “hoodman-blind,” temp. Elizabeth.

Blind-story, Arch. The TRIFORIUM in a church. Opposed to the CLEAR or CLERESTORY (q.v.).

Blocking-course, Arch. The last course in a wall, especially of a parapet. The surface is made slightly convex to allow of water flowing off more easily.

Blodbendes (O. E. for blood-bands). Narrow strips of linen to bind round the arm after bleeding.

Blodius, O. E. Sky-blue.

Bloom. The clouded appearance which varnish sometimes takes upon the surface of a picture.

Blue. One of the three primary colours, the complementary to orange. Blue, in Christian art, or the sapphire, expressed heaven, the firmament, truth, constancy, fidelity. Its symbolism as the dress worn by the Virgin Mary is of modesty. In blazonry it signifies chastity, loyalty, fidelity, and good reputation. Engravers represent it by horizontal lines.

Blue Black, or Charcoal Black, is a pigment prepared by burning vine-twigs in close vessels. Mixed with white lead it yields very fine silvery greys. (See also Black Pigments.)

Blue Pigments. Minerals:—see Ultramarine, Cobalt, Blue Verditer. Vegetable:—Indigo. Animal:—Prussian blue. (See Carbonate of Copper, Intense Blue.)

Blue Verditer. (See Verditer.)

Boar. In mediæval art, emblem of ferocity and sensuality. In heraldry the boar is called Sanglier. The military ensigns of the Gauls were surmounted by figures of the wild boar.

Boclerus, Med. Lat. A buckler; 14th century. The word is derived from the German Bock, a goat. Compare Ægis.

Bodkin, Saxon. A dagger, a hair-pin, a blunt flat needle.

“He pulls her bodkin that is tied in a piece of black ribbon.” (The Parson’s Wedding, 1663.)

The Latin name for this classical head-dress was acus.

Body Colour. In speaking of oil colours the term applies to their solidity, or degree of opacity; water-colour painting is said to be in body colours when the pigments are laid on thickly, or mixed with white, as in oil painting.

Boedromia, Gr. and R. A festival instituted in honour of Apollo the Helper—βοηδρόμος. It was held at Athens on the sixth day of September, a month thence called Boedromion.

Bohemian Glass. The manufacture of a pure crystal glass well adapted for engraving became an important industry in Germany about the year 1600, and the art of engraving was admirably developed during the century. Of Johann Schapper, especially, Jacquemart says that he produced “subjects and arabesques of such delicacy of execution that at first sight they seemed merely like a cloud on the glass.”

Bohordamentum, Med. Lat. A joust with mock lances called “bouhours.”

Bojæ, R. (bos, an ox). (1) A heavy collar of wood or iron for dangerous dogs. (2) A similar collar placed round the necks of criminals or slaves.

Boletar, R. A dish on which mushrooms (boleti) were served, and thence transferred to dishes of various forms.

Bolevardus, Med. Lat. A boulevard or rampart.

Bombard, O. E. A machine for projecting stones or iron balls; the precursor of the cannon. First used in the 14th century.

Bombards, O. E. Padded breeches. In Elizabeth’s reign the breeches, then called Bombards, were stuffed so wide that a gallery or scaffold was erected to accommodate members of Parliament who wore them. The engraving shows James I. (painted 1614) attired for hawking. (Fig. 91.)

Bombax, O. E. The stuff now called Bombasin. “A sort of fine silk or cotton cloth well known upon the continent during the 13th century.” (Strutt.)

Bombé, Fr. Curved furniture, introduced in the 18th century.

Bombulom or Bunibulum, O. E. (from the Greek βόμβος, a hollow deep sound). A musical instrument consisting of an angular frame with metal plates, which sounded when shaken like the sistrum of the Egyptians.

Bombylos and Bombylê, Gr. and R. A vase so called from the gurgling noise which the liquid makes in pouring out through its narrow neck.

Bone Black. (See Ivory Black.)

Book. In mediæval art an attribute of the fathers of the Church; in the hands of evangelists and apostles it represents the Gospel. St. Boniface carries a book pierced with a sword. St. Stephen, St. Catherine, St. Bonaventura, and St. Thomas Aquinas also carry books.

Bordure, Her. A border to a shield.

Boreasmos, Gr. A festival held at Athens in honour of Boreas, the god of the north wind.

Borto or Burdo, Med. Lat. A lance.

Boss. The centre of a shield; also an architectural ornament for ceilings, put where the ribs of a vault meet, or in other situations.

Bossage, Arch. An arrangement of plain or ornamental projections on the surface of a wall of dressed masonry. Figs. 92 and 93 represent two Greek walls finished in this manner.

Boston, O. E. A flower so called.

Botéga, It. A manufactory or artist’s workshop where pottery is made.

Botonée, Fitchée, Her. Varieties of the heraldic cross, called also treflée. (Fig. 94.)

Bottcher Ware. Early Dresden pottery. (1) A very hard red stone-ware, made of a red clay of Okrilla, invented at Meissen by John Frederick Bottcher. (2) Porcelain. Bottcher, finding his wig very heavy one day, examined the powder upon it, and discovered it to be the fine kaolin of Aue, from which the Dresden (or Meissen) china is made. Bottcher’s first object was to obtain a paste as white and as perfect as that of the Corea; he succeeded at his first trial, and produced pieces with archaic decoration so perfectly imitated, that one would hesitate to declare them European.

Bottle, Boutell, Bowtell, or Boltell, Arch. An old English term for a bead moulding; also for small shafts of clustered columns resting against the pillars of a nave, in the Romano-Byzantine and Gothic periods. These shafts spring from the ground and rise to the height of the bend of the roof, the diagonal ribs of which they receive on coupled columns. Probably from bolt, an arrow.

Bougets or Water Bougets, Fr., were pouches of leather, which were used by the Crusaders for carrying water in the deserts. Fig. 97 is a heraldic representation of the coat of arms of De Ros.

Boulé, Bouleuterion, Gr. An assembly composed of the foremost men of the nation. It was a kind of senate or higher council which deliberated on the affairs of the republic. The popular assembly, on the other hand, composed of all the males of free birth, was called agora, and was held in a place called by the same name. (See Agora.)

Boule. A peculiar kind of marquetry, composed of tortoise-shell and thin brass, to which are sometimes added ivory and enamelled metal. Named from its inventor, André Charles Boule, born 1642.

Boulting-mill. A mill for winnowing the flour from the bran (crusca); the device of the Academy of La Crusca. (See Crusca.)

Bourdon. A pilgrim’s staff. On the walls of Hôtel Cluny, at Paris, the pilgrim’s bourdon and cockle-shells are sculptured. Piers Plowman describes a pilgrim’s

Bourginot. A close helmet of the 15th century, first used in Burgundy.

Bourgogne, Point de, is a beautifully fine and well-finished pillow lace resembling old Mechlin. No record remains of its manufacture. (Fig. 98.)

Bovile. (See Bubile.)

Bow. Represented in the most ancient monuments. In classical art an attribute of Apollo, Cupid, Diana, Hercules, and the Centaurs.

Bow, Arch., O. E. A flying buttress, or arch-buttress.

Bowed, Her. Having a convex contour.

Bower or Bowre, O. E. The Anglo-Saxon name for a bed-chamber, “bird in bure” = a lady in her chamber. The bed-chambers were separate buildings grouped round or near the central hall.

Bowls of metal, generally bronze or copper, found in early Anglo-Saxon barrows or graves, are probably of Roman workmanship. Some beautiful buckets (A.S. bucas) were made of wood, generally of ash, whence they had another name æscen. They are ornamented with designs, and figures of animals, and were probably used at festivities to contain ale or mead.

Bowtell or Boutell, Arch. (See Bottle.)

Brabeum, Brabium, or Bravium, Gr. (βραβεῖον, from βραβεὺς, judge). Three terms denoting the prize assigned to the victor in the public games.

Braccæ, Bracæ, or Bragæ (Celtic breac). Trousers worn principally by barbarous nations, such as the Amazons, Gauls, Persians, and Scythians. Anaxyrides was the name given to close-fitting trousers, braccæ laxæ to wider pantaloons, such as those worn by the Gaul in the left-hand corner of Fig. 99, from a bas-relief taken from the sarcophagus of the vigna Ammendola. The braccæ virgatæ were striped pantaloons worn especially by Asiatics; braccæ picta, variegated or embroidered trousers. (See Breeches.)

Braced or Brazed, Her. Interlaced, as in the illustration of the arms of Cosmo, the founder of the Medici family. (Fig. 100.) (See also the illustration to Fret.)

Bracelet. Bracelets were, among the ancients, a symbol of marriage. (See Armilla.)

Bracelets. (See Periscelis.)

Brachiale, R. (brachium, the arm). An armlet, or piece of defensive armour covering the brachium or forearm. It was worn by gladiators in the circus. Some beautifully ornamented specimens were found among the excavations at Pompeii.

Brackets, Arch., in mediæval architecture, are usually called Corbels. (See Fig. 5.)

Braconniere, O. E. A skirt of armour, worn hanging from the breast and back plates; 16th century.

Bractea or Brattea, R. Leaves of metal, especially of gold, beaten out.

Braga, Bragæ. (See Braccæ.)

Bragamas, O. E. (See Braquemard.) “Un grant coustel, que l’en dit bragamas;” 14th cent.

Braggers, O. E. An obsolete term for timber Brackets.

Brake, O. E. A quern or hand-mill.

Brand, A.S. A torch; hence, from its shining appearance, a sword. (Meyrick.)

Brandrate, O. E. An iron tripod fixed over the fire, on which to set a pot or kettle.

Braquemard, O. E. A kind of sabre—“un grant coustel d’Alemaigne, nommé braquemart;” 14th century.

Brass, Gen. An alloy made by mixing copper with tin, or else with zinc or silver. Another name for it is Bronze (q.v.). Corinthian brass is very celebrated, but little is known of its composition even at the present day. Mosaic gold, pinchbeck, prince’s metal, &c., are varieties of brass differing in the proportions of the ingredients. Brass beaten into very thin leaves is called Dutch Metal.

Brassart. Plate armour for the arm. (Fig. 101.)

Brasses. Engraved metal plates inlaid in the pavements or walls of churches as monuments. The material was called cullen (or Cologne) plate. The engravings were made black with mastic or bitumen, and the field or background was coarsely enamelled in various colours.

Brattach, Celtic. A standard; literally, a cloth.

Braunshid, O. E. Branched.

Breadth “in painting is a term which denotes largeness, space, vastness,” &c. (Consult J. B. Pyne “On the Nomenclature of Pictorial Art,” Art Union, 1843.)

Breccia, It. A conglomerate used by the ancients in architecture and sculpture.

Breeches (breac Celtic, braccæ Lat.). The word breeches in its present acceptance was first used towards the end of the 16th century; previously, breeches were called hose, upper socks, and slop. (See Bombards and Braccæ.)

Bremen Green. (See Verditer.)

Breys, Her. (See Barnacles.)

Bridges, O. E. A kind of satin manufactured at Bruges.

Bridle. A favourite Scriptural emblem of self-restraint and self-denial. The illustration is the device of Benedetto Arbusani of Padua; with the motto which, according to Epictetus, contains every essential to human happiness. (Fig. 102.) (See “Historic Devices.”)

Broach or Broch, O. E. A church spire, or any sharp-pointed object, was frequently so called.

Broad Arrow, now used as the Royal mark on all Government stores, &c., was first employed as a regal badge by Richard I. (Fig. 103.)

Brocade. A stout silken stuff of variegated pattern. Strutt says it was composed of silk interwoven with threads of gold and silver. The state or “ducal” costume of the Dogeressa of Venice, represented in the illustration, consisted principally of an ample robe of the finest gold brocade, lined with ermine. (Figs. 88, 104.)

Broella. Coarse cloth worn by monks in the Middle Ages.

Bromias, Gr. A drinking-vessel of wood, or silver, resembling a large Scyphus (q.v.).

Bronze. Antique bronze was composed of tin and copper; the modern bronze contains also zinc and lead, by which the fluidity is increased, and the brittleness diminished.

Bronzes (ancient Chinese) are rarely seen out of the province of Fokien. The lines of metal are small and delicate, and are made to represent flowers, trees, animals of various kinds, and sometimes Chinese characters. Some fine bronzes, inlaid with gold, are met with in this province. As a general rule, Chinese bronzes are more remarkable for their peculiar and certainly not very handsome form than for anything else.

Bronzing. The art of laying a coating of bronze powder on wood, gypsum, or other material. Another method is the electrotype process. (Consult Walker’s Electrotype Manipulation.)

Brooch. (See Fibula.) Anglo-Saxon and Irish specimens of magnificent workmanship are described in the Archæological Album. In the Middle Ages brooches bore quaint inscriptions: Chaucer’s “prioress” wore

Leather brooches for hats are mentioned by Dekker in Satiromastix, 1602. Figs. 105, 106, 107 represent different brooches found in France of the Gallic and Merovingian periods. (Compare Fibula, Phaleræ.)

Brown, in Egyptian art, was the colour consecrated to Typhon; in ancient times it was the sign of mourning. Regarded as a compound of red and black, Bistre, it is the symbol of all evil deeds and treason. In a monastic costume it signifies renunciation. With the Moors it was emblematic of all evil. Christian symbolism appropriates the colour of the dead leaf for the type of “spiritual death,” &c. (Consult Portal, Essai sur les Couleurs symboliques.)

Brown Madder. (See Madder.)

Brown Ochre. A strong, dark, yellow, opaque pigment. (See Ochres.)

Brown Pigments are asphaltum, bistre, umber, sienna, Mars brown, Cassel earth, Cappagh brown, brown madder, and burnt terra verde;—chiefly calcined earths. (See also Indigo.)

Brown Pink (Fr. stil de grain). A vegetable yellow pigment. (See Pinks.)

Brown Red is generally made from burnt yellow ochre, or Roman ochre, or from calcined sulphate of iron. (See Mars.)

Brunswick Green. A modification of Mountain Green (q.v.).

Bruny, Byrne, or Byrnan. Saxon for a breastplate or cuirass, called by the Normans “broigne.”

Brushes. (See Hair Pencils.)

Brussels Point à l’Aiguille differs somewhat from the lace usually known as Brussels Lace or Point d’Angleterre, but resembles Point d’Alençon in the réseau ground. (Fig. 114.) (See Point d’Angleterre.)

Buccina (Gr. βυκάνη). A kind of trumpet anciently made of a conch-shell, represented in the hands of Tritons.

Buccula, R. (bucca, a cheek). The chin-piece or cheek-piece of a helmet, which could be raised or lowered by the soldier at will.

Bucentaur. A monster, half man and half ox. The name of the Venetian state galley.

Buckets, Anglo-Saxon. (See Bowls.)