. Dinanderie; a history and description of mediæval art work in copper, brass and bronze . grotesque faces, as well as thoseserpentine forms and heads, which were perhaps intended toconvey some religious symbolism. The skill with which theseNorthern artificers portrayed some of these heads shows boththeir cleverness in the treatment of the metal and the fertilityof their imaginations, since they could never have modelled fromlife such a creature as, for instance, that which appears on thegilt bronze ornament on a horse-collar which we reproducefrom Du Chaillu (Fig. 14). But more remarkable sti
. Dinanderie; a history and description of mediæval art work in copper, brass and bronze . grotesque faces, as well as thoseserpentine forms and heads, which were perhaps intended toconvey some religious symbolism. The skill with which theseNorthern artificers portrayed some of these heads shows boththeir cleverness in the treatment of the metal and the fertilityof their imaginations, since they could never have modelled fromlife such a creature as, for instance, that which appears on thegilt bronze ornament on a horse-collar which we reproducefrom Du Chaillu (Fig. 14). But more remarkable still is thegriffin-like head which formed part of the treasure found inthe Vimose bog, near Odense, in the island of Fyen, which THE ORIGINS 35 we here give (Fig. 15). A comparison of this with thecelebrated Durham Knocker (Fig. 16), and the similarmask on the door of the Cathedral of Le Puy (Fig. 17),compels the recognition of the Scandinavian rather than theclassic origin of these examples of Dinanderie. Indeed, Cahier,in his Melanges archeologiques, in speaking of these dragon shapes. Fig. Ij.—Head, Vimose which form so remarkable a feature in early candlesticks,admits that all these subjects bear the imprint of Scandinavianmythology. The great dragon which now crowns the belfry of Ghent,and which previously served as the vane to the belfry ofBruges, has been cited as an example of the fondness of theNorsemen for draconic forms ; and though it may be regarded 36 DINANDERIE as a great specimen of Dinanderie, though of uncertain prove-nance, it reached Belgium too late much to influence themetal workers. It is constructed of gilt copper plates rivetedon to a framework of iron, and measures some lo to 12 feet
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmetalwork, bookyear19
