. The arts in early England. eye if we compare the lines on the enlargedportion of the Alfriston brooch PI. lii, ii, with those onPI. lii, 9j 7, the one a Roman silver plaque at Mainz that bearsa pattern engraved in incised lines which in their irregularityand varying widths differ markedly from the broad even linesof the Sussex example ; the other part of the Roman fibulafoot, PI. xxxviii, 2, also incised with irregular lines. In bothcases, and also in the Alfriston piece, the lines are filled inwith a black composition, nielloed, the material used beingaccording to the recipes given by
. The arts in early England. eye if we compare the lines on the enlargedportion of the Alfriston brooch PI. lii, ii, with those onPI. lii, 9j 7, the one a Roman silver plaque at Mainz that bearsa pattern engraved in incised lines which in their irregularityand varying widths differ markedly from the broad even linesof the Sussex example ; the other part of the Roman fibulafoot, PI. xxxviii, 2, also incised with irregular lines. In bothcases, and also in the Alfriston piece, the lines are filled inwith a black composition, nielloed, the material used beingaccording to the recipes given by Theophilusl and Cellini2a mixture of silver, lead, and copper with sulphur. Suchlines are not always filled in in this fashion. There is no niellofor instance on the Sarre brooch, PI. xlix, i. The method by which the circles, dots, and connectinglines were produced in ivory or bone, as on the combs, may 1 Sckedula Diversarum Artium, in, xxviii. 2 Trattato delP OreJIceria, cap. i. liii facing p. 305 ILLUSTRATIONS OF TECHNIQUE. /, J, g, 10, are Continental STAMPING AND EMBOSSING 305 have a word. The plaque PL lii, 2, was found near Rochester,Kent, lying between an urn full of burnt bones and someRoman coins of 111 , so that its Roman provenance isbeyond question. The concentric circles upon it are cut witha truth and sharpness which suggests the employment of acylindrical saw of the pattern surgeons use for walls of the cuts do not however go straight down, norare the incisions, carefully measured, exactly cylindrical. Theygive in any case a good idea of the skill of the provincial-Roman workmen. There is very good work too on PL liii, 4,a portion of an ivory box in the Museum at Dover, found inthe Old Park where undoubted Anglo-Saxon objects havecome to light. Here compasses, of which one leg wasfurnished with a cutting edge must have been used. In othercases, such as the curious bone buckle in the Museum atAlnwick, PL lii, 4, the circles are not quite so regu
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