"CYMRIC" METAL-WORK
By AYMER VALLANCE
IN these latter, jaded days of the world a genuine novelty in art manufacture is both rare and refreshing; such, indeed (despite the fact that the Guild of Handicraft has for some years past been producing work which seems to possess not dissimilar properties), Messrs. Liberty's "Cymric" silver ware claims to be. In this case, unlike the ordinary commercial silver-work, the metal is not burnished, save only here and there where the process has a special value in bringing out the lustrous beauty of some particular decorative detail. Abandoning thus the conventional methods, the makers rely on their silver commending itself by originality of design coupled with the natural and undisguised evidences of literal handiwork. So treated, there can be no question that the hammered metal possesses a charm and individuality all its own. As to the design, it is in many instances of singular beauty, in others it presents inuoh the fortuitous appearance of Japanese ornament. Again, it is not, for the most part, mere trinkets–needless, if ornamental, luxuries–that are now produced, but objects of really practical utility–such asfor the dinner table or the toilet. Admitted that we cannot dispense with such things as spoons or hair-brushes, for instance, and that every one of these objects must have a certain form, either pleasing to the eye or displeasing, what nobler office can art be called upon to fulfil than the beautifying of such common utensils, which by the very frequency of their employment must needs prove to their users a source of ever-recurring happiness–or the reverse, as the case may be?
To specify only a few of the more notable examples, the "Hapi" design pepper-castor is the embodiment of stability, with a projecting foot, while a band of growing floral ornament round the base of the cylinder lends a rich but dignified aspect to the whole. As regards spoons, whereas the general tendency is to elongate and point the bowl in an ugly, egg-shaped fashion, the "Cymric" spoons on the contrary without being in any sense reproductions of antique work, yet revert to the more graceful oval or circular form of old examples. There is ample scope for the exercise of decorative invention in the handles of table furniture; and it is a wonder that silversmiths systematically neglect this useful branch of industry to content themselves instead with a surfeit of so-called "fancy" goods, which are mere useless superfluities. As good examples of genuinely organic design, the "Romany" bowl and "Abouthis" vase may be named : the former with an ingenious connection of the rim with the upper part of its four legs; the latter with its handles extending downwards to the body, and at the junction spread out into a handsome shield-like device. Somewhat similar in conception is the "Iona" powder-box, the body of which, supported on four legs and hollowed into curved shoulders, makes a very elegant outline. Of smaller articles, several waist-clasps display considerable taste; albeit they are wofully victimised by the hall-mark being stamped conspicuously on the face.
If the authorities insist on treating works of art in this barbarous fashion, surely the distinction of an official cachet is not worth the sacrifice it involves, and it would be a wiser plan to forego it altogether. A few specimens of gold brooches show how successfully the same principle of design and workmanship as that of "Cymric" silver can be applied to the more precious metal.
Source: The Magazine of Art - Volume 26 - Edited by Marion Harry Spielmann - 1902
Trev.
