Arts and Crafts in the Middle Ages | Page 2

pains and labour; but the
mere fact that a piece of work is decorated does not show that it has
cost any more in time and execution than if it were plain,--frequently
many hours have been saved by the device of covering up defects with
cheap ornament. How often one finds that a simple chair with a plain
back costs more than one which is apparently elaborately carved! The
reason is, that the plain one had to be made out of a decent piece of
wood, while the ornate one was turned out of a poor piece, and then
stamped with a pattern in order to attract the attention from the inferior
material of which it was composed. The softer and poorer the wood, the
deeper it was possible to stamp it at a single blow. The same principle
applies to much work in metal. Flimsy bits of silverware stamped with
cheap designs of flowers or fruits are attached to surfaces badly
finished, while the work involved in making such a piece of plate with
a plain surface would increase its cost three or four times.
A craft may easily be practised without art, and still serve its purpose;
the alliance of the two is a means of giving pleasure as well as serving
utility. But it is a mistake to suppose that because a design is artistic, its
technical rendering is any the less important. Frequently curious
articles are palmed off on us, and designated as "Arts and Crafts"
ornaments, in which neither art nor craft plays its full share. Art does
not consist only in original, unusual, or unfamiliar designs; craft does
not mean hammering silver so that the hammer marks shall show; the
best art is that which produces designs of grace and appropriateness,
whether they are strikingly new or not, and the best craftsman is so
skilful that he is able to go beyond the hammer marks, so to speak, and
to produce with the hammer a surface as smooth as, and far more
perfect than, that produced by an emery and burnisher. Some people
think that "Arts and Crafts" means a combination which allows of poor
work being concealed under a mask of æsthetic effect. Labour should
not go forth blindly without art, and art should not proceed simply for
the attainment of beauty without utility,--in other words, there should

be an alliance between labour and art.
One principle for which craftsmen should stand is a respect for their
own tools: a frank recognition of the methods and implements
employed in constructing any article. If the article in question is a chair,
and is really put together by means of sockets and pegs, let these
constructive necessities appear, and do not try to disguise the means by
which the result is to be attained. Make the requisite feature a beauty
instead of a disgrace.
It is amusing to see a New England farmer build a fence. He begins
with good cedar posts,--fine, thick, solid logs, which are at least
genuine, and handsome so far as a cedar post is capable of being
handsome. You think, "Ah, that will be a good unobjectionable fence."
But, behold, as soon as the posts are in position, he carefully lays a flat
plank vertically in front of each, so that the passer-by may fancy that he
has performed the feat of making a fence of flat laths, thus going out of
his way to conceal the one positive and good-looking feature in his
fence. He seems to have some furtive dread of admitting that he has
used the real article!
A bolt is to be affixed to a modern door. Instead of being applied with a
plate of iron or brass, in itself a decorative feature on a blank space like
that of the surface of a door, the carpenter cuts a piece of wood out of
the edge of the door, sinks the bolt out of sight, so that nothing shall
appear to view but a tiny meaningless brass handle, and considers that
he has performed a very neat job. Compare this method with that of a
mediæval locksmith, and the result with his great iron bolt, and if you
can not appreciate the difference, both in principle and result, I should
recommend a course of historic art study until you are convinced. On
the other hand, it is not necessary to carry your artistry so far that you
build a fence of nothing but cedar logs touching one another, or that
you cover your entire door with a meander of wrought iron which
culminates in a small bolt. Enthusiastic followers of the Arts and Crafts
movement often go to morbid extremes. Recognition of material and
method does not connote a display of method and material out of
proportion