fanciful by
grotesque combination. The bosses from which spring the vaulted ribs of
Wells Cathedral furnish us with the instance engraved in Fig. 64; here
two dragons twine round a bunch of foliage, biting each other's tails.

[Illustration: Fig. 65.]

Domestic utensils were often made to represent living things; the
tendency to convert a globular vase or jug into a huge head or a fat
figure, has been common to all people in all ages. The highly civilised
Greeks indulged the whim, and our own potters continue it. In the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, vessels for liquids were often
constructed of bronze, taking the form of lions, or mounted knights on
horseback, of which specimens may be seen in our British Museum. The
manufacturers of earthenware imitated these at a cheaper rate, and we
engrave (Fig. 65) one example of their skill, the original being rudely
coloured with a blue and yellow glaze on the surface of the brown clay
which forms the body.

The door-knocker (Fig. 66), whimsically constructed in form of a human
leg, the heel hitting against the door, is also a work of the fourteenth
century; it is affixed to a house in the Rue des Conseils, at Auxerre,
and is very characteristic in execution.

[Illustration: Fig. 66.]

Our selection (Fig. 67) comprises a most rare domestic antiquity, to
which a date cannot so readily be assigned, but which cannot be more
modern than the sixteenth century, and may be older. It is a
toasting-fork in the form of a dog, to whose breast a ring is attached
for holding a plate. It is entirely constructed of wrought-iron, the
body cut from a flat sheet of metal. It was found in clearing away the
foundations of one of the oldest houses in Westminster. The tail of the
dog forms a convenient handle; to the front foot a cross bar is appended
to preserve its due equilibrium.

[Illustration: Fig. 67.]

Grotesque design was adopted by the artists who decorated books from the
very earliest time. The margins of ancient manuscripts are often
enriched with whimsical compositions, as well as with flowing designs of
much grace and beauty. Occasionally the two styles are very happily
combined, and a humorous adjunct gives piquancy to a scholastic
composition. The early printed books often adopted a similar style in
art, and we give two curious specimens. The letter F, whimsically
composed of two figures of minstrels (Fig. 68), one playing the trumpet
and the other the tabor, is copied f