hose who made their drawings first did the best work. Now give
ear to the way the art is pursued." He then directs that the craftsman
shall have ready three sizes of wire, and some little gold granules,
which are made by cutting the short lengths of wire, and then subjecting
them to fervent heat until they become as little round beads. He
then explains how the artificer must twist and mould the delicate
wires, and tastily apply the little granules, so as to make a graceful
design, usually of some floriate form. When the wire flowers and
leaves were formed satisfactorily, a wash of gum tragacanth should
be applied, to hold them in place until the final soldering. The
solder was in powdered form, and it was to be dusted on "just as
much as may suffice,... and not more,"... this amount of solder
could only be determined by the experience of the artist. Then came
the firing of the finished work in the little furnace; Benvenuto is
here quite at a loss how to explain himself: "Too much heat would
move the wires you have woven out of place," he says, "really it is
quite impossible to tell it properly in writing; I could explain it
all right by word of mouth, or better still, show you how it is
done,--still, come along,--we'll try to go on as we started!"

Sometimes embossing was done by thin sheets of metal being pressed
on to a wooden carving prepared for the purpose, so that the result
would be a raised silver pattern, which, when filled up with pitch
or lead, would pass for a sample of repousse work. I need hardly
say that a still simpler mechanical form of pressing obtains on
cheap silver to-day.

So much for the mechanical processes of treating these metals. We
will now examine some of the great historic examples, and glance
at the lives of prominent workers in gold and silver in the past.

One of the most brilliant times for the production of works of art
in gold and silver, was when Constantine, upon becoming Christian,
moved the seat of government to Byzantium. Byzantine ornament lends
itself especially to such work. The distinguishing mark between
the earlier Greek jewellers and the Byzantine was, that the former
considered chiefly line, form, and delicacy of workmanship, while
the latter were led to expression through colour and texture, and
not fineness of finish.

The Byzantine emperors loved gold in a lavish way, and on a superb
scale. They were not content with chaste rings and necklets, or
even with golden