The Arts and Crafts of Older Spain, Volume 2 (of 3)

The Arts and Crafts of Older S...

Leonard Williams

The Arts and Crafts of Older Spain, Volume 2 (of 3)

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Posted byClara Bryant24-Aug-2026

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Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 44392-h.htm or 44392-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/44392/pg44392-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44392/44392-h.zip)

Volume I: see https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44391 Volume III: see https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44393

Transcriber's note:

Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).

The ligature oe is represented by [oe].

The signs cross and dagger have been marked as [cross] and [dagger].

A carat character is used to denote superscription. A single character following the carat is superscripted (Comp^a). Multiple superscripted characters are enclosed by curly brackets (example: DELINEAV^{it}).

[=a] represents a letter (in this instance a lower case "a") with a macron above it.

SAINT FRANCIS]

The World of Art Series

THE ARTS AND CRAFTS OF OLDER SPAIN

by

LEONARD WILLIAMS

Corresponding Member of the Royal Spanish Academy, of the Royal Spanish Academy of History, and of the Royal Spanish Academy of Fine Arts; Author of "The Land of the Dons"; "Toledo and Madrid"; "Granada," etc.

In Three Volumes, Illustrated

VOLUME II

Chicago A. C. McClurg & Co. Edinburgh: T. N. Foulis 1908

American Edition Published October 10, 1908

CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO

PAGES

FURNITURE 1-86

IVORIES 89-108

POTTERY 111-220

GLASS 223-263

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

_VOLUME TWO_

FURNITURE

PLATE PAGE

St Francis of Assisi; Toledo Cathedral _Frontispiece_

I. Mediæval Chair 10

II. Gothic Chair 12

III. Spanish _Arcón_ or Baggage-Chest 16

IV. _Arca_ of Cardinal Cisneros 18

V. Armchair; Museum of Salamanca 20

VI. Chair and Table; Salamanca Cathedral 22

VII. Chairs upholstered with _Guadameciles_ 24

VIII. The Sala de la Barca; Alhambra, Granada 26

IX. Door of the Hall of the Abencerrajes; Alhambra, Granada 28

X. Moorish Door; Detail of Carving; Hall of the Two Sisters, Alhambra, Granada 30

XI. Door of the Salón de Embajadores; Alcázar of Seville 32

XII. The same 34

XIII. Alcázar of Seville; Façade and Principal Entrance 36

XIV. Door of the Capilla de los Vargas, Madrid 38

XV. Mudejar Door; Palacio de las Dueñas, Seville 40

XVI. _Celosía_; Alhambra, Granada 42

XVII. Carved _Alero_ 44

XVIII. Carved _Zapatas_; Casa de las Salinas, Salamanca 46

XIX. Carved _Zapatas_; Museum of Zaragoza 48

XX. _Alero_ and Cornice of Carved Wood; Cuarto de Comares, Alhambra, Granada 50

XXI. "Elijah Sleeping"; Statue in Wood, by Alonso Cano 52

XXII. Saint Bruno, by Alonso Cano; Cartuja of Granada 54

XXIII. Saint John the Baptist; San Juan de Dios, Granada 56

XXIV. Choir-Stalls; Santo Tomás, Avila 58

XXV. Carved Choir-Stall; Toledo Cathedral 60

XXVI. Choir-Stalls; Burgos Cathedral 62

XXVII. Choir-Stalls; San Marcos, León 64

XXVIII. Detail of Choir-Stalls; León Cathedral 66

XXIX. Choir-Stalls; Plasencia Cathedral 68

XXX. Detail of Choir-Stalls; Convent of San Marcos, León 70

XXXI. "Samson"; Carved Choir-Stall; León Cathedral 72

XXXII. "Esau"; Carved Choir-Stall; León Cathedral 74

XXXIII. _Retablo_; Seville Cathedral 76

XXXIV. _Retablo_ of Seville Cathedral; Detail of Carving 78

XXXV. Detail of _Retablo_; Museum of Valladolid 80

XXXVI. Detail of _Retablo_; Chapel of Santa Ana; Burgos Cathedral 82

IVORIES

XXXVII. Ivory Box; Madrid Museum 90

XXXVIII. Ivory Casket; Pamplona Cathedral 92

XXXIX. Ivory Box; Palencia Cathedral 94

XL. Hispano-Moresque Ivory Casket; Royal Academy of History, Madrid 96

XLI. Ivory Crucifix; Madrid Museum 98

XLIA. Back View of same 98

XLII. Byzantine Crucifix 100

XLIII. "The Virgin of Battles"; Seville Cathedral 102

XLIV. Spanish Mediæval _Baculus_ 104

XLV. "A Tournament" 106

XLVI. Ivory Diptych; The Escorial 108

POTTERY

XLVII. Amphoraic Vases and other Pottery; Museum of Tarragona 116

XLVIII. Dish; Museum of Granada 118

XLIX. Hispano-Moresque _Tinaja_ 120

L. Coarse Spanish Pottery (Modern) 126

LI. Door of the Mihrab; Cordova Cathedral 134

LII. Mosaic of the Patio de las Doncellas; Alcázar of Seville 138

LIII. Andalusian non-lustred Ware; Osma Collection 140

LIV. _Cuenca_ Tiles; Alcázar of Seville 142

LV. Altar of the Catholic Sovereigns; Alcázar of Seville 148

LVI. The Gate of Wine; Alhambra, Granada 154

LVII. Tiles of the Decadent Period 158

LVIII. Hispano-Moresque Lustred Plaque 168

LIX. Hispano-Moresque Lustred Vase; Alhambra, Granada 170

LX. Hispano-Moresque Lustred Vase; Madrid Museum 172

LXI. Lustred Tiles; Osma Collection 174

LXII. Hispano-Moresque Lustred Ware; Osma Collection 176

LXIII. Hispano-Moresque Lustred Ware; Osma Collection 178

LXIV. Hispano-Moresque Lustred Ware; Osma Collection 180

LXV. Hispano-Moresque Lustred Ware; Osma Collection 182

LXVI. Hispano-Moresque Lustred Ware; Osma Collection 184

LXVII. Hispano-Moresque Lustred Ware 186

LXVIII. Dish; Osma Collection 190

LXIX. An _Alfarería_ or Potter's Yard; Granada 192

LXX. Talavera Vase 198

LXXI. Ornament in Porcelain of the Buen Retiro 208

LXXII. Room decorated with Porcelain of the Buen Retiro; Royal Palace of Aranjuez 214

LXXIII. Porcelain of the Moncloa Factory 218

GLASS

LXXIV. Vessels of Cadalso Glass 234

LXXV. Vessels of Catalan Glass 236

LXXVI. Glass of the Factory of San Ildefonso 254

LXXVII. Glass of the Factory of San Ildefonso 258

FURNITURE

Whether the primitive Iberians ate as well as slept upon their cave or cabin floor, or whether--as some classics call upon us to believe--they used a kind of folding-chair (_dureta_) and (more advanced and comfort-loving than the Andalusian rustics of this day) devoured their simple meal from benches or supports constructed in the wall, is not of paramount importance to the history of Spanish furniture. The statements of those early authors may be granted or rejected as we please; for not a single piece of furniture produced by prehistoric, or, indeed, by Roman or by Visigothic Spain, has been preserved. But if we look for evidence to other crafts, recovered specimens of her early gold and silver work and pottery show us that Roman Spain grew to be eminently Roman in her social and artistic life. This fact, together with the statements of Saint Isidore and certain other writers of his day, would seem to prove that all the usual articles of Roman furniture were commonly adopted by the subjugated tribes, and subsequently by the Visigoths;--the Roman eating-couch or _lectus triclinaris_, the state-bed or _lectus genialis_, the ordinary sleeping-bed or _lectus cubicularis_, made, in prosperous households, of luxurious woods inlaid with ivory, or even of gold and silver; lamps or candelabra of silver, copper, glass, and iron[1]; the _cathedra_ or chair for women, the _bisellium_ or seat for honoured guests, the _solium_ or chair for the head of the house, the simpler chairs without a back, known as the _scabellum_ and the _sella_, and the benches or _subsellia_ for the servants. Further, the walls were hung with tapestries or rendered cheerful by mural painting; while the fireplace[2] and the brasier (_foculus_) have descended to contemporary Spain.

[1] Documents, quoted by the Count of Clonard, of Alfonso the Second, San Genadio, Froylan, and the Infanta Urraca.

[2] According to Miquel y Badía, the _focus_ of t