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“Queen and huntress, chaste and fair,” appears to have secured hers before she indulged in the chase. As luxury increased in the Roman Empire, these articles of utility became also ornaments of much cost and splendour. The art of the goldsmith was devoted to enrichments for them; that of the enameller to brilliant colouring.
In fact, just as outline work in simple gold thread resembles damascening or filagree, so this outlining of little spaces of coloured silk suggests enamel. The cord of the embroiderer answers to the cloisons of the enameller, the surfaces of shining floss to the films of vitreous enamel. Appliqué embroidery is constantly edged with gold or silver thread.
The modern era therefore commences in the middle of the fifteenth century, during the reign of Henry VI. As private wealth increased, finger-rings became much more ornamental; to the art which the goldsmith and jeweller devoted to them, was added that of the engraver and enameller. The effect on the gold is extremely pleasing, having a certain quaint sumptuousness peculiarly its own.
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