HUGIJENOT ARTISTS DESIGNERS AND CRAYPSNEN IN GREAT ...

23.
TIlE HUGUENOT CONTRThUTION TO MFPALWORK: ENGRAVING
The most significant Huguenot contribution to the decorative arts
in Great Britian lay in the field of metalwork. It has been shown that
at least three hundred and twenty-two Huguenot craftsmen in metal settled
in London. Much has been written on the Huguenot contribution to silver,
wrought iron, gunniaking and watchmaking. This contribution is snmnirized
here briefly, before examining the Huguenot contribution to engraving,
an area which has not been adequately assessed, and which is closely
connected with many different art forms of the period.
Huguenot gold and metal smiths were attracted to Britain, not
only as a result of persecution, but f'r economic reasons. In 1686, Louis
XIV, in an attempt to finance his wars with Holland, ordered the melting
down of all plate in France, and forbade the further employnent of any
goldsmiths. 1 In contrast, the late seventeenth century saw a vast increase
in iron production in Britain.2
The Huguenot smiths arrived in Britain at a time when the taste for
Dutch embossed silver was being replaced by French cast work. They brought
with them a mastery of the techniques required for the new fashion in plate,
which native silversmiths had not yet had the opportunity to acquire.
They also brought a vocabulary of French ornament based on the published
designs of Jean Lepautre (1618-1682), Paul Ducerceau (c.1630-1713),
Jean Berain (1637-1711), M.P.Mouton of Lyons and Masson of Paris.3
They brought new forms, and new vessels; the helmet-shaped ewer (Plate 1k)
and basin, the pilgrim bottle, the eceulle, soup tureen and sauce boat.k
Through their mastery of ted ique, they introduced a purity of form,
proportion, and dignity of or anient, that had not been seen in silver
produced in this country before.
They developed already existing native vessels. The chocolate pot
changed in their hands, from the straight sided descendant of the tankard,
into a more elegant pear-shaped vessel. The two-handled cup and cover was
raised on a small foot and acquired a finial, becoming more graceful.5
The native silversmiths found it hard to compete with this technical
mastery and elegance of form, and reacted strongly against the Huguenot
craftsmen. The Goldsmiths'
,trp-r re r'eived petitions from their members
against ac3initting aliens to the freedom in 1682, 169k, 1711 and 1716.
1682 marks the date of the admission of the first Huguenot goldsmith,
Pierre Harache to the freedom of the company. Yet thirty-five years later