510 Mr. H. Harding e Cunynghame [March 1 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 

 Friday, March 1, 1901. 



Sir Frederick Bramwell, Bart., D.C.L. LL.D. F.K.S. M.Inst.C.E., 

 Vice-President, in the Chair. 



Henry Hardinge Cunynghame, Esq., C.B. M.A. M.B.I. 



[Enamels. 



Before presenting to you this evening some observations upon the 

 art of enamelling upon metal, I desire to make it understood that I 

 do not pretend to give an account of any newly-discovered facts. 

 Almost all that I shall say and show was known three centuries ago. 

 Any improvements are matters of detail. But during the eighteenth 

 century, and the early part of the nineteenth, the art became debased 

 and discontinued, and as no adequate written accounts of it existed 

 the processes had to a large extent to be re-discovered. This, how- 

 ever, has been so completely done, that it may be said with confidence 

 that there is no pigment known to the mediaeval craftsmen which we 

 do not now possess, and that we can imitate and surpass all their 

 colours. Where modern art fails, is in the bold and subtle arrange- 

 ments which ancient work displays, and in the delicate tints which 

 many of the old workmen knew so well how to use. I wish I could 

 say that our modern artistic powers in art, generally, were on a par 

 with our scientific knowledge. 



It will be quite impossible in the time at my disposal to do more 

 than give a very brief sketch of the history of enamelling. After 

 this I shall show how the eoamel is manufactured, and, lastly, how it 

 is placed upon copper and gold jewellery — avoiding details, so as to 

 endeavour to give a view of the subject as a whole. 



In the course of my remarks I shall mention a few facts of 

 chemistry, concerning which many of my audience know more than I 

 can pretend to do ; but since there are some present whose knowledge 

 of the subject is rather on its artistic side, I shall be pardoned if I 

 say some things which would be out of place if I were dealing purely 

 with the scientific side of the subject. 



The word " enamel " has been used in many senses. We speak 

 of enamelling a bicycle, which really only means to give it a coat of 

 black made of bituminous substances and then to expose it in an 

 oven for a few hours to a moderate heat. Enamel-paint is only 

 common oil-paint mixed up with some hard varnish, and the enamel 

 which ladies used to employ upon their faces consisted of certain 

 preparations of gelatine and gums. 



