LEAD CISTERNS 



349 



craftsman imparted character to his work even if it was of a 

 simple and unobtrusive kind (Fig. 273) ; but with the advent 

 of the speculative builder, the number of such things required, 

 and the necessity of a rapid and cheap supply, led to more 

 expeditious methods, and with the advent of cast-iron heads a 

 general level of dullness and monotony was reached. The scope 

 of lead ornament was necessarily restricted, it was only here 

 and there that it was applicable ; the other direction in which 



FIG. 274. Two Examples of Lead Cisterns. 



it was largely used was in cisterns or troughs of which examples 

 occasionally occur, but lead being always a marketable com- 

 modity, most of these objects, when once out of use, were sold 

 for melting and re-use. Some good examples dated 1728, 1714, 

 and 1755 are shown in Figs. 267, 274. 



The English craftsman has always been able to do good 

 work when he has had the opportunity. Even during the 

 period when house-design may be held to be void of interest, 

 there are numberless examples of fittings, or furniture, or house- 

 hold articles which show his skill, and if a free and reasonable 

 view of design is maintained, there is even* prospect of his 

 doing as good work in the future as he has done in the past. 



