CHAP. XVI. SILVER AND GOLD FURNITURE. 35 



not only with painting and statuary, but with 

 services of plate and utensils of silver and gold. 

 This was the practice of the Pitti and their rivals, 

 the Medici, at Florence, and of many other fa- 

 milies who had become wealthy in the trading 

 cities, whether their prosperity owed its origin to 

 commerce or to that landed property which had 

 increased in its value with commerce. 



In that age it is found that in Germany and in 

 France gold and silver utensils are rarely noticed, 

 and it would appear, from the descriptions given 

 of the tournaments and of the pageants, that 

 whatever wealth could be spared for the mere 

 purposes of display was devoted more to the pur- 

 chase of pearls and precious stones than to do- 

 mestic utensils of the precious metals. Jewels 

 could be more easily preserved in turbulent times ; 

 they could not be so readily sold, though they 

 appear to have been frequently pledged, even by 

 sovereigns, and hence became more valuable as 

 heir-looms to those who wished to found families, 

 than gold and silver, whether coined or uncoined, 

 We find in all descriptions of the tournaments of 

 that age that the dames of the princely and noble 

 houses, as well as the knights, appeared decorated 

 with jewels of great value. In England, though 

 wealthier than Germany or France, according to 

 its extent and population, the quantity of gold 

 and silver applied to domestic utensils must have 



