8G 
LANDSEER'S LIONS, 
(Nature and Art, Match 1, 18G7. 
him she bore live sons and three daughters, and 
died in 1246. He died in 1249. 
All the children of her second marriage, except 
the eldest, who succeeded his father, were sent to 
her son, Henry III. of England, who provided 
magnificently for them ; and these, his brothers of 
the half-blood, are connected with most of the 
grievances of his troubled reign. 
The eldest son was Hugh. 
The second, Guy de Lusignan, who was killed at 
the battle of Lewes. 
The third, William de Valence, Earl of Pem- 
broke, so well known in English chronicles. 
The fourth, Aymer de Valence, Bishop, of 
Winchester. 
A fifth son, Geoffery de Lusignan, Lord of 
Hastings, is mentioned in Speed’s Chronicle ; 
but he is believed to be identical with the 
second, Guy de Lusignan.* 
These sons of Queen Isabella were named from 
their places of birth; those called “de Valence” 
were born at her lord’s castle of that name, the 
others at his more celebrated castle of Lusignan. 
William de Valence, and he alone of the sons, so 
far as we can discover, bore one of the coats on the 
casket. 
Supposing then the casket to have been made 
for this son of Isabella of Augouleme, the coats of 
arms placed upon it are accounted for as follows : — 
1. Valence. — His own arms. He was killed in 
France in 1296. His only surviving son, 
Aymer, succeeded to the earldom, and died 
without issue in 1323. 
2. Angouleme. — The arms of his mother’s father, 
Aymer, Count of Angouleme. 
3. England. — The arms of his nephew, Edward I. 
* See Art de verifier left Dates, ii. p. 383. 
4. Brabant. — The arms of the husband of his 
great-niece Margaret, daughter of Edward 
I., namely, John, Duke of Brabant, who 
married in 1290, and died in 1312. 
5. Dreux, Brittany.- — The arms of the husband 
of his niece Beatrice, daughter of Henry 
III. ; namely, John, Duke of Brittany, who 
died in 1305. — 
6. Lacy, Earl of Lincoln. — The arms of Henry de 
Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, who died without 
issue male in 1312. His grandmother, 
Margaret de Quincy, married for her second 
husband, Walter Marshall, Earl of Pem- 
broke, the uncle of William de Valence’s 
wife, Joan de Monchensi. 
These facts show, almost beyond doubt, that 
the casket was made for William de Valence, Earl 
of Pembroke; in which case we are able to assign 
to it the date of the latter part of the thirteenth 
century. It may, however, have been executed for 
Aymer de Valence, his son ; in which case the work 
would be referred a little later, — probably a year or 
two after the father’s death, or, at latest, to some 
time before the death of Henry, Earl of Lincoln, in 
1312 ; for, if made for the son, we should assume it 
to have been by the same artist as executed the 
famous monument of William of Valence in West - 
minster Abbey, which is enriched with similar 
enamels. F or the present only, we dismiss the artistic 
consideration of the casket ; its workmanship is 
undoubtedly French, probably of Limoges; a very 
line example of that class of enamels known as 
cliampleve. In a future article it is proposed to 
give an account of the different kinds of enamels, 
illustrated with drawings ; a brief history of the 
art, and a description of its processes, so fir as they 
are known ; and reference will then be made again 
to the drawing accompanying this paper, when it is 
hoped that the reader will find the casket yield 
some further interest. 
LANDSEER’S LIONS. 
I N the centre of the great square of the capital of 
England, in the high place of national honour, 
round the base of the monument which commemo- 
rates the most characteristic achievement of our 
race, are four great masses of bronze wrought into 
lions, proud emblems for all future Englishmen, of 
courage and endurance and stately honour. If we 
say that we do not think Sir Edwin Landseer, to 
whom we owe these fine works, has risen to the 
height of such high argument, we in no way impugn 
his power to do other things. No man need be 
ashamed of failure in such an undertaking. It would 
seem almost as if the creation of great emblems was 
only possible in certain states of society and to 
certain races of men. The perfect abstract form of 
any idea can only be reached when success is the 
crown of many efforts. One cannot step aside from 
the ordinary ways of life and say that for a day or a 
month, or series of months, one will cultivate ideal 
thought to some special end. When men constantly 
live in the presence of a spiritual world, where the 
phenomena of life are habitually regarded as the 
mutable types of some divine quality, we may hope 
to find an art capable of clothing an abstract idea 
in clear, tangible form. In the present day such 
a- thing is almost hopeless, for in this matter taste 
and knowledge will not serve a man as guides. It 
is not given to us of the modern time to create 
such forms as the terrible creature that watches, 
calm, invincible, imperishable, within the walls of 
our Museum. Who would see what the terror of 
a lion is, the terror of strength remorseless and 
just, may there find sufficient reason for saying 
that our English lions are not of the greatest art, 
