Beaten Metal-Work 
BEATEN 
METAL-WORK 
BY 
A MALIE BUSCK. 
BRONZE WATER POT 
Old Chinese 
B EFORE the days of machinery when all 
the useful or purely ornamental metal arti¬ 
cles of the household were of necessity made 
- by hand, the stamp of individuality was pro¬ 
duced on the work by every artisan. Asicie 
from the forms of the more common objects of 
daily use, determined largely by local tradition 
and usage, we can see to-day in the pieces 
handed down to us the marks of the man, his 
skill, his idea of form and design, his origi¬ 
nality, in fact one almost feels that a glimpse 
of his character and temperament is revealed 
in his work. It is this individuality and sug¬ 
gestion of the human element which attaches 
to those graceful forms, the designs showing 
a knowledge of nature, the little faults and 
irregularities of workmanship which delight 
the heart of the collector and the modern artist 
artisan. Human nature no doubt varied then 
as now, and certainly a great deal of the work 
of those times was unskilful and uninteresting, 
but the weeding process of time has probably 
brought down to us only the better, or at 
least most serviceable specimens. 
In no other of our household furnishings 
has this change from handicraft to machinery 
produced so great an artistic loss as in the 
articles which were wont to be made of metal. 
It is true the economic benefits of this 
change have been enormous ; but while it has 
BRASS WATER POT 
Italian , XXIII Century 
gained for woodwork and weaving many 
artistic qualities, and in some respects has 
improved their workmanship, in metal-work 
the limitations of machinery, together with 
artistic sterility of the manufacturer, have 
reduced all useful articles to commonplace 
pots and kettles, and decorative metals have 
degenerated to unskilful and uninteresting 
reproductions or imitations. 
Ornamental pieces, copies of an old shield 
or sconce, are produced by the thousands, 
stamped with a steel die which in turn has 
been cut out by probably a skilful but certainly 
a mechanical and heartless workman ; every 
defect is smoothed over, every mechanical 
difficulty eliminated. A good design is thus 
destroyed by bad copying and becomes less in¬ 
teresting by its limitless reproduction. Of re¬ 
cent years the artist artisan has begun to real¬ 
ize that machinery has not entirely absorbed 
the field, but that he may be a mechanic and 
find full scope for his artistic abilities. From 
this has arisen the recent general revival 
of the so-called “ arts and crafts ” after an 
almost total disappearance for many years. 
In this case as in so many others the old say¬ 
ing holds good, “civilization begins in small 
countries.” The revival of the handicrafts, 
marking a new artistic epoch, first took place 
in the smaller countries of Europe led by 
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