THE CRAFTS 
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Crafts are to be sent to the above address, but will be answered in the magazine u?ider this head. 
Summer Address, care of Keramic Studio Pub. Co , Syracuse, N. Y. 
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Mereaux, Medals, Coins, Insignia in Pewter, XII, XIII. XIV. Centuries— Cluny Mu 
ART IN PEWTER 
Jules- Brateau 
(continued.) 
FOR several centuries during the Middle Ages, West- 
ern Europe was troubled by wars and internal dis- 
orders. There was no security in town or country. The 
monasteries alone were respected, and there important 
communities were formed, in which the artisans found a 
refuge and a place where they might work in peace. Charm- 
ing objects were executed in these retreats, and it is doubt- 
ful whether some of them could have been made under 
other conditions. 
The illumination of manuscripts was one of the me- 
diaeval arts, and we speak of it because tin was used in 
the process of illumination, in thin pressed sheets; the soft 
whiteness of the metal showing beneath the interlacing of 
delicate ornaments. This tin is to-day as bright as when 
it was applied, while silver would have oxidized. 
It was in monasteries that the traditions of civiliza- 
tion were preserved; that letters and arts still flourished 
in freedom. Thanks to such protection, when peace was 
finally restored, a galaxy of skilled artisans, sculptors, 
painters, architects, illuminators, pewterers, and gold- 
smiths, were ready to work for the newborn bourgeoisie, 
and for a nobility, still restless, but willing to spend its war 
booty in the decoration of castles. 
Security having been assured in cities by the estab- 
lishment of the Commons, the trade corporations were able 
to work in peace. Pewterers fashioned many pitchers, 
bowls and plates, and, among peasants and people of 
moderate means, originated the custom of placing on the 
mantelpiece the utensils of daily use. Out of tin were 
made the measures for liquids, and other vessels for com- 
mercial purposes. Pewterers cast for the middle classes 
No. 11 
Chalice, Pewter, XIII. Century — Cluny Museum, Paris 
