Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/713

Great skill and experience are necessary in the proper setting of stones and gems of high value, in order to bring out the greatest amount of brilliancy and colour, and the angle at which a diamond (say) shall be set, in order that the light shall penetrate at the proper point to bring out the "spark" or "flash," is a subject of grave consideration to the setter. Stones set in a haphazard, slovenly manner, however brilliant in themselves, will look commonplace by the side of skilfully set gems of much less fine quality and water. Enamelling has of late years largely taken the place of "paste" or false stones. This may be divided into two kinds champleve and cloisonne. In champleve the enamelling substance is applied to the surface of the gold as ornamental details, and is "fired" in a muffle or furnace under the eye of the enameller. Here the metallic oxides play an important part in imparting variety of colour, as in the case of the "strass" of which " pasts " or false stones are made. Cloisonn6 enamelling is effected by walls of gold wire being fastened to the surface to be decorated, upon which surface the design has been already drawn in outline. Within these walls oV " cloisons " the various-coloured enamels are placed, and the whole fixed together by firing until the surface is more than filled up. The surface is levelled by grinding down with pumice stone, and then polished. One kind of champlevd closely approaches in its character to cloisonne 1 . It is when the gold is thick enough to allow of portions to be cut away by the graver, and in these incised parts the coloured enamels are fused as in the manner of the true cloisonne". Enamelled subjects or paintings, portraits, landscapes, animals heads, &c., are sometimes used as a setting for pins, brooches, pendants, bracelets, &c. These are of course true champleve ; and formerly very able artists, such as Bone, Essex, and others, were employed in the produc tion of costly works of this kind. Engraving is a simple process in itself, and diversity of effect can be produced by skilful manipulation. An inter esting variety in the effect of a single ornament is often produced by the combination of coloured gold of various tints. This colouring is a chemical process of great delicacy, and requires much skill and experience in the manipula tion, according to the quality of the gold and the amount of silver alloy in it. Of general colouring it may be said that the object aimed at is to enhance the appearance of the gold by removing the particles of alloy on the sur face, and thus allowing the pure gold only to remain visible to the eye. The application of machinery to the economical produc tion of certain classes of jewellery, not necessarily imitations, but as much "real gold" work, to use a trade phrase, as the best hand- made, has been on the increase for many years. Nearly every kind of gold chain now made is manufactured by machinery, and nothing like the beauty of design or perfection of workmanship could be obtained by hand at, probably, any cost. The question therefore in relation to chains is not the mode of manufacture, but the quality of the metal. Eighteen carat gold is of course always affected by those who wear chains, but this is only gold in the proportion of 18 to 24-, pure gold being represented by 24. The gold coin of the realm is 22 carat ; that is, it contains one-twelfth of alloy to harden it to stand wear and tear. Thus 18 carat gold has one-fourth of alloy, and so on with lower qualities down to 12, which is in reality only gold by courtesy. The application of machinery to the production of personal ornaments in gold and silver can only be econo mically and successfully carried on when there is a large demand for similar objects, that is to say, objects of pre cisely the same design and decoration throughout. In 670 hand-made jewellery, so-called, mechanical appliances are only used to economize time and reduce the necessity for the handicraftsman doing that which can be done as well,, perhaps better, by some simple mechanical method applied under the hand. In machine-made jewellery everything is stereotyped, so to speak, and the only work required for the hand is to fit the parts together, in some instances scarcely that. A design is made, and from it steel dies are sunk for stamping out as rapidly as possible from a plate of rolled metal the portion represented by each, die. It is in these steel dies that the skill of the artist die-sinker is manifested. Brooches, earrings, pinheads,. bracelets, lockets, pendants, &c., are struck out by the gross. This is more especially the case in silver and in plated work, that is, imitation jewellery, the base of which is an alloy, afterwards gilt by the electro-plating process. With these ornaments imitation stones in paste and glass, pearls, &c., are used as setting, and it is remarkable that, of late years some of the best designs, the most simple,, appropriate, and artistic, have appeared in imitation jewellery. It is only just to those engaged in this manu facture to state distinctly that their work is never sold wholesale for anything else than what it is. The worker in gold only makes gold, or real jewellery, and he only makes of a quality well known to Lis customers. The producer of silver work only manufactures silver ornaments, and so on throughout the whole class of plated goods. It is the unprincipled retailer who, taking advantage of the ignorance of the buyer, sells for gold that which is in. reality an imitation, and which he bought as such. Space will not permit of any notice of various kinds of personal ornaments coming under the head of jewellery, such as the elegantly designed hand-made pearl ornaments,. Whitby jet, coral, &c., nor can we allude to the methods adopted in the workshops where gold and silver alone are used to economize the metal that would be wasted without proper precautions. Even the minute quantities of the material which adhere to the hands of the workman are washed off before he leaves the premises, carried into a proper receptacle, and recovered by chemical agency. The special localities of the jewellery trade proper, in England, are Clerkenwell and Pentonville in London, and Birmingham. In Clerkenwell an inquiry made some years ago showed that from 1600 to 2000 persons were employed in the trades connected with the production of jewellery and personal ornaments. In Birmingham at least 8000 were thus occupied, chiefly in production of what may be considered as purely mechanical work. Among the higher class of jewellers in Birmingham some of the best work sold in the London shops is produced, the mechanical means employed being so ingenious, and the handicraft power so skilfully applied in fitting, setting, and finishing, as to leave little or nothing to desire, when compared with hand-made work of the same class. (o. w.} JEWS, MODERN. An outline of the mediaeval history of the Jews is given in the article ISRAEL. The modern history of the race in its political and intellectual emanci pation begins with Moses Mendelssohn, who flourished at Berlin in the latter part of the 18th century. The persecu tions of the Middle Ages had produced their natural effect. Cut oft from their fellow-citizens, excluded by oppressive laws from all trades except that of peddling in old clothes. and even from buying certain classes of these, specially taxed, confined to Ghettos and Judenga&sen, strictly pro hibited from entering some towns, limited in numbers in others, forbidden to marry except under restrictions designed to check the growth of the Jewish population, disabled from employing Christian servants or being members of trade guilds, the Jews seemed by their abject condition to deserve the evils which were its cause.