Historic Ornament, Vol. 2 (of 2) Treatise on decorative art and architectural ornament — Edition Insights

Movement Between Materials and Regions

Ward organizes his material by medium, but within each chapter he moves geographically, tracing how techniques and motifs traveled. In the chapter on metalwork, for instance, he begins with Italian goldsmiths, then shifts to German ironwork, then to Flemish gates and English railings. This structure allows him to compare regional variations: the thistle motif in German ironwork, the flamboyant tracery of Brabaçon locks, the Renaissance foliation of French grilles. The reader is constantly shuttled from one workshop to another, observing how local materials and traditions shaped a common European vocabulary.

Recurring Images: The Lock and the Gate

Throughout the metalwork section, Ward returns to two functional objects: locks and gates. He describes a lock from the Klagenfurt Museum with Saracenic shapes and thistle ornament, a font crane at Louvain, and the iron gates at Hampton Court by Huntingdon Shaw. These objects serve as case studies for technical skill—chiselled, pierced, hammered—and for stylistic change from Gothic to Renaissance. Ward notes that Flemish locks were imitated in England but with less refined workmanship. The gate, especially, becomes a symbol of transition: from the tabernacle grille of Ottoberg to the elegant screens of Queen Anne's reign.

The Role of Attribution and Misattribution

Ward is careful to question received attributions. He notes that the well-cover at Antwerp Cathedral is usually ascribed to Quentin Matsys, but since he was only twelve when it was completed, it more likely belongs to his father Josse. This attention to documentary evidence—ages, dates, workshop practices—runs through the text. Ward also distinguishes between authentic works and those merely ascribed, as with the Flemish gates at Ely Cathedral. Such moments reveal the author's method: he relies on surviving objects and contemporary records, not on tradition alone.

Illustrations as Evidence

The volume contains 317 illustrations, many described as 'Actual Size' in captions, though the transcriber notes this is difficult to substantiate. Ward uses these images as primary evidence, referring to them repeatedly in the text. Figures are numbered and linked to specific descriptions: Fig. 203 shows a tabernacle grille from Tyrol, Fig. 204 a lock from Klagenfurt, Fig. 205 an iron-bound door from Krems. The illustrations are not decorative but integral to the argument; they allow the reader to see the flamboyant tracery or thistle patterns that Ward describes. The placement of images, moved to paragraph breaks in this edition, reflects their role as visual anchors.

Readers approaching this volume should expect a dense, object-focused survey. Ward assumes familiarity with the first volume and with basic art-historical terms. The book rewards those who follow the illustrations closely, as they are the core of his evidence. The structure—by material, then by region—makes it possible to dip into a single chapter, but the cross-references between chapters reveal a coherent vision of ornament as a living tradition, shaped by trade, technique, and taste.

The rain on the window made the metalwork plates in Historic Ornament glow like embers. I paused on a section about enamels, their blues and greens strangely alive in the grey light. That mineral brightness stayed with me, pulling my hand towards the shelf and a different volume on medieval glass.Stained glass of the middle ages in England and France — Context and Discussion It felt less like research, more like following a color home.