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THE CRAFTSMAN
things of craftsmanship. This is a grave
error.  Art resides first of all in a faultless
  The so-called " Chalice of Saint-REmy": from the
  Treasury of the Cathedral of Reims
  execution, in a perfect knowledge of tech-
  nical processes, whether it is a question of a
  picture or of a jewel-box. These technical
  processes were transmitted from generation
  to generation in the workshops of the Mid-
  dle Ages. The practical study of the craft
  constituted the entire apprenticeship of the
  aspirants to art. When the apprentice
  knew his craft thoroughly, he gained the
  mastership, and it resulted that the objects
  made with so much care and material labor
  were also works of art.
  In our own time, art is taught in schools.
'But technical process has degenerated to
nothing.   What industrial art shall we
leave after us, in spite of the lessons given
in our schools by very learned artists who
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write Art with a capital A? Let us first
learn from the Middle Ages respect for
qualities of craftsmanship which are indis-
pensable in the industrial arts, and without
which the highest gifts of invention and
composition are useless.
  We show first in illustration two antiques
mounted in the twelfth century, at the time
when, under the influence of the abbot
Suger, minister of Louis VII., the arts re-
ceived great encouragement in France.
   In the eighteenth century, under Louis
XV. and Louis XVI., beautiful Chinese
porcelain vases were mounted in chiseled
bronze. Such are now highly prized by
connoisseurs. In the twelfth century the
degree of refinement was equal, if not su-
perior. There were antique vases of por-
phyry or rock-crystal mounted in precious
metal, or classic cameos framed in gold and
precious stones. Of these certain pieces
have been preserved.
   The first example which we illustrate
(Plate I) comes from the old Treasury of
Saint Denis, and is now in the Museum of
the Louvre. It was mounted in silver, at
the middle of the twelfth century. It shows
the decorative taste peculiar to the times
and the methods of work then employed.
As in the earlier centuries, uncut gems were
held in high favor: garnets, amethysts, tur-
quoises, sapphires and opals were encrusted
in the metal. This is a decorative method,
characteristic of the barbarian styles and
observed  from   the Merovingian    period
downward. Instituted by craftsmen of un-
erring taste, it produced a rich and striking
effect. I see no reason why the artists of
our own time should not return to it, and
why they should not study from this point
of view the work of the craftsmen in the