CAELATURA : τορεντικη : Chasings : Antique Plate.
All decorative metal-work was originally executed with the hammer alone : hence its designation σφνρήλατον. So
made were the first statues seen in Greece, ascribed to the mythical
Daedalus, or to his pupil Learchus ; the several parts being hammered
out separately and then put together by means of rivets, the expedient
of soldering not being as yet invented. Some of these architypes were
seen by Pau-sanias, still remaining in the second century of our era,
for instance, the Jupiter of Sparta, " the most ancient statue in
Greece." ('Laconica,' iii. 17.)
Long
after the method of casting statues in moulds with cores had superseded
this primitive and tedious process, the hammer continued the sole
instrument for producing worts in the precious metals, whether
statuettes or bas-reliefs. Everything belonging to the Assyrian, the
Etruscan, and the Greek goldsmith (as long as the period of fine art
lasted) is wrought by the hammer and the punch. The substance is the
thinnest possible plate of the metal ; the small intrinsic value of the
object, with the infinite taste and toil bestowed upon its elaboration,
convincingly bespeak the times when gold and silver were extremely
rare, but skilled labour very abundant. Nothing known to me so
strikingly exhibits the marvellous might of Greek genius, even when
exerted in miniature, as do some remains of this kind, foremost amongst
which stands an Apollo's head (Bale Collection), in three-quarters
relief, whose divine
