Silversmiths were working in Quebec in Canada soon after the French conquest. In the 18th century excellent work was executed by Francois Ranvoyze (b. 1739) and later by Laurent Amyot.
The high skill of the metal-workers of old Mexico is well known. In the American Museum of Natural History at New York (Heye Foundation) is a precious collection of gold ornaments, including a wonderful eagle's head (quauhtli), conferred upon certain war riors for valour in warfare. Highly skilled also were the crafts men of Peru. The natives had little to learn from the Spanish craftsmen but new models and patterns. Silver plates and dishes for the tables of Spanish officials were hammered out by the hun dred and many delightful pieces still survive in Peru and Bolivia. Stirrups, spurs and horse trappings are also common. Silver was more accessible than tin or iron to the South Americans and since alloys were not understood, it was used in pure form. One com mon object found in various parts of ancient America, notably Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, is the golden breast-plate in the form of a disc. The Keith collection in New York of gold work from Costa Rica and Panama is unsur passed, and contains many beautiful amulets.
Soon after the Spanish conquest, goldsmiths from Spain emi grated to Mexico, though most of their early works have perished. Churches were richly furnished with sacred vessels, but many of these were imported from Spain. Several names of goldsmiths of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries are recorded.
The goldsmiths of the famous Achaemenid period in Persia were in an advanced state of culture, as witness the Oxus treasure of the 5th and 4th centuries B.C., in the British Museum, which with the Susa find (in the Louvre) alone presents a comprehensive group of goldsmiths' work of ancient Persia. In the same museum is some important silver of the later Sassanian dynasty. Persian silversmiths in more recent times have shown by many fine examples that they have retained their skill.
Ancient China was poor in gold. Of the T'ang dynasty (618 906), when the progress of the arts was most marked, but little goldsmiths' work has survived ; it includes 15 silver vessels in the British Museum. In the great collection of Chinese art of George Eumorfopoulos are two pieces of exquisite gold jewellery: a hair pin and an ornament, of about the 9th century A.D., and of the 9th to 11th century A.D. respectively. Two little silver cups of the 8th or 9th century A.D. (Plate V., fig. 2). A rare little gold plate, chased with flowers and foliage is of about the 12th century A.D.
Earlier than either of these are the superbly wrought gold pommel of a dagger or staffhead (Plate II., fig. 7) ; and the silver bowl chased with characteristic Chinese fret work, both of the Ch'in dynasty 255 B.C. to 207 B.C. (Plate II., fig.
The goldsmith's craft in India is of ancient origin. Highly im portant is the Bimaran gold reliquary, set with rubies (British Museum), attributed to the beginning of, or a little earlier than, the Christian era (Plate V., fig. I). In the British Museum are a silver dish of the 3rd or 4th century A.D., decorated with a bac
chanalian scene representing perhaps Kuvera, king of the Yakshas, treated in Indian style ; and a silver bowl of the 7th century from northern India, embellished with medallions in low relief. Delhi was famous for its craftsmen, especially in the time of Akbar the Great, Jahangir, and Shah Jehan. The Indian museum at South Kensington contains a rosewater sprinkler of chased gold, enriched with champleve enamels, probably made for Shah Jehan. Vessels and ornaments of jade, inlaid with gold and gems, are a distinct and delicate branch of art, practised at Delhi in the 17th century. A graceful vase of this kind, set with emeralds and rubies, was brought from India by the great Lord Clive with other notable specimens of Indian goldsmiths' work.
A characteristic Indian ewer, with and without a cover, in sil ver, copper and brass, has been used from early times for the cere monial ratification of gifts by pouring water, and for domestic pur poses. Decorated trays of silver and brass are used for offerings and for conveying gifts, but more especially for flowers to be offered in temples, as may be seen in many of the old Sigiri paintings.
Enamelling has deservedly attained a great reputation in north ern India. Enamellers from Lahore were brought by Man Singh to Jaipur in the 16th century and enamel was extensively em ployed in the 17th and 18th centuries here and elsewhere in gold and silver work. The craftsmen of the Punjab were renowned for their skill and Lucknow was long celebrated for its metal work, as was Chanda. At Kutch and Gujarat (Bombay Presidency) were clever goldsmiths. The metal work of the Sinhalese is of special excellence. Siamese goldsmiths executed excellent work in the 18th and 19th centuries and Turkish craftsmen have not been without skill.
In consequence of the prohibition of the use of gold and silver in ceremonial worship, there are no vessels or ornaments in these precious metals in religious use in Burma. Similarly, the use of gold or silver vessels for domestic purposes was denied to all but those of royal blood. The India museum at South Kensington contains part of the Burmese regalia of gold, and other relics. Some fine work executed at Tibet in the 17th and 18th centuries is in the Indian museum at South Kensington.
Anglo-Saxon and Early British: T. Burns, Old Scottish Communion Plate (1892) ; G. B. Brown, The Arts in Early England, 5 pts. (1903-21, new rev. ed., 1926) ; J. R. Allen, Celtic Art in Pagan and Christian Times (1904) ; C. A. Webster, The Church Plate of the Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross (1909) ; British Museum, Guide to the Antiquities of the Bronze Age (1920), Guide to the Antiquities of the Early Iron Age (1925), and Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities (1923) ; J. Strzygowski, Origin of Christian Church Art (trans. 0. M. Dalton and H. J. Braunholtz, 1923) ; J. Bronsted, Early English Ornament (1924) ; N. Aberg, The Anglo Saxons in England (trans. S. Charleston, 1926).
Austria: V. Latour, in Kunst and Kunsthandwerk, pp.