(Fig. 71), apparently the
work of an Italian goldsmith at the early part of the seventeenth
century. The bold freedom of the design is utilised here by the upheaved
figure grasped by the monster, and which gives hold and strength to the
handle; the flowing character throughout the composition accords well
with the general curve of the vase to which it is affixed. There is a
prevailing elegance in the Italian grotesque design which is not seen in
that of other nations. The knife handle by Francisco Salviati, which we
have also selected for engraving (Fig. 72), is a favourable example of
this feeling; nothing can be more _outre_ than the figure of the monster
which crowns the design; yet for the purpose of utility, as a firm hold
to the handle, it is unobjectionable; while the graceful convolutions of
the neck, and the flow of line in the figure, combined with this
monster, give a certain quaint grace to the design, which is further
relieved by enriched foliage.

[Illustration: Fig. 73.]

With one specimen of the later work of the silversmith, we take our
leave of grotesque design as applied to art-manufacture; but that work
is as whimsical as any we have hitherto seen. It is a pair of silver
sugar-tongs (Fig. 73), evidently a work of the conclusion of the
seventeenth or beginning of the eighteenth century. It is composed of
the figure of Harlequin, who upholds two coiled serpents, forming
handles; the body moves on a central pivot, fastened at the girdle, and
the right arm and left leg move with the front, as do the others with
the back of the body, which is formed by a double plate of silver, the
junctures being ingeniously hidden by the chequers of the dress.

[Illustration: Fig. 74.]

We have already had occasion to allude to the adoption of grotesque
design in book illustrations, it is often seen in manuscripts, and
abounds in early printed works. When wood engraving was extensively
applied to the enrichment of the books which issued in abundance from
the presses of Germany and France, the head and tail-pieces of chapters
gave great scope to the fancies of the artists of Frankfort and Lyons.
The latter city became remarkable for the production of elegantly
illustrated volumes, which have never been surpassed. Our concluding
cuts represent one of these tail-pieces (Fig. 74), in which a fanciful
mask combines with scroll-work; and a head-piece (Fig. 75), (one half
only being given), where the grotesque element perv