Bellows, walnut carved with masks and sirens

Bellows carved in high-relief, with leather gussets and brass nozzle. The front board in the form of a heart-shaped cartouche, centred on a male, whiskered mask with two prominent teeth, wearing a headdress, flanked by symmetrical grotesque figures with male heads wearing horned caps, bare female torsos, superimposed on scaly tails; the board has an integral handle in the form of strapwork containing a male mask above a monopod term with outstretched wings and grotesque mask, the reverse plain, and terminates above the nozzle in a lion mask (split). The rear board (noticeably worn in places) in the form of a cartouche with plain ground, centred on a male mask with stylised jowls with ridged ornament, twin chin lobes and foliate headdress, its open mouth serving as the air-inlet; the rear board with an integral handle (repaired and with two crude hanging holes) decorated with a flower head, and on the reverse carved with a crowned eagle with outstretched wings, and terminating above the nozzle with palmette ornament. The turned brass nozzle fixed with two iron nails, is remarkably plain and may be a replacement for the more usual and much more elaborate, cast bronze nozzle.

Condition
Losses, splits, worm damage and wear consistent with a 16th century date, with old nailed repairs, the leather gussets almost certainly replaced, and fastened using leather strap and hand-made nails.

EDXRF analysis (October 2006) by Dr Lucia Burgio found that the nozzle is brass, and the nail tested pure iron.
Viewing the bellows under UV light at the Wallace Collection (Nov. 2007) suggested that the front panel had been treated with shellac, while the front lion mask and back panel were waxed.

Purchased for £15, no other information on acquisition register.

Given that the bellows would be handled vigorously the ornament consists of relatively solid forms, without vulnerable high-relief work. The grotesque ornament on these bellows derives from that on antique classical remains reworked in numerous 16th century prints (by designers such as Agostino Veneziano), though a precise source has not yet been identified. The distinctive mask on the rear board, with mouth serving as air-inlet may be compared (though somewhat simplified) with the mask designs of Cornelis Floris, engraved by Frans Huys and published in Antwerp in 1555, but copied and sometimes adapted by Italian printmakers (see Elizabeth Miller: 16th Century Italian Ornament Prints in the Victoria & Albert Museum. (London, V & A, 1999), cat.38, plates 11 and 20), while the mask on the front board is perhaps closer to these later Italian derivations such as those (c.1600) by Alosio Giovannoli (Miller, cat.40b, Mask 13, Book 2). The distinctive form of the open mouth on the rear board (necessary as an air-inlet) may also derive from prints of Antique sculptures of Roman actors' masks, such as those published by Antonio Lavrery c.1573 (Miller, cat.39). The front mask may derive from or the grotesque flanking figures, but the particular shape of bellows raises the possibility that a vase design might have been adapted.

The crowned eagle may well relate to the arms of the unidentified original owner.

No traces of gilding have been found, but it is possible that some areas were highlighted in this way.

The handling of the walnut evokes comparison with the boldly-carved furniture usually attributed to Tuscany or Rome. The type of work involved suggests that carvers who worked on furniture such as cassoni or sgabelli would easily have been capable of carving the boards of smaller-scale bellows.

A set of bellows with a very similar front panel exists at the Wallace Collection (London), no. F480 (cat. no. 20 in LONDON, Wallace Collection, Peter Hughes: Catologue of Furniture, Vols I, II, III (London, 1996), which is attributed as Italian c.1850. Comparison of the two objects side by side (November 2007) demonstrated that the two were not a pair, with significant differences in proportion, carving and condition. In particular the Wallace front handle retained its strapwork framing (worn away on the V&A set), and has a stippled ground where the V&A front panel ground is plain. The parts not visible in a frontal photograph (back handle, rear panel) all differ in design, raising the possibility that the Wallace bellows were made in the 19th century, copying an image of the V&A set (or the bellows themselves displayed in a Museum case). The carving (part gilded) on the Wallace set is flatter and more regular, without the fine carved detail and surface movement on the V&A set, and the Wallace set lack the convincing surface wear and damages of the V&A set. The velvet gusset cannot presumably be 16th century.

In the early modern period in Italy a set of bellows was essential equipment for a fireplace, along with fire-dogs and fire-irons. By pumping the bellows with both hands oxygen could be directed through the nozzle to feed the flames. During the 15th century built-in chimneypieces with a hood and flue began to replace fires set in the middle of the room, and were the principal source of heat at home, usually found in the main room or sala, as well as the kitchen. Just as chimneypieces varied from the simple to the very grand and highly-decorated, so a set of bellows for the sala of a great house could also be a work of art in its own right, carved to a high standard with up-to-date ornament and fitted with an expensive bronze nozzle, elaborately worked. Illustrations of the period (see Thornton plate 23) show a pair of bellows hanging inside the reveal of the chimneypiece jamb, where it would have been convenient for use without getting in the way. The noticeable wear on the back 4279-1857 and the hanging holes in the handle indicate that it has been used in this way. Koeppe comments (p.27) that such bellows were decorated fully because no part was hidden when they were being used.

See PINTO, Edward H.: Treen and other Wooden Bygones. (London, 1969), p.108 (general reference only)

Made in Italy, probably in Florence or Rome

In the early modern period in Italy a set of bellows was essential equipment for a fireplace, along with fire-dogs and fire-irons. Just as chimney-pieces varied from the simple to the very grand and highly-decorated, so a set of bellows for the sala or main entertaining room of a great house could also be a work of art in its own right, carved to a high standard with up-to-date ornament and often with an expensive cast bronze nozzle. Illustrations of the period sometimes show a pair of bellows hanging inside the chimneypiece jamb, where it would have been convenient for use without getting in the way.

4279-1857