All ornaments of gold should be more plain and simple than those of silver; not only because the costliness of the material renders the costliness of workmanship less necessary, but because the carved or enriched parts reflect very little light or brilliancy, compared with those that are plain. On the contrary, in silver ornaments, if the surface be too plain, we annex the ideas of tin or pewter, and it is only by the richness, or the embossing, that its intrinsic value becomes apparent. These remarks are applicable to gold and silver plate,* as well as to every species of ornament, in which those metals can be used *.
*[Lest it should be objected that I am going beyond the precise boundaries of my profession, either as a landscape gardener, or as an architect, I shall observe, that the professor of taste in those arts must necessarily have a competent knowledge of every art in which taste may be exercised. I have frequently given designs for furniture to the upholsterer, for monuments to the statuary, and to the goldsmith I gave a design for one of the most sumptuous presents of gold plate which was ever executed in this country: it consisted of a basin, in the form of a broad flat vase, and pedestal, round which were the figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity; the former spreading her hand over the water, as in the act of benediction; and the two latter supporting the vase, which resembled a baptismal font: the whole was executed in gold, and was the present of a noble duke to his son, on the birth of his first child.]
