Human Industry, Chapter 12
CAP. XII.
foreign: OR, Certain Sports and Extravagancies of Art.
AS Nature hath her ludicra, so Art hath hers too; that is, some pretty knacks that are made, not so much for use, as to shew subtilty of Wit, being made de Gaiete de Ceur, and for pastime as it were; yet the workmanship and elegancy of these may justly deserve admiration; and I may say of them as Virgil said of his Poem concerning Bees, In tenui labor est, l. 4. C cor. l. 8. de Var. c. 43.at tenuis non gloria: and we may further say of Artificial things, as Cardan spake of Natural things, Non minori miraculo in parvis ludit Natura (ludit Ars) quam in magnis: Art (as well as Nature) is never more wonderful then in smaller pi…ces.
Saint Augustine saith, That he did not know whether to wonder at more, the tooth of an Elephant, or that of a Teredo or Moth, which eats not only cloth, but consumes posts and pillars, whose tooth is so far from being seen, that the whole body of it is scarce visible. Some examples and instances of this kinde, which I have casually lighted upon in tumbling over books, I have thought fit to annex to this former Rapsody.
Admiranda tibi levium spectacula rerum
Exhibeo—
One Callicrates a Stone cutter of Sparta, made Ants of Ivory, with all their limbs, so small, that the eye could scarce discern them. Myrmecides the Milesian made a Chariot of Ivory, with Horses and Charioteer in so small a compass, that a Fly could cover them with her wings: He made also a ship w…th all her tacklings, that a Bee could hide it, Pl. l. 7. c. 21. & l. 36. c. 5. And Aelian l. 1. var. hist. c. 52. are my Authors.
Ovid speaks of the admirable chains & nets which Vulcan made to apprehend Mars in conjunction with his Venus, which were so fine and subtile,
—Quae fallere lumina possent,
That the wanton Lovers could not see them till they felt them: Ovid describes them thus, l. 4. Metam.
—Exempla graciles ex aere Catenas,
Retiaque & laqueos, quae fallere lumina possent,
Elimat, non illud opus tenuissima vincant
Stamina, nec summo quae pendet aranea Tign…:
Utque leves tactus, momentaque parva sequantur,
Efficit, & lecto circundata collocat aptè.
A VVaggon and Oxen made of glass that might be hidden under a Fly, are mentioned by Cardan, l. 10. var. c. 52.
Leander Alberti in his description of Italy, makes mention of a Lock very neatly and artificially made of VVood, without any Iron in it.
But one Mark Scaliot a Black smith and Citizen of London, for proof of his skill and workmanship, made one hanging lock of Iron, Steel and Brass, of eleven several pieces, and a pipe key, all clean wrought, which weighed but one grain of gold, which is but one wheat corn. He also made at the same time a chain of gold of 43. linkes, to which chain the lock and key being fastened and put about a fleas neck, she drew the same with easo: all which lock and key, chain and flea weighed but one grain and a half: A thing most incredible to believe, but that I my self have seen it, saith M. John Stow, in the Annals of Q. Elizabeth.
Scaliger makes mention of a flea that he had seen with a gold chain about her neck and kept daintily in a box;Exerc. 136. which for her food did suck her mistresses white hand. Leo Afer saw the like flea and chain in Memphis or Grand Cairo, and the Artificer l. 8. Hist. Afric.that made the chain had a suit of cloth of gold bestowed upon him by the Soldan after the manner of that Country.
Hadr. Junius saw at Mech in in Brabant, a cherry stone cut in the form of a basket, wherein were fourteen pair of d…ce distinct, each with their spots and number easily to be discerned with a good eye. l. …. Animadvers.
Galen makes mention of a pretious stone enchased in a ring,l. 17. De usu pantium. wherein was the picture of Phaeton, most accurately cut, d…iving the chariot of the Sun, and being not able to rule his fiery Steeds, tumbling headlong into the River Eridanus (or the Poe) The world being all set on a flame, according to Ovid's description, l. 3. Metam.
George Whitehead whom we mentioned before, made a Ship with all her tacklings to move of its self on a table, with rowers plying the Oars, a woman playing on the Lute, and a little whelp crying on the deck. Schottus in Itinera Italiae.
G…fferellus a Frenchman makes mention of a clock that he had seen at Legorn, made by a German (for these Germans are said to have their wits at their fingers ends) on which clock a company of shepherds playd upon the bagpipes, with rare harmony and motion of the fingers, while others danced by couples, keeping time and measure, and some others capered and leaped. Cap. 6. of Unheard of Curiosities.
Cardan speaks of an Artizan at Lions, that made a chain of Glass that was so light and sl…nder that if it fell upon a stone pavement, it would not break, Card. l. 10. Var. c. 5….
Amongst these foreign, we may reckon an Iron Spider, mentioned by Walchius in his ninth fable, which was exactly made to the form and proportion of a Spider, and was also made to imitate his motions; which I confess was a singular piece of Art, if duly considered. And though these knacks are but little useful, and take up more time then needed to be lost, yet they discover a marvelous pregnancy of wit in the Artificers; and may be experimenta lucifera, if not frugifera hints of greater matters; of which Iron Spider I may say as Du Bar…as speaks of the Iron Fly made by Johannes Regiomontanus, or John of Regensberg, that rare Mathematician of his time,
O Divine Wit! that in the narrow wombe
Of a small Fly, could find sufficient room.
For all these springs, wheels, counterpoize, and chains,
VVhichWhich stood instead of life, and spur, and reins.
A Dutchman presented the Landtgrave of Hessen (not many years since) with a Bear, and Lion of gold, that were hollow within, and each of the length of a man's middle finger, and every part and lineament of them answering truly to the proportion of the length, and both these did not exceed the weight of a French crown; but the Prince gave him three thousand Crowns in reward of his invention: A fair and Princely encouragement for ingenious Artists. Claudian hath an Epigram de Quadriga Marmorea, like that of Callicrates (mention'd before) made of Ivory; and it is thus,
Quis dedit innumeros uno de Marmore vultus?
Surgit in Aurigam currus, paribusque lupatis
Unanimes froenantur equi, quos forma Deremit
Materies cognata tenet; Discrimine nnllo
Una silex tot membra ligat, ductusque per artem
Mons patiens ferri, varios mutatur in artus.
VVhat artful hand into one shape did put
So many different shapes, and all well cut:
The Driver on his Chariot mounted sits,
His well match'd horses with wrought marble bits
And reins, are curb'd; and though each Figure varies,
Yet all are but one piece; one marble carries
Unsundered, all those shapes, the patient stone
Cut into various forms, shews all in one.
John Tredeskin's Ark in Lambeth, can afford many more instances of this nature; and so can the Archives of sundry Princes and private persons, who have their Pinacotheca's and Technematophylacia for to preserve all rarities; among others, we finde great mention of Bernard Paludanus a Physitian of Enchuysen in Holland; at the sight of whose rarities a Traveller composed this following Epigram ex tempore,
Orbe novo & veteri rarum & mirabile quicquid
Dat natura parens, Artificisque manus:
Una Paludani domus exhibet, ingeniumque
Sublime ac studium testificatur Heri.
Translated.
In the old world or new, what wonderous thing
Did art to light or nature lately bring,
This Paludanus house doth shew a rare
Proof of the owners soveraign wit and care.
Another you may finde touching this business in Grotius his Poems.
FINIS.
End of the text · Thomas Powell, Human Industry (1661)