English Restoration binding, 17th century
With the restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660 and the departure from the artistically gloomy days of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate, an era of brilliantly gold-tooled leather bindings began.
New finishing tools were cut which were used to create new design motifs such as the all-over drawer-handle pattern seen here. The drawer-handle, which takes its shape from Greek Ionic columns, continued to appear in various forms throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, but never as the dominant feature after the Restoration period.
On this binding you can see the quartering lines drawn on the cover that enabled the finisher to match up the gold-tooled design in each section.
Upper cover of Richard Allestree, ‘The art of contentment’ ([Oxford]: At the Theater in Oxford, [1675]). REng ALLE Art 1675.
English Restoration binding, 17th century
With the restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660 and the departure from the artistically gloomy days of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate, an era of brilliantly gold-tooled leather bindings began.
New finishing tools were cut which were used to create new design motifs such as the all-over drawer-handle pattern seen here. The drawer-handle, which takes its shape from Greek Ionic columns, continued to appear in various forms throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, but never as the dominant feature after the Restoration period.
On this binding you can see the quartering lines drawn on the cover that enabled the finisher to match up the gold-tooled design in each section.
Upper cover of Richard Allestree, ‘The art of contentment’ ([Oxford]: At the Theater in Oxford, [1675]). REng ALLE Art 1675.