DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10813#0013
peace of Europe in 1815, lias been desirous of favouring public instruction by every means
in its power, lias made the greatest exertions to render as perfect and as practical as possible
the education of those artists, whose talents are less fitted for the higher art, than for that
connected with industry. Under its auspices, by a rare and almost miraculous combination
of good fortune, two men were united together, for one common purpose, whose joint labours
have been attended with the most signal success, and to them Prussian industry is indebted
for the influence which it exercises over European and transatlantic commerce. Schinhel,
an artist of high and varied genius, and Beuth, lately Director of the Institute of Industrial
Arts at Berlin and a highly distinguished statesman, have shown to the world, by their
mutual co-operation, what is requisite to accomplish the introduction of art into the different
provinces of common life. So happy an association of a great artist and a man of business
is alone able to attain such a brilliant and glorious result as that achieved bv the Berlin
School of Design.
The history of a work which was already in progress from twenty-five to thirty years
ago, may serve to throw some light upon the mode of proceeding adopted by these men.
The intention of it was to make the pupils acquainted, by means of well-chosen examples,
with the laws in conformity with which pure beauty is called into existence. There was no
idea entertained of prescribing rules for taste, but care was taken to show the student the
intimate connection between ornamental and higher art. Such a work was, for various
reasons, not judged suitable for the public at large. It was therefore not put into the hands
of the publisher. It had been carried out with exclusive reference to the wants of the
pupils of the Berlin Institute of Industrial Art, and it was distributed only to such of them
as had highly distinguished themselves by successful diligence, and shown themselves worthy
of being initiated into the higher mysteries of design.
The renown of a work of so much utility was diffused all over Europe. The Prussian
government was generous enough to send it even to foreign academies. Those who had
heard of the great advantages resulting from the study of it, anxiously desired to have a
copy. It is a well-authenticated fact that all who had been so fortunate as to obtain
possession of this choice collection, distinguished themselves greatly both in their own
individual business, and in the application of art to the real wants of life. But how great
was the disappointment of the English manufacturers, when at length a copy of this long
and anxiously expected work was put into their hands for the purpose of testing its prac-
tical utility ! They soon arrived at the conclusion that such a collection could not be of any
use to the pattern-drawer.
Its success in Germany, however, proves this judgment to be an erroneous one. The
Berlin Book of Design has awakened a taste for the refined treatment of every kind of
artistic ornament, and it has been of great advantage even to those manufacturers who
minister exclusively to the wants of every-day life. A glance at the rapid progress of
German industry may easily convince us of the justice of such a statement; and is it not
admitted that, from this cause alone, the commerce of Germany, in spite of its disad-
vantageous position, has greatly improved, and menaces even the English trade with a
successful rivalry ? A comparison made between the improved products of English and
in its power, lias made the greatest exertions to render as perfect and as practical as possible
the education of those artists, whose talents are less fitted for the higher art, than for that
connected with industry. Under its auspices, by a rare and almost miraculous combination
of good fortune, two men were united together, for one common purpose, whose joint labours
have been attended with the most signal success, and to them Prussian industry is indebted
for the influence which it exercises over European and transatlantic commerce. Schinhel,
an artist of high and varied genius, and Beuth, lately Director of the Institute of Industrial
Arts at Berlin and a highly distinguished statesman, have shown to the world, by their
mutual co-operation, what is requisite to accomplish the introduction of art into the different
provinces of common life. So happy an association of a great artist and a man of business
is alone able to attain such a brilliant and glorious result as that achieved bv the Berlin
School of Design.
The history of a work which was already in progress from twenty-five to thirty years
ago, may serve to throw some light upon the mode of proceeding adopted by these men.
The intention of it was to make the pupils acquainted, by means of well-chosen examples,
with the laws in conformity with which pure beauty is called into existence. There was no
idea entertained of prescribing rules for taste, but care was taken to show the student the
intimate connection between ornamental and higher art. Such a work was, for various
reasons, not judged suitable for the public at large. It was therefore not put into the hands
of the publisher. It had been carried out with exclusive reference to the wants of the
pupils of the Berlin Institute of Industrial Art, and it was distributed only to such of them
as had highly distinguished themselves by successful diligence, and shown themselves worthy
of being initiated into the higher mysteries of design.
The renown of a work of so much utility was diffused all over Europe. The Prussian
government was generous enough to send it even to foreign academies. Those who had
heard of the great advantages resulting from the study of it, anxiously desired to have a
copy. It is a well-authenticated fact that all who had been so fortunate as to obtain
possession of this choice collection, distinguished themselves greatly both in their own
individual business, and in the application of art to the real wants of life. But how great
was the disappointment of the English manufacturers, when at length a copy of this long
and anxiously expected work was put into their hands for the purpose of testing its prac-
tical utility ! They soon arrived at the conclusion that such a collection could not be of any
use to the pattern-drawer.
Its success in Germany, however, proves this judgment to be an erroneous one. The
Berlin Book of Design has awakened a taste for the refined treatment of every kind of
artistic ornament, and it has been of great advantage even to those manufacturers who
minister exclusively to the wants of every-day life. A glance at the rapid progress of
German industry may easily convince us of the justice of such a statement; and is it not
admitted that, from this cause alone, the commerce of Germany, in spite of its disad-
vantageous position, has greatly improved, and menaces even the English trade with a
successful rivalry ? A comparison made between the improved products of English and