DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1310#0182
OF THE WORLD'S INDUSTRY. 141
nave was a horse's head executed life-size by electro-deposit; it was from the hand of
Marochetti, and interesting by the variation of its tone. It has always been an acknow-
ledged fact in electro-metallurgy that the cost of the reduction of iron far more than
counterbalanced the original cheapness of the raw material: whether this was the case in
the instance we have cited we had no means of ascertaining. The East Indians, who laid
bare the gorgeous splendours of the kingdom of Oude, displayed in the inlaid gold of
their tents, crowns, and horse trappings, all that barbaric splendour which charms the
eye by the natural and choice harmony with which colours are blended, regardless
alike of the inroads of science on one hand, or calculations of novelty on the other. The
sceptre and the fly-flap, as well as other accessories which filled their tent, showed that a
spirit somewhat akin to that of the ancient Assyrians, is still abroad among these
Indians. The transition from these vestiges of primitive splendour to the nicer dis-
crimination of the present day is rather an abrupt one, but the same may be said of
every stride taken in the Great Palace.
It is singular to find our neighbours, the French, doing their utmost to extinguish the
brightness of the metals which the English handicraftsman does his utmost to preserve.
It is well known that not only a certain dulness of tone is the natural consequence of
the continual hammering and oiling of the silver necessary to bring it to a completion;
but, not content with this, it has been the fashion, for the last year or two, of oxidising
most part of the silver-work, which thereby acquires prematurely the sober and dusky
veil which time has cast over all the brilliant sleights of hand bequeathed to us by the
artists of the sixteenth century. Greater durability and a more permanent defence
against the inroads of time, are also said to be secured by the present process. The
system adopted consists in plunging the groups into acids, whence they emerge with their
present sombre hue. Mr. Durand's " Theiere a grande reception" was the greatest com-
pliment ever yet paid to England's favourite beverage. It consisted of seventeen pieces,
which combined chiselling, gilding, niello, and even oxidising. Though Diane de Poitiers
had made way for an allegorical figure of Charity and her Children, the whole work
smacked of the gusto prevalent in the reign of Francois I., in the imitation of the
Florentine architecture and its incrustation of small figures. The whole design, and its
adaptation to its purpose, was exceedingly ingenious, and was, we believe, originally
designed by Klagman. The Louis XV. style, which the French now designate as
"rocaille," was splendidly represented. Mr. Durand exhibited a table-ornament of
assembled cupids, with decorations in this style, which showed how far a skilful hand can
reconcile one to the wildest vagaries of fancy. The firm of Eudolphi made oxidising
their specialty, and seemed bent on proving that the process is equally well adapted
for the largest or minutest proportions. They exhibited a circular table, or "gueridon"
ornamented with cupids and slender leaves at the base, the top part consisting of an
inverted shield, with the embossed head of Medusa. There was also a salver with one
of those nymphs Jean Goujon has made ns familiar with. M. Odiot made the purpose
of his ornamental work at once plain by chiselling fish, flesh, or fruit, with perfect
freedom, decking his richly worked specimens.
Messrs. Smith and Nicholson exhibited a centre-piece representing a group of Arab
merchants halting beneath the spreading leaves of one of those noble palm-trees, which
affords them protection from the rays of their burning sun, and re-invigorates them by
its refreshing shade. They were equipped in the usual travelling costume of Arabia,
and were supposed to be in the midst of an oasis in the desert, watered by a solitary
spring. The singular mode of life pursued by these nomadic tribes is forced upon
them by the very nature of the country in which their lot is cast, and which necessarily
imparts to the character and countenance an apparent solemnity not inconsistent with
2 o
nave was a horse's head executed life-size by electro-deposit; it was from the hand of
Marochetti, and interesting by the variation of its tone. It has always been an acknow-
ledged fact in electro-metallurgy that the cost of the reduction of iron far more than
counterbalanced the original cheapness of the raw material: whether this was the case in
the instance we have cited we had no means of ascertaining. The East Indians, who laid
bare the gorgeous splendours of the kingdom of Oude, displayed in the inlaid gold of
their tents, crowns, and horse trappings, all that barbaric splendour which charms the
eye by the natural and choice harmony with which colours are blended, regardless
alike of the inroads of science on one hand, or calculations of novelty on the other. The
sceptre and the fly-flap, as well as other accessories which filled their tent, showed that a
spirit somewhat akin to that of the ancient Assyrians, is still abroad among these
Indians. The transition from these vestiges of primitive splendour to the nicer dis-
crimination of the present day is rather an abrupt one, but the same may be said of
every stride taken in the Great Palace.
It is singular to find our neighbours, the French, doing their utmost to extinguish the
brightness of the metals which the English handicraftsman does his utmost to preserve.
It is well known that not only a certain dulness of tone is the natural consequence of
the continual hammering and oiling of the silver necessary to bring it to a completion;
but, not content with this, it has been the fashion, for the last year or two, of oxidising
most part of the silver-work, which thereby acquires prematurely the sober and dusky
veil which time has cast over all the brilliant sleights of hand bequeathed to us by the
artists of the sixteenth century. Greater durability and a more permanent defence
against the inroads of time, are also said to be secured by the present process. The
system adopted consists in plunging the groups into acids, whence they emerge with their
present sombre hue. Mr. Durand's " Theiere a grande reception" was the greatest com-
pliment ever yet paid to England's favourite beverage. It consisted of seventeen pieces,
which combined chiselling, gilding, niello, and even oxidising. Though Diane de Poitiers
had made way for an allegorical figure of Charity and her Children, the whole work
smacked of the gusto prevalent in the reign of Francois I., in the imitation of the
Florentine architecture and its incrustation of small figures. The whole design, and its
adaptation to its purpose, was exceedingly ingenious, and was, we believe, originally
designed by Klagman. The Louis XV. style, which the French now designate as
"rocaille," was splendidly represented. Mr. Durand exhibited a table-ornament of
assembled cupids, with decorations in this style, which showed how far a skilful hand can
reconcile one to the wildest vagaries of fancy. The firm of Eudolphi made oxidising
their specialty, and seemed bent on proving that the process is equally well adapted
for the largest or minutest proportions. They exhibited a circular table, or "gueridon"
ornamented with cupids and slender leaves at the base, the top part consisting of an
inverted shield, with the embossed head of Medusa. There was also a salver with one
of those nymphs Jean Goujon has made ns familiar with. M. Odiot made the purpose
of his ornamental work at once plain by chiselling fish, flesh, or fruit, with perfect
freedom, decking his richly worked specimens.
Messrs. Smith and Nicholson exhibited a centre-piece representing a group of Arab
merchants halting beneath the spreading leaves of one of those noble palm-trees, which
affords them protection from the rays of their burning sun, and re-invigorates them by
its refreshing shade. They were equipped in the usual travelling costume of Arabia,
and were supposed to be in the midst of an oasis in the desert, watered by a solitary
spring. The singular mode of life pursued by these nomadic tribes is forced upon
them by the very nature of the country in which their lot is cast, and which necessarily
imparts to the character and countenance an apparent solemnity not inconsistent with
2 o