DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1311#0012
OF THE WORLD'S INDUSTRY. 3
ornament employed being variously-tinted pearl, the effect of which on the jet-black of
the case is very rich, and at the same time exceedingly chaste.
The " Victoria Regia" cot, designed by Mr. J. Bell, sculptor, and highly wrought
in gold and colours with emblematical devices, attracted considerable notice, but was
not to our taste, the colours being gaudy and cold, and the shape by no means graceful.
There were also—A " multum in uno" loo-table on a new principle, combining baga-
telle-board, chess, draughts, &c, ornamented with inlaid pearl and gold. A lotus work-
table, designed by Mr. Bell, fitted on a new principle, and decorated in a style appro-
priate to the form. A lady's work-table, of a shape suggested by the celebrated vase of
Benvenuto Cellini, richly inlaid with pearl and gilt. " The day-dreamer" chair, designed
by Mr. H. Fitz-Cook, and ornamented with figures, flowers, &c., allegorically arranged,
had a curious and novel appearance; but saying that, we have said all. The figures,
emblematical of sleep, dreams, good and bad, were too fanciful and too large, and the
colour, generally, was cold and uncomfortable. A "legere" chair, inlaid with pearl, was
remarkable for its light elegance combined with strength. A " Prie-Dien" chair. A
chair, styled Elizabethan, was more properly after the form of the period of William III.
Several trays, including the " Pacha's" tray, ornamented in gold and colours, 58 inches
in diameter. The contributions of Messrs. Spiers and Son, of Oxford, consisted of tables,
cabinets, desks, work-boxes, albums, portfolios, waiters, tea-caddies, &c, ornamented with
views of the colleges, public buildings, college gardens, and other objects of interest
in the University and its neighbourhood. We noticed in them endeavours after a truer
and less meretricious style of ornamentation than usually prevails. As the taste of the
Oxford people seems to run in a contrary direction to that of the usual purchasers of
this description of goods, this firm has taken up the ornamentation of papier-mache in
a new style. Instead of adopting the usual subjects of birds, flowers, Chinese land-
scapes, arabesques, or other less pleasing styles, they conceived that picturesque repre-
sentations of architectural and landscape subjects, treated in an artist-like manner, to
which other ornament should be subservient, would be equally interesting to many per-
sons, equally popular, and more conducive to the diffusion of a sound taste. Messrs,
Spiers immortalised their native and most learned city in every possible point of view,
and upon every possible variety of article. We had Oxford from the fields, and Oxford
from the river, Oxford in the streets, Oxford colleges, Oxford halls, Oxford staircases,
and Oxford seals. These paintings, which were scattered over desks, tables, secretaires,
and work-boxes, were all beautifully executed.
EMBOSSED LEATHER.
The specimens of Embossed, or Relievo Leather, in the Crystal Palace, although
exhibited but by three firms, two French and one English, identical in their znanu^
facture and mode of treatment, wTere of sufficient importance to demand a distinct notice.
From all that we can collect in reference to the earliest history of tbe art, it is clearly
to be traced as far back as 900 years before Christ, the British Museum possessing
some scraps and pieces of gilt leather straps taken from mummies, upon which are
relieved figurements of King Orsokon adoring the god Bhem, and others of Amoun Ra
Harsaphes. Italy, Spain, and Flanders, centuries ago, were eminent for their relieved
leather, the fiat or groundwork of which was usually gilded, silvered, or coloured; and
recently Germany, France, and more especially Great Britain, took the lead in this de-
partment of art manufacture. An able writer, while dwelling with, much gusto upon
this subject, says, the distinct relief in which the patterns could be embossed, the
brilliancy of colour of which the leather was susceptible, the high burnish which could
be given to the gold, the durability, ease of application, and resistance of damp, rendered
ornament employed being variously-tinted pearl, the effect of which on the jet-black of
the case is very rich, and at the same time exceedingly chaste.
The " Victoria Regia" cot, designed by Mr. J. Bell, sculptor, and highly wrought
in gold and colours with emblematical devices, attracted considerable notice, but was
not to our taste, the colours being gaudy and cold, and the shape by no means graceful.
There were also—A " multum in uno" loo-table on a new principle, combining baga-
telle-board, chess, draughts, &c, ornamented with inlaid pearl and gold. A lotus work-
table, designed by Mr. Bell, fitted on a new principle, and decorated in a style appro-
priate to the form. A lady's work-table, of a shape suggested by the celebrated vase of
Benvenuto Cellini, richly inlaid with pearl and gilt. " The day-dreamer" chair, designed
by Mr. H. Fitz-Cook, and ornamented with figures, flowers, &c., allegorically arranged,
had a curious and novel appearance; but saying that, we have said all. The figures,
emblematical of sleep, dreams, good and bad, were too fanciful and too large, and the
colour, generally, was cold and uncomfortable. A "legere" chair, inlaid with pearl, was
remarkable for its light elegance combined with strength. A " Prie-Dien" chair. A
chair, styled Elizabethan, was more properly after the form of the period of William III.
Several trays, including the " Pacha's" tray, ornamented in gold and colours, 58 inches
in diameter. The contributions of Messrs. Spiers and Son, of Oxford, consisted of tables,
cabinets, desks, work-boxes, albums, portfolios, waiters, tea-caddies, &c, ornamented with
views of the colleges, public buildings, college gardens, and other objects of interest
in the University and its neighbourhood. We noticed in them endeavours after a truer
and less meretricious style of ornamentation than usually prevails. As the taste of the
Oxford people seems to run in a contrary direction to that of the usual purchasers of
this description of goods, this firm has taken up the ornamentation of papier-mache in
a new style. Instead of adopting the usual subjects of birds, flowers, Chinese land-
scapes, arabesques, or other less pleasing styles, they conceived that picturesque repre-
sentations of architectural and landscape subjects, treated in an artist-like manner, to
which other ornament should be subservient, would be equally interesting to many per-
sons, equally popular, and more conducive to the diffusion of a sound taste. Messrs,
Spiers immortalised their native and most learned city in every possible point of view,
and upon every possible variety of article. We had Oxford from the fields, and Oxford
from the river, Oxford in the streets, Oxford colleges, Oxford halls, Oxford staircases,
and Oxford seals. These paintings, which were scattered over desks, tables, secretaires,
and work-boxes, were all beautifully executed.
EMBOSSED LEATHER.
The specimens of Embossed, or Relievo Leather, in the Crystal Palace, although
exhibited but by three firms, two French and one English, identical in their znanu^
facture and mode of treatment, wTere of sufficient importance to demand a distinct notice.
From all that we can collect in reference to the earliest history of tbe art, it is clearly
to be traced as far back as 900 years before Christ, the British Museum possessing
some scraps and pieces of gilt leather straps taken from mummies, upon which are
relieved figurements of King Orsokon adoring the god Bhem, and others of Amoun Ra
Harsaphes. Italy, Spain, and Flanders, centuries ago, were eminent for their relieved
leather, the fiat or groundwork of which was usually gilded, silvered, or coloured; and
recently Germany, France, and more especially Great Britain, took the lead in this de-
partment of art manufacture. An able writer, while dwelling with, much gusto upon
this subject, says, the distinct relief in which the patterns could be embossed, the
brilliancy of colour of which the leather was susceptible, the high burnish which could
be given to the gold, the durability, ease of application, and resistance of damp, rendered