DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1311#0093
C6 THE GREAT EXHIBITION
artistical and industrial gold and silversmith's work. Garrard in London, and M. Odiot
in Paris, represented industrial; M. Rudolfi, M. Morel, M. Froment-Meunce, the artistic ■
branch. Which of these is in the right? which in the wrong? Which of them works in
the well-understood interests of production ? How are we to establish an equitable
comparison between such opposite styles ? The gold and silversmith's craft has attained
in these days such a degree of importance, that the question will not be easy to decide in
the midst of the universal jury. Thus the English are still inspired by the ample forms
of the age of Louis XIV., whilst in Trance they have long since studied to imitate
the Grecian and the Koman. The English prefer the useful and the comfortable to be
affected, to the bastard imitations of a revival, the originality of which too often consists
in changing white into black, and to give to silver the colour of iron. We have seen too
many masses of articles of this kind, at the London Exhibition; fantastical groups of
doubtful utility, and better calculated to figure in a cabinet of curiosities than on a well-
served table. What signify these silver palm trees, these gentlemen on horseback, these
allegorical and hieroglyphical figures, and all these whimsical compositions with which
English workers in precious metals have inundated the Exhibition? Nothing but a
dangerous departure from the path of taste, capable of driving the entire branch of
industry into a false path, and drying up the source of its markets. I prefer the manly
and proud simplicity of Odiot. Odiot, the gold and silversmith, has produced gold and
silversmiths' work. All his productions are destined for the use and service of the
table. His candelabra, elegant as they are, are made to carry candles; his soup-tureens
to contain soup, his coffee-pots to pour out coffee. You have only to place a bottle of
champagne, surrounded by ice, in his wine-coolers, made of pure and simple silver—not
forced, not contorted, not oxidised at considerable expense. Thus the famous Germain
covered with his magnificent works the tables and the dressing-tables of Louis XIV. at
Versailles. By the side of these principal pieces, where the perfection of the work vies
with the richness of the material, the branch of industry of electro-silvering and gilding,
of which the head-quarters at Paris are at Messrs. Christoffle and Co.'s has made its
appearance at the Universal Exhibition, and has attracted a great number of visitors. It
arrived late, but it has regained lost time by a skilful display, and brilliant and varied,
which will ever stand in the same relation to gold and silversmiths' work, as cotton lace
does to thread lace, but without damaging the former, or destroying the taste for it.
Elkington's process is still in its infancy. The immense metallic movement of California
and Russia is destined to give it a new impulse, and I am convinced that ere long the
keys of our furniture, a considerable portion of our table cutlery, our hunting weapons,
and the locks of our apartments, will be gilt by this process.
France and England have exhibited gold and silversmiths' work of an immense
amount. Several makers have contributed to the value of jE40,000, some for £20,000,
others for jS10,000. I know not who will buy these Napoleons, these Wellingtons on
horseback, these towers of Babel, these infidel slayers, these tigers, these wolves and
lions, of gold and silver, which are of no use. It appears to me that bronze is better
adapted than the precious metals for purely artistical groups. Bronze is firmer and more
severe, and it has become so flexible in the hands of Parisian workmen, that its chasing
is even superior to that of gold and silver. It is in the industry of bronzes that the
alliance of taste, of form, and imagination, has been most admired. This branch of
industry is growing every day, and its importance will gain much from the comparison
with the bronzes from the remainder of Europe, such as they have appeared at the
Exhibition.
artistical and industrial gold and silversmith's work. Garrard in London, and M. Odiot
in Paris, represented industrial; M. Rudolfi, M. Morel, M. Froment-Meunce, the artistic ■
branch. Which of these is in the right? which in the wrong? Which of them works in
the well-understood interests of production ? How are we to establish an equitable
comparison between such opposite styles ? The gold and silversmith's craft has attained
in these days such a degree of importance, that the question will not be easy to decide in
the midst of the universal jury. Thus the English are still inspired by the ample forms
of the age of Louis XIV., whilst in Trance they have long since studied to imitate
the Grecian and the Koman. The English prefer the useful and the comfortable to be
affected, to the bastard imitations of a revival, the originality of which too often consists
in changing white into black, and to give to silver the colour of iron. We have seen too
many masses of articles of this kind, at the London Exhibition; fantastical groups of
doubtful utility, and better calculated to figure in a cabinet of curiosities than on a well-
served table. What signify these silver palm trees, these gentlemen on horseback, these
allegorical and hieroglyphical figures, and all these whimsical compositions with which
English workers in precious metals have inundated the Exhibition? Nothing but a
dangerous departure from the path of taste, capable of driving the entire branch of
industry into a false path, and drying up the source of its markets. I prefer the manly
and proud simplicity of Odiot. Odiot, the gold and silversmith, has produced gold and
silversmiths' work. All his productions are destined for the use and service of the
table. His candelabra, elegant as they are, are made to carry candles; his soup-tureens
to contain soup, his coffee-pots to pour out coffee. You have only to place a bottle of
champagne, surrounded by ice, in his wine-coolers, made of pure and simple silver—not
forced, not contorted, not oxidised at considerable expense. Thus the famous Germain
covered with his magnificent works the tables and the dressing-tables of Louis XIV. at
Versailles. By the side of these principal pieces, where the perfection of the work vies
with the richness of the material, the branch of industry of electro-silvering and gilding,
of which the head-quarters at Paris are at Messrs. Christoffle and Co.'s has made its
appearance at the Universal Exhibition, and has attracted a great number of visitors. It
arrived late, but it has regained lost time by a skilful display, and brilliant and varied,
which will ever stand in the same relation to gold and silversmiths' work, as cotton lace
does to thread lace, but without damaging the former, or destroying the taste for it.
Elkington's process is still in its infancy. The immense metallic movement of California
and Russia is destined to give it a new impulse, and I am convinced that ere long the
keys of our furniture, a considerable portion of our table cutlery, our hunting weapons,
and the locks of our apartments, will be gilt by this process.
France and England have exhibited gold and silversmiths' work of an immense
amount. Several makers have contributed to the value of jE40,000, some for £20,000,
others for jS10,000. I know not who will buy these Napoleons, these Wellingtons on
horseback, these towers of Babel, these infidel slayers, these tigers, these wolves and
lions, of gold and silver, which are of no use. It appears to me that bronze is better
adapted than the precious metals for purely artistical groups. Bronze is firmer and more
severe, and it has become so flexible in the hands of Parisian workmen, that its chasing
is even superior to that of gold and silver. It is in the industry of bronzes that the
alliance of taste, of form, and imagination, has been most admired. This branch of
industry is growing every day, and its importance will gain much from the comparison
with the bronzes from the remainder of Europe, such as they have appeared at the
Exhibition.