,illustration3 ,,the ,,statue ,,of ,,his ,,royal ,,highness ,,the ,,prince ,,consort4 ,j4 ,h4 ,,foley1 ,sculptor4 ,,travels ,,in ,,south ,,kensington ,,with ,notes on ,decorative ,art and ,architecture in ,england ,,by ,,moncure ,,daniel ,,conway ,,author ,,of 8,,the ,,sacred ,,anthology10 8,,the ,,wandering ,,jew10 8,,thomas ,,carlyle10 ,,etc4 ,,illustrated ,,london ,,tr,,bner ,,co41 ,,ludgate ,,hill #ahhb ,all rights reserved ,ballantyne ,press ,,ballantyne1 ,,hanson ,,and ,,co4 ,,edinburgh ,,and ,,london ,,the ,,south ,,kensington ,,museum ,,decorative ,,art ,,and ,,architecture ,,in ,,england ,,bedford ,,park ,,contents4 ,,page ,,the ,,south ,,kensington ,,museum #ai ,,decorative ,,art ,,and ,,architecture ,,in ,,england #aae ,,bedford ,,park #bae ,,illustrations4 ,,page ,the ,statue of ,his ,royal ,highness the ,prince ,consort ,frontispiece ,south ,kensington ,museum #ba ,sir ,henry ,cole1 ,k4,c4,b4 #cf ,south ,kensington ,museum--,ground ,plan #ci ,diagram showing ,glitter ,points in a ,picture-gallery #dj ,sir ,philip ,cunliffe ,owen1 ,director of ,south ,kensington ,museum #db ,north ,court1 ,north-west ,corner1 ,showing ,casts of the ,biga 7or ,two-horse ,chariot71 from the ,original in ,marble at the ,vatican1 and of the ,pulpit by ,giovani ,pisano1 formerly in the ,cathedral at ,pisa #dd ,south ,court1 ,showing the ,prince ,consort's ,gallery #de ,chinese ,potters at ,work--,window in the ,ceramic ,gallery #dg ,italian ,majolica 7,urbino74 ,sixteenth ,century #ea ,lamp from an ,arabian ,mosque4 ,fourteenth ,century #ec ,palissy1 the ,potter--,window in the ,ceramic ,gallery #ed ,svres ,porcelain ,vase4 ,modern #ee ,henri ,deux ,candlestick #ef ,henri ,deux ,salt-cellar #eh ,michael ,angelo's ,eros #fb ,marble ,cantoria4 ,by ,baccio ,d',agnolo #fe ,tabernacle4 ,andrea ,ferrucci #ff ,altar-piece--the ,virgin with the ,infant ,saviour4--,enamelled ,terra-cotta1 or ,della ,robbia1 in ,high ,relief4 ,by ,andrea ,della ,robbia #fg ,hercules1 the ,duke of ,ferrara #gj ,ashantee ,relics #gb ,the ,cellini ,sardonyx ,ewer1 ,mounted in ,enamelled ,gold1 and ,set with ,gems--,italian4 ,sixteenth ,century #gc ,chsse1 or ,reliquary--,limoges ,enamelled4 ,thirteenth ,century #ge ,pastoral ,staves--,ivory and ,enamel4 ,fourteenth ,century #hb ,elkington's ,mark #he ,franchi and ,son's ,mark #he ,modern ,persian ,ewer 7,copper-coated1 with ,white ,metal7 #id ,old ,persian ,earthenware 7,water-bottle7 #ie ,persian ,kalin #if ,ancient ,persian ,incense-burner 7,pierced and ,chased ,brass7 #ig ,modern ,persian ,incense-burner 7,brass7 #ih ,andrea ,gritti1 ,doge of ,venice--,italian4 ,ascribed to ,vittore ,camelo4 ,sixteenth ,century #ii ,tazza--,algerian ,onyx and ,enamel4 ,modern ,french #ajj ,salt-cellar--,silver ,gilt2 ,italian4 ,fifteenth ,century #ajj ,ivory ,tankard--,augsburg4 ,seventeenth ,century #aja ,finest ,raised ,venetian ,point ,lace--,floral ,design4 ,italian4 ,seventeenth ,century #ajd ,nettle in its ,natural ,state #aji ,nettle in ,geometrical ,proportions #aji ,plan of ,top of ,henri ,deux ,salt-cellar #aaa ,assize ,court1 ,manchester #abb ,minton ,tile #abd ,kidderminster ,carpet--,fern ,design #abg ,minton ,tiles for ,mantel #abi ,albert ,memorial1 ,hyde ,park #aca ,albert ,memorial4 ,europe #acc ,albert ,memorial--,east ,front4 ,painters #acd ,albert ,memorial--,continuation of ,east ,front4 ,painters #acf ,albert ,memorial--,south ,front4 ,poets and ,musicians #ach ,albert ,memorial--,continuation of ,south ,front4 ,musicians #adj ,spandrel ,picture #adg ,owen ,jones #aec ,ebony ,serving-table1 ,mr4 ,lehmann's ,house #afb ,top of ,serving-table1 ,mr4 ,lehmann's ,house #afd ,pot ,designed by ,miss ,lvin #afg ,william ,morris #ahe ,moulding over ,dado #ahf ,chippendale ,mahogany ,moulding1 ,belmont ,house #ahg ,drawing-room of ,bellevue ,house #ahh ,library in ,bellevue ,house #aia ,drawing-room in ,townsend ,house #aid ,a ,grate of ,one ,hundred ,years ,ago #aih ,grate made for ,baron ,rothschild #aii ,boyd's ,grate #bjj ,l4 ,alma ,tadema4--,from a ,bust by ,j4 ,dalou #bjg ,candelabra1 ,townsend ,house #bji ,view from a ,balcony #bag ,dining-room in ,tower ,house #bbb ,queen ,anne's ,gardens #bbd ,co-operative ,stores and ,tabard ,inn #bbe ,tower ,house and ,lawn-tennis ,grounds #bbf ,reading and ,billiard ,room1 ,club-house #bbg ,a ,fancy-dress party at the ,club #bbi ,an ,artist's ,studio #bcc ,illustration ,,prolegomena4 ,homely and ,comely were sisters4 ,their parents were in humble circumstances1 and depended mainly on the care and economy of these two daughters--their entire family4 ,they were persons of some social position1 and it had constituted a problem how they might preserve some relation to the community and at the same time maintain comfort at home3 ,youth required the former1 ,age needed the latter4 ,it was settled in a way which this historian cannot commend3 the arrangement was that one of the girls should attend to the external1 the other to the internal affairs of the family4 ,so soon as this was resolved1 there was no difficulty in determining which of the girls should go out and which stay at home4 ,there was about ,comely a certain ease and address1 as well as personal attractiveness1 which seemed to make society her natural sphere2 while the shyness and plainness of ,homely made the task of remaining at home congenial4 ,homely was content with homespun clothes in order that ,comely might wear silk4 ,whenever there was a ball or a festival1 ,comely was sure to come1 and ,homely stayed at home4 ,gradually1 however1 this distribution of parts appeared not to have the happiest results4 ,comely grew so fond of the gay world that her home became distasteful2 she demanded1 too1 more and more of the family resources for her fashionable attire1 and the concession deprived the house of everything but the barest utensils4 ,on the other hand1 ,homely had stayed withindoors so much that she became slovenly1 and1 as she had to wear her homespun till it was threadbare1 in order that her sister might keep up with the fashions1 she became unlovely to look upon4 ,comely came at length to despise her sister4 ,homely became a peevish drudge4 ,the family by degrees became unhappy1 without being very clear as to the cause of their troubles4 ,one night ,comely came home from a ball in unusual agitation4 ,her sister was aroused to hear the confidence that a lover of rank1 handsome and charming1 had discovered his interest in ,comely4 ,any differences the sisters may have had were quite forgotten in the renewal of their natural sympathy caused by this incident4 ,the next morning a messenger arrived to announce that his master1 ,lord ,deeplooke1 was on his way to visit ,comely and the family in their own home1 and would arrive in an hour4 ,here was a sensation6 ,the two sisters set themselves to work--even ,comely using her hands for once--to make the chief room of the house neat4 ,but ,comely looked on the blank walls with dismay1 and said1 8,surely there used to be some pictures40 8,yes10 replied ,homely1 8but you are wearing the last of them now40 ,comely blushed--and the blush was becoming--at this2 but the sisters gathered some beautiful flowers and decorated the room as well as they could4 ,when this was attended to ,comely was about to repair to her room to decorate herself1 and called her sister to do the same2 but ,homely declared she already had on her very best gown4 ,comely was shocked at this1 and entreated her sister to conceal herself during the nobleman's visit4 ,this ,homely was quite willing to do4 ,when ,lord ,deeplooke arrived1 ,comely met him in the finest array she had next to the ball-dress4 ,she introduced him to her venerable parents2 but a shade of anxiety passed over her face when she observed his lordship presently looking around as if he expected some one else4 ,she then remembered that the messenger had announced that he was coming to visit not her alone but the family1 and that on the evening before1 at the ball1 she had casually mentioned her sister4 ,with a quick wit ,comely anticipated the inquiry she knew would be made and left the room1 remarking1 as she did so1 8,i pray your lordship to excuse me while ,i seek my sister40 ,another moment and the two girls were hurriedly investing ,homely in ,comely's second-best dress4 ,it was a novel experience for ,homely to be dressed in a pretty gown2 it was equally novel for her to be introduced to a gentleman1 much less a lord2 and the two novelties together had an almost transforming effect upon her4 ,home-work and early hours had kept her in perfect health2 her manners had no chance to be other than simple2 and as no experiences of fashionable life had made her blas1 her face was suffused with an exquisite color1 and her eye bright with delight1 when she entered the room and was introduced to his lordship4 ,the reader must not be kept in suspense for another instant4 ,it was not ,comely but ,homely that ,lord ,deeplooke ultimately married4 ,homely having discovered the secret that lay in a becoming dress1 chiefly from its effect on the feeling of the wearer1 stoutly refused to be slovenly any more2 and all her serviceable virtues1 thus set in a fit frame1 were found to have touched her countenance into unconventional beauty4 ,on the other hand1 ,comely1 though at first jealous and angry1 gradually appreciated the lesson she had been taught4 ,she did not1 indeed1 forget the magical effect wrought on her sister by a beautiful dress2 but she pondered deeply the qualities fostered at home which she had supposed incongruous with such raiment1 but now saw particularly harmonious with it2 and thenceforth1 even before ,homely was married1 ,comely devoted herself to household work4 ,need ,i say that in this ,comely was far more successful than her sister had been8 ,all the beauty she had seen in the gay world1 an occasional visit to which she still enjoyed1 now became available4 ,pictures reappeared on the walls1 which her sister had supposed were just as useful without them4 ,touches of color1 a ribbon on the curtain which had hitherto been tied with a string1 a hundred refinements which required only a cultured taste1 gradually transformed the house1 just as ,comely's dress had transformed ,homely4 ,for these improvements ,comely had been glad to part with her mere finery1 though she never forgot that a slovenly mistress makes a slatternly home4 ,comely subsequently married an artist1 who1 beginning life as a sign-painter1 was made a knight for the best example of domestic decoration exhibited at the ,great ,exposition of #ah--1 a model which1 he frankly confessed1 was suggested by the house in which he found his bride4 99 99 99 99 99 ,there are1 indeed1 few words in our language of more peculiar1 or even pathetic1 import than the word 8homely40 ,it has gradually come to bear the significance of coarseness or even ugliness1 as if these were quite appropriate to the home4 ,it is1 indeed1 fortunate that the home can supply affection for things and persons not very presentable2 but it is none the less true that the word has gradually come to represent the impression that beauty is for outside show1 and that anything will do for home purposes4 ,decoration 7decus7 means the bestowal of honor4 ,beauty followed honor4 ,because man honored his deity1 grand temples and cathedrals arose and altars blazed with gems2 and because he honored the prince and the noble1 palaces were decked with splendor4 ,all this time the home remained homely1 for religion denied its sanctity and aristocracy despised it as the dwelling-place of a serf4 ,the wealthy called their residences palaces1 chteaux1 castles1 villas1 seats1 anything but 8homes40 ,the 8,home0 came to mean some common asylum of the poor4 ,but at last two mighty forces invaded ,europe--,democracy and ,heresy4 ,sternly they forbade man longer to spend his strength and his honor on allied ,tyranny and ,superstition4 ,then the ,arts declined1 because the convictions which had inspired them were shaken4 ,several of the grandest cathedrals were struck by a sort of paralysis and could never get finished1 and palaces had to continue their grandeur on terra-cotta and tinsel4 ,and now the cunning workman1 having struck work upon shrines and thrones1 began to think of his own mind1 so long left vacant that temples might be adorned1 of his wife and child1 so long stinted that palaces might be luxurious4 ,the first expression of this new reflection was not outward3 it was in the decoration of men's minds with furniture of another kind--with science1 poetry1 and literature4 ,enamored of these deeper pleasures1 man almost despised and hated the outward arts which symbolized his long thraldom4 ,and perhaps it was necessary that the ancient splendors which invested a departed era should fade1 and that man should retire as into an ugly shell to mature the pearl of an inner life4 ,the old artists1 artisans1 potters--the ,bellinis1 ,angelos1 ,palissys1 ,della ,robbias--reappeared in ,rousseau1 ,milton1 ,bunyan--artists of an invisible beauty1 disowning ,art while frescoing the mind with ideals4 ,for a time the work of imagination went on in humble dwellings amidst ,puritan plainness4 ,but finally1 even in the beginning of this generation1 it began to be asked in ,england whether the mind and heart thus formed might not be honored with a fit environment of beauty4 ,to this end ,london established its great ,school of ,design and ,decoration4 ,thereto have gravitated the fragments of a ,past that has crumbled--images1 altars1 shrines1 decorations lavished by genius on ideals ere they hardened to idols2 imperial services1 jewels1 sceptres1 wrought before kings became survivals and phantasms4 ,it is ,england1 land of beautiful homes1 reviving the art of decoration for the ,age of ,humanity4 ,she will no longer have the home to be homely4 ,her call has gone round the world1 and temples and palaces deliver up their treasures that they may gather in ,london1 there to teach the millions how they may beautify the latter-day temple1 which is the ,home1 and refine the latter-day king1 which is ,man4 99 99 99 99 99 ,it is said that the ,londoner may be known1 in any part of the world where he may die1 if his lungs are examined--they being of a sooty color4 ,so much of his great metropolis he is doomed to carry with him wherever he may journey4 ,london itself must forever bear1 through and through1 the effect of its fogs and its climate4 ,rain was its architect and ,smoke its decorator4 ,but let no one hastily conclude that their work has been all unlovely4 ,john ,ruskin has pointed it out as a characteristic of the greatest ,english artist1 ,turner1 that there was nothing so ugly about ,england but he could bring beauty out of it2 but that fine artist1 ,necessity1 worked long before ,turner in transmuting apparent disadvantages to advantages4 8,it is10 said ,charles ,kingsley1 8the hard gray ,english climate which has made hard gray ,englishmen40 ,there is as little terra-cotta on the ,englishman's house as on his character4 ,it has been determined for him by ,rain and ,fog that he shall seek his pleasures by the fireside instead of in public gardens and ftes4 ,what beauty he can afford must be of the interior4 ,without1 gray dirty brick and wall2 within1 every comfort and refinement3 such are the decree of his superficially dismal decorators4 ,of course the wealthy ,londoners have always fought against their hard climatic environment1 and against the ever-encroaching ugliness which is the attendant shadow of millions massed together in the struggle for existence on a small island4 ,there are still a few mansions1 only a little way from the present centre of ,london1 which attest the fine taste which its wealthy citizens have always tried to cultivate in the direction of architectural beauty4 ,about two hundred and fifty years ago ,northumberland ,house was described as 8in the village of ,charing40 ,that is now ,charing ,cross1 the heart of the metropolis2 a street runs over the site of ,northumberland ,house4 ,where once was ,charing hermitage is now a huge hotel and railway station4 ,about two hundred years ago1 when the ,earl of ,burlington was building ,burlington ,house on ,piccadilly1 about half a mile west of ,charing ,cross1 he was asked why he was building so far away in the country1 and replied1 8,i am resolved to have no house beyond me40 ,the earl's resolution was not kept4 ,he lived to find himself amidst a noisy thoroughfare1 and now one may travel five miles to the westward of his old country-seat without leaving the avenue of brick and mortar which passes its door4 ,this migration of dwellings to ever-extending suburbs is1 indeed1 traced in much grander buildings than the tasteful old mansions which are being swallowed up because of their uneconomical occupancy of space3 so much general stateliness is secured by the vast increase and diffusion of wealth2 but the rarity with which the unique beauties of the older mansions are imitated1 and the utter absence of any attempt at individuality in even the wealthiest new quarters--such as ,belgrave ,square--would seem to indicate that the ,londoners have finally adopted it as a creed that external architecture and gardens must no longer be sought for by individuals1 but possessed by all in communal forms1 as public edifices1 squares1 and parks4 ,it is now usual1 in the new parts of ,london1 for the grandest mansions of a terrace to own a large garden in common1 to which each has entrance by a back gate1 and to whose maintenance and ornamentation each family contributes a small sum per annum4 ,in its journey of eighteen centuries1 from being that small trading-village mentioned by ,tacitus--8not yet dignified with the name of colony0--to its present dimensions1 covering #abe square miles1 ,london has been formed by forces of use1 by world-historical movements--powers not to be criticised4 ,but we may admire in some of the characteristics of its mighty growth some of that beauty which ever works at the heart of the hardest utility4 ,for example1 in its expansion ,london is said to have swallowed up and built over more than three hundred villages2 but in every case the village-green has been spared1 and these are now represented by those beautiful and embowered squares which everywhere adorn the metropolis1 constitute with the seven large parks its lungs1 and make it the healthiest city of the world in proportion to its population4 ,though the ancient houses built by the wealthy were beautiful1 and1 wherever remaining1 bring such large prices that one wonders why they should not be imitated1 yet the homes of the lower classes in old times were far uglier than now4 ,especially were they made dismal by that barbarous 8tax on light10 whose monuments may frequently be observed in windows walled up to avoid the window-tax4 ,the poor had to live in houses illuminated from one or two windows1 until the clever gentlemen of the ,exchequer perceived the costliness of this means of revenue4 ,as the ,swiss mountaineers have come to admire goitres1 unless belied by rumor1 and as the city man1 from having to put up with 8high0 game1 has gradually come to prefer it1 so the ,london builders for a long time placed few windows in houses1 and seem to have thought the effect solid and 8,english10 as contrasted with the light and airy style of ,french houses4 ,the newest streets of ,london show1 however1 that light on this subject has dawned upon the ,english architectural mind1 through that into the homes of the people1 to such an extent that the tax is now upon darkness4 ,it is now accepted as a principle that as ,smoke has had its way with the outside of the ,london habitation1 hereafter the first decorator of the interior is to be--,light4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in these fragmentary first pages of a fragmentary work1 it has been the author's aim to outline certain general ideas and historical facts1 which may illustrate their own illustrations as written in the following pages4 ,it will be best seen1 when approached from the historical side1 what may be regarded as a necessary factor in ,english art or architecture1 and what may be considered as experiment4 ,this is the more important for the ,american1 who is1 in an especial sense1 8heir of all the ages10 while not limited to the grooves prescribed by any4 ,it is in ,america that we are to have the great ,art of ,arts--that whose task is to utilize the ,arts of other lands and ages as pigments1 to be combined into new proportions for unprecedented effects1 and to invest fairer ideals4 ,for ,america the author has written these contributions toward a knowledge of what has been done1 and is being done1 in ,england2 but he would prefer now to burn his work rather than have it aid the retrogressive notion that ,art in ,america is to copy the ornamentation or duplicate the work of other countries1 much less of other ages4 ,these things can mean for the artists and people of the ,united ,states nothing more than culture2 and culture means not a mere eclectic importation of select facts and truths1 but their recombination1 in obedience to a new vital principle related to a further idea and wider purpose4 ,,the ,,south ,,kensington ,,museum4 ,illustration3 ,,south ,,kensington ,,museum4 ,,the ,,south ,,kensington ,,museum4 8,come10 said my friend1 ,professor ,omnium1 one clear morning1 8let us take an excursion round the world60 ,my friend is a ,german1 and he has such a calm familiarity with the unconditioned and the impossible1 that a suggestion which1 coming from another1 would appear astounding1 from him appears normal4 ,this time1 however1 ,i look through his spectacles to see if his eyes have not a merry twinkle3 they are quite serene4 ,visions of the ,parisian play entitled ,round the ,world in ,eighty ,days1 thoughts of ,puck and excursion tickets1 rise before me1 and ,i gravely pronounce the word 8,impossible60 8,but10 says the professor1 8,kant declares that it is too bold for any man1 in the present state of our knowledge1 to pronounce that word40 8,my dear friend10 said ,i1 8it is among my dreams one day to visit ,india1 ,china1 ,japan1 ,california2 but at present you might as well ask me to go with you to the moon40 8,you misunderstand10 replies ,professor ,omnium3 8,i do not propose to leave ,london4 ,we can never go round the world1 except in a small limited way1 if we leave ,london4 ,how much does an excursionist in ,india see of that country8 ,only a few cities1 a few ruins1 and the outside of some old temples1 and he only sees a little of them4 ,i stayed in ,rome three days once--all the time ,i had there--trying to get a glimpse of some antiquarian treasures in the ,bocca della ,verita ,church3 first day1 the church was closed to all outsiders by regulation2 second day1 the building was occupied by a pious crowd1 and services were going on from daybreak to midnight2 third day was so dark and rainy that ,i couldn't see anything4 ,on my way back ,i met an archologist who had been in ,nuremberg a week trying to scrutinize an old shrine2 he had seen many priests1 but only caught glimpses through railings of the shrine 7,st4 ,sebald's1 which exists in full-sized fac-simile at ,south ,kensington71 and the net result of his journey was represented in fifty photographs1 just a little inferior to my own collection of the same--bought in ,regent ,street4 ,i tell you1 sir1 there are few greater humbugs than this travelling about to see ,objects 7with a big ,o7 of ,interest4 ,it's expensive4 ,somebody says most travellers carry ruins to ruins1 but the purses they carry away are the worst ruins of all4 ,a man may well travel to see the world of men and women2 but so far as art and antiquity are concerned1 he who goes away from ,london shall have the experience of the boy in the fable1 who dreamed about the beautiful blue hills on the horizon until he left his own flinty hill-side and journeyed to them2 he found them flintier than his own1 and1 looking back1 saw his own hill to be bluest after all40 8,ah1 then10 ,i put in--when ,omnium is talking it is well to put in when one can--8you begin by asking me to go round the world1 and end with sneering at all my dreams of ,india and ,japan--0 8,not a bit of it10 cried the professor2 8but ten thousand people and a dozen governments have been at infinite pains and expense to bring the cream of the ,east and of the ,west to your own doors3 you turn your back1 and pine for the skim-milk4 ,yesterday ,i was talking with ,dr4 ,downingrue1 an amiable and learned gentleman1 who has been an official in the ,india ,house here for twenty years1 and was lately given furlough for a year4 ,that year he passed in ,turkey and ,persia4 ,he told me that he wished to see a certain sacred book1 written in ancient ,zend1 curiously illustrated with the most ancient pictures in the world1 one of them possibly a portrait of the great ,zoroaster himself4 ,it was1 he had heard1 kept in the archives of the city of ,bam ,buzel1 and he went a journey of three days and nights in a wagon to see and examine its text4 ,fancy his disgust at finding only an entry that the volume in question had been removed by order of the ,shah in #ahee1 and that the ,keeper of the ,archives knew nothing whatever of its whereabouts4 ,i took ,downingrue by the hand1 led him up one flight of stairs1 and took down the old ,zend book from its shelf there in ,downing ,street1 where it had remained quietly1 twenty feet over his head1 while he worked twenty years for freedom to go searching for it in ,persia6 ,now ,i heard you talking a few evenings ago about your hopes of one day seeing ,shiraz and ,mecca1 the ,topes in ,india1 and the great ,daiboots ,buddha in ,japan4 ,i have called this morning to say1 firstly1 ,don't6 secondly1 ,come1 go round the world with me here in ,london6 ,there is in the ,south ,kensington ,museum as noble a ,buddha as that at ,daiboots1 which hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have journeyed for weeks to see3 you have only to walk fifteen minutes to see it--not a copy either1 but the huge bronze itself4 ,you may travel through ,mexico1 ,peru1 and ,chili for ten years1 and in all that time never see one-hundredth part of the vestiges of their primitive life and history which you shall see in the ,british ,museum4 ,greece8--and be captured by brigands4 ,professor ,newton has ,greece under lock and key1 from ,diana's ,temple to the private accounts of ,pericles4 ,assyria8--you go1 and find that the human heart of it has migrated2 you come back1 and ,george ,smith reconstructs it for you--0 ,there was no sign that ,omnium was ever coming to an end3 the only way of stopping him is surrender2 and it was not long before we were making our pilgrimage through ,stone ,age and ,bronze ,age1 as recovered by the ages of ,iron and ,gold1 and still more by the ages of ,art and ,science4 ,the professor held a very positive theory that to travel round the world profitably you must first travel up to it1 assimilating its past ages4 ,two recent stories had taken a strong hold on his imagination3 one was about a learned historian of his own ,germany1 who had resolved that it was essential to the complete culture of his little son that the child should begin where the world began1 believe implicitly in its fetiches1 follow them till they changed to anthropomorphic gods and goddesses1 these again till the ,christian wand transformed them to fairies and demons1 and so on4 ,by this means the historian meant that his boy should bear in his individual periods of life corresponding periods in the growth of the race1 and sum up at last the long column in a total of rational philosophy2 but the boy is now growing old1 and at last accounts had got only as far as ,roman ,catholicism1 and there--stuck6 ,the other story which haunted ,omnium's mind came from ,california1 and was to the effect that upon the head of a woman in mesmeric sleep there was laid the fossil tooth of a mammoth1 whereupon she at once gave as graphic a description of the world the extinct animal had inhabited when alive as could have been given by any paleontologist4 8,both good stories1 eh80 said the professor1 with a hearty laugh2 8almost as good as ,pilpay's fables3 both of them fictitious notions ending in fantasies2 but both1 so to speak1 prophetic types of what real science with real materials enables us to do to-day4 ,we can1 indeed1 #8interview' the mammoth1 as you ,americans say2 we can hang his portrait on our walls along with our other ancestors2 and we can assimilate the education of the human race1 not by beginning with being assimilated by its embryonic ages1 risking failure to pick through the egg-shell at last1 but by bringing to bear the lens of imagination1 polished by science1 and carrying so a cultured human vision through all the buried ,city of ,forms40 ,since the few mornings when ,i had the pleasure of rambling with my ,german friend in the museums of ,london1 and listening to his raptures1 ,i have passed a great deal of time in those institutions1 and with a growing sense that his enthusiasm was not misplaced4 ,indeed1 so far as the museum at ,south ,kensington is concerned--to which the present paper is especially devoted--to study it with care1 and then stand in it intelligently1 must1 one would say1 convey to any man a sense of his own eternity4 ,vista upon vista6 ,the eye never reaches the farthest end in the past from which humanity has toiled upward1 its steps traced in fair victories over chaos1 nor does it alight on any historic epoch not related to itself3 the artist1 artisan1 scholar1 each finds himself gathering out of the dust of ages successive chapters of his own spiritual biography4 ,and even as he so lives the ,past from which he came over again1 he finds1 at the converging point of these manifold lines of development1 wings for his imagination1 by which he passes on the aerial track of tendency1 stretching his hours to ages1 living already in the ,golden ,year4 ,there is no other institution in which an hour seems at once so brief and so long4 ,a few other ,european museums may surpass this in other specialties than its own2 though1 when the natural history collections of the ,british ,museum are transferred to their magnificent abode at ,south ,kensington1 one will find at the door of this museum a collection of that kind not inferior to the best with which ,agassiz and others have enriched the ,swiss establishments2 but no other has so well classified and so well lighted an equal variety and number of departments1 and objects representing that which is its own specialty--,man1 as expressed in the works that embody his heart and genius4 ,the museum has been in existence about twenty-five years 7#ahhb74 ,its buildings and contents have cost the nation about one million pounds3 an auction on the premises to-day could not bring less than twenty millions4 ,such a disproportion between outlay and outcome has led some to regard ,south ,kensington as a peculiarly fortunate institution2 but there has been no luck in its history4 ,success1 as ,friar ,bacon reminds us1 is a flower that implies a soil of many virtues4 ,if magnificent collections and invaluable separate donations have steadily streamed to this museum1 so that its buildings are unceasingly expanding for their reception1 it is because the law of such things is to seek such protection and fulfil such uses as individuals can rarely provide for them4 ,i remarked once to a gentleman1 who did as much as any other to establish this museum1 that ,i had heard with pleasure of various ,american gentlemen inquiring about it1 and considering whether such an institution might not exist in their own country1 and he said3 8,let them plant the thing and it can't help growing1 and most likely beyond their powers--as it has been almost beyond ours--to keep up with it4 ,what is wanted first of all is one or two good brains1 with the means of erecting a good building on a piece of ground considerably larger than is required for that building4 ,the good brains will be sure to recognize the fact that we have been doing a large part of their work for them at ,south ,kensington4 ,it is no longer a matter of opinion or of discussion how a building shall be constructed for the purpose of exhibiting pictures and other articles4 ,the laws of it are as fixed as the multiplication table4 ,where there have been secured substantial1 luminous galleries for exhibition1 in a fire-proof building1 and these are known to be carefully guarded by night and day1 there can be no need to wait long for treasures to flow into it4 ,above all1 let your men take care of the interior1 and not set out with wasting their strength and money on external grandeur and decoration4 ,the inward built up rightly1 the outward will be added in due season40 ,there is no presumption in the high claims of the curators and architects of the ,south ,kensington ,museum for the principle and method of their building4 ,for it must be borne in mind that every difficulty that could conceivably present itself had to be solved by them in its extreme form3 they had to deal with the gloomiest and dampest climate and the smokiest city in the world1 and1 a fortiori1 they have solved every difficulty that can arise under less dismal skies4 ,nevertheless1 this museum need not rest upon the claims made in its behalf by any authority4 ,no statement can be so instructive and impressive as its own history1 so far as that history exists2 for1 great as is the success it has attained1 there is no one aspect of it which1 if examined1 does not reveal that it is rapidly growing to a larger future4 ,i applied to a man who sells photographs of such edifices for pictures of the main buildings4 ,he had none4 8,what1 no photograph of the ,south ,kensington ,museum60 ,i exclaimed1 with some impatience4 8,why1 sir10 replied the man1 mildly1 8you see1 the museum doesn't stand still long enough to be photographed40 ,and so1 indeed1 it seems2 and this constant addition of new buildings1 and of new decorations on those already erected1 is the physiognomical expression of the rapid growth and expansion of the new intellectual and sthetic epoch which called the institution into existence1 and is through it gradually climbing to results which no man can foresee4 ,from a valuable paper on local archological museums1 contributed to the ,building ,news1 ,june #aath1 #ahge1 ,i gather some of the following facts relating to the origin of the chief ,english museums4 ,in the middle of the seventeenth century there was formed at ,lambeth1 in ,london1 the first place that could be described as a museum4 ,it was called 8,tradescant's ,ark40 ,it consisted of objects of natural history collected in ,barbary and other states by ,tradescant1 sometime gardener to ,queen ,elizabeth4 ,this valuable collection was bequeathed1 in #affb1 by the younger ,tradescant to ,elias ,ashmole1 who gave it to ,oxford in #affg1 and it was the basis of the now valuable ,ashmolean ,museum of that place4 ,sir ,robert ,bruce ,cotton1 after graduation in #aehe1 associated with the antiquaries of his day1 ,joscelin1 ,lambard1 ,camden1 and ,noel1 and collected rare books and antiquities1 which became the nucleus of the ,british ,museum4 ,sir ,hans ,sloane died one hundred and twenty years ago1 and by will offered his collection of ,,mss4 and artistic and natural curiosities 7for which he had paid #ej1jjj7 to the nation for #bj1jjj4 ,in #agec the ,harleian collection was purchased4 ,when a place in which to deposit these treasures was sought1 ,buckingham ,house 7now ,buckingham ,palace7 was offered for #cj1jjj2 but an offer by ,lord ,halifax of ,montague ,house 7built by ,hooke1 the mathematician7 for #aj1jjj was accepted1 and so the museum stands at ,bloomsbury4 ,the public was first 8admitted to view0 7the phrase is still used at the museum7 the collections in #agei4 ,george ,,ii4 presented the old ,royal ,library1 founded by ,henry ,,vii41 containing monastic spoils4 ,the ,lansdowne ,,mss4 were bought in #ahjg for #dibe2 the ,burney collection1 eleven years later1 for #ac1ejj2 and in #ahbj ,sir ,j4 ,banks bequeathed his library of natural history4 ,at the time of the foundation of the ,british ,archaeological ,association in #ahdd there were outside of ,london but three museums1 namely1 at ,oxford1 ,york1 and ,salisbury4 ,now nearly every large town has its museum in which to treasure the monumental relics and natural curiosities of its neighborhood4 ,york has the sarcophagi1 tessellated pavements1 and altars of ,eboracum1 ,salisbury the spoils of ,uriconium1 ,colchester the remains of ,camulodunum1 ,bath those of ,aquae ,solis1 and ,cirencester those of ,corinium4 ,the ,brown ,museum at ,liverpool is rich in ,anglo-,saxon remains1 and the important collection described by ,wylie in his ,fairford ,graves is in the ,ashmolean at ,oxford4 ,the ,brown ,museum derives its name from ,sir ,w4 ,brown1 who not only added to it a large building1 but his collection 7which cost him #ej1jjj7 of consular diptychs1 ,etruscan jewelry1 ,limoges enamels1 ,wedgwood pottery1 and important ,roman and ,saxon antiquities4 ,the ,scarborough ,museum has interesting ,british relics1 among them a tree coffin of great rarity4 ,the ,exeter ,museum has a good set of ,celtic pottery1 and bronze implements found in ,devon4 ,wisbech possesses superb examples of mediaeval art and important ,egyptian antiquities4 ,in the ,torquay ,museum may be found the vast collection of flint implements found in the famous ,kent's ,cavern through the industry of ,mr4 ,pengelly1 the geologist1 along with remains of extinct animals discovered beside them4 ,the ,halifax ,museum1 in which ,professor ,tyndall passed his early scientific apprenticeship1 is rich in the curiosities of the coal measures1 and has important ,egyptian as well as ,roman remains4 ,there are many other museums in the country--indeed1 hardly any important town is without one2 but ,i must not fail to mention a very interesting one at ,canterbury4 ,it contains ,roman tessellated pavements2 a large number of ancient terra-cotta forms1 presented by the late ,viscount ,strangford1 who brought them from the ,greek isles1 ,egypt1 and ,asia ,minor2 two extremely interesting ,runic stones found near ,sandwich2 and many such interesting antiquities as the 8,curfew ,bell0 and 8,couvre ,feu20 and some very odd ones--for instance1 the severed hand of ,sir ,john ,heydon1 who was killed by ,sir ,robert ,mansfield in a duel1 anno #afjj4 ,in a graphic article published some years ago ,sir ,henry ,cole described 7what it is almost impossible for the ,londoner of to-day to realize7 the condition of this metropolis at the beginning of the century4 ,the only institution which then existed for preserving any object of art or science was the ,british ,museum1 which was founded in #agec1 in which year a sum of #cjj1jjj was raised by lottery to purchase certain collections--as that of ,sir ,hans ,sloane1 and the ,cotton ,,mss4--over the drawing of which lottery 7#ajj1jjj tickets at three pounds each71 at ,guildhall1 the ,lord ,chancellor1 the ,speaker of the ,house of ,commons1 and the ,archbishop of ,canterbury presided6 ,but this sole institution excited the very smallest interest in the country1 and so late as forty years ago ,croker jeered in ,parliament at ,bloomsbury as a terra incognita1 and ,carlyle's brilliant friend and pupil1 ,charles ,buller1 wrote an article describing a voyage of exploration he had made to that region1 with some account of the curious manners and customs of the inhabitants4 8,about a hundred visitors a day on an average10 says ,sir ,henry ,cole 7there are now as many visitors to the ,british ,museum per hour71 8in parties of five persons only1 were admitted to gape at the unlabelled #8rarities and curiosities' deposited in ,montague ,house4 ,the state of things outside the ,british ,museum was analogous4 ,westminster ,abbey was closed except for divine service1 and to show a closet of wax-work4 ,admittance to the public monuments in ,st4 ,paul's and other churches was irksome to obtain1 and costly3 even the ,tower of ,london could not be seen for less than six shillings4 ,the private picture-galleries were most difficult of access1 and1 for those not belonging to the upper ten thousand1 it might be a work of years to get a sight of the ,grosvenor and ,stafford collections4 ,no national gallery existed1 and ,lord ,liverpool's government refused to accept the pictures now at ,dulwich1 offered by ,sir ,francis ,bourgeois1 even on condition of merely housing them4 ,the ,national ,portrait ,gallery1 the ,south ,kensington ,museum1 and the ,geological ,museum were not even conceived4 ,kew ,gardens were shabby and neglected1 and possessed no museum4 ,hampton ,court ,palace was shown1 by a fee to the house-keeper1 one day in the week4 ,no public schools of art or science existed in the metropolis or the seats of manufacture4 ,the ,royal ,academy had its annual exhibition on the first and second floors of ,somerset ,house1 in rooms now used by the ,registrar-general1 whose functions then had no existence4 ,it was only at the ,british ,institution or at ,christie's auction-rooms that a youthful artist like ,mulready could chance to see the work of an old master1 as he has often told us4 ,dr4 ,birkbeck had not founded the present ,mechanics' ,institute in ,southampton ,buildings1 and the first stone of the ,london ,university1 in ,gower ,street1 was not laid4 ,not a penny of the public taxes was devoted to national education4 ,hard drinking was as much a qualification for membership of the ,dilettanti ,society as the nominal one of a tour in ,italy4 ,men's minds were more anxiously engaged with bread riots and corn laws1 ,thistlewood's conspiracy and ,peterloo massacres1 ,catholic emancipation and rotten boroughs1 than with the arts and sciences1 for the advancement of which1 in truth1 there was hardly any liking1 thought1 or opportunity40 ,this being the condition of ,london1 the state of things in other parts of the ,united ,kingdom may easily be inferred4 ,there are now fifteen important public museums and art galleries in or near ,london4 ,the ancient buildings of interest are shown without fees4 ,more than a million people visited a single one of these museums last year4 ,there are seven large schools for art training in ,london alone1 and #aea in the whole country1 with #cj1bci pupils4 ,the number of pupils at ,south ,kensington ,art ,school for the scholastic year ending ,july1 #ahhj1 was #hbd4 ,these numbers refer exclusively to those who mean to devote their lives to art4 ,the official report for #ahha gives #dgeh as the number of elementary schools in which art is taught1 #gfh1ffa as the number of children instructed1 the total amount of the grants in aid of them being #dc1bjc in the same year4 ,public interest in the treasures of art and science in ,london--whose extent was unknown to any one--first manifested itself in #ahce1 when ,parliament caused an inquiry to be made into the state of the ,british ,museum2 a second committee inquired in #ahdg1 a third in #ahei4 ,the result of these inquiries was a series of ponderous ,blue-books1 which few ever saw1 but which that few studied very carefully4 ,it finally burst upon the country that the ,british ,museum and its collections had1 up to #ahfj1 cost three millions of pounds1 and that it was 8in hopeless confusion1 valuable collections wholly hidden from the public1 and great portions of others in danger of being destroyed by damp and neglect40 ,the commissioners of #ahei who made this report also pointed out the cause of the evils they recognized4 ,the museum was in the hands of forty-seven trustees1 each of whom seemed to think that there were plenty to manage the affair without his concerning himself individually in the matter4 ,never was costlier broth so near being spoiled by multiplicity of cooks1 when ,panizzi1 by a sort of coup d'tat1 brought a strong executive control to bear upon it4 ,it is a singular fact that even now the ,british government does not formally adopt the ,british ,museum4 ,the vote for supplies of its ways and means is given each year on a motion made by a member sitting on the opposition benches4 ,during ,mr4 ,gladstone's administration it was made by the ,right ,hon4 ,s4 ,walpole1 a trustee of the museum2 when ,lord ,beaconsfield was in power it was made by the ,right ,hon4 ,robert ,lowe1 also a trustee4 ,the money is supplied grudgingly4 ,there can hardly be found elsewhere men of such eminence in their own departments as ,professor ,newton1 ,reginald ,stuart ,poole1 and ,story-,maskelyne 7the mineralogist72 there can be found none who have done such enormous work in bringing order out of chaos in the ,british ,museum2 yet they receive salaries of six hundred and fifty pounds each for labors that deserve a thousand4 ,the condition of this museum has much improved of late4 ,the vast growth of its collections had crowded its literary and scientific employs into miserable unventilated cells1 and their murmurings of years have until now been unheeded4 ,when the first victim1 the ,talmudic scholar1 ,emanuel ,deutsch1 was dying1 he said1 8,perhaps when ,i am gone they will do something40 ,this was the hope of the thirty-eight scholars buried alive in the printed-book department4 ,he died1 and nothing was done4 ,then fell the second victim1 ,mr4 ,warren1 head of the transcribing department4 ,this caused a panic4 ,the readers of the reading-room1 many of whom suffer from the now medically recognized 8,museum headache10 took the matter up4 ,the trustees visited the room where the two scholars had perished1 and condemned it4 ,but several rooms only a little better were still used1 and another able assistant1 an eminent author1 barely saved his life by resigning a post he had held in the museum for over twenty years4 ,the principal librarian1 ,bond1 and keeper of printed books1 ,bullen1 have done much to improve the state of things3 but there is still a great want of private rooms for the assistant librarians1 who generally have to sit in draughty galleries1 where no open fires are to be got at4 ,that this huge building should have become absurdly inadequate for its contents and its original purpose indicates the vast progress of ,english science in recent years4 ,the keepers of antiquities felt themselves bound to declare that there were valuable ,egyptian1 ,assyrian1 and ,greek monuments and inscriptions1 in the crypts and corners of the museum1 quite as useless for scientific purposes as if they had remained buried in the lands where they were exhumed4 ,much relief1 both to the assistants and to the scholars who have had to dig like ,schliemann for some of the museum's treasures1 will follow the removal of the vast zoological collections to ,south ,kensington4 ,the final result will be that the ,british ,museum will be specialized1 and become the treasury of the national archives and the national library4 ,as for the matter of payment1 it certainly constitutes the gravest problem besetting institutions of this character4 ,the best work done for literature1 art1 and science 7so far as they are connected with the state7 is done on small salaries1 a thousand pounds being considered a vast sum for great men4 ,even such men as ,tyndall and ,lockyer get less than that by their official positions4 ,but these gentlemen all feel the danger that might arise if such work became so well paid as to allure the incompetent1 and its offices become objects of political intrigue4 ,at present no country is better served in such matters than ,england1 such men as those mentioned being content with small salaries because of the ample means of research afforded them4 ,and indeed it would appear enough to prevent the offices for scientific and other work of an intellectual character being sought for gain1 if some clever statesman would invent a way of paying the additional sums needed 8in kind10 but in some kind1 also1 not transmutable into values for other than the learned4 ,it must be admitted that thus far no ,english minister has appreciated the necessity that scholars should have salaries sufficiently large to raise them above anxiety1 and to render unnecessary the too frequent frittering away of invaluable time and power in a multiplicity of extraneous and lucrative employments4 ,the redemption of the ,british ,museum1 so far as it has proceeded1 as well as the establishment of nearly every institution of importance to art or science in the country1 was largely due to the instruction by example represented in the ,south ,kensington ,museum4 ,this institution1 it is important to remember1 did not grow out of any desire to heap curiosities together or to make any popular display2 it grew out of a desire for industrial art culture1 and the germ of it was the ,school of ,design which opened in a room of ,somerset ,house1 ,june #ast1 #ahcg4 ,this poor little school is now a thing to make fun of4 ,it took over a month for it to obtain the eight pupils with which it began4 ,the first act of its regulators seems to have been a rule that 8drawing the human figure shall not be taught to the students40 ,haydon insisted that there could be no training without the human figure4 ,the government did not want artists1 but men who could draw such patterns as should render it no longer necessary for ,english manufacturers to go to ,lyons and ,paris for such4 ,etty and ,wilkie sat in the council beside silk-weavers and portly warehousemen4 ,fine-art students were actually excluded--this mainly because of the cry that the government would otherwise be taking bread out of the mouths of private teachers--and the ,school of ,design in #ahdb consisted of #agh pattern-drawers4 ,schools of a similar character were gradually established in some of the provincial manufacturing cities4 ,and there had been about ten years of this sort of thing when the great ,exhibition of #ahea-eb took place4 ,queen ,victoria has described the ,may day when the ,palace of ,glass was opened in ,hyde ,park as the happiest of her life4 ,she had witnessed one of those noble victories which leave no tears behind but such as may welcome glad tidings of good-will1 and she had seen her hero wearing the only crown he coveted--that of success in a great achievement for ,european civilization4 ,it is sad indeed that only as a widow does she live to realize the latest results of that day on her country4 ,the great ,exhibition may be termed1 so far as ,english art is concerned1 the great revolution4 ,such a display of 8florid and gorgeous tinsel10 to use ,redgrave's description1 was never seen1 unless in the realms of ,king ,coffee4 ,the articles from the ,continent were glittering and showy enough1 but those of ,great ,britain outglittered all1 exciting the laughter of cultivated foreigners to such an extent that ,english gentlemen were scandalized and abashed without knowing precisely what was the matter4 ,the ,prince ,consort1 who was especially ashamed at the general disgust manifested for this tawdry ,english work1 had brought with him from his careful training in ,germany and at ,brussels one excellent habit--that of deferring to the judgment of accomplished men in matters relating to their own specialties4 ,when he found himself1 as ,chief ,commissioner of the great ,exhibition1 the hero of a great aesthetic failure and of a great financial success--blushing for the fame of the country which had bestowed its highest honor upon him1 and at the same time contemplating a net surplus of #agj1jjj--the idea took possession of him that the least the money could do would be to begin the task of raising ,english work from the abyss of ugliness which had been so admirably disclosed2 and that idea led him to consult artists of ability and men of taste1 and to mediate between them and her ,majesty's complacent ministers1 whom he managed to rouse into a happy state of bewilderment1 which resulted in action4 ,the ,prince ,consort was1 during his brief life1 a fortunate man in many respects1 but in nothing was he so fortunate as when1 inspired by the best artistic minds in ,england1 he induced the ,queen to set apart some rooms at ,marlborough ,house 7now the residence of the ,prince of ,wales7 for an industrial art collection and for art training1 and when he persuaded her ministers to devote #ejjj to the same purpose4 ,he has thus made the great head-quarters of ,british art in some sense his monument4 ,in #aheb the small collection of the ,school of ,design in ,somerset ,house was removed to ,marlborough ,house1 and the ,board of ,trade confided to ,owen ,jones1 ,r4 ,redgrave1 and ,lyon ,playfair the work of reorganizing the whole art training of the country4 ,the collection transferred from ,somerset ,house was trifling enough1 but now there were added a number of articles that had been purchased from the ,exhibition1 and a still more remarkable collection1 which has a curious history4 ,after the ,french ,revolution1 when the infuriated people were prepared to destroy not only the noblesse1 but the works associated with them1 fine cabinets and beautiful china vanished out of ,paris4 ,at this time ,george ,,iv4's ,french cook gathered up a superb collection of old ,svres china4 ,this had long been distributed through the ,english palaces1 and was even used for ordinary table service2 it was now1 by the ,queen's order1 removed from the various palaces to ,marlborough ,house1 where it was at once recognized as the finest existing collection of a class of articles which was already exciting that competition among collectors which at present amounts to a mania4 ,but the ,queen's best loan was her example4 ,ministers took up the matter with unwonted courage4 ,mr4 ,henley1 of the ,board of ,trade1 secured the ,bandiuell pottery1 ,mr4 ,gladstone the ,gherardini models1 and the precedent was set which has since added the ,bernal1 ,soulages1 ,soltikoff1 ,pourtals1 and other collections--one of the most curious being that of the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,bock1 a collection of mediaeval religious vestments4 ,there is a myth still current that in one or two cases the secret agent of the ,british ,museum had been bidding for some treasure against the secret agent of ,south ,kensington2 but it has no foundation4 ,once upon a time the ,british ,museum and the ,tower of ,london found themselves bidding against each other for a piece of old armor2 but no similar accident could have occurred under the keen eye of ,sir ,henry ,cole1 who from first to last has been felt in the progress of this museum4 ,sir ,henry developed a power of getting money for the museum1 from the stingiest chancellors1 unknown in the history of the ,english exchequer4 ,he1 with ,mr4 ,richard ,redgrave1 explored ,italy1 and brought back many valuable treasures of early art4 ,illustration3 ,,sir ,,henry ,,cole1 ,k4,c4,b4 ,in #ahed the first report of the newly-established ,department of ,science and ,art was laid before ,parliament4 ,it was a ,blue-book of #fdb pages--so much being required for those interests of the country to which the ,board of ,trade had1 in #ahcf1 devoted the half of one page4 ,this report and those which followed bore witness that a new enthusiasm had arisen in ,england for recovering its lost arts2 but they increasingly proved also that the collections evoked from their hiding-places were already overflowing ,marlborough ,house4 ,in one sense this overflowing was of signal advantage1 for it enabled the department to send a collection of four hundred beautiful specimens as a circulating museum through the provincial cities and towns--a plan which has been maintained by the museum1 and also by the ,national ,gallery of ,fine ,arts1 with excellent results4 ,the commissioners had not at that time1 so far as their reports show1 any notion of localizing the various schools of science and art at ,south ,kensington4 ,indeed1 no such expression as 8,south ,kensington0 had existed until #ahef1 when ,earl ,granville so christened the 8,brompton ,boilers10 which the government had empowered ,mr4 ,cole to prepare for the transfer of the ,marlborough ,house collection 7voting #aj1jjj for the purpose71 and which1 with their three boiler-shaped tops1 still stand as the seed-shell of the museum4 ,it was little supposed then that the 8,mr4 ,huxley0 whom the report of #ahef speaks of as employed to collect specimens on the coast would ever be seated as he is now in a palatial science school at ,kensington4 ,there must1 however1 have been some very far-seeing eyes looking at things in those days1 for the commissioners of the great ,exhibition of #ahea persuaded the government to add to the ,exhibition surplus of #agj1jjj enough to make #cjj1jjj1 and to invest the sum in the vast ,kensington ,gore estate4 ,this estate comprised between twenty-five and thirty acres of land1 twelve of which belong to the museum1 and has become the site of a great metropolis of science and art4 ,the museum was opened on ,june #bb;d1 #aheg1 by the ,queen1 accompanied by the ,prince ,consort and the ,heir ,apparent4 ,the removal of the collections of ,marlborough ,house to ,south ,kensington1 and the establishment of the new movement in a centre of its own1 with room to grow1 was speedily followed by a grand event1 namely1 the donation by ,mr4 ,sheepshanks of his superb collection of pictures to the nation4 ,mr4 ,sheepshanks supplies to gentlemen who wish to benefit the public about as good an example as they can find in modern annals4 ,for many years he had welcomed artists to study and copy in the gallery opening from his dining-room1 which so many of them now remember as an oasis in the wilderness which surrounded them in the last generation4 ,but the owner of this gallery had observed that the ,philistines of ,parliament were still very strong3 they had once refused to accept even a valuable collection of pictures 7as already stated7 from unwillingness to house them2 and although they had got beyond that1 and thankfully accepted the ,vernon ,gallery1 he saw that the arrangements for giving shelter to this gallery were made very slowly4 ,the ,national ,gallery had a large portion of its ,turner and its ,vernon bequests housed at ,south ,kensington1 and a much larger portion of them hid away in its crypt1 for twenty-five years1 awaiting the hour when ,england should find out the magnificent works of which it is the heir1 by seeing them on the new walls completed in #ahgf4 ,mr4 ,sheepshanks resolved to see his gallery--which was worth even then a hundred thousand pounds--attended to while he was yet alive4 ,he offered his pictures to the country on the following conditions3 that a suitable building should be erected at ,kensington 7which would remove them from the dust and smoke of the city72 that they should never be sold2 must be open to art students1 and at times to the public2 and that the public1 especially the working-classes1 should be permitted to view the same on ,sunday afternoons4 ,the government assented to all of these conditions except the last1 and ,mr4 ,sheepshanks was reluctantly compelled to add to that provision the words1 8it being1 however1 understood that the exhibition of the collection on ,sundays is not to be considered one of the conditions of my gift40 ,having thus summed up the history of the museum1 it remains for me to consider its three aspects3 7#a7 as to architecture and decoration2 7#b7 its collections of objects2 7#c7 its educational or art training method and character4 ,the accompanying map will show the series of buildings at ,south ,kensington4 ,there exists to the west of ,exhibition ,road a park of about ten acres1 holding at the north the ,royal ,albert ,hall1 at the south the ,museum of ,natural ,history1 and between these1 on either side1 the long line of arcade buildings containing the ,national ,portrait ,gallery1 the ,indian section1 ,naval ,museum1 ,patent ,office1 the ,museum of ,scientific ,apparatus1 and1 in addition1 spacious halls for the display of machinery during exhibitions1 for horticultural shows1 and ,mr4 ,frank ,buckland's methods of pisciculture4 ,such a collection of museums1 answering the varied needs of science and art1 cannot be found elsewhere--even within the limits of a nation4 ,the gardens adjoining this series of buildings are beautifully adorned with statues and fountains1 and will remain in the future1 as they have been in the past1 a favorite promenade1 entered from ,albert ,hall and its extended galleries1 in summer always bright with flowers1 with music1 and gay companies4 ,illustration3 ,,south ,,kensington ,,museum--,,ground ,,plan4 ,illustration3 ,,diagram ,,showing ,,glitter ,,points ,,in ,a ,,picture-,,gallery4 ,the building containing the courts was designed by the late ,captain ,fowke1 of the ,royal ,engineers1 and1 ,i believe1 there is no other building in this country more adapted to its purpose4 ,the task assigned ,captain ,fowke was to build a picture-gallery eighty-seven feet long by fifty wide1 with two floors1 the upper to be lighted from above1 and the lower open to the light from side to side1 and to make the whole as near fire-proof as possible4 ,the building is thirty-four feet above the ground-line to the eaves1 and fifty to the ridge1 and consists of seven equal bays1 twelve feet in length and of the width of the building4 ,the upper floor contains four separate rooms1 two of forty-six by twenty feet1 the others of thirty-five by twenty feet1 lighted entirely from the roof1 and giving a wall space of #dcdj square feet available for hanging pictures4 ,the lower floor is thrown into two unequal rooms of forty-six by forty-four feet and thirty-five by forty-four feet1 each having a row of piers along the centre1 the play of light from side to side being thus nearly unimpeded4 ,thus the upper floor has no windows1 but as much wall space as possible1 while the lower has no walls1 but piers1 as is demanded for the exhibition of objects in cases4 ,the roof is double glazed1 and the rule of lighting is that the height and width of the gallery should be the same1 and the skylight half of the same4 ,this renders it always easy for the spectator to avoid the glitter point on a picture1 as may be seen by the accompanying diagram4 ,the glitter point1 altering with the position of the beholder1 is at ,b1 nine feet from the floor1 when the beholder is at ,e#b1 or five feet from the wall2 and the glitter descends to ,c1 seven feet from the floor1 when the beholder advances to ,e#c4 ,but if the spectator can recede to fifteen feet1 the wall has no glitter up to thirteen feet4 ,the skylight at ,south ,kensington is brought as near as is consistent with avoiding glitter1 and is twenty feet nine and a half inches from the floor4 ,just below the skylight run horizontal gas-pipes1 with fish-tail burners projecting on two-inch brass elbows1 and the light at night is as nearly as possible the same as in the day4 ,when the gas was first put in this building there occurred an interesting controversy concerning the effect of gas on pictures1 which elicited a valuable statement1 jointly signed by ,faraday1 ,hofmann1 ,tyndall1 ,redgrave1 and ,fowke1 who had been appointed as a commission of inquiry1 to the effect that coal-gas is innocuous as an illuminator of any pictures1 if kept at a sufficient distance above them to avoid bringing into contact with the pictures the sulphuric acid caused by its combustion 7#bb grains per #ajj cubic feet of ,london gas74 ,in the large courts electric lamps are now used with much success4 ,it is wonderful to note the beauty of porcelain and all objects of delicate decoration under the new light2 it brings out the minute traceries better than daylight4 ,security from fire here has been made as nearly absolute as possible1 and ,sir ,philip ,cunliffe ,owen believes it impossible by any device to fire the museum2 yet the water arrangements and vigilance at ,south ,kensington are as complete as if the building were built of the ordinary materials4 ,as a matter of fact1 the choice of materials was made after long and patient scientific experiments4 ,the main material is the best gray stock brick1 with ornamental work of certain blue1 red1 and cream-colored bricks peculiar to some ,english counties4 ,some iron it was1 of course1 necessary to use for joists and girders1 but in every case this iron has been isolated by being surrounded with a thick fire-proof concrete4 ,the floor is of ,minton tiles imbedded in ,roman cement4 ,the double roof is ,mansard1 and covered with a ,french tile 7tuile courtois71 selected at the ,paris ,exhibition of #ahee4 ,illustration3 ,,sir ,,philip ,,cunliffe ,,owen1 ,,director ,,of ,,south ,,kensington ,,museum4 ,the picture-gallery described above1 made to hold the ,sheepshanks collection1 has had additions made behind it1 in accordance with the original plan1 of three large rooms1 which contain various collections of pictures1 and near the back entrance to these is the gallery of ,raphael's cartoons4 ,all this series of picture-galleries constitutes an upper floor of a wing to two vast double show-rooms4 ,one of these is a large square apartment1 in which large numbers of marble and other antique monuments are displayed4 ,the other1 connected with it1 is architecturally divided by slender pillars--between which1 as an avenue1 are show-cases1 above and below--into two noble rooms with splendid arched ceilings4 ,the first-named of these rooms 7that which is without division1 and single-roofed7 has not yet received its wall decorations1 which are to be a distemper half-way up1 and above1 a frieze of frescoes large as ,raphael's cartoons4 ,the other show-room--with the double-arched ceiling--furnishes1 as may be imagined1 fine opportunities for wall decoration1 as also for the ornamentation of floor and ceilings4 ,the decoration here has not been completed1 but it has gone far enough for the scheme to be judged by its effect4 ,and it is just here that a careful criticism is necessary4 ,while the purely architectural work merits all the praise that can be claimed for it1 securing an admirable play of light1 making each division add its light to the other1 and reducing the space occupied by pillars and other accessories to a minimum1 the decorations are but measurably successful4 ,the faults are due1 ,i think1 to the intention that the ornaments themselves should present some of the features of a collection of styles4 ,the result proves that it would be better if the varied styles were exhibited in a court set apart for the purpose4 ,the floor1 for example1 is rich in its varieties of tiles1 there being some five or six of different designs and shades4 ,it is true that the great central floors are made of tiles of uniform design and color1 and that these--a deep brick red1 with small green spots at the corners of each tile--are grave and good2 but all around1 where we pass through arch or door1 there is a deep fringe of brilliant tiles1 which are reflected into the glass cases nearest them1 to the injury of the objects shown2 and in the series of 8cloisters10 as the spaces beneath the picture-gallery may be called1 there are further experiments in floor tiles which militate against the effect of the articles exhibited in them4 ,the ceilings in these cloisters1 or side spaces1 have been covered with ,oriental decorations by the late ,owen ,jones2 they are ,indian1 ,persian1 moresque1 and of the greatest beauty1 each coffer in the ceiling and each archway presenting a new design1 and yet all in harmony3 these being too far above the show-cases to affect any objects in them1 are rightly placed2 but the floor1 as the necessary background to many objects in the rooms--many of which depend on delicate shades of color for their effect--will eventually1 ,i suspect1 have to be reconstructed1 and made entirely of the grave hue which has happily been already adopted for the greater part of it4 ,ascending a little above the floor1 it must be said also that there is too much brilliancy about the lower arches and their spandrels--too much white and gold4 ,it is not only that this does not give a sufficiently subdued background for the bright glass or chased metals in the upper parts of the cases 7on the ground-floor71 but they are by no means the best supports for the grand series of life-sized figures in mosaic1 on deep gold surfaces1 which make the magnificent frieze of the upper wall4 ,illustration3 ,,north ,,court1 ,,north-,,west ,,corner1 ,,showing ,,casts ,,of ,,the ,,biga 7,,or ,,two-,,horse ,,chariot71 ,,from ,,the ,,original ,,in ,,marble ,,at ,,the ,,vatican1 ,,and ,,of ,,the ,,pulpit ,,by ,,giovani ,,pisano1 ,,formerly ,,in ,,the ,,cathedral ,,at ,,pisa4 ,illustration3 ,,south ,,court1 ,,showing ,,the ,,prince ,,consort',s ,,gallery4 ,it is these superb figures1 representing the great artists of the past1 which constitute the most salient feature of decoration in the museum4 ,in this case 7as in so many others in the museum7 the scheme--due to the late ,mr4 ,godfrey ,sykes--of combining the purposes of general decoration with subjects of special interest in a museum1 has been most fortunate3 the general effect is noble1 the figures interesting as portraits and as representations of costume1 the varieties of mosaic in which they are produced being of value for comparison4 ,there are thirty-six flat alcoves--eighteen on each side--and the figures in them are those of the chief artists in ornamentation1 with the names of their designers beneath3 ,phidias 7by ,poynter72 ,apelles 7,poynter72 ,nicola ,pisano 7,leighton72 ,cimabue 7,leighton72 ,torel1 the ,english goldsmith1 d4 #acjj 7,burchett72 ,william of ,wykeham1 bishop and architect of ,winchester ,cathedral1 d4 #adjd 7,burchett72 ,fra ,angelico 7,cope72 ,ghiberti 7,wehnert72 ,donatello 7,redgrave72 ,gozzoli1 one of whose ,florentine frescoes1 containing his own portrait1 is in the museum1 d4 #adgh 7,e4 ,armitage72 ,luca della ,robbia1 specimens of whose terra-cotta work in the museum show him to have been a man of genius1 d4 #adha 7,moody72 ,mantegna 7,pickersgill72 ,giorgione 7,prinsep72 ,giacomo da ,ulma1 friar at ,bologna and painter on glass1 d4 #aeag 7,westlake72 ,leonardo da ,vinci 7,j4 ,tenniel72 ,raphael 7,g4 ,sykes72 ,torrigiano 7,yeames72 ,a4 ,drer 7,thomas72 ,p4 ,vischer 7,w4 ,b4 ,scott72 ,holbein 7,yeames72 ,giorgio1 painter in majolica1 d4 #aeeb 7,hart72 ,michael ,angelo 7,sykes72 ,primaticcio1 the ,italian who made the decorations at ,fontainebleau1 d4 #aegj 7,o',neil72 ,jean ,goujon1 to whom is attributed the old carving in the ,louvre1 d4 #aegb 7,bowler72 ,titian 7,watts72 ,palissy 7,townroe72 ,franois du ,quesnoy1 ,flemish ivory carver1 d4 #aedf 7,ward72 ,inigo ,jones 7,morgan72 ,grinling ,gibbons 7,watson72 ,wren 7,crowe72 ,hogarth 7,crowe72 ,sir ,j4 ,reynolds 7,phillips72 ,mulready 7,barwell74 ,the only very modern artist in this list is ,mulready1 and he is certainly unfortunate1 looking as if ,mr4 ,punch's most cynical artist had been employed to depict him4 ,the late ,mr4 ,owen ,jones has been well represented in a mosaic set in the wall near a staircase leading from the ,oriental ,court decorated by him4 ,mulready is the only bit of really ugly work in the series1 although1 of course1 the merits of the others are unequal4 ,the artists have evidently given careful archological study to the costumes of each period1 and in some cases--as ,prinsep's ,giorgione1 ,scott's ,vischer1 and ,pickersgill's ,mantegna--the work is such as the grand old workers around need not be ashamed of4 ,of great interest1 too1 are the varieties of material of which the mosaics are composed1 concerning which ,i can only say here that the ,italian glass appears to me incomparably superior to the experiments in ,english ceramic wares4 ,the shape of this double room1 it will be borne in mind1 implies four large lunettes1 one1 that is1 at each end of the two large roof-spans4 ,one of these has been already filled by ,sir ,frederick ,leighton1 ,p4,r4,a41 with an admirable allegorical painting representing the 8,arts of ,war40 ,here we see workmen forging every variety of armor1 shields1 weapons1 and women buckling them on to knights1 as is written in fabliaux of the ,round ,table4 ,sir ,frederick has put his most graceful drawing and purest colors into this fine work4 ,there is also in the gallery a design for a companion picture of the 8,arts of ,peace10 wherein the ladies are engaged in the pleasanter work of adorning themselves1 and utilizing mirrors1 while the men are toiling to provide the sinews for the gentler siege in which their own hearts are liable to capture4 ,these works are scholarly1 almost hypercritically exact in archological details1 and when the second is completed the court will be greatly improved4 ,illustration3 ,,chinese ,,potters ,,at ,,work4--,,window ,,in ,,the ,,ceramic ,,gallery4 ,to ,mr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,moody1 one of the most energetic and accomplished teachers at the museum1 the institution is indebted for many instructive experiments and designs in the way of decoration4 ,no one should fail to observe the very remarkable exterior wall decoration covering one entire side of the new ,school of ,science1 which is a most complete revival of the sgraffito work of the fifteenth century4 ,this experiment by ,mr4 ,moody of the high ,renaissance in ,italy has been placed on a wall of the building not visible from the streets1 but only from the windows of the museum4 ,it is analogous to the niello1 which was graven in silver and the lines filled in with carbon1 making a black picture on a white ground4 7,there is a good account of this ornamentation1 said to be the origin of all engraving for printed work1 in ,w4 ,b4 ,scott's ,half-hour ,lectures47 ,mr4 ,moody's experiment is made by filling in the hollows of the cement1 presenting a multiplicity of scrolls1 symbols1 allegorical figures--,natura1 ,scientia1 etc4--and portraits of scientific men4 ,the stairway from which this vast work--covering the wall for four or five stories--can best be seen is another interesting experiment of ,mr4 ,moody's4 ,as befits a stairway leading to the ,ceramic ,gallery1 its ornaments are made of ,minton porcelain4 ,the steps and facings of the steps are a kind of mosaic made of hexagon pellets painted2 the walls are panelled with white porcelain2 and their effect under the light falling through large figured windows1 toned rather than colored1 is very good indeed4 ,entering now the ,ceramic ,gallery1 we find its contents illustrated by a very ingeniously devised series of window etchings 7as they may be called71 which are probably unique in the history of work on glass4 ,the windows on one side of this room1 fifteen in number1 each double1 were intrusted to ,mr4 ,william ,b4 ,scott1 who as an archaeologist in art has few superiors4 ,mr4 ,scott designed no fewer than forty-eight large pictures1 representing the history of ceramic art from the most ancient ,chinese1 ,egyptian1 ,indian1 and ,persian down to ,wedgwood2 and these he has placed in the fifteen windows1 where1 unhappily1 they are little observed1 being without mention1 much less description1 in any work except that now before the reader4 ,they are for the most part in black and white1 colors being introduced only once or twice1 and then but slightly4 ,the first and second windows are devoted to the ,chinese1 their work being1 if not the earliest1 the most ancient in porcelain1 and that which has most influenced the ,european art4 ,here is shown their whole method1 from the preparation of the clay1 the half-naked natives bringing the kaolin from caves in panniers1 others steeping it in water1 refining it in large mortars1 and kneading it on tables4 ,the potter is seen before his rude wheel1 and forming the vessel by hand-pressure4 ,and after this we trace his work to the furnace1 and on to its place in the shop4 ,this work implies the most patient study of original ,chinese models4 ,one window represents characteristic ,chinese ornamentation--such as the royal dragon and the bird of paradise1 and a bazar at ,pekin4 ,the third window represents early ,egyptian art4 ,the upper part shows the casting of brick by packing in boxes1 and then turning it out1 all under the whip of the taskmaster1 the work and the whip being but little different to-day from what they were in the ancient days whose relics have been so diligently studied by ,mr4 ,scott on the papyri of the ,british ,museum4 ,beneath1 a skilled workman is painting a large ,canopus3 he is on his knees1 with his feet doubled behind him4 ,one page1 so to speak1 of this window represents ,assyrian art by a triumphal procession1 in which immense vases are carried on ox trucks1 and smaller ones on the heads of prisoners--a design based upon discoveries in ,nineveh which show the great importance that people ascribed to earthenware4 ,the fourth window is ,greek and ,etruscan4 ,the ,greek legend of the origin of painting--the daughter of the potter of ,sicyon tracing on the wall the shadow of her lover on his leaving her for a journey--is exquisitely done4 ,next we see the girl applying her plan to her father's vases4 ,we have also depicted with learning the honorary uses of pottery among the ,greeks1 the vases given as prizes in public games1 or as votive offerings for the dead1 by which custom the finest examples we have were transmitted2 and1 finally1 there is the genius of ,death holding in her hand the cinerary urn4 ,the fifth window is ,hispano-,moresque4 ,the earliest ware in ,europe after the ,samian of which we have any examples was that made by the ,moors1 who brought the art of making it from east of the ,mediterranean4 ,this was the famous 8lustre-ware0 which was supplied from ,spain1 which is now so eagerly sought by collectors1 both on account of its beauty and as the origin of the ,italian majolica4 ,specimens of this kind of pottery have been found by ,layard at ,nineveh and at ,ephesus4 ,there appears to be little doubt that it is of ,persian origin4 ,it must have been always very difficult to make2 in the modern manufacture about fifty per cent4 of the pieces come out of the furnace dull and worthless4 ,the fine specimens seem to the workmen happy accidents rather than the steady results of any normal process upon which they can depend4 ,the first design in this window of ,mr4 ,scott's represents the master-potter amidst his swarthy workmen watching the hour-glass beside the fire4 ,this wonderful lustre was the result of some utilization of smoke in modifying the copper glaze1 and was probably discovered by accident1 as so many fine effects in the ceramic art have been4 ,this beautiful ware has lately attracted especial attention in ,england because of the experiments which ,mr4 ,de ,morgan1 son of the late mathematician of ,university ,college1 is making4 ,he has tried nearly every kind of smoke influence upon copper and silver pigments1 in contact with glaze and his success has been remarkable4 ,these lustre-wares are still1 ,i believe1 made in some parts of ,spain in a small way2 also at ,gubbio1 in ,italy2 but the furnace of ,mr4 ,de ,morgan at ,chelsea is the most active and successful in bringing out such wares in all their varieties4 ,illustration3 ,,italian ,,majolica 7,,urbino74 ,,sixteenth ,,century4 ,illustration3 ,,lamp ,,from ,,an ,,arabian ,,mosque--,,fourteenth ,,century4 ,it adds greatly to the charm of these windows that they are as a frame around the objects whose history they tell4 ,fine examples of the 8lustre-ware0 from the earliest ages are in this gallery4 ,and we have only to turn round from admiring another part of this fifth window1 showing the building of the ,alhambra1 and its wonderful vase1 to see the finest copy of that unparalleled piece of lustre-ware4 ,the vase is four feet five and a half inches high1 by eight feet two and a half inches in circumference2 it is decorated with two antelopes1 and foliations covering the body of the vase1 intermingled with which are ,african characters whose sense is 8,felicity and ,fortune10 8,permanent ,prosperity20 and the colors are brown and blue on a yellow ground1 the lustre being of a mother-of-pearl tint4 ,from rich specimens of ancient ,italian majolica we in turn refer to the sixth window1 which shows us the embryonic and later phases of this beautiful art4 ,the ,italians imitated the ,hispano-,moresque lustre as well as they could1 but not being able to attain it exactly1 they secured new tints of their own1 especially a very fine ruby lustre4 ,afterward they painted their wares without trying to get lustres1 to obtain which was perhaps a work too slow and precarious to be profitable4 ,the vast development of ceramic art in ,italy has required three windows--sixth1 seventh1 and eighth--for its representation4 ,first we have bird's-eye views of the localities with which it was chiefly associated3 ,urbino1 the seat of the finest ware made in the time of ,raphael1 wherein is portrayed their process of softening and refining the clay by putting it in square pits in the ground2 ,duranto1 with its method of grinding the clay in a sort of water-mill2 ,gubbio1 with its own ingenious processes4 ,then we have other ,italian methods--foot-mill1 hand-mill1 horse-mill4 ,an artist is seen in his studio1 receiving as sitters ladies whose portraits he paints on plates that are to be their marriage gifts--a design taken from a plate in the gallery painted by ,maestro ,giorgio--while other details have been taken from a ,,ms4 by ,piccolpasso1 also preserved in the museum4 ,and1 finally1 we have a representation of ,luca della ,robbia1 of the fifteenth century1 who used earthenware medallions1 admirably modelled and fired with white glaze1 which were fixed on the outside of buildings1 and may be seen to-day on the ,foundling ,hospital and several churches at ,florence4 ,the very word 8majolica0 7,majorca7 shows that the ,italians found their art where the ,moors left it4 ,but if they could not equal the moresque lustres1 they certainly developed and enriched their designs4 ,such decorations as that encircling the figure of ,st4 ,george on the ,urbino plate 7see engraving7 may be called 8arabesque10 but they are equally ,italian4 ,it is curious to compare such arabesques with the ornament on a piece of real ,arabian work1 such as the accompanying ancient lamp4 7,this lamp1 singularly enough1 is of a form represented in very early ,italian bronze carvings of sacred subjects47 ,window ninth is devoted to ,dutch tiles and pots and ,flanders-ware1 which were once imported in such vast quantities to this country3 here they may be traced from their manufacture in ,holland to their sale in the ,thames docks4 ,window tenth relates the curious story of the ,dresden-ware4 ,here it was that the famous material of the best porcelain 7kaolin71 which was so long the secret of ,china1 was discovered by a happy accident--,bttcher1 the alchemist1 having taken a notion to analyze the white dust which his barber had used to powder his wig in a year of dear flour4 ,the two men are represented1 and also the chteau of ,meissen1 where the first ,dresden porcelain was secretly made4 ,window eleventh tells the story of ,palissy1 who1 instructing himself1 ruined his family3 one leaf of the window shows him feeding his furnace with his broken furniture1 while his wife with her babe stands beseechingly by2 the other shows his triumph1 as he builds and decorates the grottoes in the ,tuilleries garden4 ,the story recalls that of ,benvenuto ,cellini1 who1 having been seized with a fever while casting his ,perseus and ,medusa1 heard that his work was ruined4 ,leaping from his bed1 he found the furnace burst1 but he saw the metal was partly fused2 he cast in two hundred pieces of his table-service1 and the mould was filled4 ,the great work was saved1 and so was the artist2 he ate a hearty meal with his workman1 slept soundly1 and was himself again4 ,window twelfth is devoted to ,svres1 where porcelain was carried to its highest perfection4 ,the famous 8,rose du ,barry0 and 8,bleu du ,roi0 are represented--and here exquisite colors are used--by ,louis ,,xv4 and ,madame ,du ,barry exchanging vases of those colors4 ,the old manufactory is pictured1 and some of its finest designs1 in the lower panes of the window4 ,near by is the beautiful specimen of ,svres which ,france contributed to the first ,international ,exhibition in ,london4 ,in window thirteenth we are introduced to ,english wares1 at present the most excellent in the world4 ,the processes described are--preparing the clay1 making different colored clays1 stamping tiles1 filling color into moulds1 8throwing10 8turning10 applying printed patterns4 ,it takes two of the double windows to display this1 which brings us to the fifteenth and last1 in which there are four designs of the greatest historical interest3 ,dr4 ,doddridge's mother teaching her child ,bible history from the tiles in the fireplace2 ,dr4 ,samuel ,johnson trying experiments2 figures of ,josiah ,wedgwood and ,bentley1 his partner2 ,flaxman and ,stothard1 the painter4 ,the two artists last named both worked in decorating earthenware for ,wedgwood4 ,flaxman was underpaid by ,wedgwood for the numerous models he supplied--models still used by the firm4 ,the poor artist has made the fortunes of three generations of his employer's family1 whose present representatives are so liberal that one must suppose their ancestor to have hardly realized the value of the artist's work until it was too late to reward him4 ,illustration3 ,,palissy1 ,,the ,,potter--,,window ,,in ,,the ,,ceramic ,,gallery4 ,illustration3 ,s,,vres ,,porcelain ,,vase4--,,modern4 ,illustration3 ,,henri ,,deux ,,candlestick4 ,the visitor to the ,ceramic ,gallery in this museum will be apt to admit that there were never windows that shed more light than these of the kind required by a student4 ,he will see lustres on the lustre-wares beyond what mere sunlight can give1 and the huge dragons1 deer1 and horned birds on the ,moresque-,spanish dishes will link the culture of #ahhb with the barbaric medival mythology4 ,he will1 indeed1 find at every step that he is really exploring in this gallery of pots and dishes strata marked all over with the vestiges of human and ethnical development4 ,nothing can be more complete than the arrangement of the gallery4 ,not only is it chronological1 but beneath each particular specimen a card tells when and where it was made1 and the price paid for it by the museum4 ,if it has gone off with the floating collection1 the card reports that also4 ,one may learn what changes have occurred in the prices of such wares by finding ,svres vases1 for instance1 marked at #ajj or #bjj1 of a like character with those six for which ,lord ,dudley recently paid #ag1ejj4 ,these are articles which1 when first collected1 incited the first cabinet minister who inspected them to ask1 8,what's the use of all this trash80 ,there is a single candlestick in this room now worth all the 8trash0 in that noble lord's mansion4 ,it is a specimen of that famous 8,henri ,deux ware0 of which only fifty-five pieces exist1 so far as is known4 ,this elegant ware has been such a puzzle to antiquarians that no fewer than thirteen different works have been written about it4 ,it was finally ascertained by ,m4 ,riocreux1 of the ,imperial ,ceramic ,museum at ,svres1 that the pottery was made at ,oiron1 in ,france2 that two artists made it in the earlier part of the sixteenth century for ,henry ,,ii4 and his queen1 whose initials or monograms are on several of the pieces2 and the artists were ,franois ,cherpentier and ,jean ,bernard4 ,cherpentier1 the chief maker1 had been an architect1 and when he set about working in earthen-ware he was fond of moulding it in little monumental shapes1 and filling in the hollows with different colors4 ,the candlestick has a pale yellow ground1 with arabesques1 etc41 in reddish-brown4 ,the base is circular1 with projecting brackets1 on which stand three boys holding shields inscribed with the arms and cipher of ,henri ,deux4 ,above are three terminal figures of satyrs4 ,this work 7which it is to be hoped will some day be called by the artist's name instead of the king's7 is less than a foot high2 it cost #gej1 and is one of the cheapest purchases ever made4 ,seven of the fifty-five specimens of this ware are in the collection of ,sir ,anthony de ,rothschild1 two in that of ,baron ,lionel de ,rothschild1 two in that of ,baron ,gustave de ,rothschild1 three in that of ,baron ,alphonse de ,rothschild1 while the ,louvre has the same number as the ,south ,kensington ,museum--five4 ,three very beautiful specimens 7candlestick1 ewer1 and large salt-cellar7 were found some years ago1 very carefully wrapped in a blanket1 placed in a wicker clothes-basket1 under a bed in a garret of ,narford ,hall4 ,our engraving 7p4 #ef7 represents the candlestick so found4 ,the pieces were no doubt collected by ,sir ,andrew ,fountaine in ,france1 in the last century1 and1 put away perhaps by some provident house-keeper1 now turn up as a more valuable bequest to the old connoisseur's descendants than he could have imagined1 but which is rightly appreciated by the present owner of the pieces1 ,mr4 ,andrew ,fountaine4 ,the other specimens of this ,henri ,deux ware in this gallery are two tazzas1 a plateau1 and a wonderful salt-cellar1 of which last the skill of a pupil at ,south ,kensington enables me to give the linear design4 ,illustration3 ,,henri ,,deux ,,salt-,,cellar4 ,but it must not be supposed that this is merely an antiquarian collection3 the best work now going on all over the world is represented1 and one may see by the superb examples of modern ,berlin work and of ,minton that ,england and ,germany are engaged in a competition for excellence which bids fair to distance anything done in the past4 ,what admirable work ,minton can do may be estimated by the embossed and tinted tiles surrounding the ten columns which support the roof of this gallery4 ,they reproduce the finest colors of the ,celadon porcelain of ,svres4 ,around each column are letters forming the names of the ten greatest potters--,vitalis 7whose name was found on a red vase of ,samian-ware discovered in ,london in #ahde71 ,giorgio ,andreoli1 ,luca della ,robbia1 ,veit ,hirschvogel of ,nuremberg 7#adda-aebe71 ,xanto of ,urbino 7#aedg71 ,palissy 7#aeaj-hi71 ,franois ,cherpentier 7maker of the ,henri ,deux ware1 otherwise called faence d',oiron71 ,bttcher 7#afha-agai71 ,wedgwood 7#agcj-ie71 and last1 not least1 ,pousa1 with whom began the list of wondrous accidents with which the history and traditions of pottery abound4 ,pousa is said to have been a workman in the imperial porcelain factory of ,china4 ,on one occasion the emperor had ordered some great work1 and ,pousa tried long to produce it--in vain4 ,finally1 driven to despair1 he plunged into the furnace4 ,his self-immolation caused such an effect upon the ware in the furnace that it came out the most beautiful piece of porcelain ever known4 ,pousa is now the patron saint of porcelain-workers in ,china1 and is kept near them in a little corpulent figure 7porcelain71 which is familiar to many parts of the world where its story and sanctity are unknown4 ,the ,south ,kensington ,museum has carried out in its own case this tradition of happy accidents1 having been remarkable for its good-luck4 ,some instances of it are in the ,ceramic ,gallery4 ,some years ago a terrible explosion of gas occurred in the house of the famous art collector and dealer1 ,mr4 ,gambart1 at ,st4 ,john's ,wood1 by which the house-maid was killed4 ,m4 ,alma ,tadema was a guest in the house1 and he had the presence of mind to open a window when he first perceived that gas was escaping1 by which means the disaster was mainly limited to the dining-room4 ,in this room were two large cabinets filled with splendid specimens of ,flemish 8graybeards10 beakers1 and similar wares1 and some of the best were smashed4 ,as the fragments were about to be cleared away1 a friend of ,mr4 ,gambart's1 who was also connected with this museum1 brought him an offer from the institution of #hjj 7as ,i have heard2 at any rate1 a sum that was generous7 for the collection1 broken and unbroken1 and it was gratefully accepted4 ,the skilled workmen at the museum have put the bits together with such adroitness that it requires a practised eye to distinguish the wares that suffered4 ,the magnificent reproduction of the ,alhambra ,vase by ,baron ,davillier1 elsewhere described1 was exhibited at the ,paris ,exposition of #ahfg1 and an agent of the museum found it 8going a-begging20 he purchased it for far less than its actual value4 ,and1 indeed1 ,i might instance a vast number of similar cases not only in this particular gallery--which we must now leave--but throughout the museum4 ,the truth is1 the ,south ,kensington ,museum has shown that the present is the great opportunity of museums1 while it has done much to turn that tide on whose flood it floated to fortune1 by awakening nations to the value of their treasures4 ,the ,oriental world1 and1 indeed1 some portions of ,southern ,europe1 have hitherto been unconscious of the value of their monuments1 because only culture can prevent familiarity breeding contempt4 ,miss ,frances ,power ,cobbe once expressed in my hearing the shock she received when1 on first arriving at ,old ,alexandria1 in ,egypt1 she found her luggage set down on an ancient monument resembling those treasured in the ,british ,museum4 ,how much the ,south ,kensington ,museum has reaped from the indifference to objects whose value is not intrinsic1 and which for that reason are unique and inestimable1 may appear incidentally as ,i proceed to describe some of them1 adding what particulars ,i have been able to learn concerning their acquisition4 ,the little sixpenny guide-book sold at the door is necessarily provisional2 the historical and descriptive volume which such an institution requires must remain a desideratum so long as the museum itself is changing and growing daily before our eyes4 ,but the materials for that work exist2 specialists have studied well the various departments2 there exist nearly twenty large ,blue-books recording the origin and growth of the museum2 and when all these are sifted and their connected story told--enriched1 as we may hope it will be1 from the memories of those men who have founded and conducted the work to its present condition--the history so told will be in itself a sort of literary museum1 replete with curiosities1 picturesque incidents1 and romance4 ,in this scattered condition of the facts ,i have had to depend mainly on information given by the gentlemen just referred to1 and what scraps ,i could pick up in old newspaper files and ,blue-books4 ,this it has appeared to me right to mention here1 in explanation of any slightness and unsatisfactoriness that may be found in the details1 or of the motley way in which they are put together4 ,if the history of this museum of civilization would record strange instances of popular neglect for great works of art1 it must at the same time show that works of genius1 in whatever perishable material embodied1 have a strange vitality4 ,the ,milonian ,venus1 twice buried in the earth that she might not be harmed by the wrath of her ,mars1 has had experiences hardly more significant than those through which the sacred forms designed by ,raphael--preserved by aid alike of king and regicide1 by aid1 too1 of the neglect which left them hidden for a hundred years in lumber-rooms--have become the glorious inheritance of ,south ,kensington4 ,the seven cartoons--what would not now be paid for the three that are lost6,a--were designed and drawn by the great artist and his scholars at the request of ,pope ,leo ,x4 7#aeac7 as copies for tapestry1 and the tapestries made from them are now in the ,vatican4 ,they were made at ,arras1 and the cartoons--so called because drawn on card-board--were thrown into the warehouse there4 ,here they remained neglected until they were seen by ,rubens1 who advised ,charles ,i4 to purchase them for a tapestry establishment at ,mortlake1 near ,london4 ,on the death of the king1 ,oliver ,cromwell paid #cjj for them1 intending that the tapestry-works should be continued4 ,on the fall of ,cromwell they were confiscated1 and1 for a second time1 were thrust away into a lumber-room1 this time at ,whitehall4 ,fortunately the designs were on strips of paper twelve feet long1 which could roll up1 and so they were able to survive such usage4 ,the next time they attracted notice was in the reign of ,william ,,iii41 by whose order ,sir ,christopher ,wren prepared a room for them at ,hampton ,court4 ,they were then carefully lined with cloth4 ,they were never removed again until placed in the gallery prepared for them here1 with the sometimes criticised and certainly remarkable inscription beneath each1 8,lent by the ,queen40 ,the last individual who clearly owned them was ,oliver ,cromwell1 who paid what was supposed a large sum 7#cjj7 for works which no amount could purchase from the ,protector's true heir--the ,english ,nation4 ,illustration3 ,,michael ,,angelo',s ,,eros4 ,the museum is especially rich in old ,italian glass4 ,some of these wine-glasses are nearly as light in weight as ordinary letter-paper1 and the iridescence is most wonderful4 ,one of the oldest forms has on it red ,indian girls1 dressed like ,italian ballet-dancers of a very early period4 ,there is reason to believe that this piece of glass was made soon after the discovery of ,america1 when the enthusiasm about the region which the great ,genoese had discovered filled all ,italy4 ,it is very plain that no portraits of the squaws could have reached the countrymen of ,columbus when these dancers were designed4 ,mr4 ,g4 ,w4 ,cooke1 ,academician and landscape-painter1 had in early life a studio in ,venice1 and he had a way of picking up bits of old glass in the shops1 the keepers of which were often willing1 for a few soldi1 to part with things now worth 7in some cases literally7 their weight in gold4 ,afterward he had1 ,i believe1 a studio in ,agerola1 and there also found beautiful ,italian glass4 ,he collected in this way enough to fill three or four large cases4 ,after they were collected a considerable quantity of ancient ,spanish glass was obtained1 and the fact was made apparent that the latter was in some cases an imitation of the former--the reverse being probably the case with the majolica1 in which ,italy would seem to have imitated the ,hispano-,moresque 8lustre-wares40 ,it is possible that a transfer of art-initiative from ,spain to ,italy may have been one of the first bad results of the banishment of the ,moors1 whose exquisite works are now models for our finest architects4 ,with reference to the hypothesis that the theatrical squaws are to be referred to the interest that followed the discovery of ,america1 ,i may mention that there are several curious instances in the museum where dates have been approximately fixed by the treatment of subjects4 ,one notable example is a ,japanese dish1 on which is a rude but reverent representation of the baptism of ,christ4 ,although certainty cannot be reached yet in the matter1 it is possible that this dish was made before the extermination of ,christianity from ,japan 7#afda74 ,however1 it is known that before the discovery of kaolin in ,europe the ,english and ,dutch used to send over to ,china designs to be put on wares that were ordered4 ,there are various pieces of china which are marked with ,english coats of arms1 and a clergyman in ,somersetshire has three pieces marked with scenes of the ,passion4 ,but ,i believe there is no instance where any such work is known to be ,japanese1 and1 indeed1 the latter had not formerly any great reputation in ,england4 ,there are eight magnificent ,japanese bronzes in the museum1 of which one is a figure of the beatified ,buddha4 ,it is impossible to gaze upon this grand figure 7about fifteen feet high71 seated with crossed legs1 and open hands lying one in the other1 without being impressed by a certain majesty in the ideal it represents1 as well as astonished at the largeness of the undertaking which has produced a bronze of such size4 ,the figure is seated1 as it were1 on the ground1 and the round1 infantine fulness and health of the face and the closed eyes render it probable that it was meant to represent the supreme moment when ,sakya ,muni attained1 through humility and meditation1 that sacred ,buddhahood 7enlightenment7 which he had vainly sought by practising the severe asceticisms which the ,brahmins enjoined upon him4 8,he met a certain ,brahmin10 says the ,siamese version1 8named ,sotiya1 and from him accepted eight handfuls of long grass4 ,the ,master spread the grass on the ground to the east of the ,bo-tree1 and sat thereon1 and the grass became a jewelled throne4 ,the ,lord1 with well-steadied mind1 turned his whole thought to attain through purity and love the exaltation of knowledge4 ,and around him gathered the angels of many worlds with fragrant offerings1 and the strains of their celestial concert resounded in the most distant universe40 ,it is interesting to observe the strong impression made upon the casual visitors by this face so sweetly serene1 so free from the lines which care and ambition trace upon the ,european face4 ,i heard a little girl of thirteen years say1 after her silent gaze1 8,how ,i would like to climb up and sit in his lap6 ,perhaps ,i would get some of his goodness40 ,how many little ones of the ,east have felt the same as they looked upon this face of perfect holiness6 ,the history of some of the other bronzes is as follows3 ,an ,english sea-captain saw three large bells1 each seven or eight feet high1 about to be taken on a ,japanese ship for ballast4 ,he saw that they were of antique and curious design1 and was told that they had belonged to a temple that had been destroyed4 ,the ,japanese seamen gladly parted with them for a small sum1 and told him of similar things near by4 ,these1 which were two bronze vessels something like huge candlesticks1 each four and a half feet high--probably meant to support large masts for flags--he found lying amidst rubbish of old metal4 ,these noble bronzes are elegantly modelled with dragon ornaments1 and indicate a development of skill in this direction which has never been equalled in ,europe4 ,besides these there are two large incense-burners eight feet high1 and wonderfully wrought with beautiful decorative and symbolical forms4 ,illustration3 ,,marble ,,cantoria4 ,,by ,,baccio ,d',,agnolo4 ,but the indifference of the ,japanese to their ancient relics is paralleled by that which prevailed in the cathedral at ,bois-le-,duc1 ,holland1 a few years ago1 and led to the transfer to this museum of one of the finest specimens of the ,french ,renaissance that now exist4 ,in the rage for repairs the authorities of the cathedral pulled down this1 its magnificent rood-loft--which is marked #afbc1 and consists of the finest colored marbles and many perfectly sculptured statues--and substituted for it a conventional ,gothic structure4 ,this great rood-loft--it covers one whole wall1 sixty feet in width1 and is from thirty to forty feet high--was actually carted out in pieces as rubbish1 and lay in a corner of the cathedral yard1 when some ,english tourist1 attracted by the beauty of one of the statues1 made a small offer for it1 and finally purchased the entire structure for a few pounds4 ,finding some difficulty in carrying it off1 the tourist wrote to the directors of the museum about it1 and was overjoyed when they agreed to purchase it for a thousand pounds4 ,the museum was no less happy in securing for a tithe of its value this unique and admirable work1 which is without damage of any kind1 and stands in the ,new ,court just as it did in the cathedral which was unable to appreciate its finest treasure4 ,when the ,queen of ,holland recently visited the ,museum1 she was not a little disgusted when she came to this rood-loft and heard its history4 ,illustration3 ,,tabernacle4 ,,andrea ,,ferrucci4 ,illustration3 ,,altar-,,piece--,,the ,,virgin ,,with ,,the ,,infant ,,saviour4--,,enamelled ,,terra-,,cotta1 ,,or ,,della ,,robbia1 ,,in ,,high ,,relief4--,,by ,,andrea ,,della ,,robbia4 ,most of the 8finds0 by which the collection of ecclesiastical architecture has been enriched have been made in ,italy4 ,one of the most valuable of these is a ,florentine 8,cantoria10 which has been affixed to the wall over the lower door-way of the ,north ,court1 and thus supplying promenaders in the corridor above with a little balcony from which the contents of the great room below may be best seen4 ,this singing-gallery was the work of ,baccio d',agnolo1 and was set up in the ,church of ,santa ,maria ,novella1 in ,florence1 about the year #aejj4 ,in the neighborhood of the same city1 namely1 at ,fiesole1 the ,church of ,san ,girolamo was found willing1 for small sums1 to despoil itself of two fine examples of its own great artist 7#adij71 ,andrea di ,fiesole1 otherwise ,ferrucci1 and two works of the artist1 not without honor save in his own country--an altar-piece and a tabernacle--grace an arcade of this museum4 ,but the most precious possessions of this character are the specimens of ,della ,robbia ware1 of which this museum has more than fifty examples4 ,there were two men who gave this ware its name--,luca and ,andrea1 uncle and nephew--and their work is almost equally excellent4 ,one of the pieces is a large terra-cotta medallion1 eleven feet in diameter1 bearing the arms and emblems of ,king ,ren of ,anjou1 which was fixed in an exterior wall near ,florence about fifty years before ,america was discovered1 and1 after undergoing the weather of over four centuries1 its colors are as brilliant and its finest mouldings as clear as if it had been made this year4 ,an altar-piece1 probably by ,andrea della ,robbia1 representing the ,adoration of the ,magi1 is certainly one of the finest works of art1 pictorially as well as in modelling1 that have come to us from the era in which he lived4 ,there are some twenty figures in relief1 and each face has its own physiognomical distinctiveness1 each head its phrenological peculiarities1 all as carefully portrayed as if ,lavater and ,spurzheim had watched over the work4 ,a figure of the ,virgin and ,child1 with an arched border of fruit and flowers1 presents us with an expression which could only be conveyed fully if the matchless colors could be transferred to my page1 but which entitles it to be classed among those great ,madonnas of art history which have influenced civilization4 ,illustration3 ,,hercules1 ,,the ,,duke ,,of ,,ferrara4 ,the most conspicuous object in the ,north ,court is the reproduction by ,mr4 ,franchi of a pulpit erected in the cathedral at ,pisa by ,giovanni ,pisano in #acjb-aa4 ,a fire occurred in the cathedral in #aeif by which this great work was damaged1 and the panels--carvings in relief of ,scripture subjects--were deposited in the crypt2 other parts of the pulpit were removed to the arcades of the ,campo ,santo1 and some others incorporated in the new pulpit of the cathedral4 ,some ten years ago ,mr4 ,franchi1 of whose wonderful skill the museum contains many evidences1 obtained from the cathedral authorities permission to take casts of all these scattered parts of ,pisano's greatest work1 and having done so1 he put them together2 and now1 more than two centuries and a half after the structure vanished from ,pisa1 it has been set up at ,south ,kensington4 ,the reproduction has been so perfect--even to the toning of the marble 7as it seems to be7 by age--that no one could imagine it to be a reproduction4 ,and it was certainly worthy of all this care4 ,the supports of the circular tribune are groups of statues--,fortitude1 holding a lion by the tail1 head downward2 ,prudence1 with compass and cornucopia2 ,justice1 with scales2 ,charity1 nursing twins2 ,temperantia1 who1 oddly enough1 is quite nude and in the ,medicean attitude2 and the ,evangelists4 ,the statues1 two-thirds the size of life1 are grouped around eight columns1 which they nearly conceal4 ,at the top of these the tribune is enclosed by seven large panels1 in which are finely carved the ,nativity1 the ,adoration of the ,wise ,men1 the ,presentation in the ,temple1 the ,massacre of the ,innocents1 the ,betrayal1 the ,crucifixion1 the ,resurrection4 ,this noble work justifies the ancient fame of ,pisa as the home of sculpture4 ,the museum is particularly rich in ,michael ,angelos1 considering that it has had to glean after the ,glyptothek of ,munich1 the ,vatican1 and the ,louvre4 ,it possesses the beautiful ,eros 7see page #fb7 executed in the great sculptor's twenty-fourth year 7#adig71 also his statuette of ,st4 ,sebastian1 unfinished1 and showing the last touches of his chisel--as1 without the intervening appliances of modern sculpture1 he carved his idea directly on the marble4 ,there is a female bust ascribed to him1 and another work in which he participated1 which is quite unique3 this is a case of small models in wax and terra-cotta1 of which twelve are by ,michael ,angelo4 ,this case was for a long time in the ,gherardini family1 and was purchased by a ,parliamentary grant in #ahed for the sum of #baaj4 ,one of these little models is that of the slave4 ,buonarotti's two slaves or prisoners1 the originals of which are in the ,louvre1 are here in good copies1 the one exhibiting the physical suffering of the fettered man1 the other the mental anguish of bondage4 ,there are also admirable casts of other works by the same artist1 the finest being the colossal figure of ,david1 which stands in the new ,tribune at ,florence4 ,this copy was presented to the museum by the late ,grand-,duke of ,tuscany1 and is one of the many excellent fruits which have been gathered from the international league which ,european princes have entered into for the purpose of exchanging works of this character1 and reciprocally aiding in the work of enriching the museums which constitute so important a feature of modern civilization4 ,it is a happy characteristic of this museum that one meets in it very few objects whose interest or beauty is marred by association with war4 ,the spoils are few1 the tokens of friendship with foreign nations innumerable4 ,some pieces of work in gold brought back from ,abyssinia and from the kingdom of ,ashantee--the latter close to the famous umbrella of ,king ,koffee--were exhibited1 and a few of them remain here to show by their exquisite chasing that blows aimed at so-called savages are likely to fall upon the springing germs of civilization4 ,the poorly designed but wonderfully chased and jewelled symbols of ,theodore excited general admiration4 ,the bird that was perched on the top of ,king ,koffee's state chair is also of fine workmanship4 ,it is rude in design1 truly2 but it is hardly ruder than the gold dove1 the ampulla which holds the oil used at ,english coronations2 and perhaps1 like the latter1 it purposely imitated a primitive and consecrated form4 ,these ,african trophies are unpleasantly suggestive of the worst phase of ,british policy1 or impolicy2 but they are slight incidents in a museum which will forever be considered the ripest fruit of the long ,victorian and victorious era of ,peace4 ,illustration3 ,,ashantee ,,relics4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,cellini ,,sardonyx ,,ewer1 ,,mounted ,,in ,,enamelled ,,gold1 ,,and ,,set ,,with ,,gems--,,italian4 ,,sixteenth ,,century4 ,it is quite impossible for me to invite my reader to an exploration of the loan collections4 ,some of the ancient jewellery and gold work which has been1 or is1 shown here is not only intrinsically priceless and beautiful1 but also historical1 e4g41 the ,mexican sun-opal2 the largest known aqua-marine1 set as a sword-hilt1 formerly belonging to the ,king of ,naples 7,joachim ,murat72 a cat's-eye 7largest known71 formerly belonging to ,king ,candy2 a piece of amber in which is a small fish--all of which have been loaned by ,beresford ,hope1 ,m4,p4 ,but the great treasure belonging to this gentleman1 and long exhibited here1 was the famous ,cellini ewer4 ,previous to the great ,revolution1 it was part of the crown-jewels of ,france1 and ,mr4 ,hope has recently sold it to a collector in that country4 ,this matchless work is ten and a half inches in height2 the body is formed of two convex pieces of carved sardonyx1 with a similar piece for pedestal2 the handle and spout are of gold1 covered with masks and figures richly enamelled1 and set with rubies and diamonds4 ,in place of this fragment of old ,french royalty1 which the explosion sent flying and the ,republic has lured back1 is the brilliant gold missal case of ,henrietta ,maria4 ,some of the most beautiful specimens of ancient repouss gold work and enamels were1 until recently1 in a case made up chiefly from the collection of ,mr4 ,gladstone1 whose fondness for things of this kind1 though rather indiscriminate1 has done something to popularize the taste for them4 ,in a recent ,christmas satire1 8,the ,fijiad10 the ,prime ,minister has been portrayed rather cleverly in his right environment3 8,great ,homer's bust upon the table stood-- ,homer much talked of1 little understood2 ,around the bust were ranged1 with curious care1 ,gems of old ,dresden or of ,chelsea ware1 ,cracked teapots1 marvels of ceramic art1 ,choice ,faence and ,palissy set apart2 ,for great ,gladisseus1 warrior of renown1 ,for plates and pottery ransacked the town4 ,made dowagers and virtuosi stare1 ,collectors1 jealous1 tear their scanty hair40 ,when the ,gladstone collection was brought to the hammer1 it did not require many hours for the same cases to be refilled with objects quite as beautiful from the large accumulation which the museum always has on hand or obtainable in excess of its present room for their exhibition4 ,it is rather droll1 however1 to find one of ,mr4 ,gladstone's specimens of sacred art replaced by a wonderful racing prize1 a silver cup three feet high1 representing the 8,birth of the ,horse40 ,the winged steed is rampant on top1 while the gods and goddesses of ,olympus gather around it in homage4 ,it is modern ,english work1 and would do for an allegorical representation of the august divinities of ,parliament adjourning to honor the ,american winged winner of the ,derby in #ahha4 ,illustration3 ,,ch,,sse1 ,,or ,,reliquary--,,limoges ,,enamel4 ,,thirteenth ,,century4 ,one of the most important loan exhibitions ever opened at the museum was completed at the end of ,may1 #ahha4 ,it consists of ,spanish and ,portuguese ornamental art4 ,on my way to visit this exhibition ,i read in a daily paper the invitation extended by the present ,king of ,spain to the ,jews of ,russia to take refuge from their persecutions in the ,peninsula from which they were so cruelly expelled three hundred and eighty-nine years ago4 ,the first object which met my eye in the exhibition was traced with the spirit which led to that inhuman decree4 ,it is a large altar-piece1 or retable1 painted in distemper on panel1 in seventeen ,gothic compartments1 the subjects being from the legend of ,st4 ,george4 ,it is of wood1 twenty-two feet in height1 sixteen feet in width1 and is from a destroyed church in ,valencia4 ,one of the three centre compartments represents ,james ,i4 of ,aragon rescued by ,st4 ,george in battle against the ,moors4 ,at the bottom there are ten compartments painted with subjects from the life of ,christ4 ,in these pictures the figures and faces of the ,jews have been carefully mutilated4 ,jesus and his disciples remain to prove how beautifully the artist had done his work2 the hacked and scratched figures around them remain to attest that in the fifteenth century1 to which the work belongs1 fanaticism was strong enough in ,spain to invade the altar and destroy the most beautiful works by which ,art was seeking to soften human ferocity4 ,in one of the panels ,jesus1 with a face of utmost benignity1 is represented receiving the kiss of ,judas on his left cheek1 and at the same time extending his right hand to touch the ear of ,malchus4 ,this servant of ,caiaphas would seem1 from so much of him as is left1 to be in a half-kneeling posture4 ,peter1 with angry face1 holds over ,malchus his short sword4 ,one may see here the spirit of fanaticism making its choice between the gentle healer of wounds and the fierce inflicter of them4 ,upon this stony hatred the ,inquisition built its church4 ,the knife which hewed and hacked the ,jewish figures of these once beautiful panels was presently mutilating the ,spanish ,jews themselves4 ,in #adib the greatness and littleness of ,spain culminated together3 by the nobility of ,isabella1 ,columbus was enabled to discover ,america2 by the meanness of ,ferdinand1 the ,jews and the ,moors were driven out of ,spain with every circumstance of inhumanity4 ,and now ,king ,alfonso wants them back4 ,there was once an ,alfonso who thought he could have suggested a better world than this1 if the ,creator had consulted him2 the present ,alfonso will not be censured for thinking he could have created a better ,spain than was fashioned by the ,inquisitors4 ,one need only look around upon this wonderful collection of ,spanish objects of art to see that it was ,spain's self as much as ,jews or ,moors that the sword of fanaticism mutilated and disfigured4 ,here is the splendid dbris of arts which ,moorish genius and ,jewish wealth combined to render possible4 ,from the time of their expulsion ,spanish art suffered a progressive decline4 ,dark and symbolical seems the purple velvet banner of the 8,holy ,office0 sent here by ,madrid1 where it used to be carried in procession to every auto-da-f4 ,on it embroidered angels hold the instruments of ,christ's suffering1 which ,inquisitors turned upon humanity1 and the inscription is1 8,clamaus voce magna emissit spiritum40 ,the color of this strange banner is that of blood grown darker with time4 ,it came from the side of crucified humanity4 ,but it was ,spain that breathed out its spirit1 now loudly recalled4 ,of the ,moresque porcelain ,i have already spoken in pages of this work written before the ,loan ,exhibition was opened4 ,suffice it to say that there are here the best specimens of that lustre-ware in existence4 8,during the sixteenth century10 says ,senor ,riao1 8the ,spaniards did nothing but imitate what was done in other countries40,b ,in the seventeenth century1 when a ,spanish pictorial art was born with ,velasquez1 ,murillo1 and ,zurbaran1 it was reflected in some of the wood-carvings1 notably in those of ,alonso ,cano4 ,the most artistic piece of such work at ,south ,kensington is a statue of ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi by that artist2 it is carved in walnut1 and exquisitely painted4 ,lady ,charlotte ,schreiber has loaned a remarkable circular jewel1 sixteenth century1 of which there is a legend4 ,when ,charles ,v4 was visiting the northern towns of his paternal duchy1 a ,frisian gentleman1 ,governor of ,harlingen1 named ,humalda1 warned him against embarking on the ,zuyder ,zee with some troops he was despatching to the opposite shore4 ,the emperor reluctantly yielded2 the tempest ,humalda predicted arose1 and every man was lost4 ,charles said to ,humalda1 8,thou art my ,star of the ,sea0 7sternsee72 and afterward had this jewel made for the ,frisian1 who thenceforth assumed the name ,sternsee1 borne by his descendants4 ,the jewel represents ,charles ,v4 standing on a star-spangled orb1 rocked by the ,devil from below1 and at the sides figures of ,death and ,war4 ,the inscription around it is1 8,carolus ,v4 ,sternsee4 ,in te ,domine speravi40 ,many of the inscriptions found upon ,spanish ornamental works were in ,cufic characters even after the banishment of the ,moors4 ,the workmen seemed to realize the value of letters which made beautiful fringes while they conveyed meanings4 ,but it is only in ancient ,hispano-,moresque carvings that the ,cufic inscriptions are found in their perfection4 ,an ivory casket1 eleventh century1 is covered with deeply-cut figures of conventional birds and animals1 and around the margin of the lid is a ,cufic inscription saying1 8,in the name of ,god4 ,the blessing of ,god1 happiness1 prosperity1 good-fortune1 perfect health and peace of mind1 perpetual pleasures and delight to the owner of this casket40 ,another ivory box has round its dome-shaped cover1 8,i display the fairest of sights4 ,beauty has cast upon me a robe bright with gems4 ,behold in me a vessel for musk1 for camphor1 and ambergris40 ,on the opposite side of the hall1 facing the altar-picture of the disfigured ,jews1 is a great reredos from the high altar of the cathedral of ,ciudad ,rodrigo4 ,it was painted about twelve years before the discovery of ,america1 it is believed1 by ,fernando ,gallegos1 greatest ,spanish painter of that century1 and three assistants4 ,this picture also has traces of disfigurement which have their story to tell4 ,it is owned by ,mr4 ,j4 ,c4 ,robinson1 to whose explorations of ,spain and enthusiasm for antiquarian art this fine exhibition is mainly due4 ,mr4 ,robinson's account of this picture shows that its injuries came by ,english guns1 in #ahaa1 during the ,peninsular ,war4 ,the cathedral stands near the fortress of ,ciudad ,rodrigo1 and the ,english shot traversed it from end to end4 ,the grand reredos was so injured that a new one was erected4 ,twenty-nine of the panels1 though in some cases perforated1 were preserved separately in a corridor of the chapter-house4 ,in #ahgi they were sold to a local dealer1 who forwarded them to ,madrid1 whence they were brought to this country4 ,in some of the panels the faces and costumes are ,moorish4 ,it is still a magnificent work1 and must originally have been over fifty feet high1 by twenty-five in width4 ,its panels1 beginning with ,chaos and the ,creation of ,eve1 pass at once to the life and ,passion of ,christ4 ,it is likely that this monument of so many eras1 thus curiously brought to the country which marred it1 will not be followed by many similar treasures4 ,the ,spaniards have lately learned the value of such things4 ,the ,spanish collection made at ,south ,kensington by ,mr4 ,robinson1 for a long time superintendent of the art-collections1 chiefly led to the formation of the ,archological ,museum at ,madrid4 ,when ,mr4 ,robinson began his visits to ,spain 7about #ahfb7 things were in a fair condition for foreign collectors4 8,at the period in question10 he says1 8railways had scarcely yet made their appearance in the ,peninsula1 photography was almost unknown1 and the country was not overrun by the professional dealers1 native and foreign1 who have since ransacked every nook and corner of the land4 ,on the other hand1 in these comparatively early days of the collecting furore1 facilities for the discovery and purchase of specimens were few1 and the work of acquisition slow and difficult4 ,a few brokers and silversmiths alone occupied themselves casually in the commerce of antiquities in ,madrid1 ,lisbon1 and one or two other of the chief cities4 ,neglect and destruction were still the rule4 ,ancient things1 once out of use1 if their materials had any intrinsic value1 were forthwith demolished and utilized4 ,the fine enamelled jewels of the sixteenth century were often broken up for the stones and the gold4 ,the most admirable works in silver were currently consigned to the smelting-pot2 the splendid iron #8rejas' were converted into mules' and asses' shoes2 and the gorgeous carved and gilded wood-work of dismantled churches and convents burnt for the sake of the bullion to be derived from the rich gilding on its surface40 ,this is now all changed1 and the ,peninsula boasts its band of dealers as well organized as any in ,europe2 nor is it behindhand in their shadows--the fabricators of fraudulent specimens of the kinds most in request4 ,the visitor to ,south ,kensington should bear in mind that there may be ,loan ,exhibitions in some of the adjacent buildings of a highly important character4 ,as ,i write there is a collection on exhibition which will well repay a visitor for the exploration required to reach it1 for it has had to find rooms on the west side of the ,gardens3 this is the anthropological collection gathered by ,general ,pitt ,rivers1 who1 before he became heir of the late ,lord ,rivers1 had made the name of ,lane ,fox so noble in the scientific world that one almost regrets that his good-fortune1 in which all rejoice1 involved a change of name4 ,in this collection the evolution of savage and barbarian weapons1 ornaments1 utensils1 and the like may be studied4 ,general ,pitt ,rivers has arranged boomerangs in series1 so that the completest form may be traced back to the first slightly curved stick found to carry some increase of force4 ,the development of a shield from a mere stick grasped in the hand1 next with a protection for the hand1 may be traced4 ,there is a series of paddles upon which may be followed a human form1 degraded from one surface to another1 until a grotesque conventional figure appears on the last without a trace of human semblance4 ,the ornamental marks on the bodies of pots are found in some instances to have been suggested by the net-work print left by their corded holders4 ,these are but a few instances of the way in which objects are made by a man of science to tell their own history4 ,among the articles which have received the attention of ,general ,pitt ,rivers are the caps worn by the women of ,brittany1 and a few supplementary cases of these have been added to his wonderful collection4 ,an examination of these caps--which are considered of so much importance that a woman is not allowed to enter church without one1 nor with one of a pattern belonging to another parish--shows good reason for the supposition that their sanctity is derived from their having been all developed from the head-dress of the nun4 ,such is the opinion that ,general ,pitt ,rivers expressed when he conducted me through his rooms4 ,he showed me that each cap has parts which correspond to parts of the normal cap of the nun4 ,these parts have grown small in some cases2 in others they are pinned up2 but in the latter case they are let down on important occasions--funerals and weddings--and the wearers are then all nun-like4 ,these little ,french things1 however1 are hardly to be included in this great collection--perhaps the most important private collection of objects illustrative of anthropology in the world4 ,nor is there any book more useful to the student of anthropology than the illustrated and explanatory catalogue of #ahdg of these objects prepared by ,general ,pitt ,rivers1 and published by the ,science and ,art ,department4,c ,illustration3 ,,pastoral ,,staves--,,ivory ,,and ,,enamel4 ,,fourteenth ,,century4 ,various public men sent their treasures to the museum in its earlier days1 when they were more needed than now2 but it has been found necessary to select fastidiously from the too numerous articles offered every year as loans4 ,many families owning valuable collections find it difficult to keep them in perfect safety1 and more begin to realize that such articles should not be of private advantage4 ,some collections1 originally received as loans1 it is pretty certain will never be removed2 and ,i am assured by the director that the museum has been notified of being remembered in many wills4 ,this gentleman1 ,sir ,philip ,cunliffe ,owen1 and his predecessor1 ,sir ,henry ,cole1 said to me1 in conversation about the prospect of building museums in the ,american cities1 that they had no doubt such institutions1 if good and safe buildings were erected1 would there as well as here find themselves centres of gravitation for the art treasures and curiosities owned by the community around them4 ,this museum1 though hardly out of its teens1 has received seven great collections1 worth collectively more than two million dollars2 thirteen bequests1 worth over half a million dollars2 and a large number of donations whose aggregate money value is very great1 though not yet estimated4 ,among the more important donations sixteen have been from the ,queen1 nineteen from the late ,prince ,consort1 three from ,napoleon ,,iii4 7very valuable too--,raphael's 8,holy ,family10 in ,gobelin tapestry2 four pieces of ,beauvais tapestry1 and a collection of #dhed engravings from the ,louvre71 three from the ,emperor of ,russia1 and thirty ,egyptian musical instruments from the ,khedive4 ,thirty-one donations1 including1 of course1 a much larger number of objects1 have been received from twenty-eight governments4 ,in this list ,japan 7two71 ,wrtemberg 7two71 and the ,united ,states 7three7 are the only governments which appear more than once2 but ,i am sorry to say the presents of the ,american ,republic are limited to department reports1 the last being one from the ,war ,department on gunshot wounds4 ,twenty ,european museums have sent valuable gifts to this youngest member of their family4 ,among private individuals1 other than the donors of collections1 ,sir ,henry ,cole1 ,k4,c4,b41 father of the museum1 and his family1 are represented by twenty-eight valuable gifts--gifts1 however1 which are little compared with the enthusiasm and intelligence they lavished on the institution they saw planted as a seed1 and may now from their windows behold grown to its present large proportions4 ,among the numerous gifts and bequests which the museum has received during the past twenty years the following are the most important3 ,in #aheg4 ,by ,john ,sheepshanks1 ,esq41 #bcc oil paintings1 #bhi water-color paintings1 etchings1 and other drawings4 7,gift47 ,mr4 ,sheepshanks died in #ahfc4 ,in #ahfj and in #ahgc4 ,by ,mrs4 ,elizabeth ,ellison1 #ajj water-color drawings4 7,acting in the spirit of the intention of her late husband1 ,richard ,ellison1 ,esq41 of ,sudbrook ,house1 ,lincolnshire47 ,for the purpose of forming a ,national ,collection of ,watercolor ,drawings4 7,gift47 ,in #ahfd4 ,by ,rev4 ,r4 ,brooke1 #cif objects1 consisting of textiles1 watches1 rings1 etc41 and #gah volumes of books4 7,gift47 ,in #ahfg4 ,by ,mrs4 ,wollaston1 #bgj drawings of mosaics4 7,gift47 ,in #ahfg4 ,by ,w4 ,minshull ,bigg1 ,esq41 #c works in marble by ,lough3 8,puck10 8,the ,melancholy ,jaques10 8,titania40 7,bequest47 ,in #ahfg and #ahfh4 ,by ,sir ,charles ,wentworth ,dilke1 ,bart41 ,m4,p41 #big volumes1 #hfb pamphlets1 and #aee prints illustrating the ,great ,exhibition1 #ahea4 7,gift47 ,died in #ahfi4 ,in #ahfh4 ,by ,mrs4 ,louisa ,plumley1 #dc enamel paintings by ,essex1 ,bone1 etc4 7,bequest47 ,in #ahfh4 ,by ,professor ,ella1 #cbi volumes of music1 printed and in ,,ms42 #f busts1 #a oil painting 7a portrait of ,rossini74 ,from the ,library of the ,musical ,union ,institute4 7,gift47 ,in #ahfh4 ,by ,rev4 ,chauncy ,hare ,townshend1 #baa objects1 chiefly jewels1 #ahi oil paintings1 #agd water-color paintings1 #dbah ,swiss coins1 #hca volumes1 #cij drawings1 #ahae prints4 7,bequest47 ,in #ahfi4 ,by ,rev4 ,alexander ,dyce1 #hj pictures1 #fc miniatures1 #hjb drawings4 #aeaa prints1 #gd rings1 #bg art objects1 #ac1eif books4 7,bequest47 ,in #ahgj4 ,by ,william ,gibbs1 ,esq41 ,roman and ,anglo-,saxon ornaments and other antiquities1 chiefly found in ,kent4 7,bequest47 ,in #ahgj4 ,by ,alfred ,davis1 ,esq41 a collection of coral4 7,bequest47 ,in #ahgj4 ,by ,john ,meeson ,parsons1 ,esq41 a collection of #ib oil and #dg water-color paintings4 7,bequest47 ,in #ahga4 ,by ,c4 ,t4 ,maud1 ,esq41 #f oil paintings of the ,english ,school4 7,gift47 ,in #ahga4 ,by ,w4 ,s4 ,louch1 ,esq41 #b oil paintings1 #b water-colors1 etc4 7,bequest47 ,in #ahga4 ,by ,w4 ,smith1 ,esq41 #hf early ,english water-color drawings4 7,gift47 ,in #ahgb4 ,by ,thomas ,millard1 ,esq41 #aig gold and silver coins1 chiefly ,english4 7,bequest47 ,in #ahgb4 ,by ,mr4 ,tatlock1 #ae drawings and paintings by ,de ,wint1 and by ,hilton4 7,gift47 ,in #ahgb4 ,by ,lady ,walmsley1 #ac oil paintings4 7,gift47 ,in #ahgc4 ,by ,c4 ,t4 ,maud4 ,esq41 #aa water-color-drawings4 7,gift47 ,in #ahgd4 ,by ,alexander ,barker1 ,esq41 ,venetian furniture of a boudoir4 7,bequest47 ,in #ahge4 ,by ,assimon1 ,delavigne1 et ,cie1 a collection of ,french lace4 7,gift47 ,in #ahge4 ,by ,mrs4 ,a4 ,nadporojsky1 a collection of ,russian lace4 7,gift47 ,in #ahgf4 ,by ,john ,forster1 ,esq41 #dh oil paintings1 #gd frames of water-color paintings and drawings1 collections of drawings1 sketches1 and engravings2 collection of manuscripts and autographs1 library of printed and illustrated books4 ,in #ahgf4 ,by ,sir ,m4 ,digby and ,lady ,wyatt1 #adh fans4 7,gift47 ,in #ahgf4 ,by ,william ,smith1 ,esq41 #acf water-color drawings1 and also #gjj volumes4 ,in #ahhb4 ,by ,john ,jones1 ,esq41 pictures and virtu amounting to #bdj1jjj4 7,bequest47 ,for the purpose of industrial and art education1 the museum has found the perfect casts and reproductions that can now be made not inferior in value to original works4 ,in this respect the international convention1 to which reference has already been made1 has been of immense advantage4 ,as one of the signs of better times1 to be set against standing armies1 the agreement deserves insertion in any account of this museum4 ,it was entered into during the ,paris ,exposition of #ahfg1 and in the following year communicated by the ,prince of ,wales to the ,lord ,president of the ,council3 ,,convention ,,for ,,promoting ,,universal ,,reproductions ,,of ,,works ,,of ,,art ,,for ,,the ,,benefit ,,of ,,museums ,,of ,,all ,,countries4 ,throughout the world every country possesses fine historical monuments of art of its own1 which can easily be reproduced by casts1 electrotypes1 photographs1 and other processes1 without the slightest damage to the originals4 7a74 ,the knowledge of such monuments is necessary to the progress of art1 and the reproductions of them would be of a high value to all museums for public instruction4 7b74 ,the commencement of a system of reproducing works of art has been made by the ,south ,kensington ,museum1 and illustrations of it are now exhibited in the ,british section of the ,paris ,exhibition1 where may be seen specimens of ,french1 ,italian1 ,spanish1 ,portuguese1 ,german1 ,swiss1 ,russian1 ,hindoo1 ,celtic1 and ,english art4 7c74 ,the following outline of operations is suggested3 ,i4 ,each country to form its own commission1 according to its own views1 for obtaining such reproductions as it may desire for its own museums4 ,,ii4 ,the commissions of each country to correspond with one another1 and send information of what reproductions each causes to be made1 so that every country1 if disposed1 may take advantage of the labors of other countries at a moderate cost4 ,,iii4 ,each country to arrange for making exchanges for objects which it desires4 ,,iv4 ,in order to promote the formation of the proposed commissions in each country1 and facilitate the making of reproductions1 the undersigned members of the reigning families throughout ,europe1 meeting at the ,paris ,exhibition of #ahfg1 have signified their approval of the plan1 and their desire to promote the realization of it4 ,the following ,princes have already signed this convention3 ,great ,britain and ,ireland ,albert ,edward1 ,prince of ,wales4 ,alfred1 ,duke of ,edinburgh4 ,prussia ,frederick ,william1 ,crown ,prince of ,prussia4 ,hesse ,louis1 ,prince of ,hesse4 ,saxony ,albert1 ,prince ,royal of ,saxony4 ,france ,prince ,napoleon 7,jerome74 ,belgium ,philippe1 ,comte de ,flandre4 ,russia ,the ,czarowitz4 0 ,nicolas1 ,duc de ,leuchtenberg4 ,sweden and ,norway ,oscar1 ,prince of ,sweden and ,norway4 ,italy ,humbert1 ,prince ,royal of ,italy4 0 ,amadeus1 ,duke of ,aosta4 ,austria ,charles ,louis1 ,archduke of ,austria4 ,rainer1 ,archduke of ,austria4 ,denmark ,frederick1 ,crown ,prince of ,denmark4 ,,paris1 #ahfg4 ,illustration3 ,,elkington',s ,,mark4 ,illustration3 ,,franchi ,,and ,,son',s ,,mark4 ,cincinnati is already sharing these reproductions2 and the signers of the above document would gladly have the ,governors of the ,american ,states which possess museums add to it their names1 and transatlantic museums avail themselves of its advantages4 ,these advantages are very great1 as1 after one cast has been made1 the cost of the rest amounts to little more than that of material and transportation4 ,this kind of work is now done in such perfection that it were easy for an untrained eye to doubt which is original and which reproduction4 ,the firms officially connected with the ,science and ,art ,department always use marks which have a money value in ,europe4 ,for three or four pounds any museum or private collector may obtain perfect copies of ancient shields1 salt-cellars1 tankards1 tazzas1 fire-dogs1 knockers1 whether chased or repouss4 ,old specimens of this kind are rare and costly4 ,a beautiful pair of bronze fire-dogs --pedestals surrounded by ,cupids1 and supporting respectively ,venus and ,adonis--made in ,venice about #aegj1 are rather costly1 the work being intricate and the figures four feet high2 but ,franchi's copper-bronze copies at #cj are nearly as good as the originals1 which were considered cheap at the #cjj paid by the museum4 ,a wonderful old ,italian bronze knocker 7#aefj71 fourteen and a half inches in height and thirteen inches wide1 which cost #hj1 is reproduced by the same firm for #d4 ,it is1 however1 the large casts of ,oriental objects and ancient ,german shrines that will probably be of paramount interest to an ,american4 ,it is here shown that the most notable and interesting objects in the world can be copied with the utmost exactness1 and in their actual size1 and brought within reach of the people of any country4 ,even ,trajan's ,column is here2 and1 though in this case it has had to be set up in two columns instead of one1 many others have confirmed my experience of the impossibility in tracing out at ,rome the figures which cover it so satisfactorily as they can be made out at ,south ,kensington4 ,the #agth of ,may1 #ahhj1 is an historic day in the annals of the museum4 ,on that day was thrown open to the public its ,indian section4 ,a small collection of ,indian curiosities has long been wandering from one place to another in ,london1 and had finally been shelved at the very top of the ,india ,office4 ,so1 at any rate1 it was stated1 and most persons were willing to accept the statement on faith by the time they reached the third story of that edifice4 ,however1 the collection steadily increased up there1 and it was at length removed to some rooms at ,south ,kensington4 ,but there it attracted little attention from the public1 though much from scholars1 and it was publicly announced that it would be closed because it did not pay expenses4 ,the authorities ultimately followed better counsels3 they gave it up to the ,direction of the ,south ,kensington ,museum4 ,the ,queen loaned it the magnificent collection of ,oriental armor from ,windsor ,castle2 ,indian treasures hitherto dispersed through the other courts of the museum were gathered together in the new section2 ,dr4 ,leitner's collection of ,grco-,buddhist sculptures was added2 the walls adorned with ,carpenter's water-colors illustrative of ,indian scenery and life2 and lo6 ,london awaked one morning to find that it had a new and splendid institution1 which the ,queen and her family had visited the day before with 8the greatest satisfaction40 ,it is indeed a noble section2 and if any one has read about ,india1 is at all interested in its pantheon1 its mythology1 or its relation to the evolution of humanity1 he may pass many fruitful days or even weeks in these wonderful rooms4 ,there is no university in the world where one can learn so much about ,india1 especially if he should study these objects in connection with ,fergusson's ,history of ,indian and ,eastern ,architecture4 ,immediately on entering1 one passes those strange remains brought by ,dr4 ,leitner from ,peshawar1 which exhibit the influence of ,greek art upon ,india at the time when ,buddhism was there in its zenith of power4 ,next we pass beneath the model of the great ,sanchi ,tope ,gate4 ,the ,buddhist ,tope is a sort of mound or barrow1 only built of earth and stone with great care2 it is shaped like a regular dome1 surrounded by a double railing1 and is reached through four large gates of the finest and most elaborate carvings4 ,this hill-like dome1 wherever found1 appears to have no other use than to contain some tiny relic--one of ,buddha's hairs1 say1 or his toe-nail4 ,in the ,mahawanso1 the ,buddhist history of ,ceylon1 it is said3 8,the chief of the ,devos1 ,sumano1 supplicated of the deity worthy of offerings for an offering4 ,the ,vanquisher1 passing his hand over his head1 bestowed on him a handful of his pure blue locks from the growing hair of his head4 ,receiving and depositing it in a superb golden casket1 on the spot where the divine teacher had stood1 he enshrined the lock in an emerald dagoba1 and bowed down in worship40 ,the thorax-bone of ,buddha is a great relic2 but most sacred of all is his left canine tooth1 whose shrine probably originated the famous ,car of ,juggernaut4 ,among the treasures in this section is a drum-shaped reliquary of pure gold2 it is about three inches high by two in diameter1 and panelled with saints in relief4 ,it was found in one of these huge topes2 inside it were wrappings within wrappings1 and last of all some hardly distinguishable speck representing an unknown saint4 ,the model of the great gate is probably the largest achievement of the copying art ever known4 ,in #ahfi the party set out with twenty-eight tons of materials1 chiefly plaster-of-,paris2 these were drawn by bullocks one hundred and eighty miles2 and in a year's time three full-sized casts of the magnificent structure were completed without a flaw--which is marvellous1 considering the extremely fine and complicated character of the carvings4 ,this structure1 erected in the first century of our era1 is thirty-three feet in height4 ,there are two high pillars--every inch of whose surfaces is covered with symbolical carvings--supporting capitals made of elephant-heads--the elephant being the animal in whose shape ,buddha descended for his incarnation4 ,above the elephants three cross-beams are stretched1 upholding pinnacles bearing the phallic ,trisul1 the ,wheel1 the ,lion4 ,there are winged lions that remind us of ,assyrian influence2 there are sieges and wars 7no doubt about the relics72 scenes relating to the princely and amorous years of ,siddharta1 but nothing of his asceticism or his lowliness2 everywhere symbolical forms1 especially the serpent1 which is always intertwined with the emblems of early ,buddhism1 indicating that his first converts were the serpent-worshippers called ,nagas4 ,the intricacy and fineness of all this work1 constituting1 as ,fergusson has said1 the 8picture ,bible of ,buddhism10 are indescribable4 ,throughout this ,indian section there are large photographs of the temples and palaces representing the eras of ,indian architecture--,buddhist1 ,dravidian1 ,jain1 ,moslem--and near many of them actual specimens or casts of their ornamentation4 ,some of these specimens of sculptured ornamentation fill one with amazement at the degree of art-culture they imply1 and by their refined beauty4 ,here the capital of a pillar is fringed round with small elephant-heads2 there a pedestal is adorned with mounted horsemen in relief1 so regularly dispersed that at first they might hardly be noticed4 ,there are some architraves from ,rajpootna1 of the eleventh century1 made up of gods1 goddesses1 and symbolic forms1 the tracery of which is so refined and the execution so delicate that it would be impossible to find any ,european work of like antiquity to equal it4 ,these arts are still kept up4 ,there are some screens from ,mirzapore and from ,agra1 made of perforated sandstone or marble1 which are meant for ventilation and also to admit a little light3 they are so delicate1 and the figures so fine-edged1 as to induce one to touch them and make sure they are not made of paper or wax4 ,dr4 ,birdwood has prepared in two small volumes a fair hand-book of this section1 which1 however1 contains no direct references to the objects4 ,useful as it is1 a student will find that it is too apt to take the conventional view of things1 as1 for example1 when it speaks of ,hindoos throwing themselves beneath the ,car of ,juggernaut--an error which ,dr4 ,hunter exploded long ago4 ,there is no doubt that the real way to understand these objects1 and to derive high benefit from this unique collection1 is to study them in connection with ,dr4 ,fergusson's great work on ,eastern architecture--certainly one of the greatest archological and descriptive books ever written4 ,the throne of ,akbar was set in the air at the convergence of bridges1 so that no man might approach him without being inspected from the surrounding windows1 and any arms he might have about him observed4 ,before removal to the new section it stood in all its grandeur1 but it has been considered sufficient to preserve the central column and the large capital which supported the famous throne4 ,it is wonderful1 indeed1 that it should be left to this age and to ,england to appreciate the romance of the ,east1 and to revise1 correct1 and estimate the traditions of the ,oriental world concerning its own monarchs4 ,akbar1 for instance1 bears the reputation in the ,east of having been an archtyrant and a blasphemer1 and the care he took in preparing this curious building1 with his throne suspended1 as it were1 in mid-air for safety1 is regarded as confirming the ,oriental view4 ,but the fact is now known that the hostility excited by ,akbar was through his liberality in entering upon a comparative study of all religions1 arousing thereby the enmity of all their priesthoods4 ,from being a saint1 to whom the people brought their sick that his breath might heal them1 the ,emperor became in popular regard a demon4 ,he instituted at ,delhi 7small,a4,d4_/small #aedb-afje7 discussions on every ,thursday evening1 to which he invited the most learned representatives of all religions1 allowing each his statement with strict impartiality2 he had as many as he could of the sacred books of each religion translated for his library1 though neither his threats nor bribes could extort from the ,brahmans their ,vedas1 which now are open to every ,english reader through the labors of ,max ,mller4 ,he tried in turns worshipping ,vishnu1 ,allah1 the ,sun1 and ,christ4 ,badon writes that 8when the strong embankment of our clear ,mussulman law and our excellent faith had once been broken through1 his ,majesty grew colder and colder40 ,this sad result 7in the view of ,badon7 being proved by the fact that 8not a trace of ,mussulman feeling was left in his heart10 and 8there grew gradually1 as the outline on a stone1 the conviction in his heart that there were sensible men of all religions40 ,he had three wives representing these religious--,mehal 7,hindoo71 ,roumi 7,moslem71 ,miriam 7,christian74 ,a great deal of ,akbar's toleration and independence may be ascribed to the influence of his favorite sultana1 ,mehal4 ,she was a faithful1 wise1 and educated lady1 who always held the ,emperor to his high standard4 ,there is a miniature of her in this museum1 showing her in a rich gauze1 or dress1 diaphanous above the waist2 she is not burdened with jewels1 as was the case with some of her wealthy subjects1 but wears the ornaments of a lowly and quiet spirit4 ,there is also here a picture of the superb tomb1 the ,taje1 at ,agra4 ,it is the most beautiful monument in the world2 even that of the ,prince ,consort1 in ,hyde ,park1 is poor beside it4 ,it is to be remembered1 however1 that1 according to the imperial custom of that period and region1 such tombs were built while those for whom they were intended were yet living4 ,they were by no means what ,western people would imagine to be tombs1 but beautiful pleasure-domes of purest marbles4 ,during the lives of their builders they were wont to invite their friends to gay feasts in them1 and this continued until the pretty palace received the dead bodies of those who had enjoyed them1 and were so turned into monuments4 ,it is not always that these ancient monuments1 as in ,akbar's case1 survive to remind the world of to-day what forerunners some of its characteristic tendencies had in early times and unsuspected places4 ,indeed1 it might surprise some of the magnificent princes of the ,east in the far past if they could now visit ,london and observe the kind of interest their monuments excite4 ,here1 for example1 is an exact and full-sized copy of that ancient iron pillar of ,delhi which some think gave the province its name4 ,it was set up in the fourth century1 and is twenty-two feet above ground4 ,all manner of superstitions have grown around it4 ,the ,hindoos have a belief that it rests upon the head of the king-serpent ,vsaki1 near the earth's centre2 that the founder of a great dynasty was told by an oracle that if he planted it there his kingdom would never be shaken so long as it should stand2 that one of his successors1 doubting this legend1 dug it up1 and found the bottom stained with the serpent's blood2 and that in consequence the dynasty passed away before ,mussulman and then ,english conquerors4 ,for ages this pillar has been kept polished by the vast numbers who climbed or tried to climb it every year1 success in this feat being deemed a proof of high pedigree4 ,but during fifteen centuries there were two rather obvious things which the ,hindoos appear never to have attempted--one was to really dig about the bottom of this pillar1 the other to translate an old ,sanscrit inscription on it4 ,both of these have recently been done by ,englishmen4 ,the bottom was found to reach only twenty inches beneath the surface of the earth1 there resting on a gridiron of iron bars4 ,the inscription testifies that it was set up by a prince unknown in other ,hindoo annals4 ,this prince1 ,dhva by name1 would appear to have been the most extraordinary being that the sun ever shone upon1 or1 rather1 that ever shone upon the sun4 ,a clause of the inscription runs3 8,by him who obtained with his own arm an undivided sovereignty on the earth for a long period1 who united in himself the qualities of the sun and the moon1 who had beauty of countenance like the full moon--by this same ,rajah ,dhva1 having bowed his head to the feet of ,vishnu1 and fixed his mind on him1 was this very lofty arm of the adored ,vishnu the pillar caused to be erected40 ,there was probably a figure of ,garuda on it originally1 which the ,mohammedans would have removed2 but the real object of the pillar1 ,mr4 ,fergusson thinks1 was to celebrate the defeat of the ,balhikas 7small,a4,d4_/small #cfd or #cga74 8,it is10 says ,fergusson1 8to say the least of it1 a curious coincidence that1 eight centuries afterward1 men from that same ,bactrian country should have erected a ,jaya ,stambha ten times as tall as this one1 in the same court-yard1 to celebrate their victory over the descendants of those ,hindoos who so long before had expelled their ancestors from the country40 ,the chief present value of the monument of this magnificent individual is the light it enables such archologists of metals as ,day1 ,percy1 ,murray1 and ,mallet to cast on the early use of iron4 ,it is pure malleable iron1 without alloy2 and though since it was forged it has been exposed to the weather1 it is unrusted1 and the capital and inscription are as clear as when it was set up fourteen centuries ago4 ,mr4 ,day has shown the remarkable interest of this pillar in that respect1 though ,i believe that the iron sickle found beneath the feet of a ,sphinx1 and now in the ,british ,museum1 brings us nearer to ,tubal-cain by a thousand years1 being assigned to small,b4,c4_/small #fjj4 ,the ,indian section has sundry 8trophies10 among which the 8,tippoo ,tiger0 is conspicuous4 ,as it is just possible that some transatlantic readers may be so benighted as not to know what the 8,tippoo ,tiger0 is1 ,i will explain that it is a musical instrument contrived for the delectation of ,tippoo ,sahib4 ,it is a large-sized tiger1 under whose claws lies a prostrate ,englishman1 dressed pretty much in the fashion of a ,london ,city merchant of ,east ,india ,company times4 ,when this emblematic organ is played the music that issues consists of blended tiger-growls and human groans4 ,this instrument was made for ,tippoo ,sultan by a fellow-citizen of the tiger's victim6 ,it brought much satisfaction to the royal breast of ,tippoo1 and still more perhaps to the boys who used to be taken to see and hear it when it was a show in ,leadenhall ,street4 ,not far from it is also a beautiful cannon which belonged to ,tippoo ,sahib2 it was captured at ,mysore1 and presented to the ,queen4 ,instead of the cross with which the godly guns of ,christendom are decorated1 this one is adorned with the sun and moon2 but it has also a lion1 to remind ,britannia where her own emblem may have originated4 ,tippoo ,sahib's throne was supported by massive gold tiger-heads1 admirably wrought1 one of which is also in the ,windsor collection4 ,he would seem to have been fond of animals4 ,there is in the ,oriental fire-arms a notable resemblance to the old arquebus4 ,it looks as if when the ,orientals received gunpowder from the ,west they received also the cross-bows with which it was first connected2 and1 while that shape has been completely modified here1 it has been retained in the ,east4 ,the powder-horns and other accoutrements also have a curious resemblance to the medival shape of such things in ,europe4 ,prominence is given to another 8trophy10 the throne of ,runjeet ,singh1 whom the ,english overthrew4 ,it is a large throne1 wrought of pure gold1 and too softly cushioned to have ever fulfilled the much-needed duties of that ,eastern throne whose velvet seat turned to rough flint whenever any subject of him who sat on it was suffering an injustice4 ,there are a good many things in this ,indian section which one meets with surprise4 ,for example1 here is a tablet of marble which belonged to the ,parsees of ,bombay1 but is decorated with ,assyrian figures2 also1 there is a panel brought from the ,audience ,hall of the ,great ,mogul1 on which is fashioned in marbles of various colors a fair copy of ,orpheus charming the beasts with his violin1 as it was found frescoed in the ,catacombs4 ,it is surmised that ,austin de ,bordeaux1 who worked for a time at ,delhi1 copied it from ,raphael's picture1 and made ,orpheus a portrait of himself4 ,but it is not so easy to explain the close resemblance between the ancient pottery of ,gour and the ,delia ,robbia ware4 ,the collection of jade in this section is superb2 it cannot be worth much less than fifty thousand pounds4 ,the splendid jewellery1 the rich stuffs1 the models of ,hindoos of all castes1 the conventionalized figures of the deities1 the pottery of all times and places in ,india here collected1 make this new section one of unique interest1 and one which cannot fail to prove of importance to the industrial arts as well as to ,oriental studies4 ,illustration3 ,,modern ,,persian ,,ewer 7,,copper-,,coated1 ,,with ,,white ,,metal74 ,south ,kensington ,museum contains a noble collection of ,persian articles1 ancient and modern1 made for it in that country by ,major ,e4 ,murdoch ,smith1 of the ,royal ,engineers4 ,i say ancient and modern2 but where an art has had a continuous evolution it would be perhaps more philosophical to pronounce its last results the oldest1 and its 8modern0 period that in which it was newest4 ,in no other part of this museum have ,i seen works which reminded me so much of that long conspiracy between man and nature by which wild-briers have turned to roses4 ,it seemed to me there might be written on the walls this beautiful page of the 8,rose ,garden0 of ,sdi3 8,i have heard that in the land of the ,east they are forty years in making a china cup3 they make a hundred a day at ,bagdad1 and consequently you see the meanness of the price4 ,a chicken1 as soon as it comes out of the egg1 seeks its food2 but an infant hath not reason and discrimination4 ,that which was something all at once never arrives at much perfection2 and the other by degrees surpasses all things in power and excellence4 ,glass is everywhere1 and therefore of no value2 the ruby is obtained with difficulty1 and on that account is precious4 ,affairs are accomplished through patience3 the hasty man faileth in his undertakings40 ,it was probably under the inspiration of these very words of ,sdi that ,bagdad in the end vindicated itself4 8,the powerful ,abbaside ,caliphs of ,bagdad10 says ,major ,murdoch ,smith1 8no doubt summoned to their court men of science and learning from all the countries under their sway--,persia furnishing them with architects and other artists4 ,skilled ,persian workmen were no doubt employed in large numbers in decorating the mosques and palaces in the ,arab capital1 situated as it was on the very frontier of their own country4 ,thence1 we believe1 arose the so-called ,arabian or arabesque style of ornament1 afterward so widely spread1 and now so well known4 ,the peculiar pendent ornamentation of vaults and niches1 of which the ,alhambra is so typical an example1 is identical in style with that used throughout ,persia down to the present day40 ,if this theory be true--and really these works appear to sanction it--the ,arabs derived their arts from ,persia1 as the ,romans did from the ,greeks1 and consequently the ,moors imported a ,persian art into ,spain4 ,the ,shah of ,persia1 in wishing to carry back with him ,owen ,jones's reproductions of the ,alhambra at the ,crystal ,palace1 had good reason for his selection4 ,illustration3 ,,old ,,persian ,,earthenware 7,,water-,,bottle74 ,it is difficult to tell the age of most of this ,persian work1 and ,i think the enterprising collector of these specimens is not always happy in his estimates4 ,thus there is a beautiful vase 7,no4 #abbd7 which ,major ,smith thinks over #ejj years old1 on the ground that it bears an inscription in ,pehlevi2 but that is no more evidence than would be a ,latin epitaph in ,westminster ,abbey that the monument was erected during the ,roman occupation of ,britain4 ,the collection shows that ,persian art is by no means in such a state of decay as many have supposed4 ,this is especially true of the exquisite damascene work still executed at ,ispahan4 8,the true damascene10 says our collector1 8is made of a particular kind of iron4 ,after the object is forged it is placed for six or eight days in the furnace of a hot bath1 where the greatest attention has to be paid to the even heating of the article4 ,the bath is heated with the dried dung of cows and other animals1 which gives a steady and not very intense heat1 and is supposed to contain the salts necessary for the formation of true damascene4 ,when the article is taken out of the furnace it is left at the temper it has therein acquired4 ,it is then finished and polished4 ,to bring out the grain a certain mineral 7of which a specimen may be seen in the museum7 is then applied in the following manner3 about three parts of the mineral are dissolved in ten of water1 over a slow fire1 in an earthenware or leaden vessel4 ,the object is then slightly heated1 and a little of the liquid applied with a cotton wad1 after which it is washed in cold water4 ,if the damascene does not appear sufficiently the operation is repeated4 ,the object must be thoroughly cleaned and polished before the mineral is applied40 ,illustration3 ,,persian ,,kali,n4 ,it is very doubtful if ,corsinet1 the ,french artist who carried the art of damascening to such an extent in the time of ,henry ,,iv41 has left any such beautiful work as this now being wrought by artists whose names are unknown in ,europe4 ,the three kinds of ornamentation known as 8damascening0 are elegantly represented--the delicately lustred and watered blade1 the light etching on polished steel1 and the rich inlaying of steel with gold and silver4 ,one of the most beautiful pieces of work is a kalin or hookah 7for smoking tobacco7 of brass open-work1 with turquoise and other ornamentation4 ,in the head of this great and solemn pipe the tobacco is placed1 slightly moistened1 under pieces of live charcoal1 which are prevented from falling off by the movable top of the bottle containing the water1 into which the end of the stem descends4 ,the tobacco smoked is the mild ,tombaku1 produced near ,shiraz1 which really is the best 8,turkish10 though ,turkey never produced a leaf of it4 ,if any one will gaze on this ,persian hookah he will see why it is imposing enough to warrant such religious treatment as its ,indian counterpart1 the hubble-bubble1 has received at the hands of an eloquent ,vedantist preacher of my acquaintance 7,chintamon74 ,the hubble-bubble is generally made of a cocoa-nut shell1 with a receptacle for water1 through which the smoke passes before being inhaled4 ,in ,chintamon's parable the stem represents the body2 passions are the tobacco2 the bowl is mind2 understanding is the plug which prevents the tobacco-passions from blocking up the stem-body2 knowledge is the fire which separates passion--the pure from the impure2 the evil is reduced to ashes1 and vanishes in the vapor of folly2 while through the purifying water of reflection1 and the mouth-piece of mental satisfaction1 man draws the desirable aroma of content1 and hears a bubbling noise which suggests the still small voice of ,reason4 ,illustration3 ,,ancient ,,persian ,,incense-,,burner 7,,pierced ,,and ,,chased ,,brass74 ,among the many exquisite books1 manuscripts1 and paintings--the latter being oftenest upon the covers of the finest books--there is one of surpassing beauty4 ,it is a copy of the works of ,sdi1 a modern manuscript with six illuminated pages forming the head-pieces of the six books1 all the pages being bordered in gold and colors4 ,the covers have been painted by the artist ,nadjaf1 who lived about fifty years ago1 on the outside with certain battles between some shahs1 sultans1 and their like2 but on the inside of one cover is a picture of the poet ,hafiz surrounded by his friends2 on the inside of the other cover is a picture of ,sdi conversing with his pupils4 ,what grace1 what honor1 was in the heart of him who drew these pictures6 ,amidst such tints ,sdi might be saying to his pupils one of the passages that are here written3 8,i saw a peacock's feather in the leaves of the ,koran4 ,i said1 #8,i consider this an honor much greater than your quality deserves4' ,he replied1 #8,be silent2 for whosoever has beauty1 wherever he puts his foot doth not every one receive him with respect8' ,a little beauty is preferable to great wealth40 ,illustration3 ,,modern ,,persian ,,incense-,,burner 7,,brass74 ,i hear of some prosaic young ,englishmen who are wandering about the banks of the ,euphrates to try and find the locality of ,eden4 ,i venture to affirm that with the ,kalin1 plenty of ,tombaku1 ,sdi's ,gulistan1 and this rose-garden manuscript1 ,i can get nearer ,eden reclining on yon ,english grass than those young gentlemen seeking it so far away4 ,yet it is pleasant1 in a melancholy way1 to see the never-failing fascination which the ,oriental world has for these ,northern races4 ,the hardest1 least imaginative ,englishman will feel some sweeter pulsation about his heart when he sees one of ,holman ,hunt's pictures of ,palestine1 or hears the solemn roll of ,oriental poetry4 8,a pine-tree's standing lonely ,in the ,north1 on a mountain's brow1 ,nodding with whitest cover1 ,wrapped up by the ice and snow4 8,he's dreaming of a palm-tree1 ,which1 far in the ,morning ,land1 ,lonely and silent sorrows #8,mid burning rocks and sand40,d ,but here my rambles through these unlimited fields must draw to a close4 ,one must1 amidst such numberless treasures gathered from the great streams of ,time1 more especially remember ,sydney ,smith's advice1 based on the post-diluvial brevity of human life1 that writers should 8think of ,noah1 and be brief40 ,it is with a certain distress that ,i feel compelled to pass by the great galleries of pictures1 including some of the finest ,turners1 ,wilkies1 and ,gainsboroughs1 and a large number of historic paintings4 ,the ,forster bequest1 with its charming souvenirs of famous actors1 actresses1 and authors1 in the shape of portraits1 character-sketches1 and autographs--among the latter the ,,mss4 of most of the works of ,dickens--were of itself the sufficient theme for a treatise4 ,illustration3 ,,andrea ,,gritti1 ,,doge ,,of ,,venice--,,italian4 ,,ascribed ,,to ,,vittore ,,camelo4 ,,sixteenth ,,century4 ,illustration3 ,,tazza--,,algerian ,,onyx ,,and ,,enamel4 ,,modern ,,french4 ,illustration3 ,,salt-,,cellar--,,silver ,,gilt2 ,,italian4 ,,fifteenth ,,century4 ,no collection in the museum is more deserving of attention than that of the musical instruments1 which show the entire evolution of the art1 from the first savage bark drum and the pipe that ,pan might have played to his flocks1 up to the last grand piano2 but for twelve shillings the reader may procure ,mr4 ,carl ,engel's admirable rsum of this department4 ,since it was written an interesting series of instruments has been added 7,indian section71 and it is to be hoped that these will be included in a new edition of ,herr ,engel's work4 ,the ,indian instruments have not changed in many centuries1 some not for two thousand years2 their harp 7chang7 is identical with one represented in the ,nineveh sculptures4 ,unfortunately there is no catalogue to the museum2 but there may be had full works on the ancient ivories 7one guinea71 textile fabrics 7one and a half guineas71 majolica 7two guineas71 furniture and woodwork 7one guinea74 ,there are small shilling 8,handbooks10 giving succinct histories of the arts of working in gold and silver1 bronze1 pottery1 etc41 with general reference to objects in the museum1 which are useful and interesting4 ,there also exists a full catalogue of books on art 7two guineas72 and ,i may mention that at the present moment it is possible to collect in ,london an admirable art library for a moderate sum--an advantage that will soon disappear4 ,the present art library in the museum is the only one possessing anything like completeness in ,europe2 it contains #de1jjj volumes4 ,this is quite distinct from the educational library1 which has an equal number of volumes4 ,illustration3 ,,ivory ,,tankard--,,augsburg4 ,,seventeenth ,,century4 ,but we must not part from ,south ,kensington without considering how fares therein the aim and purpose out of which it grew1 namely1 culture and training in every variety of art4 ,it will at once be recognized that the art schools1 enjoying such an unparalleled environment as to examples1 carried on also in rooms of vast extent1 perfectly lighted1 heated1 ventilated1 and furnished1 must be judged by a higher standard than other institutions of the kind in ,europe or in ,america4 ,and1 retrospectively1 the schools must be conceded to have done wonders4 ,for one thing1 it may be claimed that it found the art education of the nation at zero and raised it enormously4 ,by wisely using its power to send floating through the provincial cities a loan exhibition1 and by a judicious distribution of the annual fund 7now about #bejj7 granted it by ,parliament to aid institutions of a like character1 which are willing also to aid themselves1 the ,commission has been the means of establishing throughout the kingdom schools devoted to art1 and in forming classes in colleges to teach art1 to an extent which has increased by #aej per cent4 the number of those who study art to prosecute it for itself1 or to apply it to make their work more artistic4 ,between the years #ahee-#8gg1 #bg1jjj objects of art and #bd1jjj paintings were circulated by the museum through the ,united ,kingdom4 ,in the various provincial towns and cities where they have been left for several months at a time1 these works have been visited by over #f1jjj1jjj of persons and copied by many students1 the cost to the ,science and ,art ,department being over #ajj1jjj4 ,in order to tempt ,schools of ,art to acquire permanent objects for museums of their own1 the ,department offers a grant in aid of fifty per cent4 on the cost of such objects4 ,parliament is continually inquiring into the means of increasing the utility of the collections in this direction4 ,south ,kensington has already awakened a higher taste throughout the nation1 and especially in ,london4 ,the number of visitors has increasingly exceeded a million each year2 and should the museum be opened on ,sunday afternoons--a step which can hardly fail to be taken ere long--this number must be vastly increased4 ,these crowds1 however1 never make the rooms seem crowded2 their decorum is equal to that which is preserved in the best drawing-rooms2 there have been only two cases in the history of the museum where persons have been ejected 7the fault being tipsiness72 and no article of value has ever been missed4 ,in strolling through the building with ,george ,boughton we concluded to follow some very rough-looking youths and observe what objects attracted their attention4 ,we were surprised to find them passing by ,king ,koffee's umbrella and trinkets to devote all their time to the statues of ,michael ,angelo4 ,i have repeatedly observed similar phenomena in the picture-galleries--the roughest people crowding around the best works of art4 ,the way in which all this has told upon the work of the country has been jealously watched1 and also fairly recognized by foreign critics4 ,the first gold medal awarded on the ,continent for art education1 awarded to ,south ,kensington1 was not given by any favor1 and it was won by a great deal of hard work4 ,in the introduction to the seven-volume report presented to the ,french ,government in #ahfb1 ,m4 ,chevallier says3 8,rivals are springing up1 and the pre-eminence of ,france may receive a shock if we do not take care4 ,the upward movement is visible1 above all1 among the ,english4 ,the whole world has been struck with the progress they have made since the last ,exhibition in designs for stuffs1 in the distribution of colors1 also in carving and sculpture1 and generally in articles of furniture40 ,m4 ,rupet urged the establishment of a museum in ,paris similar to that at ,south ,kensington1 saying3 8,it is impossible to ignore the fact that a serious struggle awaits ,france from this quarter40 ,the report from ,lyons--whose ,school of ,design was1 to a large extent1 the model copied by ,england--says3 8,with ,great ,britain we shall have some day to settle accounts1 for she has made great progress in art since the ,exhibition of #ahea40 ,these statements are much more true now than when they were written4 ,in the direction to which they refer--that of decorative art--,south ,kensington has certainly taken a leading position in ,europe4 ,the evidences of this are appearing daily4 ,for example1 the firm of ,messrs4 ,corbire ,sons1 which was established in ,london about twenty-eight years ago as an importing house for ,french patterns and goods1 has now been almost changed into an exporting house1 sending to ,france patterns and designs for goods which it obtains from ,south ,kensington4 ,even this is hardly so grateful to the ,english as a report lately made by a large ,glasgow firm1 that it has for some years been obtaining from this museum1 at the annual cost of a few hundred pounds1 designs such as it had been for many years previously securing from ,paris and ,lyons at a cost of #bjjj per annum4 ,illustration3 ,,finest ,,raised ,,venetian ,,point ,,lace--,,floral ,,design4 ,,italian4 ,,seventeenth ,,century4 ,lyons1 indeed1 after teaching ,england its art of war1 has itself lost it4 ,neither ,paris or ,london will use their newest patterns1 one of which1 ,i understand1 represents huntsmen and hounds in full chase after a stag1 careering all over a drawing-room carpet6 ,in ,paris1 and even more in ,england1 taste has for some years been tending to demand richness in substance1 vagueness in pattern1 quietness in color1 for all stuffs used in rooms4 ,it is greatly to be regretted that the great manufacturers of textile fabrics declined to participate in the ,centennial ,exhibition1 having concluded that their goods would have too much protection in one sense1 and not enough in others4 ,it would have excited astonishment in ,america to see what transformation has been wrought in carpets and curtains1 and it would be at once recognized that the old fabrics1 with their fixed scrolls1 their glare and glitter1 have become barbarous4 ,messrs4 ,ward1 of ,halifax1 recently rolled out for me on a floor side by side the old patterns and the new1 and it was to the eye like passing from poppies to passion-flowers4 8,those blazing ones10 said ,mr4 ,ward1 8have gone out of fashion in this country since the new schools of design began1 and we never sell a yard of them here2 we made them for ,america until the last tariff1 and now the manufacture has ceased altogether40 ,the new curtain stuffs have always an unobtrusive1 almost a dead1 ground of saffron1 or olive1 or green1 and on it flowing conventional leaves with some heraldic form--as daisy1 pomegranate1 etc4--to supply spots of color2 and the carpets are of much the same character1 with somewhat larger forms4 ,these exquisite designs are universally recognized as results of ,south ,kensington4 ,but there is one point where the results are less satisfactory4 ,the best designs1 which include the human figure1 have still to be obtained from the ,continent2 and these being of especial importance in pottery1 the great porcelain factories say that their needs cannot yet be met by ,english art schools4 ,the truth is1 there was long an opposition in controlling quarters to permitting studies of the female nude at ,south ,kensington at all1 though now the female students have that privilege4 ,in the male school the male nude is studied2 but still the students--those who mean to devote themselves to fine1 as distinguished from decorative1 art--have to unite and employ female models in rooms outside the school4 ,it is as difficult to see what benefit is secured by modesty1 in thus placing a necessary study beyond the regulation of the masters1 who might preserve decorum1 as it is to find any advantage to religion gained by shutting the door to the pictorial gospels of ,raphael on ,sunday and keeping open the door of the gin-shop4 ,both the piety and the prudery are anomalous4 ,the ,zoological and the ,botanical ,gardens1 in ,london1 the ,dublin ,museum1 ,hampton ,court1 and ,kew ,gardens are all open on ,sunday1 while the museums and galleries of the metropolis are closed3 the ,royal ,academy has nude models of both sexes1 under the same ,government which prohibits the like at ,south ,kensington4 ,the queerest anomaly1 however1 existed until lately in the ,slade ,school of ,art1 at ,university ,college1 where the vexed question was settled by permitting the male pupils to have female models1 and the female pupils to have male models6 ,this restriction of the ladies to 7nearly7 nude models of the other sex was made in the interest of propriety1 as the masters felt disinclined to enter and instruct them in the presence of a female model4 ,the former restrictions at ,south ,kensington as to models fell heavily upon the female pupils4 ,the young female artists were not permitted to see so much of their model as they would be required to reveal of their own persons at one of her ,majesty's drawing-rooms4 ,the late head-master1 ,mr4 ,burchett1 himself an able figure painter1 knew well1 as all experienced figure painters in ,europe know1 that female models are far oftener secured from vice by their occupation than exposed to it1 and that life schools are not inconsistent with decorum1 under proper management2 and he 7,mr4 ,burchett7 made efforts1 one of which was to have the model encased in flesh tights1 to secure for his pupils the advantages so freely offered in ,continental schools4 ,but his contrivances were stopped by threats of ,parliamentary questions4 ,his successor has1 however1 secured to the female pupils the advantage of the nude model of their own sex and male model with caleon2 and1 if he can now secure like privileges for the males1 ,south ,kensington may some day be able to point to as high results in the direction of the fine as in the ornamental arts4 ,until then young men of genius will continue to prefer schools which are without such restrictions4 ,it can only be ascribed to the consummate care with which studies of the antique are conducted1 and to the full supply of the finest casts offered by the museum1 that decorative art itself at ,south ,kensington has suffered so little from the limitations referred to2 for it is certain that the human figure is the key to all other forms in nature4 ,it is certain1 also1 that the female form is the very flower of all natural beauty--8the sum of every creature's best10 as ,shakspeare says of ,perdita--and no arrangements for art training can be considered complete which do not include accessibility to such studies of the same as are required1 by those who have given evidence of their fitness to interpret the sacred secrets of nature4 ,beyond this there is no special deduction to be made from the method of training at ,south ,kensington1 which as a school is steadily improving4 ,the following official memorandum of its regulations 7with which is given the names of its faculty7 will show the large scope of instruction included3 ,,director-,,general ,,for ,,art1 ,,and ,,principal1 ,,thomas ,,armstrong4 ,head-,master1 ,j4 ,,sparkes4 ,mechanical and ,architectural ,drawing1 ,h4 ,b4 ,,hagreen4 ,geometry and ,perspective1 ,e4 ,s4 ,,burchett4 ,painting1 ,free-hand ,drawing of ,ornament1 etc41 the ,figure and ,anatomy1 and ,ornamental ,design1 ,j4 ,,sparkes1 ,c4 ,p4 ,,slocombe1 ,t4 ,,clack1 ,f4 ,m4 ,,miller4 ,modelling1 ,m4 ,,lanteri4 ,etching1 ,a4 ,,legros4 ,,female ,,classes4 ,lady ,superintendent1 ,,miss ,,trulock4 ,female ,teachers1 ,,mrs4 ,s4 ,e4 ,,casabianca and ,,miss ,,channon4 ,occasional ,lecturers3 ,,dr4 ,,zerffi1 ,historic ,ornament2 ,e4 ,,bellamy1 ,anatomy2 ,f4 ,w4 ,,moody1 the ,figure1 as applied to ,decoration4 #a4 ,the courses of instruction pursued in the ,school have for their object the systematic training of teachers1 male and female1 in the practice of ,art and in the knowledge of its scientific principles1 with the view of qualifying them to impart to others a careful ,art education1 and to develop its application to the common uses of life1 and to the requirements of ,trade and ,manufactures4 ,special courses are arranged in order to qualify ,school-masters of ,elementary and other ,schools to teach ,elementary ,drawing as a part of general education concurrently with writing4 #b4 ,the instruction comprehends the following subjects3 ,free-hand1 ,architectural1 and ,mechanical ,drawing2 ,practical ,geometry and ,perspective2 ,painting in ,oil1 ,tempera1 and ,water-colors2 ,modelling1 ,moulding1 and ,casting4 ,the ,classes for ,drawing1 ,painting1 and ,modelling include ,architectural and other ,ornament1 ,flowers1 ,objects of still-life1 etc41 the ,figure from the ,antique and the ,life1 and the study of ,anatomy as applicable to ,art4 #c4 ,the ,annual ,sessions1 each lasting five mouths1 commence on the #ast of ,march and the #ast of ,october1 and end on the last day of ,july and the last day of ,february1 respectively4 ,students can join the ,school at any time1 the tickets running from date to date4 ,the months of ,august and ,september1 one week at ,christmas1 and one week at ,easter or ,whitsuntide1 are ,vacations4 ,the classes meet every day except ,saturday4 ,hours of ,study3 ,day1 #aj to #c2 ,evening1 #g to #i4 #d4 ,in connection with the ,training ,school1 and open to the public1 separate classes are established for male and female students2 the studies comprising ,drawing1 ,painting1 and ,modelling1 as applied to ,ornament1 the ,figure1 ,landscape1 and still-life4 ,,fees4 ,for classes studying for five whole days1 including evenings3 #e for five months4 ,for three whole days1 including evenings3 #d for five months4 ,for the half-day--morning1 #aj to #a2 or afternoon1 #a to #c3 #d for five months4 ,to all these classes there is an entrance fee of #ajs4 ,evening ,classes3 ,male ,school3 #b per session4 ,artisan ,class3 #ajs4 per session2 #cs4 per month4 ,female ,school3 #a per session1 three evenings a week4 ,no students can be admitted to these classes until they have passed an examination in ,free-hand ,drawing of the #b;d ,grade4 ,examinations of candidates will be held weekly1 at the commencement of each session1 and at frequent intervals throughout the year4 #e4 ,students cannot join the ,school for a shorter term than five months1 but the students who have already paid fees for five months may remain until the end of the scholastic year on payment of a proportional fee for each month unexpired up to the #cast of ,july in each year4 #f4 ,classes for ,school-masters1 ,school-mistresses1 and ,pupil-teachers of ,elementary ,schools meet on two evenings in each week4 ,fee #es4 for the session4 ,teachers in private schools or families may attend the day classes on payment of a fee of #a per month4 #g4 ,the morning classes for ,practical ,geometry and ,perspective are open to all students1 but they may be attended independently of the general course on payment of a fee of #b per session for those classes4 #h4 ,students properly qualified have full access to the collections of the ,museum and ,library1 either for consultation or copying1 as well as to all the ,school ,lectures of the ,department4 #i4 ,a register of the students' attendance is kept1 and may be consulted by parents and guardians4 ,nothing can exceed the care and devotion with which the great work of ,south ,kensington is carried on by both teachers and pupils4 ,in walking through the rooms with the head-master ,i could only marvel at the indications unintentionally furnished by the pupils1 from moment to moment1 of his intimate knowledge of their work and their progress1 however remote from such details he might be officially4 ,in his room he keeps all the works sent in by the pupils in competition for the many valuable prizes offered by the school at each stage of progress1 and these are preserved in large albums1 each marked with the young artist's name1 so that by looking through it we trace the unfolding in this or that direction of a human mind1 from the first crude geometrical drawing to mastery of the finer strokes of form and color4 ,the pupil applying for admission is not simply put in at one end of a machine-like system to be turned out at the other1 but a specimen of his or her work is demanded1 and a place assigned in accordance with it4 ,illustration3 ,,nettle ,,in ,,its ,,natural ,,state4 ,illustration3 ,,nettle ,,in ,,geometrical ,,proportions4 ,it was morally impressive to witness the large numbers of women who have here found a field for the cultivation of their powers4 ,in one room--that of geometrical proportions--the students of both sexes are taught together1 and no doubt the co-educational system will gradually creep from this to other classes1 as it has to some extent done in ,university ,college and other institutions4 ,but the museum is able to supply both schools with any quantity of models and aids4 ,the young female artists have excited the admiration of their teachers and examiners by the remarkable perfection to which they carry ornamental designs1 especially such as may be derived from flowers1 fruits1 and leaves4 ,in one part of the museum there is a series of grottoes1 filled with all manner of ferns and other plants1 which serve the double purpose of adorning the room1 from which they are seen through large glass doors1 and of supplying subjects for the study of decorative foliation4 ,they who see the beautiful combinations of these plants made in the training schools will discover that their previous acquaintance with some very common things has been very limited4 ,in this study of the geometrical capacities of plants for decorative purposes the female pupils seem to excel4 ,the exquisite art of one of them1 ,miss ,louisa ,poole1 enables me to present an example of this kind of work1 for which she recently received a gold medal4 ,the subject of this very clever piece of combination is the common nettle2 and1 even without the beautiful colors with which ,miss ,poole's original work was rendered1 these outlines she has drawn for me will perhaps enable the reader to understand the kind of work by which this school has relieved ,england of its former dependence on ,paris and ,lyons4 ,it is but just1 however1 to state that ,miss ,poole's work1 when exhibited1 on occasion of a distribution of prizes by the ,duke of ,richmond1 was surrounded by a score of similar sketches which had brought their designers well-merited prizes4 ,no one could examine them without perceiving that the young artists have learned the main secret of ornamental art--that nature is but an alphabet1 which it is the task of the artist to combine into words and sentences that shall convey human purpose and thought4 ,some of the best work done at ,south ,kensington is the copying of rare and beautiful specimens of ancient majolica and other wares4 ,the ,rothschilds and other collectors gladly lend their choicest possessions for this purpose1 and the copies are of high value to this and other museums4 ,it is wonderful to observe with what refinement of taste and with what sympathy some of the pupils enter into the subtle secrets of the old masters of decorative work4 ,the illustration of the ,henri ,deux salt-cellar was made for me by ,mr4 ,william ,broad1 while a pupil at ,south ,kensington1 from a work sent in by him to the ,examiners4 ,the reproduction of ,cherpentier's rich and delicate colors in this young artist's original work was exceedingly fine4 ,his design of the top of the salt-cellar is given on the following page4 ,illustration3 ,,plan ,,of ,,top ,,of ,,henri ,,deux ,,salt-,,cellar4 ,it is quite certain that a peculiar excellence has been given to the work of this institution by the atmosphere of general culture surrounding it4 ,each pupil works amidst the splendors of ancient art1 amidst the shades of the great1 and each lives in the presence of men who to-day best represent the accumulated knowledge of the world4 ,the spirit tells more than the letter of instruction4 ,moreover1 no art is here studied in isolation3 each is studied along with literature and science2 and1 what is of great importance to thoroughness1 all the arts are studied in connection with their own history4 ,through the literary works of such archologists as ,william ,b4 ,scott1 the ever-careful teaching of ,thomas ,armstrong and ,mr4 ,sparkes1 and the practical labors of such experts as ,mr4 ,moody and ,mr4 ,bowler1 the pupil may study1 by theory and experiment1 the evolution by which his task has come to him1 when and how great successes were attained1 and so inherit the vital spirit which of old quickened the flowers of beauty by which he or she is at every moment surrounded4 ,the pupil will realize here the immortality of good work4 ,he will see that an old blacksmith1 ordered to make iron grilles for ,hampton ,court garden1 put such heart and soul into his work that his four pieces must now be brought hither as a monument of which ,thor might be proud4 ,never was more beauty wrought in iron than this by ,huntington ,shaw1 of ,nottingham1 anno #afie4 ,under his hand rose1 shamrock1 and thistle have grown on the metal so tenderly that it would seem a breath might stir them1 while from the ,irish harp in the centre one might almost listen for olian strains4 ,but that was done in a day when to work for a king was felt to be working for ,god4 ,and all through this museum shines the great fact that the best work was never done merely for money1 but for the altar1 for love and loyalty4 ,it is a ,museum of ,civilization1 where each work is a heart4 ,there sat a man doing his very best to advance the whole world2 there marched a brave invader of ,chaos and ,disorder2 a reason worked through him like that which turns a bit of mud into a lily4 ,it is a supreme joy to trace these footprints of the universal ,reason4 ,a flute-key that wins one more soft note from the air2 a pot flushed with some more intimate touch of the sunlight2 an ornament which detaches a pure form from its perishable body--such things as these exhibit somewhat finer than themselves1 namely1 man elect still to carry on the ancient art which adorned the earth with grass and violet1 and framed the star-gemmed sky and the spotted snake4 ,the student shall also learn here the solidarity of genius4 ,in distant regions of the world these men worked at their several tasks1 sundered by land and sea1 but here they are seen to have been members of one sacred guild1 like that described of old3 8,they helped every one his neighbor2 and every one said to his brother1 ,be of good courage4 ,so the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith1 and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil1 saying1 ,it is ready for the soldering3 and he fastened it with nails1 that it should not be moved40 ,from manifold regions of the world1 through ages linked each to each by natural piety1 their works have come here to unite in one mystical symphony of excellence4 ,by the spirit that worked through them they are made members one of another4 ,some little time ago the ,professor of ,political ,economy at ,oxford formed a class of youths of both sexes1 and said to them one day3 8,there are two great distinctions between man and the lower animals2 one of them is the root of labor1 the other is the root of civilization4 ,what are they80 ,the first was soon explained2 the root of labor is that the animal has only to seek his food to find it prepared for him1 and his clothing is made for him by nature1 whereas man must cook and modify his food1 and make his clothing4 ,the second puzzled all in the class except one young maid1 who said3 8,the root of civilization is progressive desire4 ,give an animal all that satisfies its present want--good shelter and food enough--it will never be restless1 nor show a further want2 but satisfy man in any moment1 he will want something better the next4 ,this craving for the better and the best leads on to civilization40 ,but it is the combination of these various lines of improvement which finally creates a civilization4 ,savages improve on their own roads1 but the ,kaffir never borrows for his own hut any advantage belonging to the hut of the ,zulu1 not more than the bee borrows for its cell a hint from the bird's nest4 ,the savage has the root but not the flower of civilization4 ,but then each civilization in turn is to a great extent special2 the human race has a wider life1 into which all separate streams of blood are poured1 and all arts blend4 ,by a higher law of evolution man's moral and intellectual powers are selected from the isolated tribes and nations through which they have for ages been distributed4 ,in this our museum men are taken as varied pigments to make the study of ,man4 8,man1 one harmonious soul of many a soul1 ,whose nature is its own divine control1 ,where all things flow to all4444 ,man1 oh1 not men6 ,a chain of linked thought1 ,of love and might1 to be divided not40 ,of all countries ,america is that to which mankind must look for the fulfilment of those aspirations which are the creative force1 carving on the world the ideals of poetry and art4 ,each fine work will reflect the culture of the race4 ,emerson has reminded us that for the best achievement we must have instead of the ,working-man the ,man working1 and it were a pity if the great man's countrymen should not realize that whole work must be done by the whole man4 ,in walking through the school at ,south ,kensington once1 ,i met a young lady who had passed several years in the schools at ,philadelphia and the ,cooper ,institute1 but had never found what she required for her training until she came here4 ,the picture on her easel proved her to be an accomplished artist1 and her experience appears to me worth mentioning4 ,the school at ,philadelphia1 she said1 was the best she had known anything of in the ,united ,states1 but when she was there it lacked trained teachers4 ,the teachers were artists in all but the art of teaching4 ,she believed1 however1 that the ,philadelphia school1 if associated with a good collection1 would turn out well4 ,but of the ,cooper ,institute she was not so hopeful4 ,it was rather too philanthropic to be a good school of art4 ,the great aim was to qualify the pupils--girls particularly--to make money4 ,the pupils are urged on to the paying work rather than to that which is excellent4 ,it must be understood that these criticisms are here detached from this lady's pleasant plaudits to things in ,america other than its schools of design1 her experience of which was that one with a high standard had no means of attaining it1 while the other1 with more resources1 had a low standard and aim4 ,this lady's experience has been several times confirmed by ,american artists with whom ,i have walked through the ,south ,kensington ,museum4 ,one of the most eminent of them said3 8,what a revolution it would cause in ,american art to have some such museum as this in each large city6 ,it would in each case draw around it an art community1 and send out widening waves of taste and love of beauty through the country40 ,these expressions1 however1 were used ten years ago1 and it may be hoped that to those now in the ,american institutions mentioned that may appear a dim past4 ,within that period my own visits to the chief schools of high art in ,new ,york have convinced me that their teaching is of the highest character1 while the resources for culture of decorative art are slight4 ,if there be among the readers hereof one of those sensitive patriots who resent the idea of borrowing any ideas or methods from the ,old ,world more modern than the ,decalogue1 ,i would submit even to him whether it be not less humiliating to import ,european experience than to export ,american brains4 ,it is no dishonor for ,america to claim her inheritance from the past2 it is no degradation to recognize what has been done as done1 and not needing to be done over again2 but it may well be pondered by the patriotic whether the ,coming ,artist will go abroad1 or whether he shall find in his own country the resources essential to his culture and his finest fruit4 ,,decorative ,,art ,,and ,,architecture ,,in ,,england4 ,illustration ,,decorative ,,art ,,and ,,architecture ,,in ,,england4 ,michael ,angelo was once commissioned to lead in the destruction of the beautiful villas around ,florence4 ,he of all men6 ,the expelled ,medici1 now of papal dignity1 were menacing the city4 ,the first thought of the great artist was to save the ,campanile1 and he covered that noble work of ,giotto with protecting wool-sacks4 ,but the suburban villas must not stand to give aid to the enemy1 and at word of command he started out1 and for once the track of the great artist was indicated in the destruction instead of in the creation of beautiful things4 ,but he came upon one house whose wall was covered with a beautiful fresco1 and he had not the heart to destroy it2 the soul of the artist held back the hand of the patriot1 and in the field of desolation one mansion remained standing alone--saved by the protecting genius of ,beauty4 ,it is but one incident in the long history of the career of ,use and ,beauty through the world1 hand in hand1 undivorceable4 ,all our science is engaged in spelling out their story4 ,every spot of color on bird or insect it finds to be the trace of a utility4 ,what weary struggles carried on through ages to mimic blossom and leaf1 and so hide from pursuing foes6 ,the same force works on when the art of man enters the arena for new creation4 ,the thin and feeble blossom of the brier passes through all the phases of culture until it becomes the full rose of the horticulturist1 like unto some little maiden's face for size and lustre1 all by merest mercenary influence4 ,our fairest flowers have migrated from ,east to ,west1 cherished and preserved for highest use as oracles and symbols of successive goddesses and saints1 transplanted from temple courts to flourish under the holier chrism of convent gardens4 ,despite his proverb1 man has painted the lily and adorned the rose1 until we may almost say with the ,persian ,nizmi1 8,every flower growing in the many-colored garden of the earth is a drop of blood from the heart of a man40 ,out of a dry and hard necessity comes still the beauty of the world4 ,behind our tinted ,salviati glass1 our painted ,svres china and ,minton majolica and shining silver plate1 are the long rows of pallid faces inhaling poison in stifling rooms1 breathing death that they may live4 ,sad experience is the prelude to each charming symphony4 ,the noblest statues and paintings which the world cherishes were wrought in a 8sad sincerity20 in the divine depths of sorrow were found the quarries from which emerged the ,apollo ,belvidere and the ,laokoon2 the blood of great hearts supplied the chief pigment of the ,dresden ,madonna and the ,transfiguration2 and the magnificent frescoes of ,italian churches were born of the hopes and fears of millions1 for whom they meant not picturesque beauty1 but a world's redemption4 ,man in his best epochs of art has thus carried on the ancient creative power of ,nature1 giving her potential germs and forms a new blossoming under the heat of his never-ending battle of life4 ,and where it is not thus impelled by nor surrendered to this utilitarian1 this most real1 force1 what does ,art amount to8 ,mere copying of works which denote that force in the past2 mere ,art ,ritualism1 crying to other ages1 ,give us of your oil1 for our lamps are gone out6 ,if ,michael ,angelo could to-day be set on a work of general demolition in ,london1 one may fear it would hardly require patriotism to encourage his zeal4 ,would he1 in what the ,london ,times once called 8this our ugly but not altogether uncomfortable metropolis10 have reached a single building which would have made him pause8 ,here and there he might meet one of those ancient mansions whose bricks have hardened into one solid stone that will stand1 as ,carlyle once said1 8till ,gabriel's trump blows it down20 but of the miles of modern houses in which--to remember the ,chelsea sage again--8every brick is a lie10 one may fancy that but few would be saved by any genius of ,beauty4 ,and yet this is1 after all1 not so certain4 ,that an artist filled with iconoclastic rage might quickly despatch most of the mansions and many of the churches of ,english suburbs1 erected specially for beauty and effect1 is quite probable2 but there are a number of buildings built without reference to beauty which might perhaps have made ,michael ,angelo pause with a feeling not unrelated to admiration4 ,if any one will stand beside the ,thames ,river near ,charing ,cross and gaze for a while on the tremendous sections of the railway bridge there1 at its huge iron supports and girders--if he will then go up on it and realize its vast breadth1 see four trains passing each other1 with room enough between1 and room enough for the men and women moving to and fro on their own side-path--he will surely bear away an impression of grandeur4 ,nay1 there will blend with it an impression of beauty also3 there is no arch1 no slightest foliation or other prettiness1 not even a relief to the iron hue save the gilded heads of certain enormous rivets and the gilded monograms of the railway company fixed on the supports of the triple gas-lamps2 the bridge is not even straight2 and yet beauty there is1 and it arises from two sources4 ,the first is the beauty of adequacy for a purpose1 involving at once strength and proportion1 suggesting what the ,greeks may have meant when1 in their myth1 they wedded ,aphrodite to ,hephaistos4 ,the second is a beauty almost indescribable in physical terms1 but resembling the simplicity which expresses character--the subtle charm playing unconsciously through eye and voice of even a homely man1 who in word and act is content with the simple truth4 ,in fact1 the beauty of this ,charing ,cross bridge1 which has least aimed at architectural effect among those spanning the ,thames1 is closely related to its ugliness4 ,if any one find this assertion paradoxical1 he shall at least find it not doubtful if he can and will do three things--read ,oersted's chapter on 8,ugliness in ,nature10 observe carefully ,turner's 8,rain1 ,wind1 and ,speed0 7a railway train thundering over a viaduct through ,english rain and fog71 and finally give twenty minutes to the bridge in question1 especially taking care to pass beneath it on one of the small iron steamers 7water omnibuses7 that ply the river4 ,when afterward he shall see the many ornaments of the present copied from the utilities of the past--the towers1 steeples1 cupolas1 crenelles--and remember that they were constructed originally for landmarks1 cross-bows1 and the watches of war1 he will acquire an imaginative respect for this unpretending product of the ,iron ,age4 ,the same simple grandeur invests old ,newgate ,prison--perfect reality1 entire adequacy for its purpose1 a relation of every part to the end for which it was built1 like the harmonies that make the lion4 ,did man forbear1 it were by no means inconceivable that when ,macaulay's artistic ,new ,zealander came he might sit upon a broken column of ,st4 ,paul's to sketch the still strong1 gray fortress of ,newgate6 ,he who explores the cities of ,england to discover that kind of beauty in architecture which is familiar in other lands will not find it4 ,in a late satire on the royal family published in ,london1 ,the ,silliad1 the ,queen is represented as reproaching her eldest son with not taking more after his father1 and interesting himself in the industrial affairs of the country4 ,the poor ,prince of ,wales can only reply1 8,i've not a model-farming soul40 ,and a somewhat similar answer is all that ,england can return to the immeasurable scoldings poured out upon her because she cannot do the work of the old ,italian and ,dutch masters4 ,but the time was when ,england had a reputation such as no other country possessed for just one thing--genuineness of work4 ,it was almost proverbial in ,europe to say that you could get pretty things in every capital on the ,continent1 but if you wanted a thing which would do what it professed to do--the knife that would cut1 the carriage that would bear and wear--you must go to ,england for it4 ,nay1 ,i remember in my boyhood in ,virginia that the belief in the solid character of everything ,english was such1 that even articles which could by no possible means have come from ,england were yet called 8,english0 to enhance their value2 not merely watches made in ,new ,england1 but ,i have known ,american fanciers commend a bird unknown to ,england by calling it the 8,english mocking-bird60 ,all this was a droll re-appearance of the reputation which ,eastern gold once had in ,england1 the word 8sterling0 being a relic of 8,easterling10 as applied to the ,british pound of silver when represented in gold4 ,but the most enthusiastic ,briton must admit that the virtue of the 8,english0 label has followed that of the 8,easterling10 and is now a mere survival4 ,the absence of prettiness remains1 but the old compensation of genuineness can no longer be claimed1 or certainly not in the same general way4 ,the genuine and thorough thing is now exceptional enough to strike one as almost ornamental4 ,but still the word 8solidity0 has a meaning in ,great ,britain1 and whenever ,englishmen undertake to have anything done1 their first effort is to have it substantial and useful4 ,they may not get it1 but that is what they pay for1 and a real demand is likely in the long-run to overtake its real supply4 ,it has already to some extent overtaken it1 and that not alone in the great viaducts and railway bridges which the age of steam has called about it4 ,illustration3 ,,assize ,,court1 ,,manchester4 ,an age of municipal and civic development has found for the buildings it requires a representative architect in ,mr4 ,waterhouse1 who has erected most of the magnificent town-halls and court-houses of the great provincial cities4 ,these vast1 and in a certain sense beautiful1 buildings are the only ones that can compare with the old cathedrals and castles of ,england1 built with as serious a purpose as theirs1 and with as physiognomical a relation to the age that produced them4 ,mr4 ,waterhouse takes the ,gothic style for his basis1 just as a pomoculturist might take a russet as the basis of the apple he means to produce1 and1 like him1 modifies only in obedience to the fundamental law of the style he has selected4 ,his ,gothic building has in it nothing capricious or eccentric4 ,so genuinely as1 under change of conditions and needs1 the bent and bound boughs were copied in the first pointed stone arch1 even so1 by lawful adaptation1 may the window point become more obtuse or the lancets more luminous2 but the lesson of this style1 which1 above all others1 has no part or trait not traceable to a use1 is never lost1 and the ,gothic of ,mr4 ,waterhouse is the natural evolution of that found in ,westminster ,abbey4 ,in one of his buildings1 and one of the best structures in the world1 the ,manchester ,assize ,court1 ,i could discover but two things which appeared to me without special use or meaning4 ,these were two small figures1 a snail and a frog1 carved in granite1 sitting in the angles of a wall on each side of the main door-way4 ,of course these may not be mere jeux2 they may have some connection with a previous bit of eccentricity in an older building 7such as it is often desirable to copy and preserve for archaeological reasons72 but these two forms1 each about as large as one's two fists1 were the only things in the vast building which appeared 8not to the point40 ,in going over this building ,i speedily found that it would not do to pass anything1 as the most casual-seeming bit of ornament was apt to possess a root in history4 ,thus the superstructure of the great portico at the entrance is supported by detached shafts of solid granite two feet in diameter1 which stretch out into foliage as they meet the low roof2 but on examination it is discovered that1 framed in this foliage1 are finely carved and most appropriate representations of ancient modes of punishment--persons undergoing the pillory or some ordeal1 broken on the wheel1 wearing the mask1 or bridle1 for scolds1 and the rest4 ,on the outside wall the decoration of the upper edge of a large corbel is twined about the words1 8,he shall judge thy people with righteousness1 and thy poor with judgment40 ,over a gate leading to the judges' residence the tympanum of the gable is adorned with a fine mezzo-relievo of the ,judgment of ,solomon4 ,on each side of the grand entrance are carved two chained dogs1 imposing enough to be mythologically descended from ,cerberus and ,orthros themselves4 ,there are but two figures on the outer walls1 one of 8,justice10 another of 8,mercy40 ,the building is a parallelogram in form1 with a frontage of #cce feet4 ,within is a grand hall #ajj feet long1 #ej feet wide1 #ge feet high1 with an open timber roof of eight carved bays1 the principals having moulded brackets and ribs forming pointed arches1 and the spandrels filled in with elegant tracery4 ,carved figures hold the chandeliers4 ,around this hall1 which is for state receptions and banquets1 run in ancient letters the words of the ,great ,charter3 8,nullus liber homo capiatur vel imprisonetur aut disseisiatur de aliquo libero tenemento suo vel libertatibus vel liberis consuetudinibus suis1 aut utlagetur aut exulet aut aliquo modo destruatur1 nec super eum ibimus nec super eum mittemus1 nisi per legale judicium parium suorum vel per legem terr4 ,nulli vendemus nulli negabimus aut differemus rectum vel judiciam40 ,this makes about as beautiful a cornice edging as can well be imagined4 ,the last sentence is repeated on a stained window at the end of the hall3 ,to none will we sell ,to none will we deny ,to none will we delay ,right or ,justice4 ,the subject of the window illustrates the history of the ,great ,charter--,king ,john in the centre1 and ,archbishop ,langton and ,chief ,baron ,robert ,fitzwalter on either side4 ,there are three miles of corridors1 all with a dado of tiles more than a yard deep1 of a rich brown tint1 and capped with a scroll made of lighter colors4 ,on the whole1 ,i can hardly express adequately my admiration of this superb building1 the total cost of which was #acj1jjj4 ,illustration3 ,,minton ,,tile4 ,in the centre of ,manchester the same architect has erected a larger building1 a ,town-hall1 which cost #a1jjj1jjj4 ,rich and admirable as it is1 it is not1 on account of the crowding of houses around it1 and the irregularity of the ground upon which it is built1 so effective in appearance as the ,assize ,court4 ,the interior decoration is remarkable for the beautiful variety of colors secured by a careful mingling of ,english1 ,scotch1 and ,irish granites grouped as double stems in the balustrade of a spiral stairway4 ,the ,irish granite is a bluish-gray1 the ,scotch has a faint red tint1 and the ,english ,shapfels has salmon-colored spars1 which are as large as raisins4 ,they all take a beautiful polish1 and ,i think that for a large public building the effect is better than if they were marble4 ,manchester has shown good sense and good taste in having employed ,mr4 ,ford ,madox ,brown to paint six1 at least1 of the panels in the great hall of this ,town-hall4 ,these mural paintings are not surpassed by any recent work of the kind which ,i have seen4 ,mr4 ,madox ,brown is pre-eminent for his archological knowledge and poetic conceptions1 and his genius has been at its best in these noble works4 ,at the time of this writing three panels have been finished4 ,the first represents the ,romans building a fort at ,mancenion 7,manchester71 anno #fj4 ,agricola1 ,governor of ,britain1 is represented with a centurion beside him1 examining a parchment plan of the ,camp2 a standard-bearer holds the silken ,dragon-standard--emblem borrowed from the 8barbarians0--which floats in the wind4 ,the ,legionaries are doing mason-work2 ,britons bear the stones and cement4 ,agricola's wife and little boy are in the scene4 ,the second panel represents the ,baptism of ,edwin1 at ,york1 in the year #fbg4 ,the artist follows the account of ,bede1 who says that a small wooden church was hastily erected for this purpose on the site where ,york ,minster now stands1 but has introduced a ,roman mosaic floor4 ,in his noble picture of ,edwin he has been inspired by ,wordsworth's sonnet1 8,paulinus30 8,mark him1 of shoulders curved1 and stature tall1 ,black hair1 and vivid eye1 and meagre cheek1 ,his prominent feature like an eagle's beak2 ,a man whose aspect doth at once appall ,and strike with reverence40 ,the third panel is the ,expulsion of the ,danes from ,manchester4 ,one less acquainted than this artist with ancient fact might be surprised at the beardless1 boyish appearance of the escaping ,danes2 but it is true that the ,vikings began their adventures early--at the age of fifteen1 it is said--and became respectable married men a few years later4 ,the town-folk are hurling missiles at the retreating party1 one of which--thrown by a young woman from a house--strikes down the 8,raven0 standard4 ,mr4 ,madox ,brown's further designs include 8,the establishment of ,flemish ,weavers in ,manchester1 #accj20 8,william ,crabtree 7draper1 of ,broughton1 near ,manchester7 observing the transit of ,venus1 #afci20 and 8,the ,decree ,court ,leet that all weights and measures are to be tested1 #aeff40 ,no man is better able to invest with beauty these events connected with the history of ,manchester4 ,mr4 ,madox ,brown is using for these mural paintings the 8,gambier-,parry0 process4 ,the medium consists of a mixture of wax1 resin1 and essential oil1 with which the stucco of the wall is coated and the colors ground4 ,every color ever used with oil1 water1 or fresco is admissible with this medium2 and the surface when dry is without shine1 while yet the utmost luminosity pertaining to any other method is attainable with it4 ,it seems likely to become the general mode in this climate1 and has given equal satisfaction to ,sir ,f4 ,leighton and ,mr4 ,madox ,brown4 ,one other of the immense buildings which have become so characteristic of the populous centres of ,england ,i must mention1 namely1 the new ,midland ,railway-station1 at ,st4 ,pancras1 in ,london4 ,this is probably the finest railway-station in the world1 and it is the chief work of ,sir ,gilbert ,scott4 ,it is a vast pile1 of which every outward detail is graceful and substantial1 its turrets and great clock-tower superb4 ,this immense building conveys1 however1 an unpleasant impression of being out of place4 ,it implies a park1 or at least a larger and more picturesque space than the irregular and ugly one at ,king's ,cross1 to secure the perspective needed for any sight of it as a whole4 ,entering1 we find ourselves beneath a vast span of iron and glass1 almost like a sky4 ,the front part of the building is a hotel4 ,it has been decorated by ,robert ,sang1 and furnished by ,gillow1 in the most expensive style1 and certainly presents some rich interiors4 ,the reading-room has green cloth-paper1 and a ceiling gay with huge leaf frescoes2 it is divided by a double arch with gilded architraves4 ,the mantel-pieces are of dark marble1 with two small pillars of yellow marble set on either side4 ,the coffee-room has a general tone of drab1 with touches of gold in the paper1 and a sort of sarcophagus chimney-piece1 surmounted by an antique mirror of bevelled glass4 ,the sitting-room has red floral paper1 and an imitation mosaic ceiling4 ,one of the bedrooms which ,i visited had deep-green paper1 with gold lines and spots1 and bed-curtains somewhat similar4 ,the furniture was of heavy oak1 tastefully carved4 ,the halls and corridors have a dado of fine dark brown tiles1 and bright fleur-de-lis paper above4 ,all of which was rich1 costly1 and1 with slight exceptions1 by no means gaudy4 ,yet ,i could not altogether like it1 or think the decorations entirely appropriate for a hotel4 ,it looked as if there had been more exercise of ingenuity to find things costly than to find things beautiful4 ,the salon1 the reading-room1 may naturally be made gorgeous1 but the bedroom ought to be more quiet4 ,one does not desire to sleep amid purple and gold4 ,the traveller who needs rest may well spare these things--which1 however1 he knows will not spare him2 for if there is gold paper on the wall1 there will be gold paper in the bill4 ,illustration3 ,,kidderminster ,,carpet--,,fern ,,design4 ,for its purpose it would be difficult to fancy1 impossible to find1 a more complete structure than 8,the ,criterion10 which the great ,london caterers1 ,messrs4 ,spiers ,pond1 have erected at ,piccadilly ,circus4 ,this building includes social and private dining-rooms1 room for table d'hte1 hall for public banquets and balls1 restaurant1 and buffet2 and beneath all these a theatre large enough to entertain a thousand people4 ,the architect1 ,mr4 ,thomas ,verity1 plainly had it in his mind to raise a great gastronomic temple1 and when one enters the door1 what he sees on every side is the apotheosis of eating4 ,through an archway we enter1 and find ourselves amid the ,french ,renaissance4 ,the faade outside1 and the door-way1 with its glazed framing and superb bronze columns1 make one feel that he is about to dine superbly4 ,really he does dine remarkably well1 though the ,french ,renaissance hardly extends to the culinary art of the establishment1 for that would imply a revolution in the ,briton's constitution4 ,mr4 ,wyon has placed some fair sculptures1 the ,seasons1 etc41 in the niches and on spandrels of the wall outside1 but the inside decorations of ,mr4 ,simpson are truly1 in the words of ,messrs4 ,spiers ,pond1 8upon a scale which has hitherto never been attempted40 ,the grand hall rises squarely through three stories to a light ,mansard-roof1 from which sunburners blaze down at night1 and outside of which is a promenade commanding a fine view of ,london4 ,all of the sides of this grand and lofty hall are of tiles made for this establishment1 and combining to form large pictures1 the subjects of which were designed and painted by ,a4 ,w4 ,coke4 ,over the right-hand door1 leading to the restaurant1 is a semi-classical scene of youth and maid by the sea-side gathering in fish2 on the opposite side1 over the door opening into the buffet1 is a picture of two girls in a wheat field1 where there is an apple-tree1 the one attending to the sheaves1 the other to the apples2 around the lower hall are--still in tile mosaic--large figures of ,euterpe and ,terpsichore 7for there will be music and dancing above71 ,pomona1 ,flora1 ,bacchus1 and1 of course1 ,diana1 goddess of venison4 ,the floor of the hall is as fine as any mosaic in ,london1 and is adorned at the edges with the monograms of the firm4 ,in the restaurant there are all manner of allegorical figures on the walls1 the ,seasons1 and the genii which dig and delve and hunt1 all with the object that humanity shall be fed4 ,in the buffet there are charming tile pictures representing chubby boys and girls2 one party up the tree gathering fruits1 the other beneath catching the same and putting them into baskets2 in each picture a different tree and fruit4 ,on one side of the main stairway is the figure of a boy stealing up to a bird's nest1 over which a bird hovers2 opposite1 the boy has the nest1 the bird flies away4 ,this device is not immoral2 it means that plovers' eggs are on the bill of fare4 ,one of the finest things in this staircase is an ebony hand-railing1 three inches in diameter1 with plated silver mountings4 ,also a very fine effect has been produced by framing the door-ways in white majolica1 although greater simplicity in the designs than human faces festooned with flowers would1 ,i suspect1 have been better4 ,i must not omit to mention that the cornice inside the grand hall1 at the top of the first and here floorless story1 has the unique ornament of sentences from ,shakspeare running all around the walls1 with picturesque lettering3 8,none here1 he hopes1 ,in all this noble bevy1 has brought with her ,one care abroad3 he would have all as merry ,as first-good company1 good wine1 good welcome1 ,can make good people40 99 99 99 99 99 8,a good digestion to you all3 and1 once more1 ,i shower a welcome on you2--,welcome all40 ,illustration3 ,,minton ,,tiles ,,for ,,mantel4 ,so it is that money enough enables common folk now to dine in palaces and enjoy banquets quite as royally served and surrounded as ,bluff ,harry offered to ,cardinal ,wolsey and the lords and ladies at the ,presence ,chamber in ,york ,place4 ,but even that monarch could not have entertained his guests so luxuriously in one particular as ,messrs4 ,spiers ,pond theirs2 for these1 having dined1 may pass through a door and descend by a stairway adorned with ,muses and mirrors1 and rich with floral clusters1 to a theatre all glorious in blue and gold1 cushioned chairs1 boxes with curtains of yellow satin and lace1 and a good drab background to set them off1 and pass the rest of the evening in enjoyment of well-acted comedies or operettas4 ,so far as most of the hotels and restaurants of ,london are concerned1 one may with satisfaction follow the advice of the ,duke of ,gloster to ,anne1 in the first act of ,richard ,,iii43 8,leave these sad designs ,to him that hath more cause to be a mourner1 ,and presently repair to ,crosby ,place40 ,for the old ,gothic palace in the ,city1 which ,sir ,john ,crosby built on a piece of land with one hundred and ten feet frontage1 for which he paid a little over eleven pounds1 which his widow sold to the duke who afterward became ,richard ,,iii41 and which in ,shakspeare's time had fallen to the richest of ,lord ,mayors 7,sir ,john ,spencer71 has now followed the course of so many royal buildings1 and become the banqueting-hall of the public4 ,illustration3 ,,albert ,,memorial1 ,,hyde ,,park4 ,illustration3 ,,albert ,,memorial4 ,,europe4 ,illustration3 ,,albert ,,memorial--,,east ,,front4 ,,painters4 ,crosby ,hall is haunted by memories of the great4 ,it gives flavor to everything one eats in it to know that it has been celebrated by ,shakspeare1 that from the year in which it was built 7#adff7 it was associated with whatever has been most romantic in the history of ,london4 ,here ,sir ,john ,rest was installed as ,lord ,mayor in the days 7#aeaf7 when the ,lord ,mayor's ,show meant something4 ,the civic procession which accompanied him contained four giants1 one unicorn1 one dromedary1 one camel1 one ass1 one dragon1 six hobby-horses1 and sixteen naked boys4 ,here resided ,sir ,thomas ,more1 ,under-treasurer and ,lord ,high ,chancellor of ,england4 ,here he wrote his best works1 and received the visits of ,henry ,,viii4 ,here ,erasmus visited the author of ,utopia1 whose domestic life he described3 8,with him you might imagine yourself in the academy of ,plato2 but ,i should do injustice to his house by comparing it to the academy of ,plato1 where numbers and geometrical figures1 and sometimes moral virtues1 were the subjects of discussion2 it would be more just to call it a school and an exercise of the ,christian religion4 ,all its inhabitants1 male and female1 applied their leisure to liberal studies and profitable reading1 although piety was their first care4 ,no wrangling1 no idle word1 was heard in it2 every one did his duty with alacrity1 and not without a temperate cheerfulness40 ,in #afgb the hall was arranged for ,non-conformist meetings4 ,for ninety-seven years it was devoted to this purpose1 and among those who preached here was ,thomas ,watson1 who wrote the famous tract 7,heaven ,taken ,by ,storm7 which converted ,colonel ,gardiner4 ,it is not wonderful that its old splendors then began to depart4 ,the ,mercury of ,may #bc1 #afgh1 advertised a sale at ,crosby ,hall1 where would be disposed of1 among other things1 8tapestry hangings1 a good chariot1 and a black girl about fifteen years of age40 ,then it became the office of the old ,east ,india ,company2 next a literary and scientific institute2 next a wholesale wine warehouse2 and at length came into the hands of its present proprietors1 who have restored it to its original purpose by making it a banqueting-hall4 ,they have preserved it1 and stained its windows with portraits and pictures representing all its history4 ,the decorations are in perfect keeping with the beautiful ,gothic style of the building1 and the colors seem to have expanded on it as a flower on its stem4 ,one seems to be dining here in an older ,guildhall and at a daily ,lord ,mayor's banquet1 with ancient ,shakspearian characters for company4 ,it is particularly entertaining to observe what a rich frieze can be secured for a hall in ,england by a skilful arrangement of the historic shields and coats of arms which belong to the country2 while if some beautiful central figure on wall or glass is desired1 it may be obtained in any one of the suggestive and mystical devices which are associated with the olden time--the boar1 the lamb with its flag1 and so on4 ,but neither the ,criterion nor ,crosby ,hall furnishes1 as ,i think1 the same degree of beauty appropriate to dining-halls as may be found at the ,south ,kensington ,museum4 ,here one of the rooms was intrusted for decoration to ,mr4 ,poynter1 for a time ,president of the ,art ,school there4 ,he has made exquisite designs for the tiles of which the walls are altogether composed4 ,the simple blue and white colors1 and the purely decorative character of the figures thus made1 make one almost regret that these figures are not ,chinese instead of classic or allegorical1 in which case one might eat with a feeling of comfortable seclusion in a china dish4 ,the regular dining-room in the ,museum was intrusted to ,morris ,co41 who have placed on the upper part of the walls a rich floral decoration of embossed plaster1 colored 7gray-green7 by hand4 ,the lower part of the wall1 extending over two yards from the floor1 consists of panels1 on each of which is painted1 on a gold ground1 some allegorical figure4 ,these figures represent the sun1 the moon1 and signs of the zodiac2 they were designed by ,burne ,jones1 and bear too much of that mystical light and expression which invest all forms and faces evoked by his magic touch to be gastronomically suggestive4 ,in this respect neither ,burne ,jones nor the young artist 7,murray7 who painted his designs could rival the decorator of the ,criterion2 but one may dine at ,south ,kensington amid one of the pleasantest little picture-galleries in existence4 ,when ,ralph ,waldo ,emerson was last in ,london1 a poet who wished to give him a dinner conceived the happy thought of bringing him here1 and the sage of ,concord no doubt approximated his friend ,alcott's ideal of 8dining magnificently20 even the 8bowls of sunshine0 with which ,a4 would replace wine were supplied by the rich stained windows of ,morris1 and by the brilliant white-and-gold of the restaurant which separates the two rooms so exquisitely decorated4 ,illustration3 ,,albert ,,memorial--,,continuation ,,of ,,east ,,front4 ,,painters4 ,illustration3 ,,albert ,,memorial--,,south ,,front4 ,,poets ,,and ,,musicians4 ,there is no doubt that the barbaric element in ,english taste received a fresh accession of vigor with the advent of the ,georges to ,england4 ,what it was capable of1 and what it found pleasing to the aristocratic butterflies who flitted around him whom they adored as 8the first gentleman in ,europe10 may be discovered in the ,pavilion1 at ,brighton4 ,that building may be regarded as the physiognomical monument of ,george ,,iv4 ,it is his cerebral interior projected into stone and decoration4 ,the secret stairways and passages leading up to fictitious wardrobes1 really door-ways to rooms which his majesty desired to visit1 represent the prince that sent horsemen to trample down laborers at ,peterloo1 whose only guilt was to discuss their wrongs2 the bizarre carvings1 which make fine stone look like terra-cotta1 illustrate the fop who had come to prefer figment to fact4 ,the interior decorations do not represent so well the monarch whom ,thackeray analyzed1 and found in his h nds only a heap of pad1 paint1 gold-lace1 but no man at all4 ,those frescoes were made during the first furor which occurred in ,england about ,chinese and ,japanese art2 and1 though ludicrously gorgeous1 they are not without a certain interest1 arising from the boundless freedom of their design and colors4 ,how this can be it will be difficult for my reader to imagine1 when he is told that the walls are covered with large dragons 7life size1 one might say1 if dragons existed71 serpents1 wild cormorant-like birds1 all having a grand field-day amid ladies and pleasure-grounds4 ,the pillars are like barbers' poles1 with the archological serpent twined around each instead of the red stripe4 ,the ,pavilion is said to have found in ,mr4 ,p4 ,t4 ,barnum its only admirer4 ,english critics have been rather hard upon it4 ,sydney ,smith said that the structure looked 8as if the dome of ,st4 ,paul's had come down to ,brighton and pupped40 ,william ,cobbett thought that 8a good idea of the building might be formed by placing the pointed half of a large turnip upon the middle of a board1 with four smaller ones at the corners40 ,the main intent of the building is to imitate a ,chinese pagoda1 and it was with that aim that the ,prince of ,wales 7for he seems to have been mainly his own architect7 committed this enormity4 ,two years ago the ,british ,association for the ,advancement of ,science gathered for its charming summer sances at ,brighton1 and the rooms of the ,royal ,pavilion were placed at their service4 ,never were the sessions of the ,association so well housed1 but it was amusing to witness the difficulty which even eminent savants had in the rivalry between the attractions of the wall-papers and the scientific papers4 ,on the whole1 it is to be feared that the grotesque ornaments left by the ,regent carried the day4 ,on one occasion1 when a discussion occurred in the anthropological section on serpent-worshippers1 the dragons and serpents on the wall were so appropriate that the room had the appearance of being frescoed for the archological purposes of the day4 ,but the ordinary contrast between the severe disquisitions of the scientific men and the luxuriant and barbaric colors and forms of the ,pavilion was not so great as ,i witnessed recently in the same place4 ,in the room which above all the rest might be regarded as the temple of vanity1 a hundred ritualistic gentlemen and ladies had gathered to hold a prayer-meeting6 ,in the evening there was a ball in the same room1 and then it appeared plainly what had been the final cause of the ,brighton ,pavilion4 ,i may add that the large building which ,george ,,iv4 erected for his stable1 and whose roof is a vast dome1 is now the chief concert-room of ,brighton1 and that another outlying building of the place is occupied by a fair picture-gallery1 a good museum1 and a capital library4 ,huish1 in his ,memoirs of ,george ,,iv41 says3 8,nothing could exceed the indignation of the people when the civil list came before ,parliament1 in ,may1 #ahaf1 and #ej1jjj were found to have been expended in furniture at ,brighton1 immediately after #ecd1jjj had been voted for covering the excess of the civil list1 occasioned entirely by the reckless extravagance of the ,prince ,regent1 whose morning levees were not attended by men of science and of genius1 who could have instilled into his mind wholesome notions of practical economy2 but the tailor1 the upholsterer1 the jeweller1 and the shoemaker were the regular attendants of his morning recreations40 ,these mechanics were no doubt the worthiest folk who frequented the building they had made so fine1 and probably most of them had to take their pay in royal smiles2 but it would have relieved the indignant minds of the middle classes1 who chiefly had to supply the exorbitant civil list1 if they could have foreseen that their money was destined in the end to supply their favorite watering-place with an agreeable1 instructive1 and useful institution4 ,illustration3 ,,albert ,,memorial--,,continuation ,,of ,,south ,,front4 ,,musicians4 ,when the ,english people now look upon the ,royal ,albert ,hall they are quite warranted in drawing pleasant conclusions as to the change which has come over the spirit of royalty since the ,pavilion was erected4 ,here we have the real monument of the late ,prince ,consort1 who1 however he may be estimated1 certainly did have the ambition to be associated with the progress of science and art in ,england4 ,since the erection of the ,coliseum in ,rome no building so stupendous and noble has been built as this4 ,it is a pile worthy of ,rome in its palmiest days2 and1 with its superb oval form1 and external frieze and cornice moulded after the ,elgin ,marbles1 devoted to international industrial and art exhibitions and to music1 it stands as grandly amid the ,european civilization of to-day as the ,parthenon stood in ,greece4 ,this palace of art1 and the ,albert monument in the park opposite1 make the beauty-spot of ,london4 ,the latter is beyond question the finest monumental structure in ,europe4 ,this afternoon1 while the golden sunset of a balmy spring day was glorifying the sky1 ,i walked to it1 passing by the old ,kensington ,palace1 where the little girl was informed that she was ,queen of ,england who has since had her name associated with her country's longest period of peace and prosperity1 passing beneath the ancient patriarchal trees and through the gardens beautified by flowers and plants from every region of the world1 until at length ,i saw the spire of the monument shining like flame through the boughs4 ,there against the clear1 orange-tinted sky the monument stood forth1 with its grand marbles at the four corners--,asia1 with its genius mounted on a camel2 ,america on her buffalo1 ,europe on her bull1 ,africa on her elephant1 and each the centre of a representative group--and its noble reliefs and frescoes rising up to the winged angels at the top2 and it appeared to me that every one of the one hundred and sixty-nine life-size portrait figures--the painters from ,cimabue to ,turner1 the architects from ,cheops to ,gilbert ,scott1 who designed this monument2 the sculptors from ,chares to ,thorwaldsen2 nay1 the very composers and poets from ,st4 ,ambrose to ,rossini1 from ,homer to ,goethe--had done something to raise this triumphal pile1 about which their forms seem to move in stately procession4 ,the architects and sculptors are the work of ,philip2 the poets1 composers1 and painters by ,armstead2 and while both have done admirably1 it must be said that the reliefs by the latter are not surpassed by any modern sculpture4 ,the group of ,michael ,angelo1 ,raphael1 and ,leonardo da ,vinci1 the kneeling form of ,fra ,angelico1 are works such as can only be ascribed to that fine degree where intellect passes beyond ordinary analysis1 and is called genius4 ,its central figure--,prince ,albert--under the grand canopy1 seems at first a conspicuous example of contemporary ,hero-worship1 showing that its highest and costliest homage is paid1 not to any great ,englishman--not to ,shakspeare1 not to ,turner--but to a ,german1 of whom it is certain that1 had he not been a prince1 he could never have excited so much attention as a hundred others of his fellow-men4 ,at present the figure1 not yet tested by time1 is brassy enough1 and is throned in brass2 never was man more gilded over6 ,but there is another side to this4 ,the inscription runs3 8,queen ,victoria and her people to the memory of ,albert1 ,prince ,consort1 as a tribute of their gratitude for a life devoted to the public good40 ,the ,prince received no such credit during his life2 he got smirching enough then2 but1 if time tells as well on his statue as it has on his reputation1 this figure will become increasingly worthy of its environment4 ,though no great man1 he will sit there surrounded by the allegorical representations of art1 commerce1 and the various types of peaceful civilization1 to which he did unquestionably devote himself4 ,and it is something that the noblest monument in ,europe1 though better deserved by some who have no monument but their work1 has at any rate been raised1 not to any brilliant devastator of human homes1 not to any royal oppressor or scheming diplomatist1 but to an ordinary man1 who used the position and means intrusted to him for the refinement and moral well-being of the country that adopted him4 ,while the legend of one section of ,europe is ,napoleonic1 there is some significance in the fact that ,albert should have transmitted that of another section2 and the essential--the moral--beauty of every admirable monument is thus not wanting to that which graces the largest and wealthiest city of the civilized world4 ,if the spirit of ,prince ,albert revisits the glimpses of ,rotten ,row1 his once favorite haunt1 he must long for the day when wind and weather shall have subdued some of the obtrusive glitter of his statue4 ,it is too bad to be seen with too little light during life1 and too much after death4 ,it is sufficiently curious1 while gazing on this overpowering mass of gilded metal1 to remember what his private feelings were when some snobbish officials of ,london ,city proposed to erect a monument to him twenty-three years ago4 ,the following letter1 all the more creditable because necessarily private--the matter never having assumed such shape that he could speak of it publicly--was written at a time when its writer was believed by many to be the real instigator of the proposed monument to himself4 ,it was addressed to ,lord ,granville1 and is as follows3 8,windsor ,castle1 #c;d ,november1 #ahec4 8,,my ,,dear ,,lord ,,granville1--,many thanks for your letter1 evincing such kind interest in what concerns me4 8,i did not see the letter in the ,times1 but ,i read yesterday's leading article1 which led me at once to considerations similar to those which struck you4 ,moreover1 it is evident to me that the ,lord ,mayor started the plan chiefly as the means of bringing himself into notice1 after other ,mayors had gone to ,paris1 taken the lead in education1 etc41 and that the ,times is attacking the plan chiefly to hit the ,lord ,mayor1 as it had hit his predecessors4 ,my unfortunate person will thus probably become their battle-ground2 and1 although the first article of the ,times is civil1 its music generally goes on crescendo1 and the next may be purposely offensive1 and meet with shouts of applause from a portion of the audience4 8,still1 ,i do not see how ,i can1 with any dignity or respect for myself1 take notice of the squabble1 and cry out for mercy1 or to whom ,i could write such a letter as you suggest4 ,i have never been consulted in any way in the matter1 and the people have a perfect right to subscribe for and erect a monument in remembrance of the ,great ,exhibition2 nor could ,i volunteer to say1 #8,you must not connect it in any way with me4' 8,i can say1 with perfect absence of humbug1 that ,i would much rather not be made the prominent feature of such a monument1 as it would both disturb my quiet rides in ,rotten ,row to see my own face staring at me1 and if 7as is very likely7 it became an artistic monstrosity1 like most of our monuments1 it would upset my equanimity to be permanently ridiculed and laughed at in effigy4 8,the ,times argument1 however1 that it would be premature to place a statue to me1 is of no great force in this instance1 as ,i suppose it is not intended to recognize general merits in me1 which ought yet to be proved1 and might possibly be found wanting on longer acquaintance1 but rather to commemorate the fact of the ,exhibition of #ahea1 over which ,i presided2 which fact will remain unaltered were ,i to turn out a ,nero or a ,caligula4 8,as in all cases of doubt what to do it is generally safest to do nothing1 ,i think it better to remain perfectly quiet at present4 ,if ,i were officially consulted1 ,i should say1 #8,mark the corners of the building by permanent stones1 with inscriptions containing ample records of the event1 and give the surplus money to the erection of the museums of art and science4' ,believe me1 etc41 8,,albert40 ,foley's statue would be nobler if the last paragraph of this letter could be read on it1 and if he could have contrived some plan to let every observer know that the book held by the ,prince is the ,catalogue of the ,great ,exhibition of #ahea4 ,there is some reason why the ,english artists should have done their best work upon the monument of ,prince ,albert4 ,he may be regarded as the first man to teach this country that money might well be largely expended for the encouragement of fine art1 and that it had artists capable of the best work1 if the means were adequately supplied to them4 ,he was the means of employing scores of fine brains that had otherwise been unable to make their mark on the country1 and he extorted from a grumbling1 shop-keeping public the splendors which now render the ,south ,kensington ,museum and its surroundings institutions an art university for the world4 ,very different have been the resources and rewards of the artists who have built and adorned the structures ,i have been mentioning from those which were alone available when the frescoes were placed in the corridors of the ,houses of ,parliament4 ,nevertheless1 the ,prince ,consort himself had to be taught by a ,german artist to look around him for the ability which was needed for ,english work4 ,when he was appointed the commissioner for the decoration of the ,houses of ,parliament 7#ahda7 he made overtures to ,cornelius to come over and do the work4 ,the ,german artist replied1 8,why should you come to me when you have the man by your side--,dyce80 ,dyce1 who had studied at ,rome with ,cornelius and ,overbeck1 was then professor in the ,school of ,design at ,somerset ,house2 but he was little known as an artist1 and had not competed when designs for the decoration of ,westminster ,hall had been invited4 ,the ,prince ,consort at once suggested to him that he should send in a design2 and having too little notice to make a new one1 he sent in a study he had made for a fresco for the ,archbishop's palace at ,lambeth4 ,it was severely criticised1 as too ,german1 too papistical1 etc42 but it was selected2 and the result is the beautiful frescoes of the ,baptism of ,ethelbert1 in the ,house of ,lords1 and of the ,morte d',arthur1 in the ,queen's robing-room4 ,how slowly the ability of ,dyce was recognized in ,england may be estimated by the fact that one of his most admired works--8,paul ,preaching to the ,gentiles0--now in the ,south ,kensington ,museum1 was employed at an art exhibition in ,manchester as background to an umbrella-stand6 ,but ,prince ,albert does not appear to have required a hint from ,germany to appreciate the ,scotch artist--son of a shoemaker--whose superior genius overshadowed that of his wealthy ,irish brother4 ,already1 while ,dyce was as yet undiscovered1 ,maclise had been appointed to set about those grand works which adorn the passage to the ,house of ,commons4 ,but the poor sums which were paid to both of these artists1 and the grudging way in which they were dealt with1 are now remembered only as a scandal4 ,dyce was sharply censured because he would not promise exact dates for the completion of his seven frescoes whose payment had been fixed by the ,treasury at stated periods4 ,being rich1 he offered to refund2 but the ,treasury1 knowing that this would arouse some indignation1 found it convenient to reply that 8no precedent0 could be found justifying its acceptance of his offer6 ,any one who looks upon ,maclise's two pictures--8,trafalgar0 and 8,waterloo10 the latter with three hundred figures1 each perfect in line and expression--can but feel scandalized that ,parliament proposed to pay him only #bjjj4 ,goaded by the outcry among the artists1 it at length raised the sum to #aj1jjj1 but then grew sulky and cut off many of the commissions4 ,in reality ,maclise paid #cj1jjj for the honor of making those pictures4 ,he gave the whole of four years to them at a time when his regular work never brought him less than #aj1jjj a year4 ,when ,cornelius passed through a ,south ,german town the ovation was such as no prince could command4 ,when ,maclise had completed his frescoes the artists of ,london presented him with a gold chalk-holder4 ,the ,prince ,consort did all he could to raise an enthusiasm for decorative art in this country1 and to raise the wages and the position of the artist and of the artisan1 and he succeeded measurably2 but time has sadly shown that he must have imported the climate of ,italy rather than its schools to make this a country of beautiful frescoes4 ,although ,cornelius magnanimously declined the overtures made to him1 as above stated1 in favor of ,dyce1 he consented to come to ,london and give advice concerning the proposed works4 ,it was owing to him that frescoes were determined upon4 ,he had seen the glory of the great frescoes of ,munich2 he could not see that in a few years they would be peeling off 7as they are now7 even there4 ,fortunately1 ,maclise resolved to put on his frescoes in silica1 and they are yet fairly preserved2 but all the pictures in the ,houses of ,parliament have had to be retouched from time to time1 and the silica has such an attraction for the atmospheric moisture that the effect of the colors is frequently diminished4 ,while it is thus manifest that the corroding damp of the ,english climate is hostile to mural ornamentation1 and fatal to external frescoes1 there is a steady increase of the desire for such things4 ,this has been especially manifested among the ,english nobility1 who have everything in the wide world that their hearts can desire1 excepting only the climate that might comport with luxury and beauty4 ,that barbaric element in the ,english aristocracy1 of which ,i have before spoken1 which ,mr4 ,matthew ,arnold half likes while he impales its eccentricities1 is constantly revealed in the contrasts between the baronial halls of ,england and the majority of the homes of the wealthy middle class4 ,one may take as a specimen of the taste of the latter any one of the fine club buildings on or near ,pall ,mall4 ,here one feels that he is stepping on floors which the ,pompeians would have thought somewhat sombre1 but would have enjoyed1 and amid walls and arches which they would have recognized as familiar1 though strangely gloomy4 ,the halls are large and spacious1 rather costly than rich1 built of purest granites and marbles of various hue2 the reading1 dining1 and smoking rooms are comparatively quiet1 and built with a view to comfort alone4 ,the clubs represent the desire of gentlemen of means to pass their hours of leisure in palaces1 and these are secured at an expenditure of less than a hundred pounds each per annum1 even in the best of such institutions4 ,but when one visits the castles of the nobility1 such as are still inhabited1 the fondness for color and romance is at once manifest4 ,they love their rooms now blue1 now green1 and again rose-colored4 ,they love classical frescoes--nude ,muses1 ,graces1 and ,cupids chiefly--on the ceilings1 and gay tints on the walls even of sleeping-rooms4 ,in a word1 my lords were sensational1 and in some cases descended to the most vulgar tricks1 as in the case which ,wordsworth rebuked so sternly4 ,on the occasion of a visit to ,dunkeld the poet was taken into a room lined with mirrors1 and where an artificial water-fall was set going by a spring being touched4 ,the water-fall was reflected one way in the mirrors1 but another way in the poet's face1 and soon after in his rebuke of such mimicry of ,nature3 8,ever averse to pantomime1 ,thee neither do they know1 nor us ,thy servants1 who can trifle so40 ,illustration3 ,,spandrel ,,picture4 ,but what could come of a generation trained by the royal standard which thought it beautiful to tie oranges bought in ,covent ,garden ,market on the twigs of trees at ,hampton ,court for a garden party8 ,the mansions of the nobility are still really the most tawdry and inartistic in their decorations of any class that have attempted decorations--mere blazings of white-and-gold2 but there is an increasing number of exceptions1 represented especially by some ancient families which have manifested a laudable desire to have their halls painted with pictures of legends or historical events connected with their neighborhood or their ancestors4 ,mr4 ,william ,b4 ,scott1 artist and poet1 who has done excellent mural work of this character1 has1 ,i believe1 fairly persuaded both the aristocracy and the artists of ,england that they cannot have ,italian frescoes in this country1 and must depend upon mural painting4 ,in exhibiting specimens of his own excellent mural painting1 before the ,institute of ,british ,architects1 ,mr4 ,scott made some interesting remarks on fresco4 8,in ,italy10 he said1 8the reign of fresco was a little more than a century in length4 ,all the earlier works remaining are in tempera4 ,not many years ago it was not unusual to hear people talk of all early ,italian wall paintings as fresco1 but it is quite certain no such thing exists2 the earlier frescoes1 such as ,mantegna's works1 in the ,eremitani ,chapel1 in ,milan1 are miserable ruins2 while the tempera pictures of ,giotto1 a century and a half older1 in the ,arena ,chapel1 in ,padua1 for example1 are perfect4 ,how1 then1 did it come about that fresco1 which died out in ,italy very shortly after ,michael ,angelo finished the ,capella ,sistini1 had a revival in this nineteenth century in ,munich and ,london8 ,a very short narrative of the circumstances attending this revival will1 ,i think1 be enough4 ,the associated body of young ,german students assembled in ,rome in the beginning of this century aspired to better things than they found existing in the lifeless art about them4 ,they reverted to the study of earlier art--to the actual reproduction of former art4 ,they were also pietists--at least the two leaders1 ,overbeck and ,cornelius2 they found that their patron saint1 ,fra ,angelico1 painted in fresco2 they found also that all the mythological1 anti-religious pictures of the ,bolognese school and later period were in oil3 they determined on the revival of fresco4 ,king ,ludwig seconded them1 and furnished an ample field for their success4 ,the misfortune was1 they did not go back far enough2 they were self-denying men1 and even the hardships and difficulties of fresco had attractions for them4 ,it was like a revival of ,tudor in mistake for a revival of the best period of ,pointed architecture4 ,several ,english artists living in ,rome1 after the great success of the first very able works of these revivalists--my brother1 ,david ,scott1 of ,edinburgh1 and ,william ,dyce1 for example--were smitten with the same feeling40 ,some eight years ago ,i had the pleasure of seeing the mural paintings with which ,mr4 ,w4 ,b4 ,scott has decorated ,sir ,walter ,trevelyan's house1 at ,wallington1 in ,northumberland4 ,no person could have been more appropriately selected for the work than ,mr4 ,scott1 who passed much of his early life in that region1 and has written such beautiful poems upon its ancient legends4 ,the first 7ground-floor7 series of paintings is on panels1 enclosed between pilasters supporting arches2 and a second is on the spandrels above the arches1 in a corridor leading to the bedrooms1 on the upper floor4 ,the mansion is near the ancient ,scottish ,border1 so haunted by romance1 and near it may still be seen the remains of the ancient ,roman ,wall4 ,in four of the panels the subjects are 7#a7 the building of the ,roman ,wall2 7#b7 ,king ,egfrid offering the bishopric of ,hexham to ,cuthbert1 hermit on ,farne ,island2 7#c7 a descent of the ,danes on the coast2 7#d7 death of the ,venerable ,bede4 ,on the opposite side are later subjects1 but equally related to the same region of country3 7#a7 8,the ,spur in the ,dish0--the sign to the moss-trooper that the larder is empty2 7#b7 ,bernard ,gilpin taking down the gage of battle in ,rothbury ,church2 7#c7 ,grace ,darling and her father saving the shipwrecked crew2 7#d7 8,iron and ,coal0--the industry of the ,tyne4 ,the pilasters and the arcaded ends are also slightly decorated with foliage4 ,the pictures on the spandrels are a series of eighteen on the old ,border ballad of ,chevy ,chase4 ,they are full of spirit1 and their rich colors are like bursts of sunset along the ancient corridor4 ,so much1 indeed1 depends on this color that it is impossible to convey the artist's idea of mural painting by a woodcut4 ,nevertheless1 ,i must confide to the imagination of my reader one characteristic design 7page #adg71 8,women looking out for their ,husbands and ,brothers after the ,battle of ,chevy ,chase40 ,for his decoration of ,penkill ,castle1 ,ayrshire1 ,mr4 ,scott appropriately selected the old ,scottish poem of ,the ,king's ,quair1 or book 7cahier1 or quire1 of paper71 said to have been written by ,james of ,scotland when a prisoner at ,windsor1 in #adbj1 on his love for ,jane1 granddaughter of ,john of ,gaunt4 ,the first picture shows the king in prison1 turning from his reading for his pen4 ,according to the canto in which the king describes his rising with the matin bell1 there is pictured the bell1 the warder1 the night-watch going home1 etc4 ,in the second picture he looks from his window1 and sees the fairest of womankind listening to the birds in the terraced garden4 ,she has with her two maids and a little dog4 ,cupid--the ,cupid of early art1 a sort of pretty page--shoots at the king from behind a hedge4 ,the third picture represents the royal poet's dream1 in which ,master ,cupid descends from the starry sphere to carry him away to the court of ,venus1 to obtain her assistance4 ,these three pictures run along a flight of stairs1 and the series is taken up with the next flight4 ,in the fourth picture the poet finds all the lovers of history at the shrine of ,venus4 ,james prays on his knees to her1 but she sends him to ,dame ,minerva's court of wisdom for advice4 ,then we have the poet at the court of ,minerva2 next ,lady ,jane sending off the carrier-pigeon2 and finally the royal poet receiving it4 ,it requires but little reflection for any one to realize that to an ancient baronial castle such a series of paintings as this would be as the breathing of a soul beneath its gray ribs of rock4 ,it must be mainly for the want of such pictures in them that servant-maids and children so often imagine ghosts rustling along old corridors and haunting antique stairways4 ,the castle of the ,earl of ,durham is graced by a fine stained window1 illustrating the legend belonging to it of the slaying of the great worm1 or dragon1 by the ,knight of ,lambton2 and the similar legend of ,moore ,hall is finely told in that mansion by the art of ,professor ,poynter4 ,the last1 however1 is simply on canvas1 and appeared as a large framed painting at the ,royal ,academy4 ,it is1 of course1 necessary that a house should be very large and stately to bear mural paintings4 ,the painting of panels is1 indeed1 becoming common in old houses which are well wainscoted1 but as a general thing it is confined to the doors of more modern dwellings4 ,however1 a very fine effect has been produced in the dining-room of ,mr4 ,birket ,foster1 at ,witley1 in ,surrey1 by inserting in the wall around the room a continuous painting by ,burne ,jones representing the legend of ,st4 ,george and the ,dragon4 ,the stained glass which ,morris ,co4 have placed in the landing of the staircase1 in the same beautiful residence1 shows also that even a cottage-mansion of moderate size admits of a great deal more decorative color than is ordinarily supposed4 ,in passing from the consideration of works of a public and semi-public character ,i cannot refrain from paying some tribute to the most influential decorative artist whom ,england has produced1 and whose death in ,april1 #ahgd1 all lovers of beauty are still mourning4 ,mr4 ,owen ,jones carried into decorative art that spirit of archological accuracy--one might almost say that profound scholarship--which was brought into pictorial art by ,delaroche in ,france1 ,baron ,wappers in ,belgium1 and ,maclise in ,england4 ,it is said that there was but one thing in ,england which the ,shah of ,persia wished to carry back with him to his palace--the ,alhambra rooms1 at the ,crystal ,palace2 but of all their possessions1 in the way of art1 there is hardly one that the ,london people would so unwillingly part with4 ,yet it is probable that as little as the ,shah the thousands who every week find in those rooms their chteaux en ,espagne realize what it really cost to put them there4 ,mr4 ,owen ,jones had passed his youth and his early manhood journeying1 both personally and mentally1 on the track of the race to which his fine culture belonged3 he had studied the mystical figures and lines of ,egyptian temples2 he had pondered the principles by which reason and truth find expression in stone amid the ruins of ,greece2 he had learned the secrets of simplicity and grandeur in ,rome1 where were poured the converging streams of beauty from many tribes1 each bearing its freight of faith and aspiration1 to be deposited in marbles and monuments which are the gospels and bibles of a primitive world4 ,by this path1 which meant for him a growing culture1 he came to dwell on the heights of ,granada1 as the recluse and devotee of ,beauty1 and when he thence returned to his native land he brought with him a new era4 ,he expended a fortune on the grand folio of colored drawings of the ,alhambra1 which brought him no return1 but a single copy of which is now a collector's treasure4 ,when proposals were being received for the decoration of the glass palace of the ,international ,exhibition of #ahea1 ,mr4 ,owen ,jones offered to ,prince ,albert and the ,royal ,commissioners his plans4 ,the ,prince held out against them for some time2 but the fascination was on him1 and again and again he returned to the exquisite designs1 until he surrendered to their charm4 ,he selected ,owen ,jones with some tremor1 but every year since the ,palace has been transferred to ,sydenham has shown that it was a felicitous incident of his life to have encountered the right man for a task which was to be of far more permanent importance than he supposed4 ,since then ,mr4 ,owen ,jones has not only given the large interiors of various great business establishments that beauty which makes many of them worthy of study and admiration1 but he has won for himself and his country the highest honors of the three great ,continental ,exhibitions4 ,it was with some amazement that the world found itself pointed to ,england as the leader in decorative art by the ,french ,exposition of #ahfg4 8,it requires10 said the official catalogue of that exposition1 8but a slight insight into modern domestic life in ,england to perceive how great a change has taken place within the last ten or fifteen years in the internal embellishment of the dwelling-houses of the upper and middle classes of society2 and there can be little doubt that the extension of art education will lead still farther to the production and appreciation of articles which combine the three requisites of fitness of purpose1 beauty of design and ornament1 and excellence of workmanship40 ,it might be supposed by those who have not seen this master's work that it consisted merely in clever imitations of the ,moorish and other designs with which his name is associated2 but1 on the contrary1 his chief excellence was1 that he showed how the ideas and principles which underlie the great works of the past were capable of being led out into new forms and adaptations4 ,in taking the chair at the ,society of ,arts1 in #ahea1 on the occasion of a lecture on the arts and manufactures of ,india1 by ,professor ,royle1 ,mr4 ,owen ,jones1 having accorded superiority to the ,indian and ,tunisian articles in the ,exhibition of that year over all contributed by ,europe1 added3 8,many of these specimens have been purchased by government for the use of the ,school of ,design1 and will1 no doubt1 be extensively circulated throughout the country4 ,but it is to be hoped that they will do more than merely teach us to copy the ,indian style4 ,if they only led to the origination of an ,indian style1 ,i should think their influence only hurtful4 ,the time has arrived when it is generally felt that a change must take place1 and we must get rid of the causes of obstruction to the art of design which exist in this country40 ,the ,daily ,news1 in an editorial article on the death of ,owen ,jones1 said3 8,it was to bring the beautiful in form and color home to the household1 and to mingle its subtle influences with the whole frame-work of social and family life1 that the great designer we are lamenting labored all his life with the patient1 unselfish enthusiasm of one to whom1 though full of the keenest sympathy with all the great historic movements and events of his time1 his art was his life40 ,illustration3 ,,owen ,,jones4 ,the devotion of such a scholar and refined gentleman as ,owen ,jones to decorative art has helped to make an era in that kind of work4 ,before that it suffered in ,england from being regarded as a sort of upholstery1 implying neither talent nor culture4 ,some gentlemen of culture and wealth recognized the genius of ,mr4 ,owen ,jones at a time when the ,prince ,consort was still inclined to regard him as a superior kind of upholsterer or house-painter1 among whom must be especially mentioned ,mr4 ,alfred ,morrison1 well known for his antiquarian and numismatical accomplishments4 ,his residence in ,carlton ,house ,terrace is the truest monument of the genius of ,owen ,jones1 and it is a work which need fear no comparison with any other1 of whatever age or country4 ,it makes the chief palaces of ,northern ,europe vulgar4 ,sdi tells us of one recovering from an ecstasy1 who said he had been in a divine garden1 where he had gathered flowers to bring to his friends2 the odor of the flowers so overcame him that he let fall the skirt of his dress1 and the flowers were lost4 ,some such account one must needs give of a visit to ,mr4 ,morrison's house4 ,a thousand of the touches1 the felicities1 which combine to produce the happiest effects in this mansion1 can by no means be conveyed from the place where they would appear to have grown4 ,i will only mention a few suggestive features of this system of decoration4 ,the house is one of those large1 square1 lead-colored buildings1 of which so many thousands exist in ,london1 that any one passing by would pronounce characteristically characterless4 ,it repeats the apparent determination of ages that there shall be no external architectural beauty in ,london4 ,height1 breadth1 massiveness of portal1 all declare that he who resides here has not dispensed with architecture because he could not command it4 ,in other climes this gentleman is dwelling behind carved porticos of marble and pillars of porphyry2 but here the cloud and sky have commanded him to build a blank fortress1 and find his marble and porphyry inside of it4 ,pass through this heavy door-way1 and in an instant every fair clime surrounds you1 every region lavishes its sentiment2 you are the heir of all the ages4 ,entering a room for reading and writing1 near the door1 we are conscious of a certain warmth of reception even from the walls4 ,they are of silk1 made in ,lyons1 after a design by ,owen ,jones4 ,the shade and lustre are changeable1 but the prevailing color dark red4 ,the design is as if an endless series of the most graceful amphor had suddenly outlined themselves1 and the lines had taken to budding off into little branches4 ,the surface is ,persian1 and the whole sentiment of the room is ,oriental1 without having in it a single instance where ,oriental work has been copied4 ,the carpet is ,persian1 but the design is by ,owen ,jones1 the most noticeable figure being the crossed squares1 making a star-shape to match a similar one on the coffered ceiling4 ,this tapestry of silk starts a theme1 so to say1 which is carried1 with harmonious variations1 throughout the building1 expanding in the larger rooms1 until it recalls every variety of ,etruscan shape1 and taking on the most beautiful colors4 ,there is a ,blue ,room1 a ,pink ,room1 a ,yellow ,room2 yet in no case is there anything 8loud0 or garish in the tints4 ,the ceiling of the reading-room is somewhat after the fashion of the best ,italian work of four centuries ago--a kind of moulding in deep relief1 which probably ceased to be much used because it was found difficult to make it without incurring the danger of its falling1 so great would be the weight4 ,but ,owen ,jones invented something which he called 8fibrous plaster10 by which the most heavily coffered ceilings can be made with perfect security4 ,it consists in first making the shapes to be used in wood2 the wood is then covered with canvas1 and this canvas is covered with repeated coats of the finest plaster1 which is rubbed down into any mouldings required1 and painted4 ,the coffers here are star-shaped1 and in each an inverted convoluted shell of gold4 ,it is an indication of how finely the decorator has blended ,oriental lustres and classic designs that the various antique objects and fine metal-work1 done by the best ,spanish1 ,italian1 and ,viennese workmen1 after classic models1 everywhere set about the rooms1 have an easily recognizable relationship with the scrolls and forms on carpets1 ceilings1 and walls4 ,but neither the ,lyons silk nor the ,persian carpets can be pronounced unique in the same sense as the wonderful use made of various woods in this house4 ,in the dado1 jambs1 chairboarding1 we find no carved work1 but simply the most exquisite combinations of ebonized and many-colored woods4 ,some of these1 as the ,indian holly1 are so fine that the grain is invisible to the closest inspection4 ,other woods are so soft and beautiful that they have the surface of petals4 ,trees belonging to every land and clime of the earth have sent here their hearts1 and1 without a particle of pigment being used on any one of them1 they gather to form rosettes on the chimney-pieces1 cappings for the dados1 and finest featherings around the doors--white1 golden1 red1 cream-colored1 brown1 and these of every shade4 ,the tables and chairs of several rooms are of this tarsia-work of forms untouched by staining or by metal4 ,in the library the book-shelves1 which do the duty of a dado around the room1 have alternate doors of glass and wood1 and the latter are adorned with a foliation1 over two feet high1 growing from the bottom of the panel and leafing out at the top1 which cannot be surpassed by any ancient marquetry4 ,above these shelves the green and gold lustres of the wall rise to a cone1 which has the appearance of a blue and gold enamel1 above which is an early ,tudor ceiling of checker pattern1 between reliefs of a large star with four shadings of different colors1 or star within star1 golden1 dark1 and white4 ,the chimney-piece here may be regarded as a large arched cabinet1 with fire-grate beneath1 having two wings1 in which are contained specimens of porcelain from ,persia and ,cashmere1 which1 old as they are1 have an appearance of having been designed by the decorator of the room1 who certainly never saw them until they came into the harmony he had prepared for them4 ,the drawing-room1 whose windows overlook ,st4 ,james's ,park1 is a very large apartment1 whose division1 if it ever had any1 has disappeared1 giving an unbroken range to the eye1 which1 whether it takes in the whole effect or pauses to examine a detail1 is simply satisfied4 ,the fretted ceiling2 the frieze of damask picked out with gold2 the tarsia dado1 a necklace surrounding the room2 the chimney-pieces1 one of which ,lepec of ,paris was two years in making--they are all fine without frivolity1 cheerful without fussiness4 ,one mantel-piece reminded me of what ,baron ,rothschild is said to have remarked once1 when a fop was displaying his malachite shirt-studs1 8,very pretty3 ,i have a mantel-piece of it at home40 ,some of the incised ornaments here are gems indeed1 but in no case have they the appearance of being set there for their costliness2 they are all parts of the general artistic work4 ,one of the best features of this drawing-room is1 that it is not 8stuffed0 with things4 ,the objects in it are comparatively few1 yet they are sufficient in number and variety2 and being beautiful and interesting1 one can look at each without being bewildered1 as in some houses1 where an idea seems to prevail that the model for a reception-room is a museum4 ,mr4 ,morrison is a strenuous opponent of the general belief that the arts are deteriorating4 ,he believes that as good work of any kind whatsoever can be done now as in any other age of the world1 if one will only look carefully after the men who can do it4 ,his experience has certainly been fortunate in discovering those who are able to make entirely original designs1 and yet conceived in a purely artistic spirit2 but then he has had all ,europe at his command4 ,the best metal-workers he has found in ,spain and ,vienna4 ,in the former country he found out ,zouloaga1 a workman residing in the little town of ,eybar1 and from him has obtained chased and engraved metal-work such as almost any of our connoisseurs would be apt to date before the ,renaissance on a cursory glance4 ,one piece of work by ,zouloaga is in the drawing-room--a large coffer1 nine feet by three1 covered with all manner of figures and scrolls in iron1 wrought in relief1 and with a finish which would have made ,andre ,buhl himself rejoice that his own fine cabinet 7of which ,mr4 ,morrison is the fortunate possessor7 should have found a place under the same roof with that of the ,spaniard4 ,mr4 ,morrison told me that he felt sure the man could do a fine piece of work1 if encouraged1 so he advanced him a thousand pounds1 and told him to begin something on that4 ,zouloaga worked at the coffer for four years1 and its owner saw at once that he had but paid an instalment of the real value of this marvellous work4 ,but though ,mr4 ,morrison has had to go to ,spain for ornamented metal-work1 to ,paris for his mantel-pieces1 to ,lyons for his silk1 he has found that in no other country than his own was he able to secure the best wood-work4 ,it may be1 indeed1 that if his desire had been for the most perfect carving1 he might not have had the satisfaction of obtaining it in his own country--though some of the workers that ,mr4 ,george ,aitchison appears to have got hold of may render even that doubtful4 ,but in pursuing inquiries as to the means by which the exceedingly bold designs of ,owen ,jones for ornamentation with the colors of woods could be carried out 7and the inquiries were not confined to this country71 ,mr4 ,morrison found that no house out of ,london was prepared to undertake a task that necessitated importations of select woods from all parts of the world4 ,in ,mr4 ,forster ,graham1 ,owen ,jones found a man able to enter into his ideas and to give practical effect to them4 ,indeed1 the famous architect and decorator acknowledged his indebtedness to ,mr4 ,graham for some effective suggestions for the improvement of the original designs4 ,those who know ,mr4 ,morrison will easily understand that he too was by no means a mere by-stander while the work was going on4 ,at any rate1 he may now rejoice in having secured a home that has converted some portion of his wealth into a more real value4 ,for there is nothing in this house not harmonious with its purpose4 ,every chair is as philosophically as it is beautifully constructed1 and nearly every one is different from the other--one suggesting the perforated chairs of the ,delhi palaces1 and another the old ,saxon throne in ,westminster ,abbey4 ,it is related of a sensible and busy banker that1 on being visited by some one1 he said1 8,i have a line or two to write2 pray take a chair40 8,do you know who ,i am1 sir80 said the visitor1 haughtily4 8,i am the ,envoy ,extraordinary of ----40 8,oh1 are you80 said the banker2 8then pray take two chairs60 ,this little story occurred to me as ,i was looking upon ,mr4 ,morrison's chairs1 and ,i fancied the ,envoy ,extraordinary1 if asked to take one1 would probably have considered it as a significant mark of respect4 ,there is no sham in this house--no wood pretending to be metal1 and no iron affecting to be marble4 ,as each particle of a rose under the microscope has the rose's beauty1 so here each part of the mansion bears witness to the care and taste with which the whole is constructed--the table-leg as truly as the ,lepec mantel-piece4 ,we may ascend the magnificent stairway1 past the globes of light upheld by bronze candelabra rising seven feet from the floor1 and as we go from story to story find good1 painstaking work meeting us everywhere--in the bedrooms1 the nursery1 the closets--some of the best ornamentation in the house being a pale blue-and-gold scroll surrounding the skylight at its top4 ,it is a pleasure to know that decorative skill has not passed away with ,owen ,jones4 ,the house of ,frederick ,lehmann1 ,esq41 in ,berkeley ,square1 is the chef-d'uvre of ,mr4 ,george ,aitchison1 one of the most celebrated architects and decorators in ,england1 who has made the most of very favorable conditions1 has called to his aid congenial artists and carvers1 and has completed rooms which one would fain see themselves hung upon the walls of the ,royal ,academy1 and not merely the designs of some of them1 which were1 indeed1 exhibited there4 ,the house is ancient1 and1 though not very large1 built liberally and substantially1 evidently in the days when ,berkeley ,square was near enough to 8the country0 for space to be of less consideration than now4 ,in the course of the recent improvements there was found behind an old chimney-piece a playing-card1 upon the back of which is written an invitation from a ,mrs4 ,murray to ,lady ,talbot to pass the evening at her house2 and ,mr4 ,de la ,rue declares that no card of a similar character has been manufactured for a hundred and fifty years4 ,even farther back in time than that we may safely place the old-fashioned1 nearly square hall--about twenty feet by seventeen--which is at once hall and vestibule4 ,it contains tables1 cabinets1 and a stand for flowers1 and the modern decoration sympathizes with what appears to have been the old idea of a vestibule--a sheltered cortile4 ,the general tint is a very pale green1 the surface-panelling large1 and ornamented with stems starting from a common root and ending each in cones4 ,the stems and cones curve toward each other1 and form a sort of circular grouping4 ,a door on the left introduces us to the library1 whose walls are shelves of richly carved walnut1 above which is a dark leather frieze1 which elegantly sets off the treasures of ancient pottery and other antique objects which make the interesting finish of the well-stored book-shelves all the way around the room4 ,at a certain point the books prove to be dummies1 an unsuspected little door flying open at a touch and revealing a lavatory4 ,in this library1 where startling effects of any kind would be out of place1 there are no plays of color1 but ample light falling upon the exquisitely carved table for writing in the centre1 which is the most remarkable for its conveniences and contrivances that ,i have ever seen4 ,ascending to the drawing-rooms1 we enter first a small apartment1 whose floriated ceiling gives the effect of a bower4 ,between this and the golden cornice is a cove of inlaid gold1 upon which are traced leaves of wistaria1 interspersed with light pink clusters of the phlox4 ,the chief ornament is a large cabinet1 reaching nearly to the cornice--ebony and ivory--recently brought from the ,vienna ,exhibition3 it contains specimens of ,eastern porcelain and various curiosities collected by ,mr4 ,lehmann1 who would appear to have voyaged around the world and found relics of all civilizations and all the ages of art4 ,this1 however1 is but an anteroom to the chief drawing-room1 with which it communicates by a large double sliding-door4 ,this door and another like it which admits to the dining-room are truly superb4 ,they have a frame of ebonized wood1 enclosing panels of finest-grained amboyna4 ,the ebonized wood is foliated with gold1 and the long central panels are adorned with ovals of olive-colored ,wedgwood ware1 presenting classical figures4 ,the smaller panels above and below have at their centres squares of the same4 ,each door has a capping of gold floriation and a draping of ,french embroidered silk1 at once heavy and delicate1 like tapestry4 ,the walls are of a dark reddish-brown color1 arranged in large panels 7from floor to cornice71 enclosed by a fine painted edging4 ,this background elegantly sets off the pictures1 which are all excellent1 some of them being among the best water-colors of ,turner4 ,the ornament which chiefly strikes the eye in this room is a matchless frieze1 painted by the eminent artist ,albert ,moore1 the design being peacocks1 their long trains in repose4 ,the cornice above this is of the egg-pattern1 with a fretting above4 ,the ceiling is1 in a manner1 panelled2 that is1 it has on each side stiles or beams crossing each other1 making the large central space and the side spaces almost deep enough to be called coffered4 ,these cross-beams are finely feathered with gold1 and the interspaces are adorned with curved boughs1 which have small pointed leaves terminating in round decorative flowers4 ,the fireside of this room is highly ornamented4 ,the grate is antique in general appearance1 but novel in structure2 the silver owls 7life-size7 sitting on either end of the fender-bar1 and the old brass mountings of the fire-dogs1 have come from the past to guard a grate which slides backward and forward as the regulation of the heat given out may require4 ,the tiles are representations of six varieties of humming-birds1 a paroquet1 a sun-bird1 and several other feathered beauties4 ,near by is a folding screen of brilliant ,japanese silk4 ,the room is covered to the border of the parquetage with a bright ,persian carpet4 ,in the dining-room the original ceiling1 with dark oak reliefs 7curved71 has been retained--not happily1 ,i am afraid1 such ceilings always absorbing too much light4 ,mr4 ,aitchison has given the spaces a luminous decoration1 but nevertheless the dark wood-work above can only be retained by the use of a corresponding shade in the furniture4 ,this furniture is of rare beauty4 ,the sideboard is most delicately carved1 and the serving-table inlaid with medallions of ivory1 the designs of which1 by ,albert ,moore1 represent various animals and fruits suggestive of the uses of the room4 ,there is a chimney-piece of ancient work--ebony1 with side pillars and excellent gold settings2 but a comparison of this bit of last century work with the furniture recently made is likely to raise a question in the minds of those conservatives who insist that the making of beautiful things is a lost art4 ,it is a pleasure to find hung in a room where each object bears the trace of really fine art that portrait which has long been acknowledged to be the ablest work of ,millais1 representing ,mr4 ,lehmann's little daughter seated upon a ,minton garden-seat on a lawn4 ,when this picture was exhibited at the ,royal ,academy1 a few years ago1 a writer in the ,fortnightly ,review pronounced it the work which1 among modern ,english productions1 most recalled the peculiar vitality and sentiment which have given the old masters their fame4 ,i had the pleasure of seeing the little lady at that time in her boudoir1 to make which beautiful ,mr4 ,aitchison appears to have put forth his talent as earnestly as ,mr4 ,millais to paint her picture4 ,a blue border encloses the large panels of the walls1 on which are fleur-de-lis spots1 and a bittern at each panel centre4 ,the frieze is painted in graceful floriations of lemons1 and the cove above is adorned with balsam and jasmine4 ,the apartments of ,miss ,lehmann1 thus tenderly but not gaudily adorned1 open into the sleeping-room of her parents4 ,this also is simply beautiful4 ,the walls are of a delicate blue shade1 and all the textures appear as if inwoven with softened sunshine4 ,mr4 ,smallfield's genius has here been brought into requisition1 and he has painted beautiful groups of flitting birds over the doors4 ,the same artist has painted boughs of apple-blossoms upon the door-panels in the boys' room4 ,but his finest work is a frieze in ,mrs4 ,lehmann's boudoir--for such her monogram1 woven in the ,persian carpet and carved in the marble mantel-piece1 announces it to be--which consists of doves1 swallows1 and flowers in pots4 ,mrs4 ,lehmann's boudoir is on the same floor with the dining-room1 from which it is separated by a charming little sitting-room4 ,the walls of this last-named room are entirely covered with the finest ,gobelin tapestry1 above which a deep cornice of chased gold supports a cove1 chocolated1 with decoration of silver leaflets4 ,illustration3 ,,ebony ,,serving-,,table1 ,,mr4 ,,lehmann',s ,,house4 ,no wall-paper at all is used in this house4 ,the ornamentation of the walls throughout has been put on by the hand1 and generally by pouncing4 ,perhaps it may be well enough to state that the method of pouncing is far more expensive than that of stencilling4 ,in pouncing1 the figures to be painted on the wall are first pin-punctured on paper2 this paper is then laid on the wall and beaten with bags of colored powder4 ,when the paper is removed1 each ornamental form is delicately outlined on the wall in innumerable fine points4 ,it is then necessary that the decorative artist should trace the figures with a pencil1 and afterward paint them4 ,stencilling1 which is less costly than this by about one-third1 consists simply in direct painting through perforated metal1 though it is necessary in most mural work that the blank interstices so left should be painted over by hand4 ,the latter work is1 however1 always more stiff than the pounced4 ,the friezes have been painted on canvas1 of course1 since no gentleman would allow his possession of works by such artists as those whom ,mr4 ,lehmann has employed to depend upon his remaining in any particular house4 ,it is1 indeed1 a very significant thing that such men as ,albert ,moore and ,smallfield should have been found ready to undertake work of this description2 for1 though it is a return to such work as ,giotto and ,michael ,angelo were glad to do1 we have heard of late years occasional sneers at 8mere decoration40 ,strictly speaking1 all art is mere decoration4 ,there are other instances also where artists of the greatest eminence have done excellent work of this character4 ,in the house of the ,hon4 ,percy ,wyndham1 ,belgrave ,square1 there is a grand staircase1 which has on the wall1 near one of its landings1 five life-sized classical figures1 by ,sir ,frederick ,leighton1 and at the top a deep frieze of cormorants1 storks1 and other wild birds2 and the dining-room of the same beautiful mansion has been elegantly adorned by ,mrs4 ,wyndham--herself an artist--aided by ,mr4 ,v4 ,prinsep4 ,illustration3 ,,top ,,of ,,serving-,,table1 ,,mr4 ,,lehmann',s ,,house4 ,the pleasure with which ,i have visited ,mr4 ,lehmann's house is just a little tempered by the difficulties ,i have found in the effort to convey some impression of it4 ,passing down the stairways amid the delicate hues lighting them up at every turn1 and through the door-ways curtained off from halls by rich ,oriental draperies1 and finding myself again in the embowered square at the front of the house1 ,i feel conscious of an utter inability to give any reader an adequate conception of the decorations amid which ,i have invited him to wander in imagination4 ,let any one who has passed a morning in visiting the interiors of the old ,venetian palaces attempt to describe them6 ,he will have a dreamy impression of soft colors fading into each other1 of apartments that have caught on their walls the tints of rosy morning and golden evening1 and held them in a thousand little contrivances to catch such sunbeams1 and he will feel that the subtle influences of beauty have overpowered his analysis4 ,the finer secrets of art elude detection1 much more explanation1 like those of nature4 ,the houses ,i have been describing are those of millionnaires4 ,whatever may be thought of the large sums expended on their mansions1 they do not suggest the remark made by a wit to a gentleman as remarkable for spending little as for making much1 8,you cannot take all this gold with you1 and if you did1 it would melt40 ,they have preferred that their gold should be transmuted in this world1 and into forms that are none the less beautiful for being costly4 ,they are men who occupy a somewhat abnormal position even in wealthy ,london1 and one which admits of a correspondingly rich and even grand environment4 ,they have occasion1 and are able1 to have rooms which relate them to a large and cultivated world1 while they can reserve for domestic privacy apartments that fulfil the want which to others is the only end of a home--a centre amid a busy and weary world for friendship1 love1 and repose4 ,even in these grand palaces one may1 indeed1 witness a modesty and reality which contrasts favorably with the at once stimulating and exhausting splendors of the princely dwellings of the past4 ,there is no attempt here to heap into the rooms the great works of art which appropriately belong to the community1 and should be set up in edifices built for the common benefit4 ,one perceives1 too1 that the time has passed away when ,madame de ,guerdin could define the life of an apartment as consisting in 8fires1 mirrors1 and carpets40 ,the life of an apartment consists in the degree to which it subserves its end4 ,the decoration of the salon may well sympathize with the gayety of festive occasions1 for it does not exist for the family alone2 but in the more private rooms the tired limbs will require rest on chair or couch1 and equally the eye will need rest upon soft and subdued shades4 ,there will1 however1 arise in the mind of many a reader of the poor descriptions ,i have been able to give of these two houses 7which represent an exceptional class7 a moral misgiving4 ,is not all this a waste of money that might have been expended for greater and nobler purposes8 ,is not all this mere luxury and extravagance8 ,well1 in the first place1 it is difficult to draw the line between the beauty which ,nature seeks as she climbs to flowers and man as he decorates his dwelling1 and the luxuriousness which makes external beauty in itself an end rather than a means4 ,take away all that has been added to our homes by art1 and we all become naked savages living in mud or log huts4 ,but1 in the second place1 what about this 8waste of money0 so often charged against expensive decorations8 ,poor ,zouloaga1 working in a little peasant village of people poor as himself1 might not have the same charge to bring against the wealthy ,englishman who found him out4 ,he and a host of artists and artisans in this and other countries might find more wisdom in ,rhodora's philosophy1 that 8if eyes are made for seeing1 ,then ,beauty is its own excuse for being20 and they might add that if the taste and skill which are able to make beautiful things exist1 there may be good reason why a demand should also exist for what they can supply4 ,i do not propose to argue the vexed question of political economy concerning the degree to which luxury is justified by its distribution of capital among laborers1 but it seems very clear that there can be no reason to deplore the free or even lavish expenditures of the wealthy for objects which are not in themselves pernicious4 ,illustration3 ,,pot ,,designed ,,by ,,miss ,,levin4 ,it has been one particularly gratifying incident of the passion for decoration in this country that it has been the means of opening to women beautiful and congenial employments4 ,miss ,jekyl1 who was one of the first to take up this kind of work1 attracted the attention of ,sir ,frederick ,leighton1 ,madame ,bodichon1 and other artists by her highly artistic embroidery1 and has since extended her work to repouss1 or ornamental brass-work--especially sconces--and many other things4 ,she has1 ,i hear1 acquired not only distinction but wealth by her skill1 some specimens of which are exhibited in the ,international ,exhibition at ,south ,kensington this year4 ,there1 also1 may be seen the work of other ladies who have followed in her footsteps1 some of the finest being by a ,miss ,leslie1 a relative of the celebrated artist of that name4 ,indeed1 there has now been established in ,sloane ,street a school for embroidery1 which has succeeded in teaching and giving employment to a number of gentlewomen who had been reduced in circumstances1 and whose success those who observed their contributions to the ,centennial ,exhibition at ,philadelphia will not underestimate4 ,miss ,philott1 whose paintings have often graced the walls of exhibitions1 and have gained the interest of ,mr4 ,ruskin1 has of late been painting beautiful figures and flowers on plaques1 which1 when the colors are burnt in by ,minton1 make ornaments that are eagerly sought for4 ,a ,miss ,coleman has also gained great eminence for this kind of work4 ,miss ,lvin has displayed much skill in designing and painting pots1 plates1 etc41 with ,greek or ,pompeian figures4 ,the painting of panels with vines1 blossoming branches1 and even birds1 is also a pretty industry of this kind4 ,the late ,miss ,may ,alcott was very ingenious in this kind of work1 and several specimens of her art are preserved with care in ,england4 ,many of these ladies have begun by undertaking such work as this for personal friends1 but have pretty generally found that the circle of those who desire such things is very large1 and that their art is held in increasing esteem among cultivated people4 ,it is even probable that the old plan which our great-grandmothers had of learning embroidery will be revived in more important forms1 and be taught as something more than the accomplishment it was once thought4 ,it has been found1 too1 that artists1 architects1 decorators1 and the numerous workmen they employ have great respect for any woman who can do anything well1 which contrasts favorably with the jealousy which the efforts of that sex to find occupation in other professions appear to have aroused4 ,one example of this is particularly striking4 ,a good many years ago ,i heard of a young lady of high position who was making almost desperate efforts to win her way into the medical profession4 ,she had taken a room near one of the largest hospitals in ,london1 to which she was not openly admitted1 that she might study cases of disease or injury1 but where1 through the generosity of certain physicians1 she was able1 as it were1 to pick up such crumbs of information as might fall from the table of the male students4 ,by dint of her perseverance means of information and study increased4 ,i visited her room near the hospital1 and found this young lady surrounded by specimens such as are conventionally supposed to bring fainting-fits on any person of that sex at sight4 ,i found that1 being excluded from the usual medical and surgical schools1 she had been compelled to employ lecturers to teach her alone4 ,fortunately she had the means of doing this1 but it amounted to her establishing a medical college1 of which she was the only student4 ,that lady is now known as ,dr4 ,elizabeth ,garrett-,anderson1 an eminent physician1 who has done not her sex alone but this entire community a great benefit1 by showing that a woman's professional success is not inconsistent with her being a devoted and happy wife and mother4 ,by the side of the long struggle through which she had to go to obtain her present position--a struggle in which many a woman with less means and courage has succumbed--,i am able to place the experience of her younger sister and of her cousin1 ,agnes and ,rhoda ,garrett1 who have entered into a partnership as decorative artists4 ,these young ladies1 it may be premised1 have by no means been driven to their undertaking by the necessity of earning a livelihood4 ,they belong to an old family of high position1 and are as attractive ladies as one is likely to meet in the best society of ,london4 ,but1 like the better-known ladies in the same family1 ,dr4 ,garrett-,anderson and ,mrs4 ,professor ,fawcett1 they are thinkers1 and they have arrived at conclusions concerning the duties and rights of their sex which forbid them to emulate the butterflies4 ,a few years ago1 when the decorative work of such firms as ,messrs4 ,morris ,co4 began to attract general attention1 it appeared to them that it offered opportunities for employment suitable to women4 ,they determined to go through a regular apprenticeship2 and though they were met by looks of surprise1 they were not met with any incivility4 ,one gentleman allowed them to occupy a room at his offices1 where they might pick up what knowledge they could in the art of glass-painting1 and here they awaited farther opportunity4 ,the architect who had been connected with this glass-staining firm separated from it1 and1 having begun a business of his own1 accepted the application of the ,misses ,garrett to become his apprentices4 ,they were formally articled for eighteen months1 during which they punctually fulfilled their engagement1 working from ten to five each day4 ,of course there were good stories told about them4 ,some friend1 calling upon them1 reported that1 though the interview was interesting1 the ladies could not be seen1 as they were up on a scaffolding1 lying flat on their backs close to a ceiling which they were painting4 ,from that invisible region their voices descended to carry on the conversation4 ,the ladies themselves were quite able to appreciate all the good-humored chaff attending their serious aim4 ,when their apprenticeship reached its last summer they went on a tour throughout ,england1 sketching the interiors and furniture of the best houses1 which were freely thrown open to them4 ,they are now an independent firm1 with extensive business1 and have gained fame1 not only by their successful decoration of many private houses1 but by their admirable treatment of the new female colleges connected with the ,english ,universities4 ,mr4 ,j4 ,m4 ,brydon1 of ,marlborough ,street1 is the architect who has the honor of having had these ladies for apprentices2 and these ladies assure me that during their stay there and in their work since they have met with no act of incivility4 ,occasionally the workmen may stare a little at the unaccustomed sight of ladies moving about with authority1 but they are most respectful when they find that there is intelligence behind the authority4 ,from a friend of these ladies ,i heard a significant anecdote4 ,they directed that a certain kind of mixture with which paint is generally adulterated should not be used4 ,when they came to look at the work they found that the mixture had been used1 though it is what no untrained eye could detect4 ,they called the painter to account1 and he said he had used very little of the mixture indeed4 8,that is true10 said one of the ladies1 8but we told you not to use a particle of it40 ,the painter was amazed1 and at last said1 8,will you be kind enough to tell me how you knew that mixture had been used80 ,it is precisely this knowledge which everywhere secures respect4 ,the ,misses ,garrett have made themselves competent decorators2 they undertake the wall decorations1 upholstery1 furniture1 embroidery1 etc41 as fully as any other firm4 ,there are many ladies employed in the new ,kensington ,school of ,embroidery1 which has a branch at ,belgravia1 in ornamenting with needle-work stuffs for chairs1 sofas1 screens2 and ,i have heard of a scheme which includes art-work for ladies' dresses4 ,in the ancient code of ,manu it is said1 8,a wife being gayly adorned1 her whole house is embellished2 but if she be destitute of ornament1 all will be deprived of decoration40 ,it is not a little curious to find the remote descendants of those whom ,manu thus instructed including female dress among the concerns of decorative art4 ,this is1 indeed1 theoretically done in the lectures given at ,south ,kensington1 and ,charles ,eastlake has interspersed some valuable hints concerning ladies' dress in his work on ,household ,taste4 ,in this matter a quiet revolution has been for some time going on in ,london4 ,it is said that the artists of ,england once thought of getting together and making some designs for dresses1 which they would recommend to ladies2 they did not do so formally1 but they have certainly availed to modify very materially the costumes visible in thousands of ,english drawing-rooms4 ,the 8pre-,raphaelist lady10 with her creamy silk1 short-waisted and clinging--at once child-like and antique--was the earliest revolutionary figure in evening companies4 ,she was followed by the ,queen ,anne dame1 budding and great-grandmotherly1 whose raiment ,punch and theatrical ,judies have been 8taking off0 just a little after the dame herself had transformed it into its beautiful variations4 ,these pretty reformers have emancipated ,fashion herself3 there is no uniform for ladies any more4 ,at a fashionable party lately ,i was unable to pick out any two ladies out of a hundred whose dresses were cut alike1 and the variety of colors suggested a fancy-dress ball4 ,yet these colors were all of moderate shades1 and ,hippolyte ,taine himself must have admitted that very few of them were 8loud40 ,it would not at all surprise me if the world which has so long laughed at the ,englishwoman's dress should some fine evening glance into one of these modern interiors and feel as if the ladies are among the most agreeably dressed of womankind4 ,but ,i must return from this digression4 ,the ,misses ,garrett appear to have an aim of especial importance in one particular4 ,they tell me that they have recognized it as a want that a beautiful decoration should be brought within the reach of the middle-class families1 who are not prepared or disposed to go to the vast expense which the very wealthy are able and willing to defray1 thereby occupying the most eminent firms4 ,they believe that with care they are able to make beautiful interiors which shall not be too costly for persons of moderate means4 ,this can surely be done1 but it can only be through a co-operation between the owners of the house and the decorators which shall make it certain that there shall be nothing superfluous4 ,if an individual wishes a beautiful home1 especially in dismal ,london1 it is first of all necessary that he or she should clearly understand what is beautiful1 and why it is desired4 ,the decoration will then1 in a sense1 be put forth from within1 like the foliage of a tree4 ,in each case the external beauty will respond to an inward want1 and be thus invariably an expression of a high utility4 ,nowhere more than in the homes of the great middle classes is there need of beauty4 ,their besetting fault is a conventionality which often lapses into vulgarity1 and their thoughts 7so-called7 are apt to be commonplace4 ,the eye is often starved for the paunch4 ,the pressure of business sends every man engaged in it home fatigued1 and yet it is only when he enters that home that his real life1 his individual and affectional life1 comes into play4 ,on the exchange1 in the office or shop1 he has been what commerce and the world determine2 he has been but perfunctory2 but now he shuts the door behind him1 and his own bit of the day is reached4 ,what is the real requirement for this person8 ,does a house that furnishes him bed and board suffice him8 or1 which is of greater importance1 does so much alone suffice others who dwell habitually in it8 ,here ,i may mention a work of much importance by ,j4 ,j4 ,stevenson1 of the ,royal ,institute of ,british ,architects1 entitled ,house ,architecture4 ,it is in two volumes--the first devoted to ,architecture1 the second to ,house-planning4 ,the general aim of this work is stated by the author1 one of the ablest and most successful architects in ,england1 in an introductory chapter from which ,i quote4 8,to build a house for one's self is an excellent education in architecture4 ,by the time it is finished1 and the owner has lived in it1 he feels how much better a house he could build with the experience he has acquired1 if he had to do it over again4 ,while the work is going on his attention is called to questions he had never thought of before1 which are now of the greatest interest to him4 ,he examines the houses of his friends1 and discovers features in them which he wishes1 when too late1 he had introduced in his own plans4 ,the designs are altered and the cost increased4 ,his taste in architecture and his ideas about planning are changed by his new experience2 the building is too far advanced to adopt the improvements1 and the house which he had hoped would be perfect is a source of trouble and disappointment4 ,he could build another house to his mind1 but to go through the experience once in a lifetime is enough for most people4 ,to have1 before commencing the building of a new house1 the knowledge which the experience of building gives in some imperfect and fragmentary way at the end of the process1 would save the owner trouble1 expense1 and after-regret4 ,to attempt to supply this is the object of this book40 ,an admirable book it is6 ,there are a hundred and ninety excellent wood-cuts in it also4 ,the entire science of lighting1 warming1 ventilation1 drainage1 materials1 and construction is here clearly set forth4 ,a man who has the means to build a house for himself1 and who really wishes it to be as genuinely related to his human self as to the nautilus its shell1 should study carefully this work1 unless he can get a better1 in which case he will be more fortunate than ,i have been4 ,but ,mr4 ,stevenson's book does not extend to the decoration of walls after they are built4 ,the house stands in native worth1 but not yet in honor clad4 ,there ought not to be less reality and utility in the ornamentation of a house than in its construction4 ,in the ancient ,chinese ,analects we read that ,kih ,tsze-,shing said1 8,in a superior man it is only the substantial qualities which are wanted2 why should we seek for ornamental accomplishments80 ,tsze-,kung replied1 8,ornament is as substance2 substance is as ornament3 the hide of a leopard stripped of its hair is like the hide of a dog stripped of its hair40 ,it would be difficult to find in literature a finer or more philosophical statement of the deep basis of ,beauty than thus comes to us from a period of near three thousand years ago1 and from a race whose applications of decorative art to objects of every-day use are models for ,europe4 ,the spots of the leopard are the sum of its history2 its hair is the physiognomy of its passion and power2 it bears on its back the tracery of the leaf and sunshine amid which it hides1 and the purpose of the universe hides with it4 ,transferred to floor or sofa in a room1 the coat of that cat is a bit of the wild art of nature1 full of warm life1 purely pictorial2 more beautiful than the skin of our domesticated cats1 because these have been adapted to other purposes1 and reduced to an environment of less grandeur4 ,but strip the two of their hair1 and they are only larger and smaller pieces of leather1 and the depilated hide of a dog is the same4 ,all of which confirms ,tsze-,kung's dictum1 that ornament is substance2 and it at the same time suggests the converse truth1 that throughout the universe there must be substance to insure true ornament4 ,when we ascend to the region of finer utilities--those1 namely1 which are intellectual1 moral1 spiritual1 social--we discover that household art is another name for household culture4 ,what germ in the child's mind may that picture on the wall be the appointed sunbeam to quicken8 ,what graceful touch to unfolding character may be added by the modest tint of a room8 ,who can say how much falsehood and unreality have been shed through the life and influence of individuals by tinsel in the drawing-room and rags up-stairs8 ,just now we are the victims of two reactions4 ,our ancestors made external beauty everything1 and the starved inner life of man rebelled4 ,puritanism arose1 with grim visage1 turning all beautiful things to stone4 ,from it was bequeathed us a race of artisans who had lost the sense of beauty4 ,a reaction came1 in which the passion for external beauty displayed itself in an intemperate outbreak of gaudiness and frivolity4 ,we are sufficiently surrounded by the effects of the reaction1 sustained by wealth without knowledge or taste1 to make ,charles ,eastlake's description appropriate to ninety-nine out of every hundred ,english homes3 8,this vitiated taste pervades and infects the judgment by which we are accustomed to select and approve the objects of every-day life which we see around us4 ,it crosses our path in the ,brussels carpet of our drawing-rooms2 it is about our bed in the shape of gaudy chintz2 it compels us to rest on chairs and to sit at tables which are designed in accordance with the worst principles of construction1 and invested with shapes confessedly unpicturesque4 ,it sends us metal-work from ,birmingham which is as vulgar in form as it is flimsy in execution4 ,it decorates the finest possible porcelain with the most objectionable character of ornament4 ,it lines our walls with silly representations of vegetable life1 or with a mass of uninteresting diaper4 ,it bids us1 in short1 furnish our houses after the same fashion as we dress ourselves1 and that is with no more sense of real beauty than if art were a dead letter4 ,it is hardly necessary to say that this is not the opinion of the general public4 ,in the eyes of materfamilias there is no upholstery which could possibly surpass that which the most fashionable upholsterer supplies4 ,she believes in the elegance of window-curtains of which so many dozen yards were sent to the ,duchess of ----1 and concludes that the dinner-service must be perfect which is described as #8quite a novelty4'0 ,mr4 ,eastlake well says1 also3 8,national art is not a thing which we may enclose in a gilt frame and hang upon our walls1 or which can be locked up in the cabinet of a virtuoso4 ,to be genuine and permanent1 it ought to animate with the same spirit the blacksmith's forge and the sculptor's atelier1 the painter's studio and the haberdasher's shop40 ,under the influence of such scornful words as these1 persons of taste and culture have risen in reaction against the reaction1 and the result is that there are now in ,london several thousands of homes which have filled themselves with those old shreds of beauty which ,puritanism cast to the winds4 ,most of these are the homes of artists or virtuosi1 and1 as they have thus set the fashion1 a still larger number have tried to follow them4 ,a genuinely old thing is competed for furiously2 and as it is apt to go with the longest purse rather than the finest taste1 we find the past as often re-appearing in a domestic curiosity-shop as in a beautiful interior4 ,now1 ,puritanism in its day was one of the useful things1 and if we do not see the traces of beauty which it has left1 the fault is in our own eyes4 ,the artists know very well that if it had spared the old furniture for the main uses of our present society1 the effect would be as unlovely as if our homes were all buttressed and turreted in feudal style4 ,feudalism and ,puritanism have alike left to us just as much of the styles of their ages as we need--enough to give1 as it were1 a fair fringe to the appropriate vestment of to-day4 ,a house made up of antiquarian objects is a show-room1 a museum1 but not a home4 ,we have fallen upon an age when cultured people know that external beauty is but one means to integral beauty1 and when the prophets of that higher end can see that the very flowers of the field are ugly1 if they drink up that which ought to turn to corn and wine4 ,much is to be said for the antiquarian taste1 if it does not run into an antiquarian passion4 ,it may safely be admitted that our churches need not be sombre nor our services gloomy2 that a few good pictures would not harm the one1 nor more poetry and music the other2 but what is to be said of those who find in albs and chasubles and incense-burners the regained ,paradise of man8 ,old lamps are not always better than new4 ,much is said from time to time about the ugliness of ,london street architecture4 ,i have already quoted the ,london ,times' sentence about 8our ugly but not altogether uncomfortable old metropolis40 ,the ugliness is mentioned at various points of this work4 ,but there are two kinds of it2 as the famous ,boston divine said there are two kinds of fools--8the natural fool1 and what the carnal mind1 oblivious of its duty1 would call a d--fool40 ,when ,temple ,bar was removed from ,fleet ,street because it was an impediment1 the ,corporation of ,london devoted #aj1jjj to putting up in the centre of the street a columnar monstrosity1 carved with busts of royal personages1 griffin-crowned4 ,this is the kind of ,london ugliness which suggests the definition of the carnal mind4 ,an effort was made in ,parliament to get it removed2 but it was too large for ,madame ,tussaud's 8,chamber of ,horrors20 and perhaps it is as well that it should remain1 as the monument of that vast amount of wealth which is continually embodied in the ugliness which ,puritanism made a passion in the average middle-class ,englishman4 ,but the other kind of ,london ugliness is represented in the miles on miles of yellow-gray and sooty1 brick houses1 each as much like the other as if so many miles of hollow block were chopped at regular intervals4 ,and yet there is something so pleasant to think of in these interminable rows of brick blocks1 that they are not altogether unpleasant to the eye4 ,for they are houses of good size1 comfortable houses2 and their sameness1 only noticeable through their vast number1 means that the average of well-to-do people in ,london is also vast4 ,it implies a distribution of wealth1 an equality of conditions1 which make the best feature of a solid civilization4 ,there is much beauty inside these orange-tawny walls4 ,before any house in that league of sooty brick you may pause and say with fair security3 ,in that house are industrious1 educated people2 there is good music there2 and good ,english1 ,french1 and ,german literature2 pictures of noble men and heroic events are on the walls2 they have made there1 within their mass of burnt clay1 a true cosmos1 where love and thought dwell with them2 and between all that and a fine outside they have chosen the better part4 ,but1 while not forgetting that the body is more than raiment1 we need not forget that it can never be fairly expressed1 in any but a coarse way1 save through the raiment related to it4 ,on this we must insist1 that when individuality has been cultivated there should be an harmonious and organic relation between the individual and his dwelling-place4 ,in a normal society each man would be able to build his house around him as he builds his body1 and to take the past1 the east1 the west1 for his materials as much as brick or stone4 8,let us understand10 says the wisest adviser of our time1 8that a house should bear witness in all its economy that human culture is the end to which it is built and garnished4 ,it stands there under the sun and moon to ends analogous and not less noble than theirs4 ,it is not for festivity1 it is not for sleep2 but the pine and the oak shall gladly descend from the mountains to uphold the roof of men as faithful and necessary as themselves1 to be the shelter always open to good and true persons--a hall which shines with sincerity1 brows ever tranquil1 and a demeanor impossible to disconcert2 whose inmates know what they want2 who do not ask your house how theirs shall be kept40 ,one residence particularly has connected itself in the course of my observations with the high place given1 in this extract from ,emerson's chapter on ,domestic ,life1 to the individuality so essential to a home1 and so difficult to obtain4 ,those who have found delight--as who has not8--in the paintings which the ,american artist1 ,mr4 ,george ,s4 ,boughton1 ,a4,r4,a41 has given to the world will not be surprised to learn that he has built up around him a home worthy of his refined taste and his delicate perception of those laws of beauty which enable it to harmonize with individual feeling without ever running into eccentricity4 ,boughton was one of the first to make his home harmonious with his art1 and before he built ,west ,house1 his present residence1 he made the interior of an ordinary house1 ,grove ,lodge1 ,kensington1 into a residence as unique as one of those charming pictures of his which so tenderly invest the human life of to-day with the sentiment and romance of its own history4 ,passing once through that hall1 touched everywhere with the toned light of antique beauty1 to his studio1 the picture just finished for the ,royal ,academy appeared as a natural growth out of the aesthetic atmosphere by which he was surrounded--some girls of ,chaucer's time beside an old well and a cross1 filling the water-bottles of pilgrims on their way1 amid the spring blossoms1 to the shrine of ,st4 ,thomas ,becket1 8the holy1 blissful martyr10 at ,canterbury4 ,the embowered ,english landscape closed as kindly around the figures and costumes and symbols of the olden time as they do now about the features of a new age2 and no less harmoniously did the ornaments and decorations of that home surround the cultured society which the young host and hostess gather to their assemblies4 ,although ,grove ,lodge is no longer the home of the ,boughtons1 its decorations were so instructive as well as beautiful1 that ,i insert here an account of them4 ,entering the door1 we find ourselves in a square vestibule1 separated from the main hall by rich and heavy curtains of greenish-blue tapestry4 ,the walls are here1 for a distance of one-third of their height from the floor1 covered with a panelled wainscot1 colored in harmony with the hangings4 ,for the rest1 the walls are covered with a stamped leather papering of large antique scrolls1 outlined in gold4 ,a rich light fills this little apartment by reason of the quaint and deep-hued glass of the door and side-window4 ,in these both roundels and quarries are used4 ,in the door there are roundels above and quarries beneath1 furnishing a neat border to larger stainings1 representing marguerites and clover-blossoms on a blue ground4 ,above the door is a curious horizontal glass mosaic1 set in lead1 as indeed are all the squares and circlets of both window and door1 with bees and butterflies at the angles of the irregular lines4 ,the zigzag flight of the little winged symbols of industry and pleasure required that the pieces of glass should be irregular1 and this result was secured by an odd device4 ,the decorator having come with his oblong pane of precious glass1 asked how he should cut it up4 ,the artist promptly ordered him to let it fall through some feet on the door-step1 and then gather up the fragments4 ,this was done1 and as the pieces came of the fall so were they put together1 with the bees and butterflies at their angles4 ,the effect of this irregularity is very fine indeed1 as setting off the precision of the patterns in the rest of the door4 ,passing through the curtains1 we enter a hall running about two-thirds of the depth of the house to the dining-room4 ,the hall is lined with fine old engravings and cabinets1 with here and there an old round convex mirror4 ,the general color of the walls of the dining-room is sage-green1 thus setting off finely the beautiful pictures and the many pieces of old china4 ,there are several cabinets which have been designed by ,mr4 ,boughton himself1 and a buffet somewhat resembling that drawn by ,charles ,eastlake 7,fig4 #ab1 ,hints on ,household ,taste71 but improved1 as ,i think1 by being made somewhat higher1 and having a small ornamental balustrade on the top shelf4 ,and ,i may here say that ,mr4 ,boughton's art has enabled him to make his many beautiful cabinets1 the antique ones as well as those designed by himself1 particularly attractive by introducing small paintings on the panels of their doors or drawers4 ,these figures are generally allegorical and decorative1 and are painted upon golden backgrounds4 ,they are of rich but sober colors1 and usually female figures1 with flowing drapery1 great care being taken that their faces shall have dignity and expression4 ,in some cases an old cabinet has small open spaces here and there which will admit of medallion busts and heads being painted2 and if care be taken that the colors shall not be too loud1 and especially that the designs are not realistic1 the beauty and value of the cabinet are very much enhanced4 ,the buffet to which ,i have referred has a curtain over the arch beneath1 and such an addition may be also made to a cabinet which rests upon legs with good effect as well as utility1 if care be taken that the color of the curtain shall not be obtrusive4 ,this dining-room is lighted by a large window set back in a deep recess1 curtained off from the main room with hangings of red velvet1 and exquisitely environed by original designs4 ,the window is composed of the richest quarries1 holding in their centres each its different decorative flower or other natural form1 and these being collectively the frame of large medallions of stained glass1 representing ,van ,eyck1 ,van ,orley1 and the burgomaster's wife1 from ,van ,eyck's picture in the ,national ,gallery4 ,it is a notable feature of the ideas of glass decoration1 and1 indeed1 of paper decoration1 in houses where ,english artists have superintended the ornamentation1 that realism in design is severely avoided4 ,in this respect ,i cannot doubt that we are in ,london far more advanced in taste than those decorators of ,munich1 and some other ,continental cities1 who try to make the figures1 in their glass at least1 as commonplacely real as if they were painting on canvas4 ,even if the material with which the glass-stainer works admitted of a successful imitation of natural forms1 the result could not be beautiful4 ,no one desires roses to blossom on his window-panes1 nor butterflies to settle on the glass as if it were a flower4 ,the real purpose of the glass can never be safely forgotten in its decoration3 it is to keep out the cold while admitting the light2 the color is to tone the light1 and prevent its being garish2 and if1 farther1 any form is placed upon the glass1 it is merely to prevent monotony by presenting an agreeable variation from mere color4 ,but the form must be in mere outline1 transparent1 else it suggests an opaque body1 which were a denial of the main purpose of the glass1 i4e41 to do away with opaqueness4 ,even when the ornaments on the little panes are thinnest1 they are hardly suited to the ,english sky1 which sends us little superfluous light4 ,the drawing-room at ,grove ,lodge was1 and that of ,west ,house is1 adorned on the theory that its function is one which requires a degree of richness bordering on brilliancy1 which were out of place in a study1 or studio1 or sitting-room4 ,here are to be happy assemblies of light-hearted people1 in gay dresses1 and the room must be in harmony with the purpose of pleasure which has brought them together2 but then the drawing-room must not obtrude itself--it must not outshine their lustres or pale their colors2 rather it must supply the company with an appropriate framing1 and set them all in the best light4 ,the drawing-room at ,grove ,lodge seemed to me a purely artistic creation of a beautiful out of a poorly constructed room4 ,a paper of heraldic pink roses1 very faint1 with leaves in mottled gold1 makes a frieze of one width above a wall-paper of sage-gray1 which has no discernible figures at all on it4 ,this sage-gray supplies an excellent background to the pictures--which are moderate in quantity1 charming in quality--and for the picturesque ladies1 who are too often fairly blanched by the upholsterer's splendor1 as they might be by blue and silver lights in a theatre4 ,at the cornice is a gold moulding and fretting1 making an agreeable fringe to the canopy 7as the star-spotted ceiling may be appropriately called74 ,the ceiling is not stellated1 however1 with the regularity of wall-paper designs1 but with stars of various magnitude and interspaces4 ,it must be1 of course1 a room in which the deep tones of color preponderate which could alone make such a ceiling appropriate4 ,in this instance it is rendered appropriate not only by the character of the hangings of the room1 at once rich and subdued1 and by the carpet1 which ,mr4 ,boughton had made for the room1 the basis of whose design is the greensward1 touched here and there with spots of red1 but also by the fact that it is a double drawing-room1 lighted in the daytime only at the ends1 and requiring1 therefore1 a bright ceiling4 ,there are two old ,japanese cabinets3 one is richly chased1 but with nothing in relief except the gold lock-plates1 and some twenty-eight hinges 7themselves a decoration72 the other is more complex1 and has figures in relief4 ,in addition to these there are two cabinets of unique beauty1 designed by ,mr4 ,boughton--one possessing a bevelled mirror running its whole width at the top2 the other with panels1 on which the artist has painted ,spring and ,autumn in gold4 ,in this residence some of the best effects were produced by the extraordinary lustre of color and quality of surface in the stuffs used for curtains1 furniture-covers1 and upholstery4 ,these are such as are not ordinarily manufactured1 and can be procured in ,london only by searching for them4 ,manufacturers in this country1 and no doubt in ,america also1 are in the habit of bleaching their stuffs as white as possible1 and the consequence is they will not take rich and warm dyes4 ,the secret of those ,oriental stuffs upon whose surface1 as they appear in our exhibitions1 ,english manufacturers are so often seen looking with despair1 is that they never bleach to whiteness anything that is to be dyed4 ,if the ,eastern dyers should put their deep colors upon a surface bleached to ghastliness1 their stuffs would be as ghastly as our ordinary goods speedily become4 ,the ,oriental dyer simply leaves the natural color of the wool or cotton creamy and delicate1 and the hues never turn out crude and harsh1 as do those of ,english stuffs4 ,this bleaching1 moreover1 takes the life out of a natural material1 and is the reason of the superior durability of colored ,oriental fabrics4 ,mr4 ,boughton has named the grand mansion built for him on ,campden ,hill1 8,west ,house10 in honor of ,benjamin ,west1 the first ,american artist who received in ,england honors similar to those which have been accorded himself4 ,in this house he has had ample room to develop his ideas of decoration4 ,it is ,grove ,lodge1 as it were1 in full flower4 ,an excellent effect has been secured by giving to each of three large rooms1 opening into each other through richly-draped door-ways1 tints of their own2 each is different1 while harmonious with its neighbor4 ,it would require a pamphlet to do justice to all the decorations of ,west ,house1 and ,i must content myself with having already given an extended analysis of the ideas of ornamentation which our ,american ,academician has done so much to diffuse4 ,but one thing ,i must not omit to mention4 ,in the removal to this house a large and magnificent old bevelled mirror was cracked irregularly across the entire surface4 ,the eye of the artist detected in the misfortune an opportunity for a novel touch of decoration4 ,he painted the blemish into a beauty4 ,a beautiful vine in leaf and blossom now runs across the mirror1 which1 ,i hear1 has been imitated by some who have seen it1 in ignorance1 perhaps1 that the pretty device was suggested by a flaw4 ,boughton's mirror might well have an inscription beneath it from ,shakspeare3 8,best men are moulded out of faults40 ,another ,american artist adorned his ,london residence in a way quite notable4 ,the ancient mansion of the ,lindsays 7#cjj years old7 on the northern bank of the ,thames1 at ,chelsea1 was divided up into six houses1 and one of these was for some years occupied by ,mr4 ,whistler4 ,this gentleman's enthusiasm for ,japanese and ,chinese art is well known2 but that large number of people who are in the habit of holding up their china plates at dinner as texts from which to descant on the strange ignorance of drawing and perspective under which the ,chinese and ,japanese labor1 would find good reason to check their laughter should they be fortunate enough to see ,mr4 ,whistler's rooms4 ,the ,chinese and ,japanese have known for a good many centuries certain principles of art which ,europeans are only beginning to recognize2 one of these is1 that a plate or pot is by no means the proper place for a realistic picture1 but1 on the contrary1 that the only use of art on such an object is to give it spots of color4 ,the chief object is not the picture1 but the pot4 ,no people know the laws of perspective better than the ,chinese and the ,japanese1 or have greater realistic power4 ,mr4 ,whistler dots the walls and even the ceiling of his rooms with the brilliant ,japanese fans which now constitute so large an element in the decoration of many beautiful rooms2 but in his drawing-room there were fifteen large panels made of ,japanese pictures1 each about five feet by two4 ,these pictures represent flowers of every hue1 and birds of many varieties and of the richest plumage4 ,the very lustre of nature is on every petal and on every feather2 the eyes of the birds are as gems that emit light1 and their tortuous necks are painted with a boldness which no ,european art can rival4 ,the ,japanese1 when they aim at nature1 have the rare courage to paint nature as it is2 and1 as a result1 the tortuous necks of their birds tell the story of their reptilian relationship as clearly as it has been told by ,professor ,huxley4 ,there are also in the room an ancient ,chinese cabinet with a small pagoda designed on the top1 an old ,japanese cabinet of quaint construction1 and several screens from the same region1 altogether making one of the most beautiful rooms imaginable4 ,mr4 ,whistler did much to light up and beautify a somewhat dark staircase in his house by giving the walls a lemon tint above a dado of gold1 on which he has painted butterflies such as adorn the frames of his pictures1 and constitute the signature of his work4 ,i have become convinced1 however1 by a visit to the beautiful house which ,chambrey ,townshend arranged at ,wimbledon1 that there can be nothing so suitable for somewhat dark corridors and staircases as a faint rose tint4 ,in ,mr4 ,townshend's house1 however cold and cheerless the day may be1 there is always a glow of morning light4 ,this gentleman has shown that a sage-gray paper with simple small squares 7such as ,messrs4 ,marshall ,morris make7 furnishes a good dado to support the light tints upon walls not papered4 ,where the walls are papered several gentlemen of taste have substituted for the usual dado1 made of somewhat darker paper1 one of matting4 ,if the matting has a dark red stripe the effect is good1 but checker marks are not pleasant4 ,mr4 ,ionides1 a ,greek gentleman1 of ,london1 arranged a remarkably beautiful hall and stairway in his house at ,notting ,hill by using a plain straw-colored matting for the continuous dado1 uniting it by an ebonized chairboarding with a light-colored ,morris wall-paper4 ,of course tiles are sometimes used to make the dado1 but either because of their common use in hotels and public buildings1 or for some other reason1 they appear with increasing rarity in private houses in any other capacity than that of adorning the fireplace4 ,this remark does not include the use of tiles as plaques1 to be hung as works of fine art--a use of them which is now frequent1 and is the means of producing a great deal of beautiful work4 ,illustration3 ,,william ,,morris4 ,it is easy to understand that the house in which one resides must have a large share in determining the decorations which shall be placed in or upon it4 ,an historic or semi-palatial mansion of the olden time will require to have its great halls and stairways and deep rooms illuminated with colors1 and its large spaces intersected with pictorial screens4 ,mr4 ,william ,b4 ,scott1 of whose mural paintings ,i have already spoken1 and whose occupation it is to study effects of ornamentation1 has a happy field for his taste and task in his residence1 ,bellevue ,house1 at ,chelsea4 ,this mansion merits particular attention1 both on its own account architecturally1 and for its decorations1 added recently4 ,these have been chiefly devised by the artist himself in carrying out the original plan1 and add a suggestive and1 properly speaking1 imaginative character to the interiors4 ,the house was built1 it is said1 by the ,adamses1 the architects of the ,adelphi1 in the ,strand1 where the ,society of ,arts holds its meetings 7the approach to which is still called ,adams ,street74 ,at that time1 about a century ago1 decorations in the way of carved mouldings running around door-ways1 and passing all round the rooms on the surbase and dado1 were in use4 ,previously to that time the entire walls were generally panelled1 but then began the system of panelling or boarding flatly to the height of three feet only1 at which height began the lath-and-plaster wall4 ,along the top edge of this dado--which1 being just over the height of a chair or table1 gives a very well-furnished and comfortable air to a room1 and ought on that account to be again adopted--ran a more or less ornamental moulding4 ,that mostly used in ,bellevue ,house is carved in wood1 and very good1 closely resembling1 indeed1 those on the best specimens of ,chippendale furniture1 which belongs to the same date--about #aggj4 ,i may add here that the demand among artistic designers for a recurrence to the dado is shown by the increasing frequency with which a darker paper than that above1 with paper cornice1 is made to do duty for it4 ,illustration3 ,,moulding ,,over ,,dado4 ,a hundred years ago the hall of a mansion was a more important part of the plan1 and more decoratively treated1 than now4 ,the entrance is here divided by folding-doors from the hall proper1 which is ample enough in area to place the stair a good way back1 and to give a correspondingly wide space above1 on the drawing-room landing1 filled in the olden time by a table1 cabinet1 eight-day standing clock1 and other objects4 ,the ends of the steps were carved1 sometimes very elegantly4 ,but the most ornamental feature then in use was the moulded ceiling1 which was planned in ovals and spandrels1 according to the shape of the room1 sometimes with medallions of ,cupids1 and occasionally with a picture1 representing an emblematic personage or some such matter1 in the centre4 ,a few of these are still to be seen in ,london4 ,there is one in ,knight-,rider ,street1 painted by ,cipriani4 ,in ,bellevue ,house the two drawing-rooms possess very pretty arrangements of fan-shaped ornaments and delicate foliage4 ,these are now 8picked out0 in colors--blue and white for the most part--producing an effect resembling that of ,wedgwood ware4 ,illustration3 ,,chippendale ,,mahogany ,,moulding1 ,,belmont ,,house4 ,the plan on which the rooms of large ,london houses were originally arranged was en suite1 entering one through another1 connected by double doors if the walls were thick enough1 so that on great occasions they could be opened throughout4 ,on either side of the drawing-rooms at ,bellevue ,house are smaller rooms connected in this way1 one of which is at present used as a library and evening sitting-room1 and1 ,i must also add1 as a room on the walls of which the ever-bourgeoning studies of the idealist take shape and color4 ,the wood-work--that is to say1 the dado1 doors1 etc4--is painted ,indian red1 with black or light yellow edgings2 above this the wall is covered by a green pattern1 but the upper part of this surface is divided by painting into panels two feet deep by a foot and a half wide1 the stile1 or division1 between being half a foot4 ,the ceiling is1 in the centre1 a very faint blue1 with a darker blue meeting the cornice 7two feet wide72 this darker blue--the blue of the sky--also fills the painted panels1 which thus resemble the openings for ventilation in some ,oriental countries4 ,across these openings a flight of vermilion birds--,virginian nightingales1 plumed and winged by imagination1 red being evidently chosen for bright effect against the blue--is represented4 ,the birds reappear above the cornice1 and stream in pretty migration round the ceiling1 decreasing in size till they nearly disappear4 ,illustration3 ,,drawing-,,room ,,of ,,bellevue ,,house4 ,the chimney-piece of this little room is exquisite1 and is much like one designed by ,sir ,e4 ,landseer1 which ,i saw among his sketches1 except that the jambs were caryatides4 ,the white marble jambs and architraves in ,mr4 ,scott's design are diapered with leaves--laurel and ivy--of ,indian red color1 and above the chimney-shelf is a second chimney-piece and shelf1 thus giving double accommodation for objects of ornament or use4 ,the artist's collection of old china1 majolica1 and other objects of similar kind serves to render his chimney-pieces particularly beautiful4 ,i have not seen a more attractive work of this kind than the chimney-piece in his principal drawing-room4 ,the jambs here are panelled1 the panels being filled with mirrors1 and divided half-way1 two feet nine from the floor1 by a shelf large enough to accommodate a lamp or candle1 with a teacup or other object4 ,the arrangement is admirable both for utility and beauty4 ,a supplementary chimney-shelf is added here1 also1 to the marble one2 and rising nearly to the ceiling is a surface of black wood1 with brackets1 for the exhibition of some very fine old ,hispano-,moresque ware1 the golden1 metallic lustre of which is favorably seen against the black4 ,the centre is filled by ,mr4 ,scott's own most beautiful picture of ,eve1 which1 with a large screen covered with classical figures1 sheds a glory of color through this unique room1 which has1 besides1 the good fortune to command from its windows the finest views of the ,thames4 ,entirely different from either of these residences is that of ,mr4 ,george ,w4 ,smalley1 the distinguished correspondent of the ,new ,york ,tribune1 in ,chester ,place4 ,birket ,foster1 ,george ,boughton1 ,w4 ,b4 ,scott1 and ,j4 ,mc,neil ,whistler have naturally decorated their houses with an eye to picturesque effect2 theirs are the homes of men whose daily life is consecrated to art1 and a use of colors seems appropriate to their environment which might not so well accord with persons differently occupied4 ,those who have experienced some of the wear and tear of this busy ,london existence can hardly enter the door of this ,american gentleman without finding a sufficient justification for the growing desire of families to surround themselves with household beauty1 against all the charges of the puritanical4 8,thus ,i tread on the pride of ,plato10 said ,socrates1 as he stepped on the carpet of his famous friend4 8,with a pride of thy own10 answered ,plato1 who is supposed to have got the better in this little encounter4 ,nature is not nowadays in such discredit as formerly for having blended beauties with utilities1 making even her pease and potatoes bear graceful blossoms4 ,and there would appear to be some reason in the tendency of her yet higher product1 a home1 to wear a fitting bloom as the sign of its reality4 ,such a suggestion is made by the subdued and delicate tints and tones which here meet the eye4 ,one may have stepped from other houses of this fashionable neighborhood to find here a sweet surprise4 ,there is1 then1 no absolute and eternal law making it compulsory to select ugly things instead of pretty things4 ,tinsel is not intrenched in the decalogue4 ,here is a hall in which gray and brown shades prevail in dado and paper1 where a soft light prevails1 and the garish light and the noise of the street can hardly be remembered4 ,one may enter the nursery and find the children at play or study amid walls that bring no shams around their simplicity1 no finery1 but sage-gray and straw-color1 setting off well their bright faces and those panels in the bookcase which tell the story of ,cinderella4 ,illustration3 ,,library ,,in ,,bellevue ,,house4 ,to the suite of drawing-rooms every excellence must be ascribed4 ,they consist of two large rooms and a large recess1 all continuous1 whose decorations adapt them to any domestic or social purpose whatever4 ,it is an apartment in which the finest company would feel itself in an atmosphere of refinement and taste1 and it is a place to lose one's self in a good book2 it is a place where the mind can equally well find invitation to society or solitude4 ,perhaps it is the rich ,persian carpet that gives such grace4 ,it is after a pattern more than a thousand years old1 but which in all that time has never repeated itself1 each carpet coming forth with its own tints and shades1 and in which every color is surrounded by a line which mediates between it and the next4 ,it is not stretched up to the walls and nailed1 as if its business were to conceal something1 or as if it were too flimsy to lie still except by force of iron3 it is as a large rug laid for comfort on the waxed parquet1 which is ready to display more of its own beauty when the proper season arrives4 ,beginning with this rich carpet1 with its sober tints1 the eye ascends to the dado1 to the walls1 to frieze1 cornice1 and ceiling1 and finds variation at every stage1 but no break in the harmony of all4 ,the golden tints in the carpet are more fully represented in the dado1 which is of an olive-golden color1 with a small turquoise line on its cornice leading to the main papering4 ,this paper is of a ,french tapestry pattern1 in which the golden thread1 which is its basis1 weaves in colors that are rich but always subdued1 and of every shade4 ,there is no pattern to rivet the eye2 it has no certain relation to the vegetal1 or floral1 or animal kingdom4 ,this paper rises to a ,moresque frieze of about one foot in depth1 which holds hexagonal medallions containing the ghosts of plants4 ,there is next a cornice of three mouldings--arabesque1 ,egyptian1 and floral--leading to the ceiling1 which is covered with paper of a rich creamy color1 with very light cross-bands passing between figures in which a fertile fancy may trace the decorative symbols of earth1 air1 and water in an orb1 a butterfly1 and certain waving lines4 ,it may be remarked here that it is only on a ceiling that any forms1 even in such abstract shapes as these1 are admissible4 ,here they are noticeable only if one is lying flat on one's back and gazing upward1 in which case1 especially if invalidism be the cause1 some outlines of a dreamy kind are not without their value4 ,moreover1 any designs1 when raised to the ceiling1 require to be larger than similar ones on the floor or line of the eye1 in order that they may be at all similar in effect4 ,the plan of covering or coloring the ceiling has a good foundation in the fact that a mere white wall overhead conveys the sorry impression that the house is left naked in every corner and spot not likely to be gazed at4 ,the ceiling in ,mr4 ,smalley's drawing-room exemplifies1 however1 one important fact3 although a mere color placed on a ceiling depresses it1 a good pattern has just the contrary effect4 ,by good pattern ,i mean one that shows a double ground--the lower one being open work1 through which a farther ground is seen4 ,mrs4 ,smalley1 whose taste has been the life of the ornamentation of her house1 told me that when this ceiling was being painted the decorated part appeared to rise more than a foot higher than the blank part4 ,the wood used in the drawing-room is ebonized1 and of it are several cabinets--one displaying some fine specimens of china--bracket-shelves1 and two remarkably beautiful chimney-pieces1 supporting bevelled mirrors1 framed with shelves which display porcelain and other ornaments4 ,the recess which has been mentioned is what might be better understood1 perhaps1 if described as a bay-window4 ,its chief object is to hold a large window1 in five contiguous sections1 which admit a toned light1 and have each a cluster of sunflowers at the centre4 ,this little room has a broad divan1 covered with stamped green 7,utrecht7 velvet1 running around1 and its wall is decorated with gold-tinted leather1 on which are two bright tile ornaments4 ,the large opening into this recess is adorned by two antique bronze reliefs of great beauty1 and the whole is related to the drawing-rooms by an open drapery of greenish-golden curtains--a velvet of changeable lustre--uniform with the other hangings of these beautiful rooms4 ,it is remarkable1 indeed1 how much may be accomplished with rooms inferior in size to those we have been visiting by the skilful use of curtains4 ,if a gentleman in ,london enters a house with the intention of decorating it in accordance with principles of art1 his first work1 probably1 will be either to tear away doors that divide the drawing-room1 and substitute a draping1 or else frame it round with looped and corded drapery1 which1 having in itself an artistic effect1 shall change the barrier into beauty4 ,nothing is better understood than that no square angles should divide a drawing-room1 and the curtain is more graceful than any arch or architraves for that purpose4 ,the following sketch may convey some idea of an effect which has been secured in ,townsend ,house1 ,titchfield ,terrace1 residence of the distinguished artist ,mr4 ,alma ,tadema2 though the impression can be but feeble1 on account of the exquisite use he has made of the colors1 which must be left to the reader's imagination1 with a warning that they are as quiet as they are rich4 ,illustration3 ,,drawing-,,room ,,in ,,townsend ,,house4 ,the question as to the best color for a wall1 one of whose chief objects is to show off framed pictures1 is a vexed one4 ,messrs4 ,christie ,co41 the famous art auctioneers1 have their rooms hung with dark green baize from floor to sky-light1 and certainly the result justifies their experience2 but ,i think any one who enters the hall of ,sir ,f4 ,leighton1 ,p4,r4,a41 will see that there may be a more effective wall-color to set off pictures than green1 not to speak of certain other effects of the latter which really put it out of the question4 ,it is difficult to say just what the color in ,sir ,frederick ,leighton's hall is4 ,it is a sombre red1 which at one moment seems to be toned in the direction of maroon1 and at another in the direction of brown4 ,it has been made by a very fine mingling of pigments2 but the general result has been to convince me that there can be no better wall for showing off pictures1 especially in a hall with a good deal of light1 than this unobtrusive reddish-brown4 ,i remember that when the ,boston ,theatre was first opened a wall of somewhat similar color added greatly to the brilliancy of the scenery4 ,but there are many eyes to which this would not be a pleasing color or shade even for a hall--it would hardly be beautiful in a purely domestic room--and such will do well to try some of the many beautiful shades of olive or sage-gray4 ,mr4 ,w4 ,j4 ,hennessy1 the eminent ,american artist1 made his house in ,douro ,place1 before he left it for the old chteau in ,calvados1 remarkably charming by a careful use of such shades throughout4 ,his quiet rooms were restful as they were pervaded by refinement1 and each frame on the walls had a perfect relief1 each picture a full glow4 ,the house of ,sir ,frederick ,leighton1 in ,holland ,park ,road1 is1 in the first place1 a remarkably interesting house architecturally1 and shows plainly that ,mr4 ,george ,aitchison has not only been in classic regions1 but imbibed their spirit4 ,in this house1 which he has built for the artist who beyond all ,academicians displays the most sensitive sympathies with various styles1 there is nothing foreign1 and yet the whole feeling about it is classic4 ,the little balcony would have done for the sweet lady of ,verona1 and yet there is as much of ,shakspeare's ,england in the substantial arches at the base of the wall4 ,it is rare1 indeed1 that any house built in ,england in recent times has about it as much elegance and simplicity as this4 ,entering the house1 the impression conveyed at once is that it is the residence of an artist4 ,he has employed decorators1 indeed1 but he has watched over them1 and he has secured thereby this--that there is nothing ugly in his house4 ,a great merit6 ,many rooms upon which large sums have been lavished have something lugged in that makes all the rest appear vulgar or pretentious4 ,it is a large part of the art of decoration to know what not to have in a house4 ,in this house is also realized the truth of the old ,french saying1 8,peu de moyens1 beaucoup d'effet40 ,for example1 the doors are of deal1 painted with a rich black paint2 on each jamb there is at the bottom a spreading golden root1 from which runs a stem with leaves2 half-way up the stem ends in the profile of a sunflower in gold2 another stem then passes up1 ending in the full face of the sunflower1 which at once crowns the foliation of the jambs1 and makes a noble ornament for the capping of the door1 which also has a central golden ornament4 ,this black door1 with its black jambs and its golden flowers1 varied on other doors to other conventional forms1 has an exceedingly rich effect4 ,the hall also bears witness1 notwithstanding its mosaic floors1 marquet chairs1 and the grand old stairway that runs with it to the top of the house1 that the wealth of knowledge and experience has done more for it than riches of a more prosaic kind1 though there has been no stint of the latter4 ,one thing in the hall struck me as especially ingenious1 and at the same time beautiful4 ,just opposite to the entrance from the vestibule into the hall the stair begins to ascend beyond large white pillars4 ,now1 between the first and second of these pillars there is a little balcony1 about as high above the floor as one's head4 ,on examination it is found that this balcony is made out of an inlaid cabinet chest1 the top and farther side of which have been removed to make way for cushions4 ,these cushions have been finely embroidered with various delicate tints upon a lustrous olive satin by ,miss ,jekyl1 and the little balcony1 with pretty ornaments on it here and there1 becomes a main feature of the hall4 ,there are several other pieces of ,miss ,jekyl's work in the house1 one of the most beautiful being a red table-cloth in the dining-room1 upon which she has worked four figures of pots1 whose flowers converge toward the centre4 ,this cover is appropriate to the red color which prevails in the dining-room--a color which ,i do not much like in a dining-room1 though here it well sets off the large ebonized and inlaid sideboard1 which is adorned with a great deal of the finest ,rhodian porcelain4 ,sir ,frederick ,leighton on returning from a visit to the ,east brought back a whole treasury of china and tiles2 and he has also brought a large number of beautiful ,persian tiles1 with which he has made a little interior rotunda and dome which is a marvel of beauty4 ,a sentence of the ,koran runs along the cornice2 stained glass throws a rich light through the room2 a fountain plays in the centre4 ,mr4 ,dillon1 an artist1 has for some time had a studio in which every article came from ,egypt1 even to the inscription from the ,koran 7,sura #ia7 which makes its frieze-- 8,by the brightness of the sun when he shineth1 ,by the moon when she followeth him10 etc4 ,sir ,frederick ,leighton's chief room is his studio2 it covers more than half of the whole area of the top floor of the house4 ,the walls are hung with stuffs from many countries--tapestries1 rugs1 ancient ,japanese silks--which fall from the cornice to the floor4 ,there are some fine ebonized bookcases and cabinets1 designed by ,mr4 ,aitchison and ,sir ,frederick together4 ,the roof is arranged with sky-lights and sliding curtains of various descriptions1 so that there is no kind of light or shade whatever that the artist is not able to bring upon his work4 ,the drawing-room has a white coffered and tinted ceiling1 and neat mouldings above the bay-window gather round a fine oil-picture1 by ,eugene ,delacroix1 fixed in the ceiling4 ,it is beautiful1 but ,i could not help feeling that some mural painting by another artist might well be substituted1 and the ,delacroix placed 8on the line40 ,there is suspended a very rich central candelabrum of ,venetian glass in many colors4 ,the walls are hung with cigar-tinted cloth1 with modified fleur-de-lis spots1 beneath which a floor of ash-blue is disclosed for the width of a yard between the wall and the bright ,persian carpet4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,grate ,,of ,,one ,,hundred ,,years ,,ago4 ,in all the houses which are carefully decorated in ,london great use is made of tiles4 ,the tiles which are unrivalled in the esteem of artists are the old ,dutch1 which consequently have been nearly all bought up4 ,a single old ,dutch tile1 which when made hardly cost more than a sixpence1 now finds eager purchasers at a pound4 ,it is a singular fact that our manufacturers can imitate ,persian and ,egyptian tiles1 but have still to send to ,holland to get anything resembling the old ,dutch1 and even there they can obtain but an approach to the rich coloring and quaint designs of old times4 ,mr4 ,stevenson1 the architect whose book has been referred to on a previous page1 obtained a large number of these old tiles1 which when put together formed large pictures2 but several of them were wanting1 and he had to make designs of what those he possessed appeared to imply were on the others4 ,he had tiles made which1 at any rate1 completed the pictures2 and though the new ones were carefully made1 they may be easily picked out from the old4 ,these tile pictures have been placed by ,mr4 ,stevenson on the side of a sheltered entrance that leads from the street across the front-yard to his beautiful residence in ,bayswater4 ,inside of this house there are many beautiful things1 but it is chiefly remarkable for the admirable mantel-pieces on the ground-floor and that above it--in the hall common to both--which show rich old carvings set with tiles1 chiefly ,persian and ,dutch1 which are built from floor to ceiling4 ,in the children's school-room there is a chimney-piece covered with ,dutch tiles representing most quaintly all the most notable scenes in the ,bible1 which must be a source of endless amusement to the little ones4 ,the finest designs for tiles which ,i have seen in ,london are those of ,messrs4 ,morris ,co41 whose pictures1 however1 are often so beautiful that one dislikes to see them ornamenting fireplaces4 ,nevertheless1 the grate and its arrangements are becoming matters of serious importance in every room1 and a walk through the establishment of ,messrs4 ,boyd1 in ,oxford ,street1 will show that the 8warming engineers0 have not been behindhand in providing stoves1 tiles1 and grates that may be adapted to many varieties of decoration4 ,these gentlemen tell me that they are continually on the watch to get hold of old grates1 fenders1 fire-dogs1 and so forth1 that were made a hundred years ago1 on account of the great demand for them1 and that they reproduce them continually2 nevertheless they believe that they can produce a prettier grate now than could have been made in the last century4 ,the engraving on page #aih represents a grate found in an ,english mansion about one hundred years ago4 ,the one on this page represents a grate recently made for the late ,baron ,rothschild4 ,the one on page #bjj represents a grate and fireplace designed and made by ,messrs4 ,boyd1 which appears to me one of the most beautiful ,i have yet seen4 ,illustration3 ,,grate ,,made ,,for ,,baron ,,rothschild4 ,in the houses thus far described ,i have mentioned several which have been decorated in whole or in part by ,messrs4 ,morris ,co41 but have reserved until now a special treatment of their style4 ,their decorations1 apart from their undeniable beauty1 derive importance from the fact that they can be adapted to the requirements of persons with moderate incomes1 or to the needs of those who are prepared to pay large sums4 ,the firm in question--as befits a company whose head is one of the most graceful of living poets--has mastered the ,wordsworthian secret of 8,the eye made quiet by the power ,of harmony40 ,illustration3 ,,boyd',s ,,grate4 ,of the many different papers with which they hang rooms1 only a few have appeared to me unsuited for the purposes of a refined decoration of almost any room4 ,one1 an imitation of square trellis-work1 with a bird sitting in each opening1 ,i have seen on the walls of a bedroom 7which1 ,i suspected1 might have been originally intended for a nursery2 in which case ,i am not prepared to say that it might not have appeared in place71 where it was not pleasing1 and it has appeared to my eye frivolous in sitting-rooms4 ,nor do ,i altogether like their lemon-yellows1 which are so well placed in corridors1 to find their way 7as they sometimes do7 into drawing-rooms2 that color1 however adapted for daylight1 suffers bleaching by candle or gas light4 ,but generally their wall-papers are of beautiful grays--pearl1 sage1 or even darker--and1 while full of repose and dignity by day1 light up well under any artificial light4 ,this firm also does the finest wall mouldings in relief that ,i have met with4 ,a remarkable instance of this may be found in the ,grill ,room at the ,south ,kensington ,museum1 to which reference has already been made4 ,and a somewhat similar moulding is still more effectively used in the drawing-room of the ,hon4 ,mr4 ,howard1 in his house at ,palace ,gardens--a willow pattern1 with buds1 on a cream-colored background1 which rises to a deep frieze of green4 ,in two rooms of the same mansion the light pomegranate paper1 with shut and open flowers1 is used with good effect4 ,in the dining-room the general hue is faint pink1 and this is also pleasing4 ,in the nursery there is an exceedingly beautiful paper of wild daisies on a mottled ground4 ,mr4 ,howard is not only an artist himself1 but a collector of pictures and other objects of art4 ,his walls have in a great measure been decorated with the idea of adapting them to the purpose of displaying to the best advantage the quaint old cabinets which he possesses1 and the many fine pictures of pre-,raphaelist art which adorn his walls4 ,on one of the landings of the stairway there is a fine organ1 upon which ,dr4 ,burne ,jones has painted a charming picture of ,st4 ,cecilia playing on her keys4 ,this picture sheds light and beauty around1 and shows how much may be done in a house by having such objects brought into the general system of ornamentation adopted in the house4 ,it is hardly enough to bring into the house furniture of a color which is vaguely harmonious with the wall-paper2 by a little decoration even the piano1 the cabinet1 the book-case1 may be made to repeat the theme to which the walls have risen4 ,dr4 ,burne ,jones--for ,oxford has bestowed on him its ,d4,c4,l41 to its own honor as much as his--has decorated a grand piano with finest art4 ,around its bands is told the fable of ,orpheus1 the potency of music1 in scenes of classical1 but not conventional1 treatment4 ,on the lid is a ,muse leaning from an oriel of the blue sky2 beneath stands a poet musing2 and between them is a scroll inscribed with a bit of old ,french1 8,n'oubli pas0--motto of the family for whom the piano was made4 ,at another end of the lid is painted amid bay-leaves the page of a book1 with illuminated letters here and there1 the lines being those of one of ,dante's minor poems1 beginning1 8,fresca rosa novella40 ,but all these beauties are surpassed when the lid is lifted4 ,amid the strings1 which are exposed1 there is a drift of roses1 as if blown into little heaps at the corners by the breath of music4 ,on the interior surface is painted a picture to be gazed on with silent admiration1 for few can be the strains from those keys which will interpret the subtle sense of the picture4 ,the only name given is ,terra ,omniparens4 ,between the thorns and the roses sits this most beautiful ,mother1 naked and not ashamed1 with many babes around her4 ,above1 beneath1 around1 amid the foliations they are seen--impish1 cherubic1 some engaged in ingenuities of mischief1 others in deeds of kindliness and love4 ,greed1 avarice1 cruelty1 affection1 prayer1 and all the varieties of these are represented by these little faces and forms4 ,some nestle around the ,mother2 one has fallen asleep on her lap4 ,the fair ,mother is serene2 she is impartial as the all-nourishing1 patient ,earth she typifies2 all the discords turn to harmonies in her eternal generation4 ,her impartial love waits on the good and the evil2 she is one with the art that 8shares with great creating ,nature40 ,although the hangings of ,morris ,co4 do not imply a lavish1 but only a liberal1 expenditure1 they do not readily adapt themselves to a commonplace house inhabited by commonplace people4 ,there must be thousands of these square-block houses with square boxes for rooms which would only be shamed by the individualities of their work4 ,the majority of houses attain the final cause of their existence when the placard inscribed 8,to ,let0 may be taken down from their windows4 ,no doubt the decorative artist might do a great deal toward breathing a soul even into such a house1 if it were inhabited by a family willing to pay the price4 ,but there are houses built with other objects than 8to let10 built by or for persons of taste and culture1 and to such the decorations of ,messrs4 ,morris ,co4 come as a natural drapery4 ,mr4 ,ionides1 who has just entered a new house in ,holland ,park ,villas1 has shown1 by adopting in it decorations similar to those of the smaller house he has left1 that1 after many years1 the hangings of ,morris ,co4 still appear to him the most beautiful2 and it is significant of the spirit in which he has carried out his own feeling in both cases that he has steadily refused to let the house his family had outgrown to all applicants who proposed to pull down its papers and dados1 and convert the house into the normal commonplace suite of interiors4 ,he preferred to retain for some time1 at a loss1 that which he and his artistic friends built up with so much pains1 rather than have it pass into inappreciative hands4 ,in the new residence of ,mr4 ,ionides he has found a beautiful hanging for his drawing-room in a ,morris paper of willow pattern1 with two kinds of star-shaped blossoms1 white and yellow1 which harmonizes well with the outlook of the room into a conservatory4 ,the curtains of the bay-window in the spring season are of ,oriental cream-colored linen1 with flowers embroidered in outline 7light gold71 and at wide intervals1 upon them4 ,the paper in the large dining-room is the small floral square 7sage-gray7 pattern of ,messrs4 ,morris ,co41 which harmonizes well with the red carpet1 the pictures1 and the green-golden lustres of the velvet curtains4 ,mr4 ,e4 ,danreuther1 in whose brilliant successes as interpreter of the 8,music of the ,future0 ,america as well as ,germany has reason for pride1 has his residence in ,orme ,square decorated mainly with the ,morris patterns4 ,the house is quaint and old1 and nothing can exceed the sympathetic feeling with which these designs harmonize with the style of the halls and rooms4 ,it is a picture for the imagination to think of ,carlyle and ,sterling 7who once resided here7 conversing on great themes amid these quietly rich1 these even poetical designs and colors4 ,nearest to that imaginary picture is the real one which ,i have seen a little way from ,orme ,square1 namely1 in the villa of the late ,mr4 ,edward ,sterling1 son of the poet ,john ,sterling1 himself an artist1 who had used his own excellent taste1 and that of his wife 7a sister of ,marcus ,stone71 in adorning his house at ,kensington4 ,an especially fine appearance has been given to a high wall which stretches through two stories beside the stairway by changing the style and color of the 7,morris7 paper midway1 and thus breaking the monotony4 ,the hangings of the lower hall are dark1 and the light shed down from the higher wall is thus heightened4 ,in this1 as in the majority of beautiful houses1 the first effect at the entrance is that of shade4 ,the visitor who has come from the blaze of daylight is at once invited to a kindly seclusion4 ,beyond the vestibule the light is reached again1 but now blended with tints and forms of artistic beauty4 ,he is no longer in the hands of brute ,nature1 but is being ministered to by humane thought and feeling1 and gently won into that mood 8,in which the heavy and the weary weight ,of all this unintelligible world ,is lightened40 ,that mood1 my reader will easily understand1 cannot be secured by the papers of ,morris ,co42 but where a true artist is able to find such artistic materials as theirs to work with1 he is able1 as in the case of ,mr4 ,sterling1 to weave them on the warp of his own mind and sentiment into a home which shall not fail to distribute its refining and happy influences to all who enter or depart4 ,among the younger artists of high position and achieved fame in the fine arts who have aimed to include house decoration within their poetic domain1 the most successful has been ,mr4 ,walter ,crane1 who is fortunate in having a firm of skilful paper-stainers 7,jeffrey ,co41 of ,islington7 to embody his beautiful and quaint designs4 ,mr4 ,crane's 8,chaucer10 or 8,la ,margarete10 paper received a special medal and diploma at the ,philadelphia ,exhibition1 and his more recent designs are not inferior4 ,the 8,margarete0 paper1 which takes almost any color that is not garish1 has become a prime favorite among the lovers of chaste decoration in ,london1 and the light olive tint is preferred4 ,the daisy is the motive1 taken from ,chaucer3 8,as she that is of all floures flour1 ,fulfilled of all virtue and honour1 ,and ever alike fair and fresh of hue40 ,the burden of the daisy-song 7in the 8,legend of ,good ,women07 8,si douce est la ,margarete10 is exquisitely blended with the pattern4 ,the superb frieze shows1 on a background of gold1 the youthful ,god of ,love holding ,alcestis1 the ideal wife1 by the hand2 next ,diligence1 with her spindle2 ,order1 with hour-glass2 ,providence1 with well-filled basket2 and ,hospitality1 with her jar and extended cup4 ,these figures support the roof as caryatides4 ,plants of alternate leaf and flower1 in pots1 stand between the figures and beneath the ,chaucerian text3 8,to whom do ye owe your service8 ,which will you honour1 tell me1 ,i pray1 this yere8 ,the ,leaf or the ,flower80 ,in the dado are the types of purity and innocence--lilies and doves4 ,mr4 ,walter ,crane's services to decorative art are well appreciated by the little folk in some households1 for he has designed papers representing the most fascinating of ,cinderellas and ,boy ,blues1 and as ,i write is bringing out an apotheosis of ,humpty ,dumpty and cognate classicisms4 ,that this artist is ambitious of canonization among the young is farther suggested by the fact that he has actually turned his hand to designing valentines1 thus tempting staid persons to indulge in that kind of thing--or1 at any rate1 to condone it--who have long eschewed such pinky frivolities4 ,he has designed three or four valentines only1 but they have been endlessly imitated4 ,i must not omit to mention that a great deal of the best needle-work done in ,london has been after ,mr4 ,crane's designs1 and also that he is at present engaged in making tiles which promise to surpass all other recent designs4 ,these represent generally each some simple1 graceful figure--classic1 allegorical1 or antique--with flowers surrounding them2 but the charm is in the very pleasing expression this artist conveys in a few lines by his careful drawing1 and also by his delicate sense of color4 ,whatever he does1 however conventional the accessories may have to be 7and they must often be such with the real artist1 who will never dignify incidents with the same work as his main designs1 any more than he will paint his picture-frame like his canvas71 no one acquainted with his work can ever mistake the touch4 ,when ,i first saw ,walter ,crane's papers ,i felt a certain heaviness of heart that one could not have them all on the walls of some favorite room--all at the same time6 ,illustration3 ,l4 ,,alma ,,tadema4--,,from ,a ,,bust ,,by ,j4 ,,dalou4 ,perhaps the most complete rendering of the effects at which ,william ,morris and ,burne ,jones have aimed in their efforts at beautifying ,london households is to be found at ,townsend ,house1 to which ,i have before alluded4 ,mr4 ,l4 ,alma ,tadema1 the finest colorist1 has of course been as one of the partners of the firm so far as his own home is concerned1 and the touches of his art are met with at every step in it4 ,passing beneath the cheery 8,salve0 written over the front-door1 we at once meet with a significant piece of art4 ,on each side of the rather narrow hall is a door2 one leads into a parlor1 the other into a library1 and1 as they are just opposite each other1 the doors are made to open outward1 and1 when open1 meet4 ,now1 when it is desirable1 the two doors when open make a wall across the hall2 this extemporized wall has its panels painted1 and thus a pretty passage is made to connect the separate rooms4 ,one thing in ,townsend ,house is very peculiar3 the ceilings are generally covered with the same paper as the walls4 ,there is a dado of matting with touches of color in it1 or else painted in some color related to the paper but of deeper shade1 and above this a uniform paper1 with but slight frieze 7most of the rooms being comparatively small1 a deep frieze would be out of place74 ,i confess that ,i have some misgivings about this continuance upon the ceiling of the wall-paper4 ,it would certainly answer very well in rooms that were of very high pitch1 for the heavier the color on a ceiling the more it is depressed to the eye4 ,but here the sense of comfort and snugness secured--important as they are in this moist1 chill climate1 which often makes one willing to be folded up in a warmly lined box--is paid for by a sense of confinement4 ,a ceiling ought not to be white nor blue1 which1 not to speak of the quickness with which they become black from the chandeliers1 convey the feeling of exposure to the open air1 but there should be above one a lighter tint and shade1 lest the effect should be that of being in a cellar4 ,the underground effect nowhere occurs in ,townsend ,house1 because therein true artists have been at work1 but one might not be so secure if the papering had been left to less judicious decorators4 ,the corridors have the creamy pomegranate paper1 which carries a cool light through them4 ,a small back-room on the first floor has been ,orientalized into a charming place by a skilful use of rugs1 skins1 etc41 on the floor1 and on the ,persian divans fixed against the wall1 which is covered with a silvery and pinkish paper4 ,the chief bedroom in the house presents the novelty of walls entirely hung with a rich dark and reddish chintz1 with wide stripes flowing from ceiling to floor1 the effect being a grave ,persian4 ,the bed is hung and covered with the same stuff1 and the lower part of each window is made into a cushioned seat of the same4 ,the ceiling in this case is of a pearl-white1 and there is plenty of light4 ,this room appeared to me1 though at first a surprise1 one that was suggestive of every kind of warmth and comfort2 it was1 indeed1 an entire room made into the appropriate environment of a bed4 ,in another bedroom ,i observed how beautifully the light may be regulated by the use of double curtains1 one of dark green1 when darkness is desired1 the other of a fine tracing-cloth1 which is more snowy than the glass of an astral lamp1 while it similarly softens and diffuses light4 ,illustration3 ,,candelabra1 ,,townsend ,,house4 ,mr4 ,l4 ,alma ,tadema--a fine bust of whom by ,j4 ,dalou appeared in the ,royal ,academy in #ahgd--;had contributed1 as his picture of that season1 an admirable representation of his own studio1 with a number of his friends looking upon a work on his easel1 the back of which is turned to the spectator4 ,but one can readily imagine those friends of his dividing their attention between the picture and the rich ornamentation of the room they are in4 ,an artist's studio is apt to be1 and ought to be1 as much a picture as any work of art born in it1 but it hardly comes within the scope of this article to describe rooms that are expressions of individual genius and purpose2 yet in every house where cultivated persons are found individual aims are found also1 and there will be the effort to give to each of these its fit environment4 ,the first point to be secured in the study1 or studio1 or workshop is1 that everything in it shall be related to the work which is its end and raison d'tre4 ,when ,carlyle was engaged in writing his ,life of ,frederick he had prepared a special study apart from his library1 whose walls were covered with books and pictures of which each one1 without exception1 was in some way connected with the man of whom he was writing4 ,they who are not1 even for a time1 specialists may nevertheless follow his example so far as to take care not to surround themselves with distracting objects4 ,that which is beautiful in a studio may be ugly in a study4 ,the studio of ,alma ,tadema sympathizes in its minutest object with the artist1 who is so much at home in all the ages of art4 ,touches of ,egypt1 of ,pompeii1 of ,greece1 of ,rome1 blend in the decorations of his studio1 as their influences are felt in his powerful works4 ,and1 indeed1 throughout ,townsend ,house there is a beauty derived from the fact that every ornament is subordinate to the purpose of the room which contains it4 ,the dining-room1 for instance1 opens into a beautiful garden2 it is1 therefore1 not simply an eating-room1 but must in some weathers do duty as the salon for a garden party4 ,the rich dado of matting is especially well placed in such a room as this1 which is large and luminous4 ,it is capped by a chair-board1 which is ingeniously adorned with cockle-shells1 and still more at one point with the first name of the mistress of the house painted in antique golden letters4 ,above this there is a cream-colored paper of squares1 with roses and birds1 a hanging which ,i have already spoken of as unpleasant in bedrooms or sitting-rooms2 but in this large dining-room1 which opens into a garden1 the effect of it is remarkably fine4 ,the cornice is ,easter-eggs 7variously and carefully colored71 beneath a higher member of grape and leaf1 also colored4 ,the whole of one end of this room is covered by a rich drapery of fine ,indian dyes1 elegantly striped4 ,the servants' entrance is behind a large screen of gold leather4 ,throughout this beautiful house there are little arrangements for convenience1 always attended by beauty1 which are altogether indescribable--a head or a sprig of ivy painted in some panel1 or a little gauze curtain draping a casual opening4 ,but ,i must particularly note in the drawing-room a beautiful capping to the dado4 ,it is a white moulding of the ,elgin marble reliefs1 and most beautifully fringes the dark-figured stuff of the dado4 ,i have already described the fine drapery of this room4 ,i need only now say that ,mr4 ,alma ,tadema has designed some candelabra which appear to me most beautiful4 ,the reader will1 ,i fear1 be but little able to obtain from one of the drawings an idea of the rich minglings of the bronze with the rose porcelain egg-shaped centre-piece1 and the figures painted upon it4 ,both of the candelabra which ,i have selected as specimens are for rose-colored candles4 ,in the houses of many artists ancient oratory 7suspended7 candelabra are used for the centres of rooms1 and also brass repouss sconces bracketed with bevelled mirrors4 ,the ,english upper classes have never been reconciled to the use of gasaliers in their drawing-rooms1 and the artists have pretty generally opposed the use of gas1 which is believed to be damaging to oil-pictures4 ,in concluding this account of the most interesting examples of decorative art with which ,i am acquainted in ,england1 ,i add1 in preference to any general observations of my own1 a few extracts from very high authorities1 affirming principles whose truth seems to me to be illustrated by every exterior1 and interior to which ,i have referred4 ,the first of these quotations is the placarded principles of decorative art hung up in the school at ,south ,kensington3 ,i4 #a4 ,the decorative arts arise from1 and should properly be attendant upon1 architecture4 #b4 ,architecture should be the material expression of the wants1 the faculties1 and the sentiments of the age in which it is created4 #c4 ,style in architecture is the peculiar form that expression takes under the influence of climate and the materials at command4 ,,ii4 ,,metal-,,works1 ,,pottery1 ,,and ,,plastic ,,forms ,,generally4--#a4 ,the form should be most carefully adapted to use1 being studied for elegance and beauty of line as well as for capacity1 strength1 mobility1 etc4 #b4 ,in ornamenting the construction care should be taken to preserve the general form1 and to keep the decoration subservient to it by the low relief or otherwise2 the ornament should be so arranged as to enhance by its lines the symmetry of the original form1 and assist its constructive strength4 #c4 ,if arabesques or figures in the round are used1 they should arise out of the ornamental and constructive forms1 and not be merely applied4 #d4 ,all projecting parts should have careful consideration1 to render them as little liable to injury as is consistent with their purpose4 #e4 ,it must ever be remembered that repose is required to give value to ornament1 which in itself is secondary and not principal4 ,,iii4 ,,carpets4--#a4 ,the surface of a carpet1 serving as a ground to support all objects1 should be quiet and negative1 without strong contrast of either forms or colors4 #b4 ,the leading forms should be so disposed as to distribute the pattern over the whole floor1 not pronounced either in the direction of breadth or length1 all 8up-and-down0 treatments being erroneous4 #c4 ,the decorative forms should be flat1 without shadow or relief1 whether derived from ornament or direct from flowers or foliage4 #d4 ,in color the general ground should be negative1 low in tone1 and inclining to the tertiary hues1 the leading forms of the pattern being expressed by the darker secondaries2 and the primary colors1 or white1 if used at all1 should be only in small quantity1 to enhance the tertiary hues and to express the geometrical basis that rules the distribution of the forms4 ,,iv4 ,,printed ,,garment ,,fabrics1 ,,muslins1 ,,calicoes1 ,,etc4--#a4 ,the ornament should be flat1 without shadow and relief4 #b4 ,if flowers1 foliage1 or other natural objects are the motive1 they should not be direct imitations of nature1 but conventionalized in obedience to the above rule4 #c4 ,the ornament should cover the surface either by a diaper based on some regular geometrical figure1 or growing out of itself by graceful flowing curves2 any arrangement that carries lines or pronounces figures in the direction of breadth is to be avoided1 and the effect produced by the folding of the stuff should be carefully studied4 #d4 ,the size of the pattern should be regulated by the material for which it is intended3 small for close1 thick fabrics1 such as ginghams1 etc42 larger for fabrics of more open textures1 such as muslins1 barges1 etc42 largely covering the ground on delaines1 and more dispersed on cotton linens4 ,in all the beautiful effects which ,i have observed the ornamentation has been in more or less accordance with the fundamental principle of these rules--namely1 the subordination of decoration to use4 ,many persons of taste and culture have had to wage a sometimes unequal conflict with architecture whose object was a low one--to sell2 but they have been rewarded just in the proportion that they have regarded the principles just quoted4 ,it will be especially observed that realism1 in the sense of exact imitations of nature1 is entirely repudiated4 ,conventionalism1 precisely because it is a degradation in human character1 is a first necessity in ornamentation4 ,the rationale of this is admirably given in a little book on the ,oxford ,museum1 by ,dr4 ,acland and ,mr4 ,ruskin1 not likely to have been seen by many ,american readers4 ,the following remarks by ,mr4 ,ruskin1 taken from it1 constitute my second extract3 8,the highest art in all kinds is that which conveys the most truth1 and the best ornamentation possible would be the painting of interior walls with frescoes by ,titian1 representing perfect humanity in color1 and the sculpture of exterior walls by ,phidias1 representing perfect humanity in form4 ,titian and ,phidias are precisely alike in their conception and treatment of nature--everlasting standards of the right4 ,beneath ornamentation such as men like these could bestow falls in various rank1 according to its subordination to vulgar uses or inferior places1 what is commonly conceived as ornamental art4 ,the lower its office and the less tractable its material1 the less of nature it should contain1 until a zigzag becomes the best ornament for the hem of a robe1 and a mosaic of colored glass the best design for a colored window4 ,but all these forms of lower art are to be conventional only because they are subordinate2 not because conventionalism is in itself a good or desirable thing4 ,all right conventionalism is a wise acceptance of1 and compliance with1 conditions of restraint or inferiority4 ,it may be inferiority of our knowledge or power1 as in the art of a semi-savage nation1 or restraint by reason of material1 as in the way the glass-painter should restrict himself to transparent hue1 and a sculptor deny himself the eyelash and the film of flowing hair which he cannot cut in marble4 ,but in all cases whatever right conventionalism is either a wise acceptance of an inferior place1 or a noble display of power under accepted limitation2 it is not an improvement of natural form into something better or purer than ,nature herself4 8,now1 this great and most precious principle may be compromised in two quite opposite ways4 ,it is compromised on one side when men suppose that the degradation of the natural form1 which fits it for some subordinate place1 is an improvement of it1 and that a black profile on a red ground1 because it is proper for a water-jug1 is therefore an idealization of humanity1 and nobler art than a picture by ,titian4 ,and it is compromised equally gravely on the opposite side when men refuse to submit to the limitation of material and the fitnesses of office1 when they try to produce finished pictures in colored glass1 or substitute the inconsiderate imitation of natural objects for the perfectness of adapted and disciplined design40 ,i was much struck on a recent occasion with an illustration of how little the principles thus explained by ,mr4 ,ruskin are understood even among the learned4 ,it was at the ,anthropological ,society1 where archologists1 antiquarians1 metallurgists1 and experts of various kinds were examining a collection of specimens of the gold-work of the ,ashantees4 ,one of the leading authorities present gave it as his opinion that the specimens1 though of a fineness which ,english workmanship could not rival1 nevertheless represented a degradation of art and of civilization among the ,ashantees2 and the reason assigned was1 that the ornamentation indicated that an original imitation of forms--some natural1 others of ,european design--had been departed from till the significance of the forms had been lost4 ,of course the argument really proved a progress in art among the ,ashantees1 and a fine perception of the laws that must govern all work upon gold4 ,but it is of great importance that no one should confuse conventionalism in the decorative flower or other form with conventionalism in the use of them in any house or on any object4 ,the houses of the millions are1 indeed1 conventionally decorated now1 and they are ugly2 the individual taste will convert the commonplace forms and colors into individual expression1 as his soul has previously transmuted the commonplace clay into a physiognomy like and unlike all others4 ,but it were a serious error to suppose that the words 8conventional10 8heraldic10 8decorative10 etc41 employed to express those ornamental forms which are derived without being copied from nature1 really express the significance of those forms4 ,they do represent the spirit of nature4 ,in the extract with which ,i conclude1 the growth of such flowers and forms in a fairer field is most subtly described4 ,it is from the best existing work on the genesis and evolution of the decorative arts1 ,mr4 ,scott's ,history and ,practice of the ,fine and ,ornamental ,arts1 now used as a manual and official prize-book at the ,south ,kensington ,school of ,design3 8,taste is that faculty by which we distinguish whatever is graceful1 noble1 just1 and lovable in the infinitely varied appearances about us1 and in the works of the decorative and imitative arts4 ,the immediate impulse in the presence of beauty is to feel and admire4 ,when the emotion and the sentiment are strong we are compelled to imitate4 ,we cannot make ourselves more beautiful physically than ,providence has decreed1 but we wish to see again1 to feel again1 what caused in us so vivid a pleasure2 and we attempt to revive the image that charmed us1 to re-create those parts or qualities in the image that we found admirable1 with or without those other parts or qualities which did not touch us1 but which were necessary to its existence in a conditional and transitory life4 ,hence a work original and peculiar to man--a work of art40 ,illustration3 decorative block ,,bedford ,,park4 ,illustration3 ,,view ,,from ,a ,,balcony4 ,,bedford ,,park4 ,five years ago ,i happened to pass through ,chiswick1 near ,london1 and paused near a field where ,prince ,rupert and his little army camped overnight1 on their retreat before ,hampden and his ,roundheads--a scene which the perspective of time has made into an allegorical tableau of ,aristocracy retreating before ,yeomanry4 7,it is a retreat that steadily goes on still47 ,at that time ,i found it pleasant to see large and beautiful gardens1 with stately poplars and every variety of fruit-tree1 glorifying the acres once steeped with the bluest blood of ,england4 ,eight hundred ,cavaliers were here found dead when the ,roundheads came in the early morning1 glowing with victory1 to pitch their tents where the ,cavaliers had just folded theirs4 ,last year ,i turned in to take another look at the same place4 ,i paused again near the ,rupert ,house--surely a very civil-seeming home for the barbaric prince whose name was twisted into 8,prince ,robber40 ,two lions couch above the projecting door-way1 two child-figures stand on the ground beneath1 which may be emblems of that ferocity for which the prince was famed beyond all warriors of his time1 until he fell in love with the pretty actress under whose sway he became gentle as a child4 ,i meant to enter on the grass-covered ,roman ,road along which the prince retreated some seventeen centuries after the ,romans made it4 ,here ,roman coins and bits of ancient tile have been found1 are still occasionally found4 ,at any rate1 it is well enough to keep one's eyes sharp upon the ground for a few hundred yards4 ,but first another good look at the beautiful gardens which cover the camp of the ,cavaliers--gardens planned and planted by ,lindley1 the famous horticulturist and botanist1 father of the present ,mr4 ,justice ,lindley4 ,angels and ministers of grace6 am ,i dreaming8 ,right before me is the apparition of a little red town made up of quaintest ,queen ,anne houses4 ,it is visible through the railway arch1 as it might be a lunette picture projected upon a landscape4 ,surely my eyes are cheating me2 they must have been gathering impressions of by-gone architecture along the riverside ,malls1 and are now turning them to visions1 and building them by ideal mirage into this dream of old-time homesteads6 ,i was almost afraid to rub my eyes1 lest the antique townlet should vanish1 and crept softly along1 as one expecting to surprise fairies in their retreat4 ,but when across the ,common a ,metropolitan train came thundering1 and the buildings did not disappear1 ,i began to feel that they were fabrics not quite baseless4 ,that they should be real seemed even stranger than that they should be fantasies4 ,the old trees still stood1 the poplars waved their green streamers in the summer breeze1 the huge willows branched out on every side2 but the turnips and pumpkins they once overhung had become sthetic houses1 and amid the flowers and fruit-trees rosy children at play had taken the place of grimy laborers4 ,i passed beneath a medlar--who ever before heard of a medlar-tree out on a sidewalk8--on through a wide avenue of houses that differed from each other sympathetically1 in pleasing competition as to which could be prettiest4 ,their gables sometimes fronting the street1 their door-ways adorned with varied touches of taste1 the windows surrounded with tinted glass1 the lattices thrown open1 and many comely young faces under dainty caps visible here and there1 altogether impressed me with a sense of being in some enchanted land4 ,after turning into several streets of this character1 and strolling into several houses not yet inhabited1 watching the decorators silently engaged upon their work1 ,i recognized that this was the veritable land of the lotus-eaters1 where they who arrive may sit them down and say1 8,we will return no more40 ,my summer ramble ended in a conviction that ,bedford ,park was an adequate answer to ,mr4 ,mallock's question1 8,is life worth living80 ,if lived at ,bedford ,park1 decidedly yes6 ,in one year's time an architectural design adapted to our taste and needs stood finished in brick1 amid trees planted by ,lindley2 the last convenience was completed1 the ornamentation added2 and therein ,i now sit to write this little sketch of the prettiest and pleasantest townlet in ,england1 while my neighbor ,mr4 ,nash is out on the balcony sketching the trees and houses that wave and smile through my study windows4 ,for those who dwell here the world is divided into two great classes--those who live at ,bedford ,park1 and those who do not4 ,nevertheless1 we of the first class are not so far removed from those of the second as not to feel for them1 and to help them as well as we can to see our village1 so far as it can be put on paper in white and black4 ,it is with that compassionate feeling that ,mr4 ,nash with his pencil and ,i with my pen have prepared some account and illustration of what has been done toward building a ,utopia in brick and paint in the suburbs of ,london4 ,for a long time cultured taste in ,london for persons of moderate means had been able to express itself only on paper4 ,any deviation from the normal style could be achieved only by the wealthy4 ,the ,dutch have the proverb1 8,nothing is cheaper than paint10 but the ,dutch might have discovered their mistake had they lived in ,london within recent years1 and ventured to desire any variation from the conventional decoration of houses4 ,even twenty years ago the artistically decorated 7modern7 houses in this vast metropolis might almost be counted on one's fingers and toes1 and they were the houses of millionnaires or of artists4 ,the artists could do much of the work themselves1 and the millionnaires could command special labors4 ,but meanwhile the people who most desired beautiful homes were those of the younger generation whom the new culture had educated above the mere pursuit of riches1 at the same time awakening in them refined tastes which only through riches could obtain their satisfaction4 ,however1 ,london is a vast place4 ,one of the best things about it is that nearly every head1 however ingeniously constructed1 can find a circle of other heads to which it is related4 ,the demand of a few expanded until its supply was at hand4 ,jonathan ,carr1 member of a family to which much of this kind of artistic activity in ,london is due1 had become the proprietor of a hundred acres of land out here at ,chiswick4 ,it was land on which art had already been at work2 a considerable part of it had been the home garden of ,bedford ,house1 where1 as already said1 ,lindley had resided4 ,around the large garden were orchards and green fields4 ,mr4 ,carr believed that his land might fairly be made the site of a number of picturesque houses1 both as to architecture and decoration1 such as many of his acquaintances were longing for2 he believed that if a considerable number of persons should contract for such houses1 that kind of work which has been costly because exceptional might be much reduced2 he believed also that there were architects and decorators who1 out of materials sufficiently alike to be secured in large quantities1 could produce a rich variety of combinations1 so that a maximum of individual taste might be expressed at a minimum of cost4 ,mr4 ,carr consulted ,norman ,shaw on the matter2 that architect encouraged the project1 and agreed to devote himself personally to it4 ,and ,i may say here that the speedy success of the scheme was largely due to the well-known characters of the landlord and the architect4 ,their enthusiasm for art1 their liberality and honor1 excluded all suspicion that the scheme was a money-making bubble2 the slow-growing plant of confidence was already grown in their case for the kind of people who really wanted these houses4 ,in the course of little more than five years three hundred and fifty houses have been erected4 ,they are embowered amid trees1 and surrounded by orchards2 their generous gardens are well stocked with trees1 flowers1 and fruits1 so that these houses appear as if they had been here for generations4 ,no one could imagine that seven years ago they were all little sketches on paper1 passing between landlord1 architect1 and house-hunters2 and indeed my friend ,abbey1 the artist1 who has visited us occasionally1 says he cannot yet get it out of his head that he is walking through a water-color4 ,the first consideration is health4 ,bedford ,park is naturally healthy4 ,it is situated upon a gravel-bed1 remote from the fogs of ,london1 and with easy access to the river for its drains4 ,kensington is but twelve minutes nearer the centre of ,london than ,bedford ,park1 yet at ,kensington few afternoons between ,october and ,february can be passed without gas-light1 whereas here there were only four or five occasions last fall and winter when the lights were required before evening4 ,there are beautiful walks around1 and in ten minutes by train we reach ,kew ,gardens4 ,the ,chiswick ,horticultural ,gardens are under ten minutes' walk4 ,near these is the long avenue1 overarched by trees1 the ,duke's ,walk2 it leads to famous ,chiswick ,house1 whose sixty acres of ornamental wooded ground is the most beautiful private park in the suburbs of ,london1 to say nothing of the charms of romance investing the old ,italian villa where statesmen consulted the fair ,duchess of ,devonshire4 ,there is thus no lack of breathing space4 ,the houses are built with fourteen-inch brick walls1 and without cellars4 ,it is in conformity with what has been decided to be the prudent plan in ,london that underground rooms are unknown here1 each house being founded on a solid bed of concrete1 the floors raised sufficiently high above this to allow of full and free ventilation beneath every house4 ,illustration3 ,,dining-,,room ,,in ,,tower ,,house4 ,sanitary considerations are not neglected in the decorations4 ,matting is used in the lining of halls and staircases2 it is easy to keep clean1 and does not gather or send forth dust every time a door is opened1 as is often the case with paper4 ,tiles are also much employed1 which are also easy to keep clean2 and although stained glass is used1 it is as a decorative casement1 and is not allowed to impede the light1 which can never be spared in ,england4 ,what at once impresses the intelligent visitor to ,bedford ,park is the fact that the beauty which has been admittedly secured is not fictitious4 ,a competent writer in the ,sporting and ,dramatic ,news 7,september #bgth1 #ahgi71 speaks very truly of this feature of the new village3 8,we have here no unchangeable cast-iron work1 but hand-wrought wooden balustrades and palings2 no great sheets of plate-glass1 but small panes set in frames of wood which look strong and solid1 although1 the windows being large1 they supply ample illumination for the spacious rooms within4 ,there is no attempt to conceal with false fronts1 or stucco ornament1 or unmeaning balustrades1 that which is full of comfortable suggestiveness in a climate like our own--the house roof2 everything is simple1 honest1 unpretending4 ,within1 no clumsy imitations of one wood to conceal another1 but a preserving surface of beautifully flatted paint1 made handsome by judicious arrangements of color4 ,here brick is openly brick1 and wood is openly wood1 and paint is openly paint4 ,nothing comes in a mean1 sneaking way1 pretending to be that which it is not4 ,varnish is unknown4 ,there is an old-world air about the place despite its newness1 a strong touch of ,dutch homeliness1 with an air of ,english comfort and luxuriousness1 but not a bit of the showy1 artificial ,french stuffs which prevailed in our homes when ,queen ,anne was on the throne1 when we imported our furniture from ,france1 and believed in nothing which was not ,french40 ,those who purchase or lease houses at ,bedford ,park are allowed the choice where their wall-papers shall be purchased1 what designs shall be selected1 and what colors shall be used on the wood-work4 ,a certain amount is allotted for the decoration of the drawing-room1 dining-room1 and so on1 and the occupants are invited to select up to that sum freely2 or1 if they fancy some costlier paper or decoration1 the excess of price is added4 ,as a matter of fact1 a majority of the residents have used the wall-papers and designs of ,morris1 the draught on whose decorative works has become so serious that a branch of the ,bloomsbury establishment will probably become necessary in the vicinity of ,bedford ,park4 ,this natural selection of the ,morris designs by so many families1 independently of each other1 could hardly have occurred a few years ago1 or1 if it had occurred1 would have been a misfortune of monotony2 but recently these designs have been sufficiently varied1 and the new patterns1 which may be had in divers colors and shades1 are now so numerous that it is quite possible for all to be satisfied without a calamitous sameness4 ,and this result is largely due to the excellent taste and ingenuity of the founder of the village1 who is pretty certain to give those arranging the interiors of their houses the best advice1 not unfrequently guiding them about the place1 to see the effect of certain papers already on walls1 and showing how by new combinations of dado-paper and wall-paper1 or distemper1 repetitions of neighboring decorations may be avoided4 ,the besetting sin of the new decoration--monotony--is thus measurably escaped4 ,illustration3 ,,queen ,,anne',s ,,gardens4 ,the best standards1 indeed1 ,mr4 ,carr is generally able to show in his own house4 ,his taste and that of his wife have made their house beautiful4 ,it would be difficult to find a prettier room than the dining-room1 which our artist has drawn with care2 but much of its beauty depends upon the soft colors and tints of its walls and its genuinely old furniture4 ,this house1 known as the ,tower ,house1 is as elegant1 comfortable1 and charming as need be desired even by those whose home is the seat of a continuous and liberal hospitality4 ,the hall1 landings1 and rooms are all spacious and well proportioned2 yet the entire building1 arrangements1 and decorations have probably not cost four thousand pounds4 ,in ,mr4 ,nash's sketch of 8,queen ,anne's ,gardens0 the observer may see some characteristic features of the place1 such as the venerable air of our trees1 and the relation of our streets to the old characters traced upon the soil by the gardens which preceded these4 ,it is said some of the streets of ,boston1 ,massachusetts1 followed the old sheep-paths2 and it may now be entered in the archives of ,bedford ,park1 against its becoming a city1 that its streets and gardens have been largely decided by ,dr4 ,lindley's trees4 ,some of them curve to make way for the lofty patriarchs of the estate1 which we hope may long wave over us4 ,there has been an accompanying good result1 that wherever the eye looks it meets something beautiful4 ,illustration3 ,,co-,,operative ,,stores ,,and ,,tabard ,,inn4 ,illustration3 ,,tower ,,house ,,and ,,lawn-,,tennis ,,grounds4 ,one of our views is slightly utilitarian4 ,it is taken from the old ,roman ,road1 and from the ,co-operative ,stores in the foreground commands the railway1 on which trains bear us to the heart of ,london in thirty minutes4 ,indeed1 one can start from our little station for a voyage round the world1 so many are the junctions to be reached from it4 ,the portico of the church is visible on the right in this picture1 and in the distance the steeple of ,turnham ,green parish church4 ,beside the ,co-operative ,stores stands the one inn of ,bedford ,park4 ,it is a part of the contract of each lessee that he shall not allow any public-house 7or drinking-house7 to be opened on his premises1 nor allow any trade to be carried on upon the same4 ,yet there is need of an inn1 that families may come to experiment on the place1 and where lodgings may be obtained when houses are overfull of guests1 ,bedford ,park being much given to hospitality4 ,the inn is called 8,the ,tabard40 ,that was the name of the old inn in the ,borough1 near ,london ,bridge1 from which ,chaucer's ,canterbury ,pilgrims started4 ,the excellent artist1 ,mr4 ,rookh1 whom ,bedford ,park is fortunate enough to have as a resident1 has painted a beautiful sign for our 8,tabard10 representing much the same scene as our picture on one side1 and on the other an old-time herald habited in a tabard4 ,another of ,mr4 ,nash's views shows our tennis lawn and ,badminton floor 7asphalt71 which are pretty generally the scene of merry games4 ,these beautiful grounds are at the west end of ,tower ,house 7seen on the left71 and contain beautiful trees1 among others the first ,wellingtonia 7as the ,english insist on naming that ,american institution7 planted in ,england4 ,illustration3 ,,reading ,,and ,,billiard ,,room1 ,,club-,,house4 ,the ,club is the social heart of ,bedford ,park1 and it is speaking moderately to say it is as pure a sample of civilization as any on this planet4 ,after claiming that1 my reader need hardly be informed that in it ladies and gentlemen are on a perfect equality4 ,whatever distinctions are made are such as instinct and taste suggest4 ,the ladies did not enter the billiard-room1 possibly fearing that they might put too much restraint upon gentlemen who not only smoke1 but sometimes like to take their coats off at the game2 so there has been added a ladies' billiard-room1 exquisitely panelled and papered4 ,the wainscot is of oak which was once in a church of ,london ,city built by ,sir ,christopher ,wren3 the wood was so sound1 after all those years1 as to 8bleed0 when sawed for this room4 ,above this panelling there is a soft golden paper4 ,a door opens between this and the reading-room1 beyond which is the gentlemen's billiard-room4 ,one of our two sketches made in this room looks toward this door2 the other shows its great bay-window1 on the seats about which ladies and gentlemen are wont to sit to read the new books with which the table is always stocked1 or to take refreshments4 ,outside of this superb window may be seen flowers and ornamental shrubs by day1 but the time selected by our artist for presenting it was somewhat after midnight1 on an occasion when there were prettier flowers inside--those of the night-blooming variety1 which never fail to spring up when the summons has gone forth for a fancy-dress ball4 ,the book-shelves1 settees1 and1 indeed1 most of the furniture in these rooms1 are genuinely antique and finely carved oak of the seventeenth century2 other pieces are of the dark perforated pattern formerly made in ,india4 ,in the reading-room are to be found all the appliances of the ,pall ,mall clubs1 the journals and periodicals of the world1 and the newest works from the great circulating libraries4 ,the ,club has a large hall for assemblies2 it is appropriately decorated1 and especially rejoices in some panels1 with classical subjects wrought in gold on ebony1 which fill the wall space above the mantel-piece4 ,there is a stage1 with drop-scene1 representing one of our streets1 and appointments for theatrical representations4 ,here the inhabitants assemble to witness the performances of their amateur company1 and to listen to concerts by their musical neighbors4 ,here they enjoy lectures1 poetical and dramatic recitations1 tableaux vivants1 and other entertainments1 at the close of which they generally dance4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,fancy-,,dress ,,party ,,at ,,the ,,club4 ,fancy-dress balls are an amusement much esteemed at ,bedford ,park4 ,there is1 indeed1 a rumor in the adjacent town of ,london that the people of ,bedford ,park move about in fancy dress every day4 ,and so far as the ladies are concerned it is true that many of their costumes1 open-air as well as other1 might some years ago have been regarded as fancy dress1 and would still cause a sensation in some ,philistine quarters4 ,at our last fancy-dress ball1 some young men1 having danced until five o'clock1 when it was bright daylight1 concluded not to go to bed at all1 but went out to take a game of tennis4 ,at eight they were still playing1 but though they were in fancy costumes they did not attract much attention4 ,the tradesmen and others moving about at that hour no doubt supposed it was only some new ,bedford ,park fashion4 ,there seems to be a superstition on the ,continent that fancy-dress balls must take place in the winter1 and end with ,mi-,carme4 ,it does not prevail here4 ,it was on one of the softest nights of ,june that we had our last ball of that character4 ,the grounds1 which in one of our pictures are seen beyond the tennis-players1 were overhung with ,chinese lanterns1 and the sward and bushes were lit up1 as it were1 with many-tinted giant glow-worms4 ,the fte-champtre and the mirth of the ball-room went on side by side1 with only a balcony and its luxurious cushions between them4 ,comparatively few of the ladies sought to represent any particular 8character20 there were about two hundred present1 and fancy costumes for both sexes were de rigueur2 yet among all these there were few conventionally historical or allegorical characters4 ,there was a notable absence of ambitious and costly dresses4 ,the ladies had indulged their own tastes in design and color1 largely assisted1 no doubt1 by the many artists which ,bedford ,park can boast1 and the result was a most beautiful scene4 ,there is hardly an evening of the spring and summer when ,bedford ,park does not show unpurposed tableaux1 which1 were they visible any evening at the ,opera1 would be declared fine achievements of managerial art4 ,through the low and wide windows1 on which the curtains often do not fall1 the light of wax-candles comes out to mingle with the moonlight1 and many are they who wend their way from the more dismal suburbs to gaze in at the happy families en tableau1 and listen to the music stealing out on the ever-quiet air4 ,the new suburb which has thus come into existence swiftly1 yet so quietly that the building of it has not scared the nightingale ,i heard yesternight nor the sky-larks singing while ,i write1 has gone far toward the realization of some aims not its own1 ideals that have hitherto failed4 ,there is not a member of it who would not be startled1 if not scandalized1 at any suggestion that he or she belonged to a community largely socialistic4 ,they would allege1 with perfect truth1 that they are not even acquainted with the majority of their neighbors1 have their own circle of friends1 and go on with their business as men and women of the world4 ,nevertheless1 it is as certainly true that a degree in social evolution is represented by ,bedford ,park1 and that it is in the direction of that co-operative life which animated the dreams of ,pre ,enfantin and ,saint-,simon4 ,all society1 indeed1 must steadily and normally advance in that direction4 ,for a long time there have been tendencies to put more and more of the domestic work out upon establishments which all have in common4 ,as one baker prepares bread for many families1 and one laundry washes for many1 and the railway1 omnibus1 cab1 ply for many1 so other accommodations needed by all are found to be within reach of the co-operative principle2 even the luxuries of life are found to be largely within reach of it4 ,this village has been rendered possible by that principle1 though it had another aim4 ,houses of similar architecture have in recent years been built here and there in ,london and other cities1 but they have probably cost their owners a third more than they have cost here1 because the large number of families which agreed to buy or rent houses enabled the landlord and founder of ,bedford ,park to make large1 therefore comparatively cheap1 arrangements for the supply of materials and labor1 elsewhere special or exceptional4 ,by this means one of the chief advantages of co-operation was to some extent secured4 ,we have also our co-operative stores2 our newspapers and current literature are obtained in common2 we have billiard-rooms1 tennis lawn1 club conveniences1 and entertainments to a considerable extent in common2 and by the time this is read the ,tabard1 which has an excellent cook1 may be supplying the table d'hte at a rate sufficiently moderate to place a daily dinner within reach of families who may find that desirable4 ,thus the co-operative principle has shown its applicability to the requirements of the cultured class1 who are especially interested in making for their families beautiful homes1 without1 as ,thoreau said1 sacrificing life to its means4 ,incomes are largely increased when they need no longer be expended on the physical appliances of comfort beyond the actual advantage derived4 ,to keep a private carriage in order that it may be used an hour or two each day is not economy1 if an equally good carriage can be hired for the hours needed4 ,now and then we hear a little gossip when some of the dishes at a distinguished dinner-party are suspected of having been prepared by ,duclos instead of a private chef1 but the tendency of refined society is to smile still more at large outlays for ostentation4 ,but while in some regards ,bedford ,park must be considered a socialistic village1 it is almost the reverse of any community which has been so called hitherto1 and is far away from the rocks on which most of them have been wrecked4 ,no step in the planting or development of the village has been artificial1 or even prescribed2 each institution has appeared in response to a definite want4 ,it was not in consequence of any original scheme that the co-operative stores1 the club1 or the ,tabard ,inn were built4 ,the entire freedom of the village and of its inhabitants is unqualified by any theory whatever1 whether social1 political1 or economic4 ,it is the home of such various minds as ,james ,sime1 the biographer of ,lessing and ,schiller2 of ,bowdler ,sharpe1 the ornithologist 7active protector of our birds72 ,dr4,todhunter1 who has written a fine book on ,shelley2 ,spalding1 who wrote 8,elizabethan ,demonology20 ,julian ,hawthorne2 ,fox ,bourne1 author of the ,life of ,john ,locke1 ,miss ,richardson1 of the ,london ,school ,board1 and ,miss ,mary ,cecil ,hay1 the well-known novelist4 ,the eloquent and philanthropic chaplain of ,clerkenwell ,prison1 ,mr4 ,horsley1 is a resident of ,bedford ,park4 ,the professions are all well represented4 ,artists are especially numerous4 ,the new ,chiswick ,art ,school has been erected at ,bedford ,park4 ,it is connected with the ,science and ,art department of the government1 and under the direction of ,e4 ,s4 ,burchett and ,hamilton ,jackson1 has already become a flourishing institution4 ,illustration3 ,,an ,,artist',s ,,studio4 ,bedford ,park is in danger of becoming a show-place4 ,now and then the fair riders of ,hyde ,park extend afternoon exercise to enjoy a look at the new suburb4 ,and sometimes the statesman1 weary with his midnight work in ,parliament or in ,downing ,street1 finds relief in this quiet retreat4 ,professor ,fawcett is apt to put in an appearance on ,sunday afternoons1 and one day the grand face of ,john ,bright1 with its white halo of silken hair1 was seen among us4 ,m4 ,renan1 when he was delivering his ,hibbert lectures1 was entertained in one of our homes1 and pronounced ,bedford ,park 8que vritable utopie40 ,he appeared quite amazed at finding in ,london that ideal place which ,french enthusiasm has often dreamed of1 and which differs from the 8plain living and high thinking0 of the ,english philosophers4 ,for here1 where we have the scientific lecture one evening1 we may have theatricals on the next2 and if we have ambrosial poetry or classic music one day1 on the next the ladies will be found attending the ,school for ,cookery1 and learning how to make dishes dainty enough to set before any gourmand4 ,minister ,lowell has also paid us a visit1 and ,i believe he thought ,bedford ,park ought to be somewhere in the neighborhood of ,harvard ,university4 ,but our most memorable visitor was 8,h4 ,h410 whose eyes illuminated our town for a day or two1 and then went away with such pictures as can only be painted when such vision as hers comes upon such a vision as she found here4 ,she came from a beautiful home in a beautiful land2 from bright rooms decorated with many a brilliant stripe and spot contributed by the wild creatures and growths of ,colorado1 and touched all over with her own poetic taste2 and she realized at once that she had come to sister homes with hers1 where there was the same desire to cultivate beauty in harmony with nature4 ,the brilliant letter she wrote about her visit here comes back to ,bedford ,park just as ,i write this my last page1 and among the many reports that have been written of us none is more true4 ,my distant readers will perceive that my enthusiasm is not of delusion1 if ,i conclude my rambling paper by borrowing for a moment the pen of 8,h4 ,h40 8,only thirty minutes by rail from ,charing ,cross--gardens1 country air1 lanes1 bits of opens where daisies grow1 where fogs do not hang1 and from which far horizons can be seen--is not the ,london prisoner lucky that can flee his jail at night1 and sleep till morning in such a suburb8 ,lucky indeed1 no matter to what sort of house he escaped1 so it stood on a spot like this4 ,but when to the opens1 the clear air1 lanes1 and daisies1 it is added that1 fleeing thither1 the ,london prisoner may sit down and rest1 lie down and sleep in1 and rise up and enjoy1 a charming little ,queen ,anne house1 built1 colored1 and decorated throughout with good taste by artists who know what souls need as well as what bodies require1 there is conferred on him a double1 nay1 an immeasurable1 benefit and unreckonable obligation40 ,,the ,,end4 ,,printed ,,by ,,ballantine1 ,,hanson ,,and ,,co4 ,,edinburgh ,,and ,,london 99 99 99 99 99 ,,footnotes3 ,a ,the 8,stoning of ,stephen10 the 8,conversion of ,st4 ,paul10 and 8,paul in the ,dungeon at ,philippi40 ,b 8,catalogue of ,spanish ,works of ,art in the ,south ,kensington ,museum in #ahgb40 ,by ,seor ,juan ,f4 ,riao1 of the ,educational ,board of the ,ministry of ,fomento1 ,spain4 ,reprinted in ,mr4 ,robinson's ,catalogue of the ,loan ,exhibition of #ahha4 ,c ,since this was written ,general ,pitt ,rivers has offered his grand collection to the nation as a free gift1 and ,i am ashamed and astounded to learn that it has been declined6 ,the great men connected with the ,south ,kensington institutions--,huxley1 ,poynter1 ,cunliffe ,owen1 and others--were felicitating themselves at this splendid acquisition1 when this mysterious refusal came4 ,sir ,john ,lubbock1 as ,i write1 is questioning the ,government on the subject1 and it is possible the outrageous folly may be checked4 ,i regret to say there are indications that the cause of it is a certain jealousy that has sprung up in influential quarters at the prodigious growth of the ,south ,kensington collections4 ,for the moment they have managed to make the ,british ,museum a sort of dog-in-the-manger4 ,i cannot believe1 however1 that the country will consent that such jealousy shall become a contest so costly to itself4 ,the incident ,i have just mentioned tempts me to strike out from this work some complimentary things ,i have written concerning the administration of the ,science and ,art ,department2 but the facts have not yet been publicly sifted1 and ,i leave what is written in hope that the result of this strange affair may not turn all its admiration to satire4 ,d ,heine4 ,translated by ,charles ,leland4 99 99 99 99 99 ,typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber3 explanatory catalogue of #abdg explanatory catalogue of #ahdg pg #hj which all from the cornice to the floor which fall from the cornice to the floor pg #aig