the new-york exhibition illustrated.

Mai class for training and qualifying masters, rendered it necessary to se. ec. sdents from the Eoyal Academy—clever painters of small pictures, or incipiesculptors, who, valuing the appointments from the convenience t ey a or eliving whilst executing unsalable, works, cared little for the schoo s, an sfor their real purpose, that of applying art to manufacture. . Upon e a er,either looked with contempt, or were content to remain in ignorance othing they had undertaken to teach. As might he expected, the c oo s osign, originally intended as schools of ornamental and industrial art, eca .ther more nor less than drawing-schools, chiefly for the children o 101111classes. Nor was drawing taught upon a scientific basis. The examp es o e ornary drawing-master were used, and conventional landscape took t le p ac ^vere outline, prettinesses usurped the place of true art, and the artisan, ®and disheartened, found little to attract him to devote his leisure murs 1ing that which was useless to him when mastered. In one sc 100 . y° l &c _

of good family and ample means were getting instruction in drawing -

complishment at three cents per lesson, the rest being paid out o e P u . .whilst the wants of the class of workmen and their sons, for w ose estruction this school was founded, were all but neglected. Sue as a 0could not go on for any length of time, and accordingly, in 1849, r -son, the member of Parliament for Manchester, obtained the appom 10Committee of the House of Commons to inquire into the whole system o gment. The result of this inquiry was the full proof that the schools ha notheir work, that they never would do it without a more distinct sys emtion and supervision, and that the wants of each district in its own speciatures, should be consulted in the direct application of the system o .pursued, whatever that might be. The Government, for the time em ®’ onc0any change emanating from the report of the Committee; but, t ia 10 1 .

disposed of, a desire was shown on the part of the Board of rat e, 0schools more efficient in the plans indicated by the evidence givenCommittee. The Great Exhibition of 1851 intervened, and t ose w otated the question were engaged in carrying out that underta mg o

sion. Early in 1852, however, a new department of the Boar 0 1 ,. a Mr

ganized, to be called the Department of Practical Art at ■ t <Uiea<. oHenry Cole, 0. B., one of the most active members of the Executof the Great Exhibition, was placed as General Superintendent, '‘

Redgrave, B. A., as Assistant Superintendent. TV, tbeir

as heads of the department, the whole management reononsibilitv

confided. Here there was a real tangible beginning of a system of 1 H

Which had been so long advocated. , , tUnt,

As a beginning of the new organization, the Queen gran e tFo

part of Marlborough House, formerly the residence of Queen A e ’ 0Sfuture residence of the Prince of Wales, which was not occupie _ nnTen i ell cesof the Yernon Collection. These unoccupied rooms presented manyfor the purpose, and were at once fitted up and adapted for c ass an i, e( i r oomsA lecture theatre was formed out of the kitchen of the pa ace, rbecame suddenly useful as libraries and offices, but above a > a P -whichbuilding was devoted to the formation of a museum of manu ac m exam _art as applied thereto, could be illustrated in its best forms, and t ^.

pies placed before the manufacturer, the artisan, the stu en , ^ _

thus teaching all, by the best of processes, an aPP®^* 0 Fortunate ly forpriety and fitness, whilst contemplating the rhoicest oro-

this movement, the Great Exhibition had brought together theductions of modern times. By the advice of Lord Granville, who, as VcelLra*dent of the Board of Trade, was the ministerial head of the s< *° ’ , for the

ment had determined to apply £5,000 sterling in the pure ase o , ere

use of the schools about to be so thoroughly reformed. Fourgentlemen wereappointed as a committee to select them, Mr. H. Cole, • U S i

Mg,.,., E A. The whole Che —™,fine selection of articles was, on tlie whole, made by them. » . £ xpos i_

very fine collection of works of a similar character, purchase a 1 , . t, een

tion of 1844, but which had been scarcely ever seen by the pu i , th(J

placed in out-of-the-way corners in the school at Somerse . 01 ’ In addi _

nucleus of this new and practical museum of modern skill an m ' OX00 j_

tion to the articles thus purchased for the nation, the Queen as decoratedlent specimens of ancient and modern art in gold, silver, c nna, a gQ excellentarmour and furniture, the nobility and collectors genera y o p ut on

This m ’_ ,,/i

Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, it. is open to st , . .

and those of the public whogo forstud y'. andthe V ^ 1U tF0ll g h a n ot r yet very extensive,lege is tested by a fee of sixpence. This museum, t. S -vrotmnnliq

bas become a point of attraction to all intelligent visitors o 10 anDlied to

Th. fcr „Ln. t ol.,, 1 « —ton » «

Manufactures, having been determined upon, the g TT A

hitherto taught at Somerset House, were became simply

change was thus made m the character of the f° ■> . h . ohnlished

a preparatory school for the latter. More recently it has been or ,s to be abolished

altogether, as the public service requires the departments for offices, and the func-tions of this single school are to be performed by a number of elementary schoolsspread over the London districts at convenient distances from each other.

In connection with so rational a mode of meeting the wants of a largecity, by a number of small establishments rather than a solitary great one, ele-mentary schools are proposed and are now in course of establishment in manyprovincial towns, whose claims to a grant for ^school of Ornamental Artwould be more than problematic, while the meamPof supporting one by localmeans would be totally inadequate. These schools, commencing with the ele-ments of drawing, prepare the student to take advantage of the higher and moreadvanced classes in the larger schools. In connection with this movement also,there is a plan for extending instruction in drawing into any primary schoolwhich receives State support. This is of a very elementary character, but theteachers, male and female, are expected to qualify themselves to give such instruc-tion, and classes for teachers are found in nearly all the large schools of Orna-mental Art, in which instruction is given free. Eventually there can be littledoubt that the power to draw, and teach its elementary practice and principles,will be an indispensable requisite in any teacher applying for a certificate.

Of course a most important point in the successful management of theseschools, is a proper provision for a constant supply of good examples at a cheaprato, and also the supply of good and cheap materials. The old management madegrants of examples to the various schools, free of cost; such examples, however,were still considered to be the property of this government, in the event of theschool in which they were deposited being abandoned, or being prevented fromits legitimate use. The examples usually consisted of an admirable series ofornamental casts, from the best antique specimens deposited in the various! museums of Italy, France, Germany and England, and also of full size plaster castsof the more celebrated antique statues, such as the Apollo Bolvidere, Venus deMedici, Discobolus, the Fighting Gladiator, or Agas, as it is sometimes called, theTheseus and llissus of the Elgin Marbles, and others. Examples in color werealso furnished, but owing to their cost but very sparingly. In the elementarydepartments of the schools an abundant supply of excellent lithographs were fur-nished as examples for crayon practice, and an admirable series of outlines, prepar-ed expressly for the use of these schools, by Mr. Dyce, during his directorship. Norshould the works by Gruncz be forgotten, since they also contain some admirableexamples in the midst of much which might have been better done. This work waspublished under the sanction of the Council of the School of Design at SomersetHouse, an undertaking being given that a certain number of copies should bepurchased for the use of the schools, as some guarantee to the publisher againstloss. In the matter of materials, nothing was done until the present departmentwas organized, and in this important point samples of materials, with the pricesand the address of those who make or sell them, are now given at the cost priceof the samples only.*

Examples are no longer supplied, or perhaps it would be more correct to saylent, free. It was found that in too many instances the examples supplied werenot useful to the locality to which they were sent, or their use was neglected.The plan now adopted, is to supply whatever examples any school may requirefor absolute use, at half the cost price , the other half being defrayed out of anannual grant of money made for that purpose. The fact of paying half price,proves that the examples are wanted, and therefore that the remaining half maybe safely calculated upon as well spent from the public purse.

In addition to the examples requisite for study, grants of valuable works onart were made to the largest of the provincial schools, thus forming a library ofreference in each district, whilst the wants of the students, as regards the historyof art and all matters connected therewith, were provided for by well selectedlending libraries, from which students of proper age and standing were privilegedto borrow works hearing upon their pursuits in art. From the floating characterof the population, it was found, especially in London, that the lendinglibrary required renewal very frequently; and it is now abandoned at Marl-borough House, the new centre of the schools. In most of the provincialschools, however, lending libraries still form one of the many advantages offeredto students, but the dilapidation of the books, frequent losses, and no source offurther supply, must ere long tend to the same result as at head-quarters. Thelibraries of reference are kept up with great care, and most of them afford excel-lent means of correcting the taste of designs and manufactures, as in most in-stances they are freely open at proper hours to all who wish to examine or con-sult them. At Birmingham, for instance, the school prospectus concludes withan invitation to all persons interested, to avail themselves of the library undercertain orderly regulations. At Marlborough House, London, the library has beenthoroughly classified, and where defective, renewed. Additional works are con-stantly being bought, and any student of art, manufacturer, or designer, can haveany work upon any style of art, if in the library, handed to him to consult, orto make sketches and memoranda from it.

* A collection of these examples and diagrams is now exhibited in the Crystal Palace by the Depart-

ment of Practical Art.

10S