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CLASS XIII.
REPORT ON MANUFACTURES IX SILK AND VELVET.
[The figures after the Names (between Parentheses) refer to the Exhibitors’ Numbers and to the Pages in theOfficial Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue.]
Jimj.
George Tawke Kemp, Chairman, 35 Spital Square; Silk Manufacturer.Akles-Dufouk, Deputy Chairman , France ; Member of Central Jury.
Thomas \\ inkwortii. Reporter , Gresham Club, London ; formerly Silk Manufacturer.Samuel Couktauld, 2 Carey Lane, Cheapside; Crape Manufacturer.
Lieut.-Colonel Henry Daniell, Turkey; Coldstream Guards.
Thomas Jeffcoat. Coventry ; Kibbon Manufacturer.
Antonio Radice, Austria ; Vice-President of Chamber of Commerce, Verona.
The Jury of this Class have in their awards endeavouredto adhere to the instructions they received from the
Sub-Committee of Chairmen, ” as to the principles bywhich it Mas desirable they should be governed; andalthough in many cases the great mem of individual ex-hibitors seemed to justify such a deviation therefrom aswould have enabled the Jury to recommend the CouncilMedal, they have abstained from so doing.
They have also made their awards rather with regardto individual merit, than to the rival claims which a com-parison between the productions of exhibitors from dif-ferent countries, or from the same country, might, if theMedals were limited in number, have rendered necessary.Had it been otherwise, the delicate, and to some extentinvidious, duty of selection, where so much of approxi-mation of merit exists, would have been still more onerousthan they have felt it to be; and they confidently trustthat credit will be given them for an anxious desire to dojustice to all parties whose productions have been sub-mitted to their inspection and judgment.
Not among the least of the difficulties under which theJury have felt themselves placed, is that which arisesout of the discretion they were allowed to exercise ofnaming exhibitors whose aggregate productions, thoughof high merit, are not yet sufficiently so to entitle themto Prize Medals.
It must be obvious that unless all these articles are ofthe first class as to quality, a line must be drawn betweenthose which are and those which may be very nearly so:this the Jury have endeavoured to do, and in namingthose exhibitors who in their judgment appear in thislatter category, they think it better to abstain from men-tioning the grounds on which in each instance their judg-ment is based.
As there is a very proper rule which prohibits Jurymenfrom receiving Medals in the Classes where they serve,the Jury can only mention that three of their numberbeing exhibitors, no opinions on their productions areoffered. They are Mr. J. Vertu, Silk Merchant, ofTurin (p. 1303); Mr. Samuel Courtauld, of the firm ofSamuel Courtauld and Co, of Braintree, Booking, andHalstead, also of London (p. 505); and Mr. G. T. Kemp,of the firm of Stone and Kemp, Silk Manufacturers, ofSpitalfields (p. 504).
The important position which the silk trade, in all itsstages and branches, now occupies, would appear to callfor an extended report on its present condition in eachcountry where it is cultivated; but the Jury do not feelit to be any part of their duty to go beyond such noticesas the several classes of productions to be found in theExhibition, and comprised in Class XIII., may suggest.They do not possess the elements necessary to a statisticaldetail and historical resume of this trade, and will there-fore address themselves to such points of interest as mayarise out of the awards they have made, taking the severalcountries which have exhibited in alphabetical order.
Before, however, they proceed to these particulars, itmay be proper to remark, that with respect to the stapleof this manufacture, the several samples to be found inthe Exhibition afford but faint evidence of the great per-fection to which the cultivation of the raw material hasarrived in many countries. Although it has been assignedto the Jury of Section IV. to report on this department,it is so intimately connected with the thrown article, andforms so essential an ingredient in the production of per-fect manufactured goods, that a passing observation may-be excused. France alone has responded heartily to theinvitation to exhibit cocoons, as well as reeled and thrownsilks, no less a number than fifty-four producers havingsent samples; while other countries in which it abounds,as Piedmont, Lombardy , the Homan States, the Tyrol,Spain, Turkey, India, and China , have together onlysupplied about fifty exhibitors. Naples, the immediateseat of a valuable quality of raw silk, has only contributeda single sample.
The importance of this material to France , as an articleof national industry, may be gathered from the fact thatthe annual value of the quantity produced is stated to benot less than six millions sterling. What proportion thislarge amount bears to the aggregate or separate value ofthe products of the other countries just mentioned, theJury have not the means of ascertaining: it cannot, how-ever, but be very considerable.
The silk productions of this country, as seen in theExhibition, consist principally of thrown silks, ribbons,garments, furniture, and ecclesiastical manufacturedgoods, handkerchiefs, crapes, &c., all of which are moreor less indicatory of a high state of cultivation, and reflectcredit on the skill of the manufacturers.
The exhibition of manufactured silks from this country,while it amply sustains the reputation she has long en-joyed for damask and other articles, is not sufficientlynovel to justify more than a passing notice. The Juryhave, however, much pleasure in tendering their thanksto Mr. H. H. Lindsay (p. 1422), and to Mr. L. Dent(p. 604), for the beautiful collection they have made, andsent for inspection, of the goods peculiar to that nation.
Enclaxd.
A very slight glance at the goods exhibited by theEnglish manufacturers will enable those who have at-tended to the state of the silk trade of this country, toobserve the great progress which lias been made in qua-lity, design, and cheapness during the last twenty years.Until within that period this brauch of manufacture wascomparatively inconsiderable, but it is now one of greatimportance, both as regards the quantity and value ofthe goods produced, and the exteut of the markets opened