Nervations will be found among the innumerable applica-tions of brass-work to which the use of gas has givenrise ; such as fittings, brackets, pedestal burners, chan-deliers, table-lamps, &c.,both for domestic use, for shops,and for public buildings, all of which are of excellentand substantial workmanship, but many marked by avicious taste and the absence of artistic knowledge.Articles such as these being in common use, and con-stantly before the eyes, have a considerable influence onpublic taste, which it is accordingly in thepower of manu-facturers to guide to a larger extent than they seem will-ing to suppose.
These remarks scarcely apply to English brass-workstruck from dies. The cornices, curtain-pins and bands,finger-plates, &c., prepared in this manner are intendedfor purchasers chiefly belonging to the cultivated classes ;3 'et the specimens exhibited are almost uniformly betterin execution than design. This is the more to be re-gretted, because the merit of work of this kind, supposingno defect in the metal, due precision in the impression,and a proper colour in the lacquer, depends entirely onthe excellence and propriety of the design. A good de-sign, in faot, can be as easily and cheaply executed as aninferior one; and although the Exhibition furnishes afew creditable specimens, this branch of manufacturewill no doubt advance as knowledge of art and goodtaste are cultivated. It is necessary, however, to observe,that the specimens on the French side are not on thewhole superior to those of British manufacture ; andpossibly, sufficient attention has not yet been paid eitherin thiscomtry or abroad to the character of design, andthe peculiar artistic effects which are compatible with theprocess of execution.
Bells and gongs coming to a certain extent under thedescription of Musical Instruments, the Jury consideredit advisable to request the assistance of the Sub-Jury A.of Class X, who obligingly communicated to them aReport on the merits of the various bells exhibited. ThisReport wil be found in the Appendix (B).
The oruimental brass-work of French manufacture,which, besdes being the largest contribution from anyforeign country, enters most successfully into competi-tion with b)me manufacturers of the same kind, is gene-rally remarkable for skilful and varied artistic treatment.It differs f*om the British rather in the uniform intel-ligence witi which the ornamentation, whether little ormuch, is designed and executed, than in the absolutesuperiorityof individual examples. The ornamentation isof every ki:d : ranging from profuse and heavy scroll-workto decoratnn in low relief; but there may be remarked,in particulir, a taste for a peculiar treatment which pro-duces a rkhly-studded or jewelled effect, with sharp,clear, and decisive shadows, approaching to the characterof the wo:k termed Elizabethan. The introduction ofcolour by neans of jewels in paste, by enamelling, or bya difference of metal, is more frequently taken advantageof by Frenrh than by British manufacturers. By theseaids, and tie enrichment of surfaces by ornaments of asimilar character, a picturesque and frequently brillianteffect is imparted. In careful finish, however, much isto be desired; the joints and fittings of separate portionsbeing oftei so clumsy and unworkmanlike as to createdissatisfacton on a near examination. This deficiencymay be ex-.mplified by a comparison of the ecclesiasticalbrass-work exhibited by Poussifxgue-Rusand (France ,1405, p. 1243), with articles of a similar character inthe collection furnished by Messrs. Hardman, of Bir-mingham 532, p. 701 \ in the Mediaeval Court. In thisinstance, besides, the French productions display far lessintelligence in design than the English ; the formerbeing imbted to a considerable extent with the peculiarcharacter proverbially, though now improperly assignedto Birmingiam work; while the latter is entirely devoidof it.
French Ironzes and small ornaments of mixed mate-rials, pendtles , dishes and vases for fiowers, &c., areexhibited n great profusion, and on the whole merithigh comnenilation. The spirit, fancy, and inventionthey display are unbounded. Here again the remark isapplicable, that single examples on the British side, for
instance from the collections of J. A. IIatftkld (135,p. 829), of Potts, of Messenger (323, pp. 630, 631),and of The Coalurook Dale Company (641, pp. GGO,661), may he placed side by side with many of theFrench specimens with no disadvantage to the former;but that on the whole the French manufactures of thiskind deserve the pre-eminence. It may be doubted,however, whether, in point of purity of taste, this praisewhich the Jury willingly accord does not require somequalification. They find in the bronzes of Prussian,German, and Italian manufacture, a purity of form anda uniform carefulness of design and finish, which theyconsider well worthy of observation; and which, ona comparison with French works of the same kind,give them an advantage over the latter in these re-spects. The questionable taste, in particular, in whichmany French pendules are designed, is scarcely compen-sated for by the obvious dexterity of the modelling andchasing.
The examples of zinc manufactures, castings, and gal-vano-plastic productions are more numerous from France ,Belgium, and the States of the Zollverein , than fromBritain . In this country the use of this metal hashitherto been chiefly confined to the manufacture ofhousehold utensils and conveniences, such as baths andvessels for culinary and other purposes, for alloys, gal-vanizing, and coating other metals, and as a substitutefor lead in the roofing of houses, &c. On the Continent ,in addition to the application of zinc to purposes ofutility (which is carried on to the same, perhaps to alarger extent), the metal has also within the last fewyears been pretty extensively employed as a substitutefor bronze in casting statues and other objects of artboth on a large and small scale. For this purpose itappears to offer considerable advantages; though it maybe doubted whether experience of its use is as yet suffi-cient to warrant a very decided judgment. The effect,however, of these castings, whether vith a surface ofzinc or with auother metallic coating, is in general good;and at all events, the cheapness and comparative lightnessof the metal seem to he in its favour as a means of formingcheap duplicates of objects of high art existing in themore costly materials of bronze or marble. The speci-mens exhibited by Geiss (1 Zollv., 267, pp. 1063, 1064\and Dkvaranne and Sox, of Berlin (1 Zollv., 280, p.1065), by Madame De Bkaux D’Anglure (France , 779,p. 1218), and by the Belgian Socilte de la Vieili.kMontagnk (Belgium , 26, p. 1152), are the most notice-able. The latter, in particular, have most fully andsuccessfully exemplified the various uses to which zincmay be applied ; and the specimens exhibited are calcu-lated to afford useful hints to the manufacturers of theUnited Kingdom . The use of zinc for preventing theoxidation of iron, its aptnesss for perforation, and itsgeneral application to domestic purposes, are alreadyrecognised in this country : but it is obvious that onmain- accounts it may be advantageously employed toa larger extent, especially in cases where the unyieldingcharacter of iron, and the high cost of copper, presentobstacles to their use. The Jury believe that zinc hasbeen scarcely, if at all, resorted to in this country forstatuary and the casting of small groups of figures andornaments.
In copper, zinc, and general braziery, the exhibitorsare on the whole not numerous. On the French sideMessrs. Estivant Brothers (1214, p. 1235) affordexamples of brass caldrons of extraordinary excellenceof workmanship; and from Belgium a nest of brass pansare sent in an unfinished state, which, however, favour-ably indicate the condition of that kind of industry.The coffee and tea-urns and kettles of this countrypresent no striking improvement in form or in otherrespects: and the copper eulii ary utensils, although wellexecuted, appear to be giving way to vessels of iron,which, owing to its cheapness ar.d the recent improve-ments which have been made in tinning and enamelling,is likely to supersede the use of copper for these pur-poses: the objections formerly made to it on account ofits weight and the risk of fracture, having been removedby the substitution of sheet for cast iron.