500
M. Colin, of Epinal, in the department of the Vosges ■(Prance, 1564, p. 1251), exhibits a collection of themarbles, granites, and serpentines of that part of Prance. ;Some are of considerable beauty. i
A vase and group of figures in Italian serpentine, |exhibited by Mr. Noncm (Class XXX., 309, p.840), are imentioned here simply as illustrations of the material. ITwo large vases of a peculiar material called agate !marble, harder than alabaster, and nearly as transparent, jmay also be seen among the objects sent by this exlii- jbitor. |
b. Jasper, Jade, Agate , Crystal , and Spar. j
The jasper and quartz rocks of Siberia , well known asmaterials of extreme hardness, worked only in the Russianempire, and rarely met with except as Imperial presentsto priuces and distinguished foreigners, furnish a group ofvery remarkable objects exhibited among the Russian 'goods, and deserving of notice on all accounts. !
The material of some of these vases is quartz rock, but |most are of a kind of pseudo-jasper, or pseudo-jaspic lava,of greenish colour and extreme toughness and hardness,resisting almost every tool, and requiring to be cut■with emery in the maimer of gems. These rocks chieflyexist in Siberia, beyond the Oural , and are in greatabundance and variety. The vases exhibited from Russia are of this jaspic rock, and were worked at the Im-perial manufactories of Ekaterinburg and Kolyvau.In these manufactories it is stated that almost thewhole of the work is performed by manual labour; theonly machine used being, in fact, a very simple kind oflathe, on which the object to be turned is placed, andworked by iron tools and emery. No tool will touchthese stones: botli chisel and file of the hardest temperturning without producing any effect. The time neces-sary for finishing vases of consideral.de magnitude isoften many years, and their value must be calculated bythe cost of the large establishment kept at constant workfor the sole purpose of preparing them.
Of the works of this kind in the Exhibition, there isone of square form at the top, measuring nearly threefeet on each side, hollowed under the rim, and orna-mented with foliage in the hollow. This vase is workedwith great skill and accuracy; but the colour of thejasper is not satisfactory; there are also some Haws: thesize, however, is unusually large, and the labour of exe-cution must therefore have been enormous. It wasmade in the Imperial Polishing Manufactory of Ekaterin-burg, in Perm (Russia , 326, p. 1379), to the OfficialDirector of which the Jury have adjudged a Prize Medal.
Several vases of smaller size are sent from the ImperialManufactory of Ivolyvan, Government of Tomsk, Siberia ,for which a Prize Medal is also adjudged (Russia , 327,p. 1380). One of them is very beautiful, both in formand material, being an olive-green jasper urn, decoratedwith admirably worked foliage in relief. The successfulexecution of some of the leaves must have involvedextraordinary difficulties.
Although the vases exhibited from Russia are not,perhaps, the largest that have been prepared, the Juryare desirous of recording the expressions of their Chair-man, in a memoir submitted by him to the Jury. “ Sucharc the dimensions and weight of these masses of pietradura, that I must say I know of no similar works; nor doI believe that any so difficult and well finished have beenexecuted since the times of the Greeks and Romans. As
number of very beautiful objects were added to the Scan-dinavian exhibition, among which was one vase of polishedgranite of gigantic proportions, sent by His Majesty theKing of Sweden , and manufactured at the Royal Porphyry"Works of Palecarlin, instituted to supply work for thepoor peasantry. This vase is of very peculiar form, theprincipal and central portion being egg-shaped, and mea-suring 6 feet in height and 4 feet 4 inches in diameter inthe largest part. Much larger objects have indeed beenmade in these works, one highly-finished tazza being de- jscribed, the diameter of which is no less than 11 feet, butthis was too large to be safely conveyed. The vase is of adelicate pink granitoid porphyry, and is extremely admira-ble and perfect, both in design and execution.
examples of the same kind, and of those times, I wouldcite the statue of home in the Capitol, and a very beau-tiful fragment of drapery most exquisitely worked, bothwhich are of porphyry. There are also, in Koine , somebeautiful busts, of the size of nature, and of the mostperfect finish, in basalt/’
A large number of works in jade arc exhibited, fromIndia and China , together with a number of objectscarved in quartz rock trock crystal), many of them inlaidwith gems, and of extraordinary richness and beauty.These works in crystal and jade imolve nearly the samedifficulties as those of jasper, just described; but many ofthem are of so small a size that they rather come underthe denomination of jewellery, and are the work of thegem-cutter rather than of the sculptor. The same may hesaid of numerous objects in agate, cornelian, and othermaterial, no doubt considered by the Jury of anotherClass. The objects of this description from India areremarkable for admirable execution, and elegance ofshape. Those from China are equally well executed, butoften exhibit monstrous and distorted forms. As, how-ever, the members of the Jury were not permitted toexamine the goods from China " they are not justified inrecommending any reward to the exhibitor. The agatescut into various forms and exhibited abundantly fromIndia , are well worthy of notice as mineral manufactures,but have been fully described both with reference to thematerial itself and the modes adopted in working it, inthe Illustrated Official Catalogue. There will be foundin that Catalogue a very interesting account of the largetrade in hard stones and gems now regularly carried onin India ; and great benefit might accrue if advantagewere taken of the price of labour in the East, and oppor-tunity given for supplying the European market withvarious articles made of these substances, and used inthe arts.
The transition from gem-cutting, on this giganticscale, to the true work in pietra dura, known as Florentinemosaic, is easy and natural. The material used in thislatter kind of work is nearly the same in many cases, andthe work differs only in its smaller size and greaterdelicacy of finish. Still the subject of mosaic or inlaidwork is essentially distinct, and is more convenientlytreated of under a separate heading.
Eefore concluding this part of the subject, it is ne-cessary to allude briefly to the Derbyshire manufactureof fluor spar (locally called Elue John), often workedinto vases and other ornaments. This material is beau-tiful, but rare, and requires great skill in working, owingto its extreme brittleness. It is only obtained in themassive state adapted for cutting from a single mine nearCastleton. When the shades of colour are clear andwell-defined, the mineral is used in its natural condition,and the fine specimens of this kind are very valuable;but in most eases it is necessary to expose the spar toheat, the temperature being regulated with great care.Ey these means some of the coloured bands become pale,and the remaining tints assume a peculiar purple oramethystine hue. All the varieties of colour of fluorspar are worked in Derbyshire ; but the blue is the mostesteemed. The manufacture of this material dates as farback as the middle of the last century.
The exhibitors of this mineral are, Mr. Vallance (40,p. 766) (who has a gigantic vase 39 inches high, eightother vases, twelve tazzas, and several other specimens),Mr. Hall and Mr. Tennant (37, 38, p. 76C), Mr.Erigiit (80, p. 769), Mr. Woodruff (77, p. 769), andMr. Jkpson (13*2, p. 776). The objects are vases, tazzas,and sundry miscellaneous ornaments, chiefly small.
G. Mosaics or Inlaid Work in Stone.
The art of mosaic (opus musivum of the Romans), ori-ginally applied only to the combination of small dice-shaped stones (tesserm) in patterns, has very long beenan important source of labour to the inhabitants ofseveral parts of Italy , and under various modifications isnow carried on in the principal cities of Europe . Themanufacture has long ceased to be confined to combina-tions of tessera', and is now understood to include allkinds of inlaid and veneered work, in whatever material.