Class XXX.]

FIXE ART CASTING.

707

J. A. Hatfield, of London (135, p. 829). “Foley’sYouth at the Stream.” This work is deserving of notice,as a remarkable specimen of casting.

Zollverein . The foundry of Count G. Eixsiedel,of Lauchhammer in Prussian Saxony (1 Zollverein , 762,p. 1092), exhibits a great number of large and importantspecimens of casting. Among them may be especiallynoticed the figure of a Girl at the Fountain, by Wichmann,a very good example of casting and tooling.

Fiuehel (1 Zollverein , 289, p. 1086). This artist hasexecuted, at Berlin, the whole of the casts of Rauch’smonument of Frederick the Great . A NewfoundlandDog, after a model by Moller, and remarkably well castand tooled, and a number of smaller figures were ex-hibited by this artist.

"C. U. Fischer, of Berlin (1 Zollverein , 296, p. 1066).This artist also exhibited a great number of casts, amongwhich may be especially noticed an Eagle, and a Danaid,after Rauch.

Kesler, of Greiswald (1 Zollverein , 299, p. 1066).The figure of the Muse Polyhymnia, in the Royal Museumat Berlin ; a very successful specimen of raw casting.

Miller, director of the celebrated Royal BronzeFoundry at Munich (2 Zollverein , 90, p. 1102), anestablishment which has accomplished much under hismanagement, and which, under its late director,Stiglmayer, had already produced such an abundance ofcastings, and on so colossal a scale.

Those executed by Miller are the Lion , -which has beenalready noticed in this Report, and the two noble figuresby Schwanthaler , the first of these being a specimen ofraw casting, and the two figures being tooled.

Tiiese works are most admirable for the sharpness andclearness of the casting, and also for the beautiful sub-dued colour of the bronze.

France. Eck and Durant, of Paris (1211, p. 1235).The Dancing Satyr, by Lequesne; an excellent cast, welltooled.

Quksxel, of Paris . The Yenus and Cupid, by Pradier,aud the group of a Hunter killing a Stag , by Jean Debay,are also well worthy of notice.

Simons and Sons, of Paris (460, p. 1200). The bust ofa Negro, by Cordier; a masterly specimen both of cast-ing and tooling.

( b .) Castings in Zinc.

Zollverein. M. Geiss, of Berlin (1 Zollv., 267, 279,pp. 1063-65). In the establishment of this artist the

casting of zinc has been brought to remarkable perfec-tion, and works of sculpture, of a colossal and of thesmallest scale, as well as architectural ornaments of themost refined taste, have been reproduced in this material.

By a process recently introduced, copper is depositedon the zinc by galvanic action; a bronze surface is thusproduced, which is as beautiful as it is durable. TheExhibition contained the following admirable examplesof the casting of this establishment:—The Amazon, byKiss; the Hebe, by Canova; the Boy with the Swan, byKalide; Baily’s Eve; tlie celebrated figure in the Glyp-tothek at Munich , known as the “ llioneus,” or the“Niobid;” two Stags, by Rauch; also a Corinthian andan Ionic Capital.

I am of opinion that the Council Medal was quiteas fully deserved by this establishment as by that of the“ Vieille Montagne .”

Sp. Devaranne and Sox (p. 1085). This firm hasalso brought the art of casting in zinc to great perfection,and exhibited a number of works of the same kind asthose contributed by Geiss.

Out of this great collection the following may be men-tioned as most worthy of notice: the Venus, by Canova ;a Lion and a Panther, life-size; and the Danaid, byRauch.

Belgium. The establishment called “ La Vieille Mon-tagne,” in Belgium (pp. 161 and 1152), which has pro-duced a number of zinc castings of remarkable excellence,has exhibited one most masterly specimen, Her MajestyQueen Victoria , seated on her throne.

(c.) Castings in Iron .

England. The Coalbrookdale Company (G41,Class XXII., p. 659). A very successful cast of Bell’sEagle-slayer.

Zollverein . The Royal Iron Foundry of Berlin(1 Zollv., 271, p. 1061). The great importance of thisestablishment has been already pointed out iu the noticeof the several specimens exhibited by it. The process ofGalvanoplastic deposit may be here also noticed, as anothermode by which sculpture may be reproduced witli accu-racy, and at a reasonable cost.

Julius Winckelmann (1 Zollv., 2S2, p. 1065), pro-prietor of a Galvanoplastic establishment iu Berlin . Thestatue of Frederick William II., Elector of Brandenburg.This work is very remarkable on account of tlie greatsharpness of the forms.

C. WAAGEN, Reporter.

November 1851.

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