712

SUPPLEMENTARY RETORT OX DESIGN.

f Class XXX.

In these remarks it is not intended to plead for the :desirableness of such establishments in our own country, ■but only to point them out as the means whereby other jnatious have attained to great excellence. It is no answerto such an argument, although it is indeed true, to say |that without these aids the general manufacture of such Ifabrics in Germany and France is behind our own; and ;that the private show of such works by Minton, Corn - jland, and others, is, both as to manufacture and design, !superior to that of any private manufacturer of thosecountries. This may arise from various causes; but withthe like advantages on our side it may well be imaginedthat much greater excellence would have been attained,the want of skilled art-workmen being felt and acknow-ledged by these manufacturers as a great hindrance to ithe complete success of their manufacture. Moreover, itis but fair to remember that such royal and nationalestablishments, by the beautiful works produced in them,have added largely to the number of rewards won byother nations in this peaceful contention, and have placedat some apparent disadvantage the manufacturers andworkmen of our own country. Let us hope, however,that the time is coming when England will seize eagerlyevery proper means of improvement. Symptoms of itare already abroad; and there seems a likelihood that theGreat Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations will bevaluable to all in showing short-comings as well as excel-lences ; and to none will it be more so than to the Britishnation, if it awakens us to a knowledge of our deficiencyin ornamental art, aud to a hearty endeavour immediatelyto remedy it.

It has already been stated that this Report originatedin the consideration of “designs.” It is proper, there-fore, that the works of the designer should be examinedand commented on, before the manufactures to the con-struction or for the ornamentation of which they were in-tended to be applied. From the artists we have a rightto expect that true taste, that scientific knowledge, andthose sound principles, too often wanting in the manu-factured works. The difficulties to be overcome in thevarious processes, or the limited resources of the manu-facturer, together with the influence of the public tasteon the demauds of the market, may form some excuse fortlfe manufacturer if his efforts are imperfect, or directedto sale rather than to excellence. But the designer hasso long exclaimed against the bondage which has obligedhim to please the public and the manufacturer at thesacrifice of his own better judgment, that he ought gladlyto have seized on the present opportunity to exhibit afaith and practice of his own. Now at least he was atliberty to appeal to the few, and, untrammelled by anyconditions, to exhibit his own powers, his own know- !ledge, taste, and better Judgment, to lead men to the jappreciation of the simple and the chaste as the truesource of the beautiful. Another reason for commencing :with the examination of the works of the artists was, that iif the stream was pure at the fountain, the blame would ijustly lie with those who afterwards defiled it; or, inplain words, if the designer were proved to have set agood example in his works, false taste, where found,might be placed at the door of the manufacturer; while,on the contrary, some allowance might be made for himif the authorized teacher were wanting in taste and trueprinciples. j

Before proceeding with the-subject, however, it is ne-cessary to arrange, under some general heads, the variousworks of the designer, and applications of design, whichare to form the subject of this Report.. The largeness oftke^ field must be an excuse, if many combinations of >design and manufacture are entirely overlooked, others 'very slightly alluded to, and all imperfectly considered, jThe many thousand specific applications of design, and !the large number of classes and sub-classes into which !the labours of the designer enter, render it impossible, in jthe time and space allotted for such a Report, to give jmore than a general resume of the subject. The attempt, !therefore, has rather been to arrive at general principles 'than to enter upon the examination of individual objects. \At the same time, the principles that are found to guide jthe designer for one fabric are often so self-evidentlv ■

applicable to others, that, even thus generalized, theReport has reference to numerous manufactures whichhave not been specially considered, and to many indi-vidual cases that do not range exactly under any one ofthe heads named in it.

The method adopted has been to declare the generalprinciples, as far as they can be arrived at, which oughtto govern the design and ornamentation of any fabric, toindicate prevailing errors and false taste, and to alludesparingly to such works of merit as seem wholly or largelycomposed with good taste aud on sound principles.

The proposed classification divides itself under fourgeneral heads:—Decoration of Buildiugs—Domestic andother Furniture —Domestic Utensils and objects of Per-sonal Use—Garment Fabrics.

The general heads will be again subdivided as fol-lows :—

1. Decoration of buildings, consisting of-—

1st. Architectural decorations, painted, Sec.

2nd. Stone, carved wood, terra cotta, earton-pierre,and other relief decorations.

3rd. Stained glass.

4th. Inlaid floors, mosaic pavement, inlaid tiles, &c.

5th. Paper and other hangings.

Gth. Metal-work.

2. Domestic and other furniture, including cabinet-

work of all kinds,and furniture of all materials—

1st. Stoves, grates, fenders, lamps, gas-fittings, andother hardware.

2nd. Carpets, portieres, table-covers, and floor-cloths.

3rd. Curtains and hangings.

4th. Table-linen.

3. Domestic utensils and objects of personal use—

1st. Porcelain, pottery, &e.

2nd. Table and ornamental glass.

3rd. Works in the precious metals and jewellery,clocks, &c.

4th. Bookbinding.

4. Garment fabrics—

1st. Woven in patterns of any material, aud hand-worked.

2nd. Printed ,, „

3rd. Lace.

4th. Ribbons.

In reviewing these various classes it may happen thatdifferent materials, ornamented by the same means, andapplied to the like uses, may be spoken of indifferently ;or even varied uses may be comprehended under thesame general remarks, where the same principles of orna-mentation are strictly applicable, since the object in viewis rather to include, and thereby shorten labour, than tomaintain the nice distinctions necessary under the severalclass Repoits.

Div. 1.— Decoration of Buildings.

Architectural decoration, painted, Sec.

Architectural decoration in carved wood, stone,terra cotta, earton-pierre, gutta perclia, Sec.

The objects in the Great Exhibition which range underthe two first heads of this section belong to almost everyknown style of ornament, and are so various in their cha-racter and uses that it is hardly possible so to arrangethem as to bring them under general criticism, or todefine any principles which would be universally appli-cable to their design. They consist, 1st, Of decorativetreatments exhibited as efforts of skill. 2ndly, Of re-storations of parts of buildings, and of ornamental con-structive parts. And, 3rdly, Of works intended to formintegral parts of a building, but which are manufacturedso as to be adventitiously applied. Properly speaking,the design for the decoration of any building, both ex-ternally and internally, is the province of its architect,since in this case decoration is essentially a part of archi-tecture. If the principle insisted upon in the prefatoryremarks to this Report, that ornament is the decoration of