SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT ON DESIGN.
Class XXX.]
717
No. 3 is an intaglio and enamelled tile of a Moorish ;pattern, for covering the surface of a wall with an orna- :mental texture , and with a broken harmonious richness jof colour, in very durable materials, for which purpose it jis admirably adapted. This manufacturer exhibits also jmany novel and praiseworthy works in burnt and co- :loured clay to facilitate the application of design and jcolour to the exterior of buildings. Among others, a :species of Majolica ware, with ornament in relief, colouredwith delicate tints, intended to be introduced into friezes, :string-courses, panels, &c., and other combinations of the jart of the designer with the skill of the tile-maker andthe potter, which will enable the architect to break the :monotonous surface of brick buildings, and introduceornamental forms and colour without the necessity ofresorting to plaster and stucco, so long the wretchedresource for such purposes. From the geological posi-
No. 3.
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tion of London , bricks must always be the prevailingmaterial for building purposes: such means, therefore,for the safe introduction of colour and ornament, areespecially desirable, and should be carefully studied,that the most judicious and sound principles of ornamen-tation may be adopted in these newly-revived materials.It is curious to see how instantly the removal of theexcise-duty on bricks has been follow ed by the infusionof a new r life into the manufacture, both as to novelforms and the application of coloured ornament to theirsurface; it must be remarked, however, that the orna-ment of each separate brick should be perfect in itself aswell as perfect in combinations, a circumstance whichhas not been attended to in the glazed and colouredbricks exhibited by Mr. Minton.
From the general use of carpets, considered, as theyare, as a necessary comfort in this country, inlaid floorsarc far less used here than on the Continent, and it is onthe foreign side, therefore, that the best design appliedto such works must be sought. The principle of orna-mentation, of course, is the same as that for mosaics andother inlays; care, however, should be taken to selectwood without a strongly marked form in its grain, sincethis is likely to interfere with the pattern of the inlay ingeneral; also right-lined figures are preferable to curvedones, from there being less need of crossing the grain ofthe wood in cutting.
Many skilful and ingenious combinations of geome-trical forms are seen in the works of this kind in Belgium ,Austria, Russia, and France ; among others, the flooringof the bed-chamber in the Austrian room, of which theborder, consisting of violet ebony and mahogany bandedwith maple-wood, is simple and pleasing in elfect; and afloor by De Reyn and Co. (406, Belgium , p. 1103 , whichhas much merit in its design: nor should mention beomitted of the very clever inlays for floors and furnitureof Marcelix (COG, France , p. 1207), some of which areof the most intricate geometrical character, excellentlyexecuted, for borders, panels, frets, &c. Being limitedby true principles, these manufactures show less that ismeretricious than do most other sections of the Exhibi-tion, and far less tendency to that over ornamentationwhich elsewhere predominates.
If the use of such materials is borne in mind, theproper decoration for them will at once be evident, sincethis ought to bear the same relation to the objects in theroom that a background does to a picture. In art. abackground, if well designed, lias its own distinctivefeatures, yet these are to be so far suppressed and sub-dued as not to invite special attention, while as a wholeit ought to be entirely subservient to supporting andenhancing the principal figures—the subject of the pic-ture. The decoration of a wall, if designed on goodprinciples, has a like office : it is a background to thefurniture, the objects of art, and the occupants of theapartment. It may enrich the general effect, and add tomagnificence, or be made to lighten or deepen the cha-racter of the chamber: it may appear to temper the heatof summer, or to give a sense of warmth and comfort tothe winter: it may have the effect of increasing the sizeof a saloon, or of closing-in the w alls of a library orstudy: all which, by a due adaptation of colour, can beeasily accomplished. But, like the background to whichit has been compared, although its ornament may have adistinctive character for any of these purposes, it mustbe subdued,and uncontrasted in light and shade; strictlyspeaking, it should he fiat and conventionalized, andlines or forms harsh or cutting on the ground as far aspossible avoided, except where necessary to give expres-sion to the ornamentation. Imitative treatments areobjectionable on principle, both as intruding on the senseof flatness, and as being too attractive in their details andcolour to be sufficiently retiring and unobtrusive. Someof the best examples, as well of paper as of silk, velvet,and other hangings, are treatments of texture in a self-colour; as of tlock on plain or satined ground in paper,of tabby and satin in silk hangings, of stamped forms orcutting in velvet, or the same contrast of pattern withthe ground in various mixed stuffs. By these means theornament is necessarily flat, and does not disturb thegeneral effect. "With the slightest attention to the choiceof form it can hardly be in bad taste, whilst greatelegance and beauty often arise from such treatments.Next to these, graduated tints of the same colour producea safe and quiet ornamentation for such fabrics; or goldupon a coloured ground, where the gold is sparinglydistributed, and the colour not too strongly contrasted,since in all cases a general tone of surface is to be soughtfor rather thau pronounced individual forms. Furtherrichness may be obtained by the judicious use of tw r o ormore colours, either, according to the ancient method ofharmony, separated from each other by bands of black,white, or gold, or contrasted and enhanced by their com-plcmentaries, and enriched by flock in either case, in thelatter by gold. But it is everywhere apparent that thecombination of many colours, though it may increaseexpense from the number of blocks, is far from produc-ing richness in the same degree, while it lias often quitethe contrary effect, and results only in poverty andmeanness. It is necessary, however, to advert to a per-fectly different treatment of these materials quite atvariance with these rules, and bound by no such prin-ciples, by which paper-hanging becomes a pseudo-decora-tion, the wall being divided into compartments oftenirrespective of architectural construction, and pilasters,friezes, and mouldings imitated in false relief on itssurface, with compositions of pictures, statues, hangings,flowers, fruits, &c., skilfully designed and well drawn,and, it may be, often most ably blocked for the purposeof printing; it is, however, at best but a sham decoration,amenable to no laws, necessarily false in light and shade,often constructively inapplicable, and always impertinentand obtrusive, and should be left to those who, desiringdisplay, are too much wanting in taste to be annoyed atits untruth and extravagance. It perhaps is not quiteout of place in the saloon of a theatre, in cafes, ortaverns, but ought to be confined to such localities, andonly used there until the general taste is so far instructedthat the public will no longer tolerate gaudy shams andfalse magnificence.
The same laws which ought to govern design for