The Press. — London, England, 1853-06-18 00:00:00

qf Scotland Magazine and Review. Edin burgh : Moodie. _ Tins is the second number of a north-country pe riodical, which aims at nothing abort of the most exalted rank, both in criticism and philosophy. The subjects whereon it discourses are indeed transcen dently grand. " The Problem of Life," " The Study of Words," " National Education," and" Fanaticism in the Noitk," occupy the prominent places in its table of contents. At the same time it is fair to add that they are treated with no inconsiderable ability. Judging both from topics and style, we are led to suspect that the great fault of the writers, and of the magazine, is their youth. Time and experience are likely to improve them much, by rendering them alike coarser, humbler, and more practical. Poems. By Archer Gurney. " Spring." London : Bosworth. THE author showed a tasteful judgment in placing " Spring" on the titlepage of his little volume, which has the pleasing freshness but also the immaturity of a mind in the budding season of life. The blos settlings of Mr. Gurney's "Spring" are abundant, but he must take pains to secure fruit in his " Autumn." He has a fluent command over the rhetoric of verse, and writes with only too much facility. He should paws more before his future utterances, and think with more independence, as he constantly reminds us of the manner of Wordsworth, Longfellow, and several others of our modern poets. Purity of senti ment and emotional tenderness are his chief merits, while his main defect is his want of strong individu ality. This latter fault, however, may diminish as his mind grows in force. Many of his themes have been treated of by other poets • and, thinking well of him as a writer of promise, we a dvise him to be careful in choosing fresh topics for his fancy, and to pay more attention to the elaboration of his style. As a specimen of his manner we may cite the following ernes : THE FALSE ONE. Oh, she is fair as heaven and love, And she hi false as fair Her smiles are gleams from hides above When sleeps the tempest there : Her eyes are deep and calm and bright As ocean's azure main ; Beneath, the whirlwind sleeps in night. And soon may burst its chain. Her tones are soft as evening's breeze That sigh s along the vale ; Her tho ugh ts are cold as leafless tree , . Strip by keen winter's gale : Her face is lovely us the dream Of the young poet's soul ; Her heart, unscathed by feeling's gleam. Is icy as the pole. We will not, however, copy the last stanza of this poem, as the author spoils it with a false metaphor. 'Cho stars de not "snare men's hearts." We may cite other instances of careless structure throughout Isis volume, as if he wrote atana pede iH use. Christmas at the Hall; The Hero's Grave; Night Musings; aml other Poems. By T. J. Terrington. London : Longman mid Co. Mr. TEMUNOTON'Ii poems present us with nothing that we eau blame, nor—we must, say it—much that we can admire. His muse is essentially a " gentle " one. Thoughts harmoniously versified may be sought for not in vain in his well got-up volume, but such a thing as a " strong" line is not to be halm' in it front one end to the other. Most, it' not all, modern isketry is tinted in water-colour. Dilution has, in the present case, been canned to such all extent as to leave the canvas absolutely colourless. To the patients of some literary Priesnitz it may, however, be prescribed as being safely innocuous, if not very invigorating. The Lords a►d ('on►n►onx. By the Author of "The !maim flubs." London: Adams. WE have heard several Conservatives refer to the necessity for a new Parliamentary Handbook, giving interesting details about the leading politicians of the thiNs, hut compiled with perfect impartiality. " Dod" is looked on h sonic persons as too favourable to the " Liberal" side, awl, while all the aristocratic in fluences are carefully enumerated in its pages, Vie power of local agitators and Radical cliques is not billy set birth. We cannot help thinking that there is room for a literary compiler to produce a short work on Parliament, including statistic and useful information. The present petty performance is writ *. .t) in a low, jocular style, quite unsuited to the stibject, and its information cannot be depended upon. 'I tins, at p. 9s, it states that. " the Scotch and lush representative peers are elected each Parliament," which is true only of the former peers, as the latter are elected for life. Amongst his "Conservative" M.P.'s he places several, like Mr. Wyndham tioold, Mr. Henry Herbert, and others, who are not entitled to that distinction. The manner in which he refers to some of the parliamentary celebrities, as, for THE PRESS. instance, on p. 40, is laughably absurd; and, in short, the entire compilation is neither useful nor read able. sint 4rts. SPECIMENS OF CABINETWORK, AND OF THE STCDIE3 FROM THE ScHOOLS OF ART, EXHIBITED AT GORE HOUSE, KENSINGTON. f Second Notice.] Tuts collection contains some of the finest specimens that England can boast of the beautiful manufacture of Florentine mosaic, usually called " pietra dura," or technically, by the Italians themselves, " pietre commesse." It is exclusively of Florentine inven tion, and till within a few years was not practised in any other place. It was established in the middle of the sixteenth century by Cosmo 1., and the gorgeous mausoleum of the Medici, commenced in 1601 by Ferdinand 1., is entirely encrusted with the richest specimens of the art. It VMS exclusively a royal manufacture, maintained by the Crown, and its pro ductions reserved for the reigning family and for those they delighted to honour. It still flourishes in undiminished reputation, and, though the monopoly is not exclusively retained by the Crown, all the most costly and important specimens of it proceed from the royal manufacture. The richest example of this manufactory that England can boast is a cabinet belonging to the Duke of Beaufort, which was once the property of Cardinal Mazarini, by whom it was presented to one of the duke's ancestors. Not inferior to this vain ' able specimen in any particular excepting size is the cabinet belonging to the Duke of Northumberland now exhibited in this collection (No. 38). It is said to have been executed for Louis XIV., and the notice in the catalogue expresses some doubts whether it was not put together in Paris. We think this very improbable : it resembles a cabinet in the " camera de' stipi " in the Palazzo Pitti of undoubtedly Flo rentine workmanship. This cabinet may probably have been destined as a present to the French King, and, never having been sent to him, was purchased by the Duke of Northumberland. Another cabinet of the same materials, but much smaller and less elaborate in detail (No. 116), is also the property of the Duke of Northumberland; another (No. 105), belonging to Lord Willoughby; besides several coffers of va rious degrees of excellence, all merit the attention of the artist as well as the amateur. The middle of the seventeenth century witnessed a great alteration in manners. The arts of luxury were more cultivated, and the splendid Court of Louis XI%. gave a tone of expense and magnificence which other Sovereigns vied with each other in imi tating. Apartments were now more plentifully fur nished, luxurious inventions multiplied, furniture itself became richer and more varied in forts and in material, and several new manufactures were intro duced to gratify the prevalent taste. None of these are more beautiful than the method of veneering brass and other metals on tortoiseshell, invented by Andre Charles Buhl, and called after his name. This artist, who was born in 1640, and whose life was prolonged for nearly a century, was the object of the particular patronage of Louis by whom he was qualified with the title of " tapissier du roi." During his long life he filled Paris and the Conti nent with rich and beautiful furniture, and estab lished a manufactory which has been et erywhere imitated, and which still retains all its first popu larity. It is this popularity, however, which has pro duced degeneracy and abuse. The early productions of the manufacture were richly inlaid and the mont:t ings were chiselled and gilt, and some of the speci mens in this collection are of great beauty ; but the modern imitations are far less agreeable; the pat terns are worked perhaps with equal precision, but the mouldings are coarsely cut and still more coarsely lacquered, producing at a distance the effect of the precious original, but on examination betraying the tawdry taste of an ostentatious age, contented with a resemblance of magnificence whichl is to disappear on a close examination. The collection contains several clocks, inkstands, bureaux, and tables in this style, many of them pos sessing a very unusual degree of beauty ; but by far the finest. and perhaps the most interesting. speci men in this country is a small writing-table (ti 0.69), the property of her Majesty. It bears the Gondi arms and emblems in different parts upon it, and it is conjectured to have been made for the Due de Betz, the brother of the celebrated cardinal who has left so unflattering a portrait of his relation in his amusing memoirs. This table is small but well proportioned, beautifully executed, and in perfect preservation. We cannot do better than quote the notice given in the catalogue : - - - - " It will be observed that the true capabilities of this style of metal inlaying has been perfeetly understood and intelligently carried out in this instance ; the play of sur face and the variety of curvature seen in different parts of the work are admirably designed to show off to advantage the rich materials employed; from wh a t ever pos i t i on the SATURDAY, piece is regarded we notice a brilliant lustrous effect pro- duced by the play of light on the polished metal; whilst the mingling of silver, brass, copper, tortoiseshell, and ena mel produces beautiful tones of colour." A pair of firedogs in bronze (No. :17), from Wind sor, are of Italian workmanship, and of fine design, though a prominence is given to the armorial bear ings which the good taste of the best artists of that country would condemn. The elaborate workman ship of objects destined for such a purpose exhibits the pains the Italians of that day bestowed on the utensils of ordinary use. Beauty of form and ele gance of design seems with them a necessary ele ment in every-day life, and nothing that they used was too common to receive the utmost care in its de coration. In those days artists were artisans also, and consequently artisans were artists. We have seen knockers of doors, torchholders, lamps, and fireirons designed by Criovimi Bologna, Alessandro Vittoria, and Francesco Sansovino. In the Zampiere Palace at Bologna the fireboard and chimnneypiece, the doors, and the decorations ou them, as well as the window-frames, are all designed by the Caracci, as well as the frescoes on the ceilings. It was this intuitive love of art, a love that made art a necessity and not a luxury, that secured the supremacy of Italy in every department of it. We fear, till it is so felt in modern times, no attempt to spread taste more generally amongst us can meet with much success. In marqueterie, the favourite manufacture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there are nu merous and well-chosen examples. A bureau or wardrobe, the property of Mr. Pratt (unnumbered we think), is a favourable specimen ; but he has judged ill in enriching the parts with gilt metal deco rations : they do not belong to the style, they over power the inlaid work, and distract attention from it. The cabinets of various dark woods enriched with marbles and other precious materials, and generally of Italian manufacture, are numerous, and some of them are good, but they, too, are far too frequently encumbered by decorations in gilt metal which have been subsequently added, and which neither belong to the style nor can be considered as improvements to it. No. 58, "a small table in walnut, inlaid with va rious substanees—the early part of the eighteenth century," is a triangular gueridon, of which the exe cution is careful and the design elaborate, but nei ther resembling niello work (as the catalogue informs us), nor having any " analogy with the works of Watteau." In fact, the human figure is usually very incorrectly drawn in this description of works, and we regret its introduction here. The inlaid figures are relieved by thin silver outlines, and the whole is well preserved. We cannot omit the notice of an artist's colour-box (No. t 1.3 ), said to have belonged to Rubens, and hav ing been purchased by Mr. Cosway, the painter, and presented by the daughter of that gentleman to Sir Thomas Lawrence, and now in the possession of Mr. G. Cooke, R.A. So curious a relic, if it possessed no intrinsic merit, could never be regarded with indif ference. A pair of armchairs, from Windsor Castle ( No. 45), with gilt frames and embroidered velvet cushions, attributed to the seventeenth century, and to Vene tian manufacture, belong neither to that age nor that century. Their design is coarse, and the two clumsy gilt heads on the back ( which, however, may possibly have been added subsequently) would prove a tier matt or a Flemish 'night. A music-stand destined for the use of a military band No. 110), carved and gilt, the property of Mr. Baring Wall, and dating from the middle of the last century, is a model of the light and elegant style which at that period prevailed on the Continent, and which wits carried, perhaps, to the highest perfection in Venice, to which place this beautiful piece of fur niture is assigned. " A commode and encoignures en suite " (No. 36), in Japan work, from Windsor Castle, said to be by the hand of the noted "Virnis Martin," are beautiful and well-preserved specimens of the style of Louis XV., called in French rococo, a style which, possess ing great beauties of its own, has been so hackneyed and exaggerated, both in France and in England, and indeed in every other part of the Continent, in modern days, that, we own we prefer any other style. It was this taste which expired in the last years of Louis XV., and immediately preceded the revived classic of his unfortunate successor. Of this style the specimens are numerous. They are usually characterised by a poverty of form, a want of inge nuity and variety in the decoration, and the substim • tion of marqueterie for the richer embossments in relief; medallions of Ske china are frequently in troduced; and the commodes and gueridons are usually surmounted with slabs of marble: painted and varnished decorations generally supply the place of gilt surfaces. This style, less heavy than that of Louis XIV., and less exuberant than that of his suc cessor, is inferior to both in richness and in fancy, and is only superior to the revolutionary and impe rial taste with which the present century commenced. L I I