The Express.
London, England, 1851-08-30 00:00:00

are made to assume an unenviable hue of black,
others appear on the contrary quite fair, with of
course numberless shades between, denoting clearly
the average depravity of these provinces. If an in-
dustrial map of this description were made out attic,
contents of the Great Exhibition, we know of no
compartment which would come out of a more
unmitigated black than the Fine Arts Court. It is
quite incredible what an agglomeration of artistic
delinquencies is there offered to mortal vision, thinly
scattered with perhaps a dozen works of real merit and
sterling character. Foremost amongst the latter we
would place Mr. Armitage's Sybil of " Peace," whose
attitude and expression seems to indicate a doubtful
sense of the honour or possibility of mixing in such
company. Her glances seem less directed to the
smouldering implements of war at her feet, than at

the dubious earrings, would-be new inventions,
and the thousand knick-knacks, which would
just pass muster in sonic provincial museum.
Perhaps one of the most deplorable symptoms to bo
met with in the Fine Arts Court is the boast of self-
tuition; and the egregious complacency with which
this is announced, not to claim leniency for such
efforts, but as it were calling for superior admiration
at the results. Every man who can whittle at wood,
who can handle card-board with a pen-knife, or de-
sign with a but poker, at once fancies himself a pro-
digy ; cork, elder-pith, bog-wood, and leather are
made to alternate in the abominable mimicry of na-
Before noticing more particularly the few good
specimens of deconttive manufacture, the raw ntato-
nals of art collected here and elsewhere call for not ice.
At one of the nave entrances of the Zollverein do-

partment is an unpretending little box, containing,
Irides numerous fragmentary specimens of amber,
different solutions of this material, which have
attracted the attention of the artistic community. in
three small glass vials may be seen that problem to
the ancients, the "magisterium sueeini"—asolution

of amber, by means or alcohol or volatile oils. The
suceinic acid" is here in a state as clear u
it has hitherto been turbid. An ample account
of this vehicle is to be found in Sir Charles East-
lake's able work. Merely indicating the subjects
to those more immediately concerned therein,
and pointing to the numerous specimens of amber,
rough or ready, (lug out of pits, or washed on the
shores of the Ealtic. we pass on. Whilst everyone
must easily comprehend that l)antzie mug al;vays
have the command of the amber trade, owing to na-
tural or antediluvian laws, which cause the material
to be blown on its coast, it. becomes just as difficult
to understand why in Italy the manufacture of paper
has remained stationary. Strange as it may seem,
the drawing paper still in use is now made at the same
place, and we believe by the descendants of the same
firm which furnished Italy's greatest draughismen
with materials ; the watermark clearly indicating
Fabriano, between Ancona and Perugia. While thus
seemingly digressing, we now arrive at the driven
point. Both the northern amber-varnish and the
southern paper are allowed to be the best for their
several purposes; and yet neither are to be had, ex-
cept of course in the gross. Neither are to be found,
for instance, in Winsor and Ness ton's splendidly got
up case of artistie materials, in the gallery allotted to
the chemical compounds. Here may be Salmi in
tempt in garmy evergvehiele from poppy to mast ie,from
copal to linseed, but no label points to the mixture
exhibited by a I)antzic apothecary. Messrs. Winsor
and Newton, of Itathbonc-place, exhibit cobalts and
cochineals, chromes and c' bars, emeralds and
ochres, canvasses and panels, brushes and badger
tools, which even a Gerard Dow or a Mieris would
in vain have called for. In the Fine Arts Court
Messrs. Roberson, Rowney, and Miller have erected
stands of artistic manufacture. Whilst Mr. Rober-
son has successfully solved the problem of blending
copal and varnish into what is known as their me-
dium, Mr. Miller has taken out a patent
for having rendered colours vitrifiable and in con-
sequence more durable. Silica is the name of the
substance, which is employed alike in oil and water
colour. While, however, bearing ungrudging witness
to the decided superiority manifested in the method
of preparing and grinding colours, it is impossible
not to perceive the glaring errors into which that very
perfection may have led us; and it is not going too
far to assert that all the schemes for producing paint-
ings by mechanical processes have ended in the utter •
discomfiture of the system. Mesas. Baxter and
Kronheim can never be conceived to be even
art's journey-men, as long as they imitate painting so
abominably. Blocks in the heads of these gentlemen
assume all the virtues of brains. If Mr. Baxter
crams an incredible number of tones into a very
limited space, Mr. Kronheim, on the other hand,
offers borne compensation, negativing his scale of
harmony as far as possible. Both are supremely
painful for two reasons—first, because they 'hr.
late all sense of form and light and shade ; secondly,
because the colours as put on are essentially- false
and inharmonious. 'I his statement of plain tact is
only warrantable by the strange infatuation with
which these paintings are held up as miracles
of power and invention ; they are as paltry
in power as others by band are the re-
verse. We need scarcely point to the mantels of
Essex, in which surprising fidelity in reproduction
is united to imperishable execution. Though Mr.
Carrick does not lay much stress on intrinsic dura-
bility, it is but too evident that the relatives of those
he has delineated on white marble, in preference to
the usual ivory, will be anxious to combat with care,
the effect's of time on the too-fleeting colours. Other
miniatures of royal ceremonies may possibly in time
acquire that interest with which their execution as
yet fails to invest them. By far the pleasantest
features of this compartment are the wood-
carvings executed by Wallis and Rogers. 'rho
first, perhaps, following a trifle too close
on the heels of Glinting Gibbons, in the
way of composition, though perhaps superior in other
respects. Mr. Rogers has nursed his reputation in
his cradle, a most dainty and delicate piece of work-
manship: he must, however, be alive to his finikin
tendencies: the lime-tree and box-wood doubtless in-
vite detail work, but the British oak is not to be
tickled with pen-knives, larger tools were evidently
employed on the Kenilworth buffet, exhibited by
Cooke and Sons, of Warwick. It is massively
constructed, and not over-elaborated with figures,
and these skilfully executed ; nevertheless, a
more decidedly Elizabethan character would
have been desirable. There is Elizabeth in
one of her progresses; there are courtiers and
poets; and more conspicuous still, dancing bears.
[hough sometimes, it is said, still to be met with on
occasions of festivity, this animal has hitherto been
confined, as a decorative member, to Bernese monu-
ments. Pleasant associations and difficulties van-
quished serve to render the piece of furniture unu-
sually interesting. The same can scarcely be said of
the Trish bog-yew carving, which is made the me-
dium of compositions of " Harpers in Tarah-Hall ;"
Comae and Brian 'laminate. It is difficult to decide
whether these, or the Edinburgh pier-table carvings
bid more defiance to an invisible foe than to
the commonest rules of design. In comparison.
with these, the rough carpentry of the Victoria ship-
head altnost elicits admiration. One fancies this figure
already mounted on the prow of a vessel, and steering
clear of the obstacles of an over-crowded harbour.
Would that we could follow her example. Here to
the right we full foul of a three-decker, 120 guns;
to be sure, its substance is only cork, but cork of the
quality of the make, wretchedly inferior. Turn-
ing away from this, and a little way oft; you
come in collision with the I /undo° Anglo-Saxon arch,
which manifestly bears off the palm of ugliness,
only equalled by its originality. It would require
the whole vocabulary of tracery to distinguish one
after the other five orders superinduced. It would
seem as if the architect was anxious to collect all the
fragments of Saxon architecture into one composi-
tion, just as another gentleman has thought fit to
gather the valuable morsels of the shattered Port-
land Vase. Flying from the frigid "Altar of
Minerva" by Piaglev, one finds pleasant shelter in
Me. idochi's farm close by. While occupied with