The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-23 00:00:00

771.2 INTE.RNATIC.N.4L

Only six working days and a-half now intervene
before the date fixed on which the building will most
positively be opened to the public. Comparing date
with date, the articles of this great world's fair are
further advanced towards final arrangement even
now than they were in 1851, but still an enormous
amount of work remains to be done to make the
great contents of the building even roughly present-
able by the Ist of May. Some English classes, it is now
I evident, must be behindhand, though, as a general
rule, our countrymen will be very far in advance of
their foreign competitors. The Zollverein has lately
made great progress, as have also Belgium, Sweden
and Norway, and Russia. But Austria is in arrear,
and France almost as much so. There is no pos-
sible excuse for the backwardness of the latter
country, as every effort was made by Messrs. lielk
and Lucas to get space ready for France by the
12th of February, the date on which the French
Commissioners said they would be ready to send in
their goods. From that period to the present time
their Court has been ready, but not half the goods
arc yet in it, much less unpacked or arranged. It
is a pity that, as this Court is to be one of the gems
of the building, it is not likely to be able to add its
attractions to those so liberally put forward by the
Commissioners for the opening day.
The Russian Court will be an exceedingly fine
one, though, as less varied, and crowded into a
smaller space, it will, of course, be inferior to that
of France, yet, on the whole, it
will be most com-
plete and interesting of its kind.
The frontage in
the nave is already decorated with some noble
works in green, jasper, and violet porphyry. One
of these is a magnificent vase five feet in diameter,
is a candela-
t. these fine
with the handles richly ornamented with the most
bdretil imc a tle7l yi
es
ecut lhpitguhr.e d faces;The
materanoi
at hl
s foe r
trophies, which bring to mind the laboriously minute
carvings of the Mediaeval Ages, are found inSiberia, where they are wrought to perfection en_
tirely by hand labour ; the toil of years. The por-
phyry vase, for instance, has a Russian inscription
upon it, stating that it was commenced in 1856, and
only finished at the close of last year, though this,
in comparison with other works of the same kind,
was speedily accomplished ; for in the Hermitage,
at St. Petersburg, is one magnificent vase of jasper
which it took no less than 25 years of uninterrupted
hand labour to carve and polish. Near these
trophies in the nave is a vacant space which is
soon to be occupied by another trophy candela-
brum, carved out of blocks of that handsomest
of all minerals, lapis lazuli, which has lately
been found in comparatively large quantities in.
Eastern Siberia. There will also be a Siberian
trophy consisting of large blocks of black lead and
'other mineral products of that little known regiosa.
This time Russia will not show any of those grand
ornaments in malachite which formed so great an
attraction in 1851. There will only be a few large
lumps of it in its natural state, but polished on the
surface and sides. The exhibitors, most probably,
dislike repeating themselves on this occasion, and
they certainly make up in the richness and variety
of their collection for the costly palace doors and
malachite vases which they showed in '5l. There
will be a very fine collection of works in silver in
cups and statuetts representing episodes in Russian
life, bronzes, including a colossal statue of Catha-
rine 11., ornamental china and glass work from Vile
Imperial factory, Florentine and Roman moseies,
including one of large size representingSt.Ni
cholas,
and nearly 20 feet in height. Altogether Russia
will be represented by nearly 700 exhibitors from
all parts of her great empire,and including branches
of industry peculiar to her varied peoples. The show
of raw materials will be very valuable and exten-
sive, and include some new staples of trade, The
manufactured portions will not, of course, be so
strong, though the articles de luxe will be equal, in
costliness at least, to any in the Exhibition. In a
word, Russia seems to have tried hard and most.
successfully to make her exhibition a fair represen-
tation of her various thriving industries and im-
mense natural resources. Sweden and Norway
have also their Courts well filled with interesting
and most ebeseseeristic coliesetees. In else latter.
Court is a series of figures showing the picturesque
and rather gaudy costume of the Norwegians for
different occasions and different ranks of life. Desi-
mark has also a most complete display, Which in-
clude," some highly ornamental art manufactures
and some statues and terra-cotta works, which are
equal to anything of their kind shown on the foreign
side. The Hanse Towns and Mechlenburg also
show largely and well, one of the most conspicuous
objects in their Courts being a very fine statue
of Arminius, which has been moulded in india-
rubber and tinted afterwards so as to resemble
bronze. Belgium also, will have a most complete
collection. Her exhibition of machinery in motion
will be one of the best in the foreign class, while
her show of laces and carpets will be almost un-
rivalled.
The long.pending question of the right to photo-
graph the Exhibition was settled yesterdayevening,
when the secretary announced that the tender of
the London Stereoscopic Company had been ac.,
' cepted. Several of the most eminent photographic
firms were eagerly competing for this privilege,
and the keenness of the contest was enhanced by its
being rumoured that Messrs. Day and. Sons were
also striving for it, as the most valuable auxiliary
they could obtain for the production of an illus-
trated work on the chief contents of the Exhibi-
tion. It is much better, however, that the choice
has fallen on professional photographers, and from
the high character of the London Stereoscopic Com-
pany they are likely to do the work admirably well.
A very high price was paid to the Commissioners
for the privilege, and a still higher sum must be
expended by the firm to perform the contract well.
No photographs are to be sold in the building ; no
views to be taken after 10 a.m., and none at all
without the consent of the exhibitors themselves.
The latter, however, is a merely formal clause, as,
of course, the main source of profit will arise from
the desire of the exhibitors to have their stalls and
cases represented in stereoscopic views. Several
important additions have been made, since our last
notice, to Class 26, which includes leather and lea-
ther manufactures; Mr. Hepburn is sending in
gigantic butt hides of tanned leather, some of
which are actually 10 feet square. Roberts and
Co. will exhibit a fine collection of enamelled
leathers. Swaine and Adeney send a case of
whips which are valued at more than a thousand
the Prince of
which he has just completed for
pounds ; and Mr. Merry exhibits a suite of har-
ness Wales. There will also be a large show of
all made from the skin of Cape sheep), and,
Made to
Cape leathers (the so-called dogskin gloves being
among the furs, Lillicrap will send a collection of
all kinds of sealskins from the Falkland Islands,
greatest exertions have been
to procure which the
additions are being
the already crowded objects in the nave, one of the
made. Still further
last being a statue of Lady Godiva, which appa-
rently has very little claim to such a conspicuous
position.
The toy trophy has, we are glad to say,
been mitigated in its offensiveness, though no im-
provement will be satisfactory
Which stops short of
removing it to some less prominent position. The
Commissioners when they gave permission for the
erection of these trophies, of course, could not tell
what they would be. Had they seen drawings of
them beforehand, there are many which are now
stopping the way in the nave which most probably
would never have been admitted into the building
at all. As it is, however, the general manager
ought to have a veto upon anything specially ugly
and disagreeable, such, among others, as the light
blue curtains with which some of the colonies are
draping themselves, as if in defiance of the neutral
green tints of the columns by which they are sur-
rounded. It will require a great deal of care to
disarm the criticisms sure to be passed upon the
effect of the interior, but attempts at decorations
like these, and like the flags which it is proposed to
put in the nave, will not only invite criticism, but
provoke it in its most acrimonious form.
The rush for season tickets is beginning, but it
is hoped the public will not do on this occasion as
they did in 'sl—put off their purchase till a day
or two before the opening, when there was such a
crowd of claimants that not half who came could
be served, and infinite confusion and annoyance
were occasioned to every one.