The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1853-01-14


YeaEs go, at time when Europe was
eo1lxulse d nith IeFolutions several boxes Of
mean ! 6ppearanco arrived at the Philadelphia
ensiom house stores, There beng nothing
~ which their ownership could Be ascertain
"a they were stored away 70 await the APP
pearance OF claimant. Having remained
there unclsimed eversince, fhey were Q Short
time AGO taken out, with an accumulated
pile Of other unclaimed things, to BE-, exam
ined. The boxes in question proved to be
iilled with ,yshat appeared 10 be elbroken toys.
Among these were the heads, arms, bodies
and legs of the figures Of persons, cattle, ect.,
the whole being mixed up in indesciibeble
confusion. Deeming them worthless, orders
were given to have them hauled away as
mhbish; with large quantity of other mat
ter of no value. One of the custom-housD
officers looking over the mass, picked out
what appeared TO be q very pretty figure OF
on Infant, and took il home with him. AT
his residence Catholic servant recognized II
as an exquisite efhgy of the infant Jesus, and
admired It greatly.
Upon this the custom-house officer, struck
with an idea that the whole pile Of rubbish
taken fiom these boxes might be connected
with this figure, fastened back to the Gus
tom-house stores, and had the boxes convey
ed to his house, There after much exami
nation, labor and trouble, he ascertained thai
the supposed rubbish was composed of the
fragmentary parts Of one Of the most magnif
icent groups from sacred history that evel
adorned christian temple. The heads
limbs, bodies, &c, all jointed accurately to-
gether, and when so fitted, and the whole
group arranged. the figures were found to be
Of most mastery execution and design
There was the infant Jesus In the manger
with The wise men in the east come TO ador
him. Over him was suspended, by chain
the star which directed the sages to the spot
and about the scene clustered angels, whilt
the oxen, and other inhabitants Of the man
ger, also appeased in company. with JOSEPH
and Mary. sr y
The figures number over hundred. thl
Z height Of the largest man being about Il
inches. Thongh the skin displayed in thu
woIkmanshipis very superior. the most OBJ
seryable point about the group is the costli
ness of the whole. The gifts of the wis
men are massive bars of gold, and the crown
they wear are studded with amethyst, pearl
and other gems, while the dressing Of the fig
.ures is Of the most expensive materials. The
substance Of which the figures are made
looks like aabaster, but is more probabl,
wax elabontely painted. The pupils of th'
eyes in al, the figures, though at first though
to be merely glass beeds, are genuine gems o
various kinds. The posture and expression
of the Angel Of Annunciation are admirable
as also Of the Angel of Adoration.
The gentleman who discovered this prizt
had The whole group set up in perfect orde
and position, for which purpose he had I
large platform made in one of the rooms O
his house. The size of the group may be
imagined from the fact that it occupies near
ly the whole Of moderate sized sitting
room.
Where this singular piece Of handiworl
came from seems 10 be pretty well ascer
tanned. II is known that the owner of th'
boxes died at sea, on board vessel coming
Z hither from Europe, and having no friend
on board, his effects were not properly care'
for. Some Catholic priests, who have seer
the group since its re-discovery, states tina
it came from Hungary, where one Of then
processes to have seen 1t in church.