New-York tribune., 1867-02-07
PINE ARTS.

no secn al hia sbon No S3 Broadway 1t Is not often
tha. THINGS Of this sort are worth looking at. twice;
but If we may Judge by the photograph when
member OF the Mutual Base Ball Club has kindly
sent us, Mir. Garvey's shield proves nun " h"fo
,ood tasto "a we'll as skill it viii be an ornament to
every olpbroom that contains it. The "arms" OF
ths sbiold consist of group Of all the implements
nsed in the game of base bali, with portions OF the
dress worn by the players and the supporters" are
two wemOdeled figures Of young men armed for the
game al all points exactly capap6. Without making
any pretensions these figures are really clever and
the spirit in which they into the design,
and made to take the place of the allegorca figures
ordinarily employed on such occasions, shows that
the designer is a man who thinks for himself Ihls
shield would not perhaps be generally looked upon as
an example of high art but, far as 1t goes, II Is
truep ART and in its frank acceptance OF the facts
of to-day and its straightforward, manly dealmg
with the it contains small as II is, the germs 9i
much higher art than nne;tenths OF the SO.caneu
scripture. native or foreign, that Is 1Ohd III our
psrlOrs.
We have lately had an opportunity ofseeing some
thing Of the process of photoscupure, at the rooms
of Messrs Huston & Kurz, and are glad to be able
to assure our readers that the value of the invention
has been in no degree Overrated The only difficulty
in the way of a complete success In practice hes III
the possible scarcity of sculptOrs to finish the statues
and busts after the pantograph has done its rude, but
wonderfully effective and efficient work. For IL Is
now plain. as we intimated in our former notlce Oh
this invention, that it by means proposes 10 os
pense with the scuptors aid on the contrary IL VIII
make necessary new supply of sculptOrS Nheh
the pantograph has given its last touch to the clay
what do we seeH Is it statue made by machinery,
that needs only few touches from the hands OF a
mechanic to make it perfecti If this were true, we
should doubt in advance If the invention would
proyerf much artistic value. But it is very far from
being the case What the pantograph does is to give
us tie figure Of any required SIZE blocked oIt with
mathematical accuracy, and with all Its proportions
decaely preserved in its characteristic habt OF slV
ting or standing. 1t also secures what Is SO dlict
and, indeed so seldom sought for the peculiar set
of the dress on each individual and indicates beside
with inevitable accuracy, the place and general shape
Of its every fold seam gather, and ornament. Lastly
we have the contours of the head and face with the
growth and arrangement of the hair; the shape and
play of the hands, and all this which would have cost
the sculptor weeks hard and anxious labor is done
for him. by this admirable process, in few hours.
One of the most difficult things in the 'scuPtOrs
art is TO set a stone on his legs, to make him
stand in an easy firm, and characteristic attitude;
and in many cases he fails to this effect with
all his trying but the pantogTaph accomplishes 1t
without the least difficulty, and in an incredibly
short time 1t carries the spectator back to Genesis
TO see these Adams albeit not Naked but in coat and
trouser. emerging limb by limb from the lump OF
fornless clay! But we must not leave the impress
sion that the operator with the pantograph has
no use for his judgment and taste. These quail
ties are indispensable in all stages of the operation;
as muchin the earlier and more mechanical as in the
later artsticOnes The better the artist, the finer
will be the product of the pantOgaph. This is plain,
when we consider that the machine is, after all,
guided by the hand and eye much as a lead pencil
or a brush would be, and that every touch tells as
surely.
Well. then! We see that the pantograph, delicate
and almost intelligent itis is nothing more than
labor-sayng machine; and that when ii has done its
best it has only provided the artist with spirited
sketch which NE is TO complete and animate. Thus
far a skillful workman with nice perception and
fine touch has been able to bring the clay to the
desired point; but now we must have an artist to
deal with it, and remove the last traces of machine
work Fortunately for Messrs. Huston g. Kurz, in
their endeavOs to establish phOtOsculpture In this
country. they have persuaded young Frenc chman.
M CharOdeau TO leave Paris where, under Nj.
Willfne the inventor, he has acquired a thorough,
practical knowledge OF the process and accom-
York 20 show us hat ehaEM 7T aSfodeau has not only
bnd m1ch sxpeience the 9f Sv need
hut ie . cfelr iqp The somewhat clumsy panto
ffapf to perceive how little there is merely mechani
cal in the operation He uses the machine as dexter
OuSly as he does the modelling sticks with which he
afteIward plays PTOmetheus to these pretty manni-
kns Already, three of our best known citizens Nh.
Peter Cooper Mr.. Greeley, and Admiral FaTragut
have been photographed, and their statuettes and
busts are being made and We venture to assure our
readers that the sight of these familiar figures which
Mr. CharOdeau's skill viii shortly set before us, will
convince them that this art of phOtOsculpture is
of the most interesting and ful of profit of all the
numerous offspring of Daguerres ingenious in
veDtiOn
-Leslies Illustrated Newspaper" has just made
move in the right direction in engraving. MrW.J.
Linton. the well-known English wOod-Ongraver,
has recently come to America, to furnish it every
week with illustrations by his own hand and to ex-
ercse general supervision the rest of the en-
craving done for the journal. In the last number,
Feb. 9. there two cuts by Mr. Linton Of which
is good and the other poor that we hardly know
which to augu FROM but the good one, portrait of
Mr. Linton himself is very good, and so equal TO
his best work heretofore, that prefer to think the
Travellers lost in the Snow" was executed before he
bad fairly recovered from the effects Of his sea
voyage The portrait, however shows that he can
do good work as of old; and if he win give us his
best. we really do not know anything that has hap
pencd lately in the world of the arts on this side the
water that is likely 10 have important results
than his coming among US, to work and to influence
SO far wOOd-engraving is concerned, are in
miserable plight at present. We have not a single
man capable, or, rather suppose we must say,
willing 10 do work that is than barely respect
able. One has only TO look at the engrayngs IN our
American pictuTc-books, say, those published at
Christmas time, 10 give cordial assent TO propO
StiOn. They afford a very easy explanation of
the Unwlllmgness Of book-4uyers to purchase these
sO-called "illustrateP volumes. Mr.. Linton has
come 70 set in different and better way and we
assure him. be is entirely welcome.
1t seems to a very poor return for the services
which Mr.. Edwin Booth is supposed to have done the
American stage, TO force upon his acceptance such