The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-02-15
Venetian GLASS Factories.

Venetian GLASS Factories.
From the PdU hau Gazette
A recent visit 10 Salviati's glass factories on
the Grand Canal, Venice, ana IN the lsiand OF
Murano, may furnish some interesting notes.
The commissions which have latterly come
in are SO numerous that the premises are now
undergoing enlargement For the khedlve
are being made Oriental lamps after the pat
tern of the ancient lamp in the Slade celiec-
tion at the British Museum. In what part
of the East the old lamps which we have
aoan in tbe mosques of Cairo were made is a
matter of doubt; but the fact that they can
be reproduced by the glass-workers OF Murano
is an interesting corroboration OF the reputed
interchange in arts and manufactures subsist-
inc in former times between Venice and
the empire of Byzantium. These modern
replicas are in form, color, and texture
ali but identical with the originals.
The chief difficulty in the reproduction
has arisen in the furnace a considerable per-
centape come out cracked or distorted in form.
Messrs. Salviati are also still occupied upon
the restoration of the mosaics in st. Marks;
but the Government is tardy in the supply Of
funds, and SO these reparations, like other
public works in Italy, suffer from starvation
and delay. II is further to be regretted that
the designs for the new mosaics in st. Marks
are Haunting and fiorid in style. The Salviati
workshops show signs Of important commits
sions from England thus upon the walls or
hanging from the ceiling are cartoons for
figures set up in Kensington Museum, designs
for the decoration of the Wolsey Chapel, also
for q chapel at Oxford, likewise the sketch for
the reredos in Westminster Abbey. Other
mosaics of sacred subjects have been ordered
for Protestant churches in England, and
clergyman has recently purchased a reduced
copy of the grand figure of Christ in the apse
of st. Marks. 1t is said that the new
mosaics put up in st. Marks are SO nearly
identical with the old that a commission,
appointed by the Venetian Academy to
report on the quality of the work, we're COM
PEELED to consult the custode as to which of
the figures had been restored. A reduced but
more highly wrought copy of the reredos at
Westminster has been made for the exhibit
ton of ecclesiastical art at Rome, partly for
the purpose of proving that Venetian mosaics
are not necessarily large and coarse, but may
when desired be rendered just as minute in
detail and delicate in execution as the rival
manufactures in the Vatican and at st. Peters
burg. Salviati, indeed, processes to be able
with equal ease to decorate either O cathedral
cupola or o lady's bracelet. 1t is evident that
the quality and diversity of the work must
depend in some degree on the colors at COM
mand. The number of tints in use at the
Popes factory is estimated at 10000, while
the number at Salviati's is put down at
$1,000. These statements are not SO i'm
portant as they appear, inasmuch as
the possible notifications in the
intensity of existing colors have scarcely any
limit but in the economy of manufacture; it
were easy to multiply tints to infinity. More
to the purpose than varying a shade by the
admixture of existing tones would be the dis
covery of some new color or process. With
| the materials, however, already at command
| it seems possible to gain whatever effect may
be desired The gold tesser@, which, after
the ancient method are protected by film
| of glass, we observe are modulated in tones,
varying from bright yellow as of gold in sun
shine, to deep brown as of copper in shade:
thus gold backgrounds and gilt draperies
admit of modulations, as in the brilliant but
well-toned harmonies of the finest examples
| at Torcello and Ravenna. Silver is more
difficult of management than gold, and con-
sequently more costly. Theprice of finished
mosaic varies, according to the delicacy of
manipulation, from s1 to f5 per square foot;
| the last is about the rate paid for the Munich
price is less than the cost of the fres-
Goes in the Houses of Parliament. Painting,
| however, is an art, whereas mosaic is only an
art manufacture, and as to the prices of pure
art, we may mention that a certain member
of the old Water Color Society is supposed
to get los. per square inch of surface, which
is more than G70 per square foot. We have
only to add that Messrs. Salviati take laudablt
interest in the art education of their workmen
The Italians are born with a facility of hand
which, in the manipulation of molten glass,
gives them an advantage over other peoples
but in the fallen state of the country theil
natural talents have. lacked training. The
men employed by Salviata are encouraged tc
attend the drawing classes in the adjacen
Academia della Belle Arte. They are directed
also to study classic forms, Greek vases, ant
the best examples of Raphaelesque ornament
Thus it may be hoped that pure designs ma.
take the place of the fantastics shapes whichhav'
been affected by the Venetian glass-blowers