Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-09-16
BS1C A-BhAC.

L. MARSH.
BSIC A-BkAc.
What is bric-a brac? our readers may
well ask US. Of this combined word the
popular Interpretation we believe to be, in
suctioneer's parlance aud that OF curiosity.
dealers, IN fact, Wardoar-street language,
"oblects of art every vendable article,
of ancient or modern manufacture which
can be dubbed as such, whether il be tin
trumpet once belonging to, and played
upon by, some crowned and sfterwerd de-
throned monarch of any past age, from
Tarquin the Superb down to Napoleon III
the pipe on which Hamlet vainly desired
Guildenstern to try his skill-some arnless,
headless, or otherwise dilapidsted group of
old Dresden china yclept Corydon and
Phylhs-some old suit OF engraved armor
worn by a nameless knight, perchance a
crusader and companion OF Richard the
Lion hearted dsmescened cimeter which
was welded by SAlsdin III the Holy Ware.
Coming down to later periods we meet
with strange japanese ware, moDstrous-
looking animals in bronze, of Eastern in.
vention, but which never came out Of
Noah's Ark elegant japanese vases, eplen-
ui'A OtO-AS VI IuC lfJuss ~ ldiCIEc ny
Robin; buhl cabinets and marqueterie
writing tables and other furniture by Reise.
ner, exquisitely ornamanted with ormulu
gliding chiseled hy Gonthiere, once the
property of the unfortunate Marie Antoin-
cite, and sold the other day for the fabu-
| lous sum OF $1,000 guineas i'll that great
Dispersion Of bric.a brac and objects OF art
| which formed the Hamilton collection, the
sale of which is the wonder of the season,
and Is in process of contamination by the
little ivory hammer which, suspended in
the fingers OF either Cdristie or Manson,
keeps an audience ef connoisseurs on the
tiptoe of excited expectation till the rap
comes on the desk at the last bidding Of
some well. known and popular purchaser.
The great sale of the Fonthill Beckford
collection, that of Bernal, followed by the
omnium gatherum formed by Horace Wal
pole, the treasures of Stowe, are all eclipsed
by the present regretted breaking up of the
Hamilton Palace gathering together OF
much that is finest IN painting, sculpture,
books, furniture-in a word, III every ele-
ment Of ali that is most remarkable and
recherche in the history of bric-a-brac.
The sales Of the collections we have
named created great sensation when they
took place, but none caused the stir and
animation among the purchasers Of curios-
tiles or objects Of art, whether in Great
Britain or on the Continent, which the sale
now going on has excited.
Many nave expressed regrets on the sew
eral occasions of the breaking up of great
collections, forgetting that while they ex-
listed they were generally almost exclus.
lively enjoyed by their possessors and per-
haps lew of their friends. No coubt the
inspection of them was attairable by ap-
preciatiYe persons under regulations some
times annoying, and upon permission not
always easy to obtain, or as favors ungra-
ciOusly accorded, ali rather tending to show
that the treasures were gathered together
under the doC.in-the. msnger principle, as a
delight for the few to the exclusion of the
many.
During these later years, however, the
love OF objects of art has been SO dissem-
mated among all classes of people that
thousands are now anxious TO study and
appreciate them in place OF the few who
formerly had any desire or would take the
trouble to arrive at the means OF securing
them. The South Kensington Museum
and many of the provincial exhibitions of
similar character have done SO much to
educate the public that a vast change has
taken place in these matters, and the re-
grets of some at the dispersion Of great
collections is replaced by the pleasure of
the hundreds who feel that now they are
enabled to indulge a taste which was so
long believed TO be the sole perquisite OF a
email and narrow minded set OF educated
admirers. Time aud circumstances have
changed all this. The impecuniosity of
many of the aristocratic and higher classes,
and the increase of wealth among the mid
die and trading members of the commu-
nifty have caused a remarkable transfer of
art treasures from the great mansions of
the one to the more humble, but not lees
comfortable, houses of the other, and those
things which were considered eaviare to
the million have become in their more
modest dwellings a daily source of enjoy.
ment, "a Joy and a beauty forever"
We cannot leave this subject without
the reflection that all is not gold that glis-
tiers, that many of the curios that come
from Wardour street and other mines Of
bric-a. brac at home and abroad are nothing
but plausible and cleverly manufactured
forgeries, copies or limitations CT the things
their vendors pretend them to be, foisted
on the inexperience OF the self sufficient
vanity of credulous purchasers, and which
for a moment could net stand the test or
deceive the probably dearly bought knowl-
edge OF any one who has suffered from the
tricks Of the trade-a trade that is thriving
successfully wherever confding flies are to
be caught by the honeyed words or impu.
dent assertions of the curiosity dealer.
We have only to add that should any of
our readers fall victims to the epidemic
and be seized with bric-a-brac mania, we
give them this advice" Caveas emptor :"
continental Times.