, 1885-10-24
n lEMELRA o. ro-pAY.
Few Improvements Made on toe OF,
speeirnen-Am-rican suprsiorlt,.

Few Improvements Made on tee Old
speeinens-Am-rican suprriority.
No II who examines a cole sfion Of
ancient lewelry such as may be seen in
many OF the museums OF Europe. but
more especially in that at Naples, which
contains the greater part of the exhumcI
richie, Of Pompeii and Herculaneum, can
fail to remark the few improvements
made by the modcrns on these old spcci-
mems of the ornamental art. All the
stones now considered precious were
known TO the Romans, though they did
not. because the source from which
drew ticir applies We're limited, t-ii.
mate them ut exactly the same relative
yalne. The garnet was often treated
with nearly rs much respect rs the sap
phire and ruby, and the amethyst, the
topaz, the tnrquOis, the carnellan, with
other stones Of similar value, had not
yet fallen from their high esteem.
As to the modern lapidary, he strives
in vain to equal the canoes and in
taglios in sardOnyx, garnet, onyx, agate,
chrysolite carnelian, chalcedony, lapis-
Mlazuli. iaeinth, and ever in emeralds
and sapphires, hat fill the glass cases of
the Naples museum. This excellence is.
however, but natural; for Il people
whose works in marble have never since
been equaled, could not be expected to
be excelled in the delicate cutting and
carving of stone. The same col
lections reveal equal if not superior
skill in the designs of rings, bracelets,
cups and vases with exquisite precision
and taste of execution among the relies
found not alone in Roman villas, but
among the remains Of Grecian domestic
and sacred architecture.
Precious stones are not now equally
estimated in all countries. Wealthy and
fastidious Americans will only wear or
naments mounted with diamonds, rubies,
pearls, cat's-eycs and sapphires, and
even those of less means, if they are not
able to have a costly stone of one of
these kinds, must have some tasteful
article Of jewelry mounted with small
ones. Then everything else which he
wears in the way of ornamentation must
be of fine gold, his watch, chain, his
locket, his pin, and his match safe. Sill
yer is not good enough for the citizen of
a republic, who is every mans equal.
Canoes and intaglios are still worn, but
they present little beauty or novelty.
They may be good enough for French
men and Italians, but we in this great
country must have something better.
From the demand for rich and taste
full ornaments in America, ~extrayagant
OF otherwise, has come the superiority
which the American goldsmiths have
achieved in the manufacture of jewelry.
1t is one Of the first things that the OBJ
servant travelling American remarks
when he looks into the shop-windows OF
any European city, unless it be Paris,
and Paris even is scarcely an exception.
There is no apparent reason why the
French should not excel the Americans
in taste and ingenuity of design in this
respect. They have the time; they have
the skilled workmen and wages are low.
They certainly excel in toilet articles and
in all that kind OF ornamental work
classed AS articles of vertu. But in
jewelry they have been content with then
old fashions. The designs which pleased
their ancestors continue to please them.
So in Paris even, but more especially
in the shop windows of the large pro
| vincial towns may be seen the stones
that Americans have oeesed to regard
with favor, and over imlto ions Of them
honorably treated to solid gold settings,
with rings, pins, brooches and watch
chains in ancient and tawdry patterns
long since discarded on this side the At.
lantic. The display of antique jewelry
is usually paralleled ny that of watches,
There is no ingenuity shown in their ex-
tcrnal decoration. The cases bear the
tasteless enclosing or cutting of curve:
and senseless fiourishes put upon them
" the grandsires of the present genera.
ion of manufacturers. The average
American watch is not only the supe-
rior Of IFS European congener in correct
ness and durability, but as a work of art
it is externally beyond comparison.-fSa
Francisco Chronicle.