Morning journal and courier., 1886-07-12

hot vinegar, which darkens it to a deeper
 tone; it is then carefully oiled and pol 1 lshed. The price demanded, however, is l such that bargains" can be boasted of by
 the inexperienced, while really fine work
 always commands its value in the open market.
 The unhappy pieces of furniture which | have to date from the sixteenth century are ] severely beaten with heavy bludgeons
 which serves to give them the worm ap- Pearance necessary to three centuries of ex-
 1stence. A common device is to paint the panels of cupboards roughly carved on the I premises with white paint; they are then dried in the sun and after keeping some l months are washed in potash, which removes the paint in patches and the exquisite finish of the carving beneath is apt to be taken for granted by the buyer, who is aware that in
 the last century much good panelling was
 thus painted and preserved to our generation
 in consequence in all it's pristine freshness of
 cutting and outline. Buhl of a very ordina- ry description is ornamented by French deal CTS with brass scroll work, after the designs of Gillot, who succeeded Buhl. Those who can be taken in by these mechanical repro ductions must be left to their fate. In DOT celain and faience one only say caveat emptor, so clever the tricks by which even the learned are deceived. At Cage's manutactory at Versailles the faience de Nev- CTS is reproduced to perfection; but here all
 
 fers his purchase antique" M. Cage will bake it for him until the glaze crackles. It IS further mellowed in manure heap and slight extra charge is imposed The special marks of favorfte potters are easily initiated, and as much pains is taken with the spurious ware with intent to deceive would suffice l to give value to real specimens. The char l acter Of the early decoration is carefully | preserved-the even white of the Moustiers | ware; the dead, dull white of the Marsel- l laise; and the careful finish of the old Delft | potters.
 At Venice the reproduction of the old | palatial furniture is a thriving industry, and the same at Florence; but it possesses little or no artistic value. The ebony is l black stained wood; the stipi are bone and l not ivory; the shapes and patterns are, however, carefully copied and the prices are not excessive, and good patterns are 8 dis tinct gain i'll furniture; but the modern pro- duction will not have the lasting qualities of the old. Ivory triptychs are manufactured at Versailles. The golden tint is gained by l boiling in oil, then plungng into boiling water and drying before hot fire, which cracks the ivory to perfection. These re- quire very skilled eye to detect, as the cary ing is often meritorious. Even works of the 1 highest art do not escape the truqueur. Clo- dion, the late eminent French sculptor, dis covered that group bearing his signature had been sold for forty-five hundred francs. l 1 ly. It was brought to light that the work in question was due to one Lebroc, who had made 1t his study to initiate Clodion. Nev | ertheless three eminent judges-AIillet, Cha pu and Guillaume-after careful examina- tion, and in spite of the signature, decided that in their opinion it was not the handling of Clodion. So the sales were annulled and damages were not allowed by the courts. Clodion's real name was Michel and some of his earliest and finest works are thus signed. | The arts of truquage extend themselves even to literature. As long ago as the seventeenth century we find the printers of Lyons and l Rouen stimulating princeps editions of Racine 1 and Moliere, the type, the paper, the colo | phons, all being reproduced with unscrupu- l lous accuracy and then palmed off genu- inc upon the unwary purchaser. The manu l facture still prospers, aided with the photo | gravure processes and the arts of fac-simile. l So also are old letters and autographs suc- | cessfully hoated, signed by Cardinal de Retz | or Colbert, or whom you please, fetching a l good price and almost challenging scrutiny. 1 The history of the Shapira forgeries of the 1 Pentateueh are fresh in the recollection of i our readers. They were offered at the mod | est price of million sterling. So also l the famous vernis Martin can still be bought | at Paris very like, but still not genuine; and | clever painters, whose work is as good as 1 Lancrets, can be found to figure as Wat l teaus with no mean success. But at present i the secret of the real Martin vernis remains l as impenetrable as itis exquisite.
 In buying old oak furniture the buyer should notice the presence or absence of the 'ties" or cross-bars near the floor, which are invariable in the construction of the seven teenth-century ioiners The forger is apt to forget this and thus himself brand the work as spurious. Decoration was formerly the proper art of guild of Floreatine artists in the fourteenth century. Painters, jewellers, l and metal workers lived in a hap py state of cooperative harmony, so that a coffer or oasket might bear the successive i'm press of many clever hands; as the enamel. the setting, the lock, the jewel work, would each be executed by an artist-craftsman skilled at Dello, or Cellini or Ghiberti It will scarcely do to contrast the revived mode of painting on furniture, as we behold it in the shops, with this delicate and masterly work. Yet many of our young painters might be worse employed than in spending real thought and putting real good work on articles of daily use, which we have come to regard, unhappily, as necessarily ugly be- cause utilitarian