The Portland daily press., 1888-05-05
ORIENTAL BRASS WORK.
What a Traveller In the East Finds
in Kettles and Pots.
[London Globe.l

The brass platters and dishes and table
tops with which our art shops have lately
been so full chiefly come from Cairo. The
ineessant clatter of the workers in brass is
the most striking and disagreeable expe-
rience OF first visit to the bazaar shops.
The work all goes on under your eyes, and
your ears are dinned by the noise of an in
cessant and irritating industry. In front Of
the shops you can see the men squatted at
their work, marking0ut with their compasses
the pattern on the brass disc. or engraving
the conventional tracery which dec0rates the
Segments. These men are generally good
craftsmen, and earn sums varying from 10d
to IS 4d per day. But In the back parts of
the shop the hammerers are chiefly boys.
They get no pay, only their food. They are
trying their prentice hands, and much Of the
stuff they turn out finds its way to the Lon
don and Paris shops. Connoisseurs In brass
readily recognize the distinction between
Persian work and Arab WORK. The best Per-
sian Is done at Bagdad, Teheran and Ispa-
han, and IS mostly repOusse. The worst Is
what is sold at Cairo, and is chiefly imported
from Damascus. A certain amount of Per-
sian work is done at Damascus itself, by a
colony of Persian artiicers who have settled
there But all this inferior work Is destined
for the English, or at least for the European
market. There is one clear distinction be-
tween two kinds, ineligible even TO the
least learned fancier. In Persian brass work
you frequently find igures-whether Of
birds, or animals, or men. introduced into
the pattern. In Arab work this scarcely ev-
er occurs. The reason is that the Arabs are
much stricter M0hammedans, and literally
interpret and obey the injunction of the KO-
ran, who forbids the reproduction OF images
OF what Is in the heavens above or In the
earth beneath, or that is in the waters under
the earth.
OF this Arab engraved work it may safely
be said that the best pieces are always dated
The w0rkmen who execute 1t form a very
different class to the worker in the baZaars.
They are artists, and devote themselves to
produce perfect pieces, which are, as a rule
ordered for special occasions. 1t is for this
reason, that, while bad work is very plenti-
full, the best kind, really artistically execut-
date the pieces which they produce, and
these dates are always invariably correct.
The cause Is not so much due to national
honesty as to revenue regulations. The dish
as piece Of art manufacture, has to pay a
tax to the Government. A mark Is stamped
on it to show that the tax has been paid, and
the workman puts the date above the mark.
This Government mark, called the Mejidi
mark, Is a fac-simile of the Sultan's auto
graph, and is Identical with the diverse of
the Turkish coins. Bad brass work, boys
work, the kind of stuff so plentiful just now,
is not thought worth the stamp, and the Gov
ernment mark is merely scratched upon it.
When you get very old pieces they are sure
to be good. What you know about English
china is true about Persian and Arab brass.
Progress, education, railways and civiliza-
tion have ruined the art. In those old days,
and they were very old days, two or three
centuries ago, the workman's aim was to
produce perfect piece, to emulate former
achievements in the art, and to satisfy pat
ron who knew and rewarded good work
/ the Ia
considered, and the only aim of the employer
Is quantity at low price. But these East
ern manufacturers differ In one respect from
our own. Practically, we can not in Queen
Yictoria's days produce as good work as in
Queen AIMS 1t is said that If you care to
give the price and know where to 20 you can
get work just as artistic and as perfect now
in Bagdad or Constantinople as if the date
were four centuries old.
This kind of work varies locally. In Cal
70, Aleppo and Bagdad you chiefly meet with
dishes OF all sizes, from what is used for
serving up coffee-little walters, in faet-to
great trays, sometimes feet in diameter. and
mounted as table tops. When you come to
C0nstantinople the metal is different in form
and material. Here you chiefly meet with
or braziers, very elegant in design,
and, as rule, not engraved. These mOnguls
are generally of copper-brass will melt at a
lower temperature-and the value Of them
varies exceedingly. Fouard Pasha. Prime
MlnlSter 10 the late sultan, desired TO have
one of exceptional beauty. He gave a COM
mission in person to the chief artificer In
copper, whose reputation stood very high.
The artists name was Hassan Asah. No
price was agreed. The metal was not very
valuable. The price was to depend upon
the workmanship. When the mongul
came home, the account came with it. The
price was 5000. Fouard Pasha Indignantly
repudiated the price, and Hassan said he
was quite content to keep it. An English
dealer heard Of the transaction and tried to
make bargain with the artist, but Hassan
would not reduce the price, and the Euglish-
man paid 1t. He had the mongul beautifully
polished and sent TO the Pasha to say that he
had discovered what the other was looking
for. Ultimately the Pasha bought the piece
from him for $780, When Hassan heard this
he demanded an interview with the Premier
and asked to see his purchase. Fouard
showed it with great triumph, and said he
was glad a modern artist might see what
good work could still be obtained. There
upon Hassan begged him to remove a certain
screw fastening one Of the handles Of the
braZier, and at the end Of it was found his
own name freshly and legibly engraved.
They still tell this story in the baZaars Of
ConstantinOple, not so much TO Illustrate the
questionable sagacity of the Englishnan as
to prove that first-rate work can still be had
by those who care tc pay for 1t. These mon
guls are made all over Persia, but not so
freely as in COnstantinOple, where, owing to
the great and searching cold of the northern
winds, they are an article, not Of ornament
but of necessity.