The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1888-05-31
ORIENTAL RRAss.woRKs.
What Traveller in the Far East Finds In
the Way of Pots and Kettles.

The brass platters and dishes and |
tabie-tops with which our art shops |
have lately been so full chiefly come |
from Cairo, says the London Gtooe. |
The incessant clatter of the workers in |
brass is one of the most striking and
disagreeable experiences OF first visit
to the bazaar shops. The work all
goes ON under your eyes, and your ears
are dinned with the noise of an in
cessant and irritating industry. In front
of the shops you can see the men
squatted at their work, marking out
with compasses the pattern OF the
brass disk or engraving the conven-
tional tracery which decorates the
segments. These men are generally
good craftsmen and earn sums vary
ing from 10 pence to shillings 4pence
a day But in the back parts OF the
shop the hammer is piled necessarily.
The hammerers are chiefly boys. Ihey
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 London and Paris shops.
Connoisseurs in brass readily recog-
nize the distinction between Persian
work and Arab work. The best Per-
sian is done at Bagdad, Teheran, and
Ispahan, and is mostly repousse. The
worst is what is sold at Cairo, and is
chiefly imported from Damascus. A
certain amount of Persian work is done
at Damascus itself by a colony of
Persian artifcers who have settled
there. But all this inferior work is
destined for the English, or at least
for the European market. There Is
II Il icfi hot
kinds, intelligible even to the least
| learned fancier. In Persian brass
work You frequently find figures
whether of birds, or animals, or men
| introduced into the pattern. In Arab
work this scarcely ever occurs. The
reason is that the Arabs are much
! stricter Mohammedans, and literally
| interpret and obey the in junction Of the
Koran. which forbids the reproduction
| of images of what is in the heavens
above, or in the earth beneath, or in
| the waters under the earth.
Of,this Arab engraved work it may
| safely be said that the best pieces are
ALWAYS dated. The workmen who
| execute it form very different class
| to the workers in the hazaars. They
are artists, and devote themselves TO
/
| n rule, ordered for special occasions.
1t is for this reason That while bad
| work is very plentiful, the best kind,
really artistically executed, is rarely
met with. The good workmen date
the pieces which they produce, and
these dates are almost invariably cor
rect. The cause is not so much due to
national honesty as to revenue regula-
4 IL, nf NI # M n N n.
facture has to pay tax to the govern
ment. mark is stamped on 1T 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 fac simlle OF the
sultan's autograph, and IS identical
with the diverse of the Turkish CONS,
Bad brass work, boys work, the kind
of stuff so plentiful just now. IS moi
thought worth the stamp, and the gov
ernment mark is merely scratched up
on it. When you get very old pieces
: they are sure to be good. What yot
know about English china is true
education, railways, and civilization
have ruined the art. In those old day!
and they were very old days-two o.
three centuries ago or more, the work
mems aim was to produce perfec
piece, to emulate former achievement
in the art, and to satisfy Il patron wh'
knew and rewarded good work. NOW
| it is not the piece but the gross tina
is considered, and the only aim OF th'
employer is quantity at low price
t But these eastern manufactures dine
in one respect from our own. Practl
{ cally, we can not in Queen Victoria
DAYS produce us good work as IN Queer
Anne's. 1t is said that if Eou care t.
: give the price and know where to g.
| you can get work just as artistic an
= as perfect now in Bagda6 or Constan
tinople as if the date We're four cen
turies old.
This kind of work varies locally. /
Cairo, Aleppo, and Bagdad you chief
: meet with dishes of all sizes, froI
what is used for serving up coffee
little walters, in fact-t0 great trays
, sometimes five feet in diameter, an
| mounted as table-tops. When yo
come to Constantinople the metal
different in form and material. Her
) you chiefly meet with monguls Q
, braziers, very elegant In design, an6
9 as Il rule, not engraved. The mongu
E are generally of copper-brass wi
4 | melt at lower temperature-and tn
value of them varies exceedingl,
, Fouard Pasha. prime minister to tn
late sultan, desired to have one of e,
. ceptional beauty. He gave q con
, mission in person to the chief artitict
/ in copper, whose reputation stood yer
: high. This artists name was HASA
y Asah. No price was agreedupo III
a metal was not very valuable. The priC
/ was to depend upon the workmanship
= When the mongul came home the a.
. count came with Ii. The price ws
f6O0. Fouard Pasha Indignantly Fl
pudiated the price, and Hassan said b
was quite content to keep it. A
y English dealer heard of the transactiO
and tried to make bargain with tf
artist, but Hassen would not redud
. the price and the Englshman paid i
He had the mongul beautifully polishe
l and sent to the pasha to say that
had discovered what the other was lool
J ing for. Ultimately the pasha bought tf
: piece from him for f900. Whe
l Hassan heard this he demanded an il
: terview with the premier, and asked
see his purchase. Fouard showed
h with great triumph and said he ws
4 glad modern artist might see whs
o good work might be obtained. Ther'
h upon Hassan begged him to remove
: certain screw fastening one of tt
It handles of the brazief, and at the en-
It of it was found his own name, freshl
6 and legihly engraved. They still te
Y this story in the bazaars of Constant
$ nople, not SO much to illustrate Il
i questionable sagacity of the Epglisl
e man as to prove that first-rate wol
can still be had by those who care
n pay for it. These monguls are mad
: all over Persia, but not 80 freely as
: Constantinople, where, owing to tt
i great and searching cold of the nortl
" ern winds, they are an article not I
: ornament but of necessity.