St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-09-02
PICTURES IN STONES.
Mosaic Art Has Become Thor
ougbly Established in st.
Paul.
Local Marble and Granite Sue
cessfully Replacing the
Foreign Article.
an Artist Lueidly Explains
Vow the Small Stones Are
Manipulated.
American WoPkmen Cannot
Compete With Italians in
Mosaic Work.

P1OSdlc ART Is dil duClSuI OuC, StOlSh
1000 years ago by the Greeks from the
Chinese, since which Roman and Vene-
fiap mosaic work has become world-re-
howned. Marble and granite mosaic
work for decorating floors, walls, cell
ngs, mantels and hearths is new in
austry in the United States, and not
more than a half dozen of our cities
have such an industry. The only city
west of Chicago having such an industry
Is ST. Paul, and it is only within few
months that this city has been favored
with genuine worker in marble mosaic.
g. w. Tussner q Co. is the name
Of the firm doing the work here
in that line and for the North
west, clear to the Pacific, including
such cities as Milwaukee, Minneapolis.
Portland, San Francisco, Duluth and
West Superior. Mr. TuSsner is an in
leIligent Italian, and he has force of
nineteen men at work, all of whom are
from Northern Italy. Recently he be-
gan the business of doing work In mar
Bile and granite mosaic in the old skat-
Ing rink at the corner of Tenth and
Jackson streets. A GLOBE reporter was
given an opportunity of inspecting the
method of doing this ancient art.
Mr.. Tussner explained the modus
operandi and impaired information rel
alive to the material used, how and
where it is procured and the effect pro-
duced by an artistic arrangement of the
marble or granite particles so as to pro-
duce from inanimate material picture
that seems life-like. Said he:
Anything that can be done with the
brush may be done in mosaic. For in
stance, here is sketch of the body of
Caesar, borne upon the shoulders of
three gladiators, which | am doing in
Mosaic for exhibition. twill be very
expensive piece of work, as it requires
the
Greatest of Care
in collecting and arranging the vari-
colored Venetian enamels and marble
necessary to produce the desired effect.
Here is another design, that OF the May
flower and the landing of the pilgrims
at Plymouth Rock. | am preparing it
for exhibition at the Chicago Columbian
fair. 1t is a particular piece OF work,
costing me $1,000 to produce"
A number of other designs executed
in mosaic were shown that indicate the
marvel of the art-such as are used in
various ways in the decoration of build
ings. They show the care in design and
Workmanship of a true artist. Beside
the ordinary designs showing angles
and curves in varied colors and shades,
there were representations of persons,
animals, birds and flowers.
Mr.. TuSSner said:
"There are numerous specimens Of
this work in this city, such as the Metro
politan opera house, the Germania Life
Insurance building. the Lowry arcade,
the residences Of MeSSrs. Taylor. Brown,
(iarl- and 'Toolynr on Ct AnthOnu bills
the Endcott block, California Wine
house and the Merchants National
bank. Orders have been received to do
like work at Lansing, Mich, and Lin
coin and Omaha"
Mr.. TuSsner said that it was a crafty
Ing surprise to him to find st. Paul peo-
pie so much taken with mosaic work.
Speaking of the expense, he said it was
costly, but very durable, as floors may
be seen in China that have lasted 1000
years. A tour around the workshop
showed a score /of Italians at work,
either pounding the materials into par
ticleS or asserting them according to
color and glueing them to paper under
the direction Of an artist, ready to be
used for the decorations for which they
were designed.
"Only Italians from the northern part
of Italy or the French do such work.
said Mr.. Tussner. Il had two Amer
leans working for me, but they failed to
give satisfaction"
Stored IN various parts of the sink
are great piles of work, arranged on
sheets of brown paper, ready to fill ali
order when it comes in.
81 am prepared" said Mr.. Tussner. to
lay $4,000 feet of granite or 10000 feet
of marble mosaic on days notice.
These sheets are taken TO the place to
be decorated. A bed of cement is pre-
pared upon the surface intended TO be
decorated, il 1t is floor or hearth
Then these sheets are turned with the
paper side up into the bed of cement.
The paper is then removed, and the
crevices filed up with pulverized mar
bic, granite or Venetian enamel, as the
shading requires. Then the work of
polishing begins. This Is done with a
stone
Worked by Hand
by men who get down upon their knees
to the work. The process is tedious.
and is very trying upon the men. Ma
chinery has been tried for this work,
but did not give satisfaction"
In preparing mantels, hearths or
floors where larger pieces are used. and
the effect is less artistic. the work is
done in the shop and the prepared
pieces are placed in position after being
polished. Scattered over the work shop
floor were hundreds OF piles of brass
and barrels of the materials used in the
art.
Most of these" said Mr.. Tussner.
s'are imported, but we are finding many
materials in this country to take the
place of some of the imported particles
Here is the celebrated pipestone OF
xxhi 0h toIy ho ~.
Venetian and marble, and here are sam
pies of yellow and blue marble found in
Missouri. They take good polish
and it is a noteworthy fact that such
material has not been found
elsewhere in the world. The Ten
nessee marble is also valuable
j get green marble from Marquette
Mich, and use the Minnesota granite
which find to be very satisfactory. i
is a good thing that we find so many Of
the materials in this country to take the
places of the imported enamels anC
marbles because the duty upon i'm
ported marble, even if it be in small
particles like these (here he picked III
handful of pieces of Venetian ename
of a reddish shade), is very expensive
Two pounds of this costs from 20 to 81
francs for the duty alone, and we have
to pay 200 francs per foot for 1t il
Europe. In order to get materials t.
do all the shading in mosaic, it is still
necessary TO go to Europe, notwith
standing the fact that the duty in many
instances adds so per cent to thu
cost. We get the royal red ant
also a dead black marble from
Belgium. The French white, you
see, is different from the Italian
white" said he, comparing the tw,
"The Italian variety being pure white
while that of France is nearly a straw
color. The duty on these last two add
nearly so per cent to their value"
Another work of art that is rarity il
the United States, but done in st. Paul
is stucco, which is the inlaying of mar
BILE or enamel on walls and ceilings tina
are put on with plaster. Another is i'm
itative marble columns for the interio
of buildings or mantels that are mad.
with plaster by secret process. Tn,
polishing Is an art requiring great skill
but the artistic effect producedis highl,