Morning journal and courier., 1893-06-13

could decide upon the best desoription of wood for the purpose. Oak, box, beech and birch were eIperimented with; but all finally gave way to lime ss being the most generally suitable. It Is difficult now to realizs the zest with which its followers pursued their "burning fad" and they were ct least kept In countenance by the in their achievements. Some seventy years ago collection of fifty poker pie lures was exhibited in London by the sr- tist, Mrs. Nelson; the title-psge of the catalogue bearing the words: 'tNrs. Nel- sons Exhibition of Pictures, drawn on wood with hot pokers. To be seen from ten in the morning till eight In the even ing, at the Farrier's adjoining the Lyceun in the Strand. Admittancs one shiiling.n
 From the place of exhibition chosen, 1t my be not unreasonably concluded that many of these pictures were executed by the aid of the farrier's friendly forge, which is known to have given opportunity to more than one rustic genius in the same medium. At that time connoisseurs were much attracted by the poker-work of so-stylsd topographic" artist named Smith, a native of Craven. in Yorkshire, whose wood-drswings exhibited high de- gree of originality and power One of the best of these was really fine portrait of OAfcA S&SAa WcAy alscE tue InDlOQb plCLuIc by Cowper; another example being . head of our Saviour marked Smith, 1S1S.p Perhaps his best known work was that on the subject of the Annunciation, which hung for many years in the gallery of the fine old church of Skipton- in Craven. Genuine Smiths fetched good prices in the London shops, as did the works of sn- other "poker" genius born at Malmeebury, who was famous for his Rembrsndt-like aH anl x-lr =. harvest during the passing crszs for the topographic art. Who was its inventor 1t is impossible to trace; the method wac, no doubt, hit upon by various artists quite unknown to each other, and some of the few surviving examples have shown 6 re- spectacle antiquity. But one of the curl osities of the subject Is the claim to this honor put forward by a Dr. Grifiths, then master of University college. Oxford, the common room of which long contained several examples of the masters lsbors. In the Bodleisn gallery there once hung & poker picture of Sir Philip Sidney by the same hand, which was also responsible for similar portraits of Henry ". and of the Earl of Leicester, ss well as s copy of Car To Dolce'e f'Salvator Mundi," all of which were awarded places of houor In hall or chapel. Dr. Grifiths also claimed to be the instructor of ''Crsven Smith," and in 1872 the latter was known to have been working at Oxford under his tutelage.
 Among several poker pictures then pro- duced by Smith were the "Blscksmith's Shop" spirited drawing with big cart horse in the foreground, and 8 copy of the "Christ nearing the Cross' in Msgdslen chapel. One who saw the artist at work has described the tools used ss being like plumbers soldering iron, except that they had two edges or angles, and were more sharply pointed. They were, of course, of various eize5. Smith worked with great rspidity, and soon produced strik- ing effect, somtimes using irons at white heat to obtain shadows by scorchiug with out actually touching the wood.