The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1919-06-13
ANTIQUITY OF
DECORATIVE Art
strange Sources From Whick
Pigments Used by Modern
Painters Are Derived ;.
PRESERVATION OF SURFACES
Crude but Effective Processes Employ.
ed by the Egyptians and Greeks of
PIiny's Day-Noah PrudentIy
Wate5proofed the Ark.

Whether paint was invented in an
swer to a need for a preservative or to
meet desire for beauty is question
fully as knotty as the ancient one about
the relative time of arrival Of the
chicken or the egg. It was invented,
though, and it serves both purposes
equally SO whether it is an offspring
of mother necessity or an adopted son
of beauty remains forever disputed
question.
The first men. covering under the
fierce and garing suns of the biblical
countries, constructed rude hutS Of
wood 10 shelter them. The perishable
nature of these structures caused rapid
decay. and it is probable that the oc-
cupants seeking some artificial means
Of preservation, hit upon the pigments
Of the earth in their search. 1t is per
hans natural to suppose that it was
the instinct of preservation that led
men to the search although the glOrieS
Of the sunsets and the beauties of the
rainbow may have created a desire to
initiate those wonders in their own
dwellings.
The earliest record Of tie applica-
ton of preserVative 10 Ii wooden
structure dates from the ark. which
was, according to the Bible, pitched
within and without" The pitch was
triumph OF preservation whatever it
lacked as thing Of beauty.
Decoration applied to buildings first
comes to light with ancient Babylon,
WhoSe walls were covered with repre-
sensations Of hunting scenes and Of
combat These were done in red and
the method followed was to paint the
scene on the bricks at the time OF
nanufacture. assuring permanence by
baking. Strictly speaking, this was
not painting SO much as it was the
/ earliest manifestation of our own IA
, miIiar kalSomining.
The first Hebrew to mention paint
ing is Moses. In tie thirty -third chap
ter Of the book OF Numbers he in
STREETS the Israelites. when We have
passed over the Jordan into the land
If Canaan then shall ye drive out all
the inhabitants Of the land from be
Gore you and destroy all their pic
At later periods the Jews adopted
ceSSivoly obtained power over thnm
aud il the apocryphai book nj he
AacaaheeS is found this alIu~ion to
tie art Of decorating, For as the mas
te.. builder Of q new house must care
for the whole building, but tie that
undertaken to set it ont and paint 1t,
must seek out things fer the adjoining
thereof
Although Homer gives credit to
Greek for the discovery Of paint, the
illusions to it in the books Of Moses
tlie painted mummy cases Of the EGEp-
tians and the decorated walls of Baby
Ion and Thebes fix its origin at
period long antecedent to the Gr"cjan
era The walls Of Ihcbes We're paint
ed ] 900 years before the coming Of
Christ and 1876 years before 'Omer
smote his blOomin Tyre
The Greeks recognized the value Of
paint as a preservatiVe and made use
nf something akin 10 II on their ships.
PIiny writes OF the mode Of boiling
wax and painting ships with it. after
| which, ne continues, neither the sea,
| nor the wind, nor the sun can destroy
| the wood thus projected
| The Romans, beng essentially &
WarliIze people, never brought the dec
Grafton of buildings TO the high plane
it had reached with the Greeks. For
al, that the ruins of Pompci show
many structures whose mural decora-
tons are in fair shape today. The
colors used We're glaring. A black
: background was the usual one and the
, combinations worked thereon red, vel
: low and blue
; In tie early Christian era the use Of
nosaics for churches somewhat sup
: planted mural painting. Still, during
! the reign of Justiu.an the Church Of
] Saint Sophia was built at Constautino-
/ Pie and it's walls wm ;doIned with
| paintings.
: II modern times + Fges Of paint
have come to be as numerous as its
myriad shades and ants. Paint is
unique in that its name las no syno-
I.ym and for it there is no substitute
material Bread is the staff Of life. but
paint is the life of the staff
3 No one thinks OF the exterior Of a
,Coodcn building now except III terms
3 OF paint coated Interiors, too, from
yainted walls and stained furniture
5 down 10 the lowliest kitchen utensil
" al receive their protective covering
! Steel. so often associated with cement
s re-enforcing is painted before it goes
5 ~ Give solidity to the manufactured
!: .tone The huge grdcrs of the sky
& scrapers are daubed an ugly hit eff
S Client rcd underneath the slffaec coat
!: .lf black. Perhaps the best e<auIple
!. # he value of paint on steel is found
j n the venerable Brooklyn bridge. on
: wI.ch Il gang of painters ~ wv. 20
: liz continually. II il scurcn POSSIBLE
: ~ .h:IE Of Il single manufactured ar
tic,e which does not meet paint some