Cottonwood chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1917-current, 1919-04-18
ANTIQUITY or
DECORATIVE ART
Strange Sources From Which
Pigments Used BY Modern
Painters Are Derived.
PRESERVATION OF SURFACES.
Crude but Effective Processes Employ.
ed by the Euyptlsns and Greeks Of
Pllnys Day--Noah PruHently
Waterproofed the Ark.


Whether paint was Invented In nn-
swer to need for a preservatives or to
meet q desire for beauty is acquisition
fully as knotty as the ancient,one about
the relative time OF arrival OF the
chicken or the egg. 1t was Invented.
though, andssN serves both purposes
equally; so whether it is an offspring
Of mother necessity or an adopted son
Of beauty remains forever q disputed
question.
The first men, covering under the
fierce and glaring suns OF the biblical
countries, constructed rude huts OF
wood to shelter them. The perishabl0
nature Of these structures cansedarapid
decay. and 1t is probable that the Oc-
cupants, seeking some artihelal means
representation, hit upon the pigments
sof the earth In their search. 1t ls2per-
haps natural to suppose that Il 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 the appllca-
ton Of a preservative' to q wooden
structure dates from the ark, which
was, according to the Bible, pitched
within and without" The pitch WIS a
triumph Of preservation whatever It
lacked as d thing OF beauty.
4 Decorations applied TO sbulldinga airst
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
manufacture, assuring permahence By
baking. Strictly speaking, this was
not painting 80 much as It was the
earliest manifestation OF our own IA
miliar kalsomining.
The first Hebrew to mention paint
ing Is Moses. In the thirty-ttilrd chap.
ter of the book OF Numbers he In
structs the Israelites. ''When 70 have
passed over the Jordan into the land
Of Canaan. then shall ye drive out ali
the Inhabitants Of the Land from be-
fore YOU and destroy all their pic
lures. /. :"
At later periods the Jews adopted
many customs Of the peoples who sue
cessively obtained power over them
and in the apocryphal book Of the
Maccabees Is found this allusIon to
the art Of decorating. "For as the mas
/ ter builder OF new house must care
for the whole building, but he that
undertaken TO set it out and paint It.
} must seek out things for the adjoining
: thereof"
Although Homer gives credit to a
Greek fer the discovery of paint, the
! illusions to II In the books OF Moses,
1.-THE painted mummy cases Of the Egyp-
tians and the decorated walls Of Baby
Ion and Thebes hx It's origin at q
period long antecedent to the Qreoian
era The walls OF Thebes were paint
ed 1900 years before the coming Of
Christ and 800 years before "'Omer
smote his bloomin' Tyre"
The Greeks recognized me value OF.
paint as a preservative and made Iuse
Of something akin to 1t on their ships.
} Pliny writes Of the mode Sof boiling
wax and painting ships with it.lafter
which, he continues, neither the sea,
: nor the wind, nor the sun can destroy
. the wood thus protected"
. The Romans, being essentially .
lwarlike people, never brought the dec
grafton OF buildings to the. high plane
lit had reached with the Greeks. For
all that the ruins Of Pompeli show
J many structures whose mural decora-
lions are In fair shape today. The
colors used were glaring. A black
} background was the usual one and the
: combinations worked thereon red, yell
low ana blue.
} In the early Christian era the, use OF
! mosalcs for churches somewhat sup
/ PLANTED mural painting SIN, during
} the reign Of JuStinian the Church, Of
Saint Sophia was bailt at Constaptlno-
! pie and its walls we're adorned with
paintings
In modern times the uses Of paint
/ have come to be as numerous Is its
; myriad shades and tints. Paint Is
} unique in that It's name aas no synO-
nym and for Il there Is no substitute
material. Bread is the stan Of iIte,s but
paint Is the life OF the STAN
No one thinks Of the exterior OF q
t wooden building now except 10 terms
. Of paint coated. Interiors, too. from
/. painted wells and stained furniture
down to the lowliest kitchen utensll,
3 all receive their btOtectlve covering.
) Steel. so often associated with cement
: reinforcing, Is painted before II goes
B TO give soiidity 10 the manufactured
, stone. The huge Orders Of the sky
r scrapers are danbed an ugly bnt Ell
( Client red underneath the surface coat
/ OF black. Perhaps the best eIample
J. Of the value Of paint on steel Is found
In the venerable Brooklyn hrldas. on
!. which gang Of painters q kept 90
= Ing continually. II l. scarce possible
q to think Of single manufactured ar
tlcls which does not meet paint selne-
M where In tho course 0f lte senstruc-
: taOa. so has paint EEoWn Int ne
L Rsry Saarrow q onr alNsA