Page V###

                             TILE EXHIB ITION AS A LESSON IN TASTE.
gradually led to so great a neglect of the details, that eventually is scarcely
represented, and in pottery it is still seemingly the
all individuality was lost, and with it all study: hence, in the great prerogative
of Messrs. Wedgwood to exhibit pure specimens
absurd Rococo, the very natural result of this general neglect, we of th
 re  tl;adsilfrtems          atInthequie
have designs made up of details so without meaning and indi- productions
of Flaxman, which appear more beautiful than ever,
vidtuality as to defy description,                         surrounded as
they are by such endless specimens of the prevailing
   Such is a review of the great Historic styles of ornament, and, gorgeous
taste of the present day,whc give teyenrsting-
having thus defined the peculiar distinctions of the styles, we may  place,
and presents no idea to the mind, from the want of indi..
now examine in detail the various objects exposed in the Exhibition, vidtuality
in its gorged desigs
with a view-by critical comparison-to draw what lessons we      The stall
of Messrs. Battam.* is devotedto the, so-termedEtruiscan
may from this great industrial competition of nations,     taste, but so
exclusively in one class of fabric, uniform in cha-
                                                            racter and material,
that it conveys only the notion of copying
                                                            a design, not
the revival of a simple and pure taste. The mere red
                    III.-The Exhibition.                   and black are
not essentials of the taste, but accidents of material;
   Once thle overwhelming impression of admiration and wonder the materials
further might be applied to modern uses, and the
 at the unparalleled collection, and. the admirable arrangement of ancient
forms and ideas expressed in other materials; this would
 the whole, subsided, the inquisitive mind naturally turns its be adopting
a taste, a very different thing from merely copying
 attention to the details in the mass, and in classes more or less designs.
 definite according to its own objects and pursuit. In our instance,  The
Medieval Court is open to much the same obj ection,
 the mind intent on Art-manufacture, naturally turned its atten- though not
so entirely so. We have in tis clecto  no a
 tion only upon such objects as were of an ornamental character, evidence
of the application of a peculiar taste to modern and
 The first general impression is one of bewildering magnificenceoriaywnsrpuoebtsmlyhecyofnodie;
              and  ndlss  ealt; a th  paticuar lases ae gadullysepa- old
things in an old taste. Byzantine or Gothic symbolism, 'in a's
 rated in the mind, a process of comparison commences between the faqsteueeae
euiu       omma      li   udiaionan
 objects before the eyes and the vague anticipations of the mindMrnrc'oal
nili        od hw     htsc       euti    ute
 previous to entering the building, with results more or less satis- possible
out of such materials. But where the thing is madeno
 factory according to individual knowledge and experience.    for ts own
sake or the use it may be of, but purely as an embodiment I
   Definite ideas now arise in the mind, of dissatisfaction or of the old
bygone idea that originally caused it, it is only a
 approval as it may be, at the various impressions from the different cowl
to smother all independent original thought or ingenuity,
           deprtens, ndthn te  peatin  f ritcim  n dtal om     and by preserving
symbolism as principal in all efforts would
 mences, followed by individual comparisons of the relative display reduce
Art much to what we find it in India, or rather China.
 of the various countries.                                  Indeed, except
in the most obvious forms of superstition, this court
   In examining minutely the results of these two last operations, already
presents a striking similarity of taste to that of the Indian
                the olloing  re te coclusons  e mut drw frm thm : works,
in its rude undefined details, and in richness of material;
   That there is nothing new in the Exhibition in ornamental asithsufs and
carpet exhibited by Mr. Grace,; in the wood-
 design ; not a scheme, not a detail that has not been treated over carving
of Mr. Myers ; and in the ecclesiastical vessels and robes ex-
 and over again in ages that are gone; that the taste of the pro- hibited
by Mr. Hiardman: all showing the strong analog wth the
 ducers generally is uneducated, and that in nearly all cases where  Oriental
types, and the Byzantine origin of the style. This is the
 this is not so, the influence of France is paramount in the European  fact
however which explains the similarity of the two developments,
 productions ; bearing exclusively in the two most popular tradi- their common
source, the Byzantine symbolism ; the triangles,
 tional styles of that country-the Renaissance and the Louis trefoils, squares,
and quatrefoils and various Romanesque adapta-
 Quinze-with more or less variation in the treatment and detail. tions of
the old Byzantine Greeks : spread on one side by the
 There are few designs of any country that do not come within the  Christians
of the west, the Latins, and on the other by the
                rangeof tese wo sylesfromthe Ialia  Renissace t theMoharnmedans
of the east, the Arabs.  Much scroll-work in
I French Rococo, or debased Louis Quirize. The few Greek, or so- Iondian
alndGtyhacvi gidentrica;en therByzsmiantineastaendad  the
called Etruscan specimens, and the Gothic examples, in the singu-honofpetavginrseoavryimlrramntn
larly styled Medieval Court, are almost the only exceptions as both sides.
As individual designs, however, this court offers some
regards European design. The best understood style is that which  very fine
samples of Gothic, as the mantelpiece by Myers, with
  we have been obliged to designate the mixed Cinquecento or the clever adaptation
of the dove and olive as a crocket.t  i  h
  Renaissance; the apparently most able designers of Italy, France,,  Such
being the relative proportion of the styles, what i h
  Austria, Belgium, and England, have selected this style for the exhi- general
conclusion that we are to draw  from this evidence ? We
  bition of their skill; if, therefore, the Exhibition can be considered
 have ventured to assert, that the best specimens of ornamental
  as a test of the favourite style of the day, it is evidently the Cinque-
deinasacasaeoateRnasac, u  ht h    ratblk of
  cento Renaissance, or the style which was developed in the second  the
specimens are of the Louis Quatorze varieties; thatClsiaAr
                halfof te sxteeth entuy inItay. Te Luis  uatoze arieiesis
scarcely represented, and that the Gothic, is only very partially so.
  pehapso prevailteinthquantityi ItayThe Louis QuizandtheRoc: vaithes Setting
aside the Gothic, which Owes what we have of it to senti-
  Gothic is evidently in little requisition in foreign countries, and is
metitntfrmonmnw havonly theree;o dheie exprs-ial
  only very partially cultivated in this, as is evident from the very  sions
of taste, the Greek, the Italian, adteFec;oteCascl
  smhall number of exhibitors who have contributed to what is 'very  the
Renaissance, and the Louis Quinize. These three tastes are very
  strangely misnamred the Medieval Court, as if the Gothic were the distinct
; we have in the first a thoroughly well understood detail,
  only medieval style, or even the medieval style par excellence. The with
a highly systematic and symmetrical disposition of these
                 Romnesue Byantne an Saacnic ad sverl talan aretisdetails,
always arranging them  upon such forms and at such
  wReoinfnitqel yzmoenetiensv ind   thenir anfluencerin Itheliddl vagies,
intervals a's shall fairly display the article and its ornaments in due
      than he Gohicwhich wa's almost limited to the neighbourhood  proportin;ifataaulesat:inheecdnte
                 of te Rhne ad boderng cuntres, nd t enuredonlyforRenaissance,
we have also a well understood detail, but a prevalence
  aompaheRativelshrpeid and  iodrn ontpoiesntdoftimenscarcedoly beong  of
the bizarre, and a  love of profusion Of parts; great skill of
  t      om th  ideae  tal  si   a   ot completely developed  execution,
but upon the whole a  bewildering and fantastic effect,
  util the    fourteenths ceturyl, and itwasn cotmoarlnywthtesl one more
agreeable to the generality than the simple Purity of
       Renassan estylesnf taly,an whichhowteveornarlyeeyhr   the Greeks :
in the third taste, that best illustrated b  h  oi
  suerasednedi   inthleso sIxtethlycentury. hwvrnelyvrQuinze, in every variety,
we         have a       total disregard Of detail
  Withereegaditn tohclasixenhcaltor Gekad  oa     rnmni      therefore exclusively
a      general effect; individuality Of Parts,
  Wisatonishing   tofn  soas ittle ofr t  Thee tast soa oracetiveifty beauty
of execution, anything that can possibly display any merit
  years aggo, in this country at least, appears to have spread no  tefa 
  nefrn      ihaprl genera peieffectug   is. notonly
  further than its Original Promoters could extend it;infriuei     eCa.p.2.
               BOspceseg.p.1780