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 SEZ EES 
 
A MN OO REE OT ES SA Fe 9 ae 
 
RUDIMENTS 
 
 CURVILINEAR 
 DESIGN. 
 
 BY GEORGE PHILLIPS. 
 
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 LONDON: 
 
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 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY SHAW AND SONS, 
 FETTER LANE. 
 
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INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE higher ranks of British Society have long been conspicuous for a munificent 
 patronage of the Fine Arts, and to this fact may be attributed, not only rapid improvement 
 in those properly so termed, but a development of intellectual faculty in our Artisans, evident 
 in fertility of invention, and in the production of an infinitude of beautiful objects, combining 
 the useful with the ornamental; among which are included whatever contributes to form the 
 aggregate of domestic elegance peculiar to this country. The Rev. Mr. Alison, in the Intro- 
 duction to his Essays, “On the Nature and Principles of Taste,” observes, “ Even the neces- 
 sary arts are exalted into dignity by the genius that can unite beauty with use. From the 
 earliest periods of society, to its last stage of improvement, they afford an innocent and elegant, 
 amusement in private life, at the same time that they increase the splendour of national cha- 
 racter; and\in the progress of nations, as well as of individuals, while they attract attention 
 from the pleasures they bestow, they serve to exalt the human mind from corporeal to intel- 
 
 lectual pursuits.” 
 
 If my own views, confirmed by so eminent an authority, are admitted, apology for the 
 introduction of this Work to public notice becomes unnecessary; and its claim to favourable 
 reception will rest upon the degree of usefulness that may reasonably be expected to result 
 from the facility it affords of immediate reference to exemplifications of ancient and modern 
 styles; its tendency to promote chasteness in ornamental designs derived from them; and as 
 furnishing hints for selections, wherein novelty and elegance of figure may be advantageously 
 
 combined. 
 
 In the plan of the Work I am not aware that I have been anticipated by any previous 
 Author; the leading feature is necessarily that which I have endeavoured to render intelligi- 
 ble in the preceding paragraph ; and I have also ventured to introduce some theoretical 
 
 observations on Taste, the evident connection of this subject with the art of composition, 
 
IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 rendering it, with reference to the following pages, not merely one of philosophical enquiry, 
 but of practical importance; experience proving to us, that certain conceptions of taste in 
 the artist, invariably precede success, and that the value of his productions is determined by 
 their capability of exciting a generally corresponding sentiment : my attempt to elucidate the 
 operation of this faculty of the mind, is, however, offered with becoming deference to the 
 opinions of much abler writers: those of Alison, Burke, Hogarth, Reynolds, &c. are given in 
 the subjoined Notes; they constitute so many hypotheses, or classes of supposition, wherein 
 may be traced more or less of coincidence, but which leave the subject still undefined; and 
 it will probably remain doubtful whether it is susceptible of being resolved into a common 
 principle of our nature, actuating peculiar senses, or whether Taste, as expressive of sensibility 
 to the Beautiful,’ is dependent on complex emotions, varying with individual temperament, 
 
 pursuits, and, above all, the accidental causes that affect mankind. 
 
 The larger and more tangible portion of the Work is devoted to an object of permanent 
 utility, in an endeavour to establish uniformity of principle in Curvilinear Design. — For this 
 purpose it is evident certain rudiments should be laid down, and I humbly conceive that these 
 have always existed in a diffused state, amid the beauty pourtrayed by nature in the varied 
 disposition, and in the lineaments of created forms; needing only to be reduced to a simple 
 code of governing laws, to become effective in giving accuracy and expression to the hand of 
 the artist. Success, though partial, will have opened an inexhaustible field for culture ; yield- 
 
 ing, from its richness and abundance, a store whence the manufacturer may derive a succession 
 
 of new designs, adapted to create demand, by meeting the desire for variety inseparable from 
 
 a highly refined state of society. In the execution of this task, I have availed myself of these 
 sources; whence, also, have undoubtedly been derived the acknowledged standards of orna- 
 mental art, and other splendid productions of ancient genius yet unsurpassed. . In the Notes 
 appended to this section, the reader will find the substance of previous opinions on composition, 
 
 selected from received and popular authorities ; for the twofold purpose'of illustration, and of 
 
 aiding the judgment in arriving at satisfactory conclusions upon’ the validity of the text. 
 
 The ornamental and typographical execution has been attended to with a solicitude 
 which induces me to hope that the Work will be deemed worthy a place in the library of the 
 nobleman and gentleman; where, in addition to beauty of embellishment, it may be found 
 useful, as exhibiting the variety of styles on a scale calculated to conyey an idea of the effect 
 to be produced by any given specimen, when adapted for decorative purposes; and will further 
 
 ensure an adherence, not generally observed, in the progress of costly and extensive works. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 But whatever may be the degree of appreciation accorded to this effort by the wealthy, 
 its purposes will be incomplete unless the “ Rudiments of Curvilinear Design” are found 
 conducive to improvement in the taste and skill of the mechanical classes, necessarily con- 
 nected with the ornamental arts. This large and intelligent body was, until very recently, 
 precluded from acquiring the proficiency in design, essential to its well-doing. Heretofore 
 the difficulties opposed to supplying an original deficiency in the branches of education more 
 immediately requisite, were insuperable; but in the formation of Schools of Design, we hail 
 the commencement of an era in which humble talent will be developed and rewarded: there 
 is also, attached to the active liberality with which these institutions are promoted, a feature 
 which goes far to prove, that the truly illustrious of all parties are united, where by the 
 
 advancement of knowledge the advantages of the people may be worthily increased. 
 
 I would bespeak the favourable opinion, or lenient criticism, of the already accomplished 
 artist, but that in an enlightened profession, candour must ever be a characteristic of its 
 
 members; I therefore content myself with stating that the Designs are the result of many 
 
 years’ experience, not only in that particular department, but in the execution of ornamental 
 works, assisted by recollections acquired by the study of objects of art in other countries. 
 That the Work, as a whole, will be found useful, I may be permitted to hope; that there are 
 imperfections may be apparent; but let it be recollected that 
 “Tt is the sole prerogative of Heaven 
 Not to be tainted with the smallest error ; 
 
 But that immunity was never given 
 To Earth ee ee 
 
HE perception of Beauty is one of the high prerogatives of 
 the human race; it is the language of the eye, and, like the 
 speech, distinguishes man from the animal. This operation 
 of the mind, whereby the judgment comprehends, compares, 
 and finally adopts impressions of approbation or dislike, is 
 figurately expressed by the term Taste: within its range is 
 included an estimation of the moral and physical qualities of 
 objects, its decisions give intelligence to the senses and zest 
 
 to the feelings: thus are individual habits and pursuits 
 
 Assigning to Moral Taste precedence over that which appertains merely to the ornamental, 
 
 I approach the subject reverently,-}- in an attempt to trace the most successful efforts of art to 
 
 a connection with this elevated sentiment. To the sacred Scriptures must be referred the 
 
 highest views of moral and intellectual taste, and as the mind becomes embued with just con- 
 
 ceptions of the perfections of Deity, in his attributes and his works, so will correct opinions be 
 
 formed of the order and fitness of things: therein are also recorded with the grandeur and 
 
 * Considering Taste merely according to its nature and species, 
 we shall find its principles entirely uniform; but the degree in 
 which these principles prevail in the several individuals of man- 
 kind, is altogether as different as the principles themselves are 
 similar. For sensibility and judgment, which are the quali 
 that compose what we commonly call a taste, vary exceedingly in 
 various people. From a defect in the former of these qualities, 
 es a want of taste ; a weakness in the latter, constitutes a wrong 
 
 or abad one. There are some men formed with feelings so blunt, 
 with tempers so cold and phlegmatic, that they can hardly be said 
 to be awake during the whole course of their lives. Upon such 
 persons, the most striking objects make but a faint and obscure 
 impression. There are others so continually in the agitation of 
 gross and merely sensual pleasures, or so occupied in the low 
 drudgery of avarice, or so heated in the chase of honours and 
 distinction, that their minds, which had been used continually 
 
 to the storms of these violent and tempestuous passions, can 
 hardly be put in motion by the delicate and refined play of the 
 imagination. These men, though from a different cause, become 
 as stupid and insensible as the former; but whenever either of 
 these happen to be struck with any natural elegance or great- 
 ness, or with these qualities in any work of art, they are moved 
 upon the same principles.— Edm. Burke on the Sublime and 
 Beautiful. Introduction on Taste, p. 42. 
 
 In proportion as our sensibility is weak, with regard to any 
 class of objects, it is observable that our sense of sublimity or 
 s is weak in the same proportion; and where- 
 
 beauty in such objec 
 ever it happens (for it sometimes does happen), that men, from 
 their original constitution are incapable of any one species of 
 emotion, I believe it will also be found, that they are equally in- 
 sensible to all the sublimity or beauty which the rest of the world 
 find in the objects of such emotion.—Alison. Essays on the Nature 
 and Principles of Taste, p. 93 
 
 The nature of any person’s taste is, in common life, generally 
 determined by the nature or character of his imagination, and the 
 expression of any deficiency in this power of the mind, is con- 
 sidered as synonymous with the expression of a similar deficiency 
 
 in point of taste-—Ib. p. 4. 
 
 + 1 know some people are of opinion that no awe, no degree of 
 terror, accompanies the idea of power; and have hazarded to af- 
 firm, that we can contemplate the idea of God himself without 
 any such emotion. I purposely avoided, when I first considered 
 this subject, to introduce the idea of that great and tremendous 
 Being, as an example in an argument so light as this ; though it 
 frequently occurred to me, not as an objection to, but as a strong 
 confirmation of, my notions in this matter. I hope, in what I 
 am going to say, I shall avoid presumption, where it is almost 
 
 B 
 
 = 
 
8 THEORY OF TASTE. 
 
 sublimity peculiar to Holy Writ, those manifestations of power and of mercy which excite 
 adoration and love :—in the beginning the Almighty shrouds himself in the chaos of creation— 
 is seen in the mighty arch, which seals the gracious covenant that summer and winter should 
 not cease until time shall be no more—and is heard in the “small still voice,” the type of the 
 
 Gospel, when the Lamb should manifest his glory in the beauty of holiness. 
 
 Moral Taste* may be defined as the appreciation of that which is good and excellent, and I 
 
 ; of this illustration, that the source, whence is derived unerring precepts 
 
 assume, for the purpos 
 for its exercise, is acknowledged by the reader: the mind thus raised and maintained, is in a 
 
 position to estimate truly the sublimity and beauty of the material world, and should be best 
 
 fitted to draw from its stores, not only examples, but a succession of combinations awakening 
 
 emotions of delight. 
 
 It can indeed hardly be questioned, that associations of ideas influenced by moral taste, will 
 in their delineation (whatever may be the department of the artist) fail, generally, to interest 
 
 those feelings which govern the sensation of approbation in others; not, perhaps, by a dazzling 
 
 crowd of incidents, but by a certain faithfulness and simplicity of representation: for the whole 
 history of mankind presents us with examples of the most eminent poets, painters, and sculptors, 
 devoting their energies to the cause of religion or morality.t Their notions, which have 
 
 descended to us, either in their works or through the medium of historical records, vary only with 
 
 impossible for any mortal to speak with strict propriety. I say, 
 then, that whilst we consider the Godhead merely as he is, an 
 object of the understanding, which forms a complex idea of power, 
 wisdom, justice, goodness, all stretched to a degree far exceeding 
 
 the bounds of our comprehension; whilst we consider the D 
 in this refined and abstracted light, the imagination and passions 
 are little or nothing affected. But because we are bound by the 
 
 condition of our nature, to ascend to these pure and intellectual 
 
 ideas, through the medium of sensible images, and to judge of 
 
 these divine qualities by their evident acts and exertions, it be- 
 comes extremely hard to disentangle our idea of the cause from the 
 effect by which we are led to know it—Edm, Burke on the Sublime 
 and Beautiful, p.117. 
 
 * Diotime, si célébre par les éloges de Socrate, avoit donc 
 grande raison de l’exhorter 4 n’envisager les beautés de la nature 
 et de Part, que comme des degrés qui Velevassent & une beauté 
 supérieure. Epurons, étendons, et perfectionnons notre godt 
 pour le beau. La sagesse en est une branche. C’est étre ver- 
 tueux que de rendre 4 la beauté des moeurs ’hommage d’amour 
 et de respect qui lui est d0.—Theorie des Sentimens Agréables, 
 p-63. Anonyme, Paris, 1759. 
 
 + As truth is the end of all our speculations, so the discovery 
 
 of it is the pleasure of them; and since a true knowledge of 
 
 nature gives us pleasure, a lively imitation of it, either in poetry 
 or painting, must of necessity produce a much greater ; for both 
 these arts are not only true imitations of nature, but of the best 
 nature, of that which is wrought up to a nobler pitch. They 
 present us with images more perfect than the life in any individual ; 
 and we have the pleasure to see all the scattered beauties of 
 nature united by a happy chemistry, without its deformities or 
 faults. They are imitations which always move, and, therefore, 
 consequently please ; for without emotion there can be no delight, 
 which cannot be considered but as an active passion. When we 
 view these elevated ideas of nature, the result of that view is 
 
 admiration, which is always the cause of pleasure.—Dryden’s Pre- 
 face to Du Fresnoy’s Art of Painting, p. 165. 
 
 { It was the opinion of Nicias, one of the greatest of the Greek 
 painters, that the subject was of no less consequence in painting 
 than the fable in poetry; and, of cours 
 actions tended to elevate and enlarge, as the contrary must humble 
 
 The ancients had great advantages in 
 
 , that great and noble 
 
 the genius of the painter. 
 this particular ; they had not only their profane history, rich in 
 the most glorious and interesting events, but their sacred—whilst 
 it furnished them with new ideas of the sublime, gave no check to 
 the pathetic. Their gods, superior in grace, majesty, and beauty, 
 were yet subject to all the feelings and passions of humanity. 
 Webb on Composition, p. 144. 
 
 Petronius views the effects of the polite arts in a moral light, 
 observing that violent passions dwelt in the rude, but take no 
 Were we then to consider the arts 
 
 hold of a cultivated mind. 
 merely as objects of elegant speculation, or as the means of polish- 
 ing and softening our manners, we could not praise them too 
 highly ; but their effects are much more extensive. The powers 
 of eloquence and music are universally acknowledged ; so would 
 be those of painting, were they as universally exercised. The 
 Athenians passed a law that none who were not of a liberal birth 
 should practice in this art: they could not better shew the sense 
 they had of its power than in the care they took of its direction. 
 They knew the dominion it had over our p: 
 careful to lodge it in the safest hands. Agreeable to this idea, 
 the Greek writers often speak of the drama of a painter, of the 
 
 ions, and hence were 
 
 moral of painting ; expressions, which mark that they considered 
 the art as on a level and co-operating with poetry. One of the 
 greatest and most judicious of the Romans viewed it in the same 
 Picture, says Quintilian, is a silent and uniform address, 
 
 light 
 yet penetrating so deeply our inmost affections, that it seems 
 often to exceed even the powers of eloquence. We cannot doubt 
 we consider the character of the 
 
 the sincerity of this decision, 
 
 person from whom it comes, Cicero was equally sensible of the 
 
THEORY OF 
 
 TASTE 
 
 the moral intelligence or prevailing creed of the age in which they wrought, and are evinced 
 by a choice of subjects in unison with whatever the mental capacity or prejudices of the period 
 suggested as allied to the sublime, in the sense with which I endeavour to connect it with 
 
 the arts. 
 
 Descending in the scale of tasteful sentiment, we find divine dispensations pourtrayed in 
 
 every endearing figure that delights the eye, or charms the ear ;* the delicate, the chaste, the 
 
 vigorous, the noble, and the majestic, give expre 
 
 sion to the phrases of Scripture, and humanity 
 virtually responds in every enjoyment derived from an appreciation, whether of the disposition, 
 perfection, or fitness of material objects which the Creator has vouchsafed to his creatures. 
 This feeling predominates in proportion to the sensibility bestowed by nature, and is improved 
 to its most exquisite degree by education: the rich acquire a delicate and comprehensive taste 
 from the diversity of channels in which the imaginative powers are exercised; in the inferior 
 
 situations of life, there is a narrowness both of circumstances and of opportunities that depre 
 
 but seldom obliterate, the natural perceptions peculiar to individuals. It is pleasing to disting 
 
 even among the humblest classes, evidences of intuitive taste; the spade neatly handled—the 
 
 ploughshare firmly turned upon the broad and even furrow—a woodbine, or a rose, trained 
 to decorate the homely thatch, are all proofs of its existence ; and when it is remembered that 
 such a relish for the ornamental in the rustic bosom, is usually accompanied by decency of 
 conduct and deportment, the union claimed between moral and physical taste obtains a natural 
 
 and unsophisticated confirmation, which it would be difficult to controvert. 
 
 RNAMENTAL TASTE 
 
 templation of the beautiful, 
 
 is excited and gratified simply by con- 
 and undoubtedly exists independently of 
 higher aspirations, (though it may fairly be questioned whether, in such 
 
 cas: 
 
 s, the emotions produced are equally perfect with those impressed 
 with a just recollection of the relation of cause and effect), for that which 
 
 presents to the senses harmony of arrangement and fitness of purpose, 
 
 whether it refers to the beautiful in nature or the productions of human 
 
 ingenuity, is alike an object of interest to the refinement induced by wealth, and is singled out 
 
 powers of the pencil, and often sets them in competition with 
 those of his favourite art. Their effects are sometimes wonderful. 
 It is said that Alexander trembled and grew pale on seeing a 
 picture of Palamedes, betrayed to death by hi 
 to his mind a stinging remembrance of his treatment of Aristo- 
 nicus. Portia could bear with an unshaken constancy her last 
 separation from Brutus ; but when she saw, some hours after, a 
 picture of the parting of Hector and Andromache, she burst into 
 
 iends ; it bringing 
 
 a flood of tears ; full as seemed her sorrow, the painter suggested 
 
 new ideas of grief, or impressed more strongly her own. I have 
 somewhere seen a pretty story of an Athenian courtezan, who, in 
 the midst of a riotous banquet, accidentally cast her eye on the 
 
 portrait of a philosopher, that hung opposite to her seat; the 
 
 happy character of temperance and virtue struck her with so 
 lively an image of her own unworthiness, that she instantly quitted 
 the room ; and retiring home became ever after an example of tem- 
 perance.—Webb on the Antiquity and Usefulness of Painting, p.31. 
 
 * It is pleasing to observe the uniformity of nature in all her 
 
 operations. Between moral and material beauty and harmony, 
 
 between moral and material deformity and dissonance, there ob- 
 The vi: 
 
 sions of every virtuous emotion are ag) 
 
 tains a very striking analogy. 
 
 ible and audible expres- 
 
 able to the eye and the 
 ear, and those of almost every criminal passion disagreeable. 
 The looks, the attitudes, and the vocal sounds, natural to bene- 
 volence, to gratitude, to compassion, to piety, are in themselves 
 graceful and pleasing; while anger, discontent, despair, and 
 cruelty, bring discord to the voice, deformity to the features, and 
 distortion to the limbs. That flowing curve, which painters 
 know to be essential to the beauty of animal shape, gives place to 
 a multiplicity of right lines and sharp angles in the countenance 
 and gesture of him who knits his brows, and clenches his fist ; 
 whereas devotion, magnanimity, benevolence, contentment, and 
 good humour, soften the attitude and give a graceful swell to the 
 outline of every feature. Certain vocal tones accompany certain 
 mental emotions ; the voice of sorrow is feeble and broken, that 
 of despair boisterous 
 sprightly tone; fear, a weak and tremulous 
 of love and benevolence are musical and uniform, those of rage, 
 
 nd incoherent ; joy assumes a sweet and 
 
 adence ; the tones 
 
 loud and dissonant, &¢.—Encyclopedia Britannica, p. 780. 
 
10 
 
 THEORY OF TASTE. 
 as assimilating with the impressions of a highly cultivated imagination. It appears desirable, 
 in the present stage of these observations, to offer an opinion with reference to the word 
 “« Beauty,” as an indicative expression both here and elsewhere extensively applied, and which 
 if not happily conceived, is still the best my own experience and measure of understanding 
 has enabled me to arrive at: of the meaning of the word “ Beauty,” no one will admit himself to 
 be ignorant, yet if we come to inquire into its nature, we find it very differently understood and 
 characterized: but there is an important exception to this discordance, inasmuch that the use of 
 it always implies a sympathetic pleasure, varying with the qualities of objects, and the relative 
 power of mind possessed by individuals to estimate them truly; this feeling, and the degrees 
 of it so influenced, I take to constitute taste in its most common acceptation, and as best suited 
 
 to the concise view of it to which I am limited. 
 
 It will be conceded that, in pursuing the subject, the mode of reasoning adopted should 
 involve little of abstract or speculative inquiry,* though in an attempt to show how far taste is 
 inherent, or to be acquired, the attributes of mind called into action are necessarily subjects of 
 investigation, for the purpose of deducing their peculiar effect in the development, as well of 
 inventive talent, as of the pleasures which accompany competent appreciation of merit, in works 
 
 of genius and of art. 
 
 The simple, and at the same time comprehensive division of the mental faculties into those 
 
 on of ideas, and assent (under which all powers and operations of 
 
 of perception, the compar 
 mind are included), leads by an unambiguous course, to the establishment and dependence of 
 
 taste upon the first and second of these faculties, and its division als ive and active: 
 
 into pas 
 
 so obvious is the truth of this proposition, that it acquires confirmation in every stage of im- 
 provement through which all the useful, and most of the ornamental arts and manufactures are 
 
 progressing. 
 
 The perceptive faculty comprises the intuitive and the discriminative—the first of these 
 may be called the instinct of taste, for by it the qualities of men and things, in their simple sense, 
 are distinguished; it may be denominated, grammatically, the positive degree, as it can only 
 take cognizance of a single idea; therefore, when knowledge or experience, or both, enable the 
 mind to compare and judge of beauty and its attributes, or of the incidents of deformity, the 
 discriminative faculty is brought into action, and ideas are associated. By perception, the mind 
 
 assents to facts, such as they are in the nature of things, but the impressions consequent to the 
 
 operation of an informed judgment, induce correspondent emotions of disgust or pleasure ; and 
 
 these feelings will be intense or uncertain, as the judgment is strong and the imagination lively. 
 
 * T would not recommend an examination of the nature of 
 taste by means of an abstract or metaphysical inquiry into 
 the faculties of the mind. Such investigations are frequently 
 delusive, and are apt, by a plausibility, to mislead superficial 
 's; while they prove unsatisfactory to others more accurate 
 and_philosophi I have long thought the too minute and 
 too subtile division of the powers of the mind have rendered 
 them less intelligible. Nature constantly proceeds by the 
 shortest and plainest methods; never pursuing by-ways, while 
 a direct and obvious path lies before her. As we conceive 
 the nature of the human mind to be simple and uncompounded, 
 
 so have we reason to believe its powers and faculties to be. 
 The division of the mental faculties, which seem least open 
 to objection, is into active and passive. 
 its eyes, its mind is impressed with the idea of light. 
 
 When an infant opens 
 This 
 idea, however fleeting in that early period, is justly termed 
 perception, and is then of the simplest kind. The mind, being, 
 in like manner, impressed with different objects, insensibly ac- 
 quires a power of comparing its ideas, and thus becomes active, 
 having before this been as passive as wax. under the seal.— 
 Thoughts on the Nature and Objects of Taste and Genius, p. 5. 
 
 Anonymous. Edinb. 1782. 
 
THEORY OF TASTE. ll 
 
 The taste for Ornamental Beauty, more particularly within my province, has its being in the 
 facility with which the passive faculty of perception is aroused upon the sight or description of 
 novelty or beauty, and this operation of mind is invariably followed by a comparison of ideas, or 
 application of the discriminative power, wherein the merit, utility, or beauty of the object under 
 consideration undergoes a balancing against some previously existing standard: and by progres- 
 sions, entirely analagous, inventive genius acquires, pursues, and, lastly, evinces the power of 
 
 embodying new ideas, or of engrafting upon that which may be considered as already excellent, 
 
 some feature enhancing its value, and extending i 
 
 classes of the community. 
 
 7 
 
 elevated acquirements. 
 
 recourse to the reasoning powers; but it is the exercise of these, when 
 
 usefulness to larger or more opulent 
 
 ZUCH appears to be the mental process whereby Taste is originated and 
 \) developed: with the sensible qualities of things we become acquainted 
 
 by an intuition or sympathy, participated by all mankind, and without 
 
 The elements of Taste* are, then, portions of a common inheritance; simple in them- 
 
 selves, but susceptible of that indefinite variety of combination with stronger powers of mind 
 
 which, conjointly, exhibit degrees of this faculty so remarkably dissimilar; with the informed, 
 
 * T shall now say something on that part of Taste, which does 
 not belong so much to the external form of things, but is addressed 
 to the mind, and depends on its original frame, or to use the ex- 
 pression, the organization of the soul—I mean the imagination and 
 the passions. he principles of these are as invariable as the 
 former, and are to be known and reasoned upon in the same 
 manner, by an appeal to common sense deciding upon the common 
 This sense, and these feelings, appear to 
 Now this appeal 
 implies a general uniformity and agreement in the minds of men: 
 it would be else an idle and vain endeavour to establish rules of 
 art; it would be pursuing a phantom, to attempt to move affections 
 with which we were entirely unacquainted. We have no reason 
 to suspect there is a greater difference between our minds than 
 between our forms; of which, though there are no two alike, yet 
 
 feelings of mankind. 
 me of equal authority, and equally conclusive. 
 
 there is a general similitude that goes through the whole race of 
 mankind ; and those who have cultivated their taste, can distinguish 
 what is beautiful or deformed, or, in other words, what agrees with 
 or deviates from the general idea of nature, in one case as well as 
 the other. 
 
 The internal fabric of our minds, as well as the external form of 
 our bodies, being nearly uniform, it seems to follow, of course, that 
 as the imagination is incapable of producing any thing originally 
 of itself, and can only vary and combine those ideas with which 
 it is furnished by means of the senses, there will be necessarily an 
 agreement in the imaginations, as in the senses of men. There 
 being this agreement, it follows that in all cases, in our lightest 
 amusements as well as in our most serious actions and engagements 
 of life, we must regulate our affections of every kind by that of 
 
 others. The well-disciplined mind acknowledges this authority, 
 
 and submits its own opinion to the public voice. It is from know- 
 ing what are the general feelings and passions of mankind, that 
 we acquire a true idea of what imagination is; though it appears 
 as if we had nothing to do but to consult our own particular sen- 
 sations, and these were sufficient to ensure us from all error and 
 mistake. 
 
 A knowledge of the disposition and character of the human 
 mind can be acquired only by experience; a great deal will be 
 learned, I admit, by a habit of examining what passes in our bosoms, 
 what are our own motives of action, and of what kind of sentiments 
 we are conscious on any occasion. We may suppose a uniformity, 
 and conclude that the same effect will be produced by the same 
 cause in the minds of others. This examination will contribute to 
 suggest to us matters of inquiry; but we can never be sure that 
 our own sentiments are true and right, till they are confirmed by 
 more extensive observation. One man opposing another, determines 
 nothing; but a general union of minds, like a general combination 
 of the forces of all mankind, makes a strength that is irresistible. 
 In fact, as he who does not know himself, does not know others, 
 so it may be said, with equal truth, that he who does not know 
 others, knows himself but very imperfectly. 
 
 * * * * * * * * * 
 
 He, therefore, who is acquainted with the works which have 
 pleased different ages and different countries, and has formed his 
 opinion on them, has more materials, and more means of knowing 
 what is analagous to the mind of man, than he who is conversant 
 only with the works of his own age or country. What has pleased, 
 and continues to please, is likely to please again ; hence are derived 
 the rules of art; and on this immoveable foundation they must 
 ever stand.—Sir Joshua Reynolds’ Discourses, Vol. 1, pp. 128, 130. 
 
 Cc 
 
THEORY OF 
 
 TASTE. 
 
 perception and taste are, to a certain extent, concomitants ; at this point commences the light and 
 
 shade of life, of opinion, and of character,—the similarities that unite, or the antipathies that 
 
 repel. 
 
 Many of the professions, and large classes of society, are moved by impulses vibrating 
 
 in accord ;* the community of taste in minds similarly constituted, being, with reference to the 
 
 present, fostered by new and varied channels of literary communication, by societies set on foot 
 
 for especial purposes, in many departments of knowledge, and by a co-existent spirit of inquiry 
 
 proper to the age. 
 
 Through these means, the experience of past times has been diffused with 
 
 an activity that has no parallel, followed by an experimental industry which has produced ad- 
 
 vances in the sciences, whereon the most important discoveries have been founded, together 
 
 with a skill and precision in mechanical execution heretofore unexampled. 
 
 As perception is the basis whence springs a superstructure of Taste, and many of those 
 
 brilliant attributes which contribute largely to the sum of human enjoyment, it may be useful to 
 
 remark upon the enlargement of mind gradually accruing from a right use and direction of that 
 faculty, which, (though passive in itself), when stimulated by the repeated presentation of objects 
 
 ci recherché la source du plaisir que dans l’ame, 
 A leurs différentes modifica- 
 
 ou dans les organes du sentiment. 
 tions, il en répond toujours dans le cerveau de paralléles et de 
 proportionnées, dont les vestiges se conservent par la mémoire. 
 Nous seroit-il possible d’en percer le mystere? C’ést ici princi- 
 palement, oi il semble que la nature s’est couverte d’un voile, 
 que jamais les mortels ne pourront lever. Mais si nous ne devons 
 pas nous livrer a l’espérance de voir, ne renongons pas du moins 
 au plaisir de deviner, Qu’au défaut de P’expérience, Vart de con- 
 jecturer nous préte son flambeau. 
 
 On ne peut observer la nature, sans appercevoir qu’une sim- 
 plicité féconde fait le caractére de ses loix. Nous pouvons donc 
 juger de l'impression qui se fait sur le cerveau, par celle qui se fait 
 sur les organes des sens; qui en sont comme des extensions et des 
 branches. Un objet qui est agréable, exerce donc les fibres du 
 cerveau, sans les affoiblir, ou les épuiser; ce qui est douloureux 
 les blesse ; ce qui est ennuyeux, les laisse dans l’inaction. 
 
 Ce n’est pas seulement le degré du mouvement dans les fibres 
 du cerveau, qui y fait éclorre le plaisir; c’est principalement le 
 rapport qu’ont entr’eux les différens mouvemens qui y sont im- 
 primés. La Théorie de la Musique, en nous apprenant que les 
 accords les plus agréables, sont ceux of les vibrations qui les for- 
 ment, se réunissent plus souvent, 4 déterminé de grands physiciens 
 a croire que les couleurs, les odeurs, et les saveurs, dont le mélange 
 étoit agréable, excitoient aussi dans les organes de la vite, de l’odorat, 
 et du gotit, des vibrations qui s’accordent et s’entretiennent. Ne 
 4 conjecturer que la 
 
 sommes nous done pas de méme autor 
 symmeétrie, la rime, les proportions, l’imitation, le juste rapport des 
 moyens A un fin et 4 un objet principal, enfin la pltipart des agré- 
 mens qui brillent dans les ouvrages de la nature et de V’art, font 
 aussi sur les fibres du cerveau, des impressions agréables, parce 
 iés, qui se prétent un mutuel 
 
 qwelles y excitent des mouvemens 
 secours. 
 
 Mais pourquoi les qualités qui forment la beauté du corps, de 
 Vesprit et de l’ame, nous frappent-elles si agréablement, lors méme 
 que nous n’appercevons pas les rapports secrets d’utilité qui en font 
 le mérite réel? Ces agrémens ont leur source dans l’attention qu’a 
 eu auteur de la nature, de former les hommes de fagon que malgré 
 sont tous membres d’un méme 
 
 Yamour propre qui les divise, i 
 Leurs biens et leurs maux leurs sont communs quand des 
 
 corps. 
 dispositions particulieres n’y mettent point obstacle. 
 
 *  # * * * il ie a 
 Un rapport secret avec les dispositions de notre cerveau donne 
 
 naissance a la sympathie, et 4 tous les goiits bizarres qui nous font 
 trouver dans certains objets, des agrémens particuliers, invisibles au 
 reste des hommes. Ce qui nous plait davantage n’est pas toujours 
 ce qui mérite davantage de plaire. Est-on livré 4 une profonde 
 mélancolie? On n’aime que des lieux sombres dont l’approche 
 fait expirer la joie. Il n’est rien qui fe 
 plus agréable, que ce qui excite dans les fibres du cerveau des 
 vibrations qui entretiennent dans l’ame, les sentimens oi elle se 
 
 sur nous une impression 
 
 complait. 
 * * * * * * * * * 
 
 Tl y a des ames qui, au premier coup d’ceil, s‘attirent Pune 
 Vautre plus fortement que V’almant n’attire le fer: et rien n’égale la 
 facilité qu’ont ceux qui s’aiment de se transmettre leurs idées ; leurs 
 cerveaux sont montés & Vunisson.—Théories des Sentimens Agréables, 
 p.79. Anonyme, Paris, 1759. 
 
 + Children do not retain, in their maturer age, any remem- 
 brance of the progress of these perceptions, by which the means of 
 exercising both memory and understanding were acquired, and, 
 consequently, of their possessing any such faculties. We may, 
 nevertheless, observe the process by which these artificial and im- 
 proved perceptions are formed out of simple sensations, in the 
 manner in which they handle and turn about all objects which they 
 can lay hold of; now putting them to their mouths, and now 
 placing them at different distances from their eyes; by all which 
 they are rectifying, correcting, and improving the testimony of one 
 sense by that of another, and acquiring the habit of associating their 
 ideas as they receive them ; from which habit the best and principal 
 part of their subsequent knowledge is to be derived. 
 
 * * * * * * * * * 
 
 The faculty of improved or artificial perception, thus acquired, 
 continues to improve through the subsequent stages of our lives, 
 as long as our minds retain their vigour; and becomes so far in- 
 dependent of the organs of sense, from which it is derived, and 
 through which it continues to be exercised, that it often exists in 
 its highest state of perfection when those organs are enfeebled by 
 age, and verging to decay. A musician can tune his instrument 
 after his hearing has become defective, more accurately than a 
 person with the nicest ear, who has not been used to discriminate 
 sounds; and a vintner, who has been in the constant habit of 
 tasting wine, and attending to its flavour, though his organs be 
 blunted by age, and vitiated by intemperance, will distinguish the 
 genuine juice of the grape, or point out the modes and degrees 
 
THEORY OF TASTE. 13 
 within its sphere of observation, acquires a familiar knowledge of the circumstances peculiar to 
 them; and as it becomes yet more confirmed, receives and accumulates indelible impressions of 
 their qualities, uses, and value. To memory, the great depository of moral and intellectual 
 experience, man refers, as to a faithful authority, for the comparatives he may require to 
 strengthen his opinions, or to aid his decisions; and these will be further and evidently in- 
 fluenced, first, by rank or position in society ; secondly, by example and education ; and, thirdly, 
 
 by constitutional predisposition, whether to vivacious or melancholy trains of thought. 
 
 cultivated ; the perceptive faculty is there earlier directed to, and in 
 the constant observation of examples and models upon which it may 
 be founded, favoured also by “ appliances and means” for its extension 
 and confirmation.* I would be understood as referring, in the pre- 
 
 ceding paragraph, to undisputed rank and its usual concomitants ; but 
 
 we possess in this country exceptions so numerous and striking, to a 
 
 confined within exclusive limits, that the remark will be received as 
 
 concession that taste is 
 
 conveying merely the truism, that leisure, combined with other advantages, produces a relish 
 for the arts of Taste in an extended ratio, as compared with an abridgment of constantly- 
 
 operating facilities. 
 
 From positive rank I revert to position, or the important standing in society acquired by 
 mercantile or trading reputation; and where the refinements of Taste, both in amenities and 
 embellishments, are scarcely less palpable than among those whose station and opinions time 
 and custom has invested with conventional superiority. The classes under consideration, though 
 wanting the heir-looms of ancestry, precious in the efforts of taste and genius bestowed upon 
 them, and, perhaps, less acquainted with the very highest departments of the imitative arts, 
 
 possess the perceptive faculty in its most useful degree} Identified with the commerce of the 
 
 of its adulteration, with more certainty and precision than an 
 
 unexperienced person who enjoys the utmost sensibility of palate, 
 but who never having accustomed himself to discriminate the im- 
 
 pressions upon his organs, and observe them separately ; nor having 
 
 any 
 and examine them, considers every compound sensation collectively 
 and alone ; and consequently, if the initiation be not very harsh and 
 discordant, finds it pleasant, whatever may have been the causes 
 All refinement of taste, therefore, in the liberal 
 ises, in the first instance, from this faculty of improved per- 
 ception ; for painting, sculpture, music, and poetry, are all in their 
 
 nalogous ideas pre-existing in his mind, by which to measure 
 
 which excited it. 
 arts, 2 
 
 principles, as Aristotle has observed, imitative arts; whence the 
 only pleasures which the ignorant and unexperienced receive from 
 them, except those of sensation and mental sympathy before ex- 
 plained, are derived from mere imitation— Principles of Taste, by 
 R. Payne Knight, pp. 95 and 99. 
 
 * As all the pleasures of intellect arise from the association of 
 ideas, the more the materials of association are multiplied, the more 
 will the sphere of these pleasures be enlarged. To a mind richly 
 stored, almost every object of nature or art, that presents itself to 
 the senses, either excites fresh trains and combinations of ideas, or 
 vivifies and strengthens those which existed before. Every insect, 
 plant, or fossil, which the peasant treads upon unheeded, is, to the 
 
 naturalist and philosopher, a subject of curious inquiry and specu- 
 lation,—first, as to its structure, formation, or means of existence, 
 —then, as to its comparative degree, or mode of connection with 
 others of the same or different kinds; and the respective ranks 
 and situations which they all severally hold in the graduated system 
 of created beings. 
 sublime spectacle of the heavens presents nothing but a blue vault 
 bespangled with twinkling fires ; but to the learned and enlightened, 
 it displays unnumbered worlds, distributed through the boundless 
 vacuity of unmeasured space; and peopled, perhaps, with different 
 orders of intelligent beings, ascending, in an uninterrupted scale 
 of gradation, from the lowest dregs of animated matter to the 
 incomprehensible throne of Omnipotence itself —Jbid, p. 143. 
 
 To the eye of the uninformed observer, the 
 
 + There is in the commerce of life, as in art, a sagacity which 
 is far from being contradictory to right reason, and is superior to 
 any occasional exercise of that faculty, which supersedes it; and 
 does not wait for the slow progress of deduction, but goes at once, 
 
 by what appears a kind of intuition, to the conclusion. A man 
 endowed with this faculty, feels and acknowledges the truth, though 
 it is not always in his power, perhaps, to give a reason for it ; be- 
 cause he cannot recollect and bring before him all the materials 
 that gave birth to his opinion; for very many and very intricate 
 considerations may unite to form the principles, even of small and 
 
THEORY OF TASTE. 
 
 14 
 world, the products of both hemispheres are perpetually passing through their hands, many of 
 them the material hereafter to be employed in works of Taste ; and hence arises a primary and 
 enduring connection of commerce with the arts, conducive to national greatness. Can it 
 then be imagined, that the merchant and trader remain indifferent to the progress and pro- 
 ductions of native ingenuity, or to a perfection in the latter, favourable to commercial enterprise 
 
 and wealth? On the contrary, their unceasing activity in promoting it is a proximate cause of 
 
 experimental industry, of improved perception in the workman, and, consequently, of whatever 
 
 in the shape of Taste pervades our manufactures. This I take to be, in the main, a correct view 
 of the important position occupied by the mercantile classes in its bearings upon this subject: 
 the higher orders among us are remarkable for a ready and liberal patronage of objects of 
 Taste, that is, an appreciation of the taste originating with the inventors or producers of them ; 
 this coincidence places in a cheering point of view the progress and union of the faculties of 
 pereeption and discrimination in the other classes, and the effect is, that which can alone furnish 
 the desired stimulus to manufacture, by successively displacing objects comparatively ill adapted 
 or inelegant. This is one of the great means of the diffusion of wealth; the influx of it would 
 seem to depend on similar principles, but, that of the vast extent and. variety of manufacture, 
 of which the exports of this country are composed, our merchants are the natural patrons : 
 invention, design, and facility (or cheapness) of production, are qualities sought by them as 
 
 subjects of mutual interest, these transactions having at the same time a powerful tendency to 
 
 public prosperity.* 
 
 XAMPLE and education, as potent auxiliaries in the promotion of 
 
 intuitive perception, whether in the direction of moral good, or towards 
 
 attainment in the ornamental arts, are subjects of the deepest interest : 
 
 were I to enlarge upon the former branch, I should trench upon 
 
 arguments already most ably urged, if not satisfactorily decisive, upon 
 a question so long mooted: but example, on the large scale, and in 
 SS allusion to its effects upon masses of the people, must evidently be 
 
 preceded by education; the well-informed are aware that every social relation is strengthened 
 
 and improved by sound elementary principles of instruction; and the purity and ductility of the 
 
 earlier stages of perception claim at our hands rescue from moral degradation, and impressions 
 
 minute parts, involved in or dependent on a great system of things; 
 though these in process of time are forgotten, the right impression 
 still remains fixed in his mind. 
 
 The impression is the result of the accumulated experience of 
 our whole life, and has been collected, we do not always know how 
 or when. But this mass of collective observation, however ac- 
 quired, ought to prevail over that reason, which, however power- 
 fully exerted on any particular occasion, will probably comprehend 
 but a partial view of the subject; and our conduct in life, as 
 
 well as in the arts, is, or ought to be, generally governed by this 
 habitual reason; it is our happiness that we are enabled to draw 
 on such funds. If we were obliged to enter into a theoretical 
 deliberation on every occasion, before we act, life would be at a 
 stand, and art would be impracticable, 
 
 It appears to me, therefore, that our first thoughts, that is, the 
 
 effect which any thing produces on our minds on its first appear- 
 ance, is never to be forgotten; and it demands, for that reason, 
 because it is the first, to be laid up with care. If this be not done, 
 the artist may happen to impose on himself by partial reasoning ; 
 
 by a cold consideration of those animated thoughts which proceed, 
 not perhaps from caprice or rashness, but from the fulness of his 
 mind, enriched with the copious stores of all the various inventions 
 which he had ever seen, or had ever passed in his mind.— Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds’ Discourses, Vol. 2, p. 98. 
 
 * T am aware that the opinions I offer, as to the immediate 
 influence of rank and station upon Taste as developed in our manu- 
 factures, and, necessarily also, in the arts inseparable from them, are 
 novel addenda to theoretical argument: the theories, on the same 
 subject, with which I am acquainted, are purely of a metaphysical 
 nature, though, occasionally interspersed with observations valuable, 
 as apart from abstruse disquisition ; and I have accordingly availed 
 myself of them in subjoined notes, in aid of the principal ob- 
 ject here kept in view, namely, illustration, and the suggestion of 
 notions leading to practical results ; but as all attempts to define the 
 limits of perception or of discrimination, or to describe the power of 
 combined action in these faculties, are theoretical, in so far, as an 
 inevitable result, my observations partake of that character. 
 
THEORY OF TASTE. 15 
 
 of the beauty of truth, its attendant virtues, and their rewards. The effect of example in pro- 
 moting manual dexterity is obvious in every trade; children attain, apparently with little effort, 
 that of their fathers; the apprentice also, gliding through the stages of his probation, arrives 
 almost unconsciously at a point of equality with the master. Here perception performs its 
 office in anticipation of the power of execution; by continued observation of the same process, 
 or mode of operation, knowledge has been acquired, while the hand is yet unable to obey the 
 
 volitions of the mind. 
 
 Education, as a term applied to the means of imparting knowledge by certain organized 
 systems, more or less skilfully adapted to age, capacity, and future pursuits, is generally under- 
 stood ; but with the merits of the plans already in operation, (separately considered), few are yet 
 sufficiently acquainted : much less with those from time to time proposed, and which form a fertile 
 source of public discussion. Upon this topic, we find the orthodox churchman, the conscientious 
 dissenter, the sceptic, and the sheer politician, urging, with characteristic pertinacity, views 
 
 apparently irreconcilable ; each of them, however, struggling for a larger share in the guidance 
 
 of youthful perception, and for opportunities of impressing upon it the facts or theories by which 
 
 they are severally actuated. Education, as applied to the arts of Taste, is happily exempt from 
 this clash of opinions; innocent in themselves, they amply repay every care and solicitude 
 bestowed in their cultivation,—irradiating society by numberless elegancies, and uniting the 
 opposed on graver subjects in a bond of common approbation—asperities are softened, and, not 
 unfrequently, merged in a community of sentiment originating in these arts, their evident use- 
 
 fulness, and the pleasures properly ascribed to them. 
 
 Some of the considerations just given have no doubt had weight in securing an estimation 
 for the arts in all ages to which history reaches, though the effects produced must have been 
 limited indeed, contrasted with those advancing hand in hand with liberal institutions. In remote 
 time there could have been no collective taste for the arts among the people; there existed no 
 middle class, to which liberty, in giving birth, added the activity, the intelligence, and the 
 resources of commerce ; princes, either secular or ecclesiastical, were then monopolists of the 
 labours of the artist, rendering still more striking the disparities of exclusive magnificence and 
 prevailing abjectness; of despotic power and untutored vassalage. A recollection of these 
 marked and gloomy features of the past will serve, at all times, to place in high relief the many 
 advantages we enjoy, and which afford to talent and perseverance well-founded assurance both 
 of honorable distinction, and the corresponding position, as to other circumstances, resulting 
 
 from successful pursuits. 
 
 In connection with the subject of education in the arts, allusion, however slight, to ancient 
 
 genius,* brings to remembrance the existing memorials of it, constantly referred to as examples 
 
 * Egypt first, and afterwards Greece, have manifested by their 
 
 works, their great skill in arts and sciences, and among the rest, 
 
 painting and sculpture, all which are thought to have issued from 
 their great schools of philosophy. Pythagoras, Socrates, and 
 ‘Aristotle, seem to have pointed out the right road in nature for the 
 study of the painters and sculptors of those times, which they in 
 all probability afterwards followed through those nicer paths that 
 their particular professions required them to pursue.—Hogarth, 
 Analysis of Beauty, Preface, p. 13. 
 
 In the fine age of the arts in Greece, civilization had just arrived 
 to that state, in which the manners of men are polished, but yet 
 natural; and, consequently, their attitudes and gestures expressive 
 and emphatical, without ever being coarse or violent. All the more 
 noble and amiable sentiments of the mind were indicated by the 
 correspondent impression of the countenance and body; while 
 those of a degrading and unsocial cast were suppressed and con- 
 cealed; their modes of dress, too, having been adapted to display to 
 advantage the natural motions and gestures of the body, and not 
 
 D 
 
16 THEORY OF TAST 
 
 upon which the most acceptable Taste may be founded; there is so universal a concurrence in 
 the admiration they excite, and in the advantage of studying them, that even a tolerable course 
 of instruction includes an acquaintance with, and estimation of these works; the consequent 
 impressions relate, however, more immediately to the departments of painting, sculpture, and 
 architecture, than to design adapted for practical purposes in manufacture; the importance of 
 teaching the latter, as a distinct auxiliary of the ornamental arts, had very long been felt, but 
 there needed the repose of nations, and the intercourse to which it gives rise, to make us fully 
 
 acquainted with the taste and talent similarly employed in other countries, and by comparison 
 
 with our relative position in these particula 
 
 yr has, I believe, been asserted, and to the assertion no slight credence 
 
 is attached, that we are far more indebted to the possession of capital 
 (and thereby of ability to afford extended credits) for sustaining our 
 commercial prosperity, than to evidences of Taste in our manufactures 
 at large. I am not disposed to admit the accuracy of this deduction, 
 in the sweeping sense in which it has been applied; but there are facts 
 exhibited in some of the manufactures of our continental neighbours, 
 which prove the necessity of amendment both in the style and variety 
 of design current here. There is, so far as my means of information reach, no difference of 
 opinion as to the greater care bestowed abroad upon the education of every individual, with a 
 view to proficiency in the particular branch of manufacture wherein his ability is hereafter to be 
 made available ; and such a system, steadily carried out, would of itself create a superiority 
 difficult to overtake—the capacity of mind in the productive classes of all countries, being 
 
 measured by a common standard. 
 
 In many of the finer productions of the loom, elegance of design is the index to preference ; 
 the material, rich and lustrous in itself, requires an assimilating taste in the artist to produce 
 
 the varied effect it is susceptible of receiving, and by such combinations only can the producer 
 
 arrive at, or maintain, a commanding position in his department. Fashion, indeed, is considered 
 a frequent and abrupt intruder upon the steady course of the manufacturer; she rejects, it is 
 true, at the present day, the unmeaning and the inappropriate, but welcomes and remunerates 
 the best entitled claimant to favour; rarely erring in judgment as to the taste by which her 
 
 preference is attracted. 
 
 to constrain, disguise, or conceal them, like those of modern 
 Europe, the artists had constantly before their eyes every possible 
 variety of models, in which expressions of grace, elegance, and dig- 
 nity were displayed in every possible mode and degree. In the 
 gymnastic festivals, too, where men of high rank and liberal educa- 
 tion entered into contests of personal strength and agility, they had 
 opportunities of seeing these models exhibited without reserve, not 
 only in every accidental variation of attitude and position, but in 
 every mode and degree of muscular effort and exertion. By study- 
 ing and imitating these, and not applying to any abstract rules 
 or predeterminate lines of grace, elegance, or beauty, the great 
 sculptors of Greece appear to me to have produced those m: 
 pieces, which have been the admiration of all subsequent ages and 
 
 generations of civilized men. 
 * * * * * * * * * 
 That which constitutes the great characteristic difference between 
 
 liberal and mechanic art, and which gives to the former all its 
 superiority, is feeling or sentiment ; a quality that is always easily 
 perceived, but incapable of being described. It is this which gives, 
 in different ways, those inexpressible charms and graces to the 
 works of Corregio, of Rubens, of Rembrandt, and of Claude ; which, 
 amidst inaccuracies, that every student of every academy knows 
 how to reprobate and avoid, still continue to fascinate every be- 
 
 holder ; and will continue to do so, as long as a trace of them shall 
 remain.—R. Payne Knight, Principles of Taste, pp. 216, 243. 
 
 The habit of contemplating and brooding over the ideas of great 
 geniuses, till you find yourself warmed by the contact, is the true 
 method of forming an artist-like mind; it is impossible in the 
 presence of those great men, to think or invent in a mean manner ; 
 a state of mind is acquired that re 
 relish of grandeur and simplicity. 
 Vol. 2, p. 87. 
 
 ives those ideas only which 
 
 ir Joshua Reynolds’ Discourses, 
 
THEORY OF TASTE. 
 
 Results of the same nature attach in every department where Ornamental Design is intro- 
 duced, and so extensive is the application of it, that few can be deemed independent of the influence 
 it holds in the legitimate dominion of Taste; to mechanical effort, directed towards improye- 
 ments in the requisites and conveniences of society, it adds the desiderata of finish and of value, 
 because it is the feature invariably referred to as perfecting the claim to notice and approbation 
 on which every judicious producer places reliance. It must, therefore, excite surprise that 
 this branch of art remained, until very recently, in an obscure and depressed condition, little 
 befitting the interests of this great country *—it was not, certainly, that its importance was unknown 
 or unfelt, though the more opulent of our manufacturers remained passive ; satisfied, perhaps, 
 with the preponderance incident to their position, which included the selection and employment 
 of available talent; but it is precisely in this way that we have incurred so large an arrear, both 
 in variety of style and in the superior adaptations of ornamental design, which we are bound to 
 acknowledge in some descriptions of foreign manufacture. In an actual dearth of qualification 
 in the draughtsman and modeller, all below the first-rate manufacturer have been compelled to 
 wait opportunities of copying, or to seek even less reputable methods of possessing themselves 
 of patterns, wherewith to maintain the shadow of competition. The necessity for an amended 
 system has, therefore, gradually forced itself upon attention, and could be carried into effect by 
 no other means than those of cheap instruction, and raising up by cultivation, on a liberal scale, 
 a supply of native talent, sufficiently matured and diversified; want of unanimity, the actuating 
 power in all great movements and ameliorations, appears to have operated as the principal cause 
 of delay, for of pecuniary resources, the parties most interested are neither deficient or niggard ; 
 the experiment of offering instruction upon a plan and terms generally available, was conse- 
 quently left to originate in legislative inquiry; and a public demonstration has been made 
 
 towards remedying this long-existing defect and reproach. 
 
 * Tn taking a general view of the subject before them, the 
 committee advert with regret to the inference they are obliged to 
 draw from the testimony they have received,—that, from the highest 
 branches of poetical design, down to the lowest connection between 
 design and manufactures, the arts have received little encourage- 
 ment in this country. The want of instruction in design among 
 our industrious population—the absence of public and freely open 
 galleries, containing approved specimens of art—the fact, that only 
 recently a National Gallery has been commenced among us, have 
 all combined strongly to impress this conviction on the minds of 
 the members of the committee. In many despotic countries, far 
 more development has been given to genius, and greater encourage- 
 ment to industry, by a more liberal diffusion of the enlightening 
 influence of the arts. Yet to us, a peculiarly manufacturing nation, 
 the connection between art and manufactures is most important ; 
 and for this merely economical reason, (were there no higher mo- 
 tive), it equally imports us to encourage art in its loftier attributes, 
 since it is admitted that the cultivation of the more exalted branches 
 of design tends to advance the humblest pursuits of industry, while 
 the connection of art with manufacture has often developed the 
 genius of the greatest masters in design.—Report of the Select 
 Committee of the House of Commons appointed to enquire into the 
 best means of extending a knowledge of the Arts and of the Principles 
 of Design among the People. Session 1836, p. tit. 
 
 + It has too frequently, if not uniformly occurred, that the 
 witnesses, consulted by the committee, have felt themselves com- 
 pelled to draw a comparison more favourable (in the matter of 
 design) to our foreign rivals, and especially to the French, than 
 could have been desired either by the committee or the witnesses. 
 
 The committee were anxious to investigate the pervading cause 
 which seemed to justify this conclusion. It appears that the great 
 advantage which foreign manufacturing artists possess over those 
 of Great Britain, consists in the greater extension of art throughout 
 
 the mass of society abroad. In France, it is cheap, because it is 
 
 generally diffused. 
 difficulty in procuring superior designs. Our affluent silversmiths 
 have called to their aid the genius of Flaxman and of Stothard. 
 But the manufacturer of cheap plate and inferior jewellery cannot 
 procure designs equal to those of France, without incurring an ex- 
 pense disproportioned to the value of the article on which his labour 
 is employed.—Ibid, p. iv. 
 
 In England, a wealthy manufacturer has no 
 
 } His Majesty’s Government has this year, for the first time, 
 proposed a vote in the estimates for the establishment of a Normal 
 School of Design. 
 
 It appears to the committee, that the formation of such an in- 
 stitution, not mere theoretical instruction only, but the direct appli- 
 cation of the arts to manufactures ought to be deemed an essential 
 element. In this respect, local schools, where the arts reside, as 
 it were, with the manufacture to which they are devoted, appear to 
 possess many practical advantages. In such situations, it is probable 
 that the arts will strike root and vegetate with vi Ibid, p. v. 
 
 It will give your committee the sincerest gratification if the result 
 of their inquiry (in which they have been liberally assisted by the 
 artists of this country) tend in any degree to raise the character of a 
 said to stand much higher among foreign nations 
 
 Zour. 
 
 profession which i: 
 than in our own; to infuse, even remotely, into an industrious and 
 enterprizing people, a love of art, and to teach them to respect and 
 
 venerate the name of ‘‘ Artist.” —Jbid, p. vi. 
 E 
 
OF TA 
 
 18 THEORY 
 
 (GHE School of Design, set on foot by the Government, has given a fair 
 yy VW earnest of the good to be accomplished ;* and in its councils we 
 
 N are vouchers for the effective management required—but far more 
 A extensive advantages arise out of the new state of things than can be 
 Sy looked for from a single establishment. In the metropolis, a con- 
 WYP temporary already enters upon a friendly rivalry in the cultivation of 
 
 XG) the arts of Taste—the “ Society for promoting Practical Design, 
 
 ng a knowledge and love of the Arts among the People,”+ 
 
 and diffu 
 has grown out of the impulse given by the parliamentary report, but independently of other 
 than gratuitous services and liberalities: it possesses, therefore, in an eminent degree, the 
 persevering spirit and activity by which difficulties may be surmounted, and public benefits en- 
 grafted upon the habits and tastes of the people: in fulfilment also of the views and intentions 
 conveyed by the title it has assumed, this society has invited the correspondence of similar 
 institutions wherever formed, or in progress, and the influence and experience of its founderst 
 have been cheerfully tendered for their advancement. In the principal manufacturing districts, 
 attention is fixed upon emulating these parent institutions in the encouragement afforded for 
 the study and practice of design. Schools thus supported, and from conviction, also, of the 
 impulse to be given by successions of fresh and vigorous ideas, wherever ornamental design can 
 
 be intreduced, must be replete with usefulness. I am of the number who entertain favourable 
 anticipations of the result of these measures ; in addition, they advance the artizan a forward 
 step in the scale of estimation and acquirement, and cement, still more closely, the bond of 
 
 mutual interest between the employer and the employed. 
 
 Whatever may be the tendency of casual position, or of education, in the formation of indi- 
 
 vidual taste, I think it must be admitted that constitutional predisposition has also a decided 
 
 share in establishing the bias, and inducing the evidences, by which we judge of the presence 
 
 and quality of this faculty ; for the gay, the tranquil, and the melancholy, § have their several and 
 
 which did not appear so to them, or in their considering certain objects 
 as beautiful which did not appear so to him. There is no ins 
 this more common than in the case of airs in music. In the first case 
 of such a difference of opinion, we generally endeavour to recollect, 
 whether there is not some accidental association of pleasure which 
 we have with such objects, and which affords us that delight which 
 
 * Every seminary of learning may be said to be surrounded with 
 y mind may imbibe 
 Knowledge, 
 
 ance of 
 
 an atmosphere of floating knowledge, where ever, 
 somewhat congenial to its own original conceptions. 
 thus obtained, has always something more popular and useful than 
 that which is forced upon the mind by private precepts or solitary 
 it is generally found, that a youth more easily 
 studies, whose 
 
 meditation. Besides, 
 receives instruction from the companions of his 
 minds are nearly on a level with his own, than from those who are 
 much his superiors ; and it is from his equals only that he catches 
 
 the fire of emulation —Sir Joshua Reynolds’ Discourses, Vol. 1, p. 8. 
 
 other people do not share; and it not unfrequently happens, that 
 we assign such associations as the cause of our pleasure, and as our 
 In the other case, we 
 
 apology for differing from their opinion. 
 generally take it for granted, that they who feel a beauty where we 
 do not, have some pleasing association with the object in question, 
 of which we are unconscious, and which is accordingly productive 
 to them of that delight in which we are unable to share. In both 
 cases, although we may not discover what the particular association 
 is, we do not fail to suppose that some such association exists which 
 
 + The operations of this society are carried on at Saville House, 
 Leicester Square. 
 
 } Among these are seen the names of Messrs. Ewart, Chairman, 
 
 Wyse, M.P., Ashton Yates, M. P., and Hutt, M.P., members of 
 the parliamentary committee, Sir Martin Arthur Shee, President of 
 the Royal Academy, and many distinguished professors and patrons 
 of the arts. 
 
 § Every man has had reason to observe a difference in his sen- 
 timents, with regard to the beauty of particular objects, from those of 
 other people ; either in his considering certain objects as beautiful, 
 
 is the foundation of beauty, and to consider this difference of opinion 
 as sufficiently accounted for on such a supposition. 
 
 The different habits and occupations of life produce a similar 
 effect on the sentiments of mankind with regard to the objects of 
 Taste, by their tendency to confine their sensibility to a certain 
 class of objects, and to render all others indifferent to them. In 
 our progress from infancy to manhood, how much do our sentiments 
 of beauty change with our years ; how often, in the course of this 
 
THEORY OF TASTE. 19 
 peculiar tastes; although there may be a concurrence, expressed or implied, in relation to objects 
 immediately affecting the senses, and a disposition to join in sentiments of approbation towards 
 others where the tastes of mankind usually coincide. The animal spirits* may be said to give 
 vigour to the imagination, as well as energy of action to the body—their rapid flow is accord- 
 ingly marked by brilliant but hasty conceptions, often the origin of caprice or the instability in 
 judgment, diametrically opposed to deliberate and well-founded taste; while the medium, or 
 tranquil temperament, which indicates a steady equipoise of the animal functions, though less 
 prompt, seems best fitted to the development of intellectual superiority ; here,-cultivation meeting 
 a congenial soil, each temporary attention begets impressions partaking of the acew racy ‘incident 
 to a more perfect organization.{- To these, melancholy, in its various gradations of depression, 
 affords a contrast too frequently recurring to escape observation ; it would appear that the mind, 
 fettered by the imperfections of its habitation, struggles in vain for emancipation and enjoy- 
 ment, and ultimately succumbs to the causes by which it is affected; listlessness and langour 
 are the mildest evils attendant on the melancholy ; their imagination is therefore restrained in 
 the excursions and associations essential to taste; hence, we rarely find in them, under the 
 
 most favourable circumstances in matters relating to the arts, more than an acquiescence in, or 
 
 deference to, the tastes of others. 
 
 progress, do we look back with contempt, or at least with wonder, 
 upon the tastes of our earlier days, and the objects that gratified 
 them ! 
 
 * * * * * * * * * 
 
 The difference of original character, or the natural tendency of 
 our minds to particular kinds of emotion, produces a similar dif- 
 ference in our sentiments of beauty, and serves, in a very obvious 
 manner, to limit our taste to a certain class or character of objects. 
 There are men, for instance, who, in all the varieties of external 
 nature, find nothing beautiful but as it tends to awaken in them a 
 sentiment of sadness,—who meet the return of spring with minds 
 only prophetic of its decay, and who follow the decline of autumn 
 with no other remembrance than that the beauties of the ye 
 gone. There are men, on the contrary, to whom every appearance 
 of nature is beautiful, as awakening a sentiment of gaiety ;—to 
 whom spring and autumn alike are welcome, because they bring to 
 them only different images of joy ;—and who, even in the most 
 desolate and wintry scenes, are yet able to discover something 
 in which their hearts may rejoice. 
 
 are 
 
 It is not, surely, that nature 
 herself is different, that so different effects are produced upon the 
 imaginations of these men ; but it is because the original consti- 
 tution of their minds has led them to different habits of emotion, — 
 because their imaginations seize only those expressions in nature, 
 which are allied to their prevailing dispositions,—and because every 
 other appearance is indifferent to them, but those which fall in with 
 the peculiar sensibility of their hearts. ‘The gaiety of nature alone, 
 is beautiful to the cheerful man; its melancholy, to the man of 
 sadness; because these alone are the qualities which accord with 
 the emotions they are accustomed to cherish, and in which their 
 imaginations delight to indulge—Alison, Nature and Principles of 
 Taste, Vol.1, pp. 84, 90. 
 
 * Some persons have constitutionally such a vivacity of spirits 
 —such a restlessness rather than fertility of imagination, ever 
 showing itself in new combinations of imagery, sometimes just and 
 pleasing, and sometimes the reverse, that they may be said to live 
 naturally in a state bordering on intoxication; their spirits being 
 as much the effects of stimulants as those which are given by wine ; 
 but of natural and constitutional stimulants which rise and operate 
 
 occasionally, and then leave them low and vapid, till the nerves 
 have recovered their irritability or power of action ; for such persons 
 have always their ebbs and flows of spirits; the fit of vivacity 
 being invariably followed by one of dejection. Hence wit and 
 madness are said to be nearly allied: since, if these constitutional 
 and inherent stimulants act upon machinery too weak to bear them, 
 they will of course break it. In minds of adequate vigour, endued 
 with just feelings, and enriched with various imagery, the combi- 
 nations which they excite, though unusual.and diversified, will 
 always be just and coherent ; and, in the readiness and facility of 
 such combinations, wit properly consists: but if the proportionate 
 strength of the stimulants be too great, and the action, in conse- 
 quence, too violent, though the readiness and facility of combination 
 may remain, or even be increased, the justness and coherence of 
 it is gone, and madness, of course, becomes the.result— R. Payne 
 Knight, Principles of Taste, p. 141. 
 
 + Uheureuse conformation des organes s’annonce par un air de 
 force ; celles des fluides, par un air de vivacité ; un air fin est comme 
 Vétincelle de esprit: un air doux promet des égards flatteurs : un 
 air noble marque I’élevation des sentimens: un air tendre semble 
 étre le garant d’un retour d’amitié. 
 
 Tous ces différens airs sont agréables, non seulement par les 
 qualités qu’ils expriment, mais encore par les sentimens qu’ils font 
 nditre dans celui qui les appergoit ; et il le sont plus ou moins, 
 suivant leurs rapports secrets avec nos dispositions particulieres. 
 
 La perfection consiste dans la possession des qualités du corps, 
 de lesprit, et de l’'ame lesquelles nous mettent 4 portée de nous 
 procurer un solide bonheur, en conformité des intentions de notre 
 auteur, gravées dans la nature de notre ¢tre, 
 
 Nous sommes d’autant plus parfaits, que le corps 4 moins de 
 principes de maladie, et qui’l est plus capablé d’exécuter les mouve- 
 mens qui lui sont ordonnés; que Vesprit & moins de principes 
 erreur, et plus de facilité 4 saisir, et 4 exposer le vrai; enfin que 
 Vame a dans la nature de ses gotits, moins de principes de regrets, 
 de chagrin, d’inquiétude, et qu’elle est plus disposée 4 regler toutes 
 ses volontés par des jugemens clairs et certains, qui aient pour 
 objet un bonheur solide et durable —Théorie des Sentimens Agréables, 
 pp. 64, 68. 
 
THEORY OF TASTE. 
 EFINITE effects upon Taste undoubtedly result from the causes which 
 have been briefly sketched ; but endless modifications of this faculty are 
 
 induced and retained in subserviency to the common laws and affections 
 
 of our nature: even a constant familiarity lessens our sensibility towards 
 the highest objects by which it can be excited; still more frequently 
 the business of life intrudes its cares and disquietudes, and certain habits 
 of thought are acquired, to the exclusion of refined perceptions, and a 
 GORE delicate play of the imagination. Thus, as in the growth and formation 
 
 of Taste, the ratio of mental energy and adventitious circumstances of individuals, have a com- 
 
 bined tendency, so must the latter, from the moment when discrimination is established to the 
 
 verge of second childhood, have a direct influence upon the evidences of it furnished by their 
 
 opinions and pursuits. 
 
 I believe that those who have given any beyond superficial‘ attention to the subject, will 
 
 nearly agree in these deductions: so delicate are the emotions attendant upon a comprehensive 
 
 Taste, that they may be said to wither under disadvantages affecting the comparative ease which 
 seems essential to their nurture, and the maintenance of a superiority in such matters, of which 
 
 we become aware by a concurrent deference not to be misunderstood. In exalted degrees of 
 Taste, the eye, quickened by experience, and accustomed to comparison, has acquired certain 
 principles of correspondence with what is beautiful and elegant, separating grace and originality 
 
 from affectation and mannerism; and decides upon gradations of these qualities with the same 
 
 species of feeeling that an intelligent ear, when listening to diversified modulations in a musical 
 
 composition, distinguishes the natural and instinctive effect produced by pleasing combinations 
 of sound; tracing throughout, however rapid may be the execution, the union of reciprocal or 
 
 responsive vibrations which constitute the harmony of its construction. 
 
 The acquirement of good Taste,* by a discipline and training of certain principles of our 
 nature, on which it is founded, becomes first in order of the intentions of this work: we are, 
 indeed, scarcely possessed of any faculty, whether of mind or body, that is not susceptible of 
 improvement, and we need but refer to the senses for indubitable proofs of this fact; the sight, 
 touch, and hearing, are invariably quickened by practice, and the degree of dependence which 
 individuals are accustomed to place upon them. Man, in his uncivilized condition, relies upon 
 the external senses for support and preservation ; in this state, the eye and ear attain both power 
 and precision, unknown where busy and varied occupations supersede the stealthy step and 
 s. The perfection at which these organs arrive, 
 
 piercing scan of the inhabitant of the wildernes 
 when necessary to existence, proves also the wise ordination that endues them with spontaneous 
 
 Want of Taste, unavoidably springs from negligence ; false Taste, 
 
 * Goodness of Taste lies in its maturity and perfection. It 
 from injudicious cultivation —Gerard, Essay an Tasie, p. 9. 
 
 consists in certain excellencies of our original powers of judgment 
 and imagination combined. ‘These may be reduced to four: sen- 
 sibility, refinement, correctness, and the proportion or comparative 
 adjustment of its separate principles. All these must be in some 
 considerable degree united, in order to form true Taste. The person 
 
 Le sentiment dont je parle est dans tous les hommes, mais 
 comme ils n’ont pas tous les oreilles et les yeux également bons, de 
 méme ils n’ont pas tous le sentiment également parfait. Les uns 
 
 in whom they meet, acquires authority and influence, and forms 
 just decisions ; which may be rejected by the caprice of some, but 
 are sure to gain general acknowledgment. This excellence of 
 Taste supposes not only culture, but culture judiciously applied. 
 
 Vont meilleurs que les autres, ou bien parce que leurs organes sont 
 naturellement mieux composés, ou bien parcequ’ils l’ont perfec- 
 tionné par l’usage fréquent qu’ils en ont fait, et par Vexperience.— 
 Du Bos, Reflex: Critique sur la Peinture, Sc. Part 2, p. 23. 
 
THEORY OF TASTE. 21 
 improvement, while the culture of the intellectual faculties is, in a great measure, entrusted to 
 our own care, and their perfection left, as it were, dependent on our endeavours to regulate 
 
 and render them conducive to our well being, and the higher enjoyments of life. 
 
 The early indications of Taste are crude and confined, it can only advance by slow steps 
 towards excellence ; but by every exertion of it, properly applied, objects are presented in a 
 new and enlarged point of view; hence, the law of habit applies as the immediate source of 
 improvement in this, as in all our faculties of action and perception. Habitual exercise 
 establishes an harmonious subordination of the principles of Taste, and renders our ideas deter- 
 minate and easy of arrangement; this enlargement and amplitude of mind is, therefore, necessary 
 to strengthen the judgment in decisions upon Taste, and equally so where the tastes of others 
 are to be conciliated towards novelty in the ornamental arts. One of the effects to follow the 
 public inquiry and opinion, already alluded to and quoted, will be access to galleries or collec- 
 tions of works, to which excellence is, by common consent, awarded, with increased facilities for 
 study and a practical application of the acknowledged principles of art. The industrious classes 
 will therefore possess opportunities, previously unattainable, for the cultivation of their own 
 taste and talent, with the advantage of introducing these qualifications to notice, in the branches 
 
 of manufacture to which they are attached. 
 
 APABILITIES, even of the average kind, submitted to the course of 
 
 instruction opened by Schools of Design, may be expected, within a 
 
 = A pursuit of reputation in this profession it should be borne in mind, that, 
 Z| 
 
 J \( 7 pr 
 
 Lp) corded with a care proportioned to the importance of being able (when 
 
 of the young artist or draughtsman, memory is hereafter to become the 
 
 incipal resource; the results of his studies should, therefore, be re- 
 
 his own abilities are to abide a test) to bring to his aid recollections of peculiar excellence, in 
 the examples which have passed under his observation. Memory exerts a further influence ; 
 it corrects the imagination,* by exhibiting its recollections in the same form and order they 
 
 were received by sense; to a mind intent upon representation, in any of the imitative arts, 
 
 * Many of the combinations of ideas which imagination pro- 
 duces, are representations of nothing that exists in nature; and 
 therefore, whatever is fictitious or chimerical is acknowledged to be 
 faculty, and is termed imaginary. But wild 
 and lawless as this faculty appears to be, it commonly observes cer- 
 tain general rules, associating chiefly ideas of such objects as are 
 connected by the simple relations of resemblance, contrariety, or 
 vicinity; or by the more complex ties of custom, co-ewistence, or 
 
 the offspring of this 
 
 order. It sometimes presumes that ideas have these relations where 
 they have them not; but, generally, it discovers them where they 
 are; and by this means it becomes the cause of many of our most 
 important operations. 
 
 Wherever fan: 
 uniting qualities just now mentioned, it readily, and with a kind of 
 
 supposes, or perceives in ideas, any of the 
 
 eagerness, passes from one idea to its associates. Thus, the picture 
 of a friend transports the mind in an instant, by means of resem~- 
 blance, to the conception of that friend; and it introduces the 
 recollection of many particulars in his character and conduct, by 
 means of the relation which they bear to him as their cause ; and 
 
 this effect might be illustrated by many obvious examples, with 
 respect to all the associating qualities. Ideas to which they belong, 
 are often so strongly connected by the imagination, that they be- 
 come almost inseparable, and generally appear together. Where 
 one of them is conceived, no force can prevent the other from rush- 
 ing into the mind. 
 
 * * * * * * * * * 
 
 Imagination proceeds a step further; where a number of distinct 
 ideas are intimately connected, it even combines them into a whole, 
 on account of the facility with which all the group is taken in, and 
 considered as composing only one perception. This is the origin of 
 all our complex perceptions. It is fancy which thus bestows unity 
 on number, and unites things into one image, which, in themselves, 
 and in their appearance to the senses, are distinct and separate. By 
 this operation, fancy has great influence on Taste; for all the objects 
 that affect Taste; and excite its sentiments, are certain forms or 
 pictures made by fancy—certain parts or qualities of things which 
 it combines.— Gerard, Essay on Taste, pp. 158, 162. 
 
 F 
 
THEORY OF TASTE. 
 
 bo 
 be 
 
 remembrance, or the effort by which memory recals the proportions and lineaments of objects, 
 
 2 , 
 
 prescribes at the same time, limits beyond which imagination may not trespass ; thus, happy 
 s S, 8 
 
 combinations of memory with imagination, produce also accuracy combined with vigour, and 
 
 frequently a gracefulness of execution acceptable to the most refined tastes. 
 
 In all operations of confirmed and acknowledged Taste, judgment* assumes and maintains 
 its ascendancy over the subordinate faculties ; it weighs, compares, and revises the more transient 
 decisions of perception, and its gradual establishment should be visible in the successive pro- 
 od 
 
 by attentive examinations of objects of a superior caste, to which the student may have access ; 
 
 ductions of the young artist. In a course of study, the judgment should therefore be exere 
 
 of the skilful arrangement of constituent parts, as accessories to symmetry and beauty; together 
 with the form, colour, and expression, to which, as a whole, extraordinary merit has been con- 
 ceded. These recommendations imply, of course, unremitting diligence ; but this devotion of 
 the intellectual powers will be attended by ultimate conviction of its necessity; and that the mind 
 thereby becomes strengthened, and better fitted also for the fulfilment of other duties and 
 
 engagements. 
 
 To the opinions I haye advanced on the advantages to be gained in the development of 
 Taste in Ornamental Design, by a well-directed course of study, it may be useful to add some 
 illustrations, derived from personal experience and observation, as to the progress of this faculty 
 in the mechanic, independently of other accessories than those bestowed by nature. The first 
 steps of mechanical life, like those of infancy, are feeble and uncertain; the young artizan, 
 awkward and ignorant, brings into the sphere of his labours no advantages but those of industry 
 and emulation; he handles the file, the riffle, the gouge, or the chisel, as a schoolboy fingers 
 his pen, and gazes at the adroit workman with a childish wonder—follow him through the years 
 of his probation, and the succeeding eras of his manufacturing existence, and it will be seen that 
 the progress of his ability and skill has duly kept pace with the means of observation afforded 
 by his situation, and the extent of his knowledge: the truth of his work, and the neatness of its 
 finish, the spirit and beauty of its execution, are in harmony with the delicacy of his fancy and 
 the acuteness of his judgment; but this delicacy and acuteness are the result of experience 
 alone; the discriminative faculty would not have been expanded, had not the germs of Taste 
 
 been inherent in the particular constitution of his nature. 
 
 * Judgment measures the amplitude of things, determines their advantage, and most promote that regular organization on which 
 proportions, and traces out their wise construction and beneficial both the elegance and vigour of the whole depends. It compares 
 tendency. It uses all the methods which art and science indicate, characters with nature. 
 
 and pronounces them either real or mon- 
 for discovering those qualities that lie too deep to strike the eye. strous. It compares them with other characters, and finds them 
 It investigates the laws and causes of the works of nature; it com- good or bad in kind, properly or improperly marked. It compares 
 pares and contrasts them with the more imperfect works of art; and _ them with themselves, and discovers whether they are consistent or 
 thus supplies materials from which fancy may produce ideas, and _ inconsistent—well or ill supported ; whether their peculiar decorum 
 form combinations, that will strongly affect the mental taste. is preserved or violated. Truth and justice is the foundation of 
 Judgment finds out the general character of each art, and by every beauty in sentiment; it imparts to it that solidity, without 
 comparing them, draws conclusi 
 sist between different arts. 
 
 ions concerning the relations which which it may dazzle a vulgar eye, but can nev 
 
 please one who 
 Till it has discovered these, none looks beyond the first appearance : and to ascertain truth, to un- 
 of them can acquire that additional power of pleasing which is mask falschood, however artfully disguised, is the peculiar pre- 
 imparted to them by their mutual connection. rogative of judgment. The fines 
 
 sentiments, if applied to subjects 
 * ¥ * * * * * * * unsuitable, may not only lose their beauty, but even throw defor- 
 
 By an accurate scrutiny of the various relations of parts, judg- mity upon the whole; for judgment alone perceives the fitness or 
 ment fixes the situation in which they will appear with greatest unfitness of their application —Gerard, Essay on Taste, pp. 86, 89. 
 
THEORY OF TASTE. 23 
 
 cof 
 
 Sf) S 
 \y A, what has been tteeed there is no invention; but a familiar Oo te 
 
 S will at once Rue the minor degree of piesa aa in its relate eis 
 
 ahs his task. The THovlal aoe been ee a zee remains to 
 the artizan to produce a fac-simile of his pattern; here Taste alone produces the difference in 
 execution; and this, whether it be a work of handicraft or mechanism—whether a cast from the 
 mould, or a throw from the potter's wheel—a plate from the die, or an effort of the chasing 
 hammer—all, and each, will owe the merit of the execution to the Taste of the artizan; and that 
 Taste the result of skilful manipulation, responding to the inward sense of appropriate beauty. 
 But again:—Specimens of various manufactures are exhibited to mechanics in the several 
 departments of each fabric; here the limitations of discernment will be manifest; in the metal 
 work, beauties and defects will be appreciated and observed by the founder, which will be over- 
 looked by the potter; the scientific skill lavished upon the embroidered silk would attract the 
 notice of the weaver, while artizans of other trades would exert no other species of criticism, 
 
 than that furnished by comparison with results proper to their own modes of workmanship. 
 
 There is so near a connection between the principles that compose and constitute the unity 
 of mind by which our decisions are governed and our actions impelled, that their separate 
 jurisdiction can scarcely be defined; and this difficulty, of itself, sufficiently accounts for the 
 various hypotheses applied to elucidate the operation of given combinations of the mental 
 faculties in producing an accomplished Taste: it appears, however, entirely consistent with 
 general observation, and agrees also with the limited experience to which, only, I can lay claim, 
 that from the simpler elements of improved perception and accurate discrimination are derived 
 
 the approaches to superiority, whether in execution or of appreciation, so designated ; for, 
 
 practically, we find the acquirement of Taste marked by progressions keeping pace with the 
 exercise of these particular faculties, and in no other ratio or proportion: a mental standard is 
 thus gradually established, conversant with the real qualities of things, and their true features 
 and proportions; in estimating them, we no longer rest satisfied with being pleased, but we 
 proceed to discover the determinate quality by which the emotion of pleasure has been excited, 
 and, in this manner, the common sensibilities of our nature are corrected. By experience, 
 custom, or habit, expressions of the same import, but differently applied, we can alone succeed 
 in maturing the original powers of mind upon which our outward senses reflect every object, by 
 
 means of the several instincts peculiar to them. 
 
 I have allowed the perception of beauty * to take precedence of the sense or feeling excited 
 
 * Beauty is a thing much too affecting not to depend upon _ in bodies acting mechanically upon the human mind, by the inter- 
 And since it is no creature of our reason— vention of the senses. We ought therefore to consider attentively 
 
 some positive qualitie 
 since it strikes us without any reference to use, and even where no in what manner those sensible qualities are disposed, in such things 
 use at all can be discerned—since the order and method of nature _ as by experience we find beautiful, or which excite in us the passion 
 is generally very different from our measures and proportions, we _ of love, or some correspondent affection.—Ed. Burke, on the Sublime 
 must conclude that beauty is, for the greater part, some quality and Beautiful, p. 196. 
 
 G 
 
THEORY 
 
 24 
 
 OF TASTE. 
 
 by contemplation of the sublime,* as more essentially interwoven with the arts of Taste, and, 
 
 therefore, 
 
 with the classes of ornament upon which 
 
 I am hereafter to treat; all writers have 
 
 connected the sublime with the beautiful, in deducing Taste from its first principles as implanted 
 
 in our nature, 
 
 in a work solely devoted to that purpose, there can be no doubt. The earlies 
 
 records are filled with descriptions and imagery of the most sublime kind; 
 in a control or display of the mightier elements of 
 
 destined to impart the idea of infinite power, 
 
 creation, delivered in majestic reproof and admonition, or, in softer metaphor, 
 
 giving a precedence to the former; and of the propriety of such an arrangement, 
 
 t and most venerated 
 
 and these, whether 
 
 extending hope 
 
 and promise, are founded on the effect which the sublime is ordained to exert and hold on the 
 
 human mind and senses. 
 
 In this and similar attempts to apply our reasoning powers, we are, 
 
 as it were, unavoidably led to the source of the sublime; and here, as on other subjects, our 
 
 ideas are equally active and varied ; 
 
 but, bounded in their excursions by infinity and its attri- 
 
 butes, they are resolved into corresponding emotions, of which terror is the extreme, and humility 
 
 the rational and consolatory. 
 
 Inferior degrees of sublimity are consistently assigned to many works of art, wherein great 
 
 labour or skill is evident, or both may be combined ; 
 
 hat we should 
 
 * In ageneral view of beauty, it naturally occu 
 compare it with the sublime; and in this comparison, there ap- 
 
 a remarkable contrast ; for sublime objects are vast in their 
 
 peal 
 dimensions—beautiful ones, comparatively small ; beauty should be 
 d and negligent ; beauty 
 
 smooth and polished 
 should shun the right line, yet deviate from it insensibly —the 
 
 the great, ru 
 
 loves the right line, and when it deviates, it 
 ould not be obscure— 
 the great ought to be dark and gloomy; beauty should be light 
 and delicate—the great ought to be solid and even massive. They 
 are, indeed, of a very different nature; one being founded on pain, 
 
 great, in many case: 
 
 often makes a strong deviation ; beauty 
 
 the other on pleasure ; and however they may vary afterwards from 
 
 the direct nature of their causes, yet these causes keep up an eternal 
 
 distinction between them, a distinction never to be forgotten by any 
 In the infinite v 
 
 whose business it is to affect the passions. 
 of natural combinations, we must expect to find the qualities of 
 things the most remote imaginable from each other united in the 
 same object. We must expect, also, to find combinations of the 
 of art. 
 object upon our passions we must know that, when any thing is 
 intended to affect the mind by the force of some predominant pro- 
 perty, the affection produced i 
 perfect, if all the other properties or qualiti 
 
 same kind in work 
 
 But when we consider the power of an 
 
 like to be the more uniform and 
 s of the object be of 
 the same nature, and tending to the same design as the principal : 
 
 If black and white blend, soften and unite 
 
 ‘A thousand are there no black and white? 
 
 Tf the qualities of the sublime and beautiful are sometimes found 
 united, does this prove that they are the same; does it prove that 
 they are any way 
 
 ied—does it prove even that they are not 
 
 opposite and contradictory? Black and white may soften, may 
 
 blend ; but they are not therefore the’ same. 
 
 Nor when they are 
 so softened and blended with each other, or with different colours, 
 is the power of black as black, or of white as white, so strong as 
 when each stands uniform and distinguished?—Ibid. p. 2 
 
 + He that would know what kind of idea it is to which we 
 give the name of infinity, cannot do better, than by considering to 
 what infinity is by the mind more immediately attributed, and how 
 the mind comes to frame it. : . 
 
 of vast 
 
 of this description are building 
 
 Finite and infinite seem to me to be looked upon by the mind, 
 as the modes of quantity, and to be attributed primarily in their 
 first designation only to those things which have parts, and are 
 capable of increase or diminution, by the addition or subtraction of 
 any the least part; and such are the ideas of space, duration, and 
 
 *Tis true that we cannot but be assured that the great 
 
 number. 
 God, of whom and from whom are all thi 
 infinite. But yet, when we apply to that first and Supreme Being, 
 our idea of infinite, in our weak and narrow thoughts, we do it 
 y in respect of his duration and ubiquity; and, I think, 
 ively, to his power, wisdom, and goodness, and other 
 : are properly inexhaustible and incomprehensible. 
 
 , is incomprehensibly 
 
 primari 
 more figur 
 attributes, w: 
 For when we call them infinite, we have no other idea of this infi- 
 
 nity but what carries with it some reflection on, and estimation of, 
 that number or extent of the acts or objects of God’s power, wisdom, 
 and goodness, which can never be supposed so great or so many, 
 
 which these attributes will not alw 
 
 surmount and exceed, let us 
 
 ays 
 multiply them in our thoughts, as far as we can with all the infinity 
 of endless number. I do not pretend to say how these attributes are 
 in God, who is infinitely beyond the reach of our narrow capacities ; 
 they do, without doubt, contain in them all po 
 but this, I ¢ them, and these our ideas 
 of their infinity. 
 
 of Infinity. 
 
 le perfection ; 
 
 say, is our way of concei 
 
 Locke, on the Human Understanding, Cap. 17, 
 
 { Magnitude in breadth, is expressive to us of stability, of 
 duration, of superiority, of destruction. 
 
 are sublime in consequence of this a 
 
 Towers, for 
 ociation, though very often 
 
 they have no other considerable magnitude. The Pyramids of 
 Egypt are strikingly sublime in point of form, from this expression, 
 as well as from the real knowledge we have of their dura We 
 
 are so accustomed to judge of the stability of every thing by the 
 proportion ofits base, that termsborrowed from this material quality, 
 ion of some of the 
 
 are, in every language appropriated to the expres 
 y of nations, of 
 
 sublimest conceptions we can form ; to the stab 
 empires, of the laws of nature, of the future hopes of good men. 
 Magnitude in length, is expre: and when 
 apparently unbounded, of infinity ; that being naturally imagined 
 to be without end, to which we can di It is im- 
 possible to see a vast plain, and above all the ocean, without 
 
 eto us of v 
 
 ness, 
 
 ern, none. 
 
bo 
 or 
 
 THEORY OF TASTE. 
 
 * either sudden, and resembling, by concussion upon the ear, 
 The 
 
 emblems of religion, power, mortality, &c. excite also a sensation of the sublime, from the 
 
 extent and solidity ; certain sounds 
 the sublimity of thunder; or modulated, as in the sublimity of musical composition. 
 
 associations with which our experience, of every kind, invests them; the objects enumerated 
 admit, with but few exceptions, of beauty in design and ornament; which, contributing largely 
 to give effect to the motives and purposes of their construction, the objects themselves are 
 necessarily within the province of Taste. 
 
 Mr. Burke, in his Philosophical Inquiry, speaks of “ the passion caused by the sublime,” 
 dividing it into the sensations of astonishment, terror, awe, &c.; some or other of these sensa- 
 tions being inseparable from our ideas of the true sublime, and the history of mankind entirely 
 concurring, the propriety of this definition must be allowed; where revealed religion has been 
 wanting, or obscured, we invariably trace the establishment of an artificial sublimity, by means 
 and representations devised to awaken and perpetuate similar sensations ; of this class were the 
 vast temples or excavations, and colossal divinities} of remote ages, together with the mystical 
 extravagances of mythological priestcraft. Evidences of the plenitude of this passion in 
 countries previously unknown, are furnished in many narratives of discovery; those of our own 
 circumnavigator, Cook, describing the natives of the islands of the Southern Ocean, and their 
 
 customs, are in point ; he found a superstition founded on terror to be the dominant power, and 
 
 this impression. In spite of the knowledge we have of the 
 immense space between us and the fixed sti 
 ratively trifling distance between any two points in this globe, yet 
 the former is not nearly so sublime as the view of the ocean 
 without shore, or even of a great plain without bounds. 
 Magnitude in height is expressive to us of elevation, and mag- 
 nanimity. 
 
 's, and of the compa- 
 
 The source of this association is so obvious, and the 
 association itself is so natural, that such qualities of mind have in 
 all ages been expressed by these images, and such magnitudes 
 described by terms drawn from these qualities of mind. 
 Magnitude in depth is expressive to us of danger or terror, and, 
 from our constant experience, of images of horror.—Alison on the 
 Beauty and Sublimity of the Material World, p. 326. 
 
 * All sounds in general are sublime, which are associated with 
 ideas of danger: the howling of a storm,—the murmuring of an 
 earthquake—the report of artillery—the explosion of thunder, &c. 
 
 All sounds 
 
 ciated with 
 
 e in general sublime, which are 
 
 ideas of great power or might: the noise of a torrent—the fall of a 
 cataract—the uproar of a tempest—the explosion of gunpowder— 
 the dashing of waves, &c. 
 
 All sounds are in the same manner sublime, which are asso- 
 ciated with ideas of majesty or solemnity, or deep melancholy, or 
 any other strong emotion; the sound of the trumpet and all other 
 warlike instruments—the note of the organ—the sound of the 
 Ibid, p. 193. 
 
 curfew, the tolling of the passing bell, &c. 
 
 + The dimensions of those actually enumerated, extend from 
 twelve to seventy cubits in height. Some are figures of men; 
 others of animals, chiefly of the sphynx. The latter appear to have 
 been in considerable numbers, usually ranged in corresponding 
 lines on the opposite sides of the approach to the great temple. Of 
 the human colossi, again, some were isolated, and more probably 
 objects of worship; others merely ornaments, chiefly 
 employed as columns, as in the famous Prophylon of the temple 
 of Vulcan, ascribed to Psammetichus, and erected at Memphis. 
 Of the unattached figures, the attitude appears to have exhibited 
 but little action ; the posture apparently various, though seldom 
 
 were 
 
 erect. Oneis described as recumbent, seventy cubits long, accom- 
 panied by two smaller, standing one at each extremity. The 
 largest statues now known, namely, two in the Memnonium at 
 Thebes, are both in a sitting posture. All these works, even 
 the columnar statues, seem to have been connected with religious 
 rites or symbols.—History of Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture, 
 by J. S. Memes, L.L. D., (Constable's Miscellany, Vol. 39, p. 26.) 
 
 Of the works of Phidias, the Olympian Jupiter, and the 
 Minerva of the Parthenon, colossal statues composed of gold and 
 The 
 sixty feet high, in a 
 
 ivory, were the most wonderful productions of ancient art. 
 
 former, placed in the temple at Elis, was 
 reposing attitude, the body naked to the cincture, the lower limbs 
 clothed in a robe gemmed with golden flowers; the hair also was 
 of gold, bound with an enamelled crown; the eyes of precious 
 stones, the rest of ivory. Notwithstanding the gigantic proportions 
 every part was wrought with scrupulous delicacy; even the 
 About twelve 
 
 or dimensions, being 
 
 splendid throne was carved with exqu 
 
 years later was executed the Minerva, of infe 
 only forty feet in altitude, but equal, if not superior, in beauty of 
 workmanship and richness of material ; the nude being of ivory, 
 the ornaments of gold.—Ibid, p. 61. 
 
 All works of great labour, expense, and magnificence a1 
 lime; such as the wall of China; the colonnades of Palmyra ; 
 pyramids of Egypt, and the aqueducts of Rome; and, in short, all 
 buildings of ve 
 and splendour ; for, in contemplating them, the mind applies the 
 ideas of the greatness of execution, nec y to produce such 
 works, to the works themselves; and therefore feels them to be 
 grand and sublime, as works of man ; though if compared with the 
 works of nature, their dimensions may be small and contemptible. 
 Great wealth, too, is so nearly allied to great power, that the con- 
 templation of its splendour equally exalts and expands the imagi- 
 nation. Phidias’s colossal statue of Jupiter in ivory and gold 
 might have been equally well executed in plaster gilt ; but its effect 
 
 great dimensions, or objects of very great richness 
 
 upon the spectators would have been very different, as the priests 
 and hierophants of Elis well knew.—2, P. i.night, Principles of 
 Taste, p. 368. 
 
26 THEORY OF TASTE. 
 
 every rude approach to art among them devoted either to sustain that power, or to produce 
 
 analogous impressions upon their enemies in war. The specimens preserved in our museums 
 are conclusive as to the object of the most laborious efforts of savage skill; they are still the 
 same in the personal decorations of the chief and warrior; the paint, feathers, and wampum 
 of the American, and the tattooed body of the New Zealander, are equally symbols, designed 
 
 to inspire terror, and the unavailingness of opposition to irresistible power. 
 
 Of ae may, however, without risk of material error, venture to separate 
 the more imposing effects produced by the sublime, from those 
 milder sensations to which, in ordinary phraseology, the same term 
 /is applied; there is a common admiration excited by the sublimity 
 of heroism, clemency, the larger operations of benevolence, &c. as 
 associated with ideas of self-devotion; of power, tempered by mercy; 
 and of a philanthrophy embracing every creed and country. It is 
 also constantly observed, that certain organizations of intellect are 
 disposed to cherish a feeling for the sublime with peculiar delight ; the majority of such would, 
 probably, and under exposure to exciting causes, be susceptible of the more potent sensations 
 which have been described; but, in a general sense, education and the usages of polished 
 ‘society concur in subduing them, and in substituting, through the medium of the imitative arts, 
 a succession of imagery congenial to this wnodification ; hence the appreciation of the loftier 
 style of poetry, of the tragic drama, of choral and pathetic music, and of the higher efforts of 
 painting and sculpture ; the ideas associated in these several productions immediately coinciding 
 
 with a taste for the sublime. 
 
 As the sublime admits of gradations and becomes the basis of our exalted and contemplative 
 pleasures, in like manner, the beautiful has its diminutives—of the agreeable, the elegant, the 
 delicate, &c. Beautiful objects may be said to unite these qualities; others possess them only 
 in different combinations, or, are distinguished by a single and corresponding appellative. The 
 
 term “agreeable” implies an absence of forcible expression, but of durability in estimation, from 
 
 the satisfaction with which we recur to whatever we have been led, by our impressions, to attach 
 
 to it; of this character is the picturesque style of ornament, never imposing, but always pleasing, 
 
 enification 
 
 from the variety and good keeping of which it admits. Elegance has a more definite sig 
 
 as applying to form; in many simple objects it therefore constitutes their beauty; but in others, 
 it is reduced to an accessory of the quality to which it contributes. Delicacy* is an essential 
 component of beauty ; we recognize it in nature—we require it in art; here feebleness of execu- 
 tion is often mistaken for this quality, to which, though it may approach, yet never achieves the 
 beautiful in composition. Delicacy has more extensive and important influences ; its presence in 
 
 sentiment, and in manners, enhances every beauty of social life; it enters into the most amiable 
 
 * An appearance of delicacy, and even of fragility, is almost the liveliest idea of beauty and elegance. Among animals the 
 essential to beauty. Whoever examines the vegetable or animal greyhound is more beautiful than the mastiff ; and the delicacy of 
 creation, will find this observation to be founded in nature. It is a jennet, a barb, or an Arabian horse, is much more amiable than 
 not the oak, the ash, or the elm, or any of the robust trees of the the strength and stability of some horses of war or carriage. I 
 forest, which we consider as beautiful ; they are awful and majestic; need here say little of the fair sex, where I believe the point will 
 they inspire a sort of reverence. It is the delicate myrtle, it is be easily allowed me. The beauty of women is considerably owing 
 the orange, it is the almond, it is the jasmine, it is the vine, which to their weakness or delicacy, and is even enhanced by their 
 we look on as vegetable beauties. It is the flowery species, so timidity, a quality of mind analogous to it.—Hd. Burke on the 
 remarkable for its weakness and momentary duration, that gives us Sublime and Beautiful, p. 204. 
 
 as 
 
tr 
 
 THEORY OF TASTE. 27 
 
 of those domestic tastes which, in an aggregate form, govern the prominent tastes of the public, 
 and by a sympathy induced by the reflection of its own image, extends a willing patronage to 
 every branch of the fine arts. 
 
 As a reasonable, if not conclusive and satisfactory, summary of the opinions I have offered 
 upon a subject which has occupied the attention of so many authors eminent for talent and 
 erudition, and who possessed, I believe without a single exception, the ease and leisure favourable 
 to an investigation of this nature, it may be assumed, that beauty, however diversified the objects 
 to which that term is applied, is the source of Taste, by stimulating an active exercise of our 
 perceptive and discriminative faculties, and influencing a direction of them; on the one hand, 
 towards the attainment of those intellectual pleasures with which the arts have an indissoluble 
 affinity, derived from the powers of representation, and of illustration; on the other hand, and 
 in the successful pursuits of industrious life, the same feeling for the beautiful prevails, and, 
 whether limited merely to skilful imitation, or aspiring to a graceful ideality, is as clearly ap- 
 parent in the labours of the mechanic, as in the most delicate efforts of the pencil, or in the 
 
 cabinet of the man of taste. 
 
 Were it proper to enter into a more ample detail of the probable effect of a cultivation of 
 Taste* upon broad and liberal principles, much might be said both in favour of the prevailing 
 disposition to encourage measures having that tendency, and on the policy of carrying forward 
 
 with energy the yet incipient plans by which so great a purpose may be promoted; but, as an 
 
 * The late Thomas Hope, Esq., in a large work on ‘‘ Household 
 Furniture, and Designs for interior Decorations,” published in 
 1807, makes some excellent observations on the then depressed 
 state of the arts in England; many of his remarks yet apply, and 
 are, in fact, constantly reiterated by the advocates of the improve- 
 I transcribe a portion of his introduc- 
 
 ment and extension of taste. 
 tion in justice to an early, perhaps the very first, patron of cl: 
 elegance in the numberless objects included in the title of his work : 
 
 sic 
 
 in addition to great opulence he possessed a taste far in advance of 
 his contemporaries, and a munificent spirit in dispensing his abun- 
 
 dance, in every way advantageous to the fine arts. The work 
 alluded to answered, in some degree, the intentions of its author, 
 with a public proverbially slow in its advances on such subjects, 
 and many improvements may be recognized as having originated 
 in the designs given. Mr. Hope, after describing his immediate 
 object, that of embellishing his own magnificent abode, by practical 
 rintendence, and the assistance of native talent, proceeds to 
 a desire that his example might prove a stimulus to 
 improvement in taste, and at the same time furnish employment 
 to numbers, possessing talent in a latent, or worse, in a languishing 
 
 state, from an absence of the requisite encouragement, proceeds in 
 the following manner. 
 
 “Thus I hoped to afford to that portion of the community 
 which, through the entire substitution of machinery to manual 
 labour, in the fabrication of many of the most extensive articles of 
 common use, had for ever lost the inferior kinds of employment, a 
 means of replacing the less dignified mode of subsistence of which 
 it had been deprived, by a nobler species of labour ; one which 
 absolutely demands the co-operation of those higher intellectual 
 capacities which the former often allows to remain dormant, or 
 even tends to extinguish; and one in which, consequently, the 
 powers of mere machinery can never emulate, or supplant the 
 Thus I hoped to open to ingenuity a new 
 
 mental faculties of man. 
 and boundless field, in which the greater number of artists, who 
 though qualified to rise above the sphere of the mere artizan, yet 
 
 are not sufficiently gifted to reach the highest provinces of the fine 
 arts, might find an ample source of such employment as, without 
 being of the most exalted description, were yet, to a certain degree, 
 elegant and dignified; and in which, moreover, that smaller 
 number of superior men, destined by the liberality of nature to 
 aspire at eminence in the highest and noblest branches of the fine 
 over the latent germs of their 
 
 arts, might find a means first to dis 
 genius to themselves and to others ; first to cultivate and to extend 
 their abilities ; first to give to a distrustful public earnests of the 
 far greater height to which more ample encouragement might ulti- 
 mately carry their powers; and first to present to that public 
 inducements to bestow on them that greater encouragement 
 required for this purpose. Thus I hoped to entice the wealthy, 
 through the more general diffusion of the charms of art, and 
 
 through the thence resulting more general initiation into the m 
 teries of taste, to divert the employment of a larger portion of their 
 
 ste of those articles of gross 
 
 opulence from an idle and a ruinow 
 sensuality or trivial amusement, which, incapable of being enjoyed 
 until they are consumed, are only produced in order to be again 
 destroyed, to the more profitable as well as more dignified procure- 
 ment of those monuments of visible elegance and intellectual beauty 
 which, capable of being enjoyed during the longest periods, and by 
 the greatest numbers, without suffering any material degradation, 
 can alone become instruments of durable gratification, as well as of 
 solid and permanent grandeur; and thus, moreover, by enabling 
 the lover of elegant refinement to find at home those objects of 
 superior design and execution, which formerly he could only obtain 
 from abroad ; by converting into lucrative articles of home manu- 
 facture, and of beneficial exportation, those very commodities 
 which had heretofore only appeared in the repulsive and unpatriotic 
 shape of expensive articles of foreign ingenuity, and of disadvan- 
 tageous importation, I hoped to increase in a considerable degree 
 the internal resources, and the external independence of the com- 
 monwealth.” 
 
 H 
 
THEORY OF TASTE 
 
 bo 
 fo 2) 
 
 authentic basis exists whereon a perfect understanding of the important question of elementary 
 education in the arts of design may be founded, I prefer referring the reader to the evidence 
 received by the Committee of the House of Commons, (Arts and Manufactures, Sessions 1835 
 and 1836), and the report of that committee. In these documents, in addition to the opinions of 
 many eminent artists, those of practical men are elicited and brought to bear upon deficiences 
 in design affecting the br anches of manufacture with which they are severally connected, and 
 they carry with them conviction, that the time has arrived, when longer to withhold encourage- 
 ment for the development of British talent, or the protection to which a well-adapted design 
 
 has equal claim with any other species of property, would be a culpable abandonment of, 
 
 perhaps, the largest, and certainly the most buoyant source of commercial activity. 
 
 eN 
 
 8) 
 J) 
 
 cede the position of an acute and elegant author,} that ‘“ our real happiness consi: 
 
 means, and not in the end—in acquis 
 
 ion, and not in possession,” 
 
 ZA EFORE I quit the immediate subject of these introductory pages, I 
 
 may be allowed to indulge in a few observations of a general nature, 
 vy) and therefore distinct from the course of argument previously adopted. 
 As the objects of Taste are infinitely various, novelty affords its brightest 
 charm to him whose perceptions are refined, and whose discern- 
 ment is endued with an activity devoted to judicious selections ; the 
 inherent desire for change and variety, in lieu of perplexing, leads the 
 
 man of true Taste to sources of the purest enjoyment* ; and if we con- 
 
 s in the 
 
 how valuable, to individuals 
 
 and to society, are pursuits governed by a faculty capable of being rendered our surest guide 
 
 and most faithful monitor. 
 
 The pleasures of Tas 
 
 in the human mind. 
 
 * The sentiments of Taste spread a lustre over most of our enjoy- 
 ments, ‘The pleasures of sense and the external decorations of life 
 would be insipid and despicable to every man of understanding, if 
 re not as- 
 
 ideas of elegance and magnificence, derived from Taste, w 
 sociated with them. Taste stamps a value upon riches, as the pro- 
 curing of its gratification is the great end for which they are de- 
 
 sired, and the worthiest use to which they can be applied, the exe- 
 cution of benevolent and virtuous designs alone excepted.—Gerard 
 on Taste, p. 189. 
 
 + Were we doomed to spend our lives with one set of un- 
 changing objects, which could afford no new varieties, either of 
 nor produce any new modifications or 
 
 sensations, images, or ideas 
 dispositions in those previously felt or acquired, all around us 
 
 would soon have the tiresome sameness of the walls of a cell. If 
 
 to this were added prescience of every event that was to happen to 
 us through life, so as to extinguish hope and expectation, and 
 every feeling of suspense or pleasure of novelty, it would scarcely 
 be possible for any gratifications that remained, to render existence 
 endurable. Thus, if we suppose the world and its inhabitants to 
 be fixed in one unchangeable state for ever, deprived of all variation 
 of seasons, and of every kind of progressive or successive growth, 
 decay, or reproduction, how perfect soever we may suppose that 
 fixed state to be, we should soon become so tired of it, were it 
 y covet any change, and agree with 
 
 realized, that we should eag 
 the poet that even death itself is to be reckoned among the gifts or 
 
 ste are as open to participation, as are the diffusion of its principles general 
 
 Nature and Art supply the material on which it reposes and subsists, 
 
 benefactions of nature. Man, as he nowis, is formed for the world, 
 
 as it now is, in which 
 
 He never is, but always to be blest, 
 that is, his real happiness consists in the means—and not in the 
 end :—in acquisition, and not in possession. The source and prin- 
 ciple of it is, therefore, novelty: the attainment of new ideas; the 
 formation of new trains of thought; the renewal and extension of 
 affections and attachments ; the new circumstances and situations 
 in which all the objects of those affections and attachments appear 
 by periodical or progressive change; the new lights, in which we 
 ourselves view them, we advance from infancy to maturity, and 
 from maturity to decay; the consequent new exertions and varia- 
 
 tions of pursuit adapted to every period of life; and, above all, the 
 unlimited power of fancy in multiplying and varying the objects, 
 the results, and the gratifications of our pursuits beyond the 
 bounds of reality, or the probable duration of existence. A state 
 of abstract perfection would, according to our present weak and 
 inadequate notions of things, be a state of perfect misery; as it 
 would necessarily preclude almost every mental exercise and intel- 
 lectual gratification, from which our happiness here arises. If 
 every thing were known, there would be nothing to be learned ; if 
 
 every good were possessed, there would be none to be acquired ; 
 
 or there were no evil, there would be 
 
 and if none were wanting, 
 none to be done; and consequently all would be dead in action, or 
 action without motive or effect—R. P. Knight, Principles of Taste, 
 
 p. 474, 
 
THEORY OF TASTE. 29 
 
 and even the more abstract pursuits of Science are often embellished by its enlivening 
 presence. Nature unfolds her beauty to all, and with a lavish hand adapts her productions to 
 the wants and tastes of the various branches of her one great family. The Arts offer a scarcely 
 less fertile source of rational delight ;—transcripts of nature, in her features and in the liveries 
 of her seasons, the nearer their approach to the sublimity or beauty in which they originate, the 
 more perfect their assimilation with a cultivated Taste, and, in the ornamental arts, the more 
 
 durable the estimation they command. 
 
 Tf, as it has been surmised, there is great analogy between the tastes and passions of men, 
 encouragement and a right direction of the former should be placed among the social duties. 
 There may, it is true, be a reciprocal action in the stronger passions, injurious to taste, by a per- 
 version of its just principles ; but we are to be guided by experience, and the abundant proofs it 
 furnishes that our affections follow, in a much greater degree, the bias of our tastes. A delicate 
 taste loathes the gross and sensual passions ; it seeks something beyond the gratifications of sense 
 in the objects by which it may be attracted; it strips them of every meretricious glare, and, 
 warned by their deformity, reverts with additional satisfaction to the tranquil and permanent 
 enjoyments congenial to its nature; among these the Fine Arts hold, at once, the most useful 
 
 and distinguished position, from their tendency to encourage and sustain the kindest sympathies, 
 
 and as contributing largely to the pleasures of Taste, and of the imagination. 
 
Ornamental Beauty. 
 
 GOD only can create: —Man can only combine. This axiom conveys 
 the first and most useful lesson in the study of the arts; for, however 
 brief, it points with unerring truth to nature, as the primary source of 
 To the variety traced by Infinite Wisdom, either 
 in the chaotic magnificence ef the sublime, and in the wild and 
 gigantic features which creation assumes in solitudes uncongenial to 
 man; or in pleasing undulations of surface, marked by cultivation and 
 
 teeming with population; or in the winding course of rivers, by which 
 
 the earth is refreshed, and in the profusion of shapes and hues by which it is adorned, must be 
 
 referred the only notions we can acquire of the majestic, or of the beautiful in form and colour.* 
 
 * The senses at first let in particular ideas, and furnish the yet 
 empty cabinet; and the mind, by degrees growing familiar with 
 some of them, they are lodged in the memory, and names got to 
 them. Afterwards the mind, proceeding farther, abstracts them, 
 and by degrees learns the use of general names. In this manner 
 the mind comes to be furnished with ideas and language, the mate- 
 rials about which to exercise its discursive faculty; and the use 
 of reason becomes daily more visible, as these materials, that give 
 it employment, increase.—Locke, On the Human Understanding, 
 Book 1, Chap. 2. No innate principles in the Mind, p. 19. 
 
 Simple ideas, the materials of all our knowledge, are suggested 
 and furnished to the mind only by those two ways above-mentioned, 
 viz, sensation and reflection. When the understanding is once 
 stored with these simple ideas, it has the power to repeat, compare, 
 and unite them, even to an almost infinite variety, and so can make 
 at pleasure new complex ideas. But it is not in the power of the 
 most exalted wit, or enlarged understanding, by any quickness or 
 variety of thought, to invent or frame one new simple idea in the 
 mind, not taken in by the ways before-mentioned; nor can any 
 
 force of the understanding destroy those that are there. The 
 dominion of man, in this little world of his own understanding, 
 being much the same as it is in the great world of visible things ; 
 wherein his power, however managed by art and skill, reaches no 
 further than to compound and divide the materials that are made 
 to his hand; but can do nothing towards making the least particle 
 of new matter, or destroying one atom of what is already in being. 
 The same inability will every one find, who shall go about to fashion. 
 in his understanding any simple idea not received in by his senses 
 from external objects ; or by reflection, from the operations of his 
 own mind about them.—Ibid, Book 2, Chap.2. Simple Ideas, p.81. 
 
 In proportion to the vigour and extent of the retaining faculty, 
 and to the number and variety of images, with which observation, 
 
 study and experience have enriched it, will the powers of association 
 be multiplied, and their operations varied and extended. Memory 
 may, indeed, exist without imagination ; but imagination can never 
 act without the aid of memory ; no image or idea having ever been 
 formed or conceived by the most fertile or extravagant fancy, the 
 component elements of which had not been previously received into 
 
 it 
 
32 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 Combination is, then, but another term for izvention, and implies, whether in science or the 
 arts, new and more perfect uses and arrangements; in the former, of pre-existing powers and 
 affinities; in the latter, of substances and of objects. The more approved and valuable exer- 
 tions of this faculty can, therefore, be produced but by the union of Genius, with a degree of 
 
 Taste constantly advancing with the improved perceptions and resources of mankind. 
 
 Having noticed the co-existence of Genius and Taste in the same mind, it becomes neces- 
 sary, to render intelligible the distinction between these faculties, and to point out the province 
 of the first unaided by the grace with which the latter is capable of investing every effort in the 
 imitative arts. Genius consists in a comprehensive imagination, facility in associating related 
 ideas, and the capacity of giving tangible expression to its conceptions—Taste, in the vivacity, 
 delicacy, and elegance of that expression, of whatever description may be the material employed. 
 Inventive Talent, comprising these qualities,* applies itself, and by reason of their presence, with 
 effect, in scientific pursuits to skilful selection of the constituent parts of a new or improved 
 whole; in the arts of design, to the application of appropriate ornament in every department 
 
 within the sphere of their joint utility. 
 
 The activity of mind proper to men of genius appears to fit them, naturally, for the pursuits 
 
 to which they incline ; in proportion to the intensity of the principles of inquiry and comparison 
 
 will be the acquired power of invention; yet, in the flights or excursions for which genius is 
 proverbial, and in the range taken by the imagination, the variety encountered not unfrequently 
 confounds, and the faculty itself, entertaining erroneous conceptions, is foiled in attempts to 
 
 this storehouse of the mind through the external organs of sense. 
 We may compose, paint, and describe monsters; and chimeras of 
 every extravagant variety of form; but still, if we analyze them, 
 we shall always find that the component parts, how much soever 
 they may be distorted or disguised, have been taken from objects, 
 
 From earth to heaven he rolls his daring eye, 
 
 From heaven to earth. Anon ten thousand shapes, 
 Like spectres trooping to the wizard’s call, 
 
 Fleet swift before him. From the womb of earth, 
 From ocean’s bed they come; the eternal heavens 
 or qualities of objects, with which we have previously become ac- Disclose their splendours, and the dark abyss 
 quainted through the organs of sensation.—R. P. Knight, Principles Pours out her births unknown. With fixed gaze 
 of Taste, p. 141. He marks the rising phantoms. Now compares 
 Their different forms; now blends them, now divides; 
 
 * Not the sculptured gold Enlarges and extenuates by turns ; 
 Opposes, ranges in fantastic bands, 
 
 And infinitely varies. Hither now, 
 
 More faithful keeps the graver’s lively trace, 
 Than he whose birth the sister powers of art 
 
 Propitious view’d, and from his genial star 
 
 Shed influence to the seeds of fancy kind : 
 
 Than his attemper’d bosom must preserve 
 
 The soul of nature. There alone unchang’d, 
 
 Her form remains. The balmy walks of May 
 There breathe perennial sweets ; the trembling chord 
 Resounds for ever in the abstracted ear, 
 Melodious ; and the virgin’s radiant eye, 
 
 Superior to disease, to grief, and-time, 
 
 Shines with unbating lustre. Thus at length 
 Endow’d with all that nature can bestow, 
 
 The child of fancy oft in silence bends 
 
 O’er these mix’d treasures of his pregnant breast, 
 With conscious pride. From them he oft resolves 
 To frame he knows not what excelling things ; 
 And win he knows not what sublime reward 
 
 Of praise and wonder. By degrees the mind 
 Feels her young nerves dilate; the plastic powers 
 Labour for action ; blind emotions heave 
 
 His bosom ; and with lovliest phrenzy caught, 
 
 Now thither fluctuates his inconstant aim, 
 With endless choice perplex’d. At length his plan 
 Begins to open. Lucid order dawns ; 
 And as from chaos old the jarring seeds 
 Of nature at the voice divine repaired 
 Each to its place, till rosy earth unveil’d 
 Her fragrant bosom, and the joyful sun 
 Sprang up the blue serene ; by swift degrees, 
 Thus disentangled, his entire design 
 Emerges. Colours mingle, features join, 
 And lines converge ; the fainter parts retire ; 
 The fairer eminent in light advance ; 
 And every image on its neighbour smiles. 
 Awhile he stands, and with a father’s joy 
 Contemplates. Then with Promethean art 
 Into its proper vehicle he breathes 
 The fair conception ; which embodied thus, 
 And permanent, becomes to eyes or ears 
 An object ascertain’d. 
 Akenside, Pleasures of Imagination. 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 33 
 assimilate incongruous qualities; or, as it has happened with those remarkable for inventive 
 talent, that so far from possessing the taste requisite for exemplifications by models or other 
 means, they have been limited to little more than oral descriptions of their discoveries: but if 
 success is not always the attendant upon genius in its researches, new paths are struck out, and 
 new material prepared in aid of the more patient investigations, which often secure to less bril- 
 
 liant conceptions a fortunate application of previous labours and anxieties. 
 
 That Genius exists apart from Taste may be gathered from the evident superiority of this 
 country in mechanical and other inventions, derived purely from the workings of Genius in the 
 career opened by the application of machinery to purposes of rapid production, transit, &c. 
 wherein the adaptation of mechanical power could not, within a moderate period, have been 
 contemplated. We obtain farther confirmation of the separate jurisdiction of Genius by referring 
 to philosophical and abstract pursuits, where it shines pre-eminently in the usefulness of its 
 researches and discoveries: mathematical and physical inquiries, and the application of geometry, 
 in a large and general sense, have all the characteristics of Genius, but we cannot infer that 
 they are induced or accompanied by Taste; and though it is usual to apply the term “clegant” 
 to a concise and well-adapted demonstration in mathematics, or to speak of the “beauty” of a 
 theorem, the taste by which they are produced is rather a refinement of Genius than properly 
 so called: it is principally within the circle of the arts that the union of these faculties is un- 
 
 questionable, and confers the greatest measure of delight. 
 
 Were there not a particular degree of importance attaching to every successful endeavour 
 tending to impress the value of Genius* in the artist, not merely as an auxiliary, but as the guide 
 and director of his taste, I might be considered digressing ; but if the subject under considera- 
 tion be attentively examined, it will appear that originality, combined with beauty in execution, 
 is the object eagerly sought in ornamental composition, and that it finds a ready way to notice 
 
 and decided preference over mechanical adherence to hacknied examples. Proceeding, then, with 
 
 * The first and leading quality of Genius is invention, which 
 
 This brightness and force of imagination throws a lustre on its 
 consists in a 
 
 effects which will for ever distinguish them from the lifeless and 
 
 reat extent and comprehensiver 
 
 ss of imagination, 
 in a readiness of associating the remotest ideas that are any way _ insipid productions of inanimated indu 
 abilities may assist or improve Ge 
 alone can produce it. 
 the subjects to wl 
 mon by the musi 
 
 sopher, and even the mathematician. 
 
 Diligence and acquired 
 but a fine imagination 
 
 related. In a man of genius, the uniting principles are so vigorous 
 and quick, that, whenever any idea is present to the mind, they 
 bring into view at once all others that have the least connection 
 with it. As the magnet selects, from a quantity of matter, the 
 ferruginous particles which happen to be scattered through it, 
 without making an impression on other substances, so imagination, 
 
 Hence is derived its inventive power in all 
 h it can be applied. 
 
 This is possessed in com- 
 jan, the painter, the poet, the orator, the philo- 
 In each, indeed, its form 
 has something peculiar, arising either from the degree of extent 
 
 by a similar sympathy, equally inexplicable, draws out from the 
 whole compass of nature such ideas as we have occasion for, with- 
 out attaching to any others; and yet presents them with as great 
 propriety as if all possible conceptions had been explicitly exposed 
 to our view, and subjected to our choice. 
 
 At first these materials may lie in a rude and undigested chaos; 
 but when we attentively review them, the same associating power 
 which formerly made us sensible of their connection, leads us to per- 
 ceive the different degrees of that connection ; by its magical force 
 ranges them into different species, according to their degrees ; 
 disposes the most strongly related into the same member; and 
 sets all the members in that position which it points out as the 
 most natural. Thus from a confused heap of materials, collected 
 by fancy, Genius, after repeated reviews and transpositions, designs 
 a regular and well-proportioned whole. 
 
 and comprehension of fancy; or from the peculiar prevalence of 
 some one of the associating qualities ; or from the mind being, by 
 original constitution, education, example, or study, more strongly 
 turned to one kind than the others. 
 
 Thus Genius is the grand architect which not only chooses the 
 materials, but disposes them in a regular structure. 
 able to finish it by itself. It needs the ass 
 and moderate its exertions. 
 
 But it is not 
 ance of Taste, to guide 
 Though the different relations of the 
 
 parts, in some measure, determine the form and position of each, 
 we acquire much ampler assurance of its rectitude, when Taste has 
 reviewed and examined both the design and execution. It serves 
 as a check on mere fancy ; it interposes its judgment, either ap- 
 proving or condemning; and rejects many things which unassisted 
 Genius would have allowed.— Gerard on Taste, Sect. 2. 
 
 Connection of Taste with Genius, pp. 168, 171. 
 
34 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 the distinctive operations of Genius, let us notice the constant remark that it is less visible in 
 the higher departments of the fine arts. and among those engaged in ornamental design as a 
 profession, than where scientific pursuits alone occupy the mind ; and it occurs as a satisfactory 
 reason, that science invariably requires data on which to found its inquiries; every step of its 
 procedure being the demonstration of a previously-ascertained truth, which thenceforth becomes 
 immutable, however subsequently modified in the process of application. It must ever remain 
 otherwise in the imitative arts; a superlative ideality usually pervades both the conception and 
 execution of a subject; if the inventive power is strong, a defective taste may interpose to 
 mar its expression, or, on the contrary, the successful imitator, in ordinary cases, may fail to 
 display the characteristics which Genius assumes with a decision peculiar to its presence. To 
 point out still more forcibly the distinct operation of this faculty in the sciences, it may be 
 observed that every triumph attained is the possession of an isolated fact available with a cor- 
 responding certainty of effect, while the genius we admire in the arts roams anew on every suc- 
 ceeding occasion, in quest both of its object and the many accessories of a highly valued perfection; 
 the stores of memory and the powers of an inventive imagination, are equally, tributaries of the 
 talent I would describe, and of the taste that invests ideal beauty with the semblance of reality. 
 
 In this notice of the operations of mind which give rise to delineations of admitted excel- 
 lence, I am borne out by the examples of the great masters, as well as the opinions of received 
 authorities ; very many of the former indulged largely in allegorical representations, and the 
 greater portion of ancient sculpture which remains to us is of an ideal character; this latitude, 
 nature* being kept in view as the foundation on which true genius rests its most splendid 
 productions, is a means known and applied by men of eminence in all the arts, as enabling them 
 to appeal more powerfully to the imagination of others, through all the varieties of which 
 
 individual taste is susceptible. 
 
 * The first idea that occurs in the consideration of what is 
 fixed in art or in taste, is the presiding principle of which I have so 
 frequently spoken in former discourses—the general idea of nature. 
 The beginning, the middle, and the end of every thing that is 
 valuable in taste, is comprised in the knowledge of what is truly 
 nature; for whatever notions are not conformable to those of 
 nature, or universal opinion, must be considered more or less 
 capricious. 
 
 My notion of nature comprehends not only the forms which 
 nature produces, but also the nature and internal fabric and orga- 
 nization, as I may call it, of the human mind and imagination. 
 The terms beauty, or nature, which are general ideas, are but 
 different modes of expressing the same thing, whether we apply 
 these terms to statues, poetry, or pictures. Deformity is not 
 nature, but an accidental deviation from her accustomed practice. 
 This general idea, therefore, ought to be called nature ; and nothing 
 else, correctly speaking, has a right to that name. But we are so 
 far from speaking in common conversation with any such accuracy, 
 that, on the contrary, when we criticise Rembrandt and other Dutch 
 painters, who introduced into their historical pictures exact repre- 
 sentations of individual objects with all their imperfections, we say, 
 —though it is not in a good taste, yet it is nature. 
 
 The misapplication of terms must be very often perplexing to 
 the young student. Is not art, he may say, an imitation of nature? 
 Must he not, therefore, who imitates her with the greatest fidelity, 
 be the best artist? By this mode of reasoning, Rembrandt has a 
 
 higher place than Raffaelle. But a very little reflection will serve 
 to show us that these particularities cannot be nature: for how 
 can that be the nature of man, in which no two individuals are the 
 same ?— Sir J. Reynolds’ Discourses, Vol. 1, p. 119. 
 
 He who thinks nature, in the narrow sense of the word, is alone 
 to be followed, will produce but a scanty entertainment for the 
 
 imagination ; every thing is to be done with which it is natural for 
 the mind to be pleased, whether it proceeds from simplicity or 
 variety, uniformity or irregularity ; whether the scenes are familiar 
 or exotic, rude and wild, or enriched or cultivated ; for it is natural 
 for the mind to be pleased with all these in their turn. In short, 
 whatever pleases, has in it what is analogous to the mind, and is, 
 therefore, in the highest and best sense of the word, natural. 
 
 It is the sense of nature or truth, which ought more particularly 
 to be cultivated by the professors of art; and it may be observed, 
 that many wise and learned men, who have accustomed their minds 
 to admit nothing for truth but what can be proved by mathematical 
 demonstration, have seldom any relish for those arts which address 
 themselves to the fancy, the rectitude and truth of which is known 
 by another kind of proof; and we may add, that the acquisition of 
 this knowledge requires as much circumspection and sagacity as is 
 necessary to attain those truths which are more capable of demon- 
 stration. Reason must ultimately determine our choice on every 
 occasion; but this reason may still be exerted ineffectually by ap- 
 plying to taste principles, which, though right as far as they go, 
 yet do not reach the object.—Jbid, p. 123. 
 
ORNAMENTAL 
 
 COMPOSITION. 35 
 
 ) CURSORY glance, on the part of the reader, to the history of the 
 arts, and to the epochs at which men of genius combined with taste, have 
 appeared, will afford convincing proof of the rare occurrence of trans- 
 cendent ability ;* or, in other words, of the production of works upon 
 which succeeding time has stamped an indelible value; this species of 
 { appreciation differs widely from the sensation of pleasure arising from 
 the first impression that a new and masterly specimen makes upon the 
 
 mind; in these instances we often give ourselves up to an illusory feel- 
 
 ing, but in the former, real beauties gain in proportion as they are attentively examined ; it is 
 
 this analytical procedure, extending in many instances through ages past, that consecrates the 
 
 superiority of antique style, wherein Genius seems to have left nothing unaccomplished, and 
 
 Taste to haye exhausted its capabilities of superadding delicacy and finish.-}- 
 
 It would be difficult to treat of one art without referring to others for the purposes of illus- 
 
 tration and confirmation, there existing a community both in their intention and in the manner 
 
 by which it is accomplished ; thus there are few among the admirers or professors of either in 
 
 particular, who do not entertain a lively feeling extending to the whole, the same faculties being 
 
 interested, and the same emotions excited by each, though in a degree limited to the power of 
 
 the art upon the mind and imagination. 
 
 Poetry,{ painting, together with the arts of design and 
 
 sculpture, acquire their influence from an embodying of the beautiful in sentiment by the hand 
 
 of Taste: poetry, perhaps, in the highest degree, from the more ample scope afforded by con- 
 
 tinuity in a given subject; the poet presents to the imagination a seri 
 
 * Heureuses les nations ot il s’eleve de ces hommes capable 
 r tous les différens genres de beautés, et de 
 On diroit presque qu’une 
 
 d'appercevoir et de s 
 les assortir dans une juste proportion ! 
 main avare ne seme ces génies que de loin & loin dans le cours 
 des siéclés. Leurs ouyrages, qui doivent naissance A un goiit 
 exquis, le font nitre, d leur tour, chez tout un peuple.—Théorie 
 
 des Sentimens Agréables, p. 100. 
 
 + This remark is casually excited by the perfection of the early 
 Grecian schools of architecture and sculpture ; the observations which 
 I have to offer upon Style, generally, being reserved for the third 
 and concluding section of this work. ‘The term “ Style” is also 
 applied in a manner so unrestricted, as to have involved a question 
 as to the claim of the engravings to an architectural character ; it is 
 therefore necessary to state, most eaplicitly, that the plates have no 
 reference whatever to architectural proportions, or to existing examples 
 of the styles themselves. The Designs are intended to show the 
 practicability of treating the several styles in a new and, it is hoped, 
 efficient manner, adapted to the habits and wants of our own times ; 
 
 retaining merely the prominent features by which each is recognized ; 
 and that Ornamental Composition alone is the intention sought to 
 be carried out, whether placed upon a column or a pilaster, in the 
 
 spandrels of an arch, or on the surface of a vase. 
 
 { Whatever may be the superiority of painting to the originals 
 from which it is copied, it is still limited, in comparison of that 
 The painter addresses himself to the eye. 
 The painter can represent 
 
 which poetry enjoys. 
 The poet speaks to the imagination. 
 no other qualities of nature, but those which we discern by the 
 sense of sight. The poet can blend with those, all the qualities 
 which we perceive by means of our other senses. The painter can 
 seize only one moment of existence, and can represent no other 
 qualities of objects than what this single moment affords. The 
 
 es of imagery in vivid 
 
 whole history of nature is within the reach of the poet ; the varying 
 appearances which its different productions assume in the progre 
 of their growth and decay, and the powerful effects which are pro- 
 duced by the contrast of these different aspects or expr 
 The painter can give to the objects of his scenery only the visible 
 and material qualities which are discerned by the eye, and must 
 leave the interpretation of their expression to the imagination of 
 
 siong. 
 
 the spectator; but the poet can give expression to whatever he 
 All the sublimity and beauty of the moral and intellec- 
 tual world are at his disposal; and by bestowing on the inanimate 
 objects of his scenery the characters and affections of mind, he can 
 
 describes. 
 
 produce at once an expression which every capacity may understand, 
 
 and every heart mi atever may be the advantage which 
 painting enjoys, from the greater clearness and precision of its 
 images, it is much more than balanced by the unbounded powers 
 which the instrument of language affords to the poet, both in the 
 
 selection of the objects of his description, and in the decision of 
 
 their expression. 
 It is, accordingly, by the preserv 
 
 ion of unity of character or 
 
 description is determined; 
 
 the poet enjoys, in 
 
 expression, that the excellence of poetic: 
 and, perhaps, the superior advantages whic 
 
 the choice of his materials, renders our demand for its observance 
 more rigid, than in any of the other arts of taste. 
 * * * * * * * * * 
 
 With the capacity of blending in his composition the objects of 
 ense ; with the past and the future, as well as the present, 
 in his power ; above all, with the mighty spell of mind at his com- 
 mand, with which he can raise every object that he touches into 
 life and sentiment, we feel that he is unworthy of his art, if our 
 fed with his composition, and if in the 
 ion, he has not gratified 
 
 imaginations are not sati 
 chastity, as well as the power of his express 
 the demand of our hearts.—Alison, on the Emotions of Sublimity 
 and Beauty, p. 131, 
 
 K 
 
36 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 succession, ushering in the gentlest figures, and associating the brightest ideas ; or hurries us on, 
 at pleasure, by impetuous reiterations, clothed anew by fancy, and with a power which language 
 alone possesses. Painting, and the pencil of the designer are, on the contrary, limited; the 
 artist, may, it is true, indulge in a refinement of ideality, but the whole merit of his production 
 is at once before us; the claim upon our attention is consequently transient, however perfect 
 the record of a particular incident, with the momentary circumstances attending it, or beautiful 
 the exemplification of an ornamental composition, derived immediately from nature, or assimilated 
 to the peculiarities of a given style. Sculpture, though occupying the noblest department among 
 the sister arts, is still more circumscribed; there are many styles of painting, sculpture chiefly 
 confined to the representation of objects either of imposing interest in the chronology of nations, 
 or to efforts serving as auxiliaries to sublimity and magnificence in architecture, aims only at 
 perfection of form and character, and can therefore possess but one style or manner; the nature 
 of the material employed, and the absence of accessories which painting enjoys, assist also in 
 this limitation, and, deterring the less highly gifted, leaves open to rare combinations of Genius 
 
 and Taste, the prize of excellence in sculptured works. 
 
 HOUGH each of the great branches of art has in some measure 
 
 peculiar and independent resources, the analogy each bears to the other 
 is entirely beyond dispute ; this diffusion of similar principles is a suffi- 
 - cient cause for the assistance which each in succession obtains from the 
 ) study of preceding examples, not only in its own but in the other arts, 
 and, in this view, imitation* is resorted to both as an essential and 
 legitimate means of improvement in the student, and as mainly con- 
 “2 ducive to the production of novelty. The same species of dependence, 
 but probably in a greater degree, actuates the ornamental draughtsman in his pursuit of accept- 
 able variety, and when the nature of his profession is duly considered, the necessity for it appears 
 sufficiently clear. All the useful arts and manufactures derive additional recommendation from 
 the appropriateness, and, in numberless instances, from the elegance of appended or interwoven 
 ornament; the arts that minister more immediately to luxury put into requisition a yet higher 
 grade of fanciful embellishment, and in both departments the appetite for change is more than 
 
 commensurate with the ex ting talent for invention. 
 
 * To derive all from native power, to owe nothing to another, 
 is the praise which men, who do not much think on what they are 
 
 thetoric. We cannot suppose that any one can really mean to 
 exclude all imitation of others. A. position so wild would scarce 
 
 saying, bestow, sometimes upon others, and sometimes on them- 
 selves ; and their imaginary dignity is naturally heightened bya 
 Supercilious censure of the low, the barren, the grovelling, the 
 servile imitator. It would be no wonder if a student, frightened 
 by these terrific and disgraceful epithets, with which the poor 
 imitators are so often loaded, should let fall his pencil in mere 
 despair (conscious as he must be, how much he has been indebted 
 to the labours of others ; how little, how very little, of his art was 
 born with him) ; and consider it as hopeless to set about acquiring 
 by the imitation of any human master what he is taught to suppose 
 is matter of inspiration from heaven, 
 
 Some allowance must be made for what is said in the gaiety of 
 
 deserve a serious answer ; for it is apparent, if we were forbid to 
 make use of the advantages which our predecessors afford us, the 
 art would be always to begin, and consequently remain always in 
 its infant state ; and it is a common observation, that no art was 
 ever invented and carried to perfection at the same time. 
 
 But to bring us entirely to reason and sobriety, let it be observed, 
 that a painter must not only be an imitator of the works of nature, 
 which alone is sufficient to dispel this phantom of inspiration, but 
 he must be as necessarily an imitator of the works of other 
 painters ; this appears more humiliating, but is equally true; and 
 no man can be an artist, whatever he may suppose, upon any other 
 terms.—Sir J. Reynolds’ Discourses, Vol. 1, p. 86. 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 37 
 
 To assist in equalising this disproportion, unfavourable both to industry and to the gratifi- 
 cations which the superior classes require as a stimulus to their preference of native talent, has 
 been the motive, as well as of a union of influential opinions manifested in the shape of cheap 
 instruction in the Arts of Design, as of humbler efforts in the same cause ; and among the latter 
 of the following references to first principles, and an attempt to establish a brief rudimental 
 code, founded upon laws which nature exhibits, relatively to Beauty and its distribution, with a 
 precision and effect as strongly marked as any of the momentous truths ascertained by science. 
 A division of the subject under the heads of “ Definitions,” and ‘“ Practical Application,” 
 suggests itself as well adapted to convey the ideas I have collected; and which are given with 
 an equal regard to avoid unnecessary trespass upon the patience of the general reader, and to 
 afford, within an allotted space, that species of instruction which, if rightly founded, will obtain 
 corresponding value in the opinions of those best able to direct attention to the course of study 
 
 proposed. 
 
 I may here be allowed to refer to the observation with which I set out in the introductory 
 page—that we should look to Nature as a source of ornamental beauty, so prolific as to be without 
 danger of exhaustion, and as supplying us with combinations and arrangements so exquisite as to 
 leave the approaches of art still far behind ; the practice I would recommend refers, therefore, less 
 to what has been done in the process of teaching, than to what remains to be progressively accom- 
 plished by more frequent recourse to, and deeper study of, the manner in which she disposes 
 the generic sources of ornament, and renders them subservient as well to distinguish and 
 
 embellish the divisions of her kingdom, as to gratify the sensations with which we are endowed. 
 
 DEFINITIONS. 
 
 THE POINT or SPOT is, per se, a constituent in ornamental arrangement. 
 
 THE LINE,* and the PLANE, are the roots of all linear composition. 
 
 * All forms as seen by the eye are constituted by lines; and 2.—Uneven lines are either angular or winding, Angular 
 their beauty is dependent upon the nature of these constituent 
 parts. It is natural, therefore, to inquire, whether, from such 
 
 associations, any general principles can be formed which may 
 
 lines are expressive of harshness, roughness, &c. Winding lines 
 of pliancy, delicacy, ease, &e. 
 
 The real and actual beauty of lines will be found to correspond 
 
 direct the artist in the invention of beautiful forms, by determining 
 the character and expression of lines. 
 
 Lines differ either in regard to their nature, or their direction. 
 
 1.—Lines di in regard to their nature according to the 
 different degrees of their consistence or strength. Strong and 
 vigorous lines are expressive to us of strength and stability when 
 perpendicular ; and of some degree of harshness or roughness when 
 Fine and faint lines are 
 expressive to us of smoothness, finer In any 
 given number of straight lines, that is always most beautiful which 
 is finest, or which, while it preserves its continuity, has the ap- 
 pearance of the smallest quantity of matter employed in the for- 
 
 horizontal, or in an oblique direction. 
 and delicacy. 
 
 mation of it. Hence, in every subject, either of art or nature, one 
 of the principal causes of the beauty of delicate outline. 
 2.—Lines differ in their direction in two ways. ‘They are either 
 even or uneven, that is, straight or irregular. Lines differ again, 
 they are either in angles or cu 
 
 1.—Even lines are expressi 
 
 to us of softness and smoothness. 
 
 to those associations; and those are in fact the most beautiful 
 which have the most pleasing or affecting expression. 
 
 strength and smoothness. 
 Fine and even lines 
 
 1.—Strong and even lines expres 
 They have therefore a degree of beauty. 
 express delicacy and smoothness. 
 beautiful than the former. 
 
 2.—Strong and angular lines expr 
 
 They are accordingly more 
 
 strength and harshness 
 They are therefore very seldom beautiful. 
 express delicacy together with roughness. ‘They are beautiful, 
 
 therefore, only when the expression of delicacy prevails over the 
 
 Fine and angular lines 
 
 other. 
 Ri 
 
 or delicac 
 
 cordingly indifferent, if not unple: 
 
 Strong and winding lines express strength and gentleness, 
 
 Their effect is mutually destroyed, and they are ac- 
 Fine and winding lines 
 
 ‘ing. 
 express delicacy and ease. They are accordingly peculiarly 
 beautiful. 
 
 4,—The least beautiful lines are strong and angular lines. 
 The most beautiful, fine and winding lines. 
 
 L 
 
38 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 The coincidence of value in these several objects, both in ornamental composition and in 
 the elementary study of the mathematics,* deserves attention, and it will be found that artificial 
 
 decoration, in its greatest perfection, assumes some definite section of a geometrical figure. 
 
 ORNAM. 
 
 serving to impart strength and expr 
 
 may be defined as the proper embellishment of surface ; its simpler modes 
 
 ssion; the more elaborate degrees of which it is susceptible 
 
 superadding delicacy, grace, and beauty to the object which they adorn. 
 
 This principle is founded on the law, to which I have adverted, universally displayed 
 throughout the vast range of created things, and where nothing is bald or blank, but all is 
 infinitely varied by adornments indicative of character, and as such, satisfactory to reason; 
 
 assisting memory, confirming our judgment, and, in a high degree, stimulating the senses. 
 
 It is probable also that these outward distinctions are types of inward structure; that the 
 spot, speck, or freckle—the line and streak—textures in all the variety of interchange, together 
 with accidents of form and colour, are the markings of an individuality, announcing not only the 
 clan and class, but designating the qualities, capacities, and habits of the humble or more 
 
 favoured inhabitant. 
 
 THE POINT or SPOT is profusely employed by nature for purposes of embellishment, 
 whether singly or in groups. Delicately distributed, or clustered in gorgeous myriads, it is the 
 most elegant because the most simple mode of adornment; it gives lustre to the eye of man and 
 animal; shines beneath the wave upon the mottled scale; dapples the fur of the leopard tribe, 
 and the wing of the pheasant, and variegates the creeping reptile and the tiny insect. Shells, 
 marbles, and woods of many kinds, are identified and derive their beauty from a peculiar 
 arrangement of the spot; the eggs of birds, and the seeds of plants are decorated by spot or 
 speckle; the petals of flowers, and the changing tints of leaves; the smooth bark, or knotted 
 
 stems of trees, are also thus tastefully embellished, and the whole present lessons to the 
 
 draughtsman’s eye and models for his hand. 
 
 The annexed vignette, from a rare, if not unique, specimen, in the British Museum, of the 
 
 Argus Pheasant, a native of China and the East, (Phasianus Argus, Linn.) is selected and 
 
 Considering, therefore, lines in this abstracted view, and inde- 
 pendent of the nature of the bodies which they 
 very natural to conclude, that those forms will be the most beau- 
 tiful which are described by the most beautiful lines, and that, of 
 consequence, the serpentine or winding form must necessarily be 
 the most beautiful. It was this view of the subject which seems 
 to have influenced Mr. Hogarth, in the opinions which he pub- 
 lished in his Analysis of Beauty. He saw clearly, and his art 
 afforded him continual proofs of it, that the winding line was of 
 all others the most beautiful. He conceived, therefore, that all 
 forms must be beautiful in proportion to the predominance of this 
 line in their composition ; and his opinion falls in so much with 
 the general observation of mankind, that it has been very univer- 
 sally adopted.— Alison, Sublimity and Beauty of the Material World, 
 p. 336. ‘ 
 
 istinguish, it seems 
 
 * The constant use made of lines by mathematicians, as well 
 as painters, in describing things upon paper, hath established a 
 
 conception of them, as if actually existing in the real forms them- 
 selves. This likewise we suppose, and shall set out with saying in 
 general,—that the straight line, and the circular line, together with 
 their different combinations and variations, &c. bound and cir- 
 cumscribe all visible objects whatsoever ; thereby producing such 
 endless variety of forms, as lays us under the necessity of dividing 
 -Hogarth’s Analysis 
 
 and distinguishing them into general classes. 
 of Beauty, Lines, p. 37. 
 
 + One spirit. His 
 a rules universal nature. 
 not a flower 
 
 But shows some touch, in freckle, streak, or stain, 
 
 Of his unrivall’d pencil. He inspires 
 
 Their balmy odours, and imparts their hues 
 
 And bathes their eyes with nectar, and includes 
 
 Tn grains as countless as the sea-side sands, 
 
 The forms with which he sprinkles all the earth.— Cowper. 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 39 
 
 referred to as a magnificent example of natural arrangement of the Spot. The subject measures 
 5 feet 9 inches from the beak to the extremity of the tail, and 4 feet 9 inches across the wings, 
 and presents so valuable an illustration of the principles here advocated, that drawings, on a 
 
 ad, 
 
 sufficient scale, of portions of the feathering, are given under the next head 
 
 Phasianus Argus. 
 
 From tangible objects, or those to which the artist has constant access, let us turn to the 
 
 various phenomena of temperature, the seasons, and planetary phases, and we find in the 
 transitions of the one, and revolutions of the other, how extensively and effectively the spot 
 contributes to delight, as well as to instruct, every observer, of the manner in which it occurs as 
 an ornamental feature. Can it be possible to name a more brilliant spot than the evening star, 
 whether twinkling in a clear field of blue, or through gathering masses, flitting in the void beneath 
 its lustre? Who has not admired the spotted sky, adorned with the rich and mellow tints of 
 summer or of autumn; or who will refuse to admit that the not unfrequent change, incident to 
 this state of the atmosphere, in a lurid congregating of the clouds, with indications of the coming 
 tempest, is not a perfect example of transition from the beautiful to the sublime? The rain-drop 
 and the dew-drop,* glittering on leaf and flower, are still more familiar illustrations of the 
 ornamental value of the spot, and have given rise to many similies and allusions, calculated to 
 promote and cherish our best feelings. Even the dottings of the snow-storm furnish hints for 
 ornamental arrangement of the spot, and is an instance of the variety thus largely adopted and 
 
 continued through every succession, both of the animate and inanimate, in nature. 
 
 In concluding these remarks, given with the view to excite a greater share of attention 
 towards one of the prime agents employed in natural decoration, I have added the following 
 objects, shewing some of the distinct and useful varieties open to observation ; they are, however, 
 
 as compared with the immense diversity of it, but as units in the scale of numbers; and 
 
 * That diamond drop so bright and clear, 
 It rivals all but beauty’s tear— Walter Scott. 
 
40 7 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 colouring is also wanted to impress the value of the lessons to be obtained from them; but my 
 purpose will be answered if the student is induced to refer to these and to others, as one of 
 
 the available sources of the beautiful in ornamental art. 
 
 Cypraa J 
 
 Entimus Imperialis.§ 
 
 Urania Ripheus. 
 
 THE LINE occurs as next in the order of these definitions, though it undoubtedly occupies 
 the first place in ornamental arrangements and devices of every kind. Lines in their simple 
 sense refer merely to longitudinal extension, and may therefore with propriety, and at the outset, 
 be considered as straight, whether perpendicular or horizontal, the first position of the line 
 being symbolical of life and action, the latter of quiescence, and, as such, solely expressive of 
 
 objects in a passive state. 
 
 The straight line is the line of structure, for it is the basis of geological formation, but 
 chiefly in horizontal strata; instances of perpendicular strata being very rare, and those assuming 
 the curved line confined to mineral basins of volcanic origin; but in the details of mineralogy at 
 large, rising lines, of every grade, form the process of growth. These examples powerfully 
 support the theory, that life, energy, and character are presented in the perpendicular, straight, 
 
 or rising line; and that inertness and rest are couched in lines of horizontal position. 
 
 e and sun- 
 
 For further confirmation I may instance the aspects of the far-horizon at sun- 
 set, as common but beautiful illustrations of these several properties of lines; previous to the 
 dawn, all nature lies in lengthened lines of shade, the distant grey scarcely distinguished from 
 the dun of night; but at that hour she starts, as it were, from her repose, announced by a 
 streak of day; tints of colour and of gold fringe the encumbered masses—lines of light rise and 
 diverge, and the reanimating splendour of morning is quickly established. _ With the close of day 
 the same disposition of line and shadow recurs, and as truly indicates the period of rest, of 
 
 which it is an emblem. 
 
 * The Shell is that of the Fallow Deer Cowry, upon which the } The Golden Emperor Fly is a native of China, equally re- 
 spots of a delicate white harmonize beautifully with a rich brown  markable for delicate disposition of spot and streak, and for variety 
 ground. Cyprea Vitellus, Linn. and magnificence of colouring ; which latter has the appearance of 
 
 changing with the motions of the insect. Urania Ripheus, Drury. 
 + The Egg of the Guinea Fowl, Gailinula Chlosopus, Linn. 
 profusely embellished with delicate white spots on a ground of § The Diamond Beetle, Entimus Imperialis, Linn. a well known 
 greenish grey. object of microscopic observation, on which spots of extreme 
 brilliancy are studded upon an emerald green ground. 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 41 
 
 The action of wind upon the clouds produces also remarkable examples of the power of lines 
 to convey character ; when these vapours are dense, they lie across the expanse in parallel streaks 
 or threads, but when composed of light matter, they flit rapidly before the impelling medium, 
 assuming for a moment some familiar shape or fantastic grouping, then rise and are lost to sight. 
 In the art of painting, the pleasing effect of well managed rial landscape is acknowledged, 
 and very conspicuous in the works of Titian, of the Venetian, Rembrandt and Wouvermans, of 
 
 the Flemish, Claude, G. Poussin, and Vernet, of the French Schools, and in those of our own 
 
 countrymen Turner and Collins. 
 
 LINES of varied or curvilinear character,* are essentially those of beauty. 
 
 MODULATIONS of the curvilinear line give ease to shape, and grace to form; unite the 
 
 component par 
 
 of an object with elegance, and impart delicacy to energy and expr 
 
 ion. The 
 
 waving line predominates wherever grace or beauty excites emotions of delight; it clothes the 
 
 * Among the mass of valuable information collected by the 
 Committee of the House of Commons, Arts and Manufactures, 
 Session, 1836, will be found the following evidence or rather lecture, 
 on the properties of curved lines, by R. R. Reinagle, Esq. (R. A.) ; 
 the subsequent portion of it, which relates more particularly to 
 “Practical Application,” is appended to that head. 
 
 As a proof that all elegant forms are derived from curvilinear 
 
 it be 
 Fig. 10 
 
 ones, I beg leave to shew you that any mere line, whether 
 perpendicular or inclined to either side, and fig 12. Fig. 
 crossed by right angles, presents no form of < 
 beauty, as is demonstrated by this figure, 
 
 (Fig. 10), but on the contrary, when I cause 
 
 these right angles to close upon each other, 
 
 and put it into an oblique position, instead of 
 a perpendicular one, I begin to approach by 
 
 means of angles (Figs. 11, 12,) to something that is more graceful ; 
 like the fern leaf, for instance. 
 
 east 
 
 cK 
 
 Fig. 13 
 
 They present nothing in these forms that enables the mind to 
 
 The first position of simple Fig.4 
 lines may be either perpen- 
 dicular, as in the diagram, 
 (Fig. 13) ; or they may be con- 
 verted into horizontal lines 
 
 il 
 
 by a change of position, (Fig. 
 14). 
 
 generate any thing, excepting that it might possibly be a gridiron, 
 or represent columns; and when horizontal, steps. But when 
 they are gathered into a central point, (Fig. Wig. 16. 
 
 15), and radiate, they represent a great 
 many objects, such as the rays of the sun, 
 also perspective inclinations of converging 
 lines; they represent also those degrees, 
 proportions, and divisions of radiating lines 
 which the Greeks have so ably laid down 
 
 as one of the rudiments on which taste is to be founded by tangible 
 forms. 
 
 This is the first arrangement of Fig.16, 
 
 the concatenation of simple lines into ; 
 acute or obtuse angles, composed and 
 compounded in this way, (Fig. 16) , 
 radiation is the first arrangement of 
 
 lines which presents any thing like the appearance of an agreeable 
 form. 
 
 When a perpendicular line receives half Fi 17- Fig. 18. 
 circular curves, crossing at right angles 
 (Fig. 17), a quicker approach to agreeable 
 forms takes place. Let these incline right 
 
 or left, like a heavy-eared stalk of barley 
 
 or wheat, (Fig. 18), and we gain another 
 step to beauty or grace by inclination, and 
 beauty by combination of small curves upon one main stem, or 
 bearer. 
 
 The circle is the first form in geometry Fig. 19. 
 
 of a simple order, and by drawing conse- 
 cutive circles within each other, and not 
 taking the same radius, but taking various 
 ones approximating either side of the ori- 
 ginal large circle, within which the others 
 are contained, there is a quantity of spread- 
 ing forms like a trumpet, which by closing 
 or expanding, and a bisection of the whole, 
 
 presents a most useful diagram (Fig. 19). 
 
 This is the first principle upon which circles can be arranged, 
 
 so as to derive unequal quantities. 
 the circle by obliquity of position, pre- Mg. 20, 
 
 sented to the eye as an angle of forty-five, 
 any angle between ninety and one, creates 
 various degrees of elliptic forms; conse- 
 quently, the circle is the first generator of 
 the oval ; for the shadow of a circle is oval, 
 in most cases ; and the perspective view of 
 a circle forms an oval, up to an acute 
 
 ellipse ; as in this figure (Fig. 20). 
 
 But as the oval proceeds from 
 
 By a concatenation and grouping of ovals, 
 on the same principle as in the first diagram of 
 the circle (Fig. 15), approximating the con- 
 jugate diameters together, a much more agree- 
 able and graceful range of curved lines is 
 derived, as may be seen in this diagram. 
 (Fig. 21). 
 
 Here are several disks of an oval character all brought together, 
 and when these forms are presented to any of the beauties of the 
 Elgin Marbles where the drapery is involved, we shall find this has 
 been the system on which these varieties in the drapery have been 
 derived. 
 
 M 
 
42 
 
 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 earth with verdure, and undulates upon the waters, and the most admired objects subsisting in 
 
 either element, derive superiority or agreeableness from some peculiarity of curve proper to 
 
 the perfection of forin of their several species. 
 
 The rainbow, or spectrum, is the most impressive illustration of a simple curve; truth is 
 
 exemplified in its form and grace in its tints; a diagram, hereafter given, exhibits the propor- 
 
 tions of its constituent parts independent of their colour, and evinces the power of a simple 
 
 distribution of curves to produce pleasing emotions. 
 
 Before this definition of the curved line,* or more properly of its uses and value to the 
 
 ornamental draughtsman is closed, I may add, that the mere existence of this line endows the 
 
 object with grace; it is found and recognised in the spiral convolutions of the Conch shell, 
 
 independently of volition; and is precisely the same which, in the conformation of the swan, the 
 
 ibis, and the dove, renders the motions of these birds so conspicuously graceful. 
 
 Compound lines are to be co 
 
 dered in a two-fold point of view; first, as boundaries of 
 
 form, or “outline,” and, secondly, as component parts in ornamental arrangement. 
 
 The next arrangement of elliptic forms 
 consists of two disks, united in such a man- 
 ner as that the one line fluxes or flows into 
 the other ; as it would be if either of these 
 smaller ovals (Fig. 22,) were placed at the 
 bottom, and in a line with the conjugate 
 diameter of the whole of these lines ; that 
 the outer or the inner line of any one of those would naturally flow 
 and make a serpentine line by its junction with another oval. By 
 
 putting them end to end, a species of serpentine character is im- 
 
 mediately derived, called the elliptic serpentine. The outline on 
 
 this side would flow into that, the outline on that side (Fiy 
 This is what has gi 
 
 would, naturally, flow into this 
 the preference of the honeysuckle, in a great degree, as an estab- 
 
 lished ornament; consequently, this diagram presents the union 
 
 of a disk of a large, and a disk of a smaller character, and the 
 
 lines all concentrate in one point, which give: r order of 
 direction, and inequalities which are agreeable to the eye; large in 
 its expansive character, diminutive in its collective one. 
 
 The first test that curved lines are more agreeable than rigid 
 ones, is represented to your view by the diagram which contains 
 perpendicular and inclined lines, with rectangular traversing forms 
 
 and angles (see Figs. 10, 11, 12,) of Fig. 23 
 
 another nature, that is to ute 
 angles. This figure, (Fig. 23,) con- 
 
 tains oval forms with the foliage of an 
 ovated character ; and it is quite evident that if foliage were placed 
 on the rigid lines of the rectangular forms, they never would pre- 
 sent to the eye such agreeable changes as those that take curvilinear 
 ones, at once derived from the ellipse or oval, as is manifest by this 
 
 simple diagram. Fig. 24 
 
 Thave discovered that this figure, arising 
 from a varied position of one disk, offers in 
 its species the exact forms which are to be 
 seen in many of the ornaments which the 
 Greeks have made use of; and in which 
 they have introduced the honeysuckle. 
 
 Now, as these forms, abstractedly taken, are to be found among 
 the Greek ornaments, I presume that a diagram similar to that 
 
 and all the others I shall offer to your notice, besides those [ have 
 not placed before you, gentlemen, were placed in their schools 
 that their pupils might be accustomed to 
 them, to so great a degree, that they would 
 carry the recollection of these diagrams with 
 them asa matter of course ; and they would 
 do it almost without rule, by the frequency 
 of seeing them. This diagram is produced 
 by merely placing the same disk on an axis, 
 
 and making a species of star. 
 
 * Curved lines may be divided into two sorts—the circular, 
 and the ovalinear. 
 
 A sphere, it is well known, is that shape which contains the 
 greatest quantity of matter in any given space ; yet while its breadth 
 and bulk contain so much solid substance, as it only rests on a 
 single point, and has no breadth of base, its bulk only renders it 
 more easily mutable; and, though the line bounding it be not 
 y part from its centre, it offers 
 nts the same dull rotundit 
 
 et being equidis 
 ty of curve, but every part pres 
 
 no ve 
 ‘An oval, on the other hand, has height in proportion to its 
 
 width, and has therefore a much greater degree of lightne: 
 
 The outline, too, of an oval does not present the dull uniformity 
 of a circle, its curve being continually varied, not by the abrupt 
 and decisive breaks of angles, but by a continually devious line. 
 
 Tt presents that outline which has often been termed the line of 
 grace or beauty, exhibiting no fixed point, but a constant, gentle, 
 and almost insensible variety and pliability of line—Mary Ann 
 Schimmelpenninck, Theory of Beauty and Deformity, p. 236. 
 
 In general we may lay it down as a rule, that circular lines 
 denote weakness, except they are used as arches, when they give 
 the expression of strength ; and even this allowance confirms the 
 rule, for then, instead of the base being reduced to a point, it 
 exceeds the breadth of any other part of the figure; and it was 
 in a perfect sphere that it had an expres- 
 
 owing to the narrownes: 
 The lumpish effect remains ; but there the same 
 The cir- 
 
 sion of weakness. 
 distinction between circular and oval lines holds good. 
 cular arch gives the expression of sluggish weight combined with 
 strength; the elliptic arch, of elegance united with strength. 
 Domes may be considered as arches. 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 43 
 
 They may be resolved into circular and angular, and are either 
 
 Parallel, or... Fig. 1. 
 Divereine sy ns 2, 
 Flowing,or , , . . oS ee a. 
 Expanding; . . . . (> 4. 
 Rising, or... 5. 
 Descending . . 6. 
 
 Combinations of these produce shapes or forms, of which the great divisions are thus 
 usually and conveniently exemplified. 
 
 Globular. Angular. 
 
 Fig.7 Elliptical. Fig. 9. 
 Fig. 8 
 
 = Grace. 
 Truth. Strength. 
 
 These divisions are typical also of the qualities assigned to them. The first, as possessing 
 immutable properties, however investigated or applied is, consequently, passive. The two 
 latter, as susceptible of incessant change, are, on the contrary, active; and the application of 
 them as data, under this classification, will be found of importance whenever the character or 
 expression of an object is to be investigated. 
 
 The term “form,” when applied to an object, includes the outline; the contents, which 
 are expressed by light and shade; and the texture or colour. 
 
 By the same term as applied to ornament, is to be understood the general aspect presented 
 by the arrangement of it, and which is commonly derived from some mathematical figure, either 
 
 expressed or understood. 
 
 It may be observed that “forms,” wherever mere utility is concerned, are usually and 
 
 properly of the passive kind, which is most predominant where ornament would be misplaced. 
 
44 
 
 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 The Plane is the last material, if I may be allowed the term, furnished by nature to the 
 
 artist. 
 
 The disks of the sun and 
 moon, and the phases of the latter 
 luminary, are among the most 
 beautiful examples of the plane, 
 especially under some aspects. The 
 annexed, out of many others, must 
 
 be familiar to the recollection of 
 
 spots which adorn the tail of the 
 peacock, and the pinion of the 
 argus pheasant, claims attention, 
 insomuch that it would lead to an 
 opinion, that it was not without 
 design, similar objects of beauty 
 
 were repeated in several depart- 
 
 every observer of astronomical ap- ments of nature; as it has already 
 
 been shewn is the case with the 
 
 pearances. The remarkable re- 
 semblance of this figure to the spot and freckle. 
 
 The annular eclipse of the sun furnishes also a magnificent series of plane figures, in the 
 
 various aspects produced by the progress of that remarkable phenomon. 
 
 It is necessary to observe, that the plane must not be confounded with the ground of a 
 composition, produced by the intersection of lines, or the interstices of spots; a little reflection 
 will shew that every variety of plane figure, without the help of either line or spot, may be 
 
 symmetrically arranged to relieve the monotony of space. 
 
 PRACTICAL APPLICATION. 
 
 IT has been shewn how few are the simple elements out of which the wondrous combinations 
 of natural embellishment are wrought; that they furnish also the best material inventive talent, 
 can apply in promoting many of the purposes and interests of civilized and social life, in better- 
 ing the comforts of existence, and in calling into activity the best feelings of the mind by 
 elegant appeals to the senses, will, I think, be admitted; and the more so, when it is recollected 
 that not only are the paneled roof of palaces, but the proprieties of less conspicuous dwellings; 
 not only the richer textures of the loom, but fabrics destined to compose the habiliments of the 
 multitude, rendered either more imposing or acceptable, but that the domestic conveniences of 
 
 all are, through the same means, successfully cultivated and improved. 
 
 The nearest approach to perfection in ornamental composition, being always that where 
 any given superfice is most appropriately embellished, it is essential to bring under notice the 
 principles of Form, before I proceed to speak of the application of adventitious beauty to sur- 
 face; of which the uses must necessarily, and in all cases, be predetermined ; and in describing 
 forms, I shall assume, with the mathematician, that Circular Forms are made up of Spots; that 
 Elliptical Forms are those in which the Line governs; and that in Angular Forms the Plane is 
 
 the basis of composition. 
 
 FORM is of itself ornamental, even when employed for ordinary purposes, if, in its 
 
 adaptation, ease, elegance, or dignity be apparent. 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 45 
 
 Of Simple Form, the blue vault of Heaven exhibits the most perfect example, whether as 
 to vastness of circumference, magnificence of curve, or to the boldness of its concave, embracing, 
 
 as it does, all we see of earth. Considered either with reference to the purity of its own void, 
 
 or to the luminaries that adorn it, the mind, so occupied, is impelled onward from the beautiful 
 to the sublime, and the noblest emotions of awe and wonder are excited ; when I am to treat of 
 Texture and of Colour I shall again advert to this profound expanse, alternating with light and 
 dark, with black and grey; and attempt an explanation of phenomena, which, by an apparent 
 void, fill the eye with those pleasurable sensations usually the concomitants of variety and 
 
 mutation ; for the present merely adding, that the Cupola thus described, being an accessory, is 
 
 of the first class of ornamental beauty, namely, that which arises out of the usefulness of the 
 
 object, or, in other words, its official capacity. 
 
 OUTLINE OF FORM is the sole constituent which, unaided, conveys to the mind a 
 clear notion of the thing signified. Colour, Texture, or Light and Shade, may excite the 
 
 imagination, and, in some measure, “body forth the forms of things unknown,” but cannot 
 
 describe species,* or class: but Outline vividly distinguishes the individual, and makes the 
 portraiture ; hence the importance of correctness in this rudiment of Design; the eye and hand 
 by industriously scanning and tracing, whatever may attract attention or invite exertion, acquires 
 
 habitual readiness in transferring to memory the generic contours of Shape and Form. 
 
 CAPACITY is another very important particular in Form, and demands much consideration, 
 because all Forms, whether of use, or purely ornamental, suppose the quality of use; the com- 
 position of their outline should, therefore, be subservient to the circumstances in which they 
 may be placed. A delicate adaptation of the means to the end is, in this respect, remarkable 
 throughout the economy of nature, furnishing a practical rule of taste to the student; we may 
 thence infer that quantity in Form is, under all aspects, conducive to character in the object, 
 and that fitness offers an immediate notice of value to the judicious observer. But although the 
 means of nature are ample, they are not redundant: she knows nothing of the “Il poco piu”— 
 nor should the artist allow himself to be deluded by fallacies of such shallow import; truth 
 should be his motto, find it where he may, “le vrai ideal,” is the sole ‘“ beau ideal ;” let his ideas 
 
 be stored with le vrai, et le beau sy trouvera. 
 
 If the classes of the animal kingdom be closely investigated, it will appear that the outline, 
 in most cases, indicates the character of light and shade; because light, and consequently 
 
 shade, must descend and act upon the shape according to the organical disposition of its parts.-+ 
 
 * Of all material qualities, that which is most generally, and 
 most naturally productive of the emotions of sublimity and beauty 
 is FORM. Other qualities may be separated from most objects 
 without destroying their nature; but the Form of every material 
 object, in a great measure, constitutes its nature and essence, and 
 cannot be destroyed, without des 
 
 @ the indi 
 
 dual subject to 
 
 which it belongs. From whatever cause, therefore, the beauty of 
 
 any material object proceeds, it is natural to ascribe it to the 
 Form, or to that quali 
 
 y which most intimately. belongs to the 
 object, and constitutes its essence to our senses. The common 
 opinion, therefore, undoubtedly is, that Forms in themselves are 
 beautiful; that there is an original and essential beauty in some 
 
 particular forms ; and that this quality is as immediately discernible 
 in them, as the Forms themselves.— Alison, Beauty and Sublimity 
 of the Material World, p. 314. 
 
 + As light and shade determine the concavities or convexities 
 of all objects, without them the most intel 
 but as a map or flat surf 
 If, for example, we take a ( 
 cup and examine the influ- } 
 ence of light and shade upon 
 
 igent outline would be 
 
 it, we find in nature those 
 principles which artists have 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 46 
 Light and shade is, therefore, the filling up of outline; for light can only fall upon the high 
 points, and shade upon the diminishing or retiring contours. This leads directly to the relative 
 yalue of Forms:—if a Form be round, the high light will be sharp and sudden, and the shade 
 broad, the effect produced will consequently be hard; but if light fall upon an elliptic or para- 
 bolic curve of surface, that light will be broad, the shade soft, and a tender expression will be 
 imparted. Grace proceeds from such shapes; ease and elegance being the result of an equal 
 blending of light and shade. This may be further elucidated by reference to the emotions and 
 passions of the mind, as marked upon the human face ; tenderness, patience, sensibility, modesty, 
 timidity, good nature, cheerfulness, in fact all the blander feeling's, present the features in gentle 
 
 sty, haughtiness, spiritedness, artfulness, not to mention the 
 
 curves; on the other hand, maj 
 rude and violent passions, cast sharp lights and harsh shadows across the countenance. 
 
 As the Straight Line indicates structure, Angular Forms necessarily imply strength, which 
 has been already instanced in geological formation, and mineralogical growth; some styles have 
 been established upon this principle, and it will be seen that they are all of a nervous and 
 masculine character; the ornament being closely connected with the framing, proceeding from 
 it, and producing three distinct shadows, always attended with flicker ; of these the most decided 
 in character is the ancient Egyptian; among modern styles, the Byzantine, the northern styles 
 of Saxon, Norman, and other modifications of Gothic architectural ornament emanating from 
 
 them; the most eminent examples being those where the same principle is most strongly 
 
 developed. 
 
 But it is not in Angular Styles only that the angle is to be traced; in the mathematical 
 analysis of Greek fictile vases, so ably made by the late Sir William Hamilton, the rising line 
 
 rigidly maintained, indicating structure in the modulations of the beautiful curves which compose 
 
 these pleasing forms. Precisely in the same manner do the markings of the human frame 
 
 evince structure, through the clothing of serpentine lines which adorns it. The same ingenious 
 Author enlarges upon the constant attention to this principle, in the drawing of the ornament 
 attached to these vases, shewing that where the inferior artist had incorrectly followed his 
 original, the inventor had restored it by a subsequent correction. The same observations 
 apply to the draperies of the Greeks in their most natural manner, and to the disposition 
 of the ornament of their sculptures, where they evince the most scrupulous adherence to 
 the mode in which nature maintains the presence of structure. Artists have adopted an 
 expression, closely allied to the feeling described, when examining sketches, or designs, 
 “squarely drawn,” is a term of approbation, and refers to knowledge or science displayed 
 in the structure. This may degenerate into “manner,” but when judiciously applied, as in 
 the extremities of Raphael’s figures, where the grace of nature is maintained while the lines 
 
 of structure are faithfully recorded, is decisive of extraordinary ability ; an eminent example of 
 
 applied to many purposes in painting. We perceive the near edge 
 strongly defined by the light side coming in contact with the shadow, 
 which becomes darker as it descends into the cup; we have the 
 dark side brought firmly off the light, thus giving it the simplest 
 and most effective means of a true representation of its character. 
 This may appear too evident to notice in a work of this nature, 
 which does not profess to give the mere rudiments of the art; but I 
 am conyinced that the most intricate principles of painting emanate 
 
 from very few sources, and that these sources are of a very simple 
 nature, Every thing within our view is filled with examples, and 
 the mind of the student requires only to be directed to an exami- 
 nation and investigation of the subject, before commencing any 
 work, or while it is in progress. He must not only know what is 
 his intention, but must be in possession of the best method of 
 expressing such intention.—Burnet, Practical Hints on Light and 
 
 Shade in Painting, p. 22. 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 47 
 the same masterly treatment of the Angular Line occurs in Haydon’s Dentatus; most of the 
 portraits of the late Sir Thomas Lawrence, and the busts from the hand of Chantrey, convey the 
 same sentiment; also the character of foliage in the trees of Claude Lorraine's landscapes ; 
 the flower pieces by Baptiste; and the carvings by Grinlin Gibbons, which are to be seen in 
 several churches in London, and elsewhere; in all the works enumerated the angle is understood, 
 
 although, as in nature, sedulously concealed in the flowing line. 
 
 LIGHT AND SHADE produce their effects upon Form, by imparting variety, united with 
 brilliancy—harmony—and breadth ;* the first of these is within the province of beauty, or rather, 
 of the beautiful in light; the second generally displays grace ; the last is a source of the sublime. 
 There are five principal gradations in light and shade, from high-light to dark, and which 
 produce corresponding effects upon modifications of Form; when all these are combined, 
 splendour or sumptuousness is a result, arising out of florid decoration, and diversified embellish- 
 ment. The profuse distribution of tints mellowed by the golden skies of autumn, afford 
 magnificent specimens of the lavish decoration of nature in that seasont of plenty and gladness, 
 offering fit studies to the purposes of art, when proper to excite the lively feelings of a grateful 
 hilarity, as in the ball room, the theatre, or upon occasions of public rejoicing. The more 
 approved styles of art seek for harmony, as emblematic of the nobler emotions 3§ breadth of 
 light and acuteness of shadow, are the essentials of this manner, and, accordingly, we find its 
 peculiarities both in the best examples of painting and sculpture, and in contemporary com- 
 positions of decorative ornament, wherein these effects can only be manifested by the use or 
 
 applications of elliptic or parabolic Forms. 
 
 Much has been said of the human Form, as the “basis of ornamental composition,” but, 
 surely, it may more properly be termed the Apez, since it is the perfection of all Form: the 
 male pre-eminent for strength and character—the female excelling in grace and beauty. To 
 
 the latter, in which every principle of ornamental composition is concentrated, and every attri- 
 bute of symmetry and elegance exemplified, must, in truth, be referred all comparatives involving 
 relative perfection of Form. In this matchless frame, the lustrous sparkle of the eye, the smooth 
 arched brow, the mantling plane of the cheek, the round and dimpled chin, the waving or 
 clustering tresses by which the beaming face is shaded, the graceful limbs, majestic motions, 
 
 and noble mien, combine to render it worthy of “ HIM” who created them in his own image. 
 
 her mysteries. We do not know whether Claude, Coreggio, and 
 Rembrandt, were acquainted with the works of one another, but 
 we have the most evident proofs that they were well acquainted with 
 
 * Light and shade are capable of producing many results; but 
 the three principal are relief, harmony, and breadth, By the first, 
 the artist is enabled to give his works the distinctness and solidity 
 
 of nature. The second is the result of a union and consent of one 
 part with another; and the third, a general breadth, is the neces 
 sary attendant on extent and magnitude.— Burnet, Practical Hints 
 on Light and Shade in Painting, p.2. 
 
 + Before proceeding to investigate light and shade in their 
 various intricate situations, it may be proper to notice a few of the 
 more palpable and self-evident combinations, and for the better 
 comprehending of which, I shall divide them into five parts; viz. 
 light, half light, middle tint, half dark, and dark.—Jb. p. 1. 
 
 ¢ A few walks in the evening in the twilight and at night, in 
 scenery where nature has an opportunity of showing her various 
 effects, will put the student in possession of a power to unravel all 
 
 the principle by which nature produces her most striking effects ; 
 and a breadth of light and shade, soft and subdued tones of colour, 
 and every requisite for forming the mind of an artist, is still to be 
 
 found in the same school in which they studied.—Jb. p. 7. 
 
 § Breadth of effect is only to be produced by a great extent of 
 light or shade pervading the picture. The influence of shadow 
 upon any composition, when carried beyond the necessary depth 
 for the relief or distinct marking of the several parts, is breadth, 
 from its absorbing many of the half tints, and rendering the darks 
 less cutting; and repose, from there being fewer of the outlines 
 visible ; hence arises a certain grandeur attendant upon space, and 
 an agreeable sensation, from the spectator being allowed to exercise 
 his own fancy in embodying indistinct forms.—Jb. p. 3. 
 
48 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 It is of little importance in what this resemblance consists, whether in an intellectual or 
 other likeness, whether in the mind, or in the casket destined to contain the gem, doubtless the 
 
 ; made worthy of the other; when, therefore, intellectual capacity and moral feeling 
 
 one wa 
 concur in governing the sensual bias, a perfect harmony is established, enhancing the beauty 
 
 which without it must lose somewhat of its grace; this argument is of force to prove that 
 ornament is based upon immutable principles, taking its rise in the fountain of good. Moral 
 truth is consequently so interwoven with tangible embellishment, that perfection of the one 
 cannot be attained without the presence of the other, and however remotely allied may be the 
 
 lower classes of ornament, yet must the principle be of use if investigated and understood. 
 
 TEXTURE is the visible modification of the constituent matter of Form, whether natural 
 
 tic of the substance of all natural 
 
 or artificical; or, in other words, the especial characteri: 
 objects, and denotes the fabric of those which are artificial. A happy disposition of texture is 
 a proximate cause of beauty, and excites agreeable sensations in the absence of other attributes; 
 
 tenuity being a concomitant of delicate outline, even when unaccompanied by colour. 
 
 The first class of Texture is that of density or compactness; it is seen in the gem and 
 precious stone, their highly refractive surfaces, independent of natural colour, eliciting prismatic 
 tints of a purity surpassed only by erial hues. First in class, they take precedence of all other 
 extrinsic modes of adornment and of subject, being, as such, largely appropriated by the 
 superior ranks of society, and for the noblest purposes of personal decoration ; imitative splendour 
 of this description is however sought by all classes of mankind, and the same passion obtains 
 
 even with the savage tribes of every region. 
 
 The surfaces of other hard bodies are of the same character, their value as aids to embel- 
 lishment being derived from a greater or inferior degree of refractive power. Marbles of every 
 
 hue; porphyries and granite in their natural state ; and inferior stones, when polished artificially, 
 
 lend ass 
 
 stance to the use, and for the purposes of decorative art. 
 
 The Texture of metallic surfaces, as auxiliaries to ornamental embellishment, is next in 
 order; its effects are too well understood to require much illustration; what the eye is to the 
 countenance, or water to the landscape, such is the vivacity imparted to decoration by the 
 
 presence of golden or silvery textures upon simple or varied Forms. 
 
 The Texture of the atmosphere is among the most remarkable of natural phenomena; an 
 attentive view of the visible qualities of the heavens, perpetually changing with time and season, 
 but always replete with expression and character, will convey most instructive lessons upon 
 Texture, and of its causes and effects, that can be suggested to the student. I would instance 
 the intense gaze which every eye is induced to fix upon “ etherial blue,” when looking directly 
 north towards the sun-lit vault, and upon interminable changes of flicker of the most beautiful 
 
 tissue, proceeding from angles of every gradation, interlaced and interwoven, mixed and intro- 
 
 mitted, in blue and black and grey:* or again, when the sight seeks to scan the breadth of an 
 
 * Having mentioned my intention to attempt an explanation text with an opinion which may, perhaps, be deemed speculative, 
 of the apparent phenomena of rial textures, I consider it may be unassisted as it is by any reference to the opinions of others, or to 
 more acceptably done by way of note, than by encumbering my _ the corroboration of any authority I have met with. 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 49 
 atmosphere seemingly opacous, but glowing like an ocean of light, its splendour made up of an 
 endless multiformity of transparent globules floating over intricacy of surface, exhibiting com- 
 binations of the most elegant tissues, and an interlacing of circular and angular figures varied 
 by every mutation of light. 
 
 The net-work of the skin, more especially when a carnation tint mantles upon the white of 
 the complexion, is a texture of exquisite beauty, and offers, in the complication of minute scales 
 of which it is composed, hints for composition inviting an exertion of the wonderful powers of 
 the loom in the processes of imitation; in a perfect and healthy temperament cutaneous 
 texture consists of interweavings of a rhombic shape, elegantly elongated and diversified by 
 semicircular scales traversing its breadth. 
 
 Conchology exhibits an assemblage of textures singularly diversified, both as respects 
 figures and the application of them; the first principles of ornamental composition occurring 
 profusely in the exquisite tissues wrought upon these glossy forms; for it must be remembered 
 that the textures of shells unite the refractive properties of the mineral kingdom, with the 
 gorgeous emblazonry of the feathered races. Spots, manifold in shape, and capricious in 
 arrangement, with lines of every gradation of angle and tendency, variegate the convolutions of 
 their surfaces. Plane figures are here of comparatively rare occurrence, and usually incline to 
 
 the square. 
 
 The fur-wrought velvets of entomology present opposite qualities of texture, in softly 
 blended tints and retiring shades, powerfully contrasted by spots and planes of the brightest 
 colours, and of endless variety of shape and disposition. The fragile forms of the moths and 
 flies are equally interesting and instructive to the draughtsman,* from the surpassing beauty and 
 
 delicacy of their exuberant ornature. 
 
 Generally, the texture of bodies is under the same governing principle that determines 
 outline and capacity of form, namely, the use and intention of the object ; fitness being the 
 master-key to appropriate style, which, while it indicates the outline and capacity, suggests the 
 the texture, together with the colour of its clothing. 
 
 THE APPLICATION of the SPOT, to decorative purposes, is so obvious from the cir- 
 cumstance of its simplicity, that illustration to a limited extent only will be necessary. I have 
 already spoken of its occurrence in various subjects of natural history and familiar phenomena 
 and shall now further consider it as an insulated object, such being its most effective charac- 
 teristic; premising, that perpendicular or horizontal lines of spots spreading oyer an entire field, 
 
 The more determinate aspects under which aerial textures are 
 formed, are those of sun-rise and sun-set, though the same appear- 
 ances as regards the refraction of light are at all times going on 
 when the sun is above the horizon ; and of refraction and reflection 
 conjointly, when that luminary is visibly acting upon atmospheric 
 vapour. 
 
 Light passing over black produces grey, or blue, according to 
 the density of the atmosphere, and such would be the simple effect 
 of the sun’s rays, did not refraction cause them to traverse and 
 intersect each other in a greater or less degree, according to the 
 
 accidents of the weather, the periods of the day, &c.; it is during 
 a congenial state of the circumstances which concur in producing 
 at the same time reflected and refracted light, that aerial textures 
 invite the study I have recommended. 
 
 * I have it from unquestionable authority that the late 
 Mr. Stothard, R. A. possessed a large collection of moths and flies, 
 for the avowed purpose of reference to them as examples both of 
 colouring, and the disposition of ornament. 
 
 oO 
 
50 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 being of every-day occurrence in design and pattern, I confine myself to observing that’ the 
 pleasing effect of such arrangements depend, first, upon the proportions of the spot to the inter- 
 mediate spaces; secondly, upon the shape and colour of the one, and the tint of the other; and 
 
 thirdly, upon accurate juxta-position, when divers forms of spot are introduced. 
 
 Fig. 27. Although the spaces between repetitions of the spot may 
 WEAVEAAVAAVA 
 
 be increased or diminished at pleasure, if they are brought 
 
 WAVAVEAVEAVSAVAA 
 VASA 
 
 XxDxIx<xIxix] 
 Rosa 
 SKK 
 
 x 
 
 into immediate contact (Fig. 27), texture is the result; if, how- 
 
 ever, a point or dot be interposed (Fig. 28), the spot maintains 
 
 its individuality, and with great richness and effect: most of 
 
 the woven textures, magnified, give excellent practice for varieties of this order, the space being 
 taken for the spot, and the intersection for the dot. 
 
 Fig. 29. 
 
 SPOTS in pairs, and in cessories, entering into most of 
 parallels of three (Fig. 29), are <0 the known styles. I would sug- 
 very effective, their power is Cree Cee D> gest this description of figure as 
 well known as architectural ac- <-> offering novelty easy of appli- 
 
 cation, and if combined with appropriate textures and colours, may be varied ad infinitum. 
 
 Fig. 30. The spot combines with great effect in ap Fig. 31. 
 eo ese e@e eee clusters and in groups (Figs. 30, 31). Triad 
 
 Se SS 
 OQ @) 
 and quintuple dispositions of masses, separate 6 0G So 2g of 
 or mixed, may be made with advantage; when ) . 6 
 
 ° ° 
 @e e0e ee cco 
 ° ° 
 
 alternate, they form a quincunx very agreeable a ios 
 Fig, 32. to the eye. Diverging lines of spots (Fig. 32), whether in proper 
 “ee ace ce, colour, or in prismatic arrangement, connected or detached, 
 ° ee &o =) 
 % % offer a novel feature in this branch of ornament; these figures 
 a % are presented merely as diagrams of order, and not for the 
 ees purpose of anticipating the taste of the draughtsman in the 
 
 Phen, ee, 
 
 adaptation of them. 
 
 I shall here close my remarks upon the simple treatment of the spot, but a further con- 
 sideration of this constituent will usefully occur in connection with the line and plane. This 
 appears, however, the most consistent place in which to introduce the annexed details of the 
 plumage of the Argus Pheasant, wherein the unerring hand of nature has tastefully disposed 
 most elegant varieties of spot, line, and plane, forming an epitome of elementary objects, 
 beautiful in themselves, and of such determinate character in their development, that I cannot 
 render a greater service to the student than by calling his attention to this splendid example of 
 the principles of his art, the rudiments being more easily understood from the absence of 
 local colouring. 
 
 Fig. 33 is the representation of part of the middle pinion feather of the wing; the quill, of 
 a brilliant white, is flat, and exhibits great delicacy of shape; the outline of the elliptic plane is 
 
 of a mat white, shaded with deep brown, and the rich flicker of the waving lines are in fine 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 51 
 
 contrast to the clear white of the quill, and the variegated spots that enrich the margin. Those 
 upon the side are of a mottled brown, upon a fawn-coloured field; the spots which terminate 
 the return are white upon a tone of light grey. 
 
 Fig. 33. 
 
 Fi 
 
 o. 
 which are most elaborately finished ; the spots on the margin are elegantly arranged in diverging 
 
 34,—Part of the upper pinion feather, peculiar from the great elegance of the planes, 
 lines of great beauty. 
 
 Fig. 35 is a view of part of the shoulder pinion feather, of which there are nine; they have 
 no planes, but are profusely decorated with spots of great variety in shape, disposition, and tint ; 
 the quills are black, having a greyish-white stripe on the nether side. A broad fawn-coloured 
 streak, relieved with white spots, variegates the grey margin, which is also symmetrically adorned 
 
 with lines of spots. 
 
 Fig. 34. Fig. 35. 
 
52 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 Fig. 36 represents the lower part of the end feather of the tail pinion of the wing; it is 
 powerfully coloured in rich tones of reddish brown; the planes are broken up into scumbled 
 masses of black and grey; the lines lose their continuous form, and are blended with the spots 
 of the margin; the terminate of the plume is delicately reticulated in grey, and the meshes are 
 relieved with spots of bluish grey. 
 
 Fig. 37 shews a feather of the shoulder plumage; it is simple in colour and in the dis- 
 
 position of the spots, which, profuse in quantity and similar in form, give, by their mass, an 
 
 agreeable repose to the rich variety maintained in other parts of this magnificent bird. 
 
 Hitherto the line has been spoken of in the singular number, but it is evident that a line 
 becomes ornamentally expressive in relative positions only; I have now, therefore, to treat of 
 Lines, as when two or more are employed for these purposes. 
 
 STRAIGHT LINES as modes of decoration, though of rare occurrence in nature, are a 
 principal resource in ornamental art, as giving the character of strength and firmness. Lines 
 become ornamental, per se, only by approximation, when, by a peculiar deception upon the sight, 
 they produce flicker, or rapid intermi: 
 
 ions of light and dark: delighting the eye in the same 
 manner that the ear receives pleasure by the quick transition of notes, as they occur in the perfect 
 
 trill or shake in music, and may be further likened to sensations of joy when tremulous motions 
 agitate the nerves. 
 
 If the reader refers to Figures 13 and 14, previously given, he will perceive that 13, which 
 is composed of straight lines perpendicular to the eye, presents a grey tint, and that 14, which 
 is in a horizontal position, describes black ; these examples: of the contrary effects of light upon 
 approximated lines will be strengthened by holding up the page and reversing their position, 
 when he will observe their characters changing with the movement; flicker playing upon the 
 reversed lines, and grey evolving from those which are now horizontal. 
 
| 
 } 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 53 
 
 The key ornament (Fig. 39) is of this deseription of approximated lines ; it is found in nearly 
 all the known styles of ancient and modern times; the following examples show that flicker 
 exists in the horizontal parallels, and in the rising lines which form the angles. Many other 
 instances might be adduced. comprised of continuous angular lines, calculated to elicit a sparkling 
 
 effect, and arrest attention. 
 
 Fig. 39. 
 
 The Greek fictile vases furnish great variety of ornamental borders composed upon this 
 principle, in curvilinear arrangements (Figs. 38, 40, 42, 43, 44), which entirely coincide in effect 
 with those of a square form; their peculiar* ornamental character being due to the presence 
 of flicker, and their grace to the elliptic line. 
 
 Flicker exists in many of the operations of nature, where light is intercepted by the motion 
 of intervening objects; the umbrageous canopy of the forest is a well-known illustration, so 
 closely analogous to the characteristic sharpness of Gothic lights and shadows, that some 
 theorists have derived the style itself Fig. 41. 
 Bright lights and 
 
 sudden shadows, quickly recurring, are 
 
 that the abuse of this principle produces 
 
 from this source. glare, the eye is then dazzled and offended 
 
 in lieu of being pleased: the rays should, 
 
 then the cause of flicker, and these are therefore, not exceed three or four, in- 
 
 * 
 8 playak 
 produced, sui generis, by the contact of bai ED a 
 
 lig BF Say d cluded in five lines. This explains why 
 lines (Fig. 41). 
 
 It should be observed *=S leas 
 
 zontal line, for the shade predominates and a heavy aspect is produced; but if the pattern be 
 
 patterns rarely please upon the hori- 
 
 rising, the eye receives grey from the line in the point of sight, and the retiring lines produce 
 variations of flicker upon the principles of perspective. 
 
 Fig. 43. 
 
 * R.R. Reinagle, R. A., in his evidence before the Committee 
 of the House of Commons, Arts. and Manufactures, Session 1836, 
 calls the attention of the Committee ‘to the ornaments upon: Sir 
 Wiiliam Hamilton’s vases in the British Museum, from which the 
 designs exhibited were taken, and, referring to one of them, observes, 
 
 “ The ornaments, right and left of the figure, describe no absolute 
 
 object, but are merely components of the radiating principle of 
 
 curved lines, or parts of the honeysuckle, as shewn in my first 
 
 diagram of the oval. I cannot forbear observing, that it is very 
 
 extraordinary it should be satisfactory to the eye, though it de- 
 12 
 
54 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 Additional variety is produced by the rising line being carried diagonally, the grey recurring 
 at every change of position. The flutes in necks of vases, and in shafts of columns, owe their 
 beauty to this simple law, and pleasing emotions, either of character or expression, are excited 
 
 by the closer or broader arrangement of the same disposition of lines. 
 
 ANGULAR LINES excite agreeable emotions when slightly divergent, producing 
 delicacy, and, consequently, a degree of elegance. Figures 15 and 16 present the germs of 
 this species of growth in lines ; the results of such combinations are briskness or sprightliness, 
 the lights being sharp and vivid, the shadows thin and flickering. In the human countenance 
 the angular pencilings of the brow and lash give a tempered force to the intelligence of the 
 eye, in itself an exquisite example of the power of radiating lines; the twinkling of the star, 
 enlivening night by its brightness and sparkle, well exemplifies the use of these lines, and affords 
 indications of the manner in which they should be employed to relieve the monotony that fre- 
 quently appears in curving lines; their efficacy consists in an aptitude for light, the retiring 
 nature of their shadows, and an increased energy of expression.* Nature has largely instituted 
 this disposition of lines ; they occur in the fins of fish, the beaks, talons, and angular terminations 
 of the wings of birds; in the claws and tusks of animals; and especially in foliage, whether of 
 
 herb, shrub, or tree, as well in acuteness of motion, as in the several forms themselves. 
 
 That which white is in the scale of colour, such is ight when playing upon acute angles, in 
 the compositions of lines described, and a similar effect should be sought in the application of 
 them, whether as the basis or as accessories in linear composition. Angular lines are peculiar 
 to cold, and, in many instances, repellant forms ; this character, on the large scale, is manifested 
 in the rigid stalactites of the cavern, the frozen horrors of the glacier, and the rugged aspects 
 of barren rocks ; less stern, yet gloomy, are the angular masses of Alpine scenery, and it would 
 be easy to trace these forms onward until they become not only agreeable but elegant: as in 
 Italian scenery, where the aspiring poplar affords a pleasing contrast to the luxurious festoons of 
 the vine. In art we find the grace of these acute angles embellishing gothic edifices, of which 
 
 the clustered spires of the Duomo di Milano is at once an ample and sufficient specimen. 
 
 scribes nothing ; that it thus proves to be one of the charms and masters. It is only under such favourable circumstances that the 
 enchantments of curved line, which, although nothing is absolutely _ artist can enter the lists with nature. In arranging objects scien- 
 
 described by them, and perhaps nothing intended, yet there is a 
 satisfaction arising from the combination, and so pleasing, that one 
 would rather have them where they are than not. Their presence 
 here constitutes the border and the outline.” 
 
 With every possible deference to Mr. Reinagle, I would account 
 for the generally pleasing effect of Greek ornament, as it occurs in 
 the positions he describes, and, indeed, in many others, by attri- 
 buting it to flicker, demonstrated, I presume, by Figs. 39, 41, 42, 
 43, 44, of this work, in which the expression of beauty sparkles 
 in the arrangement of square lines, equally with those where the 
 ellipse predominates. 
 
 * Many accidental combinations and beautiful effects of nature 
 arise, not merely from their possessing a good general form and a 
 pictorial arrangement of light and shade, but also from the most 
 projecting points, being often assisted by a combination of a harsh 
 cutting line, strong, dark and light, or opposition of local colour, 
 and hence they strike the artist as being applicable to painting ; 
 these being the means he finds frequently adopted by the best 
 
 tifically, to give them at the same time the appearance of natural 
 accident, is one of the perfections of art. 
 
 ‘As the best practical hints are derived from accidental com- 
 binations in nature, whose sudden changes prevent the possibility 
 of sketching, the mind ought to be trained to the most regular and 
 even mechanical mode of arranging the ideas; that in an instant 
 we may be able to determine whether the effects which we perceive 
 depend upon a particular form, upon particular arrangement of 
 light and shade, or upon the manner in which hot and cold colours 
 are brought in contact. By thus tracing effects to their proper 
 causes, we secure the principal points as a sort of short-hand notes 
 to guide and assist the memory. 
 
 This practice will also open a communication between the eye 
 and the operations of the mind, which neither a hasty sketch nor 
 the most learned dissertation can, separately, produce. At first it 
 may seem more difficult than it really is ; but a few trials will con- 
 vince the student of its practicability, especially as the effects that 
 strike him to be the most pictorial are, generally, the most simple. 
 John Burnet, Practical Hints on Composition. 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 55 
 
 Acute Angles, in close approximation and equably disposed, 
 are effective in tissues, or in forming ornamental ground-work ; 
 because, although very simple, their crisp indentations aided by 
 rapid recurrence, denote number, and consequently produce 
 emotions allied to wonder. Fig. 45, the spiniferous Sea-ege, is 
 from a drawing of one of the orbicular division of Echini, all of 
 
 which are radiated. Patterns upon this principle may be constructed 
 
 \ either in plain parallels, or terminating obtusely, as in this figure 
 
 (Fig. 46) ; or may be varied by lines athwart, or interlaced, either 
 \in a straight or winding disposition; additional and sparkling 
 \ effect is elicited by the addition of spots, whether of simple or 
 fanciful character, and, in these several varieties, prismatic or 
 
 chromatic colouring may be introduced with great propriety. 
 I E Jui The horizontal texture of the example here given, is of too 
 
 Fig. 46. 4 Fi e 3 F a 
 aii obvious application, to a manufacturing eye, to need elucidation. 
 
 The annexed delineations of Flies are selections from the magnificent collection of 
 Insects, under the care of Mr. Samouelle, in the British Museum, and afford elegant examples 
 of the manner in which acute and obtuse angular lines occur in this interesting department of 
 natural history. 
 
 CURVED LINES express motion, or capacity for motion,* and the principles observable 
 in Natural Composition evince, also, that beauty is the most convenient mode of accommodating 
 
 the shape of objects to destined purposes, both with reference to their own wants, and to 
 
 Fig. 45, Echinus Lucunter (Gray), Indian Seas. * Motion is, in many cases, productive of the emotions of 
 y, Y IP 
 Fig. 47, PapilioAchates (Fabricius), a native of India. sublimity and beauty. With this quality, accordingly, we have 
 
 many interesting and affecting associations. These associations 
 arise either from the nature of motion itself, or from the nature of 
 Fig. 49, Papilio Polycaon (Fabricius), a native of South America. the bodies moved. 
 
 Fig. 48, Cethosia Biblina (Godart), a native of India. 
 
 Q 
 
56 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 peculiarities of the element in which they are to subsist: thus the build of fishes offers slight 
 resistance to a medium comparatively dense ; while that of birds is contrived to sustain them in 
 the lighter fluid which they traverse with equal facility: here the characteristics seem to refer 
 to their respective elements, while in animals, individuality is more immediately connected with 
 inherent qualities of the species. The same observations apply to the minor classes of animated 
 life, from the active flutter of ephemera, to the creep or trail of insects, and which in every 
 gradation manifest the use and convey accurate notions of a right application of flowing lines.* 
 Again—the habits of plants, in addition to indicating soil and climate by a preponderance either 
 of angular or curved lines in their growth, are marked as strongly as the lines of passion upon 
 the countenance. Angles and curves as clearly define peculiarities of movement in the trunk, 
 limb, and leaf of the tree, though rooted to its locality, as in graniverous or carniverous animals, 
 the flight of birds, or the motions of finny tribes, and are distinct illustrations of the power of 
 
 varied lines, and of the effect of a curvilinear, or ovalinear, arrangement of them. 
 
 The progressive value of gliding, flowing, waving, and undulating lines, may be familiarly 
 likened to the motions of the element, whence these terms are probably derived; the gliding or 
 flowing of inland streams, the quivering vibrations of a calm at sea, the wave curling to the 
 breeze, or the mighty undulations of waters impelled by storm, are apt emblems of the delicate, 
 the elegant, the expressive, and the energetic; whether pictured or expressed by lines upon a 
 surface; whether conveyed in the action of animated life, or in the language of a flower. It 
 must be observed that all these modifications of the curve, as unerring symbols of easy motion, 
 induce grace in the form to which they are applied, and that the two first, delicacy and elegance, 
 are of ovalinear principle ;-{- expression and energy assume greater rigidity of line, or, in other 
 words, pure curves, but whether more or less of movement be present, ease and grace are the 
 
 concomitants of such lines. 
 
 Light and shade playing upon convergent and concayous surface, indicate aptness for 
 motion and the vivacity of life ; curved lines, therefore, affect the imagination—straight or 
 angular lines influence the judgment; the first are, in their nature, confluent—the last, con- 
 
 flicting ; harmony in ¢hese consists in adjustment, in those it is produced by adaptation. 
 
 Motion in curves is expressive of ease, of freedom, of playful- The wreathed rod of Bacchus fair, 
 ness, and is consequently beautiful. The ringlets of Apollo’s hair, 
 Rapid motion in curved lines is expressive of great power, The wand by Maia’s offspring borne, 
 united with ease, freedom, or playfulness. Slow motion in curves The smooth volutes of Ammon’s horn, 
 is expressive of gentle power united with the same attributes, it is The structure of the cyprian dame, 
 accordingly peculiarly beautiful. The soft gliding of a stream, And each fair female’s beauteous frame, 
 the light traces of a summer breeze upon a field of corn, are Shew, to the pupils of design, 
 beautiful in a straight line; they are much more beautiful when The triumphs of the waving line.—Shenstone. 
 they describe serpentine or winding lines; but they are scarcely 
 beautiful when their direction is in sharp angles, and sudden devi- + The oval, on account of its variety with simplicity, is as much 
 ations-—Alison, Sublimity and Beauty of the Material World, Vol. 2, to be preferred to the circle, as the triangle to the square, or the 
 pp. 207, 212. pyramid to the cube ; and this figure lessened at one end, like the 
 egg, thereby being more varied, is singled out by the author of all 
 * «Such is the waving line,” they cry, variety to bound the features of a beautiful face. When the oval 
 For ever dear to fancy’s eye! has a little more of the cone added to it than the egg has, it be- 
 Yon stream that wanders down the dale, comes more distinctly a compound of these two most simple varied 
 The spiral wood, the winding vale, figures. Thus we see simplicity gives beauty even to variety, as it 
 The path, which wrought with hidden skill, is more easily understood, and should be ever studied in the works 
 
 Slow twining scales yon distant hill of art, as it serves to prevent perplexity in forms of elegance.— 
 With fir invested all combine Hogarth, Analysis of Beauty, p. 23. 
 To recommend the waving line. 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 57 
 
 CURVILINEAR COMPOSITION is, then, the exemplification of some motion or 
 action, impelled or impulsed,* that gives animation to the elements, to the creatures which 
 inhabit them, and which regulates the planetary system with an exactitude producing a recurrence 
 of the seasons, and of renewed vitality in the face of creation ; and such motion or action is either 
 implied by arrangements of the spot, modifications of the line, or by figures of the plane; or is 
 inferred by combinations of them. These considerations bring us to another step in our pro- 
 gress ; unity of action in the constituents of ornamental form is an essential principle, scrupulously 
 adhered to in the works of nature, whose exquisite variety does not proceed from an admixture 
 of incongruous qualities, whether her creations be of original structure, or imitations of her own 
 handiwork. Very remarkable illustrations of this kind occur in some of the Grilli tribe, whose 
 attenuated frames bear a perfect resemblance to certain species of leayes, of which specimens 
 
 are given in the following figures. 
 
 Fig. 
 
 This simplicity of nature is uniformly present in the most successful efforts of art, and it is 
 for the same reason that the acknowledged master-pieces of sculpture, whether ancient or 
 
 modern, hold so high a rank; because, uniting the great with the seful, grandeur of con- 
 
 ception is elicited by delicacy of detail. Motives of Design should, therefore, govern the 
 
 * All motion is produced either by visible or invisible power : 
 by some cause we perceive, or by some which is not the object 
 of sense 
 
 With all motions of the latter kind, we connect the idea of 
 voluntary power ; and such motions are in fact expressive to us of 
 the exertion of power. Whether this association is the consequence 
 of experience, or whether it is the effect of an original principle, it 
 is not at present material to enquire. The instance of children, 
 and even of animals, who uniformly infer life where they perceive 
 motion, without any material cause, are sufficient evidences of the 
 fact,—Alison, Sublimity and Beauty of the Material World, Vol. 2, 
 
 margin the insect bears the appearance of decayed leaves wrapped 
 about a small piece of cane. 
 
 + MOTIVE, (Motif, French), that which determines the choice, 
 that which incites the action —Johnson. 
 
 The forms which have been selected by sculptors for embellish- 
 ment or ornament, by painters for the effect of landscape, by poets 
 
 iption or allusion, are all such as have some determinate 
 sociation: their beauty is generally expressed by 
 epithets significant of this character ; and if we are asked the reason 
 of our admiration, we immediately assign this expression as a reason 
 
 p. 207. 
 
 Fig. 50, Steirodon Citrifolius (Serville), a native of Surinam. 
 An exquisite representation of the living leaf of the Citron tree. 
 
 Fig. 51, Phyllium Siccifolium (Serville), with its eggs, in which 
 analogy to the vegetable kingdom is 
 blance to the seeds of plants. Ceylon and India. 
 
 Fig. 52, Podecanthus Typhon (Gray), New Holland. 
 
 The wings in an expanded state resemble a spider’s web attached 
 to leaves ; when these are rolled up within the cases on their upper 
 
 rried on by their close resem- 
 
 satisfactory to ourselves for the beauty we discover in them. As 
 soon as we feel this expression in any vegetable form, we perceive or 
 demand a relation among the different parts to this peculiar charac- 
 ter. If this relation is maintained, we feel immediately that the 
 composition of the form is good, We shew it is a beautiful 
 operation of nature, and we speak of it as a form, in which the 
 utmost harmony and felicity of composition is displayed. If, on 
 the contrary, the different parts do not seem adjusted to the 
 general character, if, instead of an agreement among these parts in 
 
 the maintaining or promoting this expression, there appears only a 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 constituents of an ornamental composition in the same manner that the key-note in music 
 prescribes the modulations of sound; for purity of style can only be evinced by a maintenance 
 of scale in the proportions, harmonious dispositions of the object, an equal adjustment of parts, 
 and exact adherence to peculiar or general attributes of character. Hence it will appear that 
 the several grades of curved or elliptic lines, in any given composition of an ornamental kind, 
 should partake of a governing contour; because, as these lines invariably express some charac- 
 teristic movement or action, the peculiarity of such action must, necessarily, pervade all its 
 parts; my ideas on this point are capable of demonstration by reference to the motions of water, 
 whether contained within the compass of a domestic bowl, or exhibited by convulsions of the 
 ocean: the well-known experiment of a stone cast into a pool shews that a central action disposes 
 
 € 
 
 ircular waves, responding in form and undulation to the size and impetus of the fossil; and a 
 
 ship’s way-mark accurately dis- Nig. 53. course (Fig. 53). In like man- 
 
 plays both the corresponding ner, by the rules of pictorial art 
 JER u s Ni I > 
 
 weight and action of the vessel ; the painter is required to con- 
 
 or, selecting from the pheno- form the incidents of his sub- 
 
 mena of another element, so is ject to the sentiment or passion 
 
 the motion of a comet and its he intends to celebrate; now 
 
 velocity ascertained by the form what a well-selected incident 
 
 of the light that accompanies its is to the painter, such is a con- 
 sistent arrangement of lines to the ornamental d raughtsman, and by such alone can he maintain 
 the unity of his subject. Colour and chiaro-scuro, although important to both as essentials of 
 taste, are not allied to the judgment; they are what inflexions of language are to the poet, or 
 
 the crescendo and diminuendo to the perfection of musical harmony. 
 
 If I have been successful in what has been advanced, it will be already evident that Com- 
 
 positions of flowing lines may be varied to an unlimited extent, so numerous are the themes for 
 
 exposition arising out of their prerogative, and by which, be it remembered, one sense of vision 
 enjoys those milder excitements alone capable of causing bland emotions in the mind: the extent 
 and diversity of the subject will also account for a want of accurate classification, and for my 
 haying adopted general observations leading to the uses of these lines, particular applications 
 
 of them being best exemplified by remarks and transcripts suited to the progress of the treatise. 
 
 BALANCE OF ORNAMENT,* in classical dispositions, is a chief quality in graphical 
 composition; excellence can only be attained when a vigilant eye directs an obedient hand through- 
 out the process of execution; such productions are endowed with the same species of grace 
 
 dignity of deportment imparts to beauty of person. Attention to this distinctive rudiment must 
 
 mixture of similar and dissimilar parts, without any correspondence necessity have the greatest breadth of effect. If a balance or 
 
 or alliance, we reject it as a confused and insignificant form, with- 
 out meaning or beauty. If, in the same manner, the general form 
 has no expression, we pass it by without attention, and with a 
 conviction that where there is no character to which the relation 
 of the different parts may be referred, there can be no propriety in 
 the composition.—Alison, Sublimity and Beauty of the Material 
 World, Vol. 2, p. 13. 
 
 * Ifa diagonal line be drawn through the picture, and extreme 
 dark and extreme light be placed at opposite sides, we must of 
 
 union between the two sides be wished, there is no other way but 
 by borrowing a portion of the one, and exchanging it for a portion 
 of the opposite; and not only may this practice be made use of 
 for the harmony of the whole, but the light and the shade will be 
 thus rendered more intense by the force of opposition. Now 
 whether the dark which is carried to the light side be very small, 
 or very large, and vice-versa, we have the ground-work of some of 
 the most powerful and most natural effects in painting. —Burnet on 
 Light and Shade, p. 6. 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 59 
 not be confined to centrical arrangement: it is of equal importance in every diversity of form and 
 disposition to which decorative embellishment can be applied. It is the maintenance of this 
 principle by nature that renders, apparently incongruous arrangements of form, so entirely 
 satisfactory to the judgment, gratifying to fancy, and exciting to the imagination ; it is from its 
 observance that the mind comprehends the reasonableness of many apparent disproportions to 
 be seen through all the range of animal life, and of the vegetable kingdom, and that the order, 
 intention, and bountiful distribution of nature is universally acknowledged. I believe myself fully 
 borne out by the practice of eminent delineators of past ages, in the assertion, that no production 
 of the Creator’s hand exists that does not offer lessons of beauty, of character, or expression ; but 
 they must be accepted and applied upon the terms, and for the purposes of their original for- 
 mation, that is to say, with a steady regard of the manner in which nature herself has adapted 
 imitation in various departments of her reign; thus indicating to human fancy a sphere of 
 action, unlimited and full of instruction; and directing its aim. It is a clear perception of 
 the intentions of nature by the artists of classical celebrity,* that glows with such effulgence 
 in their works, and to which I refer as corroborative of the principles I have sought to draw 
 
 from the same source. 
 
 The most obvious consideration of ornamental balance relates to compositions of formal 
 arrangement; and where, as the component parts consist of a trunk and limbs, or of a body and 
 members, equalization becomes imperative; in this class the human frame is pre-eminent ; its 
 peculiar action, maintaining equipoise under all aspects and incidents, presents the happiest 
 modes of preserving accuracy in this important particular ; for, whatever may be the nature or 
 intent of motion in the limb exerted, whether extended or foreshortened, it finds an equipon- 
 derance in its counterpart, the muscles, however brought into action, giving either reciprocal 
 weight or counteracting power: but although the word “balance” implies a centre, it does 
 not necessarily infer the presence of a central object, for its influence governs the adjustment 
 of ornament of every class, suggests an ordonnance of the elements of every composition, and 
 
 prescribes their relative capacity and value; subordinate always to the motive upon which it 
 
 may be founded. Counterpoise of ornament comprises equivalence of forms and equidistance 
 
 of their masses; an equal distribution of lines, similar in conformation and tendency; with 
 
 lights and kindred shadows justly disposed to produce an intended effect, whether sparkling or 
 splendid, gay or grave—noting, that splendour degenerate not into glitter, sparkle into spot, 
 
 or breadth into monotony. 
 
 I have before had occasion to notice that motion is either impelled or impulsed ; and the 
 lines which express these are in accordance with the volition animating the first, or analogous 
 
 to the agent which agitates the latter. Clouds and vapour, so various in aspect and diversified 
 
 * In all those arts that respect the beauty of form, it ought to 
 be the unceasing study of the artist to disengage his mind from the 
 accidental associations of his age, as well as the common prejudices 
 of his art; to labour to distinguish his productions by that pure 
 and permanent expression, which may be felt in every age, and to 
 disdain to borrow a transitory fame by yielding to the temporary 
 caprices of his time, or by exhibiting only the display of his own 
 dexterity or skill. Or, if the accidental taste of mankind must be 
 gratified, it is still to be remembered, that it is only in those arts, 
 
 which are employed upon perishable subjects, that it can be gratified 
 with safety ; that in those greater productions of art, which are 
 the fame of the artist must altogether 
 
 destined to last for centuri 
 depend upon the permanence of the expression which he can com- 
 municate to his work; and that the only expression which is thus 
 ion of succeeding 
 
 permanent, and which can awaken the admir 
 age, is that which arises from the nature of form itself, and which 
 is founded upon the uniform constitution of man and of nature.— 
 Alison, Sublimity and Beauly of the Material World, Vol. 2, p. 199. 
 
 R 
 
60 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 by casualty in their tone and colour, present a wide source of available illustration of impelled 
 motion under manifold circumstances of force and action, and of easy application, because, more 
 usually, they may be considered as lines or planes, without reference to light or shade, which, 
 
 indeed, in the view I am taking, does not affect them. 
 
 FOLIAGE, in connection with the plant or tree which it adorns, affords, together with 
 pleasing instruction, abundant confirmation of these rudimental principles; for it is open to 
 observation, that in this department nature has conferred upon each individual a characteristic 
 motion in its leaves, and a movement of its branches, that mark the “habit of the plant” with a 
 certitude which no bias can divert. The oak maintains its stern rigidity in calm or storm, while 
 the more pliant limbs of other natives of the forest bend to the breeze with their own peculiarity 
 
 of action. 
 
 In the elements similar inherent properties of motion prevail ; among these, the upward 
 determinations of fire furnish many valuable suggestions to the decorative artist, the motions of 
 this active fluid exhibiting a large assemblage of figure and form, in rising and diverging lines, very 
 effective in the higher species of embellishment. I will here take occasion to corroborate what 
 has already been advanced upon the acute angle, by allusion to dambent flame, which, throughout 
 a lively sequence of elegant convolutions, illustrates the proper use of it, by presenting an appear- 
 ance similar to that of the wings of birds when soaring; and for the same reason, the exciting 
 
 cause, in either case, having ceased to urge the action. 
 
 The intention of what has been said is to prove that Curvilinear lines are expressive of 
 
 motion, whether existing in the objects themselves, in the agents that impel them, or in artificial 
 representations of either; and, consequently, that an efficient use of this species of line is within 
 the power of the artist, and lies in the judicious selection and adaptation of those best suited to 
 the features of his composition. A knowledge of the generic indications of motion is to this 
 end indispensable ; but there is a still nicer degree of acquirement arising from individuality of 
 movement in the different classes which invite our study, and involving a more delicate appli- 
 cation of the principle under consideration. To convey my notions of this part of the subject it 
 is necessary to recur for a moment to structure—animate and inanimate : I have before slightly 
 touched upon this term in connection with geology, and endeayoured to shew that the straight 
 horizontal line, as the basis of formation in this science, may, with propriety, be assumed as the 
 proper emblem of rest and stability, and, by parity of reasoning, the reverse of motion; the 
 practical value of such lines, in an ornamental sense, being referred solely to flicker, an effect 
 which for that reason, has been more diffusely treated. The reader will do well to bear these 
 remarks in mind in the further consideration of complex curves, because all the varieties of 
 individual motion originate in diverging lines, which are, therefore, not only emblematic of motion 
 generally, but the cause, the sole cause, of the several effects designated as beauty, grace, and 
 character. All the intelligence or, if I may be permitted the term, language of line resides in 
 a right application of the divergent principle: life and its energies derive their expression from 
 Curvilinear inflexions; and every excellence of form and movement finds utterance in the 
 manifold combinations of which flowing lines are susceptible, or by the connection of these with 
 
 the properties, powers, and tendencies of winding or serpentine lines. 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 61 
 
 Animal structure comprehends organization of the bones and muscular arrangement ; 
 independent of the skin or covering, of which the movement is influenced by peculiarities of the 
 frame beneath it. Of vegetable growth, both the construction and articulations are manifest ; 
 the component parts issue from a parent stem; their motion is impelled, and there is a passive 
 conformity of line to those which distinguish classes. Modes of structure discover themselves 
 both generally and particularly ; generally, by similarity of conformation in the objects them- 
 selves; particularly, by the tendency of their lines, a distinctive hue of colour, the disposal of 
 
 their texture, and by certain analogous qualities in their movements or motion. 
 
 The admirable symmetry of the human figure has been previously noticed ; it is equally 
 wonderful in excellence of structure ; exhibiting a union of delicacy and force accomplished by 
 the gently divergent lines of which the tasteful prolongations of the limbs are composed, and in 
 the elegant adaptation of these members for utility. Equally curious are the articulations of 
 the extremities, and particularly so in the hand, and tapering of the fingers, which are beau- 
 tifully expressive of the power of acute angles, and their aptitude to convey notions of lightness 
 and grace. The imbrications of the hips, knees, and ancles, present also indications of structure 
 and points of union exquisite in their arrangement, and of paramount importance among the 
 studies of the accomplished artist: its perfection as a whole is completed by a corresponding 
 texture and colour of parts, and the harmony conferred by light and shade. The hair and beard 
 of man, and the long flexible ringlets of woman, contribute in a great degree to the dignity of 
 intellect displayed upon the countenance of either sex—the breadth of shade relieves the eyes 
 and gives force to their gaze; while the deep energy of expression imparted by the nostrils, and 
 the ever changing vivacity of the mouth, serve to maintain the superiority of the head to its 
 
 subordinate members. It i 
 
 emarkable that these shadows vary but little in quality under all 
 
 aspects: however changed may be the expression of the features, it is the structure around them 
 that gives breadth to the milder movements of the feelings, or adds to the markings of the face 
 
 when distorted or convulsed by darker passions. 
 
 The ingenious Mr. Hogarth, among other researches into the origin of certain adaptations 
 of line, introduces, as new, the idea of a vase bearing near relation to the proportions of the 
 
 human form: but among the finer outlines of antique ornament are found similar derivations, 
 
 many of the ancient sepulchral vases and lachrymatories bearing evidence of the same intention, 
 
 in the resemblance of their tapered contours to the departed beings whose obsequies they 
 
 were designed to celebrate. A yet higher antiquity may be assigned to these symbolical ves 
 than appertains to the Greek and Roman specimens immediately under consideration ; it occurs 
 in others closely resembling the mummy cases of the Egyptians ; and among the pottery of the 
 Japanese and Chinese are a great variety of such elongated shapes, of both masculine and 
 feminine character : the same intention seems carried out in many of the Arabesque dispositions 
 of scroll work, which have their divisions assimilated to the admeasurement of the limbs, and 
 
 adjusted in like manner to the central growth. 
 
 sion, 
 
 The features of the human countenance, under every influence of feeling and of pa 
 have been in the same way uncouthly distorted under the semblance of leaves, of fishy appear- 
 
 ances, and other quaint devices—the vice, as it were, of style. When such caprices and conceits 
 
62 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 are suffered to assume merely a general similitude, they satisfy the eye of taste, and indulge the 
 
 fancy, by presenting a happy blending of the animation of life with the luxuriance of vegetable 
 
 growth. The spiri 
 
 in the contemporary arts: the poet would employ the dun of night in search, not for the sense 
 
 t of the age that courted the absurdities which have been noticed, ruled, also, 
 
 of a passage or expression, but for the single word that would best complete the wings of a dove, 
 
 or terminate the vagaries of an acrostic. 
 
 CONTRAST OF FORM, in connection with harmony of line, constitutes a union of 
 principles demanding much attention and discrimination: imperfect emotion arises from the 
 absence of the first—flatness and insipdity from a want of the latter: the most simple mode of 
 obtaining a combined and favourable influence, is by disposing objects in a natural manner ; 
 harmony will then, necessarily, reside in the linear arrangement, and contrast will be observed 
 in the interstices, or intervening spaces. Difference of texture, a very usual means in the 
 operations of nature to give value to her most elaborate performances, may be introduced to 
 assist this effect. If I were treating of colour, I might notice the powerful aid of that medium 
 as an auxiliary, but I wish the student to acquire, in the first instance, right notions of the 
 attributes of form in composition, without assistance from any adventitious quality—qualities 
 which cannot assist in material where colour is inadmissible. It should be carefully noted that 
 diversity of form does not infer inconsistent or repugnant qualities; the species may vary, but 
 must be of the same class,—as it is the province of wit to give richness to discourse by present- 
 ing the same idea under different aspects, so should the component parts of ornament be invested 
 
 with every graceful circumstance in unison with the subject. 
 
 ARBITRARY COMPOSITION, by which I mean a connection of objects different in their 
 kind, must be arranged upon the opposite principle, the very basis of which is strength of contrast ; 
 the figures being judiciously opposed to each other to induce either surprise by the novelty of 
 their application, or wonder at a strange but graceful assimilation of incongruous shapes. The 
 Chimeras of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, the Sphynx, the Griffin, and the winged Victory, with 
 similar applications of classical allusion in more modern invention, are of this order, and suffi- 
 
 ciently exhibit the train of thought that should govern such combinations. 
 
 UNIFORMITY OF DESIGN has, in all ages, been the most attractive mode of ornamental 
 disposition ; doubtless, because the mind receives with so much ease the impressions a conformity 
 of objects makes upon all her faculties ; it were futile to dwell upon this branch of my subject, 
 for all acknowledge the power of regularity in embellishment. Amid the splendid emblazon- 
 ments of nature, perhaps the most striking spectacle is produced by the action of wind upon 
 the cloudy fleeces of the sky; the delight of the beholder increasing with the apparent accuracy 
 of the display. The satisfaction arising from uniformity is a common privilege, unconfined to 
 any particular rank of society, and proceeds from that love of order, and symmetry which governs 
 
 every well organized mind.* 
 
 is considered by some to be incompatible and most trifling of her works, by the same laws that regulate her 
 ys, “ that work 
 
 * As this regularit 
 with the negligence of arrangement they suppose to be necessary _ in the formation of the most sublime. Abernethy s 
 to the picturesque, I shall here make a few observations on that is beheld with admiration and delight, as the result of deep counsel, 
 doctrine. I consider it to be false, and not tenable when referred which is complicated in its parts yet simple in its operations, where 
 to the operations of nature; for we find her conducting and ex- a variety of effects are seen to arise from one principle operating 
 hibiting the most beautiful appearances and effects, in the humblest uniformly.—Burnet on Composition in Painting, p.21. 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 63 
 
 ARIETY OF OBJECT, with change of position and appearance, is largely adopted in 
 
 the ar 
 
 angements of nature, and, consequently, necessary in artificial ordonnance ; these adjuncts 
 of composition, whether applied with simplicity, or pursued even to intricacy, at the will of the 
 artist, require skill and the restraint of judgment, lest disorder take place of an agreeable com- 
 plication. In observing the effect produced by variety in the works of nature,* it is, perhaps, a 
 safe rule not so much to indulge the imagination, as to inform the judgment ; that the impres- 
 sions received by the eye may pass into the memory in a useful and practical form. To this 
 end, the artist should habituate himself to note such appearances with some fixed view or aim ; 
 
 either to attain a knowledge of some new principle, or corroboration of opinions previously 
 received. 
 
 REPETITION OF FORM, and the opposite element, interchange of Object, in masses 
 formally disposed, occur frequently in the economy of nature, and have been successfully adopted 
 in decorative embellishment; the essential principle of this method, derived from mathematical 
 sources, is scale of proportion and accurate alternations of figure ; ranged either in lines or 
 plots, perpendicularly or horizontally: and of which, mineralogy and chrystalography supply 
 innumerable specimens. This species of design involves a further consideration of the spot, 
 which renders such efficient service when applied to plane surfaces; the varieties of texture to 
 be obtained by its use being of practical importance, I take occasion to enlarge upon this much 
 neglected constituent in ornamental composition; which, though overlooked by most authors 
 upon art, confers great value by the faithful exhibition of individual tissue, and by the rich 
 contrast produced by diversified surface. The natural effects of texture are breadth and repose, 
 which would be destroyed did all obj 
 
 present a bright and shining appearance ; their glare 
 would offend and injure the sight, and individuality would be less readily discerned ; but diversity 
 of aspect and of colours, warm and cold, serve at once to distinguish them, and, by tenson, tone, 
 and fit, to embellish particular beauty, while they enhance that of the aggregate assemblage. 
 Alternation seems to be the specific quality that imparts to combinations of texture their appro- 
 priate expression. A matted ground relieved by polished figures, or those which by a shaded 
 aspect serve to chasten the lustre of a glittering surface, is among the most simple arrange- 
 ments, and, when attention is called to this subject, too obvious, throughout all nature, to 
 need example. Oppositions of bright textures in immediate contact, are productive of resplen- 
 dent force and beauty—the golden ray of the sun by day, and the silvery beams of the moon at 
 night, glittering upon the bosom of the ocean, or on the ripple of the stream, recall to memory 
 the effects of this system : it is equally seen in the sparkle of the diamond on the golden circlet, 
 
 and is capable of being transferred to imitative fabrics of the loom, or to porcelain embellish- 
 
 * A beautiful combination in nature will often appear to evade in a constant competition with nature in producing the same effects, 
 every rule, by her being perfect in every mode of examination. All 
 rieties emanate from a str 
 
 a tenfold qualification in following her through those assem- 
 
 her 
 
 ht line and a curve. A judicious which to the world beside are, as it were, ‘‘a fountain sealed, 
 arrangement of objects possessing these various forms gives the and a book shut up.” Hence, in art, a beautiful arrangement must 
 strongest natural appearance to a picture. As I have made use of be a selection of those forms, lights, and colours, that produce a 
 the terms “ beautiful, and agreeable arrangements,” it is proper to similar result ; and the taste of an artist in heightening their effect 
 give an explanation of the sense in which they are applied. Bya by the absence of those circumstances which are found by experience 
 beautiful arrangement, I mean a proper adaptation of those prin- to produce the contrary. Did an investigation of the means pur- 
 ciples that arrest a common observer, and give a pleasurable sensa- sued by the great masters tend to abridge an artist’s pleasurable 
 tion, which, to a cultivated mind, increases, not diminishes by sensations, instead of being the most favoured, he would be rendered 
 investigating the cause which produces it. For example, a beautiful the most miserable of beings ; but the opposite is the case; as by 
 appearance in nature affects the savage and the philosopher from such means he is taught an alphabet that enables him to under- 
 their sensations merely as men; but a painter, whose life is spent stand the language of nature.—Ibid, p. 29. 
 
 s 
 
64 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 ments. More humble but effective harmonies of texture are presented in the blendings of 
 aerial shadows on vegetable forms—in the grouping of flowers—in darkening masses of foliage 
 
 —and in the coyerts of woody scenery. 
 
 The character of the texture investing ornament, should be in strict accordance with the 
 nature of the material it embellishes, and to this particularly applies the remarks previously 
 made on flicker, for such is the principle of the use of texture—a surface broken up by minute 
 
 scintillations, varying in hardness or abruptness, softness or delicacy, according to the effect 
 
 intended. 
 
 CONTINUOUS ORNAMENT, usually termed Scroll work, is composed of spiral lines : 
 the first thought in this species of design was probably derived from the ‘Cornu Ammonis,” and 
 one of its earliest applications is seen in the capital of the Ionic column; Conchology presents 
 innumerable specimens of unappropriated beauty, which may be advantageously adopted in spiral 
 composition. The figure of the Sea-wave, obviously derived from the succession of billows upon 
 the stony beach, and so generally found among the symbols of heathen element worship, is 
 proverbially elegant. This useful variety is easy of application, susceptible of every scale, and 
 possesses affinity to many styles; some of them having the angle introduced quaintly, but 
 effectively as a variety, though not commendably if taste is consulted, since the character of this 
 ornament is essentially Curvilinear. In the Tazza, Fig. 42, an elegant example of this border is 
 
 given. 
 
 Magnificent specimens of this mode of composition exist in architectural fragments of 
 Greek and Roman workmanship, either in friezes or pilasters, or in panels ; they are among 
 
 the most elaborate of ancient remains, and conspicuous for grace of design and high finish of the 
 
 performance. The great masters of the time of Lows Quatorze very eagerly appropriated these 
 sumptuous and spirited convolutions of foliage, which, to render yet more so, they emblazoned 
 with animals and birds—enlivening the grandeur of regular ornament with all the richness of 
 
 picturesque scene the works of Le Pautre and Dellabella abound in exquisite combinations of 
 
 this description, and which rival the classical remains of antiquity. Profusion of flicker and 
 
 spot are the principles carried out in the enriched manner of this decoration—effective, however, 
 
 in all its styles, whether in simple and unassuming meande upon a cotton dress, or laboriously 
 
 chased in sportive wreaths upon vessels of gold and silver. 
 
 The intimate connection of waving with serpentine lines, throughout the whole range of 
 ornamental composition, in Nature and Art, permits a notice of their use in combination 
 with each other; confined, however, to the single observation, that the first of these refers 
 more usually to plane surface, and that the latter disposition implies structure or form. The 
 familiar but happy illustrations of these lines, exhibited in the note,* fully develops the appli- 
 cation of their principles. It may be incidentally remarked, that the natural gradations of light 
 
 and shade produce the same ornamental results upon surface, which undulating outline imparts 
 
 * A more perfect idea of the effects of the precise waving line, whalebone of a good stay must be made to bend in this manner ; 
 and of those lines that deviate from it, may be conceived by the _ for the whole stay, when put close together behind, is truly a shell of 
 row of Stays in the engraving; where No. 57, is composed of well-varied contents, and its surface of course a fine form ; so that 
 precise waving lines, and is therefore the best shaped stay. Every if a line, or the lace, were to be drawn or brought from the top of 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 65 
 
 to form; colour, ever varying with the changing accidents of light, and alternately brightening 
 or retiring beneath its influence, and the geometrical diminution of objects by the result of per- 
 
 spective, equally assist in carrying on the agreeable sensations of never-ending diversity. 
 
 CHARACTER OF COMPOSITION must pervade all the elements introduced, however 
 constituted, or of whatever class may be the design ;—style, uniformity of movement, equality 
 of expression, balance of quantities, distribution of lights and shadows, and modes of exe- 
 cution having their separate claims upon the attention of the artist. Texture and colour have 
 already been noticed as of imperative consequence towards maintaining those favourable emo- 
 tions, which a discriminating eye raises in the mind, through perception of character. It should 
 be remembered that this important particular demands attention, not only with reference to 
 the composition and its constituents, but also to the intention which the object is to fulfil; 
 because the judgment uniformly reflects upon the application of the subject before it enters into 
 
 the minutiz of the performance; and the perspective faculty, common to all men, 
 
 more 
 particularly acute upon natural propriety of adaptation and natural resemblance. It would be 
 in vain to attempt an enumeration of the qualities which confer character or expression, 
 seeing they are various as the objects themselves, or the modes and purposes of their being; 
 it may suffice to observe, that Art may emulate Nature, but cannot compete with her productions; 
 though the pencil may transmit that generic sense of appearance to which this epithet or conventional 
 term is applied, and by which all the wonders of Art have been accomplished; and the hand 
 may carve or model with success, if pure and unerring uniformity of representation convey to 
 the observer the character of the natural object, and thereby excite emotions of corresponding 
 
 force ; every variety of ornamental character seems endowed by nature with the power to 
 
 produce emotion nearly allied to its or 
 
 in and intention; severity, simplicity, elegance, delicacy, 
 &c. have each its peculiar and appropriate expression, and induce ideas of grandeur, gravity, 
 splendour, richness, or magnificence. 
 
 the lacing of the stay behind, round the body, and brought down into stiffness and meanness on one hand, and clumsiness and 
 to the peak of the stomacher, it would form a perfect and precise deformity on the other. 
 serpentine line. The Figures 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60, are deviations 
 
 Fig.55. Fig. 56. ig. 57. Fig. 58. ig. 59. Fig. 61. 
 
 It may be worth our notice, however, that the stay, Fig. 56, of this horn is increased in Vig. 63, where it is supposed to be bent 
 would better fit a well-shaped man than Jig. 57; and that Fig. in two different ways. 
 57, would better fit a well-formed woman than Fig. 58; and when And lastly, attend to the vast increase of beauty, even to grace 
 on considering them merely as to their forms, and comparing them and elegance, in the same Fig. 62. 
 together, as you would two vases, it is shewn how much finer and horn, where it is sup- 
 more beautiful Fig. 57 is, than Fig. 58; does not this our deter- posed to have twisted 
 mination enhance the merit of these principles, as it proves, at the round, at the same time 
 
 Fig. 63. Fig. 64. 
 
 same time, how much the form of a woman’s body surpasses in that it was bent two dif- 
 
 beauty that of a man. ferent ways, as in Fi 
 Fig. 62, represents a straight horn, and as it varies like the —Hogarth, Analysis of 
 cone, it is a form of some beauty merely on that account. Beauty, pp. 49, 51. 
 
 Next observe in what manner, and in what degree, the beauty 
 
66 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 HARMONY in ornamental decoration is produced by a union of spot, line, and plane, in 
 appropriate arrangements, and admits of many modes of ordonnance; which may be again 
 resolved into all the known Styles, and still further into boundless fields yet unexplored, and 
 
 open to the search of industrious talent. The scope of this treatise is too confined to admit of 
 
 the reasoning and explanation desirable under this important head; I must, therefore, at once 
 refer the reader to the works of Greek and Etruscan art in the British Museum, from among 
 
 which Figs. 65, 66, are selected as elegant and perfect examples. 
 
 Fig. 65. Fig. 66. 
 
 CaO? 
 
 In these splendid compositions the spots occur in the shadows relieving the outline, and the 
 elliptic surface of the planes; they are given as presenting simple and obvious arrangements of 
 ovalinear, curvilinear, and angular lines, with an appropriate introduction of acute angles; and as 
 possessing grandeur of conception united with delicacy of execution. They are also remarkable 
 for comprising the noblest objects of creation in juxtaposition, each in proper attribute and 
 attitude; and a happy blending of unity of action with gracefulness of disposition. 
 
 CONSTRUCTION of the component parts should, in every species of design, be well 
 conceived, in order that the thought may be rendered with truth and intelligence, and it is from 
 deficiency in this mental qualification that the mere copyist exposes the source of his designs; by 
 servilely tracing the inventions of his predecessors, which more probably he scarcely comprehends, 
 he degrades their beauties and enlarges their faults, whereas, by recurring to nature, the subject 
 may be refreshed with those minor excellencies which are of much importance in enhancing its 
 value. There are, however, many instances where the ideas of others, and particularly those of the 
 ancients, may be transmitted with advantage to modern purposes, provided such adaptations or 
 modifications are distinguished by attention and judgment, and that the mind of the artist is embued 
 with the conceptions of his original. To accomplish this effect the whole form and structure of his 
 emblems should be present to the eye of memory, whether adopted as a whole or in part, so that 
 peculiarities may be duly rendered, and an air of life seem to pervade the composition: this 
 enables me to introduce another head of my subject, closely connected with the foregoing 
 
 considerations. 
 
 VARIETY OF ASPECT and change of position give great richness and yalue to the 
 
 most simple compositions; neither is there much danger of a misapplication of the principle, 
 
ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 67 
 
 under any circumstances of ordinary occurrence ; and if so, it can only be as an exception to the 
 rule; the extensive use of this delicate interchange of disposition and relative appearance, 
 enhanced by an intermingling of motions, of which the variety is endless, will be understood 
 and appreciated by referring to the graceful assemblage of masses that compose the foliage of 
 trees, in which each individual leaf differs, although in a scarcely perceptible degree; or to 
 flocks and herds “ on sunny sward, or shady hill;” and to flights of bird and fowl, though 
 myriads may be winging through the blue sky, for each has its respective aspect, and preserves 
 individuality of range and action. In applying this principle, the draughtsman would observe 
 to vary the leaves of a plant by exhibiting the front of one, the back of another, others fore- 
 shortened, or placed in profile; the various stages of its flower and fruit, the minor accidents 
 of its growth, with other incidents open to an acute observer ; avoiding those tending to vitiate 
 
 the familiar expression by which its class is recognized. 
 
 GEOMETRICAL FIGURES, and their sections, are so evidently the germs of structure, 
 and consequently of all composed objects, that it would be a safe guide in commencing an 
 original design, to select one of the planes or solids as the basis of the composition ; and thus, 
 from a fixed principle or theme, to operate the whole progress of the work; in this manner a 
 rule of composition suggests the several members of the design, and the character of the whole 
 is rendered conformable to the original idea. If vague and undecided notions are disagreeable, 
 whatever tends to give fixed and determinate intentions, must produce other and gratifying 
 results; we find this principle established by nature in the leaves of trees, which uniformly 
 resemble one of the plane figures—the calices of flowers, and the appearance of the plant itself 
 bearing relation to the same figure. In the organization of the human countenance this principle 
 is fully elucidated; Lavater, to whose work the reader is referred, has curiously and usefully 
 illustrated the varieties of expression by which this “index of the mind” is marked; confirming 
 also the effect of an adaptation of parts, in producing a governing contour. As a rule, the 
 outline of the face has a direct assimilation to the profile, all the relative features being in 
 
 accordance ; beauty, in either, depending upon the harmony maintained among them. 
 
 Fig. 67. 
 
 Among astronomical appearances, those of the planet Saturn 
 are full of interest and variety; involving always the geometrical 
 figures of the sphere and ellipse. Fg. 67 is one of its familiar 
 aspects. If this be associated with Mg. 68, a diagram of the 
 
 Fig. 68. spectrum or rainbow, which 
 
 is here given in its relative 
 
 proportions independent of 
 colour, or as an assemblage of lines only, we have a rule 
 for the first thought of many elegant compositions, which 
 may be applied to every class of ornamental design. I 
 need only instance the eye, in man and animal, the flower 
 
 \ of the rose, and the water lily, which an acute observer will 
 
 'veadily trace in this combination. 
 
 IMAGINATION may as 
 
 ing life and motion, and by substituting ease and freedom for rigidity—grace being superadded 
 . 
 
 in completing designs thus judiciously commenced, by infus- 
 
68 ORNAMENTAL COMPOSITION. 
 
 by such incidents as the nature of the subject permits ; but of all the mental faculties, none more 
 needs a restraining hand than this seductive, though delightful power: fancy must here be 
 reduced to her fitting station of a handmaid of judgment, that the useful may be embellished by 
 the graceful ; upon this union equally depend the reputation of the artist, and the estimation in 
 
 which his productions are held. 
 
 SCALE OF PROPORTIONS is of primary importance, in relation to the foregoing 
 heads; many instances occur in which harmony and character depend entirely upon selection in 
 this particular. The power of scale is beautifully exemplified in the pupil of the human eye, 
 which preserves the same dimensions it receives at birth, through infancy to puberty, and onward 
 to old age; marking most simply, yet accurately, all the vicissitudes of life; the casualties of 
 health and sickness, and the feelings and passions of the mind and heart: a similar key to 
 harmony is always desirable, to which other parts of an ornamental composition should conform, 
 though no rule can be laid down for its selection, unless the artist can trace one in the example 
 recited. Balance of ornament is governed by scale in the works of the ancients, in which even 
 the greatest variety of proportions, does not interfere with the relative breadth uniformly main- 
 tained. It appears to me, that they sought to obtain this scale by the disposition of lights and 
 shades, because the eye judges of scale by these only: in further illustration of these remarks, 
 I refer to two monuments in the Guildhall of London, those of the great Chatham, and his 
 illustrious son, in which the spotty shadows of the first, and the broad lights of the last, confer 
 the peculiarity of character for which they are remarkable. This notice, however, is not 
 intended to apply to their merit as works of art, being, on the contrary, of an elementary nature, 
 
 incidental to the subject before us. 
 
 Scale may be considered ¢echnically, and in that view is more or less controlled by manu- 
 facturing difficulties or facilities, but which are too vague for popular explanation; the fore- 
 going observations are therefore made in a general sense, that the manufacturer, in what- 
 ever branch, may apply them to the peculiar necessities of his own department. I am of opinion 
 that a larger interchange of ornamental object might be made among the several fabrics with 
 adyantage ; and that most of the styles and the essentials they furnish might, upon the 
 principles here laid down, be applied to purposes of MODERN USAGE; not by slavish and 
 inapt transcript, but by transferring the sentiment and embodying the idea in designs 
 
 suitable to the material in which they are to be wrought. 
 
} 
 { 
 
T reek not whose, he sald, they now are 
 
 HE term “ Sryze” denotes an especial and recognized identity, whether 
 
 aw individual or general; and it has the same import when applied to the 
 
 in the imitative arts, manifested at certain epochs in the history of various 
 prominent divisions of mankind: the present inquiry embraces, in some 
 degree, the whole range enumerated, as elements from which may be 
 deduced those distinct features, in delineated or sculptured ornament, 
 which constitute a “ Style” in the acceptation conferred and by authenticity, and thence available 
 
 for many desirable and useful purposes. 
 
 In touching the subject we at once encounter the difficulties by which it is perplexed ; the 
 
 s of Hindostan and Egypt present their gorgeous or massive remains, seeming to challenge 
 a scrutiny which shall successfully penetrate the gloom of an abyss of time, and assign to either 
 precedence in the invention and construction of monuments requiring not only proficiency in 
 the arts, but applications of mechanical science and congregated labour, which all the resources 
 
 of modern empires could scarcely emulate. 
 
 It would be a vain attempt to attribute the origin of Architecture and Sculpture, whether of 
 the rudest times, as the altar of stones, the isolated pillar, or the earthen mound,—the 
 gigantic efforts of the first ages succeeding the dispersion,—or the skilful proportions and 
 elaborate beauty of Grecian art, to other than impulses and feelings of religion or com- 
 memoration. The whole history of mankind, commencing with the records of truth, is 
 corroborative of the ascendancy these sentiments have ever held; and it is through successive 
 
 evidences of them that we are enabled to trace the affinity of races, now geographically sepa- 
 
70 TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 rated; the devastating effects of conquest; or the gradual tendency to decay that has followed 
 a zenith of greatness, Nations, though amalgamated with the conqueror, or of which merely 
 the name has been transmitted, have yet memorials of their prejudices, their virtues, and 
 
 their power, in the enduring works which time has failed to obliterate. 
 
 In comparing Hindoo and Egyptian sculpture, for the purpose of forming an opinion 
 upon the question of prior antiquity, we are assisted, first, by inspection of examples preserved 
 in public collections and private cabinets ; secondly, by graphical illustrations of the most 
 remarkable monuments existing in both countries; and, thirdly, by the literary comment of 
 eminent persons. Among the most distinguished of these is the first president* of the Asiatic 
 Society, established at Calcutta in 1784, to whom an influential position in the administration 
 of Anglo-Indian affairs, gave singular opportunities for the exercise of a profound know- 
 ledge of oriental languages ; and of the industry with which it was applied we have valuable 
 evidence in his translations from the Sanscrit, of the principal traditions upon which the mytholo- 
 
 gical systems of India are founded. These, together with his discourses on the eastern nations, 
 and it must be added 
 
 . 
 
 are given in the volumes entitled “ Researches of the Asiatic Society ;’ 
 
 that they acquire additional importance in the confirmation their accuracy has received from 
 
 every competent authority. 
 
 The order in which the material necessarily resorted to is stated in the preceding para- 
 graph, must however be reversed, the better to establish the deductions it is presumed to 
 afford ; and previous to grasping the more tangible data described, it will be advantageous to 
 notice coincidences amongst the earliest nations of motive and action, arising from the common 
 superstition with which they were tainted. Following, then, the example of those who, with 
 intentions of higher interest, have preceded us in the same path, we assume, as a basis, that 
 the Scriptures afford an indubitable account of the deluge and of the families proceeding 
 from Noah; and if at this intimation the lip of scepticism should curl in derision, we say, 
 earnestly and kindly, search, as we have done, the legends of the heathen, and derive from 
 
 fragable proofs of the inspired truths contained in the sacred volume ; and of a literal 
 
 them ii 
 and continuous fulfilment of the declaration—* The imaginations of man’s heart are wicked ; 
 
 he has sought out many inventions; but I will be honoured among the generations of 
 
 men.” 
 
 The same chapter, (Genesis 10,) wherein the generations of Noah are enumerated, records 
 the ascendancy already acquired by one of the three great branches ; Nimrod, the son of Cush, 
 established a kingdom in the country of Shinar, and to this centre was attracted a reassembling 
 of the tribes of Ham,+ as to a place. promising protection and consolidation ; and to avert the 
 
 anticipations and fear of a “ scattering” that prevailed amongst them. The building of Babel 
 
 * The late Sir William Jones they had taken or held forcible possession of a portion of the in- 
 heritance of Shem, and it appears that the dispersion from Shinar 
 ion led by Nimrod, the 
 
 + This record appears in the eleventh chapter of Genesis; but related particularly to the formidable 
 in the previous chapter a distribution of the families of Noah over son of Cush, This difficulty in reconci 
 the earth was already dictated and had taken place. To that de- 10 and 11 of Genesis would occur to most persons ; we find it re- 
 cree we must conclude the descendants of Ham, or, at least, the moved by the learned and conclusive arguments which the reader 
 elder branch from Cush, did not submit; rebellious and warlike, — will meet with in Vol. 3 of Bryant’s Analysis of Ancient Mythology. 
 
 ing the text of chapters 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 71 
 then commences, followed by the fiat by which the dispersion of this particular people was 
 accomplished. But the confusion of language, preceding that great event, could not have been 
 general; each tribe must have retained or acquired an idiom, sufficing for all the purposes of 
 co-operation and for fulfilling the predictions; and be it remembered also, that the duration 
 of life was such as to admit of the growth of a large community, while its original progenitor 
 was still in the exercise of his duties and functions, as its patriarch or head; and it is con- 
 sistent with probability that the names of the sons of Noah were retained by their represen- 
 tatives, even after themselves had ceased to exist; and by those names their descendants, as a 
 body, continued for a long period to be distinguished. Primitive appellations, so retained and 
 applied by the Cushites, manifest themselves to this day, and afford evidence of invasions both 
 upon the patrimonies of Shem and Japhet, and the possessions of the less turbulent branches of 
 their own family, effected when this people, celebrated alike for cultivation of the arts and the 
 use of arms, diverged from Shinar. A colony from this stock seems to have passed eastward 
 to India;* for we find the name of Cush in the Sanscrit genealogies,} and again recognize 
 the line in the Cuishka dynasties of a subsequent period. Egypt, too, where the sons of 
 Misraim had previously established themselves, succumbed to the superior courage and con- 
 certed action, displayed in the polity of those of Cush; in this instance we have heathen 
 testimony of the occupation of that country in the manner described. Misrasthan is the 
 Sanscrit name of Egypt, and Misra still the domestic term for Cairo among its inhabitants, while 
 Egypt at large is by the Brahmins of India called Cusha Dwippa—the country or continent 
 of Cush. 
 undertakings which are among the subjects here to be treated of, and which were carried on to 
 The 
 
 same people, who in their councils projected the building of Baéel, saying, “Go to, let us build a 
 
 Were the proofs of these occupations even less conclusive, we possess it in the vast 
 completion with all that science, assisted by the arts of design and sculpture, could effect. 
 
 city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make a name, lest we be scattered 
 
 abroad upon the face of the whole earth,” carried with them from the locality of their discom- 
 
 fiture ideas of the sublime and the enduring, afterwards successfully embodied in monument 
 
 which, still retaining position and character, mark at once the extreme verge of tangible 
 antiquity in architecture, and the point of derivation common to all subsequent “ Style.” 
 
 * Many learned men have contended that the Indians, and, more, 
 the Chinese, were a colony from Egypt ; while others have pro- 
 ceeded as warmly upon the opposite principle, and have insisted 
 that the Egyptians, or, at least, their learning and customs, are to 
 be derived from the INDI and SERES. But neither opinion is 
 quite true ; nor need we be brought to this alternative, for they 
 both proceeded from one central place ; and the same people who 
 imported their religion, rites, and science into Egypt, carried the 
 same to the Indus and the Ganges, and still further into China and 
 Japan. Not but that some colonies undoubtedly came from Egypt; 
 but the arts and sciences imported into India came from another 
 family, even the CUSHITES of CHALDEA, by whom the 
 Misraim themselves were instructed.—Bryant’s Analysis. 
 
 Since Egypt appears to have been the grand source of knowledge 
 for the western, and India for the eastern parts of the globe, it 
 may seem a material question whether the Egyptians communicated 
 their mythology and philosophy to the Hindus, or conversely; but 
 what the learned of Memphis wrote or said concerning India no 
 mortal knows ; and what the learned of Varanes have asserted, if 
 anything, concerning Egypt, can give us little satisfaction. The 
 true name of Egypt is MIS’R ; it seems in Hebrew to have been 
 the proper name of the first settlers in it—Asiatic Researches. 
 
 + The late Lieut-Col. Tod, in Vol. 1, of Annals and Antiquities of 
 Rajasthan gives tables of the genealogies of the Solar or Soorya 
 race of kings, and of the Indu or Lunar race, and at page 34 ob- 
 serves, ‘‘ A comparison of Sir William Jones’: 
 tables will yield nearly the same satisfactory 
 authenticity. I say Sir William Jones’s list, because there is no 
 other efficient one.” And at page 35 :—* This comparative analysi 
 
 enealogies with my 
 
 esult, as to original 
 
 of the chronologies of both these grand races cannot fail to be satis- 
 factory. Those which I furnish are from the sacred genealogies in 
 the library of a prince, who claims common origin with them, and 
 are less liable to interpolation.” At page 37:—“ Taking an average 
 of the whole, we may consider fifty-five princes to be the number 
 of descents from Boodhu to Crishna and Yoodishtra ; and admit- 
 ting an average of twenty years for each reign, a period of eleven 
 hundred years, which being added to a like period from thence to 
 Vicramaditya, who reigned fifty years before Christ, I venture 
 to place the establishment in India proper of these two grand races 
 of Soorya and Chandra, at about two thousand two hundred and 
 fifty-six years before the Christian era; at which period, though 
 somewhat later, the Egyptian, Chinese, and Assyrian monarchies 
 are generally stated to have been established.” 
 
 U 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 EAVING untouched a mass of evidence of like tendency, in which 
 
 the etymology of provinces, cities, and rivers is adduced, as indicating 
 a period of paramount and long continued rule of the Cuthic race, 
 we turn to mythological symbols and tradition, as affording stronger 
 ground for inferences. There can be no doubt that the first direlic- 
 tion was towards the Sabian* idolatry; the pastoral habits of the 
 
 Palli, or shepherds of the earliest times, gave leisure to mark the 
 
 revolutions of the principal luminaries, to note the constancy with 
 
 which they recurred, and to admire the visible glory of the material source of light, and its 
 genial influence upon the productions of the earth. Hence the origin of astronomy ; and of the 
 apostacy which long prevailed in the country that first received and adopted it. In Persia, pure 
 Mythraism,+{- or the worship of fire, as the emblem of the sun, remained for ages, and until the 
 Macedonian conquest, without innovation; characterized by a simplicity which was destroyed 
 by the engrafting upon it of more complicated systems. We speak thus of the Persi-Sabianism, 
 because all remains of a religious kind in that region are devoid of the ornature that would 
 indicate a complicated polytheism; even the most ancient symbols of commemoration, as the ark, 
 the dove, the iris, and the serpent, are generally wanting, though in architecture, masses and 
 the columnar vista were adhered to, as features constantly occurring to the conceptions of the 
 
 same race. 
 
 By the dispersion, a stream of population holding these tenets was impelled towards every 
 bearing and latitude, though we incline to the opinion that Hindostan particularly, and Egypt, 
 in a scarcely less degree, received the largest and most influential colonies; for we read 
 (Genesis, chap. 11) of these tribes, that “ they had journeyed from the east to the plain of 
 Shinar ;” they were therefore acquainted not only with the route, but with the climate and 
 capabilities of the soil, and in that direction the more influential leaders may be supposed to have 
 bent their way. The rapidity with which society, in those countries, passed through the proba- 
 tionary states of settlement and increase, and attained a maturity admitting of concentrated 
 efforts, together with the establishment of a polity which, in all things, aimed at perpetuity, 
 and to “make a name,” are proofs both of early numerical strength, and of well-directed energy 
 
 in the organization that could alone have produced the results which history recounts, and 
 
 after solemnly consecrating them, they paid their devotion with as 
 In this practice we trace the 
 
 * The popular worship of the Iraneans or Persians was purely 
 
 Sabian, a word of which 1 cannot offer any certain etymology, but 
 
 much fervour as to the real planet. 
 
 which has been deduced by grammarians from Saba, a host, and 
 particularly the host of heaven, or the celestial bodies, in the adora- 
 tion of which the Sabian ritual is believed to have consisted.—Sir 
 W. Jones's Discourse on the Persians, Asiatic Researches. 
 
 The contagion of Siderial worship, in consequence of the stars 
 being regarded as animated intelligences, or as inhabited by divini- 
 
 ties, spread rapidly and universally among all the nations of the 
 
 eastern world, except among the favoured people, to whom the 
 Almighty thought proper to reveal the glorious doctrines of true 
 religion ; for in the most ancient and sublime drama the human. 
 intellect ever produced, the devout Job makes protestation of his 
 innocence as to the crime of this prevailing idolatry (chap. 31, v. 
 
 26). The planets, in time, became distinguished by the names of 
 
 the most renowned personages in fabulous antiquity : but these orbs, 
 from their rising and setting, being frequently concealed from the 
 ie adorer, invention supplied their place by 
 
 view of the enthusi 
 forming representative images of those fancied deities, to whom, 
 
 first origin of the Sabian superstition, or worship of idols, in which 
 abomination the ancient pagan world was so deeply immersed ; and 
 from this period, Saturn, Jupiter, and other siderial divinities con- 
 tinued to be held in the most sacred veneration, through all the 
 periods of the As 
 figures, in deep caverns or woody recesses, the first temples of the 
 world, they performed their mysterious rites and kindled the sacred 
 fire, of which their glowing spheres seemed to be formed. In the 
 wild delirium of their zeal, and under the impulse of a sacred fury, 
 
 ian, Greek, and Roman empires. Before these 
 
 they shouted the poeans of praise and triumph, and mingled in the 
 circular dance which was intended to imitate the course of the 
 
 planets,—Maurice’s Indian Antiquities. 
 
 + Fire worship originated with the sons of Chus, and in the an- 
 cient province of Chusistan, afterwards Persia: there are to be seen 
 many monuments of antiquity which have reference to 
 
 to this day 
 that wo 
 
 ip.—Bryant’s Analysis. 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 73 
 architectural remains confirm. The central countries they had left were those, only, that grew up 
 to contemporary greatness, while the far west and north remained in a state of barbarism 
 until the empires of the first and second period had passed away; and the south still longer and 
 lower in the scale of depression; the many, and probably unmixed nations proceeding from 
 Ham, who occupied that portion of the globe, having in all time suffered under the sentence of 
 
 debasement and servitude pronounced upon them. 
 
 If these remarks are entitled to credit, it will appear that the two most ancient Styles are 
 derived from the same source, viz., the superior knowledge and acquirements which remained 
 unbroken among the larger bodies of the Cuthites ; but applied in different countries, inde- 
 pendently of concert, or immediate deduction the one from the other; the Sabian worship 
 which prevailed, becoming differently combined with the ancient symbols of which we have 
 
 already spoken, with astronomical figures, and other devices with which craft would find means 
 
 to embellish, and to render impressive, the impure and extravagant systems created in both 
 countries.* The earliest temples are generally considered to have been excavations ; such as 
 are found in Persia, in India, and in Egypt; in or about the former little of sculpture appears, 
 but the latter abound in statuary, and ornament of great variety. In the principal cavern 
 temples of India, Elephanta, Salsette, and Elora, and those of the Thebais in Upper Egypt, there 
 is great similarity of plan; but we at the same time distinguish a rudimental difference in the 
 Style of Ornament, which we take occasion to impress upon the reader, is the particular subject 
 we have undertaken to illustrate ; our notices of architecture must therefore be considered as 
 merely incidental, and they are limited as much as possible to remarks, where, from sculptured 
 ornament being attached to buildings, both subjects are involved in a manner too complicated 
 
 for separation. 
 
 An identity of outline in superincumbent buildings of this class, in both countries, continues 
 the parallel, and reduces them to one common principle of construction, arising from original 
 equality in knowledge, actuated by the same traditions and superstition. Of Egyptian learning 
 nothing remains save hieroglyphical inscriptions, either impenetrably obscure, or, if susceptible 
 From Herodotus,+ the 
 
 Greek historian, who had visited that country, we catch indeed some glimpses of Egypt in its 
 
 of being rendered, confined to a comparatively uninteresting incident. 
 
 * That a considerable portion of the hieroglyphical sculptures 
 and paintings in the temples of Hindostan have an astronomical 
 allusion, has never been doubted by those who have attentively con- 
 sidered them; though their latent meaning has never been completely 
 developed. The radiated crowns on the heads of the Avatars speak 
 their descent from the regions of light; the emblematic ornaments of 
 serpents that deck the statues of the God-rajahs on the walls of the 
 
 various cavern pagodas, the figures of sacred and sidereal animals, 
 
 sculptured near them ; the sarcedotal vases and bells which the 
 hands of some statues bear, and the Zanar and staff of Brahmins 
 which distinguish others prove, in these representatior 
 tion of the mysteries of science and religion.—Mauri 
 Antiquities. 
 
 + The learning and wisdom of the Egyptians have always been 
 greatly celebrated. The Grecians had high notions of their own an- 
 tiquity and learning ; yet, notwithstanding all their prejudices, they 
 ever allow the superiority of the Egyptians. Herodotus had visited 
 Egypt, and seen the temples and colleges of that country; in 
 
 consequence of this he had opportunities of gaining some intelli- 
 gence of the natives, whom he mentions with the highest marks of 
 honour, He says that they were the wisest of all nations ; and he 
 acknowledges that they were never beholden for any thing to the 
 Grecians ; but on the contrary that Greece had borrowed largely 
 
 from Egypt—no nation appears to have enjoyed a better established 
 polity. illed in astronomy and geometry, also 
 in chemistry and physic ; no wonder, then, that a people so excellent 
 should be beheld with a degree of veneration by the Grecians ; on 
 a proficiency in 
 philosophy betook themselves to Egypt, which was the academy of 
 
 They were deepl 
 
 this account all those who were zealous of mal 
 
 Greece. 
 Solon, Eudoxas, Plato, who studied there a good while. 
 
 Among the foremost of those were Pythagoras, Thales, 
 In the 
 days of the two last the country was more open to strangers ; and 
 from that time it was more generally and more eagerly visited; yet 
 the Egyptians were then lowered by having been so often subdued ; 
 their histories had been greatly damaged, and their knowledge much 
 impaired ; yet there was sufficient still left to make even a Grecian 
 admire.—Bryant’s Analysis. 
 
 iS 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 decay ; but the mysterious histories and erudition of which its hierarchy were the depositaries, 
 Whatever the Greeks 
 
 obtained or borrowed from the Egyptians was from what they saw and gleaned; no community 
 
 appear to have been held inviolate to the period of their extinction. 
 of feeling appears to have existed as between instructors and the instructed. The descriptions 
 of Herodotus are, however, very important; repeated confirmations of their accuracy having 
 occurred at recent periods, and many remarkable objects, and the locality they occupy, are 
 recognized as those of which he has spoken. The histories of this traveller were promulgated 
 in Greece four hundred and forty-five years before the Christian era, and even then Egypt was 
 considered as presenting evidences of antiquity so remote, as to be merely conjectural; it was 
 the conquest of that country by the Persians, under Cambyses, which gave access to the enter- 
 prising and talented Greeks, who availed themselves of it by observations and transcripts, 
 
 afterwards improved and embellished in their own peculiar manner; though with regard to the 
 
 subject of derivation it should be noticed, that the Persian inroad had destroyed every assailable, 
 
 and, consequently, delicate specimen of art; the enormous in architecture and sculpture, with 
 whatever could be concealed from search, was all that remained of an uninterrupted series of 
 original thought, 
 
 embodied in edifices and works, commencing with the earliest efforts of 
 
 genius and industry, 
 
 DREIGN invasion had also its effect upon Indian art; but not in a 
 
 considerable degree until many ages after Egypt had ceased to exert, 
 for herself, the proficiency she had acquired. The expedition of 
 Alexander the Great against Porus, though successful, was far less in- 
 fluential, or permanent, in its results; that restless potentate having 
 been compelled to abandon the design of extending his conquests 
 
 Eastward, by the refusal of the Macedonian veterans to advance in 
 
 || that direction, conciliated the native princes whom he had subjugated, 
 adding largely to the dominions of Porus; and having marked the boundary of his march by the 
 erection of twelve stupendous altars, upon which he sacrificed after the manner of the Greeks, 
 reconducted his army to the scene of former victories, by the hazardous plan of descending 
 the Indus to the sea. In India, therefore, the ornamental arts remained uninjured, and capable 
 of expressing the complicated mythology that prevailed, until checked and despoiled by the 
 Saracenic irruptions and conquests. The Mahomedan power once established in Hindostan, 
 maintained empire; and originating in fanaticism, and intent on proselytism, waged a war of 
 
 extermination against the emblems of a superstition it abhorred ;* but the vast continent over 
 
 * The museum of the Honorable East India Company offers to 
 notice a multitude of objects of extreme rarity ; relics of unnum- 
 hered centuries, and trophies of the mighty conquests of modern 
 date alternately meet the eye, and giv 
 
 e rise to reflections which 
 redouble the interest of the antiquary and historian. Our grati- 
 fication was, on several occasions, increased by the attentions of 
 the principal librarian to the Honorable Company, Charles Wilson, 
 Esq., Professor of Sanscrit in the Univ of Oxford, who has 
 added to these obligations by enabling us to place the following 
 
 note from his pen before our readers. 
 
 “Specimens of Hindoo sculpture, of the best execution, are not 
 numerous in England. § 
 
 gle figures of the di 
 
 nities are not rare, 
 but they are in general small and of metal; if of stone, they are 
 rude or much defaced. 
 
 “There are a few large stone images in the museum at the 
 India House, in tolerably good preservation, and of some merit as 
 works of art; but the most elaborate specimens, in the same 
 museum, consist of sculptures brought from a remarkable circular 
 mound, called Dipaldinna, in the town of Amravati, on the south 
 bank of the Vrishna river. ‘The base of the mound had been sur- 
 rounded by a circle of sculptured stones, of which the greater 
 number have been destroyed or taken away ; some of the most 
 entire were removed by Colonel Mackenzie, and at his death pur- 
 chased, with the rest of his collection, by the East India Company. 
 These sculptures consist of five pieces ; three of them represent an 
 exterior of Buddish monument called a Dahgope, or shrine, richly 
 covered with groups of figures, and with ornamental carving, one 
 of them is sculptured on both faces, the reverse in a very different 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 “I 
 or 
 
 which was diffused a religion composed of Castes, each valuing its own integrity and importance 
 in a very high degree, and estimating the others as parts of a stock, the entirety of which was 
 to be preserved at all risk and sacrifice, the impetuous career of Islamism was limited to partial 
 dominion ; and the institutions of Brahma and Boodha, still continued to flourish on the soil that 
 had adopted them. 
 
 We have compressed into a few short paragraphs some of the leading historical facts 
 relating to, and connected with, the ancient Styles of Hindostan and Egypt; a knowledge of 
 incidents that have had so large an influence, tends to increase the interest with which they are 
 regarded; and while we contemplate the similarity of conception that seems to have actuated 
 the human mind in shaping objects which, even in their most exaggerated form, are still selec- 
 tions from that nature by which he is surrounded, enables us to judge of the relative progress 
 of civilization ; and in reviewing modes and dispositions of ornament, as examples for ulterior 
 purposes, to reject that which, by allusion to absurd and, in some instances, offensive allegory, 
 is irreconcilable with modern taste ; confining our selections to beauty, united with the pro- 
 
 prieties that have always occurred to brighten even the most irrational superstitions. 
 
 The Sanserit books are both in size and number very considerable, and affect a continuous 
 record of mythological events, combined with the genealogies of princes and heroic personages 
 who had figured in Indian history; but mixed up with chronological errors that invalidate them 
 in the only point of view in which they would be important; this type of language can only 
 have existed subsequently to the invention of letters, and a concerted use of them by the 
 Brahmins, and that a succession of characters preceded the Sanscrit is proved by numerous 
 sculptured inscriptions* which they are unable to decipher, though probably of a date yet later 
 than the cavern temples. 
 
 Notices and fac-similes of many of the sculptured inscriptions we have alluded to, appear 
 in every work of magnitude relating to India; they are found upon rocks, and all the older 
 structures, and fragments; and, considering that this mode of dedication, or record, prevailed 
 to the exclusion of hieroglyphics+ of the Egyptian kind, we are first led to infer non-connection 
 
 style ; they are about three feet wide by four feet. The fourth 
 piece is covered with figures representing, apparently, a marriage 
 festival. The fifth is a circular slab, about three feet in diameter, 
 sculptured on both sides; one side representing a group of figures 
 engaged in worship, the other an ornamental disc; amidst some 
 exaggerated and grotesque delineation, there is considerable elegance 
 and spirit in both the figures and the grouping, and great taste in 
 the ornamental details of these several specimens. 
 
 « Besides the sculptures which he removed, Colonel Mackenzie 
 had drawings made of all the others at Dipaldinna, which are in 
 the library, together with a great number of other drawings, all 
 unpublished, of temples, statues, and sculptures of various kinds 
 y part of India. A selection from them w ould present a 
 highly curious and instructive view of Indian sculpture and archi- 
 
 from eve! 
 tecture. 
 
 * Jn Hindostan, wherever the races of Oooru, Ooru, and Yadu 
 ved, have been found yet undeciphered characters. We 
 ard the idea that the histories of Rama, Crishna, and the 
 five Pandua Brothers are mere allegory; an idea supported by 
 
 have swe 
 
 must 
 
 some, although their races, their cities, and their coins still exist. 
 Let us master the characters on the columns Indraprest’ha, Poorag, 
 and Méwar ; on the rocks of Joonagurh at Bijollie, on the Aravulli, 
 and in the Jain temples scattered over India, and then we shall be able 
 to arrive at just and satisfactory conclusions —Tod’s Rajahs’ than. 
 
 It is barely possible that these inscriptions are in the early or 
 original Sanscrit letter, and that its connection with the more modern 
 character may be hereafter discovered. 
 
 + At whatever period the Egyptian hieroglyphics were first 
 al meaning was scarcely known, even to the 
 priests themselves, at the era of the invasion ; and at the time when 
 the Macedonian invader erected Alexandria, probably out of the 
 ruins of Memphis, the knowledge of them was wholly obliterated 
 from their minds. The reader who may not have perused Kircher, 
 and other antiquarians on the subject, will be able to form some 
 idea of their general designation and intention from the following 
 account given by Plutarch, concerning those on the portal of the 
 temple of Minerva, at Sais. The first in order of the hieroglyphies 
 engraven on that portal was an infant, next to him was sculptured 
 
 invented, their o 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 N 
 
 of the styles of the two countries; the profusion in which these occur upon Egyptian remains, 
 to the exclusion of characters or other ornament, leaves no room for doubt that if the priesthood 
 had held communication, the same sacerdotal impress would have obtained in Hindostan. 
 
 That both the one and the other are memorials of the first ages is certain, and we have reason 
 
 to believe were wrought prior to the inscription of the decalogue upon the tables of Sinai. 
 
 It is to be regretted that our Museums, so choice in Egyptian specimens, should be nearly bare 
 of the more elaborate and beautiful sculpture of the East; the facilities possessed by Britain for 
 this purpose, is singularly contrasted by the apathy with which opportunities of enriching our 
 national collection with examples of this particular style, are suffered to pass by: neither is this 
 remark by any means new, it occurs in the French translation of the voyages of Niebuhr,* 
 undertaken by command of the King of Denmark, Frederick V., 1761, upon the occasion of his 
 visit to Elephanta; this traveller was accompanied by competent draughtsmen, and the deli- 
 neations given are considered very accurate; his observations are not less valuable, as the 
 
 reader will be able to determine from extracts given in our notes. 
 
 From the Author just quoted, we turn to a more recent authority— one who possessed the 
 advantages of long residence, with high station and acquirements— Tod's Annals and Antiquities 
 of Rajahs’than, or Western India, in addition to the researches indicated by its title, is illustrated 
 by engravings of sculptures which were previously unknown as specimens of ancient art; and 
 although they are probably of a date posterior to the true Egyptian period, precede our era by 
 several centuries; they appear to bear out the assertion that in Hindostan the arts continued 
 to improve long after they had been extinguished in Egypt. The subjoined description of a 
 magnificent Hindoo temple at Ajmer, from that work,-+- is too interesting and instructive with 
 
 reference to our subject, to be omitted. 
 
 an old man, next followed a hawk, then a fish, and, lastly, a 
 
 horse. The meaning of this hieroglyphical inscription, he asser 
 probably on the express authority of the priests of that temple, was 
 as follows :—* O you that are coming into the world, and you that 
 are going out of it, know that the Deity abhors immode 
 
 Maurice’s Indian Antiquities. 
 
 * Le Roi de Dannemarcke a envoyé une societé de cinq per- 
 sonnes en Arabie, uniquement pour V’avancement des sciences ; 
 n’auroit on done lieu d’esperer que d’autres nations, qui ont fait de 
 grandes conquétes aux Indes, y envoyeroient aussi quelques per- 
 sonnes, pour ¢tendre la connoissance que nous avons d’un pais si 
 celebre? Les Anglois ont été environ cént ans maitres de Bombay, 
 dont on peut aller en peu d’heures 4 Elephanta, et A Salset. 
 Presque chaque Européen qui vient 4 Bombay va voir les superbes 
 Pagodes qui sont dans la voisinage. Néanmoins on ne trouve 
 dans toute leurs descriptions de ces contrées, que des rapports fort 
 incomplets de ces monumens de l’antiquit¢.—Niebuhr, Voyage en 
 Arabie, et en d'autres pays Circonvoisins. 
 
 { Whatever time has 
 bigotry has d 
 sculptured fi 
 distinct and distant 
 
 ared of the hallowed relics of old, 
 lestroyed, or raised to herself altars of materials, whose 
 
 of two 
 ; that of the independent Hindoo, and 
 that of the conquering Mahomedan, except one “ relic of nobler 
 day 
 chai 
 
 erve now as disjointed memoria 
 
 and noblest art,” which, though impressed with this double 
 eter, 
 
 ever’ 
 
 spectator must desire to rescue from the sweeping 
 sentence. 
 
 Let us rather bless than execrate the hand, though it 
 be that of a Turk, which has spared, from whatever motive, one 
 
 of the most perfect, as well as the most ancient, monuments of 
 Hindoo architecture. 
 The temple is surrounded by a superb screen of Saracenic 
 
 architecture. From its simplicity, as well as its appearance of 
 antiquity, I am inclined to assign the screen to the first dy: 
 
 the Ghorian Sultans, who evidently made use of native architects; 
 
 the design is chaste and beautiful, and the material a compact 
 limestone, admitting almost of as high a polish as the jaune antique, 
 gave abundant scope to the sculptor: after confessing and admiring 
 the taste of the vandal, we passed under the arch to examine the 
 more noble production of the Hindoo. Its plan is simple and 
 consonant with all the more ancient temples of the Jains; it is an 
 extensive saloon, the ceiling supported by a quadruple range of 
 columns; those of the centre being surmounted by a range of 
 vaulted coverings, while the lateral portion, which is flat, is divided 
 into compartments of the most elaborate sculpture. But the 
 columns are most worthy of attention ; they are unique in design, 
 and, with the exception of the cave templ 
 
 , probably amongst the 
 oldest now existing in India, On examining them, ideas entirel 
 novel, even in Hindoo art, are developed; like all these portions 
 of Hindoo architecture, their ornaments are very complex; it was 
 evidently a rule in the art, to make the ornament of every part 
 unlike the other, and which I have seen carried to a great extent. 
 There may be forty columns, but no two alike. The ornaments of 
 the base are peculiar, both as to form and execution ; the lozenges, 
 
 with the rich tracery surrounding them, might be transferred, not 
 inappropriately, to the cathedrals of Europe. The projections from 
 of the shaft, with the small niches still cor 
 
 various par ning the 
 statues, though occasionally mutilated, of the pontiffs of the Jains, 
 
“I 
 “I 
 
 TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 In pursuing the comparison of the two ancient styles, the want of accord in hieroglyphical 
 display would of itself afford strong ground for inferring the originality of both; but we have 
 further confirmation in the decorations of the cavern temples particularly, and in statuary 
 generally; the disparity in which, we are of opinion, affords the conclusive evidence sought... In 
 the immense excavations devoted to the rites of a primitive superstition that pervaded the several 
 branches of one race, and which in this feature was adhered to by all, we distinctly trace the 
 independent styles of Hindostan and Egypt, at the same time admitting that in larger figures 
 the passive attitude prevails; here the similarity ceases; there is greater variety of object, and of 
 lineament in the former, and in statues not colossal, much of an active and expressive character 
 is perceived.* Ornamental relievos, floral and interlaced, of Indian workmanship differ also 
 in boldness of design and execution, from any parallel afforded by Egyptian art; this becomes 
 very obvious wherever the Lotus, a religious floral emblem, highly esteemed in both countries, 
 
 has been introduced; but this, and other representations of natural objects, appear by the 
 
 Egyptian system of hieroglyphical device, to have been limited to one solitary mode of execution, 
 
 same meaning ; 
 
 upon the principle that they were on all occasions destined to convey the g5 
 
 adherence to a standard type would therefore be required, to the exclusion of other than 
 
 mechanical skill in the artist. 
 
 is always confined to the 
 
 articulations, and being but slightly indicated. 
 
 strengthens the comparison, and would 
 Here 
 
 give them a character which 
 be more apparent if we could afford to engrave the details. 
 
 and there occurs a richly-carved corbeille, which still further sus- 
 ains the analogy between the two systems of architecture; the 
 
 capitals are at once strong and delicate ; the concentric annulets 
 
 are in one blaze of ornament, and with the whole of the ceiling too 
 elaborate and complicated for description. 
 
 Having alluded to the analogy between the details in the 
 columns and those in our Gothic buildings (as they are called), and 
 surmised that the Saracenic arch is of Hindoo origin, I may, with 
 this temple and screen before us, speculate on the possibility of its 
 having furnished some hints to the architects of Europe. This 
 spot Ajmer, according to the traditional couplets, and the 
 poetic legends of its ancient princes, the Cholons, was visited by the 
 first hostile force Is/am sent across the Indus. What ideas might 
 not this Jain temple have afforded to the “light of Ali,” for Roshun 
 
 ve 
 
 ‘Ali is the name preserved of him who, “in ships landing at Anjar,” 
 marched through the heart of India and took the citadel of Ajmer 
 
 by assault—Tod’s Rajahs’than, Vol. 1. p. 778. 
 
 -ribing the cave temple of Elephanta, Niebukr, whom 
 —* Pour batir un de ces temples 
 
 * Tn des 
 
 ly quoted, say 
 Indiens, il falloit des travaux immenses, pour creuser ce 
 et pour y tailler dans le roc méme, cette quantité de groupes, des 
 
 we have prev’ 
 
 rochers, 
 
 ornamental detail of their respective,embellishments. 
 
 imparting a peculiarity nowhere else to be observed; expr 
 
 slacid features of the countenance ; the extremities rarel 
 
 S a summary of the remarks that have occurred, we submit that the 
 similitude of form and correspondence of parts which appear in 
 
 the structures of Egypt and the East, does not manifest itself in the 
 
 The breadth 
 
 of the Egyptian masses is uniformly preserved, and relieved solely 
 by chambered panels, deriving their form from the objects they 
 circumscribe ; these panels are more usually beveled, and thereby 
 
 throw a light in immediate contact with the shadow of the figure, 
 
 sion 
 
 y having 
 
 In the Hindostanee, on the other hand, the 
 
 figures aux murailles, et surtout, il falloit pour cet effet, beaucoup 
 plus de connoissance du dessein, et de la sculpteur, que les Egyp- 
 tiens en ont jamais eu.” 
 
 And on another occasion,— Les murailles sont remplies de 
 figures élevées, que le sculpteur a encore menagées du rocher. 
 Celles ci, sans doute, doivent representer les histoires des Dieux et 
 
 savans 4 
 
 des Heros Indiens, et peuvent ainsi donner’ matitre aux 
 beaucoup d’observations. si belles 
 que les bas reliefs, et les statues de maitres Grecs et Romaines, 
 mais bien meilleurs pour le dessein, et la position, que les figures 
 Egyptiennes, et d’ailleurs fort jolies 4 proportion de leur grand 
 antiquité 
 
 “ Pas loin du rivage de la mer, et en pleine 
 
 Elles ne sont & la vérité p 
 
 mpagne, on voit 
 encore un Elephant, d’une piérre dure et noiratre. Et c’est sans 
 doute la cause que les Européens appellant cette isle Elephanta. 
 Dans T’isle de Salse¢ dont j'ai parlé, on trouve encore plusieurs 
 temples antiques, tailles dans les rochers, dans le méme gofit que 
 celui d’Elephanta. 
 
 “Les habitans de cette petite isle ne savent rien de l’antiquité, 
 ni de histoire de ce temple si magnifique et si superbe ; suivant leur 
 opinion, ily est arrivé un jour ici le soir des gens, qui dans une seule 
 nuit ont taillé toute cet ouvrage du rocher, et qui sont d’abord re- 
 
 partis le matin. Et c’est 4 peu prés la méme idée que les Egyptiens 
 daujourd’hui, ont des superbes monumens de leurs ancétres.” 
 
 y 
 
78 TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 sculpture is of the boldest relievo, and more particularly the principal figure of a group, 
 which is always prominently projected; the carving is deeply undercut, and although the parts 
 be minute, their relative position does not break the breadth of the compartments. There are 
 many beautiful examples of this style given in the work quoted, which we hope will stimulate 
 
 inquiry, and lead to an importation of original objects ; in the confidence that authentic references 
 
 would form the basis of an elegant variety, which would meet appreciation. Our plates were 
 designed previous to having seen those alluded to, and though far less elaborate, convey a general 
 idea of the advantages to be derived from a study of Hindoo skill. 
 
 It must, however, be acknowledged, that the application both of Egyptian and Hindoo 
 
 ornament to modern purposes, meets many difficulties, arising from the rigidity of feature pre- 
 sented in the first, and the local and allusive nature of the objects pervading the last. The late 
 Thomas Hope, Esq. introduced the Egyptian style into the furniture and decoration of a suite of 
 apartments, forming part of his tasteful residence in London, with a success corresponding with 
 his acknowledged judgment and munificence, and with the feeling and good keeping manifested 
 throughout that magnificent mansion; but it may be suggested that this solitary specimen of a 
 revival of Egyptian ornament, charged as it is with symbols, would be still more strikingly incon- 
 gruous in humbler embellishments, and therefore inadmissible in the present state of civilized 
 life. Our neighbours, the French, it is true, admitted the same style as a “ decor” for their 
 
 saloons, but the coldness of its details rendered it among the most evanescent of their fashions. 
 
 Hints for compositions are given in our Egyptian plate, where its most characteristic 
 
 ; and from which many pleasing arrangements may be 
 
 principle, “ flicker,” is taken for the bas 
 made, without having recourse to the emblems of their superstition. Great simplicity of 
 character may be produced, well adapted to many species of manufacture, in which the straight 
 line can be effectively employed, and more particularly in frabrics which suit flicker, in connec- 
 tion with rising lines. The British Museum, and that of the Louvre at Paris, contain vast 
 
 early date, which would 
 
 collections of Egyptian antiquities of the domestic kind, and of very 
 admit of a graft of modern skill, and produce the singular spectacle of an adaptation of the 
 
 ys to the elegant habits of modern times. 
 
 crude and simple notions of ancient da 
 
 , APAN and CHINA have furnished, in the porcelain and lacquered 
 wares for which those countries are respectively celebrated, speci- 
 mens of Oriental taste, and perfection in manufacture, highly valued 
 throughout Europe ; the larger objects from Japan exhibit beautiful 
 representations of flowers, birds, flies, and insects, peculiar to its 
 soil and climate, mingled with the dragon and other chimerical 
 objects allusive to element worship, splendidly emblazoned. Of 
 the usages of this empire little is known beyond the accounts of 
 
 Kempfer and Thunberg, but with Chinese literature and art, the 
 
 communications of the Jesuits and a larger commercial intercourse have made us better ac- 
 quainted ;* though the rigid system of personal exclusion enforced against foreigners by both, 
 
 has prevented the observation and research upon which, only, valid opinions could be formed 
 
 * The reader is referred also to the works of Du Halde, Stanton, and Morrison, for the general information which our limits do not 
 
 permit us to afford. 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 79 
 of their ancient state as compared with modern appearances. With this singular race, whose 
 origin has baffled the inquiries of antiquarians and analogists, language, civil institutions, and 
 manufacture, seem to have attained a natural growth independently of extrinsic aid; the late 
 Sir W. Jones, whose discourses on the eastern nations are still standards of reference, concludes, 
 indeed, that the Chinese, or Chinas of Sanscrit tradition, are an offset of the Hindoo family ;* 
 but a more recent writer in the Encyclopcedia Britannica, whose remarks accord with the acute- 
 ness of thought and brilliancy of diction which distinguish that national work, refers the peopling 
 of those countries to a different stock, and his argument if not conclusive, is of importance 
 
 towards confirming deductions to the same effect obtained from other premises. 
 
 Hindostan is so prolific in monumental remains of great extent, and elaborate decoration, 
 that experience would lead us to expect similar manifestations of feeling, and of taste, among 
 branches or descendants of a people to whom ideas of grandeur and magnificence, of this 
 description, were familiar; but we fail to gather, from the authorities open to us, that the 
 Japanese and Chinese nations have at any time possessed a “ Style,” properly so called: Archi- 
 tecture does not exist, in the sense with which we apply that term to buildings of magnitude 
 and solidity; and sculptures of the figure, or of emblematic devices, with the exception of 
 smaller carvings, especially in ivory, are wholly deficient; yet in the light and ornamental 
 constructions of the Chinese, assisted by the variety of colour with which their interior 
 arrangements are enriched, there is abundant material for the exercise of imitative talent; and 
 authorities for its application to purposes of public entertainment are consequently numerous. 
 In the theatre, concert room, and buildings of ephemeral character, the array and glitter of this 
 scenic style harmonizes with occasions for its introduction. In garden scenery also, when not 
 imposed as a governing feature, but confined to a conservatory, a veranda, or a summer-house, 
 it is both by construction and mode of decoration, of peculiar value ; to these may be added 
 the embellishment of a boudoir, or a corridor ; where the delicate manipulations of Chinese 
 ingenuity may be carried out in more elaborate finish; on the other hand the exquisite arrange- 
 ments of spot and line, so ably combined in the older specimens of Japanese invention, are among 
 the most effective auxiliaries of the artist and decorator, and may be applied to vary the solemn 
 
 splendour of the Gothic, or chaste simplicity of the Grecian saloon. 
 
 * All the Pandits whom I have separately consulted, assure me 
 as with one voice, that the Chinas of Menu settled in a fine country 
 to the north-east Gaur, and to the east of Camarup and Népal ; 
 that they have long been, and still are, famed as 
 and that they had themselves seen old Chinese idols, which bore a 
 manifest relation to the primitive religion of India.—Sir W. Jones's 
 
 renious artificers; 
 
 Seventh Anniversary Discourse, Asiatic Researches. 
 
 + The interdiction of intercourse with a people who have 
 nothing in common with the rest of the world, will account for the 
 total ignorance which so long prevailed, and the little knowledge we 
 
 yet possess respecting thi 
 are an original and unmixed race, we conceive no reasonable doubt 
 can be entertained, though a different hypothesis has been held by 
 
 ingular and original people; for that they 
 
 learned and ingenious men. By De Gaignes and Fréret, arguing 
 from the communications of the Jesuits, they were supposed to be 
 derived from a colony of Egyptians; by the earlier Jesuits they 
 were set down as a tribe of the Jews; and by Sir William Jones, as 
 the descendants of the Cshantrya, or military caste of Hindus called 
 Chunas, “ who,” say the Pandits, “abandoned the ordinances of 
 the Veda, and lived in a state of degradation.” 
 
 With submission 
 to such high authority, we should as soon think of deriving the 
 
 trunk of a tree from its branches, as the people of China from 
 any of these. That they are not Egyptians, the ingenious Pauw 
 clearly and sat 
 
 has mos' 
 
 factorily demonstrated, by proving that 
 in no one iota does there exist one single resemblance. As little 
 similarity is there between them and the Hindus; no two people, 
 indeed could possibly differ more than they do in their physical 
 
 and moral cl 
 religious 
 
 ter, in their language, and in their political and 
 
 stitutions. ‘The colour of the Hindoo is ebon, or a deep 
 bronze, that of a Chinese a sickly white, or pale yellow, like that 
 of a faded leaf, or the root of rhubarb; the features of a Hindoo 
 are regular and placid, those of a Chinese, wild, irregular, constant 
 only in the oblique and elongated eye, and broad root of the nose ; 
 the Hindus are slaves and martyrs to religious ordinances, the 
 Chinese have superstitions enough, but, strictly speaking, no reli- 
 gious prejudices; the Hindus are divided into castes, the Chinese 
 know of no such d 
 
 ivision ; the hist 
 
 ical records of China go far 
 beyond the time that these supposed Chinas of Sir W. Jones peopled 
 the country, the Hindus have not a page of history; the language 
 of Hindostan is alphabetic, that of China a trai 
 
 ‘ition from the 
 
 hieroglyphic to the symbolic, and there is not the slightest analogy 
 in the colloquial language of the two countries. —Encyclopedia Bri- 
 
 tannica, Article, China. 
 
— 
 
 80 TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 Haying suggested the more unexceptionable opportunities which occur for the introduction 
 of Japanese and Chinese ornament, it may be useful to notice the probable causes of their being 
 rejected when attempted as a basis of domestic taste. It constantly happens, particularly with 
 reference to these styles, that allusive figures and symbols are seized upon and transferred by 
 the decorator, to the exclusion of the rational beauty of design which they offer in other pecu- 
 liarities ; this mistaken application appears to be entirely at variance with the present temper of 
 society; in domestic embellishment, when representations of existing or allegorical figures are 
 introduced, regard should be had to conciliation of the milder feelings of humanity through the 
 perception of the senses. The well known emblems of power, and of wrath, the dragon and 
 chimera, produce their effect where despotism has so long employed them to remind and affright 
 its slaves, but can never harmonize with the affections and endearments sedulously cultivated 
 around our native hearths. Pictures of terror or of suffering, whether scriptural or historical, 
 are no longer permitted to distress the sight in the saloon or chamber, whatever may be the 
 
 merits of their execution, but are consigned, solely as objects of wonder, to the gallery. 
 
 Another objection to the prevailing features of these styles, even when unaccompanied by 
 the monstrous, is found in the influence produced by difference of habits, manners, and climate— 
 their embellishments are those of open air, or vast areas of space; bright colours, enhanced by 
 
 gold and pearl, are requisite in the glare of sunshine—there they are not gaudy, but gay: but 
 
 the state of excitement in which the senses exis 
 
 t beneath the effect of a profusion of tints, is 
 here consistently and wisely discouraged, as mimical to the healthy tone of mind and heart 
 
 essential to the tranquillity of domestic life. 
 
 The Chinese mode of treatment of the lotus, the meander, the key, the sea wave, and other 
 continuous ornaments, so generally found in the Greek, and the germs of which have already 
 been mentioned as present in the Egyptian and Hindostanee styles, are particularly valuable ; 
 but examples must be sought for in objects more especially the product of national taste, and 
 not in the heterogeneous assemblage of items which, though undoubtedly of Chinese manufac- 
 ture, were and still are executed to designs of European origin adapted to reigning fashions in 
 the western world. The collections in this country which, in the course of our experience, we have 
 found to contain the most rare and genuine specimens, are those of the honorable Mr. Lascelles, 
 made by that gentleman about twenty-five years since, with great judgment, and a taste that 
 evinced his knowledge of the principles alluded to; that at Blenheim, containing many exquisite 
 specimens of Nankin, but exhibiting in the selection more of caprice than attention to design; 
 also some noble objects in the mansion of Mr. Hope; to these I may add the collection of great 
 rarity and yalue, made by Her Royal Highness the Princess Augusta; in which are objects of 
 
 domestic use confirming the strong imaginative powers of that industrious people. 
 
 With regard to the application of these styles to purposes of manufacture, we have the 
 
 pleasure to notice that in japannery, properly so called, British talent has been successfully 
 exerted, and now excels its prototype—but the graceful, though sometimes grotesque, forms 
 of Chinese invention, are well adapted to the dou, whether of earthenware, wood, or metal; in 
 the first of these we call attention to a more chaste selection of appropriate style—permitting 
 ourselves to mention that the one so long in vogue, technically called “the willow pattern,” 
 is from a French design, in the Baroque style of the later period of Lowis Quatorze, and has, 
 
 perhaps, done more to depreciate Chinese native taste and talent, than any other means. 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 81 
 
 Having assigned to the Indian and Egyptian styles the priority in development to which 
 they seem entitled, we necessarily recur to those central countries where population and the 
 germs of art first grew up together. Of the monuments of Assyrian dominion and power, the 
 
 destruction has been so entire that no vestiges remain, save the mounds of Nineveh and 
 
 Babylon ;* but that those once magnificent cities equalled contemporary seats of empire, in 
 extent and adornment, there can be no reasonable doubt. Over the vast region, the scene of 
 the earliest recorded history, the only relics which appear to claim great, if not extreme antiquity, 
 are those of Persepolis ;+ Baalbeck and Palmyra being, with consistent regard to probability, 
 
 attributed to a much later period, though it must be admitted that conjecture is here the only 
 
 active faculty we can apply, to the exclusion of those of a more satisfactory kind. 
 
 )N Persia Proper many learned authorities agree in fixing the 
 first and most powerful monarchies, the stability and grandeur of 
 which, though vouched but by a single example, is at once esta- 
 blished in our conceptions. The remains of Persepolis, or as it is 
 termed by the Persians, Tuckt-i-Jemsheed,t the throne of Jem- 
 sheed, exhibit the massive character of the earliest period in its 
 utmost perfection ; and in sculpture, the distinct simplicity of the 
 religious ideas which prevailed in Persia, as compared with the 
 
 -complicated systems of India and Egypt; by such comparisons 
 
 the origin and diversities of style are rendered too striking to be otherwise accounted for, 
 
 than by acknowledging that upon the temple of all countries was lavished the concentrated efforts 
 
 of labour and art. 
 
 * Sufficient is seen in the architectural remains of ancient 
 Persia to discern some distant resemblance between the style and 
 taste of their structures and those of Egypt, India, and Judea; 
 but we have to lament that the utter demolition of all outline of 
 building, or fragment of ornament, on the heaps of Nineveh and 
 Babylon, totally deprive us not only of the foundation stone of 
 architecture, but of those after links which would have formed a 
 perfect chain in the history of the art, from the foundation of Babel 
 to the temples of the East, and thence onward to those of Greece 
 and Rome.— Sir R. K. Porter, Travels in Georgia, Persia, Baby- 
 lonia, §c. 
 
 + Any attempt to analyse the ancient Persian architecture from 
 the relics that exist, and thence deduce its origin, would now be a 
 vain task. I have before observed that in some particulars it 
 resembles the styles of Hgypt and India ; but in most respects its 
 character is totally dissimilar ; that the ruins of Persepolis, so long 
 as they stand, are likely to remain an unique specimen of a 
 beautiful style in the art, the foundations of which can no 
 longer be traced, and the oblivion which has fallen over every 
 monument of the Assyrian empire, seems to me to have formed 
 s of the subject, but which 
 ible, one remark forcibly re- 
 
 this impassable chasm in the analy: 
 following the track wherever it is vi 
 
 curs; the prodigious inequality between the moral and political 
 progress of all these nations, and the exquisite degree of refinement 
 to which they brought the arts. With regard to masonry and 
 sculpture, we only imitate what they invented ; no chaptral com- 
 binations modern times have attempted, ever having equalled the 
 beautiful order of Corinth. And what the Acanthus did for 
 Greece, when it met the eye of genius, the Lotus of the Nile and 
 Egypt had produced, ages before, for Egypt and Assyria. By 
 
 what we have already seen of its use in the capitals and friezes of 
 Persepolis, we may venture to conclude that it was the germ ; were 
 the means extant, we might trace every ramification of that branch 
 of the art, throughout the earliest nations of CUSH and ELAM. 
 
 + a ee eee ty Weeder! 
 
 In drawing a parallel between the architectural plans and orna- 
 ments of Persepolis, with those so particularly noted in the book 
 of Kings, of Solomon's temple and palace, their pillars, double 
 capitals, carved knops, open flowers and palm trees, chapters of 
 lily work, and supports of various sorts in the shape of lions, oxen, 
 and winged figures, the resemblance appears 
 
 so striking, I cannot 
 but assign them to the same origin ; and believe, in addition, that 
 were the mounds of Nineveh and Babylon to yield up their buried 
 treasures, we should not only recover the lost links in the descent 
 of architecture, but find even a nearer aftinity between their prin- 
 ciples and the remains of Persepolis, than that which connects the 
 buildings of modern Europe with the taste of ancient Greece and 
 Rome.—Ib. 
 
 } Sir W. Ouseley, in his Travels in Persia, gives the result of a 
 careful inspection of the ruins of Persepolis in the following words, 
 which he entitles Negative Observations ; they may be cor 
 very important as elucidating many questions in antiquity, and 
 peculiarities for which these remains are remarkable. 
 
 “ Among the monuments of antiquity which the Takht exhibits, 
 I did not perceive, Ist, any object appearing to be a vestige of 
 Arsacidan Kings, (300 before to 200 after the Christian era). 
 
 “2. Nor any vestige of the Sassanian dynasty, besides two 
 Palhavi inscriptions, one of eleven the other of twelve lines. 
 
 “3. Nor any representation of a crooked sword, 
 
 “4, Nor any human figure with a full face. 
 
 Z 
 
 ‘idered 
 
82 TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 The taste for sculpture, upon the great scale, prevailed in Persia for a series of ages; his- 
 
 torical events, and ceremonials observed at recurring festivals, were recorded by the chisel ; a 
 
 method above all others calculated to preserve the nationality of a people. Thus the original 
 grandeur* of Persepolis, in this feature, appears upon good grounds to have been enhanced by 
 Darius Hystaspes, (520 years before Christ), who, for that purpose, made use of Greek artists ;-- 
 and the same feeling continued to actuate succeeding monarchs, down to the period of a total 
 change of dynasty and religion by the Mahomedan conquest of Persia, which endured nearly 
 the first outbreak of the religious fury of that sect, and was completely subjugated within an 
 incredibly short space, considering the power and resources of the country. 
 
 The sculptures referred to as of comparatively recent date, are those near Shahpoor, the 
 capital of Sapor the first (after Christ 275), and those near Kermanshah, called Tackt-e-bostan ; 
 
 the whole of which are considered to be of Grecian, or Roman-Grecian, execution. 
 
 It happens in the style of ancient Persia, as in others of remote time, that there is little of 
 available material on which to expatiate; our allusions to those periods and specimens are not there- 
 fore given upon the futile presumption that we are competent to render useful that which was 
 essentially significant, only, in the ages when it was produced and cherished ; but whether we are 
 merely to speak with general correctness of “ Style,” or to understand and adhere to peculiarities 
 comprehended in that term, it is humbly conceived that an acquaintance with the site and 
 
 history of prominent remains, is the first and best method of cultivating this species of knowledge. 
 
 «5, Nor any human figure mounted on horseback. 
 
 Sas 
 
 ade 
 marine affairs. 
 
 “8. Nor any arches. 
 
 «9, Nor an 
 knees or heels, according to the modern usage in Persia. city we call Persepolis, may, from the earliest ages, have borne a 
 
 «10. Nor any figure in a state of nudity; and I may add, similar appellation to that which we find it now holds in Persia, 
 nor any object in the slightest degree indecent ; two circumstances namely, Tackt-i-Jemsheed, the throne of Jemsheed.—Sir R. K. 
 which almost peculiarly distinguish these Persepolitan sculptures Porter. 
 
 of that descent was indeed the founder of the Persian monarchy ; 
 Nor any figure of a woman. 
 Nor any sculpture representing ships, or alluding to 
 
 and that his descendants reigned there till the posterity of Cush, 
 princes of Nineveh and Babylon, made conquest of the land, and 
 maintained possession of it for several centuries. 
 that Sacred Writ plants the immediate offspring of Shem or Jem 
 
 Considering also 
 
 figure sitting cross-legged, or resting on the on this very tract, it seems not unreasonable to think that the 
 
 from the monuments of antiquity found in other countries. 
 
 “11, Nor any yestiges either of wood or brick. + The fine finishing of some of the superb works we find at 
 “12, Nor any remains of gilding. Persepolis, and the planning and accomplishment of most of the 
 «13. Nor any insulated statue, or sculptured figure separated _ others, must have been done by the direction of Darius Hystaspes ; 
 
 from the general mass of marble, and shewing in full relief the 
 entire form of any object. 
 
 “14, Nor any figure that has ever actually been an object of 
 idolatrous veneration. 
 ceived on so many marbles of the ruins, and the fire altars at the 
 tombs, relate undoubtedly to objects once held in veneration ; but 
 attributed to these 
 sculptures themselves, more than to similar devices on gems and 
 
 The winged circle, or mystical figure per- 
 
 we must not suppose that any sanctity wa 
 
 medals. 
 
 “15, Nor combinations of the elementary character, forming 
 the inscriptio 
 nants of antiquity found near Babylon.” 
 
 on bricks, cylindrical gems, and different rem- 
 
 * From what the native authors write of Jemsheed, to whom 
 they attribute the foundation of Persepolis, he is to be accounted 
 as the seventh in descent from Noah. * * * * * 
 
 In Genesis, chap. 10, v. 22, we read that Shem was 
 
 he father of 
 Elam, who spread his posterity and name over all this quarter of 
 the East; and Shem and Jemsheed having such affinity in name, 
 
 as well as the latter being traced by the native genealogists to 
 Noah, surely we might be warranted in believing, that some Prince 
 
 who, emulating to tread in the steps of Cyrus, felt establishing his 
 claim of birthright, and consequent hold on the empire by every 
 stroke of the chisel that perpetuated the happy institutions of a 
 predecessor who alone had the great name of the father of his 
 people. Besides, Darius, like Cyrus, was of Persia Proper, and 
 could not but find a son’s gra tion in aggrandizing his native 
 capital. His spirit appears to have equalled the magnificence of 
 his fortunes ; and from the number of Grecian prisoners who fell 
 into his power previous to the battle of Marathon, there could be 
 
 no want of hands to complete his designs in the highest style of 
 the arts. We may collect good argument for this pposition in 
 the style of the works themselves ; though, at first sight, I acknow- 
 ledge a general similitude to the Egyptian contour strikes the mind, 
 
 y when the details are 
 
 yet the impression gradually wears av 
 
 and the grace and truth of 
 
 examined ; the finishing of the pai 
 the bas-reliefs, every where proclaiming the refined taste and 
 master chi f Greece. 
 tions of structure, and its gigantic sculptures, with the delicacy, 
 beauty, and perfection of the execution of its ornaments, I might 
 say, with the poet, ‘ Here the Loves play on the bosom of Her- 
 
 When comparing the colossal propor- 
 
 cules.” —Ib, 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 83 
 With respect to the Style before us, it is remarkable that a similar spirit appears in the 
 colossal proportions of the ruins of Persepolis, and other fragments of the same period, to that 
 
 which directed all the vast structur 
 
 of the ancient world; guided, no doubt, by the same 
 motives of combined magnificence and durability, and which ceased but with the extinction of 
 
 the Roman power. 
 
 The few varieties of ornament of the Persepolitan era, which time or fanaticism has spared, 
 are principally those of mythraic character, as the bull, and the egg; 
 
 foliage and flower of the lotus ;+ it may be well to observe that the drawing of the animals 
 
 or the extensively applied 
 
 exhibits perfect knowledge of mu 
 
 ular action and position, and that they are entitled to rank 
 in the highest class of taste, as works of art ; and the execution of them, although powerful, is 
 
 in the same neatness of hand continued down to the modern productions of Schiraz. 
 
 PERSIA has subsequently produced a style of embellishment full of originality, and 
 
 deservedly appreciated in such fabrics as refer to female attire, and the domestic comforts, or 
 
 requirements of the softer se of this description the shawl, the dress, the carpet, and many 
 kinds of chased and enamelled ware, present tasteful adaptations of the jessamine, climatis, pink, 
 and rose ; delicately designed, exquisitely wrought, and profusely displayed in the richest tints, 
 
 upon grounds of which blue is the prevailing colour ; whether intense, or of more etherial hue. 
 
 A peculiar feature of Persian architectural ornament must also be noticed, in the application 
 of bands and borders, chiefly composed from the Asphodel, upon the involved principle ; in which 
 the ground and its charge alternate upon each other. These borders, which are worked in light 
 colours upon a delicate tint, are uniformly applied to relieve the heavier or more solid panels 
 of rich emblazonry which load the walls or clothe the floors, and afford a valuable lesson to 
 the English decorator, who more frequently adopts the contrary practice; though of late a 
 
 better taste has been consulted. 
 
 OME of the Mahomedan mosques are beautiful specimens of native 
 
 art; with that religion was introduced a predilection for the dome in 
 | building, with the lighter accompaniments of Saracenic architecture; 
 the city of Sultanea has several fine examples of this kind; other reli- 
 gious edifices of this class, the production of Persian taste and skill, 
 are found at Delhi, of which the “Targe” is perhaps the most perfect 
 
 extant. 
 
 With form the Persian artisan seems well acquainted ; his 
 
 | outline is usually simple, but his enrichments are of the most elaborate 
 
 * The Lotus was full of meaning to the ancients, and occurs 
 all over the East; Egypt, Palestine, Persia, and India, present it 
 everywhere over their architecture, in the hands and on the heads 
 
 of their sculptured figures, whether in statue or in bas-relief. We 
 also find it in the sacred vestments and architecture of the taber- 
 nacle and temple of the Israelites ; and we see it mentioned by our 
 Saviour as an image of peculiar beauty and glory, when comparing 
 the works of nature with the decorations of art. It is also repre- 
 sented in all pictures of the salutation of Gabriel to the Virgin 
 Mary; and, in fact, has been held in, mysterious veneration by 
 people of all religions and times. The early Persians attached a 
 particular sanctity to it; water, according to their belief, was held 
 
 in the next degree of reverence to fire; and the white flower, which 
 sprung from the bosom of the colder element, was considered an 
 emblem of its purity, submissiveness, and, above all, of its fecun- 
 dity, when meeting the rays of the great solar flame. These 
 symbols united, represented to the poetical conceptions of the Hast, 
 first, the creative and regenerating attributes of the Supreme Being 
 himself 
 and fire, acting mutually on each other; so that at the return of 
 
 ; and, secondly, the imparted powers of earth, air, water, 
 
 certain seasons, moisture should spread over the land from the 
 clouds or the rivers, the air should dry the ground, the sun’s beams 
 fructify it, and the grateful earth, at the call of all united in the 
 genial breath of Spring, put forth her increase.—Sir R. K. Porter, 
 
TRACIN 
 
 OF STYLE. 
 
 84 
 
 kind—precious stones and pearls are lavishly employed, as well upon or about the person, as 
 
 to enhance the value of gold chasing, enamelling, or works composed of costly woods and 
 marbles ; embroidered garments are also rendered more sumptuous by the mode in which these 
 valuable materials are introduced, and a nice discrimination is manifest in the delicacy of their 
 
 application.* 
 
 A wider and brighter field opens to us in the splendid achievements of the Grecian schools ; 
 that people were eminent alike in literature, commerce, and war; and to their historians we 
 are indebted for our knowledge, not only of the progress of the arts in their own states, but all 
 that is accurately known of the monuments of other countries, which, nearly 2500 years since, 
 they had observed and designated as the earliest structures. Considering the styles already 
 noticed as local and allusive, in the first degree, the distinction between them and that of Greece, 
 and the steps by which the latter attained to final excellence, comprises the greater portion of 
 the history of sculpture ; a bare enumeration, therefore, of existing authorities on this particular 
 subject, of the schools that successively sprung up in Greece and her colonies, and a mention 
 of the works known to have emanated from them, would occupy not only greater space than an 
 entire section of this work, but were the attempt necessary, we should doubt our ability to 
 compete with what has been so well and eloquently done by authors who had devoted years to 
 actual inspection of Greek remains; or with those of another class, who, with a taste devoted 
 
 to the cultivation of this single style, have made it an exclusive study. 
 
 The advantages accruing from an acquaintance with the principles of Greek art, are in thi 
 country especially invited, first by the descriptive works we mention,+- and secondly, by our 
 fortunate possession of the Phidian sculptures, and other specimens in the best manner of this 
 classic style; we feel that we cannot preface our individual opinions and observations better 
 than by quoting a passage from Dr. J. S. Memes, who occupies an entire volume of a popular 
 work, Constable's Miscellany, Vol. 39, with a most able and energetically written history of sculp- 
 ture, painting, and architecture. “In the era and labours of Phidias, we discover the utmost 
 
 xcellence to which Grecian genius attained in the arts. From an examination, then, of this 
 
 excellence, we shall not only obtain a knowledge of that style, pronounced by the Greeks them- 
 
 selves to be their proudest achievement in sculpture, but may be also able to elicit principles of 
 
 the highest general importance in the philosophy of imitative art. * ae * * 
 
 Respecting the most esteemed master-pieces of antiquity, reasonable doubts still exist how far 
 
 our judgments are formed upon real originals. But in the marbles of the British Museum, the 
 
 fo} 
 former ornaments of the Parthenon, we certainly behold the conceptions, and, in some measure, 
 the very practice of the great Athenian sculptor. Both statues and relievos compose these 
 
 precious remains ; one of the noblest bequests of ancient to modern talent.” 
 
 * Many of the manufactures of Persia are beautiful, particularly 
 their gold and silver brocades, their silks, and their imitation of 
 Cashmere shawls, which are made of the wool of Kerman, They 
 make a variety of cotton cloths, but inferior in quality to those of 
 India. They have also manufactories of glass, and of a coarse ware 
 resembling china; but have not yet succeeded in bringing these 
 wares to perfection. 
 
 In mechanical arts the Persians are not inferior to other nations 
 of the East, but they do not surpass them. ‘They work well in 
 
 steel, and in the arts of carving and gilding few nations are more 
 skilful. They also enamel upon gold and silver in the most beau- 
 tiful manner ; and their ornaments, which are made of these metals 
 and precious stones, often display admirable workmanship.—Sir 
 J. Malcolm, History of Persia. 
 
 + Stuart's Athens ; Wilkin’s Magna Grecia; Le Roy, Monumens 
 dela Grece ; Montfaucon, V Antiquité Eupligué, §e. §. 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 85 
 
 One principle governs Greek art throughout, and may be seen in the outlines of forms, or 
 traced in the ornaments which adorn their surfaces; whether in the elegant simplicity of their 
 funereal pottery, the graceful allusions which relieve them, or in the grandeur of the vase, or the 
 magnificence of the sculptured candelabrum. This principle, resemblance, which apart from 
 
 reality, implies but does not indicate the presence of nature, is equally evinced in the suggestion 
 
 as in the execution by which thought is embodied; and the attitude of a statue, the action of a 
 group, the disposition of a scroll, or the ar rangement of architectural ordonnance, are all under 
 
 the same sentiment; and transmit to the marble, the panel, or the bronze, those impressions of 
 
 character, whether mild or vigorous, all felt with truth and expressed with dignity. Repose 
 
 and decorum pervades Greek art, and captivates the attention without subjugating the feclings 
 
 A discriminating adaptation of the elliptic line, and a clear perception of its use in the 
 
 structure and on the surface of objects, and the application of it to purposes within the province 
 
 of the painter or the sculptor, is a main cause 
 
 genius; perfected by a knowledge of the truth, t 
 
 constitute beauty and grace, wherever these qual 
 
 be imparted solely by the circle, the angle, or th 
 
 It may be well again to remind the reader t 
 
 of Grecian superiority in works of taste and 
 1at the divergence of elliptical undulating lines, 
 it 
 
 s are found; and that force and energy can 
 
 e square. 
 
 hat the purport of these pages is to attempt an 
 
 elucidation of ornamental design, as applicable to manufacture ; therefore the higher branches 
 
 of Greek art are particularly alluded to that a 
 
 because the same principles* that enabled the 
 
 o 
 5 
 
 Apollo, and 
 
 dignified habit of study may be induced; and 
 
 chisel of the Grecian artists to animate the 
 
 ive life to the Meleager, shed, also, a glow of light on the Doric cap of the 
 
 Parthenon, and sparkle in the flicker of the channeled belts of its columns; impart value to 
 
 their domestic lamps, or meaner utensils; and 
 
 are equally palpable in the folds of a robe, or 
 
 the simple beauty of the borders which adorn them. 
 
 * The superiority of the Greeks in art is always attributed to 
 the secondary causes of climate, and government, forgetting the 
 one important requisite without which the influence of the most 
 genial climate, or the patronage of the most perfect government 
 If cli- 
 mate be the secret, why are not all people under the same latitude 
 equally gifted and equally refined ? 
 
 could avail little; we mean, natural and inherent genius. 
 
 Climate may be more or less 
 favourable to intellectual development, but is never the cause of 
 its existence. Government may elicit genius by fostering and re- 
 ward, but can never create it. 
 
 The Greel 
 ciple of their 
 
 were idolators, and their love of beauty was a prin- 
 cligion. The more beautiful a face or form could 
 be rendered in painting or sculpture, the better chance had the 
 
 artist of the blessing of the gods here, and their immortal rewards 
 hereafter. As beauty was so much prized by this highly endowed 
 people, those who were gifted with it became ambitious of making 
 it known to great artists, and by them to the world. Artists 
 fixed the fame of beauty in man or woman, and even children who 
 
 gave promise of being beautiful were allowed to contend for a 
 
 and the child who won it had a statue erected to him. There 
 
 prize, 
 were games near the river Alphw 
 to the most beautiful; and the Lacedewmonian women, in their 
 
 where prizes were adjudged 
 
 bed-rooms, kept continually before their eyes the finest statues. 
 Still this admiration of beauty was but a secondary cause ; for 
 though the Lacedemonians showed this love of beauty, they did 
 
 not produce great artists. The Greeks had a strong sensibility to 
 
 beauty, and an intense acuteness of understanding. 
 was 
 
 Every artist 
 a philosopher, and every philosopher relished art, and under- 
 stood it. ‘The artists began by the study of geometry and of form ; 
 
 they anal 
 
 ed the peculiarities of the form of man, by contrasting it 
 with that ofthe brutes, and they settled the principles of beauty in 
 that form and figure. ‘The philosophers recommended to all classes 
 the study of art, as a refined mode of elevating their perceptions of 
 beauty; and the government seconded the recommendation of the 
 philosophers. 
 
 ndered 
 more acute by painting and sculpture; and the authorities dis- 
 
 The priests found the religious feeling 
 covered, that the emotions of patriotism were doubled by the com- 
 memoration of great national events, in temples and in public halls. 
 Now add climate as adapted for such productions and their pre- 
 servation, and genius, the gift of God, as the first cause, and no 
 one surely need wonder that all these causes mutually acting on 
 each other, produced the miracles of perfection in art, which the 
 world has gazed at ever since with an incredulous and bewildered 
 astonishment. 
 
 g, music, and 
 
 The passion for the beautiful in poetry, painting, 
 nature, led them to abhor the bloody amusements of the Romans. 
 
 To contest for glory by pictures, poems, or music, to race for the 
 
 prize of swiftness, or wrestle for the crown of strength, were the 
 
 innocent and delightful object of their Olympic games ; and during 
 
 those noble commemorations, war ceased, and all Greece assembled 
 
 in happiness and joy.—Encyclopedia Britannica, Article Painting. 
 
 AA 
 
86 TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 Individuality and locality appear never to have been out of mind with the inventors of 
 Grecian works, for it will be remembered that no direct repetition, or copy of any Greek monu- 
 ment, has ever been detected. We advance this fact to impress upon the student the importance 
 of a study of principles; not to the neglect of authority, as it is called, but that he may better 
 
 understand the use that should be made of previous examples. 
 
 The breadth peculiar to compositions in the Greek style, must not be mistaken for mono- 
 tonous void, or unfilled space ; the undulations of life invariably pervade the masses ; expression 
 and grace the flowing movements of the surface; the incidents partake of native truth; the 
 accessories applied as ornament, however simple in arrangement, contribute effectively to the 
 character of the work; and, although no factitious circumstance is permitted to intrude upon 
 
 yhtest accident arising from the subject ; and 
 
 the composition, without the omission of the sli 
 with a delicacy of tact that the master, only, evinces, and which Greek art only attained after 
 
 many centuries of study and application. 
 
 In more enriched, or more elaborate detail, the same thought governs, and the same talent 
 manifests a superior mind. Simplicity dictates the plan, however splendid the development, or 
 multiplied the parts which compose a whole group. It is the post-facto action of the scene that 
 mainly contributes to the quiet grace and style of Grecian art; but this may be traced to the 
 habit of thought which enables the mind to perceive the truth of nature in her happiest mode 
 and moment; and succeeds in presenting the aspect and the limbs in relative accordance. 
 So in ornament, whatever may be the subject of the disposition ; whether plant, or animal, 
 the same sentiment arranges and disposes their component features, and gives intelligence to 
 
 inanimate nature, or energy to life, and dignity to its motions.* 
 
 artisans to the imperial mistress of the world ; together with the rich 
 trophies of art produced in successive ages of rising greatness, caused 
 by circumstances and events which concurred to foster the great 
 
 Refer- 
 
 ing to history, we find the most brilliant period in the development 
 
 conceptions and refined taste manifested in Greek sculpture. 
 
 of genius, corresponded precisely with the power and influence 
 
 heroically acquired by the Athenian people: the Author whom we 
 have before quoted, in noticing this interesting era, observes, “ The energies of sculpture were 
 now to be more directly concentrated in one parent school; which, while it especially adorned 
 one seat, preserved yet the stirring rivalry of honourable emulation, as being the common semi- 
 nary of free and independent states. The noble stand she had made, her superior sacrifices and 
 sufferings in the cause of freedom, directed to Athens the sympathy and deference of Greece. 
 
 The prosperity, too, of her political situation, was suitable to the support of this moral pre- 
 
 to class them with that style, to which they have a nearer affinity 
 than to any other, Pottery in considerable quantity, engraved 
 and a few statues, are the remains from which we 
 
 * The great beauty of various specimens of Etruscan art, as 
 acknowledged and mentioned in every work of importance on these 
 
 subjects, and the peculiarity of execution by which they are recog- 
 nised, require a notice which we find considerable difficulty in 
 rendering acceptable. The origin of the Etruscans is still a debate- 
 able subject ; but their labours in the arts being nearly allied to 
 
 in form and elegance, we should feel disposed 
 
 those of the Greeks 
 
 gems, coins. 
 gather our conceptions of the very early progress of Etruscan art. 
 In masonry, the ancient localities of this people present the same 
 features of immensity in construction for which the first ages are 
 
 remarkable. 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 87 
 
 eminence. Provided with the means of defence and commerce, on a scale which seemed to 
 contemplate future empire, she was left by Themistocles with ample resources—a noble field of 
 fame and recompense for the artist.” 
 
 During the unsettled times which followed the death of Alexander, the arts can scarcely be 
 said to have progressed, indeed it would be difficult to conceive a greater perfection than had 
 been attained; but, as internal dissentions increased, master spirits of sculpture no longer 
 appeared in succession to sustain the reputation of the Athenian school; and when Greece 
 merged into a Roman province, her genius had nearly undergone that change, apparent in the 
 
 distinction between the artist and the artisan. 
 
 ROME, stern, inflexible, and conquering, had, in the composition of her people, few of the 
 elements conducive to love of the fine arts; strength and security were the co-existing features 
 of her early policy ; ornament, a secondary consideration in the course she successfully pursued, 
 flowed upon her from extrinsic sources, but as a Style, the Roman was unknown until the 
 
 reign of Augustus, more than 700 years from the naming of the city. 
 
 In building and the construction of public works, the Romans, while they excelled every 
 other people both in the diversity and utility of their plans,* adhered closely to the ancient 
 manner of employing the fine and compact marbles, which, under favourable climates, still 
 retain the sharpness of outline left by the chisel, and of which the separate blocks were of large 
 dimensions: works of magnitude, undertaken at great distances from the seat of power, were 
 carried on to completion with the same skill and perseverance, and where stone was deficient, 
 the massive feature was preserved by the substitution of concretes of equal durability. An 
 extensive use of the arch, together with the introduction of the Tuscan and Composite orders, 
 gave, also, a new and imposing effect to their architecture, and existence to the spandrel orna- 
 ment with which the former was commonly decorated. Within a period little exceeding three 
 centuries, the luxurious adornment of Rome had commenced and ceased; leaving to after ages 
 astonishing examples of boldness in design, and laborious execution; but achieved only with 
 
 resources previously unparalleled, applied by the more talented artists of dependent states. 
 
 * Tt is natural to suppose that the greatest number, as well as + Of all the sculptures of the Augustan age, every one is Greek, 
 the most considerable of the Roman edifices, were the work of the and chiefly Athenian. The arts, indeed, were revived, but the 
 emperors, who possessed so unbounded a command both of men creative spirit which infuses life and soul into their productions, 
 and money. Augustus was accustomed to boast that he had found which stamps them with originality and thought, could not be 
 his capital of brick, and that he had left it of marble. The strict recalled. The character of design and of execution is evidently 
 economy of Vespasian was the source of his genius, The public the same as that by which the last era of sculpture in Greece is 
 monuments with which Hadrian adorned every province of the distinguished, or rather it is superior; for settled government, 
 empire were executed, not only by his orders, but under his im- ample reward, and certain honour, not only drew to Rome every 
 mediate inspection. He was himself an artist, and he loved the man of talent, but also awakened new powers. But in the finest 
 
 arts, as they conduced to the glory of the monarch. They were specimens there is no evidence of new energies, added by the union 
 encouraged by the Antonines, as they contributed to the happiness of two separate modifications of talent; nor in the inferior, any 
 of the people. But if the emperors were the first, they were not _ exhibition of the more original, though it might be ruder, efforts of 
 the only architects of their dominions. Their example was univer- an aspiring and diStinct national taste. Either or both of these 
 sally imitated by their principal subjects, who were not afraid of effects would have been apparent, had there been native, prior 
 declaring that they had spirit to conceive, and wealth to accom- to the importation of Greek artis! 
 plish, the noblest undertakings. * “ “ “8 cf = 
 
 On the contrary, every thing 
 in the sculpture of this era discovers a descent from a state of 
 The opulent senators of Rome and the provinces esteemed it an higher excellence; every touch exhibits rather what has been, 
 
 honour, and almost an obligation, to adorn the splendour of their than presages the eminence for which we are to draw upon futurity. 
 age and country ; and the influence of fashion very frequently sup- Dr. J. S. Memes, Sculpture, p. 87. 
 plied the want of taste or generosity.— Gibbon, Vol. 1, p. 44. 
 
 : 
 | 
 
 aoe 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 Roman architectural ornament of the best period assumes a decided character, being bold 
 and florid in form and feature; it is founded, like the architecture it is intended to embellish, 
 on globular and angular contours, instead of the ellipse and bevil. A very simple experiment 
 will shew the result of such a basis: if any of the Greek mouldings be applied to the quarter 
 round, or cyma-recta, in the Roman manner, firmness will be presented, but grace will disap- 
 pear; the breadth will be gone, but strong lights and deep shades will produce bold effects. 
 In ornamental foliage the same result is produced; the graceful undulations of modulated 
 surface will give place to closely flickering lines, and sudden spots of shade, gorgeous rather 
 than splendid. The Roman scroll, through all its gradations, maintains the circular disposition, 
 and presents the same principles in execution, even to the interlacing of the tendrils and the 
 terminations of the flowers and rosettes. In our own plates, it will be seen, that in objects 
 where the elliptic line has been introduced the Roman character is lost, and that although the 
 
 disposition of the parts is not Greek, they partake more of that style. 
 
 A comparison of the Ionic and Corinthian capitals clearly exemplifies the same feeling ; 
 hard rigid contours, drawn sternly and upon a square surface, give the Roman Ionic, the very 
 reverse of the elegant serpentine arrangement of the Grecian. The Composite order, peculiar 
 to Roman invention, evinces most fully the prevalence of these modes of pleasing combination ; 
 
 the squarely drawn leaves, their dark spotty stops, and deeply sunk convolutions of stem and 
 
 fibre, producing glittering flicker of the richest sort; the fillets and astragals, the semicircular 
 
 gs and the base, are all drawn upon the circle or square, and are relieved by multiplicity of 
 
 flutin, 
 member, and contrast of form, rather than harmony of line and symmetry of feature, as in the 
 
 Grecian examples. 
 
 As germs of composition, the Roman style presents vast variety; highly valuable in all 
 
 cases demanding union of balance with the picturesque ; and is successfully employed wherever the 
 
 burin or the chisel would dazzle or seduce—wherever the eye is to be gratified by sparkle and 
 
 glare, regardless of a more sober judgment. But the opinions and taste of men of the first 
 eminence have been so decided in favour of the Roman manner, that it would be highly pre- 
 sumptuous to call it meretricious—it is nature, not the most select or sentimental—but it is 
 
 nature. 
 
 The accession of Constantine to the imperial dignity, was an event full of import to the 
 Roman people; himself an alien, and principally intent on abolishing the Pretorian guard, and 
 with it the intriguing factions by which that military body had been so frequently brought into 
 action, he visited Rome to punish, rather than to conciliate its luxurious and degenerate inhabi- 
 tants; and his disgust, combined with political views in transferring the seat of empire to 
 
 Byzantium,* put a final period to the practice of the arts in the ancient capital. 
 
 * The master of the Roman world, who aspired to erect an 
 eternal monument of the glories of his reign, could employ in that 
 great work the wealth, the labour, and all that yet remained of the 
 genius of obedient millions. Some estimate may be formed of 
 the expence with imperial liberality on the foundation of Constan- 
 tinople, by the allowance of about two millions, five hundred 
 thousand pounds, for the co 
 
 and the aqueducts. 
 
 ruction of the walls, the porticoes, 
 
 The forests that overshadowed the shores of 
 
 the Euxine, and the celebrated quarries of white marble in the 
 little island of Proconnesus, supplied an inexhaustible stock of 
 materials ready to be conveyed to the harbour of Byzantium. A 
 multitude of labourers and artificers urged the work with incessant 
 toil; but the impatience of Constantine soon discovered, that in 
 the decline of the arts, the skill as well as the number of his archi- 
 
 tects bore a very unequal proportion to the greatness of his designs. 
 Gibbon, Vol. 2, p. 14. 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 89 
 
 The impatience manifested by Constantine for the completion of the plans which he had 
 devised of rendering the city of his own creation, a rival in magnificence to Rome, soon rendered 
 apparent the dearth of talent required for that purpose, and gave rise to expedients whence the 
 architecture and ornament of Byzantium acquired the distinct features now to be referred to.* 
 This period in chronology (A.D. 328) offers to the inquiring reader much of interest beyond 
 the bare recital to which we are confined, namely, that it was marked by the erection of the 
 first Christian City, and the invention, or rather adaptation, of the first Christian Style; for to 
 
 that title the Byzantine has an undoubted claim. 
 
 & are here effectively assisted by the luminous note from Gibbon, 
 at the foot of the page, which conveys a vivid idea of the hetero- 
 geneous admixtures composing this style. Neither the buildings 
 or statuary of Rome itself appear to have suffered spoliation ; 
 though the Roman patricians being aware that attachment to the 
 emperor was most acceptably evinced by their personal residence 
 at Constantinople, much ornament of the portable kind soon 
 
 found its way thither, and contributed, in a limited degree, to 
 
 preservation of Roman modes of decoration. Articles in metal 
 of the first period succeeding this migration, exhibit the mixed style in which the Roman 
 manner appears to struggle for preponderance with that of Greece; and which has obtained 
 
 for it the appellation of Greco-Roman. 
 
 Antiquities of the Byzantine era are comparatively rare; in architecture its chief peculiarity 
 is the introduction of coupled arched windows; and in ornament, barbarous yet somewhat 
 elegant combinations of Asiatic and Grecian objects in elongated lines. The northern nations 
 imbibed an early partiality for this style ; and it prevailed at Moscow, and over the South- 
 Russian states; also in the maritime cities bordering upon the Mediterranean. A great deal 
 of the Saracenic ornament which exists, resembles the Byzantine ; both being probably derived 
 from the ancient manner prevalent in the East. In the lamps, and other domestic objects of 
 Byzantium, which bear the peculiar symbol of Christian worship, a greater approach to the 
 
 Greek taste may be discovered. 
 
 We now arrive at a period when the spread of Christianity induced more natural principles 
 
 of embellishment, in which symbolical allusions, with the single exception just mentioned,} were 
 
 * The buildings of the new city were erected by such architects + So singular are some of the transitions in this world, and so 
 as the reign of Constantine could afford; but they were decorated opposite the sentiments of man in different periods of society, that 
 by the hands of the most celebrated masters of the age of Pericles what is universally esteemed at one time, is detested and despised 
 and Alexander. To revive the genius of Phidias and Lysippus, at another. Such was the case with the cross: for ages, and in 
 surpassed indeed the power of the Roman emperor; but the im- many countries, it had continued to excite dread and terror; but 
 symbol of faith, 
 
 mortal productions which they had bequeathed to posterity were after Constantine the Great had adopted it as 
 exposed, without defence, to the rapacious vanity ofa despot. By and sanctified it, his people soon began to adore what they had 
 Lis command, the cities of Greece and Asia were despoiled of their previously abhorred.—Briton on Ancient Crosses, p-2. 
 
 smost valuable omaments, The trophies of memorable wars, the 
 
 objects of religious veneration, the most finished statues of the + Constantine had already learned to despise the prejudices of 
 gods and heroes, of the sages and poets of ancient times, contri- his education and of his people, before he could erect, in the midst 
 puted to the splendid triumph of Constantinople ; and gave occa- of Rome, his own statue bearing a cross in its right hand, with an 
 sion to the remark of the historian Cedrenus, who observes with inscription which referred the victory of his arms, and the deliverance 
 come enthusiasm, that nothing seemed wanting except the souls of of Rome, to that salutary sign, the true symbol of force and cour: 
 theillustrious men whom these admirable monuments were intended The same symbol sanctified the arms of the soldiers of Constantin 
 to represent —Gibbon, Vol. 2, p. 14. the cross glittered on their helmets, was engraved on their shields, 
 
 BB 
 
 = 
 
90 TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 excluded; though subsequently, with the acquirement of temporal power by the bishops of 
 Rome, symbols, and the necessity of their use, were again interwoven with religious belief. 
 Th 
 
 selves—the balanced and the picturesque; to the latter, the free manner of the Byzantine 
 
 remark bears immediately upon the two great divisions into which all styles resolve them- 
 constitutes the first modern approach ; though the Hindostanee, as we have already seen, is 
 largely indebted to the same principle for its richness and variety. The connection of the 
 sister arts at given epochs, may also be mentioned, as proving that a corresponding feeling 
 pervaded the literature, architecture, and ornament of nations; thus the equability of classic 
 verse is in accordance with the balance of proportions and incidents of the styles of Greece and 
 Rome; while among others, where the picturesque manner prevailed, we observe a floridness 
 
 of diction enriching their verse, perfectly analogous to the modes of embellishment they adopted. 
 
 The style recognised under the various titles of the Arabian, the Saracenic, and the Moresque, 
 
 follows as our next subject in chronological order. This elaborate species of ornament. origi 
 nated with a people among whom the arts were in the rudest state, but whose quickness of 
 perception led them to adopt every refinement consistent with the religious code which stimulated 
 the extraordinary conquests they achieved.* We accordingly find, that no sooner had they 
 attained to settled dominion, than literature and science, as well as the arts, were extensively 
 cultivated; and that while the ancient empires were sinking into barbarism, the Arabians 
 became a medium for the preservation of the acquired knowledge which has descended to us 
 
 through them. 
 
 The ayersion entertained by the Arabians to every religious symbol of other nations, 
 ultimately gave rise to a style of architecture, as well as of ornament, peculiarly their own; 
 the use of the dome in building they seem, however, to have appropriated,-{- but combined with 
 new features; in which they seldom aimed at outward grandeur, but were always lavish of 
 interior decoration. Their ornament is based upon arrangements of geometrical figures, and 
 merits eulogium as affording the greatest facility for available compositions ; its principal feature, 
 the ¢nterlace, may be applied at the pleasure of the artist, by means of interchanges, to outlines 
 of every description obtained from the different kingdoms of nature,—the interwoven flower, 
 with all its grace and freedom; or the more terse combinations of the cube, the cone, or the 
 
 ellipse,t will produce varieties of this style; we find among its examples objects obtained from 
 
 was interwoven into their banners ; and the consecrated emblems ground, till the accession of the Sassanian dynasty spread it out 
 
 which adorned the person of the emperor himself, were distin- into domes for places and temples. The conquests of the Arabs 
 guished only by richer materials, and more exqu 
 
 e workmanship. again changed its form, and run it out into all the pyramidal undu- 
 Gibbon, 8v0. Vol. 2, p. 257. lations of the Saracenic arch. ‘Then appeared arcades, like avenues 
 of trees cut in stone, or elevated in fantastic b work ; and rich 
 
 * On a careful review of the most perfect remains of Arabian in varieties of Arabesque friezes, with cupolas raised high into the 
 architecture, and on comparing them with the best preserved air, without the aid of frames, or almost any scaffolding. The 
 specimens of other styles of ancient architecture, we may be jus- dome at Sultanea is one of the most perfect 
 
 specimens of this 
 tified in considering it as partaking chiefly of the Greco-Roman, superb Asiatic taste. Besides the lightness of its forms, the usual 
 or Byzantine, that is, of the style which prevailed in the lower paintings and gildin g which decorate their parts, give it an extremely 
 Greek empire, and of the Egyptian. ‘The former was adopted gay effect very different from the heavy S; 
 
 m arch of our ances- 
 when the Arabians conquered the Roman provinces in the East; tors, or the sober grace of the simple Gothic; both of which, in 
 and the latter on the subjugation of Egypt by Amru, under the our cathedrals, fill the spectator with gravity and awe.—Sir RK 
 Khilafat of Omar.—General History of the Arabs, by J.C. Murphy, Porter's Persia. 
 
 p. 287. 
 
 ¢ The ornaments, which in such rich profusion are scattered 
 + I do not think that the semicircle was used in Persia in edifices over the Moorish edifices, are not more distingui 
 until after the Macedonian invasion; it then generally gained variety, than by the singular delicacy 
 
 hed by their 
 of their execution; for 
 
91 
 
 TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 all these sources; the essential, being accuracy of scale in the application. It is remarkable 
 that the ornament familiarly termed the sey, is treated by Arabian artists upon the same prin- 
 ciples as by the Japanese and Chinese ; and by the Romans, in tessalates ; the last, in the best 
 
 manner, being probably the work of Greek artists. 
 
 Before quitting this short notice of the Arabian Style, we should mention the Stalactite 
 roofs which occur so frequently, and with such powerful effect ; and it is worthy of remark that 
 these examples are corroborative of the observations in a former page, on the use of perpen- 
 
 dicular and angular lines as auxiliaries to ornamental composition. 
 
 The principle of colouring pursued in all the Eastern, or picturesque styles, is of the most 
 The 
 brightest hue. 
 
 gorgeous description; further enriched by an unsparing use of the precious metals. 
 colours are of primary order, powerfully contrasted by intermediate tints of the 
 Arabian ornamental forms, as exemplified in capitals, vases, and mouldings, may be accommodated 
 to either Greek or Roman principles of design, but the finer specimens partake of the former 
 
 cl: The mosaics, for which this style is pre-eminent, are elaborate arrangements of the 
 
 circle, interlaced with the acute angle, and in plan bear a close resemblance to those adorning 
 
 the superfices of ancient Hindoo architecture. 
 
 Ingenious arguments have been adduced to support a derivation of the GOTHIC from the 
 Arabian Style ;* and considering that the period of the crusades gave opportunity to the mixed 
 European host united in that religious warfare, to observe the imposing effect of Saracenic orna- 
 ment, we may conclude that it tended to produce improvement in the manner of building and 
 
 xin of which cannot, however, have been other than rude 
 
 decoration of our ancestors ; the orig 
 
 imitation of the Roman ;+ for inyestigation renders it clear, that subsequently to the extinction of 
 the Roman power by the many uncivilized nations designated by the single appellation of Goths, 
 the conquerors, then equally strangers to the science of construction, and the ornamental arts, 
 collected, from what they saw, the rudiments of a Style which spread simultaneously to nearly 
 all the countries of Europe ; and prevailed until the progress of society, together with experience 
 and the examples to one of which we have alluded, induced the successive advances towards 
 
 perfection, terminating about the year 1500. 
 
 although painting and sculpture were odious to the first Moslems, 
 as tending to idolatry, yet subsequently, when civilization, litera- 
 ture, and the arts were introduced, both the Western and Eastern 
 Khalifs evaded, or violated with impunity, that principle of the 
 Mahometan law which proscribes every species of human repre- 
 sentation. At first the theologians called in the aid of geometry, 
 in which truth resides without any mixture of idolatry, as a sub- 
 
 stitute for pictorial delineation; that science was received as the 
 legal principle of design; and by its unerring rules, the orthodox 
 artists patiently traced those intricate lineal compartments and 
 
 chiligon mosaics, which adorn the palace of Alhamra. From the 
 
 same scruples originated that peculiar ornament, which, from the 
 Arabians, has been termed the Arabesque ; and in which no human 
 or animal figures appear ; the subjects painted or sculptured, con- 
 sisting wholly of imaginary plants, foliages, stalks, &.—Murphy, 
 General History of the Arabs, p. 291. 
 
 * Arabian architecture, which some eminent writers have con- 
 
 sidered as the parent of what is called the Gothic Style, is distin- 
 teristics :—1. By the crescent form 
 ry lightness and elevation of its 
 3. By the springing nerves, 
 
 guished by the following char 
 of its arches. 2. By the extraordina 
 
 almost infinite assemblage of columns. 
 or mouldings of the ogives, whether single or multiplied, that fix 
 the arches; which, descending upon the columns, either stop 
 there, or rest upon consoles, or trusses :—and 4, by the prodigi 
 quantity of ornaments, either in relief or in creuw, the composition 
 of which is extremely varied—Murphy, General History of the 
 Arabs, p. 209. 
 
 + As the Christian churches in Greece, Italy, and the East, 
 after the conversion of Constantine, resembled in form the Basi- 
 lic, which were’ also in many instances appropriated to the pur- 
 poses of public worship, there can be no doubt that the Saxons, 
 who derived their architectural skill, as well as their religion, from 
 Rome, imitated the sacred structures of that metropolis.—Britton, 
 Architectural Antiquities, Vol. 5, p. 119. 
 
92 TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 Declining further discussion upon the term itself, but inclined to admit at least the plausi- 
 bility of its being derived from the Italian word, Gottica, signifying that which is quaint or 
 grotesque, adopted by the architects of that country to designate Styles other than of classical 
 origin, we purposely avoid the various hypotheses proposed to solve the difficult problem of its 
 origin; the circumstance of the Style having established itself, as if by concert, in every Catholic 
 country, is sufficient to have excited enquiries and speculations of this nature,* but the question 
 at issue seems destined to remain involved among the obscure advances in practical knowledge 
 
 of our northern progenitors. 
 
 To revert to the tangible features implied by the term Gothic ;—it has been applied, and 
 with equal propriety, to the baronial fortress, and to the ecclesiastical edifice; for in either, of 
 contemporary date, the same peculiarities are found. In the early Saxon, simple if not rude 
 masses ; relieved by mouldings few and unpretending ; arches of three or more tiers, simple or 
 coupled, but without key-stones or groins ; and deeply indented on the facia and soffite of each 
 tier by patterns composed of the lozenge, the zig-zag, and crude imitations of leaves, but often 
 characteristic of the nature they are intended to represent. Animals and the human figure, in 
 quaint succession, were also introduced as decorative objects. In the capitals of columns, 
 evidently of Eastern derivation, the leaves or plants selected as models were of the simplest 
 order; many examples of this plain unpretending style still remain, highly interesting to the 
 antiquary, but of little value in application to modern purposes ; it is important, however, to 
 remark, that the more elaborate detail of later Styles was probably formed upon the interlace of 
 
 the Saxon arch, and consequent multiplication of its members. 
 
 |ORMAN GOTHIC, of which three distinct divisions are recognized, 
 
 lent itself so entirely to the purposes of ecclesiastical magnificence 
 
 throughout Papal Christendom, as almost to be identified with the 
 
 religion whose symbols it so profusely bore; and, in our own time, is 
 
 so well understood and easy of access, as to require little more than 
 
 its place in the chronology of Style. It is eminently a style of con- 
 
 struction, the ornamental details arising out of the objects they em- 
 
 bellish; its growth is perpendicular, the extreme points giving, by 
 
 * Nothing is more common than to hear professors, as well as 
 lovers of the art, expatiating upon the merits of the pure Gothic ; 
 and gravely endeavouring to separate it from those spurious and 
 
 ads 
 
 titious ornaments by which it has lately been debased ; but, 
 nevertheless, if we ask what they mean by pure Gothic, we can 
 
 receive no satisfactory ans 
 
 er ;—there are no rules—no propor- 
 tior 
 
 s—and, consequently, no definitions: but we are referred to 
 certain models of generally acknowledged excellence ; which models 
 are of two kinds, entirely differing from each other ; the one called 
 
 the castle, and the other the cathedral or monastic ; the one having 
 
 been employed in the fortresses, and the other in the churches and 
 convents of those nations, which divided the Roman empire, and 
 erected the states and kingdoms of modern Europe upon its ruins. 
 
 In tracing back these nations, however, to the countries from 
 which they came, and examining the arts, which they exercised 
 prior to their emigration, we can find no vestiges of either of these 
 
 kinds of architecture ; nor, indeed, of any architecture whatever ; 
 their fortresses having been mounds of earth, or piles of timber 
 
 driven into the ground, and sometimes clumsily framed together ; 
 and their temples, circles of massive stones, rude from the quarry. 
 It is, therefore, manifest that they either invented or adopted both 
 these styles of architecture after their settlement in the Roman 
 empire ; and, consequently, after they had become acquainted with 
 the buildings of those civilized nations which they subdued. 
 
 * * * * ee ee * * 
 
 That style of architecture, which we call cathedral, or monastic 
 , is manifestly a corruption of the sacred architecture of the 
 nd Romans, by a mixture of the Moorish or Saracenesque, 
 which is formed out of a combination of the Egyptian, Persian, 
 and Hindoo. It may be easily traced through all its variations, 
 from the church of Santa Sophia at Constantinople, and the 
 cathedral at Montreale, near Palermo, the one of the sixth, the 
 other of the twelfth century, down to the King’s Chapel, at Cam- 
 bridge, the last and most perfect of this kind of buildings ; and to 
 trace it accurately would be a most curious and interesting work.— 
 R.P. Knight, Principles of Taste, pp. 162—5. 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 93 
 
 their position, a pyramidal aspect to the whole fabric; the perfection of Gothic character 
 requiring, even in structures of square disposition, that the pyramidal feature should appear. 
 The scale of lights and shadows in Gothic ornament, are in three or more distinct divisions ; the 
 shadows being in long lines of intense black, mellowed by intermediate tints of shade, and 
 
 enriched by a profuse disposition of sparkling lights. The bevils of mouldings, in the best 
 
 manner, are supported by square undercuts; and every species of scientific arrangement, in 
 parabolic and elliptic curves, are found among the innumerable examples still existing of this 
 splendid Style; affording ample proofs of the skill and genius that directed the labours by 
 which these stupendous edifices were raised, and of taste in selection of the storied frieze, the 
 sculptured panel, the groupe, and the statue; which, whether singly or multiplied almost to 
 extravagance, were all rendered subservient to the same end; not to mention the buttress, the 
 corbel, and the canopy which decorated the walls; and the light spring of the groins, and florid 
 
 drips of the enriched roofs. 
 
 In the ornament, generally, of this Style, may be found a large range of botanical subjects, 
 in which the root, stem, leaf, flower, and fruit, is elegantly interwoven with the heraldic insignia 
 of personages immediately connected with the foundation. There are not wanting, also, many 
 examples of household furniture in this style of workmanship, which appears to have continued 
 in remote country districts, down to a late period; the manner of ornament eyincing that the 
 frame and its embellishment were executed by the same hand; or, in other words, that the 
 joiner of those days carved, however crudely, the ornament or legend handed down from remote 
 time. In addition we must mention the architectural style designated French timber Gothic, 
 which abounds in Normandy, the Netherlands, and, more or less, throughout France, and is 
 
 executed upon the same principles; the genius of the joiner enabling him to occupy, also, the 
 
 provinee of the carver. Of this class is the style of Francis I. from its more humble adaptations, 
 to the imposing and really beautiful erections, embellished by subjects of classical allusion ; 
 some of the finest specimens of the Cinque Cento, of French execution, adorn the elaborate 
 timber work of this reign, among which, in sculpture, the performances of Philibert de L’Orme, 
 
 are unrivalled. 
 
 The ELIZABETHAN Style, coeval with the Reformation, may with propriety be desig- 
 nated the Style of Protestantism, and we heg to call the attention of our readers to some remark- 
 able chronological facts connected with it. The indiscreet zeal that induced a crusade against 
 altar-pieces and shrines, and which followed the abolition of some of the essential forms of Papal 
 worship, left cathedrals and churches destitute of appendages necessary to sacramental service ; 
 nor was any provision made for the restitution of communion tables or altars until the second 
 year of Edward VI., at which time the Elizabethan Style was fully established. It should seem that 
 both artists and artisans had, even at this early period of the change, lost in their practice the 
 Gothic manner; which had endured until the destruction of monastic institutions effected by 
 Henry VIII. The religious sentiment and mode of worship, of which the sermon now formed 
 so prominent a part, required also that the pulpit, heretofore of minor importance, should, with 
 the addition of a reading desk, be placed in the nave, or chancel ; and we accordingly find that 
 this peculiar feature of the Protestant church, bears in its Style of ornament the date of its 
 erection. It is also in point, that the influence which the Romish hierarchy had, in originating 
 and perfecting the Gothic, was henceforth transferred to the leaders of the reformed faith, and 
 the Style which they opposed to it; domestic architecture following, as it had always done, the 
 
 models furnished in religious edifices and their decorations. 
 cc 
 
94 TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 The Elizabethan Style is of masculine character, vigorously drawn; its mouldings and 
 
 details being essentially of Roman origin. The sculptures and carvings profusely introduced 
 are, occasionally, not wanting in grace and elegance. There are found among the subjects of 
 its adaptation, many of those admired in the Cinque Cento, to which it bears in some of its 
 arrangements a rude resemblance ; but among the fanciful attempts to produce novelty during 
 the single century of its existence, and extension to most of the Protestant states, evident 
 
 transcripts of objects familiar to the Gothic may be detected. Its adaptation to domestic 
 
 furniture, and the simplicity of effect easily produced renders it valuable for this purpose; early 
 
 advantage was therefore taken of it by workers in metals, and more or less continued by them 
 
 down to a late period, when the improvement in fixe castings, induced more elaborate Styles of 
 ornature. The joiner and carver have been equally aware of its value for interior finishings, 
 and of their united efforts, splendid examples remain of the hail and stairease, carried out in a 
 manner peculiar to Elizabethan architecture, and well adapted to the character and comfort of 
 
 an English mansion. We have endeavoured to furnish in our plates numerous varieties, which 
 
 mation of this National 
 
 sufficiently evince how much may yet be done to secure the permanent e 
 
 Style, by ornamental combinations, useful to most branches of manufacture. 
 
 T will now be proper to allude to the Styles of the Renatssance, and 
 
 the Cinque Cento, purposely retaining the French and Italian terms 
 
 which so aptly designate the time when they flourished. Upon the 
 
 first, limited chiefly to the higher efforts of art, we need only observe 
 that it laid the foundation for a better class of design, but was little 
 more than sheer copy of classical works; since it evinced more of 
 
 | taste in selection than of original thought. We therefore at once 
 
 proceed to the Styles of Italy, Germany, and France, which took their 
 rise in the fifteenth century, and quickly influenced arts and manufactures of every description. 
 Among the causes tending to spread throughout Europe a florid elegance of design, the art of 
 
 printing stands unrivalled; and which at once introducing to all classes of society both the 
 
 treasures of Sacred Writ and those of classic lore, furnished subjects and a stimulus to the 
 artist; who, rejecting the monkish legends of darker ages, treated Scripture history with 
 greater adherence to truth; or, influenced by the revolution in taste, spread over the festive 
 
 cup and tapestried walls of the time, the fanciful allegories of profane invention. 
 
 Tn the Cinque Cento may be discovered, in subject and manner, all the principles that have 
 influenced improvement in design, through succeeding ages down to the present day. The 
 superiority of the works of that period, arising from a union of inventive and mechanical talent 
 in the artist, which qualities were exercised together until the introduction of stucco work in 
 France, at the latter part of the reign of Louis XIV., when the efforts of the chisel were super- 
 
 seded by the cheaper process of the mould. 
 
 The discovery of the baths of Titus, in the fifteenth century, became another cause of 
 sed. 
 
 improvement, by inviting attention to the flowing disposition of scroll work, actually pract 
 by the Romans, but to which the application of the term “ Arabesque,” is manifestly erroneous ; 
 the true Arabian ornament being of a date at least six hundred years later. Of this description 
 of “Decor,” the labours of RAPHAEL in the Vatican, thence called Raphaelesque, combine 
 
 elegance of form and colour, with an agreeable selection of objects, all of which were by the 
 
TRACINGS OF STYLE. 95 
 
 capacious mind and powerful pencil of this master, faithfully blended in tasteful arrangements : 
 since his time, this Style has continued a favourite mode of interior decoration; offering great 
 facilities to every branch of that department of art, and more especially acceptable from the 
 prevalence of natural objects in its composition. 
 
 Among the fanciful varieties of a subsequent period, the Batavian took its rise from a Style 
 of carving imported by the Dutch East India Company from Java; many of its features present 
 most incongruous combinations, but to the draughtsman, seeking novelty, offers many effective 
 points as motives for composition. The Dutch pottery, commonly called “ Delft-ware,” abounds 
 in this kind of ornament, of which, in interior carved work, the Stadthouse at Amsterdam is a 
 
 celebrated specimen. 
 
 About the same time appeared in Germany a mathematical Style, (German Gothic), of 
 which we have given a plate; it appears to have been founded upon the science of fortification, 
 then so much cultivated, and which, under Vauban, attained a zenith of excellence; we find 
 among the ebony, and other hard-wood cabinets, for which this period was famed, elaborate 
 workmanship in joinery and carving, consisting principally of panels formed of obtuse and salient 
 
 angles, evidently allusive to the military art. 
 
 The long minority of Louis Quatorze, passed under the tutelage of Anne of Austria, 
 and the sumptuous churchman Mazarine, both liberal patrons of the arts, encouraged in the 
 young monarch those notions of splendour to which his mind naturally inclined. The adulation 
 so freely offered to the king by all classes, whom the etiquette of the times permitted to approach 
 his person, seems at a very early date to have brought into action the luxurious prepossessions, 
 if not the egotism, which rendered him equally ready to receive, as the architects of the day 
 were to offer, inventions ministering to these points of character. The most elaborate manner 
 of ancient architecture proving inadequate to the gratification of an excited and aspiring taste, 
 stimulated the genius of Le Pautre, who grafting the productions of a prolific imagination upon 
 the majestic examples of the Augustan age, achieved that highly enriched manner, which has in 
 later times been properly termed the Style of flattery. 
 
 So long as this great architect and artist influenced the views of Louis XIV., the deco- 
 rations of the royal residences maintained chastity of manner; and the compositions, although 
 unique, were not only rich but elegant in their detail. The principles of this Style appear to 
 consist in carrying up the structure, beyond the usual architecture of the saloon, into a gorgeous 
 display of ornament, even to the centre of the ceilings; and, as it were, considering the 
 chandelier that illuminated the apartment but as an appendage of the ordonnance; the term en 
 suite, was here strictly adhered to, all the departments of construction and embellishment being 
 united in fulfilling the intentions of the projector; whose views embraced harmony of interior 
 decoration with the architectural ornament of the edifice, and extended to the terrace, with its 
 
 vases and groups, the parterre, the bosquet, and the fountain. 
 
 The artists who successively directed the decorative works of the French court from this 
 time, to the last years of Louis XV., Messonier, Cuvillier, Mansard, and onward to Watteau, with 
 the single exception of St. Germaine whose compositions as a goldsmith possess great merit, 
 seem to have been actuated by caprice and the mere pursuit of novelty, and as though imagina- 
 
96 TRACINGS OF STYLE. 
 
 tion were the only power of mind whose authority they cared to acknowledge; this abandon- 
 ment of the principles of design is evident in the various Styles of French Baroque, as le Rocaille, 
 
 le Coquillage, le Chinoise, and other ephemera of passing fashion. 
 
 The leaders of the French revolution, together with their notions of the ancient republics, 
 encouraged the introduction of ornament partaking both of the Grecian and Roman manner ; 
 
 this modern Style was applied with partial success to furniture and interior decoration ; and 
 
 o 
 
 in bronzes and other accessories to great advantage ; but is pleasing only from the presence of 
 
 beautiful outline and symmetry of proportion, the too liberal use of symbolical allusion being 
 
 offens 
 
 e to the better feelings of refined taste, which happily prevail in the present century. 
 
 Independent of the great features of Style, existing in the history or presented in the 
 
 2s his own 
 
 remains of nations and empires, it may be assumed that every individual possess 
 peculiarity of manner, affording the same continual modification observed throughout the variety 
 of nature; which, adapting her economy to position and climate, thereby effects differences of 
 Style. To suggest that this personal Style, if we may be allowed the expression, be not per- 
 mitted to degenerate into mannerism, is perhaps the most valuable precept we can inculcate ; 
 manner is the healthy vigour of a well informed mind, manfully eliciting its own conceptions ; 
 
 mannerism, the result of indolence or subserviency. 
 
 Tn reyiewing the succession of Styles it is seen that religion, operating upon the senses and 
 feelings of mankind, has been the actuating cause of their origin; and that superstition dictated the 
 various symbols interwoven with the decorations of worship, which subsequently became engrafted 
 upon the domestic tastes and usages of the people. The progress of Christianity has, in a great 
 measure, broken through these trammels, and opened an enlarged sphere to the imagination 
 and genius of the enlightened mind; every object possessing any degree of natural truth 
 being now available in composition. The use of Style in modern adaptations, refers, therefore, 
 to the linear principles of its composition, and these being kept in view, we submit that the 
 
 prerogative of selection is unlimited; and, as the 33set embellishes his verse 
 with allusions to by-gone scenes, through all the range of nature 
 and of time, so may the imagination of the Artist 
 embody new inventions from among 
 the accumulated treasures of 
 ancient and mopern 
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