MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 75 



painting upon canvass, or find employment as finishers of the photographic 

 miniatures. To this, indeed, is owing, in a large measure, the satisfaction 

 which the photographs give, for something of the value of the old miniature 

 in colors is retained where the work is skilfully done, and the inevitable 

 faults of the instrument are, in some degree, corrected. The following 

 historical sketch of the art, which seems thus to be going out, and of enamel 

 painting, which photography is also in some degree supplanting, is instruc- 

 tive and entertaining. 



Miniature painting, since the invention of printing superseded the art of 

 the calligrapher and illuminator, has been confined principally to portrai- 

 ture, and the ancient vellum has been discarded for ivory and enamel. Ivory 

 is preferred for the soft semi-transparency of its texture, which communi- 

 cates a peculiar delicacy to the colors, especially the carnations or flesh tints. 

 The ivory being cut in thin sheets, i-equires however, on account of this 

 property, something perfectly white and not liable to tarnish, at the back, 

 to serve as a foil; otherwise the effect of the painting might be quite de- 

 stroyed by the darkness of the surface behind showing through. Ivory and 

 enamel being quite smooth, and without textui'e or absorbency, it is impos- 

 sible to spread a flat tint. With the most dextrous handling, a little heap 

 of color will collect where the brush first touches or leaves the surface, and 

 the intervening space, which it may have been intended to cover with an 

 even " wash," will present something of the irregularity of a flow of water 

 on a greasy plate or polished table. Hence it becomes necessary to fill up 

 the interstices of these irregularities with hatchings and stipplings. The 

 point and steel scraper are both used, to more rapidly procure the desired 

 gradation, as well as to obtain mechanical regularity in the stippling, which 

 has been much sought for, particularly by French artists. It is true that the 

 labor thus involved may be avoided in certain parts by the use of body- 

 colors that is to say, colors rendered opaque by the addition of white. 

 But body-color washes, from their unmanageable nature on ivory, can only 

 be used in portions which can be covered at once, or do not require much 

 finish, such as backgrounds and draperies; and here the surface of the 

 ivory is of course sacrificed. Body-color applied in this way will give an 

 even, flat gradation in a background, and impart a cloth-like effect to the 

 representation of the modern male costume; but from the difficulty of calcu- 

 lating when "wet" the difference of tone the body-color will assume when 

 dry, it is useless for flesh painting, if spread in coats so as to cover the ivory. 

 Opaque and semi-opaque pigments, of earthy and mineral extraction, were, 

 we know, used in the flesh by the ancient painters on vellum; but then they 

 were lightly stippled, not loaded; and such pigments may be worked trans- 

 parently in the same way on ivory, though the modern miniature painters 

 prefer the more transparent colors. Where body-color, therefore, is laid on 

 in certain parts, so as to cover the surface, and the ivory shows through in 

 other portions, the work can scarcely be harmonious. For this reason the 

 use of body-colors, which were extensively and are still employed by French 

 miniature painters, has been discontinued by the English artists of the pres- 

 ent century. Gum-water is the only vehicle besides simple water employed 

 with the transparent or body colors. 



The large size of modern miniatures may excite some curiosity as to how 

 a sheet of ivory can be obtained so much larger than the diameter of the 

 largest elephant's tusk, especially when it is known that the sheet is not 

 joined, as might be supposed. The tusk is simply sawn circularly in other 



