66 Conversational Meeting. 



men bore testimony to the industry and taste with which the paintings 

 are executed. Two Terra Cottas moulded in common tile-clay, and 

 intended for holding flowers ; — both very pretty examples of the 

 same union of taste and economy already noticed. Four specimens 

 of enamelled ware, another cheap and beautiful invention, applicable 

 to a variety of purposes, such as plates, dishes, and other articles 

 made of earthenware. The figures are moulded in intaglio instead 

 of in has relief \ and the mould may be wrought by any man who can 

 make bricks and tiles, and with equal ease and expedition. When 

 the cast is hardened, it is covered with a coat of enamel or varnish 

 in the usual way ; and the lowest lines or hollows of the intaglio 

 being designed to throw up the shaded parts of the picture, they 

 receive the thickest coating of varnish, while the more elevated 

 lines take on the least, and the mixture of light and shade thus pro- 

 duced is so well managed as to give the picture all the prominence to 

 the eye of has relief. Amongst the more finished and valuable speci- 

 mens of porcelain manufacture was the Adelaide Vase, painted in 

 enamel, in imitation of middle-age art, the painting, as in a former 

 instance, being done with the pencil. There was also a slab of lava, 

 enamelled and painted in a beautiful manner. It is stated that slabs 

 of this seemingly" impracticable material are now used in Paris for 

 the purpose of painting on their enamelled surface the names of the 

 streets. They are thus rendered impervious to atmospheric influence, 

 and are considered indestructible. Among the other casts in metal 

 were part of a bronze architrave of the door of the church of the 

 Madeleine at Paris, and which cost .£14 ; and casts of ornamented 

 outer plates of locks, in iron and brass, cleverly designed and moulded ; 

 besides a variety of bronze figures, &c. Some ingenious specimens 

 were also shown of carving in leather, in imitation of casting ; and 

 specimens of the ornamental flooring used in the houses in France, 

 where they have no carpets. But the French are rapidly acquiring 

 a taste for this domestic luxury, and have fairly commenced the 

 manufacture of carpeting, which promises soon to become an item of 

 great importance in the trade of the country. Considerable attention 

 was paid to a specimen of their carpeting exhibited in the room, and 

 which exceeded ours as much in the beauty of the pattern, as it fell 

 short of the British manufacture in the fineness of the fabric. In like 

 manner, the white damask table-cloth was unknown in France eight 

 years ago, but is now both manufactured and used in the country, and 

 a specimen exhibited on the present occasion evinced still greater 

 progress than in the case of the carpet manufacture. But, however 

 deficient the French may be in the production of these articles, as 

 compared with our own manufactures, the profuse display of gorgeous 

 damask silk, from the factories of Tours and Lyons, must have chal- 

 lenged universal admiration by the superiority of their fabric and 

 designs. Some of the richest effects were brought out in these 



