174 



NATUEE AND AET COMBINED.— COMMON EEENS AND 

 PLASTEE VASES. 



Poob Keats, in hi3 admiration for the 1 where art abounds in all its classic purity, 



beautiful, says, — 



" A thing of beauty is a joy for ever : 

 Its loveliness increases ; it will never 

 Pass into nothingness, but still will keep 

 A bower quiet for us, and a sleep 

 Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet 

 breathing." 



Those whose tastes and feelings are 

 similar to that younp; and much-lamented 

 poet's, will at once feel the truth of these 

 lines, and it is to such, who look upon the 

 beauties of nature and art with admiration 

 and appreciate them aa they deserve, that 

 this slight attempt is made to add a degree 

 of pleasure and amusement to all who de- 

 light to turn aside from the toil and drud- 

 gery of business, and refresh themselves 

 with Nature's ever-varying and peculiar 

 charms. 



To those whose longings for the beauti- 

 ful are in a measure curbed by their 

 limited means, the following hints perhaps 

 will not be unacceptable, and serve to 

 show at what little cost many things suit- 

 able for adorning our gardens and rooms 

 can be obtained. 



We all recollect from childhood the 

 periodical appearance of those dark and 

 swarthy visitors from Italy, who, with 

 their large boards of plaster figures and 

 elegantly-designed vases, have delighted 

 us with their chaste appearance, and asto- 

 nished us with the beauty of their outline. 

 It is with these men we have to deal (or, 

 rather, the better class of them), not ex- 

 actly iu the streets, but at their humble 

 abodes, where, amidst their numberless 

 moulds and casts, ample choice is afforded 

 of selecting patterns most to our taste and 

 in keeping with the places they are in- 

 tended to occupy. It will be found exceed- 

 ingly interesting to watch the process of 

 modelling, the subjects being generally 

 chosen from works of art by eminent Italian 

 masters ; and the great civility and respect 

 the; 1 men show to any one who takes an 

 interest in their work, makes a visit to 

 such a place — -despite the very humble 

 quarter — a most agreeable one. They will 

 be pleased to converse with you in their 

 broken English, and, though generally men 

 of little education, they have a quick per- 

 ception of the beautiful. They will delight 

 to tell you of their native city, Lucca (from 

 which place they invariably come), and of 

 the treasures of that glorious city, Florence, 



and of which Rogers says,- 



" Of all the fairest cities of the ep.rth 

 None is so fair as Florence. 'Tis a gem 

 Of purest ray ; ****** Search within, 

 Without; all is enchantment ! "Via the past 

 Contending with the present; and in turn 

 Eich has the mastery." 



But it is advisable for several reasons to 

 visit these men at their work, as you can 

 then superintend and explain many things, 

 in the moulding of vases especially, which, 

 if cast for ornament alone, would be suf- 

 ficient, but for any horticultural purpose, 

 would be quite useless, through the ab- 

 sence of drainage. But this defect i3 

 easily remedied by inserting a piece of 

 metal piping through the pedestal, which 

 has the double advantage of giving strength 

 to the vase and carrying away the super- 

 fluous water. Zino p : ping will be found 

 to answer better than iron, as it does not 

 rust and discolour the plaster, several 

 yards of which may be obtained for a few 

 pence at any ironmonger's. 



It will, no doubt, occur to the reader 

 that the material of which these things 

 are made is of such a perishable nature as 

 to render it unfit for the purpose above- 

 mentioned. The composition certainly is 

 of a more fragile nature than could be 

 wished, but this obstacle also can, in a 

 great measure, be overcome by subjecting 

 the vase, when quite dry, to repeated coat- 

 ings of boiled linseed oil, the effect of 

 which will cause the plaster to become 

 considerably hardened, and will also form 

 a good foundation for painting. The 

 plaster having absorbed the oil and be- 

 come tolerably dry, the paint should be 

 applied, using it as thinly as possible, care 

 being taken to free the brush of all lumpy 

 matter which adheres to the edge of the 

 paint-pot, and becomes very troublesome 

 in painting the finer parts of the mould- 

 ing. The lightest shade of stone colour 

 is best suited for the purpose, as it con- 

 trasts better with the bright green foliage. 

 It is preferable to place the plant in an 

 ordinary flower-pot, suited to the shape of 

 the vase ; occasionally a propagating pan 

 will be of more convenient form, as is the 

 case in the present illustration, which is 

 a copy of a plaster vase prepared in the 

 way already described, and filled with 

 Lycopodium denticulatum, a small speci- 

 men of the common lady fern in the 



