ON OAKDKN DKSIC.N (1KNF.KAI.LY. 



1 17 



Of sculptured ornament set up in gardens, the shaft of (lie sundial belongs most typically to the 

 pleasure grounds ot the British Isles, and it is among those of pillar or baluster form that \ve find the most 

 satisfactory examples as garden ornaments. The eighteenth century gave us some admirable ornaments 

 in lead, a mall-rial better suited for our garden sculpture than stone or marble. There is a well-known 

 figure -for it occurs in several gardens of a kneeling black slave supporting a table bearing a sundhil. 

 These figures belong to a phase of ornament of a certain date, originally Italian, and for the mo&amp;gt;t part 



Venetian, lor in Venice the blackamoor as a subject for decoration was overdone. 



u- gardens &amp;lt;&amp;gt;&amp;lt; 



Melbourne in Derby shin- are rich in lead sculpture ol a line type ; Powis Castle, too, has some fjood examples 

 ol the French classical-pastoral type. There are also remarkably line leaden vases. A large one is at 

 Melbourne; others at Hampton Court and elsewhere. Sculpture-, in &amp;gt;toiie and marble are in many ot 

 our larger gardens much of it brought from Italy. In the Renaissance gardens, the architectural 

 inches in which main of the figures stood were often in Kngland replaced by niches cut in yew hedge-.. 

 This has an excellent effect, but has the drawback that the niche, from inaccurate clipping, often geN 

 out ol shape and proportion. 



Tile orangeries tor the winter housing ol tender plants in tubs were usually of good design and 

 took their pla e among the ornamental features of the eighteenth century gardens. The tubs themselves 

 of round or square- pattern, were probably painted of the pleasant, rather light green that has become 

 traditional in France. They are often disfigured in our gardens by being painted a crude raw green colour 

 and the hoops coloured black, a quite needless ugliness. A quiet green of rather neutral tone all over 

 is the best in Kngland, care being taken to keep the green lower in tone than any foliage that is likely 1&quot; 

 conn- near it. A matter ol proportion that is very often overlooked is the relation in size between the tub 

 or vase and the plant that is to grow in it. The plant is hardly ever large enough. No doubt it i-. difficult 

 to get them rightly adjusted, but it is a matter about which it is well to take pains. 



Stone seats ol good design are not olten seen in Knghsh gardens, but there are good examples at 

 Dauby and llackwood. The garden temple or pavilion is only suitable in large places of classical 

 design. A fine one occurs in the Palladian Bridge at Prior Park, near Bath. There is grave risk in the 

 over-doing ot decorative accessories. Many a garden of formal design is spoilt by a multiplicity and 

 variety ol ornament, tor there is danger in the employment of treatment that embrace-, the use of 

 geometrical lorm and yet lacks unity and cohesion. And there are other gardens of this class in our 

 country whose ellect is chilling and unsympathetic. The design may be good, the details correct, and yet 

 the thing that is most important is wanting. You have the body without the soul. 



( ii:i&amp;lt;i KUKI JKKYI.I.. 



163. A GARDEN SKAT BY MR. LUTYEXS. 



