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EXHIBITION, CENTENNIAL. 



pottery of strange forms and ornaments, and 

 some little terra-aotta figures of country-folk, 

 were curious features. There was a good ex- 

 hibit of printing materials from the Koyal 

 Typographic Establishment, and a large collec- 

 tion of minerals. 



The Spanish exhibition was one of engross- 

 ing interest, as revealing styles of ornamen- 

 tation and workmanship strikingly different 

 from those of the countries whose work is 

 better known to us. The tapestries, brocades, 

 laces, velvets, shawls, scarfs, cotton and woolen 

 dress-goods, the glassware, pottery, and por- 

 celain tiles, all showed forms, colors, and 

 devices, in a fine but unfamiliar taste. The 

 metal-work, silver and gold and iron inlaid 

 with gold, the copies of ancient armor and 

 utensils, ornamented in the Moorish manner, 

 were beautiful beyond compare. The exhibit 

 represented all the industrial activity and pro- 

 ductivity of the country. 



The Turkish exhibition was varied and fine, 

 including, notably, gorgeous embroidery, fine 

 linen and woolen fabrics, curious pottery and 

 pipes, attar of roses, Oriental floor-cloths, and 

 interesting ancient armor. 



In the Egyptian court the chief groups were 

 the magnificent embroideries, the goldsmiths' 

 work and brazen salvers, engraved with beau- 

 tiful arabesques, fine inlaid cabinet-work, and 

 the displays of silk and cotton, and some fine 

 examples of ancient Saracenic art. There 

 were magnificent caparisons, with velvet hang- 

 ings, embroidered with gold-thread and mount- 

 ed with gold. The furniture was, much of it, 

 of ebony, inlaid with ivory and mother-of- 

 pearl. Many articles of daily use were orna- 

 mented with precious stones and metals. The 

 silken and embroidered stuffs were gorgeous 

 beyond description. Table-ware of solid gold, 

 with beautiful engraved or open-work ara- 

 besques, and a good display of porcelain, were 

 also noticeable. The rugs and carpets were 

 also fine. The varieties of silk-cocoons and of 

 cottons were prominent exhibits, and the other 

 products of the soil were well represented. 



The Bey of Tunis displayed a collection of 

 arms, beautifully engraved, inlaid, and jeweled, 

 jewelry and silversmiths' work, and rich gold- 

 thread embroideries, and decorated trappings. 



The Orange Free State in South Africa, with 

 enterprising spirit, sent a selection of its prod- 

 ucts, comprising wool, fine wheat and corn, the 

 singular grain called Kaffre corn, coal, dried 

 fruit, hides of the springbok and jackal-skins, 

 whips of rhinoceros-hide, the curious cream- 

 of-tartar plant, ivory, diamonds, and stuffed 

 birds. 



The Hawaiian kingdom was represented by 

 sugar, coffee, corals, and shells, handsomely 

 marked woods, strange textile fibres, stuffed 

 birds, and the contribution of the Queen, 

 fans, feather-work, and curious articles of na- 

 tive use. 



Probably no national exhibit was so much 

 visited and wondered at as the Japanese ; cer- 



tainly none represented more manual labor 

 and skill and artistic invention. The promi- 

 nent specialties in this exhibition were the 

 bronzes, the porcelain, the lacquered-ware, 

 and the pictorial screens ; yet every other in- 

 dustry exhibited is peculiarly Japanese, either 

 in its mechanical method or in the artistic 

 treatment which this aesthetic people bestow 

 upon every product of their skill. The rare 

 and costly ancient bronzes and porcelain vases 

 were fewer than at the Vienna Exposition; 

 yet the collection of vases was a large one of 

 entrancing richness and variety, and the in- 

 finity of decorative devices would furnish 

 study for a longer time than the whole period 

 of the Exhibition. Some of the Japanese 

 bronzes are cast entire in the moulds ; and in 

 others the ornaments are worked out with 

 chisels and polishing-instruments. A large 

 number of them were inlaid with metals, 

 which is done in two manners: by incising 

 the design and filling up the hollow with the 

 metallic inlay, or by filing, and then beating the 

 gold or silver into the roughened surface. A 

 peculiar style of work called mokn-me is pro- 

 duced by soldering plates of several different 

 metals together, chiefly gold, silver, copper, 

 and a dark-blue amalgam, and then ham- 

 mering, rolling, and working over the mass, 

 and finally beating it out into a sheet, thus 

 producing a beautiful variegated surface of 

 damascened appearance. The grotesque plays 

 the chief part in Japanese decoration. On a 

 great number of the vases was seen the Jap- 

 anese dragon, and among the ornaments were 

 grotesque figures of birds, beasts, and human 

 beings, and also many wondrously naturalistic 

 representations of animal life. Some of the 

 artists reveled in ludicrous caricatures of popu- 

 lar and official manners. On many of them 

 gold or silver bronze was combined, some- 

 times in raised figures worked out in high- 

 relief, and sometimes inlaid in delicate trace- 

 ries, with the darker metal, which in the finest 

 examples was of a deep steel color. On the 

 Japanese porcelain was lavished a wealth of 

 ornamentation not less prodigal. Noteworthy 

 were the examples of Kaga ware, with scarlet 

 or green ground and gold ornamentation of 

 exceeding brilliancy ; the white Yokohama 

 ware, delicately ornamented in gold and col- 

 ors ; the Banko ware, with colors running 

 through the material ; the large pair of vases 

 with raised dragons in gold and finely-painted 

 landscapes on a blue-and-white ground, and a 

 collection of grotesque figures satirizing Japa- 

 nese manners sent from Tokio. In lacquer- 

 work a wide ratige of articles was exhibited. 

 The ancient pieces are the best in color and 

 workmanship, of which class a wonderful 

 cabinet, three hundred and fifty years old, 

 was the finest specimen. The art of lacquer- 

 ing is generally practised throughout the em- 

 pire, but in the greatest perfection in Tokio 

 and Kiyoto. The slightly-raised figures in 

 lacquer-ware are either carved in the founda- 



