APPLICATIONS OF THE A1IT. 



tables, panels of doors and window-shutters, tiles for flooring and 

 walls, terra-cotta for vases and garden pots, are among the many 

 productions of this art. 



Encaustic tiles for ornamental flooring merit especial notice. 

 This branch of the earthenware manufacture has recently acquired 

 considerable importance, and an export business of some extent 

 has been already established in it. Large quantities of this article 

 are now exported to the United States and the colonies, as well as 

 to certain parts of Europe. The palace of the Sultan at Constan- 

 tinople is paved with this tiling, as are also the House of Lords, 

 Osborne House, and St. George's Hall, Liverpool. This flooring 

 has got into very general use in churches, private mansions, con- 

 servatories, &c. It is as durable as marble, less liable to stains, 

 and can be decorated with any design to suit the taste of the 

 purchaser. 



As a specimen of pottery on a large scale, the figure of Galatea, 

 seven feet high, is deserving of attention. This claims to be 

 the largest perfect object in pottery which has yet been produced 

 in a single piece. Attempts are, we understand, being made, 

 with some probability of success, to produce it in statuary 

 porcelain. 



Among the ornamental and merely artistic applications of this 

 art, we must not omit to notice the copies of paintings, often 

 upon a very large scale, made in enamel colours upon slabs of 

 porcelain. These beautiful productions of the ceramic art proceed 

 almost exclusively from the national manufactories of France and 

 Saxony. 



The portraits of the Queen and Prince Albert, which were 

 exhibited in the great aisle of the Crystal Palace, are fine 

 specimens of the largest porcelain paintings which have been pro- 

 duced at the Sevres manufactory. These are half-length portraits 

 of the size of life, each painted on a single slab of porcelain. They 

 are copies of the well-known portraits by Winterhalter, and 

 were executed by order of Louis Philippe, and presented to her 

 Majesty. These works were commenced before the revolution of 

 1848, but not finished until after that event. Louis Philippe 

 claimed them as his private property, and they were surrendered 

 to him by the Ptepublican Government; but the portrait of 

 Prince Albert had met with an accident, by which it was broken. 

 Louis Philippe desired to have another made, but the Queen 

 would not hear of this expense being incurred ; and the fracture 

 being repaired at Sevres, the portraits were sent to England and 

 delivered to her Majesty. The portrait of her Majesty is by 

 A. Ducluzeau, and that of Prince Albert by A. Bezanget. 



Among the splendid collections of paintings and vases exhibited 



175 



