1819.1 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



353 



THE FRENCH EXPOSITION. 



( Tl'ith an Engrav'wg, Plate XXI.) 



We have thouijht it rij^ht to give Mr. Digbv Wvatt's Report, 

 and the plan of the Palace of Industry, as our readers will thereby 

 see the kind of accommodation which will he provided in Hyde 

 Park in 1S51. The Report tliey will read with interest, as it is 

 from the pen of a man who well understood and carried out the 

 mission he had undertaken. 



From what we saw at Paris, we feel quite sure no building like 

 the one there, will be big enough for our Exhibition, whicli will 

 require thrice the room. The ground taken up at our agricultural 

 shows for tools and stock is great enough; and then there is all 

 that is wanted for our mines, manufactures, and colonies, besides 

 what may come from ahi-oad. A^ hether we look to the resources 

 of England or the situation of London, as compared with those of 

 France and Paris, we shall see enough to show how much greater 

 are our requirements. The population of London is twice that 

 of Paris London will, by railway', receive productions from the 

 whole land between Plymouth and Aberdeen; by her river and 

 l>y canals from towns not reached by railway; and \>y sea from all 

 the neighbouring lands. Bulky machinery can most readily be 

 brought to London; and, indeed, it is mor? easy to get to London 

 from the whole shore of France between Bayonne and Dunkirk, 

 than to get to Paris. Bordeaux, Nantes, Rouen, and Havre, and 

 the towns on their rivers, will ship straight for London. By our 

 steamers, the hundreds of towns on the Mediterranean, the Atlan- 

 tic, and the Nortli and the East Seas, will send tlieir productions; 

 — and not only these, but every town on the ship-bearing rivers of 

 Europe, be it on the head of the Danube or among the mountains 

 of Bohemia. From the wide Atlantic our brothers will send to us; 

 from the furthest East, wherever the daring of the English mind 

 can reach, — from the shores of America, Southern Asia, and Aus- 

 tralia, on which our steamboats daily ply, will produce be sent to 

 London, for this town has means of communication which all 

 France even does not possess. 



A great building must therefore be raised, worthy of England, 

 who has called the world to this meeting, and worthy of those who 

 will answer to the call. It may, perhaps, be still worthy of con- 

 sideration which of the Parks should be chosen. Hyde Park has 

 a good field, and is between two great streets and in the neighbour- 

 hood of handsome buildings. The nearest canal, the Grosvenor 

 Canal, is within half-a-mile of the walls. The Regent's Park is, 

 however, likewise in a handsome quarter, and has ground enough, 

 while it has the Regent's Canal i-unning through it on the north, 

 and is also near the North-Western and Great Western Rail- 

 ways. 



A Report on the Elerenth French E.rpo.tition of the Produrtf: of In- 

 dustry ; prepared 0;/ the direction of and .tiilmiitted to, the President 

 and Council of the Society of Arts. By Matthew Digby Wyatt, 

 Architect. 



To THE President and Coi'ncil of the Society of Arts. 



Sir, my Lords, and Gentlemen, — In accordance with instruc- 

 tions which I had the honour to receive from you, I have visited 

 the French metropolis, for the purpose of collecting all such 

 details concerning the quality, extent, and general character of 

 the present "Exposition of tlie Products of Industry," as might 

 seem most deserving of the careful attention of your Society. 



On my arrival in Paris I lost no time in studying the actual 

 position of the building — the system which had been adopted as 

 the basis of its distribution — the official arrangements connected 

 with the selection and reception of the works of art exhibited — 

 their leading characteristics, as contrasteil with the parallel exist- 

 ing products of English manufacturing energy — and their com- 

 parative excellence in relation to the previous history of French 

 commerce. I endeavoured immediately to make myself acquainted 

 with the printed records of all previous similar National Exhibi- 

 tions, and to put myself in communication, not only with the 

 authorities, but with gentlemen not officially connected with the 

 administration, from many of whom I have been fortunate enough 

 to gain information of the most valuable kind. 



When we consider that during the Inst fifty years constant and 

 sedulous attention has been paid by the government to tlie great 

 interests of manufacture in France, by precept, example, pre- 

 miums, public exhibitions, the institution of Elementary Schools, 

 "Societies of Encouragement," and, above all, by an incessant 

 attempt to elevate the social and intellectual condition of all 

 engaged in the great work of supplying the necessities, gratifying 



No. 147.— Vol. XII.— December, 1849. 



the tastes, and ministering to the resources and revenues of their 

 native country, we cannot be surprised to find in the year 1849, that 

 the impulse oriyinally comeyed to manufactures limited in extent, 

 and serving chiefly for the use of a small ])ro])ortion only of the 

 citizens, has been transmitted through infinitesimal ramifications, 

 until it has become infused and incorporated into the very essence 

 of the spirit of the people. 



The traditions of excellence in manufacture reach in France to a 

 very remote period : as early as the commencement of the thirteenth 

 century her celebrity in the production of stained glass, of gold- 

 smith's work, of Limoges enamel, of ornaments in carved ivory, 

 and of illuminated manuscripts, had become European. Aided by 

 the influence of the great banker and merchant, Jacques Coeur, 

 the industrial arts attained an almost unrivalled development at 

 the beginning of the fifteenth century; and under the patronage 

 of the royal connoisseur, Francis the First, the union of the high- 

 est order of artistic ability, with the mechanical skill and experi- 

 ence accumulated during many centuries, stamped with a peculiar 

 and unniistakeable character of perfection many of the celebrated 

 productions of the period of the Renaissance. The establishment 

 of the silk trade at Lyons about tlie year 1450 — the ancient pro- 

 ficiency of Paris, St. Denis, Jiagny, Beauvais, and Cambray, in all 

 other branches of weaving — the Gobelin tapestry — the carpets of 

 the Savonnerie — the Sevres China Institution^and the commence- 

 j ment of the employment of cotton in the seventeenth century, are 

 all land-marks in the great scheme of French manufacture. Now, 

 although in all the departments of trade enumerated, the highest 

 art was associated with manufacture in supplying the wants and 

 gratifying the tastes of the lay and clerical aristocracy, it was not 

 until the advent of the Revolution that the attempt was made in 

 France to popularise any of tliese productions. From the year 

 1797 we may date a gradual attempt to disseminate, from the few 

 to the many, the luxury of beautiful design in all objects of daily 

 and universal use. It is true that, since this tide has set in, we 

 have met with no such artists in manufacture as Benvenuto 

 Cellini, Jean Goujon, Leonard de Limousin, Petitot and Bordier, 

 Clodion, Girardon, Bernard de Palissy, Girolamo della Robbia, 

 Pierre I'Escot, &c., l)ut in their stead have arisen myriads of 

 earnest men, anxious to afford additional employment to the swell- 

 ing masses congregating on the great points of centralization: and 

 de.-iirous, at the same time that they supjdied to all .at a moderate 

 rate, an approximation to the enjoyments of taste, formerly the 

 appanage only of the minority, to establish and maintain that 

 great bulwark of the wealth, intelligence, and respectability of 

 their native country — the enormous and now all-powerful 5our(/eo«* 

 class. 



This generalization and dissemination of "Art Manufacture" 

 has been much excited and aided by the establishment of great 

 National Expositions, exhibiting from time to time tlie actual con- 

 dition, advantages, deficiencies, capabilities, and variations of in- 

 dustrial exertion throughout the country. It may be scarcely 

 necessary to prove the excellence, in principle and practice, of the 

 institution of such a systematic stimulant to public emulation, 

 since a recapitulation of the names of such men as FraUj'ois de 

 Neufchateau, Chaptal, Napoleon, Berthollet, Dupin, Louis Phi- 

 lippe, &c. fall of whom, though diftering most widely in their 

 political views, have united in prosecuting these Exhibitions with 

 the greatest ardour), would alone suffice to convince the most 

 sceptical, that France at least has acknowledged the great public 

 benefit of such competitions. VV^hen, furthermore, we find that 

 similar exhiliitions have been organised in Belgium, Italy, Austria, 

 Spain, Prussia, Sweden, Bavaria, and Russia, and that the nun.ber 

 of exhibitors has augmented in one constantly increasing ratio, it 

 is manifest that the manufacturers themselves have derived a prac- 

 tical benefit, as direct and important as that received by the 

 ]mblic. As far as I have been aiile to remark, there does not exist 

 one single writer who has ventured to assert, either personally or 

 anonymously, that France has ever acquired aught except benefit 

 from this admirable Institution. 



In order to convey, in as short a compass as possible, the facts 

 prejiared for your examination, it may perhaps be well to arrange 

 them under three heads, gi\-ing, — 



Firstly — A description of the present building, and generally of 

 the nature of the present Exposition (A). 



Secondly — A short account of the history of the institution of 

 past Expositions, and their connection with the industrial progress 

 sion of the country. 



And, Thirdly— An analysis of the oflScial arrangements, their 

 routine, and in an appendix, copies of public documents con- 

 nected with the organization of the present and past Exposi.. 

 tions. 



4Q 



