THE 



CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S 



JOURNAL. 



SPECIMENS OF WINDOWS FROM THE ROYAL EX- 

 CHANGE. 

 (Willi ail Engraving, Plate I.) 

 EVKN were it not so in any other respect, tlie present Royal Exchange 

 would still be interesting anil highly deserving of notice on account of 

 its windows, which exhibit great study of detail and composition, 

 and also very considerable diversity of design, there being so many 

 varieties of them introduced into dili'erent parts of the edifice, that 

 thev would form quite a series of examples, and of a kind apparently 

 much wanted, inasmuch as they are not a little suggestive of ideas 

 for features in regard to which paucity and sameness of ideas prevail. 

 Owing to some strange perverseness, modern architects seldom bestow 

 any study, or indeed any thought at all upon windows, notvvithstand- 

 ing that they are absolutely indispensable features in composition, 

 while columns are so far from being such that it is diiricult to intro- 

 duce them at all, except in a portico, with any sort of sufficiently ap- 

 parent motive, or so as not to appear mere expletives in design, and 

 to be intended chiefly for effect. And where the character so aimed 

 at is kept up consistently in all other respects, such excuse may pass 

 as valid; but if merely a vile architectural solecism,^ one that be- 

 trays a most barbarous taste, to introduce other features, without any 

 sort of purpose, at the very same time that those which actually be- 

 long to the building, and which ought therefore to be made to give 

 character to it, and contribute towards its decoration, are — if not, as is 

 too frequentiv the case, left quite bare and unfinished, treated as alto- 

 gether subordinate and valueless in design. We are, indeed, now get- 

 ting by degrees, out of our mere " hole-in-the-wall" fashion for win- 

 dows, still the dressings bestowed upon them are in general but a very 

 short remove from nothing : they seldom amount to more than a plain 

 border with a narrow moulding around it, which scarcely shows itself 

 at all unless the front itself happens to be of red or dark brick ; and 

 there is nearly the same general air of blankness, and certainly quite 

 the same degree of monotony as if there had been nothing of the 

 kind at all. Nevertheless, we cannot be very surprized at the builders 

 of Ureet houses, for never attempting to go beyond that species of 

 quakerisni in architectural dress or dressing, by one who enjoys credit 

 at least for classical taste — including, we presume, a highly cultivated 

 feeling for all (lie proprieties and refinements of his art. Be his per- 

 ceptive taste what it may, his action is of a very feeble kind, else he 

 would hardly cunline himself to nearly one and the same character, for 

 his windows on all occasions alike, and that, too, of such kind as to 

 include a variety of detail. No mutter what be the style professed 

 by the order, — Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian, — no matter wlu'ther his 

 columns be plain or Huted, his windows are invariably of the same 

 design — no, not design, but pattern, — the only difference between 

 them being an occasional extra moulding when he cm screw up his 

 liberality to the requisite pitch. 



Jio. 8S.— Vol. VIU,— jAN0ARy,J18i;>. 



Compared with the frigid things just alluded to, the windows of the 

 Exchange are what the luxuriant vegetation of the tropical climes is 

 to the eternal ice of the polar regions. They bespeak fulness and 

 spontaneity of ideas, guslo and con amure relish, with pains-taking — no 

 there we are wrong, not " pains-taking" but " pleasure-taking" ear- 

 nestness in the task. In addition to "effect" of a different kind, they 

 will, it is to be hoped, have the effect of thawing the frozen and frost- 

 bitten taste of others. Just at present, indeed, it is not greatly to be 

 wondered at that they should be considered exotic in taste, being so 

 very much unlike what we are accustomed to see even in buildings 

 where the windows are made principal and highly decorative. 



Certain, however, it is that the windows of the Royal Exchange do 

 not please every one, since by some they have been likened to picture- 

 frames!— one of those convenient comparisons which are resorted to 

 for the purpose of cutting short all argument and reasons for dislike. 

 What it is that accuses such fatal resemblance, is not said: resem- 

 blance there certainly is so far as is in common to all chambraulh or 

 dressings to doors and windows, inasmuch as they serve as a framing 

 to the aperture; but a picture-frame is continued alike all round, 

 without any additional mouldings or ornament on its upper edge, on 

 the contrary it is the four angles that are generally more enriched 

 with ornament than the rest. The comparison in question — and ques- 

 tionable it assuredly is, would lead any one to suppose that the win- 

 dows were in the Louis Quatorze style, which may justly enough be 

 termed a "picture-frame" one, because it seems to be made up 

 entirely of fragments of picture-frames and eccentric scroll-work, 

 applied to every thing indiscriminately. 



The characteristic differences above pointed out sufticiently vindi- 

 cate the windows we are speaking of, from the charge of bearing an 

 awkwardly striking resemblance to picture-frames. Consequently, if 

 they nevertheless partake too much of the latter ch iracier, it must be 

 owing to their details and mouldings. Yet these are surely of quite dis- 

 tinct nature and very differently composed from those belonging to frames 

 of the other sort, — so much so that were they applied to the latter, 

 such frames to pictures would at once be called " window-dressings," 

 and be objected to as too decidedly architectural. We admit that in 

 all such cases, injurious comparison does not mean to say that the 

 offensive resemblance is complete in all points, but merely that there 

 is more of it than there ought to be, and enough to warrant the com- 

 parison being made. Whether the comparison so made he warrantable 

 or not must depend upon the facts and circumstances of the par- 

 ticular instance ; but if ever so unwarrantable, it is impossible to check 

 those lively sallies of a funny imagination which some endeavour to 

 palm upon us for " knock-down" argument. 



In the instance of the Royal Exchange, what is really meant as a 

 strong objection, probably is that the windows are marked by a ful- 

 ness and luxuriance of ornamentation for exceeding what we are 

 accustomed to, and otherwise also of very peculiar character. Who 



