143 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Mat, 



Egyptian cornice ; now although in theory all this may appear excel- 

 lent, and both the pedestal and obelisk are strictly Egyptian in form, 

 yet viewed together when realised they produce anything but a pleasing 

 effect; in short, the eft'ect is precisely the same us if we were to take 

 a column diminished from the base, and having removed a portion of 

 it some feet from the lower end then set up the upper resting on a 

 cornice imposed on the lower part. Would not the eye in this case 

 call for that which was removed? So it is with the obelisk alluded to. 

 Another objection to this form of pedestal is that it only admits of 

 sculpture in intaglio and not in relief, such as the Isthmian crown and 

 bust on that of the example given in the plate.* The former is taken 

 from the tail piece of the sixth chapter, vol. 3, of Stuart's Athens, ;ind 

 is one of the most beautiful circles which we have. No, the pedestal 

 must be rectangular, which form suggests no such vacancy, but then 

 to ornament it with either Greek or Roman mouldings is carrying the 

 innovation further than is necessary, and the simplicity and harmony 

 of the work are destroyed by a multiplicity of forms and figures. 



In Ethiopia, as it appears from the highly interesting work of Mr. 

 Hoskins, the reeded torus so frequently to be seen on the pyramidal 

 propylea of the Egyptian temples, is to be found on the arris both of 

 pyramids and obelisks, and in the former at least it has the effect of 

 somewhat relieving the outline from that monotony so disagreeable in 

 those structures of Egypt. On the obelisks, however, no such embel- 

 lishment seems to be required. The Ethiopian obelisks are raised on 

 a low zocco. 



Perhaps it may strike some astute critic, if such there be, on archi- 

 tectural subjects, that in recommending the erection of a single obelisk 

 I lay myself open to a charge of departure from the principles urged 

 at the commencement of this paper, of being guided as far as possi- 

 ble by the example of the original projectors, as the Egyptians 

 always erected them in pairs: and so they did, and so should we if we 

 erected them under similar circumstances, that is at each side of the 

 entrance in front of the propyleum, but as an obelisk does not, like a 

 column, form part of an edifice, I therefore think that the most fas- 

 tidious cannot object to the erection of a single one as an isolated 

 monument or testimonial. 



It would appear that the Egyptians were acquainted with only one 

 form of moulding, which must be familiar to every one who has 

 examined a sketch of an Egyptian temple, of course this moulding 

 will suggest the most appropriate example when any cornice is to be 

 given on the dado of the pedestal — and if the winged globe be also 

 given it will be still more in character, but if the obelisk be on a large 

 scale I should much prefer a plain rectangular dado without any kind 

 of moulding, and I am satisfied that the obelisk at Paris would appear 

 to much greater advantage if elevated on such a basement, for as it is, 

 the footing of the shaft ubove the moulding, the sub-basement of the 

 dado in three unequal parts, the upper sloped off to meet the middle 

 one, all resting on a flat zocco or plinth, present a complicated outline 

 ■which by no means harmonises with the simple and noble monolithic 

 to which they are subsidiary. There are cases, however, where a 

 cornice on the dado may be requisite — first, when sculpture is to be 

 introduced in relief on its face, which without such a projection from 

 above at least would look as naked as a picture without a frame ; and 

 secondly, where it is not possible to obtain either an entire block of 

 stone of sufficient size, or to finish the joints so clean that they may be 

 considered invisible and that the top course can be formed of a single 

 slab, for it would not appear good workmanship to have the joints 

 terminating on the upper arris of the naked dado, however clean they 

 might be wrought. 



The obelisk then may be considered as consisting of three parts, 

 \iz,, the shaft, the rectangular dado, and a triple and equally graduated 

 basement ; as to the proportion of them much must depend on the 

 locality, the rise of the ground and point of view, which must be left 

 to the taste and judgment of the architect to provide for : I would 

 suggest, however, that, contrary to the practice of Fontana, the rise 

 and tread of every portion of the triple gradated basement should be 

 of equal dimensions. The height of the entire of this basement might 

 be equal to the diameter of the shaft at its base ; this would make the 

 lower member of the basement three diameters in breadth. The dado 

 might be either a cube or higher, and its horizontal axis about one- 

 third greater than the diameter of the shaft at its base. The height 

 of the shaft should be from eight to ten diameters. The general cus- 

 tom is to give a footing to the shaft, no doubt something is gained in 

 elevation by it, but I should prefer its being dispensed with, or at all 

 events being made very low. Did 1 not know the strong predelection 

 of some of my esteemed architectural friends for snch ornaments, I 

 should think it superfluous to remark that there ought not to be any 



* k drawing of the pedestal of an obelisk as suggested was prepared, but it admits of 

 being described so plainly, ttiot It appears unnecessary to give n plute with this paper.— 

 |;d. C,E,«(A,Jgurnal, » ( <- r 



surbase, or moulding at t'.ie base of the dado, which is as injurious in 

 effect as giving a base to the column of the Doric order. Nor should 

 the dado be pannelled, which if I recollect right is the case in some 

 of the Roman examples. Of course it is very desirable that the dado 

 shall consist of only one block, particularly where no moulding is to be 

 given on its summit, although with half the labour necessary to pro- 

 duce that elaborate trifling called rustic work, the joints both of shaft 

 and pedestal might be made so sharp as scarcely to be observed 

 if the slab, or upper course, on which the moulding is usually defined 

 were only one piece. 



I trust that nothing here advanced on the adoption of obelisks may 

 be used as a guide for the erection of little obelisks, the little concep- 

 tions of little minds ; and I have seen such which at little cost do little 

 honour to the little men to celebrate whose little achievements they 

 were erected. No! anything which we do in the Egyptian style must 

 appear to be the work of giants, not the effort of pigmies. At Don- 

 nybrook, near Dublin, there is a little wretch which almost seems as if 

 it were intended as a burlesqne on the larger monster in the Phoenix, 

 Park on the other side of the city. This latter, although equally 

 hideous in form, is Cyclopean in bulk, but the Polyphemus who de- 

 signed it, if he had only a single eye it was not for the perception of 

 the chaste and beautiful. George the Fourth pronounced this testi- 

 monial to be "a huge mile stone," his majesty might have added 

 "and an ugly one," although he knighted its architect. We must, 

 however, give the architect (whoever he may be) who designed the 

 Donnybrook obelisk some credit, for the monument overlooks the 

 green on which the far-famed fair is held, and the design is in right 

 good keeping and perfect harmony in both size and shape with the 

 dwarfs and minor monsters there annually exhibited ; no doubt the 

 architect of this classical production was influenced by the nomade 

 *' genii of the place," that whilst "at the small charge of one penny" 

 admiring rustics may see a dwarf "made as if by Nature's journey- 

 man," they may have a view gratis of what looks like a journeyman 

 architect's opposition wondei', bearing the same relation to an obelisk 

 that a monkey does to a man, or a balluster does to a column. Can it 

 be that, according to the Shandean theory, names have a ruling in- 

 fluence over the prospects, fortunes, and productions of men, and that 

 because the contiguous residence of an architect is called Lilliput its 

 nomenclature fated that a pigmy obelisk should be placed in front of 

 it; but I leave this to be settledibyfthe learned of the Royal Institute 

 of the Architects of Ireland, of which I suppose the architect at whose 

 door the obelisk lies is a member. 



Before concluding this paper, we may add some general remarks on 

 the subject of Egyptian architecture — for although, taken as a whole, 

 it may present to us few or no erections (with the exception of obe- 

 lisks) which are calculated for our times and country, yet as a school 

 were we may tmltarn it is without rival, and there we may learn to 

 esteem grandeur and simplicity for their own sakes ; and these are 

 qualities in v^hich the architecture of our times is remarkably defi- 

 cient; simplicity and grandeur not inconsistent with the most elabo- 

 rate finish and detail ; in short, even although it may afford us few or 

 no models yet its study will teach us to get rid of the frivolities of 

 the cinque cento school, and for this purpose a visit to Egypt, however 

 desirable, is not absolutely necessary, for in the many works which we 

 possess, particularly the most magnificent one perhaps ever published 

 that of the Imperial Institute of France, we have ample delineations. 

 It was a feeling of the magnificence|of [thefstyle which induced me to 

 suggest, in a I'ormer number of this Journal, the propriety of an Egyp- 

 tian facade to the British Museum, if only as a study, and it must be 

 admitted that in England we are sadly in want of something to elevate 

 our tastes, and enable architects to do for architecture what the great 

 masters have done for painting. I scarcely know of, any example 

 vfhich we have in the horizontal style calculated to aid this object 

 except Mr. Hardwick's Terminus of the London and Birmingham 

 Railway. In the March number of this Journal may be found an at- 

 tempt to form a new order by Grecianising an Egyptian capital, an 

 inspection of the great French work alluded to, or even the minor and 

 more accessible one of Uenon, will shew many examples of capitals 

 which might be thus treated and give us an endless variety, some of 

 them of great beauty and well enlitled}tojourjadmiration. 



But the great difficulty is to unlearn, aye to unlearn, the false prin- 

 ciples and vitiated taste acquired in the Palladian school: a study of 

 Egypt illustrated and Greece delineated may enable us to do this, and 

 where it fails the fault rests not with the study but the student. If 

 the mere illustrations and delineations can do so much, what might we 

 not expect from the originals in their sublimity and vastness. Yet, 

 alas, so it is ; men have gone and seen, but not conquered their pre- 

 judices. Adam, not he of Eden, but of the Adelphi, London, saw 

 PoBStnm, and Wilkins trod the Acropolis, yet the one preferred the 

 miserable abortions of Spolatrp, and the other designed the National 



