352 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[November, 



SPECIMENS OF ORNAMENTAL IRONH'ORK. 



It is singular sometimes to notice tlie influence of one form of 

 improvement in superseiliny- others; anil little do we think, when 

 contemplatina; and ajiplaudinij prof,'ress, that we are likewise wit- 

 nessing the first sceils of decay. There is, indeed, in things 

 human, nothing without its alloy of evil; and we ought, therefore, 

 always to he on our guard in all cases of iniuivation, lest we may, 

 by adopting one new and good thing, destroy a still greater 

 amount. In architectural matters this caution is particularly 



Fig. 2. 



Fig. s. 



necessary, for the balance often is so very delicately held that the 

 least change disturbs it. The consequence is, we have frequently, 

 in our technical history, to notice the gradual decay of old pro- 

 cesses in consequence of the extension of others. Thus, internal 

 decoration has greatly suffered by the facility of moulding and 

 rejirodnction; and wood carving, and ornamental ceiling work, are 

 superseded by the repetition of composition and plaster patterns. 

 Thus, at length we are obliged to regret we can no longer achieve, 

 except with difficulty, the ornamental interiors of the Elizabethan 

 or Jacobean period. In metal- work the same evil is felt. So 

 long as the smith hammered out the details, a sejiarate design was 

 made for each work; but now that casting has become easy, and 

 cast-iron cheap, design is virtually extinct in forged metal-work, 

 and we are compelled to witness the rudest and most monotonous 

 extensions of rails and spikes. The height of mischief once 

 reached, regret is felt, and a strong desire evinced, if not to retrace 

 our steps by giving u]) the cheaper material, at any rate to get back 

 to good design. In the furtherance of this, nothing can be more 

 useful than reference to good examples of the olden time; and we 

 have therefore thought it worth while to give publicity to the ac- 

 companying sketches. 



It will be noticed as the more strange that the decline has taken 

 place when we liave greater resources at our command, for the 

 latent capabilities of iron were little imagined previous to the 

 introduction of steam-engines, railroads, and machinery. In- 

 deed, what would the artisans of a century and a-half ago say, 

 could they behold tlie multiplied forms in which modern ingenuity 

 has turned it to account? Now it is viewed as a valuable con- 

 structive material, of whose application every day furnishes fresh 

 proof; then it was more usually a medium in wliich the cunning 

 workman delighted to display his art, by fashioning it into those 

 slender and graceful forms most generally adorning the lofty gates 

 and railings of public buidings of that date. 



Not a few of these tasteful specimens meet the eye of the 

 inquirer as he lingers among the antiquated squares and once 

 famous bye-streets of the metropolis or its vicinity; and we 



