§55 XIX. EXAMPLES OF GOOD COLOUR. 153 



It is certainly of importance that some examples both of 

 good and bad coloured ornaments should be pointed out; and 

 as it is better to call attention to those which are known and 

 accessible I shall add some of the most striking in that valu- 

 able work the " Grammar of Ornament," by Mr. Owen Jones. 

 Of the Egyptian, there are few which could be adopted with 

 much advantage, though the colours are often harmonious, as 

 in PL x., and those most generally combined on the Egyptian 

 monuments are blue, red, green, yellow, and black. The 

 Assyrian are rarely good in colour, and the fault of their 

 combinations is too much repetition of square, round, or other 

 forms, in the same pattern. Thus, though in PI. xiii. figs. 5, 

 8, and 9, and even 12, are pleasing, they have the fault of 

 being solely composed of squares and dots; those from 16 to 

 24 inclusive are poor in form and colour; and Nos. 22 and 23 

 consisting of green, black, yellow, and white, have a very 

 disagreeable effect. 



The Greek designs are most graceful in PI. xv. to xxn. ; 



except figs. 19, 20, 21, in PI. xviii. and some few more, 



as in PI. xxi. ; and the colours of those of PI. xxn. are 



harmonious and elegant, particularly figs. 14, 15, 16, 17, 



18*, 22, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and fully maintain the 



superiority of Greek taste ; while the Pompeian designs in 



PI. xxiv. show how it had declined during the Eoman 



period, and how a fanciful and meretricious treatment had 



taken the place of purer colouring and form, confirming the 



objections made by Vitruvius to the masses of red, "the reeds 



for columns," and other fashions already gaining ground in 



his time. The most pleasing specimens of colour are those 



on a black ground in PL xxiv., particularly figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7. 



Fig. 12 is discordant; but it affords a curious illustration of 



my remark (p. 106) respecting the power of some grounds to 



* In 18, 29, 31, 32, 33, the colours have been supplied by Mr. Owen Jones, 

 and with great taste and judgment. 



