§29. 



MIXTURE OF MATERIALS. 



219 



The mixture of dissimilar substances and counterfeit imi- 

 tations are to be avoided, equally with the unsuitable mate- 

 rials already mentioned. The union of bronze (and, above 

 all, of bright brass) and wood is also objectionable ; and even 

 some of the much-prized tables of Florence, in pietre dure, 

 imitating birds, flowers, and other natural objects, do not 

 accord with right principles. These are objects of wonderful 

 skill and costly magnificence, exciting a feeling of surprise at 

 the execution rather than of admiration for the design.] 



It is also a false principle to inlay ivooden tables, or other 

 pieces of furniture, with stone ; and large masses of malachite 

 let into the sides and top of a table are out of keeping there. 

 We may tolerate and admire tables with the legs and every 

 other part of stone ; though they are better suited to an 

 Italian than an English climate. A door made entirely of 

 stone, or of wood inlaid with stone, is inadmissible. Large 

 malachite doors may suit Russian caprice, and may impose 

 on some easily captivated by display, but they are not con- 

 sistent with good taste, and they convey an unpleasant idea 

 of having to move a heavy mass whenever you wish to go in 

 or out of the room, with the fear of some accident if care- 

 lessly opened or shut ; or you may perhaps know that it only 

 after all has a veneered surface, and that it is a specious imposi- 

 tion. Those who delight in the employment of showy or costly 

 materials, in places ill-suited to them, mis- 

 take the splendid for the beautiful, and bar- 

 baric richness for elegance and taste. 



[The same may be said of the rich cabinets 

 inlaid with brilliant stones and costly jewels, 

 where the artist seems to have sought to 

 make splendid what he failed to make beauti- 

 ful ; and where the tortured outlines, the 

 twists, scroll-formed mouldings, and dis- 

 torted frame-work, which usually constitute 





