8234 



Birds. 



Ejfiyy of an Eagle in copper. — At Fortuura and Mason's, No. 191, Piccadilly, 

 there is now being exhibited a life-size figure of an eagle which has excited the 

 admiration of all who have seen it, so wonderfully accurate is the imitation of Nature, 

 so exquisite the workmanship. " It stands," says a writer in the * Times,' " on the 

 summit of a rugged and precipitous rock, in a bold and threatening attitude. With 

 wings outspread ready for a dash at his quarry, or to withstand a human foe, the bird, 

 with one claw advanced, firmly grasps with his talons the rocky ledge, while, with 

 head protruding and open beak, he absolutely seems to scream warning and defiance. 

 The keen eye peering from under the shadowing ridge of the skull, the rising feathers 

 of the crest, the swell and ruffling of the muscular neck, form a picture of savage 

 anger as true to nature as it is admirably conceived and executed. * * * Every one 

 of the minute feathers which cluster round the neck, the fine hair-like down which 

 runs from the beak to the eye, the soft cushion of plumage at the junction of the wings 

 and body, are here separate, and can be each separately raised by the finger. The 

 half-hairy, half-feathery legs of the bird are wonderful in the fineness of the down 

 which overspreads them. The most extraordinary triumph of Mr. Phillips's skill, 

 however, is shown in the extremely minute feathers which cover the frame of the 

 pinions, and which conceal the fastenings of the large feathers forming the tips of the 

 wings. It would be impossible to overrate this portion of the work, so numerous and 

 so thick are the feathers, and so soft and deep is the effect produced." The entire 

 work is in copper, and Mr. Phillips, the artist and owner, has thus explained its manu- 

 facture to Mr. Buckland, who has published, in the ' Field' newspaper of October 11, 

 the following account of this new process; — "Mr. Phillips explained to me that 

 all before me (rock and bird) was made of copper. He set to work some six years ago 

 in this way : — He first made the body of hollow copper, and the bird then resembled 

 a plucked fowl; he then proceeded to put the feathers on, instead of taking them off : 

 what a difference in the facility with whieh these operations are performed ! He 

 obtained some slips of the finest copper from Japan (it is only allowed to be sent over 

 from that country in slips), and he began to cover the bird feather by feather; each 

 feather is, indeed, a study by itself, and he showed me the process of making them. 

 A real feather is placed on the table, a slip of copper is cut out its size and dimen- 

 sions ; it is then hammered into shape, and with peculiar graving tools is graved on 

 the surface, and cut at the edges, till it is the exact model of the feather itself, each 

 feather having to pass some twenty-six or twenty-seven times under the hammer and 

 the graver, and having frequently to submit to great heat. Some of the feathers — 

 their name is legion — are huge things, above eighteen inches long, such as we see in 

 the bonnets of Scotchmen ; the quills of these are hollow, as in the natural state ; 

 others are as minute as the down upon a young chicken, or as fine as human hair : 

 witness the feathers about the legs and over the eyes and nostrils of the bird. I could 

 not make out," continues Mr. Buckland, " how it was possible for human hands to put 

 all these feathers on to the copper body of the bird, and this in such beautiful and 

 regular order. Mr. Phillips, however, informed me that every one was soldered on, 

 and that he began at the feet, and soldered the feathers on one over the other. Now, 

 unless some colouring process had been adopted, the copper eagle would have had a 

 dull, and possibly a verdigris, appearance. Mr. Phillips has, however, managed to 

 overcome this difficulty. The mode of colouring which he has employed is a secret of 

 his own ; but whatever the process may be, the result is most beautiful : there is a 

 glitter and gloss upon the bird only to be equalled by the plumage of a wild bird who 



