VASES AND URNS, &c. 



G43 



taste and judgment of Mr Battam, the 

 intelligent artist who presides over the 

 artistic department of these extensive 

 works. This superb tazza is peculiarly 

 adapted for the decoration of the conser- 

 vatory, as well as for occupying a conspi- 

 cuous place on a terrace or other impor- 

 tant position in connection with architec- 

 tural buildings. The material of which 

 it is composed is that superior plastic 

 material for which this establishment 

 has been long and deservedly famed, 

 and is insured to stand even the variable 

 climate of this country in the open air. 

 Conservatories, even of the highest grade, 

 have hitherto been sadly deficient in 

 artistic furnishing, and this has mainly 

 arisen from a want of general taste for 

 the fine arts, and, consequently, a want 

 of patronage to this style of art manufac- 

 ture — marble sculpture being both expen- 

 sive and not altogether adapted to the 

 humid atmosphere of a structure dedi- 

 cated to the culture of plants. With such 

 splendid material as is furnished by Mr 

 Copeland, Messrs Minton, and others, in 

 porcelain, pottery-ware, artificial stone, 

 cast-iron, &c, there can be no reason 

 why our conservatories, particularly such 

 as have any pretension to architectural 

 display, should not have these artistic 

 furnishings as well as the trees and plants 

 with which alone at present they- are 

 stored. 



Fig. 862. — A garden vase of cast-iron 

 placed on a marble pedestal. One of the 

 most eminent sculptors this country ever 

 produced, as we have already noticed, 

 predicted that cast-iron would never be 

 brought to such perfection as to equal 

 the sculptor's chisel. We think the Coal- 

 brooke-Dale Ironworks have, of them- 

 selves, stultified that prediction ; and our 

 present subject, selected from that estab- 

 lishment, may be offered in evidence of 

 this assertion. Both the masks and 

 handles are of novel and elegant design, 

 and the sharpness of the angles in the 

 casting is as true as if just received from 

 the studio of Canova. Indeed, it is to 

 cast-iron, porcelain, pottery-ware, and ar- 

 tificial stone, that we have to look for 

 such articles of ornament ; and had either 

 or all of these arts been cultivated when 

 the geometrical style of gardening was in 

 fashion in this country, our then finest 

 gardens would not have been disgraced 



by monstrosities resembling men and 

 things cast in lead, nor our present ones 

 have been so meagre of sculptured orna- 



Fig. 862. 



ments, as to give good cause to foreigners 

 to charge us with poverty in design as well 

 as in means. From the imperishable 

 materials of which this very elegant vase 

 is constructed, it is calculated to stand 

 in the open air in this country. Had 

 the pedestal been of polished Peterhead 

 granite, we would have preferred it to 

 any marble whatever, both on account of 

 its colour and its being less liable to be- 

 come discoloured or covered with minute 

 species of lichens, which all marbles are 

 liable to in our humid climate. 



Figs. 863 and 864 are examples of terra- 

 cotta vases, manufactured by Messrs Doul- 



ton & Watt 

 Fig. 863 of Lam- 



balcony, or 



on the top of low terrace-walls in the 

 open air. 



Fig. 865. — This very elegant vase is 

 from the manufactory of M. Garnaud, 



