SEPIEMBER. 
263 
as that the fashionable world might fairly appeal to it as the pattern for 
similar decorations. I shall not easily forget the astonishment which 
some persons manifested when the label “ First Prize” was attached to 
the design of Mr. March. There were elaborate specimens of silver 
vases filled with gorgeous flowers, others topped with the expensive 
Pine, and others as if they were intended for some school children to 
carry about on May Day The first prize ! Several times I was taken 
off, m et armisy to decide between contending parties, and always 
stoutly maintained that the judges were right. Look at the design. 
Does it not combine every requisite? It is simple, elegant, and 
inexpensive; the lightness and transparent nature of the stem no ways 
obstructs the view, and the freshness of the elegant Fern leaves shows 
off on the white table-cloth admirably. With the same general cha¬ 
racter, the constituents of the design may vary according to the season 
of the year ; there must not be too much colour, and what there is 
should be bright and lively ; and, as has been kindly suggested to me 
by Mr. March, many of the smaller Mosses and Ferns would keep in a 
growing state in the sand with which the dishes are in part filled, and 
thus add fresh beauty and interest to the design. A visit to Messrs. 
Dobson and Pearce, of St. James’-street, will well repay the trouble. 
And not only may these be taken as a model for dinner-table deco¬ 
ration, but they are also quite suited for the drawing-room or boudoir 
of the country mansion. They are to be had, as originally shown, all 
of glass, or else with the bottom dish of zinc, which answers quite as 
well, is not so expensive, and of course not so liable to damage. 
Messrs. Dobson & Pearce have also brought out several novel patterns 
in flower vases, some of which were exhibited at the Rose show at 
Kensington on July 10; one especially beautiful, with three vases 
combined together. The visitor to this establishment will not fail to 
notice the most exquisite specimens of engraving on glass to be seen in 
England; they have given their attention to this branch very much, 
and selecting some of the best and rarest specimens of the Venetian 
school, and the patterns contained in that unique collection in the Hotel 
de Cluny, they have brought it to great perfection ; the variations are 
infinite, and exquisitely chaste. Of a totally different character are 
Mr. G. H. Stevens’ mosaic jardiniere, of which the following is a repre¬ 
sentation, though no drawing can give anything like a fitting idea of 
their extreme richness. Frequently growing plants are brought into 
the house and placed on the centre of a table, and we all know a 
common flower-pot is not the most tasteful thing in the world, and these 
jardinieres are intended to put them into; they are also used as Fern 
cases, and are very appropriate for that purpose. A very large one was 
exhibited both at Kensington and the Regent’s Park by Mr. Standish, of 
Bagshot, and all Mr. Stevens’ Fern cases have the advantage of thorough 
drainage, a screw being placed underneath by which the water may be 
drained off. At the same establishment, either at the Pantheon or in 
Great Queen-street, are also to be seen some very neat ornamental pots 
for nearly a similar purpose, although, from their light porous chara ter, 
the plants may be grown in them, and so brought into the house as they 
come into bloom. Here, too, a visit will be well bestowed, for not only 
