The masterpieces of the Centennial international exhibition of 1876 .. . us. An ink-stand, with a groupof figures in relief,and an panel be-low, and a noble dishof classic design forfruit or flowers, com-pose the quartette ofobjects, any one ofwhich will fully indi-cate the perfection ofthe art-workmanshipobtaining in theMessrs. Elkingtonsestablishment. It is quite naturalthat we should lookfor art in works in INDUSTRIAL ART. 3 the precious metals, for here the works of the artist and the artisan go handin hand. As long as the artist regards the material in which he works
The masterpieces of the Centennial international exhibition of 1876 .. . us. An ink-stand, with a groupof figures in relief,and an panel be-low, and a noble dishof classic design forfruit or flowers, com-pose the quartette ofobjects, any one ofwhich will fully indi-cate the perfection ofthe art-workmanshipobtaining in theMessrs. Elkingtonsestablishment. It is quite naturalthat we should lookfor art in works in INDUSTRIAL ART. 3 the precious metals, for here the works of the artist and the artisan go handin hand. As long as the artist regards the material in which he works merelyas a vehicle with which to express his art-idea, he is safe, but as soon as thedesire manifests itself to bring forward the value of the material itself, dieart-idea suffers in proportion. It very often happens that an admirably con-ceived and moulded design of an artist is spoiled by the belittling treatment itreceives at the hands of the workman by whom it is produced in the preciousmetal; for the latter, with his lower range of art-feeling, sees more value in. Fan : French Court, the vehicle than in the idea itself, and he labors accordingly to give promi-nence to the fact that This is silver, or That is gold, ignoring the art-idea. Inancient metal-work errors of this kind were avoided, because the artist andartisan were one. Now the artist conceives and the workman executes. We can imagine that the Fan shown on this page may be one of the twoalready illustrated a few pages back, tor this also is from the collection onexhibition in the French Court. But in this instance the face is not painted,but is made of the finest lace, the pattern being designed and worked expresslyfor this purpose. Nothing more delicate and fairy-like could be imagined,nor could the most capricious beauty demand a more exquisite or a morechoice toy. The massive Gold Bracelet, resplendent with jewels, which forms the 312 THE INTERNATIOXAL EXHIBITION, 1S76. subject of our illustrationon this page,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookpublisherphila, bookyear1876
