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Leader (1850-1860), 16th May 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 5, IRELAND. A Madman in a Coach.—A person n...

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      Three Visits To The Manchester Attr Trea...

      the same vestibule , the catalogue describes Lawrence ' s nortrait of Kemble in Coriolanus , as a ' Dance in the Open Air at Sans Souci ; ' the picture which really has that title being introduced as the veritable Lawrence . There are , perhaps , minor matters , but they betray carelessness ; they wijl doubtless be remedied , but tliey ought -never to ' have existed . Here is another example of the same careless editing . „ Nos . 1 ? and 25 , in Saloon D , are both scenes from the ' Beggar's Opera , ' by Hogarth . The former ( which belongs to Mr . Willett ) is in the original frame as designed by Hogarth himself , with a portrait of Gay , in colours , on the top ; but the note indicating that fact is appended to No . 25 , of which it is not true , and is omitted from No . 17 , of which it is . In many cases the descriptions given in the catalogue are to the highest degree unsatisfactory . Thus , No . 32 in the

      Hertford Gallery is described as ' Cardinal Fesch , from which one would imagine that it was a portrait of that worthy ecclesiastic , but certainly not that it is a charming example of Greuze , representing a Nymph upon her knees before the altar of Love , offering up the toys of her innocence and virginity . The only way of explaining this curious fact is by supposing that the picture once formed part of Cardinal Fesch ' s collection . Equally unsatisfactory is the definition of Lord Hertford ' s beautiful P oussin , as ' Mythological Subject : ' somewhat vague , it must be admitted , for an admirable composition of Old Time playing to a band of Nymphs dancing before a Terminus , with the Hours flying overhead , and Cupid blowing bubbles in the foreground . Surely some such a title as ' The Bright Season of Youth' would have been much better than the bald and meaningless one

      1 Mythological Subject . ' About the worst specimen of this insufficient naming , however , is also in the Hertford Collection : " No . 43 , ' Exterior '—Decamps . " Exterior of what ? Of a church , a cottage , or a pigsty ? The picture , in fact , represents a public execution of criminals outside the walls of Tunis . It is well known , and has been engraved . The figure of the wife of one of the unfortunate wretches is celebrated , and that of a boy who is suffering a beating at the hands of a horseman . Yet the catalogue has nothing to . say about it , but simply' Exterior !'

      Another capital fault in the catalogue is the absence of any means whereby to discover what examples of any particular master are to be found in the collection . A painful search through the whole volume is The only means of effecting this . How that might have been contrived we have , already pointed out ; and here we would suggest that the space which has "been ostentatiously tilled with biographical notes upon the old masters might have been profitably employed for that purpose , leaving it to the visitors to look up these not very recondite facts there imparted in their L : inzis and their

      Pilkingtons , at leisure and at home . It scarcely needs an argument to prove that the most serviceable function of a catalogue is to show distinctly and at once what is and what is not in the collection . Suppose , for example , an amateur pays a hurried visit to the Art Treasures Palace : he has but an hour to spend and wishes to examine two or three pictures of world-wide celebrity . Say that he has set his mind upon Lord Overstone ' s splendid Murillos , the " Three Maries" of Annibale Caracci , Rubens's " Rainbow Landscape , " and Gainsborough ' s " Blue Bov . " How will the catalogue assist him in

      discovering them at once ? Not nt all . lie must search quite through the volume for each of the desiderata ; and the more hurried he happens to be , of course the less likely is he to gain his object . An obvious inconvenience in the arrangement of the collections is perhaps not attributable to the executive ; we refer to the manner in which tho works of the same master are scattered about the building . This is ( we arc given to understand ) mainly due to the pride of ownership which some of the contributors have exhibited by insisting that their collections should be kept , all together . In tho disposition of the Hertford Gallery this is very obvious , for nothing can be more incongruous than to

      find Murillo in juxtaposition with Greuse , Uubbcinu with Philip do Champagne , Velasquez with Rubens , Vandyke with Wutteuu , Rembrandt with Lancret and Puterre . In tho Museum of Ornamental Art the same defect is to be deplored . Against tho south wall , for example , we find somo canes containing a magnificent . series of carvings in ivory , but the May rick Collection 'if armour ( at tho north-east corner of tho transept ) contains what is perhaps tho earliest known specimen of ivory carving , a specimen perfectly unique . Thin id a box , or casket , of tho sixth century , and it would havo l > con certainly much more in its place at tho head of the collection of ivory than in tho middle of daggers , tolodns , ami cuirasses .

      lint although tho executive may bo fairly hold ox-« u . iablo in thin mutter , thuro in another objection which touches them inoro nearly ; which ih t that in ( hid , which professes to bo u collection of Art Ti augured ( a title which requires much for its fulfilment ) , there is far inoro rubbish tliau can bo defended upon the excuse that it was Utairublo to illustrate every school of Art . The collcclion « f pro-Ruphuolito Muslord in uniformly excellent ; indeed , wo doubt whether tluvt interesting era was over « o richly illustrated in any other collection ; but , when wo got to Raphael himself there is a manifest , falling on " . Perhaps it in not too much to say that thoie is not ft

      single chef d ' eeuvre by this master in the whole Exhibition ; yet , in one batch , the catalogue sets . down twentynine pictures under that honoured name , some of which are of more than doubtful authenticity , and others have been obviously retouched . The Titians , again , are numerous and inferior ; one of them ( Lord Darnley ' s " Europa ") ought certainly to be never exhibited . Both Tintoretto and Paolo Veronese are very badly repre ^ sented : so is Salvator Rosa . But of all the old masters , perhaps Rubens is the most hardly dealt with , for why should such real treasures as the ' Rainbow Collection , '

      the portrait of himself and wife carrying fruit and game , the Prometheus" ( with the vulture by Snyders ) , the " St . Martin , " be shamed by such positive trash as is entered under his name ? The names of many other masters suggest similar observations . The masterpieces of Gainsborough are put to flagrant shame in this manner ; so are those of Reynolds ( and even Sir Joshua perpetrated a daub sometimes ) , so Laurence , so Turner , so Landseer , and so a greater number of our living artists than we care now to specify by name . Suffice it to say that , in most cases , not only the treasures of a master are illustrated upon the walls , but representatives of his failures are not absent . Let it be distinctly understood , however , that we do not wish this criticism as to inequality to apply to the British Portrait Gallerj ' . Where the object was to get a portrait ( and the plan of this collection is not only laudable , but is well carried out by Mr . Cunningham ) , the qualit 3 ' of the work became a matter of secondary * - importance .

      One more objection to a matter of arrangement , and we have come to the end of our catalogue of defects : the engravings might have been much better displayed . This is , perhaps , the richest collection in that branch of art that has ever been brought together . Under the name of Marc Antonio Raimondi we find catalogued eighty-nine masterpieces . It may serve to give those who do not happen to be iconophilists a notion as to what this means when we say that the price of good proofs of this master varies from fifty to eighty pounds sterling . Under the head of Albert Durer there are thirty-three specimens , under that of Raphael Morghen eighteen , under that of Rembrandt seventy-nine . The specimens are , for the most part , good , and in many cases excellent in quality ; but here al .--o , as in the pictures , things qiiite the reverse of ^ treasures are admittedbanaliWs of- the modern French and English schools that no - " one having anv pretensions to taste would deem

      worthy of a frame . The consequence is , that many of the masterpieces are hung in such a manner as to be quite inaccessible for the purpose of examination . The Marc Antonios and t ^ lie Albert Durers are , placed altogether , occupying a . space upon the screen between the level of the foot and three to four feet above the level of the eye . More than half of them are , therefore , practically " lost , and , for the purpose of intelligent examination " , might just as well have remained in the portfolios of their owners . As an example of the general want of judgment which pervades the arrangement of the engravings , it may be noticed that Sir Charles Price ' s splendid impression of Rembrandt's " Hundred Guilder Piece , " a proof on India paper , is hung in a coiner considerably below the line . It may be some compensation , however , to the buttled amateur to find that instead of a satisfactory arrangement the editors of the catalogue have treated him to an essay upon the Art of Engraving , of which the following luminous sentences will serve to

      give an idea : — Among those arts which contribute largely as well to tho use ns to the gratification of mankind , the practice of taking upon sonic material impressions from surfaces prepared by being cut into or engraved , lias for many ages attained considerablo importance , and in the galleries of tins J . xlumtion , which hnvo been appropriated for the purpose , the visitor will llnd himself surrounded with specimens illustrative of the progress of that art from its earliest invention to the present time . In speculating upon tho origin ol tins practice we mav well imagine that the form ol oven a fallen leaf leu . casually in the soft ground , the markings there of the feet of aniiniils or of man , would at . lirst naturally only present to tho mind the notion of the contact with tlm individual few linoshowever thoughtlessly

      passing . ' . A , perhap s traced with the linger in the Mind , may have given rise to the idea of copying these impressions , and their originals , as wo 11 as of ornamenting surfaces of stone , or of metal , or ol wood , or of elny , as in tho instance of this mosl . primitive pottery , with tracerv , by mean * of cutting instruments , and thus we are prepared for the . very early appearance of engraving upon those substances ; nnil some such mark from the hand of man , or even tho indentation of a tooth , soon became associate *! with tho idea of the . use or properly of tho marked thing being in a person , whence came the invention of the engraved Mign or sliunp , and the cutting ol gems in intaglio—the striking of coined money bearing designs or characters—tlm cutting in relief or in cameo , and oilier processes oi kindred natures .

      Of course , we do not moan to dony tho advantage that might luivu been derived from clem-, succinct statements , briefly and intelligibly explanatory of the origin ami progress of tho various arts illustrated by thin exhibition ; but the reader will judge as to what kind of , and how much , benefit in to be expected from Mieh a lucubration as that , which we have just quoted . From tho general tenor of tho above observations , it will bo gathered that the Art Treasured Kxhibition has many defects in form and detail ; somo of which were , peiiiui'S , unavoidable , Homo of ^ which have nrirten from causes out of the , reach of the executive committee , and Homo of which' ( if fairly ohurguublo against tho olHcinlr 1 ) are more than atoned for by tho excellent service which

      they have rendered in other respects . A more logical arrangement of the works of art would certainly have rendered them more available for educational purposes ; and if that had been found absolutely impossible , a wellframed catalogue would have gone far to amend the evil . The latter is not yet impossible , for we 'perceive that the word ' provisional' stands upon the back of the edition originally issued . This , however , we tell the editor frankly : that the whole work must be entirely remodelled , and each part thoroughly revised , before the catalogue can at all equal what the public has a right to expect .

      Let it not be supposed , however , that fault is the only thing that can be found in the magnificent Art Palace at Old Trafford . On the contrary , it teems with excellencies and beauties of which it will be our pleasure to give a brief account in the next section of this sketch . In the present article we have fairly stated all that appears objectionable to us in the organisation and working out of the scheme , and we have done our utmost in that respect ; deeming that , in a great national scheme of this importance and magnitude , severe criticism , if honestlv applied and without malice , is likely to be of better service than fulsome , undiscriminating praise .

      Hay 16, 1857. J The Leader. 461

      Hay 16 , 1857 . J THE LEADER . 461

      State Of Trade. The Reports Of The Trade...

      STATE OF TRADE . The reports of the trade of the manufacturing towns during the week ending last Saturday show no alteration . At Manchester , the dulness has been increased by the firmness of the Liverpool cotton-market , which further diminishes the relative profit on manufactured goods , and induces a limitation of production . The Birningbam accounts describe steadiness in the iron trade , and confidence with regard to its prospects . For the general manufactures of the place , the foreign and colonial orders are in most cases satisfactory , and there is also a fair home demand . In the woollen districts there has been a slight increase of activity ; but the Irish linen-markets are without change . —Times .

      The general business of the port of London still remains very inactive . This is owing to the easterly wind . A large number of vessels are now overdue . The total number of vessels reported inwards during the week ending last Saturday" was 131 , being 18 less than in the previous week . These include the American ship Swal-Iow 7 with a cargo of 26 , 084 packages of tea . The number . pf ships cleared outward was 135 , -including ~ 12 in ballast , showing a decrease of 19 . The total number of vessels on the berth loading for the Australian _ colonies is 47 , being p- less than at the last account .. JO ? those now loading 4 are for Adelaide , 3 for Geelong , 3 for Hobart Town , 3 for Lnunceston , 1 for Melbourne , 4 for New Zealand , 12 for Port Phillip , 1 for Portland Bav , 15 for Sydney , and 1 for Swan River . Of these , 1 was entered outward in January , 2 in February , and 9 in March . —Idem .

      Certain persons connected with the London General Omnibus Company , called horsekeepers , whose duty it was to attend to the horses every morning and night , have struck on a question of pay . This put the drivers and conductors to some inconvenience , but they groomed their beasts for themselves , and so matters went on . The strike was not general , though the disaffected tried to make it so by going about to the various yards , urging their brethren to join them . None of those on strike will be again received into the company ' s service . The pitowners in the neighbourhood of the Lundhill Colliery have resolved to enforce on their workmen tho use oi' the safety-lamp . The colliers , however , cannot get through the same amount of work with the guarded

      as with the naked light ; and , as the masters will not make a corresponding advunco in wages , the pitmen struck . Tho masters , contrary to tho usual custom , have ottered to supply lumps and oil at their own expense . At a meeting of the men , it was unanimously resolved to resume work , and give the lamp a fair trial . Tho shoemakers at Rotherham have also struck . Tho cause is thus stated in tho daily papers : ¦— Owing to a pressure of business , one of the muster . shoemakers at Rotherham a day or two ago hired sop > e men who were not connected with the operative union v , » r » iut branch of

      trade ; whereupon the union hands immediately struck work , and refused to resume their employment until the non-union men were discharged . A meeting of tho musters was subsequently held , at which it was resolved to support their brother trudemnun in the course ho hud adopted , and also to discharge every union hand in tho town unless his men went back to their work . This was refused , and the refractory workmen were all discharged , the masters adopting a resolution never in future to employ anv workman connected , with tho Journeyman Boot and Shoemakers' Union . "

      Ireland. A Madman In A Coach.—A Person N...

      IRELAND . A Madman in a Coach . —A person named Wilson , while travelling >» a coach near Kcriiiumigli , suddenly druw u razor , brandished it about in a menaeii . ig manner at a young lady with whom he wan riding , und Would have stubbed her hiul she not , warded oil" the lunges witjt u bi'skot . She . screamed loudly , and a militia captain who was on tho' box seat , coming to her UKsinlM » eo , ramoved her in safety , though not without re «;« : ivi « ur several wounds 'himself

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 16, 1857, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16051857/page/5/