parts filled with armorial bearings of the various kingdoms of Europe. The crown of the cake is ornamented with cornucopias, medallions, banners, and rich foliage, the turtle dove, and clusters of orange blossoms; the whole surmounted with a beautiful kneeling figure of Flora, bearing a vase filled with every description of the choicest flowers. The weight of the cake is about 2 cwt., and the whole of the ornaments are moulded, cast, or otherwise worked out in sugar.

groom,"

the Lord's, and the fulness thereof," "God save our gracious Queen."

Then three Cupids, with doves resting on them; and three small pillars,

supporting a canopy over two doves in a rose. Then three cornucopias, with the Union Jack, Royal standard, and Prussian standard; and

orange blossom myrtle, emblems of bridal festivity. Above the whole is a vase, filled with honeysuckle, orange blossom, lily of the valley, jessamine, and forget-me-nots.

We regret to say that this magnificent specimen of the confectioners'

art has been destroyed since it was delivered in the building, the exhibitors sustaining a loss of £160. The fragments have been put together

as well as possible, and even in its present state it forms a highly attractive object.

In this department of the Exhibition will be found many highly curious and interesting objects. Here, for instance, are to be seen a large number of "flavouring substances," a few drops of which convert a mere syrup into a delightful confection of raspberry, strawberry, pine-apple, currant, peach, pear, or nectarine. Most of these flavourings are prepared from substances that have no affinity with the fruits whose names they bear; and all are perfectly harmless. Here, also, are various kinds of albumen, jellies, isinglass, and other preparations of animal and vegetable tissue; preserved fish and vegetables, with concentrated essences of meats. Examples of all the beverages in use among civilised nations find a place in Class 3 in the Eastern Annexe.

cluster-leaves and rose-leaves projecting from the edge of the top cake, and doves flying out between the cluster-leaves. On the top are three scrolls, with initials, and three friendship bows, with six light pillars. Inside the temple is an altar, with the flame of Love in the centre, and six small doves flying from the six corners of the altar, with each a scroll, containing a motto-Peace, Love, Hope,

THE Furniture Courts, both on the British and Foreign sides of the building, are especially attractive; much more so, indeed than they were in 1851, in consequence of the better taste displayed in the manufacture of the several articles exhibited.

In the objects we have chosen for illustration there will be observed not only considerable grace and harmony of design, but also what we have always believed to be inseparable from good taste, namely, good workmanship. In the glasses, &c., shown by Mr. Page, of Coventry Street, these qualities are especially observable; no less, however, are they to be commended in the contributions of Mr. Wilkinson, of Old Bond Street.

tive furniture; that is to say, the tastes which may belong to well-to-do people. For the mansion, the hall, the lodge, and the villa there is abundance of choice; but for the six or eight-roomed house in the suburbs, for the cottage of genteel poverty, and the house of enforced economy, there is actually nothing whatever shown. Hardly a chair in the British side of the Exhibition could be bought for less than a sovereign, or a table for less than five. We should have been pleased to have seen some effort made to produce good, cheap furniture, in pretty shapes; but the exhibitors generally do not appear to have thought it necessary to bring such articles to South Kensington, even if they

Among the ornamental furniture in the British Court, that of Messrs. Wright and Mansfield will also be noticed. Observe a book-case of wild cherry-wood, with medallion in the centre of the back in Wedgwood-ware-the design, and the medallions of the frieze and door-panels, after Flaxman. A pair of girandoles, carved and gilded; a handsome Erard's oblique pianoforte; a boudoir book-case of sycamore, with panels of Wedgwood; and a candelabra, carved and gilt, are also very good.

Some very excellent decorative furniture is shown by Messrs. Morris and Co., of Red Lion Square; Messrs. Trollope and Son, and indeed, by several of the well-known London and provincial firms. All sorts of tastes are consulted by the exhibitors of carved and decora

MR. H. M. PAGE.

possessed them. An exception in this respect may be made in favour of Messrs. Heal, of Tottenham Court Road, whose show seems intended to attract the eyes of middle-class, rather than rich and noble purchasers. But, perhaps, with the example of Austria in 1851 before them, exhibitors are anxious to show, not what they could produce of the cheapest and, at the same time, most tasteful character, but that which was best calculated to impress foreigners with an idea of the great wealth and careless ostentation of their principal customers. Be this as it may, the furniture exhibited in the South Courts is sufficiently massive, decorative, and graceful to command universal admiration. The majority of sight-seers may possibly take pleasure in looking at drawing-room suites they cannot afford to purchase, and examining

chairs and tables on which and at which they would be afraid to sit or to dine; but some would certainly have welcomed examples of plainer and more useful objects. Nor is this fault-if fault it be-confined to the British side of the building. With the exception of some cottage furniture in the American department, all is intended for purchasers with incomes of from one to ten thousand a-year. It is certainly very delightful to witness such triumphs of mechanical and artistic skill, and to know that there are really people in the world rich enough to buy them.

and the general public. As an instance of good taste in respect to furniture of a decorative character, we notice the carved gilt frame and sideboard exhibited by Messrs. McLauchlan and Son, of Printing House Square. The design is both graceful and original.

In this page we introduce a fine specimen of cabinet work, exhibited by Messrs. C. Wilkinson and Son, of 8, Old Bond Street. This drawing-room cabinet consists of a book-case with large glass and Subframe above, in

taste. In fur-
niture,
less than in
pictures, en-

gravings, sculptures, and bronzes, purchasers have the future of artmanufacture en

tirely in their own

hands. Nor can there be

any manner of doubt that periodical exhibitions must tend to improve the

taste of both workmen

Louis XVI.;

WOOD CARVING IN CLASS XXX. RECOLLECTING the emulation aroused in the minds of our British wood carvers by the display of foreign workmanship in the Exhibition of 1851, we cannot wonder that our countrymen have this year made efforts to take a foremost place in the great competition for excellence in design and handicraft. It is too much the fashion (a pernicious one, we think) for the patrons of art to extol the foreign workmen, forgetting there may be an equal amount of latent genius at home for producing works of an ornamental or decorative character. The consequence is that our own workmen are discouraged; they have not only to rival the foreigner, but to contend against this prejudice. Another

now and then obtained considerable commissions for church workreceived laudatory comments for having equalled Michael Angelo or Grinling Gibbons-but generally submitted to execute any kind of ornamentation, whether creditable to Art or not. In fact, the name of Grinling Gibbons has been used to the detriment of the workman, for, as a rule, if the latter did anything in imitation of the great master, English patrons begrudged the payment. We speak of what may be called ordinary ornament of the class which it is now well understood Gibbons simply supervised.

To have accomplished all attributed to him, he must have lived three hundred years, instead of the space allotted to man. His excel

great obstacle to the advancement of the wood carver at home has been the want of a proper school either for acquiring the rudiments of his art, or where, when his work was accomplished, it could be shown for his advantage. Of course the Trade Society has worked as effectually as it possibly could in providing the means of communication between its members, and an excellent class library for their study and improvement; but, in truth, until the Council of the Architectural Museum offered prizes to all workmen, the best effort of any one of them was at once deposited in a mansion or palace of the commoner or noble, without the chance of exciting any ambition amongst the younger members of the profession, or enabling those of maturer years to mark the progress of the art. Occasionally, public attention was aroused by something startling accomplished by a new aspirant for honours, who soon subsided into the position of assistant to some one else, and was as soon forgotten, save in a small circle; whilst the feaders in trade

lent works may well be praised for their truthfulness and finish, but the modern workman considers very confidently that they are not unapproachable; all that is wanted is proper remuneration for the work bestowed.

The results achieved by the Architectural Museum competition are highly gratifying to the Council, and have been, and will be, of essential service to the Art workman. If we needed an instance in point, we could not do better than refer to the production of one of the exhibitors of 1862, Mr. W. H. Baylis, of 69, Judd Street, whose Jewelcase, one of the best pieces of carving in the Exhibition, we have selected for illustration. A glance at the exquisite work, even through the medium of wood-engraving, will be sufficient to warrant our choice.

Mr. Baylis's contributions are four in number; the first being a specimen of rich and elaborate moulding, size 2 feet by 8 inches.

This gained a first prize at the distribution in 1860, at the South Kensington Museum, and was much praised by Mr. A. J. Beresford Hope, the President of the Architectural Museum. The second is a frame (in chestnut wood), in a conventional style of ornament, suitable for a miniature or other purpose, size 18 inches by 12. Next in order is another frame, carved in lime-tree, displaying various flowers, wild and cultivated, with remarkable delicacy and finish; its size is 20 inches by 15.

The remaining production is a Jewel Casket carved in boxwood. At first sight it arrests attention by the beauty of its general outline. Each corner shows the head of a puma, grotesquely treated, and conventionally winged; from the mouth of each bunches of flowers depend, falling gracefully over the sides. The lid is surrounded by a well-executed group-a bird expiring in the coils of a serpent. The rest of the ornamentation is elegant and tasteful, though what may be termed conventional. It is said that the price of this casket is 200 guineas. In size it is about 20 inches by 8, and about 10 inches deep. Mr. Baylis is a young man of the self-taught class, the class from which success in art naturally springs. It is evident he has not servilely followed any master, but, striking out a path of his own, has produced most pleasing combinations, and furnished worthy examples of modern English art. They are not only to be admired

surmounted by an oak cover, carved in English oak, by Mr. David Sharp. The work is well designed and admirably executed. In the centre of the cross-like cover, there is a carved figure of our Saviour, a very marvel of skill and good taste. Mr. Sharp also shows a carved bracket on his own account, which will be found above the doorway leading from the outer Furniture Court to the Colonial Department.

Mr. Bryer, of Southampton, exhibits his admirable little work, the "Moment of Victory," which attracted so much attention when shown in Colnaghi's, in 1858. It is a reproduction in boxwood of Fraser's picture of a game-cock exulting over a fallen foe, while peasants and others are looking on admiringly. His chief work in the Exhibition is an altar-piece, from Rubens' "Crucifixion," carved in English oak. It is about five feet in height by three feet in width. This fine work will be found at the south-east corner of the central Furniture Court, where it attracts considerable attention. It is in very bold relief, the front figures being very nearly detached, the whole carving being nine inches in depth. Mr. Bryer has been eminently successful in giving & good expression to all the many figures in the striking group. There is throughout a very graceful treatment of drapery, which has that peculiar flow and elegance which distinguish the best ages of sculpture, and mark the intense love of the artist for his work; finish without toilsomeness, conventionality without stiffness, combined with natural

for strikingly natural feeling, but for their very bold, off-hand execution. There is no appearance of laborious effort, or unnecessary anxiety, but rather a repose and vigorous touch which are not often united in so young an artist. These works will be found standing by themselves in the passage leading from the Nave to the centre of the Furniture Court.

Many other fine specimens of carving grace the present Exhibition. Notice those exhibited by Mr. Perry; Mr. Forsyth, of the Hampstead Road; Mr. Walker, of Notting Hill; Mr. Kendall, of Warwick; and Mr. Stevens, of Taunton, whose mahogany sideboard, a work of considerable merit, is crowded with representations of game, fish, fruit, &c.

The veteran Rogers, whose carvings have been so long and so deservedly admired, has a stand of most exquisite works in the Furniture Court. But, as we shall probably illustrate some of these, we refrain from further detail. Mr. Rogers will be remembered as having produced the "Prince of Wales's Cradle," by command of the Queen, and other fine carved works, which were shown in the Hyde Park Exhibition in 1851. Taste and skill in this direction appear to belong of right to the family; for Mr. Rogers's son also shows some very excellent carvings in wood.

In the Medieval Court there is a font of Ancaster stone, exhibited by Messrs. Kirk and Parry, of Sleaford, Lincolnshire. This font is

MESSES. GEORGE JACKSON AND SONS.

ease and mastery of beautiful form. This work cannot fail to add to the artist's reputation. Mr. Bryer also exhibits, in the same court, a carved canary, in full song; a spaniel, in alabaster, from the life; a lectern eagle, in oak, the property of the Rev. James Lyon; and an altar, the property of Mrs. W. Iremonger, of Wherwell Priory-all of them noticeable for their varied excellences.

In this page we also introduce a good specimen of imitative carving by Messrs. George Jackson and Sons, of Rathbone Place, The work is executed in carton pierre, a cheap and excellent substitute for wood, especially when the design is large. On page 45 we have another specimen from the contributions of Messrs. Jackson. It was wrongly called a sideboard, when it, in fact, is a design for a chimneypiece.

On the foreign side of the building there are some very fine specimens of carving, especially in the French and Swiss Courts. Nothing can exceed the delicate beauty of some of the smaller specimens of Swiss carvings in soft white wood; but it is to be regretted that these works, generally the production of uneducated peasants, do not improve in a ratio consistent with their popularity. What cheap Swiss carvings were in 1830 they were in 1851; and just what they were in the latter year they are now-very pretty, very delicate, and very deficient in the nobler qualities of art.