THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS, AND OF THE INSTITUTIONS IN UNION. VOLUME VII. FROM NOVEMBER 19, 1858, TO NOVEMBER 11, 1859. LONDON: PUBLISHED FOR THE SOCIETY BY BELL AND DALDY, 186, FLEET-STREET. 1859. Journal of the Society of Arts. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1858. SECOND ORDINARY MEETING. WEDNESDAY, Nov. 24, 1858. The Second Ordinary Meeting of the One Hundred and Fifth Session, was held on Wednesday, the 24th inst., George T. Doo, Esq., R.A., F.R.S., in the chair. Previous to the reading of the Paper, the Secretary called attention to some specimens of printing on veneers, for decorative purposes, exhibited by Mr. William Taylor, of Nottingham. The veneers are cut from a log, which revolves against a knife, by means of which a continuous sheet of wood, of considerable width, is obtained. When cut they are stated to require no planing; a much smaller portion of glue is necessary to mount them, and, after being made smooth with fine glass-paper, they are ready for French-polishing. These veneers are afterwards ornamented with designs printed by a lithographic or other surfaceprinting process, either in black or colours, so as to produce the effect of marqueterie and other kinds of inlaid work. Attention was also drawn which were afterwards filled up carefully with other metals in a state of fusion, so as to render them perfectly adherent. When the metal had cooled, the whole surface was submitted to a high polish, and displayed the ornaments in various tints of metal; sometimes a sort of black composition only was poured into the lines while in a liquid state, which soon hardened and answered the same purpose as metal. This process, then much in vogue in Italy, was called "niello," and when we are told that it was customary to take a rude impression, in clay or wax, of the work just completed, by means of some lamp black rubbed into the lines, in order to judge is difficult to imagine that the discovery of the means of of the effect before resorting to the process of nielling, it obtaining a more permanent impression should not have taken place earlier. Before examining with the attention it deserves the development of this great discovery, perhaps it may not be out of place to offer a few general remarks. When the different nations of the continent, especially Italy, were awakening to the new order of ideas which been called "The Renaissance," when the thirst for was shortly to inaugurate the splendid period which has learning and the desire for the possession of books, in those days scarce, and only to be had in manuscript, was such that men of great celebrity and erudition, Boccaccio in copying out whole volumes of the Latin authors— amongst the number, could devote much valuable time then, by an admirable order of Providence, who dispenses to us all gifts at the precise time that we are ready to receive them, the invention of the art of typeprinting took place to supply the want generally felt, and books began to be diffused extensively. In like manner, when the taste for pictures or for a representation in some shape or other of a design was steadily growing in the public mind, compositions and subjects, drawn firstly on a piece of hard wood, were carved out so as to show, in relief, the surface only, which had been delineated with the pencil or the pen, and by rubbing some black substance over the compositions thus sil-standing in relief, and pressing heavily a piece of paper spread over it with the palm of the hand, something like an impression was obtained; yet, this means of reproduction from the wood block had not suggested the idea that intaglios cut into a plate of metal were capable also of yielding an impression, when an accident led to the discovery of a process, the value of which it is not easy the invention has received. to overestimate, considering the immense development to two paintings on glass, by Signor Agneni. The pictures are produced on the under surface of the glass, the remaining portion being vered in the ordinary manner employed for mirrors; they are intended to be used for decorating the walls of rooms. The Paper read was— ON A METHOD OF RENDERING ENGRAVED PRESSIONS. BY F. JOUBert. The art of representing objects by means of outlines cut into solid stone or metal, appears to have been practised from the remotest antiquity; the Nineveh inscriptions recently brought to light, the numerous monuments left by the Egyptians, their vases of gold and other metals, covered as they are with a variety of inscriptions and designs cut in deep intaglios, sufficiently prove the fact. We have also the positive knowledge that precious metals, even steel, were frequently engraved upon by the Arabs, long before their civilization penetrated into Europe; their arms especially, and many splendid pieces of armour bearing elaborately cut designs and ornaments, are evidence of this. The Greeks, and in after times the Romans, practised the art of engraving on stone and metal extensively. Gem or precious stone engraving, to the origin of which it is difficult to assign a period, was cultivated by the Romans with a degree of perfection which has never been surpassed. At a later date, the skill of the goldsmiths of the ziddle ages had introduced the practice of covering vases ad cups of gold and silver with a great many ornaments, den portraits, cut into the metal in deep lines or ridges, the invention attributed to Tomaso Finiguerra, the There is no possibility of dispute as to the date of Florentine goldsmith: the little print, extremely rare, whch can be seen at the Imperial Library, at Paris, bearing the inscription "1452," and supposed to be the oldest print from a metal plate now in existence, disposes of this point; the manner also in which the discovery took place is known. Finiguerra, having completed some elaborate piece of engraving on silver, had filled the intaglios with a black composition in a soft state, and after cleaning out carefully the surface of the metal so as to leave the black only in the engraved part, he had occasion to absent himself from the workshop for a short time; a girl passing through the room with some wet clothes chanced to let fall a piece of wet linen on the very work that was lying on the table. When Finiguerra, on his return, lifted up the linen, he perceived, to his great amazement, a perfect impression of the ornaments he had been engraving transferred to this piece of linen. A world of new ideas was at once opened to his mind; he tried to accomplish designedly that which had been the result of accident, and, after a great many attempts, succeeded in producing a correct impression on wet paper. Such an important discovery could not remain long secret; several artists of that time tried their hand at the new art, and a few years later, in 1477, the first book |