Lippincotts Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 22. October, 1878 | Page 9

yak tails with handles of sandal-wood, chased gold
or carved ivory; gold-embroidered holsters and elaborate whips which
will hold no more ornamentation than has been crowded upon them.
The yak's-tail chowries, or fly-brushes, and the fans of peacocks'
feathers, are emblems of royalty throughout the East.
The metal ware of India, shown in eight of the glass cases--some of
them the prince's and others Lord Northbrook's--affords connoisseurs
great delight, and also arrests the attention of those who have simply a
delight in beautiful forms and colors, without technical knowledge. It
might not, perhaps, occur to the casual visitor that a Jeypore plate of
champlevé enamel represents the work of four years. In this process the

pattern is dug out of the metal and the recess filled with enamel, while
in the cheaper cloisonné the pattern is raised on the surface of the metal
by welding on strips or wire and filling in with enamel which is fused
on to the metal. A betel-leaf and perfume-service in the silver-gilt of
Mysore is accompanied by elaborately-chased goblets and rose-water
sprinklers in ruddy gold and parcel-gilt, the work of Kashmir and
Lucknow. The ruddy color is the taste of Kashmir and of Burmah,
while a singular olive-brown tint is peculiar to Scinde. Other cases have
the repoussé-work of Madras, Cutch, Lucknow, Dacca and Burmah.
From Hyderabad in the Deccan is a parcel-gilt vase, an example of
pierced-work, the opus interassile of the Romans. The chased
parcel-gilt ware of Kashmir occupies three cases: it is graven through
the gold to the dead-white silver below, softening the lustre of the gold
to a pearly radiance. Somewhat similar in method is the Mordarabad
ware, in which tin soldered upon brass is cut through to the lower metal,
which gives a glow to the white surface. Sometimes the engraving is
filled with lac, after the manner of niello-work. Specimens are also
shown in Bidiri ware, in which a vessel made of an alloy of copper,
lead and tin, blackened by dipping in an acidulous solution, is covered
with designs in beaten silver. A writing-case of Jeypore enamel is
perhaps the most dainty device of the kind ever seen. It is shaped like
an Indian gondola, the stern of which is a peacock whose tail sweeps
under half the length of the boat, irradiating it with blue and green
enamel. The canopy of the ink-cup is colored with green and blue and
ruby and coral-red enamels laid on pure gold.
[Illustration: THE INDIAN COURT: THE PRINCE OF WALES
EXHIBIT.]
To attempt to describe the jewelry for the person would extend to too
great a length the notice of this most remarkable and interesting exhibit,
which includes tiaras, aigrettes and pendent jewels for the forehead;
ear-rings, ear-chains and studs; nose-rings and studs; necklaces of
chains, pearls and gems; stomachers and tablets of gold studded with
gems or strung by chains of pearls and turquoises with solitaire or
enamelled pendants; armlets, bracelets, rings; bangles, anklets and
toe-rings of gold and all the jewels of the East. A Jeypore hair-comb

shown in one of the cases has a setting of emerald and ruby enamel on
gold, surmounted by a curved row of large pearls, all on a level and
each tipped with a green bead. Below is a row of small diamonds set
among the green and red enamelled gold leaves which support the
pearls. Below these again is a row of small pearls with an enamelled
scroll-work set with diamonds between it and a third row of pearls;
below which is a continuous row of small diamonds, forming the lower
edge of the comb just above the gold teeth.
England's colonies make a great show at the Exposition. The Canadian
pagoda, which occupies one of the domed apartments at the corners of
the Palais, rises from a base of forty feet square, and consists of a series
of stories of gradually-decreasing area, surrounded by balconies from
which extended views of the Salle d'Iéna and the foreign machinery
gallery are obtained. The pagoda itself is occupied by Canadian
exhibits, but around it are grouped specimens of the mineral and
vegetable wealth and manufacturing enterprise of Australia and the
Cape of Good Hope. Australia, which is a continent in itself, has
become of so much importance that it is no longer content with a single
or with a collective exhibit, and the various colonies make separate
displays in another part of the building. That around the Canadian
trophy is but a contribution to a general colonial collection near the
focus of the British group, where the union jack waves above the united
family.
In the Australian exhibits it is only fair to begin with New South Wales,
which is the oldest British colony on the island, and may be said to be
the mother