MARMORTINTO, OR SAND-PAINTING.
There appeared in a late number of The Family Friend, an article on the above process. The writer attributes its invention to Benjamin Zobel of Bavaria; and states, that although some few persons have attempted its revival, in no instance has success attended such efforts. This is not correct. There was a German confectioner to King George III. whom I knew well. His name was Haas; and those acquainted with Bristol will recollect his well-frequented shop, nearly opposite the drawbridge on the way to College Green, where he resided forty years ago, after retiring from his employment at Court. There he was often engaged in decorating ceilings, lying on his back for weeks together on a scaffold for the purpose. He also ornamented the plateaus for the royal table; and he understood the art of sand-painting, and practised it in the highest perfection. Whether he preceded Zobel, or came after him, at Windsor Castle, I cannot tell; but I can testify that he was perfect master of the art in question. I have seen him at work upon his sand-pictures. He had the marble dust of every gradation of colour in a large box, divided into small compartments; and he applied it to the picture by dropping it from small cones of paper.
The article in The Family Friend describes the process of Zobel to have consisted of a previous coating of the panel for the picture with a glutinous solution, over which the marble dust was strewed from a piece of cord. Haas used small cones of paper; and my impression from seeing him at work was, that he sprinkled the sand on the dry panel, and fixed the whole finally at once by some process which he kept a secret. For I remember how careful he was to prevent the window or door from being opened, so as to cause a draught, before he had fixed his picture; and I
have heard him lament the misfortune of having had one or two pictures blown away in this manner.
The effect of his sand-pictures was extraordinary. They stood out in bold relief, and with a brilliancy far surpassing any oil painting. As may be supposed, this style of painting was particularly adapted for landscapes and rocky scenery; and it enabled the artist to finish foliage with a richness which nothing could surpass. Mr. Haas' collection of his sand-paintings was a rich treat to inspect. After his death, they were sold and dispersed; but many must be found in the collections of gentlemen in Bristol and its neighbourhood.
F. C. H.