In this Court will be found specimens of plate, articles in nickel silver, seal-presses, gilt toys, curious locks, and similar manufactured goods of universal use, from the multifarious productions of the busy town which gives its name to the Court. On leaving the court, we notice some splendid specimens of bronze casting, and other works of artistic metal manufacture, belonging to Messrs. Elkington & Co. Quitting this department, we approach next in succession,
THE SHEFFIELD COURT.[22]
The architect of this Court is Mr. G. H. Stokes, whose structure compels attention by the novelty of its design, and by its generally striking effect. Although there is a considerable admixture of styles in the Court, the parts have been so well selected, and their blending is so excellently contrived, that they yield a harmonious result in every way pleasing to the eye. The materials used in the construction are plate-glass and iron, an appropriate and happy selection for a court intended to receive the productions of Sheffield. The panels on the outer walls are of plate-glass, inclosed within gilt-mouldings; the pilasters and the frieze over the large panels are likewise of plate-glass. The iron columns above, forming an arcade, are in a composite Moresque-Gothic style, and elaborately ornamental in design. Entering the Court from the Nave, we find the interior decorations identical with those of the exterior—with two differences, viz., the large lower panels, instead of being of plate-glass, are of red cloth, which serves as a background to throw up and display the articles exhibited. The frieze or space above the columns is covered with painted decorations. The articles exhibited in this Court present an excellent representation of the important manufactures for which Sheffield is so celebrated, and which are sought by all the world. It is impossible not to extol the beauty and curiosity, as well as the completeness, of these manufactures.
[22] See “[Exhibitors’ Descriptive Catalogue],” Part IV. of this book.
Having made our way to the Nave, a step brings us at once before the exquisite restoration of
THE POMPEIAN COURT.[23]
Seventeen hundred and seventy-five years ago, the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, beautifully situated on the shores of the Bay of Naples, were buried beneath the lava and ashes vomited forth by Vesuvius. The horrors of this calamity are recorded in the writings of Pliny, and of other Roman historians of the period. So sudden was the outbreak and general convulsion that, as we learn, many of the inhabitants of those cities were caught in their terrible doom before the thought of escape occurred to them. The dread event completed, nature resumed her former aspect. The mountain flames ceased, the intense blue sky again looked down upon the dancing waters, and there was nothing to tell of the general havoc, but a vast desolate tract covered with white ashes, under which man and his works lay entombed.
[23] See “Handbook to the Pompeian Court,” by George Scharf, jun.
For upwards of sixteen hundred years these cities remained buried. But about the middle of the last century, curiosity with respect to them was stirred, inquiry commenced, and excavations were attempted. As in the more recent case of Nineveh, but with still more satisfactory results, success at once crowned investigation. The material that had destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii had also preserved them. That which had robbed them of life had also perpetuated their story in death. The cities were redelivered to man so far undecayed, that he obtained actual visible knowledge of the manner of life of one of the most remarkable people that ever governed the world. To the insight thus obtained, the visitor is indebted for the reproduction of the Pompeian house before which he now stands—a habitation of the time, complete in every respect. It is not asserted that the visitor beholds the actual ground-plan of any one specific house, but he sees the type of a Pompeian villa, made up of many fragments that have been found. The paintings and decorations are copies of originals found in the destroyed cities.
The doorway of this house stands fronting the Nave. Entering it, we pass through the narrow prothyrum or passage, on either side of which is a room devoted to the door-keeper and slaves, and on its pavement the representation in mosaic of a savage dog, and the words “cave canem”—beware of the dog—meet the eye. It is the usual notice found on the threshold of these Roman houses. Emerging from the passage, we are at once in the “atrium,” or outer court of the edifice. The eye is not attracted here, as in other restorations of the palace, by the architectural design alone; the attention is also secured and charmed by the decorations. The bright coloured walls, the light fanciful character of the ornaments, the variety of patterns, and the excellent method of colouring,—which at the lower part is dark, and graduates upwards, until it becomes white on the ceiling,—constitute some of the beautiful features that give individuality to Pompeian houses, and cause them to differ most essentially from every other style.