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 The adventures of a bric-a-brac hunter / 
 
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THE ADYENTUEES 
 
 A BEIC-A-BRAC HUNTER. 
 
THE ADVENTUKES 
 
 OP 
 
 A BRIO-A-BRAC HUNTER. 
 
 BY 
 
 MAJOR H. BYNG HALL, 
 
 AHTHOB OP "the (JUEEn's MESSENGER." 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 TINSLEY BROTHERS, 18, CATHERINE ST., STRAND. 
 
 1868. 
 & 
 
 [All Bights reserved.] 
 
LONDON ; 
 BRADBURY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITErBIAES. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 A PORTION of this work was published ia the 
 " Belgravia " Magazine. The limits and delay of a 
 periodica], however, by no means permitted the 
 author to enter fully on his subject. Moreover, his 
 intentions were in some measure weakened. 
 
 In no manner does he presume to be a first-rate 
 connoisseur as regards the ceramic art, which is 
 scarcely to be obtained in the researches of a life. 
 One science bears so closely on every other, that 
 without a knowledge of all there can be no complete 
 acquaintance with any. 
 
 His object is simply to give a slight sketch of his 
 various hunting-grounds in search of bric-a-brac — a 
 very simple pursuit — which has caused him untiring 
 interest and delight ; and thus, by offering the slight 
 practical experience he has gained during foreign 
 
PRE FA CM. 
 
 travel, he may cause amusement, if not instruction, 
 to the many thousands who have similar tastes, 
 when they visit the hunting-grounds where he has 
 so frequently wandered. 
 
 H. BYNG HALL. 
 
 LUCEENB, 
 
 18th August, 1868. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 QUEST PAGE 
 
 I. — ON BEIC-A-BEAC IN GENEEAl .... 1 
 
 II. — FEINTS TO BBIC-A-BEAC HXTNTEES . . . 22 
 III. — ^MAESEILLES — MESSINA .... 35 
 
 IV. — STAHB0T7I, 50 
 
 V. — ^MADEID 61 
 
 VI. — ST. PETEESBTJEG * 74 
 
 VII. — ^BEELIN 96 
 
 VIII. — DEESDBN 113 
 
 IX. — VIENNA 139 
 
 X.— ITALY 162 
 
 XI. — ^PAEIS — LONDON .191 
 
THE ADVENTURES 
 
 OF 
 
 A BEIC-A-BEAC HUNTER. 
 
 QUEST I. 
 
 ON BEIC-A-BRAC IN GENERAL. 
 
 " Southey was right when he told his brother that if he would use 
 his eyes on his travels, and in his own natural language describe 
 truthfully all that he saw, he would be enabled to entertain the most 
 educated reader, and charm the least. " 
 
 " Art, like poetry, is addressed to the world at large." 
 
 In a useful little -work entitled Les EceentriciUs 
 du Langage Frangais, I find the word "Bric-a- 
 brac " or " Bric-a-bracquer " explained tbus : — " re- 
 ■vendeuT de rrieubles et d'objets d'art." The cele- 
 brated Monsieur Pons, a remarkable collector of 
 days lang syne — a romance of whose life has been 
 so ably imagined and written by Balzac — continually 
 uses the words bric-k-brac and bric-a-bracquer ; the 
 latter simply implying a collector, or one passionately 
 devoted to works of art. 
 
BBIC-A-BRAO HUNTING. 
 
 In plain English, the' amiable and valuable 
 promoters of this, refined pursuit are generally 
 alluded to as " curiosity-hunters ; " but this denomi- 
 nation is, to my mind, a gross and uncourteous error, 
 inasmuch as works of art, of whatever nature, if they 
 be of any value, can scarcely be denominated 
 curiosities, although a curiosity may possibly be a 
 work of art. I own to a very unpleasant indignation 
 when asked to exhibit my humble collection as if it 
 were a Museum of Curiosities : while poor Monsieur 
 Pons was as jealous of his art-treasures as an ardent 
 lover of his mistress, and scarcely desired that any 
 eye save his own should behold them. Like Othello, 
 he would not " keep a corner of the thing he loved 
 for others' uses." In our day bric-a-brac shops 
 abound in all the capitals of Europe, as well as in 
 most large towns abroad and at home. These em- 
 poriums of art and virtu are commonly called 
 " curiosity-shops," because possibly it has been found 
 difficult to describe them more correctly. I deny, 
 however, in toto the accuracy of the term. A 
 Worcester or a Wedgwood vase, Sevres, Dresden, or 
 Vienna cups, Capo di Monte or Chelsea groups, are 
 not curiosities, but, if good specimens, are works of 
 
ON BBIC-A-BBAG IN GENERAL. 3 
 
 the most refined art ; thougli they may be found in 
 the so-called curiosity-shops. If these emporiums of 
 precious things are curiosity-shops, it certainly 
 follows that the Kensington Museum, the Musde de 
 Sevres, the Vienna Museum — collections public or 
 private — should, in fact, all come under the same 
 denomination. 
 
 I confess I have as yet never been able clearly to 
 ascertain why certain individuals of varied tastes 
 and habits become as they advance in life the 
 collectors of china, old plate, manuscripts, auto- 
 graphs, pictures, and all those miscellaneous objects 
 of art or relics of past generations classed under the 
 comprehensive name of antiquities, apparently 
 without having any refined or ardent taste for the 
 rare and the beautiful. It matters little who they 
 are ; but it is a fact that there are nowadays thou- 
 sands and tens of thousands of persons whose pre- 
 vailing passion is the collection of " bric-a-brac " — in 
 which comprehensive term I include all that is 
 precious and beautiful as well as mediocre in art, 
 whether pictures, porcelain, ivory or wood carving, 
 terra cotta, miniatures, jewelry, or plate. I can fully 
 understand that the man of wealth should be 
 
 B 2 
 
BBIG-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 In plain English, the' amiable and valuable 
 promoters of this refined pursuit are generally 
 alluded to as " curiosity -hunters ; " but this denomi- 
 nation is, to my mind, a gross and uncourteous error, 
 inasmuch as works of art, of whatever nature, if they 
 be of any value, can scarcely be denominated 
 curiosities, although a curiosity may possibly be a 
 work of art. I own to a veiy unpleasant indignation 
 when asked to exhibit my humble collection as if it 
 were a Museum of Curiosities : while poor Monsieur 
 Pons was as jealous of his art-treasures as an ardent 
 lover of his mistress, and scarcely desired that any 
 eye save his own should behold them. Like Othello, 
 he would not "keep a corner of the thing he loved 
 for others' uses." In our day bric-a-brac shops 
 abound in all the capitals of Europe, as well as in 
 most large towns abroad and at home. These em- 
 poriums of art and virtu are commonly called 
 " curiosity-shops," because possibly it has been found 
 difficult to describe them more correctly. I deny, 
 however, in toto the accuracy of the term. A 
 Worcester or a Wedgwood vase, Sevres, Dresden, or 
 Vienna cups, Capo di Monte or Chelsea groups, are 
 not curiosities, but, if good specimens, are works of 
 
ON BBIC-A-BBAC IN GENEBAL. 3 
 
 the most refined art ; though they may be found in 
 the so-called curiosity-shops. If these emporiums of 
 precious things are curiosity-shops, it certainly 
 follows that the Kensington Museum, the Musfe de 
 Sevres, the Vienna Museum — collections public or 
 private — should, in fact, all come under the same 
 denomination. 
 
 I confess I have as yet never been able clearly to 
 ascertain why certain individuals of varied tastes 
 and habits become as they advance in life the 
 collectors of china, old plate, manuscripts, auto- 
 graphs, pictures, and all those miscellaneous objects 
 of art or relics of past generations classed under the 
 comprehensive name of antiquities, apparently 
 without having any refined or ardent taste for the 
 rare and the beautiful. It matters little who they 
 are ; but it is a fact that there are nowadays thou- 
 sands and tens of thousands of persons whose pre- 
 vailing passion is the collection of " bric-^-brac " — in 
 which comprehensive term I include all that is 
 precious and beautiful as weU as mediocre in art, 
 whether pictures, porcelain, ivory or wood carving, 
 terra cotta, miniatures, jewelry, or plate. I can fully 
 understand that the man of wealth should be 
 
 B 2 
 
BBIC-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 anxious to adorn his home -with works of rare art, 
 works to be looked on and admired by others, yet on 
 which individually he may scarcely care to gaze, and 
 of the real value of which he is in a great measure 
 ignorant. I can also fully understand that the 
 dealer in " bric-a-brac " should be desirous of obtain- 
 ing a thorough practical knowledge of the value of 
 the goods which he barters, in order that he may 
 buy in a cheap market and sell in a dear one, till 
 eventually the love of art-possessions may so creep 
 into his heart that even his commercial soul may 
 suffer a pang at parting with some rare and precious 
 object ; and I know that among the higher class of 
 dealers there are to be found men of varied attain- 
 ments and great taste and knowledge. But I know 
 also that the Honourable Mrs. Bonheur, or my Lady 
 Lovecup, will very often invest a large amount in the 
 purchase of a Sevres cup of that most lovely colour 
 termed "Kose du Barry," or of a Wedgwood vase of 
 the most elegant form and design, in order that 
 others may envy and admii-e ; while to the fair and 
 aristocratic possessor herself the one is a mere cup, 
 the other simply a vase. 
 I believe my friend Mrs. Haggleton's taste for 
 
ON BRIC-A-BBAC IN GENERAL. 5 
 
 collecting the plate of Queen Anne's era originated 
 in the fact of her aunt having left her a teapot of 
 that admirable period of the goldsmith's art in 
 England. The teapot inspired an ardent desire to 
 possess other articles in the same style. The lady 
 mildly commenced with salt-spoons, and became in 
 due course the proud owner of mustard-pots, salt- 
 cellars, and one large piece of sideboard plate, which 
 from the day she purchased it to that of her death 
 every night faithfully accompanied her to her bed- 
 room. My old bachelor friend Croker, again, began 
 collecting "Wedgwood ware because some one had 
 told him he possessed a very fine specimen; whUe 
 to my certain knowledge he was as ignorant of its 
 value and exquisite design as his qwn footman could 
 have been. 
 
 There are, however, far higher and more agree- 
 able motives which lead the man of refined taste 
 to become a real practical collector, whatever his 
 position or means; and when that man is found 
 who collects from pure devotion to art, he at 
 once becomes a benefactor to the human race, 
 as his object is to instruct and improve the 
 artisan of our day, whether it be in furniture, 
 
BBIC-A-BRAC HUNTING. 
 
 lace, porcelain, jewelry, texture designs, or wood- 
 carvings 
 
 It is an obvious fact that the art-genius of the day 
 in which we live is turning to the past for its 
 designs. We invent nothing that is new and beau- 
 tiful, but we repeat much of the beautiful of past 
 periods. Our jewellers owe their most elegant 
 designs to Etruria and Greece. In domestic furni- 
 ture we are reproducing the graceful forms of the 
 French upholsterers who furnished the salons and 
 boudoirs of Athenais de Montespan, the Pompadour, 
 the Du Barry, and the luckless, daughter of the 
 Caesars. And when we aspire to make our dinner- 
 tables elegant, we seek to imitate the delicate 
 fragility of mediseval Venetian glass, embellished 
 with designs copied from classic examplers. And 
 the bric-a-brac shops of all the capitals of Europe 
 are filled with lace, eveiy design of which is a 
 revival. 
 
 Now aU these manifest features of industrial art 
 are to be attributed to the collections of those who 
 have dedicated their time and experience to, the 
 gathering together, of various specimens of the art of 
 past ages. The treasures of the Kensington Museum 
 
ON BBIC-A-BBAG IN QENEBAL. 7 
 
 and those in Paris, Vienna, and elsewhere, which 
 have lately been thrown open to the public, are of 
 infinite practical utility. Yet I will venture to say 
 that the individuals who collected these art-treasures 
 commenced thbit pleasing labours in the first instance 
 from the simple desire to gratify personal vanity, or 
 with the less iioble thirst of gain. Say nay who 
 will, there is no greater pleasure to the collector 
 than that of buying cheap and selling deai', even if 
 money be no great object. Indeed, I have known 
 more than one collector sell his whole collection for 
 the mere pleasure of recommencing his researches 
 for another, or to obtain some precious and unique 
 relic, the possession of which shall elevate him above 
 all vulgar connoisseurs. Depend upon it the 
 collector is mor6 or less the slave of vanity, although 
 he may be also a man of taste. My experience tells 
 me that there are people who claim as their own a 
 rare Venetian glass, a noble Wedgwood vase, an 
 exquisite Sevres cup, or an elegant Dresden! group, 
 or any perfect 'or rare object of art, who would like 
 to smash every one else's vase or group, as the 
 Dutch tttlip-groWer would have crushed under his 
 feet the' rival bulb of a rare and precidus flower. 
 
8 BRIC-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 that it might bloom in no other garden than his 
 own. 
 
 The amateur collector who wishes to indulge in a 
 little traffic with his friends need not be ashamed of 
 dabbling in the business of the bric-k-brac merchant. 
 Very aristocratic individuals have dealt in such 
 merchandise. His Highness the Duke of Brunswick 
 deals in diamonds ; and the Due de Momy was a 
 dealer in pictures, as was Marshal Soult before Mm. 
 When once a man becomes a collector, he can 
 hardly escape becoming a seller. 
 
 The Children of Israel have always been con- 
 spicuous dealers in the fine arts ; and the Roths- 
 childs are well-known collectors of the finest art- 
 treasures of the past. 
 
 Kings and queens, emperors and men of high 
 degree, for centuries past have loved the ceramic, 
 art with no common passion ; while, by an assiduous 
 cultivation of the same art, men of low birth and 
 little education have raised themselves to honour 
 and high estate. Who that dwells with pleasure on 
 the search for bric-^brac has not perused the 
 fascinating life of the poor potter Palissy ? What 
 collector does not remember the sti-uggles and 
 
ON BBIG-A-BBAG IN GENERAL. 9 
 
 triumphs of the noble-minded Wedgwood? What 
 worshipper of art has not listened to anecdotes of 
 Bottcher and De Blaquier 1 
 
 The Chinese emperors by high rewards alone 
 obtained the then unrivalled egg-shell china, since 
 so gracefully imitated, and sold for so low a price. 
 The Celestials testified their admiration of the 
 inventor by enrolling the potter-martyr in the cata- 
 logue of deities. 
 
 The Duke of Urbino introduced the highly 
 artistic, if not the graceful, majolica. 
 
 Henry II. and Diana de Poitiers gave the name 
 to the varied beauties of Faience ; while that prince 
 and his consort, Catherine de' Medicis, developed 
 the genius of Palissy. Augustus the Strong, Maria 
 Theresa, Frederick the Great, and other reigning 
 princes of Germany founded and brought to per- 
 fection at their own expense the porcelain manufac- 
 tories of their respective countries. Kussia, where 
 day by day the art is improving, and where it has 
 indeed already obtained considerable celebrity, owes 
 to EUzabeth and Catherine the Second its progress. 
 In Italy royal patronage also nurtured the ceramic 
 art. 
 
10 BRIC-A-BBAQ HUNTING. 
 
 Charles III. — whose memoiy be honoured for this 
 single act — founded the unrivalled manufacture of 
 Capo di Monte and Buen Ketiro, to my taste the 
 most interesting and refined of aU ornamental china, 
 not excepting Sevres, which Pompadour's influence 
 over Louis XV. helped to bring to its elegant per- 
 fection ; while the bewitching Jeanne Marie Vau- 
 bemier secured the lovely rose colour so well known 
 and so highly esteemed among connoisseurs as E,ose 
 du Barry. 
 
 At home we have as high, if not higher, claims to 
 the perfection ' of ceramic art. William, duke of 
 Cumberland, supported the far-famed manufactures 
 of Chelsea, while the name of Queen Charlotte 
 added to Wedgwood's glory. 
 
 Men of all ages, all countries, all ranks have 
 devoted themselves to the worship of this beautiful 
 in art. 
 
 I have known a dignitary of the Church,, a man of 
 high attaiuments, a Christian in all the attributes of 
 life, to go home from a sale with a bilious attack 
 because he had failed to secui-e a group bearing the: 
 monogram of Carl Theodore, for which porcelaih — 
 and I fully sympathised with him — ^he had an 
 
ON BBIC-A-BRAO IN GENERAL. 11 
 
 intense liking. One of the keenest sportsmen of my 
 acquaintance was as eager to obtain a Sevres cup 
 that he had been longing for as to kill his fox after 
 an hour's run. Ay, and two of our bravest admirals, 
 Nelson and Byng, were not only intense lovers of the 
 ceramic art, but bric-^-brac hunters ; in the families 
 of each are retained valuable relics of their labours. 
 
 Seeing that the collection of rare and precious 
 examples of art has now become a fashion as well as 
 a passion, I venture to think that the friendly advice 
 of a moderately experienced collector may be of 
 some value ; and with that belief I propose to tell 
 my readers how for years, amid the varied pursuits 
 of life, the search after bric-a-brac has afforded me 
 days and hours of unalloyed pleasure, not altogether 
 unaccompanied with profit, and always combined 
 with great interest and instruction. 
 
 To the wholly ignorant amateur no book ever 
 publishedj however valuable, interesting, or correct 
 it may be, is of much avail ; whether it be Braignart 
 or any other, not excepting that most useful work to 
 all collectors, the Catalogue of Bernal's Sale, pub- 
 lished by Mr. Bohn, who is himself the owner of a 
 most valuable and highly interesting collection of 
 
12 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 varied porcelain and ancient pictures. If the bric-a- 
 brac hunter have not the eye for art combined with 
 refined taste, whether as regards ancient or modern 
 works, together with years of practical knowledge, 
 he is a mere child in the hands of the dealers ; and 
 even when possessed of taste and experience he is 
 not unfrequently deceived. An extensive and correct 
 list of works is of great theoretical service to the 
 collector; but, alas, in the age in which we live, I 
 have yet to learn that there exists any article ever 
 produced by the inventive mind and hand of man 
 that cannot be in some measure — ofttimes ad- 
 mirably — imitated. I therefore venture to assert, 
 after long years of constant practice and study, that 
 practical knowledge, that instinctive appreciation of 
 perfection, which is the fruit of long experience, are 
 the only real and efficient guides by which the bric- 
 S,-brac hunter may secure prizes in the markets of 
 the world. A Sfevres cup may be a Sfe\Tes cup, and 
 worthless, save that it is Sevres. There is Wedg- 
 wood and Wedgwood. Between two Dresden groups 
 there may be all the difference of the highest and 
 lowest art. A Carl-Theodore figure may bear clearly 
 developed the initials of Carl Theodore and the 
 
ON BBIC-A-BBAO IN GENERAL. 13 
 
 Crown Elector of Palatine, a Berlin cup may be 
 graced with the pencil of a Watteau, and yet the 
 specimens may not be true, the porcelain may not 
 be fine, the outline and execution may fall far short 
 of that perfection which alone can satisfy the eye of 
 the accomplished connoisseur. Again and again will 
 the novice in these researches become the victim of 
 his own ignorance, unless he avails himself of the 
 taste and experience of some practised collector. 
 How is he to distinguish hard paste from soft ? how 
 resist the fascinations of modern Wedgwood, which, 
 beautiful as it may be in its form and colour, lacks 
 the keen and artistic outline of those never-dying 
 productions of Wedgwood's own day ? Will the 
 novice judge and estimate the merits and demerits 
 of the Marcolini and the royal period of Dresden 
 china 1 No, believe me ; clever as he may consider 
 himself, he will not. 
 
 Look at some of the old productions of Frankental 
 and Carl Theodore. How striking in character, how 
 lovely in design and execution ! what living figures 
 produced in clay ! Gloat, if you be a connoisseur, on 
 a Capo di Monte or Buen Ketiro group, whose living 
 grace and loveliness have scarcely been rivalled by 
 
14 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 the sculptured art of Canova or Gibson. Wliat avails 
 it to tell you of the works so carefully produced, in 
 the words I have named to you ? If the passion for 
 such works of art exist not in your heart, second only 
 to the love of woman, you may seek for treasures in 
 vain ; and your researches will only obtain for their 
 result the merest everyday specimens, to be picked 
 up in the highways and byeways of every capital in 
 Europe. 
 
 Think me not presumptuous. Moi, qui vous 
 farle, am only a humble collector, and have been 
 frequently deceived, though the passion has reigned 
 for many a year in my breast, and is in a manner 
 hereditary. For many years I have followed the 
 pursuit of a collector throughout the length and 
 breadth of Europe. Alas, only in the most simple 
 and economical fashion. But far removed as my 
 power of purchasing may be from that of a Eoths- 
 child, it has been my privilege to linger with ad- 
 miring eyes and longing heart over some of the 
 finest specimens in Europe. I have gloated, I have 
 longed, and then have flown from those treasures as 
 from typhus-fever, conscious of my inability to pur- 
 chase the finest, and not caring to possess inferior 
 
ON BBIG-A-BBAG IN GENERAL. 15 
 
 examples, or modern manufacture. But if my means 
 are not large, my experience has been extensive ; 
 and as an oflScial wanderer over the face of the earth, 
 I have been enabled from time to time to peep into 
 many a bric^k-brac shop in the various continental 
 capitals, which others may never have had the chance 
 of visiting. Thus have I made friends with many a 
 choice specimen, erst the ornament of a palace, and 
 have by good fortune secured some small treasures 
 for the adornment of my cottage home. As I smoke 
 my meditative cigar, and gaze with contemplative 
 eyes upon those precious Sfevres cups and groups, 
 which are to me as are his scalps to the Indian 
 warrior, memory recalls many a quaint record of my 
 wanderings and researches, which may be of value tp 
 those , who may chance to follow in my footsteps in 
 search of a bric-^-brac, and which may not altogether 
 prove uninteresting to those who are comparatively 
 indifferent to these ceramic pursuits. In my early 
 boyhood, I confess for many a year to have imagined 
 that all the fine specimens of china I looked on were 
 the productions of the Chinese. I believed, in fact, 
 that china was made in China, and in China only. 
 But years passed on, and I found that, after all, that 
 
16 BRIG-A-BRAG HUNTING. 
 
 "which is termed Oriental china and Japan ware was 
 far less pleasing to my eye and taste than those 
 works of art which are purely European. 
 
 In Addison's day no aristocratic mansion was con- 
 sidered properly furnished without a vast quantity 
 of grotesque objects in china, or, as the ladies called 
 them, " loves of monsters." Oriental china was then 
 contraband ; and I conclude that everything that 
 was contraband was fashionable. Many of these 
 " loves of monsters " may be had in the days we live 
 in ; and I trust my readers may learn not to be 
 taken in by them, unless they chance to discover a 
 monster of pure "forget-me-not blue" of real an- 
 tiquity, and then both his mane and his tail are of 
 value. The colour must be that beautiful tint which 
 the French term blue d'ceil, and which makes some 
 specimens of Sevres invaluable. 
 
 And now, ere I ask my readers to walk with me 
 through many a high-street and bye-street of the 
 various capitals I have visited, and pass with me a 
 few hours in pure bric-^-brac hunting, I must own 
 to being an enthusiastic lover of art, whether that 
 art be that of the painter or the sculptor, or whether 
 it arise from the noble institutions of Sevres, Dresden 
 
ON BBIC-A-BBAC IN GENEBAL. 17 
 
 Chelsea, Derby, Frankental, Hochst, Capo di Monte, 
 or Buen Eetiro, from the never-dying elegance of 
 Wedgwood, or the more recent talent of Minton. To 
 my mind there can be no purer pleasure than this 
 unaffected love of art, nor is there any taste more 
 elevating in its influence on a man's nature ; for I 
 most fully believe that he who possesses this taste, 
 and cultivates it, will soon turn his back on the 
 grosser pleasures and frivolities of life. The higher 
 order of art is, moreover, the constant handmaid of 
 religion ; and many of the gi-eat masterpieces which 
 adorn the collections of Europe owe their origin to 
 the inspirations of piety, and have been for centuries, 
 and are still, powerful aids to meditation and 
 devotion. Art has, and ever will have, a high and 
 noble mission to fulfil. 
 
 That man, I think, is little to be envied who can 
 look on works of art and go forth without being in 
 some sense a better and a happier man ; if, at least, 
 that we feel ourselves the better and the happier 
 when our hearts are enlarged, as we sjinpathize with 
 the joys and sorrows of our fellow-men. 
 
 I have not seldom been asked by those who have 
 chanced to visit my cottage home — the windows of 
 
18 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 which look on a small' but well-kept lawn, o'er- 
 shadowed by trees such as are rarely seen out of 
 England, and which lies within gun-shot of the 
 winding Thames — what possible delight I can have 
 in so small a room crammed with old china. It is 
 true, my treasures are generally admired ; true, that 
 the specimens which during my travels I have 
 gathered together at trifling cost are coveted by 
 many; while the questions, "Are you not afraid 
 they will be broken ? who do you get to dust them ? 
 why not sell them ? " and so forth, are asked with 
 unfailing sameness. The reply of my only and 
 motherless boy, if present, is as follows : " They are 
 papa's toys ; he is keeping them for me." I should 
 be almost ashamed to confess how much pleasure 
 these fragile treasures afford me. For hours I sit 
 amidst my friends, pen or book in hand. That 
 group before me was purchased under particular 
 circumstances, and not only recalls to mind pleasant 
 days, but tells me much of the history of the country 
 whence it was obtained, and the era in which it was 
 produced. Who will venture to say that the lips of 
 a Pompadour or Du Barry may not have kissed those 
 small but exquisite Sevres cups ? Is not Wedgwood 
 
ON BBIC-A-BBAG IN GENERAL. 19 
 
 paying me a morning visit with his friend Flaxman 
 as I look on those vases? Do not the guns of 
 Wellington's artillery ^ sound in the distance a^s I 
 contemplate that glorious group of Buen Retire? 
 And does not the Bay of Naples spread itself before 
 me, and the towering peak of Vesuvius send forth 
 its flames, as I handle that creamy china cup, with 
 its exquisite painting of Capo di Monte? My 
 Chelsea ware recalls the memory of Addison, who 
 dated so many of his pleasantest essays from that 
 locality. My Battersea reminds me of sceptical 
 Jacobite Bolingbroke. At one moment I am at 
 Florence, then at Vienna. For a few minutes I dwell 
 in the Palatine, and thence take wing to Dresden. 
 Now I touch my lips with the thin emerald-coloured 
 glass of early Venice, then hold aloft the heavier but 
 richer goblet of Bohemia. 
 
 Meanwhile I endeavour to create in the mind of 
 that boy, whom love induces me to mention, and 
 who calls these gems my toys ! yet never breaks 
 them as his own, that it is not the mere graceful 
 work of art on which you look, whatever the plea- 
 sure, that is alone valuable, but the knowledge 
 gained of the early art history of other countries, 
 
 2 
 
20 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 ■which adds to the ceramic collectoi-'s pleasure and 
 instruction. 
 
 Moreover, it is pleasant to human nature to feel 
 that you possess some work of art which is admired 
 by those who have full knowledge of its beauties ; 
 but if this were all the merit of your researches, the 
 reward would be light indeed. 
 
 From the earliest ages to the hour my pen traces 
 these lines, the earth, which God has granted for the 
 produce of man's sustenance, has also contributed to 
 his pleasures ; and science and art have united to 
 produce from that earth comforts and luxuries, the 
 expenditure on which rivals all the sums lavished on 
 the other arts. Genius and practical skill has been 
 brought into existence under the most marvellous 
 circumstances, and when we consider that out of a 
 natural substance, originally of unapparent value, 
 productions have emanated, intrinsically worth more 
 than if they had been formed of the precious metals, 
 we may well conclude that a practical knowledge of, 
 and a judicious taste for, the exquisite ceramic spe- 
 cimens dispersed throughout Europe, is not an un- 
 important result of civilization. Therefore let not 
 the collector of so-termed bric-a-brac halt in his 
 
ON BBIC-A-BBAC IN GENERAL. 21 
 
 researches, the pursuit brings pleasure to himself, oft 
 times profit, and is one of the least egotistical of 
 tastes, as it also gives pleasure, instruction, and profit 
 to others. Come with me, as many who love the 
 treasures of art, and let us wander over Europe. I 
 shall at times take you to odd places, and tell you 
 strange stories, but you will be ever learning and 
 never regretting. Come ! 
 
 Bottcher, Harring, Morin, Lucca del Robbia, and 
 Palissy, are my constant companions. Ay, and how 
 full of interest is their society ! how faithfully they 
 recall the memory of past ages ! and how fully they 
 convince us that, despite all the go-ahead and viilgar 
 presumption of the day in which we live, they may 
 have rivals, yet have no equals either in taste or 
 manipulation ! 
 
22 BBia-A-BBAC SUNTING. 
 
 QUEST II. 
 
 HINTS TO EUIC-A-BRAC HUNTERS. 
 
 "There is no more potent antidote to low sensnalify than the 
 adoration of the beautiful. 
 
 "All the higher arts of design are essentially chaste without respect 
 to the ohject. 
 
 " They purify the thoughts as tragedy purifies the passions. Their 
 accidental effects are not worth consideration ; there are souls to whom" 
 even a vestal hody is not holy." — Schlesbl. 
 
 Should my readers agree with me in the sen- 
 timents thus written, many of them will be the more 
 inclined to follow in my footsteps, or join me in many 
 a ramble, replete with incident, in search of that 
 which may be justly termed art treasures in other 
 lands ; if so be not precisely in the hope of obtaining 
 objects of higher art, to which I confess my heai't 
 has longed and hungered in vain, yet at least in 
 search of the beautiful and attainable. 
 
 In days lang syne, when those who had the means 
 and inclination were wont to visit foreign lands, the 
 knowkdge necessary to the search for bric-a-brac 
 was confined to a limited circle. Moreover, the 
 
HINTS TO BRIC-A-BBAC HUNTERS. 23 
 
 taste was by no means evinced as it is in the present 
 day. Thus, pictures were purchased at high prices, 
 and brought home as Murillos or Raphaels, Rubens 
 or Titians, solely because they were purchased in 
 Italy or Spain by those who had probably much 
 more money than taste or discrimination ; at all 
 events little knowledge of pure art, or that refined 
 and correct eye, granted by God and nurtured by 
 practice, which could alone giiide them. It is almost 
 inconceivable what an amount of rubbish thus found 
 its way to the rural homes of England and to the 
 picture marts of the meti-opolis. It is true that a 
 few possessing the requisite knowledge obtained 
 prizes, while others made fortunes; bufcin those 
 days they had a fine field, and little opposition. 
 To-day such good fortune is rare indeed, and happy 
 is the man who chances to meet with a gem. Por- 
 celain was also purchased from every capital of 
 Europe and the East, neither purchaser nor seller 
 having much appreciation or knowledge of what they 
 bought or sold ; and thus, while now and then 
 a charming specimen was obtained for a sum in- 
 significant in reference to its real value, some worth- 
 less object was often purchased at a price given in 
 
24 BBIG-A-BB4C HUNTING. 
 
 these days for a perfect example of Sfevres or Capo 
 di Monte. 
 
 Then, travellers went their way rejoicing in well- 
 springed comfortable English cai-riages, driven by 
 postiUons in heavy quaint boots and long pigtails, 
 content with what was, admiring all they saw, paying 
 all that was asked of them, eating everything, and 
 pronouncing it good because it was foreign, and 
 gratefully acknowledging the well-paid-for civilities 
 and courtesies they received — ^if they did receive 
 them. 
 
 Many a high titled nobleman of our fatherland, 
 many a possessor of broad acres, with a courier and 
 interpreter in the rumble of his easy-going carriage, 
 rushed from city to city, from river to lake, from 
 snow-clad mountain to luxurious vale, — here, there, 
 everywhere, — scarcely enjoying the beauties of nature 
 granted by God, ignorant of one word of the language 
 of the country through which he travelled. Having 
 decided on the termination of his journey at a given 
 spot, to that point he hastened, little caring how he 
 got there, or at what cost; deten-ed neither by dirt 
 nor by what might be justly called discomfort; 
 enduring with a heroic resignation bad roads, bad 
 
HINTS TO BRIC-A-BBAO HUNTERS. 25 
 
 hotels, and high charges. But nous avons change 
 tout cela; the fairest spots in Switzerland, the 
 highest peak of the Alps, the most rugged pathways 
 of the Apennines, the remotest German spas, the 
 wildest fisheries of Norway, are now pervaded by the 
 travelling Englishman. You meet your tailor at a 
 picnic in the Black Forest ; your bootmaker salutes 
 you on the " castled crag of Drachenfels ; " and if you 
 elect to dine at a table d'hdte, you are apt to find 
 yourself amidst a host of compatriots whom per- 
 chance you may have met with in Cheapside or 
 Whitechapel, when some untoward event may have 
 called you to either of those localities. Bah ! I 
 would sooner go up in a balloon, or pass a week at 
 Kovno on the banks of that historical river the 
 Niemen. 
 
 Do not misunderstand me, my reader ; hundreds 
 of doubtless admirable people do now go abroad, 
 whose grandfathers, nay fathers, scarcely knew that 
 Malta was an island; and most unquestionably 
 would have been plucked by the Civil Commissioners 
 if requested to explain the position of Bodenbach, 
 ■within so short a railway flight of that spot, where 
 Bottcher, an apothecary's assistant, lived, and brought 
 
26 BBIC-A-BBAG BUNTING. 
 
 to light in 1755 the exquisite beauties of Dresden 
 china. 
 
 And yet, forsooth, many of these doubtless amiable 
 Saxons must have bric-k-brac, in order to show 
 themselves equal in taste and refinement to my Lord 
 This, the Duke of That, a Baron Rothschild, and 
 other distinguished connoisseurs who are known 
 to have collected glorious specimens of Wedgwood, 
 Sevres, or Majolica. And why not, if they really 
 prize them, and have the means of obtaining them ? 
 I do not refer to the money, inasmuch as half the 
 tradesmen in the west-end of London or in Paris can 
 wear three new hats to one of half the younger 
 branches of England's nobility, and pay for them too. 
 It is not a question of money. Real treasures are 
 all but unobtainable ; or if met with, the price asked 
 for them is so exorbitant, that the novice holds up 
 his hands with astonishment or disgust ; and, being 
 utterly unable to form a correct judgment of that 
 combination of beauty and art which constitutes a 
 perfect object, refuses the actual worth of his money, 
 and only secures modem trash. I do not presume 
 to say that there is not much that is beautiful and 
 highly artistical in modern art ; but it has never 
 
BINTS TO BRIC-A-BBAO EUNTEBS. 27 
 
 been my good foriune to meet with anything to 
 equal the purest specimens of ancient porcelain. 
 The reason of our modem inferiority is clear. The 
 celebrated artists who in other days painted on china 
 were equal to the leading artists of the' present era ; 
 and who among our leading great men, at home or 
 abroad, would condescend to paint on china, save at 
 a price that would make a cup or a vase equal in 
 value to a first-rate picture ? 
 
 Now we will suppose that a party of travellers 
 aiTive, we will say, at Dresden. They walk forth to 
 visit the city, to see its justly acknowledged beauties, 
 and, what is still more delighdful to the feminine 
 mind, its shops. Amongst these one of the first that 
 attracts their attention is the emporium of a' dealer 
 in bric-k-brac. Miss HaiTiet gazes with delight at 
 the cups and vases, with here and there a group, 
 displayed in the window, and thus exclaims: "0, 
 mamma dear, look at these lovely cups ; are they 
 not beautifur? While we are in Dresden, we must 
 buy some Dresden china;" arid so they ertter, accom- 
 panied by a commissioner. There are commissioners 
 and directors of all denominations in these days as 
 thick as blackberries in autumn: fishery commis- 
 
28 BBIG-A-BRAC HUNTING. 
 
 sioners, railway commissioners, travelling commis- 
 sioners, and, alas, financial commissioners. But Miss 
 Harriet's commissioner is one of the class less aristo- 
 cratically called guides, or interpreters. The hotel 
 commissioner is a shabby-genteel gentleman, who, 
 like the rest of the world, will do anything for any- 
 one — at his own price. Miss HaiTiet carefully 
 handles a cup, and exclaims on its unrivalled beauty ; 
 she gazes with rapture on a figure or a group ; she 
 flutters admiringly over a compotier ; while the 
 owner of these modern and moderate works of art 
 points out the marks : this of the Marcolini period, 
 and that used under the direction of Horoldt in 1720 
 — and so forth ; to the genuine nature of which sig- 
 natures or warranties Mr. Commissioner very readily 
 testifies. So dear Harry, having expressed her 
 delight, becomes the possessor of some objects of art, 
 which she fondly supposes to be the rarest gems, 
 and which possibly form the commencement of a 
 collection destined to rival that of the late Mr. 
 Bemal or very many others — at least such is the 
 belief of dear Harry, as it is of a hundred other dear 
 Harrys and Georgies. " And pray, what are we to 
 believe in, if not in marks and signatures, mono- 
 
HINTS TO BBIG-A-BRAC HUNTERS. 29 
 
 grains and crossed daggers 1 " ask my fair bric-a-brac 
 huntresses in despair. Alas, my dear young ladies, 
 I regret to say that, amidst all the chicanery of this 
 limited-liability and swindling era, there is none 
 equal to that of a foreign bric-^-brac seller. 
 
 However, the cups and figures and so forth are 
 purchased, carefully packed, and treasured as "the 
 exquisite old china we bought in Dresden, my love — 
 an enormous bargain, though the price seems very 
 large to people who don't understand that kind of 
 thing.'' And poor Miss Haniet remains happily un- 
 conscious that similar treasures, ay and possibly far 
 better, might have been purchased in the Strand for 
 half the money ; since I have no doubt dear Harry's 
 " old " china was only recently produced at Meissen, 
 that glorious manufactory, which all lovers of art 
 ought to visit. 
 
 Now my object in writing these pages is to offer 
 some practical remarks, which may tend to aid the 
 inexperienced lover of bric-a-brac in his researches. 
 Not for one moment, however, do I presume to call 
 myself a first-rate judge. Many and many a blunder 
 have I made ; and sorely have I paid for my appren- 
 
30 BBIC-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 ticeship. Often have I become the possessor of 
 some piece of trumpery, , which in my vanity I 
 believed to be a priceless treasure. Indeed, I am 
 satisfied that there are few connoisseurs living, what- 
 ever their knowledge or experience, who are not at 
 times deceived — I do not say as to their judgment 
 of beauty and outline or execution, but as to period 
 and country. Beautiful as are many of our speci- 
 mens in the Kensington Museum, there is only one 
 person connected with that institution — and I say so 
 with no intentional discourtesy — in whom I should 
 have great faith as a piirchaser. Much that is good 
 has been refused at moderate prices, and much that 
 is mediocre obtained at heavy ones. Indeed the 
 taste and knowledge of many of the leading dealers 
 of London render them better judges than the best 
 of amateurs. And this is only natural ; for is it not 
 their daily, nay hourly, business ? — a business in 
 which they hazard thousands, and from which they 
 sometimes realise fortunes. Before starting on our 
 first bric-k-brac quest, I would unhesitatingly say, 
 that for all moderate specimens of ceramic art there 
 is no place so cheap, be it where it may, as London ; 
 while in that city the highest price is obtainable for 
 
HINTS TO BBIC-A-BRAC SUNTEB8. 31 
 
 the finest specimens. In Paris, good, bad, and indif- 
 ferent objects are all alike dear, unless that fickle 
 goddess Fortune, who does at times befriend you, 
 gives you a helping hand. But we will leave these 
 great emporiums of bric-^-brac for the present, and 
 take our first trip eastward — ^not quite so far east as 
 ' China or Japan, but to the Sublime Porte, where we 
 will pass a pleasant morning in the Persian Bazaar, 
 which, by the way, is by some termed the Arms 
 Bazaar. 
 
 When, in my earliest boyhood, as I have already 
 said, I was wont to fancy that all porcelain, of what- 
 ever kind, was the produce of China and Japan, I 
 had, at least, some slight justification for my idea, 
 since in those kingdoms it no doubt originated. 
 Porcelain is an intermediate substance between 
 pottery and glass, — more translucent than the one, 
 more opaque than the other, — and is presumed to be 
 of Chinese origin, its manufacture dating from so 
 early a period as the beginning of the Christian era. 
 Be this as it may, there is evidence of its use in the 
 fifteenth century and in the beginning of the 
 fourteenth. The famous tower of porcelain at 
 Nankin was built three hundred and thirty feet 
 
32 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 high, and still stands. It consists of nine stories of 
 enamelled bricks or tiles, in five colours, — ^white, 
 red, blue, green, and brown. Japanese china existed 
 at almost as remote a period, and was perhaps in all 
 respects finer than Chinese ; while in the days of 
 Queen Anne and the first Georges china vases, 
 dishes, and hideous monsters, were to be seen in all 
 the houses of the rich in old England. 
 
 As I grew older, however, I learnt another lesson ; 
 and although I fully admit the rare beauty of many 
 of the productions of China and Japan, both modem 
 and ancient, and am aware that fine specimens still 
 command high prices, I confess that European 
 specimens are far more agreeable to my taste ; and I 
 fancy the Oriental china now in the market, which 
 if gathered together would more than fill the Crystal 
 Palace or two Crystal Palaces, is no longer valued as 
 it was wont to be. There was, indeed, a period 
 when the china termed " crackles " was highly ap- 
 preciated, and when specimens of that ware sold for 
 more than their weight in silver. But now even the 
 finest specimens appear to be of no great value ; so 
 capricious is taste, or fashion, or whatever you like 
 to call that inconstant deity whose wand rules the 
 
HINTS TO BBIC-A-BBAC SUNTEBS. 33 
 
 desires of Belgravian mankind. It is not long since 
 I acquired a practical knowledge of this fact. Hap- 
 pening to have in my possession two small crackle 
 vases, one green, the other yellow, and wishing to 
 get rid of them, I took them to a dealer, expecting a 
 large price for them. Judge my surprise when he 
 ofifered me two pounds for my treasures, with the 
 assurance that his profit would not be ten shillings ; 
 and I have had from subsequent experience no just 
 reason to doubt him. 
 
 Indeed, a gallant friend of mine, who had been 
 present at that which may be fairly tenned the 
 ransacking of the Palace of Pekin, informed me only 
 recently that he had brought home some fine 
 specimens of Japan and Oriental china, most of 
 which he had sold in London for at least a third less 
 than he could have obtained from the natives ere he 
 left ; and he added, " If all the specimens, good, 
 bad, and indifferent, which now overburden the 
 English market were returned from whence they 
 came, they would sell for double the price to be 
 obtained either in London or in any other of the 
 European capitals. In fact, the natives are highly 
 indignant that so much which is precious to them 
 
34 BBIC-A-BKAQ HUNTING. 
 
 should leave the country.'' Some of our largest 
 collectors or dealers may act on this hint, if so 
 minded. I place the suggestion unreservedly at 
 their service. ' 
 
 Although it is my intention to dwell more largely 
 on the subject of china — which is my peculiar taste 
 — in subsequent pages, than others, articles of the 
 fine arts, carved ivory, Venetian and Bohemian 
 glass, wood carvings, arms, and ancient jewelry, may 
 all come fairly under the denomination of bric-£i- 
 brac. 
 
MARSEILLES. 35 
 
 QUEST III. 
 
 MAKSEIIiLES — MESSINA, 
 
 One ounce of practice is worth ten of theory, — 
 at least so said some practical philosopher of old 
 time ; and I fully agree with him. 
 
 We are at Marseilles, The getting there in the 
 merry month of May, when vineyards and mulberry- 
 trees put forth their early leaves, and almond-trees 
 are in full bloom, is a pleasant and unfatiguing 
 journey. Few, if any, are the railways in Europe by 
 which one travels so smoothly or arrives with such 
 punctuality as on the line between Paris and Mar- 
 seilles. We leave the former city at 8 P.M., and 
 arrive at the latter on the following day at noon ; so 
 that little delay is allowed for gastronomy en route. 
 A cup of cafe-au-lait at that city of democracy, 
 Lyons — where the waiters go round the table for 
 payment ere you have swallowed the first spoonful 
 of your beverage — is all that you can expect till the 
 journey ends; unless, indeed, you snatch up a slice 
 
 T1 9. 
 
36 BBIC-A-BBAO BUNTING. 
 
 of truiHed pie during your three minutes' halt at 
 Avignon — a halt just long enough to make you 
 regi-et that you cannot linger for a late breakfast at 
 that unrivalled buffet, where the civility of the 
 proprietor is only surpassed by the excellency of his 
 supplies. 
 
 The Marseilles of to-day is no more the Marseilles 
 of our grandfathers, nor indeed of our fathers, than 
 is the Paris of Napoleon III. the Paris of Napoleon I. 
 Nevertheless there are few cities in Europe which, 
 at all times and under all circumstances, present 
 more stirring life. In this southern port men of all 
 tongues and all nations throng together in commer- 
 cial enterprise. The traveller is almost bewildered 
 by the clamour of strange sounds ; while dark and 
 swarthy Saracenic countenances remind him that he 
 is approaching Oriental Europe. 
 
 The heights that rise above the city are clad with 
 the dark verdure of olives and pines, that seem to 
 spring from a barren waste. Amid these sombre 
 groves are scattered innumerable white-washed and 
 green-shuttered "bastides," or villas, occupied by 
 the Marseilles citizens. The towTi itself appears to 
 repose at your feet, if indeed the word repose may 
 
MARSEILLES. 37 
 
 be applied to that boiling, seething port ; the out- 
 line of the coast being broken by a regular basin 
 communicating by a narrow neck with the sea. 
 
 This basin produced the city. The Greeks of old 
 found out its advantages, and their temples and 
 shrines marked the inlet from the MediteiTanean 
 Sea. Old Marsalia flourished like new Marseilles. 
 The harbour was and is its heart, the salt-water its 
 life-blood. A strange and peculiar contrast is pro- 
 duced by the dusty gray of the houses and the deep 
 blue of this inland basin of sea. 
 
 The ocean is in the very centre of the town ; the 
 buildings fence it in and encircle the harbour. It 
 lies as if sleeping in this embrace — perhaps the one 
 instance of a great city built in a circle brokea only 
 by one small opening. Beyond, you behold rocky 
 hills — hard, hot, glaring ; parched in midsummer, in 
 mid-winter bare, barren, and bleak. All round and 
 about Marseilles they rise, all along the sea-coast 
 you observe them glancing and flashing in the 
 bright scorching air ; not, however, entirely without 
 verdure, sombre, unpleasing, and unrefreshing though 
 it be to the eye. 
 
 Yet if the land be dark, burnt, and barren, what a 
 
38 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 splendid contrast presents itself in the glorious 
 ocean, Tvliose liquid azure is so profound as to 
 become almost imperial purple ! 
 
 Descend once more into the city ; observe the old 
 harbour and the new. They were alike harbours 
 and cesspools ; aU the draiaings of the vastly-popu- 
 lated city originally poured into them, and filled the 
 air with pestilence and disease. Such had been the 
 case for ages ; and as no tide stirs the Mediterranean, 
 there the foul sewage lay and rotted and stagnated, 
 and from thence its miasmatic vapours rose to 
 spread fever and death. 
 
 No wonder, then, that cholera should so often 
 have smitten the city with a strong and blighting 
 hand. Yet beyond these stagnant pestilential lakes 
 the breeze comes dancing freely over the ocean — at 
 times far too freely for those about to embark on its 
 troubled waters — and the waves are as pure as salt- 
 water waves can be. 
 
 Graceful feluccas skim over the waters, bending 
 under their striped canvas, while steamers of all 
 nations and ships-of-war are dotted over the sea. 
 All is life, motion, and varied colouring. The forest 
 of masts, the deep-blue sea, and the bright-blue sky. 
 
MARSEILLES. 39 
 
 seen under favourable circumstances, form altogether 
 a picture not easily forgotten. 
 
 Such was the Marsalia of yesterday ; such, in 
 many respects, is the Marseilles of to-day. And yet, 
 as in the case of Vienna or Paris, he that has not 
 journeyed there for ten years past will find a new, 
 ay and a splendid' city risen on the foundations of 
 the old. The Can^bifere is a noble street ; a grand 
 cathedral rises day by day in vast proportions. The 
 New Exchange or Bourse is a handsome pile ; and, 
 best improvement of all, the sanitary state of the 
 city is much amended and now well cared for. The 
 whole of the infectious substance, heretofore allowed 
 to collect in the streets till it rotted and was thence 
 carried off by violent rains into the harbours, is now 
 daily collected and removed to the country for 
 agricultural purposes. A new harbour of consider- 
 able dimensions is completed ; and the sewage, 
 flowing through greatly - improved drains, is no 
 longer allowed to pour itself into the harbours. For 
 which blessed improvement the inhabitants may 
 cheerfully pay and be thankful. 
 
 So much for this proud city, which bids fair to 
 rival the chief commercial cities of Europe. 
 
40 BJRIG-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 Is there a traveller who wanders to foreign lands 
 for health, business, pleasure, or bric-^-brac hunting, 
 who does not expect ease at his inn, and who, 
 having swallowed and paid for a pound of grease or 
 a quart of oil, and endured a brief martyrdom from 
 dirt, vermin, and bad attendance, does not quarrel 
 with his lot and the authors of it, and mark with a 
 double cross in his journal the entry which warns 
 him to avoid the Blue Boar or L'Aigle d'Or, as the 
 case may be, for the future 1 
 
 I am no sybarite, yet I confess to a love for 
 comfort and cleanliness in my caravanserai. I am 
 no gourmet, but I own that for perfect comfort I 
 prefer an hotel where the chief cook is an artist. I 
 may therefore as well remark that at Marseilles I 
 should select for choice the Hotel de Marseilles or 
 the Petit Louvre. I know it is the fashion — alas, 
 who leads the way that so many are wont to follow ? 
 — ^to select the Grand Hotel de Paris or the Grand 
 Hotel de Louvre ; but experience tells me that the 
 grandeur generally exists only in the outward 
 appearance of the house. 
 
 So, having ordered a moderate repast to satisfy 
 the inner man at the Petit Louvre — giving strict 
 
MARSEILLES. 41 
 
 orders for the exclusion of all provincial plats, 
 for the inhabitants of the city are much given 
 to oil, raw artichokes, and olives — ^let us walk 
 forth to see the sights and visit the bric-^-brac 
 shops. 
 
 As yet, though my visits to the commercial city 
 have been frequent, I have only discovered four 
 such shops at Marseilles. They are as follows : 
 Esmeir, Iliie Parcellis 22 ; Valli, Rue de Paradis 24 ; 
 Pardieu, No. 43 in the same street ; and Sondier, 
 Rue Masquire. There is little to choose between 
 these dealers, though the two first are generally the 
 best supplied. Their knowledge, however, of the art 
 gems they profess to sell is very mediocre, and their 
 prices most exorbitant; nevertheless, the very fact 
 of their comparative ignorance is the best chance for 
 the practical buyer, who thus, if the wind be in his 
 favour, may chance to carry off something worthy his 
 collection. And as for the price demanded — ^bah! 
 was there ever a correctly-judging bric-^-bric hunter 
 who had not the courage to offer about one-half, say 
 one-third, of the price demanded 1 or was there ever 
 a seller who had the honesty to refuse the bid ? Of 
 course I by no means include in these sweeping 
 
42 BBIC-A-BEAO HUNTING. 
 
 opinions the higher class of dealers^ the sellers of 
 first-class objets d'art. 
 
 With reference to those of Marseilles, I neither 
 wish to be uncourteous nor unkind when I say they 
 are by no means to be found in that society. The 
 wherefore is easily explained. The Marseillais taste, 
 among rich or poor, high or low, male or female, does 
 not rank high ; in fact, the city is essentially demo- 
 cratic in taste as in politics. Ponderous furniture, 
 modern pictures and modern china, big vases, much 
 gilding, gorgeous colouring, an excessive gaudiness 
 both in dress and decoration, with little art or 
 beauty, prevail in that commercial hemisphere. The 
 wealthy trader of Marseilles would pass by a lovely 
 specimen of Wedgwood or Capo di Monte, and 
 purchase some modern abomination in French china 
 highly decorated and gilded, to adorn his rooms ; 
 while his wife, if he have one, would select the most 
 gorgeous silk and the brightest Persian shawl with 
 which to bedeck her person. Thus it is not often 
 that anything really worthy of being added to an 
 amateur collection is to be secured in this city. It 
 by no means follows, however, that gems are not 
 occasionally met with here ; and he who loves such 
 
MARSEILLES. 43 
 
 acquisitions never neglects the smallest chance of a 
 bargain. Nor should the collector on any account 
 fail to explore the emporiums of Marseilles. I shall 
 endeavour to explain the why and the wherefore. 
 
 Marseilles is essentially a thoroughfare to and 
 from the East, as well as to Spain and Italy, by the 
 water-route, and hundreds are wise enough to know 
 that art treasures ' can be disposed of en passant 
 there as elsewhere. Consequently various ceramic 
 specimens do find their way into the hands of the 
 dealers, from whom they pass onwards to Paris at a 
 premium, not seldom being cheaply purchased and 
 dearly sold. Now, if you can only stop a Capo di 
 Mdnte gi-oup on its way from Italy, or a Bueno Retire 
 vase from Spain, or aught else, before it takes flight 
 to the imperial city, which on more than one occa- 
 sion it has been my good fortune to do, it will well 
 repay you the trouble of an hour's visit to the bric-a- 
 brac shops of the Rue de Paradis. 
 
 La Provence could formerly boast of several 
 manufactures of pottery ; but not till the end of the 
 seventeenth century did it produce glazed or 
 enanielled potteiry, some time after that of Mous- 
 tiers. 
 
44 BRIG-A-BBAG SUNTING. 
 
 The first fabricant at Marseilles was Jean Delarisse 
 in 1769 ; whereas in the middle of the eighteenth 
 century there were several artists, some of whom 
 produced enamelled pottery. 
 
 Eobert of Marseilles was another distinguished 
 name. His works were first produced in 1793. 
 
 The widow Perrin, or Madame Perrin Veuve, as 
 she was called, was, I believe, the last celebrated 
 producer. Many specimens of her ware may still be 
 found, which are very interesting. They are generally 
 marked with a monogram of the letters V. P. (Veuve 
 Perrin.) 
 
 And now, the weather being fine and the sea 
 calm, say in the latter end of May and early June, 
 the trip by sail or steamer to Messina is not the 
 most unpleasant undertaking in life ; moreover, it is 
 of short duration. I am not aware as to whether 
 the patriotism of Garibaldi ever moved him to 
 collect the art treasures of the country he loves so 
 well ; but you get a view of his solitary mansion as 
 you pass through the Straits of Bonifacio, perched as 
 it is on a lonely and verdurous spot on the rocky 
 island of Caprera, and possibly say to yourself. 
 
MESSINA. 45 
 
 having recently strolled up Regent-street or the 
 Boulevards, "Though I should die of ennui or go 
 mad were my residence fixed here through the 
 winter, during summer a yacht and hooks might 
 make it endurable." 
 
 There is no doubt that the position of Messina is 
 a lovely one, placed as it is in a mild and pleasant 
 climate ; but it would be far more so if the city were 
 backed with some glorious oaks, and the country 
 around and about were overshadowed with such 
 woodlands as old England alone can boast of. I 
 dwell for a moment on the beauties of nature, inas- 
 much as no real lover of art can be unmindful of 
 those beauties, from which all that is precious in 
 taste or design emanates. In fact, the study of 
 art gives the mind a keener insight into nature's 
 charms, and teaches us to observe and appreciate 
 them justly. 
 
 All therefore I desire to remark en passant, when 
 travelling to the East, in reference to Messina, is 
 that it ever appears to me as the last spot en route 
 on which a feeling of civilization rests, and on 
 returning, the first. It contains, however, a fountain 
 of great beauty in the public square, which bad 
 
46 BBIC-A-BRAC HUNTING. 
 
 taste has somewhat destroyed by restoration. I had 
 a photograph taken of it, with the intention of 
 submitting it to Minton or at Miessen, as, modelled 
 and produced in china, it would make an exquisite 
 centre piece. 
 
 Of bric-^-brac shops I have as yet never discovered 
 one at Messina ; still there is a gentleman who has 
 had the good taste to be a collector of such gems as 
 chance has brought to him from other lands. These 
 he is courteously willing to show, and by no means 
 unwilling to sell, to the stranger. I therefore feel 
 fortunate in having made his acquaintance ; and I 
 suggest to all bric-^-brac hunters who may pass 
 through Scylla and Chaiybdis to follow my example. 
 
 I owe him a debt of gratitude; but as he him- 
 self is entirely ignorant of the fact, I am by no 
 means called on to repay it, and shall only be too 
 glad, should circumstances lead me once more to his 
 abode, if he will do me a similar kindness, inasmuch 
 as he sold me an exquisite Bueno Retiro cup — 
 saucerless, it is true — ^which was worth as many 
 pounds sterling as I paid francs. 
 
 Finding myself on board one of the Messagerie 
 steamers en route to Marseilles, I made the acquain- 
 
MESSINA. 47 
 
 tance of an agreeable little French doctor of medi- 
 cine,, whose taste, if not experience, was similar to 
 my own ; and having suggested a raid on shore at 
 Messina in search of anything in the ceramic line 
 which might turn up, I fortunately introduced him 
 to the "baron," for such was the title our friend 
 claimed. Whether he was a baron of the Koman 
 empire or a Sicilian noble was of slight importance. 
 He had pictures, such as they were, — Majolica, 
 Grecian pottery, and some trifles in porcelain ; all of 
 which were at our service — for a consideration. 
 
 Having offered the usual courtesies which polite 
 society dictates, I requested to be informed if he had 
 any specimens of china to dispose of. 
 
 " Nothing but a few cups, signer," he replied ; 
 " here they are." 
 
 I forthwith selected four, three of little value. 
 The fourth I at once knew to be a prize, it being a 
 charming Bueno Eetiro cup, on which was an 
 exquisitely painted battle-scene. Having demanded 
 the price of the fom- — ^which being five francs each, 
 I immediately paid without comment, — and then 
 having looked round the rooms and thanked our 
 host, we wished him good morning, as our vessel 
 
48 BBIG-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 was about to sail. Ere leaving, however, I placed 
 three of the cups carelessly in my coat-pockets, 
 retaining the other carefully in my hand. No 
 sooner was the street-door closed on us than the 
 little doctor exclaimed, 
 
 " Parbleu, mon ami, that appears to be a nice 
 cup; moreover, you take particular care of it. 
 Voulez-vous me le cMer ? I will give you ten 
 francs for it." 
 
 " Not for a hundred," said I. 
 
 When on board I bade him carefully examine the 
 painting with a magnifying glass ; and then he 
 broke forth into French expressions very difficult to 
 translate, but which in English might mean, "By 
 jingo, it is a beauty ! How tenderly you handled 
 it ! " adding, " Why, I had it in my hand first ; but 
 as you made no remark, I fancied it was no better 
 than those you put like oranges in your pockets." 
 
 ''Precisely, doctor," I replied; "practice and 
 experience give knowledge. When next you visit 
 the baron, look sharper." 
 
 I had a little box made when on board, wrapped 
 up my cup in cotton, consoled the doctor by present- 
 ing him one of the others, and took it to England ; ' 
 
MESSINA. 49 
 
 where, as at Paris, it was valued at from five to six 
 pounds. Thus, my friends, be advised, and never 
 allow a chance to escape you when brie -^ -brae 
 hunting. 
 
BBia-A-BBAC BUNTING. 
 
 QUEST IV. 
 
 STAMBOUL. 
 
 And now let us steam onwards to the city of the 
 Sultan. 
 
 Before the outbreak of the Crimean war, there 
 was no lack of fine specimens of Oriental china in 
 the bazaars at Constantinople ; and here and there a 
 good specimen of Sfevres, Dresden, Italian ware, and 
 even specimens of Wedgwood and Worcester, might 
 be secured. Meanwhile, among the multitude, 
 mihtary, naval, and civil, who then found them- 
 selves in that which at the period was an Eastern 
 capital, but to-day has put on, forsooth, as far as the 
 Frank portion is concerned, the very worst features 
 of modern civilization, fast obliterating all the 
 interest formerly derived from its Oriental character, 
 there were naturally not only men with taste, and 
 lovers of art, but also men with money without taste 
 or knowledge. Therefore were the bazaars ran- 
 sacked, and good, bad, and indifferent specimens 
 
STAMBOUL. 51 
 
 vanished day by bay. Moreover, Turks, Armenians, 
 Persians, and Jews had but one object in view — that 
 of robbing the Giaours, as the officers of her 
 Majesty's army were called, to the utmost possible 
 extent. And while on the one hand most if not all 
 the buyers were more or less ignorant of the fact 
 that, when asked a hundred piastres — which in some 
 cases migjit not have been an exorbitant price for 
 the object desired, and was therefore readily given — 
 had they been wise enough to offer twenty-five, the 
 sum would have been cheerfully accepted. 
 
 Again, the sellers were more or less equally 
 ignorant of the value of that which they sold. It 
 was therefore by no means difficult, having know- 
 ledge and experience, every now and then to obtain 
 a gem at a very reasonable — at times, indeed, 
 ridiculously small — outlay. But a change soon 
 came over the dream of both buyers and sellers. 
 The buyers, at the suggestion of interpreters or 
 commissioners, — who all acted in the spirit of 
 robbery, and stood the friend of either the one or 
 the other, who paid most freely, — would, as I have 
 said, offer twenty piastres where a hundred had been 
 asked ; and so the sellers soon settled the matter by 
 
 E 2 
 
52 BBIC-A-SBAO HUNTING. 
 
 demanding double, conceiving, as they all did, that 
 an Englishman was not made of flesh and blood, but 
 of gold, and that pieces might be chipped off him as 
 off stone. More : it soon got abroad that the 
 Giaour would buy a tin pot for a sovereign if he 
 were only told it was an ancient specimen from 
 Damascus, or a china cup which he might have 
 purchased in England for a shilling, if informed it 
 was Dresden, or "Sax," as they term it. And the 
 market soon became glutted with the most incon- 
 ceivable rubbish, much of which found its way back 
 to England and France, whence it originally came, 
 having meanwhile been purchased at a hundred per 
 cent, more than its real value. 
 
 Long years have elapsed since those painful, yet 
 at times merry days of war and love. And now, 
 while the Sublime Porte has endeavoured to brighten 
 its face with the varnish of civilization, thus making 
 it far more dirty than it was wont to be, the bazaars, 
 with equal unsuccess, have in a great measure 
 followed the European example. Let us pass a 
 morning therein. If, however, you have not physical 
 powers, patience, and temper, you had better remain 
 at home, whether the season of your visit be winter 
 
STAMBOUL. 53 
 
 or summer ; for of all the fatiguing pleasures in life 
 I know of, there are none equal to a day's bric-a- 
 brac hunting in the bazaars of Constantinople. 
 Moreover, in the present year, unless you are greatly 
 fevoured by fortune — or by luck, if you prefer to call 
 it so — after all your patience, trials of temper, and 
 fatigues, you may return home without a single 
 addition to your collection. 
 
 Now the bazaar in the city of the Sultan, as in all 
 other Eastern towns, as all the travelled world is 
 aware, is simply that portion of the town set apart 
 more particularly for the retail trade of every 
 possible article of Eastern and European produce ; 
 and it is also more or less the habitation of those 
 useful relations, termed in common parlance Uncles, 
 or Israelites ; kind friends who claim, by imaginary 
 blood, the right of lending you five shillings on a 
 watch which cost you five pounds, — of course giving 
 you a tolerably bad chance of redeeming it. It is 
 also, to some extent, a dep6t for the reception of 
 stolen goods. No ; I will not be severe. I merely 
 mean to say that if a pasha who has an over- 
 abundance of Dresden, or Eastern, or even Sevres 
 china, desires his attendant to dust it, two or three 
 
54 BRIC-A-BRAC HUNTING. 
 
 pieces may possibly be broken in the dusting, or said 
 to be so, and sent to the bazaar to be mended, 
 whence they never return to their rightful owner. 
 I have not unfrequently been informed that there 
 is a vast amount of ceramic treasure in the harems, 
 as in the houses, of the rich pashas, much of which 
 from time to time finds its way to the bazaar. Now, 
 it is perfectly true that the amount of Sevres coffee- 
 cups, Dresden china. Oriental vases, and so forth, 
 gathered together in the houses of the rich Turks, is 
 probably immense, though for the most part modern, 
 and of no particular value. And so, without fear of 
 contradiction, I assert, that if the whole were placed 
 before the eager gaze of a real connoisseur, he would 
 not among the lot select a score of objects worthy of 
 consideration. I will tell you why it is so, my 
 friends, whom I more particularly desire should be 
 successful in those researches which I so much love. 
 It is simply because, with very rare exceptions, the 
 Eastern taste, like that of Marseilles, is vulgar and 
 gorgeous in gold and colouring ; and I very much 
 doubt if the Sultan — ^I beg his pardon, the light of 
 the world — the grand vizier, the pasha with fifty 
 tails, or the choicest beauties of their harems — are 
 
STAMBOUL. 55 
 
 competent to judge, or care whether the gorgeous 
 china that adorns their rooms, or the pretty jewelled 
 cups from which they sip their coffee, or the dishes 
 in which they dip their delicate hands, are made at 
 Dresden, Pekin, Sevres, or England; whether they 
 be of hard paste or soft ; what marks they bear ; in 
 what year they were produced; or who the artist 
 that decorated them. Indeed, a vast quantity of 
 porcelain is made, and has been made, at Meissen, 
 Vienna, and elsewhere, purposely for the Eastern 
 markets, which is marked, truly, but of particular 
 forms, for particular purposes, to contain meats, 
 vegetables, and sweetmeats ; and this is immediately 
 known to an experienced hunter, and rarely found 
 elsewhere. It is true that here and there a fine 
 specimen may be secured, and of such it has been 
 my good fortune to collect a few. Generally 
 speaking, however, the painting is coarse, the fprms 
 neither artistic nor tasteful, and of little value to 
 those who look for beauty of , decoration, chasteness 
 in outline, and delicacy of execution. 
 
 In bidding adieu to the Eastern capital, I by no 
 means recommend a visit to the bazaar, if merely in 
 pursuit of ceramic treasures. I have, it is true, from 
 
56 BBIO-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 time to time picked up a piece of Worcester, Wedg- 
 wood, and Dresden, at moderate prices ; no doubt 
 brought to Constantinople in other days by an 
 ambassador, consul-general, or some English mer- 
 chant ; but little now remains, and for such as there 
 is to be found, the price asked is double that for 
 which the same objects may be purchased in London. 
 The fashion for collecting bric-S,-brac without practice 
 or knowledge has caused this. No sooner does an 
 Englishman present himself in the bazaars than he 
 is pounced upon by a host of greedy, unsavoury- 
 smelling interpreters, who vie with one another in 
 the endeavour to pillage him, and who generally 
 succeed. Now, the readers of these pages must 
 permit me to introduce them to Mr. Zenope, in the 
 Grand Bazaar, a most respectable Armenian. . If you 
 visit Stamboul, porcelain-loving reader, go direct to 
 him, place yourself unreservedly in his hands, 
 decline all Jewish assistance, and I, after many 
 years' experience, will answer for his honesty and 
 probity. 
 
 Meanwhile permit me to remark that scarcely any 
 physical undertaking is more fatiguing than that of 
 passing a day of research in the bazaars of Stamboul, 
 
STAMBOUL. 57 
 
 particularly if you are not so fortunate as to find 
 aught that is satisfactory. 
 
 The. mode and manner of Oriental dealing is wide 
 apart from that which may be simply termed 
 European buying and selling. In London, Paris, or 
 Vienna, you enter a bric-k-brac shop ; its contents 
 are, generally speaking, clear to the eye ; you select 
 that which appears to be desirable, ask the price, 
 make your offer, purchase or refuse, and go your 
 way. I must confess I should scarcely have the 
 courage to act in London as I should unquestionably 
 be disposed to do either at Paris or Vienna, or 
 indeed any other Continental capital or town, 
 namely, offer about half or a third the price asked. 
 But all such delicate ideas may be banished in the 
 bazaars at Constantinople, with the assurance that 
 you will obtain nothing, gi-eat or small, on which 
 some profit has not been secured to the sellers. 
 
 Having paid your respects to Zenope, accepted a 
 cup of Turkish coffee or a glass of lemonade, accord- 
 ing to season and inclination, smoked a cheroot or 
 cigarette — if given to cigarettes, to which all the 
 Frank inhabitants incline — ^proceed to that portion 
 of the bazaars entitled the Arms Bazaar. It is dark, 
 
58 BRIG-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 gloomy, not to say dirty, to the eye, and unsavoury 
 to the nose, but curious and picturesque in the 
 extreme. 
 
 You approach the shop, if it may so be called, of 
 a bric-^brac merchant. He is possibly engaged 
 with some other customer, or smoking his pipe, or 
 munching a cucumber, or counting his beads, and 
 takes no more notice of you than if you were one of 
 the dogs that lie sleeping in the streets of Stamboul. 
 Patience is said to be a virtue — ^prove that you 
 possess it if you can, and bring all your good-temper 
 to aid you. Being in a hurry will not assist you in 
 the slightest degree. If the dealer's tongue be 
 unknown to you, appeal calmly for the aid of your 
 interpreter, and arouse the old gentleman from his 
 lethargy as you would stir up a sleepy animal in 
 WombweU's menagerie. 
 
 You see, or fancy you see, high on the shelf above 
 him, a choice piece of china, or any other article of 
 bric-&r-brac, which might possibly suit you ; and as it 
 is in all probability covered with dust, and beyond 
 your reach, you civilly request to be permitted to 
 handle it prior to the investment of your money. 
 In answer to your request, the merchant casts his. 
 
STAMBOVL. 59 
 
 expressive eyes towards the roof of the bazaar, and 
 gives a kind of cluck with his throat, which means 
 that the object is either broken or already sold, or 
 that in his opinion it will not please you. The fact 
 of the matter is, the weather is hot, and moving is 
 unpleasant. Being, however, desirous to judge for 
 yourself, you again politely rouse his Excellency, who 
 at length uncrosses his legs, raises himself from his 
 sitting position, and does you the favour to allow 
 you to examine the goods he is there to sell, with 
 the air of a man who is doing you an honour. We 
 will say that you take a fancy to some object 
 amongst his wares. Then comes the bargaining- 
 Alas, this is a diplomatic process almost beyond 
 European endurance. " Ask him the price," you say 
 to your interpreter. The free-and-easy merchant 
 chumps his cucumber or smokes his pipe, as he 
 calmly replies, "Two hundred piastres." "Two 
 hundred piastres ! Why, I could buy it in Vienna 
 for fifty!" you exclaim. "No doubt, sir," says the. 
 disinterested interpreter ; " but you are in Stamboul, 
 not in Vienna." And so you move on, and, nine 
 times out of ten, are called back, and possibly end 
 by making the purchase for about a quarter the 
 
60 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 price first named. And so is it througliout the 
 bazaars. 
 
 Turks are neither an energetic nor an inventive 
 people; neither are they gifted with taste for, or 
 love of, the fine arts. I should scarcely imagine that 
 a hundred subjects of the Light of the World could 
 distinguish a Murillo from a signboard, or a Sfevres 
 vase from a flower-pot. Nevertheless there was a 
 porcelain manufactory formerly on the banks of the 
 Bosphorus, the property, I fancy, of foreigners. I do 
 not suppose, however, that it succeeded in achieving 
 much beyond a teapot or washhand-basin, though I 
 possess a small jug said to be of Turkish manu- 
 facture, not ungraceful. And yet I know of no 
 country on which the sun shines that possesses such 
 abundance of admirable material for the manufac- 
 turing of pottery and porcelain. Had poor Palissy 
 lived in the East, what marvels of art he would have 
 produced ! But the art of Turkey scarcely soars 
 above a gilded pipe-bowl. 
 
MADBID. 61 
 
 QUEST V. 
 
 MADRID. 
 " Quen dice Espagna dice toto. " 
 
 "No hay sino un Madrid" (There is but one 
 Madrid). There is but one stage from Madrid to 
 Paradise, in which there is a window for angels to 
 look down on the counterpart of heaven on earth. 
 So say all Spaniards. Have you ever been there ? 
 No. Well, the month is late spring, the sky blue, 
 the sea calm and purple ; so let us start — say from 
 Marseilles ; cross the oft-times troubled waters of 
 the Gulf of Lyons, now like a mirror; touch at 
 Barcelona, where I never yet saw or cracked a nut ; 
 halt at Alicant ; and travel south by railway through 
 La Manca, mentally in company with Don Quixote 
 and Sancho, to the capital of her most Catholic 
 Majesty. Though it is at times the hottest, and at 
 others the coldest climate in southern Europe— 
 indeed, it is proverbially asserted that " el aire de 
 Madrid es tan sotil, que mata a un hombre, y no 
 
62 BUIG-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 apaya a un candil," which being translated simply 
 means that the subtle air which will not extinguish 
 a candle puts out a man's life — it is nevertheless by 
 no means an indifferent abiding-place for a time for 
 the bric-a-brac hunter, or anyone else. 
 
 The position of Madrid is unique ; it may be fairly 
 said, in the middle of a desert. AH the great capitals 
 of Europe denote as it were of their position, 
 and are announced to the traveller by their popu- 
 lated environs, which bespeak the vitality of the 
 city. 
 
 Madrid, on the contrary, is like a planet lost in 
 space, which shines without lighting you ; without 
 wood ; till recently, without water ; without stone ; 
 without an industrious population ; without com- 
 merce, save that which supplies its luxuries. 
 
 Madrid, when first approached, gives you the idea 
 of effect without cause — a sort of royal caprice 
 unaided by nature ; in other days it was simply a 
 fortified burgh, which, nevertheless, could boast 
 the honour of being besieged by the Cid. King 
 Philip the Second proclaimed it the seat of 
 government, and a rendezvous for sport. 
 
 He desired to make it a city ; it has never been 
 
MADRID. 63 
 
 anything but a Court, from which it has derived the 
 only influence which brings great cities to life. 
 
 After having passed, we will say, a week in the 
 Museo, with which time, if you are a lover of high 
 art, you will stiU scarcely be satisfied, so exceedingly 
 rich is the place in treasures — a palace in fact of 
 thought and beauty, filled with spirits of past days, 
 where the dead reappear as in visions of delight ; — 
 as a refreshment for your taxed energies, seek the 
 walks of the Retiro gardens, near which was the 
 celebrated " La China," or royal porcelain manu- 
 factory, founded by Charles III. in 1759, who 
 brought workmen from his similar factory at Capo 
 di Monte, Naples. Everything was destroyed by the 
 French, and the place converted into a fortification, 
 which surrendered with 200 cannon, on the 14th 
 August, 1812, to the Iron Duke. It was subse- 
 quently blown up by Lord Hill, when the misconduct, 
 ov perfidy, or whatever you like to call it, of 
 Ballesteros compelled him to evacuate Madrid. 
 Since which time, to the day in which we live and 
 hunt for specimens of Bueno Eetiro, one of the 
 standing calumnies against us — so often repeated, 
 and still credited by young Spain, although more 
 
64 BRIC-A-BRAC HUNTING. 
 
 than half a century has elapsed — is that all the 
 finest specimens were destroyed by the English from 
 mere jealousy. Whereas the real truth is that the 
 fathers, or grandfathers, of our gallant allies of to- 
 day scarcely recollect what they did yesterday — they 
 broke the Ollas themselves, and converted the manu- 
 factory into a Bastille, which, and not the pipkins, 
 we did destroy. So little did we dread Spanish 
 competition, which might well be dreaded if Spain 
 could produce, in 1868, such specimens as those once 
 issued from "La China," that we have actually 
 introduced their system ; and very fair china is now 
 produced at Madrid, made for the most part by 
 English workmen. 
 
 Ferdinand VII., on his restoration, re-created " La 
 China," removing the workshops and warerooms to 
 La Mondoa ; but this has also ceased to exist — at 
 least as regards high art. 
 
 On my first visit to Madrid — or La Corte, as it is 
 generally termed by Spaniards, as if there were no 
 other court in Europe save that of the Spanish 
 Paradise or La Gloria — I own my heart beat with 
 fond anticipation of the numberless specimens of 
 Bueno Retire china I should carry homewards. But, 
 
MADJRID. 65 
 
 alas, such was my ignorance of this extremely rare 
 and beautiful porcelain, that all my researches were 
 more or less in vain. I obtained little or nothing 
 worthy to be purchased ; and with the exception of 
 a few very moderate and imperfect specimens, I have 
 never been enabled to secure anything of great 
 beauty. In fact, the only group of real value that I 
 cast my eyes on at Madrid was a centre-piece on the 
 English minister's table, which, when hungry, one 
 hardly thanked him for exhibiting ; for while, on the 
 one hand, it created envy and jealousy, on the other, 
 the impossibility of keeping one's longing eyes from 
 it prevented due attention to his gastronomic hospi- 
 tality. 
 
 In other days there were three very indifferent 
 bric-a-brac shops at Madrid. One was more or less 
 a private collection, though everything was for sale 
 that was gathered together by Don Hosez, landlord 
 of the H6tel d'Angleterre, the only decent hotel both 
 as regards charges and comfort I ever recoUect at 
 Madrid. Don Hosez's establishment was opposite 
 the British Legation, in the ancient palace or 
 judgment-hall of the Inquisition. But both Don 
 Hosez and his hotel have ceased to exist, and 
 
66 BRIO-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 happily the Inquisition also. The house has become 
 the residence of the French ambassador, and Don- 
 Hosez's collection has since been scattered far and 
 wide. From him I chanced to get a few pieces of 
 Spanish pottery and porcelain of little value. One 
 of the other shops appears also to have vanished ; 
 and on my last visit to La Corte, I only discovered 
 the third in the Calle Alcaza, where little is to be 
 obtained, save an occasional sword, and various 
 heavy and by no means choice specimens of mediaeval 
 furniture. 
 
 Some years ago, when strolling leisurely one 
 intensely hot evening in August along the Calle 
 Alcaza, the very best if not the principal street of 
 Madrid, I chanced to see some curious cups in the 
 window of the shop in question. After examining 
 them, and asking their value, I suggested to the 
 owner that, as it was late and my dinner awaited me, 
 if he would send them to my hotel on the following 
 morning, I would make him an offer. To this he 
 agreed, and expressed a desire to show me a hand- 
 some china d^jeilner then in his possession. " It is 
 late and getting dark," said I ; nevertheless I could 
 not resist a peep ; and so, after traversing several 
 
MADBID. 67 
 
 dark passages, we entered a room filled with aucient 
 dusty furniture, when a cupboard being unlocked, he 
 produced therefrom a large brass-bound box, which 
 contained, as he had said, a dejeii/ner of the most 
 lovely modern Sevres it has ever been my good 
 fortune to behold. Having taken one of the pieces 
 in my hand and examined the mark, I carelessly 
 asked the price, which being named I found far 
 beyond my means and intentions. Nevertheless the 
 owner appeared extremely anxious to part with it ; 
 and as I bade him good-evening, he urged me to 
 come again by day-light. " Well," I replied, " it is 
 very beautiful, though quite modern ; moreover, if it 
 were not so, your price is at least two-thirds beyond 
 what I should be disposed to give." " Maybe ; but 
 the signer will at all events caU to-mon-ow ? " 
 "Possibly," said I. And so we parted, not, how- 
 ever, without a lingering desire on my part to 
 possess the d^jeilner, however small the hope. I 
 felt besides an intense curiosity as to how he had 
 obtained it ; for it was far too costly to have come, 
 as I supposed, honestly into the hands of him who 
 claimed it. 
 
 On the following morning a Signorina, somewhat 
 
 p 2 
 
G8 BBIO-A-BBAO HUNTING. 
 
 fat and certainly over forty, accompanied by a lad, 
 called on me with the few specimens I had selected, 
 which, after a little bargaining, became my property ; 
 and she then urged on me to take another look at 
 the Sfevres, which I agreed to do, appointing three 
 o'clock as the time of my visit. On my arrival, 
 having passed along the same dark passages, which 
 were divided by doors, the china was again placed 
 before me, and there being a much brighter light, it 
 appeared stUl more beautiful than on the previous 
 evening. In the room at the time there were two 
 women and the lad who had brought my china in 
 the morning. Having again questioned her as to 
 the price, &c., I told the good woman who appeared 
 to take the lead, that I did not want the china 
 (which was an innocent fib), that it was fai" beyond 
 my means ; but, said I, in an off-hand manner, "as 
 you appear most anxious to part with it, I will tell 
 you what I wiU do — I will give you forty sovereigns, 
 or fifty napoleons in gold ; " gold being then some- 
 what scarce at Madrid. Now my offer was received 
 with great good-humour, but neither accepted nor 
 refused — in fact, made half in joke, half in earnest, 
 more than 2001. having been demanded. I then 
 
MADRID. 69 
 
 began to look at some old swords wMch lay dusty iu 
 a corner of the apartment ; when all of a sudden the 
 door flew open, and in rushed two of the most 
 disagreeable-looking vagabonds I ever beheld. Draw- 
 ing, as if by impulse, the sword I held in my hand 
 from the scabbard, the Spanish proverb occurred to 
 me, " No me sagues sin razon ; no me envaines sine 
 honor ; " which simply means, Do not draw me 
 without cause, or sheath me without honour; and 
 dropping the point, I stood with my back to the 
 corner from whence I had taken it awaiting the next 
 move — not, however, very calmly, for the day was 
 intensely hot, and it occurred to me that I had got 
 into a den of thieves. Moreover, an angry Spaniard 
 is not always particular whether he sticks you in the 
 back or the front. But what did it all mean ? The 
 two men appeared to be terribly excited, and the 
 angry discussion in patois which took place was far 
 beyond my comprehension, though I and the box of 
 china were evidently the subjects of discussiou. My 
 position, I must admit, was not the pleasantest in 
 life. At last, a temporary pause taking place, I de- 
 manded the cause of this inconceivable outbreak. 
 " We were behind the door," said one man, " and we 
 
70 BRIC-A-BBAO HUNTING. 
 
 heard you offer fifty sovereigns for the china." 
 " You are in error," said 1 ; " I offered fifty napoleons. 
 Nevertheless, if you will bring it to my hotel, I will 
 give you fifty sovereigns," — glad to escape by any 
 means from my disagi-eeable position ; " I do not 
 carry so much gold in my pocket." 
 
 On this another boisterous conversation took 
 place, the box and its contents being eventually 
 hoisted on one man's shoulders ; and I hailed the 
 fact as the advent of my release and possession of 
 the' china. But, alas, nothing of the kind. I was 
 detained another half-hour — a prisoner in fact. 
 Happily my release came at last in the person of a 
 well-dressed gentleman, who had doubtless been sent 
 for, and who evidently had a perfect knowledge of 
 my gaolers, ^and also of the china I was desirous to 
 purchase. Having at length gained the street, I 
 addressed my companion, courteoiisly demanding 
 whom I had the honour to thank for my release, 
 what was his connection with the parties by whom I 
 had been insulted — in fact, I requested to be en- 
 lightened as to the whole affair. 
 
 Thus spoke the mighty hidalgo, having first in- 
 formed me he was a Spanish nobleman : 
 
MADRID. 71 
 
 " You ouglit not to trust yourself in such places." 
 
 " Trust myself in such places ! " I replied ; " a 
 bric-^-brac shop in, the principal street and thorough- 
 fare of Madrid 1 " 
 
 " You are not in England, signer," he replied. 
 
 " There is no question as to that," I said ; " mean- 
 while I thank you for coming to my aid,, whether 
 intentionally or by chance. I am ignorant of your 
 knowledge of these people, and equally so of your 
 connection in reference to tha china they so 
 eagerly desire to sell. But in case you have any 
 interest in the matter, you will place me under 
 further obligations by telling them most distinctly, 
 that if they bring the china in question to my hotel 
 by twelve o'clock to-morrow, I will give them 40Z. ; 
 if the clock strikes the quarter-past, and no one ap- 
 pears, I shall instantly lay the whole matter before 
 the English minister, demanding compensation for 
 being forcibly detained, and the punishment of its 
 authors." And taking off my hat, I wished his 
 excellency good-morning. 
 
 As the hour of twelve sounded throughout the 
 city, on the following day, the box and its contents, 
 in perfect preservation, was placed in my room, I 
 
72 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 paid a thousand francs, and on the same night it 
 formed a portion of my belongings en route to Paris. 
 With a cup in my pocket I visited Sfevres, where I 
 ascertained that this beautiful specimen of modern 
 Sevres had been sent by the King Louis Philippe as 
 a present to her most Catholic Majesty of Spain on 
 her marriage. Of course I have here only given an 
 outline of the facts as they occurred ; and having no 
 desire to injure or question the honesty of others, I 
 will endeavour to forget all the curious details of the 
 affair since come to my knowledge, save that if I 
 became the possessor of a beautiful Sfevres d^jeHner, 
 I did so by fair means and payment, and at con- 
 siderable personal discomfort. 
 
 There is now very little to be done by the bric-a- 
 brac hunter in Madrid ; and yet there surely must 
 be some magnificent specimens of Bueno Retiro and 
 other specimens of Spanish china scattered aboiit the 
 principal towns and cities of Spain in private houses, 
 though it has never yet been my good fortune to 
 meet with any. In the Queen's Palace at La Granja, 
 the whole sides of a boudoir are decorated with 
 " Bueno Eetiro " china ; and I am convinced that a 
 run through the interior of Spain would repay the 
 
MADBID. 73 
 
 bric-a-brac hunter. Of historical swords, the finest 
 collection in the world may be seen in the Armoria 
 at Madrid, many of them having mottoes similar to 
 the one I have quoted in a previous page, indicative 
 of the fine old cavalier spirit which once existed in 
 Spain, and which I am not prepared to say does not 
 still exist. 
 
 With all its drawbacks, Madrid during the cool 
 season is by no means an unenjoyable s^jour for a 
 brief period, notwithstanding the proofs of a certain 
 disregard of the comforts and decencies of life, laxity 
 of police rule and discipline everywhere distinguished. 
 But these are only " Cosas di Espagna." 
 
 The three faces of the clock over the Home Office 
 at the Puerta del Sol hardly ever agree as to the 
 hour. This phenomenon may be fairly taken as an 
 emblem of the whole political, social, and moral con- 
 dition of the country. Alas, poor Spain ! with all 
 ,your natural charms, you possess many vices and 
 innumerable humbugs. Should you fall, which is not 
 improbable or impossible — for the glass of your 
 prosperity sinks fast — I trust in the scramble some 
 ^ of your " Bueno Retiro " china may fall into my 
 hands ; I will be careful that it is not broken. 
 
74 BRIC-A-BBAG BUNTING. 
 
 QUEST VI. 
 
 ST. PETEESBTJRG. 
 
 I CANNOT say that I sat me down on the banks 
 of the Neva and wept. With my pipe in my mouth 
 I reclined in. an easy arm-chau" on a balcony which 
 overlooked that wide and flowing river, and pictured 
 to my mind what it must be in midwiater, when 
 that blue and rushing expanse of water is converted 
 into a broad and ice-bound high-road; in which 
 state it has been my lot so very many times since to 
 behold it. And here permit me to remark that 
 every chapter of my brie- a-brac wanderings is written 
 in the actual place, often on the very spot of which 
 I speak. 
 
 There was a time, which appears but yesterday, 
 so few the years — I might say the months — ^which 
 have elapsed, when he who desired to visit the city 
 of the Czars had occasion to brace up his nerves and 
 to call alike on his physical powers and his patience ; 
 for the journey by land from the Prussian frontier, 
 
ST. PETEBSBUBG. 75 
 
 ■whether in midsummer or in midwinter, was one of 
 intolerable fatigue and discomfort, the only choice of 
 evils being between death from intense cold, and 
 suffocation from intense heat, without one spot of 
 interest or beauty to vary the monotony of the way. 
 If railway travelling, however, be not to the majority, 
 as it is to me, more fatiguing than posting, matters 
 are greatly improved ; for justice and truth compel 
 me to admit that Russian railways, if they are slow 
 and constantly on the halt — more for the benefit of 
 the owners of the buffets than the convenience or 
 gastronomic indulgence of travellers — are replete 
 with comfort — more so, indeed, than those of any 
 other nation in which it has been my good or evil 
 fortune to journey. But here we are in that vast 
 capital, where the magnificent statue of its founder, 
 the great Peter, turns his horse's tail towards the 
 colossal gilded dome of St. Isaac's, a mighty edifice, 
 built, at the cost of millions, on a foundation of piles, 
 which the public voice declares already to be sinking. 
 However, as regards Petersburg and its palaces and 
 museums and monasteries, I must refer my readers 
 to other pages ; I invite them to take a walk, pro- 
 vided they are in good physical condition, in search 
 
76 BRIC-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 of bric-a-brac. The exchange, an event of rare 
 occurrence, is at nine roubles the pound sterling at 
 the moment I write these lines ; so that, spite of the 
 absurd price generally asked for articles, good, bad, 
 and indifferent, we may chance to make a few good 
 bargains. 
 
 Ten years since, in the days when Russian railways 
 were not, and upsets in snowstorms were as common 
 as telegrams, the capital of All the Russias was — I 
 mean no pun — a capital place for bric-a-brac ; and 
 here and there is still to be found much that is 
 worthy of the collector's researches. But, alas, at 
 St. Petersburg, as elsewhere, that which might once 
 have been secured for a rouble is now difficult to 
 obtain for a pound. I suggest to the connoisseur 
 who first visits the city of the Czars to select some 
 friend, if he has one, who speaks the language — in 
 default of a friend, pay an interpreter — and then 
 drive to the porcelain manufactory, situated about 
 four versts (or three miles) from the city. I do not 
 say the drive is a pleasant one, far from it ; but 
 without trouble, and the exercise of patience and 
 endurance, there is seldom much to be gained. So 
 submit cheerfully to be bumped for two versts over 
 
ST. PETmSBUBG. 77 
 
 an ill-paved city, and to be rebumped for two more 
 over the vilest of roads. Even should you require a 
 sheet of diachylon plaster on your return, you will 
 neither regret the pain nor the outlay. 
 
 The manufactory in question, which commenced 
 under the auspices of Catharine, has existed for more 
 than a century, and is still under the protection of 
 the empire. In other days, previous to the reduction 
 of duties on foreign importations, which now fill the 
 market, it did a thriving home trade. Even now, I 
 cannot speak too highly either of the workmen or of 
 the work produced in the factory. True, there is 
 little originality of taste or design ; but the copies, 
 particularly those of figures and groups, taken from 
 models of Dresden, Berlin, and elsewhere, are equal 
 to, and in some measure more accurate and life-like, 
 as well as more delicate in outline and effect, than 
 those produced in later days either at Meissen or the 
 royal manufactory of the latter city, and infinitely 
 cheaper. For the most part they are uncoloured; 
 but the glaze is very clear and smooth ; and I have 
 been fortunate enough to obtain some specimens 
 worthy of, and equal to, any of the productions in 
 Europe. The painting — generally, I fancy, the work 
 
78 BBIC-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 of German artists — ^is equally beautiful ; and some 
 vases and d^jeilners sent to the Exhibitions of 1851 
 and 1862 in England, and which were xmfortunately 
 returned ia some measure broken, were magnificent 
 specimens of the ceramic art. A little more origi- 
 nality — ^figures and forms possessing more nationality 
 of character — is all that is wanting to enable the 
 produce of the Russian imperial factory to vie with 
 the ceramic chefs-d'oeuvre of present and past ages. 
 
 There are few of what may be fairly termed bric- 
 a-brac shops in Petersburg, — in fact, the only two I 
 know of, where objets d'art, as they are termed, may 
 be found, and to which I can recommend a visit with 
 the hope of any siiccessful result, are those of 
 Messrs. Negri and G. Tognolati ; the former on the 
 Nevsky Prospect, the latter at No. 39, Kamenney 
 Ostrowskey Prospect. Mr. Negri is a most obliging, 
 agreeable person to deal with ; and I must do him 
 the justice to say that I have on more than one 
 occasion purchased from him some exquisite Wedg- 
 wood medallions, as also some small but choice 
 specimens of Sfevres, Vienna, and Berlin china, at a 
 very reasonable outlay. Mr. Tognolati, an Italian, — 
 who has recently left the city for what may be 
 
ST. PETERSBURG. 79 
 
 termed the immediate environs, and combines his 
 dealings in objets d'art with the fabrication of 
 macaroni, in both of ■which pursuits, to all appear- 
 ance, he is successful, — ^has also occasionally some 
 fine specimens of carved furniture, and is always 
 ready and obliging in showing what he has to the 
 stranger, even should no purchases be made. He 
 looks for rather higher gains than Mr. Negri. A 
 packet of paper roubles will not go far with either 
 gentleman, however. 
 
 But though Negri's and Tognolati's are the only 
 bric-^brac shops of which I have amy practical 
 knowledge, there is a vast field for the hunter alike 
 in Petersburg and Moscow; though it has never as 
 yet been my good fortune to visit the latter city. 
 But in order to avoid the beaten track of dealers, it 
 is necessary to get introductions to private houses in 
 company with some one who knows the language 
 well. In such cases your hunting-field is full, or 
 rather was full, of game ; and courtesy of manner, 
 combined with attention, may then enable you, 
 without offence, to be a purchaser, though the seller 
 be not exactly a dealer. In this manner, some years 
 since, I became the possessor of two of the finest 
 
80 BRIG-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 Wedgwood vases of their kind I have ever seen, and 
 which, being then in my apprenticeship, I subse- 
 quently sold for about a sixth of their worth to a 
 friend who had a valuable collection of that beau- 
 tiful ware. This was one of the lessons I learnt : 
 from that time a Wedgwood vase has risen a hundred, 
 per cent, in my estimation. It is almost incon- 
 ceivable what a vast quantity of Wedgwood found 
 its way to the city of the Czars. Doubtless very 
 much still remains, if it could be discovered, though 
 much of it may not exactly be for sale. Sevres 
 however, of the finest quality and period, Dresden 
 and Berlin and Viennese porcelain, still remains in 
 great quantities. The palaces are full of it. The 
 museum has some lovely specimens ; and the active 
 and energetic hunters, with time, means, and ex- 
 perience, still do so much, that I believe the fii'st- 
 class dealers of Bond Street, sUch as Messrs. Joseph, 
 Davis, and others, are wont to endure a journey to 
 St. Petersburg, if not annually, at no very long 
 intervals, in search of treasures ; and, if report speak 
 truly, they never return without some valuable 
 acquisitions both from the capital and from Moscow. 
 I possess the adventurous hunter-spirit, and always 
 
ST. PETERSBURG. 81 
 
 decide on chasing my game home wherever to be 
 found, whether in the woods and broadlands of my 
 fatherland, or on foreign shores. In hke manner, I 
 never allow a chance to escape me when in search of 
 bric-^-brac, always bearing in mind that, whether 
 in the humblest shop or in the most magnificent 
 repository of ohjets cPart, something may be dis- 
 covered, ofttimes more successfully in the former 
 than the latter. On these grounds I unhesitatingly 
 accepted the suggestion of a friend who proposed to 
 take me to the private residence of a Circassian lady, 
 who had a small but choice collection which she was 
 courteous enough to show to her friends, and with 
 which, of course, she had no desire to part. Never- 
 theless, like all other collectors, after some trifling 
 fencing and interchanging of courtesies, it appeared 
 that she had no objection to dispose of her treasures 
 in a dear market, she having purchased them in a 
 cheap one. Introductions over, a glance around the 
 room — ^which was sufficiently spacious, but, like most 
 Eussian houses, lightly furnished, with here and 
 there a gorgeous highly-gilded arm-chair or sofa, and 
 with little apparent comfort — I cast my longing eyes 
 on some ceramic treasures with which a cabinet was 
 
82 BRIC-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 filled, and we commenced business. Meanwhile I 
 had truly been informed that my hostess was not a 
 dealer. Looking on her with a practical eye, her por- 
 trait ?3iay be thus drawn : age about seventy ; rather 
 sharp and prominent features ; the remnant of what 
 might have been teeth ; a tongue which surpassed any 
 tongue (pardon me, ladies !) that I had ever previously 
 listened to, so excessive was its volubility. The 
 weather was hot, and her costume appeared to me to 
 consist simply of a somewhat dirty cotton dressing- 
 gown. How was I, then, a stranger in Russia, seek- 
 ing to secure some of her Sevres cups, to know with 
 whom I had the honour of discussing the merits 
 and value of her ceramic treasures ? So, silently, I 
 examined and appraised those set before my longing 
 eyes, wondering how the lady, as I had been told 
 she was, should have had such good taste and know- 
 ledge as to gather them together, and such bad taste 
 as to present herself in that dirty and discoloured 
 dress in the presence of visitors. Here and there I 
 selected some choice specimen which I was desirous 
 to purchase, but which, for the most part, she de- 
 clined to sell. At length, wearied by her continued 
 refusals and constant chatter, I seized on two charm- 
 
ST. PETMBSBURG. 83 
 
 ing cups, and, without further comment, placed 
 golden sovereigns by their side. She clutched the 
 coins, and I thought the battle won ; but then ap- 
 pealing to my companion in the Kussian tongue 
 (unknown to me) she replaced the money on the 
 table. " You must give another half-sovereign," 
 said he, smiling. Anxious to have the treasures, 
 which were really very beautiful, I gave the required 
 addition, and forthwith the sovereigns descended to 
 some hidden pocket in the cotton dressing-gown. 
 The cups were mine. My friend also obtained a 
 cup ; and after innumerable shakings of hands, bows, 
 and adieux, we parted, not without expressions on the 
 lady's part to the effect that she hoped we should 
 repeat our visit at some future time. 
 
 No sooner were we on our drosky than my com- 
 panion burst into fits of laughter. 
 
 " What's the joke 1 " I inquired. 
 
 " Joke ? Why, your consummate coolness with 
 the old lady ! " 
 
 "Lady?" I replied. 
 
 " Yes," said he ; "a Circassian princess ; and her 
 son, who was so anxious to sell that vase which she 
 refused, a Circassian prince." 
 
 Q 2 
 
84 BBIC-A-BBAO HUNTING. 
 
 " Well/' said I, " we parted on the most amicable 
 terms, and, princess or no princess, she is the hardest 
 hand at a bargain, and has the most lively tongue, I 
 ever had the honour to encounter." 
 
 I have sketched this little matutinal farce simply 
 to remark that there are a variety of Circassian or 
 other princesses in Petersburg equally desirous of 
 fair barter; and, time and opportunity presenting 
 themselves, I have no doubt that the field for the 
 bric-k-brac hunter is vast and full of treasures. 
 
 But there is another and most interesting locale 
 to which I have not yet alluded.. I must describe it 
 in detail. It is termed " Vshyvio-Rynok," or, in 
 plain English, the Louse Market. During the year 
 1862 the whole of this immense market was de- 
 stroyed by fire. The tremendous conflagi-ation may 
 be readily conceived when I state that the place was 
 entirely composed of wooden buildings, for the most 
 part filled with combustible matter, ranging from 
 valuable pictures and furniture to old rags, tar, oil, and 
 pitch. The fire commenced at 4 p.m., and was burning 
 till the midday following. During this tremendous 
 fire property of all kinds was ruthlessly cast into 
 a canal ; thus books, china, pictures, silk, eastern 
 
ST. PETEJRSBUBa. 
 
 shawls, and objects of untold value, were destroyed 
 and lost for ever ; and what had been one of the 
 richest and most interesting places of the city was 
 in a few hours converted into one vast smoking heap 
 of ashes. It was, indeed, a perfect wreck. Here and 
 there casks of nails, pots, pans, and copper zamovars, 
 or Russian tea-urns, were all melted up together ; in 
 another part, where crockery and china merchants 
 had exhibited their wares, plates and dishes by the 
 dozen were consumed en masse, so intense was the 
 heat. A portion of one dozen I have now in my 
 possession. It was, indeed, a sad scene of ruin and 
 destruction. Scarcely anything was saved. Splendid 
 Sevres, Dresden, clocks of great value, and bric-a- 
 brac collected for years in every mart in Europe and 
 the East, jewels. Cashmere shawls, Lyons silk — all 
 one heap of ashes. 
 
 The original market — which was as old as the city 
 — was, in fact, simply a bazaar of great extent, in 
 which were exhibited for sale articles from the world 
 at large, and in which every purchaser, from the 
 highest to the lowest, could suit himself on reason- 
 able terms. 
 
 Although much fair dealing doubtless takes place 
 
86 BRIC-A-BBAC BUNTING. 
 
 there, I will by no means answer for the fortunes 
 that were and are dishonestly made. In Russia it is 
 possible that stolen goods may be received from a 
 thief with impunity. At all events I have witnessed 
 the purchase by a dealer of a choice article of china 
 for a few roubles, which I have almost immediately 
 secured for double the- sum paid, with the know- 
 ledge that I still became the owner cheaply. It was 
 not for me to inquire from whence or whither it 
 came, but the appearance of the vendor, who gladly 
 received the trifle given for it, convinced me it was 
 no heirloom. 
 
 Hours have I passed with much interest and 
 amusement in the old as the modern market, bracing 
 my nerves against the severity of a Russian winter's 
 day, or overcome by the heat of summer, but when 
 does the keen hunter give up his game whatsoever 
 may be the elements he has to contend with? And 
 as regards these markets or bazaars, if such they 
 may be called, there is little difference, save that 
 articles of real value day by day become more scarce, 
 and their price greatly augmented both to buyer and 
 seller. No doubt but that many precious objects of 
 Sfevres, Wedgwood, Dresden, and Vienna porcelain. 
 
ST. PETERSBURG. 87 
 
 of unmistakeable beauty and age, and bearing pure 
 marks, still find their way into the dealers' hands for a 
 few roubles, and are sold for hundreds ; how 
 obtained, I will not venture to assert; and neither 
 the buyers nor the sellers give themselves any 
 trouble to ascertain. However, the old saying, "I 
 got this or that for nothing," is no longer heard ; and 
 whenever a beautiful unbroken group, or a rare cup 
 and saucer is met with, lucky the hunter who 
 obtains it at any reasonable price. There was a 
 time not long ago, say about the year ]854, when I 
 had the good fortune to become the possessor of two 
 Wedgwood vases of extreme beauty, and several 
 plaques of unrivalled chasteness, for a price for 
 which scarcely one, even if found, could now be 
 purchased. My knowledge of the value of these 
 lovely specimens was then very far from being that 
 which experience and constant practice has since 
 given. 
 
 I will close these recollections of my hunting days 
 in the city of the Czars with a trifling anecdote, only 
 indirectly connected with Petersburg, it is true, but 
 which will not be without interest to those for whom 
 these pages are more particularly written. 
 
BBIC-A-BBAG BUNTING. 
 
 Being in Naples many years since, among nu- 
 merous other articles of bric-a-brac, I became the 
 possessor of a specimen, which, though greatly in 
 doubt, I had much reason to believe ■was a Palissy 
 dish. My belief in its genuineness arose from the 
 fact of its great similarity to a dish I had previously 
 seen in a first rate collection, and from my knovr- 
 ledge of its having been many years in the possession 
 of a highly respectable Neapohtan family; on the 
 other hand, doubts were suggested to my mind by its 
 extreme beauty and brightness of colouring, the 
 remarkable clearness and admirable representation 
 of the shell fish, and fern flowers with which it was 
 adorned, and by the deUcacy of its outline, which is 
 not always characteristic of the old specimens of that 
 remarkable labourer in the field of ceramic art. 
 Moreover, the price for which I obtained it was 
 about the tenth part of its value if it had really been 
 formed by the artistic hands of Palissy. It was very 
 beautiful, however, in any case, and with care and 
 pride, I carried it to my cottage home in England. 
 
 By very many it was admired, and though 
 doubtful of its genuineness, I day by day looked on 
 it with increasing delight. But alas, — as is, and 
 
ST. PETEBSBURG. 89 
 
 always will be the case with collectors, who are ever 
 and anon doomed to see the illusions which have 
 gathered about some of their treasuTes entirely- 
 destroyed, — I showed my dish to various connoisseurs 
 of ceramic art, and one and all pronounced it beau- 
 tiful, but of modern French production. I was not 
 then aware of the fact that, for half a century, France 
 had produced such works as copies from Palissy. 
 Very charming these copies were, and numberless 
 specimens are still to be had. 
 
 The charm, however, was broken, not so much 
 because my dish — with its beautiful and almost 
 living fish in the centre, its crabs almost crawling 
 amidst the fern leaves on its rim, while the snails and 
 the mussels looked as if recently gathered from the 
 shore — was of less value ; but because the ridiculous 
 pride, which all collectors more or less feel — of know- 
 ing better than their neighbours — Ayas utterly dis- 
 pelled. So one morning, when a " pleasant friend " 
 looked in, I decided that my dish and I should part 
 company. 
 
 "I have come to look at your Palissy dish," said 
 my friend, somewhat confident, a.s I thought, in his 
 superior knowledge. Thus he delivered his opinion. 
 
90 BBIC-A-BRAC HUNTINa. 
 
 " Oh ! ah, yes ; very fine specimen indeed — of 
 French pottery; admirably executed, but as for 
 being genuiiie Palissy, it is no more Palissy than I 
 am. Sell it. You go to Petersburg, take it there, 
 you will get double what you will in England." 
 
 Certainly he was not Palissy either in character or 
 humility, if we can judge from history as regards 
 that highly gifted Christian; and I did, I confess it, at 
 the moment feel inclined to throw the dish at his head. 
 
 But reason and good humour came to my aid, and 
 having with some bitterness replied, "No, you are 
 certainly not Palissy," I offered him some luncheon, 
 and the sight of a beautiful "Wedgwood plaque, 
 which I had purchased of Mr. Negri, of Petersburg, 
 of both of which he approved, and ere he parted, I 
 agreed to take my heretofore much prized dish to 
 that imperial city. 
 
 It was in the days of posting from the Prussian 
 frontier — I should rather say sledging, the season 
 being midwinter, for the railway was not then work- 
 ing. In the hurry of starting, not having been able 
 to superintend the careful packing of my dish, I found, 
 on arriving at the end of my journey, that it was 
 smashed into twenty pieces. The sight overwhelmed 
 
ST. PETERSBURG. 91 
 
 me ; here, as I supposed, was the end of my 
 treasure. Not a bit of it. I was about to cast the 
 fragments into the rushing waters of the Neva ; 
 when a good Samaritan in female attire, my hostess, 
 entered my room with a note requesting my atten- 
 dance at an ambassadorial gastronomic entertain- 
 ment ; hour 7, by the clock of St. Isaac. 
 
 The good lady looked at me with evident com- 
 miseration, knowing my love for such articles of 
 vertu, and then at the broken dish. "What a pity, 
 sir ; how badly packed it must have been. Why, 
 the fish is alive." 
 
 " Fish ! " said I, " yes, boil it for dinner, if you 
 will ; but pray take the fragments from my sight, 
 and forget that it was once a dish in which a pike 
 might have been proud to have been served before 
 the emperor. She gathered up the remains and 
 departed; and a few days subsequently I also 
 departed for old England. 
 
 " What did you do with the Palissy dish, dad 1 " 
 said the heir to my Spanish ch§,teau, after I had 
 been welcomed home. 
 
 " Did, my boy, why gave it away to be sure," and 
 the subject dropped. 
 
92 BBIC-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 About six mouths afterwards, duty again called 
 me to Petersburg; the morning of my arrival was 
 brilliant summer-time. I awoke from a lengthened 
 slumber after the fatigue of a journey of several 
 consecutive days and nights, sprang out of bed, and 
 prepared for the matutinal cold bath. When be- 
 hold, on the table before me, my precious dish, or a 
 most remarkable counterpart. I wrapped my dress- 
 ing-gown around me, and rang the bell. "Beg," 
 
 said I to the servant, "Miss B to do me the 
 
 favour of a few minutes' conversation." The good 
 woman entered, smiling, hoped I had slept well, and 
 had a good appetite for breakfast. " Both," said I, 
 " thanks, but what about this dish : it is, as far as I 
 can see, for as yet I have not touched it, preciselj"- 
 like that the fragments of which I gave you to throw 
 into the Neva." 
 
 " It is the very same," said the good lady ; " a 
 traveller came here and mended it, and with 
 pleasure I return it to its rightful owner. It was 
 admirably restored." 
 
 " I will not have it again," I replied, " it is yours ; 
 but I will take it to Negri's, and try and sell it for 
 you — I shall ask fifty roubles, cheap at the money." 
 
ST. PETEBSBUBG. 93 
 
 I did so. Negri admired it, as all had, regretted 
 that it had been broken, and promised to do his best 
 to convert it into current coin of the realm, which 
 then, as now, was dirty paper, and I left it in his 
 safe keeping. 
 
 Months again elapsed ere I returned to the im- 
 perial city, and visited his collection. " What have 
 you done with the dish," said I, after having pur- 
 chased a few trifles he had kindly reserved for me. 
 
 " I have it still," he replied ; " I could have sold it 
 a hundred times had it not been repaired, but you 
 limited me as to price, and I could not take less." 
 
 "Be good enough to send it to my hotel." He 
 did so, properly packed as I supposed, and having 
 insisted on giving my good hostess an ample equiva- 
 lent, I once more took it to England. On my arrival 
 it was again in fragments. I sent for a clever china 
 mender, whom I had been in the habit of employing. 
 "Can you restore that?" said I, showing him the 
 dish. 
 
 " Certainly, sir," and he did restore it far better 
 than it had previously been restored, and it is now 
 after all its wanderings over thousands of miles and 
 misfortunes, still worthy of admiration, the property 
 
94 BBIG-A-BBAG SUNTING. 
 
 of one whom I esteem, but whose collection, although 
 in its infancy, or I greatly mistake, will become as 
 each year goes round, of far greater quality and 
 account, to which I shall endeavour to add ; knowing 
 that the " bric-^-brac " fever, once caught, is rarely 
 cured. 
 
 Petersburg, for the present, adieu ! You can 
 boast of many rough charms, though I am by no 
 means of the opinion that the Nevsky Prospect is the 
 finest street in Europe. 
 
 "Look at this, sir," says a continental dealer, 
 particularly in Italy, ignoring Capo di Monte, which 
 in beauty can rival all porcelains; "it is true old 
 Saxe Dresden, came from the collection of the 
 Marquis de Milanaro," as if the fact imported one jot 
 as to its reality or origin and age — ^but what as to its 
 merit or beauty 1 Well, I repeat, some of the groups 
 of figures and vases, the production of the Imperial 
 Factory in Russia, modem though they may be, 
 are equal to any they now produce at Miessen, and 
 superior in form and execution, if not precisely so in 
 contour. 
 
 With all this there is a fashion in " bric-a-brac " 
 hunting, as there is in female attire, though happUy 
 
ST. PETEBSBUBG. 95 
 
 that fashion is not derived from the same source ; 
 the one being from the French demi-monde, the 
 other from imagination. An Englishman, neither 
 good-lookiag nor over poHte, rules the cutting 
 out of ladies' dresses in Paris at 251. a dress ; and 
 Worcester china may be the fashion, because it is 
 difficult to obtain fine specimens. If Mr. W. charged 
 51. for his dresses few would employ him. 
 
96 BBIG-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 QUEST VII. 
 
 BERLIN. 
 
 The train starts. I turn my back on the city of 
 the Czars, and fortify myself with patience and 
 endurance, shut my eyes on nature, which is said to 
 be, when unadorned, adorned the most. Certainly 
 the observation does not apply to the scenery 
 between the capital of all the Russias and the 
 frontier city of Konigsberg, where Prussian kings 
 are crowned by the grace of God, and buried by 
 permission of the people. In fact, there is not one 
 single point of interest nor a single feature of beauty 
 throughout the "long weary versts which divide the 
 empire of Russia from the kingdom of Prussia ; and 
 although the Russian railways offer much comfort, it 
 requires no common amount of patience to endure 
 the journey, and no common stomach to endure the 
 means of sustenance offered by the wayside. 
 
 In good faith, the contrast between comparative 
 barbarism and civilisation, which is manifest within 
 
BERLIN. 97 
 
 the range of a mile from frontier to frontier, is so 
 palpable, that I can only compare the sensation with 
 that felt upon stepping on to the pier at Dover after 
 a boisterous passage from Calais. 
 
 Well do I recollect, in times but recently gone by, 
 after posting from Petersburg for days and nights, 
 the frontier was at last gained — when, half frozen by 
 the cold, or suffocated by dust and heat, according to 
 the season — with what intense joy I rattled over the 
 little wooden bridge that spanned the muddy ditch — 
 for muddy ditch it is — which divides the empire of 
 the Czars from the kingdom of Prussia, and pulled 
 up at the little miserable Custom-house, having 
 nothing to declare but that I was well-nigh ex- 
 hausted, and unutterably pleased at the idea of ere 
 long finding myself in that city called Konigsberg, 
 which boasts of thirty-two bastions, eight gates, and 
 thirty churches — though I never discovered the 
 inhabitants to be more moral than elsewhere. 
 
 As regards bric-k-brac, there is no field for the 
 hunter in Konigsberg ; at least, I never discovered 
 such. Yet I may write in error ; for could I, like 
 Asmodeus, have been permitted to uncover the roofs 
 and peep into the domiciles of the beer-drinking and 
 
98 BBIG-A-BUAO HUNTING. 
 
 sausage -eating citizens, who dare say what art- 
 treasures I might have found, and how readily they 
 might have been converted into thalers ? However, 
 nothing did I ever discover there except a rather 
 elegant little cream-coloured jug from one of dear 
 Wedgwood's models ; but when Main Herr, who 
 wished to dispose of it, permitted me to examine it, 
 I discovered the words " Neale & Co.'s " imprinted 
 on the ware — and so, good-morning ! 
 
 Let us now journey on to Berlin. Berlin ! the 
 very writing of the name causes my heart to beat 
 and my blood to boil, and the hand which holds a 
 pen seems to grasp a revolver, the hilt of a Toledo 
 blade, or touch the trigger of a Snider. What days 
 of more than solitude have I passed from sunrise to 
 sunset in that beautiful but insupportably dull city ! 
 How often have I paced beneath the Liaden to kill 
 an hour, in the fear of being compelled to kill 
 myself ! How have I longed for night, that I might 
 sleep till the dawn of another day ; and when that 
 day has come, how I have longed for night again ! 
 Not that there is no sport for the bric-^-brac hunter; 
 far from it, as I shall soon tell you. Moreover, the 
 game, if not of the very finest condition, is plentiful, 
 
BERLIN. 99 
 
 but strictly preserved, — indeed, so strictly, if of any 
 beauty and rarity, that a Rothschild or a millionnaire 
 alone has a chance of bagging any ; and all I can say 
 is, that if the sellers thereof get the price they 
 demand, I heartily wish that, instead of being a 
 hunter, I were a seller. 
 
 It happened that I found myself in No. 16, first- 
 floor back. Hotel d'Angleterre, Berlin, having been 
 there previously about thirty times, at the very 
 period when the army of needlegun renown were 
 marching to glory — that is to say, to have their own 
 heads broken, with an ardent desire to break those 
 of their enemies — in other words, on the eve of those 
 untoward events for Austria called Sadowa and 
 Koniggratz, which changed the Berliner Somniferoso 
 into the Berliner Bombastioso. 
 
 Truly these were exciting times for the beautiful 
 sleepy city of the Linden-avenue. The betting at 
 the twenty-groschen-per-head table-d'hote was at or 
 about five to four, with no takers, that Benedek 
 would sleep in the royal palace in the Schloss Platz 
 within a fortnight. Under these circumstances, I 
 rose one morning early and went forth into the city 
 — the contrast of whose beauty and architectural 
 
100 BBIG-A-BS.AG HUNTING. 
 
 magnificence with the condition of the inhabitants is 
 most striking — in search of bric-k-brac, hugging to 
 my heart of hearts the innocent beUef that some 
 shght fear of coming pillage might, from all I had 
 heard on the previous evening, have entered into the 
 minds of the dealers in what are ofttimes incorrectly 
 termed works of art, suggesting to them that it 
 might be better to sell cheap than suffer utter loss 
 from pillage or destruction. It was an ignoble, 
 ungenerous, selfish idea, no doubt ; but the desire to 
 become the possessor, cheaply, of some exquisite 
 Berlin groups, vases, &c., or for nothing, according to 
 the usual phraseology — which means half their value 
 — was an influence too strong to be combated. 
 
 I tripped jauntily up the Linden with fond 
 anticipations of my wishes being realised, the more 
 so as I had practical proof of the apparent need of 
 the inhabitants : for as I gazed up the street on that 
 which appeared to be the habitation of a prince, a 
 window suddenly opened in the lower story, and a 
 cobbler hung out a pair of boots for sale ; on the 
 second story a tailor had done the same by a waist- 
 coat and breeches ; and on the top floor, probably 
 the fifth, a woman, performing the matutinal ofl5ces> 
 
BERLIN. 101 
 
 cast into the street a shovel of potato-peelings on 
 the heads of the passers-by. A few steps farther, 
 near a building apparently a palace, an Israelite 
 saluted me from an attic, asking if I had anything to 
 exchange ; while below I observed linen hanging out 
 to dry, which belonged, doubtless, to a gallant officer 
 who was being shaved by the barber hard by in a 
 cave below the pavement. 
 
 Now writing as I do these perfectly true little 
 historiettes of my bric-a-brac hunting throughout 
 Europe, I find it necessary thus to introduce them 
 to the several cities and shops where my wandering 
 footsteps may have led me. My opinions as regards 
 places and people, are my opinions, nothing more. 
 Let others judge for themselves; and therefore having 
 done and seen all that Murray tells you to do and 
 see — not that he is always correct — put on your hat, 
 handle your umbrella, if you have one, and let us 
 walk abroad ; always bearing in mind that the fact 
 of being asked ten thalers for a Berlin cup, and fifty 
 for a Berlin group, by no means implies that you are 
 to give it— certainly not. Offer that which your 
 judgment and taste — if you possess either — dictate ; 
 or do as I have done, though your purse may be far 
 
102 BBIG-A-BBAG BUNTING. 
 
 better filled: give, without you are determined to 
 have the treasure on which you have set your heart 
 at any price, just thirty per cent, below that which 
 experience tells you the object to be actually worth. 
 I say this to the novice, not to the connoisseur, for 
 he knows, and knows well, how to act — at least he 
 believes he does. 
 
 There are many bric-a-brac shops at Berlin. Herr 
 Lewy, or Levy, or, if you will, Levi — for he is an 
 unquestionable Israelite, as, indeed, nearly all bric-i- 
 brac dealers are — is the first to whom I should 
 recommend a visit. Like all dealers, he seeks his 
 •price, and a tolerably heavy one it is ; but he is fair 
 and truthful, and, moreover, a first-rate judge ; and 
 at times he has many articles worthy of admiration. 
 In fact, he is first and foremost, in my humble 
 estimation, as a Berlin dealer. His address is 
 Dorotheen-strasse, No. 20. 
 
 Herr Meier, No. 2 Grenzhaus — commonly called 
 the English Parliament — has by far the largest 
 collection in Berlin — a splendid selection of Venetian 
 glass, and a great variety of carvings and china 
 worthy of the collector's notice. Unless that col- 
 lector, however, has a very long purse, or intends to 
 
BERLIN. 103 
 
 purchase at the price desired by Herr Meier, it is as 
 well he should avoid the sin of temptation, and that 
 of coveting what he cannot obtain. 
 
 There are also HeiT Arnold, No. 26 on the Linden, 
 and Herr Frescati, No. 21. In the shops of these 
 two gentlemen may sometimes be found rare art- 
 treasures. Happy he who can afford to give the 
 prices asked for them. 
 
 HeiT Leuschner has also a bric-k-brac shop in 
 Tannen-strasse, No. 15. Formerly he had a modest 
 collection in a shop on the Linden; but I have 
 invariably found, and practically proved the fact in 
 many foreign capitals, that bric-k-brac sellers rise 
 rapidly as regards fortune. 
 
 Although the foundation of the celebrated porce- 
 lain manufactory and museum of Berlin is to be 
 attributed to the great monarch, statesman, poet, 
 and philosopher, Frederick the Great of Prussia, 
 who, in the midst of the mighty wars in which he 
 was engaged, turned his attention to the beautiful 
 fabric which was beginning to attract the lovers of 
 the fine arts, there had been made in Berlin thirteen 
 years previously (1750), under the immediate direc- 
 tion of Wilhelm Caspar Wegel, a first attempt to 
 
104 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 produce specimens of the ceramic art. Wegel 
 pretended that he was in possession of certain 
 secrets, and continued to carry on his business for 
 seven years. Some of his works are even now to be 
 met with ; the cipher at the bottom (W) is still to 
 be found. The pieces are well formed, with 
 good colour, exhibiting fair workmanship, painting, 
 glazing, and rich gilding. 
 
 In 1761, John Ernest Gotzkowski the younger 
 commenced a new manufactory in the Leipziger- 
 strasse. He obtained the secret of porcelain fabric 
 from Ernest Heinrich Richard, who had been 
 employed in Wegel's establishment, and, having 
 analysed the products, had made considerable pro- 
 gress. For the communication of his secrets Gotz- 
 kowski gave Richard 4000 dollars, and for a salary 
 of 1200 dollars Richard undertook the direction. 
 The celebrated enamel-painter Jacque Claude, and 
 Elias Meyer the plastic modeller, from Meissen, with 
 other workmen from that town, joined the establish- 
 ment. Gotzkowski did not personally pursue his 
 undertaking, but placed it imder the management 
 of the commissioner Grunenger, which led to his 
 employment, from the year 1763 to 1786, as the 
 
BERLIN. 105 
 
 head of the royal porcelain manufactory at Berlin. 
 During the Seven Years' War, King Frederick had 
 an opportunity of noticing the manufactories at 
 Dresden and at Meissen. He induced the best 
 workmen, painters and modellers, among -whom were 
 Meyer, Kleppel, and Bohme, to accompany him to 
 Berlin ; and with their assistance, and at his own 
 expense, enriched his metropolis with the important 
 and beautiful porcelain fabric since celebrated 
 throughout Europe. Grunenger had soon to con- 
 gratulate the king on the further addition of men 
 of talent and celebrity, and Frederick the Great 
 liberally endowed the newly-founded institution. 
 Meyer received an annuity of 1500 dollars, Kleppel 
 1100, and Bohme 1000. 
 
 Grunenger has given an account of his labours to 
 obtain men best adapted for the different depart- 
 ments of the porcelain manufactory, among them 
 B.ichard Bowman, and others of some note. From 
 the year 1763 must be dated the actual foundation 
 of the royal establishment ; for then Gotzkowski, in 
 the month of August, gave up to the king the whole 
 of his fabric of porcelain, receiving 225,000 dollars, 
 and entering into a contract for the sale of his 
 
106 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 secrets. From the specification and inventory drawn 
 up on the occasion, some idea may be formed of the 
 magnitude of his enterprise. There were 7 adminis- 
 trators, 1 artist, 1 model-master, 2 picture-inspectors, 
 6 furnace-men, 3 glaze-workers, 5 lathe-turners, 
 3 potters, 6 mill-workers, 2 polishers, 6 sculptors, 
 6 embossers, 6 founders, 11 designers, 6 earthenware- 
 moulders, 13 potter-wheel-workers, 3 model-joiners, 
 1 girdler, 22 porcelain-painters, 22 pictiire-colourers, 
 3 colour-makers, 4 packers and attendants, 8 wood- 
 framers; making altogether 147 persons. The 
 attendant expenses were 10,200 dollars. It is calcu- 
 lated that 29,516 red and coloured earthenware, more 
 than 10,000 white vessels, and 4866 painted porce- 
 lain — many of them of grotesque form, and many of 
 the fashion of the day — were fabricated ; articles 
 of every description — vases, flacons, groups of various 
 descriptions, statuary, snuff-boxes, fancy articles, ear- 
 rings, lamps, and everything that the artist could 
 suggest and the potter carry out. It is satisfactory to 
 know that there exist at the present day 133 models 
 from which these articles were fabricated ; and the 
 results of the labour, the energy, and the taste brought 
 into play a. hundred years ago may easily be studied. 
 
BERLIN. 107 
 
 The contract of Gotzkowski appears to have been 
 most advantageous to him, and to have excited 
 considerable discussion : he, however, gave up his 
 establishment on terms that in these days would 
 appear hardly sufficient for the payment of his many 
 years of labour. It was in September 1763 that 
 Frederick the Great appeared for the first time in 
 his manufactory. His reception was, of course, 
 worthy of the monarch, and he seems to have ex- 
 amined everything with the attention of a master 
 and of an artist. His eye fell upon every object of 
 interest, and he freely expressed his opinion. In 
 the moulding-room and the turners' department he 
 remained a long time, and examined the materials. 
 Near the ovens he entered into a long conversation 
 with one of the furnace-men, and he also discoursed 
 freely and at length with Grunenger, who has 
 recorded in his chronicle the sensible remarks made 
 by his Majesty, who pointed out the improvements 
 which he considered might be made. The questions 
 he asked were evidently those of an individual who 
 was conversant with his subject, and determined to 
 pursue it. He remained about two hours, and, on 
 retiring, promised his gracious protection to his 
 
108 BBIG-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 artists. Commissioner Grunenger, Maritius Jacobi, 
 Nogel, Eichman, Kichard, Meyer, Clauce, Bohme and 
 Kleppel continued at the head of the establishment, 
 and directed the different departments. A sum of 
 140,000 dollars was devoted to the improvement of 
 the fabric. 
 
 Every effort was made to produce porcelain as 
 remarkable for its material as for its beauty. In 
 order to promote its introduction largely into com- 
 merce, a certain number of Jews were privileged to 
 purchase articles as soon as they appeared, and to 
 distribute them in foreign countries. This per- 
 mission has formed the groundwork of Miss Edge- 
 worth's celebrated novel. The Prussian Vase. In 
 1769 an order was published permitting a lottery 
 company to purchase annually to the amount of 
 90,000 dollars. In September 1763 the king 
 appeared at the board of directors, read their report, 
 and ordered the construction of two edifices — one of 
 three stories, 350 feet in length ; the other two 
 stories, of 180 feet. He built a new mill for pul- 
 verising the materials, with apparatus for cleansing 
 and preparing the clay employed. He was anxious 
 to have, as soon as possible, new specimens. He 
 
BERLIN. 109 
 
 ordered that potter's-clay and earthy materials should 
 be sent from all parts of his dominions, and enumer- 
 ated several localities in which he himself had seen 
 earth adapted for porcelain. The king's orders were 
 quickly obeyed. In 1771, in the neighbourhood of 
 Brackwitz, not far from Halle, a superior clay was 
 discovered, from which a porcelain of exquisite 
 beauty and whiteness was obtained, to the great 
 delight of the monarch. Somewhat later, discoveries 
 were made at Beerdersee and at Morland Seumwitz 
 of earthy material of the highest quality, sufficient 
 for consumption during a century ; and from thence 
 the royal manufactory at this day derives its most 
 valuable material. The reputation of the fabric was 
 quickly extended far and near. The Duke of Bruns- 
 wick and the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel came to 
 witness the progress ; and the Count Woronzoff, 
 with several of the Eussian nobility, were also 
 attracted. His highness the Turkish ambassador, 
 Achmet Effendi, a great amateur of porcelain and 
 fully conversant with its manufacture, visited the 
 royal manufactory, much to the satisfaction of 
 Grunenger, who has narrated the circumstances 
 attendant upon the visit. 
 
110 BBIG-A-BBAO HUNTING. 
 
 The untiring zeal and energy of the king awakened 
 a spirit of enthusiasm in every department, which 
 led to the happiest results. Science and art were 
 called in to superintend all the arrangements : 'mine- 
 ralogists studied the materials, engineers constructed 
 the ovens, chemists produced the colours, and 
 painters composed the designs. The style and taste 
 of the Berlin porcelain called forth the admiration of 
 Europe ; crowned heads were eager to receive 
 presents from the royal owner ; the saloons of the 
 aristocratic world could not be considered richly fur- 
 nished unless some specimen of the Prussian manu- 
 facture was exhibited. Nor was this without cause ; 
 for the beautifully enamelled surface displayed 
 subjects after Watteau, Boucher, Savaret, BufHes ; 
 the customs of all ages ; flowers, birds, insects, — ex- 
 quisitely painted in colours of radiant splendour. 
 The articles were modelled after classic forms, or ac- 
 cording to the principles of beauty generally admitted 
 at the period ; the ornaments and the decorations 
 were of the richest character ; allegorical figures, 
 statues from the antique, sheep, shepherdesses, and 
 the most rococo as well as humorous subjects, were 
 rapidly executed. His Majesty was perfectly de- 
 
BERLIN. Ill 
 
 lighted when snuff-boxes were produced the covers 
 of which exhibited to his admiring courtiers minia- 
 tures of the royal personage himself; and happy was 
 the individual who received from such hands a mark 
 of royal regard. After a night broken by the agonies 
 of gout in his hands and feet, at six in the morning 
 would Frederick receive with delight the director of 
 the royal manufactory, who came to show a new 
 chef-d'ceuvre, which he would place on a table by the 
 royal bedside. The death of the monarch did not 
 diminish the importance of the gi-eat establishment. 
 PriQce Henry and Princess Ameha had already 
 evinced a deep interest in the ceramic art. In 1787 
 Frederick WiUiam II. appointed a commission, 
 under the direction of the minister Von Stemitz 
 and Count Eeden, and great improvements in the 
 management were carried out. The same taste and 
 industry were everywhere encouraged. The con- 
 struction of the ovens was more scientifically attended 
 to, in consequence of the studies of caloric and of 
 temperature having led to economy of fuel and regu- 
 lation of heat. Germany was compelled to ac- 
 knowledge that the perfection of porcelain had been 
 reached at Berlin, notwithstanding the rivalry of 
 
112 BRIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 Dresden, of Meissen, and of other rich cities. Since 
 the year 1832, up to the present period, the manu- 
 factory has not ceased to deserve the admiration of 
 the public. Colossal vases have been produced 
 which have entered into the collections of the 
 Emperor of Eussia and the Queen of England. 
 Probably the most beautiful are those now in the 
 Louvre, presented to Louis Philippe in 1844. They 
 are more than six feet in height, in the shape of 
 amphorse, with garlands of flowers upon a red ground, 
 richly gilt and ornamented. In 1845 Prince Albert 
 became possessor of a magnificent dish, two feet and 
 a half in diameter, which he considered the chef- 
 d'oeuvre of the Berlin manufactory. There is no 
 cessation of activity and emulation at the present 
 hour, and the royal patronage is still bestowed upon 
 the establishment. 
 
DRESDEN. 113 
 
 QUEST VIII. 
 
 DRESDEN. 
 
 From Berlin to Dresden is a question of three or 
 four hours' patience, an indifferent railway carriage, 
 and four or five thalers of expenditure, considerable 
 smoking, and as long a sleep as possible. 
 
 I say patience, inasmuch as the country through 
 which the traveller passes, is utterly devoid of 
 interest till the fair city is in sight, for the most part 
 being through vast sandy though tolerably -well- 
 cultivated places, interminable pine forests, and 
 endless halts at small stations, wherein more bad 
 beer is imbibed, and more sausages consumed by 
 Prussian passengers than would feed a regiment ; 
 although foreigners for the most part consider it an 
 established fact that Englishmen monopolise that 
 most valuable acquisition to health and gastronomic 
 enjoyment, a good appetite; whereas nine out of 
 every ten subjects of his Prussian Majesty, would 
 beat the best feeder among us by a beefsteak and 
 
114 BBIO-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 onions, to say nothing of swallowing half his knife 
 into the bargain. 
 
 Koreover, although four or five hours are frittered 
 away in the transit from the city of Berlin to that 
 of Dresden, in a train, evidently by error termed an 
 express train, the journey might be readily accom- 
 plished, and would be so either in England or 
 France, in two ; but these German, or rather let me 
 call them Prussian trains, are proverbially slow and 
 sleepy, if safe. 
 
 Dresden is, or at least ought to be, the city par 
 excellence for a bric-^-brac hunter. The very name 
 of Dresden seems to convey to the senses of the lover 
 of ceramic art all that is charming, ancient, rare, and 
 beautiful in form and colour. Vases and groups, 
 clocks and candelabras, excite the imagination, and 
 fill with keen anticipation of delight the breast of 
 an eager hunter, who, for the first time in his life 
 approached, ere Prussian rule commenced, that still 
 pleasant though less stirring city watered by the 
 Elbe. 
 
 On the first night of his arrival there, rest is 
 denied to him : his nerves are excited, his imagina- 
 tion coniures up the treasures he will behold on the 
 
DRESDEN. 115 
 
 morrow : if he sleeps at all, it is to dream of Bottcher 
 MarcoHni, Horold, and the factory at Meissen. 
 
 When I first had the good fortune, years lang 
 syne, to visit Dresden, it was not only one of the 
 pleasantest, but, for society, cheapness of living, com- 
 fort, and beauty, second to hardly any city in Europe. 
 Diplomats of all nations mixed together in friendly 
 and hospitable association, and passing visitors from 
 foreign lands, properly accredited, were received not 
 only by the residents in the country, but the society 
 which had gathered together for various reasons, — 
 such as the education of their children, economy, or 
 a life of quiet ease, surrounded by beauties of nature, 
 and simple elegance of daily life, in connection with 
 health and various other attributes, — with that 
 frank kindness which makes the world we live in, if 
 not one of unalloyed happiness, still of passing com- 
 fort and enjoyment. 
 
 I do not presume to say that the grasping hand of 
 territorial aggrandizement, or bigotry, or conquest, or 
 policy, or by whatever name or words plain speaking 
 men judge fit to use, has in any manner altered the 
 beauties great which nature and nature's God have 
 awarded to this favoured district; but I do say, with- 
 
 I 2 
 
116 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 out fear of contradiction, that the Di'esden that was, 
 and the Dresden that is, are, as far as a residence or 
 even a temporary visit is concerned, apparently wide 
 apart. 
 
 The object of my first journey to that pleasant 
 abode of Saxon monarchy and art-treasures, was 
 twofold : a brief repose from the hard, practical 
 duties of an active life, combined with an ardent 
 desire to examine the ceramic collections, gathered 
 together in its museums, and not without a hope of 
 visiting the far-famed china manufactory at Meissen, 
 where in the days we live, hours of enjoyment to the 
 lover of bric-Ei-brac may be secured, Meissen being 
 easily gained by steam-boat on the Elbe, or by 
 railway : the waters of the Elbe in summer de- 
 cidedly for choice. 
 
 Meanwhile, as is doubtless the case with aU lovers 
 and collectors of ceramic treasures, I had heard and 
 read, and pondered over with interest all the facts, 
 historiettes, and anecdotes connected with what is 
 supposed to be the first European factory of porce- 
 lain, established at Meissen near Dresden in the 
 beginning of the 18th century. I had read how 
 John Frederick Bottcher, an apothecary's assistant. 
 
BBESBEN. 117 
 
 being suspected of alchemy, had fled from Berlin, 
 his native city, to avoid prosecution, and had taken 
 refuge in the pleasant city of Dresden. How 
 Augustus the Elector, the then proud and despotic 
 ruler of Saxony, after hearing the fugitive's tale, 
 questioned him minutely as to his knowledge of the 
 art of making gold — then believed in — and placed 
 him in the royal laboratory under Tschirnhausen, 
 who was then engaged in searching for the universal 
 medicine. In the course of the experiments which 
 he there carried on, a composition was unexpectedly 
 produced, exhibiting many of the characteristics of 
 oriental china porcelain. 
 
 His Majesty, perceiving the great importance of 
 the discovery, immediately sent him to the castle of 
 Albrechtsbergh at Meissen, and thence with his 
 workmen, under an escort of cavalry, to the fortress 
 of Konigstein, where pleasantly shut up from the 
 bright world without — that is, incarcerated for des- 
 potic gain — he pursued his artistic and chemical 
 researches. 
 
 Ay ! Herr Minton, of our dear fatherland, what 
 say you ? Should you like a year in the Tower or 
 Newgate, the better to enable you to pursue the 
 
118 BRIG-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 glorious art in which your name stands in such 
 honourable prominence ? 
 
 Yet, perchance, those were some of the good old 
 days many are so fond of croaking about, when 
 kings claimed the mental slaveiy of their subjects, 
 and treated the genius of man as a source of per- 
 sonal profit. What a lesson is open to us in these 
 comparatively happy and enlightened times, as 
 compared with the history of ages past. 
 
 Could we be permitted occasionally to look on 
 kings and queens as human beings, and not, as a 
 talented writer once observed, "coming down upon 
 you in velvet and fur, with crowns on their heads," 
 bedizened with useless stars and ribbons ; men and 
 women, divided from their fellow beings, both by 
 position and all natural feelings ; — such persons can 
 possibly imagine poor Bbttcher, as incarcerated for 
 having discovered something unknown to his neigh- 
 bour, yet so valuable to the German race, from 
 which selfish profit was first to be made. For my 
 part, I own to the satisfaction I should feel at 
 beholding a foreign potentate, getting out of his 
 matutinal bath, if given to that refreshing habit of 
 cleanliness and health — ^the Sultan, for example, or 
 
DBMSDEN. 119 
 
 the King of Koniggratz — with a rough towel in his 
 hand, having a good appetite, and somewhat late for 
 breakfast. I take it, I should find them, without the 
 crown, the velvet and fur, like other men, save in 
 position mere slaves of birth. 
 
 Thousands grumble because the best of all sove- 
 reigns prefers as much repose as is consistent with 
 her high calling, and loves to commune with nature 
 and her God. Let such look back to the era when 
 sovereigns were tyrants, and the genius of a subject 
 was converted into a source of personal riches. Were 
 I a king, I certainly would have a rare collection of 
 bric-a-brac, but I would rather have granted a 
 peerage to Bottcher than a prison in a castle ; and 
 he deserved it far more than a third of the number 
 on whom it is conferred in these days, for he created 
 art beauties which, to the hour we live, are an 
 immense source of commerce, and undying pleasure 
 in possession to the world at large. 
 
 In the year 1707, Bottcher, having secured the 
 confidence of the Elector, returned to Dresden, 
 where he pursued his experimental art with renewed 
 vigour and eventual success. 
 
 His first productions were simply a sort of red 
 
120 BBIC-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 stone ware, scarcely to be denominated porcelain, 
 specimens of which may now be purchased as 
 curiosities, if not for their beauty, in almost every 
 capital of Europe. This he brought to some per- 
 fection, but the results were more curious than 
 elegant as works of art. In 1709, however, he 
 succeeded in producing his white porcelain, which 
 was brought to such perfection in 1815, that it was 
 generally considered to be the first European 
 discovery of porcelain, and many are still of opinion 
 that it has never been surpassed. The merit of the 
 discovery of the first manufacture in Europe has 
 been generally awarded to Dresden, in 1709. But 
 it appears only to have been a revival, inasmuch as, 
 in 1580, Florence produced a porcelain of durable 
 character, now almost, if not quite, unattainable. 
 So devoted was he to the hoped-for results of his 
 ceramic art, that, although he was not under the 
 necessity of burning his household goods to keep his 
 furnace alive — as was the case with the nobler 
 Palissy — ^history tells us that he sat up long nights 
 and days watching the regularity of its heat. 
 
 How he composed his artificial paste has never 
 been known. The discovery of the natural paste, or 
 
BBESDEN. 121 
 
 kaolin, which he subsequently used with such great 
 and admirable success, was made as related in a 
 simple tale, known doubtless to most collectors and 
 lovers of bric-£i-brac, but which I will tell here for 
 the benefit of those who may hereafter find pleasure 
 or profit in hunting for ceramic treasures. It runs as 
 follows : 
 
 A rich iron master, named Schnorr, when riding 
 over his estate at Aue, near Erzgebirge, observed 
 that his horse's feet stuck fast in some perfectly white 
 earth or clay. Hair powder being at the period a 
 valuable object of commerce, it immediately occun-ed 
 to him that this white earth, when dried and care- 
 fully prepared, might be a valuable substitute, while 
 subsequent experiments justified his discernment. 
 This powder soon became an article of general use 
 throughout Saxony. The king's guards were pow- 
 dered, their pigtails cheaply whitened ; and at length 
 Bottcher having powdered his own wig, found it so 
 heavy that he felt convinced the so-called powder 
 must be earth ; and having tried it in the fire, to his 
 great delight and untold joy, discovered that it was 
 the very material he had long sought for in vain, 
 that is, the true kaolin. Whereupon the Elector, 
 
122 BBIO-A-BBAO HUNTING. 
 
 his master, commanded that his subjects' wigs should 
 no longer be whitened with clay ; the powder was 
 bought up, and secretly conveyed in barrels to the 
 porcelain manufactory, and its exportation henceforth 
 strictly prohibited. What a weight was thereby 
 taken from the heart of Bottcher, as doubtless the 
 heads of the Saxons ! What ceramic treasures were 
 henceforth distributed to the world at large ! I 
 never think of the era of this discovery but it occurs 
 to me that every collector and dealer in bric-a-brac 
 should meet annually to celebrate the feast of St. 
 Bottcher, a saint who does more good to mankind, I 
 take it, than half the saints who are feted ; for what 
 pleasure, and comfort, and commerce, did this dis- 
 covery not produce ! But man's merits and virtues 
 are, alas, too soon forgotten, aud this occurred " only 
 one hundred and fifty years " lang syne. 
 
 At that period everything connected with the 
 Dresden manufactory was carried on with a degree 
 of secrecy, that in these days of real or comparative 
 liberty may well excite wonderment. The work- 
 men were bound by the most solemn oaths, and 
 kept in a castle, having all the chai-acteristics of a 
 prison, which they were never permitted to leave, 
 
DBESDEN. 123 
 
 and into which no stranger was ever allowed to enter. 
 " Geheim his ins grab " — be secret unto death — 
 was the motto hung up conspicuously in eveiy 
 workshop and department. Depressing as we may 
 suppose such conditions to have been, the workmen 
 pursued their labour cheerfully and successfully, 
 and brought that which the genius of Bottcher 
 designed more nearly to perfection than, I fear, 
 it will ever be brought again. 
 
 Now let us cross the Elbe, over that famous stone 
 bridge, said to be the longest and finest in Germany, 
 built as our friends of other days tell us — and why 
 should we doubt them ? — or rather let me say, paid 
 for, by money raised by the sale of dispensations from 
 the Pope, for permission to eat butter and eggs 
 during Lent ; Pope's pennies, in fact. Whether 
 true or false, that a bridge was built of butter and 
 eggs, it has stood the test of Elbe's rapid stream for 
 many a long year, notwithstanding the waters have 
 been known to rise sixteen feet in four hours, when 
 the snows of winter thaw rapidly, and large masses 
 of floating ice crush against its arches. Strong as it 
 is, however, the centre arch gave way in 1813 to the 
 force of powder, having been blown up by Davoust 
 
124 BRtO-A-BRAC HUNTING. 
 
 to make good his retreat to Leipsic. However, we 
 are now over it, so winter though, it be, let us take up 
 our pleasant abode in the Hotel Belle Vue, select a 
 cheerful room, and take a glance at the bright moon 
 glittering on the Elbe, and over the valley towards 
 Meissen, shut the casement, for the night is chilly, 
 and eat our supper in comfort, without asking a 
 dispensation or fear of excommunication, and sleep 
 calmly in anticipated pleasure of the morrow. 
 
 I take it for granted that those who have so far 
 followed my footsteps are, for the most part, ardent 
 lovers of the ceramic art, in fact, bric-a-brac hunters, 
 and that it is therefore their especial pleasure, when 
 visiting the capitals of Europe, to seek the abodes of 
 dealers in such articles, and visit them wheresoever 
 they are to be found. With palaces, picture galleries, 
 and public sights, these pages have little or nothing 
 to do. Pictures can scarcely be classed as bric-a- 
 brac, though a journey of a thousand miles would be 
 well repaid to linger for one bright morning in the 
 Gallery of Dresden. There is, however, one museum 
 in which the lover of bric-a-brac, who visits the fair 
 city of Dresden, may feast on the beautiful pro- 
 ductions of the china factory ; where he may gloat 
 
DBESBEN. 125 
 
 on the untold treasures in the Green Vaults — 
 " Griine Geirolbe." They are replete with the rarest 
 specimens of ancient art, and hours, nay days, may 
 be spent in their exploration. 
 
 Having visited the " Green Vaults," brace up your 
 nerves, shut out all feelings of covetous longing from 
 your heart, and then hasten to the Japanese Palace, 
 or porcelain collection, " Porzellan sammlung." If 
 possible, select a bright sunny morning for your first 
 visit, because all works of art are best seen under 
 such auspices. You will find sixty thousand pieces 
 of china grouped in eighteen apartments, the 
 contents of which are catalogued in five manuscript 
 folio volumes. In addition to a large collection, 
 comprising the earliest periods, as well as the finest 
 modern productions of native Saxon ware, you will 
 behold a gr'aud display of Chinese, Japanese, Italian, 
 and Sevres china ; with many interesting specimens 
 of Bottcher's earliest attempts, and several examples 
 of French ware, the gift of the Emperor Napoleon I. 
 
 One set of magnificent china is said to have been 
 given to the Elector Augustus II., by Frederick I. of 
 Prussia, for a regiment of dragoons fully equipped ; 
 and a document certifying this exchange, is said to 
 
126 BBIC-A'BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 be among the arcMves of Dresden, dated Nurem- 
 berg, 29th April, and countersigned at Charlotten- 
 burgh 1st May. 
 
 Having feasted on this collection, prepare yourself 
 the following morning by a hearty breakfast and 
 — the weather being fair and bright — start for 
 Meissen. 
 
 The road from Dresden to Meissen runs by the 
 left bank of the Elbe, some short distance from it, 
 at the foot of a range of sloping hills covered with 
 vineyards, from which it is said some excellent wine 
 is produced. The banks are also dotted over with 
 villas ; and I have heard the prospect compared with 
 the neighbourhood of Florence, whereas, the wood- 
 lands make it far more agreeable. 
 
 The factory of Meissen, as I have already re- 
 marked, was established by Augustus II., Elector of 
 Saxony. I have also alluded to the experiments of 
 Bottcher and Tschirnhausen, who commenced them 
 in 1706 with brown clay found in the neighbourhood ; 
 and I have further related how John Schnorr of 
 Erzgebirge in 1811 discovered the white clay, known 
 hereafter as Schonnorich messe Eide von aure, which 
 was sold largely at Dresden and Leipsic as hair 
 
DBE8BEN. 127 
 
 powder, and from which, although exhausted ia 
 1850, the finest white china was produced. 
 
 Bottcher became director of the manufactory in 
 1710, and it has been again and again asserted 
 that, up to the period of his death in 1719, white 
 china was produced in Saxony only. This is, how- 
 ever, scarcely to be credited, as works were pre- 
 viously established both at St. Cloud, and in the 
 Faubourg St. Antoine at Paris. 
 
 In 1720, painting and gilding of a very superior 
 character were carried on under the superintendence 
 of Horoldts ; and in 1731 Landers, a sculptor, super- 
 intended the modelling of groups, animals and vases; 
 from which period up to 1756 the very best pro- 
 ductions emanated from the Dresden factory. 
 Angelica KauiFman was numbered among the most 
 distinguished painters, and specimens of her painting 
 are still occasionally met with. 
 
 In 1754, Christian Wilslom Ernst Bismark, 
 became director, and in 1778, the King of Saxony 
 himself personally superintended the establishment. 
 In 1796, Marcolini was appointed director, and held 
 the post until 1814, when Von Oppel succeeded 
 him. In 1833 then M'Lau took his place, and the 
 
128 BBIC-A-BRAG SUNTING. 
 
 manufactory has since been styled, " Konigliciie 
 SacLsische Porzellan Manufactur," in fact, the Royal 
 Factory. 
 
 The building, which stands on a commanding 
 position, was formerly the residence of Saxon Princes, 
 and agreeable writers have expressed much regret 
 that it should have been so cruelly desecrated. I 
 confess that I have no such feelings of regret. For 
 a century and more, it has been, and it is to be 
 hoped will still continue to be, the source of employ- 
 ment for taste and talent, opening year by year the 
 most agreeable commerce to all lovers of ceramic art. 
 There men labour for the bread of life, surrounded 
 by taste and beauty, and from that labour produce 
 objects distributed throughout the world ; and if so 
 be their productions are by no means equal to those 
 of ages past, I do not envy the man who, having 
 passed some hours in their inspection, can turn 
 his back thereon without admiration of that which 
 he has seen, and learnt therefrom a lesson — yes a 
 practical lesson, which is, and I say it not uncour- 
 teously, that modern art, with all its beauty, can bear 
 no comparison with that of our forefathers. Those 
 who may perchance have had the good fortune to visit 
 
DRESDEN. 129 
 
 the Exhibition of 1851, and those of 1862 in London, 
 and 1867 in Paris, will I fancy agree with me that, 
 while science, as I'egards machinery, marches with 
 rapid strides, art and inventive genius, as regards 
 the beautiful, is positively at a standstill. 
 
 Having lingered in the " Green Vaults," passed 
 many an hour in the Porcelain Museum, enjoyed a 
 long summer's day at Meissen, let us now walk 
 through the city, and pay a visit to the numerous 
 emporiums of treasures — in fact, have a good bric-li- 
 brac hunt. 
 
 It is a pleasant pastime for those who love the 
 pursuit — yes a very pleasant pastime — and yet I must 
 speak the truth. I know of none wherein all human 
 passions, for the most part evil ones, require to be 
 kept under such strict control ; they may be thus 
 numbered : do not covet other men's goods, 
 " jealousy," " envy," " longing," " patience," " temper," 
 self-control, anger, economy without meanness, and 
 honest assertions. 
 
 These passions will all trouble you and must be 
 met calmly, courteously, patiently, with good temper, 
 taste and experience, and money. The last above 
 all; if you have it not, or at least sufficient to gratify 
 
130 BBIG-A-BRAG HUNTING. 
 
 one passion, remain at home ; you will only return 
 with sadness and regret. 
 
 Previous to commencing our walk, however, I 
 would be permitted to say a word to the inexpe- 
 rienced in bric-a-brac hunting — it is to advise them 
 to banish from their iainds the idea, that the being in 
 Dresden will enable them to secure a good specimen 
 of Dresden china, or, save by the merest chance, any 
 article of vertu, modem or ancient, even on " reason- 
 able" terms. 
 
 True, there was a pleasant era in days lang syne 
 when the fortunate hunter might win the day. That 
 day abroad is over ; and if he desire to obtain some 
 really first rate specimens at a fair price, I do not 
 think he need take the trouble of going further than 
 London. 
 
 The delusions, the falsifications, the unworthy 
 trickeries — to call them by their right name, 
 forgeries — as regards marks, paintings, mendings, 
 &c., are incomprehensible, and the keenest and most 
 experienced are taken in. 
 
 Besides a grand emporium for the sale of modern 
 china from the Royal Factory, what are termed 
 curiosity shops — ^that is bric-a-brac shops — abound 
 
DRESDEN. 131 
 
 in Dresden ; and I doubt not but tbat they are 
 known to all the Hotel commissioners, who profit 
 accordingly. I shall decline, therefore, to offer a 
 word of praise or dispraise as regards any of them ; 
 I will merely observe, that those who charge the 
 most, and who lead the van as bric-a-brac sellers, 
 are those I should be least inclined to seek. If they 
 have any really good specimens, they know perfectly 
 well where to place them, and the bric-^-brac hunter 
 will not obtain them without disbursing their full 
 value. 
 
 Beautiful, nay exquisite on a general view, as the 
 modern Dresden may be said to be, in form, outline, 
 sharpness and colouring, it is as inferior to the old, 
 as a turnip to a peach ; indeed some of the Kussian 
 models are much finer, and all the modern china sold 
 in Dresden is most absurdly priced. It so chanced 
 that I found myself in that pleasant city, at the 
 moment of its occupation by Prussian troops, on, or 
 about the termination of that untoward battle, called 
 Koniggratz, which terminated the fate of Austria, 
 and caused their enemies, not without reason, to be 
 somewhat more vain than they usually are ; and I 
 found the inhabitants, who, to use plain words, had 
 
 K 2 
 
132 BBIG-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 beea in a terrible fright, cooling down a little, to 
 their usual pursuits. 
 
 Ten days previously, however, there was scarce a 
 man or woman in the city who did not fear its being 
 ransacked by the Austrian army, and doubtless all 
 the dealers in bric-£i-brac, who had some knowledge 
 of their country's history, recollected that Meissen 
 was the battle field between the Austrians and 
 Prussians in 1759, when the manufactory was plun- 
 dered, and the archives destroyed ; and who could 
 venture to assert, but that their private collections 
 might share the same fate? And with this knowledge 
 I sought my friends, the bric-k-brac dealers, full of 
 hope and anticipation, that I should find the market 
 within range of my humble means. 
 
 Now, ere I say a word further on the subject 
 of my own doings in this matter, I can safely 
 assure ardent lovers of bric-^brac, who fancy that 
 Dresden is a sure find, as we say in hixnting par- 
 lance, and that having found, possession is readily 
 and cheaply acquired, that they never were more 
 mistaken. 
 
 Of first rate " ancient" Dresden china — piire and 
 unbroken — there is very little to be purchased in the 
 
DRESDEN. 133 
 
 city of that name, and being so fortunate as to dis- 
 cover here and there something really worth having, 
 the price is truly fabulous. Of china there is cart- 
 loads, and much that is beautiful, though modern ; 
 but for the collector and connoisseur, with a rea. 
 knowledge of the art treasures he loves : there is 
 little or nothing. False marks, modem painting on 
 old white china, and traps of every possible kind 
 to catch the unwary, abound ; but of the real, and 
 good, and beautiful, seek it not in Dresden : you 
 need, in fact, as I have before suggested, go no further 
 than London, where, indeed, you will find far 
 cheaper and far truer Dresden china. 
 
 It would be useless were I to point out to the 
 lover of bric-^-brac the many shops by name that 
 are there to be found : they are legion. He who 
 desires to visit them, being unacquainted with the 
 city, has only to apply to one of those numerous 
 individuals who lounge about hotels, and call them- 
 selves commissioners. They know all the best and 
 the worst shops ; but, when visiting them, trust to 
 yourself, if you have any knowledge of good from 
 bad ; if not, satisfy yourself with what you obtain, 
 which, as works of art, will I fear turn out to be 
 
134 BS.IC-A-BBAV HUNTING. 
 
 worthless, or false, unless some angel of luck stand 
 at your elbow. 
 
 At the period to which I have alluded, so great 
 had been the fear of the Austrian army visiting 
 the city, that aU that was valuable had been 
 packed away here, there, and everywhere, in cup- 
 boards, drawers, hampers, cellars, &c. ; indeed, I wit- 
 nessed one hamper of Dresden cups — at least a hun- 
 dred — for each of which a Paris dealer would have 
 asked a sovereign or more, placed away under the 
 manger of a stable. 
 
 The fear of pillage was only then subsiding, and 
 the dealers were beginning to redecorate their shops 
 with cups and figures, and vases, like tulips coming 
 up in early summer; but the fear was subsiding, 
 and so what a week previously might, I fancy, have 
 been bought for an old song, according to common 
 words, was even more expensive than heretofore ; 
 with the laudable idea of receiving payment for their 
 terror and recent slack in business : and so I got 
 little or nothing worth having. Neither is there vei-y 
 much worth having save modem china in this 19th 
 century, except from private collections ; and if so be 
 there is, there is no difficulty in selling it. And yet 
 
DRESDEN. 135 
 
 what lover of the ceramic art should not visit that 
 pleasant city ? Few European capitals contain a greater 
 number of objects calculated to gratify the curiosity 
 of an intelligent traveller ; moreover, it is the resi- 
 dence of men of taste and talent, who contribute 
 much to render society agreeable. The town itself is 
 more pleasing at a distance than striking; it has 
 neither fine streets nor imposing buildings, but its 
 situation is charming. On quitting it for other 
 scenes, not less fair, I would name for the benefit of 
 the bric-k-brac hunter that, notwithstanding all the 
 vigilance of the Elector of Saxony, one of the 
 workmen named Stobzel, escaped from Meissen, 
 about the period of Bottcher's death in 1719, and 
 reached Vienna ; to which city my next chapter will 
 introduce you in safety. 
 
 The importance of porcelain as an article of 
 commerce was then so strongly recognised by the 
 princes of Germany, that he was enthusiastically 
 received. And thus, as I shall hereafter explain, 
 arose in 1720 the great manufactory. 
 
 When Frederick attacked Dresden in 1745, the 
 Porcelain King did not neglect to carry away his 
 china and pictures, although he left the Electoral 
 
136 BBIC-A-BBAO HUNTING. 
 
 archives. The finest specimens at Meissen were 
 made previous to the Seven Years' War. No expense 
 was spared in theii" production — no sum refused 
 to obtain them; while Count Briihl, minister to 
 Augustus III., was the chief supporter of the 
 manufactory under Taudler. 
 
 Ere I quit Dresden, I cannot refrain from relating 
 a somewhat amusing little anecdote, told to me by 
 a Russian gentleman — and there are few more agree- 
 able fellow-travellers — with whom I once chanced to 
 visit Meissen. 
 
 Among various articles of modern china which we 
 had selected to purchase, I had chosen a good model 
 of a pug dog. 
 
 "What are you about to do with that animal?" 
 said the Russian. 
 
 " Do with it," I replied, " why, make it a present 
 to a lady who is very fond of dogs, so fond, indeed, 
 that at times they are rather a nuisance to her 
 friends. I intend, on presenting it, to express the 
 hope that this may be the only dog henceforth seen 
 in her boudoir, at least when I have the pleasure of 
 calling." 
 
 " Parbleu ! " he exclaimed, laughing ; " I can tell 
 
DRESDEN. 137 
 
 you a somewhat droll story touching a 'pug-dog,' 
 well known, I fancy, in Russia. 
 
 " Baron P was the owner of a very handsome 
 
 one, which Catherine the Great was continually 
 admiring, so that the Baron could do no less than, 
 present it to the Empress, who most graciously 
 received it, and henceforth poor pug was so., constantly 
 crammed with luxuries, which he had never previ- 
 ously tasted, that he actually died of repletion. 
 
 " The Empress, much grieved at this event, said 
 
 to one of her officers : ' Take P , and let him be 
 
 flayed and stuffed.' In obedience to this despotic 
 order, straightway the officer went to the Baron's 
 house, and with a face full of horror, repeated the 
 Empress's commands. 
 
 " As may be readily conceived, the Baron by no 
 means considered his position a pleasant one — for he 
 well knew if she really was determined to flay and 
 stuff him, there was no appeal. Nevertheless, he 
 prevailed on the officer to let him go to the Empress, 
 who, on hearing of the ridiculous mistake, was ready 
 to expire with laughter. She soon, however, dis- 
 pelled the Baron's fears, by telling him it was the 
 dead pug, to whom she had given his name^ and 
 
138 BBIG-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 that she had ordered it, not him, to be flayed and 
 stuffed. 
 
 "By the spirit. of Bbttcher, I verily believe the 
 china pug you have purchased is a facsimile of the 
 Baron." 
 
 Visit Meissen, my friends, and recollect. Art is 
 truth : and ^truth is religion. 
 
VIENNA. 139 
 
 QUEST IX. 
 
 VIENNA. 
 
 When the fruit-trees are in the full blossom of 
 late spring-time, and all nature is alive, there are 
 few pleasanter scenes than that on -which the tra- 
 veller looks as he journeys from Dresden, by the 
 banks of the Elbe, to the Austrian frontier at 
 Bodenbach. From thence to the ancient city of 
 Prague the route is scarcely less interesting ; and a 
 few days' gamble amid the mountains of the Saxon 
 Tyrol will amply reward all lovers of the picturesque. 
 
 Ere I commenced my quests as a bric-^-brac 
 hunter in various capitals and towns throughout 
 Europe, I felt, and still feel, that I might possibly 
 create additional interest by briefly describing to my 
 readers the countries and places in which for a time 
 I lingered, rather than by dwelling merely on the 
 tastes which induced such pursuits, inasmuch as to 
 those who have not precisely the " bric-&,-brac " 
 fever, which causes me to halt at every window of 
 
140 BBIO-A-BRAO HUNTING. 
 
 what is generally termed a curiosity-shop, some few 
 words in reference to the modes and manners of 
 those far away in foreign lands, among whom my 
 pursuits have led me to associate — as to the beauties 
 of nature which, from time to time, my wanderings 
 have enabled me to look upon and enjoy — must, I 
 imagine, cause pleasant sensations to the lover of 
 travel. Any man, be he who he may, who has 
 ears to hear and eyes to behold, who in simple lan- 
 guage can tell his tale of other lands, and offer his 
 experiences for the benefit of his fellow men, must 
 cause pleasure to many who seek knowledge beyond 
 the narrow channel which divides them from people 
 of other tongues, tastes, and habits. 
 
 Take, for instance, the volume recently offered to 
 the perusal of her subjects by our gracious Queen ; 
 how simple the language, how truthfully and pleasant 
 the descriptions ! Yet I would scarcely desire to call 
 that man a Christian, or my friend, who could read 
 it with a heart untouched with admiration — that in 
 every word he finds the woman, with all the best 
 feelings of human nature predominating over the 
 position of the queen. But I must return to the 
 subject of bric-a-brac. 
 
VIENNA. 141 
 
 I once heard or read of a Spanish nobleman who 
 possessed, as Spanish grandees not seldom do possess, 
 innumerable titles. Travelling in Navarre, this 
 haughty hidalgo was benighted during a heavy 
 thunder-storm, and pulled up after midnight at a 
 small posada, the owner of which had retired to rest. 
 After much ringing and knocking, mine host's head 
 appeared at the window of an upper story, and he 
 begged to be informed who was below and what they 
 wanted. " It is the Duke of — , Marquis of—. Count 
 of — , and so forth, grandee of Spain," replied one of 
 the hidalgo's followers. "Well, then," said the 
 sleepy host, " vados ustedes con Bios, for I have no 
 room for so many." Such is precisely my case as 
 regards the ancedotes which crowd on the mind of 
 the travelling bric-^-brac hunter. So I must hasten 
 on to Vienna. 
 
 Now, wheresoever I wander, I make it a rule to 
 obtain all possible information from my fellow- 
 travellers, if cognisant of their language, and again 
 and again I have found the practice of no common 
 value. I am fully aware that one of the most 
 striking attributes of our national character is the 
 reserve peculiar to Englishmen, who are in the 
 
142 BBIG-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 habit, when visiting foreign lands, of intrenching 
 themselves against every possibility of making new 
 acquaintances with their fellow-men by any other 
 means than the formally accredited medium of 
 personal introduction. " I never was introduced to 
 him," observed some one in palliation of not having 
 rushed forward to aid a drowning stranger. 
 
 A characteristic anecdote has also been told of an 
 Englishman, for the truth of which I can vouch. 
 This punctilious traveller, who was no doubt im- 
 pressed with that habitual idea of self-importance 
 which we too often carry beyond the white cliffs of 
 Albion, found himself, in the course of his conti- 
 nental travels, at a ball given by a British ambassa- 
 dress. While pleasantly engaged in the refreshment- 
 room a gentlemanly-looking person approached him, 
 and expressed a hope that all his wants were well 
 supplied, and that he was enjoying himself ; to which 
 couiieous address the young " swell," so I must call 
 him, with the sensitiveness of offended dignity, 
 drawing himself up into an attitude of hauteur, 
 replied, " Sir, you have the advantage of me ! " 
 What he thought of himself when he subsequently 
 discovered that the kind advances he had so rudely 
 
VIENNA. 143 
 
 repulsed had been offered by the ambassador himself, 
 whose weU-known courtesy and kindness to the 
 humblest, as well as the most distinguished of his 
 guests, was proverbial, I know not ; but I would 
 hope it taught him that the highest breeding ever 
 shows itself in the most gentle courtesy to all. 
 
 There are upon earth no greater travellers than 
 my fellow-countrymen. In every part of Europe and 
 the known world they are to be met with, and yet 
 nothing is more diflScult than to convince them that 
 there are many advantages resulting from usages 
 and practices on the Continent which we transplant 
 to our fatherland. My own ideas are to the last 
 degree cosmopolitan ; and as my companion in the 
 railway was a most agreeable-looking gentleman, I 
 at once expressed my admiration of the scenery 
 through which we were rapidly travelling, and 
 obtained from him in courteous words the informa- 
 tion that we were to be fellow-passengers as far as 
 Prague. The offer of a good Havannah, which was 
 cordially accepted, inaugurated our acquaintance, 
 and my agreeable fellow-traveller's society made my 
 journey a very pleasant one. He not only gave me 
 much information with reference to the city of 
 
144 BRIG-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 Prague, but induced me to remain tiere a day ; and 
 more, found out for me two bric-a-brac dealers, 
 whose storehouses it would have been almost im- 
 possible for me to discover, inasmuch as the one 
 lived over an Italian warehouse, and the other in 
 the suburbs. At these emporiums I beheld much 
 of interest, and had tolerable sport at little out- 
 lay. Prague, moreover, is a pleasant old city, full of 
 historical reminiscences, wherein the traveller jnay 
 employ himself profitably for a brief period, while 
 there is also much to be found that will well repay 
 the bric-a-brac hunter, blest with leisure and 
 patience. The city is situated on the banks of the 
 Moldan, spanned by one of the most celebrated 
 bridges in Europe, at least seven hundred feet long, 
 and so wide that three carriages may pass abreast. 
 This bridge, which stands on sixteen piers, sur- 
 mounted by twenty-eight statues of saints, was 
 built by Charles IV. in 1357. Throughout Austria 
 all bridges are adorned with a statue of Saint 
 Nepomuc, the patron-saint of bridges, who suffered 
 martyrdom by being cast from that at Prague by 
 order of King Wenceslaus. The saint's offence was 
 his refusal to reveal to his majesty the secrets of his 
 
VIENNA. 145 
 
 queen's confession. The streets of Prague are broad 
 and airy, the palaces not remarkable, but the people, 
 as at Kbnigsberg, ought to be, if they are not, the 
 most moral and pious in Europe, as they have ninety- 
 two churches and chapels, and about forty convents, 
 to pray in. 
 
 The city is large, and divided into three parts by 
 the river, but not thickly populated. The royal 
 castle, which crowns a hill, commands an extensive 
 prospect over a fine country, and is the point for all 
 travellers to visit ; it is surrounded by fine and well- 
 kept gardens. 
 
 From Prague I sped on to Vienna. The road, 
 save here and there, offers little of fine scenery, and 
 less of interest, — the country is rich and weU culti- 
 vated, — till the battle-field of Wagram is reached ; 
 and then across the Danube to the fair city of Vienna, 
 than which there are few more agreeable. To one 
 who has been there lang syne, and returns after a 
 lapse of years, the changes that have taken place are 
 somewhat startling. The ramparts by which the 
 ancient city was surrounded are destroyed ; new 
 broad streets and elegant houses have arisen as by 
 magic ; public gardens, lakes, pleasant walks, and a 
 
14G BBIC-A-BBAG BUNTING. 
 
 noble opera-house to crown the whole, have been 
 conjured into being. The extensive suburbs are 
 now, as it were, joined to the city; the ancient 
 portion, and that which heretofore was a small and 
 lively town, is now a grand city. The hotels are 
 numerous, good, and not extravagant for those who 
 desire to live reasonably. The beer, celebrated 
 throughout Europe, has lost nothing of its excellence, 
 and may be justly termed the most healthy beverage 
 that manhood can imbibe. In proof of its excel- 
 lence I may observe that, at one single brewery in 
 Vienna, during six months of the year, fourteen hun- 
 dred and sixty barrels of beer, each containing thirty- 
 six gallons, are daily brewed. Even the American 
 " corpse reviver," so much estimated by the Parisians, 
 by no means surpasses it. To the bric-^-brac hunter 
 Vienna also offers many charms ; and there are 
 numerous dealers of varied repute, though there, as 
 elsewhere, the price has risen 200 per cent. ; and 
 those who a few years since lived apparently on soup, 
 sauer-kraut, and sausages with contentment, and 
 were satisfied with merely twenty per cent, profit, 
 now dwell in fine houses, and display their goods in 
 shops that would do no discredit to Regent Street or 
 
VIENNA. 147 
 
 the Rue de la Paix. Fashion, however, here as else- 
 ^vhere, rules the taste as regards porcelain, or -what 
 is termed " hric-^brac," as it does in reference to 
 chignons, bonnets, and crinolines ; so one day people 
 are mad about Chelsea ware, to-morrow distracted 
 on the subject of Sevres, anon Wedgwood or Dresden, 
 Battersea enamel, or Capo di Monte, and so on. 
 Vienna china — and I am at a loss to account for the 
 reason — appears never to have been held in very 
 high estimation in England. The imperial factory 
 has nevertheless produced some wonderful specimens 
 of workmanship, especially in rich gilding, unequalled 
 in Europe. In the Vienna museum — recently esta- 
 blished, as if to deplore the death of the factory — 
 there may be seen specimens of form, colour, and 
 painting, particularly as regards plates and cups, 
 unrivalled even at Meissen or Berlin, and unequalled 
 in the range of modern art. No manufactory, as 1 
 shall explain in subsequent pages, had more diffi- 
 culties to contend with at its birth ; none ought to 
 be more regretted on its downfall. It was long ere 
 the precious means of producing porcelain, guarded 
 with such secrecy and jealousy, was obtained by 
 Austria, owing to the continued precautions of the 
 
 L 2 
 
148 BBIC-A-BRAG HUNTING. 
 
 Elector of Saxony. But, as workmen with knowledge 
 increased, the precious secret became known at 
 length throughout the German States. The history 
 of the imperial porcelain manufactory at Vienna is 
 cue of great interest to all lovers of bric-a-brac ; and, 
 while mourning its decay and death, it would be 
 in vain to describe what difficulties were sur- 
 mounted, or what efforts were made to overcome 
 them, in the early years of its existence. The 
 foundation of this admirable manufactory bears 
 date only a few years later than the introduction of 
 porcelain into Europe ; it then produced no practical 
 workmen or artists ; it had no traditional theories to 
 improve upon ; its progress, in fact, was left entirely 
 to its own resources, and its sole examples were of 
 foreign manufacture. Its only standard at that 
 period were specimens brought from China and 
 Japan. Meanwhile, the public had to be won over 
 to the fact that examples of European ware could 
 equal the productions of the East in cheapness and 
 beauty ; for at this period Oriental china was alone 
 admired. Above all, the Viennese manufacturers 
 had to contend with the mystery that encircled the 
 invention of modern china — a secret then confined 
 
VIENNA. 149 
 
 to a few individuals, who assumed the title of 
 "Arcanists," and who took every precaution to hide 
 their secret, as may be seen in any brief history of 
 Bbttcher and Meissen. At length, however, a few- 
 clever artists who worked at the Meissen factory 
 were sufficiently keen as to obtain the secret from 
 their employers, and these were largely bribed by 
 Oerman princes to circulate their knowledge. 
 Artists or arcanists then contracted for various sums 
 for their labour ; but rarely were they induced to 
 sell their precious knowledge. To such causes may 
 be attributed the complete failure of the subsequent 
 manufactures of Munich, Limppenburg, &c., in the 
 eighteenth century, nor can it be supposed that the 
 Vienna establishment did not suffer from the like 
 causes. The actual foundation of the imperial 
 factory was said to be dated in the year 1718, and 
 at that period was the second in Europe. Some 
 assert that it was established by one Stenzel, a 
 captured arcanist from Meissen, who had been en- 
 ticed away by a Dutchman of the name of Claude 
 Innocenz de Blaquier — no doubt a very innocent 
 gentleman — war-agent to the imperial government. 
 The more correct version, however, is, that De 
 
150 BRIC-A-BRAC HUNTING. 
 
 Blaquier himself was the actual founder ; at all 
 events this enterprising individual had been instruc- 
 ted by the higher powers to establish various factories 
 in the capital ; and having previously acquired some 
 knowledge in chemistry, besides being in some 
 measure acquainted with the composition of porce- 
 lain — which he had obtained from the writings of 
 Jesuit missionaries in China — he set to work to 
 ascertain if the means of its production, both as 
 regards quality and quantity, were obtainable 
 within the imperial territory. Having satisfactory 
 proof on this head, he resolved to establish a 
 manufactory, and engaged Stenzel as one of his 
 cooperatives. With this object in view, De Blaquier 
 proceeded secretly to Meissen, where he contrived to 
 scrape acquaintance with that arcanist in a coffee- 
 house. He engaged with Stenzel in a game of 
 billiards, taking care to lose, and thus he secured his 
 object. Stenzel, after some slight hesitation, accepted 
 an offer of a thousand dollars to be paid yearly, 
 together with a house rent-free, and a carriage at his 
 disposal, and proceeded forthwith to Vienna. Sub- 
 sequently De Blaquier obtained a patent for twenty- 
 five years, granted by Charles VI., signed by his 
 
VIENNA. 151 
 
 imperial majesty at Luxemburg, 27tli Maj', 1718, 
 from which period may be dated the actual foun- 
 dation of the Vienna porcelain manufactory. 
 
 In this patent it was distinctly notified that the 
 factory was to receive no pecuniary aid from govern- 
 ment ; but an exclusive privilege was granted for 
 the sale of porcelain, wholesale and retail, throughout 
 the whole empire, or similar articles to those hereto- 
 fore imported from the East, Majorca, or other 
 countries. 
 
 The patent further stipulated that the ware should 
 consist of the highest material, and should display 
 the most elegant and well-selected forms and colours, 
 to which end neither labour nor expense was to be 
 spared in the endeavour to produce patterns of 
 original forms and fancy. This done, Blaquier 
 entered into partnership with Heinech Zerden, a 
 Vienna merchant named Martin Peter, and an artist, 
 Howard Hinger. The first of these was to take the 
 commercial duties, the latter the artistic, while De 
 Blaquier himself was to act as a general rdanager. 
 They had naturally great difficulties to contend 
 with : the productions were not equal to the Chinese^ 
 and inferior even to those of Meissen both as regards 
 
152 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 beauty and material, taste and decoration ; and the 
 sale consequently moderate. The manufactory was 
 therefore compelled to produce coarser articles. To 
 this, however, there was great opposition, as the 
 public, accustomed to rude earthenware and pottery, 
 were little inclined to pay a higher price for that 
 which was not more refined, and more expensive. 
 Meanwhile De Blaquier had other difficulties to 
 contend with : the arcanist, not having been regu- 
 larly paid according to his contract, returned to 
 Meissen, and not only took his secret with him, but 
 maliciously destroyed many of the models he had 
 designed. The works of the factory were conse- 
 quently suspended at the end of the second year, 
 without a knowledge of the secret or material. 
 Meanwhile, being a man of great energy and deter- 
 mination, De Blaquier endeavoured, by numerous 
 experiments, to discover the genuine porcelain- 
 mixture ; and his efforts were finally crowned with 
 success, though scarcely attaining the perfection of 
 Meissen. His next course was that of instructing 
 the workmen. The factory was at first established 
 in a small house belonging to Count Kufstein, oppo- 
 site the palace of Prince Lichtenstein, and therein 
 
VIENNA. 153 
 
 De Blaquier worked with only ten assistants and one 
 kiln. But in the year 1721 it was removed to a 
 house belonging to Count Breuner, where a part of 
 the establishment remained till its close. Here the 
 workmen were increased to twenty hands, and more 
 kilns were erected. Nevertheless the factory was 
 not successful ; and De Blaquier, after twenty-five 
 years' labour, decided in the year 1744 to offer it to 
 the government. The establishment was then in 
 good working condition, and the workmen for the 
 most part very efficient ; and he proposed to take on 
 himself the direction and management. 
 
 At that period, however, Austria was labouring 
 under difficulties. The , young Empress Maria 
 Theresa looked sadly on the position of her empire. 
 Nevertheless she resolved to support the factory, 
 which promised to give occupation and profit to her 
 subjects, honour and gain to the state. She there- 
 fore commanded that it should be taken by state 
 contract from its owner, that its debt of 45,449 florins 
 should be paid off, and De Blaquier receive the 
 direction, with a salary of 1500 florins a-year. Thus 
 the factory, after many difficulties and struggles, was 
 placed on a sounder foundation. I have already 
 
154 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 named that hitliefto it had not attained the perfec- 
 tion of Meissen either as regards material, decoration, 
 taste, or invention ; consequently, it was obliged to 
 produce cheap articles : add to this their designs 
 were not original, — they copied simply the works of 
 Japan and China very cleverly, but not in successful 
 rivalship as to price. Meanwhile the Meissen work 
 was day by day becoming more chaste^ both as 
 regards workmanship and modem novelty of design 
 and execution, and consequently not only obtained 
 the support of the Saxon court, but also that of the 
 best artists residing in Germany, and thus gained 
 the reputation that it has so long and deservedly 
 maintained ; while that of Vienna followed with ener- 
 getic steps, but only as an imitator. 
 
 The first productions of Vienna had no mark, and 
 the early works are therefore difficult to discover. 
 Still there are some in existence which bear the 
 factory's name, together with the date of the year in 
 which produced. Subsequently some were marked 
 with a " W," which appears to be more ancient than 
 the first period of Berlin, which, under the director- 
 ship of Weggle, likewise bore the " W." One of the 
 finest works of that period is a soup-tureen and dish. 
 
VIENNA. 155 
 
 which till recently was in the Convent of St. Florian 
 in Upper Austria, made by order from the abbot of 
 that convent, John Fordermier, who died in the year 
 1732 ; it may now be seen in the Austrian Museum 
 recently established at Vienna. Modelling of groups 
 and figures appears to have commenced at the period 
 when the factory became the pi-operty of the govern- 
 ment in 1747. 
 
 Jose Wiedermeyer, an artist who had distinguished 
 himself as a teacher of his art, became the master 
 modeller. Count Philip Kinsky and Count Eodolph 
 Cholert took great interest in the development of the 
 factory, and in 1760, under government control, it 
 advanced rapidly to that perfection of art it subse- 
 quently maintained. Commencing with twenty 
 labourers, they were soon doubled. The means for 
 their payment being found by the state, and the 
 increased sale of its productions, 24,000 florins had 
 been made over on account. The buildings were 
 enlarged ; new workshops and kilns were erected. 
 
 In 1751 the Princess Dowager of Lichenstein, a 
 princess of Savoy, made over, for a trifling sum, a 
 house adjoining the factory, on the agreement that 
 two apprentices named by the head of that princely 
 
156 BRIG-A-BBAG BUNTING. 
 
 house should always be instructed free of charge, 
 and during their apprenticeship supported. In 1764 
 the buildings were again enlarged ; and in 1771 new 
 kilns, -workshops, and laboratories were also added. 
 In fact, from the period the manufactory became 
 government property, its progress was rapid. I have 
 already stated that in 1750 the workmen only num- 
 bered forty; eleven years later that number had 
 increased to one hundred and forty ; and in 1761 
 the sale of china not only reached the sum of 
 .50,000 florins, the factory which hitherto had been 
 protected by the state not only supported itself, 
 but was enabled to repay 16,000 florins of its old 
 debt. 
 
 In the course of the sixteenth year it increased 
 still more rapidly ; and at the end of the year 1770 
 showed a profit of 120,000 florins, having 200 
 labourers, which in the year 1780 numbered 320. 
 But this rapid increase had no solid foundation. 
 From 1740 to 1790 was the best period for figures 
 and groups, generally termed plastic work, while 
 from 1780 to 1820 painting on china met with great 
 success, the subjects being generally taken from 
 Watteau, Laneret, and Bouchet, also allegorical 
 
VIENNA. 157 
 
 representations of children, fortune and love — the 
 latter however had little originality or taste. 
 
 When the factory became the property of the 
 state, every article was marked with the arms of 
 Austria, without colour — subsequently with a 
 shield with blue cross lines ; this mark was retained 
 till the cessation of the factory ; and from the year 
 1784, to the third or Lorgenthal period, it was also 
 the custom to mark every piece with the number of 
 the year. I name this, as it may be of great assist- 
 ance to the inexperienced bric-k-brac hunter, who 
 seeks early specimens of Vienna porcelain. 
 
 On the 20th of July, 1784, the Emperor decided 
 that the factory should be sold by auction, and 
 although the sum fixed as a limit for the sale was 
 not half of its real value, not an individual made an 
 offer. 
 
 This saved the factory ; and its best period, com- 
 menced by Baron Lorgenthal, marked out an 
 entirely new era of taste and production ; and 
 Vienna, heretofore an imitator, acquired such powers 
 of invention as soon to become an originator in 
 beauty of form and design ; indeed, second to no 
 European factory. Lorgenthal knew the great 
 
158 BRIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 value of artistic work ; and all his . productions 
 were consequently ornamental, richly decorated, but 
 simple and tasteful ; indeed, the art was brought to 
 the highest perfection, while at the same time the 
 price was reduced as much as possible. At this 
 period artists and painters of the highest talent and 
 public reputation were employed. The preparation 
 of colours— a very important question in porcelain 
 decoration — was intrusted to a first rate chemist or 
 arcanist, Joseph Leithner. Under such auspices, 
 painting on Yienna china was not to be surpassed, 
 although considered, during the period to which I 
 allude, not equal to Sevres or even Dresden. There 
 exist specimens of unrivalled beauty and consummate 
 taste, both as regards colour and unequalled gilding. 
 Indeed, I have seen cups and vases equal to, if not 
 surpassing, any other factory, Capo di Monte and 
 Bueno Ketiro excepted. 
 
 Thus the Vienna porcelain manufactory, as time 
 passed on, having as it were gained the summit of 
 perfection, gradually increased in beauty as in art. 
 The master pieces of Raphael and Titian, Rubens 
 and Gerard Dow, Guido Reni and Carracci, Rem- 
 brandt and Claude, as also the works of living 
 
VIENNA. 159 
 
 artists, were copied with the greatest possible perfec- 
 tion on porcelain, coloured from the finest selections. 
 Leithner continued to enrich the factory by his 
 inventions. He used the finest gold ; and brought 
 the gilding to the utmost perfection : moreover he 
 discovered a rich cobalt blue, and a red-brown 
 colour, which no other factory could imitate ; while 
 his glazing was remarkably smooth. In fact, every 
 branch of the ceramic art was improved during 
 Lorgenthal's direction, which was naturally accom- 
 panied by an equal commercial success. 
 
 Such was the position of the factory when 
 Lorgenthal died in 1805, after having been at the 
 head of the establishment for 20 years. 
 
 Lorgenthal was succeeded by Niedermeyer, but 
 war soon affected the pursuits of arts ; and in 1809, 
 one hundred and fifty of the workmen left the factory 
 to carry the knapsack. 
 
 Nevertheless, in 1818, its motto might most justly 
 have been, "Aucto splendors resurgam," and when 
 the century festival took place, notwithstanding past 
 misfortunes and difficulties, the Imperial factory 
 had reason to boast of its laurels ; and then employed 
 500 workmen. 
 
160 BRIC-A-BBAO HUNTING. 
 
 The years from 1785 to 1815 were the most 
 flourishing ; and the Vienna manufactory might 
 then be fairly considered second to none in Europe. 
 From 1827, however, under the direction of Scholz, 
 who followed Niedermeyer, it was on the decline — 
 economy, clay of inferior quality, indifferent work- 
 men, copies from French models, bad artists — and 
 its doom was sealed. The splendid gilding, artistic 
 shapes, lovely groups, and exquisite painting, all 
 gave place to cheaper and less-refined produc- 
 tions ; and that which heretofore might most justly 
 be considered a manufactory of the highest art 
 dwindled into a modern factory of a secondary 
 class. The expense to the state was therefore 
 great. 
 
 Sevres, Meissen, and Berlin have, however, now 
 lost their formidable rival. The "Vienna factory's 
 doom was fixed by the imperial parliament, and it 
 has disappeared from the circle of its younger 
 Austrian colleagues, for which it was once the 
 standard ; who may profit by its history. The books 
 on art, and all the drawings of its most successful 
 ■period, many of its models, its library, its ceramic 
 collection, were given to the Austrian Museum, 
 
VIENNA. 161 
 
 recently establislied in Vienna, to be retained as a 
 lasting memorial of its celebrity. 
 
 I cannot quit Vienna -without recommending the 
 bric-^-brac hunter to pay a visit to the small but 
 admirable museum, founded from private resources 
 and loans, since the death of the Imperial Factory ; 
 and thence to the modem factory of Herr Fischer, in 
 Vienna. His productions, if not equal to those of 
 the old factory, are worthy of all praise and considera- 
 tion, and his courtesy and attention are admirable. 
 There are several good and not unreasonable bric-^- 
 brac shops in Vienna ; others of a totally different 
 nature, but in one and all a really good well-gilded 
 specimen is unobtainable without considerable outlay. 
 
162 BBIC-A-BRAC BUNTING. 
 
 QUEST X. 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 United Italy is still a fair field for the bric-&,-brac 
 liuntei', oveiTated as are its natural beauties and 
 climate by the holiday traveller. Nevertheless, a 
 few months of man's life may be passed there mth 
 considerable gratification. Kome at present I leave 
 to the Romans. Meanwhile we have Venice, and its 
 world-wide renown, and exquisite glass of other 
 days, if you can get any, and highly-glazed or ena- 
 melled pottery called "Venus Porselayne," of very 
 ancient date. Its manufactory ceased in 1822, and 
 its productions, though interesting, were never very 
 fine : its mark a double red anchor. Naples also 
 once boasted a factory, named Capo di Monte, and 
 the china there manufactured is the most rare, if 
 really good, and most beautiful of all Italian por- 
 celain. While in the neighbourhood of Florence, 
 Doccia (or Genori), more ancient than Capo di Monte, 
 had, and still has, in the days we live in one of the 
 
ITALY. 163 
 
 largest manufactories of Europe, producing even finer 
 specimens than in the past. In Turin, or Vineuf 
 called Turin, and in Milan, as indeed in numerous 
 internal towns of Italy, the energetic hunter may 
 stiU discover something worthy of research. 
 
 We will first make a short s^jour at Venice — 
 " that glorious city on the sea." The very writing of 
 the name excites the lover of art, and creates a 
 longing to be there. Sky, air, and water are as of 
 yore, but those who peopled the scene live only in 
 history. All the peculiarities which marked their 
 nationality and independence are gone. Even the 
 national dress, the red tabano of the men, and the 
 black soudale of the women, have entirely disap- 
 peared. Still Venetian interests remain, and will 
 for ever. Starting from Vienna, it is immaterial 
 which route you select, whether over the Semmerang 
 or the Brennen. If time be no object, the lover of 
 nature, no less than the lover of art, will be amply 
 repaid ; indeed, it has ever been a matter of astonish- 
 ment to me that, while autumn-holiday-seekers travel 
 over the beaten tracks of Europe, so few are found in 
 Vienna, or wandering amid the beauties of Lower 
 Austria : the one, as I have said, a city full of interest 
 
 It 2 
 
164 BBIC-A-BRAG HUNTING. 
 
 and pleasant society, the other offering charms of 
 nature which, if rivalled elsewhere, cannot be sur- 
 passed. As regards Venice, there are probably few 
 who will read these pages who are not aware that 
 our own factory of Chelsea, whose productions rival 
 nearly all others in beauty of taste and decoration, 
 emanated from Venice ; and there is so much simi- 
 larity between the best periods of Venetian and 
 Chelsea porcelain, that it is by no means improbable 
 that the same workmen were employed. Both 
 manufactories adopted the anchor as their mark. 
 Venice, or rather Murano, can boast more par- 
 ticularly of its exquisite glass ; but although many 
 splendid collections still exist, good specimens, if any, 
 are rare in the bric-k-brac market of Europe. The 
 islands dotted about Venice in the Lagune have 
 great interest. Among them the most considerable, 
 and certainly the most flourishing, was Murano. It 
 formerly possessed the most perfect glass manufac- 
 tory of Europe, not only during the Middle Ages, but 
 till the beginning of the last century. Mirrors and 
 every species of production in shape, colour, and 
 design were made there with immense skill and 
 taste. It is said that Henry III. of France, when 
 
ITALF. 165 
 
 visiting the manufactory in 1574, ennobled the whole 
 of the workmen. If true, they fully deserved it. In 
 addition to the beauty of the Venice crystal, it was 
 supposed to possess the virtue of detecting poison. 
 The cup or glass shivered to atoms if any envenomed 
 beverage was poured into it — rather a valuable pro- 
 perty this at the table of Alexander VI., or the 
 Duchess of Ferrara. In addition to the glass-works 
 the island contains a fine cathedral of the ninth 
 century. 
 
 Murano still holds its head above the Venetian 
 waters, and claims a race of men, descendants from 
 the old Venetian glass-workers, who have not quite 
 forgotten the art ; nor are form, beauty, and tone of 
 chaste colouring quite banished from their minds. 
 They have worked on patiently, always hoping and 
 believing that Venice would some day awake from 
 her lethai'gy, and retake her position. Their hopes 
 are so far realised. Murano has produced a work- 
 man, by name Lorenzo Pladd, who has discovered, if 
 not precisely all, yet many of the lost secrets, while 
 the energy, love of art, and patriotism of Salviati 
 have gone far to revive the ancient splendour of 
 Venetian glass. And yet beautiful, very beautiful. 
 
166 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 as are many of the modem productions, to the real 
 connoisseur, their date is at once evident. The old 
 Venetian glass was light, bright, and vitreous in 
 appearance, while it displayed the richest possible 
 colours. To a great extent all these merits are 
 retained in the revival at Murano. Venetian glass 
 is that which is commonly named blown glass ; thus 
 every piece is an original work of human ingenuity, 
 and the same material is used as in the days of old. 
 
 The miUefiore, the smelze, perfect imitations of 
 agates, lapis lazuli, the rich ruby colours, the brilliant 
 aventurine, some in imitation of old glass, some more 
 modern imitations, are to be had in London, Paris, 
 and elsewhere, and they are charming. Venetian 
 enamels have always been famous, and among the 
 peculiar productions of Venice may be reckoned the 
 beautiful composition called aventurine, the secret of 
 which is said to be in the possession of a single 
 manufacturer. As regards Venetian mirrors, once 
 unrivalled, they have lost much of their reputation, 
 as foreign .competitors produce lai-ger sheets. The 
 annual cost of the substances employed in'the manu- 
 facture is estimated at 7,000,000f. In the East there 
 is a constant demaiid for heads and other articles. 
 
ITALY. 167 
 
 known as eonterie. There are six glass-works in 
 Turin, three in Genoa, five in Milan, thirteen in 
 Florence, eleven in Naples, and twenty in Venice ; 
 which fifty-eight works produce articles of the 
 annual value of 60,276,725f. But, alas, it is only 
 too true, as in china, glass, jewelry, and bric-^brac 
 generally, say nay who will : while science, as regards 
 machinery, electricity, chemistry, and every other 
 " istry," has advanced with rapid strides, taste, beauty, 
 refinement, elegance of form, outline, and colour — 
 art itself, in fact — ^have retrograded. 
 
 This was strikingly evident in the Paris Exhi- 
 bition. Splendid as were the productions in modern 
 glass, exquisite as was much of the engraving, beau- 
 tiful as the modern Wedgwood, Minton, and other 
 pottery, to the true lover of art they bear no possible 
 comparison to the works of other days. I do not say 
 that a vase, a cup, a group, cannot be produced to- 
 day as it was half a century since, true in form and 
 outline. I do not assert that a glass, true in texture, 
 graceful in form; and lovely as regards engraving, 
 cannot now be, and is not, made — indeed, the, glass 
 is probably more sparkling and clear, the engraving 
 produced by machinery is perhaps more firm and 
 
168 BBIG-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 accurate ; but it is all copied from the works of the 
 older times, and invariably is found wanting in that 
 refined grace which does not admit of imitation. 
 They are simply revivals. Fine art is a gift from 
 God, as is genius and all natural talents. A person, 
 in fact, may learn to draw — a school-gu-1 may play a 
 sonata, after long practice, in tolerable time, not 
 taste ; but the one would never make an artist, the 
 other never a musician. I have oft-times met with 
 women positively plain in face, though not in form 
 — the figure of a woman must be good, or she can 
 never be elegant — whose charms of manner and 
 grace made her far more lovely than the belle who 
 could boast faultless features and complexion. So it 
 is with high art; the work of an original genius 
 bears an indescribable, unknown character, that 
 mere manipulative skill can never attain. Let us 
 remember, when we bewail the degeneration of 
 ceramic beauty and elegance, that the leading 
 modellers, painters, gilders of the last century were 
 all artists and men of taste — men who, nevertheless, 
 were passing rich on five pounds a-week. To find 
 similar men in the present day, you must pay them 
 fifty, nay a hundred ; and how much would a cup 
 
ITALY. 169 
 
 and saucer, a vase, a group, a decanter, or a wine- 
 glass cost ? Why, the sum for which they are oft- 
 times sold at Christie's ; and how few are enabled 
 to obtain them ! Would Landseer, or Frederick 
 Tayler, or such men, paint on china ? and if so, what 
 would be the value of such ceramic treasures 1 And 
 yet, in other days, what exquisite groups and pas- 
 torals after Watteau ! What graceful heads of the 
 Greuze school ! No, it is too evident that modern 
 imitative specimens may have beauty, but they lack 
 the exquisite taste and refined art of our ancestors. 
 And interesting and beautiful as are many of 
 Salviati's productions, they bear no comparison, as 
 far as art is concerned, to the finest specimens of old 
 Venetian glass. The Murano workmen have, how- 
 ever, much appreciation of colour, which is so abso- 
 lutely necessary in glass-work. Moreover, their 
 climate has a colour-brightening power, which in the 
 glow of sunlight is rarely attained elsewhere. This 
 warm temperature assists their art, and the tradition 
 of the place doubtless inspires the workmen with 
 energy to obtain future fame and profit. 
 
 Milan I have ever considered not the finest, but 
 the most agreeable city for a brief s4jour in the 
 
170 BBIC-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 dominions of King Victor EmmanueL A sight of the 
 Duomo, as a,ll the travelled world are aware, is worth 
 a journey from yenice. To the bric-a-brac hunter 
 Milan can also boast, or could a short time since, of 
 a tolerably-stocked preserve. At all events, much 
 interest and amusement may be derived by a day or 
 two spent in ransacking in the numerous curiosity- 
 shops. So let us leave the city of the Adriatic, 
 gondoliers and glass-blowers. The route, like most 
 others in Italy, say nay who will, possesses no great 
 attractions; indeed there is a tameness, or rather 
 sameness, in Italian scenery generally by no means 
 enlivening — rows and rows of mulbeny and other 
 trees, with the vine clustering round the stems, and 
 trellised from tree to tree. This monotony, however, 
 is somewhat broken from Venice to Milan by a sight 
 of the strong forts which constitute the sortermed 
 Quadrilateral, the beautiful lake La Guardia, and 
 its distant background of mountains. 
 
 On the last occasion that chance led me by this 
 route — the chance being the arrival of King George 
 of Greece at Athens, to whom I had conveyed some 
 possibly important communication — -thence by the 
 Adriatic to Trieste, my good fortune offered me a 
 
ITALY. 171 
 
 most agreeable compagnon de voyage, whom I soon 
 ascertained to be interested in the search of bric-^- 
 brac — a pastime, he pleasantly observed, lyhich 
 ofttimes led one ■without knowledge into a den of 
 thieves, and always into some expense. " I knew a 
 friend, for instance," he observed, "an admirable 
 judge, who was constantly in the habit of saying to 
 his friends, ' If you ever hear of anything worth 
 having, drop me a line; never mind the distance, I 
 will go to see it. If you are confident of its merits, 
 and can get it at a reasonable price, buy it ; I will 
 always give a fair percentage.' Having received a 
 letter on one occasion, saying that a valuable 
 Wedgwood vase was to be had for a mere song — this 
 I believe to be a usual term — he desired his servant 
 to pack up his carpet-bag, and started on a journey 
 of a hundred miles to secure it. Happily the game 
 was worth the playing for ; but on another occasion, 
 on returning home, he found two very pretty vases 
 on his table, marked with a golden anchor, decora- 
 tion, birds, and flowers — in fact, a charming pair of 
 vases — with the following note : ' Dear Fred, I think 
 I have done you good service, inasmuch as I have 
 secured two charming Chelsea vases, marked with 
 
172 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 the golden anchor, and, will you beheve it ? they 
 cost only twelve pounds, which you can remit at 
 your convenience. The price is certainly moderate — 
 the vases lovely.' ' Very moderate,' exclaimed my 
 friend ; ' confound the fellow, I can buy them in 
 London for half the money. Chelsea vases, indeed ! 
 Why, I would have given a hundred pounds for such 
 a pair — ^no disrespect to the justly celebrated English 
 firm which produced them, for beautiful were they ; 
 but the golden anchor is a bait which has hooked by 
 the pocket many an unwary and inexperienced bric- 
 a-brac hunter.'" I am not aware that Milan ever 
 produced any native ceramic talent, nor was there, 
 nor is there a porcelain factory of any great merit ; 
 yet specimens of Venetian glass majolica, Venice and 
 Naples china, and other Italian specimens, may occa- 
 sionally be found. Milan, however, like all other great 
 cities, has been much hunted, and the coverts are not 
 seldom drawn blank. Much the same may be said 
 with reference to Turin — a pleasant city on the river 
 Po ; far less cheery, however, since it ceded its 
 dignity as the Sardinian capital to the lovely city, as 
 most people term Florence, on the Arno, and became 
 a mere city of united Italy. Vineuf, called Turin, 
 
ITALY. 173 
 
 had formerly a fabric of some note, of hard paste 
 china, under the direction of Gionnetti — its mark 
 A X and a V — the cross standing for the arms of 
 Savoy. At Turin, I have not seldom discovered 
 some fine specimens of Wedgwood and Sfevres — how 
 they got there I know not. 
 
 From Turin, touching at Bologna, where, as in all 
 other Italian towns, the bric-a-brac hunter may rest 
 a day with interest as regards the fine arts, and not 
 always without success in his researches, let us pass 
 by the grand mountainous railway, through innu- 
 merable tunnels, to Pistoia and Florence. There is 
 nothing richer in all Italy than the Pistoiese, as the 
 district round Pistoia is called, and it abounds with 
 pleasant summer nOoks, far cooler and more healthy 
 than the sweltering baths of Lucca or Pisa, and 
 other places where travellers do resort in crowds, 
 solely because it is the fashion ; and thence to 
 Florence, where in summer time the sun shines with 
 a vengeance, though the birds do not sing — (are 
 there any birds 1 ) — and life does not begin until the 
 evening, when there is a burst of existence, which 
 fairly astonishes every one that is not acquainted 
 with Italy. The population is all abroad, lounging, 
 
174 BBIO-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 and smoking — ^looking, and being looked at, in tight 
 boots, kid gloves which are cheap; — of stockings I 
 know nothing. The noise of carriages and people 
 out so late, however, prevent aU hope of sleep to those 
 who require rest. 
 
 While in naid-winter, deny it who will, there are 
 days and nights as cold as in the much reviled 
 perfide Albion, with not a tenth of the indoor com- 
 fort ; indeed, during the winter past, snow not only 
 fell, but remained in the streets, and a sight of the 
 snow-clad mountains in the distance is sufficient to 
 ice a bottle of champagne, and causes human nature 
 to cry aloud for warm clothing ; and yet the invalid 
 English leaves his native land for such places, with 
 a far better climate, and far finer scenery within a 
 few hours of the metropolis. Still the travelling 
 world do boldly assert that it is impossible to 
 imagiue any object more lovely than the view of 
 Florence from any of the heights by which the city 
 is commanded : to enjoy these views you must get 
 there, and I am bold enough to believe that, em- 
 bracing as these views do many charms, the real 
 lover of nature will be greatly disappointed without 
 he chance to find himself there when the landscape 
 
ITALY. 175 
 
 is painted with the green of early spring, or under 
 the auspices of some peculiar sky or atmosphere, for 
 the Amo can scarce be called a river, save at some 
 few miles beyond the city, when the country, as the 
 winding stream, is charming during the period when 
 the leaf is on the woodlands, and water most pleasing 
 to the eye ; moreover there are no grand trees, 
 and the celebrated casine, the public lounge and 
 resort alike of pedestrians as cavalleros, can no more 
 be compared to our London Parks, the Bois at 
 Paris, or the Prates at Vienna, than a tea garden 
 to the Park at Blenheim. For all that, Florence 
 is a pleasant abiding place, and was far more so 
 ere it became the capital of Italy, and was not more 
 expensive than Paris. To the lover of art it abounds 
 in interest, and the bric-^-brac hunter may find 
 sport ; though forsooth at Florence, as elsewhere, 
 little remains, save in private houses and collections, 
 worthy of much notice, and the price asked for 
 anything really worth having is fabulous ; as, may I 
 briefly remark, is the cost of living, which is at 
 least trebled. There are many bric-£i-brac, or curi- 
 osity shops ; perhaps the best being that of Gagliardi, 
 who is as well known in London as at Florence, 
 
176 BRIG-A-BRAC HUNTING. 
 
 and of whom I can speak with the highest respect ; 
 would that I could do so of many others. A visit to 
 the porcelain manufactory of Doccia near Florence, 
 founded by the Marquis of Genori in 1770, offers un- 
 told pleasure to the bric-el-brac hunter. It existed 
 previous to that of Capo di Monte at Naples, and there 
 are still specimens of its early period, bearing the 
 arms of Florence, and a mark apparently that of the 
 cathedral ; but they are rare and difficult to obtaiu. 
 In fact, Florence can fairly boast of its production of 
 china as far back as 1575 to 87. There are two 
 lines of railway now open from Florence to Rome. 
 The one by the way of Pistoia, or Pistoya, to 
 Leghorn, NuncheteUa, Civita Vecchia, to Rome; the 
 other shorter and more direct, by Albano to the 
 Pope's scanty dominions. The former is far the most 
 interesting as regards scenery, as in many parts the 
 line touches the Mediterranean, whereas the other 
 has little to recommend it, after passing Albano ; 
 moreover, having a desire to refresh human nature 
 by the wayside, better provide your creature 
 comforts, or travel by night and sleep if you can, tUl 
 the campagna bursts on your waking eyes, and the 
 dome of St. Peter's welcomes you to Rome. Well do 
 
ITALY. 177 
 
 I recollect one intensely hot night in June of the 
 year past, when travelling with a very agreeable 
 Englishman from Rome to Florence, who was utterly 
 ignorant of aught but his native language, and a few 
 words of French, that, on arriving at Viterbo, we 
 were parched with thirst and considerably hungry. 
 " Fifteen minutes," said the guard, opening the door. 
 "What does he say?" exclaimed my companion, 
 rubbing his eyes, we had previously scarcely spoken. 
 " We remain here a quarter of an hour." " Thank 
 God ! " he replied, " do you speak the language 1 " 
 " Yes ! " " Well I implore you to ascertain if we 
 can get anything to eat, or more particularly to 
 drink, or I shall die with hunger and thirst." In 
 vain we sought for a bufifet or refreshment room ; 
 there was none, or if so it was closed. At length in 
 despair we beheld an individual, who looked like a 
 brigand, place a three-legged table on the platform, 
 and then produce a basket, into which he dived and 
 took therefrom some half-starved, cold roasted fowls, 
 some hard sausages well seasoned with garlic, and 
 some coarse bread, and sundry little basket bottles, 
 common to Italy, containing a white wine of the 
 country. In an instant he was surrounded by some 
 
178 BBIC-A-BRAG HUNTING. 
 
 score of apparently half-famished and thirsty 
 passengers ; bottles were seized on, fowls torn leg 
 from leg, and even the homd sausages were rapidly 
 consumed as if they had been delicacies from Oxford 
 or Cambridge. The onslaught was gallant and soon 
 over ; not a vestige of meat or drink remained, ere 
 ten minutes had elapsed, and to judge from the 
 pleasant grin on his brigand-looking face, the 
 purveyor was doubtless satisfied with his receipts, 
 though I doubt much if all the consumers paid their 
 due. In the scuffle, barring the garlicky sausages 
 which were consumed by the natives, we managed 
 to secure between us about three bottles of the 
 wine, which was a refreshing species of sweet cider, 
 and about two chickens, the size of large pigeons, 
 offering about as much nourishment as a piece of 
 dry toast — such is the gastronomic indulgence 
 usually found on Italian railway lines, for bric-a-brac 
 hunters or sight-seers, save at Bologna, where the 
 food is not to be complained of Meanwhile we 
 returned to our carriage as satisfied as if we had 
 enjoyed a repast fit for Lucullus, and my subse- 
 quent friend having thanked me for my assistance, 
 lighted a remarkably large regalia, and throwing 
 
ITALY. 179 
 
 himself back in the carriage, took off his coat and 
 exclaimed, " Now for Florence. Yet I think I could 
 drink another bottle of that wine. Is it too late to 
 procure one 1 " 
 
 Of Rome I have little to say here, all the travelled 
 world know that a visit there offers attractions even 
 superior to that sought by the bric-k-brac hunter. 
 Yet it is indeed a pleasant pastime — knowing, and 
 having again and again lingered over every portion 
 of the ancient city — to peep once more into the 
 various curiosity shops where in days gone by many 
 an exquisite specimen of European porcelain have I 
 obtained. Indeed chance, while hunting, enabled 
 me some few years since, to discover a worthy 
 gi'ocer, who combined the sale of soap, sugar, and 
 candles, with a sort of fanatic love for what he 
 termed the "fine arts;" and so having passed 
 through his shop, which smelt strongly of pickled 
 herrings, garlicky sausages, oU, coffee, sugar and 
 dips, I was one day introduced to the upper regions 
 of his strange and somewhat dirty abode, when great 
 indeed was my astonishment, having mounted some 
 sixty pair of stone stairs, to find myself in a sort of 
 lumber, indeed, two or three lumber-rooms, the 
 
 B 2 
 
180 BBIG-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 whole sides of whicli, from ceiling to floor, were 
 hung with pictures of all sorts and sizes, but no 
 great value ; while floor and tables were covered 
 with every conceivable and inconceivable article of 
 china, of and from all nations, together with glass 
 and bronzes, scattered in a strange medley, dusty and 
 dirty, one third of which articles were broken or 
 cracked. Indeed, on first entering the room I felt so 
 dazzled and surprised, and so full of hope that I 
 should be enabled to obtain some prizes, that I sat 
 me down for a moment calmly to contemplate the 
 mass of bric-a-brac, previous to its more careful 
 examination. 
 
 Like a scene in a play, when looked on by 
 daylight, however, and not from the centre of a 
 well-lighted house, so was the result ; amid all this 
 heterogeneous collection, gathered together by the 
 grocer, there was little to attract; nevertheless I 
 could not but regard him with respect, considering 
 the combination of fine taste in a man who, thus 
 from pickles, contemplated pictures. Here and 
 there, however, I did discover a cup or two, with 
 marks attractive to collectors. If so be, however, 
 the grocer charged for his sugar and dips in pro- 
 
ITALY. 181 
 
 portion to the amount he expected for his bric-S,- 
 brac, I fear his customers must have been as limited 
 in taste, or rich in unlimited means. At length, 
 however, my eyes rested on a coffee service, which I 
 instantly discovered to be a charming set of cream- 
 coloured or Queen's ware Wedgwood, with black 
 Egyptian characters in relief; and I am ashamed 
 to say immediately practised, as in such cases is per- 
 missible, or you will get nothing abroad, some 
 trifling passes of hypocrisy — call them, out of courtesy, 
 diplomacy — by showing an apparent indifference, 
 which I certainly did not feel, as to my becoming 
 their possessor ; a bargain was, however, at length 
 struck, and I earned away my treasures at a very 
 moderate outlay. Wedgwood, however, save by 
 persons of real taste and judgment, or by dealers 
 who are perfectly alive as to its value, is not particu- 
 larly estimated on the continent ; in fact, foreigners 
 have not the taste to appreciate the most elegant of 
 ceramic art ; were it so, the King of Prussia would 
 not aUow very many exquisite Wedgwood vases to 
 remain hidden from the world, and half destroyed at 
 Charlottenburg. A few years since, when passing 
 through Rome, I lost a chance which I have ever 
 
182 BRIC-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 since regretted; this loss arose from a slight un- 
 certainty on my part, as to their authenticity (and a 
 still slighter purse), of four Capo di Monte figures, of 
 some size, representing the four quarters of the world. 
 These beautiful figures were afterwards purchased, 
 I am told, by Mr. Gladstone, for a much larger sum 
 than that for which at the time I might have secured 
 them, and are now, I fancy, at Kensington. In 
 many private houses in Eome, particularly among 
 the cardinals and higher priesthood, there are also 
 some very fine specimens of Capo di Monte and 
 Sfevres, and in many instances I fancy. they might 
 be purchased for a reasonable outlay, together with 
 various fine specimens of Majolica and Italian 
 ware. 
 
 Naples is always associated in my mind with its 
 beautiful bay, and its ancient china manufactory of 
 "Capo di Monte," which, in the opening of these 
 pages, I named as having vanished from Italy — a 
 fact well known to all collectors. The famous fac- 
 tory of Capo di Monte was founded by Charles III. 
 in 1736. This beautiful ware could not have 
 originated from any German source ; inasmuch as, 
 independently of its having very little resemblance 
 
ITALY. 183 
 
 to the productions of that country, there was 
 scarcely time for the art to have reached Naples in 
 so short a time after its discovery at Miessen. 
 
 Charles often worked in the manufactory with his 
 own hands, and took great interest in its success. 
 Starrien Porter, in a letter to Mr. Pitt (Lord Chatham), 
 dated April 8th, 1760, speaking of that factory, says, 
 " He is particularly fond of his china factory at Capo 
 di Monte." During the fairs held annually in the 
 square before the Palace at Naples, there is a shop 
 or stall solely for the sale of his china, and a note 
 was matutinally brought to the King of the articles 
 sold, together with the names of the purchasers, on 
 whom he looked favourably. On obtaining the 
 Crown of Spain, he took with him twenty-two 
 persons to form his establishment at Madrid, one of 
 whom, ninety-five years of age, was living in Naples 
 in 1844. 
 
 Private factories were subsequently formed at 
 Naples, where many of the models, gold and other 
 articles, used in the Capo factory, were stolen ; and 
 they all closed in 1821. 
 
 In the royal establishment — Alia Vita delta 
 Sanita — many valuable specimens may still be 
 
184 BRIC-A-BRAC HUNTING. 
 
 seen, which -will greatly interest the bric-a-brac 
 hunter. 
 
 Au reste, save at particular periods and seasons, 
 Naples itself has few charms. I do recollect, how- 
 ever, one memorable evening at the latter end of 
 August, sitting with a kind friend on the balcony of 
 our hotel on the Chiaja, having witnessed the glorious 
 sun sink behind Posilipo, and then, as the deep red 
 air of twilight became deeper in its glow, the full 
 moon rose from the far mountains of the Sorrentine 
 shore, over bay, and blue isle, and clear promontory, 
 and glassy sea, filling the measure of nature's beauty 
 to the brim, and certainly causing me to feel at the 
 moment that a bright moonlight night of early 
 autumn, over the Bay of Naples, was unrivalled, 
 and in its short existence it probably is so. I 
 mention this trifling fact, inasmuch as travellers for 
 the most part invariably speak of places, or generally 
 so, from the impression left on their minds at the 
 moment, or during a cursory visit, and had I left 
 Naples on the morning subsequent to that delicious 
 night I should certainly have considered the city and 
 its bay, with its setting sun and rising moon, the 
 most charming spot in Europe. But I have chanced 
 
ITALY. 185 
 
 to see the bay when it was anything but calm or 
 agreeable, and have looked on the gardens of the 
 Villa Real when they were cold, and cheerless, and 
 leafless ; and although for the most part there is an 
 aspect of vivid animal existence, a brightness, a life, 
 a cheerfulness, about the city, there exists at the 
 same time a confusion, disorder, filth, foul smells, 
 and ill drainage, which go far to annul the romantic 
 impressions, caused ,by a sight of Vesuvius, the 
 distant Capri, surrounding beauties, and charming 
 environs. In fact, Naples has many charms ; but a 
 residence there, save it be a brief one, will chase 
 them away. 
 
 Numerous as are the bric-^-brac shops at Naples, 
 chance nevertheless will there obtain for you anything 
 worth having, though doubtless there, as at Rome 
 and elsewhere, there are treasures in private houses 
 which scarcely ever see the light of day, and the 
 value of which is scarce known to their owners. I 
 had once the very good fortune to obtain two most 
 exquisite Venetian glasses, of rich ruby colour, and 
 many-coloured flowered stems ; these I entrusted to 
 a packer, who assured me the box which contained 
 them might be thrown from the top of Fort Angelo 
 
186 BBIC-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 without fear of breakage ;" nevertheless they reached 
 England in a hundred pieces, so beware of Neapolitan 
 packing. In proof of their beauty, I was offered 
 money for the remnants. 
 
 Majolica, or as it is commonly called, Faenza or 
 Raphael ware, is a fine enamelled earthenware of 
 the end of the fifteenth century, and the early part 
 of the sixteenth century. This pottery may be 
 found in more or less beauty and artistic taste in 
 almost every European museum and collection, and 
 much of an inferior kind can still be purchased in 
 all Italian cities as elsewhere. For my own part, I 
 admit no great love for this species of ceramic art, 
 though many of the productions are replete with 
 beauty, artistic powers, and originality. The original 
 title of majolica, so say many authors, is supposed to 
 have been derived from Majorca, because it greatly 
 resembles, and was probably founded on the Moorish 
 pottery and enamelled dishes brought from Majorca 
 by the Pisans in the twelfth century, and after- 
 wards hj other trading cities along the coast. 
 Whether it originated at Majorca or not is, however, 
 of little importance to those collectors who seek it, 
 and are capable of judging of its beauty and early 
 
ITALY. 187 
 
 authenticity, inasmuch as in the present day, in 
 Italy, particularly at Doccia, in France also, ay, 
 and by our own celebrated Minton, it is imitated 
 with gi'eat beauty and artistic taste, and in some 
 cases so truly as to defy the knowledge of the 
 best judges. As regards Majorca being its birth- 
 place, I have seen among the canards, during the 
 trial of the brave and murdered Admiral Byng — 
 whom I feel pride in claiming as an ancestor — that 
 his great love for this ware and other ceramic 
 treasures having caused him to visit the residence 
 of some person in that island who possessed a rare 
 specimen, and with whom he was bargaining for the 
 possession, when a messenger arrived to inform him 
 the French fleet was in the offing, turning to the 
 messenger, he replied, " Look here, this rare speci- 
 men is worth all the French fleet ; tell Captain 
 
 to prepare for action, and the French to wait till I 
 have secured it." Although it is probable that the 
 term majolica was derived from Majorca, there does 
 not appear to be any authentic evidence of this fact ; 
 on the contrary, it appears first to have been made 
 at Faenza, where it was principally made or ex- 
 ported, while some French antiquaries, claim a still 
 
188 BBIG-A-BRAO BUNTING. 
 
 greater age for the French term, Fayence, and insist 
 that it was derived from Fayenne, an obscure town 
 in France, where there is said to have been a pottery 
 long before it existed at Faenza in Italy. Mr. Bohn, 
 in his very useful work, a guide to ceramic knowledge, 
 particularly to inexperienced bric-a-brac hunters, 
 tells us that during the great majolica period, it 
 was the fashion for lovers to present their mistresses, 
 or their betrothed, with small ornamental pieces 
 called amatorice— generally plates, dishes, 'or vases, 
 adorned with the portrait and christian name of their 
 favoured fair; many of these may still be seen in 
 various bric-^^brac shops. They are, however, of no 
 gi-eat beauty or value, and certainly, as far as I have 
 seen them, do not prove the taste or beauty of the 
 era. However, the gift of some such majolica dishes 
 'or vases, as I have had the good fortune to behold, 
 would indeed be as costly as the choicest diamond 
 bracelet, and though majolica, or any glazed or 
 enamelled pottery, may not be so pleasing to the eye, 
 as Sevres, Dresden, Wedgwood, or Chelsea, it is 
 nevertheless of great value if good, and deeply 
 interesting to the collector. 
 
 While in Italy, particularly at Florence, the brie- 
 
ITALY. 189 
 
 i-brac hunter cannot do better than take a trip to 
 Leghorn ; it is but a railway flight of two hours 
 through some charming country, with the Mediter- 
 ranean at the end of it. Not that it boasts of a 
 porcelain manufactory, or am I aware that it ever 
 claimed one. But there lives in that maritime town, 
 the Chevalier Andrea Campasini, a man of genius and 
 repute, who, with his own hand, after fourteen years 
 of labour, produced a large and beautiful model in 
 ivory of St. Peter's, which was not only seen by Her 
 Majesty of England, but by half the crowned heads 
 and artistic Societies in Europe, and from whom he 
 received the highest testimonials. 
 
 As was his father before him, so is the Chevalier 
 an artist and a man of taste, and he has gathered 
 around him an inconceivable quantity of bric-el-brac, 
 filling many rooms, which he is perfectly ready to 
 show to anyone, and equally ready to sell. Among 
 this heterogeneous mass, he has many good speci- 
 mens, and I must admit that his demands are not 
 exorbitant. For the benefit of those who desire to 
 visit his collection, I may name that his residence is. 
 Via San Francesco, 33. 
 
 In these days when everyone travels, a visit to 
 
190 BBIC-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 Copenhagen will not be an unpleasant trip to the 
 bric-a-brac hunter — not that he will find a great 
 selection. The old china, however, from the Koyal 
 manufactory, marked in blue, with three wavy lines 
 which indicate the Sound, and two Belts, if a good 
 specimen can be found, is remarkably fine and inter- 
 esting. Lord Nelson was very partial to this china, 
 and in 1801 paid many visits to the factory and pur- 
 chased largely. In addition to a china hunt, a visit 
 to the late battle fields, and the pleasant neighboui- 
 hood of Copenhagen, will well repay the trouble, 
 while the city itself is full of interest. 
 
PARIS. 191 
 
 QUEST XI. 
 
 PARIS.— LONDON. 
 
 We are now in Paris, for a brief s^jour — then to 
 the great Babylon, and I have done. I need say but 
 a few words as regards either city in connection with 
 bric-^-brac. All the English world, I take it, who 
 are unacquainted with the beautiful Imperial city, 
 for a beautiful city it is, and day by day becomes 
 more so, had better cross the Channel and judge for 
 themselves. A few things are wanting ; a thorough 
 knowledge of the language, a good purse, calm 
 temper, and a courteous manner. With these acqui- 
 sitions for a brief stay, Paris as a Capital has no 
 rival. A knowledge of the language is not only 
 desirable, but utterly necessary for real enjoyment. 
 Not such a knowledge as most people imagine they 
 have who say they speak French, and who wishing 
 for green gages, ask for " Gages Verts," and being cor- 
 rected, say. What, do you call them " i-ainy clouds ? " 
 — which is a fact. Money is wanted, because the 
 
192 BBIC-A-BBAC SUNTING. 
 
 price of the necessaries of life is enhanced even to 
 the charging of twelve francs for an ordinary duck 
 or fowl ; temper, because no Frenchman, save he be 
 a French gentleman, allows you to have the slightest 
 opinion of your own, even in the purchase of a pair 
 of gloves ; and courtesy, inasmuch a sa calm, cour- 
 teous demeanour in the long run subdues the inso- 
 lence even of a human bear. 
 
 One of the principal reasons I take it, for the 
 Capital of the French Empire, increasing in embel- 
 lishment, cleanliness, and cheerfulness, made doubly 
 so by the verdure of trees in all its streets and 
 Boulevards, during the summer, is simply, that to a 
 Frenchman Paris is his world, a real earthly Paradise, 
 his home, his mistress, his adoration ; he goes to the 
 seaside, " les Eaux " in due season, because not to go 
 is to be nobody. It is the fashion, and here, as else- 
 where, that odious and undefinable word carries the 
 day ; but he is as wretched at " les Eaux " as a lover 
 who is absent from her he loves, and is never happy 
 till he returns to the mistress of his heart, called 
 Paris. London is quite another city, grand, mag- 
 nificent in wealth and man's labour. Her parks, the 
 most splendid in the world, women, horses and 
 
PABIS. 193 
 
 equipages, men if you will it, ■when, assembled 
 during what is termed the season, immensely 
 superior to all beyond the Channel, which divides us 
 from the Continent of Europe. But London, to all 
 save those who are actually engaged in business, is 
 a mere sijour of pleasure, or of fashion — fashion 
 again — or temporary habits. There are not, I am 
 fsatisfied, many thousands, in that city of millions, 
 Avho do not yearn to fly to the green fields, parks, 
 and pleasures of the country in midsummer time, 
 and the sports, home comforts of a country house, 
 and enjoyments of a family circle in mid- winter. 
 Thus for all they care Leicester Square might remain 
 a mud pond, or any other square be a courtyard ; 
 being there they like to see the Parks bright and 
 well filled, the streets bustling and well lighte^^ the 
 shops gay ; but it is not their world or their 
 Paradise. That is found only in the home cii'cle, 
 whether in a castle in the centre of a noble park, 
 such as England can only show in perfection, or 
 equally so in a rose or honeysuckle covered cottage, 
 far from the smoke of the city, or the turmoil of 
 money gainings and money losing. As regards bric- 
 a-brac, Paris, as London, and I speak of them 
 
194 BBia-A-BBAO BUNTING. 
 
 together, abounds. There are many, very many, 
 highly respectable and rich administrators to the 
 public taste as regards ceramic excellence, and bric- 
 ^-brac as an " oUa podrida." For the most part, 
 dealers in bric-a-brac are children of Israel, and I am 
 bound to believe, and do believe, that although many 
 have commenced the trade with very limited means 
 and slight experience, the constant search for beauty 
 in art and knowledge, gained from day to day by 
 experience and, if you will, love of gain — all fair in 
 trade — has at length caused them so to love the 
 pursuit, that a seller of bric-^-brac becomes sooner 
 or later to love his profession, and his eye and taste 
 enable him to acquire, a thorough knowledge and 
 discrimination of the value of the highest and lowest 
 works of art. 
 
 In my rambles during many years throughout the 
 length and breadth of Europe, I have known men, 
 who, when I first visited their collections, were of 
 the humblest order, in a few years become indepen- 
 dent, nay wealthy ; this may be accounted for, in 
 the first place, that the love for collecting the fine 
 arts has become notorious, and secondly, that what 
 was formerly purchased for a song, is now sold for 
 
PABI8. 195 
 
 10l„ with tenfold the buyers. Thus, amid the nu- 
 merous shops in Paris filled with bric-^-brac, — good, 
 bad,-an'd indifferent, — nothing is now to be had cheap. 
 The man who has great knowledge may occasion- 
 ally pick up something, at a fair but full value, all 
 others pay more or less twice that for which it might 
 formerly have been obtained. In Paris, as indeed 
 in all the small cities and towns in France, the rage 
 for bric-^-brac is a furor. Only recently I visited 
 the curious, but dull old town of Abbeville, where 
 there are two or three small bric-a-brac shops ; in 
 both I selected one or two trifles, the sum asked for 
 which was most exorbitant, and yet they selh 
 There is nothing good, bad, or indifferent to be had 
 in Paris, save for a large outlay, and as for Sfevres, 
 if it is even tolerable, it is estimated as bullion. In 
 London, as in Paris, there are crowds of bric-^-brac 
 dealers, good, bad, and indifferent ; all that is really 
 good, however, in London deservedly commands high 
 prices, and obtains them ; ordinary, but by no means 
 to be despised specimens, are far cheaper than 
 abroad, and among the first class dealers, I must do 
 them the justice to say, a novice may pui-chase 
 without fear. I have abstained from naming any 
 
 2 
 
196 BBIU-A-BRAG SUNTING. 
 
 dealers, because I neither desire to praise, nor give 
 offence. Again and again it has been asserted to 
 me by London dealers, that France comes over to 
 purchase ; in like manner France asserts in language, 
 which courtesy dare not contradict, that England 
 . acts in like manner ; all I can assert is that, speaking 
 from my own experience, if England does purchase 
 in France, and gives a third of the price asked, the 
 profit made must be nil. I am aware that first-rate 
 dealers do come to Paris, and do advertise that they 
 are coming with money in their pockets, and are 
 ready to purchase ; and I conclude they are 
 thoroughly aware of the effects of such advertise- 
 ments, and it pays, or they would not risk the outlay 
 of a journey and Paris expenses ; but to an amateur 
 collector, without he is determined to have this or 
 that object, regardless of expense, Paris is not his 
 market. 
 
 Previous to the advent of railways, when conti- 
 nental travellers were as one to fifty, when rich men 
 travelled for pleasure, and employes were well paid 
 for their wanderings, much might be found by the 
 experienced collector and purchased fairly, some- 
 times luckily ; but that period is over, and, in those 
 
PARIS. 197 
 
 (lays, I conclude dealers were more or less dependent 
 on home sales, or those who brought wares to them 
 for purchase. Now there is scarcely a first-rate dealer 
 who does not go or send aU over Europe, regardless 
 of expense ; they are to be met with, go where you 
 will, at Petersburg and Moscow, Constantinople and 
 Rome ; so I conclude it must pay. That it does so, 
 however, is solely because the value of bric-a-brac is 
 quadrupled. In London the valuable sales at Christy's, 
 Phillips', and other first class auctions are constant, 
 and generally it is wonderful the prices obtained 
 during the season, for even moderate works of art. 
 
 In like manner at Paris, almost daily sales take 
 place in the Rue Drouet, where every species of 
 bric-^-brac is offered for sale — pictures of value, 
 and mere daubs by hundreds; old and modern 
 furniture, china, glass, in fact everything coming 
 under the denomination of bric-a-brac, as of house- 
 hold goods. An occasional visit to these sales is 
 highly amusing, even to those not afflicted with the 
 mania of bric-^-brac hunting. Yet I must confess 
 it is difficult for anyone having a decent coat on 
 his back to purchase anything cheaply. There 
 appears in fact to be a combination among dealers. 
 
198 BRIC-A-BRAG HUNTING. 
 
 high and low, men and women, which utterly upsets 
 the hopes and expectations of an amateur. However, 
 there must be some freemasonry among them ; as I 
 have ■nitnesssd the selling of a piece of china to a 
 dealer, which I have subsequently purchased in his 
 shop at a less price than that he paid for it at the 
 sales ; and I cannot but believe, that a small capital 
 and much knowledge of the ceramic art, will soon 
 convert the small iato large ; moreover; the know- 
 ledge is always on the increase, however few there 
 may be who absolutely ever attain to the perfect 
 acquirements of a connoisseur. During the many 
 years it has been my pleasure to search in every 
 capital and town, in which I may chance to find 
 myself, for bric-&,-brac dealers, whether at home or 
 abroad, I have had practical proof of the above 
 assertion; for I have known men who apparentlj', 
 not ten years lang syne, were in the lowest possible 
 position, bordering on apparent poverty ; in that 
 brief space become rich. In fact their history may 
 be written in the following lines : — 
 
 " Autrefois jMtais villageois : 
 On peut s'en souvenir : 
 TJn peu sauvage, un peu soumois, 
 Pensant i. I'aTeiiir — 
 
PABIS. 199 
 
 Pour te conter mes aventures, 
 II faudrait peu de mots, 
 
 J'ai maintenant quatre voitures, 
 Au lieu de deux sabots." 
 
 Of course I do not include the higher, and well- 
 known class of dealers, though who dare say that 
 they have not had their early struggles ? As an 
 illustration, however, of the rapid rise in the fortunes 
 of those to whom I more particularly allude, — I per- 
 fectly recollect one fine summer's evening — when en- 
 joying the alfresco in company with some ladies, and 
 listening to the charming music ofttimes heard in 
 the public gardens, within a circuit of a few miles 
 round Vienna — being accosted by a well-dressed 
 gentleman, gloved, hatted, and booted to perfection, 
 who, having bowed, offered me his hand ; meanwhile, 
 having been introduced to very many agreeable 
 foreigners, whose names are at times difficult to 
 catch, and whose faces are still more difficult to 
 remember, I arose from my seat, returned his bow 
 most politely, as the pressure of his hand, and agreed 
 with his assertion that the weather was delightful ; 
 another bow, and he walked on with a companion, 
 while I resumed my seat. " Who is your friend ? " 
 
BBIC-A-BRAG HUNTING. 
 
 inquired the lady by my side; for the moment I 
 conld scarcely recollect, and replied, " I rather think 
 he is the Swedish Minister ; " on taking another look 
 at my friend, however, as he sauntered slowly on, me- 
 mory came to my aid, and I said to myself, — it cannot 
 be — in those kid gloves and polished boots, and yet 
 forsooth it is — and I burst into laughter. "What's 
 the joke, Colonello V exclaimed an agreeable young 
 attacM, who came up at the moment. "Joke," I 
 replied, "why I have just been courteously recognised 
 by a gentleman in lavender kids and polished boots— r 
 whom I fancied was the Swedish Minister — and 
 have discovered my error in the person of H — rr. 
 You may recollect that last year we visited him in a 
 garret, the odour of which was not agreeable, the 
 more so as he sat in his shirt-sleeves — weather very 
 hot — before a horrid mess of sausage, and black 
 bread, of which he urged us to partake : but we 
 could do nothing with him as regards buying bric-a- 
 brac ; his prices were enormous." This person, I am 
 credibly informed, was a servant in an Axistrian 
 family, and came to Vienna with probably ten florins 
 in his pocket. I admire his energy and genius in so 
 speedily picking up a certain knowledge of ceramic 
 
PARIS. 201 
 
 art — however I may dislike his manners as his 
 dealings. " Confound him," said the attacM, " I met 
 him not long since on the Prater, when he patted 
 me on the back, asked me why I had not been to 
 see him, and requested my photo for his album of 
 European celebrities, for which in future days he 
 hoped to obtain a large price. No wonder he turns 
 out so well, when he buys for a pound and sells for 
 ten, and gets it, though I have always marvelled 
 who gives it — but they do give it. And what is 
 most offensive, he is always ready to guarantee 
 everything on oath, when dealing with men who 
 possibly have ten times his experience and know- 
 ledge ; moreover, should you presume to have an 
 opinion of your own, or examine a mark, or ask for 
 a magnifying-glass, he appears gi-eatly offended. 
 Such indeed is the system pursued by the lower 
 class of continental dealers generally — a modern 
 piece of china is of the last century — a cup known 
 by a connoisseur to have issued but yesterday from 
 a Fabric, is old Vienna, Berlin, or Dresden ; a piece 
 of Ginpri which bears its own merits, and they are 
 great, is always converted and guaranteed .by oath, 
 for Capo di Monte. Alas ! for the inexperienced 
 
202 BBIC-A-BBAG HUNTING. 
 
 and unwary — what a fine collection thej'^^ must possess ! 
 It puts me in mind of a very old story — of fresh 
 fish — which is worth repeating, however ofttimes 
 told — I fancy ; " and throwing away his cigar, he sat 
 down with our party. "My tale," he added, "is 
 brief and simple. A gentleman sent his negro ser- 
 vant for some fresh fish. On arriving at the fish- 
 monger's, and handling the fish, blacky began to smell 
 it. On which the fishmonger exclaimed, ' Hallo ! you 
 black rascal, what do you smeU my fish for.' ' Me 
 no smell your fish,' the negro replied. ' What are 
 you doing with it then ? ' ' Why, me talk to him, 
 massa.' ' And what do you say to him 1 ' ' Me 
 ask him what news of the sea, dat's all, and he says 
 he don't know, he been here dese three weeks.'" 
 And so it is with many a china cup, said to have 
 been in the same family for years, they were made 
 but yesterday in one Fabric, painted in another, and 
 marked and reglazed in another — for the market — 
 in which they have been only for three weeks ; but 
 they are far fresher than the fish. Again, I well 
 recoUect coveting a Venice glass — being the possessor 
 of its fellow— which I had seen in the window of a 
 dealer in Italy ; having offered the price I considered 
 
PARIS. 203 
 
 its fair value, about the third of that demanded, it 
 was refused ; being, however, anxious to obtain the 
 glass, I called again and added five francs to my 
 previous offer; this was also refused. While talking 
 with the dealer, however, a most respectably dressed 
 woman, with evident marks of sorrow on her pale 
 face, entered the shop, and tendered for sale a very 
 pretty china vase, for which she solicited ten francs — 
 about a third of its value. " No," said the dealer, 
 " I will give you eight." " Nine," replied the poor 
 woman in distress, " and it is yours." " Eight," again 
 repeated the dealer, "I will give no more." On this, 
 observing the anxiety depicted on her countenance, 
 I interfered by saying, " I will take it, madam ; here 
 are the ten francs" — fully intending to beg her re-ac- 
 ceptance of the china and the money. On which the 
 worthy dealer became irate, and declared that I had 
 no right to interfere with his business. "None what- 
 ever," I replied, "but inasmuch as you refused to give 
 ten francs, I was perfectly justified in so doing — 
 however, you are quite welcome to the bargain." He 
 thereon paid the ten francs, and the poor woman 
 left the shop, thanking me with tears in her eyes. 
 As soon as she had departed, I turned to the dealer, 
 
204 BSIC-A-BBAO HUNTING. 
 
 and said, " Yon expressed yourself somewhat rudely 
 as to my interference in your affairs. I certainly 
 had no intention to do so, though you are well aware 
 you were driving a cruel bargain with a feUow- 
 creature in distress. In proof of my words I will 
 give you fifteen francs for what you have just given 
 ten for," an offer he very rudely refused, and I quit- 
 ted his .shop. Literally only two hours after, I had 
 occasion to visit a money-changer's, who also dealt 
 occasionally in bric-a-brac. On my entering his room, 
 he said, "I have got something which I think may 
 suit you." On my asking him to produce it, behold 
 the very vase which I had recently seen. " What do 
 you want for it?" "Twenty-five francs, I gave 
 twenty." "It is well worth it," I replied, " and more;" 
 and then I told him the little historiette which I 
 have here written, not that it has much point, but as 
 a simple evidence of how fortunes are commenced by 
 the humbler class of bric-a-brac sellers — and how 
 money is paid by the inexperienced hunter for articles 
 of little value. A thousand such dealings are of 
 daily occurrence, and ofttimes a prize is obtained 
 from misery or want, for a pound or two — ^not in the 
 most honest manner — which, as years pass, is sold 
 
PABI8. 205 
 
 for a hundred ; indeed it is well known that a rich 
 buyer, determined to possess any object on which he 
 has set his heart, or if determined from some 
 particular fancy to possess, will, at a sale, run up the 
 price of a moderate specimen to treble its actual 
 value. Whereas a seller, who has capital and can 
 await time or opportunity, will, in like manner, not 
 seldom obtain far more. I would beg to remark, 
 that I do not mention these facts with the slightest 
 • intention or desire to injure a class who have oft- 
 times afforded me great interest and amusement, 
 and from whose ignorance I have at times not un- 
 fairly benefited, and from whom in the early days of 
 my hunting, I have learnt many a valuable lesson. 
 Moreover, it is said that in love, as in war, all things 
 are fair within the bounds of diplomacy, to call it by 
 the most courteous name ; so are they, I fancy, in 
 bric-^-brac markets, though the limit may be some- 
 what larger. As, however, the object of this little 
 book is to offer the moderate experience I possess 
 to those whose love for ceramic art may induce them 
 to follow in my footsteps, it is well I should, as far 
 as may be, guard them against the difficulties and 
 chicaneries, they will encounter in their researches. 
 
206 BBIG-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 I cannot leave the hunting grounds wherein I have 
 passed so many days and hours of interest, instruc- 
 tion, and dehght, and which I hope tc revive, without 
 one word to those who may have these pleasures, to 
 come. Kind nature is the mistress of all ai-tj and it 
 is amid scenes of beauty, created by God, as in cities, 
 that one learns to appreciate alike His manifold 
 gifts, as the ingenuity and refined art of man. Bric- 
 ^-brac hunting, believe me, to a collector, is a most 
 agreeable, instructive, and innocent pursuit, wherein 
 much is found alike to gratify the mind as the eye — 
 till at length it becomes an engrossing passion. I 
 may justly add — that the traveller who seeks such 
 pursuit when wandering in foreign cities, not only 
 learns the history of the land in which he lingers, 
 but mentally peoples it with those who lived and 
 loved in ages past. He becomes ia fact so energetic 
 in his pursuits as to banish all others of a less 
 refined nature from his heart. How many are there 
 now living, ere the advent of railways caused the 
 facility of travel, or directors of continental excur- 
 sions were born, at least as speculators, but must 
 look back with regret to those pleasant days when 
 few English people ever found many real travellers 
 
PABIS. 207 
 
 beyond Paris, or the now beaten tracks of Switzerland 
 and Italy. 
 
 Petersburg, Constantinople, Berlin, Vienna, and 
 Madrid, were then all but unknown, save to diplo- 
 matists or resident merchants. The rich and real 
 traveller, who wheeled it through Europe in a com- 
 fortable carriage, stopped at comfortable hotels, and 
 halted here and there by the wayside, to delight 
 calmly in the beauties of nature and the pleasures of 
 art. In those days there were a vast number of 
 admirable specimens of European china and bric-a- 
 brac to be had, worthy of being exported to the 
 collector's emporium, at a very moderate outlay. 
 That golden era is now for ever dead and buried. 
 Could the man who lived a hundred years since rise 
 from his grave, and glide, as travellers do now glide, 
 smoothly and rapidly over Mont Cenis in a railway, I 
 take it, when comparing the present with the past, 
 he would jump from the window, or return to his 
 home a lunatic. The advantage to civilization which 
 has thus been insured by the annihilation of dis- 
 tance and the gain of time, who dare deny 1 But 
 with all its advantages, it is not without its evils ; 
 people no longer travel by hundreds to see and 
 
208 BBIC-A-BBAO HUNTING. 
 
 learn, but rush by tens of thousands throughout 
 Europe, without seeing much, and learning less, for 
 the most part without knowledge of the language 
 of the people among whom they briefly sojourn. 
 Ofttimes, indeed, have I met ■w'ith an American 
 traveller — ay, an Englishman also — ^who has boasted 
 of the short time in which he has done Europe and 
 the East : his travel having the sole advantage of 
 enabling him to tell his friends at home that he has 
 been here and there, and everywhere, seen this and 
 seen that, crossed the Mont Cenis and the Simplon, 
 seen the Pope and Napoleon, kissed St. Peter's toe, 
 which he had no right to kiss, and drunk no end of 
 stuff called champagne, spent no end of money, and 
 brought home no end of vile trash as works of foreign 
 art. " I calculate," says an American, " I've whipped 
 the world as to the time in which I did Europe ;" 
 while an Englishman calmly boasts that he has 
 seen more and spent more in a six weeks' holiday 
 than many do in a year. Thus, a respectable dealer 
 in the various necessaries of life, in the west of 
 London, rises one morning, and says to his wife 
 while discussing the matutinal meal, "I have had 
 a good season, September has arrived, we will give 
 
rABIS. 209 
 
 Jemima a treat." He rushes to his banker, draws 
 for a hundred, which he intends to spend, and is off 
 to Boulogne, Paris, probably Switzerland, and home 
 again, without his hundred, or one single advantage, 
 save that Jemima has seen " La belle France " 
 through a railway window, and purchased a hideous 
 head-piece called a bonnet, and has paid for it double 
 the price for which she could have obtained a far 
 prettier one in London. And so with all else, in 
 these civilised and enlightened days, on the Con- 
 tinent. In good faith they are enlightened in acts 
 and words, which courtesy compels me to omit. 
 True, one travels faster and cheaper, as regards 
 railway fares ; in all else the expense of travelling is 
 quadrupled, with a tenth of its pleasures and ad- 
 vantages. Are there not many still living who well 
 recollect, when entei'ing an English roadside hotel, 
 or in any county town of repute, the comfort and 
 cleanliness within, and fair dealing by which they 
 were surrounded 1 Have they forgotten the rounds 
 of beef, the pigeon pies, the hams, the cold fowls, 
 which greeted them as they entered the hostelry? 
 Have travellers on the Continent forgotten, even 
 twenty years back, in France particularly, the ad- 
 
210 . BRIC-A-BBAC BUNTING. 
 
 mirable table-d'hote, at three francs or half-a-crown 
 a-head, a decent light claret included ; the excellent 
 matutinal cafe au lait, the thanks of the gar^on, 
 or waiter, on the receipt of a franc ? Surely they 
 must do so, when paving to-day half-a-crown for the 
 wing of a chicken, and the same price for washing 
 hands, which I positively did at a Bruxelles hotel 
 What have we now as regards travelling 1 In old 
 England, miserable railway buffets ; ay, even there, 
 at least at the London stations, you may eat and 
 drink, and be meny, at about one-half what you 
 may on the Continent, and I have had a tolerable 
 experience. Indeed, throughout Italy and Germany, 
 you are not only pillaged in every possible manner, 
 but half starved. I speak for the m^ost part when 
 en route; as at Vienna, Berlin, and Dresden there is 
 still to be found comfort and comparative economy, 
 if you judge fit to practise it ; but once beyond the 
 limits of the necessaries of life, and extras are ruinous. 
 All these evils are naturally much against the bric- 
 a-brac hunter ; thousands buy Dresden vases, cups, 
 &c., made yesterday, paying for them the value of 
 real works of art. Cart-loads of bric-£i-brac have 
 recently gone to America, for the most part of no 
 
PABIS. 211 
 
 great beauty or value, the sum paid for which would 
 set up a bank. And the lighter expense and rapidity 
 of railway travelling, together with speedy commu- 
 nication by telegraph and post, enable the London 
 and Paris dealers to send over their emissaries 
 at a moment's notice, when apprised of a sale, or a 
 chance of picking up anything which remains worth 
 having. Nevertheless, to those who really love art, 
 how much and how beautiful is there still to be 
 seen, if not purchased, in European cities ; while the 
 experienced and energetic hunter may stUl pick up 
 something worthy his labour and research. 
 
 And now for the present I will say, readers, fare- 
 well, with the following trifling anecdote. A pub- 
 lisher and a wine-merchant, when in company with 
 friends, were discussing which would make the most 
 out of an original work. After various proofs 
 adduced on both sides, a wager being made, it was 
 given in favour of the wine merchant, as the pub- 
 lisher confessed, that however transmogrified, he 
 was compelled to retain much of the original ; whUe 
 the wine merchant confessed, that from a pipe of 
 genuine port at last he left nothing. 
 
 I trust my publisher wiU be so far in the position 
 
212 BBIO-A-BBAC HUNTING. 
 
 of the wine merchant, that however he may trans- 
 mogrify, he will not have a volume of " Bric-^brac 
 Hui^ting " remaining, at this period of the year, when 
 the world at home cross the channel for foreign 
 travel, whether bric-a-brac hunters or not. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 BKADBUET, EVAK3, ASD CO., PBINTEE3, WHITGFRIAB3. 
 
Now Ready, a New Revised Edition of " Clarissa." 
 
 CLARISSA: 
 
 A NOVEL BY SAMUEL EICHARDSON. 
 
 Edited by E. S. Dallas, Author of " The Gay Science." 
 In Three Volumes. 
 
 " Not read * Clarissa !' If you have once thorouglily entered on * Clarissa,' 
 and are infected by it, you can't leave it." — Macaulay to Thackeray, 
 
 Extract from Editor's Introductioh-. 
 
 "... No one wtio is familiar with 'Clarissa' can wonder at Macaulay's 
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 He knew it almost by heart. It is the finest work of fiction ever written in 
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