ture of all kinds, and fancy or ornamental articles generally.

A mould or matrix is first prepared, of metal, slate, or any suitable material, and of suitable size and construction, in the bottom of which, or in the bottom and sides of which, the outlines of the ornament or ornaments with which the finished article is to be embellished are depressed, sunk, engraved, or intagliated. Into the mould or matrix thus prepared is placed the material, compound, or composition which is to form the base of the manufactured article. If this is to be an ornamental plaque, or a tile, for example, clay, plaster-of-Paris, or any artificial stone compound may be used, which is pressed into the mould, so that the intagliated lines in this will appear upon the plaque or tile, when this is withdrawn from the mould, as outlines of relief.

Almost any material, compound, or composition is capable of being used with and ornamented by this process, such as plastic materials or compounds, stone, wood, cast metal, or any sheet metal or metallic foil, such materials as are not themselves capable, on account of hardness, of receiving an impression in the mould or matrix being first covered or coated with a compound of a soft or plastic nature. Wood, by being steamed, boiled, or treated in several other wellknown ways, is adapted for ornamentation by this process, either plain or veneered, and with or without a plastic coat ing of varnish, shellac, or any suitable paint composition.

Fig. 204 is a plan view of a plaque or panel with an imi tation-intarsia surface. Fig. 205 is a section of the mould

or matrix; and Fig. 206 is a similar section, showing a modification in the construction of the mould or matrix.

In the treatment of some materials it is desirable to construct the matrix in the shape of rollers, one of which has a flat surface, and the other is provided with indented or engraved lines, which will form the outlines in relief upon the

material passed between them. When a hollow mould or matrix is used, this may be constructed as represented in Fig. 206, that is, with a raised or depressed part a, forming either a shoulder, as indicated by the full line, or a recess, as indicated by the dotted lines, at each end of said figure, which shoulder or recess, as the case may be, surrounds the engraved or intagliated bed of the mould, by which the ground or real surface of the article or material to be ornamented will be exposed in its natural state. By either of

these methods a base may be used which consists of several parts or layers, which allows of an endless combination and variety of materials adapted to be used by this process in the production of imitation-intarsia articles of manufacture, or articles of any kind ornamented by this process.

After the base has been produced with lines in relief in the manner described, and the spaces within the lines filled in with enamel, paint, or any suitable colored composition, and the surface rubbed down smooth, and varnished, if desired, as fully set forth, the article so prepared, if of clay and ornamented with mineral colors or enamel, is baked to give it the requisite degree of hardness and durability and bring out the colors. The subsequent treatment of the ornamented articles will, of course, differ according to their nature and the purposes for which they are intended; but the process of producing the raised outlines and subsequent filling in with coloring matter are in all cases substantially the same.

SECTION III. AMERICAN TILES.

The largest manufactory in this country for the produc tion of encaustic paving tiles is that of the U. S. Encaustic Tile Company of Indianapolis, Ind.; their productions are good and are mostly vestibule and paving tiles.

The most prominent productions of decorative tiles are those from Chelsea, near Boston, Mass.

The good execution of designs in these tiles is fast making them very popular, and there is no doubt but that the

works at Chelsea are only the advance guard of numerous productive industries of this country, which are destined soon to lead those of Europe.

Nothing in the history of pottery is so remarkable as the progress which has been made in the manufacture of encaustic and decorative tiles, but especially in the latter, in this country since the Centennial Exposition of 1876—that grand industrial event in the history of this country, so creditable to Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, upon which city and State almost the entire burden has, to the perpetual disgrace of the government of the United States, been permitted to fall.

Sending tiles to Staffordshire may seem to the majority of Englishmen as a wild improbability, but ere long that fact will be established. One thing which aids us is, the tendency of English manufacturers in this line to lower the high standard of their wares and produce something cheap; a policy which is a great error. Indeed, this policy of sacrificing everything, including the actual producers themselves, to cheapness, too entirely dominates the English mind, with results which have been properly characterized as cheap and nasty," and which also causes the brutalization of humanity.

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All true art demands high standards, which must be rigidly adhered to; seek to elevate them you may, without harm; but to do aught to lower them is but to take a step on the road to its destruction.

Being at peace with all the world, and bending every

energy to develop to their utmost all those arts and employments belonging to a peaceful, energetic people, possessing ample talent and power of execution, we mean to excel if possible in all the branches of pottery production, and meet England in her own field, feeling that we are no longer dependent, and that henceforth we are competent in this line to care for ourselves, and although American designs may as yet be faulty as are those of Europe, so long as we have the foliage, fruits, beautiful landscapes, and God's wellshaped animals to guide us, we possess something equally good from which to draw inspiration for our designs.

Much credit is due in the production of decorative tiles to the arduous efforts of Mr. J. G. Low, of Chelsea, Mass. The art tiles manufactured in this country had hitherto been poor in both design and execution, until Mr. Low turned his attention to imparting to plastic clay a new character of artistically finished and pleasing delineations of animate forms, flowers, and conventional ornaments.

We possessed nothing in this line of production that was a fit subject upon which we could lavish praise, or that in any way catered to our finer feelings. But that period is now happily past; the exhibition of 1876 injected into us as a nation new conceptions of the ideal, the natural, and the beautiful in art.

Symmetry, expression, and truth in no class of composition were generally appreciated; among a small proportion of the cultivated there were of course exceptions, and I do not mean now that the whole country has so rapidly been