Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 11.djvu/111

Rh most admired in the art-manufactures of our own country. Hitherto, indeed, the attempts at novelty in producing more tasteful forms have for the most part signally failed, and it has only been through the imitation of the designs of ancient Etruria, or Greece, or Imperial Rome, that such endeavours have been in any degree successful. The illustrations of ancient art presented in this volume will be highly acceptable not only to the professed antiquary, but to the artificer, the student in the school of design, to all, in fact, engaged in the study or the practice of decorative art; and they possess the additional recommendation of being published at a price which places the work within the reach of all who may desire its acquisition.

By the author's kindness, we are enabled to give some examples of these interesting illustrations, reproduced from his drawings by the skilful hand of Mr. Utting. (See the accompanying woodcuts). In the text of the work, Mr. Trollope has presented some valuable explanatory observations and notices from classical writers, conveying information highly acceptable to the general reader. The pen of the accomplished scholar has combined with his talent as a draughtsman in bringing before us a multiplicity of antique objects, of which we seek, in vain, representations in those useful works of reference hitherto available, such as Dr. Smith's "Classical Dictionary" and the volume compiled by Mr. Rich. In Mr. Trollope's pages we gain instruction regarding many details connected with religious and sacrificial rites; we learn how the Roman warrior was armed; how the banquet was prepared, and what were the appliances of the symposia; we see the forms of the instruments to the tones of which the ancient poets tuned their lays; the materials used for writing and painting; the luxurious furniture of the villa, the accessories of the bath, and lastly, the cinerary urns remarkable for the simplicity and elegance of their forms.

The exquisite plates printed in colour portray two of the most remarkable existing examples of the high perfection to which the art of decorating glass had been carried. They are vases of the deepest blue colour, over which was a casing of opaque white glass, and this last was partially cut away, so as to leave a design in relief like a cameo. Both these vases were found at Pompeii; the portions which have been preserved of one of them are now in this country, in the British Museum and in the possession of Mrs. Auldjo, and the fragments in the collection of that lady may be remembered by our readers as the choicest specimen of antique glass in the Exhibition formed in 1850 at the house of the Society of Arts.

To those who are interested in the investigation of military costume, the highly curious representations of antique armour will be specially acceptable. The helmets, cuirasses, and other defences of bronze, such as are here delineated, are objects of great rarity: amongst the former, the fact deserves notice that helmets with visors were occasionally worn by the Roman soldiery, as shown by an example of remarkable interest (see woodcut), having been that of the guard at the Herculaneum gate of Pompeii at the time of its destruction. The form closely resembles that of certain head-pieces worn in the sixteenth century.