298
EXPOSITION AT VIENNA.
Ill the Russian section, Alexander Froloff exhibited a picture of St. Catherine, and Jean Bouroukhine one of St. Anastasias, and of Jesus blessing little children. All of these mosaic pictures are from the original, by Professor Neff, and are intended for the Isaac Cathedral. The same artists, and others of the Imperial Mosaic Works at St. Petersburg, contributed largely to the Paris Exposition in 1867. The tesserae are more vitreous than ordinary tile material, and are made at the Imperial Glass Works. The mosaic establishment was started in Rome in 1846, and was transferred to St. Petersburg in 1856, and connected with the Academy of Fine Arts.
Minton, Hollins & Company, exhibited three or more mosaic pieces, Nos. 85, 86, and 87, suitable for church or domestic pavements. They were in the form of slabs, with encaustic (inlaid) centre-pieces.
A considerable quantity of smaller mosaic tiles (tessera?) were shown, but no information concerning them could be obtained. The form was triangular, about an inch on a side, and the colors chiefly blue and yellow. There were also large blue and white tiles, some with raised Moresque designs.
The art, as we have seen, was carried into Britain by the Romans, and appears to have been the forerunner of the tile pavements. It is not surprising, therefore, that the most perfect tesserae are now made in Great Britain, and of the same materials used for the encaustic tiles. The colors and the methods of manufacture are the same, the difference, being in the size. The sizes, as made by Messrs. Minton, Hollins & Co., vary from little cubes, one-sixteenth and one-eightli of an inch square to one-half of an inch square, and even larger for some purposes. They are made square, triangular, and of various shapes, and in all shades of color.
The difficulty and the cost of setting these tesserae depend upon their size and the nature of the design. A given design being furnished, and the size of the mosaic when finished, the Messrs. Minton, Hollins & Co., form it in slabs, each measuring about one yard square and two and one-lialf inches in thickness, convenient to handle and transport and to place in the intended position. This is the method usually followed