TERRA-COTTA, BRICK, ETC.
311
Vienna Brick Manufacture.
The nature of the brick made by the company has already been explained in part, in describing their remarkable exhibition. It is sufficient to say that they make almost every standard form of brick, for corners, cornices and arches, similar to those made by the Rennberg Works in Berlin, of which a full suite of figures is given beyond. The glazed and enamelled bricks appear well, and will, no doubt, be largely used in exterior and interior decoration ; and, also, for walls of dairies, kitchens, stables, and’similar places, the walls of which require washing.
The manufacture of bricks and tiles in the Vienna valley undoubtedly dates from the occupation by the Romans, sevent}' years after Christ. Excavations in the old city bring to light quantities of bricks, of various sizes and forms, and among them those of Roman make, bearing the date of xiii. ( gemini ) and x. (pro fidelis) Legions. The collections of antiquities at Vienna contain many of these bricks remarkable for their perfect preservation, every angle and line being as sharp as when they were taken from the kiln.* They are generally thin compared with their breadth, and are of large size and red color.
The excellent quality of the bricks made by this compan} r is sufficiently attested by the large constructions in which they have been used, and without change after long exposure. In 1851, 20,000,000 bricks were furnished under contract to the Semmering tunnels for the railway, and another contract for 40,000,000 for the public works at Vienna was being filled at the same time. The following named well- known edifices are constructed of these bricks : The Imperial and Royal Arsenals (very large structures, wholly of red brick), the Greek Church, Synagogue, Protestant School, the Chemical Laboratory of the new University, and the Austrian Museum of Art and Industry.
* The most interesting of these collections is perhaps that in the fourth cabinet of the Q. & n. Medals and Antiquities, Petit-Belvédère. The greater portion of these bricks were found at Vienna and at Petronell. Some of them bear the mark VINDOB (onæ) and KAR (nuntum). In this collection there are two tile-like bricks from Bagdad, impressed with cuneform characters of the time of. Nebuchadnezzar, seventh century B. C. Size, 12 by 13 by 3 inches.