LEMON HOLLYHOCK.

Persuasion.

This flower should be constructed of very thin lemon wax. It requires thirty small petals and seven large for a full blown flower: each petal is shaded with the light yellow powder towards the lower end. Crimp each petal with the point of the curling pin, and fold one end forward, the other back. Pass a strip of double lemon wax round the end of a piece of middle size wire, and mould the same to a point; the thirty small petals are attached first, so as to form a full rosette. The large petals are affixed to the back, and finished off with the calyx of double green. Half blown flowers are formed the same, but cut from smaller patterns. The early buds are moulded solid of green wax, covered with lemon; the calyx is placed on similar to the flower, moistened with gum water and sprinkled with down. Pink hollyhocks may be made precisely the same, the only difference being that pink wax and colour must be substituted for lemon.

THE CACTUS.

Warmth.

Cut the petals in bright orange wax, place a fine white wire half way up each, and occasion it to adhere by attaching a strip of orange wax over it. Colour them upon both sides with carmine. Curl the petals by passing the head of the pin twice or thrice from each edge towards the centre, and bend the same back. Fold down the edge or end of two sheets of thick white wax. Leave a quarter of an inch from the end quite white, then paint a pink stripe half an inch deep; leave again a quarter of an inch white, and finally finish with a stripe of green. Cut the whole two widths into a deep fringe to form the stamina, and colour the anthers (produced by the fold) with cream colour (white and lemon powders). Take a piece of middle size wire, pass round it a strip of white wax; this is to form the pistillum. Attach to the end five fine points of white wax, and paint them also cream colour; shade the filament of the pistillum red. Divide the stamina, attach half to the upper, and the remainder to the three under petals. Join the pistillum to a strong stem, passing white wax round to form a foundation. Affix to the foundation the six petals, to which are attached the stamina, letting the latter fall from the top petals over the lower ones, and dividing it so as to enable the pistillum to pass through. Every set of petals are placed precisely between those preceding until the flower is complete. It must be remembered that the largest petals are attached first, and that they gradually decrease until you arrive at the smallest.

"For not, oh, not alone to charm our sight, Gave God your blooming forms, your leaves of light." CHARLES SWAIN.

GROUPING FLOWERS.

One of the principle rules to be observed is to avoid placing those flowers together which approach the same form or colour. Thus, in arranging two round flowers, I invariably break the formality by introducing some light spray. To facilitate a taste for grouping is the cause of my introducing illustrations to this work. It will be observed that I arrange spring flowers always alone. I am not so particular with the flowers of every season, for art in cultivation has done so much in furnishing us with specimens of various seasons, that it is no uncommon thing to meet with a rose in spring that we should take for

"The last rose of summer."

In the florists' windows, in winter (I mean in Covent Garden), we may perceive such perfections of nature that our imagination might be tempted to suppose that the summer sun could alone have produced them.

I would recommend the early spring flowers to be arranged in flower pots or in wicker baskets. In mixed groups, as a certain guide to those who do not like to trust to their own taste for blending colours, I would place lavender near pink; blue to red; white should approximate to scarlet, and yellow to purple. The small flowers particularly essential in separating the larger ones are white and yellow jasmine, nemophila cineraria, verbenas, myrtle, honeysuckle, etc., etc. The pendent flowers give great ease and elegance to a bouquet, and should be placed in first. The neck of the vase should be well filled with dried moss, which can be procured at the herbalists. Alabaster and glass vases are best adapted for the reception of wax bouquets, except when they are intended for the centre of a table, and then I prefer baskets of alabaster, wicker, or gilt; glass shades are requisite to cover either. All, or any of the last-named articles, I shall be happy to furnish to those who may kindly think proper to favour me with orders, addressed to my residence, 35, Rathbone Place.

WAX FLOWERS, AS ORNAMENTS FOR THE HAIR,

Have become so generally worn at Her Majesty's balls and drawing-rooms, that I deem it expedient to give some particular instructions respecting them, so as to insure their durability and prevent their adhesion to the hair.

For the first point named, I attach a fine white wire half way up the back of each petal; this materially strengthens the flower. All white flowers should be sprinkled with my prepared arrowroot, this prevents the edges of the petals clinging to the hair, and is a protection against heat. In coloured flowers, the paint has the same effect. The stems are to be covered with narrow ribbon, green or brown (China ribbon). When the flowers are to be perfumed, the perfume is to be placed upon the ribbon.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MODELLING FOLIAGE.

There are various ways of modelling leaves, but I would recommend them to be made of sheet wax as much as possible. Take three sheets of green wax, matching in colour the leaf you are about to imitate. It is not material whether the middle sheet is the same colour as the upper or under sheet. Cover a wire,—the size must be chosen according to the proportion of the leaf,—place the said wire when covered under one sheet—cut the wax into the form of the leaf required. Plunge the real leaf into cold water, and the wax into hot; while in a softened state press it firmly and quickly upon the wrong side of the real leaf. This will give a truthful imitation. If a real leaf cannot be obtained of any particular flower, they can be modelled from a plaister mould, which I shall be happy to furnish.

Another method is to melt a small quantity of green wax into a liquid state. With a broad flat brush wash over the wrong side of a real leaf, previously oiled with the best salad oil.

The latter method may be also adopted upon a mould, soaked in warm water ten minutes previous to its being used.

The stalk must be attached afterwards, and a second layer of wax placed over.

THE VICTORIA REGIA.

"There is a splendour in the living flower."

Cut the petals from my peculiarly prepared wax; attach a wire half way up each at the back; colour the first sixteen petals with pale lemon. The remaining petals require a faint glow of pink laid on from the base towards the centre. They must be all much moulded with the large ivory curling pin, as well as assisted by the thumb and finger. The sixteen petals which constitute the two first rows, and which have been tinted pale lemon, have a deep pink vandyke or point formed at the lower end of each; round the edge of this point must be laid numerous spots and strokes of rich crimson, produced with crimson lake and minute portions of blue. Eight of the last named petals are shaded darker than the others, and are placed on first.

The centre or foundation is formed by moulding wax into a solid substance, two inches in diameter and three-quarters of an inch in depth. The stamina are very numerous, and cut according to patterns. The points are crimson, then shaded lemon, and rich pink the lower end. They are curled by passing the head of the curling pin firmly down the centre, bending the points a little back. The first four rows should fall down over the foundation, the other stand erect; by this means a direct crown is formed which contributes in a great measure to the beauty of the flower. The petals are placed on in rows of eight, with the exception of the last four, or as they may be termed, sepals of the calyx. These are at the back or outside dark chocolate colour (I prepare a wax on purpose). The large green seed cup that is finally attached is cast in hot wax, and can be purchased either at my establishment, or at my counters, Soho Bazaar. The calyx and seed cup are covered with prickles: to form these, roll some shreds or strips of light green wax between the marbles moderately warm; sever them into small pieces; hold the thickest end to a lighted candle, and apply each quickly to its proper place.

In selecting this flower as the closing subject of my instructions, it may not be entirely devoid of interest to many of my pupils to be furnished with a brief detail of the derivation of its name and character, as also the place where this extraordinary production of nature was first discovered. Sir R. Schomburgk was travelling in British Guiana, in the year 1837. It was in the River Berbice he beheld it, or I may say them, for numbers were floating in all their pride and glorious beauty, and at once struck him with surprise from the majesty of their form, and brilliancy of colour. This plant flowered first in England, at Chatsworth, the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and soon after was named "Victoria," by the gracious permission of her Majesty.

Mr. Paxton has publicly stated, that his design for the Crystal Palace originated in consequence of his having planned the house in which was grown the first specimen of this gigantic plant at Chatsworth. Thus its name will be immortalized in connexion with that of the Exhibition till time immemorial. I think it may be justly denominated an emblem of strength and power.

Before I entirely leave this subject, I cannot resist alluding to the circumstance of my withdrawing works of great magnitude (and which I had purposely prepared for competition), from the late great Exhibition. It is due also to the gentlemen who formed the executive committee that a true statement should be made respecting their exclusion. A rumour having been circulated that they (the gentlemen of the executive committee), refused to give me adequate space, I am anxious to repudiate such statements, and to acknowledge that some of my best patronesses previously to the opening of the Great Exhibition, and since that period, have been various members of the families of those gentlemen and the Royal commissioners. Ample space was allotted to me in the gallery, and it was considered that as other wax flowers were to be arranged there, mine would not suffer more than the rest; but the gentleman, and I believe the only person who had anything to do with the arrangement of mine, was Mr. Owen Jones. I acquit this gentleman of any invidious feeling towards me, but can only regret that he did not personally inspect my works. If he had, I feel persuaded he would have been amazed at their magnitude and the bulk of labour executed by myself unassisted. As it is, it is more than probable that I suffer in the opinion of some, to the effect that I showed some degree of "temper" or obstinacy in withdrawing them.

I am likewise anxious that it should be known that it was not the heat of the gallery entirely that intimidated me. My plates of bent glass were much larger than any in the Crystal Palace, and the groups were arranged upon thirty hundred weight of stone. The whole formed such a huge mass that it was deemed by scientific men to be impracticable to be elevated to the gallery, without jeopardising what had been produced by me by intense labour and profuse expense. The truth of this statement can be testified by an examination of the works, which may be viewed daily at my residence from ten till five o'clock (gratuitously). They have already been inspected by fifty thousand visitors; and as a proof that they have excited some interest and much admiration, I subjoin at the end of this little volume a few extracts from the public journals.

I have but little more to add—

"Now to the world my little book go forth, With all thy faults."

I cannot expect it will escape the criticism and censure of some; but if it meet the approbation of the discerning, and carries out my cherished, my promised views, that of instructing the uninitiated—furthering the purposes of Wax Flower Modelling—and refreshing the memories of my earliest pupils, who may for a season have neglected so charming an occupation, I shall be more than repaid for the trials and disappointments attending the various efforts I have made to satisfy all.

"Hoping the best—ready the worst to brook, Yet seeking friendly hearts—go forth, my little book."

"As life is then so short, we should so live and labour that we may have pleasing remembrances to console and cheer us at its close; let us work earnestly and diligently, not only for our own good, but for that of our fellow creatures:—

"Oh! let us live so, that flower by flower, Shutting in turn, may leave A lingerer still, for the sunset hour, A charm for the shaded eve!" HEMANS.



EXHIBITION OF WAX FRUITS AND FLOWERS, BY MRS. PEACHEY, ARTISTE TO HER MAJESTY.

The following eloquent awards of the press are placed as nearly as possible in the order of their respective dates, but the dates are necessarily omitted.

Mrs. Peachey, artiste to her Majesty, has now on private view at her rooms, 35, Rathbone Place, a superb collection of works intended for the Great Exhibition. They consist principally of an enormous bouquet of flowers and a colossal vase of fruit, both of which have been executed upon a scale never previously attempted in this country. The flowers are so arranged, that they appear to stand in a basket suspended over the surface of a pool of limpid water, in which the Victoria Regia and other similar plants are already floating. Nothing can be more exquisite or artistic in effect than the manner in which the various flowers are grouped. The bouquet comprises specimens of almost every flower known to the botanist, from the simple honeysuckle of the cottage garden, to the rarest and most valuable exotics of the East.

Some idea of the dimensions of the two principal works may be gathered from the fact, that the shades are nearly six feet high, the largest ever blown in England, and the flowers occupied nearly a year in modelling. It was the intention of Mrs. Peachey to forward these beautiful specimens of her skill to the Great Exhibition, where a prominent place on the ground-floor was assigned to them; but it appears, that, owing to subsequent arrangements, another space, in one of the galleries, was allotted to her, and not at all adapted to such costly and fragile productions. The heat of the sun, in such an exposed situation, would have damaged the flowers irreparably; and even if this objection did not exist, it would be impossible to have the enormous shades, with their delicate contents, raised by any machinery at command into the desired position. The exhibition is one of so novel and beautiful a character, that it will well repay a visit.—Morning Post.

* * * * *

The art of making flowers in wax has been brought to a very high degree of perfection by Mrs. Peachey, Her Majesty's artiste. There is not a floral production that she cannot truthfully and delicately reproduce with her kindly material, and she has lately executed a work which we believe defies competition in the department to which it belongs. This is an enormous bouquet, containing flowers of the most intricate structure, and supported by a rock, which peers from a lake of the brightest looking glass, decorated in its turn with waxen aquatic plants. All the flowers were modelled in the first instance from white wax, and the beautiful colours are all produced by painting. The whole group is enclosed by a shade, composed of four glass plates, so curved as to meet at the top.

The work in question is to be seen in Rathbone Place, but it was the intention of Mrs. Peachey that it should be seen at the Crystal Palace. According to her statement, she was led to believe that she would be allowed a ground-floor situation, but was only allowed a place in the gallery, so exposed to the sun, that the first hot day would have performed a work precisely the reverse of her own labours. Under these circumstances she has deemed it better that her flowers should blush unseen, than that they should melt away in a halo of visibility.

Into the Crystal controversy it is not our desire to enter, but we would testify to the excellence of Mrs. Peachey's work as being perfect of its kind.—The Times.

* * * * *

We yesterday inspected a beautiful collection of wax flowers by Mrs. Peachey, artiste to Her Majesty, now on private view at 35, Rathbone Place. We have seen many specimens of the elegant art of modelling in wax, but without exaggeration we may declare that more magnificent and truthful imitations of nature it has never been our lot to witness. The centre-piece is an immense bouquet of several hundred flowers, of almost every description, and every hue, from the gorgeous scarlet cactus to the virgin-tinted snowdrop, modelled with the closest fidelity, and arranged with exquisite taste. At the foot are models of the glorious water-lily of Guyana, the recently discovered Victoria Regia, in several stages of its development, from the close shut bud with its prickly calyx to the expanded flower. Some idea of the dimensions of this giant bouquet may be formed from the fact that it stands nearly six feet in height, and that the bent plate-glass shade with which it is covered alone cost L200.

Next to this in beauty as well as size is a vast group of fruit, fifty inches in height, the shade to which is itself a curiosity, being we believe, the largest for superficial dimensions ever yet blown in England. Besides, there are a number of smaller groups of flowers and fruit, all of singular beauty. We understand that Mrs. Peachey intended this collection for exhibition at the Crystal Palace; but, owing to some miscomprehension on the part of the commission, they have been reserved for private view. The place assigned to Mrs. Peachey was, we are informed, in one of the galleries, so close to the roof as to render the solar heat too dangerous for the extremely susceptible material of which these articles are composed.—Morning Advertiser.

* * * * *

Mrs. Peachey, the artiste to her Majesty, has on view at her residence, 35, Rathbone Place, some new examples of her extraordinary skill in wax painting, originally intended for the Exhibition, but not permitted to appear there in consequence of the locale assigned to them being at the top of the building, where, exposed to the action of the sun, they would be in peril of dissolution. The examples consist of two remarkable models—one an enormous and magnificent bouquet, consisting of hundreds of flowers of the most intricate structure and beautiful colouring, as well as the greatest diversity of character. The violet and the Cactus grandiflora, with the water-lily of Guiana, and the newly discovered Victoria regia, form part of this exquisite group.

All the flowers were modelled separately from white wax, and the colours afterwards superinduced. The bouquet stands six feet in height, and is covered with a bent glass shade. The other model is a group of fruitage, covered with a glass shade more than four feet high, and nearly three feet across, being the largest ever yet blown in England. It was manufactured from designs supplied by Mrs. Peachey herself, and cost L200. Nothing can be more picturesque or artistic than these models: full of wonderful detail which it is impossible to pursue, and implying a marvellous amount of labour and ingenuity, they lead us to regret that any misunderstanding should have led to their absence from the Crystal Palace.—Illustrated London News.

* * * * *

Ever willing to extend our protecting aegis to the weak and unsupported, we feel ourselves called upon at the present juncture to step into the arena as the defenders of several meritorious individuals whom we conceive to have met with the most unworthy treatment in regard to the exhibition, or rather the non-exhibition of their productions of art in the Crystal Palace. We have received a number of communications from artists of first-rate talent, complaining of the exercise of undue influence in official quarters, but we have been more immediately led into an investigation of the circumstances connected therewith, by a communication from Mrs. Peachey, of No. 35, Rathbone Place, Oxford Street, artiste in wax to Her Majesty. That lady's statement is nearly as follows:—that about twelve months ago, when the erection of the building in Hyde Park was spoken of, and the nature of its contents mentioned, she, feeling anxious to prove to the world that the very high and royal patronage she enjoyed was not unmerited, sent in her subscription of five guineas towards the construction of the building, and intimated her intention of sending in some specimens of her own works. She was immediately assigned a most elegant site for her display on the ground floor, in the avenue near the fountain.

Nothing could be more consonant to her wishes, and she forthwith sent in her pedestals and minor portions of framework, etc. Some time since, however, on questioning this gentleman as to the certainty of her getting the desired position, she was astonished at being told she must send her articles to No. 29, in the gallery. This she refused to do, and the consequence has been that the Exhibition has been deprived of some of its rarest specimens of art. The reason Mrs. Peachey assigns for not sending her works to the gallery is the impracticability of their being carried up stairs without being, from their extreme fragility, seriously injured, perhaps mutilated. Even were they to be slung up by tackle, she says they would be subject to the same risk, and her two principal works, viz.—an enormous bouquet of the most exquisitely modelled flowers, and a gigantic vase of fruit, she values at no less a sum than L1000.—Sunday Times.

* * * * *

A visit to Rathbone-place, is a stepping from the ordinary exhibitions of mere art to a miniature garden, in which may be seen grouped together the beautiful flowers and fruits of every season and every clime. We shall not attempt to describe with too nice minuteness the wonderful creations of this gifted lady's hand, but freely give our impressions as they came on our inspection of these completions—these perfections of art.

To name all the blushing subjects so fairly representing the rich and wide domain of Flora, would be far less easy of accomplishment, of enumeration, than to say that queen roses—the English rose—the delicate, the beautifully clothed lily—the crimson fuchsia—the acacia, and gorgeous tulip—the Victoria Regia, in all its stages of development, bud, blossom, flower,—were as the realities of stilly life, which seemed to say, in the expressive language of flowers—"put aside from us our glassy veils, remove our crystal shrines, that we may nod kisses to the wooing zephyrs."

Pomona, too, was there. Her thousand fruits clustered under transparent concaves. Grapes that might have moved Bacchus to press them with his rosy lips—peaches, melons, shiny currants, inviting strawberries, and crowning pineapples—all worthy the pencil of a Lance—glorious as the painting of nature, mockingly tempted us to seize the fairy prizes—reminding us of an anecdote of Swift. The facetious dean, with several friends, was invited to walk the rounds, and admire the delicious fruit bending the countless trees to the earth in the orchard of an "old acquaintance," who kindly pointed out to his most admiring guests the charming sweets by which they were surrounded; but, "sour grapes to them"—asked them not to make themselves "at home," nor offered pear nor apple. This was too much for Swift, who had a happy knack of inventing scraps of poetry to suit his purposes, and thus applied himself on the occasion; "I remember that my old grandmother had a saying:—

"Always take a peach When within your reach."

Action suited to the words quickly followed. The quick arch wit of St. Patrick's put forth his hand, and his good example was followed by all the company, who each took a peach, when within his reach. Now, we must confess that we were almost tempted to essay a similar feat of onslaught on Mrs. Peachey's magic garden, but were, fortunately for all future sight-seers, withheld by the consciousness that those many rainbow liveried sweets to the eye, were not for ourselves or Covent-garden, but were the triumphs of a skilful artiste.

And are these the works that have been, which are refused a fitting place in the high field of universal, peaceful rivalry and competition in the Crystal Palace for the works of all nations? What! Can this be possible? Here are the works of our own nation not there—excluded! Surely for the credit of the Exhibition—for the honorable name of the Executive Committee, there should be enquiry. The works cannot be said to be excluded upon their merits, for they have not been inspected by the authorities. There was, nay, there is room enough in the building in Hyde Park for this peerless and costly challenge of an English woman as an artiste. England in fair competition against the world! We looked for these gems of art in the Crystal Hall—but found them only in the catalogue! We asked where they were, and the nymph Echo answered "where!" If there be any unworthy motive for this, to us, incomprehensible exclusion of native art, let such be dissipated by the breath of public opinion. But we would fain persuade ourselves that there must be some misapprehension. The works of a lady—patronized by the Queen, to be excluded from an Exhibition open to the people of all nations—we cannot comprehend it; but for the honour and fame of the nation, hope to see in their proper places, works daily visited, and admired by the aristocracies of rank, wealth, and refined taste.

Mrs. Peachey has spared neither pains nor expense, the glass flower-shade having cost her L200; she has contributed to the Exhibition, and exhibits freely. The press has noticed the emanations of her genius, and we add our testimony.—West Kent Guardian.

* * * * *

And before passing from the wax flower group, we may add an expression of our regret, that differences of some kind prevented its including the very magnificent case and bouquet which had been prepared by Mrs. Peachey, one of the artistes in wax to her Majesty. The stand itself, which, with its contents, was on private view, is externally, more elegant than any of the cases in the Exhibition, and the flowers would have yielded to none in variety or brilliancy of tint. The reputation of Mrs. Peachey, whose artistic talent is of a first-rate description, would have justified the authorities in some concession, and would have enriched this department of the Exhibition with a feature of no ordinary beauty.—Illustrated London News.

* * * * *

We have inspected, at the private residence of Mrs. Peachey (in Rathbone Place, Oxford Street,) artiste in wax-work to Her Majesty, one of the most remarkable specimens of ingenuity and industry which London at present contains. This is an immense bouquet of wax flowers which that lady had prepared for the Crystal Palace, but which are not at present within its walls, for a reason to which we will presently advert. Let us first describe this really magnificent work. On four sturdy stone columns, tastefully designed, and edged with gold, is a looking-glass platform upwards of four-feet square, and representing water. From the centre of this fairy lake rises a glass column supporting a golden basket. In this is placed a bouquet some two feet high, and of proportionate girth, in which are clustered all the flowers we ever saw, and a great many which we never saw—from the humble favorites of our Rigolettes and Fleur de Maries, up to the floral aristocracy of the conservatory. There they are exquisitely reproduced in all their graces of form and colour, and arranged with the attention to contrast and general effect which bespeaks the superintending eye of the real artist. We are afraid to say how many hundred wax flowers compose this splendid bouquet; but we can safely say that, after having walked round and round it, and, as we thought, having completely examined it, the eye continually insisted on detecting some new variety, and we finally abandoned the hope of ever becoming acquainted with the whole. From the corners of the imitative waters rise various superb specimens of water plants, fresh, cool, opaque-looking, productions; and at the foot of the glass column, as if planted by accident, spring a few of our more common and very beautiful garden flowers. The whole is covered by an enormous bent glass shade, from the centre of which rises a pretty copy of Her Majesty's crown. Nothing can be more beautiful or in better taste than the object we have described. Near it is another vase, not so large, and filled with wax fruit of every kind—the bloom of the grape, the blush of the apple, the rich brown of the nut, the velvet of the apricot, the glow of the orange, and the characteristics of a hundred other fruits being represented with a tantalizing fidelity. We would have flogged the fellow who broke the Portland Vase, but we did not feel so sure, while gazing upon these admirable imitations of the most delicious fruits, that we should have been so severe upon some earnest gourmand who might dash down the vase of which we speak, in wrath that his eye and his palate had been so nobly cheated. The two vases, one of flowers, the other of fruits, are certainly the most sumptuous specimens of wax composition we ever saw.

As we have said, these works were intended by Her Majesty's artiste for the Great Exhibition. On her applying for a site, that lady states that a very admirable one was assigned her upon the ground-floor of the building, near the fountains. Upon her work being complete, she was directed to place it in the gallery. This, Mrs. Peachey considered would be to jeopardise it, from the danger so fragile a production would probably sustain in being taken up stairs, and still more from the heat of the sun, to which the wax would in that situation be exposed, and which would speedily produce Icarian results destructive to the work.—Bell's Weekly Messenger.

* * * * *

Two groups of flowers and fruit most tastefully and elaborately executed in wax by Mrs. Peachey, of Rathbone Place, have, we regret to say, been withdrawn from the Crystal Palace in consequence of an inappropriate position having been assigned them by the Committee. Mrs. Peachey, who stands unrivalled in this class of ornamental art, feeling herself aggrieved by the decision of the committee, has appealed from it to the judgment of the public, and with that view has placed her works in an apartment of her residence, 35, Rathbone Place, for inspection. The taste, the labour, the time bestowed on these magnificent works, must have been very great, and we fancy the visitors to the Crystal Palace will be greater losers by their absence from that repository than even the fair artiste herself, for they are deemed by all who have seen them the finest works of the kind ever executed.—Morning Herald.

* * * * *

We have several times during the past week inspected, with much gratification a magnificent bouquet of the most rare exotics, as also a large collection of grouped fruits, modelled entirely in wax, by Mrs. Peachey, Her Majesty's artiste in ordinary in that department of feminine accomplishment, and intended by that lady for competition in "the World's Fair." We have often had occasion to witness the extraordinary skill displayed by this lady in imitating the beauties of nature from her kindly materials, but we must confess (although previously informed that the present works outvied all the previous attempts of the artiste) that we were unprepared for designs and executions so exquisitely chaste and artistic, and true in the imitation of nature. What could have induced the executive committee of the Great Exhibition to decide upon excluding works of such elaborate labour and beauty, and these the works of an English artist, of the first standing, we are totally at a loss to conjecture. We say "excluding," for it is tantamount to exclusion to tell Mrs. Peachey that she must place such volatile work in a top gallery, exposed to the heat of a July sun, or withdraw them, although she had been previously allocated space on the basement of the building. Mrs. Peachey adopted the latter alternative, feeling it detrimental to her works, not only from the objectionable position assigned her, but also from the impossibility of having her cases, which are of a large size, conveyed into the gallery, without materially injuring designs of so fragile a nature.

It is to be regretted that Mrs. Peachey should be thus compelled to adopt a measure which has deprived the Exhibition of one of its rarest specimens of art, specimens which we are certain would severely test, if not outvie,—all other competitors in that department. We are glad to know, however, that the artiste's credit will not suffer from this harsh exclusion. The labour, skill, and expense she has bestowed are already duly appreciated by a discerning public, thousands of the elite of the aristocracy and gentry having already visited Mrs. Peachey at her residence in Rathbone-place, all of whom have expressed the most unequivocal satisfaction and delight at the beauty of the specimens, which, they allege, are far superior to any in the Exhibition. We ourselves strongly recommend our fair readers to inspect these inimitable works, feeling certain that they will continue to be pronounced the finest works of the kind ever executed.—Observer.

* * * * *

The complaints against the partiality and want of discrimination on the part of the executive committee of the Great Exhibition in the allotment of space to the would-be exhibitors are of daily and hourly recurrence. Among the grievances which are more especially injurious to the thorough development of British industry in the more delicate and refined art in feminine accomplishments, we may mention the case of Mrs. Peachey, of Rathbone-place, the "warranted" wax florist to Her Most Gracious Majesty. This lady, one of the earliest claimants for pedestal space, on the first announcement of the intended Congregation of the Industry of All Nations, we think, has been most harshly dealt by. Her first application was duly answered, and an allotment made her of space on the basement of the building near one of the fountains, and amongst the other gems of art. Subsequently, privately, she ascertained that some alteration was made with reference to her contributions; and, on application, it was intimated to her that, in consequence of "want of room," the executive had determined on transferring her cases to class 29, situated in one of the galleries. Mrs. Peachey, on inspecting the location, objected, on the just plea that wax flowers were liable to atmospheric influence from the great heat accruing from the glass roof and plate glass surrounding her flowers; and also their material and serious injury from the impracticability of moving her compositions, composed entirety of wax, up staircases without injuring her designs. The whole has resulted in the total exclusion of one of the most beautiful contributions, designed and arranged by one of our most honoured and worthy British Artists. Since Mrs. Peachey's exclusion has been known, her studio has been visited by the most aristocratic of the nobility and gentry, who have expressed the utmost indignation at her exclusion from the great competition in the World's Fair. The contributions, which occupy a small space, consist of the most rare exotic and indigenous flowers and fruits, which so closely imitate nature as nearly to deceive the spectator, and give him a desire to take and taste of the luscious banquet. Altogether the cases, which occupied her twelve months in completing, are worthy of inspection, a gratification which Mrs. Peachey affords the public by throwing open her rooms for public inspection. We recommend the admirers of imitative art to inspect these beautiful and artistic gems.—Expositor.

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A visit to Mrs. Peachey's Studio, in Rathbone-place, is like stepping into some garden of Fairy Land, where flowers of all seasons, and fruits of every clime present themselves at once to the eye in perennial bloom. The rose is there in all its varieties, the lily, the drooping fuchsia, the accasia, the gorgeous tulip, the dahlia, the Victoria Regia in all its stages of development, bud, blossom, flower. Grapes, too, that would have moved the jolly god to press them within his ruddy lips, peaches, nectarines, currants, strawberries, and crowning pine apples, in one rare trophy, worthy the study of a Lance. Our feelings at the moment recalled vividly an amusing anecdote of Swift. The facetious Dean with several friends was invited to walk the rounds and admire the fruit in the garden of an old acquaintance, who pointed out all the beauties of his orchard, without, however, asking the company to partake of any of the tempting display. This was too much for Swift, who having a happy art of inventing rhymes to suit his purposes, applied it in the following manner on the occasion; "I remember," said he, stopping under a very heavy laden bough, "that my dear old grandmother had a saying which ran thus—

"Always pluck a peach When within your reach."

Suiting the action to the word, he quickly put forth his hand and took and ate—an example which was not lost on those who accompanied him. Now we candidly confess that we were in an unguarded moment tempted to essay a similar onslaught on Mrs. Peachey's fruits, but, fortunately for all future visitors, were withheld by the magnificent glass shades which protect these triumphs of art. And are these the works that have been—that are refused a fitting place in that great field of universal rivalry, the Crystal Palace! What! can it be possible? Here are works of our own nation not there—excluded! Surely, for the credit of the artiste, and for its own honorable name, the Executive Committee should enquire into the matter, and if there be any unworthy motive for this, to us, incomprehensible exclusion of native art, let such be at once and for ever dissipated by the breath of public opinion. There is still ample space for them in the great building; and we hope yet to see them there in their proper place. Mrs. Peachey has spared neither labor nor expense to render her works worthy of her reputation, and the continuance of that exalted patronage which she has long enjoyed in Her Gracious Majesty the Queen, and the highest among the aristocracy, and of the honor of her country. We were glad to perceive, on our visit, that although excluded from their place among the nations, these exquisite works are eagerly sought after and admired by crowds of the elite of fashion and taste.—Globe.

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This highly talented lady (artiste to Her Majesty) has now on private view, at her residence, 35, Rathbone-place, Oxford-street, two splendid works of art, which were intended to have been placed in the Crystal Palace, but the space allotted to her in one of the galleries, being not at all adapted to such delicate productions, Mrs. Peachey was compelled to refrain from carrying out her intention. These beautiful productions, the sole work of Mrs. Peachey, (who is self-taught,) comprise a monster bouquet of flowers, and a large vase of fruit. The former comprehends specimens of almost every flower known in this country, from the simple violet to the full-blown magnolia; whilst in the latter we have specimens of the principal English fruits, including the luscious pine apples and the unpretending currant. Both groups are most tastefully arranged, and an enormous expense has been incurred in the getting up of the stands and glass shades. We advise our readers not to omit seeing Mrs. Peachey's novel and truly beautiful works, and we predict they will be abundantly gratified by their visit to her Exhibition.—Reading Mercury.

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Mrs. Peachey's group of wax flowers, modelled for the Glass Palace, is now on view at her house in Rathbone-place. Mrs. Peachey, it seems, refused the space assigned her by the Committee, on the ground that heat and darkness would, the one have destroyed, and the other shrouded the marvels of her skill. The bouquet (which is in a glass case, unsurpassed for chasteness and beauty of design) is on a gigantic scale, and contains among the rarest exotics the pride of the conservatory and the garden. We were as much surprised as delighted, on paying a visit during the past week at the skill which can imitate, and even rival, nature in her most attractive aspects. Conspicuous among the lilies, and other water flowers lining the base, is the Victoria Regia in its several states. The botanist and the florist will dwell delightedly on the cricae, orchids, cacti, the night-flowering cereus, etc., besides numberless others more familiar to us.—Dispatch.

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An exhibition of wax flowers, at the residence (in Rathbone-place) of Mrs. Peachey the artiste, is a perfect curiosity of its kind. Almost every variety of English flower, exquisitely coloured, is massed into an enormous bouquet, surprising alike from the largeness of the conception and the minuteness of the execution. This beautiful piece of art was prepared for the Great Exhibition, but withdrawn by Mrs. Peachey in consequence of her dissatisfaction with the place reserved for her.—Examiner.

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We have inspected, at the private residence of Mrs. Peachey (in Rathbone-place, Oxford-street), artiste in wax work to Her Majesty, one of the most remarkable specimens of ingenuity and industry which London at present contains. This is an immense bouquet of wax flowers which that lady had prepared for the Crystal Palace, but were not within its walls, for a reason to which we will presently advert. Let us first describe this really magnificent work. On four sturdy stone columns, tastefully designed, and edged with gold, is a looking-glass platform upwards of four feet square, and representing water. From the centre of this fairy lake rises a glass column supporting a golden basket. In this is placed a bouquet some two feet high, and of proportionate girth, in which are clustered all the flowers we ever saw, and a great many which we never saw—from the humble favorites of our Rigolettes and Fleur de Maries, up to the floral aristocracy of the conservatory. There they are exquisitely reproduced in all their graces of form and colour, and arranged with the attention to contrast and general effect which bespeaks the superintending eye of a real artiste. We are afraid to say how many hundred wax flowers compose this splendid bouquet; but we can safely say that, after having walked round and round it, and, as we thought, having completely examined it, the eye continually insisted on detecting some new variety, and we finally abandoned the hope of ever becoming acquainted with the whole. From the corners of the imitative waters rise various superb specimens of water plants, fresh, cool, opaque-looking productions; and at the foot of the glass column, as if planted by accident, spring a few of our more common and very beautiful garden flowers. The whole is covered by an enormous bent glass shade, from the centre of which rises a pretty copy of Her Majesty's crown. Nothing can be more beautiful or in better taste than the object we have described. Near it is another vase, not so large, and filled with wax fruit of every kind—the bloom of the grape, the blush of the apple, the rich brown of the nut, the velvet of the apricot, the glow of the orange, and the characteristics of a hundred other fruits being represented with a tantalizing fidelity. We would have flogged the fellow who broke the Portland Vase, but we did not feel so sure, while gazing upon these admirable imitations of the most delicious fruits, that we should have been so severe upon some earnest gourmand who might dash down the vase of which we speak, in wrath that his eye and his palate had been so nobly cheated. The two vases, one of flowers, the other of fruits, are certainly the most sumptuous specimens of wax composition we ever saw.

As we have said, these works were intended by Her Majesty's artiste for the Great Exhibition. On her applying for a site, that lady states, that a very admirable one was assigned her upon the ground-floor of the building, near the fountains. Upon her work being complete, she was directed to place it in the gallery. This Mrs. Peachey considered would be to jeopardise it, from the danger so fragile a production would probably sustain in being taken up stairs, and still more from the heat of the sun, to which the wax would in that situation be exposed, and which would speedily produce Icarian results destructive to the work. We are not disposed to enter into the question in any spirit of censure. We know too well the innumerable difficulties with which the Executive Committee have had to contend in arranging the contents of the enormous building, to cavil at any decision they may have arrived at; but we have now had the opportunity of seeing two very beautiful works of English industry which would have been a credit to the Exhibition.—Morning Chronicle.

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Those forms which our continental neighbours take such wondrous care in imitating in the perishable material of muslin, Mrs. Peachey, Her Majesty's artiste, of 35, Rathbone-place, endeavours to perpetuate in the more endurable materials of wax. Naturally afraid of jeopardising the work on which so much time and labour has been bestowed, Mrs. Peachey has withheld her contribution from the Great Exhibition; whether wisely or not, we are not here called upon to pronounce.

We can only bear witness to the evidently botanical fidelity of execution with which the forms and colours so lavishly spread throughout nature have been mimicked. In wax work generally, one is made painfully aware of the all-powerful presence of the forceps, but here we notice little or nothing of the kind, this is especially the case with the small blossoms, which expand their petals throughout a monster bouquet in wax.

In thus perfecting the imitative arts, however, no sense should be left unsatisfied; to the pleasure of seeing, might be super-added that of smelling. But in this further aim might be lost sight of that great object, viz., utility, which at present is one of the aims successfully attained by Mrs. Peachey.—Daily News.

FINIS.

W. N. HORTON, Printer, London and Greenwich.



Transcriber's Endnotes:

The following significant errors have been corrected:

Pg. xvi. "Lilium Lancefolium" to Lilium Lancifolium. Pg. xvi & 42. "Mignionette" to Mignonette. Pg. xvi. "Passa Flora" to Passiflora. Pg. xvi. "Tulip, Vanthols" to Tulip, Van Thol. Pg. xvi. "Cheiranthus Cheri" to Cheiranthus Cheiri. Pg. 13. "convolvolus" to convolvulus. Pg. 58. "Sir R. Scomburgh" to Sir R. Schomburgk.

Spelling errors in the press extracts remain as printed, but have been noted below:

Pg. 69. "accasia" should be acacia. Pg. 70. "cricae" should be cricaea.

THE END