96

EXPOSITION  AT  VIENNA.

Of  common  brick,  2,801,832,000  were  made,  and  37,-428,000
  pressed  brick  and  60,072,000  fire-brick.  In
tbe  city  of  Philadelphia  alone,  the  product  is  commonly
believed  to  exceed  one  hundred  millions  (100,000,000)
annually.

Terra-Cotta.
In  the  industry  of  architectnral  terra-cotta  we  have  a
revival  of  a  most  ancient  art,  practised  by  the  Egyptiaus,
Assyriaus,  and  the  Chaldeans;  familiär  to  the  Greeks  and
Romans;  and  not  unknown  in  Europe  in  the  middle  ages.
Terra-cotta  enamelled  decorated  surfaces  in  colors  are  also
ancient.  Beckwith  says  :  "  The  distinctive  feature  of  Babylonian
  architecture  is  the  profuse  employment  of  colored  decoration.
  The  temple  towers  of  the  Chaldeans  were  built  in
inany  stories,  faced  with  enamelled  brieks  of  colors  corresponding
  to  the  planets.  In  the  Temple  of  the  Moon  at
Mughier,  brieks  or  tiles,  glazed  with  a  blue  enamel,  were
fastened  externally  to  walls  of  burnt  brick.  The  domestic
dwellings  of  the  Chaldeans  were  ornamented  externally  by
diapered  patterns  of  colored  brieks,  and  internally  with  colored ­
  cones  of  terra-cotta.”  *  The  colors  used  in  ancient
Egyptian  decoration  were  red,  yellow,  blue  and  green.
Black  and  white  were  added,
The  greatly  increased  use  of  terra-cotta  dates  from  the
commencement  of  the  last  decade,  and  it  has  been  steadily
finding  favor  with  architects  and  the  public.  When  properly
  made  it  has  great  strength,—eveu  greater  than  many
kinds  of  stone  used  for  buildiug,—and,  as  regards  durability,
it  is  superior.  Mr.  Henry  Cole  says  :  "  It  is  more  durable
than  even  ordiuary  granite,  as  may  be  seen  on  the  lodge  in
Merrion  Square,  Dublin,  which  was  built  about  1786.  The
granite  mouldings  there  are  cut  in  stone  from  the  Wicklow
mountains;  they  are  all  worn  away  and  rounded  by  the  action
  of  the  rain,  while  Coade’s  terra-cottas,  dated  1788,  are
as  sharp  as  when  they  were  first  placed  on  this  lodge.”  f
Another  example  is  found  in  Sutton  House,  in  Surrey,  which
is  covered  with  terra-cotta,  ornamented  about  the  year  1530
*  Pottery,  Terra-Cotta,  Stonewure,  Fire-Brick,  etc.,  by  Arthur  Beckwith,  p.  86.
t  Reports  on  the  Paris  Universal  Exhibition,  1867,  II.,  415.