98
EXPOSITION AT VIENNA.
plastering or decoratiou is requirecl. The joints of this worlc
were made with great care, the mortar heilig freely used,
hut uniform in thickness in each course, and rounded over
between the bricks.* The joints are striped in black, contrasting
well with the buff color of the bricks. A variety of
designs was introduced in the entablatures and pilasters,
chiefly in the Rennaissance; tkose ou oue side being plain
red, and on the other euamelled in colors. Medallions were
inserted in the fagade, and terra-cotta groups of figures
adorned the top.
Within the area of this construction, below, there was room
enough for the exhibition, on tables and counters, of the
various articles made by the Company. Bricks, of all the
varieties and forrns, were to be found there: some plain,
some euamelled white, blue, or green; some wedge-shaped,
for arches, and many with rounded, curved, and moulded
angles, designed for the ornamentation of window-openings,
for string-courses, and other parts of buildings. Here, too,
were to be found a variety of decorative objects in bold relief,
such as bas-reliefs, slabs, fillets, parts of cornices and
medallions, designed for insertion in the fagades of buildings,
—the same, in fact, as were shown in their proper settings in
the front of the archway. All these were noteworthy for
their boldness and elegance of design, sharpness of relief and
brilliant coloring, fitting them for decorative purposes high up
in the fronts of buildings. The Company also exhibited a
variety of tiles for paving and for roofing purposes, the bitter
being either plain or glazed in a variety of colors, thus facilitating
the chromatic decoratiou of roofs. There were also small
hollow bricks with glazed faces. A majolica wall-fountain is
worthy of mention, and was purchased by the Austrian Art
Museum for its collection.
A large part of this collection—the smaller objects, bricks,
tiles, fillets, etc.—was presented by the Company to the
* The quantity of mortar used in laying bricks varies in different countries. Much,
of course, depends upon the form of the brick. If they are warped or curved; if, as
is generally the case even with pressed brick, the corners “ droop,” the thickness of
the bedding must be suffleient to permit an average adjustment in the course to a
level surface. In coarse work in France the ratio in volume of the joints or mortar
to the whole mass of masonry is, as 17 or 18 to 100. But in finer work, whcre a better
quality of mortar or plaster is used, the ratio is reduced to 10 or 12 to 100.
