There can be no doubt that the response of private residents possessing objects of curious interest, whether modern or antique, beautiful or merely quaint, to the request: made by those who have worked hard to arrange a Loan Exhibition was not 89 generous as mizht well have been the case, Notwithstanding this, when the doors vf che Town Hall were thrown open on Thursday afternoon they gave the public access to an excellent display. The ex hibition has been arranged on behalf of
Thomas Hanbury Home, objects which—the Shanting Road Hospital and. the 80 deserving uro they of all support—should act as an additional attraction in securing " large attendance on the three days which it is to last.
the exhibits were arranged in the centre and round the walls of the great hall, while the platform at the far ent was occupied by the Town Band, sweetly dis coursing under Signor Valenza, Tt is in the nature of things tha the whole scene should not have any spectacular effect, but the Keonost pleasure is to be found ina slow tour of the room, giving to each article the attention it deserves. There are cloisonne, old and new, Satsuma ware, Irasses freakishly and simply design: ed, exquisite" Japanese work, Inequer, in laid ivory, bronze josses, Buddhas, "ssu per screens, coins of distinguished ug and remarkable design, incans" burners of remote dynasties, temple bells, embroidery, ancient" missils, and A host of other things.
There are good examples of nearly all Dranches of Chinese are, both ancient and modern, and many fine things from Japan. Visi'ors should be enabled to loxrm much from the exhibits, as the exhibition cards give in nearly every case the peried to which the article belongs. Among the porce-Lain objects there are two gems of sang de Teeuf, One is a fine example of the orange-peel surface with a soft yellowish red tint, the other is a richer red with a fine crackle guze. There are many pieces of blue and white, but certainly the two pieces sh-w by Mr, Fobrs are the best. The blue is the true cobalt, the outline is clear and the white soft and pure; visitors will note the difference between such examples of blue and white us those and the confused muddy colouring of modern pieces. Celadon and crackle are fairly well represented, but there is not much ego shell, One of the best pieces of porcelain is the vase in the centre stand exhibited by Mr. Lemiére. The brass is certainly finer than the porcelain, and some of the best things in the exhibition are the old specimens, the property of Mr. Arbuthnot, Tnese show the beautiful greenish tint of genuine antiquity, which is so utterly Gifferont to the spurious colouring which is painted on_movlern brass to give it the appearance of age. There is one vase probably. more than 2,000 years old, for Which Tls. 12,000 is asked and which is very remarkable for its extraordinary green surface resembling jade. The seven tale period 1426-1435 appears to have Leen years, and that it is appreciated is shown extraordinarily prolific in brass from the by, the thousands of pa"r people who come number of exhibits which belong to this, to seck relief from their sufferings, They reign.
There is some fine modern Chinese cloisonne exhibited by Mr. Moreau, which we believe has recently been brought down, from Peking.
Japanese art is exhibited in two Susuma vases belonging to Mr. V. Dent and some heantifol modern examples Kuhn and Komor's treasures.
There is a collection of coins said to date from shout B.C. 2300, but we much doubt whether they are anything like as old as that; in fact we are informed that no such coins or tokens as are exhibited in this collection are prior in date t-. B.C. 600, The fine old printed books shown by Mr. Lemidre are most interesting and beautiful in every way Probably the best specimens in the room are the antique brass belonging to Mr. Arbuthnot, dating from about 900-1200 A.D. and the Inter specimens shown by Mr. Probst and Mr. Seaman.
There is a good deal of very fair Ming porcelain and some very nice examples of jen-lung, which slow the various styles and colouring in use at this elastic perind.
The jade is also well represented, but few foreigners appreciate this kind of art, which seems to lack both the beauty of form and of colour.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.