Art in Theory. Группа авторов
of nature were separated, connected and arranged in so judicious a manner as to compose one whole, in which there was no inconsistency or unmeaning jumble of objects; but such an order and proportion as generally prevail in scenes entirely natural. No round or oval, square or oblong lawns, with the grass shorn off close to the roots, were to be found any where in those grounds. The Chinese are particularly expert in magnifying the real dimensions of a piece of land, by a proper disposition of the objects intended to embellish its surface; for this purpose, tall and luxuriant trees of the deepest green were planted in the fore ground, from whence the view was to be taken; whilst those in the distance gradually diminished in size and depth of colouring; and in general the ground was terminated by broken and irregular clumps of trees, whose foliage varied as well by the different species of trees in the group, as by the different times of the year in which they were in vigour; and oftentimes the vegetation was apparently old and stunted, making with difficulty its way through the clefts of rocks, either originally found or designedly collected upon the spot. […]
The only circumstance which militated against the picturesque in the landscape of the Chinese was the formal shape and glaring colouring of their buildings. Their undulating roofs are, however, an exception to the first part of the charge; and their projection throws a softening shadow upon the colonnade which supports it. Some of those high towers, which Europeans call pagodas, are well adapted objects for vistas, and are, accordingly, for the most part, placed on elevated situations.
Notwithstanding the just ideas which the Chinese conceive of ornamental gardening, and the taste with which they dispose of every object to the greatest advantage, they are not only ignorant of the principles of perspective, and of the gradations of light and shade, but are utterly insensible of their effect, as appeared from their own performances with the pencil. When, likewise, several portraits by the best European artists, intended as presents for the Emperor, were exposed to view, the mandarins, observing the variety of tints occasioned by the light and shade, asked whether the originals had the right and left sides of the figure of different colours? They considered the shadow of the nose as a great imperfection in the picture; and some supposed it to have been placed there by accident.
An Italian missionary at the court of Pekin, of the name of Castiglione, who was an excellent painter, received orders from the Emperor to paint for him several pictures; but it was intimated to him at the same time to imitate the Chinese style of painting, and not that of Europe, which was considered as unnatural. Accordingly, in the performances meant to decorate the palace, houses above houses are seen in regular gradation to the top of the picture; figures in the fore and back ground are all of the same size, setting, in fact, nature and the senses at defiance. He also painted a set of characters occupied in the different trades of China. The pencilling and colouring of these were incomparably well executed; but for want of the proper shadows, the whole was without effect. Yet they please the Chinese in preference to any specimen of the arts that could be brought from Europe.’
The Chinese, indeed, seem to consider shade as an accidental circumstance, which ought not to be carried from nature to a picture, from which it takes away a part of the eclat and uniformity of colouring; and as to the representation of objects at different distances, they prefer having them drawn, not as they appear to the eye, gradually diminishing as they recede from it, but of their actual size, as determined by the judgement correcting the errors of sight: errors necessary, however, to the beauty and consistency of landscape. The ill effect of paintings executed in conformity to such notions, must operate as a discouragement to the art … Tho the Chinese fail in grouping figures, and in every part of composition and design, they succeed in drawing individual objects. They are particularly happy in the delineation of natural history; the different subjects appearing not only correct, but with the features and attitudes of nature, and with an exactness so minute, that a Chinese painter sometimes reckons the number of scales upon a fish which he is to represent; the whole with a brilliance of colouring, the more surprising as it is found to be owing to the more patient and careful levigation of the same pigments which are used in Europe. Some European prints have been copied by them, and coloured with an effect which has attracted the admiration of the best judges; and a gentleman eminent for his taste in London has now in his possession a coloured copy made in China of a print from a study of Sir Joshua Reynolds, which he deems not unworthy of being added to his collection of valuable paintings.
Notes
1 1 Charles Jervas was an Irish portrait painter who achieved success in London in the early eighteenth century. His portrait of Lady Mary is now in the National Gallery of Ireland. [Editors’ note.]
2 2 The Battle of ‘Peterwaradin’ in 1716 saw a decisive victory by European forces over an Ottoman army led by Grand Vizier Damat Ali, whose palace is described in the extracts. [Editors’ note.]
3 1 For the Chinese concept of sharawadgi, alluded to by Addison, see IC15. [Editors’ note.]
4 1 stately tulips of the east: The tulip is a flower of eastern growth, and there held in great estimation. Thus, in an ode of Mesihi:– ‘The edge of the bower is filled with the light of Ahmed: among the plants, the fortunate tulips represent his companions.’
5 2 certain cages of the ladies: There are many passages of the Moallakat in which these cages are fully described. Thus, in the poem of Lebeid:– ‘How were thy tender affections raised, when the damsels of the tribe departed; when they hid themselves in carriages of cotton, like antelopes in their lair, and the tents as they were struck gave a piercing sound!‘They were concealed in vehicles, whose sides were well covered with awnings and carpets, with fine‐spun curtains and pictured veils.’Again, Zohair:– ‘They are mounted in carriages covered with costly awnings, and with rose‐coloured veils, the lining of which have the hue of crimson andemwood.’ Moallakat, by Sir W. Jones p. 46. 35. See also Lady M. W. Montague. Let. xxvi.
6 3 magnificent tecthtrevan: This kind of moving throne, though more common, at present, than in the days of Vathek, is still confined to persons of the highest rank.
7 4 baths of rose water: The use of perfumed waters for the purpose of bathing is of an early origin in the East, where every odoriferous plant breathes a richer fragrance than is known to our more humid climates. The rose which yields this lotion is, according to Hasselquist, of a beautiful pale bluish colour, double, large as a man’s fist, and more exquisite in scent than any other species. The quantities of this water distilled annually at Fajhum, and carried to distant countries, is immense. The mode of conveying it is in vessels of copper, coated with wax. Voyag. p. 248.
IIB Curiosities and Colonies
IIBI Hans Sloane (1660–1753) from The Natural History of Jamaica
Hans Sloane was the greatest collector of his age. He amassed an enormous quantity of artefacts, both natural and of human manufacture, in a period before the now conventional distinction between the natural and the human sciences had coalesced. In later life Sloane rose to become President of the Royal Society, and after his death, his collection formed the nucleus of the British Museum. Sloane is hard to represent in the present anthology, though, despite the fact that his activities were a foundation stone of the anthropological museum, an institution which has had incalculable influence on the way people experience art and material culture in the modern world. He wrote little in the way of extended discussion of his collection. However, in his early career he had travelled to Jamaica, and during his fifteen‐month stay made notes on the island’s flora and fauna which subsequently became the basis of his extensive book. Only towards the end of his introduction does Sloane devote a few words to the culture and conditions of Jamaica’s inhabitants. They are, nonetheless, revealing of two things. First, an untroubled acceptance of slavery co‐existing with a scrupulously scientific attitude to documenting natural phenomena. Second, the sheer resilience of slave culture in conditions of ‘bare life’ that defy modern comprehension. Given the subsequent role of music in African‐American – and hence in world – culture, Sloane’s brief description of musical instruments and dancing lays another (this time presumably unwitting) foundation stone for a very different cultural edifice: black popular music (cf. the account