a tray, of a simple form—circular, with a
scalloped rim—with a handful of glowing
verbenas in the middle; so natural, as to
deserve to take a good place in any school of
flower-painting.

From this room, full of landscape and
flower-painting, of arabesques and mosaic, of
pearl, and gilding, and burnish; of couches
and tables, screens, allumettes, card-cases,
paper-knives, pen-dishes, rosaries, hearth-brush
cases, desks, jewel-boxes, and a host of
other beauties, we went at once among the
primary elements of the manufacture. The
first thing we saw was the model of the great
tray for the Pasha of Egypt. The rim hung
against the wall, giving no idea of the beauty
which was to grow out of it. Next, we passed
a pile of the paper, as it came from the mill
—simple grey blotting-paper, which tears
with a touch. Some women were pasting
sheets of this paper, one upon another, on a
model—the paste being made of flour, glue,
and boiling-water. A man who was covering
the model of a tray, where the stress would
fall between the level part and the rim, was
pasting slips of paper from the one to the
other. The advantage of thus uniting a great
number of sheets, over every other method of
producing the same thickness, is that the
faulty spot of one sheet comes between a
sound portion of two others; and thus an
equality of substance is produced. An
ordinary tea-tray, which is about a quarter of an
inch thick, is made of ten layers, or about
thirty sheets of paper. The greatest thickness
attained (without a hollow) is that of six
inches; a wonderful solidity to be obtained
from paper.

And here we found—what we were far
from thinking of—a new illustration of the
mischief of the paper-duty. The duty paid on
this paper is three-halfpence per pound; and
the price is sixpence halfpenny. For a
cheaper and coarser manufacture, the
fragments of this paper, together with rags, are
reduced to a pulp at the paper-mill; and this
pulp (which may be called the " devil's dust"
of the papier mâché manufacture) is pressed
into form, and used for the cheapest trays. A
set of three trays, of this material, can be sold
for ten shillings. In the raw state, the sheets
look like thick oat-cake. The material does
not admit of good finish; and, what is of far
more importance, it has little wear in it. It
may be torn by the hand; it easily bursts
asunder when burdened with any heavy
weight. But the duty is only three-farthings
per pound on this mashed paper; and the
cheapness thus occasioned causes a preference
for the bad article over the good,
which would be accessible but for this duty.
Messrs. Jennens and Bettridge do not affix
their names to the articles they make of this
material, because they cannot warrant the
wear, and cannot be proud of the workmanship.
They have represented to the Excise the
mischief that is done by this duty, in depraving
the manufacture; and they have even asked
that, if the duty cannot be removed from the real
paper, it may be laid equally upon the paper-pulp;
that the manufacturer and the buyer
may have a fair chance of producing and
enjoying a good article. The potentates of
the Excise have listened respectfully, and
promised consideration; and the thing to
be desired next is, that their consideration
should be quickened and deepened by a popular
demand for the repeal of the duty.
Official men should know, that while authors
and publishers are straitened in their best
enterprises by this duty, and the upholsterer
cannot fully display his art in paper-hanging, the
humble housewife is mourning over the wrecks
of her best china, smashed by the tea-tray
having burst across the middle. One would
like, too, that—as it is quite possible to put
such a luxury within common use—the cottage
tray should have the smoothness and polish
of a mirror, instead of being rough and dull,
even when new.

Articles which are flat, or merely curved,
are removed from the mould simply by
cutting off the overlapping edges. Round
articles, such as vases, allumette stands, and
hearth-brush cases, are split, and joined
together by glue. Every article is subjected to
strong pressure, in various presses, to prevent
warping. After that, the processes are the
same as in cabinet-making, allowance being
made for the material being harder to work
than wood. When thin, it is lighter than
wood: or, rather, its texture admits of its
being used thinner; for, in the mass, it is
heavier than wood. The reason why
screen-stands, the legs of work-tables, and feet of
pillars, are so light, is, that the material admits of
their being made hollow. They are formed on
a mould, and paper is afterwards pasted over
the bottom, leaving a hollow space within.

The rough articles are now brought under
the saw, the plane, the chisel, the file, and the
lathe, as if they were wood. The sharp edges
and round mouldings, which come out from
the rough surface in the lathe, are curious to
see, when one considers what the material
really is. A final smoothing is given by
sand-paper, before the varnish is applied. The
varnish (shellac) is obtained from the same
manufactory which supplies the coachmakers.
The articles are " stoved,"—put into ovens,
where the varnish turns black under a heat
of two hundred and thirty degrees. Fresh
coats of varnish are laid on—from twelve to
eighteen, according to circumstances; and
the articles, after each coating, remain in the
stoves from twelve to twenty-four hours.
This must be unwholesome work to the
superintendents of the process. The heat of the
stove rooms is very great, and the smell of
baked varnish almost intolerable to novices.

In the midst of the series of varnishings
occur the decorative processes. A large
quantity of goods, partly varnished, and
smoothed by being rubbed with pumice-stone,