Pekin. Ijfiirapeau.jprinfshave been copied b y them, and eolmired
wiihian effect whieh..has;attracted the admiration: ©fithe
fees# jjfidget j and atigantlemari: eminent for his taste id
London*, has now ,in ’ hisKpoSsessi6h . a fcolonied :uopy>
madedn China, of a , print .from' a study .of Sir Joshua
Rej^Qjdsjjwh|^h*?d#Ets not un worth y-roibeing^added
to his collectioniQf(valuable paintings;: '.
“ The imitative pOwprsioSthe^Mne^el”; Mr. Barrow
indeed, observes,. “ have long ..been noticed§ but the
‘‘ little communication they,have»with otheri nations,.
tirand the- want; dfoencouragemeht from their: owri sgnifi
“ verament, founded on. the poLiGy-jof discountenancin.g
* ‘ luxury and promoting labour, particularly :thdt of agtii:
«culture, seem to be the chief causes tliat hayWfapgra!^d
“ against a progressive state o f the,arts i n China-. Thus,’”:
he adds* “ their knowledge i n Seulpturedsstill deficient
“ in regard to form, attitude, ’and proportion. They
‘k hayfe) indeed* with thesttfeli orieMsef, the.art -ofButting
‘ ‘ stone j | wood, or iyopy,-1 remarkably. ?sharp. andcdearrl'
“ •but their productions are sometimes distorted, and u®*
“ naitural. The human figure:is often oiitnf due propor-
tion. Their aversion to anatomy might partly: be the
Hi-dause. They do not succeed better in tiieirepresfenta-
“ lion of a lion. There are two large .bronze figures of
“ that animal on two marble .-pedestals before bne b f tHe
“ gateways leading to the hall of audience at Yuen-min-
S‘ yuen. The metal had been cast in small pieces, which
“ are fitted together in a v ery, ingenious manner, tho
“.there are-.atdeast a hundred different pieops in each
“^figure ; but so. totally, unlike are they to what-.they
“ were intended to represent, as appears by the annexed
“ engraving of one,*pf them, that they might almost be
“ mistaken for knights in armour, with periwigs such as.
Were4worn in the time of King>Charles;.” 4»;
- : The lion,:however, maybe considered^as.a creature
bf t-he imagination among.the.Chinese. Ittiin o t bred in
thet country. It has not been brought»amongst them,
either -.a§ a present to the, sovereign, or as,, an object of
Pekin.-