ged and other stands disposed,
loaded and groaning with this rich accumulation.

Great splendour and richness of material, the lavish use of jewels in
the decoration, and the brilliant colour derived from the employment
of enamels are characteristics of eastern art in the precious metals.
But while we are struck by the delicacy and refinement with which
these are employed by many eastern countries, and while we admire
the taste and harmony of colour displayed by the workmen of India
or of Persia, it must be confessed that the Russian tempted by the
glitter and display which are so much in accordance with his own
taste, has been unable to use the same judgment as those whom he
has taken as his models. Few would deny that there reigns throughout
his work that quality which is best expressed by the term--barbaric
magnificence. This is not vulgarity: such a term is not applicable;
it is the outcome of the desire which is to be found amongst all
nations who have attained a certain degree of civilization and
riches to impose respect and awe by a lavish display of material
wealth or by the use of gorgeous colour, which always calls forth
the admiration of the multitude.

In the plate and jewelled ornament which we find in the treasury
of the Kremlin, we shall find that Russian taste was fond of solid
material and ornament, enriched with many and large precious stones
of value. All Oriental nations have ever loved to accumulate riches
of this description which, at the same time that they are of use
as ornament, are also of intrinsic value. The crowns, and thrones,
and sceptres, the ornaments of the imperial costume, the gold and
silver plate and vases and other precious objects of the court
of the Tsars have, therefore, a character of solid splendour, a
want of refinement and delicacy, which is almost uniformly
characteristic. Still they are not deficient in a certain grandeur
and even elegance, and in details there is much that is admirable,
much that is strikingly original.

By far the greater number of pieces that we shall find in the Kremlin
and elsewhere belong to the Seventeenth Century. In the treasury
of the Kremlin we have but one piece of the Twelfth Century and
some few of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. All the rest
are later.

The entire number of pieces in the Kremlin amounts to sixteen hundred.
After the disasters of 1612, all the ancient plate for the service
of the Tsar's table was melted down and