e,
and formed of two bowls reversed, decorated with acanthus and lotus in
repousee ornament. This is of eighteenth century workmanship, and was
formerly the property of Runjeet Sing. The precious metal is thinly laid
on, according to the Eastern method, the wood underneath the gold taking
all the weight.

There is also a collection of plaster casts of portions of temples and
palaces from a very early period until the present time, several having
been sent over as a loan to the Indian and Colonial Exhibition of 1886,
and afterwards presented by the Commissioners to the Museum.

A careful observation of the ornamental details of these casts leads us to
the conclusion that the Byzantine style which was dominant throughout the
more civilized portion of Asia during the power of the Romans, had
survived the great changes of the Middle Ages. As native work became
subject more or less to the influence of the Indo-Chinese carvers of
deities on the one side, and of the European notions of the Portuguese
pioneers of discovery on the other, a fashion of decorative woodwork was
arrived at which can scarcely be dignified by the name of a style, and
which it is difficult to describe. Dr. Birdwood, in his work on Indian
Art, points out that, about a hundred years ago, Indian designs were
affected by the immigration of Persian designers and workmen. The result
of this influence is to be seen in the examples in the Museum, a short
notice of which will conclude these remarks on Indian work.

The copy in shishem wood of a carved window at Amritzar, in the Punjaub,
with its overhanging cornice, ornamental arches, supported by pillars, and
the whole surface covered with small details of ornament, is a good
example of the sixteenth and seventeenth century work. The various facades
of dwelling-houses in teak wood, carved, and still bearing the remains of
paint with which part of the carving was picked out, represent the work of
the contemporary carvers of Ahmedabad, famous for its woodwork.

Portions of a lacquer work screen, similar in appearance to embossed gilt
leather, with the pattern in gold, on a ground of black or red, and the
singular Cashmere work, called "mirror mosaic," give us a good idea of the
Indian decoration of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This
effective decoration is produced by little pieces of looking-glass being
introduced into the small geometrical patterns of the panels; these, when
joined together,