n will take the dust or mud of the street for her polishing
powder, the result of her labours is that the vessels shine
brilliantly. They are the more beautiful because, in order that
cleanliness may be assured by the smooth, unbroken surface, they are
quite unadorned.

It has sometimes been discussed whether the specimens of old Indian
brass in museums should be polished or not, and some collectors
carefully preserve the old tarnish. It would be impossible in the
English climate to keep the objects continually bright, without
infinite labour; but it is well to remember, in considering the
artistic merits of any brazen article, that its original normal
condition was one of high polish.

Native jewellery is also being influenced for the worse by the
infusion of Western ideas. The Indian workers in gold and silver are
apt now to imitate the design of the cheap jewellery imported from
Europe, and they are not aware that their own traditional designs are
really much the most beautiful. Many of the chains and necklaces and
bracelets worn by villagers, both male and female, are the best
examples of unadulterated Indian art, because modern ideas and shapes
have not yet reached them; or, if they see some of these new devices
when they come to give their order to the goldsmith in the city, they
are still conservative enough to prefer the designs of their
forefathers. There are quaint and ingenious devices for fastening the
necklaces, and part of the charm of the primitive handiwork is its
individual character, shown in a certain roughness and want of rigid
symmetry.

In the houses of the more old-fashioned wealthy Hindus, in their big
reception-room, only rarely used, may be seen curious examples of the
mistakes which may be made so easily when introducing objects of art
from another country without adequate knowledge. Pictures from
England, interspersed with mirrors, form the chief decoration on the
walls of many of these saloons. They are hung almost touching each
other, very high up, like the "sky-ed" line of the Royal Academy, but
with nothing on the walls below, and they often present a most curious
jumble: a few good engravings; gaudy pictures, first issued as
advertisements; portraits of persons, known and unknown; worthless
prints in gorgeous frames; and a picture with some merit, stuck all
awry in a frame which does not belong to it.

In the houses of a younger generation you will see large oil paintings
by modern