A HISTORY OF EXHIBITIONS.

Thames Star, Volume XV, Issue 4732, 7 March 1884, Page 2

A HISTORY OF EXHIBITIONS.

In a paper read by M. Joubert, before the Betliune Society, the author attributes the inveation of exhibitions to King Ahasuerus, quoting a well-known passage in the Book of Esther, descriptive of that at the Sbushan palace, which was kept open 180 days, and consisted principally of tapestry aud goldsmiths' works. The. earliest exhibition of more recent times was that at Venice held during the dogeship of Lorenzo Tiepolo, in 1268, where there was a grand display of a water fete, procession of the trades, and an industrial exhibition. The various guilds of Venice filed through the narrow streets to debouch upon the grand square of St. Mark.. Tanners and tailors, smiths and skinners, hosiers, mercers, weavers, and drapers, glassblowers, goldcloth workers, fishmongers, and butchers, all clad in their robes of state, marched into the presence of the Doge, and, after some compliments had been exchanged, the heads of the various guilds asked the Dogaressa to inspect the exhibition of their industry, spread out in the apartments of the palace. Of the still more recent exhi* bitions, M. Joubert referred to that of 1756, when the Society of Arts in London offered prizes for improvements in the manufacture of tapestry, carpets, and porcelain, the articles exhibited, being ranged in competition. In 1761 a similar exhibition was held by the same society, the objects shown being agricultural and other machinery. In 1797 a collective display of the art factories of France, Serres, the Gobelins, and the Savonnerie was commenced in the deserted walls of the palace of St Cloud, and followed by a yet more important exhibition in the following year, in a building erected for the purpose in the Champ de Mar 3. At this exhibition private firms were invited to compete, and there were altogether 110 exhibitors. A second exhibition was held three years later, in 1801, in the grand court of Louvre. Upon that occasion juries of practical men examined the objects shown, and the winners of a gold medal were invited to dine with Napoleon, then first consul. In the jury report appears tho following remarkable sentence, the truth oi which, says M". Joubert, all exhibitors appear to realise:—" There is not an artist or an inventor who, once obtaining thus a public recognition of his ability, has not found his reputation and his business largely increase." The third Paris exhibition, held the following year, is remarkable as the first that published an official catalogue. At this exhibition there were 540 exhibitors, including such names as. Montgolfier, the aeronaut, and Jacquard, the inventor cf the loom which bears his name. The fourth exhibition was held in 1806, in the esplanade in front of the Hotel dcs Invalides, with 1422 ex>. hibitors. The wars of the Empire followed, and there were no more exhibitions in Paris until 1819, when the fifth was held in the courtyard of the Louvre, under the presidency of Louis XVIII., with 1622 exhibitors. Similar exhibitions were held at Paris at various intervals until 1849, the last having 4500 exhibitors. The ex« hibitions subsequent to 1851 are within the recollection of the present generation.—lron.