18 DECEMBER 1841, Page 17

In connexion with these proofs of the imitative talents of

Italian artists, we may mention a recent instance of ingenious fabrication and imposture, which is one of the boldest as well as the most successful frauds ever practised in the art. A few months ago, a numerous and superb collection of Etruscan gold ornaments, said to have been found in the tombs recently opened—consisting of sacrificial boxes, vases, paterm and tripods, zones, tiaras, necklaces, and other jewellery, and including a pair of greaves, or leg-armour—was offered to the eminent connoisseur and dealer Mr. Hum ; who, confirmed in his judgment by the experience of SMNOR CAMPANARI, purchased the entire collection. The account given by the seller was plausible enough : he bought them from the Italian peasants, who secretly sold them to him, though compelled by the law in the Papal states to sell them to the Govern- ment. But the price given by the officials being less than what they could get elsewhere, they took them to the better market, running the risk of detection. The style of the figures and scrolls that ornamented the different articles, and the rude workmanship of the hinges, clasps, are all in character with the real Etruscan remains ; and the ex- treme thinness of the gold of which they are fabricated is in accordance with the supposed custom of the Etruscans to bury with the body imi- tative articles of very little intrinsic value, representing such as the de- ceased wore or used in life, to denote his rank and profession. There is little doubt that these spurious antiques were made by moulding the thin sheet-gold on to real antiques, and thus producing casts of their

chasings, which might well deceive the connoisseur. Since the fraud was discovered, we have looked at the counterfeits, and could not help admiring the ingenuity of the fabricator, as well as the beauty of the designs on them. The brightness of the gold, and the number and va- riety of the articles, were the most suspicious circumstances.

Apropos of Etruscan antiquities "the long-lost work of Mr. BYRES, OD the Sepulchres of Tarquinia, the capital of Ancient Etruria," is an- nounced to be on the eve of publication, by Mr. FRANK HOWARD; to whose care the missing plates, that were drawn and engraved on the spot by Mr. NORTON, have been confided by General BYRES. The original prospectus of this curious work was issued in 1767, but the in- vasion of Italy by NAPOLEON, and the death of Mr. Nowrost and Mr. BYRES, caused the publication to be neglected, and the plates remained packed up at Leghorn until last year, when they were transmitted to this country. Mr. BYRES was a Scottish architect and antiquary, who, during a long residence at Rome, had studied the Etruscan tombs ; many of which have since been closed up, their precious contents having been removed and the paintings that adorned them become obliterated. The plates, fifty-seven in number, are engraved in line, and will ap- pear in parts, accompanied by descriptive letterpress.