Gerhard, a celebrated painter, was born at Leyden in 1613, and received his first instructions in drawing and design from Bartholomew Dolendo, an engraver, and from Peter Kouwhoorn, a painter on glass. At the age of fifteen he became a disciple of Rembrandt; and in that famous school he continued for three years.

From Rembrandt he learned the true principles of colouring, and obtained a complete knowledge of chiaroscuro; but to that knowledge he added a delicacy of pencil, and a patience in working up his colours to the highest degree of finish. He was more pleased with the early pictures of Rembrandt than with those by which he was distinguished in his more advanced age; because the first seemed finished with greater care and attention than his later works, which displayed more boldness, freedom, and negligence—a style that was quite contrary to the taste of Douw. But although the manner of Gerhard Douw appears so different from that of his master, yet it was to Rembrandt alone that he owed that excellence in colouring by which he triumphed over all the contemporary artists of his own country.

His pictures are usually of a small size, with figures so exquisitely touched, so transparent, so wonderfully delicate, as to excite astonishment as well as pleasure. He designed every object after nature, and with an exactness so singular, that each object appears a perfect transcript of nature in respect to colour, freshness, and force. His general manner of painting portraits was by the aid of a concave mirror, and sometimes by looking at the object through a frame crossed with many exact squares of fine silk thread. But this custom is now abandoned, as the eye of a good artist seems a more competent rule, though the use of the mirror is still practised by some painters in miniature.

It is almost incredible what sums have been given, and are still given, for the pictures of Douw, both in his own and in other countries; for he was exceedingly careful in giving them the highest degree of finish, and patiently assiduous beyond example. Of that patience Sandrart gives a very strong proof in a circumstance which he mentions relative to this artist. Having once, in company with Bambocci, visited Gerhard Douw, they could not forbear admiring the exquisite minuteness of a picture which he was then painting, and in particular noticed a broom, at the same time expressing their surprise at the excessive labour bestowed on such an unimportant object; upon which Douw told them he would spend three days more in working on that broom before he should consider it entirely complete. The same author relates that the wife of his great patron, M. Spiering, sat to Douw five days for the finishing of one of her hands. In consequence of his tedious style of painting, few persons would sit to Douw for their portraits; and he therefore devoted his labours chiefly to works of fancy, in which he could introduce objects of still life, and employ as much time on them as suited his own inclination. Houbraken states that M. Spiering allowed him a thousand guilders a-year, and paid besides whatever he demanded for his pictures, having purchased some of them for their weight in silver; but Sandrart, with more probability, assures us that the thousand guilders a-year were paid to Gerhard on no other consideration than that the artist should give his benefactor the option of every picture he painted, for which he was immediately to receive the utmost he demanded. This celebrated painter died in 1674, aged sixty-one.

**DOVE.** See Ornithology.

**DOVE-TAILING,** in *Carpentry*, a method of joining together boards or timbers by cutting on the end of one piece projections in the form of a dove's tail spread, or a wedge reversed, and inserting these projections into hollows of a corresponding shape in the other piece. This forms the strongest of all joints, because the tenons or projecting pieces, from their form, cannot be drawn out.

**DOVER** (the ancient *Dobris*), a municipal and parliamentary borough, and one of the Cinque Ports of England, in the county of Kent, 71 miles E.S.E. of London. It is situated on the N.W. coast of the Straits of Dover, in a deep valley formed by an opening in the chalk hills which surround it in the form of an amphitheatre. On one of these hills, to the eastward of the town, and rising abruptly to the height of 320 feet above the sea, stands the ancient castle. The walls of this castle inclose an area of nearly 35 acres; containing towers and other buildings of various ages from the time of the Romans to recent times, and having accommodation for a garrison of from 3000 to 4000 men. Other portions of the heights around the town are also fortified. The town has been greatly extended of late years. A continuous line of buildings now unite it with the villages of Charlton and Buckland, which are included within its boundaries. Between the east end of the town and the castle cliffs is what may be called the new town, where superior houses have been erected for the accommodation of visitors. The old part of the town is irregularly built, and the streets are narrow and dirty. Dover has two ancient parish churches, St Mary's and St James's, the former having a Norman tower; two recently built churches, a Roman Catholic, and several Dissenting chapels; national, free, and infant schools; reading-rooms, and libraries; theatre; assembly rooms; and public baths. Many attempts have been made to improve the harbour, but with comparatively little success, from the constant accumulation of sand and shingle at its mouth. The entrance is narrow, and is between two piers. The vessels registered at the port on 31st December 1853 were 70, of the aggregate burden of 3926 tons; of these 48 vessels of 1369 tons were under 50 tons each, and 1 was a steamer of 54 tons. The vessels entered and cleared at the port during 1853 were Dover as follows: Coasting trade, inwards, 443, tonnage 34,310; outwards 104, tonnage 5348; colonial trade, inwards 3, tonnage 262; outwards 1, tonnage 260; foreign trade, sailing vessels, inwards 69, tonnage 5870; outwards 45, tonnage 2097; steamers, inwards 90, tonnage 11,960; outwards 1, tonnage 140. Dover is the principal station and the seat of government of the Cinque Ports. It is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors; and returns 2 members to parliament. Pop. (1851) 22,244.

Dover, a town in the state of New Hampshire, North America, and capital of the county of Strafford, is situated on the W. side of Piscataqua river, and watered by its tributaries the Cocheco and the Black river; 60 miles N. of Boston. The Cocheco has here a sudden descent of 32½ feet, producing a great water-power, and being at the head of tide-water and 12 miles from the sea, sloops can come up to within a short distance of the mills. It has numerous and extensive manufactures, chiefly of cotton goods; a considerable shipping; and is one of the most flourishing towns in the state. Dover is the oldest town in this state, having been settled in 1623. Pop. (1850) 8186.

Dover, the capital of the state of Delaware, and of the county of Kent, is situated on high ground, between the two principal branches of Jones's Creek, ten miles above its entrance into Delaware Bay. It is regularly laid out, with wide streets crossing each other at right angles. The principal public building is the state house, an elegant and commodious edifice. There is also a splendid monument erected to the memory of Colonel John Haslett, who fell in the battle of Princeton. Pop. 3932.