Chapter III: Front Matter (3)

The tradition was carried on in Italy at Ravenna and Venice, where the _Opus Miserum_ reached its culmination. Of the Ravenna mosaics, those of the Baptistery, A.D. 450, and of S. Apollinare are typical examples of the earlier Byzantine mosaics, having dark green and gold back-grounds with tesseræ about 3/8 inch square. The beautiful frieze of male and female saints in S. Apollinare extends along both sides of the nave, and is 10 feet high. The vaulting and domes of St. Mark are entirely covered with the characteristic 11th century Byzantine gold ground mosaic, formed by fusing two pieces of glass together with gold leaf between. At Santa Sophia, Constantinople, other fine mosaics exist of the 6th and 7th centuries. In Italy under the Cosmati (a family of mosaicists of the 13th and 14th centuries), fine geometrical inlaid mosaics were used for the enrichment of marble tombs and altars; some good examples of this style are in Westminster Abbey on the tomb of Edward the Confessor (finished under Henry III, A.D. 1270).

GREEK CERAMICS. Plate 27. ]

GREEK CERAMICS.

It is difficult in the 19th century to realise the importance of vases in ancient life. To the Greeks a vase was a receptacle for food, liquid, or storage, and for the adornment of the home. It was used in the daily life of the living and buried with the dead. Most of the finer Greek vases have been found in Etruscan tombs, but of Greek workmanship, imported from Greece or Grecian Colonies. Some black unglazed Etruscan vases have been found, but painted vases of Etruscan origin are rare.

Early Greek pottery, dating probably from the 10th century B.C., has been found in Greece, the Colonies of Rhodes, Cyrene in Africa, and Naucratis in the delta of Egypt--these, showing an historic development, are arranged in groups, each with its distinctive characteristic:--(1st) Primitive vases, simple in shape, handles small or absent, decorations in simple line, punctured or incised, or in raised slip. (2nd) MYCENÆ or COLONIAL (B.C. 900-700) vases, often covered with a creamy slip; the designs painted in brown and black, being derived from geometric patterns with marine and animal forms. (3rd) DIPYLON or GEOMETRIC (B.C. 700), with fret pattern enrichment, and panels with rude figures of men and animals in black and brown. (4th) PHALERON WARE (B.C. 700-550), with continuous bands of animals, probably derived from Phœnicia or Assyria (fig. 4). Among the animals depicted, are placed portions of the fret pattern, a survival of the previous style. The details are incised through the black or brown figure, showing the colour of the clay body. A development of this Phaleron Ware was the introduction of the rosette, taking the place of the fret pattern, between the figures or the animals. (5th) BLACK FIGURE PERIOD (B.C. 600-480), vases, fine in profile, and with good handles, the body of the vase, in red ware, being painted with subjects of Grecian mythology in black, and the details incised; the faces, arms, and legs of the female figures afterwards painted in white or red slip, and fired at a lower heat. The AMPHORA (fig. 5) was the chief form of this black figure period, some fine examples are signed by Exekias and Amasis. (6th) the Transitional period (B.C. 500-470), when the black silhouette figures on a red ground gave way to the RED FIGURE PERIOD on a black ground. Artists of this style were Epiktetos, Pamphæios, Nicosthenes, and Pythos. Many of the vases by Nicosthenes resemble contemporary metal work in their shape and handles. The 7th group (B.C. 470-336), also red figures on the black ground, was the period when Greek fictiles reached their highest perfection, the chief form employed being the KYLIX. A fine series of these _Kylikes_, signed by Cachrylion, Euphronios, Duris, Pethenos, and Hieron, are in the British Museum.

A vase produced specially for funeral purposes was the ATHENIAN LEKYTHOS, the body of which was covered with white slip, then painted in polychrome with subjects of singular appropriateness.

CERAMICS. Plate 28. ]

CERAMIC ART.

The antiquity of Ceramic Art and its scientific and artistic qualities, render this subject one of considerable interest to art students.

The plasticity of clay and its hardening qualities under the influence of intense heat, its adaptability to the most refined and appropriate forms, its affinity for the beautiful glazes and enamels so often associated with pottery, and its splendid traditions of craftsmanship, of colour, form and decorations, so beautiful and varied in character,--all combine to invest the subject with a charm or fascination of its own. Intrinsically valueless in its natural state, it is capable of being rendered almost priceless by scientific workmanship and artistic skill. The history of this material, and of its easy adaptation to the most refined and intricate, as well as the simplest of forms, affords invaluable lessons for present day artistic students.

Pottery clay may be classified under three divisions or headings: (1) EARTHENWARE. (2) STONEWARE. (3) PORCELAIN. Under the first are grouped the largest number of Ceramic Wares. The pottery of Egypt, the faience of Assyria and Persia, the Greek and Etruscan vases, the famous red ware from the Isle of Samoa, and its counterpart the Roman Samian ware, the beautiful maiolica of Spain and Italy, the pottery of Rouen, St. Porchaire, Delft, and most of our English pottery are earthenwares; the paste or body consists of natural clays selected for their plasticity, their hardening qualities, their fusibility or their colour, and when burnt have a porous opaque body, usually dull in colour. This dulness was usually overcome by coating the ware with a slip of fine white clay, which, whilst not possessing inherent qualities to form pottery by itself, would adhere to the coarser coloured body of the earthenware, thereby forming a smooth white ground. The early Greek vases of Nancrates, the later Lekythos of the Greeks, the faience of Persia, the Mezza Maiolica and the Sgraffito of the early Italian Renascence, and our English slip ware are examples of this method of giving a smooth white surface to coarse coloured earthenware. A similar result to the slip covering was also produced by the use of a silicious glaze, rendered white and opaque by the addition of oxide of tin. Early Assyrian faience, Della Robbia ware, the Maiolica of Spain and Italy, and the wares of Delft and Rouen are earthenwares coated with a tin enamel.

The silicious glaze here referred to is prepared by fusing silicious materials with soda or potash, and is known as Vitreous, or glass glaze. Plumbeous, or lead glaze, is produced by the addition of oxide of lead to the silicious glaze, rendering it more fusible, and still transparent. A white opaque enamel formed by using oxide of tin with the vitreous glaze, is termed Stanniferous, or tin enamel. These different processes of covering the porous body of the earthenware largely influenced the decorations and scheme of colouring.

The beautiful faience of Damascus and Rhodes is covered with the silicious slip or glaze, the colours being rich blues, produced by cobalt, turquoise and green, by cobalt and copper, and purple by the use of manganese; and then covered with an Alkaline glaze.

In the Rhodian Ware the same scheme of colour prevails, except that the purple is replaced by a fine opaque red of great body, called Rhodian red, produced from Armenian bole. On the Italian Maiolica, with its tin enamel and plumbeous glaze, there are fine blue, turquoise and green, but red is very poor in colour, and is generally replaced by rich yellow from antimony, and orange from iron. This white tin enamel was undoubtedly introduced into Europe by the Moors, as some tiles in the Alhambra date from 1273-1302.

A large number of bowls and dishes, called Samian Ware, of Roman importation, have been found in England. The paste is usually of a fine sealing wax red, with a good glaze. These bowls are enriched with a series of horizontal bands, containing the festoon, the scroll, birds, animals, and figures. The bands or friezes are often divided by the traditional egg and tongue moulding (fig. 1). Clay moulds, impressed with stamps, were made and then fired. The red paste having been pressed into the mould, the interior was smoothly turned in the lathe. A mould of this character was found at York in 1874, so it is possible that some of this ware was made in England, by Roman potters. Roman pottery has also been found at Castor, near Peterborough, doubtless made at the former place, kilns for firing having been found on the same site. This Castor ware is usually brown, with a black glaze, being ornamented with indented tool marks, and raised slip patterns of pipe clay (fig. 3). Many Roman dishes and vases of a dark grey colour, ornamented with incised lines and raised bosses of clay, have been found in the Upchurch Marshes in Kent. Little artistic pottery of the mediæval period however is known to exist. Early in the 13th century beautiful encaustic tiles were made for the great monasteries, abbeys and cathedrals.

About 1500, the production of tiles was introduced into Holland, quantities of small blue and white ones decorated with scriptural subjects, being made at Delft, and thence exported to England for the lining of fire places, &c. Some fine painted tiles or “Azulejos” were made at Valencia about the 17th century.

In the 16th century, the porcelain of China was introduced into Europe by the Dutch and Portuguese traders, and much of the Delft and Rouen ware subsequently produced, was in imitation of this oriental porcelain. “Delft” ware which takes its name from the small town of that name in Holland, dating from 1500 A.D., is a ceramic coated with stanniferous enamel, decorated with a full and liquid brush upon the absorbent enamel ground, and then glazed with a plumbeous glaze. Some of this Delft ware is very fine in quality, the cobalt blues under the glaze being remarkably soft and rich in colour. Early examples were decorated with historical subjects, often containing numerous figures, the middle period being notable for its imitation of Chinese porcelain, and the application of coloured enamels on coloured grounds. Vast quantities of this kind of ware were manufactured up to 1760 and exported to all parts of Europe. The production of Delft ware was first introduced into England at Lambeth by some Dutch potters in 1676, being subsequently extended to Fulham, Bristol and Liverpool.

The use of stanniferous enamel was introduced into France by Girolamo della Robbia, son of Andrea della Robbia, during the reign of Francis I., 1516, and enamelled ware similar to the later productions of Urbino was made at Nevers, where also was produced a fine ware decorated with Persian _Motifs_ in yellow and blue. At Rouen, also, a fine earthenware covered with tin enamel was manufactured, the decorations consisting of the lambrequins or scallop pattern, symmetrical in arrangement, and converging to the centre of the plate or dish. The ornament was based upon Chinese examples, influenced by the contemporary woven fabrics of France. The decorations were usually in blue and with overglaze painting, i.e., after the white enamel was fired, finer and more delicate detail being obtained by this process, but at the cost of the purity and liquid softness of colour which is so characteristic of Delft and Oriental underglaze painting.

In Rouen ware, the ground is generally white, but some fine examples at South Kensington have a soft yellow ground, a rich Indian yellow being sometimes introduced with the blue decoration. It was under the directions of Louis Poterat, 1673, that this most beautiful faience was perfected.

Bernard Palissy, 1510-90, by repeated experiments discovered the stanniferous or tin enamel. His first productions were Jasper ware, warm and brilliant in colour and richly enamelled. In the second period, rustic dishes elaborately decorated with carefully modelled fishes, reptiles, and plants or natural foliage, covered with an enamel of great brilliancy and purity, were the chief productions. The later pottery of Palissy consisted of salt cellars, inkstands, ewers, &c., the elaborate figure decorations of which were probably executed by some contemporary artist.

Henri-Deux or St. Porchards ware, now more properly described as Oiron ware, originated at St. Porchard in 1524, perhaps by the hand, certainly under the patronage of Hélène de Hangest, widow of A. Gouffier, a former Governor under Francis I. This Oiron ware, of a pale straw colour, is enriched with inlays of yellow, blue, green, and brown coloured pastes, the interlacing and arabesque ornamentation carried out under the direction of Jehan Bernart and François Charpentier, being similar in type to the contemporary bookbinding of Grolier and was probably executed with similar tools.

Many early examples of Staffordshire slip ware are to be found in England, consisting chiefly of candlesticks, cups, tygs, posset pots, piggins and plates, the slip decorations being in yellow, white and brown. This ware was made at Wrotham as early as 1649, and by Thomas Toft, at Shilton, 1660 (fig. 9). Marbled, combed and tortoise-shell ware were formed by using colour slips or clays. Agate and onyx ware were formed by layers of different coloured clays, crossed, cut, and pressed into moulds. These methods were perfected by Thomas Wheildon, 1740-98, and Josiah Wedgwood, 1730-95, who perfected both the Queen’s and the variegated ware. Queen’s ware of a creamy colour was made chiefly for dinner and dessert services, being decorated with painted flowers in enamel.

In 1781, Wedgwood introduced his famous Jasper ware, and Jasper dip or washed Jasper. This latter ware was dipped into admixtures of metallic oxides, producing blue, lilac, pink, sage green, olive, yellow, and black colours as desired. The decorations in low relief, are of the purest white (fig. 10) and in the traditional classic style, the figures being arranged as cameo medallions, or in bands with the scroll, the festoon, and the vine in delicate relief. Many of these beautiful cameos were designed or modelled by Flaxman, 1755-1826; Pacetti and Angelini, 1787; Bacon, 1740-99; Hackwood, 1770; Roubiliac, 1695-1762; Stothard, 1755-1834; Tassie, 1735-99; and Webber, 1782.

Stone-wares differ from earthenwares, owing to the presence of a larger percentage of silicia in the plastic material, which, being fired at a greater degree of heat, vitrifies the body or paste into a kind of glass, thus ensuring a closeness and hardness of material not possessed by ordinary earthenware. Stoneware is usually glazed during the firing by throwing common salt into the kiln, which being volatilized, re-acts upon the silicia in the body, forming with it a silicate of soda or glass, having a minute granular texture. The usefulness and the artistic character of stoneware was perfected by the Flemish and German potters of the 16th century.

The principal varieties of this ware are the grey and white “Canette” of Siegburg, near Bonn, and the pale brown or grey ware of Raeren, near Aix-la-Chapelle, with its incised and stamped enrichments, sometimes with blue decoration. Frechen, near Cologne, probably supplied the “Bellarmines” or “Grey beards,” largely imported into England under the name of “Cologne Pots.” Examples of this Frechen ware were frequently ornamented with a raised scroll of oak leaves. Grenzhausen, in Nassau, produced a beautiful grey ware, having delicately moulded reliefs filled in with blue and purple. Many grey jugs ornamented with the initials of William III., Queen Anne, and George I., were imported into England from the Nassau kilns.

A peculiar kind of stoneware, also termed “Cologne ware” was produced at Fulham by John Dwight, about 1670. Some fine jugs and a few cleverly modelled unglazed statuettes, believed to have been made at this place, are to be seen in the British Museum (fig. 11).

Another peculiar red stoneware, porcelain, or Red China as it was called, was made near Burslem by the Brothers Elers, 1688-1710, the ornamentation being obtained by pressing sharp intaglio copper moulds upon pieces of clay attached to the shaped ware. Fine examples, characterised by beauty of outline and delicacy of enrichments are exhibited in the Museum of Geology, Jermyn Street. Astbury, 1710-39, continued the traditions of Elers, producing a fine white stoneware, which largely influenced the Staffordshire pottery of that period. A stoneware was also made at Nottingham from 1700 to 1750.

Porcelain is technically known under the terms “hard paste” (“pâte dure”) and “soft” (“pâte tendre”). Hard porcelain is made from clays containing much aluminia and felspar or decomposed granite, having but little plasticity, which necessarily influenced the shape or profile of the vessel. The beauty of form, which is so typical of the Greek earthenware vase, is absent in porcelain, where the cylindrical or octagonal form is principally used. “Pâte tendre” is a soft and vitreous porcelain, having a great affinity for the beautiful coloured glazes and enamels used in the early examples of Sèvres.

Porcelain was known in China about 200 B.C., and it was in common use during the 16th century. During the Ming dynasty, 1568-1640, porcelain reached its highest development in the perfection of its body, ornamentation, colour and glazes, blue and turquoise being the chief colours of this period; this limited range of colour was owing to the intense heat required to fuse the felspar glaze upon the hard porcelain.

It is uncertain at what date Chinese porcelain was first brought to Europe. Amongst the earliest known pieces in England are some bowls given by Philip of Austria to Sir Thomas Trenchard in 1506. But whatever the date, it was inevitable that attempts should be made to imitate this beautiful ceramic. Florentine or Medician porcelain was made 1575-80. It was not however until 1690 or 1700, that a similar manufacture was established at Rouen and St. Cloud. In 1709, Bottcher commenced making hard porcelain at Meissen, in Saxony, subsequently producing some excellent examples about 1715. This was the commencement of the well-known Dresden china. In 1768, the manufacture of hard porcelain was adopted at Sèvres, replacing that of “pâte tendre” which had been in use from 1670. Both “pâte dure” and “pâte tendre” were made at Buen Retiro in Madrid, A.D. 1759, all the porcelain manufactured for the first 20 years being kept for the exclusive use of the Royal family. There are some finely modelled Buen Retiro tiles in the Royal Palace at Madrid.

About the year 1740 the manufacture of porcelain was established at Bow, Chelsea, Derby, Plymouth, Bristol, and Worcester. The shapes and ornamentation of these English porcelains, having no traditions beyond the oriental influence, were of a low artistic order, being simply copies of natural forms, without any controlling influence as regards design or harmonious arrangements. A lavish use of gilding was also characteristic of this period, the ornament being very largely misapplied. This continued to grow worse until the middle of the last century, when it reached its culminating point of absurdity and extravagance of form and decorations. The best examples of English porcelain of this period are obviously copies of oriental porcelain, chiefly Persian and Chinese. A great advance in the technic of the porcelain produced in this country took place after the discovery of Kaolin, in Cornwall, by William Cookworthy, 1755.

Transfer printing over the glaze was adopted at Worcester about 1757, the transfers being taken from copper plates engraved by Robert Hancock, a pupil of Ravenet, who was employed at the Battersea enamel works, about 1750. Sadler and Green in 1756 also adopted over glaze printing on the Liverpool delft. About 1770, under glaze printing on the biscuit ware superseded the over glaze process.

Of early English porcelains, those of Derby are, perhaps, the most refined in form and in treatment of decoration, the plates, cups, and saucers having borders of blue or turquoise, with enrichments of festoons, leaves, and flowers; many of the cups were pressed with fluted, ribbed, or imbricated patterns. The Derby works were founded in 1757 by William Duesbury, who in 1769 purchased the Chelsea works and carried on the two simultaneously until 1784, when the Chelsea plant was transferred to Derby. From 1769-73 the ware called “Chelsea-Derby” was produced, and between 1773-82 “Crown-Derby” was introduced.

Porcelain of an excellent quality was made at Nantgario about 1813, and at Swansea 1814-17, the decorations in enamel colours consisting of a natural rendering of flowers, birds, butterflies, and shells.

Porcelain was also made about 1800 at the Herculaneum potteries at Liverpool. Rockingham, in Yorkshire, produced during the years 1759-88 a brown china, which, however, was but a fine earthenware, of a hard and compact body, covered with a rich brown or chocolate glaze. In 1820, porcelain was made at Rockingham, comprising dinner and dessert services, richly enamelled and gilt, together with vases, flower baskets, and busts in white biscuit ware. In 1832, a dessert service of 200 pieces was made for William IV. at a cost of £5,000, the decorations consisting of natural fruit and flowers, with landscapes and the royal arms in enamel colours.

In some of the earlier Rockingham ware the outlines of the flowers and butterflies were in transfer printing, and the colouring was added by hand.

The illustrations given on plates 21, 27, 28 and 29, show the universality of the potter’s art, which may be traced through many beautiful examples differentiated by racial customs and material.

The beauty of form in the Greek vase (plate 27) was but the natural outcome of a fine earthenware in the hands of an artistic people, with traditions and architecture of the highest order. In Persian pottery, form is subservient to colour, blue, turquoise and white being used in charming combination, together with a frank yet decorative treatment of natural forms.

The Hispano-Moresque and Italian Maiolica (plate 29) are remarkable for the technical excellence of their white enamel, rich blue, yellow and orange, the iridescence of their gold and ruby lustre, and their high technical skill in painting.

English earthenware of the 17th and 18th centuries, though traditional, showed a remarkable diversity in treatment and conception. The picturesque platter of the Toft school, with its quaint enrichment of trailing lines and heraldic forms in coloured slip, the fine red stoneware of Elers, with its graceful enrichments in delicate relief, and the varied and beautiful jasper ware of Wedgwood mark a distinct phase of the potter’s art, and bear a tribute to the vitality and personality of the founders of the “_Potteries_.”

MAIOLICA. Plate 29. ]

MAIOLICA.

Maiolica or Italian faience is an earthenware, coated with a stanniferous or tin glaze, termed enamel. This is formed by the addition of oxide of tin to a silicious glaze or slip, thus rendering it white and opaque, hence its name, enamel.

The origin of this beautiful ceramic art may be traced to Persia. From Persia the art was carried by the Arabians to Fustat, or old Cairo, which was destroyed 1168 A.D., and amongst the ruins many fragments of gold and copper lustered ware have been found. This enamelled ware was introduced into Spain in the 13th century, and perfected there by the Moors, giving rise to the HISPANO-MORESQUE ware. This ware was enriched with central heraldic arms, surrounded by concentric bands of foliage, arabesques, or inscriptions in blue, with a copper lustre. This Hispano-Moresque ware was manufactured chiefly at Malaga, Talavera, Triana and Valencia, and dates from the Moorish occupation of Granada A.D. 1235-1492.

In the island of Majorca, from which this beautiful ware derives its name, fine examples were manufactured at an early date by Persian and Arabian potters. After the conquest of Majorca by the Pisans, A.D. 1115, many of these examples were introduced into Italy, the art being subsequently cultivated in some of the smaller central states. The early ITALIAN MAIOLICA was usually covered with a thin white “slip” or engobe of clay which served as a ground for the coloured patterns. It was then coated with a lead glaze and was known as mezza or mixed maiolica. In some examples the design was scratched or engraved through the upper layer or white engobe, showing the darker body underneath. This type of ware, known as “sgraffito” was also glazed with the lead glaze, forming, when fired, the beautiful iridescent lustre.

No remains of a tin enamel of Italian workmanship have been found in Italy prior to the time of Luca della Robbia, 1400-1481, who discovered an enamel of peculiar whiteness and excellence. The secret of its composition was kept by him, his nephew Andrea, and his great-nephews Giovanni, Luca and Girolamo, until 1507. The Mezza Maiolica was then superseded by the true Maiolica or the tin enamelled wares of Caffaggiolo, Castel Uurante, Urbino, Pesaro, Faenza, Forli, Diruta, Siena and Gubbio, with their remarkable brilliance of blues, greens, yellows and orange. The Gubbio ware is noted for its metallic ruby and golden lustre and was signed by Maestro Georgio (Georgio Andreoli, 1492-1537). The same artist also lustred many wares made by the potters of Urbino and Castel Durante. Other examples of Urbino ware are signed by Niccola da Urbino, 1490-1530, Orazio Fontano, 1540-70, Francesco Xanto Avelli, 1530-40. Faenza ware was produced at the Casa Pirota Botega, and Siena ware was signed by Maestro Benedetto.

The chief characteristics of Caffaggiolo ware are arabesques and figures in white, grey or yellow on a rich dark blue ground. Urbino has small medallions with figures and blue and yellow arabesques on a white ground, called Raffaelesque, being from designs by Raffaelle del Colle. Faenza has a yellow ground with blue arabesques.

In brief, the number of colours that could be used on the absorbent tin enamelled ground with its lead glaze was somewhat limited, consisting of blue, turquoise, yellow and orange. These colours are of great depth and translucency, and are only equalled by the blues and turquoise of China, Persia and India.

Gubbio ware is frequently enriched with a raised curved fluting called “_Gadroons_,” a most effective method of enhancing the beautiful ruby lustre of Maestro Giorgio. This Gubbio tradition was continued by Giorgio’s son, Vincentio, called Maestro Cencio, and many beautiful lustre works are signed by him.

This lustre was produced by exposing the ware to the action of smoke during the firing in the kiln; the smoke, being carbon in a highly divided state, reduces the metallic salts of the pigment or glaze, forming a thin film of metal upon the surface, the beautiful iridescent lustre resulting from the relative thickness of the film.

Castel Durante was frequently enriched, on white or grey borders, with delicate raised scroll-work in white slip or enamel, a process called “_Lavoro di sopra bianco_” or “_bianco sopra bianco_.”

Faenza Maiolica has, frequently, the whole surface of the ground covered with a dark blue enamel, enriched with dancing amorini and arabesques in blue, heightened with white “_Sopra Azzurro_.”

A frequent form of enrichment upon plates was to have small medallions painted with portraits and appropriate inscriptions, and doubtless intended as lover’s presents. They are known as “_Amatorii Maiolica_.”

TERRA COTTA.

Terra Cotta is usually made from pure clay, which will burn to a white or yellow colour, or from impure, which will burn to a red colour, owing to the presence of oxide of iron. Pure clay is a hydrous silicate of alumina, containing 47 parts per cent. of silica, 40 of alumina, and 13 of water. Clay, in this proportion, is the Kaoline or china clay. Fire clay, which is found in the coal measures, has a larger proportion of silica than Kaoline, and from it much of the terra cotta is made. When first dug out, it is hard and compact, and of a greenish grey colour, deepening to black. It is often weathered before using. This causes it to “fall” and facilitates grinding. Old fire clay, previously burnt (“grog” as it is called) is added to the new clay to counteract the excessive shrinkage to which all close-grained clays are liable. The coarser the clay, the less the shrinkage. The colour of the clay varies according to the quantity of lime, iron, or bitumen it contains. Pure clay contracts as much as one-eighth from the size of the mould; one half of this contraction takes place in drying, the other half in burning. Clay mixed with “grog” will contract about one-twelfth.

The moulds for terra cotta are usually piece moulds, made of plaster of Paris, which absorbs much of the moisture of the clay. Sheet clay about two inches thick is used. This is carefully pressed into the mould and supported by webs of clay of the same thickness. It is essential to the clay to be uniform throughout, or the shrinkage would be unequal. It is then placed upon a flue to dry from two to six hours, when the clay will have contracted sufficiently to allow the mould to be taken off. It is then dried for a further period and burnt in a kiln. For fine work, the kiln is “muffled”--the “muffle” being a lining of bricks to keep the clay from actual contact with fire and smoke. The dry, or semi-dry process, is the pressing of clay-powder into metal moulds, which obviates the excessive shrinkage of the wet process. Encaustic tiles are made in this way, the ornament being run into the incised pattern with “slip.” Many tiles are decorated in the same way as ordinary earthenware, that is, painted and glazed.

Terra cotta was largely used by the nations of antiquity, especially by the Assyrians, whose clay tablets or books throw so much light upon Assyrian history. With the Greek, terra cotta was extensively used for “antefixa,” and the many beautiful Tanagra figures now treasured in our museums show the exquisite modelling by the Greeks, in such a material as terra cotta.

This material was used by the Etruscans for their sarcophagi and recumbent figures. The Pompeians tiled their roofs with terra cotta. It was used for votive statues and offerings, and for lamps, some of which were dipped in molten glass.

During the revival of art in Italy in the 15th and 16th centuries, terra cotta was extensively used by the Della Robbia family. LUCA DELLA ROBBIA, 1400-82, produced many beautiful terra cotta reliefs coated with the white tin enamel and enriched with coloured enamels. Among his numerous works were the following:--The marble _Cantoria_ in the cathedral; five bas-reliefs in marble on the Campanile at Florence; his two first terra cotta reliefs in the tympanans of the doorway, and the doors of the sacristry of the cathedral at Florence (1443-46); with the two kneeling angels holding candelabra; the splendid monument to L’Evêque Federighi (1455) with its beautiful recumbent figure, in the church of S. Trinità, Florence; and the many fine medallions enriched with heraldic forms executed for the church of Or San Michele and the palace Quarateri in Florence. Fine examples are the medallions with the arms of King Renè D’Anjou, now in the South Kensington museum.

In Santa Croce at Florence, there are a series of medallions of the four evangelists and the twelve apostles, and in the South Kensington museum there are twelve medallions representing the months. Many splendid examples of Luca della Robbia’s work are now treasured in the national museums.

Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525) the nephew of Luca carried on the traditions with rare selective power and artistic skill; among his early works are the medallions for L’Hospital des Innocent, or the Children’s Hospital. The Adoration and the Annunciation were familiar subjects with Andrea, the illustrations given of the Annunciation in the Children’s Hospital, and the Virgin and child in the national museum at Florence being typical examples of his work. There is a splendid “Adoration” by Andrea in the South Kensington museum.

Giovanni della Robbia (1469-1527) son of Andrea continued this splendid tradition: his principal works being the Lavabo in S. Maria Novella, the tabernacle in S. Apostles, and the virgin and saints in Santa Croce, all in Florence. Many other beautiful works still remain which attest to the remarkable traditions of craftsmanship of the Della Robbia family.

Girolamo, brother of Giovanni, carried this tradition into France under Francis I.

ENAMELS.

Of the many decorative arts, enamelling is one of the most beautiful, having a singular charm of limpid or opalescent colour of great purity, richness and durability, and being capable of a most refined and varied treatment for the enrichment of metals.

Enamel is a vitreous or glass compound, translucent, semi-translucent or opaque, owing its colouring properties to mineral oxides, or sulphides, a fine opaque white being produced by oxide of tin. These enamels require different degrees of heat in order to fuse them and to cause their adhesion to the metal. Enamels are divided into three classes, CLOISONNÉ, CHAMPLEVÉ and PAINTED ENAMELS.

CLOISONNÉ enamel is that in which the cloisons or cells are formed by soldering thin, flat wire of metal upon a plate of copper, the cloisons, being filled with the various enamels, in powder or in paste, then, in order to vitrify the enamel, exposed to heat in a kiln, if upon a flat surface, or by the aid of a blow-pipe if upon a curved surface.

Cloisonné was in use from the early dynasties in Egypt, many fine large pectorals having been found in the tombs. These usually have the form of a hawk and are of gold or bronze with well-defined cloisons, which were filled with carefully fitted coloured paste or glass, and this undoubtedly was the origin of the true or vitreous cloisonné enamel. Byzantine enamel is invariably cloisonné and one of the most beautiful examples of this period is the Pala d’Oro of St. Mark’s at Venice, A.D. 976. Perhaps the Chinese and Japanese have carried this cloisonné to its greatest perfection in softness of colour and beauty of technic. The earliest Chinese cloisonné is of the Ming dynasty, 1368-1643; this has heavy cast metal grounds with low toned colours and deep reds and blues. Under the Thsing dynasty, which commenced in 1643, the colours became brighter and the designs more refined.

Early Japanese cloisonné or “Shippo” was doubtless derived from Chinese or Persian sources, and it is characterised by extremely thin beaten copper grounds and the frequent use of a dark green ground in place of the dark blue of the Chinese cloisonné.

The Japanese cloisonné reached its culmination during the last century, when many splendid examples of refined and delicate enamels were produced, remarkable for their beautiful opalescent and translucent colour. Gold cloisons with opaque and translucent enamels were frequently inserted in iron or silver objects by the Japanese of this period.

An early example of English cloisonné is the jewel of King Alfred, now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford: this has a rich setting of opaque and translucent enamels. A fine Celtic cloisonné treatment may be seen in the Ardage chalice, where the cloisons were cut out of a plate of silver and embedded in the enamel while soft. These Celtic craftsmen also had a beautiful treatment of enamelling by engraving or pressing a pattern in intaglio, or sunk relief, on an enamelled ground, and then filling these intaglios with other enamels.

A most exquisite kind of enamel called “_Plique à Jour_,” was used by the Byzantines; this was composed of open filigree cloisons, filled with translucent enamels.

CHAMPLEVÉ enamel is formed by engraving, casting or scooping out the cloisons from a metal plate, leaving a thin wall or boundary between each cloison, which is then filled with the various enamels as in the cloisonné method. This Champlevé method was practised in Britain before the Roman conquest, and was probably derived from the Phœnicians, who, centuries before the Romans came to England, had traded with Cornwall for tin. The beauty of colour and perfect adaptability of these early enamelled brooches, fibulæ and trappings of horses of the early Britons and Celts, are remarkable, showing a fine sense of colour and a harmony of line and mass. A splendid bronze Celtic shield (fig. 4, plate 13), now in the British Museum, is enriched with fine red bosses of enamel. These Champlevé enamels upon bronze have usually an opalescent or cloudy appearance caused by the fusion of the tin in the bronze alloy during firing. Champlevé enamels were used with rare skill and refinement to enhance the beautiful art of the goldsmith during the Middle Ages; the Chalice, the Paten, the Reliquary, the Thurible, the Crozier, and the bookcovers of the Churches, especially, were enriched with beautiful enamels. Classed among the Champlevé enamels is that method called JEWELLER’S ENAMEL or “_Baisse Taille_,” in which the plate is engraved in low relief or beaten up in repoussé and then flooded with translucent enamel. The Lynn cup of the time of Richard II. is one of the oldest pieces of corporation plate and is covered with fine translucent blue and green enamels.

In India, where fine colour is a splendid tradition, Champlevé enamel soon attained a remarkable perfection of technic and purity and brilliance of colour almost unknown to the Western nations. The Champlevé enamels of JAIPUR have most beautiful lustrous and transparent blues, greens and reds laid on a pure gold ground. PERTUBGHUR is renowned for the fine green or turquoise enamel fired upon a plate of gold; while the enamel was still soft a plate of pierced gold was pressed into the enamel. This pierced plate was afterwards engraved with incidents of history or hunting. In RATAIN, in Central India, a similar enamel is made having a fine blue in place of the Pertubghur green.

The fine monumental brasses, of which many still remain in our English cathedrals and churches, are a survival of the Champlevé process, the cloisons, being usually filled with a black NIELLO, but occasionally the heraldic shields are enriched with coloured enamels. During the 11th and 12th centuries, LIMOGES was renowned for its fine Champlevé enamels, but early in the 15th century PAINTED ENAMELS were introduced and Limoges became the centre of this art, called late Limoges or GRISAILLE ENAMEL. The enamel colours were now used as a pigment, and were painted and fired upon a copper plate. The enrichments in grisaille, or grey and white, were used upon a black, violet or dark blue ground, the grisaille afterwards being enriched with details of fine gold lines. These Limoges enamels have a splendid technic, but they lack the charms of the luminous colour and judicious use of enamels of the early Champlevé period. The most renowned masters of the painted enamels of Limoges were Penicand, 1503, Courtois, 1510, Pierre Raymond, 1530-1570, and Leonard Limousin, 1532-1574. About 1600-1650, Jean Toutin and his pupil Petitot produced some fine painted miniatures in opaque enamels upon gold, remarkable for delicacy and perfection of enamelling. In 1750, painted enamel was introduced into England and produced for about 30 years at Battersea by Janssen. The enrichment consisted of flowers painted in natural colours on a white ground. A similar enamel was also produced at Bilston in Staffordshire.

The finest enamels undoubtedly are those in which the enamel is used in small quantities, such as in the Celtic jewellery, the bookcovers, and the Church and Corporation plate of the Gothic and early Renascence period, and the early Byzantine cloisonné, such as the Hamilton brooch in the British Museum, and the Pala d’Oro of St. Mark’s, Venice, which was made at Constantinople for the Doge Orseolo in 976 A.D., and has 83 panels of fine cloisonné enamel set in a framework of gold.

The “_Plique à jour_,” the “_Baisse taille_” and the Pertubghur enamels are fine examples of appropriateness of treatment with translucency or opalescence and richness of colour.

The Japanese cloisonné with its literal treatment of natural forms, and the painted enamel portraits of Francis I. and contemporary princes by Leonard Limousin, clever as they undoubtedly are, lack the depth and purity of colour obtained by the early methods. Frequently, however, the Penicauds, Nardou, and Jean I. and II. obtained some richness in the painted enamels by the use of “_Paillons_” or pieces of metallic foil which were afterwards flooded with translucent enamel.

GLASS. Plate 30. ]

GLASS.

The purity of glass, its adaptability to colour, and its remarkable ductility while hot for blowing, twisting or drawing into threads, differentiates it from all other materials and methods of treatment. Its tradition dates from the remote past, for glass-blowing is represented on the tombs at Thebes, B.C. 2500. It was also used in Egypt for vitreous pastes for bronze and gold cloisonné jewellery, and for the small bottles or Stibium, with chevron patterns, in yellow, turquoise and white on a coloured ground. Similar patterns, colours and forms were used by Phœnicia and her colonies, the usual forms being the Alabastra and Amphorae. Many remains of bowls were found in Assyria, one (now in the British museum) of transparent green glass, having the name of Sargon, B.C. 722. Greece seems to have imported most of her glass from Phœnicia, but the Romans carried on the tradition, producing fine MOSAIC or MILLEFIORI. This was made by fusing rods of white and coloured glass together, then drawing it out to fine threads and slicing it transversely; the section is then placed in a mould and a bubble blown, uniting the mosaic, which is then blown into various shapes. The Romans also used the interlacing of white and coloured rods called LATICINIO, but they excelled in the CAMEO GLASS, of which the Portland vase is the finest known example. This vase is of dark blue glass, covered with white opaque glass, which was ground away with the wheel, leaving the figures in delicate relief. It was found in 1644 in the sarcophagus of Alexander Severus, A.D. 325, the subject of its relief being the myth of Peleus and Thetis. Another Roman example of cameo glass in the British museum is the Auldjo vase or Oinochoè with beautiful reliefs of vine leaves. Frequently these reliefs were blown or pressed into moulds, and a good example of this treatment is in the South Kensington museum (fig. 6). The tradition then declined until the 14th century, when the Venetians in the island of Murano, perfected the art of glass making.

The earliest examples of VENETIAN GLASS were massive, richly gilt and enamelled in colours; one fine example in the British museum is signed by its maker, “Magister Aldrevandini.” In the 15th and 16th centuries the most delicate and beautiful blown glass was made, often uncoloured and with enrichments of knots and wings in blown and shaped blue glass. The Venetians used with equal skill all the old methods of glassmaking; the MILLEFIORI; the LATICINIO or threads of opaque white enclosing pattern; RETICELLI, a network of white lines enclosing at the intersections a bubble of air; and the beautiful VITRO DI TRINA, filigree or lace glass, formed by canes or threads of white or coloured glass being placed in a mould, a bubble being then blown in, and the glass afterwards taken from the mould and blown or twisted to the shape required. The artistic bronze mirrors of ancient and mediæval times now give way to the glass mirrors of the Venetians, A.D. 1500.

STAINED GLASS. Plate 31. ]

STAINED GLASS

with its depth and translucency, owes its intrinsic qualities to metallic oxides, such as cobalt, giving fine blues, silver, pale and deep yellows, pink from iron and antimony, and ruby from gold and copper, which also yields fine greens. When these oxides are mixed with the glass, in its fused state, it is termed _pot metal_, but if the coloured oxides are applied to the surface of the glass only, it is termed _flashed_ or _cased glass_. Ruby, owing to its depth of colour, is usually cased glass. Fine blues are often flashed, and splendid effects are produced by flashing ruby over yellow, or blue pot metal glass. Cased glass is of the greatest value owing to the variety of tint that can be produced on a single sheet of glass, and also that the colour may be removed by grinding or by the use of fluoric acid.

The rationale of the glass painter is--1st, The scheme of composition and colour shown on a small scale. 2nd, A full sized cartoon in charcoal or monochrome, with all the details carefully drawn, and showing the lead lines and positions of the iron stanchions for strengthening the window. 3rd, A tracing on cloth showing the lead lines only, called the cut line, on which is cut the selected pieces of glass. 4th, Tracing all details from the cartoon, with brown enamel on each piece of glass, the pieces after firing being then fixed in the leading, and kept together with H shaped leads. A diagram is given here showing the leading of an example of 13th century glass.

The brown enamel, which is used entirely for outline, detail or shading, is a fusible glass in combination with opaque manganic or ferric oxide, and tar oil. With this enamel, smear shading or stipple shading is worked. This may be removed as required, before firing, by means of a pointed stick or quill, so as to give the details of embroidery, or of heraldic forms.

Silver stain (oxide of silver) introduced at the beginning of the 14th century is largely used in stained glass, and usually on the back thereof. According to the different degrees of heat in the firing, a pale yellow or deep orange of great transparency is produced.

Coloured glass was made by the Egyptians 4000 years ago, but the earliest stained glass windows recorded, were those of Brionde A.D. 525. None however are known to be in existence prior to those of St. Denis A.D. 1108. Other examples are found in Norman windows, with small medallions of figures and ornament of a decided Byzantine type, extremely deep in colour, being, by its style of treatment, termed mosaic glass. The 13th century, or early Gothic period, has single lancet lights, with medallions containing small figures surrounded by the typical 13th century foliage; or the windows were entirely of ornament in _grisaille_, arranged symmetrically, having narrow bands of ruby or blue, with wide borders. These _grisaille_ windows are of a greenish white glass, with the ornament in outline, and the ground hatched with brown enamel in fine cross lines (fig. 1-2). The north transept window at York cathedral, called the five sisters, is typical of this grisaille glass. The finest examples however, are at Salisbury and Chartres cathedrals. Later in the period, single figures were introduced under a simple canopy or gabling, plain or crocketed, with an ordinary trefoil arch.

“Quarry glass,” square or diamond in shape, with brown enamel details, was frequently used, where simple masses were desired.

In the 14th century, the figures were larger and placed under canopies in each light of the mullioned windows, such figures in rich colours forming a bright belt across the window, surmounted by the canopies, cusped and crocketed, and in strong yellow pot metal, or yellow-cased glass. The borders were narrow, with a somewhat natural rendering of the rose, the maple and the oak.

In the 15th century, a further change took place, figures became more numerous and the canopy or shrine larger, and chiefly in white glass, with the crockets and finials tipped with yellow stain. The coloured border of the earlier glass is entirely absent, its place being taken by the shaft of the canopy, and the crockets, finials and ornaments are square in treatment and based chiefly on the vine leaf.

Fairford church, perhaps, contains the finest series of late Gothic glass A.D. 1500-30. Like the contemporary architecture of the 16th century, the Renascence now influenced stained glass. The canopy still survived, but was horizontal or pedimental in form, with purely classical columns and details. Good examples of this period are the windows of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge (1520), where rich Renascence work is introduced into late Gothic mullioned windows. About 1540, transparent enamels were introduced with skill and reticence, but gradually glass painters began to vie with pictorial oil painting in effects of light and shade, the ground work or material losing that beautiful translucent or transmitted colour, which is the chief glory of stained glass. An example showing the degradation of this art is the west window of New College, Oxford, painted by Jervas, 1777, from designs by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

The ornamentation of stained glass naturally followed contemporary architecture in the treatment of style, differentiated only by the technical necessities of material. For instance, in the early English glass (plate 31), the details of the ornament have the characteristic spiral arrangement and the trefoil foliage of contemporary architectural ornament, only the foliage is treated more in profile, as being more suited to the technical necessities of leading and brush work.

Most of the detail, however, shows a strong affinity to French contemporary ornament, this doubtless was owing to the influence of French craftsmanship and tradition in the stained glass of that period.

In the 14th century, the English craftsman attained a thorough mastery over his materials, and consequently the type of ornament followed English contemporary architecture more closely.

To sum up, stained glass changed through the different periods from the rich coloured mosaic of the Normans--the equally rich coloured medallions and grisaille glass of the early Gothic--the decorated Gothic, with glass in lighter colours, and a prevalence of yellow stain, culminating in the later Gothic period, when largeness of mass, lightness, and silvery colour, were the characteristics. A beautiful treatment of stained glass, dating from the 15th century was used by the Arabians; this glass, which has a singular gem-like quality, and without enamel or stain, was let into a framework of plaster, which had been cut and pierced with geometrical or floral patterns.

Modern stained glass has attained a high degree of perfection in design and material under Burne Jones, Walter Crane, Frederic Shields and Henry Holiday, with glass such as that produced by Morris, Powell and Sparrow, and the American opalescent glass of La Farge and Tiffany.

The individuality of their work, appropriateness of treatment, based upon the splendid tradition of the past, mark a distinct epoch in history of stained glass.

Splendid heraldic glass by A. W. Pugin may be seen in the Houses of Parliament, Westminster; and in the hall and staircase of the Rochdale Town Hall, there is a fine series of windows by Heaton, Butler, and Baine, remarkable for dignity of style and unity of conception.

GOLD AND SILVER. Plate 32. ]

GOLD AND SILVER.

Of all treasure trove, those of gold and silver are the most valuable, showing us the riches, culture and the decorative arts of the people who centuries ago used these beautiful objects of jewellery or of utility. One of the earliest and most valuable of these treasures was found in 1859 with the mummy of Queen Aah-Hotep, 1800 B.C. (Cairo Museum), and consisted of: bracelets, armlets, rings, chains, a diadem (fig. 1), a small model of a twelve-oared war galley, and a poniard, all of exquisite workmanship, and of pure gold, enriched with jasper and turquoise vitreous pastes. At Petrossa in 1837 (Bukarest Museum), twenty-two beautiful gold objects were found, but only twelve were recovered, consisting of two neck-rings or Torques; a large salver, hammered and chased; a ewer; a bowl with figures in repoussé; four fibula enriched with precious stones; a gorget; and two double-handled cups (fig. 4) all of which are Byzantine work of the 5th century. At Guarrazar in Spain, ten gold votive crowns of Gothic workmanship were found; one inscribed with the name of King Suintila, 630 A.D., is now in the museum at Madrid, the others in the Hôtel Cluny, Paris, the largest having the name of King Rescesvinthus, 670 A.D. in pendive letters (fig. 3). Of silversmith’s work, the most important is the “Treasure of Hildesheim,” found in 1868 (now in the Berlin Museum) consisting of thirty objects, cups, vases, and dishes, beautiful in contour and admirably enriched with delicate repoussé work of the Greco-Roman period (fig. 5). The British Museum contains many fine examples of Greek and Etruscan goldsmith’s art; some early Greek work has the typical Mycenæ spiral enrichment. Beautiful Greek plaques of the 4th and 5th centuries B.C. were obtained by pressing the gold into stone moulds, and were afterwards enriched with threads of gold or “filigree,” which developed later into the Byzantine filigree work.

The beautiful Etruscan Fibulæ are enriched with minute globules of gold soldered on, a process brought to a remarkable degree of perfection by the Etruscans in the 7th, 6th and 5th centuries B.C. Of the gold and silver vessels used by Solomon in the temple, we have the description in the Books of Kings and Chronicles, but no trace of the originals, except that on the Arch of Titus, 79 A.D., we find a representation of the seven-branched golden candlestick (fig. 9). Of the Mediæval period, many fine examples of church and corporation plate are still treasured in our museums. They are of great intrinsic value, of beautiful workmanship, chased and engraved, and enriched with cast and repoussé work and the choicest enamels. Of the craftsman or goldsmith we know but little, but his delicacy of touch, his just appreciation of appropriateness of treatment to his material, and the singular grace and charm of his design are a tribute to his culture and personality. Cellini produced many beautiful works, yet perhaps not more beautiful than his many contemporary goldsmiths. In our museums there are some charming specimens of engraving upon silver, filled in with black enamel called Niello, by Maso Finiguerre, about 1450, who produced some early prints from an engraved plate.

BRONZES. Plate 33. ]

BRONZE.