Appended to the volume of the _Transactions of the Society of Arts_,
just published, are selections from a series of Illustrations on Pottery
and Porcelain, which were read before the Society by their ingenious
secretary, Mr. Arthur Aikin. We quote a few.
_Raphael China._
"Raffaello himself is said in his youth to have painted, or at least to
have given designs for painting, in enamel on glazed earthenware. Such
works are commonly known by the name of Raphael china, two interesting
specimens of which, from the collection of R.H. Solly, Esq., are now
before you. From some casual flaws in the back of these plates, it may
be seen that the body of them is red earthenware in one, and grayish
brown in the other, and of rather a coarse quality. Mr. Windus also has
sent a plate, doubtless of Italian manufacture, bearing the date of
1533, thirteen years after the death of Raffaello. He has also sent a
singular specimen of a somewhat similar ware, but with the figures in
high relief, and far inferior to the former as a work of art.
"Mr. Brockedon informs me that, in his journey among the alps last year,
he saw some beautiful specimens of Raphael china, in the possession of
the hostess of an inn at the village of Rauris, in Carinthia. They
consisted of three dishes; the subjects painted on them are, Pan and
Apollo, Jupiter and Semele, and on the largest, Apollo surrounded by
wreaths of nymphs and satyrs, and on the rim are entwined Cupids: this
latter dish is about twenty inches in diameter, and bears an
inscription, in Italian, purporting that it was made at Rome, in 1542,
in the manufactory of Guido di Merlingho Vassaro, a native of Urbino.
The date is twenty-two years after the death of Raphael; but, as the
manufacturer was a fellow-townsman of that celebrated artist, the
inscription, taken in connexion with the anecdote of Vasari already
mentioned, is interesting, as throwing light on the association of the
name of Raffaello with this species of ware."
_Delft or Dutch._
"It is probably from Italy that Holland received this art. The
Venetians, the Genoese, and the Florentines, had very extensive
commercial dealings with the merchants of Antwerp and of other towns in
the Low Countries; it is therefore extremely likely that the potters of
Holland, to whom is due the first fabrication of clay tobacco-pipes of
excellent quality, derived their knowledge of glazed ware from this
source. The town of Delft was the centre of these potteries, in which
were fabricated the tiles known in England by the name of Dutch; and the
delft were employed for table services, and for other domestic purposes.
Considered merely with regard to its material, the Dutch potters seem to
have improved on their Italian original, being probably instigated by a
comparison with the blue and white patterns of Nankin, which was now
largely imported by the Dutch from China and Japan, and which is a
coarse, yellowish, porcelain body, covered by an opaque white glaze. In
the ornamental part, however, the Dutch fell immeasurably short of the
potters of Florence; blue seems to have been the only colour employed by
them; and their favourite patterns appear to have been either copies of
the Chinese, or European and Scripture subjects treated in a truly
Chinese manner and taste.
"It is about two hundred years ago since some Dutch potters came and
established themselves in Lambeth, and by degrees a little colony was
fixed in that village, possessed of about twenty manufactories, in which
was made the glazed pottery and tiles consumed in London and in various
other parts of the kingdom. Here they continued in a flourishing state,
giving employment to many hands in the various departments of their art,
till about fifty or sixty years ago; when the potters of Staffordshire,
by their commercial activity, and by the great improvements introduced
by them in the quality of their ware, in a short time so completely beat
out of the market the Lambeth delft manufacturers, that this ware is now
made only by a single house, and forms the smallest part even of their
business.
"The articles of delft ware, for which there still continues to be an
effective demand, are plain white tiles for dairies and for lining
baths, pomatum pots, and a few jugs, and other similar articles of a
pale blue colour."
(_To be continued._)
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