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.
[Illustration]
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_.”
[Illustration:
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.
[Illustration]