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.
[Illustration: TERRA COTTA BY ANDREA DELLA ROBBIA.]
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.
[Illustration: ENAMELLED TERRA COTTA ANDREA DELLA ROBBIA.]
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.
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration:
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.
[Illustration:
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.
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration: 13TH CENTURY GLASS. CHARTRES CATHEDRAL.]
“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.
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration:
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.