HISTORIC COLOR
To continue our color study we must next ask what has been done with it
in the past and how it has been used and combined. Our knowledge would
be incomplete without the experience of the past. The simplest and
easiest way will be to consult the _Grammar of Ornament_, by Owen Jones,
and _L’Ornement Polychrome_, by Racinet, the two best books of the kind,
remembering, however, that there are several editions of each, varying
in the quality of the coloring of the plates, and that even the best of
these do not succeed in thoroughly reproducing the rare harmonies of
color attained in the pictures, rugs, pottery, silks, metal, and jewel
work that served as models. For these we must turn to the museums, and
there is where the real lover of, and worker in, color must go for
examples of the most skilful use of color by man up to this time. To
many of them age has helped to give the great charm they possess, by
fading and refining the colors so that they blend more perfectly with
each other.
Unfortunately, no mention is made in the _Grammar of Ornament_ of
Japanese color, and Racinet gives but small space to it. Since the
publication of these books we have become familiar with it even in the
shop windows. We must bear in mind, however, that intercourse with
western nations and the increasing demand for Japanese goods is already
lowering their artistic standard, especially as they are making many
goods entirely for western markets, so that for their best work we must
look for old specimens made when Japan was a shut-in nation. As a whole,
nothing finer can be found. For pure coloring, for the most complex and
happiest combinations, they have no equals. Thorough study of these is
one of the best schools for designers. The Japanese themselves are
taught by being made to copy the best old works.
The Japanese love of color and their sense of fitness went so far that
they even changed the ornaments of their rooms with the changing
seasons. Nay, more, their women wore garments of which the embroidery
harmonized with the different months: cherry, apple, pear blossoms when
the fruit trees bloomed, colored leaves in the autumn, and so on,
keeping in tune with the year, and getting great enjoyment out of things
too little thought of by us.
At this point in his course the student will be wise to bear four things
in mind: First, that as this is the study of color, not form, he should
confine his attention to the colors as far as possible, as a fine design
may tend to warp the judgment of them. Secondly, that different lights
may vary what is really the same color. Thirdly, that if he isolates one
color from another by means of such a card with a small opening in it as
is to be found with the color screens at the end of this book, he will
be greatly helped to understand it. Fourthly, that he should pay special
attention to the proportions of the colors.
The following plates have been taken from specimens of color of
different nations, and are given in simple proportions of quality and
quantity, the latter in one-hundredths, as nearly as it is possible to
measure, when the design may be much complicated and broken up. In
studying these with reference to making the plates, it has seemed
probable that those who made them took their color in many instances
directly from nature; as, for instance, Plate LIV reminds one of the
qualities and quantities of color of a gayly feathered parrot. It is
hoped that these plates may help to create a taste for hard study of
whatever originals may be at hand in books, shops, private houses, or
museums.
Plate LXXXIV is a drawing of the antique rug from which Plate LXXXV is
reduced. By comparison the student will see how these and the other
plates have been made.