PAINTING ON POTTERY AFTER THE MANNER OF THE HAVILAND OR LIMOGES
FAIENCE.
This method of painting on pottery is said to have been discovered
by M. Laurin, at _Bourg-la-reine_, in the year 1873. The process
was afterward adopted by M. Haviland, and by him improved in such
manner as to materially change the method, as well as the appearance
of the painting. Specimens of the ware were first exhibited at
the Centennial Exhibition, in Philadelphia, in 1876. The first
application of a similar style in the decoration of pottery, in this
country, was made by the writer in Cincinnati, in October, 1877.
This method of decorating pottery, although not involving the use
of any new principle, was yet so entirely novel an application of
principles already in use, as to entitle M. Laurin to all the credit
attaching to a very original and important discovery. It places in
the hands of the painter of pottery a method at once so artistic,
and so thoroughly in accord with the modern school, as to awaken a
profound interest in the minds of all lovers of art. It is probable
that there are capabilities in this art that have not yet been
brought out. It is still in its infancy, and that there are in it
possibilities of much importance to the artistic world, can hardly be
doubted.
If it were not for the technical difficulties which surround all work
on pottery, and this style in particular, it would offer facilities
for the production of works of art unequaled by any method heretofore
in use. It is the hope of the writer that the following description
of the method of decorating pottery, in this manner, may throw some
light upon these technical difficulties, and also that artists of
ability may be induced to try it, and so demonstrate the capability
it undoubtedly possesses.
The mere knowledge of the materials used will, however, no more
produce artistic work, than a box of Winsor & Newton’s colors, in
the hands of a beginner, will enable him to paint a picture, equal
to one by Titian. To produce good work in this method, there must be
a certain amount of skill at the command of the painter, just as the
same degree of skill is requisite in the production of a good picture
by any other method. There is a certain boldness of effect produced
by the very nature of the materials and process, which probably would
not be seen in the work of the same person in other methods, yet the
lack of artistic feeling and ability will be as painfully apparent in
this as in any other.
Colors may be daubed upon pottery, as they are, alas! upon canvas,
by those whose training and whose feeling for art would hardly fit
them to become good house painters; but the result will not be good
art, nor will it ever be its own excuse for being. If other branches
of decorative art require taste, knowledge, and practical skill,
so much the more does this, when it offers scope for the highest
capacity. To the artist of ability sufficient to make use of it, it
furnishes a palette which, although not of the same range as that of
oil colors, yet affords an almost unlimited scale of colors, each
of which is enhanced to the fullest degree by the brilliant glaze,
with which the work is finished. The painting executed with these
beautiful colors, moreover, is practically unchangeable, and none of
the ravages of time, short of the destruction of the piece of ware
itself, can affect it. In decorations for buildings, or for ordinary
use in portraiture, or the higher forms of art, it offers, what has
long been desired among artists and art lovers, a method of making
works of art indestructible and beyond the possibility of change.
The ware known among dealers under the name of “barbotine,” has some
resemblance to that which we have been considering. It has a light
body, which has been subjected to a very slight fire, and is covered
with a soft glaze, which ensures great brilliancy of coloring. The
ware, however, has no durability, and is a substance that would not
stand the action of the elements, if used in external decoration.
[Illustration: Decoration]