DECORATION
"The world is still deceiv'd with ornament."
--_Merchant of Venice._
Decoration has been touched upon briefly in one or two of the preceding
chapters. To attempt a description of the various kinds of decoration
which it is possible to place on a pot, another book would be needed.
Their name is legion. They range from the simple and entirely satisfactory
work of primitive and peasant peoples to the wonderful enamel decorations
of the Chinese. With such an enormous field and varied choice it is
difficult to particularize and foolish to dogmatize. The hints below are
intended but to stimulate interest in the at present unexplored fields
that lie beyond the beaten track.
Any representative collection of ceramics will prove a veritable treasure
house of suggestion to the student. All will be there. The difficulty is
to choose, and choose aright. The bold brushwork of Cyprus foils the
marvellous _familles_ vert and rose of the Chinese, the faultless Wedgwood
sets off the virile Toft. One sees how the Italians, with almost crude
colours,--blue, green, red, yellow,--developed their wonderfully robust
school of figure painters; then their fanciful _arabesques_ are prolific
of ideas. The Greek style--red and black and white--is a rich field
waiting for the reaper. The peerless Persian pots, the plaques from Spain,
the steins and stoves from Germany, the fresh Delft wares; these and many
others crowd round for recognition and disconcert the choice.
But having come so far, let us not choose the horrific style that models
most faithfully a cabbage, tops it with a lifelike snail as handle, and
cunningly converts the whole into a vegetable dish!... (in S. K. M.).
Nothing should be more distressing to the artist than to see great skill
and craft thus misapplied. Yet how often does the search after false
originality lead only to meretricious cleverness or vulgarity, which
creeps in unseen during the too close struggle with the craft.
But our muttons need tending. Broadly speaking, all decoration falls under
three heads: Glaze; Relief; Painting;--subdivided into many combinations
of these three classes.
The application of glaze has already been described. A pot possessing a
noble form and glaze is obviously in no need of _decoration_; no artist
would attempt it. The Chinese and Japanese are safe guides here. Their
rich glazes and fine forms are set off in the simplest and most effective
manner. This is potting, pure and simple.
Under relief, we group all modelling,--raised or sunk, embossments,
flutings, mouldings, feet, handles, or applied figures. At one extreme
come the earliest attempts at decoration in slip or clay, highly developed
in the Gallo- and Egypto-Roman and Romano-British wares. The matured slip
must be applied fairly thick to the still moist pot and then dried slowly.
Any work applied to dry shapes is liable to crack in drying or leave in
firing. Probably the most effective use of slip is seen in the old tygs
and dishes of Toft and others of his time.
The simple spotting and surfacing has been carried to perfection by the
Martin Brothers, who have drawn largely upon the vegetable world for their
inspiration. Roman Aretine ware shows finely executed reliefs of foliage
and figures. The enrichment was probably worked on the original shape, a
mould was then taken, and the vessel pressed. (See chapter on Casting.)
Wedgwood carried this method still further (too far, maybe) and used
different coloured bodies. The reliefs, so finely modelled by Flaxman,
were fired, and from them moulds of a very refractory clay were made,
called _pitcher moulds_. The reliefs were then pressed and affixed to the
vase, and the whole touched up by a skilled craftsman. A naïve and
unpretentious form of this decoration is seen in the stoneware and
salt-glazed pottery of the eighteenth-century English potters and the
jolly _Bellarmines_ of earlier times. Small dies were used in the Orion
ware, the pattern being stamped into the clay. German stoneware and the
_Grés of Flanders_ show sunk and relief patterns. Between the two extremes
lies a rare choice of style.
This method of using patterns lends itself particularly to fine commercial
work when used with the restraint seen in the best of the above-mentioned
styles. To the craftsman it offers a welcome chance to enlarge his
production, but he must be well equipped. It is easy to acquire the mere
mechanism of commerce without its splendid technique. Finally, the further
the relief is developed the less will be the appeal of form and the less
the possibilities of glaze.
The next division is painting.
It is in this branch of ceramic decoration that the widest choice lies.
The scale ascends from the simple earthy colourants applied to the
unglazed pot in the manner of the American Indian up to the splendid
enamels of China and the sumptuous but sterile wonders of--shall we
say--Sèvres or Worcester. Much of the modern eighteenth- and
nineteenth-century work is such a technical _tour de force_ that one
hesitates to criticise it. But careful scrutiny will often show that the
artistic difficulties have been undermined rather than overcome. Thus the
frank frontal attack of the Persians on their absorbent ground or of the
potters of Delft on their unfired tin glaze is never attempted, and
probably never can be attempted in the factory of to-day.
The modern method of painting in fat oils on a prepared ground induces in
any but the most accomplished a cramped and finnicky style. The best and
really most beautiful results are seen in the delicate _vertu_ of the
eighteenth century. Snuff boxes and ladies' knick-knacks exhibit the
loveliest miniatures in an impressible medium. How far it is desirable to
decorate pots with such pictures depends on the sophistry of the
craftsman. (For, ever since painters were pampered by princes each
erstwhile honest craftsman must needs try to turn painter!)
The Chinese who laboured with infinite patience upon their pots still
seemed to preserve a spirit lacking in the works of their western
imitators, and their avoidance of realism saved them from the many
pitfalls that yawned for the Occidental.
The manner in which the Persians and Dutch preserved their freshness has
been noticed already, but the encountering and surmounting of similar
difficulties is at the bottom of most successes. A few of the methods of
painting pots are here set forth, with some odd variants.
The colourants described under Glazes are also used for painting. Very
finely ground and prepared, they are mixed with a flux or other vehicle
and applied in various ways under or over the glaze. Simple colours can be
made from the metallic oxides. They should be finely ground in a mortar
well mixed with a little of the glaze with which they are to be used. This
will do for the simplest work. For more subtle colours rather involved
processes are necessary. The range of manufactured colours, both over- and
under-glaze, is wide enough to suit all tastes, and when working on a
small scale are infinitely to be preferred on the score of economy and
dependability.
A method of painting entirely suited to beginners is as follows: A simple
_palette_ is prepared with the colours ground upon a slab of glass. The
medium employed is a solution of gum arabic and water, the colours being
applied directly to the green shape with a brush. The difficulty of firing
glaze on the raw clay deters any attempt at high finish, and the
absorbent ground develops a desirable freedom and directness of touch.
When painted, the pot is dipped or poured in a transparent glaze and
fired. The gum prevents the colour shifting during the immersion, but does
not prevent the glaze adhering. This method can be satisfactorily employed
on biscuit. More finish can be obtained and a richer glaze used without
risk. Much skill and practice will be required to produce good stuff, as
each touch, although not apparent before, will stand out distinctly and
often disagreeably after the fire. The gum must be used sparingly; any
excess will cause peeling and prevent the adhesion of the glaze.
For a still higher finish the biscuit is sized with a solution of gum
tragacanth. This is smoothly applied until the pot is non-absorbent. The
design, if elaborate, should be drawn upon the pot with a fine graphite
pencil or, better still, India ink and brush. A common pencil is likely to
show after firing, but the ink disappears entirely. The colours are then
well ground and laid in with fat oil of turpentine or lavender oil.
To prepare the first oil, half fill a cup with pure turps, stand it in a
saucer, and spill a little over the sides of the cup. After standing a
little the fat oil is deposited in the saucer and the clear turps left in
the cup. Long, flexible brushes holding plenty of colour are used and the
fat oil thinned if necessary with clear turps. The colour should flow
easily from the brush, being neither _tacky_ nor too fluid, and constant
retouching is to be avoided. Keep all free from dust. Heavy,
greasy-looking masses should be scraped off and repainted, otherwise they
will flake off.
When the painting is finished, the colour is _hardened on_; that is, the
gum and medium are fired off in the kiln, a dull-red heat being
sufficient. This does anything but harden on, however, and the pot must be
handled very carefully or the colour will rub off. The glaze should now be
gently sprayed on, and then the final fire is given.
Another way is to apply a very thin spray of glaze before hardening on,
just sufficient to fix the colour. The pot may then be dipped or poured
without risk. In each case the oily medium must be quite dry before the
hardening on takes place. After the glost fire the decoration is fixed and
unalterable. Where possible, a hard transparent glaze is best for fine
work. A soft glaze will always run if slightly over-fired, and the result
is the obliteration of all brushwork.
Over-glaze decoration is applied in a very similar manner. Turpentine, fat
oil, and lavender oil are used: the turps to run the colour, the fat oil
to stiffen, and the oil of lavender to retard the drying. The colour must
be applied evenly and thinly, thick patches being likely to peel or crack.
On hard glazes this process lends itself to elaborate effects. The hard
and fast colours, the blues and greens, may be fired first, the delicate
pinks and greys last. The whole effect may then be enriched with
low-firing lustres. These, when bought in bottles, are ready to use and
are applied directly with a fine brush, then fired at a dull-red heat. The
pot should then be quite finished; quite frequently it is.
_Pâte sur pâte_ or painting in relief colours is another process that has
many attractive features. The colours have a clay carrier and are applied
with a gum medium. Painted boldly with a certain amount of relief, this
gives a rich enamel effect very suitable to simple figure decoration.
The full equipment of the painter will be as follows:
Colours, under- or over-glaze.
Brushes, tracers, and shaders.
A stick frame for holding the vase.
Turpentine and lavender oil.
A slab of ground glass.
A muller for grinding.
India ink and a colour slab.
A palette knife of horn for very delicate colours.
Some soft rags.
Before risking decent shapes in the fire, trials,--on biscuit for
under-glaze, on glaze for over-glaze,--should be made repeatedly.
Graduated strips and stripes tartan fashion are the most useful and easily
tabulated. To lay perfectly flat grounds some skill and practice are
necessary. One method is to paint in the ornament or rather the space it
will cover with thick molasses or black treacle. This is allowed to harden
and the background colour applied with a soft dabber. It must be ground
fine with fat oil and applied very evenly. Then the tile or vase is soaked
in water, which causes the treacle to peel off. The oil is allowed to dry
and the piece fired. This fixes the background, and the decoration itself
is next applied.
Pierced work if skilfully done is most attractive. The pattern may be
incised on the "original," which is moulded, the design then showing in
relief. This again shows as a slightly engraved pattern on each cast form
or shape. Then with the aid of a fine-pointed knife or plaster tool the
pattern is cut out and the edges are softened to take away any metallic
look. The Chinese and Persians are said to have used rice seeds in some of
their translucent effects. The seeds were embedded in the moist clay to
form a delicate tracery. When fired, the grains disappeared, leaving holes
which were completely filled with glaze.
The decorative possibilities of simple incised lines and plain slip
additions have been hinted at already. The slip may be coloured red or
brown with iron and manganese oxides or applied white to a coloured body.
Sharply incised lines may be filled in with colour stiffened by the
addition of a little _hard_ clear glaze or China clay. Patterns may be dug
out or stamped in and filled up with different coloured clays and the
whole glazed with a coloured transparent glaze. Scraffito work is
effective and not difficult. The green pot, tile, or dish is sprayed
evenly with a different coloured slip, usually red on white. The piece
should not be quite dry and the coefficient of expansion between the two
clays as near alike as possible. The decoration is then sketched in and
the background or the ornament itself gently scratched away to show the
ground beneath. It is then fired, glazed, and fired again. All these
processes have their uses and abuses, but they do not lend themselves
readily to elaboration or realism.
[Illustration: FIG. 56--STATUETTE FOR A THREE-PIECE MOULD.]