GLAZED POTTERY.--MOORISH, PERSIAN, RHODIAN, ETC., ETC.
The Arabs in Spain.--Cordova, Granada, Seville.--Enamel and
Lustres.--Hispano-Moresque.--The Alhambra.--Tiles.--Vase of the
Alhambra.--Malaga.--Majorca and Maiolica.--Rhodian
Pottery.--Damascus Pottery.--Persian and Arabic Pottery.--Persian
Porcelain.--Persian and Arabic Tiles.
Before giving some particulars of the interesting examples of pottery
which have come to us from the Arabs and the Moors of Spain, it may be
well to devote a few moments to the people themselves.
I have thought it well to group under one head a number of their
productions, because they are peculiar, and because they seem to have
sprung from one centre, or to have grown up under a corresponding sense
of the beautiful, so different from that of other peoples.
Beginning with the pottery of the Spanish Moors, now called
_Hispano-Moresque_, and which is the latest, we run backward to the
_Rhodian_, the _Arabic_, the _Damascene_, and the _Persian_. From what
examples I have been able to see of these, they certainly show a strong
family likeness in their colors, their designs, and their clays.
It is hardly to be supposed that this grew out of their religion, or
that the fervid soul of Mohammed fired the souls of his followers with
that striking and low-toned and intense and subtile harmony of blues,
greens, and browns, which is so often seen on their tiles and dishes. It
is more likely that, beginning somewhere, the Arabian potters carried
with them wherever they went their colors and their secrets; and that
what was desired in Persia, or Damascus, or Cairo, must be desired
wherever the "followers of the faithful" were found; and thus they went
to work to produce these various fictile wares which are now so much
sought for.
One of the most curious, most interesting, and most picturesque episodes
in modern history is that of the Moors in Spain.
From the year 712 to the time of the discovery of America, in 1492,
these Moslems held possession of the finest parts of Spain, including
the cities of Cordova, Granada, and Seville. Of these, Cordova and
Seville are older than the Romans. In the first century they were fought
over by Cæsar and Pompey, but were not destroyed. The shores of Spain
were visited by the ships of Tyre, and afterward by the Greeks; but
these came as traders, rather than as conquerors. The old inhabitants,
the Iberians, were brave and determined; but they could not organize,
could not resist the invading arms of Rome, which swept over the world
under the leadership of some one able and daring leader. Then came in
the Vandals and the Goths. They swarmed down upon Italy, and into Spain,
where they became strong and great. As we read history, we see almost
nothing but one long, fierce, destructive fight, and we wonder that
there could have been any art, any learning, any kindness, in the world;
for every man's hand was against every man, and the chief vocation of
great men was to rob and enslave other men. So it has been, so it is
now; the forms change, the fact remains. We have our feudal barons
to-day. But how came the Moors--the Arabs, rather--in Spain? Briefly
this may be answered:
The amazing, almost miraculous power with which _Mohammed the Promised_
had inspired the Arabian race led them forth to conquer and convert.
They went east and they went west, until they stretched along the shores
of the Mediterranean Sea and reached the Pillars of Hercules.
Could the narrow strait stop their way? They passed over it like dry
land, and spread their victorious bands over the southern part of the
peninsula, and possessed themselves of the lovely lands of Andalusia,
Estremadura, Castile, and even penetrated to the cold and savage
mountains of Navarre.
What were these Moors? Were they savage beasts, cruel robbers?
They appear to have brought into Spain not only Art, but the arts,
sciences, learning, literature. Under the strong and able rule of
Abderrahman III. (912 to 961), agriculture, science, trade, and decent
living, throve as they never yet had done in Spain. During the five or
six centuries in which the Moors held the land, it is easy to believe
that Spain enjoyed a greater measure of worldly prosperity than before
or since. In this time Cordova, the seat of the caliphate, grew to have
a population of a million souls; it had three hundred mosques and nine
hundred baths. Its greatest mosque, begun in 786, shone with four
thousand silver lamps, and its dome was raised aloft on twelve hundred
slender pillars.
The city of Granada was built, and upon the sides of its mountain sprang
into being the fairy fortress and palace of the _Alhambra_. Its halls,
its courts, its galleries, its arabesques, its fretwork, its fountains,
even in their ruin, tell us of the power of this singular people.
In Seville, too, the _Alcazar_ and the _Giralda_ even now bear beautiful
witness to their art, their skill, their industry.
There seems little question now that the Moorish potters brought with
them into Spain the arts which the Persian or Arabian potters knew, not
only for the preparing the clays, but that they also had the secret for
making the _stanniferous enamel_, or glaze, into which the use of tin
enters. They also applied to the decoration of their wares certain
_lustres_, which Demmin says were produced by the fumes of bismuth, of
antimony, or of arsenic. It is not probable that gold was a component
part of these lustres.
Just when the Moors went to work to make their tiles and their lustred
dishes, we do not know. But as ornamental tiles--_azulejos_--were used
to decorate their walls, we conclude that the production began almost at
once. These tiles were not only used in bands or strips on the walls;
they were also used as pavements, and the floors of the Alhambra were
glittering with them, some few of which still remain there.
Mr. Ford's description of them, thus quoted by Marryat, says: "Moorish
very fine, and most ancient; surface plain, painted and enameled blue;
the elaborate designs in gold lustre. The inscription on the shield is
the well-known motto of the Mussulman founders of the palace of Granada:
'There is no conqueror but God.' The date of its manufacture may be
placed about 1300."
[Illustration: FIG. 59.--_From the Alhambra._]
Our engraving of one of these tiles (Fig. 59) gives a good
representation of the design, but it cannot, of course, express the
color. No one can fail to see how far away it is from the commonplace
and the ordinary geometric patterns into which the dull man invariably
falls; no one can fail to be struck with the simple intricacy which
interests, we cannot tell why.
Another remarkable piece of their work is _The Vase of the Alhambra_
(Fig. 60), one of the most beautiful and most interesting vases anywhere
known. This is sometimes called "La Jarra," and is figured in Owen
Jones's "Alhambra," where will be found much more that is worthy of
attention. This is supposed to have been made about 1320. I take the
description from Marryat's work: "It is of earthen-ware; the ground
white, the ornaments either blue of two shades, or of that gold or
copper lustre so often found in Spanish and Italian pottery. This
beautiful specimen of Moorish workmanship, which is four feet three
inches in height, was discovered, with another similar to it, beneath
the pavement of the Alhambra, and is said to have been filled with
gold. It was copied in 1842, at the manufactory of Sèvres, from drawings
made in Spain by Dauzats." It has since been copied by Deck, of Paris.
[Illustration: FIG. 60.--_The Vase of the Alhambra._]
_Malaga_ was probably the place where the best of the Moorish work was
made, and there the manufacture continued for centuries. At Valencia
faiences were afterward largely produced, as they are still.
The examples of Moorish dishes remaining are marked by a peculiar
_lustre_, which I have mentioned, which is either a lighter or a darker
yellow, and sometimes of a deep coppery color.
[Illustration: FIG. 61.--_Hispano-Moresque Plate._]
A very fine example of this golden lustred ware is in the collection of
Mr. Wales, at Boston, through whose kindness I am enabled to present the
accompanying illustration (Fig. 61). It is now, I think, hung in the
loan collection of the Museum of Arts at Boston, with many other of his
valuable and interesting pieces.
That any pieces of this work should yet be in existence may excite our
surprise.
The struggle between the Christians and the Moslems for the possession
of the government and the religion of Spain went on through the
centuries. Yet through all these troubled centuries these Moors found
time to build great cities, and to create those beautiful examples of
their peculiar architecture which are so satisfactory even in ruin. They
also did more to encourage learning and the arts than any other nation
of Europe; so that their schools and their scholars became renowned the
world over, and were flocked to by Christian students.
In due time internal dissensions weakened them; then they went to ruin,
and at last were driven out of Spain by the combined Christians. Then it
was that the bitterness of war was intensified with the hatreds of
religion; and then it was that a war of destruction was waged, not only
against the persons of the "vile Moslems," but against all their works;
so that nothing should remain to tell the story of their hated supremacy
and their hated religion. Then it was that the Moorish potters of Malaga
and Valencia were slaughtered or expelled, and then, too, their
handiwork went with them into wholesale destruction.
In this wreck and ruin, it is singular that the mosques, those finest
monuments of the arts and the industry of the Moors, were spared.
These remain, and a few examples of their pottery, of which we have
striven to give some idea, though faint.
One thing seems to be admitted on all hands, viz.: that to the Moors of
Spain Europe owes either the invention or the introduction of siliceous
or glass-glazed wares, and that from that date begins all improvements
in fictile work; that directly from it came the potteries of the
Balearic Islands, and that from Majorca came not only the names into
Italy, but in all probability the potters or their secrets, which
resulted in the production, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, of
the wares now so famous under the name of _Majolica_, or, as it is now
spelled, MAIOLICA, of which we shall have something to say further on.
RHODIAN POTTERY.--Pursuing this subject eastward, we find traces of a
lustred pottery on the island of _Sicily_, believed to be the work of
Arabic potters.
Still farther eastward, upon the island of Rhodes, have been found many
plates and dishes, now classed as _Rhodian_, sometimes as _Persian_, and
sometimes as _Damascus_ ware. The styles of this work, their colors and
their designs, seem to group them together, and it is difficult to
separate them in any consistent way.
The first I saw of these were hung on the walls of the house of Mr.
Frederick Leighton, the distinguished artist of London. While following
his art on the island of Rhodes, he had heard that some pottery of this
sort was now and then to be found on the island; the pieces he saw were
very bold and striking, and tradition there said that they were the work
of Persian potters, who, as prisoners, had centuries before been placed
on the island. Finding clay to their hands, they went to work at their
trade, and, with little doubt, practised it diligently through a long
time, and handed it down to their children.
Whatever was the truth of the tradition, a search among the poor people
of the island unearthed many pieces of the ware, which Mr. Leighton
brought with him to London. This was repeated on a second visit, until
now this private collection is probably one of the best in England.
Upon his second return, Mr. Leighton told me he found in London, for
sale, plates and dishes of the same character and coloring which were
said to have been brought around from Persia; so that, whatever may have
been the origin of this ware, whether Rhodes, Persia, or Damascus, the
product was almost the same.
Mr. Fortnum, in his "Hand-Book upon Maiolica," says:
"The paste varies in quality more than in kind, being of a gray-white
color and sandy consistence, analogous to that of the Persian wares. The
decoration is more generally rich in color, the ground white, blue,
turquoise, tobacco-color, and lilac, sometimes covered with scale-work,
with panels of Oriental form or leafage, large sprays of flowers,
particularly roses, tulips, hyacinths, carnations, etc., the colors used
being a rich blue, turquoise, green, purple, yellow, red, black. The
forms are elegant: large bowls on raised feet; flasks or bottles
bulb-shaped with elongated necks; pear-shaped jugs with cylindrical
necks and loop-handle; circular dishes or plates with deep centres, etc.
An interesting example of the highest quality of this ware is in the
writer's possession, and is described and figured in color in vol. xlii.
of the 'Archæologia.' It is a hanging-lamp made for and obtained from
the Mosque of Omar at Jerusalem, signed and dated June, 1549.
"Two leading varieties are known in collections: namely, _Damascus
proper_; known by its evenness of surface and rich glaze with subdued
but harmonious coloring, certain tones of which are peculiar to this
variety; for example, a dull lilac or purple, replacing the embossed red
so conspicuous on the Rhodian, and used against blue, which is of two or
three shades, the turquoise being frequently placed against the darker
tone; a sage green is also characteristic. The dishes of this variety
usually have the outer edge shaped in alternating ogee.
"This kind is much more uncommon than the other, RHODIAN or LINDUS, to
which the greater number of pieces known in collections as 'Persian
ware' belong. It is to Mr. Salzmann that we owe the discovery of the
remains of ancient furnaces at Lindus, in the island of Rhodes, from the
old palaces of which he collected numerous examples. This variety,
although extremely beautiful, is generally coarser than the former, and
the decoration more marked and brilliant. A bright-red pigment, so
thickly laid on as to stand out in relief upon the surface of the piece,
is very characteristic and in many cases is a color of great beauty; the
predominant decoration of the plates consists of two or three sprays of
roses, pinks, hyacinths, and tulips, and leaves, sometimes tied together
at the stem and spreading over the entire surface of the piece in
graceful lines; the border frequently of black and blue scroll-work.
Ships, birds, and animals, are also depicted; and a shield-of-arms
occurs on some pieces."
A few of these striking Rhodian plates are to be seen in America; and I
here engrave one (Fig. 62) from Mr. W. C. Prime's collection, which is
an excellent example. It shows a group of flowers starting from a point,
the central stalk being that of a purple hyacinth. This method of
grouping was a favorite one with these painters. These plates vary in
price in Europe from fifteen to seventy-five dollars each.
Of the DAMASCUS pottery little can be said, because little is known.
From time to time plates and dishes are purchased there and brought to
us, which possess the general character already described as Rhodian,
but are thought to have a delicacy and fineness not found in that
pottery. A very handsome example is in Mr. Wales's collection, which
bears a little gilding, and which, perhaps, may be classed as of
Damascus.
[Illustration: FIG. 62.--_Persian and Rhodian Pottery._]
Of PERSIAN and ARABIC pottery it is impossible, in the vagueness
existing with respect to it, to do more than make a few suggestions.
We cannot do better than to read what Mr. Fortnum has gathered with
regard to this ware:
"We do not derive any information from M. de Rochchouart on the subject
of the lustred wares, except in his description of the tiles of the
Mosque of Natinz of the twelfth century; nor do we learn anything of
that variety of creamy white pottery having the sides pierced through
the paste, but filled with the translucent glaze, and which is believed
to be the Gombr[=o]n ware of Horace Walpole's day. But he gives
interesting information on the subject of the tiles used for decoration,
of which the finest are those mentioned above; those of Ispahan and of
the period of Shah Abbas being also admirable for their exquisite
design.
"The Persian glazed pottery known to us may be divided into:
"_A._ Wares, generally highly baked, and sometimes semi-translucent.
Paste, fine and rather thin, decorated with ruby, brown, and coppery
lustre, on dark-blue and creamy-white ground.
"_B._ Wares, of fine paste, highly baked, semi-translucent, of creamy
color and rich, clear glaze, running into tears beneath the piece of a
pale sea-green tint. Its characteristic decoration consisting of holes
pierced through the paste, and filled in with the transparent glaze: the
raised centres, etc., are bordered with a chocolate brown or blue
leafage, slightly used. This is supposed to be the Gombr[=o]n ware.
"_C._ Wares, frequently of fine paste, and highly baked to
semi-transparency: the ground white; decoration of plants and animals,
sometimes after the Chinese, in bright cobalt blue, the outlines
frequently drawn in manganese; some pieces with reliefs and imitation
Chinese marks also occur; this variety is perhaps more recent than the
others."
This description may apply rather to a sort of semi or imperfect
_porcelain_ of Persian manufacture, as to the reality of which there has
been and is much doubt, rather than to the peculiar class of faience of
which we have been writing.
As to the _porcelain_ or hard faience of PERSIA, here and there are to
be met with singular examples, which, because of a peculiar style of
painting, combined with a certain coarseness or imperfectness of paste,
have usually been relegated to the less dexterous potters of Persia.
That pottery has been made in Persia, far back in the dimness of the
Dark Ages, there seems to be no doubt; just what it was remains a doubt;
because even then a sort of commerce, probably by sea and land, existed
with China, and thence came porcelains of various qualities and many
designs. We are apt to believe that, until our day, there were few
"cakes and ale"--little art, or only coarse fabrics. Whereas fine and
admirable work of many sorts, and especially in porcelain and pottery,
had reached perfection before our European or Western civilization
began. Out of China came porcelain to Persia; out of Persia and
Phoenicia came pottery to us.
Of the Persian porcelain, or hard pottery, a single example is to be
seen in Mr. Avery's collection, now in the Museum of Art at New York. It
was bought at the Vienna Exhibition from Prince _Ehtezad-es-Saltenet_,
uncle to the Shah of Persia, and we may suppose it, therefore, to have
about it the true flavor of genuineness. It is a bowl of rather coarse
ware, approaching to the hardness, if not the translucency, of
porcelain; it is painted with blue of a common color, and with a not
very interesting design; and is valuable as an example of the probable
work of Persian potters.
But there exist many pieces of pottery besides these, which have usually
been called Persian because of their peculiarities of design and of
coloring. Some of these approach closely to the work already designated
as Rhodian or Damascene. In the upper plate of Fig. 62, from Mr. Prime's
collection, is shown one of these, which the owner is inclined to
believe may be Persian and not Rhodian. So also the painted faience egg
(Fig. 62), obtained by him from a lamp in a mosque of the Holy Land. The
face and the coloring do certainly impress one with a Persian faith,
though it may not be easy to explain the reason why.
In my possession is a sweetmeat-pot covered with an "engobe" or "slip,"
upon which are boldly painted in colors flowers and leaves; these last
are peculiar in shape, and are by some believed to be Persian work--I
doubt it, but it is possible.
We have a few words to say of the Persian or Arabic TILES. These have
been found inlaid upon the walls of mosques and palaces and tombs in
Damascus, in Cairo, in Ispahan. As far back as the palmy days of Babylon
and Assyria, these enameled or glazed bricks or tiles were used to
decorate the walls of their buildings; and that is about all we know.
These bricks remain; for, of all the works of man, the brick is
seemingly imperishable.
It is also certain that upon some of these bricks or tiles is found a
glaze or enamel made with the use of tin; so that what is now called
_stanniferous_ enamel was known at that early day, and long before it
was used in Italy by _Luca della Robbia_, who at one time was supposed
to have invented it.
The example here given (Fig. 63) is a very beautiful plaque, made up of
many pieces, and is remarkable for the splendor of its color, rather
than for any perfectness of design. It is interesting, however, as
showing the dresses of the cavaliers of the Persian court.
[Illustration: FIG. 63.--_Persian Plaque._]
In the walls of Damascus, of Jerusalem, and of Cairo, these tiles were
imbedded for ornamental and decorative purposes, and from them they have
been gathered by those good people called "collectors." In Fig. 62 is an
engraving of one in Mr. Prime's collection, which gives simply the
lines, but wholly fails to give the magic and mystery of color which
endues it with beauty. This cannot be described, nor can it be
pictured; the combinations of blues are too subtile for the palette of
the painter; they have been sublimated in the fiery heats of the
furnace.
A few of these tiles are in possession of Mr. Prime and of Mr. Wales;
and a very fine collection is now in the house of Mr. Leighton, of
London, of which I have spoken. He has had them imbedded in the walls of
his halls, which they tinge with their peculiar and pensive light.