DUTCH DELFT AND ENGLISH EARTHEN-WARE.
Delft, Number of Fabriques.--Haarlem.--Paste.--Great
Painters.--Violins.--Tea-Services.--A Dutch Stable.--Broeck Dutch
Tiles.--England.--Queen Elizabeth.--Pepys's Diary.--Brown
Stone-ware.--The Tyg.--Lambeth Pottery.--Fulham
Pottery.--Elers.--Elizabethan Pottery.--Stoke-upon-Trent.--Josiah
Wedgwood.--Cheapness.--Queen's-ware.--Jasper-ware.--Flaxman.
--Cameos.--Basalt.--The Portland Vase.--Prices.
There was a day (about 1650) when the Dutch town of Delft had fifty
manufactories of earthen-ware, and employed in them over seven thousand
people. To-day she has but one--if even that--and the work done there
has sunk into insignificance. To those who are fond of change, of
excitement, this will be a pleasant fact to know; it goes to show that
Macaulay's prophecy, that the coming New-Zealander will sit on the piers
of London Bridge in the "good time that is coming," and moralize over
the ruins of London, may come true--pleasanter for the New Zealand
_savant_ than for the English statesman!
Haydn's "Dictionary of Dates" states that pottery was made at Delft as
early as 1310; and there are records of its importation from there into
England in the time of King Henry IV. (1399 to 1413). The great industry
was undoubtedly stimulated by the close knowledge of Japanese and
Oriental porcelains which the Dutch merchants at a very early day and
for so long a time had access to; which they brought to Holland in such
large quantities, and which by them were distributed over Europe. But
the cost of these was, of course, very considerable for those times; and
the discovery of good clays in Holland gave the Dutch every facility for
engaging in the manufacture, which they had the wit to seize and the
skill to develop; so that they were able to make earthen-ware of good
quality, with creditable ornamentation, at comparatively small prices.
The Dutch were then the great "traders" of the world. They soon sent
this pottery far and wide, into Germany, France, and England; and they
got much money for it. Holland grew rich.
Haarlem was also a centre for this industry; but it made less impression
there than at Delft, and went down sooner; so that but little is known
of it.
The _paste_ of the Delft, or at least some of it, is of a fine quality,
so that it was worked quite thin, and yet preserved sufficient strength
for use. To make this, a good deal of pains and skill was applied to it
before it went to the deft hand of the modeler.
Of course, the great production at Delft was for the uses of the table,
and its work did much to effect a revolution in the household-art of the
table. Before this production the plates and dishes of the common people
were of wood or "tre;" often only a square bit of board upon which the
meat could be laid and cut. The better-off people had plates of pewter,
and kings and princes indulged in those of silver.
Boitet, writing in 1667 of Delft, says:
"One of the principal branches of industry at present consists in the
manufacture of a kind of porcelain[8] which nowhere in Europe is made of
such fine quality and so cheap. For some years, indeed, porcelain has
been manufactured in Saxony, and also at some places in France. The
former is finer than that made at Delft, but more expensive likewise,
and therefore not much in general use; whereas the Delft porcelain, on
account of its more moderate price, is more salable; and it is sent not
alone to most places in Europe, but even to Asia also. The clay of which
it is made comes from the neighborhood of Maestricht, and is purified in
Delft by divers processes. Besides larger articles for general use,
complete services are made here, ornamented with escutcheons, as they
may be desired, beautifully gilt and painted, almost equal to the East
Indian in transparency, and surpassing such in the painting. Many
persons of property have such sets with their escutcheons made here,
which then pass for Japan or Chinese porcelain."
We must receive M. Boitet's judgment that the Delft "_surpassed_ the
East Indian (or Chinese) in the painting" with many grains of allowance.
Still, when it is known that many services were painted with landscapes
after Berghem, and that William Vandervelde, Van der Meer, and Jan
Steen, painted some of the ware themselves, we may easily believe that
many pieces of delft had a character of their own, which gave it a very
high rank.
I have myself never seen such pieces of these, and hardly know where to
look for them. Marryat says that in the Sèvres Museum is a large dish,
in the centre of which is a landscape, with animals and figures after
Berghem, which is one of the finest examples known; and that other fine
pieces are in the Japan Museum at Dresden. Some of these finest pieces
are (or were) in the collection of M. Demmin at Paris; one of them is a
portrait of Jan Steen himself about twenty-five or thirty years of age,
with flowing light hair covered with a cap or bonnet.
Of the paintings upon delft by Van der Meer, Demmin enumerates a number;
among which the "Head of a Woman," a "Landscape," and a "View of Delft,"
are at the Hague; the "Porch at Delft, upon which 'le Taciturne' was
assassinated," is in the Museum at Amsterdam; and a variety of
portraits, landscapes, city views, etc., are in private collections.
Demmin describes a very elaborately-painted picture upon delft tiles in
the Gallery Suermondt at Aix-la-Chapelle, containing a country-house, a
figure of a woman, a well and a person drawing water from it, a pigeon,
a tree, and the sunlight shooting through it and touching the walls of
the house here and there.
This very elaborate picture, so well and minutely painted, has been
attributed both to Ruysdael and to Hobbema; it is now ascribed to Van
der Meer.
This is work which will bring any price, because it is so difficult and
so uncommon; but it is not what I should value upon delft or porcelain.
It can never be _so good_ as upon canvas; it is much more difficult to
make it, and a small accident ruins it past repair.
It is not "decorating china;" it is simply trying to make a picture with
materials unsuited for the purpose; and its only merit is that it shows
difficulties overcome. It is precisely the same in principle as the
mosaics. It would have been idiotic for Raffaelle to have made the
Dresden Madonna in mosaic or on porcelain.
[Illustration: FIG. 88.--_Delft._]
In the decorative work of the Delft potters it seems to me the things to
desire are the fine plates and dishes painted, as many of them are, with
luminous blues almost equal to the celestial blues of China, such as we
see in Fig. 88; and the vases, the flagons, the cups and mugs, in every
style and shape; the same things in polychrome, with those bold groups
of flowers, equal in their way to the work of the Orientals. Besides,
there are the figures of peasants, etc.; also their cows and horses,
which have a quaint interest not easily explained.
The Dutch potters ran into many things, such as small foot-stoves,
barbers' basins, casters, salt-cellars, etc. About much of the good
delft is that same quaint, countrified beauty of which I have spoken. It
is good, because it is real and native to the people and its painters.
When they left this and went to imitating the Chinese and the Japanese,
their work seems to me almost worthless; because it was an _imitation_,
and it was _inferior_.
In one of the largest workshops, or fabriques, a custom prevailed that
one should read portions of the Bible, which all might hear and all
might discuss. This was a time when religious heat was fervent; when the
great questions of church direction and free thought were rife; when
Catholic and Protestant often went from the assault of the tongue to
that with the arquebuse. This practice no doubt made good Protestants,
but also without doubt poor potters.
The most curious pieces of delft known are four _violins_, still extant,
very carefully made and very carefully painted. One is (or was) in the
museum at Rouen, one at the Conservatoire at Paris, the third in the
collection of M. Demmin, and the fourth in a private collection at
Utrecht. The story still lives that these four violins were made by the
master-modelers for marriage-gifts to the four daughters of the master
of the fabrique, about to marry four young potters; and that the music
for the dance was drawn from them. It was a pretty conceit.
Some elaborate dinner-services were made at Delft, which required much
skill and much work. The covers of the dishes were modeled in the
likeness of birds or fish, indicating whatever was to be served in them;
these were painted carefully to imitate Nature, so that the guest, in
seeing the table, would know if it were a turkey, a pheasant, a
ptarmigan--whatever luxury had been provided for his delectation.
TEA-SERVICES.--It is possible there are persons who believe that tea has
always been known, and that the lovely tea-services out of which, we
sometimes drink it have existed from the time of Noah and the Deluge;
not so.
Pepys, in his "Diary," speaks of it in 1661 as "a China drink of which I
had never drunk before." And at that time it sold in England at fifty or
sixty shillings a pound--an enormous price.
Tea and coffee pots were first brought to Holland from China, and do not
appear earlier than about 1700; so that those which came over in the
Mayflower and the Half-Moon and the Ark must have been made by Elder
Brewster and Henry Hudson and Leonard Calvert from the "depths of their
moral consciousness."
Tea, we must remember, was not drunk in England earlier than about 1660,
and then but rarely; and coffee was introduced into England about 1637.
Teapots have from time to time been a collector's fancy, and persons
have again and again got together four or five hundred, of all patterns
and decorations. Nothing would be more pleasing in this way at the
afternoon tea, when every guest should have each his own service, and
every one beautiful.
That the use of delft-ware for ornament throughout Holland was great is
evident from the number of decorated plates and vases, many of large
size, and many showing a careful style of painting; these are now
constantly coming from that country, and they are not counterfeits. Most
of them certainly are rudely but effectively painted, and are very
decorative. Upon a farm, not far from Amsterdam, the cows during the
summer season being upon the pastures, I found the stables carefully
cleansed and whitewashed, and the stalls and walls hung with large and
gayly-painted plates and plaques; and some pieces of brass-work were
added to impart a desired brilliancy.
Nearly every house, great and small, in the palmy days of Holland had
more or less decorative delft-ware hung upon its walls and placed upon
its mantel-pieces; many of these have been carefully treasured up, and
they are the stores from which the world now makes its drafts.
A favorite decoration was a garniture for the mantel-shelf, consisting
of three covered and two uncovered vases, such as are seen in Fig. 89.
They are often painted in blue alone, which for a long time was the
prevailing color, and which sometimes nearly equaled the best blues of
China. The ones here figured are of an excellent blue, and show a
religious subject--the Virgin, Child, and St. John.
The variety of decoration was great; but mostly of birds, flowers,
fruit, and other objects of Nature.
[Illustration: FIG 89.--_Delft._]
Afterward these, as well as plates, dishes, mugs, etc., were painted
with many colors; and some of these were quite rude and garish, to suit
a low and garish taste. But, as decoratives, these too have a certain
value.
At the small village of Broeck, some seven miles from Amsterdam, there
was in 1870 a very nice collection of delft for sale, among which were a
dozen or more large plates of the best blue. It was the collection of a
woman who had for a long time been a dealer there.
The town of Broeck, as most know, has been a point to visit; it was at
one time the cleanest spot in the known world, no horse or cow or other
animal being permitted in its streets. In those days it was a sort of
country-seat for the rich Amsterdam merchants. It is changed now.
The _marks_ upon delft are mostly those of the individual painters, and
may be found in considerable variety in Demmin's more elaborate work.
[Illustration: FIG. 90.--_Delft Plate._]
Fig. 90 is a good representation of the bold painting of the Delft
workmen. These great plates, when standing on shelves or fastened to the
wall, produce a striking and pleasing effect. They are now much sought
for; and the high-class work brings high prices, though not such prices
as the Italian maiolicas.
TILES were made from an early period in Holland, and during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in great quantities. They were
used to decorate fireplaces, stoves, walls, hearths, etc. The blue and
brown Scripture-tiles were made in great numbers, and found a wide and
ready sale. They are rude, quaint, and interesting--are not _art_ at
all, but whimsical expressions of a religious sentiment. They are still
made in Holland almost identical in design and feeling with those
produced three hundred years ago.
ENGLISH POTTERY OR EARTHEN-WARE.
Very primitive unglazed pottery was made in England by the Britons and
Saxons before the days of written history. Some account is given, in the
chapter upon "Unglazed Pottery," of the red Roman unglazed ware found in
London and elsewhere, which, beyond any reasonable doubt, was made
largely in England. An account of the use and production of glazed
pottery in England will be in place here.
Down to the times even of Queen Elizabeth (1558 to 1603) we know that
trenchers of wood, and cups and bottles of wood as well as of leather
(these were called "black jacks"), were in common use even in good
houses. As late as 1663, Pepys, in his most entertaining "Diary," says
that at the lord-mayor's feast meats were served on wooden dishes, and
were eaten off trenchers. The common dishes in Queen Elizabeth's
housekeeping were of wood; while those for the queen's table were of
silver, or possibly of pewter. These silver and pewter services
prevailed on the tables of the wealthy till some time after the
introduction of porcelain from China, and delft from Holland, which came
in in considerable quantities about 1650 and later.
The first glazed ware made in England seems to have been the brown
stone-ware, which, Chaffers says, was in use down to about 1680, and
mostly in the shape of pitchers, jugs, and bottles. It did not at first
come into use for table-dishes.
After this dishes were made of coarse and gritty clay, not at all equal
to the delft-ware, upon which a lead-glaze was used of a greenish or
dark-yellowish color. This lead or plumbiferous glaze continued in use
for a long time; but when it was _first_ used in England seems unknown.
Salt-glaze was used in Staffordshire in 1680.
One of the earliest attempts at "fancy" in English pottery is to be seen
in the drinking-cup called a "_tyg_," which has three handles, intended
for three friends; so that each could drink from his own lip in
succession. Mugs with two and four handles were also made.
At LAMBETH it is believed that some Dutch potters made earthenware
resembling delft as early as 1650. A patent was granted to some potters
by the name of Van Hamme in 1676. Various pieces of glazed pottery with
English designs remain, bearing dates from 1642 down to 1682, which it
is thought were made here.
At FULHAM stone-ware of a fine quality seems to have been made by a Mr.
Dwight as early as 1671. This, in the accounts of the day, was sometimes
called "_porcellane_." There is reason to believe that a good degree of
advance was reached here, and that the work approached that made at
Cologne, now called "Grès de Flanders." Figures and busts were also made
here, a few of which are still extant.
Two gentlemen named ELERS, who came to England with William of Orange,
were clever men, and one of them was a chemist. They discovered clay at
Bradwell, and established a pottery there, where for a time they
produced good ware from the red clay. But curious eyes were at work to
discover their processes, and one Astbury, pretending to be a
half-witted fellow, succeeded in doing it; and then their business was
ruined and broken up.
From Paul Elers descended the wife of Richard Lovel Edgeworth, whose
daughter is known as Maria Edgeworth.
A white salt-glazed stone-ware was made in Staffordshire about 1700,
which has been called "Elizabethan." This often had designs made from a
mould applied to the surface.
STOKE-UPON-TRENT, in Staffordshire, very early became a centre for
potter's work, as it is to-day; the country there for miles being a
string of villages, filled with furnaces and the houses of potters.
It is not my purpose to attempt a detailed history of the immense
pottery industries which have been developed in and about
Staffordshire--potteries which, for variety and extent, have never been
equaled, unless perhaps in China. There is, however, one potter, whose
life and work have had a distinguished influence upon the potteries of
England, to whom some space must be given; he is JOSIAH WEDGWOOD.
Born in 1730 at Burslem, he came from an ancestry of potters, and he
breathed the air of the potteries, so that he may be said to have been a
born potter. He was one of thirteen children; he grew up with the small
amount of school education then in vogue in that part of
England--especially among his class of _workers_--and was apprenticed to
a potter when he was but fourteen years old.
The English nation has in these latter days gone into a sort of frenzy
upon the subject of school education, having got the impression that
that will enable them to compete with or excel all the nations of the
world. This I believe to be a mistake. I may, I think, fairly point to
Germany, whose commissioner at the American Exhibition writes home that
the productions of Germany are marked by lack of taste, lack of
thoroughness, and lack of honesty; in other words, Germany, with the
most thorough system of common-school education, is distinguished for
the "cheap and nasty" in her work.
What was it, then, I may ask at this point, which made Josiah Wedgwood,
this unschooled boy, the most able and successful potter of England, and
perhaps of all the world? I attempt to answer it by stating my belief
_that he was not living for riches, but for excellence_. He worked all
his life to combine the useful with the beautiful more and more
perfectly; and in a surprising degree he succeeded. This was not because
of his intellectual ability, but because of his sense of _honor_.
The world has gone into a craze for intellect--not at all for _honesty_.
I mean by honesty not a sickly sort of conscientiousness, which often
hinders; but honesty of intention, showing itself in work. To illustrate
my meaning, I may say that my own experience has been that the larger
part of mankind are quite willing to "shab" a thing--to do it
poorly--provided it will sell, and give them their wages.
This, it seems to me, was just what made Wedgwood what he was; he could
not do that. All the work of his I have seen was done as well as it
could be done. I do not mean that all his designs were good or his
decorations faultless; but, as it was, it _was as well done as he could
do it_.
[Illustration: FIG. 91.--_Portrait of Wedgwood._]
It seems to me that in his portrait (Fig. 91) a good deal of this
robust, manly, honorable character is to be traced. I like to think that
the face here, as in many cases, is a sort of promise of the man.
I cannot do better than to quote, from one of Wedgwood's catalogues, his
own words, which are better than any sermon, better than much
"burnt-offering and sacrifice;" which phrase of the prophet shows that
there were shabby fellows then, even in the days of God's Jews. I quote:
"A competition for cheapness, and not for excellence of workmanship, is
the most frequent and certain cause of the rapid decay and entire
destruction of arts and manufactures.
"The desire of selling much in a little time, without respect to the
taste or quality of the goods, leads manufacturers and merchants to ruin
the reputation of the articles which they make and deal in; and while
those who buy, for the sake of a fallacious saving, prefer mediocrity to
excellence, it will be impossible for them either to improve or keep up
the quality of their works.
"All works of art must bear a price in proportion to the skill, the
taste, the time, the expense, and the risk, attending the invention and
execution of them. Those pieces that for these reasons bear the highest
price, and which those who are not accustomed to consider the real
difficulty and expense of making fine things are apt to call dear, are,
when justly estimated, the cheapest articles that can be purchased; and
such are generally attended with much less profit to the artist than
those that everybody calls cheap.
"Beautiful forms and compositions are not to be made by chance; and they
never were made nor can be made in any kind at small expense; but the
proprietors of this manufactory have the satisfaction of knowing, by a
careful comparison, that the prices of many of their ornaments are much
lower than, and all of them as low as, those of any other ornamental
works in Europe of equal quality and risk, notwithstanding the high
price of labor in England; and they are determined to give up the making
of any article rather than to degrade it."
From all this is it not evident that Wedgwood too found his world full
of _shabby buyers_? I think so; and that has been the misfortune of
others. While the buyers are apt to vituperate the workmen, in too many
cases _they_ are the culprits.
Few will dispute it, that nearly all the manufacturing and trading world
has been sliding downward into shabbiness since Wedgwood's day; and few
will dispute it, that the _mania_ to "buy cheap and sell dear" always
did and always will debase any people.
It is not my purpose to give any detailed history of the life and doings
of Wedgwood. All who are enough interested will find these in his
"Life," by Llewellynn Jewitt, and in that by Miss Meteyard, both of
which are full, and are profusely illustrated. What I can do here is to
call attention to some of the most distinctive things accomplished by
this great potter.
Almost from the first, Wedgwood perceived or felt that there were good
and bad both in form and decoration; and he set to work to secure
perfection in both. While all his life he wished to make, and did make,
vases and other works for purely ornamental and artistic purposes, in
which the expression of beauty alone was sought, he had that practical
sense which taught him to apply his skill and his perception first to
the production and improvement of earthen-ware which came into the daily
uses of life. Out of this came his "queen's-ware," which soon had such a
reputation for form and quality that it went in large quantities all
over the trading world.
From this it should be known that Wedgwood made the money with which he
carried forward those investigations and experiments which at last
culminated in his finest works of fictile art.
It may as well be said here that even _his_ art-work made him no money,
although many of his pieces were reproduced. The fifty copies of the
"Portland Vase"--of which more hereafter, and which sold for fifty
guineas each--cost him more than he got for them. It is best to say
this, because some men and women think that artists are sure to become
rich. No man should attempt to be an artist with such an expectation;
for, while here and there one is caught on the wave of fashion and borne
onward to fortune, the number of these is few. No artist must expect a
_speedy_ recognition for good work.
Wedgwood would not have been Wedgwood had he not had a foundation for
his art-work in his "queen's-ware." Upon this ware a word of explanation
may be desirable. He early brought this every-day ware to great
perfection, not only of form, but of paste and glaze. It was not
painted, but was of a creamy white; and, being at such a small price, it
went into very wide use. Having sent some pieces of it as a present to
Queen Charlotte, she was induced to order a complete table-service, and
to request that it might be called "queen's-ware" thenceforth, as it is
to this day.
This service was painted in the best style then in vogue by the two
chief artists at the works, _Thomas Daniell_ and _Daniel Steele_.
One of the most remarkable dinner-services made by Wedgwood was for the
Empress Catharine II. of Russia, for her palace near St. Petersburg
called _Grenouillière_. It is thus described by Chaffers:
"This splendid service was commenced in April, 1773, and had upward of
twelve hundred views of the seats of noblemen and gentlemen in England,
and a green frog was painted underneath each piece. The form chosen was
the royal pattern, and was made of the ordinary cream-color ware, with a
delicate saffron-tint. The views were in purple camaieu, bordered with a
gadroon pattern in Indian-ink, and round the edge a running wreath of
mauve flowers and green leaves. The two services for dinner and dessert
consisted of nine hundred and fifty-two pieces, had twelve hundred and
forty-four enamel views, which cost, on an average, twenty-one shillings
each, the borders and frogs to each about fifteen shillings more; making
the entire cost, with fifty-one pounds eight shillings and fourpence for
the cream-ware itself, a total of twenty-three hundred and fifty-nine
pounds two shillings and one penny, without calculating many extras. The
price ultimately paid by the empress was stated to be three thousand
pounds. In June, 1774, the service was sufficiently completed to exhibit
at the new rooms in Portland House, Greek Street, Soho, No. 12, where it
remained on show for nearly two months. The empress showed it to Lord
Malmesbury when he visited the Grenouillière in 1779."
I may refer here also to his partnership with Mr. Bentley as another of
the important elements of his success. Bentley was a man with capital,
and also a man with an artistic sense; and he coöperated heartily with
Wedgwood in a desire for thorough work, for excellence, and for profit.
The artistic work for which Wedgwood is so distinguished is what the
pottery collector is most interested in. This, as Wedgwood himself has
said of all good work, was not the result of chance. From the first he
used his _own_ brains and those of others. He studied whatever he could
find to improve his profession, and became something of a chemist; so
that the values of clays and silex, and the composition and use of
metallic oxides for coloring them, grew to be an art in themselves in
his hands.
The work upon which Wedgwood applied his inventions and his art may be
classified in this way:
1. Queen's-ware, for the table.
2. Terra-cotta, to represent porphyry, granite, etc.
3. Basalt, or black Egyptian.
4. White biscuit.
5. Bamboo, cream-colored biscuit.
6. Jasper, or onyx.
7. A hard porcelain biscuit, for chemists, etc.
He conceived that he could produce a paste or body so fine, compact, and
homogeneous, as to be finished without a glaze, and, at the same time,
be susceptible of receiving color in purity and perfection throughout
this body. This he succeeded in doing, and this is what is now known
over all the world as Wedgwood's jasper, or onyx. This is the ware upon
which he afterward applied the cameo ornaments in white upon a ground or
body of various tints--blues, sage-green, and purple. At first the color
permeated the whole paste; afterward it was applied on the surface only
by means of a "dip." This was begun about the year 1776, and went onward
till the end of his life.
It is of interest for us to know how the beautiful cameo ornaments used
on this ware were obtained. The enthusiasm and the sense of honor which
inspired Wedgwood gave him access soon to the best people and the best
collections in England. In the collections of Sir William Hamilton, and
others, were the exquisite intaglios found in the antique art-work of
Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Wedgwood took most careful and delicate
impressions of these, and from these his careful and delicate cameos
were formed. Not only did he draw thus from the ancients, he also
enlisted the best designers and workmen wherever he could find them, and
among these the most distinguished was the sculptor Flaxman. It may
interest the rising sculptor to know that Flaxman's price for designs
made for Wedgwood was a half-guinea each. At this time he was a young
man struggling into recognition; and he was glad of the opportunity, as
well as of the money, which Wedgwood gave him. His designs all bear
unmistakable indications of Greek inspiration, and he has been called an
"English Greek."
Miss Meteyard, in her "Life of Wedgwood," quotes a number of the bills
paid to Flaxman. One in 1775 runs thus: "A pair of vases, one with a
satyr, the other with a triton-handle, three guineas; bass-reliefs of
the Muses and Apollo, Hercules and the lion, Hercules and the boar,
Hercules and Cerberus, Bacchus and Ariadne, Jupiter, Juno, Minerva,
Justice and Hope--for each of these he received ten shillings and
sixpence; table of the four seasons, two pounds and two shillings," etc.
Flaxman modeled, too, a goodly number of busts of distinguished persons.
Models and designs were also procured from artists in Italy, many of
which were made under the supervision of Flaxman while he was studying
and working there.
Of this jasper was made a great variety of objects, besides vases and
tea-services. Of the last we engrave portions of one in possession of
Mr. Wales, of Boston, which is as near perfection as any work of this
kind can be (Fig. 92).
[Illustration: FIG. 92.--_Old Wedgwood._]
This jasper-ware was used in many ways, as the following list will
indicate. It shows something of the variety of art-work made by
Wedgwood:
1. Cameos and intaglios.
2. Bass-reliefs, medallions, and tablets.
3. Kings and illustrious persons of Asia, Egypt, Greece, etc.
4. Busts of kings, emperors, popes, etc., down to modern times.
5. Heads of poets, painters, divines, etc.
6. Busts, statuettes, animals, etc.
7. Lamps and candelabra.
8. Ornamental vases and antique vases.
9. Painted Etruscan (Greek) vases, etc.
So great was the production of the cameos and antique ornaments, and so
greatly were they used as articles of jewelry, for settings in
furniture, etc., that over two thousand different moulds and designs
were made. We engrave here one of these small cameos, which, however,
fails to convey a full sense of the delicate character of the work (Fig.
93). They reached almost the perfection of gems.
[Illustration: FIG. 93.--_Wedgwood Cameo._]
[Illustration: FIG. 94.--_Teapot._]
Fig. 94, a teapot, which is not remarkable for beauty of form or
execution, is given as an example of the work done by the English
potters before Wedgwood's day, to meet the ordinary wants of common
life. It should be kept in mind, in estimating Wedgwood's character,
that he combined, in an eminent degree, the _artistic_ and the
_commercial_ faculties, and thus was able to produce results of a
striking kind. Like Shakespeare, he was omnivorous, and browsed wherever
the pastures were sweet. All food was good which could be turned into
delectable milk.
Some of the most perfect of Wedgwood's work was made in the black
_basalt_; which, however, lacks the brilliancy that colors gave to the
jasper-ware. The example engraved (Fig. 95) is from Mr. Wales's
collection.
[Illustration: FIG. 95.--_Wedgwood Basalt._]
In 1787 the most celebrated vase of antiquity, called the "Barberini
Vase," and now the "Portland Vase," was to be sold by auction. Wedgwood
was inspired with a desire to possess it; probably with the intention of
making copies. He kept bidding upon it, but his competitor was the
Duchess of Portland, who also was inspired with the desire of ownership.
Finally, when the price had reached eighteen hundred guineas, she sent
Wedgwood word that he should have the _loan_ of the vase, if he would
withdraw his competition. It was so agreed; and Wedgwood set to work. He
paid Webber five hundred guineas to make the model, for he was not
allowed to make a mould. He then produced fifty copies (some say fewer)
in his jasper-ware, the body being black, with a tinge of blue; the
reliefs being in white. It was as nearly a perfect reproduction as could
be made by the hand of man. As I have said, the cost of these was more
than the price received. This remarkable piece of antiquity is now in
the British Museum. It was once shown to a crazed man, who, with a blow
of his stick, broke it into a dozen pieces. It is, however, thoroughly
repaired.
The original vase is nine and three-fourths inches high and twenty-one
and three-fourths inches in circumference. Wedgwood's reproduction of it
was pronounced by the best judges to be faultless. It was exhibited at
all the principal courts of Europe by his son in 1791. The moulds are
still in existence, and other copies have frequently been made by
Wedgwood's successors, but they are not equal to the first in finish. We
give a photograph of this celebrated vase as a frontispiece.
Miss Meteyard gives the following account of this renowned vase: "The
original vase is supposed to have been manufactured in the glass-works
of Alexandria at their best period. Brought thence to Rome, it was used
as a receptacle for the ashes of the funeral-pyre, as it was found
inclosed in a sarcophagus of excellent workmanship, and this in a
sepulchral chamber beneath a mound of earth called Monte del Grano,
about three miles from Rome, on the road to ancient Tusculum. The
discovery was made between the years 1623 and 1644, during the
pontificate of Urban VIII. (Barberini). An inscription on the
sarcophagus, which was otherwise covered with fine bass-reliefs, showed
it to have been dedicated to the memory of the Emperor Alexander
Severus, and his mother, Julia Mammæa, both of whom were killed in the
year 235, during the revolt in Germany. The vase, ten inches in height,
was deposited in the library of the Barberini family, and the
sarcophagus in the museum of the capital. The material of which the
former is composed was, by Montfauçon and others, conjectured to be a
precious stone, but Wedgwood's examination proved it to be formed of
glass; the ground being a dark blue, so nearly approaching black as to
appear to be of that color, except when held in a strong light. The
white bass-reliefs are of glass or paste, the material having been fused
on in a mass, and then cut out by the skill and patience of the
gem-engraver. The subjects of these bass-reliefs, as also the age and
place of production of the vase, are points so wholly unknown as to be
open to conjecture and criticism. With respect to the first, critics
have differed. They have been generally considered to bear reference to
the Eleusinian mysteries; but one of the most learned critics of our own
day, whose works on 'Gems' are known to every artist, scholar, and man
of taste, considers that one of the group represents Peleus approaching
Thetis. At best, the vase must ever remain what Erasmus Darwin termed
it, 'Portland's mystic urn.' Wedgwood valued the copy represented at two
hundred pounds."
I must say for myself that, having seen the original--now in the British
Museum, where it is most jealously guarded--I cannot but admire the
careful and beautiful cutting of the figures in the designs which
surround the body; but I did not when I saw it, nor do I now, think the
form of the vase in any degree equal to the best of the Greek or
Etruscan vases.
Wedgwood's life was an active and a productive one. He learned how to
live, not from books, not in schools, but in doing the work his hands
found to do. He was born a potter, he remained a potter, and he died a
potter. He did not esteem his occupation a thing to be dropped as soon
as possible, that he might be something else; or, as many persons are
apt to do, that he might do nothing. Work, to him, was not only
honorable, it was _necessary_. The old notion, that work was a curse,
never entered his sound head.
It is an honorable thing that his merits were recognized while he lived;
for this is rare in the heat and hurry and competition of this day of
ours. Before he died, in 1795, he was made a Fellow of the Royal
Society, and of the Society of Antiquaries; and was recognized by a
large number of people as a thorough worker and an able man. Since his
death, honors have descended on his head. His "Life" has been carefully
written by Mr. Jewitt and by Miss Meteyard; and Mr. Gladstone, England's
ablest man, has spoken with generous and discriminating praise of him
and his works.
In many private collections, as well as in all public ones, these works
are prized; and not the least interesting and valuable of these
collections is that of Mr. Gladstone, now loaned to the city of
Liverpool.
The prices which fine pieces of Wedgwood's work have sold for will be
seen in the following, from a sale of Mrs. Brett's, in England, in
1864:
Plaques, white on blue ground, "Virgil reciting before Augustus,"
7-1/2 by 18 inches £44
Five groups, infant bacchanals, 5 by 23 inches 64
Basin, with Cupids and figures 10
At a sale of De la Rue's, in 1866:
Pair of two-handled seaux, with satyrs, gnomes, etc. £39 18_s._
Dish, nautilus-shell 9 10_s._
Large bowl on foot, with boys, festoons, etc. 27 6_s._
Busts in black-ware sold as follows:
De Witt £17 17_s._
Seneca 15
Bacon 10 10_s._
Venus 15 15_s._
Cato 9 10_s._
At Mr. Marryat's sale:
A black tazza supported on three figures, 11 inches £6 10_s._
A pair of black vases and covers, with white figures in cameo,
12 inches 46
A black lamp, with red figures 2 10_s._
A granite vase, with handles, gilt ornaments, etc., 9 inches 4 4_s._
A watch-stand, with Cupid in relief in white, on sage-green
ground, 6 inches 8
A candlestick, in form of a tree, with Cupids ditto, 11 inches, 16
Staffordshire now smokes for miles with the fires of her kilns, and vast
quantities of wares are produced. Within the last twenty-five years a
growing desire has been felt to bestow upon these articles of every-day
use some grace of form and some decoration of art; and in both the
English and the French pottery of to-day beauty and use are combined.