ivory caskets with Cufic inscriptions which still exist at the cathedral
of Tortosa, Cataluña.
Another of a similar description is preserved in the Treasury of the
cathedral of Bayeux.
This casket is, as M. André tells us in a pamphlet on "Antiquites Arabes
de la Normandie," Rennes, 1869, O^{m} 42 L. by O^{m} 28 W. and 13 H. It
is decorated with bands of enamelled metal, and covered with a fine
running design of peacocks and other birds. Round the lock runs the
following inscription in Cufic characters:
[Illustration: Arabic]
"In the name of God, clement, merciful, the blessing and His benefits
complete."
These ivory caskets were made originally to hold perfumes, jewels, or
precious stones. For besides the Arabic inscriptions which allude to
this, we find the idea distinctly expressed in an inscription in Cufic
letters on a casket which came from Cordova belonging to the Caliphate.
This casket was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition in 1867; I do not know
where it is at present.
It appears at first sight difficult to explain why the Spanish Moors
decorated these objects with the representations of animated beings,
against the precepts of the Koran, and the reason why these objects of
undoubtedly Moorish origin have been preserved until the present day in
the treasuries of Spanish cathedrals. The prohibition of the Koran to
represent animated beings is, however, not so strict as is generally
supposed; it is reduced to the following sentences. "O Believers! Wine
and games of chance, and statues and the divining arrows, are only an
abomination of Satan's work! Avoid them that ye may prosper." [Sura v.
ver. 22.] Later commentators on the Koran have added the severest
prohibitions against painters and artists who represented animated
beings, but to very little effect, and we find in contemporary authors
numerous details of the specimens of sculptures and paintings which
were in the houses of Moorish magnates. Coins, textile fabrics,
furniture, and other objects which have reached us, leave no doubt that
the representations of animated beings were constantly used by the
Spanish and Eastern Arabs from the first century of the Hegira.
The fact that these Moorish caskets should have been used for preserving
the relics of saints in Spanish churches, is explained by the custom
common in the middle ages in Spain and other countries, of offering war
spoils and treasures brought from long and distant peregrinations, and
even objects of natural history, to the different churches. Alligators
may still be seen hanging in churches in Seville, Toledo, Valencia, etc.
The Moors did the same thing: the famous warrior Almanssor, the minister
of Hischem II. at the end of the 10th century, carried off the bells
from the cathedral of Cordova, and had them turned into lamps and used
at the mosque of Cordova. We find in ancient writers frequent mention of
the custom of Spanish Christians of offering these ivory caskets to the
churches, as trophies taken in their warfares with the Moors. The
ecclesiastical authorities probably placed them at the time with other
valuable objects in the treasuries of the churches, filling them with
relics, for such is the manner in which they are found; they have
remained untouched from the earliest times and are constantly mentioned
in local histories of the cathedrals. We must not suppose that the
ecclesiastical authorities ignored their Mohamedan origin, for we find
at every step during the middle ages the names of priests who knew and
interpreted the Arabic language. The principal reason why these objects
of Oriental art have been preserved, is, that the hatred of race and
belief between Moors and Christians was by no means as great as has been
supposed by modern authors, and certainly never went so far as to
destroy objects of industrial and artistic interest. In the year A.D.
1275, certain privileges were granted to Moorish workmen who were set
apart and ordered to repair the Mosque at Cordova, at that time already
converted into a christian cathedral. During the 13th, 14th and 15th
centuries a large number of parish churches were built in Spain in the
Moorish style, either by Oriental architects, or Spaniards who had
adopted their architecture, and numerous examples might be given of
inscriptions and details of ornamentation which confirm most fully these
theories.
Objects of ivory carvings of the middle ages, posterior to the 12th
century, are frequently met with in Spain. Among the most remarkable is
the Virgin de las Batallas, in the cathedral of Seville. This image
belonged to St. Ferdinand, early in the 13th century, and the tradition
exists that it was carried on the king's saddle in battle. The fine
ivory diptychs at the Escorial and Archæological Museum at Madrid must
also be mentioned, and a large number of ivory caskets, and fragments,
existing in the same Museum and in different Spanish churches.
Notwithstanding, however, the numerous examples of ivory carvings which
are still to be met with in Spanish churches and cathedrals, I find no
information which enables us to affirm that this artistic industry
existed in Spain during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. We find
artists mentioned who carved in wood, iron, and silver work, and
numerous details of their work, but ivory carvers are never mentioned,
if any existed, their number must have been comparatively small; and I
am led, therefore, to suppose that the specimens existing in Spain were
imported from Italy or France, and for this reason it is necessary to
end at the Renaissance the history of ivory carving in Spain.
The inlaid ivory work so constantly used in Spanish furniture of the
16th and 17th centuries, cannot be included in this notice on ivory
carvers, owing to its limited character, and the use to which it was
employed. One branch of sculpture must be mentioned representing sacred
images, which were carved in the 16th and 17th centuries by natives of
the Philippine Islands or the Portuguese Colonies. They are frequently
met with in Spain, and are remarkable for their bad and careless
modelling, a mannered unartistic style, combined with the exaggerated
rigidity so common in Chinese and Indian productions. As examples of
this style of art may be mentioned the representations of St. Erasmus,
and the Immaculate Conception (Nos. 9069, '63, 183, '64), in the South
Kensington Museum.
POTTERY AND PORCELAIN.
Roman and Visigothic.--Hispano Moresque earthenware.--Painted,
glazed and lustred pottery.--Terra-cotta.--_Azulejos_ (Tile
decorations).--Pottery made at Talavera, Valencia, Seville, Triana,
Zamora, Puente del Arzobispo.--Unglazed pottery.--Bucaros.--Alcora
ware and porcelain.--Buen Retiro porcelain.
ROMAN AND VISIGOTHIC.
The productions of Ceramic Art have constituted from the earliest times
a very important industry in Spain. Fragments of vases of
greyish-coloured paste, ornamented with bands or zones, are constantly
found in excavations in different localities. It cannot, however, be
determined whether they were importations, or imitations made in the
Spanish Peninsula. The earliest mention which we find of this industry
in Spain is in Pliny (Lib. xxx., cap. xii., line 19, Edition of Paris,
1526-7), who, in praising vases of pottery made in different countries,
mentions those of Saguntum (Murviedro) near Valencia. An epigram by
Juvenal (Sat. v. xxix.), and several by Martial (iv. 45, viii. 6, xiv.
108) on the same subject, prove that the pottery from the eastern coast
of the Mediterranean was very famous at that time.
Count Lumiares, in his work on pottery of Saguntum ("Barros Saguntinos,"
Valencia, 1779, 8vo), mentions having examined more than 1500 specimens
of pottery of different kinds, which he classifies in four groups: grey
pottery, cream-coloured pottery, yellow pottery and red glazed ware,
with ornamentation in relief (Samian ware); this ornamentation
constitutes, in my opinion, the only distinctive feature of the pottery
made at Saguntum.
Remains of this pottery are very frequently found in the ruins of former
Roman cities; a much larger number of specimens of all kinds have
appeared since Count Lumiares wrote his book, none however differ
materially from the terra-cottas of the Roman period found in Italy, or
in other countries. Some of the marks are identical with those given by
Birch and several authors who have written on Roman pottery; hence it
would appear that this industry was imported into Spain, or the forms
and marks copied there to a very large extent.
[Illustration: SAMIAN BOWL.]
The number of inscriptions and potters' marks met with on the vases and
fragments found in Spain is very great. Students who take a special
interest in this subject will find full details in Dr. Emile Hübner's
important work, "Inscrip. Hispaniæ Latinæ," Berlin, 1869. This writer
has collected the greatest number of inscriptions. He mentions 43 which
appear on bricks, 36 on vases and drinking vessels, 63 on lamps, 579 on
vases of red pottery, 115 inscriptions of doubtful reading, 21 which are
incomplete, and 56 written by hand. He gives us, besides, other marks
without inscriptions, representing hands, horses, rabbits, butterflies,
bees, flowers, etc. In an inedited history of the ancient city of
Emporion (Cataluña) [MS., Acad. of Hist., Madrid], the author, Dr.
Joaquin Botet y Sisó, has collected 198 potters' marks. A large number
are still unpublished which have been met with on fragments of pottery
found in Extremadura and Andalucia; we may therefore confidently assert
that the number amounts to upwards of 1500.
During the Visigothic monarchy, after the downfall of the Roman empire,
which lasted until the invasion of the Arabs in the 8th century, the
same style of ceramic industry, copied from the Romans, continued in
Spain. No special study has been made of the pottery of this epoch, but,
judging by the large amount of fragments of vessels for domestic use,
which are constantly found in ruins of the Visigothic period, there can
be no doubt that pottery continued to be manufactured in Spain. What San
Isidoro, who died in 636, says in his "Etimologies, Book xx.," confirms
this opinion, and undoubtedly refers to vessels similar to those of the
Roman period. (_De vasis Escariis, potoriis vinariis et aquariis,
oleariis, coquinariis et luminariorum._)
After the Roman domination and Visigothic monarchy, ceramic art in Spain
may be divided into the following groups:--
1st. Objects imported by the Moors into Spain; these consist of remains
of pottery belonging to the first period of their invasion; lustred
wares, manufactured in the Peninsula, which attained great importance
during the Middle Ages, and still continue to be made in the present
day; terra-cottas, and green and white glazed pottery; and lastly tiles,
_azulejos_, of bright colours in the Moorish style.
2nd. Pottery of a distinct Italian style, made principally at Talavera;
porous, unglazed, coloured pottery, _bucaros_; white, unglazed pottery,
made at Andujar and La Rambla.
3rd. Pottery and porcelain made at Alcora, and the porcelain manufactory
of Buen Retiro, near Madrid.
HISPANO MORESQUE EARTHENWARE.
The Spanish Peninsula was invaded by the Arabs about the year 711 A.D.,
and they absorbed for several centuries the industries of the country.
Ceramic Art attained great importance in their hands during the Middle
Ages and Renaissance period, for even while the pottery works
established at Talavera, Seville, and other localities, manufactured
pottery to a very great extent, which was chiefly imitated from Italian
models, the Moorish style still continued, and has never been
interrupted in the province of Valencia down to the present day.
The Arabs had as early as the beginning of the 12th century, if not even
before, established the industry of metallic-lustred pottery in Spain.
It remains to be seen what were the leading characteristics of the
pottery of the period of the greatest importance of the Spanish Moors
from the 8th to the 11th century.
Cordova, the capital of the independent Caliphs of Damascus, was the
centre from which works of art of all kinds of a high order were largely
exported. The ruins of the palaces at Medina Az zahra have, it is deeply
to be regretted, never been excavated, and Granada is the only locality
where some fragments of Moorish pottery may be studied belonging to this
time.
Granada was almost unknown in the 8th century; the ancient Roman town of
Illiberis, about six miles from the present site of Granada, had alone
any importance: it was one of the bishoprics of Andalucia. The Arabs
first settled in the remains of the Roman city: in the 10th century they
removed to the spot occupied by the present town, and Illiberis was then
abandoned. Roman remains are frequently found at Illiberis, as are also
vestiges of the Moorish occupation, chiefly consisting of objects in
bronze and fragments of pottery. These specimens are decorated with
arabesques in green and black on a whitish ground. Some interesting
examples may be studied at the small _Museo Provincial_ at Granada,
which certainly belong to the 10th or beginning of the 11th century. One
of these fragments has unreadable Arabic letters; another is decorated
with a stag; the most remarkable is a plate fourteen inches in diameter,
in the centre of which is represented a falcon on a horse's back. The
form and every detail of the horse, the plaited tail, ending in the
form of a trident, all are identical with one on which is mounted a man
holding a hawk in his hand, carved on the ivory casket described on page
133 as dated 359 of the hegira (A.D. 969), and probably of Cordovese
manufacture. Both these objects possess a very decided Persian
character, and undoubtedly belong to the date ascribed; for besides the
circumstance of their having been found in ruins of this period, the
shape of the horse is conclusive; its character changes soon after, as
we find in the miniatures of the MS. of the 13th century at the Bib.
Nationale de Paris, containing the "Séances de Hariri." It is almost
impossible to assert whether this pottery was made in, or imported into
Spain. One argument in favour of its Spanish-Moorish origin is that the
glaze and paste are similar to pottery which we know was manufactured at
Granada. The common earthenware proceeding from that locality is
decorated in much the same manner.
Soon after the fall of the Caliphate, metallic-lustred ware was made in
Spain: Edrisi, the most remarkable Arabic geographer of the Middle Ages,
in describing Calatayud, says: "Here the gold-coloured pottery is made
which is exported to all countries." ("Descrip. de l'Afrique et de
l'Espagne," Leyde, 1866.) Edrisi was born in the year 1100. He studied
at Cordova, and finished writing his book in 1154. The circumstance of
this pottery being mentioned in the 12th century as excellent enough for
exportation, certainly makes it appear probable that the _fabrique_
already existed at an earlier date, especially when we bear in mind that
Calatayud was conquered in the year 1120 by the Christians, and it is
impossible to suppose that they established an Oriental industry there
which was foreign to their culture, or to the contemporary Christian
art. This text of Edrisi's has hitherto not been properly interpreted.
In Jauber's translation (Edrisi, Paris, 1836-40), he interprets the word
_guidar_, [Illustration: Arabic], _lutum purum_ of potters, as the name
of a gilt textile, perhaps because in his time it was difficult to
believe in the existence of metallic-lustred pottery. In the Edit. of
Leyden, by Messrs. Dozy and Goeje, the sense of the word is properly
given; indeed, Jauber himself translates it by _porcelain_ in the
chapter of this volume which refers to China.
This text of Edrisi's has never yet been quoted by writers on Ceramic
Art; but once known it is impossible for a moment to state that the
earliest manufacture of Moorish lustred ware was that at Malaga, an
opinion which has been supported hitherto on the quotation from Ben
Batutah's works, which will be given later on. I regret to have found no
other allusion to the lustred ware of Aragon until the 10th century. No
mention is made of it in the geographical texts published by Juynboll,
Al Makkari, or other Arabic writers. From what we know of Aragon in the
16th century, it was a great centre of this industry, and its
productions rivalled those of Valencia and Andalucia.
The next text which alludes to this manufacture is given by Ben Batutah,
a celebrated traveller, who, after travelling for twenty years in the
East, went from Tangiers to Granada, from 1349 to 1351. Passing by
Malaga, he says: "At Malaga, the fine golden pottery is made which is
exported to the furthermost countries." ("Voy. d'Ibn Batoutah," Paris,
1853-58, vol. iv. p. 367.) This text has been constantly reproduced and
commented upon, since Baron Charles Davillier first drew attention to it
in his interesting little _brochure_ on "Faïences Hispano-Moresques."
The next time I find lustred pottery mentioned is in the 15th century.
Eximenus, in his "Regiment de la cosa publica," Valencia, 1499, in
speaking of the excellent things made in the kingdom of Valencia, says:
"The twenty-seventh excellent thing is that some artificial objects are
made there which bring great renown to the country, for they are
excellent and beautiful, and are now to be found in other localities ...
but above all is the beauty of the gold pottery so splendidly painted at
Manises, which enamours everyone so much, that the Pope, and the
cardinals, and the princes of the world obtain it by special favour,
and are astonished that such excellent and noble works can be made of
earth."
Lustred pottery had already attained great importance in Aragon early in
the 16th century. We find in a deed granted at Calatayud in 1507, that
"Muhamed ben Suleyman Attaalab, an inhabitant of the suburb of the Moors
at Calatayud, and an artificer of lustred golden earthenware, engaged
himself with Abdallah Alfoquey of the same locality, to teach him the
said industry, in the space of four years and a half, from the date of
the deed." ("Estado social de los mudejares de Castilla, by Fernandez y
Gonzalez," Madrid 1866, p. 437.) At Muel, a village in the province of
Aragon near Zaragoza, this industry existed to a great extent in 1585.
In the travels of Henrique Cock ("Relacion del viage hecho por Felipe
II. en 1585," por Henrique Cock, publicado por Morel Fatio y Rodriguez
Villa, Madrid, 1876,) we find the following interesting details of the
manner in which this pottery was made, p. 30:--
"Almost all the inhabitants of this village are potters, and all the
earthenware sold at Zaragoza is manufactured in the following manner.
First the vessels are fashioned of a certain ingredient the earth
furnishes them in that locality, in the shape they may require. Once
made, they bake them in an oven fitted for the purpose. They then remove
them to varnish with white varnish and polish them, and afterwards make
a wash of certain materials in the following manner: twenty-five pounds,
_one arroba_, of lead, with which they mix three or four pounds of tin,
and as many pounds of a certain sand which is to be found there. All
these ingredients are mixed into a paste like ice; it is broken into
small pieces and pounded like flour, and kept by them in powder. This
powder is mixed with water, the dishes are passed through it, and they
are rebaked in the oven, and keep their lustre. Afterwards, in order
that the pottery may be gilt, they take very strong vinegar, mixed with
about two reales (a small coin equivalent to 6_d._) of silver in powder,
vermilion, and red ochre, and a little wire. When all is mixed
together, they paint with a feather on the dishes any decoration they
may like, rebake them, and then they remain gold-coloured for ever. This
was told me by the potters themselves."
But nothing can be compared in exactitude to the following receipt of
the manner of preparing this lustred ware, which I was fortunate enough
to find in a manuscript in the British Museum. (Egerton, No. 507, MS.
fol. 102).
Count Florida Blanca wishing in 1785 to establish at Madrid a
manufactory of metallic-lustred ware, had the following report on the
actual state of the industry sent to him from Manises with full details
of the manner in which it was required to be carried out.
"After the pottery is baked, it is varnished with white and blue, the
only colours used besides the gold lustre; the vessels are again baked;
if the objects are to be painted with gold colour, this can only be put
on the white varnish, after they have gone twice through the oven. The
vessels are then painted with the said gold colour and are baked a third
time, with only dry rosemary for fuel.
"The white varnish used is composed of lead and tin, which are melted
together in an oven made on purpose; after these materials are
sufficiently melted, they become like earth, and when in this state the
mixture is removed and mixed with an equal quantity in weight of sand:
fine salt is added to it, it is boiled again, and when cold, pounded
into powder. The only sand which can be used is from a cave at
Benalguacil, three leagues from Manises. In order that the varnish
should be fine, for every _arroba_, 25 pounds of lead, 6 to 12 ounces of
tin must be added, and half a bushel of fine-powered salt: if a coarse
kind is required, it is sufficient to add a very small quantity of tin,
and three or four _cuartos_ worth of salt, which in this case must be
added when the ingredient is ready for varnishing the vessel.
"Five ingredients enter into the composition of the gold colour:
copper, which is better the older it is; silver, as old as possible;
sulphur; red ochre, and strong vinegar, which are mixed in the following
proportions: of copper three ounces, of red ochre twelve ounces, of
silver one _peseta_ (about a shilling), sulphur three ounces, vinegar a
quart; three pounds (of twelve ounces) of the earth or scoriæ, which is
left after this pottery is painted with the gold colour, is added to the
other ingredients.
"They are mixed in the following manner: a small portion of sulphur in
powder is put into a casserole with two small bits of copper, between
them a coin of one silver _peseta_; the rest of the sulphur and copper
is then added to it. When this casserole is ready, it is placed on the
fire, and is made to boil until the sulphur is consumed, which is
evident when no flame issues from it. The preparation is then taken from
the fire, and when cold is pounded very fine; the red ochre and scoriæ
are then added to it; it is mixed up by hand and again pounded into
powder. The preparation is placed in a basin and mixed with enough water
to make a sufficient paste to stick on the sides of the basin; the
mixture is then rubbed on the vessel with a stick; it is therefore
indispensable that the water should be added very gradually until the
mixture is in the proper state.
"The basin ready prepared must be placed in an oven for six hours. At
Manises it is customary to do so when the vessels of common pottery are
baked; after this the mixture is scratched off the sides of the basin
with some iron instrument; it is then removed from there and broken up
into small pieces, which are pounded fine in a hand-mortar with the
quantity of vinegar already mentioned, and after having been well ground
and pounded together for two hours the mixture is ready for decorating.
It is well to observe that the quantity of varnish and gold-coloured
mixture which is required for every object can only be ascertained by
practice."