Ceramics

“ Ceramics should never invade the domain of the plasterer, the mural painter, the cabinet maker. Do not let us, in our zeal for ceramics, be like Bottom the weaver, eager to play every part.
Ceramics have, as regards architecture, a distinct and honorable function. This function should be recognized, taken advantage of, but never overpassed. They offer opportunities large but not limitless. ”

“ That they were skilful and rejoiced in exercising their skill is evident; but no one can look without admiration upon their exquisite coloring and flower decoration. If one could find anywhere a complete collection of Chinese pottery, stone-ware, and porcelain, it would be found to contain nearly everything admirable in ceramics, although occasionally hard to appreciate or understand. ”

“ In the domain of porcelain the outcome of these favourable conditions is seen in an extraordinary advance along technical lines unparalleled in the history of ceramics. A white body of the utmost purity, a glaze fusing so perfectly on to the surface of the paste as to give an appearance of deep luminosity, underglaze colours and overglaze enamels unsurpassed in brilliance and liveliness, brought within the reach of the potter a wonderful variety of effects far beyond anything that had been attained before. ”

“ The goods produced at Cauldon Place embrace almost every description of ceramics. In earthenware all the usual table and toilet services, and useful and ornamental articles of every class are made. The quality is peculiarly good, hard, compact, and durable, and the patterns chaste and effective. They are produced in white and in every variety of printed, flown, enamelled, painted, and gilt patterns. ”

“ IN writing the present volume, the author’s object has been to answer as tersely and lucidly as possible the more important questions in connection with the history and manufacture of pottery and porcelain, and to bring the results of recent research to bear upon some of the unsolved problems of the “science of ceramics.” The literature of the subject is formidable in dimensions. ”

“ Nevertheless, in an experience of more than two years, chiefly spent in experimenting on different methods of under-glaze decoration, I have learned some things which may be of use to others, and have thought that a treatise upon the subject from an unprofessional, yet practical standpoint, might have its place in the literature of ceramics which has now become so extensive. ”

“ Now as to certain general considerations in relation to the appropriate and logical use of ceramics in the construction and adornment of buildings, exterior and interior. In our northern latitudes care should be taken that ceramics are not used in places and in ways where the accumulation of snow and ice render the joints subject to alternate freezing and thawing, for in such case, unless the joints are protected with metal, the units will work loose in time. ”

“ While there exist deposits of pottery-clay so uniform in texture as to be immediately convertible into dry-pressed bricks, or with a small hand press moulded into tiles, which on being burned become vitrified and of a deep red, the greater number require thorough treatment by the best processes known to ceramics in order to produce a ware equal to that manufactured in the East. ”

“ Nearly the whole gamut of the spectrum is now available to the architect who wishes to employ ceramics. The colors do not change or fade, and possess a beautiful quality. Our craftsmen and manufacturers of face-brick, terra-cotta, and colored tile, after much costly experimentation, have succeeded in producing ceramics of a high order of excellence and intrinsic beauty; they can do practically anything demanded of them; but from that quarter where they should reap the greatest commercial advantage—the field of architecture—there is all too little demand. ”

“ The student searching for some standard by which to measure the creative attainment of a semi-civilized race has chosen as most universal the work of the early potters, and the interesting fact is disclosed that the first attempts in ceramics of all peoples are curiously alike in processes, in modes of decoration, and in adaptation to practical needs. ”

“ Like the metal items, the ceramics are predominantly of the late 17th and early 18th century, though frequently found in contexts of the second quarter of the latter century. The quality and variety of the wares is somewhat surprising, the finds including some items that are today of considerable rarity. ”

“ The ceramics of England are of special interest to the American reader. In many of our old homes are to be found samples of English pottery and porcelain brought to this country long before Revolutionary{390} times. Many of them are, like heirlooms, passed on from generation to generation, the remnants being all the more highly prized as they become fewer in number. A great deal of the earthen-ware and porcelain used here within the last century has come from the centres of which we have been treating. To the student of the art, also, England has an interest all its own. ”

“ Broadly speaking, and age apart, pottery may be divided into two classes: one in which glazing does not appear, and one in which this important element of ceramics lends an entirely different character to the product.
The first class more especially, if not exclusively, may be grouped into two types according to character: those that interest the scientist in particular, and those that come more into the domain of the artist and art lover. It is of course understood that there is no definite line of demarcation between the two. ”

“ Here was every shade of the spectrum, every glaze and finish known to ceramics, flung together in an array like the disassorted fragments of a picture puzzle!
“Mr. Lacey experimented for years and years, attempting to reproduce pottery and porcelain the equal of those from old China,” Irene explained. “See, here are his earlier bits, near the bottom of the wall. He built it all by hand, as you know. This wall does not support the house. ”

“ Apart from the not inconsiderable number of general works on the potter’s art in French, German, and English, there is scarcely to be found a kiln where pottery of one kind or another has been manufactured which has not been made the subject of a separate study. And yet, as far as I know, the very definite subdivision of ceramics, which includes the porcelain of the Far East and of Europe, has never been made the basis of an independent work in England. ”

“ Its very frailty and frangibility intensify its charm, and when possessing both grace of contour and enchantment of color it becomes an object of beauty by the 111canons of the most perfect art, exciting the profoundest and purest pleasure—profound pleasure to all who behold it, supreme pleasure to him who possesses it.
I speak of the finer examples of Oriental ceramics, though I grant there is much to admire in some of the Italian soft-paste porcelains, notably the lovely Capo di Monte productions of the first period and the fascinating Doccia terraglias. ”

“ Porcelain of various kinds appears repeatedly, and so do the woods used for making furniture. There is an excellent show of porcelain, and some of the pieces are of enormous size. Kaga, Satsuma, Hizen, Kioto, Nagasaki, and other wares are in abundance, and a student of ceramics will find enough to interest him for many hours. ”

“ On the interior of buildings, the most universal use of ceramics is, of course, for floors, and with the non-slip devices of various sorts which have come into the market, they are no less good for stairs. ”

“ Cracks or a regular network of craquelage are generally produced on new ceramics by the same principle as they are obtained on oil paintings, namely, by producing artificially a difference in the shrinkage capacity of two superimposed layers. In oil painting it is the layer of pigment and of varnish, in the case of pottery the two layers are represented by the baked clay and the glaze. ”

“ The mastery of such a large and complex subject as Oriental ceramics requires not a little study of history and technique, in books and in collections. The theory and practice should be taken simultaneously, for neither can be of much use without the other. The possession of a few specimens which can be freely handled and closely studied is an immense advantage. ”

“ Ceramics is the art of fashioning clay and burning it in the fire so as to obtain constructive materials, domestic utensils, or objects of luxury and ornament. [127]
Even before the first brick or pottery kiln was erected it must have been recognized that in a climate like that of Chaldæa the soil when dried in the sun was well fitted for certain uses. Among the débris left by the earliest pioneers of civilization we find the remains of vases which seem to have been dried only in the sun. ”

“ But, curiously enough, there is a poetry and depth of tone about these common ginger jars which is difficult to define.
To arrive at a technical reason for these differences [Pg 238] in styles is to examine the theories governing the art of ceramics. To take the overglaze painting; this may be compared to the canvas of the painter which is covered with pigment. His sky is blue or red or yellow or an admixture of all three; the reflections of light on the water are touches of pigment. There is no part of the canvas over which his deft brush has not travelled. ”

“ On “Chinese porcelain decoration,” consult “Owen Jones’s Examples of Chinese Ornament,” giving one hundred fine colored plates, from examples at South Kensington.
Tiles.—Nichols’s “Examples of Decorative Tiles, in fac-simile, chiefly in Original Size;” chapter entitled “Céramique,” by Riocreux and Jacquemart, in volume iv. of Lacroix’s “Moyen Âge et la Renaissance,” which contains a bibliography of ceramics.
Ancient Pottery.—Birch’s “History of Ancient Pottery” treats of Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Celtic, Teutonic, and Scandinavian pottery, and is fully illustrated. ”

“ Applied ornament of roughly modelled clay and scratched designs were the chief embellishments of such wares, which were of the same class as the medieval pottery of Great Britain and the north of Europe. In the 12th and 13th centuries, however, contact with Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt and Spain, where ceramic skill had been highly developed in fresh directions, as we have seen, introduced into Italy as well as the rest of Europe those superior wares characterized by a white surface decorated with bright colours under a brilliant transparent glaze, and glorified by metallic lustres. ”

“ Constructional features.-Features of vessels resulting from construction are infinitely varied and often highly suggestive of decoration. Constructional peculiarities of the clay utensils themselves are especially worthy of notice, and on account of their actual presence in the art itself are more likely to be utilized or copied for ceramic ornament than those of other materials. The coil, so universally employed in construction, has had a decided influence upon the ceramic decoration of certain peoples, as I have shown in a paper on ancient Pueblo art. ”

“ A wide range is before us from which to choose—from the vulgarity of overloaded glaring colors and gilt, to the most exquisite simplicity of design and perfection of workmanship. Every house-keeper ought to visit an extensive collection, and, by comparing and contrasting one style with another, learn in what the true beauty of ceramic decoration consists. The painting and moulding of pottery and porcelain are quite as important as oil-painting and sculpture. ”

“ In panels on the base the potters of all ages are seen at work—Egyptian, Greek, and modern. Above these, on the body, are reliefs illustrative of the pottery of Peru, Italy, France, Spain, England, and other countries. As we turn it round, the advance of ceramic art is seen as in a diorama, and amidst the various scenes appears in relief the bust of the poet whose song inspired the work. The form of the vase is singular, simple, and severe, but well suited to the artist’s treatment of his subject. ”

“ THE ceramic history of the British Isles is invested with a peculiar interest by reason of its nearly perfect continuity from the early Celtic works to the Romano-British wares, the early Saxon, the Norman mediæval imitations of Saracenic tiling, the lead-glazed wares of the sixteenth century, the stone-ware of the same period, the pottery of Staffordshire and Wedgwood, the first appearance of English porcelain, and so on, downward, to the works of Minton, Doulton, and others at the present time. ”

“ Between faience and porcelain comes, midway, Stoneware, in which many wonderfully, and some fearfully, made things have been done of late, but which possesses the combined qualities of faience and porcelain—the ease of manipulation of the former, and the hardness and durability of the latter; but the tendency to over-elaborate the detail of its decoration, and rely less on the beauty of its semi-glossy surface than on meretricious ornament, has rather spoiled a very hopeful movement in Ceramic Art. ”

“ In the architectural arts, including pottery, he demands Skill, Beauty, and Use; in the graphic arts, Skill, Beauty, and Likeness. If, however, we keep in mind what Dr. Birch says of the vases of Greece being a reflection of the Greek school of painting, and also Mr. Ruskin’s desideratum of pictures upon exquisitely moulded porcelain, we shall see that the essentials of the ceramic art, as a special branch, comprise those of both the architectural and graphic divisions—Skill, Beauty, Use, and Similitude. In one respect, therefore, it may be said to be the highest of all the arts. ”