Terra cotta

“ Both pairs of wings were decorated with half-moons of white, outlined in black and strongly flushed with terra cotta; the front pair near the outer margin had oval markings of blue-black, shaded with grey, outlined with half circles of white, and secondary circles of black. When the wings were raised I could see a face of terra cotta, with small eyes, a broad band of white across the forehead, and an abdomen of terra cotta banded with snowy white above, and spotted with white beneath. Its legs were hairy, and the antennae antlered like small branching ferns. ”

“ The great improvements which have been made in the manufacture of terra-cotta will probably lead to its more extensive use. The great difficulty is to retain the sharpness of impression given by the mould, and above all to avoid the uneven shrinkage and warping which is so liable to take place when it is fired in large pieces. ”

“ It can be worked into any form that is desired, excepting long lintels, and even in that case there are means of arriving at the desired result and giving a lintel form in a very proper manner. Ornamental terra cotta is modelled by artists before being burned, and the best results may naturally be expected. ”

“ Second, the light buff or glypto terra cotta. The clay out of which this is made underlies the red terra cotta clay and varies in thickness from six to twenty feet; it is very hard and difficult to be ground to a proper fineness. This terra cotta when burnt resembles very much Bath stone in colour, and may, if it be kept dry from the time it is burnt to the time it is used, be cut and carved with much ease, and it is very suitable for head-stones, &c. ”

“ Small figures of animals in terra cotta have also been found. They consist chiefly of dogs and ducks. A representation of each has been given in the chapter on the productions of Assyria. The dogs discovered are made of a coarse clay, and seem to have been originally painted. They are not wanting in spirit; but it detracts from their merit that the limbs are merely in relief, the whole space below the belly of the animal being filled up with a mass of clay for the sake of greater strength. ”

“ All the terra-cottas are of a brilliant red, yellow, green, or black colour; only the very large urns are colourless. From 2 to 10 meters deep (61⁄2-33 feet) we note the complete absence of painting. At a depth{96} of 71⁄2 meters (243⁄4 feet) was a small terra-cotta disc with five letters, which I consider to be Phœnician; at 28 feet one of those frequently mentioned terra-cottas in the form of a top with six written characters. At the same depth, upon a stone, one letter, which to all appearance belongs to a different language ”

“ No one who has seen an Italian garden, so arranged, can dispute the beauty of it. It may be suggested that in England it would be difficult to protect the terra-cotta from cracking in frosty weather. Experience in southern counties has been favourable, and should it not be so in colder places, they can be put under cover for the winter months. ”

“ Any want of truth in the lines of a long cornice becomes painfully apparent, and each moulded block of a door or window-jamb must fit accurately on to the next one, or else the line of moulding becomes broken and irregular. Terra-cotta is now made of many different colours, a rich red and a warm ochre or cream colour being the most pleasant to the eye. In order to avoid defects it is necessary that the clay should contain a large proportion of powdered silica, and that the whole mass should be thoroughly homogeneous. ”

“ Small terra-cotta whorls, with Aryan religious symbols, were again found in great numbers; several of them have decorations not hitherto met with. Of terra-cotta balls we have found three during these last days, two of them are very remarkable. One hemisphere of the first has nineteen figures like the Greek letter Rho (Ρ) in a circle round it, and ten of the same figures in a line through the middle point, also a number of little stars; the other hemisphere is entirely filled with little stars. The second ball has a half moon on the one hemisphere and large stars on the other. ”

“ It is necessary that clays used in the manufacture of terra-cotta should be of so fine a texture that the finest modelling can be executed. Such clays occur naturally in several geological formations, and some may be prepared from coarser materials by careful washing, whereby the larger grains of sand, stones, etc., are removed. Some shales, when finely ground, make excellent clays for architectural terra-cotta, portions of all the better known fireclay deposits being used for this purpose. ”

“ All history is against such a supposition. Images in terra cotta were made by the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, and Ephesians centuries before Dibutades. The ancient Etruscan terra cottas previous to his epoch were scattered, as Pliny himself says, all over the world: “Signa Tuscanica per terras dispersa.” The capitol was decorated with earthen statues at the time of the first Tarquin, and Pausanias mentions many clay statues of gods and demigods executed in the earliest ages of Greece itself. ”

“ On reading the above again, fearing lest any misconception should arise in the mind of the reader, I deem it expedient, to clearly state that for terra-cotta recourse is had to double transfer; that is, the picture first taken is lifted from the support on tracing paper, put in the right position on terra-cotta, and pressed down while wet with blotting-paper, left to dry, and is then so far ready. ”

“ Contains three sarcophagi of terra-cotta from Toscanella, with three life-size figures reposing upon them. Their extreme length is remarkable. The figure on the left wears a fillet, indicating priesthood. The head of the family was almost always priest or priestess. Most of the objects in terra-cotta, which have been discovered, come from Toscanella. The two horses' heads in this room, in nenfro, i.e. volcanic tufa, were found at the entrance of a tomb at Vulci.
The 2nd Room—
Is a corridor filled with cinerary urns, chiefly from Volterra, bearing recumbent figures, ludicrously stunted. ”

“ The clay for this kind of terra cotta is got out of the coal-pits in the neighbourhood, and lies at a depth of about a hundred and twenty yards from the surface. It averages about five feet in thickness, and is a kind of clay between a pot-clay and a fire-clay. It is very fine, strong, free from iron, and will stand a great heat, but shrinks a deal in burning—about one-eighth. The kind of goods this clay is most suitable for are the following:—Sewage-pipes, chimney-pots, vases, flower-boxes, tiles, and pottery. The goods produced in architectural enrichments are bases and capitals ”

“ The durability of terra-cotta is largely dependent on the nature of the surface. The most suitable clays, when fired, have a thin 'skin' of vitrified material which is very resistant to climatic influences, and so long as this remains intact the ware will continue in perfect condition. ”

“ Terra-Cotta Works.—The Terra-Cotta Works at Hele Cross, Torquay, were established in October, 1875, by Dr. Gillow, who that year discovered the bed of clay, and are worked by a Limited Liability Company, with that clever and energetic gentleman as chairman and general director. The clay is of remarkably fine, tenacious, and durable quality, and is capable of working to the very highest degree of perfection. Its colour is a rich full red, and its surface almost metallic in its hardness and fine texture ”

“ It contains dwellings for its inmates of goodly architecture, ranged in pairs, at intervals, round a quadrangle of singular beauty, where the figures of those who enjoy its shady walks are seen through arches of the finest moulded brick, decorated with the most exquisite reliefs in terra-cotta. Every tenement has its rooms complete, and its separate garden and vineyard, while the library close by is of the noblest and fullest for a private institution. ”

“ Where clay occurred of a fine tough texture, easily mined and manipulated, the work in terra cotta became proportionately more elaborate in variety and finer in quality. There are to be found about the sites of some ancient pueblos, potsherds incredibly abundant and indicating great advancement in decorative art, while near others, architecturally similar, even where evidence of ethnic connection is not wanting, only coarse, crudely-molded, and painted fragments are discoverable, and these in limited quantity. ”

“ The clay used in making the terra-cotta plaques and vases is what you require for fine work. There are two or three firms who supply London shops with terra-cotta vases, etc., and I have no doubt that clay might be purchased of them.
The clay used in making tiles does for modelling, but perhaps the best is that which burns a cream colour. It is a dull grey colour, rather dark before it is fired, and it should be noticed that it is difficult to tell the colour clay will burn by its appearance when unbaked. Thus a grey clay may burn a rich red or pale cream. ”

“ The Garden itself, the holy of holies, as most fancy, is not so overpowering to me as the vast outlying wildness.
“To pass in between massive portals of rock of brilliant terra-cotta red, and enter on a plain miles in extent, covered in all directions with magnificent isolated masses of the same striking color, each lifting itself against the wonderful blue of a Colorado sky with a sharpness of outline that would shame the fine cutting of an etching ”

“ OMETEPEC, ZAPATERA and CEIBA.
1. Pl. 33. Human figure of terra cotta; painted with a blackish colour; still well preserved. Height 72 mm. Ceiba.
2. Pl. 33. Human figure, sitting, with the arms against the hips; of terra cotta; painted with brown-red and black colours on a light yellow ground. Height 144 mm. Ometepec, stat. 4.
3. Pl. 33. Headless figure, resembling the preceding; terra cotta; painted only in two colours, light yellow and brown-red. Height from the shoulders 90 mm. Zapatera, Punta del Sapote, from the mound 1. ”

“ He saw also the leg bones of an Indian, but the upper part of the skeleton appeared to be decomposed, and was not visible. He thinks the tree must have grown up on an old grave. The pipe consisted of a squared and ornamented bowl, with a curved and tapering handle, all made solid from a sort of coarse terra cotta. He says it was used by taking the small end in the mouth, and thinks such was the practice of the ancient Indians, although the mode is now so different by their descendants. ”

“ The scene comprises twenty-three terra-cotta figures, few of them individually good, but nevertheless effective as a whole. One man, the nearest but one to the spectator, must be given to D’Enrico, and perhaps one or two more, but the greater number must have been done by Giacomo Ferro. The frescoes were begun both by Morazzone and Antonio D’Enrico, but Fassola and Torrotti say that neither the one nor the other was able to complete the work, which in their time was still unfinished ”

“ In the lagoon itself were found a large number of terra cottas, made of local clay, some being masks of both divinities and men (among them grotesques) others representing hands and feet, others various animals, and of amphorae of various sizes and other vases. ”

“ The figure of the plan and elevation of part of a Chaldean 124façade in enamelled bricks, from Warka, is decorated with patterns that, no doubt, had their origin in weaving and matting (Fig. 168) . The surface of this façade is composed of terra-cotta cones, with their bases turned outwards. These bases were previously dipped in enamelled colours before they were inserted into the clay cement; so they form a kind of terra-cotta mosaic work (Loftus) . ”

“ Another common vessel is a black jar, glazed and polished, about four inches high and five and one fourth inches in diameter, made of light clay, and having a simple wavy ornament round the rim. Animals or parts of animals, particularly alligators, often form a part of the ornamentation of pottery, but complete animals in clay are rare, a rude clay stag being the only relic of the kind reported. The device of a beast springing on the back of a human form, so frequent among the statues or idols, also occurs in terra cotta. ”

“ Here the mould, in a single piece, was cut in stone or some other hard material, [41] and the clay, after being impressed into it, was smoothed down on the back by hand. The flat border of clay left by the upper surface of the mould, was frequently not removed, so that the figures are sometimes found standing out from a flat background in the manner of a sculptured plaque, or bas-relief.
Fig. 28. Stamped terra-cotta figure of a bearded god, wearing the horned headdress, to which are attached the ears of a bull. Period of Gudea.—Déc., pl. 39, Fig. 3. ”

“ Some fragments of polished hatchets of serpentine; spindle-whorls of terra-cotta (Fig. 86, No. 17) :—one very large, 43⁄4 inches in diameter (No. 28) , was similar to another found at Chiavichetto. Broken bones, portions of deer-horns, some of which · were made into daggers and pointers; two bone combs ornamented with triangular lines and graffitti, similar to those from Castione and Noceto. An oval cake or ring of wood like the supports for vases (No. 25) . Of bronze there were various tools and implements. Spear-heads with a tang were most common; No. ”

“ All other female types remain unclothed up to the latest period. With regard to technique, in the later Greek period a slight change was introduced, and a mould was made for the back as well as for the front of the figure; the two edges must have been fastened together, leaving the inside hollow. These terra-cottas now show only the yellowish, or occasionally reddish, colour of the burnt clay, but originally they were painted, as we learn from some few better-preserved specimens. Of the time of Nebuchadnezzar and earlier there are some that appear to be glazed in one colour ”