The antiquity of Ceramic Art and its scientific and artistic qualities, render this subject one of considerable interest to art students.

The plasticity of clay and its hardening qualities under the influence of intense heat, its adaptability to the most refined and appropriate forms, its affinity for the beautiful glazes and enamels so often associated with pottery, and its splendid traditions of craftsmanship, of colour, form and decorations, so beautiful and varied in character,—all combine to invest the subject with a charm or fascination of its own. Intrinsically valueless in its natural state, it is capable of being rendered almost priceless by scientific workmanship and artistic skill. The history of this material, and of its easy adaptation to the most refined and intricate, as well as the simplest of forms, affords invaluable lessons for present day artistic students.

Pottery clay may be classified under three divisions or headings: (1) Earthenware. (2) Stoneware. (3) Porcelain. Under the first are grouped the largest number of Ceramic Wares. The pottery of Egypt, the faience of Assyria and Persia, the Greek and Etruscan vases, the famous red ware from the Isle of Samoa, and its counterpart the Roman Samian ware, the beautiful maiolica of Spain and Italy, the pottery of Rouen, St. Porchaire, Delft, and most of our English pottery are earthenwares; the paste or body consists of natural clays selected for their plasticity, their hardening qualities, their fusibility or their colour, and when burnt have a porous opaque body, usually dull in colour. This dulness was usually overcome by coating the ware with a slip of fine white clay, which, whilst not possessing inherent qualities to form pottery by itself, would adhere to the coarser coloured body of the earthenware, thereby forming a smooth white ground. The early Greek vases of Nancrates, the later Lekythos of the Greeks, the faience of Persia, the Mezza Maiolica and the Sgraffito of the early Italian Renascence, and our English slip ware are examples of this method of giving a smooth white surface to coarse coloured earthenware. A similar result to the slip covering was also produced by the use of a silicious glaze, rendered white and opaque by the addition of oxide of tin. Early Assyrian faience, Della Robbia ware, the Maiolica of Spain and Italy, and the wares of Delft and Rouen are earthenwares coated with a tin enamel.

The silicious glaze here referred to is prepared by fusing silicious materials with soda or potash, and is known as Vitreous, or glass glaze. Plumbeous, or lead glaze, is produced by the addition of oxide of lead to the silicious glaze, rendering it more fusible, and still transparent. A white opaque enamel formed by using oxide of tin with the vitreous glaze, is termed Stanniferous, or tin enamel. These different processes of covering the porous body of the earthenware largely influenced the decorations and scheme of colouring.

The beautiful faience of Damascus and Rhodes is covered with the silicious slip or glaze, the colours being rich blues, produced by cobalt, turquoise and green, by cobalt and copper, and purple by the use of manganese; and then covered with an Alkaline glaze.

In the Rhodian Ware the same scheme of colour prevails, except that the purple is replaced by a fine opaque red of great body, called Rhodian red, produced from Armenian bole. On the Italian Maiolica, with its tin enamel and plumbeous glaze, there are fine blue, turquoise and green, but red is very poor in colour, and is generally replaced by rich yellow from antimony, and orange from iron. This white tin enamel was undoubtedly introduced into Europe by the Moors, as some tiles in the Alhambra date from 1273-1302.

A large number of bowls and dishes, called Samian Ware, of Roman importation, have been found in England. The paste is usually of a fine sealing wax red, with a good glaze. These bowls are enriched with a series of horizontal bands, containing the festoon, the scroll, birds, animals, and figures. The bands or friezes are often divided by the traditional egg and tongue moulding (fig. 1). Clay moulds, impressed with stamps, were made and then fired. The red paste having been pressed into the mould, the interior was smoothly turned in the lathe. A mould of this character was found at York in 1874, so it is possible that some of this ware was made in England, by Roman potters. Roman pottery has also been found at Castor, near Peterborough, doubtless made at the former place, kilns for firing having been found on the same site. This Castor ware is usually brown, with a black glaze, being ornamented with indented tool marks, and raised slip patterns of pipe clay (fig. 3). Many Roman dishes and vases of a dark grey colour, ornamented with incised lines and raised bosses of clay, have been found in the Upchurch Marshes in Kent. Little artistic pottery of the mediÆval period however is known to exist. Early in the 13th century beautiful encaustic tiles were made for the great monasteries, abbeys and cathedrals.

About 1500, the production of tiles was introduced into Holland, quantities of small blue and white ones decorated with scriptural subjects, being made at Delft, and thence exported to England for the lining of fire places, &c. Some fine painted tiles or “Azulejos” were made at Valencia about the 17th century.

In the 16th century, the porcelain of China was introduced into Europe by the Dutch and Portuguese traders, and much of the Delft and Rouen ware subsequently produced, was in imitation of this oriental porcelain. “Delft” ware which takes its name from the small town of that name in Holland, dating from 1500 A.D., is a ceramic coated with stanniferous enamel, decorated with a full and liquid brush upon the absorbent enamel ground, and then glazed with a plumbeous glaze. Some of this Delft ware is very fine in quality, the cobalt blues under the glaze being remarkably soft and rich in colour. Early examples were decorated with historical subjects, often containing numerous figures, the middle period being notable for its imitation of Chinese porcelain, and the application of coloured enamels on coloured grounds. Vast quantities of this kind of ware were manufactured up to 1760 and exported to all parts of Europe. The production of Delft ware was first introduced into England at Lambeth by some Dutch potters in 1676, being subsequently extended to Fulham, Bristol and Liverpool.

The use of stanniferous enamel was introduced into France by Girolamo della Robbia, son of Andrea della Robbia, during the reign of Francis I., 1516, and enamelled ware similar to the later productions of Urbino was made at Nevers, where also was produced a fine ware decorated with Persian Motifs in yellow and blue. At Rouen, also, a fine earthenware covered with tin enamel was manufactured, the decorations consisting of the lambrequins or scallop pattern, symmetrical in arrangement, and converging to the centre of the plate or dish. The ornament was based upon Chinese examples, influenced by the contemporary woven fabrics of France. The decorations were usually in blue and with overglaze painting, i.e., after the white enamel was fired, finer and more delicate detail being obtained by this process, but at the cost of the purity and liquid softness of colour which is so characteristic of Delft and Oriental underglaze painting.

In Rouen ware, the ground is generally white, but some fine examples at South Kensington have a soft yellow ground, a rich Indian yellow being sometimes introduced with the blue decoration. It was under the directions of Louis Poterat, 1673, that this most beautiful faience was perfected.

Bernard Palissy, 1510-90, by repeated experiments discovered the stanniferous or tin enamel. His first productions were Jasper ware, warm and brilliant in colour and richly enamelled. In the second period, rustic dishes elaborately decorated with carefully modelled fishes, reptiles, and plants or natural foliage, covered with an enamel of great brilliancy and purity, were the chief productions. The later pottery of Palissy consisted of salt cellars, inkstands, ewers, &c., the elaborate figure decorations of which were probably executed by some contemporary artist.

Henri-Deux or St. Porchards ware, now more properly described as Oiron ware, originated at St. Porchard in 1524, perhaps by the hand, certainly under the patronage of HÉlÈne de Hangest, widow of A. Gouffier, a former Governor under Francis I. This Oiron ware, of a pale straw colour, is enriched with inlays of yellow, blue, green, and brown coloured pastes, the interlacing and arabesque ornamentation carried out under the direction of Jehan Bernart and FranÇois Charpentier, being similar in type to the contemporary bookbinding of Grolier and was probably executed with similar tools.

Many early examples of Staffordshire slip ware are to be found in England, consisting chiefly of candlesticks, cups, tygs, posset pots, piggins and plates, the slip decorations being in yellow, white and brown. This ware was made at Wrotham as early as 1649, and by Thomas Toft, at Shilton, 1660 (fig. 9). Marbled, combed and tortoise-shell ware were formed by using colour slips or clays. Agate and onyx ware were formed by layers of different coloured clays, crossed, cut, and pressed into moulds. These methods were perfected by Thomas Wheildon, 1740-98, and Josiah Wedgwood, 1730-95, who perfected both the Queen’s and the variegated ware. Queen’s ware of a creamy colour was made chiefly for dinner and dessert services, being decorated with painted flowers in enamel.

In 1781, Wedgwood introduced his famous Jasper ware, and Jasper dip or washed Jasper. This latter ware was dipped into admixtures of metallic oxides, producing blue, lilac, pink, sage green, olive, yellow, and black colours as desired. The decorations in low relief, are of the purest white (fig. 10) and in the traditional classic style, the figures being arranged as cameo medallions, or in bands with the scroll, the festoon, and the vine in delicate relief. Many of these beautiful cameos were designed or modelled by Flaxman, 1755-1826; Pacetti and Angelini, 1787; Bacon, 1740-99; Hackwood, 1770; Roubiliac, 1695-1762; Stothard, 1755-1834; Tassie, 1735-99; and Webber, 1782.

Stone-wares differ from earthenwares, owing to the presence of a larger percentage of silicia in the plastic material, which, being fired at a greater degree of heat, vitrifies the body or paste into a kind of glass, thus ensuring a closeness and hardness of material not possessed by ordinary earthenware. Stoneware is usually glazed during the firing by throwing common salt into the kiln, which being volatilized, re-acts upon the silicia in the body, forming with it a silicate of soda or glass, having a minute granular texture. The usefulness and the artistic character of stoneware was perfected by the Flemish and German potters of the 16th century.

The principal varieties of this ware are the grey and white “Canette” of Siegburg, near Bonn, and the pale brown or grey ware of Raeren, near Aix-la-Chapelle, with its incised and stamped enrichments, sometimes with blue decoration. Frechen, near Cologne, probably supplied the “Bellarmines” or “Grey beards,” largely imported into England under the name of “Cologne Pots.” Examples of this Frechen ware were frequently ornamented with a raised scroll of oak leaves. Grenzhausen, in Nassau, produced a beautiful grey ware, having delicately moulded reliefs filled in with blue and purple. Many grey jugs ornamented with the initials of William III., Queen Anne, and George I., were imported into England from the Nassau kilns.

A peculiar kind of stoneware, also termed “Cologne ware” was produced at Fulham by John Dwight, about 1670. Some fine jugs and a few cleverly modelled unglazed statuettes, believed to have been made at this place, are to be seen in the British Museum (fig. 11).

Another peculiar red stoneware, porcelain, or Red China as it was called, was made near Burslem by the Brothers Elers, 1688-1710, the ornamentation being obtained by pressing sharp intaglio copper moulds upon pieces of clay attached to the shaped ware. Fine examples, characterised by beauty of outline and delicacy of enrichments are exhibited in the Museum of Geology, Jermyn Street. Astbury, 1710-39, continued the traditions of Elers, producing a fine white stoneware, which largely influenced the Staffordshire pottery of that period. A stoneware was also made at Nottingham from 1700 to 1750.

Porcelain is technically known under the terms “hard paste” (“pÂte dure”) and “soft” (“pÂte tendre”). Hard porcelain is made from clays containing much aluminia and felspar or decomposed granite, having but little plasticity, which necessarily influenced the shape or profile of the vessel. The beauty of form, which is so typical of the Greek earthenware vase, is absent in porcelain, where the cylindrical or octagonal form is principally used. “PÂte tendre” is a soft and vitreous porcelain, having a great affinity for the beautiful coloured glazes and enamels used in the early examples of SÈvres.

Porcelain was known in China about 200 B.C., and it was in common use during the 16th century. During the Ming dynasty, 1568-1640, porcelain reached its highest development in the perfection of its body, ornamentation, colour and glazes, blue and turquoise being the chief colours of this period; this limited range of colour was owing to the intense heat required to fuse the felspar glaze upon the hard porcelain.

It is uncertain at what date Chinese porcelain was first brought to Europe. Amongst the earliest known pieces in England are some bowls given by Philip of Austria to Sir Thomas Trenchard in 1506. But whatever the date, it was inevitable that attempts should be made to imitate this beautiful ceramic. Florentine or Medician porcelain was made 1575-80. It was not however until 1690 or 1700, that a similar manufacture was established at Rouen and St. Cloud. In 1709, Bottcher commenced making hard porcelain at Meissen, in Saxony, subsequently producing some excellent examples about 1715. This was the commencement of the well-known Dresden china. In 1768, the manufacture of hard porcelain was adopted at SÈvres, replacing that of “pÂte tendre” which had been in use from 1670. Both “pÂte dure” and “pÂte tendre” were made at Buen Retiro in Madrid, A.D. 1759, all the porcelain manufactured for the first 20 years being kept for the exclusive use of the Royal family. There are some finely modelled Buen Retiro tiles in the Royal Palace at Madrid.

About the year 1740 the manufacture of porcelain was established at Bow, Chelsea, Derby, Plymouth, Bristol, and Worcester. The shapes and ornamentation of these English porcelains, having no traditions beyond the oriental influence, were of a low artistic order, being simply copies of natural forms, without any controlling influence as regards design or harmonious arrangements. A lavish use of gilding was also characteristic of this period, the ornament being very largely misapplied. This continued to grow worse until the middle of the last century, when it reached its culminating point of absurdity and extravagance of form and decorations. The best examples of English porcelain of this period are obviously copies of oriental porcelain, chiefly Persian and Chinese. A great advance in the technic of the porcelain produced in this country took place after the discovery of Kaolin, in Cornwall, by William Cookworthy, 1755.

Transfer printing over the glaze was adopted at Worcester about 1757, the transfers being taken from copper plates engraved by Robert Hancock, a pupil of Ravenet, who was employed at the Battersea enamel works, about 1750. Sadler and Green in 1756 also adopted over glaze printing on the Liverpool delft. About 1770, under glaze printing on the biscuit ware superseded the over glaze process.

Of early English porcelains, those of Derby are, perhaps, the most refined in form and in treatment of decoration, the plates, cups, and saucers having borders of blue or turquoise, with enrichments of festoons, leaves, and flowers; many of the cups were pressed with fluted, ribbed, or imbricated patterns. The Derby works were founded in 1757 by William Duesbury, who in 1769 purchased the Chelsea works and carried on the two simultaneously until 1784, when the Chelsea plant was transferred to Derby. From 1769-73 the ware called “Chelsea-Derby” was produced, and between 1773-82 “Crown-Derby” was introduced.

Porcelain of an excellent quality was made at Nantgario about 1813, and at Swansea 1814-17, the decorations in enamel colours consisting of a natural rendering of flowers, birds, butterflies, and shells.

Porcelain was also made about 1800 at the Herculaneum potteries at Liverpool. Rockingham, in Yorkshire, produced during the years 1759-88 a brown china, which, however, was but a fine earthenware, of a hard and compact body, covered with a rich brown or chocolate glaze. In 1820, porcelain was made at Rockingham, comprising dinner and dessert services, richly enamelled and gilt, together with vases, flower baskets, and busts in white biscuit ware. In 1832, a dessert service of 200 pieces was made for William IV. at a cost of £5,000, the decorations consisting of natural fruit and flowers, with landscapes and the royal arms in enamel colours.

In some of the earlier Rockingham ware the outlines of the flowers and butterflies were in transfer printing, and the colouring was added by hand.

The illustrations given on plates 21, 27, 28 and 29, show the universality of the potter’s art, which may be traced through many beautiful examples differentiated by racial customs and material.

The beauty of form in the Greek vase (plate 27) was but the natural outcome of a fine earthenware in the hands of an artistic people, with traditions and architecture of the highest order. In Persian pottery, form is subservient to colour, blue, turquoise and white being used in charming combination, together with a frank yet decorative treatment of natural forms.

The Hispano-Moresque and Italian Maiolica (plate 29) are remarkable for the technical excellence of their white enamel, rich blue, yellow and orange, the iridescence of their gold and ruby lustre, and their high technical skill in painting.

English earthenware of the 17th and 18th centuries, though traditional, showed a remarkable diversity in treatment and conception. The picturesque platter of the Toft school, with its quaint enrichment of trailing lines and heraldic forms in coloured slip, the fine red stoneware of Elers, with its graceful enrichments in delicate relief, and the varied and beautiful jasper ware of Wedgwood mark a distinct phase of the potter’s art, and bear a tribute to the vitality and personality of the founders of the “Potteries.”