Part 4

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The Tuscan experiments above recorded were made at an unpropitious time, and were consequently destined to have no lasting effect in the development of European ceramics. Italy was then fast relapsing into the state of torpor which followed as a reaction from her restless activities in the age of the renaissance, and the time had not yet arrived when the influx of Chinese porcelain, resulting from the extension of trade relations with the East, was to spur on the potters and chemists of Europe, aided by royal patronage, to success in their efforts to produce a similar kind of ware. Porcelain is not heard of again in Italy till about 1720, when Francesco Vezzi, a Venetian goldsmith, in co-operation with a deserter from the Saxon royal factory, succeeded for a short time in producing hard porcelain of a type similar to that of Meissen. At a later date another Saxon workman named Hewelcke set up a short-lived factory in VENICE, but no porcelain of importance was produced there till the establishment of the works of Geminiano Cozzi in 1765.

The chief Italian factory was that at DOCCIA near Florence, founded by the Marchese Carlo Ginori in 1735 and still kept up by his descendants. His aim was to compete with the porcelain imported from Saxony, and he succeeded in his efforts without the princely support by which alone in most European countries the manufacture was saved from failure. He obtained the assistance of an expert from the factory at Vienna, Carl Wendelin Anreiter, of whose painted work on porcelain rare specimens are occasionally met with. The earliest Doccia productions showed distinct signs of Meissen influence, as may be seen from a soup-bowl in the Victoria and Albert Museum; this has a basket-work rim of the Meissen type, and is decorated with genre scenes from Italian peasant life in medallions, surrounded by tendrils in red and gold and small panels of lilac colour. Other pieces of the same service bear the mark of a Doccia painter, Pietro Fanciullacci. At a later stage the Ginori works became famous for their large reproductions in white porcelain of antique statues in the Florentine palaces, such as the Crouching Venus and the Apollo Belvedere.

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The celebrated royal factory at CAPODIMONTE, near Naples, is said to owe its origin to a present of Meissen porcelain made to Charles III., King of the Two Sicilies, in 1736, when he married the Saxon princess Maria Amelia. Its earliest productions were in white porcelain moulded with shells, coral, and other marine decorations, but its fame is more specially founded on the services with mythological subjects minutely picked out in enamel colours. As at Doccia, the inborn genius of the Italians for modelling was exhibited in figures and elaborate statuettes, in which drapery and flesh are usually tinted after nature. A characteristic example is a large allegorical composition at Kensington, supported on four figures copied from the crouching Turkish slaves (“_I quattro Mori_”) by Pietro Tacca, which surround the monument of Ferdinand I. of Tuscany in the harbour at Leghorn; modelling and colouring alike display the tendency to exaggeration and sensationalism characteristic of Italian art in the period of decadence. When Charles III. succeeded in 1759 to the throne of Spain, he removed with him to the palace of BUEN RETIRO, near Madrid, the whole establishment of his Neapolitan factory; the Madrid porcelain is of a similar kind to that made before the transfer of the works.

The later factory carried on at NAPLES under Ferdinand IV. shows the influence of the excavations at Herculaneum in the severe classical style by which it is marked. Painted views of the district of Naples and of the local antiquities are a favourite feature. At the same time the works gained some renown by the cleverly modelled statuettes in biscuit china of greyish tone made under the direction of Filippo Tagliolini.

IV

FRENCH PORCELAIN

PLATE 19

Vase, Sèvres, given in 1780 by Gustavus III. of Sweden to Catherine II. of Russia. Decorated by Morin, Fontaine, and Le Guay on a _bleu de roi_ ground. Height, 19½ in. Jones Collection.

No. 781-1882. See p. 59.

Mark:

The Florentine experiments and the Pisa bowls remain as solitary relics in the story of European porcelain until the year 1673, when the scene is shifted to France. At this date a privilege was granted for making porcelain to Edme Poterat, of St. Sever, a suburb of Rouen, in the name of his son Louis. Since 1644 he had been working as a _faïencier_ as lessee of the Sieur Poirel de Grandval, _huissier de cabinet_ to Anne of Austria; the Sieur Poirel had been granted an exclusive licence for making faïence in the province of Normandy. The manufacture of porcelain at Rouen was not continued for long after the death of Poterat in 1694, in consequence of a dispute between his sons, which resulted in their privilege being withdrawn. The nature of this earliest French porcelain is established by a few pieces, which there are sufficient grounds for supposing to be authentic. One of these is at South Kensington, a tall cup finely fashioned in a paste of bluish tone and carefully painted in a strong underglaze blue; the design consists of small vases of flowers amid formal _lambrequin_ ornament below a castellated border.

A point of special interest in connection with the earliest French experiments is that, while the efforts of their authors were consciously directed at the emulation of Oriental porcelain, the style of decoration adopted by them was thoroughly French, showing hardly any trace of Chinese influence. The surviving Rouen specimens are closely similar in their ornament to the faïence produced by the factory in which they were made. The same is true of the porcelain manufactured, for the first time in Europe on a commercial scale, at ST. CLOUD, near Paris. This factory was started by a Rouen potter named Pierre Chicaneau for the making of earthenware. As the result of experiments made shortly before his death, Chicaneau could boast of producing objects in porcelain “_presqu’aussi parfait que les porcelaines de la Chine et des Indes_.” His widow and family continued the work he had begun, and in 1702 were granted letters patent by Louis XIV.; the factory was subsequently carried on by Henri Trou, second husband of Chicaneau’s widow. The jar reproduced in Plate 12 illustrates admirably the style in vogue at the St. Cloud works. Formal devices adapted from Rouen faïence and inspired by the designs of Bérain, are symmetrically disposed as borders, leaving a large part of the surface free, so as to display to full advantage the soft tone of the glaze. The sense of fitness and proportion never absent from the best French work asserts itself as much in the painted ornament as in the rich ormolu mount with which the jar is embellished. The legs of console outline and the rayed masks between them are typical forms of the art of Louis XIV.’s reign; instinct as they are with sober dignity, they are saved from stiffness of effect by the contrast of the band of running foliage engraved on the collar round the top of the jar.

Painting in blue under the glaze was the predominant manner of decoration at St. Cloud. In other cases the porcelain is left white, and only moulded ornaments are used; these are either copied directly from the Chinese Fuchien porcelain,--here at last Oriental motives appear,--or they exhibit a hybrid mingling of classical and Chinese forms. The latter type is seen in a fine soup-tureen in the Fitzhenry gift at South Kensington; it is moulded with pseudo-Oriental cranes and foliage in relief above a gadrooned border, and has grotesque mask handles and a knob in the form of a cabbage. The tureen is of special interest because to the relief decoration has been added enamel colouring in primrose-yellow, green, and pale red; an examination of the piece discloses on the bottom, not only the incised mark of Henri Trou, but also a _fleur-de-lys_ in overglaze blue, showing that the colouring was added at the Spanish royal factory of Buen Retiro. Another tureen in the same collection has polychrome painting executed at St. Cloud, a typical example of a rare class; in a strong orange-yellow, green, purple, red and blue are depicted Oriental figures and a motive of a bird singing among trees by a wattled hedge, borrowed from the Japanese Kakiyemon.

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The life of the St. Cloud works was a long one,--it lasted till 1766, having survived a disastrous fire in 1737,--and its output must have been considerable; yet it had little direct influence on the subsequent history of ceramics. It is indeed interesting to note here the existence at Kensington of a _seau_ in Staffordshire salt-glazed stoneware with relief ornament copied from a St. Cloud model; but this is an isolated case, and imitations of St. Cloud are not common even among the productions of French factories. A different tale can be told of the next in importance of the early French china works. The factory founded in 1725 by Louis-Henri de Bourbon, prince de Condé, on his domain at CHANTILLY, was destined to hold a position of more than transient significance. Not only were styles of decoration devised there which became popular beyond the Channel as well as in France itself; Chantilly has a greater claim to recognition in that it was two Chantilly workmen who initiated the greatest of all European enterprises of this kind, the royal and national manufactory at Sèvres.

Before entering into details of this passage in the course of events, some account must be given of the productions of the parent factory. The prince de Condé chose for his director one Ciquaire Cirou, who appears to have been a faïence-maker, and obtained royal recognition by a grant of letters patent in 1735. The distinguishing element in the earlier Chantilly porcelain is the use as a surface-coating of the same tin-enamel which is the generic feature of faïence. For some ten years the Chantilly potters confined their artistic efforts as far as painting was concerned to adaptations or often close imitations of Oriental porcelain of the preceding decades, of which the princely patron had a rich collection. The Chinese _famille verte_ supplied the motives in a few instances, but the wares which suggested to Cirou and his painters their daintiest designs were the work of Kakiyemon. Few things have been made to display more effectively the delicate freshness which is the crowning virtue of painted porcelain. The warm tone of the stanniferous glaze yields a softer ground for the flower-like hues of the enamel colours than the colder white of the Japanese prototypes, while the _esprit_ of the French interpreter adds to the charming Eastern themes just that homeliness of touch which endears them to Western beholders. No better illustration could be furnished than by the little silver-mounted _pot de toilette_ from Mr. Fitzhenry’s gift to the nation, figured in Plate 13. Little Japanese boys at play, houses perched among fir-trees on rocky crags, tiny birds and butterflies are scattered with an unimpeachable sense of fitness over the creamy white surface; all, down to the mark on the bottom, a _cour de chasse_ in red enamel, is drawn with the greatest neatness.

A ground colour of pure primrose-yellow is sometimes seen in pieces of this early period, borrowed doubtless from Meissen, and foreshadowing the sumptuous coloured grounds of Vincennes and Sèvres. This is well exemplified by a large jardinière with rococo ormolu mounting, also in the Fitzhenry gift. At a later date less distinctive manners were adopted, bouquets of flowers of the Meissen type, cupids in the style of Boucher, and rococo-panelled designs. The manufacture was commercialised and the quality of the wares rapidly deteriorated, but still a good word may be said for the blue festooned borders which are a common feature in Chantilly services, and are an admirable pattern of what designs in table ware should be. An instance is the service made for Louis Philippe, duc d’Orléans, for use at his château of Villers-Cotterets; a plate from this set is in the Kensington collection.

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Two other minor factories of soft-paste china call for a passing notice, those of MENNECY and Sceaux, both near Paris. The former appears to have been first established in Paris itself, and in 1748 transferred to a site at Mennecy on the estate of the duc de Villeroy, who supported it with his patronage. In 1773, on the expiration of their lease, the directors of the works removed their plant to Bourg-la-Reine, where they came under the protection of the comte d’Eu. The factory was in the main confined to the production of small articles for the boudoir, to which their simple decoration of bouquets or brightly-plumaged birds is well enough suited. Objects for purely ornamental purposes are seldom met with. In Mr. Fitzhenry’s gift there is a pair of vases on high pedestals of the form known from its antique prototype as the “_vase Médicis_,” finely painted with birds in landscapes. It may be remarked that the polychrome flower-painting of Mennecy often bears a close resemblance to that of early Chelsea. Figures were turned out in considerable quantities. The earlier ones are generally left white, and show not only a sense of the grotesque but also much artistic feeling in their breadth of modelling. The later figures with polychrome painting, somewhat childish conceptions, it is true, are yet not without a certain grace and daintiness; an important set of groups of children with musical instruments in the Fitzhenry Collection belongs to this class.

The works at SCEAUX, dating back apparently to 1749, are noteworthy for the skilfulness of their flower-paintings; the tints are brilliant yet harmonious, while the drawing is executed with remarkable care and sureness of touch.

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The royal manufactory of SÈVERES, destined to enjoy a fame greater than that of any other in Europe, had its origin in a combination of circumstances from which at first no great results might have been expected. Orry de Fulvy, _intendant des finances_ to Louis XV., had long been interested in experiments for making porcelain, when at Vincennes in 1738 he came across two workmen from Chantilly, the brothers Dubois, to whom reference has already been made. They had been allowed secretly to set up a kiln in the precincts of the château. De Fulvy gave them his support, and their operations were continued at his expense. The Dubois were subsequently dismissed as incompetent, and the venture was in danger of abandonment; but after many vicissitudes De Fulvy’s perseverance was crowned with success, and in 1745 he was able to form a company for the manufacture under royal privilege. For eleven years the works were carried on at Vincennes, but in 1756 they were transferred to new premises at Sèvres, on the other side of Paris, at a convenient distance from the royal palace of Versailles; three years previously the company had been reorganised under an exclusive privilege, the king himself holding a quarter of the shares, while the royal interest in the undertaking was signalised by the stipulation that its productions should be marked with the royal cipher of two interlaced “L”s.

From the outset the wares were given a high artistic quality. Duplessis, goldsmith to the king, was charged in 1747 with the control of the modellers; he kept the workshops under close personal supervision, and to his guiding influence is attributable the originality and unfailing taste of the shapes adopted. Hellot, director of the Academy of Sciences, was in charge of the chemical composition of the materials, while Bachelier was at the head of the painters and gilders. Drawings of figure-subjects were supplied by François Boucher for the painted decoration, as well as for translation into the round by the modellers; an instance of the latter process is the fine biscuit group of Leda modelled from Boucher’s design by Fernex, a painted version of the same subject being in the National Museum at Stockholm.

The rare pieces surviving from the earliest stage of the factory’s existence show clearly the aim which De Fulvy set himself of competing with the Saxon porcelain; the landscapes or river-scenes painted on them, with miniature groups of figures and buildings, are evidently inspired by the Meissen subjects of the period. The same is true of the coloured grounds with medallions in reserve which made their appearance shortly afterwards, but the colours used for the purpose were entirely new. The earliest of these was the deep blue (“_gros bleu_”) from which was subsequently developed the famous “_bleu de roi_.” The researches of Hellot bore fruit later in the discovery of the _rose Pompadour_ pink and turquoise-blue. A feature of the earliest years of the factory before its removal from Vincennes were the artificial flowers modelled in porcelain, which amounted in value to over three-fourths of the total output.

None of the pieces in our illustrations are of the primitive period. They represent several of the Sèvres ground colours. Plate 14 shows a jardinière with openwork socket painted with cupids and flowers in panels reserved on a _rose Pompadour_ ground. It is marked with the royal cipher enclosing the date-letter I, for 1761, and with a branch of foliage, the mark of the painter Jean René Dubois.

PLATE 20

Vase, with Cover, Meissen, Marcolini period, about 1780. Height, 11-7/8 in. Jones Collection.

No. 837-1882. See p. 68.

Mark

The ewer and basin in Plate 15 are dated 1763 and have the mark of the decorator Catrice. On a ground of yellow (_jaune jonquille_) are rococo-bordered panels with charming miniatures of children painted, with the exception of the flesh tints, _en camaïeu_ in blue. This manner of painting in a monochrome of blue or crimson is a survival from an earlier period, in which it is often found as the sole decoration on a plain white ground; the simple contours of the shapes also point back to an early style.

The _écuelle_ or soup-bowl with cover and stand, shown in Plate 16, selected like the last two pieces from the Jones Collection, is an example of the most sumptuous style of Sèvres applied to the decoration of porcelain for useful purposes. It bears the date-letter “P” for 1768. The panels with pastoral scenes in colours by Chabry fils follow closely the manner of Boucher, if he did not actually supply the designs for them; with the rich gilt scrollwork borders and the turquoise ground they blend in an ensemble of splendid but harmonious effect, admirably in keeping with the gracefully-modelled shapes. Another specimen of Sèvres table ware of a simpler class is the jug reproduced in Plate 17, with lid attached by a silver hinge. On the bottom are the date-letter for 1770 and the mark of the flower-painter Bouillat fils.

The subject of the next drawing, a vase in the Jones Collection, with classical busts in medallions raised above an apple-green ground, brings us to the year 1772, with which by the death of the director Boileau the most prosperous epoch of the factory’s career came to a close. When compared with the previous illustrations, a distinct change of style is noticeable; not a trace of the rococo of Louis XV. is to be seen, while the laurel-wreath round the foot and the classical ornament surrounding the cameo-like medallion betoken the adoption of the severer and simpler style associated with the following reign. The transition to antique forms and ornament came about in Sèvres china more gradually than in other branches of French applied art, partly on account of the fact that in many cases the artists and workmen in the factory were succeeded by their sons, who kept up the traditions they had learned from their parents. The change in the directorship and the succession of the new king two years later finally determined the abandonment of the old style.

PLATE 25

Teapot, Chelsea, from a service painted with pseudo-Chinese figures in the style of Watteau, on a claret-coloured ground. Height, 5-3/8 in. Bequest of Miss Emily H. Thomson, of Dover.

No. 517-1902. See p. 82.

Mark: an anchor in gold.

The vase represented in Plate 19 is typical of the new tendencies. It embodies to perfection the graceful French interpretation of classical art associated with the name of Louis XVI. The vase is noteworthy not only as a splendid exponent of the powers of the royal manufacture, but also on account of its historical associations. It was made in 1780, and was given by Gustavus III., King of Sweden, as a present to the empress Catherine II. of Russia; the gift was the outcome of an unexpected turn of events, resulting from the war between England and her American colonies. The state of hostilities at sea was a grave menace to the commerce of the northern countries, and an alliance was formed on 1st August 1780, between Sweden, Denmark, and Russia, powers at that time usually at variance, to ensure the safety of their merchant fleets. Gustavus III., who himself played the rôle of Augustus in Swedish history, had a great admiration for the genius of the Russian empress. He was at the time absent from his kingdom on a long tour in the South, in the course of which he had doubtless had opportunities of forming a personal judgment of the merits of the French royal porcelain. It is not surprising therefore that he should have thought of a set of Sèvres china as a suitable present to mark the occasion of the treaty; he invoked to assist him in his choice a friend of earlier days, the writer Marmontel, to whom he communicated his desires through his ambassador at the French Court, the baron de Staël. The circumstances of the purchase are fully related in the letter dated 29th August 1780, by which Marmontel informed the director of the factory, Regnier, of the selection he had made at the works. Of five pieces chosen to make up a _garniture de cheminée_, one is the vase before us, and it is worth while to cite the words in which it is described: “_Un grand vase bleu de roi et or, avec un cartouche représentant une marine marchande. Dans ce petit tableau deux hommes sont occupés à lire dans un livre posé sur un tonneau. Je suis convenu avec le peintre que sur le livre il écrivoit ces mots que je vais tracer figurativement_:

| _Neutra- | _Catherine II._ | | lite | | | armée_ | _Gustave III._ |

_Il faut que ces caractères soient en émail et l’on m’a promis que cette petite besogne seroit faite aujourd’hui._”

The remaining four pieces of the set were a pair of figures representing Pygmalion and Prometheus, and two small cornucopia vases. Instructions were given for the figures to be inscribed with verses of Marmontel’s own composition, highly flattering to the imperial recipient of the present. The letter concludes with a request that the goods might be despatched without delay to the Swedish king, who was awaiting them at Spa. The price paid for the vase was 720 _livres_, and for the complete set 1896 _livres_.