CHAPTER IV.

GLAZED POTTERY.--GRÈS DE FLANDRE, FRENCH, GERMAN, ETC.

Definition of Glaze.--Varnish.--Enamel in Egypt, Babylon.--The Arabs and the Moors.--Grès de Flandre.--Cologne, Regensburg, Baireuth, Neuwied, Grenzhausen, Coblentz.--Holland.--Beauvais.--Flanders.--Apostle-Mugs. --Graybeards.--"Bellarmines."--"Pottle-Pots."--Modern Work.--Doulton Stone-ware.--Early German Stone-ware at Breslau.--Hirschvogel.--Nuremberg.

Before saying anything about the various styles of glazed pottery, it may be well to give the definitions of glaze, as presented by Marryatt, thus:

"GLAZE (_Glauçure_, _Vernis_, Fr.).--The composition used for coating pottery is composed chiefly of lead and silex. That for porcelain is analogous to flint-glass (whence the derivation _glassing_ or _glazing_). In fact, this term may be applied to any substance that covers the surface of the piece; as, for instance, that produced by the decomposition of salt on stone-ware. M. Brongniart classes the different kinds of glazing, or vitreous substances with which pottery is covered when finished, into three kinds:

"'_Varnish._--Every vitrifiable substance, transparent and plumbiferous, which melts at low temperature, generally inferior to that required for the baking of the paste: common pottery, fine earthen-ware.

"'_Enamel._--A vitrifiable substance, opaque, generally stanniferous (tin): majolica and common earthen-ware.

"'_Couverte._--A vitrifiable substance, earthy, which melts at a high temperature equal to that of the baking of the paste: hard porcelain, some stone-wares....'

"The mark caused by the absence of glaze is very apparent in Oriental porcelain, the bottom edge being rough and sandy. This defective appearance is obviated in Europe by supporting the piece upon a tripod with very small points (_prenettes_, Fr.). The three ugly marks upon old Chelsea china are caused by the clumsy tripod which was employed."

The use of glaze and of tin to form the glaze or enamel seems to have been known to the Chinese beyond the time when Occidental records were kept. It appears, according to Sir Gardiner Wilkinson and Mr. Samuel Birch, that very early indeed the Egyptian potters knew the use of the siliceous glaze, composed of sand and potash or soda; and also that small sepulchral figures have been found, coated with enamels made from oxides of tin or copper, dating as far back as the sixth dynasty (B. C. 3703). In the museums of Europe are preserved tiles and bricks taken from the temples or palaces of Egypt and Babylon, and they must have been largely used long before our historical time. These glazed bricks are supposed to date back twenty-five hundred years before our era.

Mr. Birch, in his "History of Ancient Pottery," says that the use of these bricks was probably learned by the Assyrians from the Egyptians, "who at a very early period had inlaid in this manner the chamber of the Pyramid at Saqquara."

He says: "The glazed or enameled bricks from Nimrúd are of the usual kiln-dried kind, measuring thirteen and a half inches square, and about four and a half inches thick. They were laid in rows horizontally above the slates of sculpture of the Mosul marble, and seem to have been employed in the construction of cornices. They are glazed on one of the narrow sides or edges only, having on this edge various patterns, chiefly of an architectural nature, such as guilloche or chain ornaments, bands of palmettes or helices, and fleurettes or flowers of many petals. The colors employed were blue, black, yellow, red, and white. The glaze, which is much decomposed, easily exfoliates, and the colors have lost much of their freshness. It would appear that patterns of tolerably large size were executed in this manner, each brick having its appropriate portion enameled upon it.... Another brick, found by Mr. Layard in the earliest palace of Nimrúd, has an horizontal line of inscription in arrow-headed characters of a darker color, and with square heads like nails. Its tenor was of the usual purport: 'This is the great palace of "Asar-aden-pal."' Bricks of this glazed kind were found chiefly in the space between the great bulls which flanked the entrances of the chambers. From Nimrúd were also brought corbels of blue faience, or what has been called porcelain, the under part modeled to represent the five fingers of the hand."

This much is given to show how the glaze was applied to pottery by the nations of that very early time. Where they got their knowledge--whether they discovered it for themselves in their search into the secrets of Nature, or whether they derived it from the great world of life which lay beyond in the far East--we do not and cannot know. But why this so valuable knowledge was not applied universally by those acute peoples to the utensils of every-day life, and to all which we now call "artistic pottery," remains a curious question. That it was applied to some things, we know; for small vases, toys, marbles, etc., etc., have been found among the Egyptian tombs coated with this enamel; but most of the pottery found in Egypt is without glaze, which would indicate that what was in ordinary daily use was unglazed. Examples of this enameled ware are to be seen in the British and other museums of Europe.

Coming to the Greeks, it is singular that nothing of this enamel-glaze is found. The inference is, that they had not the knowledge of it, and that the art must have been lost; for surely so valuable and beautiful an art, if known, must have been applied by so æsthetic a people as the Greeks to the uses of life.

Upon the Greek vases, of which so many examples remain, there appears sometimes to have been used a very thin and very transparent varnish; but this does not seem to have been a glaze made either of glass, or of lead, or of tin. If it was a varnish, and not a polish, the probabilities point to its being a thin wash of soda or potash. This varnish served to protect the painting, but did not prevent the percolation of water.

The Greek methods prevailed among the Romans. Among the great numbers of potters, and the vast production of pottery, the Romans seem not to have used the glaze. All that remains of their work, found in Gaul, in Britain, and in other parts of Europe, is the unglazed ware.

The Arabs and the Moors brought into Europe a knowledge of the stanniferous (tin) glaze, as has been explained more fully elsewhere. To this keen and most energetic civilization Europe owes its beginnings in the arts of pottery, as well as in many other things.

The value of the glaze in all the arts of life cannot be estimated. When the only cooking-utensils were those made of unglazed pottery, the cooking was of the simplest, if not most insufficient, character. Indeed, at that time it is not likely that meat was cooked in the pot at all. In addition to this, the difficulty of making unglazed vessels capable of holding wine, oil, etc., without wasting them slowly, must have forbidden those things being kept to such a time as to insure perfection, not to mention the inevitable loss.

It is likely that such unglazed pots were then painted on the inside with some resinous substance which in a degree met the difficulty, but which, at the same time, imparted a flavor to the wine which we cannot believe to have been delicious.

Between China and the Spanish Moors exist a wide gap and centuries of time, in which glazed pottery and porcelain intended for the uses of domestic life seem to have been unknown. And this, too, was among the Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Romans--nations eager for every good thing, astute, keen, grasping. Among the remains of Roman art have been found a few pieces of pottery upon which are traces of the use of a glaze; but, if it was used at all, it seems to have been almost an accident--not at all as with us, to complete and perfect the work.

To the Moors and the Moorish civilization of Spain, Europe owes the knowledge or the introduction of this most valuable art, which has enabled her to reach such perfection in the making of fictile ware as we now see and enjoy.

Not only has the glaze (and enamel) given great strength to pottery, and increased its use to an infinite variety: it has also enabled most nations, beginning with the Chinese, to add to its beauty, and, indeed, to develop or create a method of artistic expression which is peculiar and most interesting. This subject will be treated more fully, in the progress of this work, in a chapter upon decorating porcelain and pottery.

After the work of the Moors in Spain, which will be treated in a separate chapter, one of the earliest applications of the glaze in Europe was upon a hard sort of _stone-ware_ made at various places along the Rhine, and in Flanders and Germany. It has come to be known under a generic title of GRÈS DE FLANDRE, while but little of it was really made in Flanders. A great centre of its manufacture and sale, as early as the 1300's of our era, was at Cologne; and a more fit name for it would be Grès de Cologne; still, the usual name is the one the world knows it by.

The body or paste of which this is composed differs from the faiences or earthen-wares of which we write.

It is harder, heavier, and much more durable. The commoner kinds are made so by a considerable mixture of siliceous sand; while in the finer kinds, known as Grès de Flandre, there are mixed with the paste other clays, such as _terre de pipe_ and _kaolin_. This hard and heavy body has long been used for common stone-ware jugs and pots made for every-day use. In China it was and is still used as a body for vases and dishes, which received a covering or "engobe," and upon that an artistic finish--such as the crackle-vases, and many others.

The glaze upon what we know as Grès de Flandre was made by using in the furnace common salt; the fumes of which, combining with the fused silex, resulted in what is termed the _salt-glaze_. This requires a high degree of heat, in which no colors will stay except the blue of cobalt, a brown, and a violet.

The Grès de Flandre, of which we give two illustrations (Figs. 55 and 56), is now well known under that name. Its color is a liquid gray, and its decoration is made with the blue of cobalt. Some pieces of this ware are highly and beautifully decorated, as is seen on the fine fountain now in the museum of the Louvre (Fig. 55). Most of the figures and reliefs are made with moulds, which have a quaint interest; they were cut in wood, carefully, often with considerable artistic expression. The best work of this sort was made in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and is mostly German.

There were factories at Cologne, at Regensburg, at Baireuth, at Neuwied, at Grenzhausen, at Coblentz, and at other places along the Rhine. The same work was also made in Holland, in Flanders, and in Beauvais. Many pieces of this style of work were decorated with figures of saints, and other sacred emblems. Some pieces, such as salt-cellars, inkstands, and candlesticks, were carefully modeled by hand, and have thus an added interest. I know of but few pieces of this work in our museums, while those of Europe have made special attempts to secure examples of it; for it has a peculiar character of its own, and in many cases is delicious in color and most quaint and artistic in its forms and decoration. Often coats-of-arms are found impressed upon tankards and bottles and flagons of this work, and most of these are German. They were evidently reproduced from the moulds, and sold to others than the persons whose arms they bore.

The making of this ware was undoubtedly one step by which Böttcher at last succeeded in making true porcelain at Dresden.

Fig. 56 is a pilgrim-bottle, bought at the Bernal sale by the British Museum for eighteen pounds.

At Baireuth were made, in the 1600's, some very curious mugs, called _Apostle-Mugs_, because the figures of the twelve apostles were worked in relief around the cup. The clay was a dark-brown, but the dresses of the figures and the inscriptions were painted in colors. Mr. Frederick J. Betts, of New York, has one of these interesting bits of work; they are now hardly ever offered for sale.

The _Graybeards_, or _Longbeards_, or _Bellarmines_, were made largely in the Low Countries for their own uses, and were exported to England. We give an illustration (Fig. 57) of one in Mr. Prime's collection. There is also an excellent one, I believe, in possession of Dr. Breck, of Springfield, Massachusetts. These were intended for use, and usually carried from one quart to three gallons. They were always in brown--at least I have seen none in the gray; but their decoration was sometimes touched with the violet-color. They are a very handsome and decorative bottle. The name of "Bellarmine" was given them because, in the sixteenth century, when these bottles were made and used, the Cardinal Bellarmin was sent into the Low Countries to counteract the movements of the pernicious Reformers then so zealously at work there. He was cordially hated by the Protestants, and received from them his due share of contumely. Having a short stature and a large stomach, like the Longbeard bottles, and, as they said, holding like them much vinous or other liquor, they soon called the bottle a Bellarmine, which name it bears to this day--so that, indeed, it may be said, the bottle has immortalized the man.

These bottles were largely in use on the Continent and in England all through Shakespeare's time, and one was dug up on the site of the "Boar's Head at Eastcheap." The "pottle-pot," as the bottle was then called, held about two quarts. In one of the old English plays, Clodpate says: "Uds-buds, my head begins to turn round; but let's into the house. 'Tis dark, we'll have one Bellarmine more, and then Bonus Nocius."

Sometimes these Graybeards were handsomely mounted, and came to be ranked high among the household gods. An inventory of the Duke of Burgundy, made in 1467, speaks of one of them as being decorated with silver and gold: "Ung hault _Goblet de Terre_ ouvré et chiqueté à ung visaige d'un heremite, garny au dessus et au dessoubs d'argent doré, et le couvercle aussi d'argent doré."

Upon the Rhine these stone pots are still made for common uses, and largely; the same sort of clay is also extensively converted into seltzer-water bottles. Near Coblentz are several potteries devoted to this sort of work. At these places, since the great desire for interesting pottery has sprung up, some very fair copies of the old _grès_ have been made. At first they were made with considerable care, and then had _some_ value, showing us, as they did, what this very quaint and very original pottery was; and they were of value, as we could not have the originals. But now there is no restraint, and they are turned out by the ship-load in a slovenly style, and are to be seen in every shop-window. Fortunately, they do not pretend to be the _real_ thing; and, fortunately, they will have but a short existence, as they do not grow out of any true want or true use.

DOULTON STONE-WARE.--On the other hand has sprung up at Lambeth, England, in the potteries of the Doultons, stone-ware which is true, original, artistic, and delightful. This is the same paste as the

_grès_; but, instead of imitating that, a scale and a variety of colors have been developed which the old _grès_ could not at all touch. By means of thousands of experiments and much scientific knowledge, colors have been found which will bear the heat, and some of the results attained there of color alone are gratifying.

No pains or cost have been spared by the Messrs. Doulton to bring about the best work. Artists have been employed--indeed, have been created--to invent and to bring forth works novel in design and color; and they have done it. We cannot but welcome their work with open hands and open hearts; and we have reason to believe that the public has welcomed it with open purses. A very fine exhibition of this work was made at the United States Centennial Festival at Philadelphia, which attracted much and deserved praise. Among the artists early engaged were some ladies named Barlow, I think, who did excellent work. One of them etched in the wet clay groups of animals which were spirited and fascinating; the other, I believe, did flowers and plants. These ladies went to _work_, and thus solved the "woman question," so far as it concerned themselves. Their work was much valued by collectors as far back as five or six years.

Besides this style, many decorated vases, bottles, jugs, cups, etc., etc., have been made, of which examples will be seen in our illustration (Fig. 58).

Not only have great variety and beauty of form been reached, but the methods of decoration are equally varied. One of the most elaborate is in the use of beads in lines or singly, so as to produce a jeweled effect, often very brilliant and very finished; this is in danger of being carried to excess.

So many pieces of their work have been brought to the United States, that those interested can see them for themselves, and will need no further description.

EARLY GERMAN GLAZED POTTERY.--Before leaving this subject a few words may be said upon the early German work in pottery.

We know but little of the history of the German or Teutonic tribes before the time of Cæsar; but it was found then that here existed strong, handsome, vigorous races, who had reached an unexpected degree of civilization. They had brilliant arms and armor; they respected woman, and honored old age. In the museums are found examples of the early German unglazed pottery, so much like that found in Egypt, in Gaul, in Peru, and in most other parts of the globe, examples of which are shown in our first chapter upon unglazed pottery. Just when they began to use the glaze for the finishing and protection of pottery, we do not know. But it is known that it was in use there some two hundred years before it had been applied in Italy in the 1400's A. D. There are evidences sufficient to prove that the use of enamel, in which tin was an element, was known in Germany as early as the thirteenth century.

The most famous piece of this early glazed pottery is to be seen in the Church of the Cross, at Breslau, Prussian Silesia. It is a great monument of pottery, built in honor of the founder of the church, Henry IV. of Silesia. He lies at length, the size of life, wearing his armor and his crown, and with a sword in the right hand, a shield in the left. Around the sarcophagus upon which he lies are twenty-one figures in bass-relief, the whole executed in the style of the earliest German-Gothic. Upon the monument is an inscription, saying that Henry IV. died on the night of St. John, in 1290, etc., etc. This does not prove that the monument was executed then; but there are other proofs that it was made about that time, in the dress, etc., etc.

The name most conspicuous among the early potters of Germany is Hirschvogel, who worked at Nuremberg, and who, indeed, founded potteries there which continued through the century. He was born in 1441, and died in 1525. He appears to have been a painter upon glass, but from that went to the production of glazed pottery. Large plaques in bass-relief exist of this work, and also artistic earthen-ware stoves, some of which are elaborately and beautifully modeled. Examples of these, as well as pots, cruches, etc., etc., are to be seen in the museum at Nuremberg. The work of the German potters appears to have been finished with the glaze earlier than that of any others of Europe, except that of the Moors, in Spain.