Class XXX.]

SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT ON DESIGN.

porcelain) to unite in one person the artist and the ■work-man, as in the case of the bronzists of France , as well asmany of the foreign workers in the precious metals.

The Royat Manufactories of Berlin and Bavaria haveavoided many errors prevalent in the china-ware ofDresden , and have rather followed classic models. Theworks exhibited, however, are deficient in originality;the vases are of the most common classic forms—over-loaded with ornament, and having landscapes and pic-tures painted in compartments on their surface. TheDresden enamel-painters on china rank next to thoseof France ; and Bucher (3 Zollv., 176, p. 1112), and Wal-tiier (3 Zollv., 177, p. 1112), in their copies of paintingsby the old masters, evince a perfect knowledge of theirart. Taprema, in Russia (318, p. 1376), and Nice, inAustria (615, p. 1038), exhibit skilful enamels on china;but the porcelain from these countries has no peculiaroriginality or excellence to recommend it.

In considering the question of design, as applied tothat division of pottery and porcelain which more espe-cially comprises works of utility, constructive form shouldhave the first attention ; and in such works as are intendedfor vessels of capacity those forms should be adoptedwhich, while they are most elegant, are best fitted forcontaining or holding. Such articles, moreover, being ofcontinuous use, the power of ready cleansing is of greatimportance, and should have due attention from the de-signer. It is to be remembered, also, that the means ofreceiving that which is to be contained is as necessary asits ready out-pouring; since it is hardly desirable to haveto apply a funnel to fill a pitcher or jug intended for con-stant use, although this may be permitted in a bottle,which is required to keep its contents cool, or to becarried about, and subject to spill them by jolting, andtherefore needing a smaller aperture. Moreover, a jug, orpitcher, which will admit the hand to cleanse it thoroughly,must be more suited to daily use than one which will not.A due consideration of utility would regulate the form inmany other cases; as, for instance, in cups and otherdrinking vessels, it might be most graceful to curve thetop edge outward, but since such a form is likely to over-flow the person in drinking, however superior in elegance,it should not be adopted. When utility is consideredbefore ornament, numerous truths of the like kind willbe arrived at, which are entirely overlooked when theorder is reversed; thus relief, when used, should be ex-tremely low, and without indented hollows in the compo-sition, as well as without undercuttings, in order to givefacility for cleansing; but while this is required forutility, it is necessary for elegance and beauty also: theGreeks were fully aware of it as an important truth, andin their pottery abstained from reliefs, or kept them tothe lowest impost: the vases of Etruria have generallytheir line unbroken by the ornament, and the reliefs onthe celebrated Portland vase are so extremely low asentirely to preserve its outline. In the same spirit ourgreat Flaxman worked to improve this fabric, as may beseen in the examples exhibited by Messrs. Wedgwood;the style being still a tradition in their works. TheEastern nations are sensible of the same truth, and their

decoration of pottery is on this principle, being entirelysubservient to the lines of the form. The antiqueChinese vase for cut flowers, exhibited by Mr. Alcock(p. 1419), and here engraved, will illustrate this, as

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■Bell as the fitness of form to use. The neck narrowat the bottom, whereby the stalks would be compressedand supported; the enlarged bulb, to contain sufficienti water for their nourishment, and at the same time to servo[ as a boss for the hand to grasp, is of a piece with theproper consideration of the decoration. This is notpainted, hut is of the nature of an inlay, being cloisonne\ enamelled over the whole surface; that is, the enamel; colours are filled into a coffer of metal standing on edge| around the ornamental forms, the line of the vase beingI carefully preserved.

i Tlie application of handles is another important point| connected with constructive design. The easiest andmost convenient means of lifting the weight, when liftingI only is required, and of lifting and pouring when both' are requisite, being the question to be determined. Toooften this is arrived at more by chance than by calcula-tion. We see, for instance, the form of an Etruscan vase, such as is shown in figure 1, adopted as a pitcher;

the original having two handles, formed for its occasionalremoval only; for its new purpose, a spout is substituted

for one of the handles; perhaps it is to serve as a ewer,requiring raising and reversing at every effort to pour,