734
SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT ON DESIGN.
[Class XXX.
and yet, so changed, it is acted upon by the hand andwrist at the greatest possible disadvantage, the handhaving to lift the 'weight, as it were, at the end of a longlever, and reverse it by the power of the wrist, as isshown at a (fig. 2), while a much less power applied at b(figs. 2 and 3) would suffice to reverse the pitcher andpour forth the fluid. The height of the handle is ofless importance when the contents have to be deliveredfrom near the bottom, as in the Eastern form at fig. 4;since the slightest tilt of the vessel would begin to emptythe contents through the spout, which would not be thecase if they had to be discharged from the top. Thesehints will serve to show how important the proper consi-deration of the insertion of the handles is in such works,and how errors arise from merely adopting inconsider-ately a form fitted for one use for another purpose. Itwould carry the subject too far to increase examples, butthese suggestions followed out would lead to multipliedinstances of false adaptation, and may serve to induce amore careful consideration of the subject. In the appli-cation of colour to porcelain and earthenware, the surfacenever should be wholly, or indeed largely covered; thematerial has a purity that should be decorated, not ob-scured. A due consideration of this simple rule wouldcondemn a vast amount of bad taste, such as completelymetallizing the surface of china by gilding, changingchina into imitative marble, or covering the field of manyutensils with pictures, landscapes, or flowers. The Greeksdecorated their pottery in bauds, introduced to mark thechange of curve, or to separate the various surfaces: theeastern pottery is in the same way decorated in bands, orwhere the surface is more covered, it is merely with adiaper, which leaves the material sufficiently visible.
Landscapes and pictures are almost always out of placein pottery, and it certainly is objectionable to cover thecentres of plates and dishes with pictures and views ; notonly because it hides the surface, which it has been beforesaid it is desirable to retain, but because utility would bebetter served by the absence of any decoration in the partwhich receives the viands, to satisfy that sense of clean-liness only to be obtained by the white unchanged surfaceof the material.
There is still another subject to be referred to, whichconsists in the imitation of the ornament peculiar to oneage and one purpose on the utensils of another age, and■which are intended for totally different uses: or applyingthe ornament of one material to the decoration of another,which last fault, in speaking of other manufactures, hasalready been often strongly animadverted upon. Therevivals of Wedgwood were, in a degree, in this spirit;and although they produced a vast change for the betterin the forms of our pottery, and placed a salutary curbon the extravagance of the style that then obtained, theywere but the resurrection of a dead art; and the funeralurns of Etruria , being inconsistent with modem uses,have a cold formality quite inconsonant with the feelingsof the time. An attempted manufacture of these vases,decorated with the beautiful outlines of Flaxman, ofwhich a large number are exhibited by another house,can have only partial favour, as they can serve no otherpurpose than as ornaments, and will never enlist the sym-pathies of the general public in their favour.
The abuse of the ornament of other materials to unsuit-able purposes is shown in many ways in this fabric;among others, in copying engravings and pictures on tovarious utensils. In one case the most sacred symbols ofreligion serve as decoration for the borders of plates,■while the centres of them, and of the dishes of the sameset, consist of angels, copied from an illustrated prayer-book, flying in the midst of a blue heaven diapered withstars. Such incongruities, improper in any case, are sadly ,and strangely inapplicable to a dinner-service. It hasbeen well said, that “ symbolical ornament demands per-fect accordance between the use of an object and itsdecoration ;” but can anything be more inharmoniousthan such sacred symbols mixed up with a festive dinner?Such incongruities are ever arising from unthinking imi-tation.
When, however, due allowance has been made forfaults, failures, and short-comings, it is impossible not to
feel that the general manufacture of china has madegreat progress in this country. There is a greater selec-tion of pure forms—a less gaudy treatment of the wholesurface—than heretofore; and where works are foundedon past styles, their most meritorious qualities are se-lected, their faults rather avoided, whilst the power ofthe art-workman has visibly increased. Thus, in thebeautiful dessert-sendee from the manufactory of Mr.Minton (Class XXV., 1, p. 709), whilst there is muchthat is derived from old Sevres patterns, it has been, byjudicious adoption, rather than imitation. If the figuresare a little crowded, they will be found exceedingly wellmodelled; and the purity of their white material, con-trasted with the delicate hues of the colours combinedwith it, has a chaste effect, the furthest possible removedfrom gaudiness. Indeed, the great merit of the worksfrom this manufactory is the restrained use of colour,and the general delicacy of the decoration. Some of thesmall figures on the centres of the plates are excellentspecimens of the china-painter’s art, and there is almosta total abstinence from landscape, or mere pictorial sub-jects, on these utensils. As to the imitative renderings offlowers on china, it is hard in this case to object to theirwant of conformity to principle, since the beauty andpurity of the surface of china is so suitable to such artthat here, if anywhere, their use may be overlooked.The porcelain both of Messrs. Copland and Messrs.Rose (p. 711, and Class XXV., 47, p. 727), holds a highplace also for form and colour; anu some of the mostsuccessful of the larger efforts at enamel-painting onchina in England are exhibited by the artists in the em-ploy of these manufacturers, as well as some excellently-finished statuettes. The application of porcelain to decoratethe jambs of fire-grates has produced some well-designedslabs from both Messrs. Copeland and Messrs. Minton ;although, perhaps, one of the best designed of suchworks, with certainly some of the best English flesh-painting, is to be found in some jambs attached to a grateexhibited by Messrs. Stuart and Smith (Class XXII., 102,p. 603). An application of the design of some jewelledembroidery from the work of Mr. C. J. Richardson, toornament a flask, exhibited by Messrs. Copeland (p. 712),gives a rich treatment, although contrary to the sound,principle of not covering up the surface of the materialtoo entirely; but in another specimen exhibited the wholemerit of the adoption has been lost by introducing a land-scape amid the lines of the form, making it appear howmuch chance and how little principle has governed thechoice. One or two plates in Mr. Copeland’s collectionhave great merit in their design, the width of the orna-mental margin being well considered and the centresjudiciously plain.
The general manufacture of potter}' in France includessome artistic adaptations of design to brown stone-ware,and of colour to its surface. The collection is exhibitedby M. Mansard (France , 1342, p. 1240). Althoughbelonging too entirely to the class of ornaments , and ob-jectionable from the false relief sometimes adopted, theapplication of art of a superior kind to common materialsdeserves much praise, and is worthy of attention, asshowing how much might be done by a like attention tothe manufactures of such wares at Lambeth and Fulham.Of the Palissy ware exhibited, little can be said in thisReport; for although evincing much skill, it is so entirelyopposed to all utility, and even beauty, and so completelya work of mere curiosity, that the difficulties overcomedo not redeem it. The true Palissy ware did not consistof such unmeaning reliefs as are here applied to platesand dishes. The porcelain exhibited by M. Lahoche(France , 1287, p. 1238), contains some plates of meritoriousdesign, as well as one or two elegant tazzas. In Bavaria some plates, designed by Kaulbach (64, p. 1101), arevery' judicious in the treatment of their ornamentalborders; although the pictures from Reynard the Fox,painted on their centres, must be objected to. Some jugs,designed in the old German style, are pleasing, from theirvaried surface.
Glass.
Among the many beautiful materials which the earthhas yielded to the industry of man, to add to his comforts