The body is white and hard and of ivory-like closeness when seen by
transmitted light. The rich liquid glaze has a slight greenish tone
and has a surface like polished crystal. The quality of this glaze is
exceptionally fine and possesses artistic properties peculiarly its
own. In modelled subjects such as fish this is especially noticeable.
In the noble figure of a _Sea Lion_, this glaze simulates the original
so skilfully that the sensation conveyed is exactly that of the smooth,
sleek, satin-like texture of that animal's body. It is obvious that
with such a vehicle as this glaze the effects produced in landscape
painting are those seen in nature in the sun-pierced vaporous haze of a
climate remarkable for its exquisite tones.
In colour the subjects appear in low tones of subtle elusiveness,
never, by reason of the technique of the underglaze palette, departing
from the strictly limited range of colours we have enumerated. The
tones of all these are pitched in a minor key. The brilliance of the
painter in enamel is conspicuously absent. There is no scarlet, or
bright yellow, or mazarin blue, or vivid green. The charm of colour
lies in its exquisite delicacy. It is the highest ceramic landscape
painting offered to the delectation of those possessed of sufficient
connoisseurship to appreciate the supreme handling of a difficult
technique.
It departs from the Chinese prototypes in underglaze blue. The deep
blue of Nankin is delightful in its poetry, but it is a convention that
landscapes are painted all blue. Copenhagen becomes more realistic, but
no less poetical, with added touches of amber, and mauve, and grey, and
sage green, and the blue, pale and tender, carries out a colour scheme
which stamps this Western art as something original and ideal.
It is thus seen that in body and glaze and colouring Copenhagen has
excellent points challenging comparison with anything that has gone
before. But with these technical problems solved satisfactorily,
there is yet something to be added, which has created a reflective
school of design and elevated Copenhagen to its present status. This
quality, difficult to describe, and yet ever-present in the results
when submitted to definite criticism, may be roughly summarized as
consisting of two essential traits of disciplined art--the apt choice
of decorative subject and the complete mastery exercised in fittingly
decorating the object.
[Illustration: DECORATIVE MEMORIAL PLACQUE.
By Arnold Krog.
Commemorating the restoration of Ribe Cathedral, Denmark.]
Apart from the technical excellence of selection of idea and
symmetrical incorporation with the form under decoration, there is the
national spirit, which is the soul imparted to the work of artists
filled with intense love of nature. This charm, lightly and daintily
woven into the dreams which the porcelain conveys in dim mysterious
manner, cannot be captured by the snare of the imitator.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account