Historic Ornament, Vol. 2 (of 2): Treatise on decorative art and architectural ornament — John Shaqi
Historic Ornament, Vol. 2 (of 2): Treatise on decorative art and architectural ornamentWard, James
History
Historic Ornament, Vol. 2 (of 2): Treatise on decorative art and architectural ornament
Ward, James
Architecture -- History; Decoration and ornament -- History; Decorative arts -- History
At Frechen, near Cologne, the celebrated “Greybeards” or “Bellarmines”
were first made, that were imported and imitated so much in England
during the reign of James I. (see Fig. 73). They were decorated with the
head of an old man with a long beard, and sometimes also with armorial
bearings or figure subjects.
The Sieburg stoneware was a cream-coloured ware, richly decorated in
relief, and chiefly consisted of long narrow drinking tankards with
metal covers, called “Pokals.”
At Greuzhausen and at Höhr were manufactured small jugs called
“_cruches_,” also saltcellars, inkstands, and braziers were made in grey
stoneware decorated in parts with the rich “blue of Leipzig” and with
various relief ornaments.
In the end of the seventeenth century and beginning of the eighteenth at
Creussen, in Bavaria, tankards or drinking mugs were made of a round
shape with covers, and decorated with figures of the Apostles in relief,
and coloured in bright crude colours that look like oil painting: they
are known as “Apostel Kruges,” or Apostle mugs.
At Nuremberg, tiles, pipes, and stoves were manufactured in glazed brown
or green stoneware, and at the same place a celebrated potter named
Augustin Hirschvogel made different kinds of ware in tin-glazed enamel,
who with his family preserved for a long time the secret in Germany of
this particular glaze.
Delft, a town in Holland, was renowned in the seventeenth century for
its extensive manufacture of the fayence known as “Delft.” The potteries
of Delft were established in the early years of the century, and towards
the end upwards of thirty potteries were in full working order. The
genuine delft ware is of a fine hard paste, has a beautiful and clear
smooth enamel, and is decorated with almost every kind of subject,
chiefly in a blue camaïen.
Attempts at polychrome decoration are very rare, but a red colour has
been often used. The style of design and shapes were generally
imitations of Chinese, Japanese, and Dresden wares (Fig. 64). Almost
every class and shape of the usual pottery objects were manufactured,
and some plates and vases were of very great dimensions.
GERMAN PORCELAIN.
The Portuguese introduced China porcelain into Europe, and for a long
time the potters sought to imitate it, but without much success, until
the true kaolin was discovered by Böttger, about 1709. At Aue,
Schneeberg, and in the year 1715, a pottery for the manufacture of hard
porcelain was established at Meissen, by Augustus II., Elector of Saxony
and King of Poland, with Böttger as director.
[Illustration: Fig. 65.—German Stoneware.]
[Illustration: Fig. 66.—Dresden Candelabrum.]
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