The Collector's Handbook to Keramics of the Renaissance and Modern Periods Part 5

At MANERBE, near Lisieux in Normandy, and at MALICORNE, INFREVILLE, CHaTEAU-LA-LUNE and ARMENTIeRES, those elegant glazed earthenware pinnacles or finials which adorn the gables of old mansions in various parts of Normandy were constructed. They are 5 or 6 feet in height, being a series of small ornaments placed one above another on an iron rod; they partake of the character of the _figulines rustiques_ of Palissy, and have frequently been sold as such.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 79.--FINIAL. _About 1600._]

ST. CLeMENT. Established about 1750. Little is known of this _fabrique_.

There are some specimens of the 18th century in the Sevres Museum; also some others of later date, 1819 and 1823.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 80.--eCUELLE. _With gilt scrolls on white ground._]

TOULOUSE. Established in the 18th century. The ware is very similar in style to early Rouen pottery. A large hunting bottle, with loops for suspension, painted with blue flowers, and bearing round the neck the inscription "Laurens Ba.s.so a Toulousa Le 14 Ma 1756," was formerly in the possession of the late Mr. C. W. Reynolds.

NIDERVILLER.[2] Established in 1760, by Jean Louis, Baron Beyerle. The ware is in the German style, potters from Germany having been employed in its production, and is remarkable for the richness and delicacy of its decoration, which most frequently consists of flowers in bouquets and garlands. His fayence figures and groups are well modelled. About 1780, four years before Beyerle's death, the factory was purchased by General Count Custine, and carried on by him under M. Lanfray, princ.i.p.ally for the manufacture of porcelain, which will be subsequently referred to.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 81.--VASE.]

Fig. 81. Vase with cover, one of a pair; urn shape, painted to resemble deal, with medallions containing landscapes in rose _camaeu_, and borders of bay leaves. It bears the mark of Count Custine; date about 1774; height 17-3/8 inches.

DOUAI. Two brothers of the name of Leech, from England, were engaged, in 1782, by M. George Bris, of Douai, to superintend the manufacture of English pottery on a large scale, in a factory (now a Normal School) in the Rue des Carmes. It was one of the first of the kind established in France. The chief workmen, who came originally from England, instructed pupils, who carried the new process to Chantilly, Forges, and other places in France.

VINCENNES. In 1768 M. Maurin des Abiez undertook a manufacture of fayence in the manner of Stra.s.sburg, it being well known that there did not exist in France any fayence comparable to it in beauty and solidity; he had purchased the secret, and brought to Paris a staff of workmen who had been engaged at Stra.s.sburg. He acquired possession of the Chateau de Vincennes for twenty years. Pierre Antoine Hannong was engaged as director, and the works were carried on for four years, until 1771, when the factory got into difficulties and was closed.

SARREGUEMINES.[3] Established about 1770 by Paul Utzschneider. The beautiful fayence produced here is in imitation of porphyry, jasper, granite, and other variegated hard marbles, and was sometimes cut and polished by the lathe; it was also made with white raised figures on blue in the style of Wedgwood, and a third kind was red ware like the j.a.panese. The name is impressed on the ware.

ST. AMAND-LES-EAUX, near Valenciennes. Founded about 1750 by M. Fauquet, and continued by his son. The latter occupied himself especially with the gilding of his ware, which gave his neighbours the opportunity of saying he melted all his louis-d'ors in making his experiments and ruined himself. In the revolution of 1789 he emigrated, and all his goods were confiscated. In 1807 he attempted to revive the _fabrique_, and advertised that the St. Amand works were in full activity, making white fayence in the style of Rouen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 82.--INKSTAND.]

Fig. 82, an inkstand, with ink and pounce pots and drawer, painted on a grey ground with blue and white flowers under the glaze; about 1760-80.

SCEAUX PENTHIeVRE. In 1753, Jacques de Chapelle established a manufactory of a particular sort of fayence, of which he alone possessed the secret. The ware is in the style of Stra.s.sburg, its prevailing colours being pink and green; it is painted with flowers, but more carefully finished, and with landscapes and other forms of decoration.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 83.--PLATE.]

BOURG-LA-REINE. Established in 1773 by Messrs. Jacques and Jullien, who removed hither from Mennecy. The early ware is very similar to that of Sceaux. Besides the white fayence for domestic use, more artistic pieces were produced, painted on the enamel after it had received a slight baking; this ware is princ.i.p.ally in imitation of the Italian.

CREIL. A manufactory of fine fayence, worked in the 18th century by M.

S{t} Criq, made opaque porcelain and stoneware in the English style, and transferred prints on to the ware.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 84.--PLATE. _With a yellow border and transfer-printed landscape._]

MONTEREAU. In 1775, Messrs. Clark, Shaw, & Co., obtained letters patent to carry on a manufactory of English fayence, called Queen's ware, from clay found in the vicinity. This ware had a very extensive sale, and dealt a severe blow to the manufacture of French fayence. It soon spread over France, and was extensively made at Toulouse, Creil, Sarreguemines, and other places.

LILLE. A manufactory of fayence, was founded in 1696, by Jacques Feburier, of Tournai, and Jean Bossu, of Ghent, who made a ware _a la facon de Hollande_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 85.--DISH.]

Another important manufactory of fayence was established in 1711, by Barthelemy Dorez and Pierre Palissier; it continued in active work for nearly a century. A third fayence manufactory was founded in 1740 by J.

Masquelier, and was continued in the same family until 1827. A fourth was established in 1744, by M. Chanou, who made a brown earthenware called _terre du St. Esprit_, in the English fashion. There were also two other factories here in the 18th century.

GERMANY

The pottery of Germany consists of two distinct cla.s.ses: the fayence with opaque white stanniferous glaze, and that which to a great extent is called in England stoneware, in Germany _Steingut_, and in France _gres_ or sandstone. These epithets exactly describe the quality of the latter ware. It is very serviceable for domestic utensils, such as drinking bottles and vessels of everyday use, and is covered with a thin transparent glaze, effected by throwing common salt into the kiln when the ware is nearly baked--the salt vaporised by the heat surrounds the vessels, and acting upon the silica of their surfaces produces a thin gloss of silicate of soda over the ware, rendering it perfectly impervious.

NUREMBERG (_Nurnberg_). The celebrated Veit Hirschvogel, of Schlettstadt, was born in 1441, and died in 1525; he was a great potter, contemporary with Luca della Robbia, of Florence. The early pieces of pottery are somewhat like maiolica, but the colours are brighter, green predominating in many specimens; figures in relief in niches are frequently seen on vases. Several chimney-pieces of this ware of the 15th century are still in existence, one is in the castle of Salzburg, and many pieces treasured up in museums are supposed to have been made by Hirschvogel himself. The Nuremberg pottery of the 16th and 17th centuries is not uncommon. Hirschvogel was succeeded by his sons and a host of continuators. Fayence of the 18th century is also met with, painted with scriptural subjects, sometimes in blue _camaeu_, sometimes in other colours.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 86.--JUG. _15th Century._]

Fig. 86. Jug, of enamelled earthenware, in various colours, with figures in low relief; attributed to Veit Hirschvogel; height 13 in.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 87.--DISH.]

Fig. 87. Dish, painted in the centre with Christ rising from the tomb; signed with the painter's name Gluer, 1723.

LEIPZIG. In the convent of St. Paul, which was built in 1207, there was a frieze of bricks, covered with tin enamel glaze, representing in relief the heads of Saints and Apostles, 20 in. by 15 in., 2-1/2 in.

thick. On the demolition of the convent a selection of these was deposited in the Dresden Museum; they are of Byzantine character, in green enamel shaded with black; the hair, beard, and eyes of the figures are coloured.

STREHLA. A manufactory for earthenware was in existence here for many centuries. A pulpit of enamelled earthenware still exists, supported by a life-size figure of Moses, ornamented with eight plaques of religious subjects and figures of the four Evangelists, bearing the name of the potter and the date 1565.

OBERDORF. A factory was carried on by a potter named Hans Seltzman; a very fine stove made by him, with an inscription and dated 1514, is in the Palace at Fussen, in Bavaria. Many other places throughout Germany were equally famous in the 16th and 17th centuries, for the manufacture of stoves, as AUGSBURG, MEMMINGEN, &c.

BAYREUTH. The manufacture of a brown stoneware with Renaissance medallions, arabesques, &c., in relief flourished here in the 16th century. At a later period, fine fayence was produced, painted in blue _camaeu_. The designs are delicately traced with a brush on a fine paste; the forms are canettes, jardinieres, &c. At the end of the 18th century a _fabrique_ of fayence was carried on by a Herr Schmidt, who a.s.siduously copied the English ware; there are specimens in the Sevres Museum bearing the counterfeit mark of "Wedgwood."

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 88.--COFFEE-POT.]

Fig. 88. Coffee-pot and cover, chocolate coloured ground, decorated with gilt scrolls; F, the cypher of Frederick the Great, under a crown in front; about the middle of the 18th century; height 9 in.

COLOGNE (_Koln_). The stoneware made here in the 16th century is better known throughout Europe than any other description of pottery; its durability for domestic uses and the elegant character of its ornamentation in relief, caused it to be sought for everywhere. The _gres de Cologne_ has been confounded with the _gres de Flandres_, which latter name is given erroneously and indiscriminately to all stoneware of German manufacture, notwithstanding the German inscriptions the pieces bear and the arms of German cities and families. The best and most highly finished decorative _gres_ or stoneware cruches were undoubtedly made in Germany, if not at Cologne. The clay for making the Cologne ware came from Langerwehe between Duren and Aix-la-Chapelle. The manufactory was not actually in Cologne, but in the vicinity, possibly at FRECHEN, and at LAUENSTEIN, where a factory was established in the 18th century.

There were also factories at SIEGBURG and LIMBURG.

All the ware was made in moulds, and it must be borne in mind that the vessels were not always made at the date indicated upon them, for the moulds were used successively through a series of years, and it is no uncommon occurrence to find two different dates upon the same piece.

Some of the finest specimens known bear the name of Baldem Mennicken, a potter dwelling at RAEREN in the ancient Duchy of Limburg, which town until the treaty of 1814 was part of Holland, and it is probable that the stoneware produced here indicates the origin of _gres de Flandres_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 89.--LIMBURG CRUCHE. _Grey and blue._ Height 8-3/4 in.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 90.--RAEREN CRUCHE. _Grey and blue._ Height 7-1/4 in.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 91.--SIEGBURG CANETTE. _Cream colour. Dated 1574._ Height 17-1/4 in.]

GRENZHAUSEN, in Na.s.sau. There was a factory here about 1780, where _gres_ or stoneware was made; it is of a fine quality and easily mistaken for the more ancient _gres_. The forms are usually plates, dishes, and jugs, in which the decoration consists of a fine blue enamel on grey ground, with incuse ornaments executed by hand.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 92.--JUG.]

Fig. 92, a jug of reticulated pattern, is engine-turned, and enriched with brilliant enamel colours, 18th century.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 93.--FOUNTAIN.]

Fig. 93, a large fountain, is purple blue and white, 16th century; height 30 in.