Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/646

Rh 622 POTTERY [HISPANO-MOOKISH. arabesques in cobalt blue ami manganese purple. The forms of the ware are small ami delicate, mostly cups, plates, bowls, ami flower- vases with many necks ; these were made from the 17th down to the 19th century. (2) Celadon, very like that made in China, but greyer in tint, is common earthenware covered with a green enamel. It was much valued by the Persians and other nations on account of the belief that a cup of this ware betrayed the presence of poison either by breaking or by changing colour. The Persians call it &quot; jachmi &quot; (jade), from its resemblance to that valuable stone. (3) Pottery of coarse clay, modelled with blunt reliefs, and the whole covered with green enamel. Another variety is covered with a bright blue enamel, chiefly used for ewers, hookah-bottles, and tall jars. The moulded reliefs are either flowers or human figures, poor both in design and execution. This kind of decoration was much used for heavy square bottles or tall jars ; it has little or no trace of the usual Persian tastefulncss of design, and the colour is harsh. Most of this ware is not older than the 18th and 19th centuries. It is very largely Chinese in style. (4) Pottery painted in cobalt blues on a white ground, with some black, used chiefly for outlines. This is the largest class of Perso-Chinese pottery, and of it were made large dishes, bowls, bottles, ewers, and almost all forms of domestic and ornamental vessels. In some the design is purely Persian, in others almost purely Chinese, while in others the two styles are mingled. The Chinese grotesque dragons and mannered treatment of fir trees and even human figures frequently occur, but the more graceful designs have flowers and foliage arranged with that great decorative skill and good taste for which the Persians are so remarkable. Fig. 49 shows a dish from the South Kenshm- FIG. 49. Persian plate painted in blues only. (South Kensington Museum.) ton Museum in which there is little or no Chinese influence in the design ; it is painted only in blues, and dates from the 17th century. Some few pieces have figures and flowers moulded in low relief, merely indicating the form, and then painted in blues and black lines. On the whole this class of pottery is very decorative in effect ; the glaze is thick, and the blues frequently softened by having run a little in the firing ; the different shades of blue are very varied and harmonious, ranging from indigo to a deep ultramarine. Hispano- Hispano- Moorish Pottery, and Enamelled Lustre Wares Moorish, produced under Oriental Influence in Sicily and the Balearic Isles. To the earlier or Arab period of Oriental rule in south-west Europe no existing specimens of pottery can be attributed, though there are sufficient records to show that the Arab potters of Spain, as of other parts of the world, were highly distinguished for their skill and the artistic beauty of their wares. The existing specimens of Hispano-Moorish pottery, which are very numerous, date from the early years of the Moorish occupation, towards the end of the 13th century, and continue down to the 17th century. During this long period three stages were passed through, each with characteristics of its own, but passing imperceptibly one into another, (1) pottery made by the Moors for their own use; (2) pottery made by them for the use of their Christian conquerors; (3) pottery made by Spanish potters who imitated the techni cal methods of the Moors, and to some extent their designs and style of decoration. Technical Methods, Colours, &c. The technical methods Tecl remained the same throughout all three periods. The pro- nica cess was this. After the pot had been thrown on the wheel, &quot; ietl a rather coarse red or yellowish clay being used, it was dipped into a cream-like mixture of the materials for its white enamel coat. This, like the white enamel of Persian pottery, was simply a glass rendered white and opaque by the addition of oxide of tin. When fired, the vessel was covered with a smooth coat of enamel, slightly creamy in colour and very pleasant in texture. Only two colours were used for decoration, and very often only one. The chief of these was a lustre, made with oxides of copper or silver, and varying in tint from a pale lemon yellow to a deep coppery red. The peculiar application of lustre-colour has been described above under the head of &quot; lustred ware &quot; (p. 620). The other colour is a deep indigo blue, varying in tint, and produced sometimes with copper and sometimes with cobalt oxides. The blue was applied before the lustre, which always required a special and final firing under differ ent conditions from those necessary for the fusion of the white enamel and the blue pigment. The chief towns in which the ware was manufactured were Malaga, Valencia, and Manises (in the province of Valencia) ; the celebrated amphora-shaped vase found in the Alhambra was probably from the first of these places. Ibn Batuta (14th century) describes the beauty of the &quot;gold -coloured pottery&quot; of Malaga, and says that it was largely exported into distant countries. Marineo (Cosas memorables de Espana, 1517) and Ercolano (Historia de Valencia, 1610) both praise highly the &quot;gilt pottery&quot; made at Valencia and Manises. The term &quot;gilt&quot; refers to the metallic golden colour of the lustre. Pieces of Valencia ware occur with the accompany ing mark (No. 1). The usual forms of this pottery chiefly consist of deep dishes and bowls, jars, drug-pots, goblets, and large bucket -shaped vessels. The early ones, such as the Alhambra amphora, dating from the early part of the 14th century, are decor ated with delicate and graceful arabesque patterns, or branches of a plant like the briony, the leaves of which are often alternately in blue and in yellow Potter s lustre. A few have Arabic inscriptions. The de- signs are most masterly, drawn with great freedom of touch, and very decorative in effect. The delicacy and minuteness of the painting are often increased by white lines on the yellow lustre, done with a wooden point by wiping out the lines through the lustre pigment before it was fired ; this could be done easily, because the lustre was painted on the hard smooth enamel after it was fired, not on an absorbent biscuit surface. The pottery of the earlier period has mostly a lustre of pale Cla; i almost lemon yellow made with oxide of silver, while the later and of coarser varieties have a deep-red lustre made from copper, which is rather harsh and too metallic in appearance. The decorations of the second period are very frequently heraldic in character. A favourite design for large dishes is a lion rampant or a displayed eagle, the latter used as the emblem of St John the Evangelist, the patron saint of Valencia ; others have shields with the arms of Castile and Aragon or of royal personages. Many of the grandly- decorated dishes are not only ornamented on the front but also have their backs elaborately covered with rich and graceful ara besques. Some of this ware is moulded in slight relief; plates have slightly projecting ribs, and goblet-shaped cups have swelling gadroons, a form copied from metal originals. Fig. 50 shows a line dish, now in the British Museum, painted in copper lustre and blue ; though Moorish in style, it has a Spanish inscription, SENTA CATALINA GVARDA NOS. The pottery of the third class is very inferior in all respects to the work of the Moorish potters. Not only is the lustre harsh in quality but the designs are very coarse and often rudely executed, though still for the most part retaining strong traces of their Oriental origin. The