Pottery and porcelain of all times and nations; with tables of factory and artists' marks for the use of collectors

Preface

Ten years ago there were probably not ten collectors of Pottery and Porcelain in the United States. To-day there are perhaps ten thousand. The exhibition in public museums of the fine works of ceramic art loaned by the few collectors who possessed them, revealed for the first time to the American public the wealth of beauty which is in " old china ;" and now in nearly every city, town, and village in the land more or less persons are " collecting."

The need of a book of the kind which I have endeavored to make has been manifest for some time. What to collect and why, how to collect and classify, are questions asked by many, and answered only by European works, in French and English, which indeed answer the questions better than this does, but are unfortunately inaccessible to the American collector outside of our larger cities.

The preparation of the needed volume has not been a voluntary undertaking with me. It was with extreme reluctance that I yielded to the urgent request of the publishers to make a book on Ceramic Art for American readers, students, and collectors. The very idea of a book for these three classes of people might well appall an author, looking at the vast extent of the subject. Those who are familiar with the art will appreciate the impossibility of bringing into one volume even a condensed sketch of its history for the general reader, much more a critical examination of its products for the student, and a descriptive account of characteristics and marks for the use of the collector. For this art is the oldest, the longest, the most widely diffused of all human arts. It has been used by every tribe of man, savage and civilized. Probably the first fire which Adam kindled on a clay soil taught him to make earthenware, and his descendants have ever since used the art he discovered. Its known history begins with the brickmakers on the plain of Shinar, and every year of this nineteenth century after Christ adds material for new pages.

The utmost that can be done with such a subject in one book is to relate briefly those portions of the history which seem most important to the American public who have not access to, or the time to read and study, the many learned and valuable works of Europe on the various departments of the art, and to add to this a

PREFACE.

short statement of the date of foundation and the characteristics of fabrics of the factories whose products may fall into the hands of American collectors. This I have endeavored to accomplish. Much has, of course, been omitted which some will think ought to be found here, and space has been devoted to departments which others will think unimportant. Probably no author could avoid this. I have exercised my best judgment, seeking always to keep visible the connecting links in the long history.

No one will imagine that this book can be intended to supersede the learned and invaluable works of Messrs. Birch, Jacquemart, Marryat, Chaffers, Fortnum, and others, to whose investigations we are largely indebted for the sum of our present knowledge of ceramic art, and whose books have necessarily furnished a large amount of the material in the present volume. The student who begins the subject with what I furnish him will, of course, go to them as more thorough teachers. An attempt to give credit to each authority from which I have taken a statement so embarrassed the pages with foot-notes that I must express here my general indebtedness, to the authors above named especially, and also to others whose works are mentioned below ; and this the rather that in many instances, finding the same important fact in the same words in various books, it was impossible to determine the proper credit.

The tables of marks and monograms at the end of the volume are based on Mrs. Bury Palisser's Hand-book, in European departments, and on the Manual of Messrs. Hooper & Phillips, in Chinese and Japanese art. The compilation of these extensive dictionaries is the result of the labor of very many students whose works are mentioned in the list below. The catalogue of authorities consulted is given not alone for the purposes of this acknowledgment, but also for the information of those who may desire to pursue the study of the subject. The attention nowT given to ceramic art is such that every public library should contain these books.

I have written on the theory that the reader knows nothing even of the rudiments of the art, and have tried to give a simple and intelligible account of the several departments, so that the book may be of interest and value to the inexperienced possessor of a few inherited specimens of old china or crockery, as well as to the laborious collector. In selecting specimens for illustration from my own and other collections, and from European works, it seemed to give greater practical value to the book to illustrate, generally, characteristic work of various countries and factories, such as collectors may hope to meet with, rather than curious, rare, and superb products of the art.

In expressing opinions, I have exercised that independence which I have sought also to inculcate in the American reader. The student has here excellent oppor-

PREFACE.

tunity for forming independent tastes, since he is not apt to be guided by the established opinions which prevail where the subject has been long pursued, and collections have been formed according to prevailing ideas of beauty. Doubtless many will wholly disagree with the opinions expressed ; and I have failed in my purpose if I have not impressed on the reader the importance, in art study, of forming opinions unbiassed by any dictatorial expressions of this or any other book. The study of art will do little good to those who profess to admire this or that specimen, class, or style, only because other people say it is admirable.

Prominent defects of this work are due to the lamentable fact that America possesses so few public collections of pottery and porcelain to which an author might from time to time refer. In Phenician and archaic Greek work the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has become the richest institution in the world by the acquisition of the Cypriote Collection of General L. P. Di Cesnola. The limits of this volume have forbidden an extended notice of those fabrics, and I have only attempted a general classification by styles of pottery and decoration, as an aid to their study, indicating briefly the new and important light which they throw on the early history of Greek art.

In Chinese and Japanese art, that museum has been happy in having for some time in the loan department the admirable selections from the collection of S. P. Avery, Esq., forming an illustrative exhibition not surpassed by any public or private collection elsewhere. The fine collection of Mr. Robert Hoe, Jr., has also been an important source of information.

In all other departments I have been compelled to rely on memories of European cabinets, and on my own imperfect collection, which is occasionally referred to as the Trumbull-Prime collection, which name it bears in memory of its founder, who was, so far as I know, the first lady, and perhaps the first person, in America who made a special study of ceramic art. This collection has enabled me, in departments in which it is peculiarly rich, to add some facts to the general sum of knowledge on the subject. Had I the assistance of her superior information, pure taste, and unerring judgment, this would have been a much more valuable book; for to them I owe all that I know of the subject. If my work accomplish any good or confer any pleasure, it is due alone to that memory whose constant presence has made it a labor of love.

W. C. P.

Lonesome Lake Cabin, August 8th, 1877.

AUTHOEITIES CONSULTED.

Birch (Samuel), History of Ancient Pottery. London, 1873. [An exhaustive work, of the greatest learning and ability ; does not include the late discoveries in Cyprus.]

Brongniart (Alex.), Traite des Arts Ceramiques. Paris, 1854. [In two volumes of text, and atlas of plates. A thorough treatise, with accounts of processes in various countries and factories, composition of pastes, preparation and application of colors, methods of manufacture, etc. ; with historical notices.]

Brongniart (Alex.) et Riocreux (D.), Mus'ee Ceramique de Sevres. [A catalogue of the museum at Sevres, with colored illustrations of many hundred specimens of ceramic art and glass. Valuable for reference. Early copies are the better colored.]

Bohn (H. G.), Guide to the Knowledge of Pottery and Porcelain, and Other Objects of Virtu. London, 185*7. [A catalogue of the Bernal-collection sale, with prices, and an appendix by Mr. Bohn, himself an extensive collector. Valuable as a reference for prices.]

Binns (R. W.), A Century of Potting in Worcester. London, 1865. [A new and enlarged edition, with additional plates, 1877. Large paper copies, with impressions from copperplates used for transfer-printing at Worcester and Caughley. A complete history of Worcester porcelain.]

Campori (G.), Notizie, etc., delta Maiolica e delta Porcellana de Ferrara, etc. Modena, 1871. [The Marquis Campori has rendered important service in elucidating the early history of porcelain-making in Italy in the sixteenth century, the first European porcelain.]

Chaffers (William), Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain, etc. London, 1876. [Mr. Chaffers's work is indispensable to the collector. It is a marvel of patient and careful labor, continued from edition to edition, the latest, of course, always the best. He has condensed the marks in a small hand-book ; but the large octavo is necessary to every student. We are indebted to it for much material in the present volume.]

Chaffers (William), The Keramic Gallery. London, 1872. [Five hundred illustrations of pottery and porcelain. Important for reference.]

Demmin (Auguste), Guide de V Amateur de Faiences et Porcelaines, etc. Paris, 1863. [A very good book of reference for factories, with descriptions of characteristics ; especially thorough on Germany and Holland. Not to be relied on for ancient or American work.]

Davillier (J. C), Histoire des Faiences Hispano-Moresques. Paris, 1861.

Davillier (J. C), Histoire des Faiences, etc., de Moustiers, Marseilles, etc. Paris, 1863.

Delange (H.), Recueil de Toutes les Pieces Connues, etc., de la Faience Francaise de Henri II. et Diane de Poictiers. Paris, 1861.

Delange, Borneman, et Sauzay, Monographic de VQZuvre de Bernard Palissy, etc. Paris, 1862. [Plates designed by Carle Delange and C. Borneman ; text by Sauzay and Henri Delange.]

Delange, Borneman, et Darcel, Recueil de Faiences Italiennes, etc. Paris, 1869. [Plates by Carle Delange and C. Borneman ; text by A. Darcel and Henri Delange. These superb works of luxury illustrate in colors some hundred specimens, many in full size of the originals.]

Drake (W. R.), Notes on Venetian Ceramics. London, 1868.

A UTEORITIES CONS ULTED.

Fillon (B.), Les Faiences d' Oiron. Paris, 1862.

Fortnum (C. D. E.), Descriptive Catalogue of the Majolica, etc., in the South Kensington Museum. London, 1873. [This South Kensington catalogue is enriched with colored plates and wood-cuts, and still more enriched with Mr. Fortnum's learned and clear notices of the Saracen and European potteries. It is the best single book for the collector in studying the origin and history of the Italian department of the art.]

Graesse (J. G. T.), Guide, etc., ou Collection Complete des Marques de Fabriques de Porcelaines et de Poteries, etc. Dresden, 1873. [A convenient hand-book of marks, by Dr. Graesse, the accomplished director of the Japanese Museum, and other collections, in Dresden.]

Haslem (J.), The Old Derby China Factory, etc. London, 1876. [Devoted chiefly to personal recollections of workmen ; contains colored plates of Derby patterns, and describes some products, omitting vases. Valuable for reference to colored plate of marks.]

Hooper (W. H.) and Phillips (W. C), Manual of Marks on Pottery and Porcelain. London, 1876. [An excellent and convenient little hand-book for the use of collectors, to which we are indebted especially for Chinese and Japanese marks, not before given in other works.]

Julien (Stanislas), Histoire et Fabrication de la Porcelaine Chinoise, etc., augmente drun Memoire sur la Porcelaine de Japon,par J. Hoffman. Paris, 1856. [See text, p. 233.]

Jacquemart (A.), Histoire de la Cer antique. Paris, 1875. [The collector will find in this work more information on the general and specific history of the art than in any other one volume. It has been translated and republished in England ; but the original edition is the better, on many accounts. We are indebted to it for much historical matter.]

Jewitt (L.), Life of Josiah Wedgwood. London, 1865.

Mareschal (A. A.), Iconographie de la Faience. Paris, 1875.

Mareschal (A. A.), La Faience Populaire au XVLILme. Siecle. Beauvais, 1872.

Mareschal (A. A.), Les Faiences Anciennes et Modernes, etc. Paris, 1873.

Mareschal (A. A.), Assiettes d Emblemes Patriotiques. Beauvais, 1869.

[The works of M. Mareschal are useful for reference, containing a large number of colored plates of ordinary wares of factories such as collectors are most likely to meet with.]

Marryat (J.), History of Pottery and Porcelain. London, 1869. [The best English work on the general subject, to which we are indebted for much historical and descriptive matter.]

Mayer (J.), On the Art of Pottery, with a History of its Progress in Liverpool. Liverpool, 1873. [Local history of Liverpool potteries.]

Meteyard (Eliza), Life of Josiah Wedgwood. London, 1865.

Meteyard (Eliza), The Wedgwood Hand-book. London, 1875. [Indispensable to collectors of Wedgwood wares ; giving accurate descriptions, numerous private marks of workmen, anil quite full catalogues.]

Meteyard (Eliza), Memorials of Wedgwood. London, 1874. [Next to the possession of the originals, the collector will enjoy the many exquisite illustrations in this elegant volume.]

Owen (H.), Two Centuries of Ceramic Art in Bristol. London, 1873. [Local history of Bristol porcelain and pottery.]

Passeri (G.), Histoire de Peintures sur Maioliques d Pesaro et les Environs. Paris, 1853.

Piccolpassi. Tre Libri delV Arte del Vasaio. [MS. in British Museum, cited by various writers ; and the French translation, published in Paris, I860.]

Pottier (A.), Histoire de la Faience de Rouen. Rouen, 1869. [Numerous colored plates.]

A UTROBITIES CONS UL TED.

Palliser (Mrs. Bury), The China Collector's Pocket Companion. London, 1875. [An excellent and convenient pocket hand-book, which the collector should have for constant reference. The marks and monograms here gathered are the basis on which the Table in this volume is founded, so far as they relate to European fabrics.]

Robinson (J. C), Catalogue of the Soulages Collection. London, December, 1856.

Robinson (J. C), Catalogue of the Loan Exhibition, etc. London, 1862.

Shaw (S.), Chemistry of Porcelain, etc. London, 1837.

Smith (R. Murdoch), Persian Art. London, 1876.

Tainturier (A.), Recherches sur les Anciennes Manufactures de Porcelaine et de la Faience {Alsace et Lorraine). Strasbourg, 1868.

Tread well (J. H.), A Manual of Pottery and Porcelain for American Collectors. New York, 1872. [The first American work on the subject. A compact sketch of the history. We are indebted to Mr. Treadwell for several illustrations in this volume.] .

Wedgwood ( Josiah), Account of the Barberini now Portland vase with the various explication of its bos reliefs that have been given by different authors. No place or date. [Privately printed by Mr. Wedgwood while preparing the moulds for his reproduction. The preface requests information to be added, and in my copy, in Mr. Wedgwood's handwriting, this request is explained, " that the account which he purposes to deliver with his copies of the vase may be as complete as possible."]

Wedgwood (Josiah), Catalogue of Cameos, Lntaglios, Medals, Bas-reliefs, etc., by Josiah Wedgwood, sold at his Booms, in Greek Street, Soho, London, a,nd at his Manufactory in Staffordshire. Sixth Edition, with Additions. Etruria, 1787. [A reprint of this catalogue has been issued in London, 1877.]

Wallis (A.) and Bemrose (W.), The Pottery and Porcelain of Derbyshire, etc. London, 1870. Winckelmann (J. J.), Werke. Dresden, 1808-20.

Numerous other works which have been consulted are mentioned in the text. As this volume goes to press, I have received advance sheets of " Cyprus ; its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples," by General L. P. Di Cesnola (London and New York, 1877), a book giving an account of his remarkable explorations, and of the highest importance to the student of Phenician and early Greek ceramic and all other art.

CONTENTS,

PAGE

INTRODUCTION 17

Section I. — Egypt , 31 " II. — Assyria and Babylonia 45

" III. — Phenicia 54

IV.— Holy Land • 68

" V.— Greece : 68

" VI.— Etruria 90

" VII.— Eome 92

PART II. -MODERN POTTERY. Section I. — Saracen 97

" II.— Italy 140

" III.— Spain 180

" IV.— Portugal 181

" V.— France 182

'< VI.— Germany 211

" VII. — Switzerland 220

" VIII.— Belgium 221

IX.— Holland 222

" X.— Sweden 225

XL— Denmark 225

" XII.— Russia 226

" XIII. — German Gres Cerame 226

PART III.-PORCELAIN. Section I. — China 231

" II— Corea 255

" III.— Japan 256

Contents

PART III.-PORCELAIN-Continued.

PAGK

Section IV. — India „. 260