The classification of vases by the subjects represented upon them is unsatisfactory and confusing. Scenes are taken from mythology, heroic legends, funeral ceremonies, from civil life, and from the gymnasium, which permit neither of a chronological arrangement of the vases nor of one based upon their position in the scale of art. A distinct group might, without any loss of lucidity, be made of vases decorated with subjects in relief, or with statuettes arranged upon the body and neck. This was a union of sculpture and pottery occasionally embellished by the painter’s art in the coloring of the drapery and subsidiary ornaments. Color was also applied to sculptured reliefs. A vase now in St. Petersburg is thus described: “It is a piece of very large size, with three handles, and of the finest and most lustrous glaze. It is ornamented at several heights with sculptured friezes in terra-cotta, and gilded; but that which gives it its priceless value is a frieze of figures from four to five inches{232} high, sculptured in bas-relief, with the heads, feet, and hands gilded, and the vestments painted in bright colors—blue, red, and green—in the finest Greek style imaginable. Several heads from which the gilding has become detached show the modelling, which is as fine and as finished as that of the finest ancient cameo.” Cups or vases with two heads, one on each side, such as Hercules and Omphale, illustrate the same branch of art. Such features as these, beautifully modelled relievos, ideal heads, figure scenes in which drawing and composition are almost above criticism, not less than its elegance of shape, have made the Greek vase a model for all time. We can trace Assyrian ideas in the decoration of some of the earlier vases, and Egyptian influences may also occasionally be detected. We can even find foreign models for a few of the Greek forms; but the Hellenizing process has obliterated every antecedent, and the art which Greece gave the world is as purely Grecian as if in every particular it were indigenous to the soil of that favored land.{233}

CHAPTER III.

THE IBERIAN PENINSULA.

A MERE glance is all that is necessary to bestow upon the ancient pottery of Spain before we resume the history of the Moorish fabrications in that country. Valencia is the centre to which the greatest antiquity must be accorded. Pliny alludes to Saguntum, now called Murviedro, as having twelve hundred potteries, and Martial is not stinted in his praises of their work. All the remains found there are of the Roman period, and are classed under red Samian ware, and three other groups, of which one was of a yellowish color and another of pale terra-cotta. From that time we must make a great leap across the chasm between the downfall of Roman civilization and the first Saracenic occupation of the Iberian Peninsula in the eighth century. Even then there is little to guide research. Arabian azulejos have been met with, and in 1239, four years after the Moorish kingdom of Granada had been founded, a charter was granted by James I. of Aragon to the Saracen potters of Xativa (San Felipe) relieving them from servitude on payment yearly of one besant for each kiln. We have no means of identifying{234} the early works of these Saracenic workmen, and it is not until 1517 that they are referred to in literature as producing well-worked and well-gilded faiences, more highly esteemed than any other of Spanish manufacture. Several writers of the sixteenth century praise the Valencian pottery, but in the beginning of the seventeenth century it began to decline. Christian designs (Fig. 191) take the place of Moresque; and at the present day, according to Marryat, the metallic-lustred wares of Manises, near Valencia, are made by an innkeeper, who thus spends the time lying heavy on his hands by reason of a lack of guests in his inn. In the olden time the pottery of Manises was exchanged with Italy for that of Pisa, and was ordered by “the Pope, cardinals and princes admiring that with simple earth such things can be made.” Such is the difference between now and then.

From the style of the decoration it would appear that most of the Valencian remains are to be attributed to the Christian period, i. e., after the thirteenth century. The general color is yellow with mother-of-pearl lustre. St. Catherine and St. John were highly venerated in Valencia, and this veneration appears in the frequency of their representation, either actually, or by their emblems, or in invocations and passages from the gospel of the fourth evangelist. The eagle—the emblem of St. John—and the opening words of his gospel appear also, however, on wares from Malaga and Majorca; and, further, the yellow lustre was produced at Barcelona. It is, therefore, evidently unsafe to ascribe, after an examination of general characteristics, individual specimens to a specific source.

Of the Moresque pottery it is probable that Malaga was the most ancient centre. Its golden pottery is spoken of as an article of export{235} as far back as 1350. There also we are brought into contact with the famous and beautiful vases of the Alhambra (Fig. 192). The palace itself was built by Mohammed-ben-Alhamar, the first Moorish king of Granada, in 1273, with the intention, possibly of rivalling the richly decorated mosques of the Mussulman Arabs. The Alhambra vase is the only survivor of three of similar style found under the palace pavement. The others fell victims to the Vandalism of memento or relic hunters. The one still in existence is seven feet in circumference and four feet three inches in height. It is supposed to belong to about the year 1320. It is made of earthen-ware, and is decorated in three colors. The ground is white and the decorations are a golden yellow lustre and blue. The vase is not only a masterpiece of Moresque art, but a magnificent example of the decorative genius of the Moors, which spent itself in devising quaint combinations of lines and in a wealth of arabesque. There are many other pieces which, from their metallic lustre and blue ornamentation, are also credited to Malaga, and date from the middle of the fourteenth century. It is unfortunate that this exquisite art soon deteriorated. As we approach the Christian epoch we come upon the works of copyists devoid of intelligence, in whose hands the decoration they strove to follow loses its delicacy and meaning. The Valencian art with which we are acquainted was thus rising as that of Malaga was gradually, sinking out of sight. Faience was made at the latter place in the beginning of the sixteenth century. For a time the Catholic conquerors under Ferdinand tolerated the art. But intolerant zeal asserted itself, Moorish customs were suppressed, and at length the Moorish settlers were driven into exile.{236}

The third great centre of the ceramic art was at Ynca, in Majorca, the largest of the Balearic group of islands. Majorca was conquered by James I., in 1230, nine years before he took Valencia; and no Moresque specimen now known can be ascribed to a period preceding that date. The lustre of Majorca was very bright, and the ornamentation consisted mainly of scrolls and flowers. The other islands of the group, Minorca and Iviça, were also seats of the manufacture. We shall afterward see how closely Majorca was connected by its commerce with Italy.

We have reserved the azulejos, or tiles (Fig. 194), the best indicators of the progress of Arabian art, for separate treatment. We find in the tiles of the Alhambra, in the buildings of Seville and the Cuarto Real of Granada (Fig. 195), the products of the same skill which embellished the edifices of Persia, Arabia, and the Maghreb. They are made of light-colored clay, covered with a stanniferous enamel, upon which are laid intricate designs in blue or golden lustre. The brilliant and dazzling beauty they lent to the interior of the Alhambra, from pavement, walls, and roof, can now only be imagined. So much did the Spaniards admire the azulejos, that they were employed, not only for the embellishment of public and royal edifices, but for the houses of the wealthy. Their manufacture is continued in Valencia down to the present day.

From what has been said, the chronological sequence of the Hispano-Moresque potteries may, in part, be inferred. The most ancient is that resembling the Alhambra vase, decorated with blue and yellow lustre. As we come later down, the lustre{237} assumes more of a golden hue, and becomes exceedingly brilliant, as we find it at Valencia, when the less dazzling wares of Malaga were falling into disfavor. The ruddier copper lustres are the farthest removed from the early wares. They excel in brightness, and show less restraint and chasteness of taste, and mark the decline from those works which have given celebrity to Hispano-Moresque pottery.

The Spain of our day retains not even a semblance of its former greatness. What is best in its modern art, such as the terra-cotta of Barcelona, contains no tradition of ancient times. At the Centennial Exhibition, it was, as compared with leading European countries, poorly represented. It may be assumed that Seville, famous for its azulejos from the sixteenth century, and Valencia, which has an unwritten continuous ceramic history from the Roman epoch to the present day, would not send their inferior works to America. The former city was represented by a pyramid of wares showing great diversity of design and decoration. A large vase, best described as after the Alhambra type, was of a yellow lustre, and surrounded by narrow gilt bands. There were also a few smaller pieces of iridescent blue, green, and gold. A pair of vases with floral decoration on a red ground and black base hardly suggested relationship with the works exemplifying the exquisite taste of ancient Spain.{238}

The Valencian tiling was, as a rule, coarse and inartistic. On a series of wall-pieces were figures of some of the apostles, and a landscape, fairly drawn, but weak in color. The artist manifested an unfortunate predilection for a shading of brownish purple, which enhanced neither his figures nor landscapes. The old style of mosaic tiling was represented by some specimens composed of small star-shaped and elongated hexagonal tiles. There was no sign of the preservation of even a tradition of Hispano-Moresque art. We may turn to Spanish history for an explanation of this decadence, and find in the latter an illustration of its history. Its art was essentially foreign; and when it fell entirely into the hands of the Spanish, on the expulsion of the Moors by the bigotry of Philip II., its doom was sealed. We read the history of the ceramic art during its best days in Spain as an additional chapter to the Saracenic and Maghrebrian, and as that of a branch which, by the accident of location, and not from its having any element really Spanish, came to be known as Hispano-Moresque.

We nowhere find any literary evidence that the Persians who settled in Spain exercised any practical influence upon its ceramics. Very likely they did; and, further, it is not improbable that commerce may have brought Spain into a closer connection with the East than is generally suspected. The early Hispano-Moresque works are so clearly suggestive of Eastern influence, that one is almost led at times to question their right to the name conferred upon them. As if to give the half-shaped doubt a more decided form, we remember also that as the art becomes more purely Spanish it declines from its ancient beauty. We can only admire and criticise the odd combinations of color and form; and while indulging in conjectures as to the immediate fabrication of the pottery under consideration, we must regard it as illustrative of the development of an art of Oriental origin.

The manufacture of artificial porcelain in Spain was instituted, about 1760, by Charles III., who took with him a number of workmen and artists from Naples. This accounts for the similarity between the Spanish and Neapolitan productions. The works were situated in the gardens of the Buen Retiro at Madrid, and were kept strictly secluded from visitors. The ware was of fine quality, and was said by some writers who had seen specimens at the palace, to rival that of{239} Sèvres. La China, as the Royal Manufactory was called, was blown up by Lord Hill during the Peninsular War, in 1812. A second manufactory was established at Moncloa, near Madrid, in 1827. Mention is also made of a factory of natural porcelain at Alcora, in 1756, but the reference must be accepted with hesitation.

Of the ceramics of Portugal very little is known; but that little is sufficient to lead us to wish for more exact knowledge. In this matter, Portugal has not yet, in fact, been appointed to any recognized place in history. Her ceramic art has not been known to Europeans for more than ten years, and to Americans for little more than one; and we have no means of telling whence it was derived. Probably it came from Spain, as we learn that the Portuguese use azulejos as extensively as the Spaniards. We are further told that many of their imitations are exceedingly clever. Of the truth of this we have had ample evidence. None of the imitation Palissy ware exhibited at the Centennial was more realistic and full of life than that of Portugal. Some majolica vases, with coiled snake handles, were very creditable. The snake evidently plays an important part in Portuguese ceramics, as we met with it elsewhere, and notably as the handle of a fish-shaped dish. Very remarkable were the unique and droll little figures of painted pottery, sometimes grouped into a humorous scene, sometimes single, and illustrative of the national costumes. The humor which the Portuguese contrived to infuse into their art evidently lent the pottery section of their department at the Centennial its greatest attraction; and combined as it was with excellent modelling and colors, the nature of which we can hardly specify, it excited our curiosity to learn what historical background there may be to the art which now chooses such expression. A natural porcelain factory at Vista Allegre, near Oporto, is mentioned, and the faience fabrics of Rato and Caldas.{240}

CHAPTER IV.

ITALY.

THE ceramic art of Italy, beginning with the Roman and Etruscan, and coming down to the Renaissance in the fifteenth century, is the successor of those of Greece and the East, on the one hand, and of the Saracenic and Hispano-Moresque on the other. There have been two questions under discussion in reference to the latter period, viz., Where did Italy acquire her knowledge of the use of stanniferous enamel? and, Whence did she draw her skill in the application of metallic lustre? We shall find, on examining the evidence, that the great works of her artistic prime were the results of a derivative and not of an original art. They are only original in so far as they indicate a point in advance of Italy’s predecessors. We have said that Oriental art culminated in Greece. Italy presents us with a later point of union between two lines issuing from the East. We find subjects and forms recalling at once the ideals of Greece and the rich mythological and legendary sources from which were drawn the aids to her prolific imagination. We also find that the Greek restraint in the use of colors is thrown aside, and that Italy availed herself to the full of the skilful{241} processes and methods of embellishment brought to her shores from Persia, and by the Saracens and Moors from their settlements in Africa and Spain.

There are thus two great divisions of Italian pottery: the ancient Roman and Etruscan, and that of the Renaissance. Between these two there is a long period of darkness, extending from the last smouldering glow of the art of Italy, after Constantine took the seat of the imperial power to Byzantium, to the entrance of the Saracens into Europe.

In considering the ancient epoch, one pertinent fact may be borne in mind, viz., that the best remains of the art of Greece have been found beyond its own borders, and that its history might be written from those discovered in Italy alone. Dividing Italy into three sections, we shall have Magna Græcia, Campania, and Etruria. Of these the latter has the greater antiquity, in so far as its ceramic remains are concerned. Greek colonies settled all along the southern part of the peninsula and in Sicily, and such relics as are found there may, in the mean time, be dismissed as corresponding in style with those of the same dates produced in Greece.

Although the same rule might be held in a less broad sense to apply to Etruria, it is deserving of more lengthened consideration. When, in 1825, the great discoveries were made at Vulci, the learned world was divided as to the places to which the vases should be credited. Some maintained that they were made in Greece and imported; others, that they were made in Etruria by Greek workmen; others, that they were really Etruscan; others, that they were partly native and partly imported from Greece; and still others, that many of them came from Magna Græcia and Sicily. To reconcile these suppositions, without affecting the eastern origin of Etruscan art, we are reminded that the Pelasgi—the name given to the ancient inhabitants of Greece—founded Agyllos, on the coast of Etruria. Bunsen places the first introduction of art into Etruria at this remote period. We come next to the arrival of Demaratus in Tarquinii, about the year B.C. 655. Demaratus was a wealthy Corinthian, of the family of the Bacchiadæ. On the usurpation by Cypselus of the government of Corinth, Demaratus fled, accompanied by all his family, and, landing in the above named flourishing city, married an Etruscan bride, and by her had a{242} son, Lucumon, who afterward occupied the throne of Rome under the name of Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of the Romans and the first of the Tarquins. Demaratus was either accompanied or followed by certain of the artists who had brought celebrity to Corinth for its pottery, and thus the art of Greece, as it was at that period, might have been introduced into Etruria. It must, however, be admitted that the story of Demaratus is not as clear as might be wished, the authorities differing as to his status in Corinth, and as to Lucumon, who is considered by some as having been merely one of his companions. The Tyrrheno-Pelasgians were driven from the sea-coast probably in the sixth century before Christ. We would from these facts be led to expect specimens of ceramic art, firstly, rude and indigenous; secondly, showing signs of the same Oriental origin from which Greece derived its first lessons; and thirdly, examples of pure Greek fabrication mingled with Etruscan imitations. In regard to such a collection as that found at Vulci, it may thus be assumed that there is a modicum of truth in each of the suppositions above referred to. There cannot, in any case, be any reason for calling in question the statement that, in the main, Etruscan ceramic art was of Grecian birth. We are speaking of the productions of 2300 years ago. Etruria was open to the little world surrounding the eastern end of the Mediterranean. Its ships brought enamelled bottles from Egypt, which its citizens set in gold and placed in their tombs. It had maritime connections with Spain, Phœnicia, and perhaps with England, and with the southern ports of the Italian peninsula, and those of Sicily. It imported both potters and their wares, and turned from its own ancient standards to a higher. While the immigrant Greeks were making such wares as they had made at home, the native Etruscan artists were imitating, clumsily and awkwardly at times, but gradually improving and approaching their teachers more nearly. Etruscan art, with the exception of the earlier specimens of rude aboriginal skill, must, therefore, be studied as an offshoot of that of Greece.

The oldest examples, more distinctly indigenous than any of the succeeding styles, are of a brownish color and rude shape, and are decorated with bands and knobs or studs in relief. One peculiar shape bears a resemblance to a miniature rustic cottage, and belongs to the sepulchral class. Others, which are painted, recall the art of Greece{243} in its first devotion to Phœnician or Egyptian models. They may, therefore, be referred to the age when the Tyrrheno-Pelasgians still held their settlements in Etruria, and are probably the work of these settlers and of the aboriginal inhabitants who preceded them. When the Etruscans overran the settlements of the Pelasgi, a red and black ware was introduced, and soon afterward we are brought more directly into contact with Grecian art by importations.

The best Etruscan works are of black paste (Fig. 197), toward which the brown changed as it improved. The ornaments are incised flowers, and bas-reliefs of animals and human faces, executed, designed, and arranged in styles decidedly Oriental. On one found at Vulci are monsters like the Egyptian sphinx, winged and woman-headed. It is probable that, of the two styles of ornamentation, the incised is the more ancient, and that the black ware, as a whole, belongs to between the seventh and third centuries before Christ. The prevalence of Egyptian forms and symbols in connection with this class, such as the scarabæus and ostrich eggs painted with strange winged monsters, gives additional probability to our estimate of their age, and shows how far Etruria availed herself of the act of Psammetichus I. of Egypt, who, B.C. 654, threw open the ports of that country to foreign traders. Contemporaneous with these are large vases of red ware corresponding with the Greek pithoi. The decoration displays a knowledge of the art of Egypt and the East, mingled with examples of that of Greece. The yellow ware is allied to the Doric; and specimens of a still paler color, ornamented with Grecian subjects, modified and adapted to Etruscan ideas, mark the close of the art. It at no time attained to any very great excellence, and declined early. Both of these facts are easily explained. In the wonderful collection of Signor Alesandro Castellani are many beautiful{244} specimens of Etruscan bronze, carved gems, and work in gold. These are ascribed to the third, fourth, and fifth centuries before the Christian era; and it is only natural to suppose that the delicate skill acquired in the manipulation of such materials should have given rise to a distaste for the humbler though more obedient clay. Many of the vases suggest the transition from pottery to bronze in the evidence which their decoration gives of having been imitated from metal.

When we turn to Rome, little investigation is required to satisfy us that there is no such thing as an independent Roman ceramic art. Whatever Rome possessed was acquired from without, not developed from within. One could expect no artistic sense to manifest itself among the horde of refugees, outcasts, and criminals who surrounded Romulus in his little castle on the Palatine hill. His successor, Numa Pompilius, in aiming a blow at idolatry, may have also retarded the growth of art. He forbade the use of images, and for one hundred and sixty years after his death no statue appeared in the temples of Rome. This brings us down to the Etruscan monarch, Tarquinius Priscus, who placed in the Roman capitol a terra-cotta statue of Jupiter, by an Etruscan artist. Whatever the Romans required they obtained from Etruria, until they found a new source of supply in Magna Græcia. That they made very slow progress in the arts may be inferred from one incident which happened nearly five hundred years after Numa had issued his order against idolatry. While the second Punic war was raging, the Roman consul, Marcellus, besieged Syracuse, a Corinthian city in Sicily, and, after taking it, sent its paintings and statues to Rome, in order that his countrymen might learn from the art of Greece, and acquire a taste for such works. Syracuse fell B.C. 212, and eleven years afterward the war was brought to an end. It was by thus acquainting themselves with the beauty of Grecian art that the Romans began to display a desire for the artistic embellishment of their homes and capital. When their arms were directed against Greece, and Athens fell under their assaults, in the first century before Christ, Greek artists flocked to Rome, and for a time made it the workshop in which they labored and the school in which they taught. But with the sun itself its rays of golden light must disappear, though for a time they gild the earth and clouds with their departing glory. Greece was enslaved. Her ancient spirit was crushed. She had{245} taught the world the lesson intrusted to her, and with political independence sank art and literature, though not without leaving imperishable monuments behind. As the tree withered, so did the branches; and the expatriated Greeks in Rome and the long-subdued colonies of Magna Græcia, deriving no longer any warmth from the centre from which they came, were quickly lost to sight. There also, as in Etruria, richness took the place of beauty. Gold, silver, and gems were more to the luxurious Romans of the empire than ceramic art, and that which had embellished the palaces of kings was left to the gods and the poor.

The different kinds of unglazed Roman ware may be divided, according to the color of their pastes, into yellowish white, red, gray, and black. The yellow paste was the coarsest, and was used for large pieces, such as the dolia and amphoræ. The smaller pieces of this color are of a better quality. Many of the household vessels were of red ware, such as plates, bottles, and jars. Some of it, as, for example, the false Samian, was dipped in a slip. The gray class comprises amphoræ, and flat cooking-pans, and includes some specimens which have all the characteristics of modern stone-ware. The black paste was largely employed in making dishes and other table utensils, such as cups and candle-sticks.

The leading kinds of glazed pottery were the Aretine and red Samian wares. The latter of these is the more celebrated (Fig. 199). Its prototype is to be found in the red ware of the Greek islands. The paste is close and fine, and the glaze is clear and very thin. The similarity in texture of all the specimens points to the conclusion that{246} they were made in one place. The Samian ware has, like the legionary tiles, been found wherever the arms of Rome were carried. Like the unglazed red pottery, it was extensively used for table services, and may broadly be said to have been the chief domestic ware of the Romans. The ornamentation consists of mouldings in relief, incised rings, and intaglio patterns.

The Aretine ware is also red, and is very like the Samian in many respects, but of a lighter shade, and more finely decorated, chiefly in relief. There are also two kinds of black Roman ware, one of dark paste, the other of red paste colored black. The ornamentation of the first is generally very simple, while that of the latter, in some cases, resembles the mouldings on red ware. Like the Samian, it is found over the greater part of Europe.

One of the most interesting branches of Roman ceramics—the various uses of terra-cotta, we pass with a brief reference. The oldest statues are terra-cotta, and of the same material are water spouts, window frames, friezes, capitals, and pillars. Terra-cotta statues were made from the early days, when Etruria was the centre from which Rome supplied itself, down to the Empire, although in the interim the conquest of Magna Græcia and Greece had rendered the beautiful Greek marbles and bronzes accessible to the Romans. The architectural bas-reliefs were highly esteemed by the Romans themselves, and show that the Greeks, both at home and residing in Italy, applied themselves to this particular branch of art with devotion and success. The subjects are generally Greek, and are taken from both mythology and history. The gods of both greater and lesser orders appear under many of the characters ascribed to them, and the adventures of Ulysses and Achilles, the feats of Theseus, and the labors of Hercules, are a never-failing treasury of effective subjects.

The result of all our inquiries may be summed up in this contradiction, that Roman ceramic art deserving of the name is Greek, and that the potters who were Roman have left little beyond household wares to attest their skill.

With the fall of the Roman Empire the art, which had long been declining, disappeared from view. Pottery must, no doubt, have been produced. The household necessities of the people must have been satisfied, even amidst internal disruption and barbarian invasions; but{247} there is no evidence that anything worthy of being called an art was kept alive. The revival of the ceramic art of Italy must be dated from the time of Luca della Robbia, in the fifteenth century. To account for the forms it took, an endeavor must be made to join it on to the different branches which preceded it elsewhere. The only danger to be incurred is that of being confused by the multiplicity and yet substantial unity of its sources. Without repeating what has been said in the chapter devoted to the fountains of European art, let it be remembered that, in the year 827, the Saracens conquered Sicily, and that they introduced into that island a manufacture similar to that found in Spain. They embellished the mosque of Palermo with tiles like those of the Alhambra, and these tiles were afterward imitated in works produced in Sicily itself. Afterward, in the fourteenth century, Moorish works were established at Calata Girone, or Caltagirone, in Sicily, and some pieces attributed to them are decorated with copper lustre upon stanniferous enamel. To this period belong the Siculo-Moresque vases in the Castellani collection, which date from the fourteenth century downward (Fig. 201). It is observable that the metallic lustre does not appear in the earlier pieces, which have an unmistakably Persian style of decoration. One specimen will suffice, viz., an oval vase covered with a silicious glaze, and decorated in blue and black, with gazelles and inscriptions. Meanwhile Venice and other maritime cities on both sides of the Italian peninsula were developing an extensive trade with the East. The Crusaders had been converting the old battle-ground of the Jews into the scene of another strife, in which Judaism was ignored. Mohammed preached the gospel of the sword, and the Christians took up the gauntlet thrown down by the Saracens. Is it not possible that by these two courses—trade, and the movements of followers of the Cross—some inklings of Persian art may have crept into Italy?

{248}The crusading spirit of the twelfth century was a most potent agency. In 1113 the Pisans were roused to a sense of the wrongs suffered by Christians from the piratical Saracens of Majorca. They set sail, and in 1115 the island was in their power; and their galleys returned home freighted with the spoils of war. An extensive trade between the Balearic Islands and Italy was maintained in the fourteenth century. Looking at these facts, does it appear improbable that Moorish wares and Moorish potters may have reached Italy from Majorca? Coming still later, we find Moorish refugees from Spain flocking toward Italy in vast numbers. Leaving the Saracens and Moors entirely out of the question, the art of enamelling might have reached Italy from the Byzantine Greeks.

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Fig. 201.—Siculo-Moresque Vases. (Castellani Coll.)
Fig. 201.—Siculo-Moresque Vases. (Castellani Coll.)

With all these facts before us, the bacini, or plates found incrusted in the walls of the old churches of Pisa, need give us little trouble. Mr. Fortnum found one Persian piece. Mr. Marryat thinks them of Moorish origin. Mr. Fortnum is of the further opinion that many of the bacini, both of Pisa and other Italian cities, are of native Italian manufacture. Each specimen must be judged separately, and it may be pointed out that with the highway of the sea open to the East and to the Saracenic settlements in Africa and Spain, with Saracens already settled in Sicily, and with the known early connection by commerce between Italy and Spain, it is difficult to specify the route by which any special ware or process must have reached Italy. We shall afterward see that in Germany tin enamel was known in the thirteenth century. If it should be asked, How did it get there? the{249} question would illustrate a good deal of idle speculation indulged in regarding its introduction into Italy. The same rule will apply to the metallic lustre.

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Fig. 202.—Sgraffiato of the 15th Century.
Fig. 202.—Sgraffiato of the 15th Century.

The Italians used lead glaze on their pottery from a very early period. According to Passeri, mezza-majolica covered with marzacotto was made at Pesaro as early as the beginning of the fourteenth century. Sgraffiato ware was made in a similar manner, and derived its name from the incised ornaments which were cut into the white engobe or slip (with which the ware was covered), so as to show the original color below the slip. In the example here given (Fig. 202) the incised decoration is combined with figures and flowers in relief. But the brilliant importations from Spain made a deep impression upon the public taste. The wares of Majorca were those best and most generally known, and its name, as changed to majolica, had been given to the entire class of lustred wares, although the art of lustring was already known in Italy. It is well to discriminate between the name and the article. It is quite possible that the name of the best known type should come to be applied to the entire class. Jacquemart finds the early wares of Pesaro very suggestive of Persian influence. He concludes, also, that the art of applying the metallic{250} lustre may have been communicated by Persian potters, or by others who had learned it from them, to the eastern potteries of Italy. We may conclude that, as the Majorca ware surpassed that of the early Italian potteries, the potters of Italy endeavored to derive what benefit they could from calling their own productions by the same name. Metallic lustres were used before stanniferous enamel was adopted. The invention of the latter in Italy has been generally ascribed to Luca della Robbia, but there is every reason for believing that this is incorrect. It is impossible to suppose that the Saracen and Moorish potters in Italy were unacquainted with it. It is much more likely that, being satisfied with the results of the processes to which they were accustomed, and the beauty of lead glaze, they did not care to use it.

To tell what Robbia did accomplish we must glance at his personal history. Luca della Robbia (Fig. 203) was born at Florence in the year 1399 or 1400. At first he turned his attention to the business of a goldsmith, but afterward aspired to sculpture. About 1438 his marble bas-relief of “The Singing Boys” was placed in the Duomo of Florence, and was so great a success that orders quickly multiplied. He had also done some work in bronze, but neither chiselling nor casting was sufficiently speedy. Statues must be copied from a clay model. The model was his own; the copy was, in the general case, the work of an assistant; and probably, even if he chiselled the marble himself, he could not reproduce the effects so easily reached in the plastic clay.

Luca was an enterprising artist, and it occurred to him that if he could only dispense with the chiselling and casting, his art and profit would both improve. But how could he make the clay as hard as bronze and as white as marble? Remember that Luca was a sculptor, not a potter. Whatever he did afterward, there can be no doubt that his attention was first turned to statuary. He probably decided upon{251} applying to the men who were accustomed to working in clay, to coloring it and glazing it, to help him in his difficulty. He inquired, and learned that by dipping his statuary in tin enamel and firing it, his object would be accomplished. These considerations give his supposed discovery a new aspect. If we consider that for centuries stanniferous enamel had been in use by Eastern potters, and that the Saracens were perfectly familiar with it, the secret is divested of all mystery. Luca probably acquired his knowledge in one or other of the Italian potteries. What, then, are we to credit to him? He must be admitted to have improved the enamel after a series of experiments, and to have succeeded in bringing it to the degree of fineness and opacity demanded by his purpose (Fig. 204). His first work was a bas-relief of the Resurrection, made about the year 1440, and still standing in the Cathedral of Florence. This piece is of blue and white, the latter for the figures, the former for the ground. He afterward introduced green and yellow, but these colors are very sparingly used. His{252} best works are in and around Florence. Of a Madonna in the circle above a chapel door, Ruskin, in his “Mornings in Florence,” says: “Never pass near the market without looking at it; and glance from the vegetables underneath to Luca’s leaves and lilies, that you may see how honestly he was trying to make his clay like the garden stuff.” The same colors are introduced in a bas-relief in the Castellani collection, in which the Madonna kneels before the Infant Saviour, and angels look down from above. The figures are white, the ground blue, and green is introduced in the grass. Of the same class is the preceding example (Fig. 205) from Boston.