Fame and patronage came with success, but Palissy’s troubles were by no means ended. Having embraced Protestantism, he fell under the edict of 1559, saw his workshop destroyed, and was only saved from death by the intervention of the king. Under the protection of Queen Catherine de Medici, he first went to Rochelle, but was afterward summoned to Paris, and there, in a workshop erected in the garden of the Tuileries, produced some of his best works. Saved by court influence from the massacre of St. Bartholomew, he afterward, in 1588, fell into the hands of the Leaguers, and in the following year, at the age of eighty, died in the Bastille.

His first success was the production of the white enamel, which appears to have engrossed his entire attention. His second attainment was a jasper glaze, the examples of which show a mixture of brown, white, and blue, and which he deemed only worthy of using as a means of temporary subsistence. His third and most famous achievement was the Rustiques figulines (Fig. 228), with which{277} his name is most intimately associated. These are known by imitations almost everywhere, and consist of variously shaped dishes and vases ornamented with shells, frogs, lizards, snakes, fish of several varieties, and leaves (Fig. 229). He was succeeded by certain members of his family, upon whose death his specialty was lost. At the Centennial Exhibition several imitations were shown in the French, Swedish, and Portuguese departments. Of these the best were those of M. Barbizet (Fig. 230), of Paris, the son of an artist who is said to have rediscovered Palissy’s method, some fifty years ago, and who introduced his father’s discovery into commerce in 1850. Pull, of Paris, and Avisseau, of Tours, are also modern imitators who have been very successful in approaching their model. Pull began to produce his imitations in 1856, and has even deceived connoisseurs. One of his pieces has been sold at as high a figure as £240. Mr. Walters, of Baltimore, has an excellent example by the elder Avisseau. With the exception of the works of Avisseau, Pull, and Barbizet, the imitations of Palissy ware are neither skilful nor in any way attractive; as independent works of art, accomplished on the suggestion supplied by him, they are hardly deserving of serious consideration.

What is to be admired or condemned in Palissy as a man requires no mention; the admirable in him as a potter has been already pointed out (see Introduction, page 42). Passing now from his rustiques figulines, we find him, after his settlement in Paris, carrying his peculiar style into works of a totally different general character. In one piece a figure representing Charity is surrounded by a rustic frame, and a Magdalen kneels in another among shells and plants. In these, as in his rustic pottery, the figures are admirably executed{278} and the coloring vigorous. His palette was limited to a few colors, of which yellow, blue, and gray were the chief, although sometimes we find him introducing violet, green, and brown. Some tiles are attributed to him, but the statuettes formerly ascribed to him are now generally conceded to be the works of other hands. His vases, basins, and dishes are extremely varied, and are decorated with subjects taken from contemporary life and from history. A very remarkable vase now in the Louvre is blue, with yellow ornaments in relief, and not less characteristic are his large oval cisterns, with masques, foliage, fruit, and shells for ornaments. One of these (Fig. 231) is a perfect marvel of soft and harmonious coloring. The heads are white; the drapery white, with yellow fringe, and in its heavier folds blue; the fruit and feathers white, gray, red, yellow, and blue; the ground gray in tone, and composed of blue, maroon, and green. In two specimens of dishes the ground is white, upon which reptiles lie in strong relief. None of his pieces are signed.

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Fig. 230.—Barbizet’s “Palissy Ware.” (Tiffany & Co.)
Fig. 230.—Barbizet’s “Palissy Ware.” (Tiffany & Co.)

One would imagine the idea to be prevalent that Palissy executed nothing but Rustiques figulines, if we are to judge from the tendency of imitators to produce pieces of that character, and from the prevailing taste of collectors, who appear to demand lizards and fish as essential to the correct imitation of the master. Having given as full{279} a view of his great works as may be necessary to appreciate their variety and beauty, let us revert once more to the fact that Palissy was original in two respects: firstly, in his methods; secondly, in his adoption of natural objects as models. He deliberately shut out all influences which might consciously or unconsciously have affected his aim; and as a consequence, although tin enamel and reliefs were in vogue all over France, he emerged from his obscurity, and lived through the period of his eminence without being affected by either German or Italian ideas or processes. He must be accepted as the exponent of an art emphatically French. His imitators have used his moulds, and his pupils have followed his styles; but even when possessing the secrets and skill, copyists seldom catch the intelligence of their master, and thus we find that on his death his art declined.

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Fig. 231.—Palissy Cistern.
Fig. 231.—Palissy Cistern.

While Palissy was still in early manhood, the famous and wonderful Henri Deux ware, or Faience d’Oiron, had been made. There are only sixty-seven pieces in existence; and the mystery which for a long time enveloped its manufacture, its rarity, and its beauty, have both surrounded it with a peculiar interest and rendered specimens almost fabulously valuable. At a sale in 1865, no less a sum than $5500 was given for a biberon. This ware was made about 1530, by a potter named François Cherpentier, and Jehan Bernart, secretary and librarian, both in the service of Hélène de Hangest, widow of Artus Gouffier, Sieur de Boisy. How this lady came to acquire a taste for ceramics, it is not, in view of what heretics call China-mania, hard to imagine. In any case, she built for Cherpentier and Bernart a workshop{280} and furnace near the château of Oiron, and there the admirable Henri Deux ware was made. After the death of Hélène de Hangest, in 1537, Bernart appears to have continued his labors under the superintendence of her son. This faience, therefore, which has created more curiosity—the place of its manufacture was not known until 1862—than any other, and been more lavishly praised, owes its existence to the whim or enthusiasm of a woman.

It is an entirely exceptional ware. The paste is a pipe-clay, pure, fine, and white. Upon the first or inner layer, a second layer of a still finer and whiter clay was laid, in which the design was engraved. Colored pastes were then used for filling in the cavities, and the surface was then made level. So closely did the work resemble niello in metal that the name “Faience à Niellure” was given to the ware (Fig. 233). On the earlier works arabesques in zones, initials, and heraldic designs were thus engraved, chiefly in black, brown, and red. The zones are also frequently yellow, and the borders brown. A further ornamentation consists of frogs, shells, lizards, and wreaths in relief. After the death of Hélène de Hangest the decoration assumed an architectural character, and soon afterward the colors lost their beauty, the forms their elegance, and{281} the art, as a whole, degenerated. For a period of about twenty years the faience was made which puzzled ceramists for over three centuries. Copies of this ware, by Minton of England, are in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and in the collections of Mr. Walters, of Baltimore, and Mr. W. L. Andrews, New York.

Having referred to the specialties of Saintes and Oiron, we now turn to the other centres of French ceramics, grouping all its porcelain together in a separate section. Beauvais, Poitou, and Hesdin have been already alluded to incidentally. Of the remaining seats of the faience manufactory in France, a few are selected for their importance as producing styles more or less distinctive, such as Rouen, Nevers, Moustiers, and Limoges.

Rouen may be taken as representing independent Norman art. Marreot Abaquesne was engaged there in enamelling from 1535, and two tile pictures from the château of Ecouen, dated 1542, are still in existence, representing, in blue, green, yellow, and white, Mutius Scævola and Marcus Curtius. Abaquesne worked until 1557, and after that date the manufacture of tiles was continued by others. In 1646 Nicolas Poirel, Sieur de Grandval, obtained a privilege or patent for making faience, and immediately transferred it to Edme Poterat, already established in the business in Saint-Sever. To this potter is, in all probability, due the most distinctive styles of decoration practised at Rouen, those resembling lambrequins and lace (Fig. 234.) These are modifications of the Oriental type. In 1673 another patent was granted to Louis Poterat, a son of the former, for the making of “porcelain similar to that of China, and of violet faience painted with white and blue and other colors, in the{282} manner of that of Holland.” After the expiry, about 1700, of Poirel’s patent, manufactories multiplied rapidly, and reached an aggregate of eighteen, from which some estimate may be formed of the number of artists and potters engaged at Rouen.

As to the successive styles, there is no doubt that designers drew largely from the works of the gold and silver smith. Flowers in wreaths and bouquets surround landscapes painted on white. Then came the senior Poterat’s adaptation of Oriental designs in the lace and cognate styles already mentioned, at first in blue camaïeu, and afterward mingled with red. Equally well known is the brilliant decoration à la corne (Fig. 235), in which many-hued flowers issue from a cornucopia, and dazzling insects fill in the interstices between the flowers. All these styles have been imitated both throughout France and in other countries. No faience of the eighteenth century was more rich and artistic than that of Rouen. Many of the pieces are of large size and highly ornate in character.

To Nevers it has been usual to accord the honor of being the earliest producer of enamelled pottery in France, but without good reason. The evidence appears to be rather in favor of Rouen. When Louis Gonzaga became Duke of Nevers, he sent for a number of Italian artists, and from that date, about 1565, the production of faience at Nevers took its rise. In 1578 the brothers Conrade came from Albissola, near Genoa, and, settling at Nevers, were patronized by the ducal family. Their works date from 1602, and it was not until thirty years later that a second manufactory was established. The influence of the Conrades upon the art is very doubtful, notwithstanding the monopoly they appear to have enjoyed. One thing may be accepted{283} as certain, that there existed a Nivernais style prior to that introduced by them. Louis Gonzaga, the patron, as we have seen, of ceramic art, died in 1595; and as the Conrades did not establish themselves until 1608, although they had been working for a few years previously, we have a period of forty-three years to account for, dating from the accession of Gonzaga, during thirty of which that prince was alive. The Nivernais styles may, therefore, be divided into the Franco-Urbino prior to the Conrade, the Italo-Chinese which existed under them, the Italo-Nivernais, and the Franco-Nivernais. The Franco-Urbino is marked by a predominance of blue and yellow, by violet tracings, a yellowish flesh tint, a peculiar copper-green, and a scarcity of red. A favorite form of vase handle is the dragon, and the sea is represented in lines of wavy blue. The styles of Persia, Japan, and China began to manifest themselves under the Conrades, and continued down to near the middle of the eighteenth century. We have, after the Persian, blue grounds with white and yellow ornamentation, and white grounds with polychrome and blue decoration. At the same time we find minglings of Italian and Oriental designs. After 1640, however, the traces of Italian influence become less distinct. The Italian school is disappearing, foreign artists are giving place to natives, and down to the end of the eighteenth century there are obvious traces of the styles of Rouen and Moustiers. From that time Nevers declined.

Moustiers has only been known for a few years, but facts have been discovered which prove it to have held a highly important place in ceramic art. Situated in the Lower Alps, its works were long attributed to other places, although its geographical position near Marseilles and Italy would naturally point to it as one of the most favored centres of Provençal art. It is chiefly known by the productions of the Clerissy family and of Joseph Olery. Pierre Clerissy’s works extended from 1686 to 1728, and to this period some of the finest specimens belong. The pieces are generally large oval or round dishes, with hunting or scriptural scenes as central decorations, and borders either of flowers or masks and fabulous monsters and arabesques. The paintings are in blue, upon a very pure white enamel. In the succeeding styles the centre scenes after Tempesta were abandoned. One piece has in the centre a small medallion representing Diana, the huntress, equipped for the chase and accompanied by her dogs. Surrounding{284} it are arabesques, grotesque figures, heads, busts, and amorini, and for an outer border there is a narrow edging of the lace-like pattern of Rouen. Olery (Fig. 236) seems to have abandoned entirely the styles of Clerissy. He enriched his palette with violet, green, brown, and yellow, and revelled in floral decoration. Heavy wreaths of flowers surrounding a series of medallions, with bouquets between, form a deep border for scenes from mythology and the classics.

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Fig. 236.—Moustiers Faience Dish. By Olery.
Fig. 236.—Moustiers Faience Dish. By Olery.

Intercourse afterward obliterated the lines between distinctive styles. Olery went to Spain, and probably acquired there his taste for polychrome decoration (Fig. 237). Spanish artists accompanied him on his return, and worked, no doubt, in the light of their national traditions; and toward the end of the century it is impossible to recognize the styles of either individual artists or schools. Clerissy’s workshop was continued after his death by his partner, Joseph Fouque, whose family retains it to the present day.{285}

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Fig. 237.—Moustiers Dish. Polychrome.
Fig. 237.—Moustiers Dish. Polychrome.

Allied to Moustiers, as representing the art of Southern France, is Marseilles, a city in every way favorably situated for the prosecution of the faience industry. Of its earlier works, dating as far back as the fifteenth century, nothing is known; but toward the end of the seventeenth century a workshop was founded, in which was made an authenticated faience. The distinguishing feature of the decoration is the combination of violet from manganese with cobalt blue. The style bears a general resemblance to that of Moustiers, and it is probable that the works of the two factories are frequently confounded. About 1750 the Marseilles faience was exported in immense quantities; and from that date, when the name of Honoré Savy appears in the list of potters, polychrome decoration became more prevalent. Savy was, in 1777, on the visit of the future Louis XVIII., authorized to call his workshop “Manufacture de Monsieur, Frère du Roi,” and is said to have then adopted the fleur-de-lis as his mark. The mark alone cannot, however, be accepted as indicating with absolute certainty a work of Savy. The same potter is said to have invented a particular green; but it appears to have been common to the other potters of Marseilles, as it is found upon pieces by Joseph Gaspard{286} Robert and Mme. Perrin. Robert ranks next to Savy in faience, and was making porcelain at the time of the royal visit.

In Strasburg we find the origin of a style of faience painting which, although displaying unquestionable excellence of workmanship, was carried to such an extent that the suitableness of the decoration to the earthen-ware body was completely lost sight of. Reference is made to the porcelain style, by which decoration more properly reserved for porcelain was applied to faience. The Strasburg paste is of comparative fineness, the glaze is excellent, and the colors brilliant. The first factory was established by Charles François Hannong in 1709. In 1721 Hannong associated himself with a German potter from Anspach, named Wackenfield, and in 1724 started a second workshop at Haguenau. The latter ultimately fell to Balthasar Hannong, a son of Charles; and the Strasburg establishment was carried on by another son, Paul Antoine. The latter worked industriously, and brought the establishment up to a very high position. On his death, in 1760, it was carried on by his son Pierre Antoine, who transferred it to Joseph Adam, his brother, and in 1780 the production ceased. The best period was that between 1740 and 1760, when Paul Antoine was proprietor.

The places mentioned, Nevers, Rouen, Moustiers, Marseilles, and Strasburg, are the centres from which emanated the leading old styles of decoration. An exact classification is impossible, since, as Marseilles faience often bears a striking resemblance to that of Moustiers, the works of Strasburg, on the other hand, are closely related to those from Marseilles. After them comes a centre, more interesting because very recently arriving at eminence, from which has emanated a style different from that of any of its predecessors.

Limoges is as yet scarcely known in the history of pottery, although there is a probability, almost amounting to a certainty, that it will hereafter be accepted as one of the leading representatives of the ceramic art of France in our day. We find, in 1737, a decree granted in favor of Sieur Massie, empowering him to establish a workshop of faience at Limoges. The discovery of kaolin at St. Yrieix appears to have directed the attention of potters from faience to porcelain. One piece of the Massie period, dated 1741, is now in Limoges. A border, resembling those of Moustiers, surrounds the figure{287} of Justice enthroned and holding the sword and scales. Religion, Truth, and Law attend her, and Crime is crushed under her foot. Other equally remarkable pieces may be in existence, but Limoges nowhere appears in the records as producing any faience of importance or of a very high order of art.

Within the past few years the aspect of affairs has changed, and the Havilands of New York have made for Limoges—in conjunction with Auteuil, near Paris, where much of the moulding and decorating is executed—a place in the history of pottery as lofty as that which it occupies in the history of enamelling. Notwithstanding all that has been said of Saracenic and Italian decoration, we believe that it was reserved for Haviland to show the real decorative capacity of faience, and to demonstrate the possible harmony between decoration and its excipient. For a long time Limoges was known solely as a seat of the porcelain industry. It was in this way that Americans first became familiar with its name. When the time came for Haviland to turn his attention to faience the change above referred to set in. He did more than merely institute a revival of an obscure industry. While Montagnon of Nevers was following closely in the track of his predecessors, and other manufacturers, both French and Italian, were busy with imitations of dead styles, Haviland set a gigantic task before himself, and it is to the credit of Americans that they have been among the readiest to appreciate his works and to encourage his efforts. His faience is remarkable by reason of its combining three very important qualities—novelty of process, originality of decoration, and the strength of drawing and color which are most perfectly in keeping with the material on which they appear.

We have already pointed out the difficulties with which artists on clay have contended. The action of the fire made the result, in so far as the coloring is concerned, always more or less of a problem. Too much or too little heat changed the entire aspect of the piece. Although, therefore, we find in Italy and elsewhere great painters furnishing designs for the decoration of pottery, we seldom find them actually engaged upon the ware itself. Artists naturally prefer the medium which preserves their individuality of touch and finish. This personality the fire destroyed. All that was distinctive of the individual palette and brush vanished under the heat. What the exact nature{288} of the Havilands’ new process and the composition of their palette may be we have not the means of discovering. We know, however, that the painting is laid upon the clay before it is fired, that the piece is then glazed, and is afterward baked for between twenty and thirty hours. Body, glaze, and colors are therefore subjected to the fire together. The glaze is alkaline, and is similar in its general character to that used on pate tendre porcelain. We need not inquire into the preparation of the colors. It is claimed that the possession of the latter brings the result of any operation within such bounds that it can be calculated with a reasonable approach to certainty. Let it be fully understood what this implies. It means that with palette practically unlimited, any artist can apply himself to the decoration of earthen-ware, and find his work emerging from the furnace stamped as clearly with the individuality of his design and execution as if he had applied it to a painting upon a panel or canvas.

Among the artists engaged upon the Haviland faience are M. and Mme. Bracquemond, MM. Lindeneher, Noel, Chaplet, Damousse, Lafond, and Delaplanche. With Messrs. Chaplet, Laurin, and Lafond, the new enamelling process may be said to have accidentally originated at Bourg-la-Reine in 1873, and M. Bracquemond was the first to appreciate its value and to bring it under the notice of the Messrs. Haviland. The latter at once saw its merit, and by farther experiment and the use of the resources at their command, brought it to perfection. The works of their artists have made America as familiar with their faience as it formerly was with their porcelain. The process having been discovered, the second step was the adoption of a style. Here we meet with a peculiarity of the ware. We speak of schools of painting, and our language implies a limitation, a peculiarity of technique. All artists who follow nature closely must needs belong to the same school. Their success in the reproduction of natural effects is a bond of union, which brings them together across the boundaries of special methods of treatment. Each of Havilands’ artists may have his specialty, but we find no broad dividing lines. Their subjects are taken from nature or from imagination, which is only a wider field based upon the natural. The sympathy between them lies in the new sense of the capabilities of their art. The brush is wielded with a stronger hand, and the designs appear bolder, at times

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{291}{289} almost reckless. There is no striving after what might be called “prettiness of style.” Where we have been accustomed to restraint we find largeness and liberty. There are no longer minute divisions of surfaces to be covered in detail with graceful precision, but designs of full artistic completeness and strong simplicity. Color is applied with a commensurate boldness, which carries the conviction that here at last we find a decoration suited to its basis of earthen-ware.

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Fig. 238.—Memorial Vase. Haviland Faience. (Smithsonian Institute.)
Fig. 238.—Memorial Vase. Haviland Faience. (Smithsonian Institute.)

A recent visitor to the workshop of Haviland & Co., near Paris, where much of their faience is painted, thus describes what he saw: “While in Paris, I studied the way in which the vases are painted, and was surprised to find what an amount of care is expended upon them. They demand more exact treatment than China or English faience. The artist works as if the material were canvas. A bouquet of flowers, for instance, is minutely painted, and the shades of the grounds are all carefully studied. Nothing is left to chance. During the process of firing everything fuses, and it is then that the appearance of boldness is produced. If a vase were painted, as on a cursory examination it appears to be, with a bold brush and careless hand, the result would be a mere daub of no value. The peculiar talent of the artists consists in producing an effect of boldness and carelessness with a great deal of work and a close imitation of nature. Could all the work actually bestowed upon one of these vases, and as it can be seen before firing, be seen after firing, the faience of Limoges would resemble that of England or any other pottery which is painted on the glaze. But the process is different, and after the firing the detail of the work melts away, leaving behind that fascinating harmony of colors which has never before been produced on any pottery. Nothing has as yet been invented to replace work and care; and when anything you may see presents something pleasing, be certain that both have been lavished upon it. No writing or music seems so easy to imitate as that which cannot be imitated; and it is the part of a good author to conceal the method he employs.”

There are now in the Smithsonian Institute at Washington three pieces of Haviland faience which may be taken as exemplifying much of what has been said. These are the Memorial Vases (Fig. 238) and Bracquemond’s tile-piece allegorizing Human Progress. Let us take the vases first. They are the joint productions of MM. Bracquemond,{292} designer, and Delaplanche, sculptor, and are intended to commemorate the Centennial of American Independence. The broad and easily understood conception is intensely American, and was, in fact, due to American inspiration. They fitly stand in the capital, not only as lasting memorials of the hundredth anniversary of America’s entrance into the great commonwealth of nations, but as a congratulatory compliment from the ceramic artists of France.

Viewed in the light of history and of historical usage, they both acquire a fresh interest, and are better understood. They are exceptions, in the idea they represent, to the myriad ornamental vases which load our cabinets and shelves. We have already seen that, from the most ancient days of Egypt downward, vases were employed for the conveyance of religious sentiments. The Chinese followed the same course, and joined with it the custom of using pottery as a reward, or for the purpose of conferring a mark of imperial distinction upon officers deserving well of the state. Vases were also made the media between friends for the conveyance of compliments or congratulations. We might, in this connection, revert once more to the Greeks, who carried the Oriental practice still farther. By that people vases were, as we have seen, used as prizes, as wedding presents, as pledges of love or friendship, the legends they bear enabling us at this distant day to listen to the whisperings of passions which burned and died over two thousand years ago. We also find such commemorative vases as that which bears the legend, “The beautiful horse, twice conqueror at the Pythian games.” On many others are inscribed the names of the great men of antiquity, its kings and its poets. Some of these belong to times posterior to those in which the persons they were intended to honor lived, and may, therefore, be called commemorative in the same manner as statues. Throughout the Middle Ages we find the same usage more widely prevalent. When, therefore, the artists of France decided upon commemorating the American Centennial, they had, as a precedent for making a memorial distinctive of their art, the usage of the potters of all countries back to the most remote times.

In regard to design and decoration, these vases will bear consideration in detail. There is one very large class of Greek vases which represent what we have called the union of pottery and sculpture. In one we have the helmeted head of Pallas Athene surmounted by{293} a figure of Nike, or Victory. On others are Tritons bearing Nereïds, Medusa’s head, pennate figures, and the winged steeds of Aurora. The artist had no thought of utility to hamper him in designing accessories. It is said that M. Bracquemond, while in the Louvre, was attracted by one of the Grecian vases of this class found in Apulia (see Fig. 167). The style is full of grandeur and pomp. The form of the vase would be heavy and clumsy were its outline unrelieved by the decorating figures. On the neck stands a divinity in graceful drapery. Lower down, on the sides, are two statuettes of deities, and on either side of Minerva’s head surmounted by Nike in front are two Tritons, with their horse-feet pawing the air. This vase suggested to M. Bracquemond a design for the Memorial Vases in Washington. All that he thus derived, however, was merely a suggestion.

The details of the design may be gathered from a description of the vases themselves. One is intended to represent the year in which the United States won independence; the other the hundredth anniversary of that event. Between them is a whole century of history. The vase “1776” rises from a base consisting of greenish, foamy waves, lashing angrily against rocks surmounted by a circlet of cannon modelled after the ordnance of Revolutionary times. In this we have the whole story of the struggle for independence, and of the turmoil and confusion of the strife. It is worth noting that this symbolical use of the wave ornamentation is strictly classical. When the potters of Greece sought a symbol of caprice and mutation, they could find none more expressive than the foam-crested waves of the sea. From the cannon the body of the vase swells gracefully outward, and attains its widest girth near the top, where it curves rapidly inward to the upper rim. The orifice is closed by a star-covered dome of blue, from either side of which spring statuettes of Fame and Victory. On a pedestal on the rim in front stands a bust of Washington, modelled by Houdon, after one formerly owned by Lafayette, and now in the Louvre.

The ornamentation on the body is simple and expressive. Green fronds cross each other above the cannon, and smaller branches and stars are sprinkled over the whole surface. On the front is the American eagle with outstretched wings, with the national colors on either side. Above it, and immediately under the bust of Washington,{294} in small gilt letters, are the names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

The base of the Centennial vase, “1876,” symbolizes peace and prosperity by means of fruit, cereals, and the implements of husbandry. Above the eagle, in place of the names of the signers of the Declaration, are those of the Presidents, from Washington to Grant, and the surmounting bust represents Columbia. In other respects the two vases are alike. The story they tell is plain, and for every observer to read. Out of the struggle of a hundred years ago have come liberty, peace, and prosperity. The designer was exposed to dangers which he has coped with successfully. He has achieved something grateful to American patriotism without throwing originality aside. The American flag, the eagle, Washington, and the Goddess of Liberty, compose a group which, but for their artistic combination, might have been viewed with the indifference begotten of familiarity. As they stand, it becomes hard to conceive how otherwise, in equally intelligible language, a great historical event could have been commemorated in the everlasting record supplied by clay. They are records, and not mere ornaments. They mirror the first century of America’s life as a nation. They tell all or nearly all that history can tell of the passage from the struggle of 1776 to the prosperity of 1876.

The story of their formation is interesting, that of one applying to both. The body was modelled by M. Renard, chief modeller at Sèvres. He worked incessantly on the inside for thirty-four hours without resting more than a few minutes at a time, in order that his work might be finished before the clay lost any of its plasticity by the evaporation of the moisture. When this operation was completed the body was allowed to dry for fifteen days. A kiln was then built round it, its great size—the vases are twelve feet high, and the largest ever made in Europe—rendering removal impossible. It was fired for eight days at a low temperature, and then for three days at a high degree of heat, and the result of the stupendous work was in every way successful. The furnace required eight days to cool. If anything more is needed to enable us to estimate the immense labor involved in such a work, it may be summed up in this, that these vases demanded thirteen months’ work of some of the ablest artists and potters of France.{295}

It is difficult to criticise them apart from the sentiment they embody, and which invests them with a never-fading interest. It was, however, a touch of genius to get away from immediate usage to a style of ornamentation with which the artists of Magna Græcia and Apulia embellished their vases. It is the style best suited to their enormous size. The enamel is applied only to the ornamentation, the body, busts, and statuettes being all left unglazed and showing the natural color of the clay. Every detail is made expressive, while the strictest simplicity is retained. The size of the work forbade minute ornamentation of a symbolical character, and there is thus a harmony between the entire work and the details. The colors are brilliant, and the general effect, though sombre, is imposing and fine. They will be viewed hereafter with increasing interest, as marking the revival of an old complimentary usage under particularly gratifying conditions; and the grandeur and beauty of the art they represent is not likely to be forgotten in the contemplation of the sentiment they express.

We turn to the tile-piece in which, upon nearly a thousand tiles, M. Bracquemond presents his allegory of Human Progress, with a mingled feeling of dislike and attraction. It also stands in the Smithsonian Institute. The repellent influence is first experienced, and arises, probably, from an apparent absurdity of design and the peculiar coloring. A figure of gigantic size occupies the centre, trampling fire underfoot, and having a greenish bronze statuette in the right hand and a vase in the other. On the left are the chimneys and smoke of a factory, and on the opposite side is a railway train. A flash of lightning strikes in from the right, and above the central figure is the recumbent form of a woman partially enveloped in cloud. The picture, as we have said, is allegorical, and represents the genius of man utilizing the waters of the rebellious stream and storm, the fires of the volcano and lightning, and making them subservient to progress. As it is more closely studied, its true place in art is better understood, and we ultimately accept the piece as an indication of the possibilities of M. Bracquemond’s art. We feel that another stage has been passed on the way toward the perfect union of the potter’s and painter’s skill, and toward the picture “permanent as the Pyramids” of which Ruskin writes.

Many of the other tile-pieces, panels, and plaques (Fig. 239) from{296} Limoges and Auteuil are more absolutely excellent. On a circular plaque appears a draped female head, in which the flesh tint, clear and ruddy, is simply wonderful. The delicacy which it lacks is found on two panels, perfect rural pictures, with single female figures. These pieces illustrate the fineness of landscape effect and the nicety of touch to which the artist in possession of Haviland’s palette can attain. The trees stand out well against the sky, its blue slightly shaded with cloudy gray; and if we turn from these to the figure-drawing, the arrangement of the drapery, even the finish of the embroidery, we feel that we are in presence of an art of the decorative and artistic capacity of which we are only catching the first glimpses.

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Fig. 239—Haviland Faience. (H. Havemeyer Coll.)
Fig. 239—Haviland Faience. (H. Havemeyer Coll.)

If we pass now to the vases of this ware, we are struck by the originality of their shapes, the freedom of their designs, and the remarkable depth and beauty of their coloring. There is nowhere visible{297} any symptom of the nervous feeling after a doubtful result characteristic of an artist without confidence in himself and his process. Everything indicates strength, assurance, and power; and if there is weakness anywhere, it is evidently the result of a boldness which is over-hasty or too careless of finish and detail. We find no precedent for the decoration. It is as far removed as possible from all that is associated with China or Japan, from the majolica of Italy, Spain, or Berlin, from the stone-ware of England, or the faience of Sweden. The forms of the vases are of boundless variety, and suggest originality by their very multiplicity. One would carry us back to the pottery of ancient Gaul before it had felt the heavy hand of Rome. Another recalls the Anglo-Saxon vases of England. A third would lead us, in searching for a precedent, to the clumsy, rotund urns of ancient Germany. These would all be equally fanciful, no doubt; and in that suspicion one is confirmed by the exquisite forms of a small pichet, a quaint card-receiver, and a vase rising to its slightly out-turned lip as gracefully as the cup of a flower.

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Fig. 242.—Luna Vase. Haviland Faience. (Mrs. William H. Dannat Coll.)
Fig. 242.—Luna Vase. Haviland Faience. (Mrs. William H. Dannat Coll.)

We may take a few examples in order to illustrate the decoration. It consists of painting on the surface, of carved figures in unglazed relief, and of forms glazed and attached to the surface. Of{298} the first of these the choice is wide. On some appear hunting dogs full of life and action and in many attitudes. On another is a Cupid with full-drawn bow, rosy and chubby, and evidently bent upon dealing a fatal wound. On a third is a nymph and satyr (Fig. 241). A fourth shows us a barn-yard pair, a duck and drake, the latter preening himself in the sun, under which his many-hued plumage glitters{299} with a lustre almost iridescent. On a fifth a gayly feathered open-throated songster appears to be warbling his even-song upon a tiny spray. Flowers are painted with all the splendor of nature, and cling round the forms with gracefully sweeping stem. One in particular is made attractive simply by its color, a mottled gray, into the depths of which we look as into the clouds hanging over the couch of the sun in the early mornings of summer. Its beauty is in its suggestiveness, which strikes us again in many of the flower-wreathed vases where there are openings of green, into which one can look as into a forest glade. The mind creates what the eye cannot see, and the glade is peopled with beings whose forms are never caught. This is, no doubt, an example of fancy helping out the artist, but the artist is none the less fortunate and skilful who can thus induce the fancy to take wing. He leaves her room to take flight, and the vase he has decorated with a simple flower becomes a poem suggesting far more than it tells.

Of the vases showing unglazed carvings in bas-relief there is a single pair, sufficient for illustration. On one is represented Phœbus, the golden-haired god of day, and on the other the triform goddess Luna. Phœbus stands with bow drawn full to the shoulder, just as we picture him in Homer. It will be remembered that when Lyrnessus was taken by the Greeks and the spoils divided, Chryseis, the wife of the king of the captured place, and daughter of Chryses, one of the priests of Apollo, fell to the share of Agamemnon. Her father sought her restoration from the “king of men,” and on his request being refused, asked aid from the god he served. We here have Apollo in the attitude of returning an answer to his suppliant priest.