As the oldest type of black profile representation is undoubtedly connected with the decoration of pottery, it is not to be wondered at that when silhouette-making by brush, pencil, or scissors was at the height of its popularity, a return should be made in style to the antique. The porcelain and glass makers ornamented their work in silhouette, sometimes in the modern form, when the head and neck would be shown, generally in black upon white china, but also in a few instances in black upon a reddish terra-cotta colour, when the full figure would be given in the Greek style, and designs more or less elaborate would be used as borders, notably, the key pattern, so usually associated with Greek art, though, as a matter of fact, such patterns appear in all Oriental decoration. A Vienna factory, and also some of the French factories of the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, made objects with the reddish ground. Silhouette porcelain was not infrequently made for private individuals, such, for example, as the specimen owned by Dr. A. Figdor, of Vienna. A female head painted in black is surrounded by a wreath of forget-me-nots in colour, and on the back is the inscription, “In remembrance of your affectionate grandmother, M. J. C.” A fine cup and saucer is in the collection at Carnavalet, in Paris; amongst those pieces which are associated with the Revolution, within a frame of olive or laurel, is the silhouette of Mirabeau, with the name printed below. There is a beautiful tray belonging to Mr. FitzHenry, of French manufacture. This shows the silhouette portrait at its best, in gold, as centre ornament. Wreaths of ribbon garlands and pierced ornament make this fine piece specially attractive. Besides these individual pieces, specially ordered for special occasions, there are the pieces of silhouette china ornamented with portraits of the king or of the reigning family. In Mr. Wellesley’s collection there is a mug with a portrait of George IV. rather coarsely done, and we have examined some custard cups with lids, which were also English. At the Worcester and Bristol factories such painting was done, though usually less elaborately than at some of the German porcelain factories. There is an exception, however, in the very fine vase shown in our illustration. This is in the possession of Mr. Spink, and was made at Worcester. It stands thirteen-and-a-half inches high, and its elaborate decoration in gold and colour is extremely effective. The wide band above the portrait is of chocolate colour, with pencillings of gold in a Greek design; blue, green, and brown figure on other parts of the vase, and the lid has a gold knob. The black profile of the king has a band round it, on which are the words, “Health and prosperity attend His Majesty.”
At Knole there are several beautiful Worcester vases with silhouettes of George III. and a remarkable breakfast service of German workmanship. This is complete, and gives the different portraits of the reigning royal family. Even more elaborate are two vases also connected with royalty; they were evidently made for centre-pieces when a special dinner service was used. There are no silhouette portraits on the plates and dishes, but on the two splendidly ornamental vases, which match in decoration, there are profiles of the King and Queen of Sweden respectively. These fine examples are in Copenhagen porcelain; swags of flowers in high relief show up well on the white ground. Cupids ornament the lids and hold as a shield gold-framed medallions, where, on a rose-coloured ground, the silhouettes show with excellent effect. These vases stand sixteen inches in height.
Amongst the German examples there is a good specimen from Wallenstein with a silhouette portrait of Frederick the Great in a frame of laurel picked out in gold. In the Höhenzollern Museum at Monbijou Castle there is a large service entirely decorated in this way. Teapots and cream-jugs, basins, sugar and slop bowls, and coffee-cups, all are complete, and six female and three male heads appear, all being members of the Royal Family. Frederick the Great is on the coffee-pot.
Undoubtedly such ware was made for presentation. We can well imagine the special pleasure in a gift which has this very personal touch; the royal attribute of picture presentation must have been most acceptable when the useful service became the portrait background.
Not only did the silhouette cast its glamour over the porcelain makers, but glass manufacturers also utilized the fashion for the original decoration of their wares. Dr. Strauss, of Berlin, owns a remarkable glass with a well-cut shank, which shows the head and shoulders of a woman, with the inscription, “With best wishes for your welfare, your faithful wife presents you with this. L. W. V. R., August 6th, 1795.” The silhouette is in gold, and is done by means of a curious process practised by one Glomi, and called after him Églomisé, though the method was known and utilized long before his time; in fact, as early as the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, this etching in gold between glass was done. Fine specimens, usually cups, goblets, and chalices, for the use of the Church, enrich our museums. The process is thus described by Larousse in the Nouveau Dictionnaire:—
“Églomisé,”
art. Larousse, “Nouveau Dictionnaire,” Tom. 4.
Églomisé, ée. (de Glomi, n. pr.) adj.
Se dit d’un objet en verre décoré au moyen d’une dorure intérieure, suivant le procédé de l’encadreur Glomi, qui paraît en avoir été l’inventeur au XVIIIe siècle.
Encycl. Les verres églomisés sont ces petits tableaux dont le sujet est peint sur le verre même qui les recouvre. On fait un fréquent usage de ses petits panneaux ou de ces lentilles pour former des dessus de bonbonnières, etc. Ordinairement, le tracé est fait à la pointe, sur une feuille d’or fixée au vernis sur le verre. Le mot “églomisé” a été inventé, en 1825, par l’archéologue Carrand et appliqué par lui aussi bien aux verres modernes décorés suivant la méthode de Glomi qu’aux objets beaucoup plus anciens, datant du plus haut moyen âge, où la feuille d’or est soudée au feu entre deux pellicules de verre.
The work was done on one glass, and another was made to literally enclose the finely etched gold lines, so that no harm could come to the decoration. Delicate landscapes as well as figures and portrait busts are done, and the glass is found coloured as well as clear white. There is a fine example in the Imperial Austrian Museum at Vienna, in which the silhouette in gold of a man appears with the inscription, “P. Ferdinand Karl, Professi Hilariensis. Mildner fec. à Gullenbrunn, 1799.”
In the Glass Gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and at the British Museum, there are very fine specimens. At the former there is a drinking glass specially worthy of note. It is of tumbler shape, 3½ inches by 2¾ inches, and is formed of two layers of glass, one of which is etched in gold leaf, with a group of St. George and the Dragon, foliated scrolls, festoons, and arabesques. The bottom is coloured red and etched in gold, with the sacred monogram I.H.S., and the legend, “Benedictine sit nomen Domini.” The outside is cut in facets. This example is German early eighteenth century.
Wonderfully vivid hunting scenes are shown in gold-silhouette on an example of sixteenth-century work owned by Mr. FitzHenry; while black silhouette work of Nuremberg manufacture is painted in black with flowers and sacred emblems. Besides the gold ornamented glass, there was also a good deal made in the same way but decorated in very dark brown or black. Hunting scenes, elaborately sketched with the minutest detail in tree, hound, and huntsman, often figure on such pieces.
A volume on the silhouette in all its aspects would be incomplete without some reference to the use which, from earliest times, has been made of shadowgraphy to represent isolated scenes, and also complete plays on the stage.
In Paris, in 1771, the celebrated Theatre Seraphin was founded by Seraphin Dominique François, who opened his little theatre for shadowgraphy alone, in the gardens at Versailles.
Slight and dainty were the plays, and we can imagine the silk-clad audience in powder and patches who would come with the children, or with no excuse at all, to amuse themselves at the antics performed in this shadowland. Little they cared for the real shadows of the terrible Revolution which were already gathering as they applauded the silhouettes of Seraphin.
Twenty-six years later, after the stormy days of the Revolution, marionettes were added to the attraction of Chinese shadowgraphy, which still lingers in the magic-lantern shows of to-day.
For the palmy days of the silhouette theatre we must look a long way down the centuries, and the recent astounding find of a large collection of ancient figures used in the shadow plays of old Egypt enables us to actually see how the Egyptian figures looked and how they worked. The history of their discovery by Dr. Paul Kahle in one of the villages of the Delta is a fascinating one, too long for these pages, but the signs and proofs of antiquity are complete. The coats of arms of the Mamelukes used in the thirteenth century are used as ornaments, and the leather, of which the human figures, ships, and birds are made, is cleverly cut, so that a mosaic of richer colouring is visible.
In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries there are renowned actors in the shadow theatre, and even as early as the eleventh century performances are mentioned. The stage was formed by a thin sheet, behind which there was a strong light, and the figures were moved with two sticks fastened in the middle of the back.
In Java legendary history is taught by means of itinerant silhouette shows. These figures are also of leather, from eighteen inches to two feet in height. They are moved by means of horn sticks; they were in existence before Mahometanism came to the island. In China silhouette plays always represent a priest of Buddha as the central figure, and he is made to dance in imitation of the movements made in the performance of religious rites.
On the night of the festival of Diwali in India men exhibit a huge cylindrical paper lantern, over the sides of which shadow figures pass in succession, so that Gonard’s lamp in the Palais Royal, that was decorated with silhouettes to guide his clients to his salon, might have come straight from the East.
Special plays for performance on the stage of the shadow theatre were published as late as 1850, written some years before by Brentano for the amusement of his family, for shadowgraphy was often practised in the middle-class houses.
Pocci also wrote a play for the shadow theatre, and Henri Rivière produced the “Prodigal Child” and the “March to the Star,” both shadow tableaux rather than plays, arranged in seven elaborate scenes.