Posts Tagged ‘15th century’

Mosaic Glass: This technique is now
known to date back to the 15th century
B.C. From finds at Tell al Rimah and
‘Aqar Quf in Mesopotamia, and from
Marlik and Hasanlu in north-west Iran, it
is apparent that in this very early period
mosaic glass was made up of circular
sections of monochrome rods or ‘canes’ of
various colours (though one fragment
from ‘Aqar Quf is built of sections of
polychrome rods). These fragments came
from tall beakers, usually with knobbed
bases, or shallow dishes. To make mosaic
glass one first had to fashion glass rods of
the required colours; a ‘gob’ of molten
glass would be gathered by a glass-worker,
attached to another rod, and stretched by
two men walking quickly in opposite
directions. It was also possible for one man
to do the whole operation by firmly fixing
the iron which held the gather of glass,
then walking away holding the other rod.
The stretched glass was cut into rods of the
size required. Polychrome rods were made
by gathering a different colour of glass over
the first gather and stretching both to-
gether. The thin sections cut off the rods
were fixed on a core the shape of the inside
of the vessel. An adhesive substance held
the sections in place, and the outer mould,
which was then added, kept the sections
together while they were fused by being
heated in a furnace. Both surfaces of the
vessel were later ground smooth. Mosaic
beads are part of this technique, and
originated probably in Alexandria. A high
level of skill was reached in their produc-
tion. Thin sections cut from rods of vary-
ing design were spread as close together as
possible on a base of fireproof clay, and the
whole was brought to melting point. A
heated glass bead was next rolled over the
base, catching up the mosaic sections; the
bead was then ground and polished.
necklace including venetian mosaic beads
Made bv the Nupe tribe, Bida, northern Nigeria,
Sometimes mosaic beads were produced
simply by using sections of the mosaic rod,
which were ground and polished, and
finally bored through the centre. Their
manufacture was not confined to Egypt.
Mosaic beads are found in China from as
early as the late Chou period (1122-255
B.C.). In Chinese tombs of the 4th and 3rd
centuries B.C. beads of Chinese origin are
found alongside Western imports, and the
two are virtually indistinguishable, apart
from their constituents. The Venetians
made mosaic beads in great quantities and
of a high quality during the 17th and 18th
centuries. These can be found today in
West Africa where they have been im-
ported since the 17th century. There local
glass-makers, using the most primitive
furnaces, melt down old bottles and glass
to make their wares, and intermix Venetian
millefiori beads with their own products.
(Millefiori, a name also used for some
mosaic work, literally means ‘a thousand
flowers’, though many other motifs besides
flowers arc used in the production of
mosaic glass.)
segment of shallow mosaic dish
Canosa, Italy, late yvii century B.C.
The mosaic technique apparently re-
mained in use in Western Asia during
Assyrian and Achaemenian times, and t is
highly likely that it was Asiatic workers
who introduced it to Alexandria when
glass-making was established in that cjty.
The ground was thus laid for the wide-
spread production of mosaic vessels at tliat
centre, and later in Italy, down to the 1st
century A.D. Amongst the finds from a
tomb at Canosa of the late 3rd century
B.C. is a mosaic dish which almost
certainly came from Alexandria. This is a
most professional piece of work, for not
only does it contain sections of coloured
cane showing an opaque white spiral with
opaque yellow centre in a clear deep b ue
ground, but it also has a number of
sections of layered glass in which gold foil
is sandwiched between layers of colourl iss
glass. Other sections of opaque white or
opaque yellow glass are cased on one or
both sides with colourless glass.
Techniques before Blowing
FUSED MOSAIC
Probably Alexandria, Egypt, ist century B.C. to
isl century A.D. Length 415 mm (163 in.)
The Ptolemaic shops in Alexandria were
equally famous for their production of
fused mosaic plaques. Great emphasis was
placed on luxurious colours and textures.
The patterns were built up from sections
of mosaic rod fused together in a kiln and
stretched so that the detail in the finished
article was exquisitely fine. ‘Half portrait
heads used for inlay work, as illustrated,
are not uncommon, since a section cut
from the rod and reversed would complete
the full face. Occasionally, full faces would
be made in a single section. Enough frag-
ments have survived to prove that mosaic
plates composed entirely of flowers, blos-
soms, leaves and stems were made in
Alexandria. The tesserae from Arslan-
Tash and Nimrud (mid-Qth to 7th century
B.C.), and the glass inlays on the shrine of
Nectanebo II of Egypt (359-341 B.C.),
illustrate the use of polychrome rods from
which tesserae were cut for decoration.

The Renaissance
During the 15th century in northern Europe the fashion for very elaborate and complex head coverings continued: the voluminous double horned headdress was extremely popular as well as the sugarloaf headdress hennine. In early Renaissance Italy this fashion subsided and the natural beauty of the hair was appreciated once more. This did not mean that very elaborate coiffures were not devised to enhance that beauty. Indeed a popular type of hair arrangement consisted of the hair drawn up into a chignon at the back with a wide band, a ribbon or a strand of pearls known as frenello encircling the head and usually decorated at the centre with a jewel in the form of a flowerhead cluster. With such an abundance of jewels on the head and with the ears concealed beneath the head-band, there was still no point in wearing earrings.
This can clearly be seen in the portrait of Battista Sforza (circa 1465) by Piero Bella P 36 Francesca, in which the Duchess displays a great number of jewels on her head, one fastened to the band at the top and three smaller clusters securing the very elaborate coil of hair placed over the ears. Also popular were rich be-jewelled hairnets placed at the back of the head with the hair combed over the ears and the stones set amongst the gold threads. An inventory of the jewels of Ippolita Sforza given to her on the occasion of her marriage to Alfonso of Aragon in 1465 mentions a net set with 89 rubies and 464 pearls. There was, therefore, no place for earrings. Even when no head jewels were worn the hair was left hanging down in curls over the ears. Throughout the 15th century in Italy, earrings are never mentioned in inventories.
After centuries of neglect, earrings begin to make a timid appearance in Italy around the 1530s, mainly prompted by a change in fashion in hairstyles in favour of parting the hair at the centre and drawing it away from the face which was framed by a padded roll. The design of the new earrings was fairly simple: usually a plain gold hoop with a single pearl drop. This type of earring is depicted frequently in contemporary portraiture but hardly any examples survive. This is because pearls are one of the few organic materials employed in jewellery, and, unlike gemstones, they only last about 300 years.
Another design for which there is pictorial evidence can be seen in a portrait, by Moroni of the mid-to-late I 500s in the National Gallery, London. It shows a pearl drop suspended from a gold spherical element and connected to the gold hoop in the ear by a satin ribbon bow matching the colour of the dress. This is one of the earliest records of this kind of earring, but the combination of satin or velvet ribbon bows and jewelled elements becomes a recurring feature in early and mid-17th century earrings. All earrings were worn with pierced ears: a hoop was threaded through the ear to support the pendent element. The screw and clip fitting is a comparatively recent innovation apparently unknown during the Renaissance. The single mention of the clip earrings which occurs in Cellini’s autobiography merely proves that they were not in common use: Cellini describes dressing up a friend to impersonate a woman at a party given by Michelangelo: ‘In his ears I placed two little rings, set with two large and fair pearls: the rings were broken; they only clipped his ears as though they had been pierced.’
In other parts of Europe, and especially the north, earrings remained out of fashion, the reason again being that elaborate headdresses such as the horseshoe bonnet went on the back of the head and down over the ears.
Towards the end of the 16th century the use of pendent earrings was still limited
36 not so much now by headgear but by the new fashion for very high and stiff ruff collars. The extreme examples of the high ruff occur in Spain, England and France, and in these countries women continued to be unable to wear earrings for about one hundred years after their reintroduction in Italy. They are seldom seen in portraits and are not mentioned in contemporary inventories such as those of the jewels of the French crown from Francois I to Henri III; grand parures of jewels are repeatedly referred to but these include not earrings but items known as `bordures d’oreilletes’, a jewelled ornament that encircles the head from one ear to the other. The only mention of earrings comes in the Chronique du Bourgeois de Paris, in a descriptor of the jewels worn by Eleonore of Austria at her arrival in France for her marriage with Francois I in 1529: ‘hanging from her ears were two large stones as big as nuts’. The earrings were part of the jewellery which she had brought from Spain, and reflect a southern European fashion. In fact her fondness for large, Spanish style earrings is displayed in a portrait where she wears large elliptical gold ones set with three pearls supporting a fringe of a further three pearls.
Shortly before i 60o the high ruff collar gave way to the standing collar, freeing the area around the neck, and long pendent earrings finally began to make their appearance in northern Europe. They are clearly visible in the portrait of Queen Anne of Denmark painted by De Critz at the beginning of the 17th century — large baroque pearls linked by gold-set lozenge-shaped diamonds to gold suspension loops which are completely concealed by red ribbon bows. Two features are noteworthy: the use of the ribbon bows, which had already appeared half a century before in Italy and continued to be favoured in the first half of the 17th century; and the use of large faceted diamonds. It was around this time that improved techniques of gem-cutting prompted a shift in emphasis from the gold and enamel setting typical of Renaissance jewellery to the faceted gemstone.
The 17th Century
As earrings began to gain independence at the beginning of the 17th century a variety of new designs made their appearance, exemplified by those of Arnold Lulls, a Netherlands-born jeweller (active in England circa i585—circa 1621) greatly favoured by James I of England and his consort Anne of Denmark. Prominent among them were aigrettes (a plume-shaped ornament) and earrings set with faceted gemstones. His book of coloured drawings includes three pages of designs for earrings; one page shows two different pairs of earrings. The first has three green pear-shaped stones, the largest at the centre, suspended from a gold crescent enamelled in white and set with a step-cut ruby-, the green enamel suspension loop is in the form of a serpent with four square-cut diamonds set on its head. The second pair is similar but has only one drop, the central element being set with faceted diamonds and the hoop with rubies. Another page shows a pair of earrings, each formed from two pear-shaped pearls with a larger green gemstone suspended from an openwork surmount set with eleven table-cut diamonds. It is worth pointing out that at this time all diamonds portrayed in designs and paintings were painted black, the reason being that diamonds were set in closed settings backed by a black foil or varnish and therefore would appear, in reality, nearly black.
By the early 1600s designs were already fairly elaborate compared to the plain pearl drops which had been common up to then: noteworthy is the serpent-shaped hoop and the use of faceted gemstones reflecting the new interest in cut stones and especially diamonds in consequence of the improved techniques of cutting. Also new is the use of the three drops which will remain a favourite form of earring for two centuries. It most probably derives from the three pearl drops, a larger one in the middle flanked by two smaller, always found suspended from Renaissance pendants. It is interesting that in early 17th-century earrings all elements remain very separate: the hoop, the central element and the drop, and it is only at the end of the century that all parts of earrings begin to be conceived of as a whole. Besides conventional earrings, the rather bizarre fashion for earstrings developed in Britain around 1620. These were suspended not from the ear but from a cord at the sides of the face or a loose corkscrew of hair.
The popularity of earrings at the turn of the 17th century is clear from an inventory of the personal items of Catherine de M6dicis, Queen of France, compiled in 161o, which lists nine pairs of earrings all set with faceted diamonds and gemstones.
One of the best collections of this period is the Cheapside Hoard, now in the Museum of London and the British Museum, part of a jeweller’s stock, probably hidden in London about 16¢o because of the English Civil War. It includes an elaborate pendent earring in the form of three white enamel links supporting ten amethyst briolettes; the suspension loop is missing. Again evident is the interest in cut stone and in a complex design.
During the second quarter of the 17th century there was a change in favour of greater simplicity in dress and ornament, but this seems not to have disturbed the newly established popularity of earrings. Very large pearl drops were one of the favourite types. The difficulty of finding two beautiful pearls matched in size, shape and colour made these earrings extremely valuable and sought after; they were known as ‘union d’excellence’ earrings, the large pear-shaped pearls emerging from flowing curls. At times it is one large pearl, at others one may find two or three pearls hanging
P. 37 from one ear, as can be seen in the English portrait of Ann Carr, Countess of Bedford, painted by Anthony Van Dyck (1599-16¢¢). The fact that so few of these examples have survived is partly because they have decayed and partly because pearls can easily be mounted in a new setting and, unlike a faceted gemstone, are not easy to identify. exceptional pair earrings still exists Only one exceptional pair of pearl earrings still exists today, though not in their original 17th-century setting. They are two extremely large natural pear-shaped pearls known as the Marie Mancini pearls; they were given by Louis XIV to his mistress Marie Mancini, niece of Cardinal Mazarin.
The importance attached to pearl earrings is also substantiated by contemporary literature: Francis de Sales, in his Introduction d la vie devote of 16o8 which was reprinted (mainly in Antwerp) thirteen times in the 17th century alone, writes in a chapter entitled ‘Advice to the Married’ that:
Women of both ancient and present times customarily hang pearls from their ears because of the pleasure they derive (as Pliny observes) from feeling them swing when they touch each other. But because I know that God’s great friend, Isaac, sent earrings as the first token of his love to the pure Rebecca, so do I believe that this jewel signifies spirituality; that the first part that a man must have from his wife and which the wife must faithfully preserve is the ear, so that no speech or sound may enter in other than the sweet sound of chaste words which are oriental pearls of the Gospel.
The expression ‘pearls of the Gospel’ derives from the parable of the merchant searching for rare pearls in Matthew 13 and is used by Sales as a metaphor for Christ’s teachings.
Around the middle of the l7th century earrings had become an essential item of adornment and their shapes were becoming increasingly complex and interesting. It is known that Louis XIV gave an important pair of emerald and diamond earrings to his mistress Madame de Soubise, who used them to signal to the king that her husband had left Paris and that they were free to meet. Typical of the new complexity of design is a pair of polychrome enamel, turquoise and ruby earrings designed as an openwork garland of floral motifs carrying a fringe of pearls, the centre decorated with a tulip, and suspended on a flowerhead cluster surmount. As well as the overall intricacy, it is interesting to notice how the contemporary interest in flowers, especially tulips, is reflected in these earrings. At the end of the i 6th century a garden with hothouses in Paris had plants which served as models for designers of embroidery; later the establishment was bought by Henri IV and the Jardin du Rol, as it was then called, remained a centre for the study of rare and beautiful flowers. But it was the increased European contacts with the Levant that brought exotic flowers to the forefront, and the tulip, first seen in the West in 1559, conquered Europe; in 1634. it generated a real tulip `rage’ known as tulipomania. This explains why tulip motifs are to occur so prominently on contemporary jewels. On one pair of pendent earrings the front is typically set with faceted gemstones, rubies and emeralds supporting a fringe of pearls; but the back is decorated with three tulip flowerheads in painted black and red enamel on a light blue enamel ground.
Around 166o the girandole, which became a very successful form of earring, emerged. It consisted of two main elements worked into a coherent design: a stylized ribbon bow surmount supporting three pear-shaped drops. The bow motif undoubtedly derives from the ribbon bow used in earlier earrings made of satin or velvet in a colour to match the dress; the three drops derive from early 17th-century examples, such as those of Arnold Lulls, going back ultimately to the three pearl drops suspended from Renaissance brooches. The girandole is an extremely becoming shape of earring, as it fills out the space around the ear to complement the face. Its popularity is attested by numerous engravings of the i 66os, such as those by Gilles Legare and Francois Lefebvre. The engraved designs frequently show front and back views of the girandole; the front was set either entirely with faceted gemstones or with three pear-shaped pearls; the back was decorated with enamelwork, a feature that distinguished the early girandoles from later examples. Frequently the designs for the girandole earrings are accompanied by those of brooches of similar design known as sevignes which would have been worn together as a set. Drawings which record the earrings owned by Anne of Austria, the wife of Louis XIII, show girandoles of great elegance set with diamonds of exceptional dimensions; while the inventory of the jewels of Marie Therese, the wife of Louis XIV, dated 1691, lists various girandoles: two pairs set with diamonds, one with very rare stones, the other with pearls.

Settles and sofas before 1840
The box-settle was in existence in northern Europe by the 15th century. The earliest examples usually have planked seats and pierced trellis or linen-fold panelled backs, and are often richly carved. A plainer and sturdier form was the oak “monk’s table”, which had a bench-like seat, often set above an enclosed well used for storage, and a hinged back, which when brought forward served as a table. This basic form was adopted by furniture-makers in Britain (particularly in the provinces), and the Low Countries from the 16th century. Early box-settles were usually of oak, although elm, chestnut, and fruitwood were increasingly used during the 18th century; they continued to be made in the provincial tradition until well into the 19th century.

DOUBLE CHAIR-BACK SETTEES
The double chair-back settee dates from the mid-17th century, and its evolution reflects that of the chair back (splat). Invariably of walnut, this type of furniture is distinguished by caned seats, carved upright splats, and baluster-turned or strapwork legs joined by stretchers. By the late 17th and early 18th centuries the double chair-back settee was characterized by a drop-in, upholstered seat, slightly serpentine toprail with vase or baluster-shaped splats, and cabriole legs with pad feet. Usually made of walnut, it became increasingly bold and elaborate in form and decoration; by the reign of Queen Anne (1702-14) settees were frequently veneered with burr-walnut and enriched with seaweed marquetry on the splats and legs. George I examples (1714-27) were often inspired by the architect William Kent (c.16851748), and have carved shells, foliage, lion-masks and paws, and eagle’s-head arm terminals and claws. Mahogany settees were first made under George II (1727-60); those from the 1750s and 1760s frequently follow chair-patterns in the Chinese, Gothick, and French Rococo styles popularized by Thomas Chippendale (1718-79) in The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754-62). Continental examples were often gilded or painted with flowers and chinoiserie decoration, and are far more Rococo in form than their English counterparts, with exaggerated cabriole legs, serpentine toprails, and asymmetric splats. This latter feature is also characteristic of Dutch double-chair back settees, which parallel English Queen Anne and early Georgian examples, save for the enrichment of floral marquetry. However, Dutch chair-back settees with floral marquetry on a mahogany, as opposed to a walnut, ground are more usually 19th century. English settees of the late 18th and early 19th centuries are usually of carved mahogany or satinwood. Painted designs include peacock feathers and flowers in the manner of George Seddon & Sons (est. 1785), and Etruscan-black decoration, inspired by Classical vases. These painted examples are usually of beech and often display caned or rush seats with squab cushions.
CANAPES AND CHAISES-LONGUES
Canapes with padded backs and seats dating from the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715) usually have walnut frames with simple channelled decoration to the legs and stretchers, scrolled arms, and cabriole legs. The most sophisticated canapes of the Regence period (1715-23) are masterpieces of the carver’s art; their giltwood or walnut frames were carved with foliage, shells, and chimerical dragons, and their backs strewn with flowers in the style of Juste-Aurele Meissonnier (1695-1750).
During the 1730s and 1740s, Rococo canapes became even more exaggerated in form and detail. They were usually gilded or of walnut, although Italian craftsmen also employed a mix of silver and gold leaf, a decoration known as mecca. Italian canapes are often less well constructed than French seat furniture.

The chaise-longue was characterized by its long seat, which enabled the sitter to recline horizontally, and was first recorded in France, Italy, and England in the late 17th century. Louis XIV chaises-longues were usually of carved walnut or beech, with caned seats and squab cushions. During the early 18th century the frames became richer and more florid, often being gilded or japanned in imitation of Oriental lacquer, while the caned seats were rejected in favour of fully stuffed and upholstered seats. Usually carved in lime or beech, and intended to be painted or gilded, inid-18th-century Continental chaises-longues were of a pegged construction. Although rarer, day-beds, usually without side-supports, were also made in England during the mid-Georgian period.
It was under the influence of the Prince of Wales (later George IV) and his circle that the chaise-longue reached its apogee in England. The form was the perfect vehicle for the reproduction of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian ornament. Simpler Regency chaises-longues were also widely manufactured, mainly in mahogany or rosewood, perhaps inlaid with brass in the “Buhl” manner. Painted examples with Etruscan-inspired ebonized and parcel-gilt decoration, or with a grained or stencilled finish, also abound. The earliest Regency chaises-longues are light and elegant, with simple, free-flowing lines, sabre legs, and brass caps and casters. Examples from the 1820s and 1830s are increasingly florid and heavy; they are supported on claw feet and arc often richly carved with exaggerated, stylized foliage.
DUNCAN PHYFE (1768-1854)
The best-known New York cabinet-maker of the early and mid-19th century, Duncan Phyfe also gave his name to the generic term for American furniture in the Neo-classical style, making use of the forms and ornament of Classical Greece and Rome. The work of Phyfe and his contemporaries incorporates “curule” (Grecian-cross design) legs or sabre legs, paw feet, harp and lyre backs, caned toprails, and decoration showing sheaves of wheat, thunderbolts, cornucopia, and swags. Unless documented by a bill or label, New York Federal and Classical furniture should be attributed to the Phyfe school. Phyfe-type furniture was made into the mid-19th century, with a revival in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

EARLY 19TH-CENTURY SOFAS
The development of the chaise-longue in the 19th century was mirrored by that of the sofa. From c. 805 to 1810 sofas became increasingly bold and luxurious. Frames of plain mahogany were initially fashionable, carved with Grecian ornament as promoted by George Smith (active c.1786-1828) in his book A Collection of Designs for Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (1808); these were superseded by more florid examples in rosewood and, later, walnut, upholstered with bolster cushions at each end. This extravagance was continued in the design and decoration of the frames, which often had tightly scrolled arm-terminals and were embellished with gilt-bronze mounts or inlaid in the “Buhl” manner with foliate arabesques, as on sofas by the firm of Gillow (est. c.1730). The sofas were supported by hairy-paw feet. As seen in the designs of Michel Angelo Nicolson (c.1796-1844) in The Practical Cabinet-Maker, Upholsterer, and Complete Decorator (1826), the basic Regency form persisted throughout the 19th century. However, sofa designs became heavier as the century progressed, with the introduction of shorter and fatter legs, often reeded, and tapering to brass caps and casters.

•    BOX-SETTLES the most lavishly decorated settles, particularly those with linen-fold panelled backs, are often examples of 19th-century antiquarianism, in which old panelling has been reused or plain types have been later carved or embellished
•    DOUBLE CHAIR-BACK SETTEES the majority of these are 19th-century copies, which may be identified by the quality of the timber and carving, and by the use of carved ornament borrowed from different periods
•    CHAISES-LONGUES mid-18th century Continental chaises-longues should be of pegged construction; 18th-century examples were widely copied in the 19th century – these later pieces are usually betrayed by the stiffness of the carving; chaises-longues have very often been regilded (this will not affect the value if the work is of a high quality); examples that were once brightly painted have often faded

Tin-glazed earthenware has been produced in The Netherlands since the end of the 15th century. Introduced by immigrant Italian craftsmen who settled in Antwerp (c.1500), the techniques and the decorative style gradually spread north during the troubled years of the 1560s and 1570s. While many potteries were established at Haarlem, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam, it was the town of Delft that rose to prominence in the mid-17th century and from which the term “Delftware” is derived.
THE INFLUENCE OF ITALY
During the early to mid-16th century, potters produced what is known as the “Italian-Antwerp” style of wares, which were decorated with pine-cone motifs, scrolling stylized foliage, geometric patterns, and, later in the century, strapwork and half-shaded petal borders (sometimes termed “false gadroons”). Designs are often painted in high-fired colours copper green, yellow, and ochre) and usually boldly Outlined in blackish cobalt blue. Early wares include dishes, plates, albarelli (drug jars), and syrup-jugs. Although small household objects such as jugs or double-eared pots were probably made in large numbers, few are extant. Albarelli have survived in some quantity and can be recognized by their pronounced flanged bases and crisp mouth-rims. From around the middle of the 16th century the tortuous strapwork and adapted grotesque ornament of the Fontainebleau School in France are seen on more accomplished wares. Northern designers such as Vredeman de Vries of Leeuwarden and Cornelis Bos of Antwerp were also used as sources for this type of decoration.
Time and distance, however, gradually diluted both these influences (although they did not entirely disappear for another century). By the end of the 16th century new, more humble patterns had appeared, employing simple repeated motifs such as dashes, chevrons, or zigzags, and concentric circles enclosing stylized leaves, fruit, or flowers. Tiles were also made in large quantities, first for floors and later for walls.
Decoration was usually in blue but also in polychrome, and comprised mainly stylized leaves, flowers, and such fruit as pomegranates, and, later, figures with small corner motifs. The most important centres of production for tiles were Rotterdam, Haarlem, Delft, Gouda, Utrecht, and, later, Harlingen and Makkum.
During the period from 1600 to 1650, the influence of Italian maiolica was still felt. Decorative subjects were extensive and included shadowed foliage, whole and sliced fruit in the manner of Venice or Faenza, scrolling bryony-type flowers, zigzag patterns, and concentric bands of simplified foliage encircling formal flower-heads that resembled “targets”. Faenza-style putti and fern-type borders, leaping hounds, equestrian subjects, isolated standing figures, and blue-dash borders were also popular. However, a more local type of decoration that included religious subjects, shipping scenes, and milkmaids was gradually introduced.
THE BLUE-AND-WHITE PERIOD
From the beginning of the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company (V.O.C.) imported blue-and-white Chinese porcelain, known as kraak porcelain, into The Netherlands. The name derives from the Portuguese carracks, or merchant ships, that carried large cargoes
of Chinese export porcelain, two of which were captured by the Dutch in 1602 and 1604. During the early years of the 17th century, the type of Chinese ornament featured on this porcelain was introduced on Delftware. Within a few decades the high-fired Italian maiolica colours were largely displaced by a palette of blue and white, a switch that demonstrates the growing passion for blue-and-white Chinese porcelain.
As the Dutch brewing industry declined, many of the disused breweries in Delft were turned over to the potters, and from c.1650 Delft became the most important centre of production for tin-glazed earthenware. Factories at
this time included the Porceleynen Schotel and the Porceleynen Lampetkan.
Probably the single most important impetus for the vast increase in production of tin-glazed earthenwares was the cessation of imports of Chinese porcelain between 1645 and 1650, when the kilns in Jingdezhen were devastated by the invading Manchus. Between c.1650 and c.1680 the number of potteries in Delft rose from eight to nearly thirty. Production of blue-and-white “porcelain”, as the Dutch termed their tin-glazed earthenware, focused on reproducing Chinese wares made during the reign of Emperor Wanli ( 1,573-1619) and Transitional porcelain (1620-44), or kraak porcelain. Decoration also included Dutch landscapes and biblical subjects. Frederik van Frytom (1632-1702) was the best-known painter of plaques, plates, and dishes decorated with detailed landscapes, with dark-toned foregrounds, lighter-hued middle grounds, and hazy backgrounds. Tiles, drug jars, ewers and other hollow-wares, dishes, and flower-holders, some of great complexity (such as tall tulip vases), were produced. The most important factories included The Metal Pot, whose owner Adriacnus Kocks (d. 1701) supplied wares to the court of William and Mary, and The Rose, The Axe, The Three Bells, The White Star, The Greek A, and The Peacock. The still-life paintings of luscious flower displays by Dutch artists such as Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer and Jan van Huysum were very influential on the design of Delftware at this time.
POLYCHROME WARES
From c.1683 imports of Chinese porcelain were resumed, affecting the production of Delftware, which was aimed at the same market. From the end of the century, potters in Delft began to experiment with a polychrome palette. Wares follow the colourful famille-verte (green, red, yellow, purple, and red) and famille-rose (an opaque pink, white, and yellow) export porcelains made in China, which sometimes employed gilding. Another important influence were the Japanese Imari and Kakiemon porcelains, which were imported into The Netherlands in the middle of the 17th century while the Chinese imports were suspended. Dutch polychome wares tended to be restricted to a palette of yellow, blue, purple, green, red, and black. An important producer of polychrome wares in Delft was The Greek A factory (est. 1658), run by the Van Eenhoorn family.
Most of the wares produced during the 18th century are somewhat mundane, decorated with small repeating
patterns. Biblical subjects, plates painted with images of the months, and whaling and seal-hunting scenes were all popular forms of decoration. Production during the 18th century was extremely diverse and included wall plaques, flower-holders, coffee and tea services, butter-tubs, drug jars, candlesticks, garnitures or vases, punch-bowls, dishes, and small models of shoes. There were more than 30 potteries in Delft in the late-17th and 18th centuries, some specializing in tile production, although it seems that only two of these continued production in the 19th century. The increased popularity of English creamware (cream-coloured earthenware) caused the demise of the tin-glazed industry in The Netherlands from the early 19th century.
• BODY extremely fine, soft, and generally thinly potted
• GLAZE thick, white, and with a “peppered” effect due to air bubbles exploding during firing, seen most clearly on the backs of dishes
• STYLE until c.1600: Italianate/Fontainebleau; c.1610-20: Chinese kraak designs; c.1620-50: local styles; from c.1650: Chinese-style blue and white; from the early 18th century: an increase in polychrome in the style of Chinese and Japanese wares
• CENTRES OF PRODUCTION Delft, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Haarlem, Middelburg, and Rotterdam
• COLLECTING the choice for the collector is wide since so much was made; the condition wit] vary, but expect to find chipping on the rims of wares

Spain’s major contribution to European ceramics history is lustreware. The technique for firing lustred pottery was first developed in the early Islamic world, probably in the 9th century. The Moors conquered Spain in the 8th century, but it was probably not until the mid-13th century that lustred pottery was made there.
LUSTREWARE
The most important centres for lustreware were first at Malaga and later at Manises (near Valencia) in southern Spain. The earliest wares show a strong Islamic influence, with Kufic (Arabic) script, and such motifs as the tree of life, the “Hand of Fatima”, and knot patterns. The Output consisted mainly of dishes, bowls, pitchers, albarelli (drug jars ), jars, and tiles. Lustre itself varies in colouring; toward the end of the 15th century it became
redder, and later in the 17th century a brash coppery colour. During the late 14th and early 15th centuries   it is often difficult to distinguish one centre of production from another.
Popular 15th-century motifs include bryony, crowns, fern-like leaves, or acacia (the latter is often used alone), parsley flowers, cotton stalks, vines, and ivy leaves. Other tiny geometric patterns were also used as ground
LATER SPANISH POTTERY
Glazed earthenware appears to have been made in Talavera de la Reina, near Toledo, and at Puente del Arzobispo, from at least the first half of the 16th century. Early    mainly
wares were decorated     in an Italian or a Flemish style, until a regional style emerged in the late 16th century. Dishes, basins, jugs, and other domestic wares were made in increasing quantities to replace silverware, the use of which was severely restricted after 1601 with the introduction of  sumptuary laws. Dishes, of which a large number survive, were painted in high-fired colours – brown, a brilliant green, ochre, and blue. The most popular subjects were soldiers, bust portraits, animals, birds, and coats of arms surrounded by a framework of partially hatched foliage. Among the more successful types are scenes with equestrian figures, hunting scenes, and animals careering amid curly foliage. Apart from the
wares already-    the range included albarelli, amphoras, and holy water stoups from c.1560 to 1650. Many blue-and-white wares were also painted in the
manner of  late Ming export porcelain.
In 1727 a factory was established in Alcorn, north of Valencia, which soon became the foremost ceramic factory in Spain, making a high-quality faience called loza fina. na. With the help of craftsmen such as Edouard Roux from Moustiers in France, a wide range of
beautifully modelled and painted wares was produced. Output included animal-form spice-pots, animal-shaped tureens like those made in Strasbourg, and trompe Poeil dishes decorated with fake comestibles. Decoration was inspired by early Moustiers with blue grotesques or polychrome lambrequins, dwarfs, and fantastic creatures. In many cases it is very difficult to distinguish Alcora from Moustiers ware, although the former is composed of a fine reddish clay while the latter is usually of a warm buff clay. The success of Alcora encouraged other Spanish factories to adopt the French style.
In common with other European factories after 1800, Spanish potters continued in the established traditions. Generally the output consisted mainly of more utilitarian objects such as basins, dishes, and jugs intended for the domestic market or for the tourist trade. The themes are mostly simplified renditions of 17th- and 18th-century wares, including animals –the hare, the deer, and the bull – almost all of which are set amid modestly drawn vegetation; armorial ornament; geometrical designs using concentric circles or simple repeated motifs; and foliated decoration. Whatever the type of decoration, the wares are usually painted with bold brushstrokes in the old “hot” colours – green, manganese, yellow, and ochre – and sometimes with a pinkish puce that was virtually unknown before the 19th century. This later production is of variable quality, ranging from crude, gritty ware to the slick, hard-edged appearance of modern mass-produced ware.
•    GLAZE Arzobispo and Talavera: hard and glassy
•    WARES tableware, drug jars, basins, ewers, vases, tiles
•    PALETTI lustreware: red hue and later a brash coppery colour; Arzobispo and Talavera: dominated by rich green, blue, and ochre, with manganese detailing; Alcorn: blue and white or polychrome
•    DECORATION lustreware: mainly small floral or geometric designs enclosing an armorial bearing and later with large feathery leaves, fish, and other animals; faience: Arzobispo and Talavera wares were vigorously painted with landscapes, figures, or animals; Alcora: lambrequins and arabesques similar to Moustiers
•    IMPORTANT CENTRES OF PRODUCTION Malaga and
Manises (lustreware), Puente del Arzobispo, Talavera de la Reina, Alcora
Marks
Early lustreware is never marked; Talavera: wares Were never marked before the 19th century; later they were frequently marked with the full name
Alcora factory wares (1727–c.1785) marked in manganese brown

Antique Mirrors
Although German glassmakers produced convex mirrors from the 15th century, it was not until c.1500 that flat mirror plates were made using the broad-glass technique. This was invented in Venice, and revolutionized mirror production during the 16th and 17th centuries. The technique was later replaced by the plate-glass process first used at the Saint Gobain Glasshouse (est. 1693), in Paris, which allowed the production of larger and more even mirror plates. The Parisian makers enjoyed unchallenged prosperity until the late 18th century when the British Plate Glass Manufactory in London succeeded in manufacturing the large plates, which were so admired.
BAROQUE MIRRORS
Late 17th-century southern European mirrors are usually of rectangular form, with the central plates invariably “bevelled” or chamfered at the edges and contained within mirrored borders; the plates are often engraved or etched with mythological or pastoral scenes. The carved frames, either giltwood or silvered, usually display a Baroque exuberance, with acanthus, putti, masks, and cornucopias. Late 17th-century northern European mirrors were often conceived of as dressing mirrors, designed en suite with matching dressing tables and torcheres (candle stands). Of rectangular form, frequently with convex or cushion-moulded frames and usually crowned by shaped crestings, which was often similarly carved, these late 17th-century mirrors display remarkable inventiveness in their use of materials. The production of larger plates led to the introduction of pier glasses, placed between the window piers, the culmination of which are the mirrors in the Galerie des Glaces at the palace of Versailles. Although Paris’s lead was followed throughout Europe, particularly in Italy, Britain, and Germany, with mirrored borders often enriched with coloured or engraved glass, the plates were almost always divided.
EARLY 18TH-CENTURY MIRRORS
Although French mirror-frames during the Louis XIV (1643-1715) and Regence (1715-23) periods are usually of carved and gilded lime, pine, or oak, enriched with masks, dragons, and serpents, Charles Crescent (1685-1768), the cabinet-maker to the Duc d’Orleans, supplied his patron with vast pier glasses with gilt-bronze frames. These important mirrors, so widely copied in the 19th century, were also produced in Germany and Sweden. However, in the main, German, Swedish, and Danish mirrors made in the first half of the 18th century tended to follow the lead of Paris, although in execution the carving is often slightly flatter.
During the Queen Anne and early Georgian periods a distinctive national style emerged in Britain. Thus, although tall pier glasses with bevelled, divided plates, and mirrored borders, enriched the window-piers of the great aristocratic houses, their frames began to be decorated in gilt-gesso, with finely etched and pounced decoration. This gave way between
c.1725 and 1750 to the fashion for more architectural mirrors in the Palladian style advocated by Lord Burlington (1694-1753) and William Kent (c.1685-1748). These mirrors often display triangular or scrolled, swan-neck pediments, centred by the mask of a Roman god, an acanthus spray, or an armorial cartouche. Although often gilded or painted cream, these mirrors are most frequently of walnut, with gilding usually reserved for the carved architectural mouldings and cresting. In North America mirrors with simple frames topped with arched crests were popular from the 1730s. Carved and gilded openwork shells were often inserted in the crests.
CHIPPENDALE AND ROCOCO MIRRORS
In the 1740s Palladianism gave way to the Rococo style. Inspired by the designs of Nicolas Pineau (1684-1754) in France, Johann Christian Hoppenhaupt (b.1719), in Germany, and Matthias Lock (c.1710-65) in England, the new vocabulary incorporated flowers, acanthus, C-scrolls, and even chinoiserie figures from the 1750s. Even the mirror-plate was decorated, and rare examples survive where the surface was painted in oils with putti and floral garlands. But it was the Chinese who perfected this art with their reverse-painted mirror pictures, which were exported to England from the mid-18thcentury.
The name of Thomas Chippendale (1718-79) is synonymous with the carved giltwood mirrors of the 1750s and 1760s. His designs were influential throughout Europe, particularly in Portugal, and North America, and indeed served as the inspiration for several 19th-century revivals, most importantly those of the 1830s, 1840s, and c.1900.
Rococo “Chippendale” mirrors of the 1750s, as well as those in the early Neo-classical style of the 1760s, are usually of carved and gilded lime or pine, with filigree applied decoration, often of gesso or plaster applied onto wire;
papier-mache examples also survive. This technique, which enables great depth and quality in the detailing but is much more vulnerable, was superseded by gilt-composition, a plaster that is heavier, solid, and cold to the touch, but which could be cast in moulds. Early North American Neo-classical mirrors had narrow mouldings enclosing rectilinear or oval glass, while later examples became heavier. Often the frame was round, with a convex mirror based on patterns by Thomas Sheraton 1851-1806) and George Smith (active c.1786-1828).
DRESSING AND CHEVAL MIRRORS
It was not until the 17th century that dressing mirrors became free-standing. Initially they were made of silver or silver-gilt with trestle supports to the reverse, and designed en suite with lady’s dressing-sets. During the latter half of he 17th century Venetian and Parisian craftsmen supplied exquisitely decorated toilet mirrors of this design to the ladies of the court. By the early 18th century toilet mirrors had become sturdier, often standing on plinth bases, which contained drawers, the most sophisticated being serpentine wonted; numerous examples, particularly from Britain, survive – either of walnut and parcel-gilt or of plain or carved mahogany, and even with painted or japanned decoration. The mirrors were, however, principally rectangular, and it was not until the 1770s that oval dressing mirrors, later popularized by Sheraton, appeared. Regency and American Federal examples tend to be more rectangular, the plates often positioned horizontally, the decoration restrained in the extreme and often found only in the baluster-turning of the upright supports.
Cheval or standing dressing mirrors were first recorded in Paris at the court of Louis WE and the design was quickly adopted in Britain. Under Napoleon I cheval mirrors reached a new height of extravagance and luxury, being mounted in gilt-bronze with mythological deities, stars, and Classical reliefs, the plates often arched and supported by Classical columns. This style was copied throughout Europe, particularly in Britain, Austria, Germany, and in North America, and it was also revived in the later 19th century under Napoleon III (1852-70).
19TH-CENTURY MIRRORS
In North America mirrors with arched crests in the 18th-century style continued to be made in the early 19th century and had simple ornament, were narrower, and had less top-heavy proportions. The Empire style, which was associated with Napoleon then spread throughout Europe and then to North America. The pier mirrors of the early 19th century are characterized by the use of ebonized and giltwood decoration, often enriched with Classical reliefs and architectural motifs in gilt-composition (gilt-lead in Sweden), or perhaps framing a verre eglomise panel. The mirrors of the later 19th century were almost all inspired by precedents of earlier centuries. However, they usually betray their age by a slight misinterpretation or embellishment of earlier ornament. The Rococo Revival was superseded by the “Jacobethan” or 16th- and 17th-century Mannerist designs in the mid-19th 9th century; toward the end of the century both Neo-classical and Rococo styles prevailed and the revival mirrors of this period are frequently directly copied from published designs.
• MIRROR GLASS 18th-century glass tends to be fairly thin, with the bevelling soft and shallow, and the cutting uneven; 19th-century glass is thicker, the bevelling cut at an acute angle, and the cutting even; original glass is desirable, and if the glass is cloudy it may be possible to have it re-silvered; replacing glass should generally be avoided.
• FRAMES composition frames are vulnerable to damage and are less expensive than giltwood or silvered frames.
• COLLECTING “Chippendale” mirrors are notoriously difficult to date, particularly if they have been re-gilded and a discolouring wash has been painted on the reverse of the frame; 19th-century copies do, however, often betray themselves through a misunderstanding of motifs and ornament; Rococo Revival mirrors tend to have over-fussy decoration and heavier carving.