Posts Tagged ‘czechoslovakian lusterware’

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.

Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty (960-1279) is regarded as the classic period of Chinese ceramics, when simple, elegant wares decorated with attractive monochrome glazes were produced. The five “classic wares” – Ding, Jun, Ru, Guano, and Ge – were produced for imperial use, while other wares, notably Cizhou and some of the northern celadons, were made for a much wider market.
CELADONS
The most characteristic Song ceramics are the celadons, with their iron-derived, semi-translucent, usually greenish glaze. When the Song court was situated in northern China (960-1126), such centres of production as Yaozhou in Shaanxi Province became important for celadons; the most distinctive northern celadons are those with incised or moulded decoration of floral scrolls covered with an olive-green glaze. The later Longquan or southern celadon usually has a pale-grey body that shows the thick, opaque, bluish-green, slightly bubbly glaze to advantage. The best Longquan wares include archaic forms and items for the scholar’s desk, bowls, and vases. Jun wares made in Yu xian and Linru in Henan Province are thickly potted stonewares with a lavender-blue glaze often splashed with purple derived from copper oxide and, very rarely, green. Typical forms include chunky globular jars. Ru wares, the rarest and most coveted of all Song ceramics, are simple, elegant stonewares with a crackled blue-green glaze. Guan wares have light buff or dark stoneware bodies with a very thick, pale-greyish glaze that is usually strongly crackled and may be black, brown, or clear. The bodies show dark brown or black on the unglazed rims and feet.
OTHER WARES
Ding wares, made in Ding xian in Hebei Province, are fine porcellaneous stonewares with a warm ivory glaze, made in delicate shapes, including ewers and vases as well as small plates and bowls. Most flatware was fired upside down – the rims were left unglazed, and were bound with gold-coloured metal (now
patinated). Moulded decoration was introduced in the 11th cenrury; in this a reusable stoneware mould was impressed onto the hard clay, creating closely meshed designs; the earlier, more fluid, hand-carved ornament was also used. Qingbai (bluish white) wares from
Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province have a fine white porcelain body and a glassy blue glaze that tends to pool. These items are very delicate and elegant, and include thinly potted conical bowls and beautifully proportioned vases.
Fine black-glazed stonewares were produced during the Song period in Henan Province and at Jian in Jiangxi Province. Blackwares were sometimes decorated with red-brown floral designs. Cizhou wares, named after the kilns in Cizhou in Hebei Province, are sturdy stonewares with robust designs in black-and-white slip; often part of the black slip was scraped away to create a textured pattern (sgraffito), while on other wares the designs were sometimes painted on. Common shapes include “pillows” and meiping (an inverted-pear-shaped vase).
Marks
Song wares are generally unmarked, although a few stoneware moulds have survived with 12th- or 13th-century dates incised on the surface

• BODY most Song wares are stonewares, although Ding and Qinghai wares are porcellaneousSTYLE
• subtle and scholarly, in contrast to the flamboyance of the preceding Tang period and the subsequent Yuan period; from the 12th century there is a strong archaizing tendency, with a fashion for classic jade and bronze shapes
• DECORATION many Song wares are without ornament, relying for effect on the harmony between glaze and form; early Ding and northern celadons are decorated with restrained carved designs – some later wares have busier moulded floral and foliate decoration; Cizhou wares show the greatest variety of decorative techniques