DOI Heft:
No. 57 (November, 1901)
DOI Artikel:Holme, Charles: The potter's art: Object lessons from the Far East
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22772#0077
The Potter's Art
lilies displayed resting upon the water and reflected
therein are infinitely more gratifying to behold than
when tied closely together in bunches and placed
in a narrow-neck Worcester or Sevres, or any other
highly decorated vase.
An Owari potter, in his efforts to make an
earthenware vessel adapted to such a purpose,
produced the form shown upon page 49. This
piece is fashioned in a style stated to have
originated with Shino, a famous aesthete, who
lived about a.d. 1700.
It is simply a piece of earth modelled by hand
into the desired form. It is unsymmetrical in
shape, because symmetry in this instance was not
required. Ponds and puddles are not symmetrical.
In covering the vessel with glaze to render it imper-
vious to water a heavy white enamel was,employed,
which was allowed to run unevenly and to separate
itself in the kiln by a method known only to the
potter. The effect obtained is such as when filled
with water the bottom appears to be strewn with
small quartz pebbles. This, of course, is intentional,
because when the flowers are arranged in the metal
holder, which rests upon the bottom of the vessel,
the metal is covered over with a little heap of
pebbles, wrhich hides it from view • and the pebbles
harmonise with the glazing
of the dish, and are not
unduly prominent. The
rim of the dish is slightly
inclined inward towards its
edge, so that when carried
full of water the liquor
cannot be readily spilt.
The little spout at the side
for emptying the vessel is
so formed that it does not
project beyond the body,
and so is less liable to be
chipped than would other-
wise be the case. There is
no mistaking what the
object is made of. It does
not simulate a wooden tub,
neither is it made to imitate
bronze or ivory or even
porcelain. It is, frankly,
earthenware — that, and
nothing more. It makes
no pretence to be in itself
ornamental. Its beauty is
only realised when it is
actually serving the purpose
for which it was made.
But every detail has been
carefully thought out, and
it may worthily take its
place with the Egyptian
water-bottle and the Devon-
shire jug, with the added
interest wdiich a highly-
skilled potter and a true
aesthete has been able to
impart to it.
The form shown in the
coloured illustration is also
of Owari make, q and is
lilies displayed resting upon the water and reflected
therein are infinitely more gratifying to behold than
when tied closely together in bunches and placed
in a narrow-neck Worcester or Sevres, or any other
highly decorated vase.
An Owari potter, in his efforts to make an
earthenware vessel adapted to such a purpose,
produced the form shown upon page 49. This
piece is fashioned in a style stated to have
originated with Shino, a famous aesthete, who
lived about a.d. 1700.
It is simply a piece of earth modelled by hand
into the desired form. It is unsymmetrical in
shape, because symmetry in this instance was not
required. Ponds and puddles are not symmetrical.
In covering the vessel with glaze to render it imper-
vious to water a heavy white enamel was,employed,
which was allowed to run unevenly and to separate
itself in the kiln by a method known only to the
potter. The effect obtained is such as when filled
with water the bottom appears to be strewn with
small quartz pebbles. This, of course, is intentional,
because when the flowers are arranged in the metal
holder, which rests upon the bottom of the vessel,
the metal is covered over with a little heap of
pebbles, wrhich hides it from view • and the pebbles
harmonise with the glazing
of the dish, and are not
unduly prominent. The
rim of the dish is slightly
inclined inward towards its
edge, so that when carried
full of water the liquor
cannot be readily spilt.
The little spout at the side
for emptying the vessel is
so formed that it does not
project beyond the body,
and so is less liable to be
chipped than would other-
wise be the case. There is
no mistaking what the
object is made of. It does
not simulate a wooden tub,
neither is it made to imitate
bronze or ivory or even
porcelain. It is, frankly,
earthenware — that, and
nothing more. It makes
no pretence to be in itself
ornamental. Its beauty is
only realised when it is
actually serving the purpose
for which it was made.
But every detail has been
carefully thought out, and
it may worthily take its
place with the Egyptian
water-bottle and the Devon-
shire jug, with the added
interest wdiich a highly-
skilled potter and a true
aesthete has been able to
impart to it.
The form shown in the
coloured illustration is also
of Owari make, q and is