International studio (33.1907/1908(1908))

Martin Pottery

'without being a copy of the markings upon a melon,
seems to us to have been suggested by them ; that of
Fig. 2—an excellent one to bring out the “ broken ”
colour of running glazes—might have resulted from
the appearance of a corn-cob, from which the grain
has been extracted. Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 have
characteristics of surface, form or decoration, which
remind one of certain sea-shells or sea-weed;
Fig. 7 displays the net-like structure of certain
■organisms; Fig. 8 has a texture not unlike that
of a cabbage; Fig. 9, the skin of a wild animal;
while Fig. ro simulates in its colour and texture
an egg. To have imitated exactly such objects


FIG. 17. MODELLED AND INCISED DECORATION
■would have been inappropriate and inartistic; but
to have allowed them to suggest a scheme of orna-
mentation adapted to the technical requirements
and qualities of the material is entirely permissible.
The striations on Fig. 1 follow and accentuate
the form of the vase, breaking up the surface into
pleasant irregularity, and display the coloured
enamel to great advantage. Fig. 2 is simply another


device apparently selected with the same object in
view. Figs. 3 and 4, with their shell-like qualities


FIG. 19. MODELLED AND INCISED DECORATION

of surface, are admirable examples of the clever
manipulation of glazes—Fig. 4 being, indeed, a
chef d'ceuvre of the potter’s art—alike perfect in
potting and glazing. The striations in the panels
are incised and not painted.


FIG. 20. MODELLED AND INCISED DECORATION

Incised pattern filled in with paste of a different
colour to the body of the ware, which we have
referred to as Mishima, was a favourite method
of decoration of the old Corean and Japanese
potters. It is a class of ornamentation which can
only be produced by the potter himself, as it must
be completed while the clay is in a damp state,
before it is fired. It is one which has been some-
what neglected in Europe. In recent years the
1 r3

FIG. 18. MODELLED DECORATION