DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36284#0049
41
The expression of the bower's growth was closely
regarded in the manner in which the drawing and colouring
were done, and this gives to the boral decorations on the
old glass-work, in spite of the most extravagant stylism,
a particularly natural grace and charm. The enamels are
densely and harmoniously grouped around the eye or heart
of the bower, and if the various leaves or petals are
expressed by means of double or treble tints (—to go
beyond that number is extremely rare),* the innermost
spot of colour is usually the smallest, and is succeeded, as
the painter approached the tip of the petal or leaf, by
a gradual expansion of the tint in proportion to the shape
and size of the leaf The colour-combinations made use
of are the following : the innermost spot of colour-f- is
always the clearest, and in blue and red leaves is without
exception white, in green leaves yellow. Sometimes, in
red and blue leaves thus becked with white, there are
of the material at the time of burning-in. There was never
any expectation that the colours would bow and mingle
together. The enamel drawn on in the form of paste—as
we have elsewhere mentioned—was never left without
the corresponding broad frame-lines in gold, so that its
chromatic effect should be maintained upon any incidental
ground whatever. Most frequently the whole belds were
full-gilt, in which the bowers or ornaments were
enamelled. The mode of colour-treatment is summed up
brieby in these formulae: Coloured decoration and gold
ground; gold decoration and bare glass ground.
The principle of Decoration employed upon these
examples of glass-work is, in fact, nothing else but a
perpetual alternation of full-gilt belds with enamel painting,
and variegated belds with gold designs, these being either
outlined in enamel, whether carefully or negligently, or not
outlined at all. It is an exceptional case when the ground
FiG. 42. L*rq/i7es.- 1. TAeLaw^erM, awd 5 7Ae .Awp o/ -Baro% d/pAo?Me Je L&7A.scAiM. 2. TAe TM?nA7e?* os Asada?ue FAFoMard yl?i,drc. 3. TAe(?rea7
o/ Ldser ^lda7Aer7 Laima, a7 LrapMe, and 4 7Ae (ro7de% in 7Ac (OnepOM?'7A 7Ae size o/* 7Ae oriyinais.)
intermediate tones of clear red and light blue ; in green
leaves, it is greenish-yellow.
Besides the colours mentioned above, the Oriental
enameller knew only of black-brown in various shades, some
of which were evidently the result of chance, and some
were modibcations produced by mixture with white or red.
The tree-stems in plates IY and XVI are expressed in this
way. The plain black-brown is used exclusively in hgured
decorations and in armorial symbols. ^
It is only by chance that the enamels undergo
disturbance inside the outlines, and plainly by the running
* We know but one specimen of the kind, in which as many as four
different shades of colour appeared in a single leaf. It is the Wurzburg
glass in the British Museum. See the tree-top on plate XXI.
t Exceptions to this rule are of the utmost rarity. There is one such
in the green enamelled spots of the tree-crown on plate XXI.
t In the armorial figures there is a colour used, which is very thin, and
of the tint of white wine or a little warmer. We find it nowhere else in the
decorative adornment.
of the variegated designs is coloured; and then it is only
painted on the back of the glass in thin tints.*
The burning-in of the enamels seems to have been
effected by a single operation. The green appears often
to have run bat, as it is indeed the most easily liquehed.
Often the various enamels lose their colour and become
baked, which indicates that their preparation, and the
provision made for the success of the work, were of the
most primitive kind.
And yet the decorative effect, even of the most
clumsily executed pieces, is very striking, because of the
fact that in these decorations there is manifest a con-
tinuous tendency towards harmonious contrasts in drawing
* The " green" lump of Captain Myers (plate XVII) and the foot
(fragment) of a lamp in the Slade Collection, British Museum,—likewise
green—are the only specimens we know os glass painted with a relatively
thick application of pigment from behind, and this occupies the whole
surface.
The expression of the bower's growth was closely
regarded in the manner in which the drawing and colouring
were done, and this gives to the boral decorations on the
old glass-work, in spite of the most extravagant stylism,
a particularly natural grace and charm. The enamels are
densely and harmoniously grouped around the eye or heart
of the bower, and if the various leaves or petals are
expressed by means of double or treble tints (—to go
beyond that number is extremely rare),* the innermost
spot of colour is usually the smallest, and is succeeded, as
the painter approached the tip of the petal or leaf, by
a gradual expansion of the tint in proportion to the shape
and size of the leaf The colour-combinations made use
of are the following : the innermost spot of colour-f- is
always the clearest, and in blue and red leaves is without
exception white, in green leaves yellow. Sometimes, in
red and blue leaves thus becked with white, there are
of the material at the time of burning-in. There was never
any expectation that the colours would bow and mingle
together. The enamel drawn on in the form of paste—as
we have elsewhere mentioned—was never left without
the corresponding broad frame-lines in gold, so that its
chromatic effect should be maintained upon any incidental
ground whatever. Most frequently the whole belds were
full-gilt, in which the bowers or ornaments were
enamelled. The mode of colour-treatment is summed up
brieby in these formulae: Coloured decoration and gold
ground; gold decoration and bare glass ground.
The principle of Decoration employed upon these
examples of glass-work is, in fact, nothing else but a
perpetual alternation of full-gilt belds with enamel painting,
and variegated belds with gold designs, these being either
outlined in enamel, whether carefully or negligently, or not
outlined at all. It is an exceptional case when the ground
FiG. 42. L*rq/i7es.- 1. TAeLaw^erM, awd 5 7Ae .Awp o/ -Baro% d/pAo?Me Je L&7A.scAiM. 2. TAe TM?nA7e?* os Asada?ue FAFoMard yl?i,drc. 3. TAe(?rea7
o/ Ldser ^lda7Aer7 Laima, a7 LrapMe, and 4 7Ae (ro7de% in 7Ac (OnepOM?'7A 7Ae size o/* 7Ae oriyinais.)
intermediate tones of clear red and light blue ; in green
leaves, it is greenish-yellow.
Besides the colours mentioned above, the Oriental
enameller knew only of black-brown in various shades, some
of which were evidently the result of chance, and some
were modibcations produced by mixture with white or red.
The tree-stems in plates IY and XVI are expressed in this
way. The plain black-brown is used exclusively in hgured
decorations and in armorial symbols. ^
It is only by chance that the enamels undergo
disturbance inside the outlines, and plainly by the running
* We know but one specimen of the kind, in which as many as four
different shades of colour appeared in a single leaf. It is the Wurzburg
glass in the British Museum. See the tree-top on plate XXI.
t Exceptions to this rule are of the utmost rarity. There is one such
in the green enamelled spots of the tree-crown on plate XXI.
t In the armorial figures there is a colour used, which is very thin, and
of the tint of white wine or a little warmer. We find it nowhere else in the
decorative adornment.
of the variegated designs is coloured; and then it is only
painted on the back of the glass in thin tints.*
The burning-in of the enamels seems to have been
effected by a single operation. The green appears often
to have run bat, as it is indeed the most easily liquehed.
Often the various enamels lose their colour and become
baked, which indicates that their preparation, and the
provision made for the success of the work, were of the
most primitive kind.
And yet the decorative effect, even of the most
clumsily executed pieces, is very striking, because of the
fact that in these decorations there is manifest a con-
tinuous tendency towards harmonious contrasts in drawing
* The " green" lump of Captain Myers (plate XVII) and the foot
(fragment) of a lamp in the Slade Collection, British Museum,—likewise
green—are the only specimens we know os glass painted with a relatively
thick application of pigment from behind, and this occupies the whole
surface.