DOI Heft:
Nr. 78 (Septembre 1899)
DOI Artikel:Sparrow, Walter Shaw: William de Morgan and his pottery, 1
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19232#0262
IVilliani De Morgan
PANEL FOR FIREPLACE IN DE MORGAN WARE
DESIGNED BY HALSEY RICARDO
able to a successful application of colour to external
walls.
About the tiles and the tile-pictures in the
illustrations, that draw attention to some of their
uses within the house, very little need be said,
as they speak for themselves. The picture of
Justitia, with its grace, its exquisitely wrought
detail, and its simple and alert rhythm of line,
was painted in Florence from a cartoon by Mr.
De Morgan. Justitia’s hair is golden; the dark
part of her dress is a deep olive green, blue is the
colour of the light part; and the hanging sleeves
have a rose-tinted lining. It is easy to perceive,
I think, that the beautiful art of Mrs. De Morgan
has at times a strong influence on her husband’s
figure-drawing.
The Camelot panel for a fireplace, with its
squadrons of English and French knights, some
on white horses, others on brown, is an excellent
piece of work of Mr. De Morgan’s sometime
partner, Mr. Halsey Ricardo. The colour through-
out is rich and harmonious, the sunny blue of the
sky contrasting admirably with the greyish-green
of the trees and with the pleasing shades of the
manganese brown and purple in the mountains
and in the castle. One feels that a bird could fly
round the castle and over the mountains. In
this picture there is light, there is air, and every
part of it, from a merely technical point of view,
is full of interest. The panel came about in this
way. A design was wanted for tiles to go round
three sides of a particular grate. Mr. Ricardo
made a water-colour sketch—to inch scale—and
then proceeded to work on the tiles when they
were yet in the state of dry unburnt clay. With a
tool he modelled in relief the castle, the mountain,
the branches, and other parts of his design; then
the tiles were fired to “ biscuit ” and “ grounded.”
It was now time to outline the picture in colour,
and when this was done the tiles were handed over
to Mr. Charles Passenger, one of the painters at
the factory, who finished them from the water-
colour drawing. A special quality of brilliance, of
luminousness, is obtained by the use of modelled
surfaces, and I may add that the whole panel has
been glazed and fired five times.
Walter Shaw Sparrow.
Sir T. D. Gibson Carmichael has lent his very
valuable collection of goldsmith’s work and jewel-
lery for exhibition at the Victoria and Albert
Museum, South Kensington. The most important
works of art in the collection are a gold shrine of
the fifteenth century, a gold pomander decorated
with enamels, rubies, emeralds and pearls, a gold
pendant in the style of Cellini, a Mexican triptych,
a rock-crystal shrine mounted with gold and precious
stones, and some specimens of Teutonic jewellery.
231
PANEL FOR FIREPLACE IN DE MORGAN WARE
DESIGNED BY HALSEY RICARDO
able to a successful application of colour to external
walls.
About the tiles and the tile-pictures in the
illustrations, that draw attention to some of their
uses within the house, very little need be said,
as they speak for themselves. The picture of
Justitia, with its grace, its exquisitely wrought
detail, and its simple and alert rhythm of line,
was painted in Florence from a cartoon by Mr.
De Morgan. Justitia’s hair is golden; the dark
part of her dress is a deep olive green, blue is the
colour of the light part; and the hanging sleeves
have a rose-tinted lining. It is easy to perceive,
I think, that the beautiful art of Mrs. De Morgan
has at times a strong influence on her husband’s
figure-drawing.
The Camelot panel for a fireplace, with its
squadrons of English and French knights, some
on white horses, others on brown, is an excellent
piece of work of Mr. De Morgan’s sometime
partner, Mr. Halsey Ricardo. The colour through-
out is rich and harmonious, the sunny blue of the
sky contrasting admirably with the greyish-green
of the trees and with the pleasing shades of the
manganese brown and purple in the mountains
and in the castle. One feels that a bird could fly
round the castle and over the mountains. In
this picture there is light, there is air, and every
part of it, from a merely technical point of view,
is full of interest. The panel came about in this
way. A design was wanted for tiles to go round
three sides of a particular grate. Mr. Ricardo
made a water-colour sketch—to inch scale—and
then proceeded to work on the tiles when they
were yet in the state of dry unburnt clay. With a
tool he modelled in relief the castle, the mountain,
the branches, and other parts of his design; then
the tiles were fired to “ biscuit ” and “ grounded.”
It was now time to outline the picture in colour,
and when this was done the tiles were handed over
to Mr. Charles Passenger, one of the painters at
the factory, who finished them from the water-
colour drawing. A special quality of brilliance, of
luminousness, is obtained by the use of modelled
surfaces, and I may add that the whole panel has
been glazed and fired five times.
Walter Shaw Sparrow.
Sir T. D. Gibson Carmichael has lent his very
valuable collection of goldsmith’s work and jewel-
lery for exhibition at the Victoria and Albert
Museum, South Kensington. The most important
works of art in the collection are a gold shrine of
the fifteenth century, a gold pomander decorated
with enamels, rubies, emeralds and pearls, a gold
pendant in the style of Cellini, a Mexican triptych,
a rock-crystal shrine mounted with gold and precious
stones, and some specimens of Teutonic jewellery.
231