Studio: international art (18.1900)

Arts and Crafts

"the henchman." pottery panel

hy leon v. sot.on

painting of the glass being employed save in the
case of human figures, where a clear defining of the
features of the face, hands and feet is indispensable.
It is marvellous what rich and satisfying results can
be obtained by this simple process.

As the outcome of considerable experience, Mr.
Sumner by no means literally follows out the same
method of sgraffito which was originally practised
in Florence and other parts of Italy. The former
masters of the craft seem to have retained always
in their minds the idea of niello or of engraving, as
is manifest, among other things, by their use of
cross-hatching. Whereas Mr. Sumner, accepting
logically the conditions of sgraffito as an art of dis-
tinctive properties of its own, produces by means of
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it the finest effects in white plaster against a flat-
tinted background. Again, whereas the Italians
used to lay on the several colours successively
one over another, and then scrape down to the
required stratum for each, Mr. Sumner, by care-
ful planning beforehand, disposes his patches of
colour as wanted on the same surface, so that
only one layer has to be cut away to one level
throughout. That this is a far more convenient
system of working goes without saying. In
sgraffito no haziness, no sketchiness, is permis-
sible ; no trusting to the adventitious support of
colour to supply initial imperfections of form.
Everything has to be bold, clear, and decisive.
Moreover the freedom of line necessarily attained
by rendering every stroke of the entire pattern
with a knife held in the hand gives a never-fail-
ing vigour and freshness to the work. In short,
sgraffito is of the very essence of pure decoration,
and Mr. Sumner may well be, as indeed he is, an
enthusiast on its behalf.

Although Mr. Leon Solon modestly describes
himself as simply a potter, with no mysterious
professional secrets, it is clear to all who are
acquainted with his work and methods that the
practice of the craft has been carried in his hands
to a high pitch of advancement. Nay, one is
sometimes inclined to wonder whether he has
not contrived to make too much out of it. Who,
for instance, would ever guess, on seeing the
elaborate compositions here reproduced, that the
originals from which the photographs were taken
are of ceramic ware ? The Black Cat is for all
the world like a pictorial drawing or painting, and
the same might be said of the mystical subject,
Ave Maris Stella, but for a slight indication of
relief in the crests of the waves. Having now
discharged our conscience by acknowledging that
what we miss in this work of Mr. Solon's is any
of those peculiar attributes which should stamp it
for pottery and pottery only, we are free to indulge
our admiration at the amazing tour de force he has
accomplished. That he is an excellent draughtsman
no one who has observed the graceful and harmo-
nious lines of his Black Cat will venture to dispute.
And this dexterity of drawing is conjoined with a
thorough knowledge and mastery of the potter's
technical processes. Most of his panels are the
result of a combination of several processes, Mr.
Solon being scarcely ever content with adopting one
process by itself. Thus he finds he can obtain, by
laying on wet coloured slips before the clay slab is
dried, certain qualities that are quite distinct from
those of colour employed on the glaze. Some effects