DOI Heft:
No. 137 (August, 1904)
DOI Artikel:Reviews
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19882#0291
Reviews
tion, however, cannot fail to suggest itself: Has
the writer of " Whistler as I knew Him" done
much to cleanse what he calls the false atmo-
sphere ? Has he not rather added to its
murkiness, by making the man he calls " the
Master" appear ridiculous, as when he describes
his behaviour at the hair-dressers, or his discourtesy
to his hostess at a musical party, and remarks
casually, " He picked great men off their feet when
they were not looking and thrust them through
plate-glass windows in Piccadilly." Such manifest
flaws as these cannot fail to detract from the per-
manent value of a book which, in spite of them, is
full of deeply interesting data respecting Whistler's
methods, of real revelations of his remarkable
personality, and of pathetic instances of the devo-
tion of his followers. Moreover, Mr. Menpes dis-
plays considerable tact in his references to his
own quarrels with Whistler, or rather, Whistler's
quarrels with him, for the gradual estrangement
which ended in a complete rupture was entirely
the result of the Master's aggressive jealousy.
Mr. Menpes knew full well, when he went to Japan
on his own account, that he risked incurring the
displeasure of the Master; and when, on his return,
his anticipations were realised, he calmly accepted
the fact that he had become an outcast from the
circle to which he had so long belonged. He
merely sadly remarks, " I took up my brush, began
my solitary artistic career, and tried to make a
success. ... I have never come in touch with
Whistler or the followers again from that day to
this. Where they are now I do not know, but I
maintain that the period of enthusiasm did us all
good. We worked well for the Master and we
loved him. I am quite convinced of one thing.
No matter how seriously he attacked them, there
is not one of those followers but will remember the
name of Whistler with gratitude, admiration and
affection to the end." However great may be the
diversity of criticism the letterpress of this costly
publication may evoke, there can be no two
opinions on the very great value of its illustrations,
which have all been printed at his own press under
the direction of Mr. Menpes. They include
several remarkable likenesses of Whistler by his
old friend and pupil, taken when the relations
between them were most cordial, and a series ot
characteristic examples of the Master's own work,
such as pen-and-ink drawings, pastels, water-colours
and sketches in oil, some never before reproduced,
lithographs and etchings, with what are even more
valuable to the student, sets of proofs of different
states of certain plates. There are, for instance,
no less than five of Maude standing and five of Sir
Henry Irving as Philip of Spain. It was indeed
as an etcher that Mr. Menpes first came in contact
with Whistler, and not the least interesting portion
of his book is the account of how he learnt direct
from him the art in which he is himself such a
proficient.
English Earthenware and Stoneware. By William
Burton, F.C.S. (London : Cassell.) 30^. net.—
The latest addition to the beautiful series of illus-
trated works on the history of the pottery and
porcelain of various countries, this new volume
from the able pen of the author of " English
Porcelain," is, if possible, even more up-to-date
than its predecessors. Mr. Burton, who is now
director of Pilkington's Tile and Pottery Co., and
was formerly chemist to the celebrated firm of
Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a thorough expert
on the subject here dealt with. He writes in an
easy, fluent style, and has arranged his material in
a very straightforward, methodical manner. He
prefaces his volume with a rather severe indictment
of his predecessors in the same field, remarking
that it has been a serious task to disentangle from
the narratives of Simeon Shaw, Llewellyn Jewett
and Miss Meteyard the true facts connected with
the origin and development of the English earthen-
wares and stonewares of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. On the other hand, he com-
mends the trustworthiness of M. L. Solon, author
of two excellent books in the same series, of Pro-
fessor Church, and of Mr. Hobson, to whom he
acknowledges his own indebtedness for the clearing
up of many difficulties. In selecting the numerous
characteristic illustrations, which include twenty-
four plates in colour, Mr. Burton has wisely chosen
examples in public museums, so that students and
collectors can examine the originals for themselves.
These reproductions form, as it were, a kind of
pictorial history of English ware, and are supple-
mented by several pages of marks, reproduced
without reduction from photographs. Having, in
his first two chapters, given a brief summary of
the history of the potter's art up to 1600, and
explained the various processes employed the
author begins his account of modern work with
what he calls " Peasant Pottery," giving a number
of very fine examples of it, including the beautiful
and quaint slip-dish, by Thomas Toft, from the
British Museum known as the Pelican in her Piety,
in which is represented the mother-bird feeding her
young from several wounds she has made in her
breast. The consideration of the peasant pottery—
which, by the way, contrasts favourably in some
267
tion, however, cannot fail to suggest itself: Has
the writer of " Whistler as I knew Him" done
much to cleanse what he calls the false atmo-
sphere ? Has he not rather added to its
murkiness, by making the man he calls " the
Master" appear ridiculous, as when he describes
his behaviour at the hair-dressers, or his discourtesy
to his hostess at a musical party, and remarks
casually, " He picked great men off their feet when
they were not looking and thrust them through
plate-glass windows in Piccadilly." Such manifest
flaws as these cannot fail to detract from the per-
manent value of a book which, in spite of them, is
full of deeply interesting data respecting Whistler's
methods, of real revelations of his remarkable
personality, and of pathetic instances of the devo-
tion of his followers. Moreover, Mr. Menpes dis-
plays considerable tact in his references to his
own quarrels with Whistler, or rather, Whistler's
quarrels with him, for the gradual estrangement
which ended in a complete rupture was entirely
the result of the Master's aggressive jealousy.
Mr. Menpes knew full well, when he went to Japan
on his own account, that he risked incurring the
displeasure of the Master; and when, on his return,
his anticipations were realised, he calmly accepted
the fact that he had become an outcast from the
circle to which he had so long belonged. He
merely sadly remarks, " I took up my brush, began
my solitary artistic career, and tried to make a
success. ... I have never come in touch with
Whistler or the followers again from that day to
this. Where they are now I do not know, but I
maintain that the period of enthusiasm did us all
good. We worked well for the Master and we
loved him. I am quite convinced of one thing.
No matter how seriously he attacked them, there
is not one of those followers but will remember the
name of Whistler with gratitude, admiration and
affection to the end." However great may be the
diversity of criticism the letterpress of this costly
publication may evoke, there can be no two
opinions on the very great value of its illustrations,
which have all been printed at his own press under
the direction of Mr. Menpes. They include
several remarkable likenesses of Whistler by his
old friend and pupil, taken when the relations
between them were most cordial, and a series ot
characteristic examples of the Master's own work,
such as pen-and-ink drawings, pastels, water-colours
and sketches in oil, some never before reproduced,
lithographs and etchings, with what are even more
valuable to the student, sets of proofs of different
states of certain plates. There are, for instance,
no less than five of Maude standing and five of Sir
Henry Irving as Philip of Spain. It was indeed
as an etcher that Mr. Menpes first came in contact
with Whistler, and not the least interesting portion
of his book is the account of how he learnt direct
from him the art in which he is himself such a
proficient.
English Earthenware and Stoneware. By William
Burton, F.C.S. (London : Cassell.) 30^. net.—
The latest addition to the beautiful series of illus-
trated works on the history of the pottery and
porcelain of various countries, this new volume
from the able pen of the author of " English
Porcelain," is, if possible, even more up-to-date
than its predecessors. Mr. Burton, who is now
director of Pilkington's Tile and Pottery Co., and
was formerly chemist to the celebrated firm of
Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a thorough expert
on the subject here dealt with. He writes in an
easy, fluent style, and has arranged his material in
a very straightforward, methodical manner. He
prefaces his volume with a rather severe indictment
of his predecessors in the same field, remarking
that it has been a serious task to disentangle from
the narratives of Simeon Shaw, Llewellyn Jewett
and Miss Meteyard the true facts connected with
the origin and development of the English earthen-
wares and stonewares of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. On the other hand, he com-
mends the trustworthiness of M. L. Solon, author
of two excellent books in the same series, of Pro-
fessor Church, and of Mr. Hobson, to whom he
acknowledges his own indebtedness for the clearing
up of many difficulties. In selecting the numerous
characteristic illustrations, which include twenty-
four plates in colour, Mr. Burton has wisely chosen
examples in public museums, so that students and
collectors can examine the originals for themselves.
These reproductions form, as it were, a kind of
pictorial history of English ware, and are supple-
mented by several pages of marks, reproduced
without reduction from photographs. Having, in
his first two chapters, given a brief summary of
the history of the potter's art up to 1600, and
explained the various processes employed the
author begins his account of modern work with
what he calls " Peasant Pottery," giving a number
of very fine examples of it, including the beautiful
and quaint slip-dish, by Thomas Toft, from the
British Museum known as the Pelican in her Piety,
in which is represented the mother-bird feeding her
young from several wounds she has made in her
breast. The consideration of the peasant pottery—
which, by the way, contrasts favourably in some
267