DOI issue:
Nr. 193 (April 1909)
DOI article:Fisher, Alexander: Portraits in enamel
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20966#0216
Portraits in Enamel
collection of tendencies which go to make the
individual, he sees these rising and falling,
struggling, aspiring for mastery, each for itself.
The physical manifestation coming through his
sense perceptions he keeps in due relation to
this and expressive of it. He, perceiving these
tendencies, selects the noblest, and records them
in the belief that they will ultimately prevail.
That is the idealist.
• The few artists who have conceived their
work on this plane have, when endowed with
adequate skill, given us the great portraits of
the world. And among these the masters in
enamel portrait painting have a place.
The earliest essays in enamel portraiture were
naturally done in the simplest methods, such,
in fact, as the limited knowledge of process and
possibilities of the material permitted at the
time. This is necessarily the case no matter
what the material or medium employed. The
simplest methods are those of cloisonne and
champleve. The idea of these processes evolved
from the setting of precious stones. It was this
that suggested them and was imitated, and no
further advance was made for some centuries. If
the very slow development of method be watched
it will be observed that progress moves from the
PORTRAIT IN ENAMEL OF ANDREW, SON OF JOHN
NOBLE, ESQ , BY ALEXANDER FISHER ’
I90
PORTRAIT IN ENAMEL BY P. V. GRAND’HOMME
simple to the complex. We have first such work
as is shown in the Alfred jewel and the beautiful
decorative panel in champleve enamel of Geoffrey
Plantagenet. Both these bear only the remotest
resemblance to their subjects and can hardly be
thought of as portraits. Here the capacity of the
craftsman was limited by his slight knowledge of
art and of the capabilities of his medium. From
these elementary essays to the work of the 15th
century was a great leap. For, as I have said
above, the first ideas of enamelling wrere eminently
those of a decorator of metal objects in colour,
devised as a substitute for the costly inlay of
precious stones. As soon as the idea of making a
more complete representation of the person became
prevalent, a sense of dissatisfaction with the in-
adequacy of the methods employed was felt. And
as during the following centuries a development in
painting on glass and faience had occurred it
affected enamelling, and the knowledge which was
gained from this kind of work was assimilated and
applied. In all probability several glass painters
and painters on pottery became enamellers.
The two great names associated with portrait
enamels of this period are Jean Penicaud and
Leonard Limousin. It may fairly be claimed for
them that they and their contemporaries raised the
work from the humble stage reached by the primi-
tive craftsman to the rank of a fine art These
efforts, and particularly those of Leonard Limousin,
showed a true appreciation of the art of the portrait
collection of tendencies which go to make the
individual, he sees these rising and falling,
struggling, aspiring for mastery, each for itself.
The physical manifestation coming through his
sense perceptions he keeps in due relation to
this and expressive of it. He, perceiving these
tendencies, selects the noblest, and records them
in the belief that they will ultimately prevail.
That is the idealist.
• The few artists who have conceived their
work on this plane have, when endowed with
adequate skill, given us the great portraits of
the world. And among these the masters in
enamel portrait painting have a place.
The earliest essays in enamel portraiture were
naturally done in the simplest methods, such,
in fact, as the limited knowledge of process and
possibilities of the material permitted at the
time. This is necessarily the case no matter
what the material or medium employed. The
simplest methods are those of cloisonne and
champleve. The idea of these processes evolved
from the setting of precious stones. It was this
that suggested them and was imitated, and no
further advance was made for some centuries. If
the very slow development of method be watched
it will be observed that progress moves from the
PORTRAIT IN ENAMEL OF ANDREW, SON OF JOHN
NOBLE, ESQ , BY ALEXANDER FISHER ’
I90
PORTRAIT IN ENAMEL BY P. V. GRAND’HOMME
simple to the complex. We have first such work
as is shown in the Alfred jewel and the beautiful
decorative panel in champleve enamel of Geoffrey
Plantagenet. Both these bear only the remotest
resemblance to their subjects and can hardly be
thought of as portraits. Here the capacity of the
craftsman was limited by his slight knowledge of
art and of the capabilities of his medium. From
these elementary essays to the work of the 15th
century was a great leap. For, as I have said
above, the first ideas of enamelling wrere eminently
those of a decorator of metal objects in colour,
devised as a substitute for the costly inlay of
precious stones. As soon as the idea of making a
more complete representation of the person became
prevalent, a sense of dissatisfaction with the in-
adequacy of the methods employed was felt. And
as during the following centuries a development in
painting on glass and faience had occurred it
affected enamelling, and the knowledge which was
gained from this kind of work was assimilated and
applied. In all probability several glass painters
and painters on pottery became enamellers.
The two great names associated with portrait
enamels of this period are Jean Penicaud and
Leonard Limousin. It may fairly be claimed for
them that they and their contemporaries raised the
work from the humble stage reached by the primi-
tive craftsman to the rank of a fine art These
efforts, and particularly those of Leonard Limousin,
showed a true appreciation of the art of the portrait