AMATEUR POTTERY PAINTING.*
TRW book of Mr. Hancock's appears to us the best that has yet been written with the view of practically teaching pottery and glass painting, and he may be congratulated on having successfully combined conciseness with a very exhaustive account of the different kinds of painting on porcelain and glass. He gives us, besides, an interesting account of the history of porcelain and pottery, and treats in a useful and helpful manner what he calls the "amateur's sphere of work," helping to determine what amateurs can do with advantage, and what they cannot; that is to say, explaining where he considers amateur work may successfully compete with "manufactured productions. He thinks the amateurs in their right place when producing works of art which require great expenditure of time, such as an amateur has freely at his disposal, but which would naturally become very costly if produced in a manufactory. We cannot, however, quite agree with Mr. Hancock, that "many people suppose that the pro- cesses necessary to produce a successful piece of pottery painting are out of the reach of amateurs, and that the diffi- culties of manipulation are insurmountable?' We think, on the contrary, rather, that endless young ladies take up this branch of art in a happy-go-lucky style, without any previous know- ledge of drawing or any adequate idea that it is necessary "to have already mastered the technique of ordinary draw- ing, and to possess some knowledge of water or oil-colour painting;" and even under the false impression that they "only require to be informed as to the peculiarities of the ceramic colours themselves." No one who has visited the annual exhi- bitions at Howell and James's can fail to be struck by the im- mense amount of thoroughly bad amateur work displayed there. The average is very unequal ; by the side of the really fine prize pieces, there is much hopelessly bad work, thorough young ladies' work, showing the greatest possible deficiency in much necessary knowledge altogether outside the "know- ledge of the nature of ceramic colours, and the methods of using them." It is certainly a disappointment to the present writer that there is not more trace in this exhibi- tion of the improved knowledge of general drawing which is supposed to have filtered down into the nation since the establishment of the Art schools. It is not only that the most part of this work does not pass the line which separates the amateur from the professional—viz., as representing a distinct sentiment or motive thoroughly well—but that it has, besides, such an air of being fully satisfied with itself as to bear out completely • The Amateur Pottery and Glass Painter. By Campbell Hancock. London : .Allen and Co.
this remark, made once in our hearing by a well-known writer on Art :—" The common-place is frequently very astound- ing; but perhaps the most extraordinary of all ordinary states of mind is that of the amateur who expects to do without earnest work and sustained effort what the professional strains at, often in vain, his whole life long,—to do, in a word, good work."
It may be useful to our readers to be told briefly the dif- ferent subjects treated by Mr. Hancock. He gives us first his idea of the amateur's sphere of work, and we cannot do better than give a quotation here which shows the high aim he sets before him :—
"The writer's idea of a complete ceramic picture is not simply so much under-glaze or over-glaze painting, but a combination of these, or any other processes which may be discovered, by which the artist is enabled to represent in material forms the ideas of nature which are in his own mind as they are presented to him. Indeed, herein lies the great advantage of the artist-workman or amateur over the mere operative, who earns his daily bread by painting flowers at fourpence a piece. The artist is anxious judiciously to step oat of the beaten track, and avail himself of any means by which he can produce more beautiful work than he has hitherto done."
After the general treatment of what the amateur is to aim at comes a chapter on implements and materials, and here our own observation leads us to differ with Mr. Hancock on a matter of detail, which is, however, of some importance. We think, in his
engravings of brushes, those called shading and rose brushes do not represent the best brushes for working. And there is no mention at all of the ordinary square-topped, long-haired brush, even at the end, which is universally used for everything but lining, tracing, and fine finishing-strokes. These brushes are indispensable for laying on the first colours, but unfortu- nately the only good ones are of a French make ; they cannot be procured really good in London. No one who has once tried those made by the best French makers, like those in use at the Sevres works, would again use the ordinary kind.
We believe that these brushes are also in use at Minton's works, one of the artists there getting the supply direct from France. The desk designed by Mr. Hancock to supply the place of painting-table and easel seems most complete and practical
in its arrangements, but it would certainly add to the useful- ness of this book to the would-be-student, if Mr. Hancock gave
some idea of the expense of this desk, and also perhaps of the cost of some of the other special implements recommended by him. He gives us a chapter on enamel or over-glaze colours, describes the peculiar properties of each, explains their manipulation, and the proportions in which they should kbe brought together, and gives instructions for such as require
special treatment. The next chapter, on ground-laying, gilding, ac., is really interesting, besides being most practical and clear in exposition. Then comes his account of under-glaze colours, and what he considers to be the province of this branch of the
art :—
"Indeed, we may distinguish enamel from under-glaze painting much as we should water from oil-colour painting. In other words, just as lights are left in water-colour painting, using only Chinese- white where absolutely necessary, so they are in enamel-painting ; while as shadows are painted in and lights put on with more or less of flake-white mixed with the colour in oil painting, so should they be with under-glaze work. It is the oil-painting of the ceramic artist. Unless he takes full advantage of the under-glaze process to produce the peculiar effects of oil-painting, he may as well confine himself to enamel-painting, which is infinitely less troublesome and expensive, and which makes much smaller demands upon the skill of the artist. To resort to under-glaze colours, and produce only what could as well be done in enamel colours, recalls Charles Lamb's story of the Chinaman who burned down his house to roast his pig."
Mr. Hancock also gives us a short account of majolica painting, which will not be of much practical use to the student. After his account of the three distinct methods of painting and decorating pottery wares, be passes to "specific work," and in -consequence of its having been suggested to him that it would be of service to many students to have one or two examples of bow to proceed, step by step, he gives simple, prac- tical hints, such as learners have frequently asked him for. He advises a beginner first to work in monochrome, and slowly to introduce himself to colours by carefully using such as are complementary to each other. He supplements this more general instruction by giving directions how to paint several subjects systematically. This ends the part of the book on china painting.
It is only necessary briefly to remark that the glass painting or staining is treated in the same manner. First an account is given of the general aim of this style of decoration, then the implements and materials are explained, a chapter is devoted to the chemical formation of glass, the properties of glass colours are explained, and finally, the manipulations and processes used are practically and clearly described.
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