Renascence of Colonial Ideas. 169 also a frugal aspect to her preference. were used instead of jelly tumblers. After a crash of crockery it was, of So many things date from the CenAmong course, easier to replace the missing tennial Exposition of '76. article in plain china than in decorated them the taste for decorated china. It ware. A Convenient Resting-place for China. Shoved away in three-cornered was this that sent china-painting like cupboards were sets of blue Canton whose inequalities of decoration offended the eye of the chaste mistress of French services; while pieces of old Colonial china went to the kitchen, or a prairie flame across the wide expanse of the land. How touching now are some of those early efforts! Yet how valuable and wide-reaching have been the results! beautiful pieces produced by this home. pottery, which has had so long and bitter a struggle to secure recognition. Rookwood's beginning was long foreseen by Joshua Wedgwood, who in the last century refers to the " Pot-Works" in South Carolina as a possible rival; America, in his belief, having everything essential to this great industry. His fears have not yet been realized, but that the beginning has only been made seems manifest. For the romance of porcelain as it was brought to Europe from China by vagrant sailors, and for the fascinating history of its development in Europe, beginning with the successful efforts of Bottcher, in Saxony, there are nu As was said, the first successful attempt to manufacture china was at Meissen. Of this Dresden is the legitimate descendant in an unbroken line. The first English works were at Stratford-le-Bow, established in 1744. The manufacture was devoted to what was called New Canton. This was a direct imitation of the oriental ware (Old Canton), and the perpetuation of the "Willow" pattern, yet so dear to us through associations handed down from mother to daughter from across the seas. The Bow works were subsequently merged in Chelsea, a later enterprise. By this time it had attempted original styles. The most important of these was an imitation of lattice Development of Porcelain in Europe. work with flowers at the places of intersection. These were in vivid colors on a white ground. The Bee pattern was another well-known design. Lowestoft Teapot. Chelsea resembled Bow china; but was an improvement, both in coloring and texture. Although the effort to produce china at Chelsea antedated Bow, its success followed, beginning about 1750. Twenty years later Chelsea was united to Derby. The new China was Chelsea Derby, and subsequently, coming under the patronage of the crown, the ware was known as Crown Derby; by that title we know one of the celebrated wares of the world to-day. 171 tained original distinction. Jasper ware, the famous blue-gray, with its white ornamentation, was for many years in vases, mantel sets, and special pieces, one of the most coveted of wares. One of the famous old names was that of Spode for its "old Japans." The name of Spode is now known only to collectors, while that of Copeland, its lineal descendant, is one of the most famous and original wares of to-day. Another old name that has acquired new brilliancy is that of Coalport. The brilliant careers of such porcelains as Dresden, Sèvres, and Vienna were stimulated directly by the favor of the crown. Each ob tained a distinction of its own. The story of Sèvres is a proud history. It was established at St. Cloud, being removed from Vincennes through the efforts of the Pompadour, and until the fall of the Second Empire led the porcelains of the Western world. It Worcester, which was established about the same time as Derby, has retained its name and integrity. As all the early wares, Worcester began by imitating first oriental porcelain and then Dresden, as even its marks indicate. Royal Worcester, as Crown Derby, intimates subsequent royal patronage. Wedgwood arose about the same time has commanded the services of the as its rivals. The multiplication of most skilled artisans and the finest factories about the middle of the last artists. Its story cannot be retold century is significant. But Wedgwood here. Sèvres has to-day great commore early than its contemporaries at- mercial supremacy, but has ceased to Crown Derby Plate do more than copy its great successes in a certain line of its works. of the past. The best known of the French porcelain works now is Limoges; that, too, was instituted in the last century, but its present position is Old Worcester. due to the stimulus of American influence as represented by the Havilands. Only an allusion can be made to Royal Berlin, Royal Copenhagen, and to the Capo di Monte of Naples, now so successfully infused with new life. What is said here refers to porcelain, those hard and soft pastes that we know as china, as distinct from pottery and the vitrified earthen - wares such as Delft, majolica, and the iridescent potteries of Spain, which long antedated the introduction of porcelain into the western hemisphere. To return to our modern wares, we find that the necessity of conforming to new influence has tended to efface original distinctions. Except in special instances, it is difficult, without being an expert or looking at the marks, to distinguish the works of one manu The sprigged pattern of Dresden is copied in a dozen places. The colored gold and Japanese feeling of Limoges has no longer independent existence. The overlaid gold in relief gives a certain status to Coalport, and to its jewelled ware Copeland still has a claim. But the reticulated ware of Worcester, and its rice-grain imitation of China are no longer specialties. Even the crimson and gold of Vienna has yielded to the prevailing spirit carried forward so impetuously by such names as Minton, Limoges, Copeland. From out of these the lovely Capo di Monte still holds to its own. The changes that have taken place in the decoration of porcelain, as was intimated, correspond to those in other directions. These are toward lightness and delicacy, both in tint and factory from another. For instance, design. Harmonious substitutes of it was Worcester that first secured color have taken the place of those that vellum tint now so conspicuous in modern china. But only an expert can now distinguish Worcester from Crown Derby, and that from Doulton and gold, such as is seen in Royal Wor deep-tinted sectional bands and subdivisions alternating with bright-hued designs. The prominence of ivory |