The Application of Ornament

nRNA/AENTAL.

ar 18Q

^i^PPLICATION

Of

ORNA/ALM

o^ tartsJ

/Jixx/

The tine

original of

tliis

book

is in

Cornell University Library.

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TEXT BOOKS OF ORNAMENTAL DESIGN. By lewis

F.

day.

III.

THE APPLICATION OF ORNAMENT.

TEXT BOOKS OF ORNAMENTAL DESIGN. By lewis

day.

F.

Price Three-and-Sixpence each,

bound

in Cloth.

I.

THE ANATOMY OF PATTERN. With

Thirty-five

page

full

.

Illustrations.

II.

THE PLANNING OF ORNAMENT. With

Thirty-eight

full

page

Illustrations.

III.

THE APPLICATION OF ORNAMENT. With Forty-two

full

page

Illustrations.

Tlaiel

TEXT BOOKS OF ORNAMENTAL DESIGN.

THE

APPLICATION OF ORNAMENT.

LEWIS AUTHOR OF 'EVERY-DAY

ART,'

F.

DAY,

'THE ANATOMY OF PATTERN,'

ETC.

ILLUSTRATED.

B.

T.

LONDON: BATSFORD, 52, HIGH HOLBORN.

©

PREFACE. The former

text-books of this series con-

cerned themselves with the rudimentary lines

may

on which ornament

be designed and

distributed.

only

It is

in

theory, however, that orna-

ment can be independently tically tion.

it

Prac-

discussed.

exists only relatively to its applica-

Apart from

the process of

its

its

place and purpose and

doing, there

is

no such

thing as ornament.

The

necessity of adapting

position lute.

and use

The need

design to

as obvious as

its

is

abso-

of conforming to the

more and

is

it

technical conditions imposed

by

the means of working

not so generally

understood.

It

it,

is

takes, perhaps,

material,

a craftsman

thoroughly to appreciate

its

These few chapters go essential to ornament is

to demonstrate its

urgency.

strict

how

subordina-

vi

Preface.

tion to practical conditions

;

how

in all times

good workmen have cheerfully accepted them and how the very forms of historic detail handed down to us grew and

in all crafts

;

out of obedience to them.

In the genesis

of ornament will be found the strongest argu-

ment

for the

The

study of technique.

consideration of natural form and

adaptation to ornamental design for a separate

Mecklenburg Square, London, W.C. October ^ih, i8S8.

F.

its

resei-ved

volume.

Lewis 13,

is

Day.

TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE I.

II.

The Rationale of the Conventional

What

is

Implied by Repetition

III.

Where

IV.

Style and Handicraft

v. VI.

..

to Stop in Ornament

The Teaching of the Tool Some Superstitions

i

7

..

..

17

37

..

51

65

DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF PLATES. 1.

STENCIL

— The

breaking up the broad masses of

ties

colour.

2.

ORNAMENTAL FIGURE COMPOSITION— Identical

figures

reversed.

3.

ANIMALS AND ARABESQUE

— Varied

sym-

creatures

metrically disposed. 4.

A TREE OF JESSE among the foliage.

— Figures

ornamentally

valuable

— Fun in design.

5.

NURSERY WALL PAPER

6.

ANIMALS AND ARABESQUE^ Various

creatures enliven-

ing the ornament. 7.

PATTERN* WITH GROTESQUES

— The

them-

Creatures

selves reduced to ornament.

8.

VARIOUS VESSELS

— Characteristic

of the

way

of their

making. 9.

WOOD CARVING— Shovifing

the marks of the chisel.

WORK— A

10.

AFRICAN BASKET

1 1.

CARVED LEATHER

typical

— Preserving

example of

the

quality

plaiting.

of

material. 12.

PERSIAN FAIENCE

13.

LETTERING

— Direct potter's work.

— Showing

its

relation to the pen, &c.

b

the

List of Plates. 14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE

— Basalt.

— Marble. RENAISSANCE SCULPTURE — Marble. RENAISSANCE SCULPTURE — Sandstone. WOOL DAMASK —^Broad surfaces calculated GREEK SCULPTURE

to

exhibit

the quality of the material. 19.

LYONS

Sli-K

—Trivial

design, disguised

by the sheen

and colour of the material.

—^Coloured according to the weft.

20.

BYZANTINE SILK

21.

ARABIAN PATTERNS

22.

IRONWORK

— Incised in

— Characteristic

soft plaster.

similarity of motif in

work

of quite different periods. 23.

IRONWORK

— Characteristically

different types of wrought

iron.

24.

NEEDLEWORK — Characteristic

25'.

EMBOSSED PANEL

26.

FILAGREE

quality of line.

—Design suggested by the process.

— Characteristic

design

common

to

work of

different periods.

27.

28.

29.

30.

—Analogous to filagree on straight JAVANESE ORNAMENT — Inspired by the Way of working. FRETWORK — In wood and metal. SAWN WORK — Ingenious patterns produced by very GREEK LACE

lines.

simple means. 31.

STENCIL PATTERN

— And the Way of producing

it.

List of Plates.

xi

— And the tools used. — PAVEMENT "Workmanlike

32.

bookbinder's tooling

33.

MOSAIC

34.

RIGID DESIGN

thrift.

—In

need of the softening influence of

accidental colour.

35.

NIELLO

— Severity of pattern calculated

to be mitigated

by the brilliancy of the metal. 36.

MARBLE INLAY — Practically

37.

ARAB LATTICES — Characteristic wood-turning.

38.

ENAMEL

39.

STAINED GLASS

—

Showing the and champlevl.

a fret pattern.

difference of outline in cloisonni

—The glazing

lines for the

most part the

outlines.

40.

APPLIQUE EMBROIDERY—The corded outline.

41.

OUTLINE— Defining

42.

OUTLINE

the forms.

— Softening the forms.

joints

masked by a

THE

APPLICATION OF ORNAMENT. I.

The Rationale of the Conventional. Concerning

questions of

all

art,

the

diffi-

culty of coming to any clear understanding is

by the

greatly increased

meanings attached

totally different

to the terms,

more or

less

technical, one cannot avoid using.

To help

begin with definitions does not greatly

us.

than

we

We find

other words

no sooner commence to define ourselves

stumbling against

equally in

need of explana-

tion.

What

a flood of light would be

let in

upon

the question of decorative design, could

but agree amongst ourselves as to what

meant by the term

An

"

conventional

English ornamentist

we is

" !

understands

by

conventional treatment, such a rendering of natural forms as

may

be consistent with the B

The Application of Ornament.

2

decorative character of the

him

implies to

work

hand.

in

It

that self-restraint, that intelir-

gent selection, that recognition of material

and

its

characteristics, that strict

regard for

the purpose and position of design, without

which ornament does not so much as deserve

name

the

To

of ornament.

a Frenchman, on the other hand,

stands for in

''

art.

that

all

C'est de

it

and hopeless

is

helpless

la

convention, ga,"

is

the

expression of his supremest contempt.

Of

course

it

Not

country.

not merely a matter of

is

all

Britons are agreed as to

what they mean by the word conventional, but there is in the nor all Frenchmen ;

national interpretation of the term an expla-

nation of the respect, as of the contempt, in

which conventionality

The

is

held.

continental use of the

word

perhaps

is

The conventional is literally come to be accepted and, as experience, we find that, even in a

the more exact. that which has

a matter of

world of progress,

;

little

universally accepted until

ably

deadly

it

The accepted

stale.

therefore,

or nothing

identified

dull

with

and tedious

is

thing all

in

is

ever

already toler-

that

becomes, is

modern

most art.

The Rationale of the Conventional. There seems to be no hope or promise it

3

in

it

stands for stagnation.

Yet there

We

is

another side to the question.

work of nearly all periods, and of nearly all nations, certain principles which appear to have been generally obeyed find in the best

;

so universally obeyed, indeed, as to warrant

us in calling them the principles of decorative art.

In endeavouring to explain those principles,

concerning which

we have come

some

to

sort

of general understanding or agreement, the

advocates of due restraint in

an

in

ornament adopted

hour the term conventional, to ex-

evil

press that kind of treatment which, whatever it

might

be,

decoration.

was adapted But

it

proved

to the purposes of

easy to grasp

less

the elusive spirit of design than to take possession of the forms in which

And

it

was embodied.

the cut-and-dried character of the ex-

amples of design adduced by way of tion, led to the supposition that

tional trite

;

was the

itself to

neither'

literal

more nor

illustra-

the conven-

less

than the

meaning of the word lending

the confusion.

One may

take

it

that the artistic verdict on

convention will be mainly according to the

B 2

The Application of Ornament.

4

on the

variations

played out

if

;

worn types

if

;

old,

by

old tunes, long since

we mean adherence to wellwe mean affectation, imita-

mimicry, a bigoted belief

of the law as

happily past

If

ornament we mean perpetual

conventional

tion,

of the word.

interpretation

artist's

in

the days that are

no one of any originality or

;

vention of his

was

it

the letter

in

own

— no

artist,

that

is

in-

to say

can consistently belong to the party of convention. If,

term

however, what is

we understand by

the

the spirit in which the past masters of

ornament accepted nature, finding

her a

in

never-failing source of inspiration, reverencing

her most deeply truly

—aye, and following her most

— in that they were not content

to copy,

without further thought, the forms nearest at hand, because they did not imagine for a

moment

that

what she had made

for her

fit

ends must, without modification, perforce be fittest for their it

very different purposes

;

— then

seems hard to understand how ornament

can properly be anything but conventional.

A

fitter

doubt

;

term might be found

I prefer

word "apt"; but

for

it,

no

myself the more expressive in discussing the thing

we

The Rationale of the Conventional.

5

cannot conveniently ignore the word by which it

is

we

currently known, and

word

find the

" conventional " in possession.

One can which fied

by

scarcely

not, in a

is

conceive

ornament

of

manner, more or

modi-

less

considerations altogether apart from

the natural forms on which

it

Even the human

founded.

may have

been

form, which

our highest type, and with which liberty less safely

is

may

be taken than with any other of

nature's works

ready-made

—even the

human form

hand of the

to the

not

is

The

sculptor.

works of the great masters, to which we accord the

title

of " monumental," are so in virtue of

a something which was not in the model of the sculptor, but in his

art.

what you will

Call this subtle quality ventional, traditional,

vidual

—something

monumental,

there

is

(in all art for that matter,

just

now more

ornamental

in all applied art

but our concern

especially with decorative

something which

art),

not say contrary to nature, for herently to

human

the seijse that

—con-

ideal, indi-

it is

it

is

and

let

us

belongs

in-

is,

nature, but non-natural, in

not directly borrowed from

natural forms.

Conventionality in ornament

is

another

The Application of Ornament.

6 term

for reticence or self-restraint.

who

exercises

hardly

no

command

The

the

full

tion of Englishmen.

Apart from the

or national, desire for

some

ornamentist by

all

no

less

upon the

the conditions of his work,

purpose, place, and

its

natural,

reserve in art, as

in everything else, restraint is forced

by

artist

upon himself will sympathy or admira-

restraint

means of execution,

than by that necessity for repetition

which, in these days more than ever, dition of its very existence.

is

a con-

What

Implied by Repetition.

is

II.

What

is

Implied by Repetition.

The very purpose and the method of

construction, insist

natural

word,

its

upon some treatment of

forms which, for want of a better call " conventional."

we

First,

position of ornament,

execution, and even

its

in

ornament.

reference to the construction Its

mere

former text-book

('

was shown to be

repetition,

The Anatomy inevitable,

which

would of

render such treatment necessary

in

of Pattern

;

of a ')

itself

and even

without the inducement of economy, which

we should still if only because the human

calls for the use of a

resort to repetition,

machine,

brain cannot go on inventing without intermission,

repeating

In the

but needs the comparative rest of itself,

even in hand work.

artist's repetition

of himself (unless

the fatal pressure of the times have

him

made

also a machine), there will always be a

certain degree of variety, which there could

The Application of Ornament.

8

But

not be in mere mechanical reproduction.

he cannot afford to dispense with repetition nor need he wish to dispense with in itself

an element

;

It is

it.

in decorative design

;

it

a preventive against loose and rambling

is

ornament

;

exhibits

it

and

order,

gives

scale.

The only question is, where and to what we should avail ourselves of it.

extent

In proportion to the naturalism of a design,

and the point of realism

to

becomes unsuited to

it

put

it

way

the other

which

carried,

it is

To

multiplication.

about, the oftener

it

is

proposed to repeat a form, the more imperative

it is

that

should be removed from the

it

imitation of nature,

be removed.

and the further

It needs, in short,

it

should

adaptation to

the purpose of repetition.

Such adaptation

is

strictly in proportion to

what one may

call its reticence.

elaborate and

attractive

certainly, that will not

bear so

is

infinitum.

highly

—anything,

in the least self-assertive

much

as reduplication

as an insignificant device

ad

feature

A

may

;

where-

be multiplied

In anything of the nature of a

background (and so many manufactures are intended to serve only as backgrounds) repe-

Tlate ^

What

is

tition is of the

Implied by Repetition. utmost

and

service,

9

repetition

implies modification. It follows

from what has already been said

as to the danger of tampering with the figure,

and the prominence

sumes, that there ing

it

is

great difficulty in repeat-

The

without offence.

pattern

is

human

naturally as-

it

enhanced, no

interest of a

by the

doubt,

re-

currence at stated intervals of appropriate

But

figures.

it is

desirable that there shall be

always some difference in them

;

every repetition of the same figure is

There

discounted.

is

with

for its

charm

something exaspera-

ting in the reversing of identical figures in

a pattern (Plate

2),

when

is

it

so simple a

thing by the careful disposition of various creatures

retain the

to

desired (Plate

symmetry of

effect

3).

Presumably

the

reason

for

figures into ornamental design,

is

introducing for the

sake

some added interest there may be in them. But you cannot get up any absorbing interest of

in

a series of figures

They

pattern.

employed

in

all

identically of one

suggest only the mechanism

producing them.

The

multipli-

cation of the figure, far from multiplying interest,

diminishes

it

in proportion to

its

the

The Application of Ornament.

lo

number of times it is repeated. And though it be a very good thing that is repeated, the case is not greatly mended it is so easy

—

to have too

much

The only

of a good thing.

safety

is

peated form until

its

very obvious. This

ways.

in

toning

down

recurrence ceases to be

may

be effected

in various

In certain embossed leather, and such

brought about partly by the

like designs,

it is

low

the stamping, partly

relief of

ness of the colouring, and partly less

the re-

by the softby a more or

cunning complication of the figures with

the rest of the design, so that they do not thrust themselves into notice. in the creatures,

were

it

That variety would be

possible,

desirable no one can doubt.

The

consideration which occurs in the case

of figure design which

so necessary to re-

it is

duce to comparative insignificance

is,

whether

was then worth doing. Perhaps not. Except that ornament has a way of being a trifle too ornamental, or, more strictly speaking, too monotonously ornamental and the introducit

;

tion of

any bold mass, such as the

figure very

way

out of the

readily gives,

is

one obvious

besetting danger.

Apart from the symbolic intention of the

Plate 3.

f

K*Ll, PHOIO-llTHO.O.FOnmVAt S' HOLiOBH,

^late

'Ph«to-Tiiit' bj J.Ak*Tiiiaii,G,(}ni*ii 2^uu«,W.C.

4.

What

is

Implied by Repetition.

on Plate 4

figures

(it is

part of a genealogical

them

in

We may take

it

tree of Jesse), the ornamental use of

the design

is

1

conspicuous.

that symbolism does not flourish where the

symbols are ugly or unamenable to ornamental It

effect.

not suggested that we

is

should be

straightlaced to the extent of denying ourselves the

amusement

that

may be

got out of

designs such as Mr. Crane has

made popular

in his nursery wall-papers,

which he has

in

contrived to give us grace of line and charm

humour of the nursery Once in a while the human

of colour, as well as the

rhyme

(Plate

figure

may

5).

be degraded to do the merest

The

pattern work.

now and

artist

must be allowed,

again, to put off his dignity

dulge in an

artistic

and

in-

Even a bad joke

gambol.

may, on occasion, be more to the purpose than an everlasting seriousness. Still it is

as well to bear in

facie objection

of the

human

birds, beasts,

to the

mind the firimd

repetition, not

only

form, but of the forms even of

and

all

living,

and especially

moving, creatures.

The

occurrence

fox, hounds,

of the

and birds

stag,

in the

boar,

hare,

border of which

1

The Application of OrnamenL

2

portions are given on Plate

point to the ornament

6,

clearly gives

and they are rendered

;

with a certain conventionality which makes

them one with

To

it.

The

indeed.

us to the

reconcile

repetition of these creatures

would be a

feat

grotesques introduced into the

cretonne design on Plate 7

may

perhaps be

excused on the plea of their remoteness from nature in the

place,

first

and further on ac-

count of the minuteness of the scale on which

they are drawn first sight.

:

But

they are scarcely apparent at their real justification is that

they are a joke.

Alas,

it is

not often that the

conditions of manufacture allow us that

The

advisability

introducing

of

forms into mechanically repeated ture depends entirely

keeping them

manufac-

possibility of

appropriate subjection

in

their place, in fact

upon the

upon the

—which,

art of the artist.

for us in the artful

way

in

in turn,

creatures, graceful or fantastic, with scrolls,

decorative key.

— in

depends

There is a lesson which the designers

of the Renaissance contrived to keep

peopled their

relief.

animal

down the

which they

subduing them to the

Where

the forms which

first

take the eye are the bold lines of the leafage,

among which

the live things are more or less

-Plate

fHOTO-UTHo.e.ruRMiv*!.

s'

5

What

Implied by Repetition.

is

hidden, so that

becomes

only by degrees that one

it is

them

fully conscious of

all,

scarcely

Some

the purist can find cause of complaint.

mysteiy

sort of

The

ful.

however

13

in design

always delight-

is

perfection of art

reached when,

is

attractive at first sight,

it

continues

grow upon you, and the more you contemit, the more you see in it.

to

plate

Natural forms, to be admissible

must be decoratively

in

ornament,

Natural though

treated.

they be, they must be at the same time orna-

A lion, as Landseer modelled

mental. for

fit

An

any decorative purpose.

it, is

Dona-

or Assyrian lion, on the other hand, tello's lion at

the British

The

not

Egyptian

Florence, or Stevens's outside

Museum,

are admirably decorative.

objection to naturalism, or perhaps

would be more exact to say

literalism, in

it

forms

repeated, applies not only to animal but even to floral

inasmuch interest

;

forms.

they

as

but

a less degree,

It exists in

for

are all

of

that

charm of the simplest flower

we

see, side

— not

by

side, so

varieties, as

prominent

less it

many

exists. is

lost

The when

copies of

they would be

it

in nature,

but stereotyped repetitions of the same thing.

The

designer

is

exposed, by his very

artistic

1

The Application of Ornament.

4

ability, to effects,

the temptation of aiming at natural

a temptation

the stronger because,

all

knowledge enough to

few persons having

appreciate design, whilst

all

are

familiar with natural forms, there

more or is

less

nothing in

him

the shape of public opinion to keep

in

check.

Every artist

likes,

of course, to

drawing, aqd to carry

But that

not at

is

corative design

the effect of the place.

Any

make

the vital point in de-

all

the all-important

:

work

a good

as far as he can.

it

thing

execution and in

in

is

its

one who thinks twice about

it

must realise that in very self-defence he is bound to consider the repetition of his design, and all else that concerns its use. If he is really a designer, ,

he

will

know how

to

make

capital out of the very poverty of the condi-

tions to

which he submits.

—better do Some

it,

then, with a

adaptation of natural

simplification in fact, fit

them

Submit he must good grace.

is

forms,

for repetition, but,

further,

position and purpose of the, work; in order that the detail

may

by the

sometimes

not assert

too much, sometimes in order to give

emphasis that

is

some

demanded, not only to

needed.

itself it

the

Plate 6

Comliinatioi? of Scroll «(-Hut)tincl scene- incited on Stoi^e

What

is

Implied by Repetition.

For example, to see

an

it

is

common

quite a

details of domestic furni-

which not only pass unnoticed, but which

ture,

ought never to attract notice. as

far

it

was possible to go

of minuteness of detail. to

seems

It often

show

the \yorkman had set himself to

if

how

thing

and laborious

infinity of elaborate

work misspent upon

1

show

that,

and

at the

in the direction

It is quite possible

same time

illustrate

the futility of going anything like so

far.

In proposing to carry execution to a point

beyond what has hitherto been attempted, is

may

as well to ask oneself, whether there

not be good reason

been made.

them

fools,

why the

Our forerunners were we may be sure. As

missible; but a wise

of his (there

own is

much

workman

all

of

a tour de

may

be ad-

rarely indulges "

no better word

for it)

which exhibi-

and

other,

have done so

to encourage.

master

knows how

is

to

loth to waste labour,

make

his

without shouting at you.

does

not

accord in that kind of " brag

tions, international

A

attempt has never

once and again, most things

force,

it

less

work hold

He

and he its

own

deliberately

than an Lnexperienced person would

have thought necessary, with a view to making

1

The Application of Ornament.

6

his design tell in its place.

for

a

In wall decoration,

example, to be seen from some distance,

merely natural representation of natural

forms would often go for very omission of multitudinous to emphasise

Or

what he

is

little.

detail,

By

the

he manages

anxious to preserve.

(since decorative treatment

by no means

omission only) he

exaggerates,

consists

in

perhaps, features in his design which, in the position assigned to lost.

According to

it,

scruple about modifying colours

:

he enforces

conventional like

— that

would otherwise be he makes no

his purpose,

natural forms and

by every workman-

his effect, indeed, is

to say, every

—expedient at his command.

Hale. 7

HOTO-LITHO.e.FURNIVAL

S''

H0U»OHI

Where

to

Stop in Ornament.

1

III.

Where to Stop

Ornament.

in

Assuming, on the one hand, the urgency for

some modification of natural forms accord-

ing to the work in hand, and on the other, of

some continual

reference to nature in design,

the question arises as to the limits of the one

How

and of the

other.

go in the what extent

direction

of the quite

tool

is ?

it

of

well to admit the dictation

In order to settle that point

definitely,

each separate craft would

have to be discussed. scription

would

food as the

then

unknown which far too

Any

is

An

be, just so

artistic

we have

powers of

may one safely nature? And to

far

excellent

much

stomach can digest

;

but

to take into account each man's

artistic

assimilation

quantity.

The degree

barely enough for one

much

pre-

of natural

—always

an

of ornament

man

will

be

for another.

attempt to define the limits within

which decoration should reasonably be conC

1

The Application of Ornament.

8

may seem

fined

enough.

at first sight rash

But with regard

at

common everyday

events to things of

all

there

use,

clearly

And, more than

drawn. object

use,

its

itself,

its

this,

is

a

must be

point at which the line of decoration

the

as

just

and the

material,

manner of its making, indicate plainly enough fit method of its decoration, so also they

the

give the hint as to the measure thereof.

would seem,

in short, as

It

though the point at

which a material or a process

were the

failed

we might most conveniently than bring in some supplementary

point at which stop, rather

process, which, out,

This will be let

under pretence of helping

ends more likely in supplanting

made

clearer

by ani example,

us say pottery, in aid of which so

the applied arts are called

it

it.

in,

that

necessarily have to branch out

many we

of

shall

by the way

into discussion of the wider subject of applied

ornament, with which this text-book

is

con-

cerned.

The

primitive

way

known as shaping the lump

what as

it

This,

is

of

making a pot

" throwing," that

is

is

by

to say,

of wet clay with the hands

revolves on the wheel before the potter. it

should be observed,

is

at the

same

91 ate

'Photo-Tiht', bjJ,Alc.™.n,G,Qu..nS(iiur.,WC

Where

Stop in Ornament.

to

way most

time the

19

directly conducive

to

artistic results (Plate 8).

Bigotry alone would seek to narrow the scope of a

making.

workman to any single process of One is fain to own that in the

hands of an use (Plate

the lathe too

artist

The

8).

may

have

its

so-called Etruscan vases

(Plate 8) were turned on the lathe, the artist

probably caring more about the painting of his vessel

than

shape.

its

But whilst you watch the potter wheel,

at

his

appears to you that no supple-

it

Almost

mentary process can be necessary.

from the moment he begins to hollow with his

hands

beautiful

which

it is

it

plastic

begins to take suave and gliding the

shapes,

other, as the

lump of

revolving

the

clay before him,

one into the

wheel goes round, with an ease

delightful to see.

It all

seems to

go so easily that your fingers itch to try a turn at

it.

Seeing the potter at his work,

you see how the out of his fingers

typical pottery forms ;

you

realise

how

it

grew

is

that

ugly forms are so rare in primitive pottery

and you are inclined pot ever in

the

made on

to think that the ugliest

the wheel must have passed

making through

several

stages

C 2

of

The Application of Ornament.

20

which the

beautiful form,

potter, sitting over

his work, did not perceive perhaps, or did not

see to be beautiful. It is

taken for granted by our makers-by-

deputy, that the soft shapes of the wheel need to

be effaced by the more mechanical action

of the lathe

—

second

in other words, that a

and supplementary process should be called in to do the work over again. It is true that only certain shapes

be thrown

can

obviously the most beautiful.

monotony

conveniently

But these are

on the wheel.

There

them, but so there

in

may be

is

in

the

shapes of turnery.

Moreover,

if

the potter were in the habit of

depending more upon the wheel, he would surely find in

it still

wanting

somewhat

even use the

an

artist

is

in

by

his finger-tips are

precision,

modelling-tool

he might

(reticently, as

would) to make indentations smaller

than with his that

fingers

a very

only he could.

But

from

sub-

different

thing

mitting his work to an after-process in fact, effacing in

it

j

and,

with a mere revolving plane, all that was was amenably moist to

the half-dry state of the clay,

done to

If the

further facilities.

blunt forms produced

whilst

it

'Photo-Timt' ty J-Atterm.n,6.ljDB«n Squ«r«.W

C.

Where the hand.

shaving

final

artistically,

is,

might just as well be

made from

there

is

the

in

to take

The

cast, or

thing

otherwise mecha-

the commencement, since

to be nothing but

There

result.

is

small reason for the

preparatory process of throwing.

nically

ai

Stop in Ornament.

any such

If

place there

to

what

is

They

processes generally.

is

mechanical

against after-

this

are apt to

the

fatally

wipes

all

carving

work which

;

final

glass-papering

of

character out of our

modern wood-

whereas one great charm about old

(Plate 9) tells

is

that crispness of touch

in

of the carver's chisel.

The excuse

in

earthenware (there for

process

undo

How

a great deal of what has been done.

particular instance

the is

of

always an excuse ready

unworkmanlikeness)

is

in

some supposed

advantages of lightness and so-called elegance.

The answer

to this

is

that lightness

quality most characteristic desirable

pottery.

in,

If

of, it

is

is

not the

or especially

we

elegance

want we had better employ glass (Plate

8),

the convenient and conventional treatment of

which ness.

is all

A

in the direction of grace

and

airi-

bubble, whether blown in molten

glass or soap

earthenware

and water,

we had

best

is

a bubble.

In

be content with

The Application of Ornament.

22

the subtle and beautiful,

wet clay gives

if

heavier, forms the

us.

The various

vessels

on

JPlate 8 are all

charac-

the process of their making.

teristic of

The

Chinese vase and the ruder earthen pot have that

shows, that

it

contour

of

softness

throwing on

of

by its harder and more precise outline, was finished on the lathe. The coarse

but rich ornament of the

German tankard The

stamped stoneware.

appropriate to

is

which comes

The Greek vase

the wheel.

savagery of the cut crystal cup, and the fantastic

grace of the Venetian wine-glass, are no

less characteristic

and workmanlike.

Apart from the commercial incentive to

make

his craft

this is true art)

fulfil all

manner of impossible

workman

the

purposes,

of us

unfortunately (and

whatever our walk in

all,

always wants to do more than his means

will

let

him.

It is

the rarest thing in the

world to know where to stay your hand, or to

have the

self-restraint to stay

more necessaiy

therefore to insist

not insist too strongly all

—that

It is

it.

— one

the can-

ornament, at

in

events in ornament applied to any useful

purpose, itself

it is

gives

best to stop

you the

hint.

when the

In the

"

material

convention

"

T-1a,tpJ0,

Where

to

Stop in Ornament.

23

of work in which that hint has been taken, there

is

always a

which

fitness or tightness

inestimable in art applied.

is

Would any more

pretentious form of art be so entirely satisfac-

tory for the purpose of basketwork as the

ingeniously plaited pattern on Plate 10

?

you once go beyond the resources of your material there is no knowing where to pull up and few indeed are they who manage to halt in time. You may go on until you reach a If

sort of lower stage of " high art

but

";

doing

in

you inevitably lose those qualities of usefulness and fitness which are the only justificathat

tion of art, excepting only such as

may

the supreme beauty to justify

claims to

independence. of king

among

homage.

A

great

work of

its

art

is

a kind

created things, deserving of

But we don't want

this

all

work-a-day

peopled with kings, least of

world

be of

all

with

petty princes and pretenders.

To

return to the instance in point,

when

it

comes to the after-decoration of earthenware, the rule of convention holds equally good " If it

well

it

were done, when

'tis

done, then 'twere

were done quickly."

Elaborate and

difficult processes, involving something in the

nature of a tour de force, are a snare to the

The Application of Ornament.

24 artist

and a delusion

man

way

has a

The

to the buyer.

sales-

of excusing the high price of

was That

a thing on the score of the difficulty there in is

making

But was

it.

design, there

is

it

worth while

Apart from

the question.

much

not

its

?

superiority in

to choose

between

the Portland vase and the marvellously cut

modern Bohemia.

glass or crystal of

They

are the very extravagance of workmanship,

and as such merit the praise due to all patient The simplicity and labour, and no more. appropriate breadth of treatment of the crystal

cup on Plate 8 than

vastly

is

more workmanlike

Patience does not rank, outside

either.

With-

the copybook, as the virtue of virtues.

out some share of

it

genius

constitute genius, nor will

to design so

which

this is,

short

;

never-

power of taking pains does not

theless the

But

falls

much

is

it

even enable one

good pattern. straying rather from the

that

as a

material

point,

and process may

be trusted to suggest the character of decoration

and the point

restrained.

The

lavish

of ornament about

one to despair. able ornament

us

at

which

it

should be

and unintelligent use is enough to reduce

In our longing for palat-

we seem sometimes

to

see

Where

to

Stop in Ornament.

25

and not a

line in

pattern, pattern everywhere, place.

Suppose an earthen vessel

is

somehow to be

enriched with colour, the simplest and about the most dip

obvious means to employ

into

it

coloured

a

way to dye The glaze

simplest the vat.

glaze,

a textile

to get an even colour

no

is

to

the

it

into

to dip

it is

rather difficult

by that means.

But

reason whatever why colour

artistic

should be even.

is

as

will naturally follow the

law of gravitation, so that there

is

just

On

the contrary, beautiful

effects of quasi-accidental colour result

the running of the glaze.

I

from

say quasi-acci-

dental, because the accidents in art are, or

ought to

Though cise

be,

and reckoned upon.

foreseen

the potter cannot be sure of any pretells

him

the kind of " fluke " he

may

shade of colour, experience

within a

little

anticipate.

He

fires,

so to speak, with his

eyes shut, but not quite so wildly as might seem.

He

takes a good

object of his aim,

— or

look

first

at the

he would not be so

habitually near the mark.

In actual flaws and failures there

always a lesson which turned

to

account

artists

— not

by

is

nearly

have promptly intentionally

The Application of Ornament.

26

how

producing faulty work, but by noting

a new and beautiful, and at the same time workmanlike,

working

the

careless

A may

workman

lazy

or

But even

sudden.

coloured a

stop too

Chinese and

of the

Japanese the change of colour far too

by

obtained

too unequal;

be

In the glazes

soon.

,

material.

may

no doubt,

glaze,

may be

effect

with

sometimes

is

so, it is

a hundred

times to be preferred to the insipid evenness of tint which

is

manufacturer. celebrated

many

the aim of so It

French

a modern

was the aim too of the

who

potters,

laboriously

produced some of the most excruciating

—whether

due to their own want of taste or

to the vulgarity of the

Du

Barry and other

such patrons, one hardly knows.

many with

tints

of the arts infinite

is

pains,

how

In

insipid evenness reached,

and

at

the sacrifice of

beauties peculiar to the material

Greater variety

of colour than

obtained by simple glaze arrived at

by

in

may

face of the ware before

artist.

is

to

be

naturally be

any way roughening the surit is

dipped.

judicious contrast of smoother parts

is

And

the

and rougher

only what would naturally occur to the

This roughness

may

consist in the

Where

Stop in Ornament.

to

merest scratching,

which

or

raised

in

27

modelling,

capable of being carried to the

last is

point even of competing with sculpture. that case

enters a class of

it

under consideration. figure modelling

is

the

If

what

is

In

work not now perfection

wanted (and

of

this,

again,

applies to a great deal of misplaced

figure

work

decorative

in

art

generally),

it

would be so much more properly put to so

many

other purposes, that

it

is

a mistake to

homely pot. The genius of Flaxman was, relatively speaking, wasted on those finikin and crudelycoloured medallions with which the most apply

it

to the useful but

familiar form of

Wedgwood ware

is

A much more workmanlike process

encrusted. is

that of

painting in clay on clay, usually in white upon

M.

a coloured ground.

Solon, with whose

name it is associated in England, Flaxman but his paintings in pate ;

as

it

is

not a

termed, are infinitely superior as pot-

decoration to lions.

is

sur pate,

You

Wedgwood's moulded medal-

get here the utmost delicacy of

which the material utmost delicacy

is

is

capable.

Not

that this

a thing universally to be

kind of luxury in which one

sought.

It is a

may be

occasionally allowed to indulge, or

The Application of Ornament.

28

in which here and there one competent may be permitted to indulge, growing as it does

naturally out of a natural process of work. It

a sort of "fine-gentleman cousin of the

is

process that

easy and obvious enough for

is

the decoration of ware for

more rough and clay or "

as

slip,"

is

it

touches of the brush are It is strange that

tale.

to

learn

common

use

called,

where the

own

left to tell their

the public should have

the tale of the tool

that

—that

ready painting, namely, in

—brush, —

hammer, or whatever it may be is never discreditable, and always interesting. There is a something very direct and workmanlike in the way " slip " is used in modern chisel,

The dark-coloured

Indian pottery. first

patterned over in whitish

the whole It results

dipped

is

is

transparent

so slight as not in

interfere with

the form

enriches, nor yet in

usefulness.

of repousse similar

clay

is

and then glaze.

from the very method of execution

that the relief to

in

slip,

The ;

of the thing

any way

to hinder

it

its

necessarily restricted relief

metal

manner

any way

is

accounted

whereas ornament

for

in

a

in relief

applied to a vase usually presents the appear-

ance of so much excrescence upon

it.

The

9late

'PMaTO-TlItT, by J.Al»rni«n.6.IJu««n Squn«.ff.C,

11.

Where

to

Stop in Ornament.

modelling you get with a brush ever to be in too bold

not likely

is

nor that which

relief,

you get by punching too

29

sharp.

A very suggestive illustration of appropriate flatness of relief resulting

proceeding,

is

from a workmanlike

given in Plate

an old German book-cover

The its

flatness is

such that

11,

representing

in carved leather.

it is

not unsuited for

purpose, and the quality of the material

retained.

is

It looks like leather.

Sgraffitto, or the art of scratching, is

another

of those direct methods plainly appropriate to

the decoration of earthenware.

Just as the

Italian decorator covered his tinted

plaster

with a layer of white plaster, and while

it

was

yet soft scratched out his design (which thus

appeared

in the

dark colour of the under-

ground), so the potter dips his vessel of dark-

toned clay into a paste of white, and on this outer coating proceeds to scratch his design. Or, of course, he

body of the

may

vessel

scratch on the moist

itself,

and rub colour into

the incised lines.

These simple processes

in a

manner suggest and the

themselves by their very easiness

;

blunt line produced by the point on the clay, has

an ornamental character of

damp own

its

The Application of Ornament.

30

worth

well

simply

lines,

The

keeping.

ground (Plate

out

picked

diaper

delicate

of

painted

the

have a different character

12),

of their own.

The by the

objection there

application of cast ornament applies

only in a less

to obtaining relief

is

less

degree to rude and rough and

assuming work, such as German stone-

ware or gris de Flandres (Plate

Stamps

8).

or punches for impressing coarse patternwork,

Within

need to be used with judgment. certain limits

may employ

one

ornament,

in

especially of the ruder kind, devices

would not be endurable lofty

pretensions

danger nical

;

still

of hardness

there

resulting

always a

is

from mecha-

and perfunctory ways of working, even

may

though, as in stoneware, the glaze to soften is

which

work of more

in

the

forms.

The important

help

thing

that the end of beauty be gained without

sacrifice

of use,

and

without

greater

penditure of time and labour than

by the purpose venti'onal

way

is

in

view.

The

is

ex-

justified

truly con-

the workmanlike way.

One would not by any means exclude human or animal figures from the sphere of ornamental design; but

it

should be of the

?late

'PHOTa-TlMT*

hvJ Akirmnn

e.Quian Square

.W.C.

12.

Where

to

Stop in Ornament.

3

simplest and most spontaneous kind, such as

can be done without

and under no no way pre-

effort

special disadvantage, such as in

tends to the accuracy, unapplied.

The

or dignity of art

finish,

figures

on the Etruscan vases

(Plate 8) were, ordinarily, painted right off

without any great care for accuracy.

Some-

times they are wild enough in drawing.

comes

easier to a

him, to devise

man, or

human

than any other, by

If

more amusing

it

to

or animal forms rather

means him aim

all

let

him do that

at wjiat he can do under the circumstances, and not ignore

but, in so doing, let best

is

them, nor yet attempt to oppose them.

How

desirable

it is

to let the

manship suggest the design, futility

is

mode

of work-

shown by the

of searching for qualities difficult of

attainment in the material used.

nowhere more apparent than of pottery.

Think of

all

This

is

in the painting

the miniatures in

china turned out from the factories of Sevres,

Dresden, and Stoke skill

— and

compare

— marvels

of misapplied

their absolute ineffective-

ness as decorations with a bit of Italian or

Persian faience (Plate 12), and see

glory

is all

"with the direct

how

the

and untrammelled

"conventional" art of the potter

who made

The Application of Ornament.

32

the most of the beautiful capacities for colour

and

which

beauty

iridescent

and how vain were the

crucible,

lay

in

efforts

his

of the

would-be miniature or landscape painter.

If

he ever succeeded in getting what he sought (which

very doubtful), he certainly failed to

is

produce decoration so often

that

;

was

sacrificed, as

it

to a misplaced pictorial ambition.

is,

This applies, mutatis mutandis, with equal

Whatever medium

bound

is

as

he

him

treatment

decorative

to

force

in

adopt, he

work before

to consider the

adopting

encaustic, or

general.

in

may

painter

reason to consider that medium,

bound

is

in

a.

it

— distemper,

whatever

it

may

fresco,

oil,

be.

In ceramit painting the choice

lies

between

painting on the glaze and on the "biscuit," as it is

called before

it

is

glazed.

For ordinary

earthenware the more limited resources of the •'

underglaze

"

method

mentist need desire.

modern facilities is

offer all that the orna-

One

failures lies in the ;

reason for our

multitude of our

the secret of the ancient triumphs

often in the simplicity of the

workman's

resources.

The

choice of manner will be some extent by what he wants

artist's

regulated to

Where

to

Stop in Ornament.

In any case,

to do.

he

if

limit his ambition to the

ances.

The

is

discreet,

33 he

will

range of his appli-

china painter, that

is

to say, will

think out a scheme of colour which,

if

not

suggested by the oxides employed in ceramic painting,

This

not in any

is

will,

way opposed

indeed, deprive

him

of

to them.

some pos-

sible indulgence in naturalistic effect,

the main

it

will lead

him

to

more

but

in

perfect

achievement than would the pursuit of mere difficulties,

without regard to the nature of

and the action of the kiln One appreciates more fully the

vitreous colours

upon them.

colour of the Persian or Damascus pottery when one realises that the painter's palette It is only was set by the circumstances. when we respect our materials that we get so much out of them. The uncertainty of all colour which has to fire renders it most unwise scheme which (whether founded upon nature or not) depends upon absolute

pass through the to entertain a

accuracy of

The

tint.

vitreous colours

is

their

certain

thing about

uncertainty in the

kiln.

The

potter

is

working always more or

in the dark, since the value of his

work

D

is

less

not

The Application of Ornament.

34

perceived until It

may be

comes out of the furnace.

it

within the bounds of possibility to

get actual flesh tones in china coloiirs; but at

what a cost of

and

risk,

what a

at

sacrifice

of qualities (rich colour qualities, for example) so easily obtainable,

and decoratively so much

more valuable It is

only reasonable that,

an

if

artist elect

he should

for-

swear whatever has to pass through the

fire,

flesh-painting as

metier,

his

and adopt a medium

in

himself with ease, or at

which he can express all

events without for

ever breaking his heart over

Better be

it.

an underwriter during perpetual high gales, or a large holder of doubtful stock in a time

of general panic, than live the painter whose ambitions are

of a pot-

life

all in

opposition

to his craft.

So

in other crafts.

The

glass-painters of

the best periods were content with white glass

And

for their flesh tone.

ability to get

it

was

something more

for

no lack of

like flesh-colour

that the great decorators of the i6th century

adopted

flesh tints,

called conventional.

sources of an

art,

a

which certainly must be

However limited the

man knows them,

know them, when he takes it

up.

re-

or should

Besides, every

Where medium has as

its

limits

Stop in Ornament.

to

its

35

inherent advantages as well

—and

it is

these which should be

There

turned to account.

is

and

a liquid

which

transparent quality in water colour,

every water-colour painter wishes he could only retain beyond the wet

This

picture.

can

get,

floating

is

stage

of

'

his

what the china painter

without the least trouble, by simply

on

his

Surely, then, that at,

just

when

it

fidgetting

it,

is

colour is

with a

brush.

full

the kind of thing to aim

within easy reach

or stippling

it,

;

instead of

or dabbing

it

with

cotton wool, to the dull evenness so dear to

the commercial mind, or otherwise laboriously

seeking effects more easily and

produced by other means. pot-like

look

is

That

much

better

loose, juicy,

more valuable

ceramic

in

painting than any degree of mere

finish,

and

So also the scheme of colour should have reference to what can best be done with the palette available. should be valued accordingly.

In pottery painting, or whatever in all

it

may

be,

kinds of carving, in mosaic, in embroi-

dery, in jewellery, everywhere

it

holds good,

that the selection both of the forms

colour should have direct

technique employed.

What

and the

reference is

to

the

simplest under

D

2

36

The Application of Ornament.

the circumstances

is

not only safest but most

directly conducive to success

further

charm

in the

;

and there

is

a

evidence of directness

itself.

In

all

applied

art,

and

in

every stage of

it,

the work in hand points out the appropriate

treatment

;

it

suggests the degree as well as

the kind of conventionality to adopt

but to heed

what

to do,

its

prompting and

and where to

stop.

it

;

you have

will tell

you

Style

and Handicraft.

37

IV.

Style and Handicraft.

The purpose and

position

ornament

of

belong to the wider subject of decoration, at

which we have not yet

arrived,

and come only

incidentally under our consideration.

method of

its

the

said,

very

conception

One cannot

design.

On

the

execution depends, as already of

ornamental

properly discuss style

without reference to material and tools.

The

style peculiar to each particular kind

of work

is,

indeed, so strongly marked, that

would be quite according to

feasible to classify

its

"hand"

in

writing, holds

There never was a its

ornament

Mr. Wornum's

evolution.

analogy between "style"

it

in

ornament and

absolutely good.

tool or process but

character on the work done.

It

it

wrote

was so

a simple practical matter like lettering.

in

The

cuneiform character of the Assyrian inscriptions

was developed

chisel in hand.

It

was

the chisel shaped the hieroglyphs of Egypt.

The Application of Ornament.

38

Greek

early

In a certain bluntness of the

character the influence of the stylus

Chinese and Japanese writing must

parent. first

have been done with the brush.

The are

various shapes of letters

instructive.

Roman first

capitals

F, with

13

the

of

ABC might, like the Greek, The

its

on Plate

The simple form

have been indented on a

with a point.

DE

ap-

is

later

soft substance

form of

lettering,

varying thickness of line and

its

spurred extremities, was better calculated

for

engraving on hard stone.

The

use of the

and the up-stroke) comes of the use of the pen, and

thick and thin lines (the down-stroke

so, plainly,

does the characteristic thickening

of the backs of certain Gothic capitals such as

The

the G. still

smaller

more plainly the

Roman italics

letters,

k

I

h

takably related to the "round-hand"

But penmanship

is

the letters 5

r S, in

it is

in the

in the

more

medieval

"

and

i j,

m, are unmis-

black letter

nop. "

that

most plainly pronounced, as the capitals

in

'^WiV, and

fantastically flourishing SSt

on

same plate. That our own printed type does not more

the

distinctly reveal the intervention of the

worker,

is

metal

accounted for by our following the

Plate

Ci.LneiforiT?

jxpa^nese

1.3

and Handicraft.

Style historic,

39

—

I

would

and

senti-

pen-born, fashion of lettering

say, too closely, but that history

ment must be allowed to count for something and it would be hard to set a limit on their just influence.

we

In our day "

are given to the cultivation of

a good business hand," which

is

just a little

and monotonous, as are indeed

characterless

some of us who accomplish that modest end. Time was when the pen of the

the lives of

ready writer indulged

There

is

no time

and what

in occasional flourishes.

such frivolity nowadays

for

character there

little

is left in

;

our

handwriting seems likely to be sacrificed to the convenience of the stylographic pen if

we do not

give

— even

up penmanship altogether

in favour of the " type-writer."

Style, then,

is

much

not so

a thing of dates

and countries as of materials and tools. Whenever the development of ornament discussed,

savage.

it

is

How

the Assyrian

is

from Assyrian

the custom to begin with the

the aboriginal developed into

not very clearly shown. art

is

traced Egyptian,

from that again Greek imitation

—

all

is

very

dation of Byzantine

art,

and

plausibly. art

and

Roman

its

The

upon the

But

foun-

ruins of

The Application of Ornament.

40

Classic, the

growth of Gothic, the reaction of

the Renaissance,

its

and

transplanting,

its

degradation, follow in accustomed order. It

easier to jog along this well-beaten

is

road,

though

explain how,

be a

it

all

trifle

tedious, than to

the while, parallel with

Oriental art was pursuing a course of

its

this.

own,

infringing, nevertheless, at times

upon Western

and whenever that was the

case, leaving

art,

the imprint of

touch upon

its

it.

This would be well worth doing

would take volumes to do

demand,

besides,

greater than

I

it

in,

;

but

and would

knowledge

historical

can pretend to

it

far

—a knowledge

perhaps scarcely compatible with the necessary knowledge of

hard

it is

art.

One

for the artist to

feels

always

how

equip himself with

the necessary scientific and historic knowledge as for the

man

of learning

and research to

cultivate that susceptibility to art necessary

to

any Still

classify

profitable discussion of the subject.

more to the purpose would it be to ornament according as it was plaited,

notched, scratched, turned, modelled, carved, inlaid, printed, riot

woven, embroidered, or what

(see Plates lo, 30, 12, 37, 21, 9, 36, 7, 19,

40, respectively).

?1ate

PmoTO-TiNt", t^ J Ak-.rman,G,l}ue.n Squaro.WC.

14.

(Plate 13

Photo Tiht by >> AK»rin«n

6 Quara

Squuv \ ^

Style

and Handicraft.

4

In such a classification architecture would

•

divide itself

masonry, brick, concrete,

into

timber, plaster, and iron sidiary arts

would

The

styles.

sub-

class themselves in con-

formity with the use of

stone, wood,

clay,

metal, yarn, and so on.

There would be further subdivisions marble,

granite, soft

sandstone

into

;

wood, close grained and variegated

wrought,

cast,

into

hard and

chased or beaten metal

;

into

;

into

tapestry, cloth, damask, velvet, lace, brocade,

embroidery, and the

What

like.

known as the historic styles might be examined by the way they would go to are

;

illustrate

development

the

technically considered.

would be shown style

to

is

marked,

that, its

In

of all

style

more

probability

character

is

to be traced

some mode of workmanship which,

did not actually inspire

The

characteristic

it

wherever the historic

it,

made

it

if

it

advisable.

ornamental forms of a

period or people can usually be traced to the

technique and needs of that same people. this

far,

ornament

rises

to

In

the dignity of

history.

A tolerably to us at once

clear idea of style

is

conveyed

by the mention of Egyptian,

The Application of Ornament.

42

But

Greek, Gothic, or Renaissance sculpture. if

we compare

Egypt, of

for a

Greece,

moment

the carving of

and

Medieval 'and

we

Renaissance Europe,

of

shall see at

once that

the styles are not more distinctly of a place

and of a period than they are markedly granite, marble, and soft stone styles.

The monumental obelisk, the frieze,

the

simplicity of the graven

refinement of the

Panathenaic

the rude grandeur of the Gothic portal,

delicate

elaboration

of the Italian ara-

besque, were but the natural development of

Working

resources at hand. basalt, or granite,

in

porphyry,

severe simplicity was in-

and the Egyptian (Plate 14) was There was no severe with a vengeance. evitable,

temptation to him_ to in the

away

fritter

all

accumulation of petty detail.

breadth

On

the

other hand, the even textured but less obsti-

nate marble encouraged the Greek sculptor

and

his fifteenth century successor (Plates 15

and

16) to greater

and ever greater subtlety

of execution; which again would have been quite out of the question in working the friable

more

sandstone native to Northern Europe

(Plate 17).

We

associate the

coarser

treatment with

?la1e

PhbTo-Tiht',

}]/

J.Akumaii.G.l^ism ^ipiaro.WC

16.

"Photo-Tiht", hyi) Aksmmn.G.l^inii iqu«r«,WC

Style

and Handicraft.

Gothic carving in particular.

more

noticeable, therefore,

43

It is

how the

the

all

sculptor of

the Renaissance, working in a coarse stone,

Gothic work.

some respects so like Compare Plate 16 with Plate 1 7,

and see the

difference

arrived at results

in

naissance marble and

The

stone.

later

as sandstone

is

Apart from

between

later

work

is

Re-

early

Renaissance sand-

much

the rougher,

rougher than marble.

all

that has been said, there are

conditions of sunlight and

grey

dry

skies,

atmosphere and moist, which also have their say in the character of carving everywhere.

To

explain at length the invariable con-

ventionality of historic ornament, would be to

write the history of the various crafts, each of

which might claim a

All

treatise to itself

that one can do within the limits of a manual like this

is

to give instances, typical as

may

be, of the influence of material, tool, or process

of execution upon design, and to show the

forms

of

ornament

were

modified by such influence,

due to

if

how

inevitably

not actually

it.

In discussing

in

anatomy of

pattern,

construction

was

a former text-book the I

pointed out

affected by,

how

its

and very often

44

The Application of Ornament.

directly

due

particular manufacture

some

to,

So

or method of work.

with the details

it is

of ornamental design.

The

simplicity of certain

exquisite

racteristic

familiar

patterns

velvets of the 15th century,

in is

the figured

cleverly calcu-

lated to disturb the least possible

the sumptuous

pile,

the rich texture

is

cha-

so that the

amount of

full

value of

preserved.

damask

In the old-fashioned big broad leaves and

scrolls are

patterns the

planned

(like

a Turkey carpet or an Indian rug) with a view, before

all

things, of getting a

The

colour.

broken

effect of

designer relied upon the quality

of the silk with

its

varying sheen to alleviate

the exceeding flatness of the pattern.

treatment

less

No

broad would have done justice

to the quality of the stuff, which in those days

Compare even the

was worth consideration.

comparatively debased specimen of woollen

damask on Plate in linen

18,

damask, and

with the current designs it

will

be seen how well

advised were our grandfathers.

century manufacturers

who

Nineteenth

desire equally to

exhibit the quality of their woof, can think of

no other

way

of doing

it

than by leaving

the ground for the most part empty.

They

TlatelS

F

KKLL,rH0TO-I.ITHff.e.FUHHIVAU

S-f

H0UI1

'Plate

Photo-Tpht* tjJ.Ak«rman.6,IJuB»nSquu™,WC.

19.

Style

and Handicraft.

dearly love a spot pattern.

Is

it

45

possibly out

of consideration for the lady purchaser that

modern

table-linen

style?

petite in

is

The

most part so

for the

consideration

of the

customer and not the thing to be done, responsible for

much

of our

is

modern misdoing.

In certain woven fabrics of our time the

hope of disguising the shabbiness of the substance has prompted the adoption of the

One had need

fussiest

kind of pattern.

ware of

textiles worried all over with pattern

they

are

shoddy.

often

expressly

The manufacturer

be;

designed to hide of bond fide

silk,

or wool, or other worthy material, would do well, for his part, to identify his

goods with a

kind of design which the baser fabrics cannot imitate without convicting themselves.

The

character of the

Lyons

silk designs of

the 17th and i8th centuries owes very

much

to the circumstance, that the lustrous material

was so fascinating that artists were led astray from beautiful form, and simply revelled in Charming as these the delights of colour. silks often are, translate

terns into

and most

you

any one of the

pat-

uncompromising black and white, are

disillusioned

characteristic

of

them

at

once.

lose

all

The their

The Application of Ornament.

46 charm

in

monochrome.

It is

hard to realise

that forms like those on Plate

pass for beautiful

;

but

is

it

19 can ever

wonderful what

colour and texture will reconcile us to in the

way

of design.

artist

That

no reason

is

why

the

should leave us to reconcile ourselves

with ugly forms,

still

why we

less

should

accept such models without attempting to

improve upon them.

The Byzantine

colouring, in bands, accord-

ing to the weft (Plate 20) its

is

almost brutal in

outspoken acceptance of the limitations of

weaving.*

It

speaks volumes for the safety

with which such limitations

may be

accepted,

that the contradiction between the forms of

the design and the scheme of colour does not in the least offend

one

in

the

silk.

The same

kind of thing occurs sometimes in Japanese stuffs.

Until recently, the conventional treatment of foliated forms always and everywhere confessed

The

quite

frankly the

way

it

so-called honeysuckle of the

was done. Greeks

I

have shown elsewhere f to be directly traceable to the use of the brush, as See

'

Anatomy

t See

'

Everyday Art,' pp. 106-8.

*

was the case

of Pattern, ' pp. 49, 50.

Plate 20

l^y^Mifipc colourio^jvccor^lino^'foK') Kill, rHOTO-HTMP.fl

n^late 21

"pHOTO-TtHT:

U

J,Ak«m.n,G.(hi.,inSc,UM«,W.C,

Style

and Handicraft.

47

with other familiar forms of painted Greek

ornament.

The

Corinthian capital and the acanthus

even when they most nearly approach

scroll,

(which

nature

never very closely), are

is

always modified according to the conditions of sculpture.

In the Byzantine version of the Classic

which the sculptors made abun-

leafage, in

dant use of the

element

in

occurs in

more

drill,

the drill-holes form an

the design.

much

thing

of the later Gothic foliage,

especially in

The Arabian

The same

German work.*

borders on Plate 21 leave no

possible doubt as to their having been traced

on the

plastic stucco with the modelling tool.

The workman

did what was simplest for him

We may be

to do.

sure, too, that

it

was the

ease with which the plaster could be manipulated,

which

,led

to the extraordinary elabora-

tion characterising the impressed diapers

on

the walls of the Alhambra.

The somewhat savage enrichment of our own Norman buildings forcibly recalls the rude way it was done. It is more properly speaking chopped than carved. *

See 'The Planning of Ornament,' Plate 24.

The Application of Ornament.

48

To

refer to a specific material,

of any

look at the ironwork

without seeing its

design.

It

how

you cannot

early

period

directly the forge affected

was the obvious thing to do to

beat out the metal into a bar, and equally

obvious to beat out the bar into the familiar spirals.

And

the very difficulty of forging a

was the surest preventive

perfectly even bar

against mechanical results, such as

we

see in

modern smith, whose bars are made for him by machine. The forms on Plate 22 belong more disthe handiwork of the

than to France of the

tinctly to the forge

13th

century

or

Italy

of the

17th.

The

metal-workers in different parts of medieval

Germany

give different

work (Plate

23).

If

a

expression to their

man had

say he expressed himself.

would found a

Even

everywhere. art,

when

bristling

it

school. in

But

A

strong

man

it is

smith's

work

the decadence of the

bursts out into an uncomfortably

form of

foliage,

it

breathes always

the atmosphere of the forge. spired

it,

it

If nature in-

was the hammer and the pincers

that shaped

it.

It is precisely for this

forms

anything to

reason that similar

in cast iron are so singularly ill-judged.

BatB 22

'Plate

^pes

of

lroi7Worl^

23

and Handicraft.

Style

There

nothing contemptible in cast

is

we would but in

it

49 iron, if

abstain from the reproduction

We

of forms inappropriate to casting.

should have no cause to regret the institution of the foundry,

if

into their

moulds

end

would

that

founders would but put art

and the

;

first

step towards

dismiss from

be, to

their

memories the familiar forms of the forge. It is customary to talk about cast iron as if it were an abomination. only that

why we

There

objectionable.

is

no reason

should not do in iron something like

what the bronze

is

It is its misapplication

Italians of the 15 th century did in

—unless

be

it

century incom-

19th

petence. It

is

one

of

civilisation to

workmanship.

the

ways of our

wicked

smoothe out

character from

all

For idiomatic expression

ornament we have generally to to a

remote period.

The

No

itself!

one who

would wish to have

So

in

it

is

what might

But how cares

for

it

explains

needlework

otherwise.

embroidery (Plate 40) we look

colour and not perfect lines in

in

back

angularity of the

piece of darning on Plate 24

be called old-fashioned.

travel

;

for

and so again

mosaic or stained glass (Plate

39),

—just as E

50 in

The Application of Ornament.

glass-blowing (Plate 8)

we properly expect

to find lightness rather than precision of form.

In the pursuit of mechanical finish and the blind worship of nature, considerations of this

kind are commonly

The

chinery.

love of nature

realists (so-called)

invention

loved

The

of

love

not, as the

is

would have us

of to-day.

and

historic

lost sight

comes of our abuse of ma-

of smoothness

studied

Artists

Only, in

nature.

an

believe,

have always the

treatment of natural forms, modelled

in clay or plaster,

carved in

wood

or stone,

painted on wall or window, wrought in metal, or on a loom, or with the needle

— there

is

always a touch of the tool which removes the rendering by so much, nature, for

—

let

us not say from

the instinct which

niodifications

is

natural

the imitation of nature.

directs

such

—but

from

enough,

?late 24.

Phbtb-TimV; hyJ Alcnn.n.G.QuB.n

5i]u«m,¥.C.

The Teaching of the

Tool.

5

The Teaching of the Tool. Difficult as

man

may be

it

for

any but a work-

quite to appreciate the influence of tools

and treatment upon ornamental

and

design,

so to trace the origin of time-honoured forms to their all

first

cause

—

it

forms of ornament

certain that nearly

is

may

be followed back

to a beginning in technique.

Take any design with

experiment. different

tool it,

in

hand and proceed

It

will

be

something

quite

from what you would have drawn

much

with a pencil on paper, and something less

to

and see what comes of the

literally

like

any natural object

:

and

according to the tool employed will be the character of your design.

The

process of repousse work or embossing

will serve for

You

an example.

of brass or copper, with

its

on a bed or cushion of

pitch,

lay a sheet

downwards,

face

and proceed

with tools of various shapes and

sizes

E 2

to

The Application of Ornament.

52

punch the pattern from the back. Now, if you have any feeling for the material at all (and if you have not, you have mistaken your vocation), you begin very naturally to do

what can be done to

work

to

in

Plate 25, A, which bosses,

rounded stems,

may

at

something

C,

like

from which grows a kind of

D, large or small in

be, but

shape.

so

These you go on to connect with

flowers.

foliage,

set

you surround with smaller

arriving

B,

Accordingly you

it.

beat out certain round bosses,

We

always more or

detail, as

less

need

bulbous in

have thus a pattern, which

characteristically repoussi, beaten work,

is

and

which has grown to a great extent out of the

you were working. Plate 25 pi'etends to do no more than illustrate this method of proceeding. Your conditions under which

bosses or

may

what

take the form of figures, animals,

not

;

yet,

in

the

hands

of

a

sympathetic workman, they will not cease,

whatever their individual shape or to

be always bosses.

thetic

seeing

It is

interest,

your unsympa-

workman who designs without forehow every detail is to be carried out,

and misses the material.

characteristic qualities of his

(plate 23.

'^\'m>

m

s?

>y

mi.X

im

iV'

'''&>

W'<

Tkte 26

-Plate 27.

?Me28

,

^a^vs^nescl

.

Onoe^poent ipspi red by wacy ofWorlMi-j^ fHOTO-LITHO.O.FUHKIVW. S'

The Teaching of the It

Tool.

53

cannot be insisted upon too strongly designing for ornament,

that, in

ditions in

it

abso-

is

always to have those con-

lutely essential

mind, as clearly as though you

were yourself working under them. In beaten work you descend from the mass in filagree, on the contrary, you would work from the minutia; to the

to the minutiae

;

mass. Commencing with wiry lines, you would perhaps clothe them with more compact spirals, clustering these together where

you wished

The

to concentrate the effect.

design of the Byzantine artist of a thousand years ago

is

you

not,

will see (Plate 26),

from that of the medieval

different

very

silver-

smith, nor yet from that of the Genoese and

Maltese This

artificer of to-day. is

the type of

cately elaborate

all

ornament

in deli-

line, as, for instance,

damas-

cening, embroidery in gold or silken outline,

and, on a larger scale,

hammered

ironwork.

Substituting straight lines for curved, its

it

has

parallel in certain kinds of lacework, such

as the so-called "

A very

Greek

lace."

(Plate 27.)

curious instance of design directly

by the way of working occurs in the Javanese work on Plate 28. Some plastic inspired

The Application of Ornament.

54

substance, paper or gutta-percha,

is

rolled out

into the thickness of stout wire, curled round

and

into spirals,

ground

is

The

on papier-miche.

laid

then partly fretted away and the

There

whole gilded.

is

something delight-

fully naiVe in the result.

Fret cutting affords another homely

The very

tration.

illus-

of the

necessities

You

suggest the nature of the design.

saw are

some form of pierced ornament not unlike stencilling or, if you prefer to cut away the ground instead of the pattern, you led to devise

;

compelled to hold the design together

are

by

ties.

Unless these

as

if

The

by

accordingly, finds himself,

artist,

evolving a kind of strap-

instinct,

work, which

reminds

Elizabethan ornament originated

in

some

carving, although

influence

The

taken

first

would be sure to mar the

into account, they effect.

were from the

ties

one

of

—which such

the

typical

very possibly

device

as

fret

the forms show also the

of types

more proper

to

metal.

likeness of the strip of low-relief pattern-

work, on

Plate

29, to

fret

cutting,

striking to be merely accidental.

tionship challenges recognition.

is

The

too rela-

Tlate ?3 A\ctav.1

-

Germs^r)

The Teaching of the

Tool.

55

In the comparative massiveness or delicacy of a fret pattern, one sees at once whether

was designed

The

artful fret- worker leaves

wood

ing ends, in stone or

broken

off,

and

no

frail

project-

to be promptly

metal to catch hold of any

in

may

textile thing that

The

it

wood, or metal.

for stone, or

brush against them.

strength of a metal fret naturally affords

facility for

ornament.

indulging in more florid forms of

The

lock-plate represented

iron

on Plate 29 shows

and exemplifies be-

this,

how the metal may be

sides

in part

embossed,

and, of course, engraved.

Even simpler and more direct than fretwork is the plan of notching thin planks of wood and crossing them (as in Plate 30). It has

all

acme

The

the effect of elaborate fretwork. of simplicity

shown

is

in the

no

less

ingenious device of placing the notched planks side

by

side, so as to

tern of singular this,

produce a pierced pat-

effectiveness.

Instances of

taken from the balconies of Swiss chalets,

same

are given on the

plate with the

Arab

lattices referred to above.

The

likeness

stencil pattern

is

between a

fret

pattern and a

explained when one realises

that a stencil plate

is

a

fret

of cartridge paper,

The Application of Ornajnent.

56

through which the design

is

rubbed

in,

the

plate protecting the ground.

Stencilling

one

very properly used in decora-

means of laying

tion as a only, in

is

which case one

will,

or

what one

in a first painting

may do

can.

with

it

One may

what even,

by the use of a succession of plates, produce most elaborate designs. An ordinary Italian house decorator will manage to stencil a wall surface with a gorgeously rich damask pattern, at

a cost not exceeding that of equally

effective wall-paper.

A

stencil pattern

proper should, however,

be designed to be stencilled right needing to be This principle

by

its

made good is

at

all

owns

its origin.

Ties,

it

will

be seen,

i,

which

to being stencilled.

a bastard kind of design that

is

of

without

by hand.

illustrated in Plate

construction

It

off,

may

is

ashamed

well be turned to

account to form a pattern on the pattern, to give detail, such as the veining of large leaves, or otherwise to break

up the broader masses

of the design.

The geometric the outline

diaper on Plate 31

is

ob-

by means of two stencils, being formed by the portion of

viously produced

Hate 30

Tlate 51

'

B * a

I-

r

KEU, PMOTO--LiTHo. b.fuhnival 8' KOi-»OM*,e-o

The Teaching of the the ground

elaborate series of stencils each one

schemed but,

to

make good the workman to

always be

an

way an

the

interest

effect

57

In the case of an

clear.

left

Tool.

may be

the ties of another at

least,

in

the

there

will

of

evidence

He

has been produced.

looks for character as well as beauty. It

who

must be confessed that he does.

is

the only one

This merit of workmanlike-ness

one which the public cannot, as expected to appreciate.

It

I

said,

is

be

reserved for

is

the craftsman to recognise behind his work a

craftsman with

how

it

is

His interest

fellowship.

seeing

whom

his pride to claim

in it is

not alone in

another solved a difficulty which

had occurred

to himself, or took advantage of

an accident which to him had been

He

only of disappointment.

purest satisfaction in feeling

away and years ago

far

he does, that in

this,

has a

fruitful thrill

how some

of

one,

perhaps, realised, as

and not

that,

was the

spirit

which such and such thing should be done,

such and such material should be treated, saw

same hint in nature as he sees, or felt the same limitation in his art as he feels. This is

the

the satisfaction, not of the sentimentalist but of the workman.

And

no workman of any

The Application of Ornament.

58

account will be satisfied without the approbation of the

The

fellow-workman he respects. book-binding

tooled

Plate 32

i§

than to the

on

illustrated

interesting rather to the craftsman

The

artist.

ingenuity with which

a few simple and rather insignificant tools are

made

to suffice towards

effect,

shows the practised hand.

Our wonder

the

colouring

architectural Italy, settles

at

down

was encouraged,

if

a

somewhat

florid

splendid scheme

of

which

in

prevailed

into the conviction that

not wholly suggested,

it

by

the gorgeousness of the multi-coloured marbles

within easy reach.

This

it

was which led

also

to the development of a kind of decoration,

very characteristically mosaic, in which the

beauty of the material

is

displayed

slabs of rich veneer, whilst the waste

up

in

in large is

used

the form of geometric pattern work, the

design of which the chips. surfaces

The

is

literally cut

according to

contrast between the broad

and the minute mosaic

is

exceedingly

happy.

The

large circular slabs of porphyry

which

form so prominent a feature

in

of Byzantine churches

in

Italy,

notably in

many

Basilicas

(Plate 33),

of

the

Roman

the pavements

n^late 32.

'Pmotc-Timt" by

J.

Aki

-Plate

'trjla^icl

Mo53.ic

'HOTO-llTMO.B.FUnNIVAL

"^.^ve-i-nenl S"*

HOuSonr

6£xio Ma^-rco

33

T^ome

The Teaching of the

Tool.

afford yet further evidence of the

These

dependence

upon the conditions of

of design

59

material.

many

circular plaques are in fact so

columns, saved from the wreck-

slices of old

age of more ancient buildings, and put to this ingenious use.

The common adoption terns for inlaid pavements

by the circumstance

of geometric pat-

was countenanced

that the

unequal and

accidental colour of the marble cubes, just

counteracted

the

hardness, in which

tendency lies

to

mechanical

the danger of purely

geometric ornament. In marquetry,' similar geometric forms were found, for similar reasons, to be serviceable,

so that one

may

say that, whether in wood, or

mother-o'-pearl, or marble, a style of inlaid

pattern-work was begotten of the very of shaping

facility

and laying geometric forms, by

the certainty of the harmonising influence of colour. It

is

in the inlay of

natural

stones and the like that

we

woods and

find the

most

satisfactory use of absolutely geometric pattern.

The

colours

is

pectedness

accidental variation of the natural

exactly the thing needful. of tint

makes amends

Unexfor

cer-

The Application of Ornament.

6o

tainty of shape, and gives an air of mystery

to what would otherwise be

The

mechanism.

on Plate 34 are plainly softening

much

ornament

need of some such

in

of

influence

geometric

only so

rigid forms of the diaper

colour.

like

the

Again,

in

" niello "

on

Plate 35, the silvery brilliancy of the metal glorifies,

so to speak, the nakedness of the

design.

So

ornamental glass mosaic so often

in the

used

in Italy

about Giotto's time in connec-

tion with white marble, the surface,

more

especially

absolutely even, put

all

and

angles,

bright

;

there

The

is

inlay

of strongly contrasted

no such excuse

for severity of

some of the old pavement

example

36), are

facets of

manner of

will.

colour there

form

little

all

glittering each according to its

marble

In

for

Such a thing was those

catching the light at

glass

own

all

shimmer of the it was never

contingency of harsh-

ness out of the question.

barely possible with

as

in the baptistry at

patterns, that

Florence (Plate

exceedingly graceful in design.

you see the influence of the

Even

material.

desirability of maintaining the solidity of

the white slabs into which the blackish -green

Plate 34

Plate 35

-IITHO. B.FUHMIVAL

S''

M0L»OIlH,e

The Teaching of the is inlaid,

61

Tool.

has led to a kind of network of white

enclosing the darker

by which means is most These patterns would

tints,

the contrast between light and dark judiciously softened.

They

stencil perfectly. in

marble.

Here

may

it

though a

stencil

be as well to remark is

a kind of

exactly the same as a stencil the

ties

In designing a

openings as

in fact, fretted

are,

much

is

are

fret,

stencil.

a

that,

fret is

not

In designing a

the main consideration.

fret,

the connection

an important point.

of the

One must

as possible avoid the hindrance of

perpetually removing and refixing the saw, which, in fretting a stencil pattern such as that

on Plate

i,

would take almost as much time

as the actual cutting.

Long, smooth, sweep-

ing lines are also suggested

backward and

forward

following jagged

lines,

by the

action

saw, the

involved in

such as the serrated

edges of leaves, resulting in

some waste of

labour.

Very wooden

characteristic

design occurs

m

the

lattice work which has lately been imported from Cairo, and freely used (not always with discretion) in the decoration and

furniture of English houses (Plate 37).

Better

The Application of Ornament.

62

it would be difficult to find, or a better, means of employing otherwise not very useful scraps of wood, or a better employment of wood turning. This Cairene woodwork in-

lattices

dicates equally the scarcity of large timber,

the cheapness of labour, and the dependence

upon the

lathe.

Had

the conditions been

we should never have had 'just such patterns as the Arab builders evolved in other,

infinite variety.

The

characterlessness of 19th century orna-

ment is due very largely any direct impress of the

to the absence of tool

upon design.

In the process of modern manufacture, everything

is

planed down to a marvellous but

monotonous smoothness tool,

which

ness,

is

—want

is

the

;

mark of the

the evidence of workmanlike-

popularly regarded even as bad work of finish, indeed.

Even in this age of who have yet

enlightenment there are some to learn that

and yet not

work may be smooth and smug,

beautiful, nor so

much

as finished.

This mistaken ideal of perfection

must be owned, altogether a modern tapestry, for example, designers

working

for

centuries

pictorial direction,

is

not,

one.

it

In

have been

past, steadily

in the

and against the threads