nRNA/AENTAL.

ar 18Q

^i^PPLICATION

Of

ORNA/ALM

o^ tartsJ

/Jixx/

The
tine

original of

tliis

book

is in

Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright

restrictions in
text.

the United States on the use of the

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 924031 282076

Ubrary Cornell University

.Ih ny

TEXT BOOKS OF ORNAMENTAL DESIGN.

By lewis

F.

day.

III.

THE APPLICATION OF ORNAMENT.

TEXT BOOKS OF ORNAMENTAL DESIGN.

By lewis
F.

day.
bound
in Cloth.

Price Three-and-Sixpence each,

I.

THE ANATOMY OF PATTERN.

With
Thirty-five
full

page

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,
ETC.

'THE ANATOMY OF PATTERN,'

ILLUSTRATED.

B.

T.

LONDON: BATSFORD, 52, HIGH HOLBORN.

PREFACE.
The former
text-books of this series con-

cerned themselves with the rudimentary lines

on which ornament
distributed.
It is

may

be designed and

only

in

theory, however, that ornadiscussed.

ment can be independently

tically
tion.
it

Prac-

exists only relatively to its applicaits

Apart from
its

place and purpose and

is

the process of

doing, there

no such

thing as ornament.

The
position
lute.

necessity of adapting

design to
it is

its

and use

is

as obvious as

abso-

The need

of conforming to the

technical conditions imposed

by

material,

more and

the means of working

it,

is

not so generally
a craftsman

understood.

It

takes, perhaps,
its

thoroughly to appreciate

urgency.

These few chapters go essential to ornament is

to demonstrate
its

how

strict

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

study of technique.
its

The

consideration of natural form and

is

adaptation to ornamental design

for a separate

resei-ved

volume.

Lewis
13,

F.

Day.

Mecklenburg Square, London, W.C.

October ^ih, i8S8.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
I.

The Rationale of the Conventional

..

II.

What

is

Implied by Repetition
.. ..

III.

Where

to Stop in Ornament

17

IV.

Style and Handicraft

37
51

v.
VI.

The Teaching of the Tool

Some Superstitions

..

65

DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF PLATES.

1.

STENCIL
colour.

The

ties

breaking up the broad masses of

2.

ORNAMENTAL FIGURE COMPOSITION Identical

reversed.

figures

3.

ANIMALS AND ARABESQUE

metrically disposed.

Varied

creatures

sym-

4.

A TREE OF JESSE among the foliage.

Figures

ornamentally

valuable

5.

NURSERY WALL PAPER

Fun in design.
creatures enliven-

6.

ANIMALS AND ARABESQUE^ Various

ing the ornament.

7.

PATTERN* WITH GROTESQUES

selves reduced to ornament.

The

Creatures

them-

8.

VARIOUS VESSELS
making.

Characteristic

of the

way

of their

9.

WOOD CARVING Shovifing

AFRICAN BASKET

the marks of the chisel.

typical

10.

WORK A

example of
quality

plaiting.

1 1.

CARVED LEATHER
material.

Preserving

the

of

the

12.

PERSIAN FAIENCE

Direct potter's work.

its

13.

LETTERING

Showing

relation to the pen, &c.

List of Plates.
14.

EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE

Basalt.

15.

16.

17.

18.

Marble. RENAISSANCE SCULPTURE Marble. RENAISSANCE SCULPTURE Sandstone. WOOL DAMASK ^Broad surfaces calculated
GREEK SCULPTURE
the quality of the material.

to

exhibit

19.

LYONS

Sli-K

Trivial

design, disguised

by the sheen

and colour of the material.

20.

BYZANTINE SILK

^Coloured according to the weft.

21.

ARABIAN PATTERNS

Incised in

soft plaster.

22.

IRONWORK

Characteristic

similarity of motif in

work

of quite different periods.

23.

IRONWORK
iron.

Characteristically

different types of wrought

24.

NEEDLEWORK Characteristic
EMBOSSED PANEL
FILAGREE

quality of line.

25'.

Design suggested by the process.

design

26.

Characteristic

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.
32.

xi

bookbinder's tooling
MOSAIC

33.

And the tools used. "Workmanlike PAVEMENT

thrift.

34.

RIGID DESIGN

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

a fret pattern.

37.

ARAB LATTICES Characteristic wood-turning.

38.

ENAMEL

Showing the and champlevl.

difference of outline in cloisonni

39.

STAINED GLASS
outlines.

The glazing

lines for the

most part the

40.

APPLIQUE EMBROIDERYThe
corded outline.

joints

masked by a

41.

OUTLINE Defining
OUTLINE

the forms.

42.

Softening the forms.

THE

APPLICATION OF ORNAMENT.
I.

The Rationale of the Conventional.

Concerning
all

questions of

art,

the

diffi-

culty of coming to any clear understanding

is

greatly increased

by the

totally different

meanings attached

to the terms,

more or

less

technical, one cannot avoid using.

To
help

begin with definitions does not greatly

us.

We
find

no sooner commence to define

ourselves

than

we

stumbling against

other words
tion.

equally in

need of explana-

What

a flood of light would be

let in

upon

the question of decorative design, could

we
is

but agree amongst ourselves as to what

meant by the term

"

conventional

"
!

An

English ornamentist

understands

by

conventional treatment, such a rendering of

natural forms as

may

be consistent with the

B

The Application of Ornament.

work
in

decorative character of the

implies to

hand.

It

him

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

the

name

of ornament.
it

To
in

a Frenchman, on the other hand,

all

stands for
art.
''

that

is

helpless

and hopeless
is

C'est de

la

convention, ga,"

the

expression of his supremest contempt.

Of

course

it

is

not merely a matter of

Britons are agreed as to

country.

Not

all

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

is

held.

The

continental use of the

word

is

perhaps

the more exact.

that which has

a matter of

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

world of progress,
ably

little

or nothing
it

is

ever

universally accepted until

stale.

is

already toler-

The accepted
identified

thing
all

becomes,
is

therefore,

with

that

most
art.

deadly

dull

and tedious

in

modern

The Rationale of the Conventional.

There seems to be no hope or promise
it

3
it

in

stands for stagnation.

Yet there

is

another side to the question.

We

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
in

to

some

sort

of general understanding or agreement, the

advocates of due restraint

in

ornament adopted

an

evil

hour the term conventional, to ex-

press that kind of treatment which, whatever

it

might

be,

was adapted
But
it

to the purposes of
less

decoration.

proved

easy to grasp

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

was embodied.
illustra-

And

the cut-and-dried character of the ex-

amples of design adduced by way of

tion, led to the supposition that

the conven-

tional
trite
;

was
the

neither'

more nor

less

than the

literal

meaning of the word lending

that the artistic verdict on

itself to

the confusion.

One may

take

it

convention will be mainly according to the

B 2

The Application of Ornament.

interpretation

artist's

of the word.

If

by

conventional
variations

ornament we mean perpetual

old,

on the
;

old tunes, long since

played out

if if

worn types
tion,

we mean adherence to wellwe mean affectation, imitain

mimicry, a bigoted belief

it

the letter

of the law as

was

in

the days that are

in-

happily past

no one of any originality or

vention of his

own

no

artist,

that

is

to say

can consistently belong to the party of convention.

If,

however, what
is

we understand by
in

the

term

the spirit in which the past masters of

ornament accepted nature, finding

her most deeply
truly

her a

never-failing source of inspiration, reverencing

aye, and following her most

to copy,

in that they were not content

that

without further thought, the forms nearest at

hand, because they did not imagine for a

moment

what she had made

fit

for her

ends must, without modification, perforce be

fittest for their
it

very different purposes

then
it,

seems hard to understand how ornament

can properly be anything but conventional.

fitter
;

term might be found

for

no

doubt

I prefer

myself the more expressive

in discussing the thing

word "apt"; but

we

The Rationale of the Conventional.

cannot conveniently ignore the word by which

it

is

currently known, and

we

find the

word

" conventional " in possession.

One can
which
fied
is

scarcely

conceive

of

ornament
less

not, in a

manner, more or

modibeen
is

by

considerations altogether apart from

it

the natural forms on which

may have

founded.

Even the human

form, which

our highest type, and with which liberty

less safely

may
not

be taken than with any other of

nature's works

even the

human form
sculptor.

is

ready-made
the
title

to the

hand of the

The

works of the great masters, to which we accord

of " monumental," are so in virtue of

a something which was not in the model of

the sculptor, but in his
art.

Call this subtle quality

ventional, traditional,

what you will

conis

monumental,
is

ideal, indi-

vidual

something
art),

there

in all applied art

(in all art for that matter,

but our concern

just

now more

especially with decorative

and
us
in-

ornamental
herently to

something which
it

is,

let

not say contrary to nature, for

belongs

human
it is

nature, but non-natural, in

the seijse that

natural forms.

not directly borrowed from

Conventionality in ornament

is

another

6
term

The Application of Ornament.

for reticence or self-restraint.

The

artist

who

exercises

no

restraint

hardly

command

the

full

upon himself will sympathy or admiranatural,

tion of Englishmen.

Apart from the

or national, desire for

some

reserve in art, as

in everything else, restraint is forced

upon the

ornamentist by

all

the conditions of his work,

by
no

its

purpose, place, and

means of execution,
is

less

than by that necessity for repetition

a con-

which, in these days more than ever,

dition of its very existence.

What

is

Implied by Repetition.

II.

What

is

Implied by Repetition.
position of ornament,
its

The very purpose and

the method of
its

execution, and even

construction, insist

upon some treatment of

natural

forms which, for want of a better

call " conventional."

word,

we

First,

in

reference to the construction

Its

of
a
')

ornament.

mere
('

repetition,

which

in

former text-book

The Anatomy
inevitable,

of Pattern

was shown to be

would of
;

itself

render such treatment necessary

and even

without the inducement of economy, which

calls for the use of a

resort to repetition,

we should still if only because the human

machine,

brain cannot go on inventing without intermission,

but needs the comparative rest of

itself,

repeating

even in hand work.

of himself (unless

In the

artist's repetition

the fatal pressure of the times have

made

him

also a machine), there will always be a

certain degree of variety, which there could

The Application of Ornament.

But
;

not be in mere mechanical reproduction.

he cannot afford to dispense with repetition

nor need he wish to dispense with
in itself
is
it.

It is
;

an element

in decorative design

it

a preventive against loose and rambling

;

ornament
scale.

it

exhibits

order,

and

gives

extent

The only question is, where and to what we should avail ourselves of it.
In proportion to the naturalism of a design,
to

and the point of realism

it

which

it is

carried,

becomes unsuited to
it

multiplication.
it

To
is

put

the other

way

about, the oftener

proposed to repeat a form, the more imperative

it is

that

it

should be removed from the

imitation of nature,

and the further

it

should

be removed.

It needs, in short,

adaptation to

the purpose of repetition.

Such adaptation
what one may
elaborate and
certainly, that
will not

is

strictly in proportion to

call its reticence.

highly

attractive
is

feature

anything,
;

in the least self-assertive

bear so

much

as reduplication

where-

as an insignificant device

may

be multiplied

ad

infinitum.

In anything of the nature of a

background (and so many manufactures are

intended to serve only as backgrounds) repe-

Tlate ^

What

is

Implied by Repetition.
utmost
service,

tition is of the

and

repetition

implies modification.
It follows

from what has already been said

as to the danger of tampering with the

figure,

human

and the prominence

is

it

naturally as-

sumes, that there

ing
it

great difficulty in repeat-

without offence.
is

The

interest of a

pattern

enhanced, no

doubt,

by the

re-

currence at stated intervals of appropriate

figures.

But

it is

desirable that there shall be

;

always some difference in them

every repetition of the same figure
is

for
its

with

charm

discounted.

There

is

something exasperaso simple a

ting in the reversing of identical figures in

a pattern (Plate

2),

when

it

is

thing by the careful disposition of various

creatures
to
retain the
3).

symmetry of
for
is

effect

desired (Plate

Presumably
of

the

reason

introducing
for the

figures into ornamental design,

sake

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

a series of figures

all

identically of one

pattern.

They
in

suggest only the mechanism

employed
interest,

producing them.

The

multipliits

cation of the figure, far from multiplying

diminishes

it

in proportion to

the

lo

The Application of Ornament.

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

of a good thing.
is

The only

safety

in

toning

down

the re-

peated form until

its

recurrence ceases to be

very obvious. This

may

be effected

in various

ways.

In certain embossed leather, and such

it is

like designs,

brought about partly by the

low

relief of

the stamping, partly

ness of the colouring, and partly

less

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

possible,

That variety would be

desirable no one can doubt.

The

consideration which occurs in the case

it is

of figure design which

so necessary to reis,

duce to comparative insignificance

it

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 introduc;

tion of

any bold mass, such as the

is

figure very

readily gives,

one obvious

way

out of the

besetting danger.

Apart from the symbolic intention of the

Plate 3.

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

^late

4.

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

What
figures

is

Implied by Repetition.
(it is

on Plate 4
is

part of a genealogical

tree of Jesse), the ornamental use of

them

in
it

the design

conspicuous.

We may take

that symbolism does not flourish where the

symbols are ugly or unamenable to ornamental

It
is

effect.

not suggested that we

should be

straightlaced to the extent of denying ourselves the

amusement

that

may be
in

got out of

designs such as Mr. Crane has

in his nursery wall-papers,

made popular
which he has

contrived to give us grace of line and charm

of colour, as well as the

rhyme
figure

(Plate

5).

humour of the nursery Once in a while the human

artist

may

be degraded to do the merest

pattern work.

The

must be allowed,
and
in-

now and

again, to put off his dignity

artistic

dulge in an

gambol.

Even a bad joke

may, on occasion, be more to the purpose

than an everlasting seriousness.
Still it is

as well to bear in
to the

mind the firimd

only

facie objection

repetition, not

of the

human

form, but of the forms even of

birds, beasts,

and

all

living,

and especially
boar,
hare,

moving, creatures.

The

occurrence

of the

stag,

fox, hounds,

and birds

in the

border of which

The Application of OrnamenL

6,

portions are given on Plate

clearly gives

point to the ornament

and they are rendered

reconcile

with a certain conventionality which makes

them one with

indeed.

it.

To

us to the
feat

repetition of these creatures

would be a

The

grotesques introduced into the

cretonne design on Plate 7 nature in the

may

perhaps be

excused on the plea of their remoteness from

first

place,

and further on ac-

count of the minuteness of the scale on which

they are drawn

first sight.

they are scarcely apparent at

their real justification is that

But

they are a joke.

Alas,

it is

not often that the

relief.

conditions of manufacture allow us that

The

advisability

of

introducing

animal

forms into mechanically repeated

ture depends entirely

manufac-

upon the

possibility of

keeping them

in

appropriate subjection

in

their place, in fact

which,
in

in turn,

depends

upon the

art of the artist.

for us in the artful

way

There is a lesson which the designers

of the Renaissance contrived to keep

creatures, graceful or fantastic, with

down the

which they

peopled their

scrolls,

subduing them to the

the forms which
first

decorative key.

Where

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'

What

is

Implied by Repetition.
it is

13

hidden, so that

only by degrees that one

becomes
sort of
ful.

fully conscious of

them
is is

all,

scarcely

the purist can find cause of complaint.

Some

mysteiy

in design

always delightreached when,

it

The

perfection of art

however
to

attractive at first sight,

continues

plate

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

Natural forms, to be admissible

ornament,

must be decoratively
mental.
fit

treated.

Natural though

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

A lion, as Landseer modelled

An

it, is

not

for

any decorative purpose.

Egyptian

or Assyrian lion, on the other hand,

tello's lion at

Dona-

Florence, or Stevens's outside

are admirably decorative.
it

the British

Museum,

The

objection to naturalism, or perhaps

literalism, in

would be more exact to say

to floral

forms

repeated, applies not only to animal but even

forms.
as

It exists in

a less degree,
less

inasmuch
interest
;

they
for

are
all

of

prominent

but

that

it

exists.
is

charm of the simplest flower

lost

The when
it

we

see, side

by

side, so

many

copies of

not
The

varieties, as

they would be

in nature,

but stereotyped repetitions of the same thing.

designer
is

exposed, by his very

artistic

The Application of Ornament.

the temptation of aiming at natural
all

ability, to
effects,

a temptation

the stronger because,

few persons having

knowledge enough to
all

appreciate design, whilst

are

more or
is

less

familiar with natural forms, there

nothing in

the shape of public opinion to keep check.

him

in

Every artist
But that
is

likes,

of course, to
it

make

a good

drawing, aqd to carry

as far as he can.

not at
:

all

the vital point in de-

corative design

the all-important
in

thing

is

the effect of the

place.

work

execution and in

its
it

Any

one who thinks twice about

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.
it,

Submit he must
good grace.
forms,

better do
Some
fit

then, with a

adaptation of natural
is

some

simplification in fact,

demanded, not only to

further,

them

for repetition, but,

by the
itself
it

position and purpose of the, work;

in order that the detail

sometimes
the

may

not assert

too much, sometimes in order to give

emphasis that

is

needed.

Plate 6

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

What

is

Implied by Repetition.
it
is

For example,
to see

quite a

common

thing

an

infinity of elaborate

and laborious

work misspent upon

ture,

details of domestic furni-

which not only pass unnoticed, but which

It often

ought never to attract notice.

as
if

seems

the \yorkman had set himself to

far
it

show

how
to

was possible to go
and
at the

in the direction

of minuteness of detail.

It is quite possible

show

that,

same time

illustrate
far.

the futility of going anything like so

In proposing to carry execution to a point

beyond what has hitherto been attempted,

is

it

as well to ask oneself, whether there

may
all

not be good reason

why the

attempt has never

not
of

been made.

them
force,

fools,

Our forerunners were we may be sure. As

a tour de

once and again, most things

may

be ad"

missible; but a wise

workman

rarely indulges

of his
(there

own
is

accord in that kind of " brag

for it)

no better word

which exhibihave done so

tions, international

and

other,

much

to encourage.
is

A
does

master

loth to waste labour,

and he
its

knows how
less

to

make

his

work hold

own

without shouting at you.

He

deliberately

than an Lnexperienced person would

have thought necessary, with a view to making

The Application of Ornament.

In wall decoration,

his design tell in its place.

for

example, to be seen from some distance,

merely natural representation of natural

little.

forms would often go for very

omission of multitudinous
to emphasise

By

the

detail,

he manages

what he

is

anxious to preserve.

Or

(since decorative treatment

in

by no means
exaggerates,

consists

omission only) he

perhaps, features in his design which, in the

position assigned to
lost.
it,

According to
he enforces

his purpose,

would otherwise be he makes no

natural forms and

scruple about modifying

colours
:

his effect, indeed,

is

conventional
like

that

to say, every

by every workman-

expedient at his command.

Hale. 7

HOTO-LITHO.e.FURNIVAL

S''

H0UOHI

Where

to

Stop in Ornament.

III.

Where to Stop
for

in

Ornament.

Assuming, on the one hand, the urgency

some modification of natural forms accordreference to nature in design,

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

some continual
and of the
go in the what extent
of the
quite
tool

the question arises as to the limits of the one

other.

How
of

far

direction
is
? it

may one safely nature? And to

well to admit the dictation

In order to settle that point

definitely,

each separate craft would

have to be discussed.
scription

An

excellent

pre-

would

be, just so

much

of natural
;

food as the

artistic

stomach can digest

assimilation

but

then

we have

to take into account each man's

powers of

artistic

always
man
will

an

unknown
which
far too
is

quantity.

The degree

of ornament

barely enough for one

for another.

be

much

Any

attempt to define the limits within

which decoration should reasonably be conC

The Application of Ornament.

fined

may seem

at first sight rash at

all

enough.

But with regard

events to things of
there
clearly
is

common everyday
drawn.
object

use,

point at which the line of decoration

must be
as

And, more than

itself,

this,

just

the

its

use,

its

material,

and the

the

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

give the hint as to the measure thereof.

would seem,

in short, as

though the point at

failed

which a material or a process

point at which
stop, rather

were the

we might most conveniently than bring in some supplementary

under pretence of helping
it.

process, which,
out,

it

ends more likely in supplanting

This will be
let

made

clearer

by ani example,

us say pottery, in aid of which so

in,

many
we

of

the applied arts are called

that

shall

necessarily have to branch out

by the way
is

into discussion of the wider subject of applied

ornament, with which this text-book

cerned.

con-

The
what
as
is

primitive

way

of

making a pot
is

is

by

known as shaping the lump

it

" throwing," that

to say,

of wet clay with the hands

revolves on the wheel before the potter.

it

This,

should be observed,

is

at the

same

91 ate

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

Where
time the

to

Stop in Ornament.
directly conducive

19
to

way most

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

artist

hands of an
use (Plate

the lathe too

may

have

its

8).

The

so-called Etruscan vases

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

probably caring more about the painting of

his vessel

than

its

shape.
at
his

But whilst you watch the potter

wheel,
it

appears to you that no supple-

mentary process can be necessary.

his

Almost
plastic

from the moment he begins to hollow with

hands

the

revolving
it

lump of

clay before him,

beautiful

begins to take suave and

gliding the

shapes,

one into the

other, as the

wheel goes round, with an ease

It all

which

it is

delightful to see.

seems to

go so easily that your fingers itch to try a

turn at
it.

Seeing the potter at his work,

typical pottery forms
;

you see how the

out of his fingers

grew
that

you

realise

how

it

is

ugly forms are so rare in primitive pottery

and you are inclined

pot ever
in

to think that the ugliest

made on

the wheel must have passed

several

the

making through

stages

of

C 2

20

The Application of Ornament.

which the
potter, sitting over

beautiful form,

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

in other words, that a

second

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

can

conveniently

be thrown

on the wheel.

But these are

There
is

obviously the most beautiful.

may be
in

monotony

in

them, but so there

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

further facilities.

If the

blunt forms produced

by

his finger-tips are

wanting
an

somewhat

in

precision,

he might

even use the

artist

modelling-tool

(reticently, as

would) to make indentations smaller

fingers

than with his

that
is

only he could.
thing

But
suband,

a very

different

from
j

mitting his work to an after-process

in fact, effacing in

with a mere revolving plane,

all that was was amenably moist to

the half-dry state of the clay,

it

done to

whilst

it

'Photo-Timt' ty J-Atterm.n,6.ljDBn Squr.W

C.

Where
the hand.
place there
If
is,

to

Stop in Ornament.
final

ai
to take

any such

shaving

is

artistically,

small reason for the

preparatory process of throwing.

The

thing

might just as well be

nically

cast, or

otherwise mecha-

made from
result.

the commencement, since

there
in

is

to be nothing but

what
this

is

mechanical

the

There

is

against after-

processes generally.

They

are apt to

undo

a great deal of what has been done.

fatally

How

the
all
;

final

process

of

glass-papering

wipes

character out of our

modern wood-

carving

whereas one great charm about old

is

work
which

(Plate 9)
tells

in

that crispness of touch

of the carver's chisel.

in

The excuse
for

the
is

particular instance

of

earthenware (there

always an excuse ready

is

unworkmanlikeness)

in

some supposed
is

advantages of lightness and so-called elegance.

The answer
desirable

to this

is

that lightness
of,
it

not the

quality most characteristic

in,

or especially

pottery.

If

is

elegance

we
8),

want we had better employ glass (Plate

which
ness.
is all

the convenient and conventional treatment of

in the direction of grace

and

airi-

bubble, whether blown in molten

glass or soap

and water,
best

is

a bubble.

In

earthenware

we had

be content with

22

The Application of Ornament.

if

the subtle and beautiful,

heavier, forms the

wet clay gives

us.

The various
teristic of

vessels

on

JPlate 8 are all

charac-

the process of their making.

The
of

Chinese vase and the ruder earthen pot have

that
softness

of

contour

which comes

throwing on
shows,
that
it

the wheel.

The Greek vase

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

but rich ornament of the

is

appropriate to

German tankard The

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

fulfil all

manner of impossible
unfortunately (and

purposes,

the

workman
all,

this is true
art)

of us

whatever our walk in

always wants to do more than his means

let

will

him.

It is

the rarest thing in the

world to know where to stay your hand, or to

have the

self-restraint to stay

it.

It is

the
can-

more necessaiy
all

therefore to insist

one

not insist too strongly

that

in

ornament, at

events in ornament applied to any useful

it is

purpose,
itself

best to stop
hint.

when the
"

material
"

gives

you the

In the

convention

T-1a,tpJ0,

Where

to

Stop in Ornament.

23

of work in which that hint has been taken,

there
is

always a

fitness or tightness

which

is

inestimable in art applied.

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

If

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
sort of lower stage of " high art
";

but

in

doing

you inevitably lose those qualities of usefulness and fitness which are the only justificathat
tion of art, excepting only such as

may
is

be of

the supreme beauty to justify

its

claims to

independence.
of king

great

work of

art

a kind
all

among

created things, deserving of

this

homage.
world

But we don't want

work-a-day
all

peopled with kings, least of

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

were done, when

'tis

done, then 'twere

well

it

were done quickly."

Elaborate and

difficult processes, involving something in the

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

24
artist

The Application of Ornament.

and a delusion
to the buyer.

The

sales-

man
in
is

has a

way
it.

of excusing the high price of

a thing on the score of the difficulty there

making

But was
not

it

worth while
its

was That

the question.
is

Apart from

superiority in

design, there

much

to choose

between

the Portland vase and the marvellously cut

glass or crystal of

modern Bohemia.

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
either.

is

vastly

more workmanlike
With;

Patience does not rank, outside

the copybook, as the virtue of virtues.

out some share of

theless the

it

genius

falls

short

never-

power of taking pains does not

it

constitute genius, nor will

even enable one

to design so

much

But
which

this
is,

is

good pattern. straying rather from the

as a

point,

that

material

and process may

which
it

be trusted to suggest the character of decoration

and the point

at

should be

restrained.

The

lavish

of ornament about

us

and unintelligent use is enough to reduce

to

one to despair.
able ornament

In our longing for palat-

we seem sometimes

see

Where

to

Stop in Ornament.
and not a

25
line in

pattern, pattern everywhere,

place.

Suppose an earthen vessel

the most dip
it

is

somehow to be
is

enriched with colour, the simplest and about

obvious means to employ

a coloured
glaze,
is

to

into

just
to dip

as
it

the
into

simplest
the vat.

way to dye The glaze

a textile

will naturally follow the

it is

law of gravitation, so that

to get an even colour

rather difficult

by that means.

But

there

is

no

artistic

reason whatever why colour

should be even.

On

the contrary, beautiful

effects of quasi-accidental colour result

from

the running of the glaze.

say quasi-acci-

dental, because the accidents in art are, or

ought to

be,

foreseen

and reckoned upon.

tells

Though
cise

the potter cannot be sure of any pre-

shade of colour, experience

little

him

within a

the kind of " fluke " he

fires,

may

anticipate.

He

so to speak, with his

eyes shut, but not quite so wildly as might

seem.

He

takes a good

look

first

at the

object of his aim,

or

he would not be so

habitually near the mark.

In actual flaws and failures there

is

nearly

always a lesson which

turned
to

artists

have promptly
intentionally

account

not

by

26

The Application of Ornament.

producing faulty work, but by noting

workmanlike,

how
by
a

a new and beautiful, and at the same time

effect

may be
material.

obtained

working
glaze,

with

the

A
may
is

coloured

no doubt,
or

may

be

too unequal;

careless

lazy

workman

stop too

soon.

In the glazes

of the

Chinese and

Japanese the change of colour

far too

sometimes
a hundred

sudden.

But even

so, it is

times to be preferred to the insipid evenness

of tint which
is

the aim of so
It

many

a modern

manufacturer.
celebrated

was the aim too of the

potters,

French

who

laboriously
tints

produced some of the most excruciating

whether
many
with

due to their own want of taste or

to the vulgarity of the

Du

Barry and other

In

such patrons, one hardly knows.

of the arts
infinite
is

how

insipid evenness reached,

pains,

and

at

the sacrifice of

beauties peculiar to the material

Greater variety

of colour than

is

to

be

obtained by simple glaze

arrived at

may

naturally be

by

in

any way roughening the surit is

face of the ware before

dipped.

And

the

judicious contrast of smoother

parts
artist.
is

and rougher

only what would naturally occur to the

This roughness

may

consist in the

Where

to

Stop in Ornament.
or
in

27

merest scratching,

raised

modelling,

which

last is

capable of being carried to the

In

point even of competing with sculpture.

that case
it

enters a class of
If

work not now

perfection

under consideration.
figure modelling
is

the
is

of

what

wanted (and
art

this,

again,
figure

applies to a great deal of misplaced

work

in

decorative

generally),

it

would be so much more properly put to so

many
apply

other purposes, that

it

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
to the useful but

familiar form of

Wedgwood ware

is

encrusted.
is

A much more workmanlike process

a coloured ground.

that of

painting in clay on clay, usually in white upon

M.

Solon, with whose

is

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

;

not a

sur pate,

as

it

is

termed, are infinitely superior as pot-

decoration to
lions.

Wedgwood's moulded medalis

You

get here the utmost delicacy of

capable.

which the material

utmost delicacy
sought.
It is a
is

Not

that this

a thing universally to be

kind of luxury in which one

may be

occasionally allowed to indulge, or

28

The Application of Ornament.

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
is

a sort of "fine-gentleman cousin of the

is

process that

easy and obvious enough for

the decoration of ware for

common
called,

use

that
own

more rough and

clay or "
slip,"

ready painting, namely, in

as
it

is

where the

touches of the brush are

tale.

left to tell their

It is strange that

the public should have

to

learn

that

the tale of the tool

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,

brush,

Indian pottery.
first

The dark-coloured
slip,

clay

is

patterned over in whitish

is

and then
glaze.

the whole
It results

dipped

in

transparent

from the very method of execution

is

that the relief

to

so slight as not in

any way
it

interfere with

the form

of the thing
to hinder

enriches, nor yet in

any way

its

usefulness.

The
;

necessarily restricted relief

is

of repousse
similar

metal

accounted

for

in

manner

whereas ornament

in relief

applied to a vase usually presents the appear-

ance of so much excrescence upon

it.

The

9late

11.

'PMaTO-TlItT, by J.Alrnin.6.IJun Squn.ff.C,

Where

to

Stop in Ornament.
is

29

modelling you get with a brush

ever to be in too bold
relief,

not likely

nor that which

you get by punching too

flatness of relief resulting

sharp.

A very suggestive illustration of appropriate

from a workmanlike
11,

proceeding,

is

given in Plate

representing

an old German book-cover

in carved leather.

The
its

flatness is

such that

it is

not unsuited for

is

purpose, and the quality of the material

It looks like leather.

retained.

Sgraffitto, or the art of scratching, is

another

of those direct methods plainly appropriate to

the decoration of earthenware.

Just as the
plaster
it

Italian decorator covered his tinted

with a layer of white plaster, and while

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

may

scratch on the moist

body of the

vessel

itself,

and rub colour into

in a

the incised lines.

These simple processes

themselves by their very easiness

manner suggest and the

;

blunt line produced by the point on the

clay, has

an ornamental character of

its

damp own

30
well
lines,

The Application of Ornament.

worth
keeping.

The
out

delicate

diaper

simply

picked
12),

of

the

painted

ground (Plate
of their own.

have a different character

to obtaining relief

The by the
less

objection there

is

application of cast ornament applies

less

only in a

degree to rude and rough and

assuming work, such as German stone8).

ware or gris de Flandres (Plate

Stamps
Within
ornament,

or punches for impressing coarse patternwork,

need to be used with judgment.

certain limits

one

may employ
in

in

especially of the ruder kind, devices

which

would not be endurable

lofty

work of more
is

pretensions

still

there

always a

danger
nical

of hardness

resulting

from mecha-

and perfunctory ways of working, even

though, as in stoneware, the glaze

to soften
is

may

help

the

forms.

The important
without
greater
is

thing

that the end of beauty be gained without of use,

sacrifice

and
in

ex-

penditure of time and labour than

justified

by the purpose
venti'onal

view.

The

truly con-

way

is

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

12.

'PHOTa-TlMT*

hvJ Akirmnn

e.Quian Square

.W.C.

Where

to

Stop in Ornament.

simplest and most spontaneous kind, such as

can be done without

effort

special disadvantage, such as in

and under no no way pre-

tends to the accuracy,

unapplied.

finish,

or dignity of art

The

figures

on the Etruscan vases

(Plate 8) were, ordinarily, painted right off

without any great care for accuracy.

times they are wild enough in drawing.

SomeIf
it

comes

easier to a

man, or

is

more amusing
let

to

him, to devise

human
all

or animal forms rather

than any other, by

but, in so doing, let

best

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

means him aim

him do that

them, nor yet attempt to oppose them.

How
futility

desirable

it is

to let the
is

mode

of work-

manship suggest the design,

shown by the
This

of searching for qualities difficult of

is

attainment in the material used.

nowhere more apparent than

of pottery.

in the painting

Think of

all

the miniatures in

china turned out from the factories of Sevres,

Dresden, and Stoke

skill

marvels

of misapplied

and
is all

compare

their absolute ineffective-

ness as decorations with a bit of Italian or

Persian faience (Plate 12), and see

how

the

glory

"with the direct

and untrammelled

"conventional" art of the potter

who made

32

The Application of Ornament.

the most of the beautiful capacities for colour

and

iridescent

beauty

which

lay
efforts

in

his

crucible,

and how vain were the

of the
If

would-be miniature or landscape painter.

(which

he ever succeeded in getting what he sought

is

very doubtful), he certainly failed to

;

produce decoration
so often
is,

that

was

sacrificed, as

it

to a misplaced pictorial ambition.

This applies, mutatis mutandis, with equal

force

to

decorative
a.

treatment
painter

in

general.

Whatever medium
is

may

adopt, he

bound
he
is

in

reason to consider that medium,

to consider the
it

as

bound

work before
fresco,
oil,

him

in

adopting

distemper,
it

encaustic, or

whatever

may

be.
lies

In ceramit painting the choice

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

offer all that the orna-

mentist need desire.

One

reason for our

modern
facilities
is

failures lies in the

;

multitude of our

the secret of the ancient triumphs

often in the simplicity of the

workman's

resources.

The

artist's

regulated to

choice of manner will be some extent by what he wants

Where
to do.

to

Stop in Ornament.
if

33
he
will

In any case,

he

is

discreet,

limit his ambition to the

range of his appliis

ances.

The

china painter, that

to say, will
if

think out a scheme of colour which,

not

suggested by the oxides employed in ceramic

painting,
is

not in any

way opposed
him
to

to them.

This

will,

indeed, deprive

of

some posbut
in

sible indulgence in naturalistic effect,

the main

it

will lead

him

more

perfect

achievement than would the pursuit of mere

difficulties,

without regard to the nature of

vitreous colours

upon them.

and the action of the kiln One appreciates more fully the

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

tint.
is

The
their

certain

thing about

vitreous colours
kiln.

uncertainty in the

The

potter

is

working always more or

less

in the dark, since the value of his

work

is

not

34

The Application of Ornament.

it

perceived until
It

comes out of the furnace.

may be

within the bounds of possibility to

get actual flesh tones in china coloiirs; but

at

what a cost of

risk,

and

at

what a

sacrifice

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

and decoratively so much

if

more valuable
It is

only reasonable that,

his

an

artist elect

flesh-painting as

metier,

he should

forfire,

swear whatever has to pass through the

and adopt a medium

in

which he can express

all

himself with ease, or at

events without for

it.

ever breaking his heart over

Better be

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 to his craft.

life

of a pot-

all in

opposition

So

in other crafts.

The
it

glass-painters of

the best periods were content with white glass

for their flesh tone.

And

was

for

no lack of

ability to get

something more

like flesh-colour

that the great decorators of the i6th century

adopted

flesh tints,

which certainly must be

called conventional.

However limited the

up.

re-

sources of an

art,

man knows them,

or should

know them, when he takes it

Besides, every

Where
medium has
as
its

to

Stop in Ornament.

35

its

inherent advantages as well

it is

limits

and

these which should be

turned to account.

There

is

a liquid

and

transparent quality in water colour,

which

every water-colour painter wishes he could

only retain beyond the wet
picture.

stage

'

of

his

This

is

just

what the china painter

with a
full

can

get,

without the least trouble, by simply

floating

on

his

colour
is

brush.

Surely, then, that

at,

the kind of thing to aim

;

when

it
it,

is

within easy reach

it,

instead of
it

fidgetting

or stippling

or dabbing

with

cotton wool, to the dull evenness so dear to

the commercial mind, or otherwise laboriously

seeking effects more easily and

much
in

better

produced by other means.

pot-like

That

loose, juicy,

look

is

more valuable

ceramic

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 embroiit

dery, in jewellery, everywhere

holds good,

that the selection both of the forms

and the
to

colour should have direct

reference
is

the

technique employed.

What

simplest under

36

The Application of Ornament.

is

the circumstances

not only safest but most

;

directly conducive to success

and there

is

further
itself.

charm

in the

evidence of directness

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

you have
you

but to heed

its

prompting and
stop.

it

will tell

what

to do,

and where to

Style

and Handicraft.

37

IV.

Style and Handicraft.

The purpose and

which we have not yet

position

of

ornament

belong to the wider subject of decoration, at

arrived,

and come only

incidentally under our consideration.

On

the

method of
said,

its

execution depends, as already

the

very

conception

of

ornamental

design.

One cannot

properly discuss style

without reference to material and tools.

The

style peculiar to each particular kind

is,

of work

indeed, so strongly marked, that

feasible to classify

it

would be quite
according to
its

ornament

evolution.
in

Mr. Wornum's

analogy between "style"

ornament and
wrote
in

"hand"
its

in

writing, holds

absolutely good.
it

There never was a

tool or process but

It

character on the work done.

was so

a simple practical matter like lettering.

The
was

cuneiform character of the Assyrian inscriptions

was developed

chisel in hand.

It

the chisel shaped the hieroglyphs of Egypt.

38

The Application of Ornament.

early

In a certain bluntness of the

Greek
is

character the influence of the stylus

parent.
first

ap-

Chinese and Japanese writing must

various shapes of letters

have been done with the brush.

The
are

on Plate
of

13

instructive.

The simple form

the

Roman
first

capitals

ABC might, like the Greek,

soft substance
lettering,

have been indented on a

with a point.

The

later

form of

DE
its

F, with

its

varying thickness of line and

spurred extremities, was better calculated

for

engraving on hard stone.

The

use of the

thick and thin lines (the down-stroke

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

does the characteristic thickening

so, plainly,

of the backs of certain Gothic capitals such as

the G.
still

The

smaller

Roman
italics

letters,

i j,

and

more plainly the

it is

m, are unmis-

takably related to the "round-hand"

nop.
"

But penmanship
in the

in the
is

medieval

"

black letter

that
in

most plainly pronounced, as

the capitals

the letters 5

r S, in

'^WiV, and
on

more

fantastically flourishing SSt

the

same plate. That our own printed type does not more
metal
is

distinctly reveal the intervention of the

worker,

accounted for by our following the

Plate

1.3

Ci.LneiforiT?

jxpa^nese

Style
historic,

and Handicraft.

39

pen-born, fashion of lettering

would
senti-

say, too closely, but that history

and

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

In our day
"

we

are given to the cultivation of

is

a good business hand," which

just a little

characterless

and monotonous, as are indeed

the lives of

some of us who accomplish that modest end. Time was when the pen of the
ready writer indulged
in occasional flourishes.
;

There

is

no time
little

for

such frivolity nowadays

is left in

and what

character there

our

handwriting seems likely to be sacrificed to

the convenience of the stylographic pen
if

even

we do not
Style, then,

give

up penmanship altogether

in favour of the " type-writer."

is

not so

much

a thing of dates

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

discussed,
it

is

is

the custom to begin with the

savage.

How
is

the aboriginal developed into

the Assyrian

not very clearly shown.

art
is

But and
foun-

from Assyrian

traced Egyptian,
art,

from that again Greek

imitation

and

its

Roman
ruins of

all

very

plausibly.
art

The

dation of Byzantine

upon the

40

The Application of Ornament.

growth of Gothic, the reaction of
its

Classic, the

the Renaissance,

transplanting,

and

its

degradation, follow in accustomed order.

It
is

easier to jog along this well-beaten

it

road,

though

be a

trifle

tedious, than to
this.

explain how,

all

the while, parallel with

its

Oriental art was pursuing a course of

infringing, nevertheless, at times
art,

own,

upon Western
case, leaving

and whenever that was the

its

the imprint of

touch upon

it.

This would be well worth doing

but

it

would take volumes to do

it

in,

and would
far

demand,

besides,
I

historical

knowledge

greater than

can pretend to

a knowledge
always

perhaps scarcely compatible with the necessary knowledge of

art.

One

feels

how

hard

it is

for the artist to

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

profitable discussion of the subject.

classify

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

woven, embroidered, or what

notched, scratched, turned, modelled, carved,

inlaid, printed,
riot

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

40, respectively).

?1ate

14.

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

(Plate 13

Photo Tiht by >> AKrinn

6 Quara

Squuv \ ^

Style

and Handicraft.

In such a classification architecture would

divide itself
into

masonry, brick, concrete,

styles.

timber, plaster, and iron

sidiary arts

The

sub-

would

class themselves in conclay,

formity with the use of

metal, yarn, and so on.

stone, wood,

There would be further subdivisions

granite,
soft

into

marble,

sandstone

into

hard and
;

wood, close grained and variegated

cast,

into
into

wrought,

chased or beaten metal

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

embroidery, and the

like.

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

What

illustrate

the

development
In
that,
its

of
all

style

more
it

technically considered.

probability

would be shown
style
is

wherever the historic

is

marked,

character

to be traced
if
it

to

some mode of workmanship which,

it,

did not actually inspire

made

it

advisable.

The

characteristic

ornamental forms of a

period or people can usually be traced to the

technique and needs of that same people.

this
far,

In

ornament

rises

to

the dignity of

history.

A tolerably
to us at once

clear idea of style

is

conveyed

by the mention of Egyptian,

42

The Application of Ornament.

But

Greek, Gothic, or Renaissance sculpture.

if

we compare

for a

moment
and
of

the carving of

Egypt, of

Greece,

Medieval 'and
once that

Renaissance Europe,

we

shall see at

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,

simplicity of the graven

refinement of the

Panathenaic

the rude grandeur of the Gothic portal,

elaboration

the

delicate

of the Italian ara-

besque, were but the natural development of

resources at hand.
basalt, or granite,

Working

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

fritter

away

all

breadth

accumulation of petty detail.

On

the

other hand, the even textured but less obsti-

nate marble encouraged the Greek sculptor

and and

his fifteenth century successor (Plates 15

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

16.

PhbTo-Tiht',

}]/

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

"Photo-Tiht", hyi) Aksmmn.G.l^inii iqur,WC

Style

and Handicraft.
It is
all

43
the

Gothic carving in particular.

more

noticeable, therefore,

how the

sculptor of

the Renaissance, working in a coarse stone,

arrived at results

Gothic work.

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

in

and see the

stone.

difference

between

early

Re-

naissance marble and

later
is

Renaissance sand-

The

later
is

work

much

the rougher,

as sandstone

rougher than marble.

that has been said, there are

Apart from

all

conditions of sunlight and

grey

skies,

dry

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

like this

treatise to itself

All

that one can do within the limits of a manual

is

to give instances, typical as

may
how

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

of execution upon design, and to show the

forms

of

ornament

were
if

inevitably

modified by such influence,

not actually

due to

it.

In discussing

in

a former text-book the

I

anatomy of
construction

pattern,

pointed out

how

its

was

affected by,

and very often

44

The Application of Ornament.

due
to,

directly

some

particular manufacture

or method of work.
of ornamental design.

So

it is

with the details

The

exquisite

simplicity of certain
familiar
is

cha-

racteristic

patterns

in

the figured

velvets of the 15th century,

cleverly calcu-

lated to disturb the least possible

amount of
value of

the sumptuous

pile,
is

so that the

full

the rich texture

preserved.

In the old-fashioned
big broad leaves and

damask

patterns the

scrolls are

planned

(like

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

before
colour.
all

things, of getting a

broken

effect of

The

designer relied upon the quality

its

of the silk with

varying sheen to alleviate

the exceeding flatness of the pattern.

No

treatment

less

broad would have done justice

to the quality of the stuff, which in those days

was worth consideration.

Compare even the

comparatively debased specimen of woollen

damask on Plate
in linen

18,

with the current designs

it

damask, and

will

be seen how well

Nineteenth
desire equally to

advised were our grandfathers.

century manufacturers

who
it

exhibit the quality of their woof, can think of

no other

way

of doing

than by leaving

the ground for the most part empty.

They

TlatelS

KKLL,rH0TO-I.ITHff.e.FUHHIVAU

S-f

H0UI1

'Plate

19.

Photo-Tpht* tjJ.Akrman.6,IJuBnSquu,WC.

Style

and Handicraft.
Is
it

45

dearly love a spot pattern.

possibly out

of consideration for the lady purchaser that

modern
petite in

table-linen

is

for the

most part so
of the
is

style?

The

consideration

customer and not the thing to be done,

responsible for

much

of our

modern misdoing.

In certain woven fabrics of our time the

hope of disguising the shabbiness of the

substance has prompted the adoption of the
fussiest

kind of pattern.

One had need

be;

ware of
they

textiles worried all over with pattern

are

often

expressly

designed to hide
of bond fide
silk,

shoddy.

The manufacturer

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

any one of the

at

pat-

terns into

uncompromising black and white,

are
disillusioned

and
most

you

once.
all

The
their

characteristic

of

them

lose

46
charm

The Application of Ornament.

in

monochrome.
but

It is

hard to realise
19 can ever

that forms like those on Plate

pass for beautiful

it

is

wonderful what

colour and texture will reconcile us to in the

way
artist

of design.

That
still

is

no reason

why

the

should leave us to reconcile ourselves

less

with ugly forms,

why we

should

accept such models without attempting to

improve upon them.

The Byzantine
its

colouring, in bands, accordis

ing to the weft (Plate 20)

almost brutal in

outspoken acceptance of the limitations of

It

weaving.*

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
quite

frankly the

way

it

was done.
Greeks
I

The

so-called honeysuckle of the

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

*

was the case

See

'

Anatomy

of Pattern, ' pp. 49, 50.

t See

'

Everyday Art,' pp. 106-8.

Plate 20

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

n^late 21

"pHOTO-TtHT:

J,Akm.n,G.(hi.,inSc,UM,W.C,

Style

and Handicraft.

47

with other familiar forms of painted Greek

ornament.

The
scroll,

Corinthian capital and the acanthus

even when they most nearly approach

(which
is

nature

never very closely), are

always modified according to the conditions

of sculpture.

In the Byzantine version of the Classic

leafage, in

which the sculptors made abundrill,

dant use of the

the drill-holes form an

element
occurs in

in

the design.

The same

thing

much

of the later Gothic foliage,

more

especially in

German work.*

The Arabian
on the
to do.

borders on Plate 21 leave no

possible doubt as to their having been traced

plastic stucco with the modelling tool.

The workman

did what was simplest for him

sure, too, that
it

We may be
which
,led

was the

ease with which the plaster could be manipulated,

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.

48

The Application of Ornament.

refer to a specific material,

To

you cannot
period

look at the ironwork

of any

early

without seeing
its

how

directly the forge affected

design.

It

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

perfectly even bar

was the surest preventive

against mechanical results, such as

the handiwork of the

we

see in

modern smith, whose bars are made for him by machine. The forms on Plate 22 belong more distinctly to the forge

than to France of the

of the
17th.

13th

century

or

Italy

The

metal-workers in different parts of medieval

Germany

give different
23).

expression to their

work (Plate

If

man had

anything to
strong
smith's

say he expressed himself.

A
it is

man
work

would found a
everywhere.
art,

school.
in

But

Even

the decadence of the

when

it

bursts out into an uncomfortably

foliage,
it

bristling

form of

breathes always
If nature in-

the atmosphere of the forge.

spired
it,

it

was the hammer and the pincers

it.

that shaped

It is precisely for this

reason that similar

forms

in cast iron are so singularly ill-judged.

BatB 22

'Plate

23

^pes

of

lroi7Worl^

Style

and Handicraft.

49
iron, if

There
in

is

nothing contemptible in cast

we would but
it

abstain from the reproduction

of forms inappropriate to casting.

We

should have no cause to regret the institution

of the foundry,
into their
if

founders would but put art

;

moulds

and the
be, to

first

step towards
their

that

end

would

dismiss from

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

It is its misapplication

objectionable.

There

is

no reason

why we
bronze

should not do in iron something like

Italians of the 15 th century did in
it

what the
petence.
It
is

unless
one

be
the

19th

century incom-

of

wicked
all

ways of our
character from
in

civilisation to

smoothe out

workmanship.
to a

For idiomatic expression

travel

ornament we have generally to

remote period.

back

The

angularity of the
is

piece of darning on Plate 24

what might
it

be called old-fashioned.
itself!

But how
cares
for

explains

No
in

one who
it

needlework

would wish to have

otherwise.
for

So
in

embroidery (Plate 40) we look

;

colour and not perfect lines

and so again
39),

mosaic or stained glass (Plate

just as
E

50
in

The Application of Ornament.

we properly expect

glass-blowing (Plate 8)

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

of smoothness
chinery.

lost sight

of

The

love

comes of our abuse of malove of nature

is

The

not, as the

realists (so-called)

would have us
Artists

believe,

an
the

invention

of to-day.

have always
Only, in

loved

and

studied

nature.

historic

treatment of natural forms, modelled

carved in

in clay or plaster,

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

directs

the instinct which

is

such

niodifications

natural

enough,

but

from

the imitation of nature.

?late 24.

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

5i]um,.C.

The Teaching of the

Tool.

The Teaching of the Tool.

Difficult as
it

may be

for

any but a workdesign,

man

quite to appreciate the influence of tools

and treatment upon ornamental

to their
all
first

and

so to trace the origin of time-honoured forms

cause

in

it

is

certain that nearly

forms of ornament

may

be followed back

to a beginning in technique.

Take any
design with

tool
it,

hand and proceed

be

to

and see what comes of the

will

experiment.
different

It

something

quite

from what you would have drawn

with a pencil on paper, and something

less
literally

much
:

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

an example.
its

You
face
pitch,

lay a sheet

of brass or copper, with

downwards,

on a bed or cushion of

and proceed
sizes

with tools of various shapes and

to

E 2

52

The Application of Ornament.

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

in

it.

Accordingly you

set

work

to

beat out certain round bosses,

Plate 25, A, which

bosses,
flowers.

you surround with smaller

so
at

B,

arriving

something

like

These you go on to connect with

C,

rounded stems,
foliage,

from which grows a kind of

detail, as

D, large or small in

need

may

be, but

always more or

less

bulbous in
is

shape.

We

have thus a pattern, which

characteristically repoussi, beaten work,

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

take the form of figures, animals,

;

what

not

yet,

in

the

hands

of

sympathetic workman, they will not cease,

whatever their individual shape or

to

interest,

be always bosses.

It is

your unsympa-

thetic

seeing

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

characteristic qualities of his

and misses the

material.

(plate 23.

'^\'m>

s?

>y

mi.X

im

iV'

'''&>

W'<

Tkte 26

-Plate 27.

?Me28

^a^vs^nescl
fHOTO-LITHO.O.FUHKIVW. S'

Onoe^poent ipspi red by wacy ofWorlMi-j^

The Teaching of the

It

Tool.

53

cannot be insisted upon too strongly

designing for ornament,
it is

that, in

abso-

lutely essential
ditions in

always to have those con-

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
years ago
different
is

to concentrate the effect.

The
very

design of the Byzantine artist of a thousand

not,

you

will see (Plate 26),

from that of the medieval

artificer of to-day.

silver-

smith, nor yet from that of the Genoese and

Maltese
This

is

the type of

all

ornament

in deli-

cately elaborate

line, as, for instance,

damas-

cening, embroidery in gold or silken outline,

and, on a larger scale,

hammered

ironwork.
it

Substituting straight lines for curved,

its

has

parallel in certain kinds of lacework, such

as the so-called "

Greek

lace."

(Plate 27.)

A very
inspired

curious instance of design directly

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

54

The Application of Ornament.

is

substance, paper or gutta-percha,

rolled out

into the thickness of stout wire, curled round into spirals,

and

laid

on papier-miche.

The

ground

is

then partly fretted away and the

whole gilded.

There

is

something delight-

fully naiVe in the result.

Fret cutting affords another homely

tration.

illus-

The very

necessities

of the

saw
are

suggest the nature of the design.

led to devise

You

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

are

compelled to hold the design together

ties.

by

Unless these

ties

were from the

first

taken

into account, they

effect.

would be sure to mar the

accordingly, finds himself,

The

artist,

as

if

by

instinct,

evolving a kind of strap-

work, which

reminds

one
such

of

the

typical

Elizabethan ornament
originated
in

which

very possibly
as
fret

some

device

carving, although

the forms show also the

influence

of types

more proper
fret

to

metal.

The

likeness of the strip of low-relief pattern-

work, on

Plate

29, to

cutting,

is

too
rela-

striking to be merely accidental.

The

tionship challenges recognition.

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
it

was designed

for stone, or

wood, or metal.

The

artful fret- worker leaves

no

frail

project-

ing ends, in stone or

wood

to be promptly

broken

off,

and

in

metal to catch hold of any

textile thing that

may

brush against them.

The

strength of a metal fret naturally affords

facility for

indulging in more florid forms of

ornament.

The

iron

lock-plate represented

on Plate 29 shows
sides

this,

and exemplifies bein part

how the metal may be

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

the effect of elaborate fretwork.

of simplicity
is

The
less

acme
side

shown

in the

no

ingenious device of placing the notched planks

by

side, so as to

produce a pierced patInstances of

tern of singular
this,

effectiveness.

taken from the balconies of Swiss chalets,

are given on the

same

plate with the

Arab

lattices referred to above.

The

likeness
is

between a
a

fret

pattern and a

stencil pattern

explained when one realises

is

that a stencil plate

fret

of cartridge paper,

56

The Application of Ornajnent.

is

through which the design

plate protecting the ground.

rubbed

in,

the

Stencilling
tion as a
only, in

is

very properly used in decorain a first painting

means of laying
or

which case one

may do

with

it

what
even,

one

will,

what one

can.

One may

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 proper should, however,

off,

effective wall-paper.

stencil pattern

be designed to be stencilled right

needing to be
This principle

without

made good
is

at

all

by hand.
i,

illustrated in Plate

which

by
It

its
is

construction

owns

to being stencilled.
is

a bastard kind of design that

ashamed

of

its origin.

Ties,

it

will

be seen,

may

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

is

of the design.

The geometric
viously produced

diaper on Plate 31

ob-

the outline

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

Hate 30

Tlate 51

'

B * a

I-

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

The Teaching of the

the ground
left

Tool.

57

clear.

In the case of an

elaborate series of stencils each one

may be
will

schemed
but,

to

make good the workman

to

the ties of another

at
in
least,

there

always be
the

an

interest

the

evidence

of

way an

effect

has been produced.

He

looks for character as well as beauty.

It

must be confessed that he

does.

is

the only one

is

who

This merit of workmanlike-ness

I

one which the public cannot, as

expected to appreciate.
It
is

said,

be

reserved for

the craftsman to recognise behind his work a

craftsman with
fellowship.

whom

it

is

his pride to claim

His interest

in it is

not alone in

seeing

how

another solved a difficulty which

to himself, or took advantage of
fruitful
thrill

had occurred

an accident which to him had been

only of disappointment.

He

has a

of

purest satisfaction in feeling

far

how some
was the

one,

away and years ago

this,

perhaps, realised, as
that,
spirit

he does, that
in

and not

which such and such thing should be done,

such and such material should be treated, saw

the

same hint in nature as he sees, or felt the same limitation in his art as he feels. This is
the satisfaction, not of the sentimentalist but
of the workman.

And

no workman of any

58

The Application of Ornament.

account will be satisfied without the approbation of the

fellow-workman he respects.
book-binding
illustrated

The
Plate 32

tooled
i

on

interesting rather to the craftsman

artist.

than to the

The

ingenuity with which

a few simple and rather insignificant tools are

made
effect,

to suffice towards

somewhat

florid

shows the practised hand.

at

Our wonder
architectural
Italy, settles

the

splendid scheme

of
in
it

colouring

which

prevailed

down
if

into the conviction that

was encouraged,
within easy reach.

not wholly suggested,

by

the gorgeousness of the multi-coloured marbles

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

in large
is

slabs of rich veneer, whilst the waste

used

up

in

the form of geometric pattern work, the

is

design of which
the chips.
surfaces

literally cut

according to

The

contrast between the broad

is

and the minute mosaic

exceedingly

happy.

The

large circular slabs of porphyry

in

which

form so prominent a feature

of Byzantine churches
in

the pavements

Italy,

notably in
(Plate 33),

many

of

the

Roman

Basilicas

n^late 32.

'Pmotc-Timt" by

J.

Aki

-Plate

33

'trjla^icl

Mo53.ic

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

6xio Ma^-rco

T^ome

'HOTO-llTMO.B.FUnNIVAL

HOuSonr

The Teaching of the

Tool.

59

afford yet further evidence of the

dependence
material.

of design

upon the conditions of

These

circular plaques are in fact so

many

slices of old

columns, saved from the wreck-

age of more ancient buildings, and put to

this ingenious use.

The common adoption

terns for inlaid pavements

of geometric pat-

was countenanced
unequal and
mechanical

by the circumstance
counteracted
the

that the

accidental colour of the marble cubes, just

tendency
lies

to

hardness, in which

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

woods and
most

stones and the like that

we

find the

satisfactory use of absolutely geometric pattern.

The
is

accidental variation of the natural

colours

exactly the thing needful.

of tint

Unexfor

pectedness

makes amends

cer-

6o

The Application of Ornament.

tainty of shape, and gives an air of mystery

to what would otherwise be

only so

much

mechanism.
softening

The

rigid forms of the diaper

in

on Plate 34 are plainly

influence

need of some such

colour.

of

Again,
" niello "

in

geometric

ornament

like

the

on

Plate 35, the silvery brilliancy of the metal

glorifies,

so to speak, the nakedness of the

design.

So
used

in the

ornamental glass mosaic so often

about Giotto's time in connec-

in Italy

tion with white marble, the

surface,

more

especially
all

as

shimmer of the it was never

absolutely even, put

contingency of harsh-

ness out of the question.

Such a thing was

those
little

barely possible with

glass

all

facets of

catching the light at

all

manner of

angles,

and

glittering each according to its

will.

own
In

bright

marble
is

inlay

of strongly contrasted
for severity of

colour there

no such excuse

form
for

some of the old pavement

in the baptistry at

patterns, that

example

Florence (Plate

36), are

exceedingly graceful in design.

Even

there

you see the influence of the

material.

The

desirability of maintaining the solidity of

the white slabs into which the blackish -green

Plate 34

Plate 35

-IITHO. B.FUHMIVAL

S''

M0LOIlH,e

The Teaching of the

is inlaid,

Tool.

61

has led to a kind of network of white

tints,

enclosing the darker

the contrast between light and dark

judiciously softened.
stencil perfectly.
in

by which means is most These patterns would

are,

They

in fact, fretted

marble.

Here

it

may

be as well to remark
is

that,

though a

stencil

a kind of
stencil.

fret,

fret is

not

exactly the same as a

stencil the
ties

In designing a

are
fret,

the main consideration. the connection

In designing a

of the

openings
as

is

an important point.

One must

much

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

Long, smooth, sweep-

as the actual cutting.

ing lines are also suggested

by the

saw, the

backward and

forward
lines,

action

involved in

following jagged

such as the serrated

edges of leaves, resulting in

labour.

some waste of

Very wooden

characteristic

design occurs

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

62

The Application of Ornament.

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
other,

lathe.

Had

the conditions been

we should never have had 'just such patterns as the Arab builders evolved in
infinite variety.

The

characterlessness of 19th century ornato the absence of

tool

ment is due very largely any direct impress of the

thing
is

upon design.

In the process of modern manufacture, every-

planed down to a marvellous but

;

monotonous smoothness
tool,

the

mark of the

which
is

is

the evidence of workmanlike-

ness,

popularly regarded even as bad work

of finish, indeed.

want

enlightenment there are some

to learn that

Even in this age of who have yet

work may be smooth and smug,

and yet not

beautiful, nor so

much

as finished.
is

This mistaken ideal of perfection

not,

it

must be owned, altogether a modern

tapestry, for example, designers

one.

In

have been
in the

working

for

centuries

past, steadily

pictorial direction,

and against the threads

<?1ate36.

'PhcTO-Timt'.

tyJ

Akrm.o,6.DuB.n SqUAi

The Teaching of the

until there is

Tool.

6o

now

little

difference

between the
the

picture

and

its

copy
so
in

in wool,

except that the

copy costs ever

original.

much more than

Already

the comparatively early

tapestries of Raffaelle,

or Beauvais

what

inferior

you can see at Dresden and characterless

earlier,

hangings

his

famous cartoons make, as comaccomplished draughtsmen,

pared with the neighbouring designs of

unknown, and

less

who knew their trade. That Raffaelle either knew little or cared little about tapestry, is
clear.

And

in his failure there is

solation for the least of us.

If

some we only

conlove

our trade, and

love
it)

know

it

(as

only those can

who

would

fail,

we may succeed where a Raffaelle though we be anything but

It is easier said

Raffaelles.

than done, for a

great painter to step

down

to mastery in the

minor

arts.

All trades want learning.

point of ignorance and inconis

The crowning

sistency in design

reached where the con-

vention peculiar to and characteristic of

quite different material
is

some

affected, as in the

bulbous forms of beaten metal reproduced in

15th century Gothic stonework, or the facets
of Brobdingnag jewels in Elizabethan woodcarving.

64

The Application of Ornament.

to

The modern Fi-enchman seems

conscience
at
all

have no

in

this

respect.

He

will

copy anything
of himself.

in
is

any material, and be proud

not to be persuaded that

He

the characteristic lines of darning for example

(Plate 24),

when reproduced
lines, as

in wall

paper are

simply broken
are awkward.

meaningless as they

Affectation of that kind

seems to throw
fit

into stronger relief the fitness of

ornament.

Plate 37

^revCi

lattices

cWacWis+ic

Vocd-ttirnin^

Some

Superstitions.

65

YI.

Some Superstitions.
Out
of the practical

conditions

of work

have arisen elements of design so distinctly

decorative that they are sometimes taken to

be inseparable from ornament and essential

to
it.

Flatness of

effect,

symmetry

of dis-

tribution, firmness of outline,

and other such

faith.

useful devices, have been adopted as articles

of

a rather

too credulous

That

is

a proud position to which they are by no

means

entitled.

They

are at the best work-

ing rules, a sort of

recipe,

not without use, but

useful mainly to those

who

are not

much

in

need of such
tions

help.

Let us inquire into one of these supersti-

outline.

It is of

such use in ornament,

it

and so often
of the case
"

useful, that

has

come

to

be

accepted by certain theorists as a necessity

;

with them

it

is

the passport to
is

the decorative."
it is

Useful as an outline

in

decoration,

not,

however, inevitable.

Nor

66
is
it

The Application of Ornament.

so easy to

say just where an outline

cases, the material

should be used.

In very

many

and

its

workmanlike employment necessitate an outline.

They may even determine

its

colour,

as in the case of the metal

lines

marking
is laid.

the cells in which the paste of enamel

And

it

is

curious to notice how, in champlev^

cells for

enamel, where the

the paste are dug

out of the metal ground, the outlines are of

varying thickness

whilst in cloisonni

work

the even section of the wire soldered on to

form the

cells,

necessitates an absolutely even

strength of

line.

You have
outline, to

only to look at the quality of the

tell

at

once whether enamel

is

champlevi (a sort of niello

of
black)
or
cloisonne

in colours instead

The

evangelistic

emblem on
cesses.

Plate 38 combines the two prodistinguish the solid metal

You can
find

from the wire-work quite plainly.

You
process

that

when the more

laborious
is

of cutting out the ground

used,
is

the artist adopts a larger treatment, and

altogether

more chary of his lines, omitting them even, and blending one colour into another. The method invites the use of broad

Tlate38.

ENAMLt
Goi30DDe

KILL, rHOTO-LITHO.a.FUHKIVAL

S- HOLIOHH,!

Some
spaces of plain

Superstitions.
metal, which
in

67
their turn
is

tempt to engraving

although thereby there

surface, a
artist

a danger of disturbing too much the breadth

and beauty of the polished

successfully avoided

danger
of

by

the

the

twelfth century (Plate 38).

In soldering on the

flat wire,

on the other

hand, one
of
lines,

is

induced to elaborate a network

such as

we

see

in

Chinese

and
illus-

Japanese enamel, too familiar to need

tration.
-

Thickness of outline

is

not

unusually
in point

regulated
is

by

material.

Another case

the

leadwork by which a stained-glass

is

window

held together.

Glazing being, in

richly-coloured glass, a necessity, the art of

designing

it

consists partly in throwing the

lead lines into the outlines (Plate

leading of

mosaic

The 39). window corresponds

exactly to the cloisons of enamel, just as the

pierced
plaster
to

windows of Cairo may be

enlarged
transparencies
in

compared
champlevi.

In appliqui embroidery, again (Plate

it

40),

is

practically something of a necessity to

joints

mask the

by an

outline

of gold

or

silken cord, very

much

to the enhancement

68

The Application of Ornament.

In short, there
is

of the general effect.

every
the

reason to follow the lead given us

material.
It

by
is,

does not do to play altogether

;

from your own hand

the material

so to

speak, our partner in the

game

of decoration.
his

An artist
will

will

seldom resort of

own

free

to an even

and

rigid outline all

round

every form.

Excepting
its

at a great distance

from the eye (where

that
is

equality

is

not seen),

almost certain to result in hardness.

is

Mechanical precision
facturer's

not seldom the

It
is

manu-

ideal of

finish.
all

one, unfor-

tunately, which

he can

too easily realise

at

a loss of what beauty of feeling and

colour,

he can probably never be brought to

instinct of art is rather to lose
less, in
its

know.

The
line,

an out-

more or
it

places,
is

and not

to insist

upon

unless
its

value

sufficient to justify

the risk

use entails.

The only

rule

which
is

can be laid

down

as to the use of outline,

so

extremely simple as not altogether to satisfy

the pedantic
is

mind

if

the need of an outline

it
;

apparent, then adopt

is

but
it,

if

not, if the

effect

satisfactory without
insist

why on

earth

should one

upon

its

use

For a reason

yes

but not otherwise.

n^late 39.

'Pmot-Tiht, byJ.AkMm.n,6,I)uenS<iU4ro.Wf:.

Some
The
insistance

Superstitions.

69

upon outline

for the sake of

outline, as

though decoration were not decora-

tion without this official

this trade

stamp of pedantry,
decorating shop,
is

mark
is,

of the

pure nonsense.

The

truth

outline

is

frequently just a

matter of expediency, and no more.

a very wise

And
only in

and

fit

expedient

it

is, if

view of that process of reproduction which

is

admitted to be one of the necessities of

particularly of

modern decoration, and

ornament.

modern

The vaguer forms which depend

upon the touch and
duction.

so

much
do

feeling of the artist

not lend themselves to this necessity of repro-

An

outline does.

And
it,

if,

in

out-

lining his drawing, the designer cannot help

in

some

degree
less

hardening
if

the

evil

is

infinitely

than

more undefined and

left

delicate forms

had been

to

the tender

mercies of another.

Moreover there are cases

consolation

in

which some
has the

awaits

the
his

man who
render.

courage

to

make

design such as the

available mechanic can

outlines of stained glass are blurred

The hard by the

spreading of the light as

it

shines through

yo

The Application of Ornament.

damask weaver
silk or linen,

the hard shapes drawn for the

are

redeemed by the sheen of

so on.

and

In such cases the artist

who

has

been equal to the emergency will often find again in the executed work something of the
delicacy belonging to his original.

Even
self of

in

autograph work, where the

artist

executes his

own

design, he

still

avails
is

him-

a soft outline.
Its
its

Decorative art

a kind

of shorthand.

very existence seems to

depend upon
quickness,

being done with readiness,

and certainty

so that he who runs

may

read.
art

The

which only careful scrutiny reveals

for

to us will,
appreciation.

the most part, fail to win Whatever its merits, if it hide

them, no wonder that

men

pass

them by.
is

Even poetry of the

popular
;

over-subtle order
art

not

and
be)
is

decorative

(unpopular

though

it

essentially popular art.

The

effectiveness so
art,

much

to be desired in

decorative

has to be obtained without

many
is

of the resources of which the painter

free to avail

himself

It is

not often that

the ornamentist can indulge in extremes of

light
ling.

and shade, nor yet

in

very strong model-

Under

these circumstances, an outline

-Plate

40

Some
is

Superstitions.

71

invaluable in helping to detach a pattern

its

from

background.

It

is

not generally-

understood

how

efifectually

even a delicate

outline will sometimes

do

this (Plate 41).

In work placed at a great distance from the

eye,

outline

is

quite the simplest

means of
off,

definition.

The

greater the distance

in
its

and

the

less

the contrast

tone

and colour

between the design and

background, the

more urgent something of the kind becomes. For all that, there is no law making outline
compulsory, unless the
it.

artist feels the

need of

He

may,

if

he please, detach

his pattern

from the ground by deepening the one, or

lightening the other, or

by doing
it is

both.

That
fair to

would, however, ordinarily be a

laborious business. Besides,

much more
only

assume that there was always some reason

for the choice of tones

adopted

in the first

instance

and

it

may

be

anything

but

desirable to

modify them.

So

it

happens

that in
outline

many
is

instances the expedient of an

It

most handy.

enables one de-

liberately

and

safely to
it,

adopt a scheme of

colour which, but for

ineffective.

would be altogether

So

far

from invariably hardening or empha-

72

The Application of Ornament.

sising form, outline

may

equally be used for

the diametrically opposite purpose of soften-

ing the shapes, as

may

be seen on Plate 42,

is

where a small portion of the pattern

harsh

by comparison with
in the

the part outlined.

is

The

softening effect of outline

exemplified also

embroidery on Plate 40.

use of outline must not be taken as
its

The

a justification of

abuse.

To
Art

accept the
its

dogma

of
is

its

saving merit and submit to

tyranny,

sheer foolishness.

may

quite
is

well be decorative in which the outline

not
it

emphasised

nor does the insistance upon

make
it

design decorative, however effectually

it

may remove

from the

pictorial.

So with regard
rative treatment,

to flatness,

symmetry, and

other qualities supposed to pertain to deco-

one must in every instance

Any
effect

use one's wits.

disturbs

of relief which

the

sense of flatness in a surface

flat, is

characteristically

plainly out of place.

as

Just so

much

of

symmetry

may
is

be needful

to convey the sense of balance

to be desired

but no more.
The
fear of offending against the arbitrary
" irrespon-

laws of authority, often altogether

sible," is a

bogey which may scare some from

'Plate 41.

Oatltiie tolotcb defines tbf formX^^f^''^-

Plate 42.

Outline tohicb
F

softens'fljc forms,

ti^}-^o\,-

KtUl, PHOTO-LrTHO.e.FUWIVAl S^ H0LEOHN,C 0.

Some

Superstitions.

73

trespassing on dangerous ground, but which

certainly deters others from adventuring on
fields of

design in which they might perhaps

full

discover the

use of their artistic faculty.

What
finds
it

is

called

convention

is

not a hinIf

drance to the workman, but a help.

he

an impediment, he would do well to

if

ask himself

that

may

not be his

fault.

LONDON
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

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