Early Lustre (Brislington).—Richard Frank, the delft potter, of Bristol, produced a crude ware composed of a hard body coated with a yellow dip resembling delft in character, and, upon this surface, ornamentation in copper lustre was made which gave it the appearance of burnished copper. It has been most inaptly compared with the Hispano-Mauro ware, with its rich arabesque ornamentation. There is nothing in common between the two except that they are both lustrous, and here the similarity ends. The Brislington colour was crude and the lustre ornaments extremely inartistic, and only suitable for the baking-dishes and mere utilitarian articles rudely and sufficiently decorated. Finer and thinner lustre ware found in the vicinity of Bristol can more safely be attributed to Swansea.
Gold Lustre.—As may readily be imagined, the amount of gold in the lustre decoration is very small. Gold lustre is not heavy English gilding. As early as 1776 Josiah Wedgwood obtained a formula from Dr. Fothergill, a Fellow of the Royal Society, of which he himself was a Fellow, which induced him to experiment with gold in order to produce lustrous effects. The Purple of Cassius was employed with great success in obtaining marbling and veining, but it was not till late in his career, about 1792, that he produced the gold lustre in its happiest combination in connection with the fine Pearl Ware shell dessert-services. We have already alluded to the thin wash of yellow and pink which was applied to these dishes to represent the interior of the shell, but the addition of gold lustre was the finishing touch, and such pieces are remarkably rare. They glow with fleeting colours as the light plays upon their surface.
In regard to this gold lustre, it should be stated that it varied, and varied most considerably, according to the character of the body not only subjacent to it, that is upon which it was placed, but owing to its filmy and translucent character it received reflection from adjacent surfaces. On a brown body the same effect is different from that on a white or cream body. This must be borne in mind to a smaller extent in platinum lustres. The warmer the body beneath, the richer the lustre and the greater its similarity to the silver which it is intended to imitate.
We illustrate two very fine mottled pink and gold lustre goblets which belong to the Wedgwood period and are very light and of very fine lustrous appearance ([p. 425]). In certain districts these are termed "Funeral cups," and whether they were used only on those solemn occasions or not, we cannot say.
It appears that gold lustre was sometimes used in combination with copper or bronze. In the two mugs illustrated ([p. 425]), the interiors are finely mottled in purple and gold, and suggest by the beautiful potting the work of the goldsmith in their sharp contour. They may be attributed to the best period, as, too, may the goblet in the centre which glows like gold. Incidentally it may be remarked that the photographs used for these illustrations cannot convey the rich and glorious colouring of these examples.
The writer knows of a cup and saucer marked "Dawson." There was a Samuel Dawson in 1802, a Staffordshire potter, and there is Dawson of Sunderland, a better-known maker of ware, which has lustre decoration, to which latter pottery this may more safely be attributed. In general effect the scheme of colour is ambitious. The centre panel is painted in red enamel colours over the glaze. The borders have a highly lustrous gold floral decoration on a ground of pink.
In regard to Sunderland and Newcastle, as a rule, the ware is crude and may be readily dismissed, but not too hurriedly. The rough bands of purple lustre inartistically painted as borders to the transfer-printed jugs and mugs with nautical subjects are well known. In broad effect on a jug or a punch bowl, this class of pink or purple lustre decoration is seen at its best. On a jug of this nature with bands and rough spongings of purple lustre appear the verses—
"The man doomed to sail
With the blast of the gale,