Fig. 90.—Delft Plate.
Fig. 90 is a good representation of the bold painting of the Delft workmen. These great plates, when standing on shelves or fastened to the wall, produce a striking and pleasing effect. They are now much sought for; and the high-class work brings high prices, though not such prices as the Italian maiolicas.
Tiles were made from an early period in Holland, and during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in great quantities. They were used to decorate fireplaces, stoves, walls, hearths, etc. The blue and brown Scripture-tiles were made in great numbers, and found a wide and ready sale. They are rude, quaint, and interesting—are not art at all, but whimsical expressions of a religious sentiment. They are still made in Holland almost identical in design and feeling with those produced three hundred years ago.
ENGLISH POTTERY OR EARTHEN-WARE.
Very primitive unglazed pottery was made in England by the Britons and Saxons before the days of written history. Some account is given, in the chapter upon “Unglazed Pottery,” of the red Roman unglazed ware found in London and elsewhere, which, beyond any reasonable doubt, was made largely in England. An account of the use and production of glazed pottery in England will be in place here.
Down to the times even of Queen Elizabeth (1558 to 1603) we know that trenchers of wood, and cups and bottles of wood as well as of leather (these were called “black jacks”), were in common use even in good houses. As late as 1663, Pepys, in his most entertaining “Diary,” says that at the lord-mayor’s feast meats were served on wooden dishes, and were eaten off trenchers. The common dishes in Queen Elizabeth’s housekeeping were of wood; while those for the queen’s table were of silver, or possibly of pewter. These silver and pewter services prevailed on the tables of the wealthy till some time after the introduction of porcelain from China, and delft from Holland, which came in in considerable quantities about 1650 and later.
The first glazed ware made in England seems to have been the brown stone-ware, which, Chaffers says, was in use down to about 1680, and mostly in the shape of pitchers, jugs, and bottles. It did not at first come into use for table-dishes.
After this dishes were made of coarse and gritty clay, not at all equal to the delft-ware, upon which a lead-glaze was used of a greenish or dark-yellowish color. This lead or plumbiferous glaze continued in use for a long time; but when it was first used in England seems unknown. Salt-glaze was used in Staffordshire in 1680.
One of the earliest attempts at “fancy” in English pottery is to be seen in the drinking-cup called a “tyg,” which has three handles, intended for three friends; so that each could drink from his own lip in succession. Mugs with two and four handles were also made.
At Lambeth it is believed that some Dutch potters made earthenware resembling delft as early as 1650. A patent was granted to some potters by the name of Van Hamme in 1676. Various pieces of glazed pottery with English designs remain, bearing dates from 1642 down to 1682, which it is thought were made here.