the etchings of rembrandt

Download The Etchings of Rembrandt

If you can't read please download the document

Upload: leigh-smith

Post on 22-Jun-2015

60 views

Category:

Documents


7 download

DESCRIPTION

Rembrandt

TRANSCRIPT

ITHFLWRARYBRIGHAM. USltTPROVO, UTAH75#/- 3 THEPORTFOLIOMONOGRAPHS ONARTISTICSUBJECTSEDITEDBYP. G. HAMERTONJREMBRANDT'S ETCHINGSByP. G.HAMERTONMALTAByW. K. R. BEDFORD,M.A.WEDWGOODBy A.H. CHURCH,F.R.S.LONDONSEELEYANDCO., LIMITED, ESSEXSTREET,STRANDNEWYORK: MACMILLANANDCO.1894THELIBRARY ,;KIGHAMYOUNGUNIVI-XSITTPROVO,UTAH_THE ETCHINGSOFREMBRANDTByP. G. HAMERTONAuthorof"Etching &Etchers"Honorary Fellowofthe Royal SocietyofPainter-EtchersLONDONSEELEYAND CO. LIMITED, ESSEX STREET,STRANDNEWYORK, MACMILLAN AND CO.1894/*VrTHE DATE OF REMBRANDT'S BIRTHThedate 1607 is according to Vosmacr. Other writers havegiven 1606, and this has been accepted by Mr.Haden and M.Michel. I had not space to enter into the controversy, andmerely trusted the Dutchbiographer.LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSPLATES ETCHED INFACSIMILE BYAMAND DURAND.PAGERembrandtwithBroadHatand' Embroidered Mantle. B. 7. M. 52Frontispiece.TheRat Killer. B. 121. M. 261 20JohannesLutma. B. 276. M. 171 56Rembrandt's Mother,seated, looking to the Right. B.343.M.5480ILLUSTRATIONS INTHE TEXT.PAGERembrandt, Full Face, Laughing. B. 316. M. 2516RembrandtwithanAir ofGrimace. B. 10. M. 2316RembrandtwithHaggardEyes. B. 320. M.2416TwoBeggars, aManandaWomanConversing. B. 164. M.37 17AViewofAmsterdam. B. 210. M.304.'18AnOldWoman,etchednolower than the Chin. B.351.M. 101 21ThreeHeadsof Women. B. 367. M. 115 23AYoungWomanreading. B.345.M. 109 24TheMountebank. B. 129. M. 117 25TheProdigal Son. B. 91. M.20126TheAngelascendingfromTobitandhis Family. B.43.M. 21334TheResurrection ofLazarus,ASmall Print. B. 72. M.215 36TheThreeTrees. B. 212. M.3093&Six's Bridge. B. 208. M.3134Landscapewith a CanalandLarge Boat. B. 236. M.323 44B 24ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXTPAGETobit Blind, with the Dog. B. 42. M. 22645Jesus disputingwith the Doctors : the Larger Plate. B. 65. M.231 46Davidon his Knees. B. 41. M.232 47TheDescent from the Cross : a Night Piece. B. 83. M.24249TheFlight into Egypt : the HolyFamilycrossing a Rill. B.55.M.240 ... 51Jesus and His Parents returning fromJerusalem. B. 60. M.244 52Christ andthe Disciples at Emmaus. B. 87. M.237 53Abraham's Sacrifice. B.35.M.24654AnOldManwith a Short Straight Beard. B. 306. M. 12059ASheet ofSketches,afterwards divided into Five. B. 366. M.83 62Three Peasants Travelling. B. 13I. M. 153 64Profile ofa BaldManwith a Jewelled Chain. B. 292, M.39.65AnOldWomanSleeping. B. 350. M. 116 66ABattle Piece. B. 117. M.275 67Christ's Bodycarried to the Tomb. B. 84. M.217 69AVillage with a River and a SailingVessel. B. 228. M.31473Sketch ofa Dog. B. 371. M.26674Rembrandtwith Moustacheand Small Beard. B. 2. M. 10679AJewwith a HighCap. B. 133. M. 140 81ASketch for the HundredGuilder Print 82Landscapewith aFisherman in a Boat. B. 243. M.19 89THEETCHINGS OF REMBRANDTPART ITHE PLATES CONSIDERED WITHREFERENCETO THEARTIST'SBIOGRAPHYIThis little treatise is intended to be an introduction to the study ofthe etched work of Rembrandt. The notice of him in Etching andEtchers was ofnecessity nomorethan a short account of what he haddone, with a special mention of a few representative plates;the cata-loguesofBartsch,Claussin,Wilson,CharlesBlanc, Middleton, andDutuit,are too voluminous and important to be convenient as handbooks,besides being too mechanical in arrangement for consecutive reading.A memorable exhibition of Rembrandt's etchings was held at theBurlington Fine Arts Club in the year1877,and the catalogue of itis well known, for two special reasons, to all serious students ofRembrandt,bothin England and on the Continent. The first of thesereasons is the adoption, at that time unprecedented, ofthe chronologicalorder in preference to the old classification by subject, and the second isthe Introduction by Mr. Seymour Haden, in which he expressed hisdisbelief in the authenticity of certain famous plates that had been ad-mittedinto all previous catalogues. Mr. Haden's argument is of suchimportance that no subsequent writer can afford to pass it in silence,but it is fully intelligible, in all its bearings, onlyby advanced students.Besidesthis, thecatalogue in which it appeared was privately printed forthe Club, and is not generally accessible. Thesame objection, so far asordinary English readers are concerned, applies even to some of the6THE ETCHINGS OFREMBRANDTpublished contributions to Rembrandt literature, which are costly, andprinted in foreign languages. For example, the French catalogue byDutuit, with heliographic reproductions by Charreyre, is sold at sixhundred francs. It hasthereforeseemedto us that there wasroomfor ahandbook to the etchings of Rembrandt, published at a low price, andcontaining a synoptic account arranged in a readable form, and in sucha manner that any one who perused it might find himself, with littleeffort, so far acquainted with the subject that no part of Rembrandt'sgreat performance as an etcherwouldseem absolutely strangetohim.The systematic study of the works of a great etcher is seldomundertaken by lovers ofart whoare not led to it by the requirements ofa critic or a collector, and yet this systematic study, though it mayseemtedious to the amateur, and pedantic to the artist, and though it maybe regarded with the most complete indifference bythe public generally,has its own rewards to offer in the additional clearness which it impartsto the whole subject, and in the enhanced interest that every separateetching gains from being known in connection with the rest. Thiskind of study would be impossible for us without the help of theminutely detailed information that the zealous industry of catalogue-makers has accumulated for our use. We are, indeed, infinitely theirdebtors, forwithout their labours of love, extending, in some cases, overmanyyears, andrewarded onlybythe appreciation ofthe few whoknowall that such toil involves, the student could never gain a comprehensiveview of the total production of a great artist. Even if he had accessto a complete collection, it would be impossible for him to knowthat itwas complete.I havejust alluded totwomethodsin the arrangement ofa catalogue,the chronological order and classification by subject. Even in a brieftreatise like the present some definite system is necessary, and I havedecided to adoptthree systems, each for onepart ofmyessay, whichwillkeep them as distinct from each other as possible, both for the reader'sconvenienceandmyown. Thefirst is chronological so as to connecttheetchings, or many of them, with the inspiring and affecting story ofRembrandt's courageous and troubled existence. One of the greatartist's biographers, M. Emile Michel, says that Rembrandt has himselfalmost invariably enlightened us as to the date of his works, but this,THE ETCHINGS OFREMBRANDT7with regard at least to the etchings, is certainly saying too much andtherefore it is impossible for me to follow the chronological methodexclusively. M.Dutuit,on the other hand, observes that nearly two-thirds of Rembrandt's etchings are without date. This statement is,however, averygreat exaggeration of their still toofrequent datelessness.Mr. Middleton, in his catalogue, admits three hundred and twenty-nineplates as genuine. Out of these, one hundred and eighty-one are dated,so that the dated plates are in the majority and sufficiently abundantto afford in themselves all that is needed for reference in the first,or biographical, portion of this essay, especially considering thatthe author, having a limited space at his command, is not underany obligation to refer to everything that Rembrandt executed.Those who try to make complete chronological catalogues are sorelytempted to assign dates that must in many instances be purely, ifnot wildly, conjectural. Each instance would require to be supportedbya separateargumentwhich is seldomgiven, so that thereader sees thatthe date is assumed but does not often know why it is assumed. Thecompiler has, no doubt, gone through a process of reasoning thatis satisfactory to himself and might be so to his readers if their faithwere not disturbed byother equally authorised compilers. Ourteachersdo, indeed, arrive at the most divergent and contradictory conclusions.Thedifferences between Vosmaer and Middleton are extremelyfrequent,and in several instances so wide that it would seem as if there werenothing in the changing manner of Rembrandt's workmanship, or inhis tastes and interests so far as the choice of subject is concerned, tojustify one in fixing a date within a year or two, or even a decade.Forexamplethere is thewell-knownplate of The TriumphofMordecaito which Vosmaer assigns 1640 or from that to 1645,whereasMiddleton fixes 1651. The Adorationofthe Shepherds was etched,according to Vosmaer, between 1632 and 1640, according toMiddleton in 1652. The Starofthe Kings is dated by Vosmaer1 64 1,but Middleton puts it twelve years later. When we are assuredby the Dutch authority that the date of The Blind Man seenfrombehind is 1651 the English connoisseur throws us back no less thantwenty-one years, a little more than one-third of Rembrandt's wholeexistence. There is, however, one page in Vosmaer's great work which8 THE ETCHINGS OFREMBRANDTdeserves our unqualified approval. It is that in which he gives a listof twenty-one plates for which he declines to fix any date whatever.Writers for whom the fixing of dates is an absolutely over-masteringpassion may always safely assume that an etching by Rembrandt wasproduced between 1607,when the artist came into the world, and1669, when he went out of it. No other plan is absolutely safe.It might seem possible, at first sight, to assume that Rembrandt tookup the etching-needle in 1628, which is the first date we have, andlaid it down in 1661, as that is the last, but we have not the slightestproof that he did not begin to etch when he was sixteen instead oftwenty-one,orthat hedidnotcontinuethepractice ofthe art after having,fromnegligence or discouragement, entirely ceased to put dates upon hisproductions. The matter may seem to be of slight importance incomparison withthe authenticity or thetechnical excellence of the platesthemselves, but it is really more important than, at first sight, it mayappear. If we knew exactly the order in which all the plates wereexecutedwemight observewith the keenest interest the signs of mentaland technical progress. This is possible, in some degree, even withthe dated works that are accessible to us, although, as we have seen,they are notverymuchmorethan half of themagnificent CEuvre.My rule to refer in the biographical part to dated plates only isa restriction onthe side ofsafety, butthere is another equally important,and that is that a critic ought not to refer, except byway of caution,to any plate of whose authenticity he is not perfectly satisfied. Thereader not yet familiar with the controversy concerning Rembrandt'setchingsmaybebriefly told in this place that a plate maybe signed withhis name, and dated, without being necessarily his handiwork. Theetchings accumulated in collections under the name of Rembrandt maybe classed in these five categories.1. Those plates of which the conception and execution are equallyand entirely those of Rembrandt himself. This categoryincludes bothsuccessful plates and failures which are rather numerous in proportion,but the failure is in most instances purelytechnical and does not greatlyinterfere with the mental qualities of the performance.2. Plates of which the idea and design belong to Rembrandt butof which the execution has been partially entrusted to assistants.THE ETCHINGS OFREMBRANDT93.Plates designed by Rembrandt but executed entirely by others.4.Plates of which the manual execution is more or less completelydue to Rembrandt, but in composing which he made use of borrowedideas.5.Plates with which Rembrandt had nothing whatever to do, eithermentally or manually.Nowof these five categories, I intend to confine myself, in the twoearlier parts of the present essay, entirely to the first. In my thirdpart, I shall enter upon the stony and thorny ground of controversyand deal with the doubtful or contested plates, not that I have anyparticular eagerness for controversial warfare, but because, in this caseit is impossible to keep out of it. Besides, no reasonable person couldfall into the illogical fallacy of interpreting an attack upon theauthenticity of more or less spurious Rembrandts as an attack uponRembrandthimself. Thetruth is that nokinderservice can be renderedto a great artist by the most faithful of his admirers than the detectionofthoseworksthatthe cupidityof some,andthe uncritical confidenceofothers, have falsely attributed to him. Every work justly discardedrelieves his reputation of a burden, and when we reflect how readyposterity always is to attribute works to celebrities whose names arefamiliar to it, and how strongly persons who have them in theirpossession, or desire to sell them, are biassed in favour of suchattribution, it seems inevitable that these burdens should be laid uponthe memoryof the dead.Theabsenceof concordamongst authorities is shownin thefollowinglittle table:Bartsch(1797)admits375plates.Claussin(1824) 365Wilson(1836) . . . .Charles Blanc (1859-61)Vosmaer(1868-77) . .Middleton(1878). . .Dutuit(1883) ....3693533533 293 63Charles Blanc gives a list of twenty-nine rejected plates and makesan addition of seven to the catalogue. Vosmaer accepts the numbergiven by Blanc as well as his system of order. Mr. Middleton givesio THE ETCHINGS OFREMBRANDTa list of eighteen rejected studies and sketches with thirty rejectedlandscapes, and M. Dutuit adds to his catalogue a list of six etchings"attributed to" Rembrandt, and two "falsely attributed." It isunnecessary to go further into these questions at present. The readersees the necessity for great caution, but I may add, to reassure him,that the great majority of the plates still attributed to Rembrandtbearso visibly the impressofhis hand and genius that they are acceptedwithout hesitation by every one who is familiar with his styles (for hehad several styles) and with the very different moods of his versatileand generally quite original mind. Hesometimesborrowed from others,but not often, and though it is nowevident that he accepted assistancein the execution of certain plates that bear his name, we must stillremember that he was one of the most personally industrious of greatartists and one of those who have been most rarely dependent uponauxiliaries.It remains only to be added that references to plates will beaccompanied, at least once, by the numbers given respectively in thecatalogues of Bartsch and Middleton. That of Bartsch,though nearlya hundredyears old, is still a livingwork, in continual requisition, whilstMr. Middleton's catalogue has the advantages of being written inEnglish eighty years later, andof being easily accessible to Englishmen.I would willingly have given references, in addition, to that of CharlesBlanc, as it is very clear and readable, and*was charmingly illustratedby Flameng, but it seemed that a string of three references to everyplate was likely to be confusing, especially as the names of theFrenchman and the German begin with the same letter.IIThe reputation of Rembrandt has undergone the most extremevicissitudes. In his own life-time he rose from obscurity to a localand afterwards national celebrity, but sank down again, several yearsbefore his death, into the trying position ofa neglected andunfashionableartist. "Often," says Vosmaer, "have I felt indignant at the smalldegree of enthusiasm manifested by his contemporaries." Vondel eitherreally cared nothing for Rembrandt or affected complete indifference.THE ETCHINGS OFREMBRANDT nAnother contemporary poet said that as Rembrandt found he couldnot equal Titian,Vandyke or Michael Angelo, he preferred to wanderfrom the right path and become the first heretic in art rather thanstrengthen himself by following the most experienced. Houbrakenspeaks of the art of Rembrandt in the past tense, saying that it had(at one time) the success of novelty, it was a fashion, and artists hadbeen obliged to imitate him in order to sell, even when their ownmanner of painting was far superior. Lairesse condemned Rembrandtand Lievens together, but, with a distant approach to generosity, wentso far asto admit that Rembrandt'swayof paintingwas"not absolutelybad." Some time after the artist's deathcame a reaction in his favourshowing itself decidedly in the beginning of the eighteenth century byan extended appreciation in foreign countries. Still, throughout theeighteenth century, criticism was too subservient to classical authorityto recognise Rembrandt with any complete cordiality, and if he waspraised for some qualities he was condemned, with at least equalfrankness, for the defects that accompaniedthem. Even so late in thecenturyas the time of Barry,who began hisAcademylectures in1784,it was possible for him to speak of Rembrandt's"laborious, ignorantdiligence," in renderingthe"multipliedwrinkles and trifling peculiaritiesof the skin." He admitted the ability of Rembrandt in colouring andchiaroscurobuthatedhis mostmasterly style,condemningthe "obtrusive,licentious, slovenly conduct of his pencil"as"not less disgusting thanit is useless." Opie spoke of him as"foremost of those who in theopinion of some critics cut the knot instead of untying it, andburglariously entered the Temple of Fame bythe window." Reynoldscompared PoussinwithRembrandt as to their composition and manage-mentof light andshadow, addingthat they"ran into contrary extremesandthat it is difficult todeterminewhich is the most reprehensible, bothbeing equallydistant from the demands of nature and the purposes ofart." Headmitsthat the pictures of Rembrandt may"not come amisswhen mixedwith the performancesof artists of amoreregular manner."Reynolds was just however (without being in the least enthusiastic)about both drawing and colour in The Anatomical Lesson. Fuseliappreciated Rembrandt better, classing him as a genius of the firstrank"in whateverrelates nottoform." Again, Fuseli hasan intelligent12 THE ETCHINGS OFREMBRANDTonslaught upon the topographic delineation of landscape and says thatthe landscape of Rembrandt"spurns all relation with this kind ofmap-work." He describes Rembrandt's figures as"uniform abstractsof lumpyor meagre deformity," but admits that," form only excepted,he possessed every power that constitutes genius in art."All these academical opinions, including the favourable one ofConstableon Rembrandt's chiaroscuro picture of the Mill, refer to themaster'sworkin painting, not to his etchings. Oneofthe first Englishartists whotook any special interest in the etchings was the elderLeslie,and he once wrote a short sentence of five lines about the services ofphotography in reproducing"these inestimable works." Mr. Ruskinonce gave a foot-note, also of five lines, to Rembrandt's etchings, thatappreciated the synthetic quality of the landscapes, and in the text of"Modern Painters," there are references to two plates, The Presentationin the Temple (B. 50.M.243)and TheShell (B.159.M. 290). Ido not remember any other reference to the etchings in Mr. Ruskin'sworksexceptsome depreciatory remarks upon their technique in a letteron the etchings ofMr. Ernest George.In most ofthese instances of criticism, what strikes us is theremark-able coolness of the critics, their absence of anything approaching toenthusiasm. Those who appreciate in some degree the qualities of themaster are not carried away bythem,they have not the tone of criticsspeakingabout an artist who has delighted themand whose defects theymaybeaware ofbut are willing to overlook;they havethetone ofmenwho, whenthey praise, do it from a wish to avoid injustice. Fuseli ishearty in praise and blame, Leslie andConstable praise heartily as far asthey go, but are extremely laconical. The brevityof Mr. Ruskin is stillmore striking in a difFusely eloquent writersix lines for the religioussubjects, five for thelandscapes,twofor astudyofstill life!The truth appears to be that the present splendourof Rembrandt'sfame is morerecent thanwecan easily realise. It has beendueto severalcauses, distinct in themselves, but all operating together. Thefirst is thecomplete extinction ofclassicism as an exclusive authority though it hashappily survived, andwith improved culture, as a taste. Thesecond liesin the greater facilities for travelling which have enabled critics to seemoreof Rembrandt's whole performance and know him better, andtheTHE ETCHINGS OFREMBRJNDT13third is in the invention of certain processes of engraving in whichphotographydoes the drawing,though not the biting, and so far ensuresaconsiderable degree of fidelity, as well as cheapness in the most recentreproductions. Butthese causes, potent as they are, wouldprobablyhavehada less effect on Rembrandt's fame if theyhad not been accompanied,in all civilised countries, bya revival of the art of etching. Theopinionamongst etcherswhichenthrones Rembrandt as the king oftheir craft isthe most recent instance of perfect unanimity amongst people of allnationalities. As we all say that Phidias was the greatest sculptor,Homerthe greatest epic poet, and Shakespeare the greatest dramatist, soare we all agreed upon the world-widesupremacyof Rembrandt. Andthehigherourappreciation ofetching as essentiallyan artist's art themoreexaltedbecomesthe position ofits greatest practitioner. I amtold that, oflate years, there hasbeensome decline in the appreciation of etching.Perhaps it is no longer fashionable to pretend to be enchanted by itsmasterpieces, but these changes of surface-fashion have little to do withculture. Theplain truth is that the etched work of Rembrandt is nowintelligible to thousands, whereas in the beginningofthe present centuryit wasalmost like anunknowntongue, or charactersunderstoodbyfew.Another recent piece ofgood fortune for Rembrandt is that he hasfallen into the hands of a competent biographer, Vosmaer, a writerentirely freefrom that credulity ofmediocritywhich makes it ever readyto accept the common calumnies against genius. The idlest and mostridiculous stories about Rembrandt had become traditional. Vosmaershowed that they had not, and that they could not have, any otherfoundationthantheinventive spite ofagreat man'susual detractors. Heshowed us Rembrandt as he lived, a man of immense industryand thesimplest tastes (withthe oneexception of a passion for works of art), aman whose force of character and courage in adversity immediatelysuggesttoEnglish readersthe nameof one great in anotherartwhodiedlike Rembrandtin harnessandat Rembrandt's years, the artist who diedat Abbotsford.Inhisownlines of workthere is noonein all historytobecomparedwith Rembrandt; in artistic influence he has one equal, entirely unlikehimself, andthat is Raphael. It was not byaccident that medallions ofthese two were put together on the cover ofthe Portfolio. They arei4THE ETCHINGS OF REMBRANDTthetwomost influential graphic artists of all time. Comtedefined art asconsisting in the three processes ofobservation, imitation, andidealisation.The three are common to both artists but in Rembrandt observationpredominates, in Raphael idealisation. As for imitation they are alike inpossessing the power of it and in using it more or less, but alwayssubordinately to the artistic purpose. Raphael is called quite accuratelyin a certain sense,"the divine";"thehuman"is an epithet that might,with equaljustice, beapplied to Rembrandt.IllThe date of the first etchings that have any date at all is the year1628, when the artist was twenty-one years old. There are twosigned etchings for that year. One of them, An Old WomansHead, full face, seen only to the Chin (B.352.M.6.),is very simplyetched, thoughdrawnwitheasy skill, especially visible in the reserves ofhalf-light in theshaded parts. It is already the work of an artist, buthasnospecial distinction. Theother little plate, Bustof an OldWoman,lightly etched (B.354.M.5),is much more than that; it is the work,already, of a great and most accomplished master. It was neverafterwards surpassed, either in the penetrating observation ofnature, orin delicate sufficiency ofexecution, byanysubsequentworkofRembrandthimself, and it is almost impossible to believe that even so strong anatural genius as his could producework of such rare excellence withoutyears of previous practice, not only in drawing, but in actual workwith the etching needle. He probably began to etch in his minority,making attempts that did not seem to him worth dating, then he didthese things, and put not only his signature, but the year. Howeverthis may be, the fact is certain that at the age of twenty-onehe had already mastered one of his several styles. I do not wish toexaggerate the matter, I donot believe that at twenty-one he could havegotthrough such a task as the portrait of the BurgomasterSix, but hehad already one ofthe stringsto his bow.Atthedate ofthese plates Rembrandtwasliving at his father's housein Leyden. Hehad been destined to a learned profession, but had nottaken well to classical studies, and instead of proceeding with them hadTHE ETCHINGS OFREMBRANDT15followed art in VanSwanenburch'sstudiofor three years, whichprobably-ended about 1620. After that he had been apprenticed to PieterLastman and stayed with him, according to Orlers, six months. It isbelieved that he returned to his father's house about 1623,and stayedthere till 1630. At the date of the etchings that occupy us he hadalready painted a picturewhich is known and now at Stuttgart, and hehad also taken his first pupil, Gerard Dow. Everything is rather early,rather precocious, with Rembrandt. He got upearly in the morningof life, andset toworkat atimewhen others are dreaming about whatthey intend to do. It has been assumed that the little etchings of1628 wereportraits of Rembrandt's mother, andthey are so entered inBlanc's catalogue, but there is no evidence in favour of such an idea.According to Vosmaer the mother was about thirty-five years old atthe date of Rembrandt'sbirth, consequently shewouldbe about fifty-sixwhen hecame of age, butthe oldlady in theetchinglookspast seventy.1There is just one etching for1629,and that is anexcellent proof ofthe tendency to vary his styles and make experiments, which was inRembrandt's nature, and remained with him through life. The title ofit in Mr. Middleton's catalogue is Rembrandt, a Bust; supposed to beengraved on Pewter (B.336.M.7.).It is a rough sketch in a boldand decided manner,without any attempt at delicacy oftone oreven ofline, but immense vivacity of handling, and the peculiarity of it isthat some of the shading is done with a double point, as if twopointshad been tied together, which they probably were. Many etchers havetried that experiment for greater speed in shading, but it doesnot reallyadvance matters very much, and Rembrandt never afterwards recurredto it.The year 1630 is remarkable for a series of small plates, in whichthe artist amused himself in studying expression by assuming it in hisownfeatures. Thepractice mayeasily be represented as ridiculous, andhas, nodoubt, a ludicrous aspect, as it is difficult to think quite seriouslyofagrownmanmakingfaces, as children do, before a glass. It hasbeen1Many womenafter seventy are better preserved than Rembrandt's old lady;QueenVictoria is an instance, and in quiet middle-class life good preservation is bynomeansrare. This Dutchwoman, tranquil and fairly well off, might verywell be eighty. \haveknown a younger-lookinglady at ninety-three.i6 THE ETCHINGS OFREMBRANDTdone occasionally by modern actors for instantaneous photography, andwith this result, that when the costume is changed at the same time asthe expression the original human being becomes unrecognisable. Rem-brandt himself is not always immediately recognised in these etchings,butweget accustomed to the changes in his physiognomy, in his head-gear, and in the length of his hair. We have him"with an openmouth" (B. 13. M.22.);"with an air of grimace" (B. 10.M.23.);"with haggard eyes" (B. 320. M.24.);and "laughing" (B. 316.M.25.).These little plates, and others, probably of thesamedate, orverynear it, are executed with a fine point, and are distinguished by anextrememanual facility. Theevident speed oftheir execution doesnot,however,preventthe artist fromnoticingthemostminutetruths of formand oflight and shade, as, for example, in the learnedly reserved reflecirijfejgp^af^.tjg'"'jB!IfS^^^SAMmMBk$ 1! v^-^!Ss%-*a . jV.,1 ***& ^s'i&0^BMarsamuscetto Harbour, Malta. Drawn by R. Serle.population,whichthreatenserelongto constitute oneof themost seriousproblems withwhich therulers ofthe country will have to cope. Fiveand twenty years ago there were 1,248 human beings to every squaremile in Malta, andthe increase has become extremely serious, ten percent., it is alleged, annually since that date. It is true that the Malteseis to befoundin everycountrythat borders on the Mediterranean, andeven farther afield, where a livelihood is to be made, but, like the56MALTAChinaman,hedesiresto lay his bones athome, and havingsaved a smallsum will invest it in buying or building a house in Sliema or SanGiuseppe, or some other suburbofhis beloved Valletta.But to return to the Fior del Mondo. Had the original planof the architect been carried out, the city would really have had anair ofsymmetry almost too regular. Under existing circumstances,although the streets are all at right angles, yet the inequalitieson the surface of the promontory throw them into all kinds ofvaried perspective, and give to the whole mass a pyramidal effectwhich is very striking. The two highest elevations are the part oftheStrada Reale between the Palace Square and the Main Gate, and thegarden with its arcaded, though unroofed promenades, known as theUpperBaracca, fromwhichthe finest panoramaoftheGrandHarbourisobtained. At one end of this spacious elevated terrace you maylookdown into the vast fosse cut through the solid rock from bay to baybythe labourofthousandsofTurkish slaves. Beyond is the suburb ofFloriana, and in the distance the heights of Citta Vecchia and theBingemmahills, a landscape whichreminds someof the visitors to theseshores of the Holy Land. Onthe other side ofthe harbour, at yourfeet, are the twin promontories of St. Angelo and Isola, with theAdmiralty creek between them crowded with British shipping, men-of-war, troopships, yachts, and merchantmen,while hundredsof dghaisas(native boats), and small craft of everydescription carryonan incessanttraffic. At the other end you look across the lower Baracca, with themonument to Sir Alexander Ball, to Fort Ricasoli and the entrance tothe harbour; nor must the Naval Hospital on the Bighi point beforgotten,whereNapoleonannounced his intention, whenhehadsubduedEngland, oferecting his palace, that he might control Europe with theonehand, and Indiawith the other.Thestately rangeof arches calledBaraccawasroofedandenlarged atthe expenseofFraBalbiani, Prior of Messinain 1 661Englishengrav-ings of it in that statesubsequent to 1760are extant;but in1775,hav-ing been therendezvousofthe membersof a formidable conspiracy, theroof wasdestroyedbyorderoftheGrandMaster. Thegarden containsthemonumentof Sir Thomas Maitland, Governor from 1813 to 1824.Passingfrom hence between the Castile and the fort called St. JamesMALTAsiCavalier, a garrison chapel and a gymnasium being close at hand, andturning down the Strada Mercanti past the"Italie" gateway, therestandsonthe opposite side ofthe road thepresentPost Office, formerlythePalazzoParisio, occupiedbyNapoleonI. as his headquarterswheninthe island. Therecess where his bed was placed, is still traditionallyidentified, and the late Postmaster remembered his father having relatedthat as the dishes for the General'sdinnerwere brought up to his room,the sentinel, withRepublicanequality, helpedhimselfto aportionof onewhich took his fancy, muchto theamazement of the young Maltese.Atthecornerof this street andS. Giovanni, is ahandsomelyornamentedbuilding,which, rebuilt andadornedbyGrandMasterPinto,was used asthe Courtsof Justice. Atthejunction of the two streets the corner iscut awayand a pedestal or pillar, large enough for a single person tostand upon,occupiesitsplace, alarge iron hook projecting above. Thiswasused for the punishment ofthe strappado, the criminal beingmadetostand on the pillar, andbehoistedbythe armsbya ropefromthe hook.Popularlegend asserts that a bankrupt might obtain a discharge fromhis debts by volunteering to undergo this penalty, if a creditor choseto exact it. On the doors of this building, now aHigh School forGirls,are a beautiful pair of brass knockers adorned with the armorialbearings of G. M. Pinto. Nowhere is this style of decoration moregeneralthaninValletta. Thefavouritepattern is veryelegantadolphin,beautifully modelled,and still manufacturedbythe metalworkers,whoseshopsare in Strada IrlandesenearthelowerBaracca. InStradaMercanti,a little lowerdown,therewereuponthedoors of the"Archives," thenthePost Office, a superb pair, so muchabove the common size, that aclassical postmaster insisted that theyrepresentedthe"BalaenaBritannicadelphinismajor." Atonetimetheladyofthe outgoingholderof theofficewasreturningtoEngland,andfrom"informationreceived," asthe policearein the habit ofsaying, she was favouredwith a polite message fromtheGovernortothe effect that shewouldnot be allowed to depart untilan article ofGovernmentproperty, oneofthe knockersofthe gates,wasrestored to its place. She no doubt had anticipated that if she couldonly get it safely to London, it would adorn her own street-door, forthere are a few of similar construction on houses in Mayfair andBelgravia.58MALTAStrada Mercanti is indeed a kindofepitome oflife in Malta. In thevicinity ofthe marketfromwhich the street takes its namea modern,convenient, and well-ordered buildingmaybe seen specimens of everyclass of the population, native and visitor. Ships' cooks, caterers formesses, clubs, and hotels, with native representativesofeverygrade fromthepalace tothe cottage. Outside,anopenair collection ofstallsofferingsecond-handgoodsof every description, besieged bya motley crowd ofGreeks, Arabs, Negroes,&c,fromthemerchantvessels in harbour, everyone chaffering in his own language, and traders, porters, and idlersgenerally,shouting at the topoftheir voicesin guttural vernacularchorus.Greater interest howeverattachestothe seawardendofthis street, for itis here that the great hospital ofthe Order still subsists in the originalbuilding, thoughimprovedbymodernscience,whichwaserected for theservice ofthe sick in1575.When the Knights arrived on the island they found an ancienthospital at Citta Vecchia. This having been entirely rebuilt andreorganized by G. M. Manoel del Vilhena, is now used for the ac-commodation of a small number of patients, under the title of SantoSpirito. As St. Angelowas henceforth to be the cheflieu of the Ordera hospital waserected in the Borgo, of which the doorway still remains,the building being now a nunnery. In the chapel however there is aninteresting painting dated1557,with the arms of L'IsleAdamand thedate ofthe foundation,1533.Onthe completion ofthe new city thishospital was transferred to the other side of the harbour, and un-fortunately placed on the south-eastern sea front close to the greatharbour, the inducementnodoubttochoose this site being that patientsmightbe landedfromships at themouthof theharbour,andbrought inby a coveredwaybelowthe sea wall intothe lowerwardof the hospital,without making a tedious and dangerous circuit of the streets. Un-fortunately it is thus completelysheltered by the high ground behind itfromthe healthy north and north-west winds, while it is exposed to theenervating scirocco.Thisis muchtobe regretted, as the great ward is a stupendous pieceof architectural skill. It is503ft. in length internally,34ft. 10 in. inwidth, and 30ft. 6 in. in heightoneof the grandest interiors in theworld. There is anotherapartment at right angles, forming part of themalt:a59same great hall, but now divided, as is the hall itself, by party-wallsabout 12 ft. high. All down the sea side ofthe apartment are littleniches, one to every pair of beds, originally intended for latrines. UpKnights Hospitallers, from an Engraving in"Statutesofthe OrderofSt. fohn,"translated by Bogoforte, 1676.to 1863 the windowswere verysmall, occupying onlya fifteenth of thespaceproportionate tothe contentsofthe hall. Evennowtheapartmentis very dismal, and we no longer hang the walls with tapestry and60 MALTApictures, as the Knights did by way of relieving the monotony ofthe prospect. The soldiers dislike and dread to be sent there, andwe ought to have a military hospital in a better situation.But the fault lay in the ignorance of true sanitary science whichprevailed in the sixteenth andseventeenth centuries. In 1662, andagainin1712 underPerellos, large sumswerespent upon the improvement ofthe hospital, but the erection of a front quadrangle facing Strada Mer-canti, at an elevation of thirty-five feet above the existing one, shut outmorecompletelyair and light fromthe buildingsonthe lower level, andin 1780 a very injudicious addition of some rooms, afterwards used as'Government stores, was made. Howard visited it in 1786 and speakswith much disfavour of the management; the servants were dirty,inhuman wretches, the beds not clean, the platefor the hospital wassupposed to be servedon silver, only thegente di catena, the malefactorsor galley slaves,condescending to pewterbadlykept,andthe numberofattendants below the stated staff. Possibly the Grand Hospitaller,whowasalways a Knightofthe French langue,mayhave been at that timeinefficient;for it is suggestive that everyfive years, the period for whichthe Knightwho had been nominatedwas bound to serve, a change inthe office took place. Yet we cannot believe that there was actualparsimony. In1796theOrderwere expending^6,000 a year on theirhospital, when the purchasing power of money infinitely exceededanythingwhichwecan find a parallel for. Nor at the present daydoesthereappearto beanyreluctanceuponthe part of the Maltese to makeampleprovisionfor the sick. TheCivil Hospital,nowwiselyremovedtoa healthy site in the suburb of Floriana, is admirably conducted, and nofault save that of position can be found with the Hospital for In-curables, hard by the Military Hospital. It is beneath this building,which adjoins the burying-place of the Knights who died in hospital,and who were buried in their mantles a bee, with the white cross,that the singular piece of ghastly ingenuity, the Chapel of Bones,is situate, everydetail of the architecture beingrendered in the bleachedremains of humanity. Almost as singular a relic is the mortuarywhere the body is left for twenty-four hours after death with strapsfastened to hands and feet, so that the slightest motion would seta bell ringing and prevent the catastrophe of a living interment.VVALLETTA (continued)It is to Spanishinfluence that Vallettaowesthe leading characteristicofits architecture, the balconieswhich project from everyhouse,formingan integral part of its construction, roofed in, and provided withwindows and blinds for the purpose of intercepting the rays of thesun, and of controlling the currents of air which in sultry days areadmittedtorefresh the interior apartment. Theyare indeedtheSpanishmiradores, a modification of the Oriental moncharbis, supported uponsolid brackets of stone and closed with gratings. In traversing thestreetswhichlead tothe centre of the town,the steep incline of StradaVescovo from the quarantine harbour, or the streets of stairs upon theother side, these balconies present a broken outlineof the mostvariedcharacter, the street itself bathed inshadowwith bars of light breakingin at the intersecting thoroughfares; the gloomyshops and basementsdarkenedbyawningsordeepprojections; statues ofsaints, foreshortenedbytheir elevated position, hangsuspended overheadwith lighted lampsburningin front of them,while higher still the bright sunshine bringsout in strong relief the cream-coloured upper stories of the buildingsagainst the azure sky. Asyoupursue yourwayyou notice thevaultedvestibules admitting to the court-yards of mansions, sometimesclosed byfolding doors with a wicket for entrance, sometimesbyahighwoodengate, the object of which is to keep out the goats, a flock of whichcreatures may often be seen dawdling downthe streets, supplementingthe scanty forage they can find on the ramparts,by nibbling orangepeel, old newspapers, or any refuse they espy. Behind them comestheir herdsmanin halfseafaring guise, withbare feet, sash, longdroopingknittedcap, shirt-sleeves, and a bag, for the most part empty, overoneshoulder,whowill suddenlypounce upon a goat, catch it by the hindleg, and milk it deftly into the can which some maidservant has just62MALTAhanded to him. Theseare thetouches of naturewhich make daily lifein Malta so amusing. The plan of a Maltesetown house is this : acorridor leading to the street, a court-yard, sometimes planted withflowers or shrubs, sometimes simplypavedfor kitchen purposesalwayswith a wellused or unused. At the back the kitchen and servants'&W^WlKf ; I.I IK/rStrada Vescovo, Valletta. Drawn by R. Serle.offices, the front rooms on the level of the street being generally letas shops, stables, anything, to a separate tenant. There is always amezzanine floor also, with a distinct entrance and tenancy; theseapartments have no chimneys or ventilation of any sort except fromthe front, and should anycooking be required bytheir occupants it isMALTA63done bya little squarestoneovenbrought out into the balcony or thepavement, filled with charcoal and lighted sub dio, the fumes ascendingto theapartmentsabove, which,approached bya broad handsome stair-way, are often palatial in dimensions, on an average eighteen feet high,and all with stone floors. All thewood in a house in Valletta, exceptwindow cases, shutters, and doors, is comprised in the massive beamswhich support these slabs of stone, so fires are very rare. The oldTeatro Manoel, built by G. M. del Vilhena in1732,is the oldest^P^Wl3-'ff^^^fWfe'.i:l5lii--^2oL!SVStraaa Marina, Valletta. Drawn by R. Serle.theatre in Europe,every other, even the more modernOperaHouseinValletta itself, havingsufferedfrom fire. The Opera,thoughthe stage,the roof, and all the internal fittings were consumed in1873,remainsexternallythe same aswhen erected in 1866. The houses of Vallettahave stone and concrete roofs also, upon which the occupants climbto take the air, and enjoy the lovely sea prospect to the northwardin the most advantageous light with the sun behind them.Asoughtto be the case, the palace is quite the typicalmansionofthe64 MALTAcity. The courts are large and beautifully adorned with trees andshrubs, on the ground floor are the printing establishment and othergovernment offices,guard-rooms,andthelike,andyouwindupa wonder-ful circular stair ofshallow steps, a careful restoration of the one whichin 1788 elicited the eulogium of Howard,to the wide marble corridorsandspacioussaloons appropriatedto the social functions presided over bythe Queen'srepresentative. Notthat this story is altogetherdevotedtopurposesof merecourt pageantry or official dignity : the rcomin whichthegrandtapestry, designated Venture des Indes, is placed, is used as theHouseof Assemblyfor thelocal Parliament,andresoundstotheharanguesofpatriotic memberswhoevince their nationalityby using a foreign lan-guage, Italianwhich also by a strange perversity hasbeen retained inthe CourtsofJustice ofthe island. Thecommercialclasses, theartizans,and the labourers, would muchprefer the general use of English as asupplementtoMaltese,andthe discontinuance ofItalian. Underpresentconditions the trilingual teaching in the schools deserves the highestcommendation, andthe ease withwhich it seems to be acquired, speaksstrongly for the aptitude of the scholars;but why a certain officialpatronage should be extended to an exotic tongue is difficult tounderstand. Whethera dialect of the old Punic tongue or a corruptArabic is the origin of the native language may perhaps be doubtful,but it would repay a more careful grammatical study.Except for the beautiful hangingsof its wallsthe council chamber isnot a particularly imposing apartment, thoughof goodproportions. Achair ofstate fortherepresentative ofMajesty, seats for the officials, andbenches for the electedmembers, covered in orthodox crimson, constituteits furniture, with a fewforms at the lower end for the public, who cangratify ear or eye ad libitum, andwhentired of the discussion revert tothe figures of birds and beasts, Indians, and Negroes, wrought in superbcolouring into these triumphs of the skill of LeBlond, for their mentalrefreshment.It wouldappearthat G. M. Raymond de Perelloshad a passion fortapestry, for having adorned the church of St. Johnwith this kindofdecorationmade at Brussels, herepairedtothefamousfactoryofGobelinsfor tapestry for the palace. The panels represent exotic and rare SouthAmericanplantsandanimals, the designs having been composed in theMALTASschool of LeBran,the designer for the factory of the Gobelins, in theseventeenth century, frompicturesgiventoLouisXIV bythe Prince ofTapestry in the Council Chamber.Nassau. The cartoons, worn out by use, were renewed about1725byFrancis Desportes, whomodified and amplified some of them ; severalF66 MALTAversions ofthese favourite designsareknownto exist, of whichone is inthe GardeMeubleof Paris, and is occasionally exhibited at the openingof the Salon in the Champs Elysees. The tapestry at Malta belongs,however, to the moreancient period, thenameof the maker, LeBlond,is woveninto the list, and on the border appear the arms of Perellos,while on a fringe, alsoworked in panels, apparently bythe same hand,thearmsare repeatedwith Turkish prisoners as supporters, no memor-andumof such design being foundbyM. Darcel in the Archives, eitherofthe factory orofthe GardeMeuble. Hesurmisestherefore that thesetapestries werepurchasedby theGrandMaster from LeBlond's privateestablishment, where he is known to have executed commissions fromfavourite patterns, sometimesthose belongingtotheRoyalestablishment,and sometimes his ownpropertythe Venture des Indes being one ofthesewovenoutside the government factory, but from designs by thesame artists,andprobablywithmaterials identicalwiththoseemployed forthe tapestryproducedfromtheloomsof the State. M. Darcel, in theinteresting monographwhich he haswritten uponthese tapestries, com-mentsvery shrewdly upon the total ignorance often displayed on suchsubjects, mentioningoneauthoruponMalta whouses for these hangingsthe words"i damaschi effigiati"the figured damasks : a blunder themoreextraordinarybecausethey are commonlyknownin Valletta as theArazzi,fromthetownofArras,the great seat ofthe manufacture,whichas readers of Shakespearewill remember,-gave them the same name inordinaryEnglish parlance.Oneof theprominentfeatures of the palace is the armoury, a finelyproportioned gallery, lined, as are the corridors, with effigies in suitsofarmourbearingpikes and round shields, upon which in questionabletaste are paintedthearmsof thesuccessive Grand Masters from Gerardto Hompesch, and of English Governors to the present day. Thearmour itself is poor, and of the least interesting period. There area fewsuits of more elegant design in the saloons, one of which, richlyinlaid with gold, belonged to G. M. de Vignacourt, of whom thereis a fine portrait by Caravaggio. There is rather an interesting fulllength of Catherine II. of Russia, but the majority of the portraitsand other paintings are of no very conspicuous merit.Thestandsof armsare effective as a mass, from a decorative pointTapestry in theCouncilChatnber.F 2MALTA 69of view, but in detail are not of great value or curiosity. The sword,axe, and coat of mail of the great enemy of the Knights, the corsairDragut, are preserved in a case, and a few Oriental weapons aredeserving of notice;a cannon made of copper, four inches in bore,covered with cement bound round with rope, is one of the mostsingular trophies, and there are other small pieces of artillery ofornamental workmanship preserved here. In 1888 the EnglishGovernment restored to Malta certain cannon captured from theFrench, who had taken them from the island;these, which are ofelegant design and ornamentation, were, for the most part, originallypresented byforeign princes in token of amity, or byway of acknow-ledgment for hospitality or services rendered by the Order. They areplaced in conspicuoussituations in Valletta, andform, says a late visitorto Malta, popularhobby-horsesfor theraggedurchinsofthetown.Communicating with the palace by a prolonged balcony of theconstruction already described, is the Public Library, to which theordinary entrance is by a staircase from Victoria Square, nowappropriately adorned by a statue of Her Most Gracious Majesty,replacing one of G. M.Manoel del Vilhena, which had beentranslatedby Sir Gaspard Le Marchant from the fort which the Grand Masterconstructed and called byhis own name, ignoring an inscription whichstated that he stood in the midst of his works. The building waserected by G. M. deRohan for a library, but was not used until1812. The library itself dates from1650, when a room in thebuilding adjoining St. John's Church was set apart for the purpose,which appears to have been first contemplated nearly forty yearsbefore. In 1760 the books collected by Cardinal Portocarrero werebought for a public library by the Bailiff Tencin, and in1763 alibrarian was appointed; additions were also made from other librariesover which the Order had control, and from the private collectionsof its individual members, which by a resolution of the Chapter weredirected to be handed over to the library, the duplicate books beingsold to defray establishment expenses. Thus in 1812 therewere30,000 volumes to be placed on the new shelves, and since that date20,000more have been added. This does not, unfortunately,representthe actual state of the library, which we may regret to learn does7Q MALTAnot reflect much credit upon the English Government. In 1881,when Dr. Vassalo, a learned, courteous, and in every way admirablelibrarian, had in the course of nature to leave his post, a veryconsiderable percentage of the books were reduced to a conditionnot far removed from absolute powder by the ravages of theagaricus and other insect foes of literature. The sum allowed fordusting the books, taking each book in order, would suffice fora septennial cleansing; the floor of the large book-room, insteadof marble, wood, or some material which resists wear and tear, wasof the friable native stone, and the dust from the streets made itsway through the casements; nor, said the authorities, was there asufficient fund at hand to remedy this melancholy state of things.Dr. Vassalo's successor grappled to the best of his ability with thedisastrous condition of his charge; large quantities of the volumeswere committed to the flames, and the remaining works werefumigated and otherwise defended against the foe; fortunately thedevastation had been chiefly confined to the upper shelves, thedepository ofthe additions made from the libraries ofbygone Knights,which, as Thackeray astutely noted when he passed through Malta,were "none of your works of modern science, travel, and history,but good old useless books of the last two centuries"; but the pestwas fast spreading to works of far more interest and value, so thateven now, when matters are certainly in a greatly improved condition,one asks for an ancient chronicle, or a fine specimen oftypography orbinding, with fear and trembling. When we consider that theoutlay of a few hundred pounds,and a comparativelysimple rearrange-ment of premises by no means inadequate for their purpose, wouldconvert this into one of the most interesting and handsome museumsin the world, one cannot but regret that local aversion to change,and the short tenure of the office of Governor, which prevents manyplans from being brought to fruition which have been commencedin a true spirit of conservative reform, should have stood in theway of a thorough renovation of a most interesting inheritance ofthe past.It is at the back of this building that the small museum is locatedin two or three minor apartments. Small as it is, however, it con-malt:a71tains many objects of great value and rarity, forming an epitome ofthe history of the islands of Malta and Gozo. In addition to theremains of the Phoenician period ofwhich mention has been alreadymade, there are several pieces of pottery, vases, bowls, and lamps :there is also a most interesting terra-cotta sarcophagus of that period,found with a skeleton inside, and an iron ring, at Ghar Barca in1797.In the same locality similar discoveries are recorded to havebeen made in 1624 and 1800; and fictile relics have been at timesRoman Sculpture.Romulus and Remus. In the Museum at Valletta.unearthed in other placeswhichfound their way into private hands, andhavebeen lost sightof. Thesuggestion cannot fail to present itself thatifthemuseumwerea little more en evidence, public interest in it mightbe aroused, and some ofthe treasures now in private houses find theirway into the national collection. The late Dr. Vassalo printed a veryreadable and accurate description of the contents of the museum,classifyingthem according to the period andregion ofartto whichtheybelonged. From Phoenician and Egyptian,we come to theGreekandRoman periods;of the former, the curious Sicilian altar withthethreebended legs familiar as the ensign of the Isle ofMan, but with the72MALTAaddition ofa humanface in the centre ofthem;a beautifully sculpturedminiature Hercules;several vases with figures in the Etruscan styleroundthe bowlofthe latter thefine she-wolfwith the children, ofpurealabaster, are very noteworthy;also a great variety of lamps andarticlesof pottery bearing Christian emblems,andtheremarkablebronzestatuetteof a crippled beggar holding a dish and bearing on his body curiousletters, said to be of the mystic alphabet in vogue among the Gnosticheretics, andread thus,"Christ wasscourged." Ofthe Normanperiodthere is onlya capital froma small column,formerlypart of awell in theNorman Capital, and Greek Vase. Figure zvitb Gnostic Inscription.In tie Museum at Valletta.Borgo,and a very curious and interesting Saracenic inscription of theeleventh century, cut upon the back of a piece of marble which hadformed, it wouldappearfromtheremainsof the carving on the reverseside, a portion of some ornament of a classical building. The masks,taken after death, of L'Isle Adam and La Vallette, have found anappropriate resting-placehere, and the dies for the coinageof the threelastGrandMastersconclude the representative tale of centuries. Theveryhandsome majolica vases once used in the Knights' Hospital are notdeposited, asonewouldexpect, in the museum,but in the armouryandcorridorsofthe palace. Theyare veryquaint in design and someareofgreat beauty;oneofthe mostsingular stands quite three feet in height,and is madeto represent an owl with ears and beak, the head taking off"for a lid.Incases in the main library are preserved some of the most valuableMALTA73printedbooks, old editions curious in woodcutslike Cavorsin's siege ofRhodes,&c; also somebeautifullywritten and illuminated MS. bookswith splendid artistic and elaborate specimens of binding, generallypresentations to Grand Masters; there are other MSS., heraldic, &c,andengravingsofMaltain formerdays, recently acquired.A collection of fossils in the same great hall seems less in placeherethan it would be at theUniversityin Strada S. Paolo, where thehigher education of the place is very efficiently carried out, the onlymatter of regret being that of the numerous young men annuallyqualified in lawand medicine a small proportion onlycan possibly findemploymentin so limited a sphere. Themanaging bodyofthe institu-tion however wisely seek to elevate the popular taste generally bylectures upon history, geography, the rudimentsof science, &c,and doagoodworkoutside theirwalls as well as withinthem.In the educationallanguageoftheday, theelementaryschoolsof theisland maybe classed as"efficient, but not sufficient." Theydo notpossessaccommodationfor those ofthepopulationwhowouldvoluntarilyattendthem,andanythinglike compulsory attendance would necessitateanenlargement to triple the present available space. Atthesametime,for those fortunate enough to obtain it, the instruction is sound andintelligent, and the discipline admirable. One of the prettiest sights inValletta is tovisit the model school in the Strada Cristofero, where theancient slaveandcivil prisons, of whichHowardhas left us amelancholyaccount, are now tenanted by little learners as bright, clean, andhappy as those whom Thackeray saw and heard at Dundalk, anddescribed so touchingly in his Irish Sketch-book. If an English visitorto Malta really wishes to do good, let him obtain permission from theDirectorof Education to visit these schools, which, I doubtnot, hewillfind doing the same good work as in '91, andbywhose conductors aslight encouragementfromEnglandis highlyappreciated.Thereligious susceptibilities ofthenatives are sometimesthe occasionof external manifestation of distaste or misunderstanding, as a worthychaplaintotheforces oncediscoveredwhoexcitedvehementwrathin thebreast of a boatman bytelling him that the figure of Neptune uponhis dghaisa was the god of the sea. Like all primitive races theislanders are deeply attached to their national usages, forwhichperhaps74MALTAour own countrymen sometimes display a want of consideration. Oneof the most remarkable features of the city is the peculiar mantillaof black silk worn by the women which is called the faldette orsometimes the onega. It is in the shape of a skirt turned over thehead,which was nodoubt its origin,but gathered in on one side onlyand kept stiff by an arched piece of whalebone,which can be managedingeniouslybythe hand so as to give the nun-like effect which strikesthe visitor as so remarkable. This is connected with some religiousscruple; the ladies of the first fashionwear it on certain occasions ofdevotion, and a servant going to England with her employer's familywill go on board the packetwearing it and commit it to the care ofa friend to take ashore,who will meet herwith it on her return. Itis most probable however that the colour, not the shape, was reallythe subject of the vow. In the country it is worn of ordinary stuff,and called tsolkdna, resembling in fact an Arab garment of somewhatsimilar name. Perhaps the only male piece of costumewhich can becalled national is the khorg, a piece of cloth made into a bag aboutthree yards long and two feet wide, with an opening in the middleand worn full or empty over the shoulder. This forms an invariableadjunct to the out-of-door costume of the labourer, who runs in tohiswork in Valletta fromsome casal perhaps half a dozen miles away.Alarge portion of this labour is employed in the coaling of steamers,and it is one of the sights of the harbour to watch the two streamsof human ants running outfromthe depots and back again from theboats, laden and empty. There may be some ground for fear, shouldthe improvements in science inanywayinterfere with this employmentby enabling steamers to coal less frequently, that an industrious racemay suffer.That the island could support a population increasing at thepresent rate, if deprivedofthe English expenditure, is quite impossible,the fertile groundbeing so small, consisting only ofnooks and crannies.The pits in front of St. Elmo and on the rocky plain of Floriana,in which a store of corn is kept, covered in the antique style withround stones sealed and marked, evidence the necessity for anextraneous supply. It seems strange that in a community underBritish influence a duty on imported wheat should still be payable,MALTA75but it is the indisposition of the Maltese themselves to its abolitionwhich retains the impost, nor can it be said that the price of breadhas ever been so high as to cause any widespread distress as long asemployment is plentiful; the wants of a native are few, and somodest is his expenditure that we still coin the"grain," a littlecopper piece, ten making a penny,which has been the common circu-lating medium ever since the era of the Grand Masters.The effects of British rule are more in evidence on the other sideof the Great Harbour, in what are called the three cities, Vittoriosa,Burmola, and Isola. On the point opposite the Knights' Hospital,Bighi, in the veryplace where Napoleon boastfully said he wouldbuildhis palace when Europe, Asia, and Africa were all subjugated to hisEmpire, is the very spacious and beautiful Naval Hospital, erected in1830, in digging the foundations of which Captain (afterwards SirHarry) Smith, R.E., discovered the Egyptian inscriptions now in theBritish Museum. Here begin the defensive lines called Cottonera, aftertheir founder,GrandMasterNicholasCottoner,whosebust ornamentstheZabbar gate, the scene of some fighting during the French blockade,conspicuousfrom its lofty position. Here, in the airiest situation, standsthe main military hospital, plain, large, and well-arranged. Vittoriosa,for so has the Borgo been entitled since the siege, is now one vastcongeries of naval institutions; even the caves at the back of theAdmiralty,where the wretchedMahometan galley-slaves draggedout amiserableexistence, a suggestive trace of which is found in the appella-tion of the neighbouring creek, the Bay of Insects, are utilized forshops and stores. Thesuburb of Burmola, at the head of this creek,is denselypeopled byworkmen employed in the docks,whichnow arebeing enlarged on a suitable scale to therequirements of our Mediter-ranean headquarters. The third of these subsidiary towns, Isola orSenglea, is alsonownearly as much a dockyard as the AdmiraltyCreekitself, andthebuildingsin all three, whichwereraised for the accommo-dation of the forces of the Knights, military and naval, have beenmodernised into or supplanted by barracks, quarters, and factoriesappropriated to the service ofthe British fleet and garrison. On theadjacent hill is a military and a civil prison, and government storesoccupythe shore of the whole of this portion of the harbour on the76MALTAother side of Valletta. Beyond the Marsamuscetto harbour and thelittle bay of St. Julian, are the spacious barracks designated PembrokeCamp,with shooting-rangesfor musketry practice.Thus Valletta is a capital city, a garrison town, and a navalarsenal of the first magnitude. Yet it speaksvolumesfor the characterofthe Maltesethat the dangerous classes are far from being numerous;vice is nowhere prominent, order reigns unbroken; and except duringthe Carnival and at Easter, even the natural love of noise inherentin the population seems to go to sleep with the setting sun. It mustbe acknowledged that the noises in Malta form a distinct drawbackto the visitors' pleasure, the church bells for instance are of fine metalandgood proportions, but are nearly all fixtures, sometimes in a turretwhich would not allow of their being swung, but in almost everycase only sounded by pulling a rope attached to the clapper or bybeating the outside of a bell with a hammer. This, however, at someseasons, is incessant. The clocks also have a provoking habit ofannouncing the hour at every quarter, and as some of them strikeItalian fashion up to twenty-four, their reminders of the flight of timegrow ratherwearisome. It is quite delightful to hear the bells of theEnglishchurch ofSt. Paulchime inhomefashionfor service.Although the rule of the Order of St. John conferred manysubstantial benefits upon the natives, its character at best was thatof a benevolent despotism. Despotic indeed were the dominant castewho compelled a native to stand off the pavement when he saw aKnight approaching, and forbade a woman of any degree to appearin the Strada Reale, the main street of Valletta. Yet their rule wasbeneficial;irrespective ot the direct charities which they maintainedhospitals for the sick, for women, for orphans, poor children, andfoundlings, gratuitous dispensaries and distribution of food, in whichpurposes in1796they spent nearly 13,000large tracts of countrywereplantedwith trees,the greatest possible benefit to the island, thoughviewed with distrust by Maltese to this day, who think they harbourmosquitoesand banditti. G. M.deVignacourt in 16 14completed anaqueduct for Valletta, and Pinto a century later cultivated mulberrytrees for theproduction of silk;scarce a Grand Master can be namedwho did not do something for the general welfare of the commonalty.MALTA77Thusthepeople throve, while luxury and aristocratic pomp sapped theenergy of the members of the Order. For many years the galleysscoured the Mediterranean in pursuit of the corsairs, but Perellosin1697substituted forthemdeckedships of a larger size, andthenavyseems gradually to have declined ;during the eighteenth century itbecamethe customto permit privateers torendezvousin theharbours ofValletta, andfromthememoirsof theEarl of Charlemont in1750welearn that the warfarewhich used to be carried on bythe Knights hadfallen into the hands of Captain FortunatusWright andotheradven-turers. Yet it is pleasant to remember that almost the last dutyperformedby the fleet of the Orderwas to carry succourto the Italianand Sicilian sufferersbytheearthquakeof1783.The internal dissensions, which had always served to cripple theexertions of the Order, became much more serious when the FrenchRevolution deprived them at one swoop of revenue to the amountof^50,000.The contagion spread through the commanderies in theother European countries, and despite the conversion of plate intomoney, and every expedient which insolvency suggests, the GrandMaster had reached the end of his resources, and the Knightswere prepared to take any desperate step to secure their individualsafety. Nevertheless, had it depended upon the loyal Maltese, theannexation of Malta by the French in1798would only have beeneffected at the cost of muchbloodandtreasure."It waswell," saidoneof Napoleon's lieutenants, as they viewed the stupendous fortifications,"thatwehadsomebodytohandus thekeys ofthese gates, orweshouldhavehadsometrouble inforcing our wayin." Atthe very last moment,when treacheryand pusillanimityhad admitted the invader, the nativemilitiawhogarrisonedthe twoforts in Valletta, known as the Cavaliersof St. Johnand St. James, werewith the utmost difficulty persuadedtosurrenderthemwithout anindependent struggle, and as soon as the mainbody of the French armyhad departed, although it carried with it theprincipal part of the Maltese regular troops, the natives rose, as theydeclared they would, against the plunderers of their churches, and un-assistedbyanyforeignpowershut upthe3,000Frenchmenleft behindwithin the fortifications of Valletta. Thiswas on the 3rd September,1798,and for two years the patriotic islanders made every effort to78 MALTAtake the city, with such small assistance as could be spared by Nelsonand the English andNeapolitan Governments. Disease andfamine pre-vailed amongthe unfortunateswho had been left in the city, and in factthe island generally, andthe loss of the Maltese during the struggle iscomputedtohavebeen 20,000. Towardstheendof the siege, in whichthe English had gradually become the allies and confidants of theMaltese, Sir Alexander Ball, one of Nelson's lieutenants, was electedGovernor,andsuggested a British protectorate. Accordingtothe treatyof Amiens the Order of St. John was to be revived under certainconditions and limitations, andtheEnglish troops were to evacuate theisland in three months. Thiswas so little tothe taste of the Maltesethat adeputationwasdespatchedtoLondon to protest against the pro-posal, andto solicit the English to remain in the country. Whenwarbrokeout again, veryshortly, the British were still in Malta,wheretheyremained until, in 1814,the Treatyof Paris ratified that sentence whichremainsengravenontheMainGuard,"Thelove oftheMalteseandthevoice of Europeconfirms these islands to great andinvincible Britain";and (adds a candid foreign critic)"I think that the Maltese have nocausetorepent theconsequencesofthat love."THE ENDINDEXArmoury, 66Auberges, 5254Bajazet,16, 30Balconies, 61Ball, Sir Alexander,78Baracca, upper andlower,56Baviere,54Beaujolais, Countde,34Bernini,34Borgo, see CittaVittoriosaBurmola,75Candelissa,22, 24Caravaggio,30, 66Catherine II., 66ChapelofBones, 60Charles V.,13, 16Citta Vecchia, see NotabileCitta Vittoriosa,18,75Coast line,5Corradinoheights, 10Costume,74Cottoneralines,52CouncilChamber,64Cussar, Girolamo, 28Cyprus,15DeVos,28,45, 46Dragut,19, 21,69Egyptianinscriptions,75English in Malta,74, 75, 78Floriana,56, 60,74Frenchin Malta,77Gafa, Melchior,37Geological fault,5,10Gerard, 15Giant's tower, 10Gozo,5, 11, 13, 16Grand Masters of Knights Hospitallers:Aubusson,15, 30 ; CarraiFa, 38;'Cot-toner,34,75;Hompesch,34; LaSengle,18;La Vallette,17, 25, 27, 38, 72;Lascaris,22, 38 ; L'Isle Adam,14, 38,58, 72 ;Paula,42 ; Perellos,34, 45,46,60, 64 ;Pinto,34, 57,76 ; Rohan,38,54, 69 ;Vignacourt,38, 66, 76 ; Vil-hena,58, 63, 69Great Harbour, 18HagiarKim, 6Hospital ofSt. John atJerusalem, 15 Valletta, 5860Houlton, Sir Victor,51Isola, see SengleaKabiri, 6Langues,15LeBlond,64Library, Valletta,69MahometII., 16Maitland, Sir Thomas,568oINDEXMandcraggio,$4Marsamuscctto, 19, 22,54Marsa Scirocco, 6,10Museumat Valletta, 6, 70Mustapha, 21, 25Napoleon I.,56, 57Notabilc, 12, 23, 38, 41, 58Operahouse, 63Palace,Valletta, 63,64Palazzo Parisio,57Philip II., 24, 25Phoenician remains, 6,912, 71Piali,19Pirates, 12, 13, 14, 77Poussin, Nicholas,45,46Prcti, Mattco, 30, 45Raymondde Puy, 15Rhodes, I5Archbishop of, 38Roger of Sicily, 13, 14Romanremains, 12, 72Rubens,45St. Angclo, 13, 14, 18, 19, 21,5SSt. Elmo, 18, 20, 21,74St. Jean d'Acre, 15St. Paul's Bay, 6, 10, 25St. Paul's Cave, 12Scnglca, 18, 22,23, 75Sliema,56Solyman, 16, 17Starkey, Oliver,27, 38Syracuse, 16, 19Tapestries in St. John's,45CouncilChamber,64Teatro Manoelo,63Templars, 15Tripoli, 16University, Valletta,73Vassalo, Dr.,70, 71Vipcran, 19, 23, 24Zanoguerra, 23Zizim,16, 30WaOtriiflii, J/ke /oT^ClcurocL'">>' .'JOSIAH WEDGWOODMASTER-POTTERByA. H. CHURCH, F.R.S.Professor ofChemistry in the Royal AcademyofArtsAuthorof"English Earthenware" &c.LONDONSEELEY AND CO. LIMITED, ESSEX STREET,STRANDNEWYORK, MACMILLAN AND COT894.TABLE OF CONTENTSCHAPTER IHIS PRECURSORSElers of Bradwell;John and Thomas Astbury ;Ralph Shaw;Thomas andJohnWedgwood; EnochBoothand RalphDaniel pages 710CHAPTER IIHIS EARLY YEARSBirth, Education, TraditionsofChildhood;Apprenticeship ; Partnerships withJohn Harrison andThomasWhieldon pages 11 15CHAPTER IIIAS MASTER-POTTERTheIvyHouseWorks; Increase of Business; Division of LabourIntroduced;Finish versus Vitality ; Public Spirit andGenerosity pages 16 19CHAPTER IVHIS CERAMIC IMPROVEMENTSQueen's Ware;Black Basalt Ware and Encaustic Painting ;White Semi-Porcelain;AgateandMarbledWares; Terra-Cotta, &c pages 20 31CHAPTER VHIS INVENTION OF THE" JASPER"BODYNovelty of its Composition ; Peculiar Properties ; Range of Colour ; SolidJasper andJasper-Dip pages 3235CHAPTER VITHE BARBERINI OR PORTLAND VASEModelledfromthe Original byHenryWebber;Discoveryofthe Vase, itsDate,Decoration andMaterial ; Variations in and Prices realisedbyWedgwood'sCopies pages 36394TABLE OF CONTENTSCHAPTER VIIHIS CAMEOS, MEDALLIONS AND PLAQUESEarly Trials in Colour;Cameos and Intaglios in Scmi-Porcclain and BlackBasalt ; Cameosand Medallions in the Jasper Body;PlaquesandTablets;ImportantExamples pages4053CHAPTER VIIIHIS PORTRAIT CAMEOS AND MEDALLIONSHistorical Series; Headsof"Illustrious Modern Personages" ; Identification orthe Subjects;Unusually Large Cameos ;Variety in Subject and Treat-ment ; ModelsbyFlaxman, Hackvvoodandothers pages5461CHAPTER IX1VASES IN THE JASPER BODYNot made before 1781 ;Period of Perfection; Decadence; Designs of Vasesand Pedestals ; Wedgwood'sLetter of1786 to SirW.Hamilton ; Prices ofFine Examples;Conventional Ornaments pages 62 67CHAPTER XMISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTIONS IN JASPERChessmen ; Match-pots, Pedestals andDrums;Pipe-bowlsand Hookahs; Teaand Coffee Sets ;Salt-cellars ;Bulb-stands and Flower-pots;Lamps andCandlesticks ;Bell-pulls, Scent-bottles pages 6876CHAPTER XILATER YEARSThe Brick-House Works; Marriage ; Partnership with Thomas Wedgwood;Purchase of the Site of"Etruria"; GrandTrunkCanal;LondonShow-Room; ASurgicalOperation;PartnershipwithThomasBentley ;Etruria,the Village, Works, andHall;Scientific Labours;Death pages 7787CHAPTER XIIPOSITION AS AN ART-POTTERAPervading Style ;Merits and Defects; Sources of his Designs ;Artists Em-ployedJames Tassie, John Flaxman; Imitators and Successors . . pages 8896CHAPTER XIIICOLLECTIONS AND COLLECTORSProvincialMuseums ; Public Collections in London;Formation and DispersalofPrivate Collections;Criteria of QualityandDate ;Marks . . . pages97103Bibliographical Notes page 104LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSPLATESPAGEL PortlandVase ; whiteondark slate-colour, solidjasper(J.L.P.) . FrontispieceII. Plaque, Sacrifice ofIphigeni a ; white andgreenjasper (M.P.G.) 40III. TwoMedallions,AZephyr, blue andwhitejasper;A Monumental Group,black andwhitejasper (A.H.C.) 46IV. Medallion, Portrait ofFlaxman;terra-cotta (S.K.M.)94ILLUSTRATIONSINTHETEXT1. JosiahWedgwood. Fromthe engraving by S. W.Reynolds,after the portraitby Sir Joshua Reynolds(B.M.)132. Chestnut-Basket;cream-colouredware(M.P.G.) 223.Dessert-Dish;tinted whiteware(S.K.M.)244. Mug, silver mounts;black basalt ware (S.K.M.) 265.Lamp; black basaltware(M.P.G.)276. Vase; creamwarecoloured in imitation ofgranite (M.P.G.)307.Teapot;chocolate, terra-cotta, white reliefs (S.K.M.)318. Medallion,HeadofMedusa ; blue andwhitejasper,laminatedground(J.L.P.)429.Plaque, Sacrifice toHymen; black andwhitejasper (J.L.P.)4510. Plaque, Treatybetween FranceandEngland; blue andwhitejasper(J.L.P.).4711. Medallion, BacchanalianBoys;black and whitejasper (S.K.M.) . . . . . v4812. Medallion, Achilles with the Bodyof Hector;green, black andwhitejasper(J-L.P.)'.496LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSPAGE13. Plaque, Marriage ofCupidand Psyche;blue andwhitejasper (B.M.) . .5114. Medallion, Sir F. W.Herschel ; blue and whitejasper (M.P.G.) 5615. Medallion, Dr. Johnson ;blue andwhitejasper(J.L.P.)5716. Medallion, E. Bourne; blue andwhite jasper (J.L.P.) 5817. Medallion, KingoftheTwoSicilies ;blue andwhitejasper (J.L.P.) ....5918. Medallion, Catherine II. ofRussia ;dark green andwhitejasper (J.L.P.), . . 6019. Vase, Apolloandthe Muses ;blue andwhite jasper (M.P.G.)6520,21. Pedestal, Blind Man'sBuff; green andwhitejasper (S.K.M.) . . . . 70,7122. Bowl,Ivyfestoons andpendantCameos; white,greenandlilac jasper(M.P.G.) 7223. Sugar-bason and Cover, Vine pattern;pale olive andlilac (S.K.M.) ....7224. Saucer, festoons andcameos ;white, green andlilac jasper (S.K.M.) ....7325. FlowerpotandSaucer, reliefs offern-leaves;cane-colour, terra cotta (S.K.M.)7426. 27. Pair ofCandlesticks, Children andTrees ;whiteandbluejasper(J.L.P.) .7528. Statuette, Seated Figure, in right hand a syrinx;terra-cotta (S.K.M.)....95The examples from which the above illustrations are taken are in the followingcollections :Mr.J.Lumsden Propert (J.L.P.)British Museum(B.M.)South Kensington Museum(S.K.M.)MuseumofPractical Geology,Jermyn Street (M.P.G.)Mr.A. H.Church(A.H.C.)JOSIAHWEDGWOODCHAPTER IHIS PRECURSORSElersofBradwell ; John and Thomas Astbury; Ralph Shaw; Thomas ana JohnWedgwood ; Enoch Booth, and Ralph Daniel.During the last quarter of the seventeenth centurytwo potters ofexceptional skill and marked individuality were at work in England.The earlier of these artists in clay was John Dwight of Fulham, asketch of whose life and labours was given in the Portfolio for1893.Dwight, whose artistic productions probably date from the year1671,exercised no recognisable influence upon the other potters of his day.It was otherwise with the later ceramist, the Dutchman, John PhilipElers of Bradwell Wood and Dimsdale, near Burslem. He, with hisbrother David, came over from Amsterdam soon after the Revolutionof 1688. As early as the year 1692 or1693his manufacture hadattained a high degree of perfection; at this time he had a warehousefor the sale of his goods in the Poultry in London. Although hisundertaking did not prove a commercial success and his ownpotworkswas abandoned about the year1 71 o, Elers really initiated a completechange in the methods and style of Staffordshire earthenware. It isscarcely to be contested that he introduced into the district the processof glazing with salt, and thus founded a special local industry whichfor seventy years formed a considerable factor in the prosperity of" The Potteries." He perfected if he did not introduce the process8 JOSIAH WEDGWOODof washing, levigating, and otherwise preparing clays, and thus effecteda marked improvement in the fineness, durability, solidity and generalphysical properties of the "bodies" or "pastes" of which theyformed the chief constituent. But Elers did more than this,for a third innovation in the English practice of potting may bereasonably attributed to him. He used the lathe so as to turn hispieces into forms far thinner and more uniformly exact in shape thanany which the wheel or the whirler could produce. The adventofJ.P. Elers had in the end a most marked effect, though not oneimmediately perceptible, upon the subsequent productions of" ThePotteries." It started the more intelligent and enterprising of thenative master-potters upon new lines,lines which, though they thenincluded something of a foreign element, soon acquired a thoroughlyEnglish character. There is, indeed, an immense interval and contrastbetween the grand, massive, picturesque and quaint, yet clumsy, coarseand cumbrous platters, tygs and posset-pots of the latter half of theseventeenth century, on the one hand, and, on the other, the dainty,sharply-turned tea-sets of fine red stoneware made by Elers, whichnot even Wedgwood himself, with all the appliances of sixty yearslater, could rival, at least in this material. Elers' ornaments,whenheadded them to his vessels, were sharp in execution, graceful in design,and in thorough keeping with the fine texture of his ware. Theywere impressed, upon lumps of clay stuck on to the turned pieces ofware, by means of brass moulds or stamps sharply cut or engravedwith intaglio designs. Amay-blossom, a bird, an interlacement ofcurves, a cross formed of fleur-de-lis, figured amongst his favouritedevices, the superfluous clay being scraped off from the edges of thereliefs by means of a small tool. Elers and his proceedings wereat first regarded with jealousy, but soon received the homage ofimitation. A potter, John Astbury by name, obtained admissionto Elers' factory; by feigning idiocy he secured employment thereinin some humble capacity until he had learnt their secret methodsof procedure. Then he modified and extended the processes whichhe had surreptitiously acquired, and so was able to make a largevariety of cheap and curious wares. Never quite equal in fineness ofbodyand sharpness ofornament to the productions of Elers, the piecesJ0S1AHWEDGWOOD9turned out by JohnAstbury are not mere imitations. For the pasteof his ware he used various clays, which acquired in the kilna red, fawn, buff, orange, or chocolate huesome of these coloursbeing developed by the glaze employed. Generally, his ornamentswere applied in Devon or pipe clay and stamped. They consistedof foliage and flowers; crowns, harps, shells, stags, lions, birds, andheraldic ornaments. For the inside of his tea-pots he often useda wash of white clay, and he was continually making experimentsin the mixing and tempering of clays. Thus it happened that aboutthe year 1720hewasled tointroduce a due proportion of silica, in theform of ground flint,1into the body of his ware, in order to securea higher degree of refractoriness in the fire, as well as less shrinkage.To his son, Thomas Astbury, who commenced business in1723atShelton, may be attributed further improvements in earthenwarebodies. He it was who first produced the"cream-colour," whichafterwards, as perfected by Josiah Wedgwood, displaced almost allother materials for useful table ware.To these potters, Elers and Astbury, due credit must be given.Theywere the forerunners of Wedgwood,who in a long letter to hispartner Bentley, in the year1777,clearly defined and honourablyacknowledgedthe indebtednessof the potters of hisdayto theimprovedprocesses introduced by the foreign artist. Elers and his immediatesuccessors inaugurated an era of experimental inquiry;but the greatpotter, whose chief labours in the ceramic art I shall endeavour todescribe in the present paper, accomplisheda greaterand more completetask. Underhappier circumstances than those of his predecessors, witha keener sense of what was beautiful and appropriate, with moreuntiring industry and greater commercial aptitude, aided moreoverbyaccomplishedadvisers,Wedgwood became the chief agent in the trans-formationof an entire manufacture. The year1760, when he mayberegarded as having become thoroughly established as a master-potter,marks the boundarybetween that which is crude andarchaic and thatwhichis refinedandmodern. As towhatwerethe losses involvedin thechange wrought by Wedgwood something will be said later on in thisessay;there can be no doubt that the gains were great.1This discoverywasattributedbyWedgwoodto Heatha potter, ofShelton.ioJOSIAH WEDGWOODAlthough the year 1760 has been named as a critical date in thehistory of Staffordshire earthenware, it must not be supposed that theinception of many improvements and changes had not occurred earlier,nor, on the other hand, that the older methods did not linger on,especially in the minor potworks, to the very close of the eighteenthcentury. Then, too, it should be rememberedthat many local pottersbesides those previously named contributed important elements to thefinal result. During the forty years 1720- 1760 numerous patentsfor ceramic improvements were taken out, and unpatented inventionsmade or utilised. Amongstthemoreimportantof thesemaybenamedthe slip-kiln, used first byRalphShaw;the fixing of the proportions inwhich various clays should be mixed, byThomas and JohnWedgwood;the introductionof liquid glazes or dips, byEnochBooth;andtheem-ployment of plaster of Paris for moulds, byRalph Daniel. It would,however,betedious, were it possible, to present a resume of the variousmethods and materials contributed by Wedgwood's immediate prede-cessors to the art of potting. Thathe availed himselfofmanyof them,as well as improved and added to them, is certain.CHAPTER IIHIS EARLY TEARSBirth; Education; TraditionsofChildhood; Apprenticeship; Partnerships with JohnHarrison and Thomas Wkieldon.Josiah, the thirteenth and youngest child of Thomas and MaryWedgwood,wasbaptised in the parish church of Burslem, Staffordshire,onthe 1 2th of July, 1730(old style). He came of a race of potterswhofor several generations had been exercising their ancient and usefulcraftinthedistrictof" ThePotteries." Hisparentswereneitherpoor norrich : manyofhis relatives werein prosperouscircumstances;somemightbe called comparativelywealthy, andoccupied important and honourablepositions. Theboywent first toadame'sschool;afterwards, whenaboutseven years old, heattendedas aday-scholar a school keptbyoneBlunt,in a large half-timberedhouse situated in the market-place of the neigh-bouring town of Newcastle-under-Lyme. This schoolmaster appearsto have been a man of more than ordinary acquirements, not un-acquainted with the elements of natural science. The biographer ofWedgwood, the late Miss Meteyard, tells us, I know not on whatauthority, that the youngJosiahwas an adept in the art of cutting outwith scissors designs in paper. Theserepresented"anarmyat combat, afleet at sea, a house andgarden, or a whole potworksand the shapes ofthewaremadein it. Thesecuttings when wettedwerestuck along thewhole length of the sloping desks, to the exquisite delight of thescholars, butoftentothe great wrathof the severepedagogue." It is tobehopedthat this tale is true, and thatwehave here a significant indi-cationandpresage ofthe artistic capacitywhichreachedsohigh a degreeofdevelopmentin subsequent years. Anothertradition recorded by thesamewriterpoints in a similar direction. For it seemsthat the boyin12JOSIAH WEDGWOODvery early yearshemust have been at the time under ninebegan tocollect curiousandbeautiful things, commencing a kind ofsmallmuseumin oneof his father's work-sheds, and loading its shelveswithfossilsandmineralsfromthe neighbourhood. This tradition is themorereasonablesince weknowthat in after-life Wedgwood became anardent collector ofshells, both recent and fossil, as well as ofother objects ofnatural history.In thesummerof1739,before hehadquite completed his ninth year,JosiahWedgwood lost his father, who died, after a short illness, at theage of fifty-two. Atthis early ageJosiah Wedgwoodwasremovedfromschool and began the work of a practical potter in the factory of hiseldest brother Thomas,to whom the patrimonyof his father had beenbequeathed. Here his nicety of eye and dexterity of hand served himin goodstead, so that hesoonbecameanexpert"thrower"onthe wheel.Afterthe lapse of about two years he was attackedbysmall-pox, whichassumed a virulent form, and greatly enfeebled himforsometime, moreparticularly affecting his right knee. However,when Josiahwasin hisfifteenth year hewasboundapprentice to his brotherThomasfor atermof five years, dating from the eleventh of November,1744.Unfor-tunately, as it seemedat the time, he was soon compelledbythe returnof the weaknessin his right knee to abandonthe thrower'sbenchandtoturn his attention in other directions. This necessary change in thecharacterof Josiah's employment maynot have beenwithout its advan-tages, and probablygave the youthful potter a wider insight into thepractical requirementsof his craft, andfamiliarised himwith the variousseparate departments of the works. At this time he was engaged in"moulding," andin the making,bythe association of variously-colouredclays, of imitations of banded and streaked agate, in theformof knife-hafts andsnuff-boxes;these were afterwards mountedbythe cutlers andhardwaremen of Sheffield and Birmingham. Towards the close of hisapprenticeship Josiah seems to have developed a strong tendency tooriginal experiment. In this direction he met with no sympathyfromhis master and eldest brother,who refused his proposal, when the termof his indentures was over, to take him into partnership. Josiah thenagreedto a proposal made byJohn Harrison, atradesmanof Newcastle,who,thoughapparentlyignorantof the potter's craft,hadinvestedmoneyin the factory of Thomas Alders, of Cliff Bank, near Stoke. Thus itFig. I.Josiah Wedgwood. From the Engraving by S. W. Reynolds, after SirJoshua Reynolds.JOSIAH WEDGWOOD15cameto pass that apartnership wasformed, of whichJosiah Wedgwood,Thomas Alders, and JohnHarrison were the three members Thisarrangementdid not last long, nor was it whollysatisfactory. It couldscarcely have been expected that these three men would have workedwell together. One of them had nothing but a pecuniary interest inthe potworks; thenominal chief seems to havebeenendowedwithveryordinary skill andintelligence in his craft; while the junior partnerwasan enthusiastic innovator, full of schemes for the improvement of thepotter's art, and at the same time greatly in advance of his local con-temporaries in mental acquirement and artistic perception. Wedgwoodat this time(1751 or1752)had but just attained his majority, yethesoonintroduced manyimprovements into the humble potteryof whichhehadtaken charge. Theoutturn of theworks increased; the clouded,mottled, and tortoiseshell wares, as well as the salt-glazed white ware,whichtogether constitutedthe staple of its productions, attaineda greaterdegree of excellence and were more highlyappreciated bybuyers. ButWedgwood found himself thwarted in many directions, and was notallowed to share his due proportion of the increased profits. Hisgenerous spirit, so conspicuous in after life under more happycircum-stances, was galled bythe limitations imposed upon him by the greedandnarrownessof viewwhichcharacterised his co-partners. Fortunatelyhewassoonenabledtoescapefrom his thraldom, anewpartnershipbeingoffered tohimbyaworthymaster-potter,ThomasWhieldon,of Fenton,who had risen from small beginnings to a position of considerable im-portance. With him Wedgwood worked for a few years (probablysix), andthen, about the year1758,determined to establish himself inbusiness, for there is a memorandum of agreement still extant, datedDecember30, 1758,bywhich Wedgwood engaged the services for fiveyearsof oneof his relatives, a second cousin,ThomasWedgwood,thenliving in Worcester,andpractising there as a journeymanpotter. Thereis nodoubtthatmuch of the merit of ThomasWhieldon's productionsin agate, tortoiseshell, andotherwares is to be attributedto his partner.There is a particularly rich greenglaze which JosiahWedgwoodhasthecredit of inventing, or greatly improving, at this time, and which isfrequentlyfoundupondessert services and other pieceswhichhavebeenassigned with good reason to the factory of Whieldon.CHAPTER IIIAS MASTER-POTTERThe Ivy House Works; IncreaseofBusiness; DivisionofLabour Introduced; Finishversus Vitality; Public SpiritandGenerosityIn the year1759,at the age oftwenty-nine, Josiah Wedgwood wasworking entirely on his own account as a master-potter. He hadalready achieved a local reputation, but none of his contemporariescould have thenanticipated the wide renown which he wasafterwardstoacquire. His capital wasextremely small;but heknewhis strength,andv