ISJO.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



215 



TERRACOTTA AND ARTIFICIAL STONE 



Some remm'ks on Terracotta and Artificial Stone as connected with 

 Architecture. By Chari,p;s Fowlrr, V.P. — (Paper read at the 

 Royal Institute of British Architects, June 10th, 1850.) 



Althduuh the subject I have to present to you is not of an at- 

 tractive nature, I hope it may prove not unworthy of your atten- 

 tion, inasmuch as every architect must liave experienced the 

 importance of being well acquainted with tlie various materials 

 which nil'/ he available accordin"; to local and other circumstances, 

 and wb'.cli require various modifications of design and construe^ 

 tion, r^emanding the exercise both of his taste and skill. With 

 this imjiression, I venture to invite your attention to the subject 

 of ferra-Ootta and Artificial Stone, as matei'ials offering valuable 

 Tieans of obtaining architectural effect and expression when stone 

 or marble cannot be procured, or cannot be employed by reason of 

 their gre;it expense. Under the general designation of terra-cotta, 

 in its literal sense, I include all moulded work, such as bricks 

 formed to be substituted for stone in constructing columns, vault- 

 ing-ribs, windows, and other arehitectiu-al members, as well as 

 tho-!e parts which are more strictly ornamental, as corbels, tablets, 

 friezes, statues, vases, &c. For these various jjurposes, and under 

 an infinite variety of circumstances, we shall find that terra-cotta 

 has been employed with good effect; giving tlie advantages of 

 variety and durability, at a moderate expense, in many cases in 

 which these objects could not be so well attained by any other 

 means. On investigating the origin of terra-cotta, or tlie practice 

 of moulding and baking clay for building purposes, we may extend 

 our researches to the earliest times; for it is obvious that the art 

 of forming bricks and pottery must have been one of the first 

 efforts of civilisation; but, although such may have been its origin, 

 our subject properly relates to superior efforts, requiring the talent 

 of the artist as well as the skill and dexterity of the artisan. 



The ancient cities of Nineveh and Babylon are considered to 

 have been chiefly constructed of brick; but modern researches 

 have not brought to light any specimens that come properly within 

 tlie scope of our subject. No bas-reliefs, nor arcliitectural mem- 

 bers of any kind, in terra-cotta, have been found, but merely vast 

 mounds, the debris of buildings serving only to identify the sites 

 of these once renowned cities; this negative evidence, liowever, 

 must not be deemed conclusive against the existence of the art in 

 places where so many circumstances concurred to call for, and to 

 promote its practice. 



In Greece, where stone and marble abound, and were so exten- 

 sively used by the ancients in their celebrated structures, we find, 

 nevertheless, that terra-cotta was sometimes introduced — for ex- 

 ample, in the eaves of roofs, in which use and ornament were skil- 

 fully combined, by making the crown mould of the cm-nice form 

 the front of the gutter. It is evident that the roofs to which 

 these specimens belonged were covered witli tiles, of which they 

 formed the bottom course; thus uniting the roof with the cornice 

 belonging to both, and answering the useful purpose of an eaves 

 gutter. It will be seen that there is considerable ingenuity in the 

 mechanical contrivance for iixing, as well as great taste in forming 

 this crowning member of the cornice. Campana, in his Work on 

 Terra-Cotta, mentions ornaments among tlie remains of the 

 Erectheum, which are probably similar to that already described. 



JIany instances might be adduced of the introduction of terra- 

 cotta in Roman temples, but I am not aware of any specimens of 

 the same architectural character as those just mentioned. The 

 collection of bas-reliefs and statuettes, &c., at the Britisli Museum, 

 j'.re well-known (although at present secluded in close presses.) 

 They exhibit striking examples of the taste and skill of the 

 ancients in this department of decorative art. Engravings of 

 them have been published by the Trustees of the Museum, and 

 many of them are further illustrated in a superior manner in 

 Campanas work, from which it appears that there are duplicates 

 of several of the specimens, and consequently that moulds must 

 have been employed in producing them. There are also further 

 repetitions of these specimens in the collection of the Soane Mu- 

 seum. It is remarkable that in every instance clay only is used of 

 various kinds and degrees of fineness, but witliout any mixture of 

 other materials, as in the modern practice of forming artificial 

 stone. The Etruscans were so eminently distinguished by their 

 skill and taste in the fabrication of pottery that we may naturally 

 infer that they employed the same material in architectural deco- 

 ration also in lieu of sculpture; but I am not aware of the exist- 

 ence of any specimens of Etruscan terra-cottas, excepting those 

 very rude ones of tombs and monumental effigies in the British 



Museum. After this cursory glance at the use of terra-cotta by 

 the ancients, we pass on to the use of it in the middle ages 

 of which the evidences are more numerous, as the application was 

 much more extensive. 



In Romanesque buildings, and those erected in the cinque-cento 

 period, we find moulded bricks and various architectural members 

 of terra-cotta, such as corbellings, columns, vaulting-ribs, cornices, 

 enriched arches to doorways, windows with mullions and tracery, 

 medallions, tablets, friezes, &c. In the north of Italy, where the 

 country is to so great an extent flat and alluvial, and stone is con- 

 sequently scarce and dear, there are numerous instances of the use 

 of terra-cotta in churches and otlier public buildings. Aggos' 

 Tower, and the church of S. Maria dcUe Grazie, at IMilan, may be 

 cited among other examples; the former distinguished by elaborate 

 details executed in moulded bricks, and the latter, in those por- 

 tions erected by Bramante, containing bas-reliefs and other enrich- 

 ments in terra-cotta. Tlie more ancient parts have brick mould- 

 ings, corbels, &c. 



In the north of Germany, the scarcity of building stone has 

 led to a very general use of moulded brick and terra-cotta; and 

 tlie buildings of tlie middle ages in these parts are remarkable for 

 the bold and effective manner in wliich nearly all the architectural 

 featui'es are so executed, and for which we are accustomed to con- 

 sider stone as almost indispensable. In the churches, which are 

 generally of vast dimensions, there are massive columns elaborately 

 moulded, bold projecting-ribs in the vaulting, mullions and tracery 

 in the windows, doorways enriched with shafts and mouldings — 

 ornamental corbellings, pinnacles, and even finials, all formed in 

 plastic clay well burnt. 



At Lubeck the examples are numerous and striking, and besides 

 the churches, which are on a large scale and of a bold style, may be 

 noticed the llath-haus, the Hospital, and the City gates; the latter 

 being surmounted by towers and chambers of an elaborate charac- 

 ter. The domestic architecture is also distinguished by the preva- 

 lence of the same style, and produces a very picturesque effect. 



At Hamburgh, the church of St. Peter, which was nearly 

 destroyed by the great conflagration in 1842, has been entirely 

 restored, excepting the tower, by Jlons. de Chateuneuf, with strict 

 adherence to its original style; the restoration is executed in 

 moulded brick, and is probably the only instance of a modern 

 work of this kind in wliich that material has been so extenisively 

 and efficiently employed. 



At Hanover, the Rath-haus is a curious specimen of elaborate 

 meilifflval work in brick, but the style is not so general in that city as 

 at Brandenburg, Luneburg, Tangermunde, and other towns lying 

 more to the north and east, which are more completely within the 

 district where brick constructions prevail, and stone is rarely met 

 with in ancient structures. In our own country the art and prac- 

 tice appear to have been introduced much later, and can scarcely 

 be traced beyond the Tudor period, when plastic materials were 

 found particularly convenient and economical in the execution of 

 elaborate details with extensive repetitions of the same parts, as in 

 ornamental chimney-shafts, battlements, corbels, friezes, mould- 

 ings, pinnacles, &c.' Examples of these are too numerous to he 

 particularised, as they would form a long catalogue of ancient 

 mansions and collegiate buildings by which the age of the Tudors 

 is distinguislied, and which have been ably illustrated by the 

 publications of modern authors and artists. 



In the parsonage house at Great Snoring the frieze consists of a 

 series of heads inniches, in bold relief, all formed by two moulds, 

 and closely resembling similar friezes in private dwellings at 

 Bologna, w"here the same kind of ornament is found to prevail. At 

 Hampton Court, the medallions containing Roman heads, in bold 

 relief, inserted in the walls, appear to be of Italian workmanship, 

 and there were several of the same description in old houses in the 

 city of London, but the besom of modern improvement has swept 

 away the greater part of them. The county of Norfolk is remarkable 

 for a great number of ancient structures, in which the architectural 

 and decorative features are wrought out in moulded brick, or terra 

 cotta (doubtless for the local reason before alluded to) and amongst 

 the most ancient of these may be mentioned Caister Castle, near 

 Yarmouth (temp. Hen. VII.) whose lofty towers and bold corbel- 

 lings make it assimilate with some of the ancient fortresses on tlie 

 banks of the Rhine. 



The style of execution which we have been considering appears 

 to have iiad its full development during the Tudor period, at the 

 latter part of which it was superseded by the introduction of Italian 

 architecture; for examples of moulded brick work, or terra cotta, 

 are rarely to be met with in edifices erected subsequent to the reign 

 of James' I., except as detached tablets, shields, or lieraldic insignia. 



