§25. PICTURES ON PORCELAIN. 213 



what can only be deficient must necessarily be a wrong prin- 

 ciple; and what can be farther from art than a design in 

 worsted-work, where every line is broken up into a minute 

 staircase ?] 



25. Besides the difficulty of representing pictures on ma- 

 terials unsuited to them, there is the impropriety of applying 

 the painted object to a purpose which directly interferes with 

 its effect ; and what can be more inconsistent than to have 

 part of a landscape on a plate buried beneath meat and vege- 

 tables, or the juice of sweetmeats? It is out of character 

 with the purpose to which the object is applied. To make a 

 picture on a plate is a false principle ; and a picture on por- 

 celain is generally out of place. In proportion too as it is 

 well executed, the error is so much the greater; for at the 

 same cost a real work of art might be made, which would be 

 good, not merely wonderful. Some designs of Palissy-ware, 

 again, may represent eels and other live or dead creatures 

 admirably ; and they have their merits ; but if used for do- 

 mestic purposes they would offend against reason and good 

 taste ; and, indeed, it was not the intention of that persevering 

 and persecuted man that they should be so employed, but 

 rather, as Labarte observes, to adorn the " dressoirs," which 

 were filled with vessels for show in the houses of the rich. 

 They are the result of ingenuity; and, as objects of caprice, 

 they find a proper place in a cabinet of curiosities. Even the 

 designs of the so-called RapliaeUware might have obtained 

 a better position on more suitable materials ; though much 

 of the admiration bestowed on them arises from a precon- 

 ceived notion, which blinds many to the fact of the figures 

 being frequently deficient in grace, and to their colours being 

 almost always disagreeable. How often is an opinion pro- 

 nounced out of deference to custom ! and the name of the 

 real or supposed artist is apt to decide a spectator's praise. 

 Hence Majolica-ware has been overrated; and, moreover, the 



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