A HISTORY OF SURREY 



duced in 1867 were of simple form, with 

 bands of blue and brown and a few turned 

 lines for decoration. Thereafter no eflFort 

 was spared to bring to perfection this new 

 class of pottery, and in 1 87 1 at the Inter- 

 national Exhibition at South Kensington, 

 though the collection put forward by the 

 Lambeth pottery included only about seventy 

 pieces of salt-glazed ware, it produced so 

 marked an impression upon the art critics and 

 the public that the ware was at once allowed 

 to take rank with the art productions of the 

 country. At the Vienna Exhibition of 

 1873 the merit of the ware was finally estab- 

 lished. 



The ware was at this time known as 

 ' Doulton Ware Sgraffito,' the ornament being 

 the sgraffimento or incised outline. It was 

 part of the system adopted by Henry Doulton 

 in allowing his artists greater freedom in 

 working out their own ideas that he dis- 

 couraged them from following the usual 

 practice of copying from a design previously 

 drawn on paper. The same principle is 

 observed also in the designing of the shapes 

 of the ware which is done in the round. One 

 of the peculiarities of the ware is that its 

 decoration is entirely completed in the plastic 

 state. This method, little used by other 

 potters, while it gives the artist all the free- 

 dom he can desire and secures for each piece 

 produced an individuality of its own, yet re- 

 quires an increased amount of skill and care in 

 its adoption. For although it is easy enough to 

 manipulate the clay when in its soft form, it 

 is only too easy to spoil a piece by denting or 

 unduly moistening it. To meet the demand 

 for the increased skill thus required the firm 

 had to devote a large share of its attention to 

 the technical education of the band of 

 modellers, chiefly ladies, whom it employed. 



Of other wares, in which the more port- 

 able articles that are intended for domestic 

 use or ornament are produced, besides that 

 known and above described as ' Doulton ' 

 there are manufactured at Lambeth the ' Sili- 

 con ' and ' Marqueterie ' wares, ' Lambeth 

 Faience ' and ' Crown Lambeth.' On Sili- 

 con ware many of the Doulton ware methods 

 are possible, but the pieces though decorated 

 in the plastic stage are not intended for 

 firing in the salt-glaze kilns. The ware has 

 an intensely hard body but is without a glaze 

 or with a very slight smear only — in this re- 

 spect somewhat resembling the Jasper ware 

 of Wedgwood. Occasionally a piece is 

 heightened in effect by touches of gold. By 

 the term ' Marqueterie Ware ' Messrs. Doul- 

 ton & Co. have sought to convey the idea 

 that the patterns seen are not merely upon 



290 



the surface, but extend through the thickness 

 of the ware. The forms are moulded in 

 delicate and fanciful shapes, the patterned 

 clays of geometrical designs or marbled effects 

 having been obtained by cutting and com- 

 pressing in various ways thin slices taken 

 from previously prepared blocks. This is a 

 process (protected hy patent) that should be 

 especially interesting to potters, for they 

 alone are likely to appreciate the difficulties 

 that had to be overcome in combining the 

 solid clays of different colours and shrink- 

 ages. 



For the processes of ' Lambeth Faience ' 

 and ' Crown Lambeth ' three or more firings 

 are necessary for the different stages. The 

 painting when completed is first hardened on 

 and then carefully dipped in a liquid glaze, to 

 be finally fired at a high temperature in the 

 glaze kiln or glost oven. At this stage some 

 of the pieces will be finished, but with others 

 additional embellishments in gold or enamel 

 colours are still required, and these have to be 

 fired in another kiln at a lower heat, the gold 

 being afterwards burnished to complete the 

 effect. The two processes are alike in being 

 under-glaze processes, but their results are 

 very different. ' Lambeth Faience ' is gener- 

 ally soft and warm in tone, the glaze being 

 of a slightly yellowish tinge. ' Crown Lam- 

 beth ' employs a clear and hard glaze, and the 

 fine biscuit body, generally of pure ivory 

 tint, enables the artist to obtain the most 

 delicate effects of colour. 



The other processes employed by Messrs. 

 Doulton & Co. at their Lambeth works, of 

 which it now remains to speak, are applied to 

 the production of articles of somewhat larger 

 size, intended chiefly for interior or exterior 

 architectural decoration, 



' Carrara Stoneware ' is a method originally 

 introduced for decorative pieces, but now used 

 more largely for architectural purposes. The 

 body of the ware is coated and hidden by an 

 opaque crystalline enamel that fires with a 

 slight gloss or ' eggshell ' surface. This ab- 

 sence of a high glaze, combined with a certain 

 delicacy and quietness of colour, commends 

 the material for use in architectural work 

 where glitter is not desired. The ' Carrara ' 

 enamel is now frequently applied to large 

 works of modelling or sculpture. Presenting 

 a surface which, having been fired at the 

 same intense heat as the substance of the 

 model, is an integral part of the whole mass, 

 the effects of colour are quite permanent and 

 the surface easily cleansed from impurities. 



If fired without any such coating of enamel 

 or glaze, a modelled work is described as 

 ' Terra-cotta.' The same prepared clay that 



