PAINTfNG IN ENAMEL 



By tlieRomans,ifthisart were not unknown to them, which, 

 nliderino- their intimate knowledge of the acquirements of 



the Greeks, is not probabk, it was at leail unpraftifed : fculp- 

 ture with them feems to have fuperfeded painting in the 

 decoration of their vafes, the embelliihing of their farcophagi, 

 and for all ornamental purpofes. 



Some ornaments which have reached our time indicate 

 that the Saxons were not unacquainted with the art of 

 enamel ; and in the tomb of Edward the Confeffor are many 

 fpecimens of coloured glafs. Other monuments of a fub- 

 fequent period prove, that the art regularly defcended, 

 although with varied fuccefs, at different intervals ; but in the 

 tomb of Edward III. John of Eltham, and fome others of 

 that period in Wellminfter abbey, are ftriking inftances of 

 the art of enamelling. On the monument of the king, the 

 coats of arms are enamelled in their proper colours on thick 

 plates of copper ; and tjie armour of the warrior is curioufly 

 ornamented with an enamelled pattern of blue, white, and 

 gold. 



Thefe remarks may be faid more properly to relate to the 

 prattice of enamelling than to the art of enamel painting, 

 and are only mentioned here to prove that it was never 

 entirely loil fight of ; although it was long after that it 

 became enamel painting, as that term is now underftood. 



In the fixteenth century, ornamental works of confider- 

 able dimLMifions were executed : every one converfant with 

 the arts muft be acquainted with the painted difhes called 

 Raffaelle ware, copied from the defigns of that immortal 

 painter and his difciple Juho Romano : thefe are, llriftly 

 fpcaking, legitimate enamel pittures, executed on a ground 

 prepared as it is at prefent, and differing only in the iliape. 

 They are generally painted in two colours. 



Enamel painting feems long to have remained in this llate, 

 and there are but few examples where a variety of colours was 

 ufed until the time of Petitot, who died in the latter end of 

 the feventeenth century. He is the firfl painter in enamel 

 of whom any particular mention is made : he was in this 

 country in the reign of Charles I. His piftures are of a fmall 

 fize, not exceeding two or three inches ; they are very highly 

 and beautifully finifhed, but certainly not deferving the dif- 

 tinguifliing commendation bellowed on them by Pilkington ; 

 who fays, that if they were magnified to the fize of life, 

 the piftures of Vandyck would fuflFer by the comparifon. 

 His beil piftures were copied from that mailer, and are of 

 a fmall fize : his portrait of lady Southampton, a whole 

 length after Vandyck, in the duke of Devonlhire's collec- 

 tion, the largell pifture he ever painted, is certainly not 

 among his bell. His works have too much that parti- 

 coloured appearance, for which enamel painting has by per- 

 fons of true taile been fo jullly cenfured. The reputation 

 of Petitot was no doubt owing to the novelty of his pur- 

 fuit, as he has fince been much furpafled. His fon prac- 

 tifed the fame aft when his father quitted this country, 

 and his pitlures are now generally taken for thofe of his 

 father. 



No farther mention is made of enamel painting until the 

 reign of queen Anne, when Boit, who poffeffed very little 

 ability, appeared : he did not praftife long in this country. 

 He had the honour, however, of inllrufting Zinckc, who 

 far furpaffed not only his maftcr but Petitot. Although 

 his piftui-cs are not fo highly finiihed, his bell works have 

 lefs of that parti-coloured effett, and confequently more the 

 appearance of nature, tlian thofe of his great predccefTor. 

 Petitot's beft works were copied from Vandyck, thofe of 

 Zincke from Kneller. Meyer, who chiefly painted in water- 

 colours, commenced enamel painting on the decline of 

 Zmcke; as he applied but little to this branch of art, he 



could not be expefted greatly to excel : his principal work^^ 

 the portrait of the marquis of Granby, in the king's collec- 

 tion, though poffeffed of confiderable ability and fwectnefs 

 in the execution, has too many of the defedls of early 

 enamels, and by no means conveys an idea of the ftyle of 

 the great original from whom it is copied, fir Jofliua Rey- 

 nolds. The beft pictures of Meyer are inferior to thofe of 

 Zincke. Spencer's pitlures, as far as they go, are very 

 beautiful botli in colour and execution ; but he, as well as 

 all otlier enamel painters, confined his efforts to a very fmall 

 fcale, and either did not wifli or thought it impoffible to 

 obtain depth and richnefs ; his piftures, therefore, are little 

 more than beginnings. The other profeffors of this art, of 

 this period, were Hone, who afterwards became a portrait- 

 painter in oil, Spicer, Burch, and Craft. Craft is only 

 mentioned here to caution future enamel painters againil an 

 error into which he fell, — of painting on an enamel ground 

 without the addition of a flux. The flux being fofter than 

 the enamel incorporates more readily with the colours, and 

 gives that melting foftnefs to the tints fo peculiar to enamel 

 painting. By omitting this, he deprived iiimfelf of one of 

 his greateft advantages ; and the confequence is, that infi:eaJ 

 of great delicacy and finifhing, his pictures appear hard,, 

 crude, and inliarmonious. 



Stubbs, an animal painter in oil, a comparative anatomift, 

 and eminent as either, was alfo a painter in enamel. Un- 

 fortunately he took up this branch of art on too confined a 

 principle, confidering rather its durability than that excel- 

 lence which alone can render durability truly eftimable. 

 His piftures are painted on plates made of Wedgwood's 

 ware, and he prided himfelf on being the maker of his 

 colours, which are, however, of the moft ordinary kind. 

 Now, although it is defirable that the artifl fhould know 

 how to make his own colours, it is equally certain, that if 

 he can get them m.ade for him, it is much better to do fo 

 than to employ his own time in preparing the means, when 

 it fhould be direfted to the accomplifiiment of the end. 

 Neither the material on which he worked, nor the colours 

 with which he painted, were calculated to bear more than 

 two or three fires, confequently great perfeftion could not 

 be expefted ; and although they might tolerably well 

 anfwer liis purpofe for the painting of animals, it is certain 

 that his piftures in oil are in every refpeft fuperior to thofe 

 he executed in enamel. 



We have now brouglit enamel painting down to our own. 

 time, when fuch great improvements have been made by the 

 exertions of a living artifl, Bone, as to render it an era in 

 the art ; that he is living, muft be our apology for not en- 

 tering into a full difcuflion of his merits : but it muft be 

 faid, that by his endeavours, aided by the liberal encourage- 

 ment of that true lover and magnificent patron of the arts 

 of his country, the Prince Regent, from a mere mechanical 

 labour, enamel painting has become a highly ufeful branch 

 of a liberal art ; no longer confined to things merely orna- 

 mental, no longer differing from every other mode of paint- 

 ing, as much in its effeft as procefs, it now affumes the 

 appearance of highly -finilhed oil-painting, with the adv;m- 

 tage of perpetual durability. As enamel painting from its 

 nature muft be always copied, the ftyle of the original 

 fhould be fo fcrupuloully obferved, as to convey an inflan- 

 taneous recolleftion of the painter. In this refpeft, the 

 works of Bone are pre-eminent ; whether the feverity of 

 Leonardo, the purity of Raffaelle, the glow of Titian, or 

 the fplendour of Rubens, is entrufled to his pencil, each is 

 alike fuccefsfully pourtrayed. To the admirers of that 

 ornament of our country and of the arts, Reynolds, this 

 muft appear in its full force ; and it muft afford them great 



pleafure 



