National Republican., 1878-04-05

dear
To tho inosscs that border the riverI
we ARE done with the old loses and crosses, my
Done with them to-day aud forever
Laugh low Sing softlyi Love Is alive
And awake when we walk together;
hut Love is fragile, and Love Will thrive
Only IN sunniest weather.
so lct The past be the past my dear;
We arc done with the old sorrows at last my dear,
Done with them to-day and forever.
Ceramics.
Since the porcelain rage Is at It's height In
this country, perhaps an account Of q visit to
the most noted factory in Italy may not be
uninteresting. One of the most ancient aud
successful industries OF that sunny land Of
song was the manufacture Of all kinds Of
earthenwarc, the finer grades Of which were
decorated in such q manner as to becoma truly
works of art In later years these manuiac-
lures ceased, and the remnants of their pro-
ductiOns are among the moI precious objects in
Italy to n connoisseur In such matters. Perhaps
tho most beautiful specimens have already
passed into stranger hands, ~ the small towns
and villages have been thoroughly ransacked
by collectors, and many q peasants heart has
been made glad by the price Of some unappre-
ciated family utensil, which doubtless brought
to the buyer ten times the pittance he gave.
In Gubbio, where was located one Of the most
celebrated pottcries, II Is now hardly possible
to obtain n scrap of Maestro GiorHo's handi-
work, and an authentic Urbino plate Is indeed
rarity. There Is no mania more absorbing
than the ceramic, and there is hardly a lady In
the land but has had touch OF IL, and IL IL
also very expensive one. For those Of ms
who cannot afford to crafty our longings for
the originals ii Is something 70 be able to get
such
COPIES
Ms are now attainable, not through the clumsy
counterieiting so largely carried on, but
through the rcpi Oduction by faithful artists
Of the chefs Hdgrre of antiquity.
An establishment which has brought this
art Of reproduction to great perfection, and Is
in all respects among the most interesting Of
italian manufactures IL that of the Marquis
Ginori, at Doccia, about five miles from Flor
cnce. twas founded iu 1875 by the Marquis
Carlo Ginori, who had already distinguished
himself by other useful works. The control
of the factory has descended from one gen.
Grafton to another Of the Ginori family, and
the enterprise has prospcrCd and en-
lsrgsd till II now employs over
900 persons, Of whom about one-third are
women, and Doccia has become q thriving
little village. Recently journalist from
Florence by permission of the present pro-
prietOr, the Marquis Lorenzo Gnori-Lisci, WIS.,
tied the whole concern and saw the different
processes, from the first wetting of the clay 10
the polishing Of the finished porcelain. He
writes: Only about two-filths Of tho carths
employed are found in Italy; these come from
Calabria and the Ficino. Other qualities are
imported from France, and the ksoin from
England A good deal Of the work is done by
machinery, mostly of French invention,
and the make Of some of ii is very
complicated and interesting even to
an unscientifc eye. The immense
furnaces, two stories high, stcsning with
flames, and filled with the slowly hardening
lot, 81 -
the establishment; and the marvellous quick
ness of hand and eye acquired by tue mould
ers makes their work fascinating to watch. 1t
looks 50 easy to Manipulate this pure white
paste that one almost longs to take ball of 1t
and try. noted sculptor did try TO mould u
vessel on the potters wheel, being tempted
thereto by the seductive appearance of the
facility, but after short experience he found
more clay on his hands and clothes than there
was on the wheel, and arosea wiser and dirtier
man.
THE FINISHING DEPARTMENTS
are of course most attractive in an artistic
point of view. Lithogarhy and photography
are both used in decorating the porcelain as
well rs band d.painting. There is a lithoRaphiG
press in the manuiactory by which the designs
are prepared, aud decorations by this process
arc cheaper, equally pleasing, and even more
durable, though Of course with more limited
range Of subject and coloring than those dono
by hand. Photography has been applied with
excellent success to this porcelain, and we saw
various articles thus ornamented, including
jardiniercs with views of Florence, and plate
with good
Likeness OF DOM PEDRO,
who, OF course, did not fail to visit Doccis or
any of the other great industrial establish
ments of Florence. But the painting by hand,
in which some excellent landscape artists are
em ployed besides number of promising
pupils NINETY persons in all being occupied in
that part of the work., is, as might be ex-
pected from Italian taste and skill, really Won
derful in the results attained. Many Of the
subjects are taken directly from nature, tho
more elaborate being landscapes, while there
are innumerable varieties Of flower and fruit
painting 50 delicate Us to deserved u place Ia
the parlor rather than in tho dining.room. l
remember especially one plate with sky'blue
ground aud the branch of peach-tree full OF
pink blossoms thrown carelessly across II, with
gray bird poised on twig; aud another with
bieached grasses on the same blue ground. As
to the reproduction of the fantastic forms aud
figures OF ancient pottery, and also of the Chi
nese aud Japanese, they are excellently well
done; but more interesting than all are these
original desigus, which are beginning to give