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| FRENCH AND GERMAN PORCELAINS - The reader here
may very nearly catch the difference between the finest works done in
French and in German ceramics. On the left is a vase from the
celebrated French National Factory at Sevres, near Paris. On the
right is a vase which stood in the pavilion of Royal Saxon Porcelain,
in the German Section. The latter vase was one of a pair, and the
pair was intended as the lateral decoration of a mirror treated with
the same profusion of porcelain flowers. The Teutonic taste is
delighted with the marvelous skill shown in the manipulation of the
clay, precisely as if it were wax, for all these flowers are in
relief, and vari-colored. The painting on the open space is in every
sense successful, and the image on the summit is the typical Germanic
matron. The general effect is bluish in color, and the sensation
produced on a Western critic is, that the vast detail has in the end
overwhelmed the artist. Opposite, on the left, we have the highest
results of French taste, betraying the skill of rather the goldsmith
than the true potter, but securing results that the most exigent
observer must generously admire. It is said that the Government of
France has always dealt indulgently with the factory at Sevres,
permitting experiments there that would be regarded as too costly in
private establishments. |
