Antiquity of Terra Cotta.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 519, 30 July 1932, Page 29 (Supplement)

Antiquity of Terra Cotta.

Terra cotta (literally baked clay) is of great antiquity. Vases of the material 2000 years old have been found in Etruscan tombs free from

stain and bright in colour, painted black, red, buff and yellow, and sometimes gilded, ornamented with laurel, ivy, and honeysuckle, with mythological scenes or paintings of domestic life. Terra cottas of the early* Greek

type are found in Egypt, and all parts of Sicily and Magna Graecia. The art of making them became extinct about 150 years B.C. In the seventeenth century terracotta works, in conjunc-

tion with architecture, were frequent in Italy. The brick Tudor mansions

of England were also adorned with terracotta ornaments, the work of Italian artists. About 1770 Wedgwood revived the manufacture of terracotta in England, and employed Flaxman. the greatest British sculptor. In 1790, Coade and Sealey produced large architectural works at Lambeth, London.