Everything that touches fire is changed, often beyond recognition, and it transforms base materials such as clay into pottery and porcelain art.īirds have the air element as their domain and were believed to mediate between heaven and earth. Fire is commonly associated with the qualities of energy, assertiveness, and passion. In Greek myth, Prometheus stole fire from the gods to protect the otherwise helpless humans. Hundreds of porcelain fairies dance in the Niagara waterfall chandelier made by Lladró which dominates the Fantastique exhibition.įire was vital to the development of civilization. Richard Garbe modeled evocative personifications of sylphs blowing the wind for Royal Doulton during the 1930s, which can be seen in the Art Deco gallery at WMODA. Royal Doulton artist, George White, created “the human form divine” in his hand-painted vases and he portrayed ethereal maidens and fairies, which can be seen at WMODA. Sylphs became fairies of the air in fantasy fiction and art, as can be seen in Josephine Wall’s painting of The Spirit of the Air. La Sylphe was the stage name for the American exotic dancer Edith Langerfield who became a sensation at the Folies Bergère in the 1890s for her flowing dance movements. In later literature, female sylphs were known as sylphids, and they have ethereal bodies that transform gracefully into myriad shapes as they soar through the air. According to Paracelsus, sylphs are taller and stronger than humans but are alike as they burn in fire, drown in water, and get stuck in the earth. The sylphs tend the air element, directing the flow of air currents and atmospheric conditions. See some of these magical beings in the Fantastique exhibit. These illustrations inspired Royal Doulton’s Art Director, Charles Noke, to design gnome figures and vases in his famous flambé glazes inspired by Chinese ceramics. In later myths, gnomes guard the treasures of the earth, including precious metals and gemstones and the earth-dwelling gnome became the antithesis to the airy, luminous fairy. Arthur Rackham, the Golden Age illustrator, portrayed gnomes living in the tree roots of Kensington gardens. A ccording to Paracelsus, they are shorter than humans and can move through solid earth and rocks as easily as humans walk through air. They dwell in the undergrowth along with snakes and other crawling creatures. In the esoteric tradition, gnomes are the guardians of the earth’s energy systems. Inspired by Palissy the Renaissance potter, the Mafra pottery in Portugal literally interpreted the earth in clay with creepy crawlies. For the new Millennium, Royal Doulton artist, Tim Potts, sculpted an experimental group of Elementals for the flambé glaze, which was never produced, and it is one of the highlights of the WMODA collection.Įarth is associated with qualities of heaviness, matter, and the terrestrial world. Early European porcelain factories, such as Meissen and Derby, made figurine groups personifying the four elements. He argued that the magical elementals resemble humans in shape and inhabit worlds of their own unknown to humans because of our undeveloped senses. In his Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits, published in 1566, Paracelsus studied elemental beings to gain an understanding of the natural world and God’s creation of the universe.

The concept of an elemental, a magical entity embodying a force of nature, was developed in the 16th century by the physician and alchemist, Paracelsus. The Elements classification system continued to be influential in medieval natural philosophy, alchemy, and medicine. The four elements of earth, air, fire, and water were proposed in ancient Greek philosophy to explain the phenomena of the natural world and the complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Visit WMODA to see how pottery and porcelain artists have interpreted the personifications of nature with fabulous experimental glazes. Gnomes tended the earth, sylphs directed the flow of the air, salamanders were said to live in fire and undines inhabited water. According to Paracelsus, the Renaissance alchemist and philosopher, elementals were invisible, spiritual counterparts of visible nature. Now we are focusing on ceramic art and exploring the forces of nature represented by magical entities known as the “elementals” in the esoteric tradition. Water exhibit at WMODA symbolizes the four classical elements of nature in glass art.

Paracelsus elemental spirits