LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FIG. PAGE
Border from an edition of Herodotus[Frontispiece][Frontispiece]
295.Alabastron, Phœnician[366]
98.Altar, Portable, German[116]
151.Altar Front, Golden, Basle[188]
271.Archer, Norman, from the Bayeux Tapestry[321]
227.Bedroom Interior, Fourteenth Century[254]
136.Bell Shrine of St. Patrick’s[172]
73.Bellarmine, Fulham Stoneware[83]
234.Bellows, Italian[262]
117.Bone Carving, Pastoral Staff, English[147]
315.Book, Cover of; Henri-Deux Style[404]
316.“Book of the Hours,” Cover for, designed by Geoffry Tory[406]
31.Bottle, Pilgrim’s, Urbino Ware[35]
51.Bottle, Pilgrim’s, Nevers Ware[57]
53.   ”      ”      ”[59]
297.Bottle, Glass, Ancient Roman[369]
299.Bottle, Glass, and Mosque Lamp, Enamelled Oriental[372]
184.Bowl, Eighteenth Century[215]
5.Bowl, Samian[5]
41.Bowl, Blue Persian[45]
79.Bowl of Chelsea-Derby Porcelain[92]
84.Bowl of Tobacco-pipe, Worcester Ware[98]
157.Bowl, Mazer, Ironmongers’ Hall[193]
309.Bowl, Glass, Chinese[387]
245.Bracket, English Carved[278]
193.Bracelet, Silver, Bengal[223]
213.Bronze Tripod, Greco-Roman[245]
137.Brooch, Tara[173]
138.Brooch, Tara, reverse[174]
270.Brocade, Velvet, Italian[315]
243.Cabinet, Boulle[275]
244.Cabinet or Armoire, Boulle[276]
238.Cabinet, French[266]
250.Cabinet Marquetry, with Sèvres Plaques[285]
256.Cabinet, Japanese, and Porcelain Dish[291]
215.Candelabra, Roman Bronze[246]
217.Candelabrum Roman, Marble[247]
66.Candelabrum, Dresden[75]
183.Candelabrum, Silver[215]
47.Candlestick, Henri-Deux Ware[52]
133.Candlestick, Base of, Milan Cathedral[169]
152.Candlestick, Gloucester[189]
153.Candlestick, Seven-branched, Cathedral of Milan[190]
154.Candlestick, Lower Boss of the Milan[191]
173.Candlestick, Bronze, Italian[207]
189.Candlestick, Silver-gilt, Louis Seize[217]
190.Candlestick, Silver-gilt, Italian[218]
273.Carpet, Embroidered Persian[323]
230.Carriage, Travelling, English[256]
231.   ”         ”      ”[256]
176.Casket, Silver[210]
29.Castel-Durante Ware[32]
156.Censer[193]
134.Chair of Dagobert[170]
209.Chair, Greek[243]
211.   ”      ”   ”[244]
219.Chair, Marble, Roman[248]
229.Chair, Coronation, Westminster Abbey[255]
235.Chair, Italian, Sixteenth Century[263]
237.Chair decorated with Gauffered Leather[265]
253.Chairs, Parlour, by Chippendale[288]
254.Chairs in Chinese style, by Chippendale[289]
102.Chalice of Ardagh[120]
145.Chalice, Spanish[181]
159.Chalices, Gothic[195]
160.Chalice[196]
161.   ”[196]
162.Chalice, German[196]
163.Chalice, Spanish[196]
164.Chalice, English, Oxford[197]
131.Chimera, Bronze, at Florence[164]
186.Chocolate Pot[216]
121.Coffer in Bone, Carved and Engraved[150]
233.Coffer, Marriage, of Carved Wood, Italian Work[260]
248.Commode with Lac Panels and Mounts, by Caffieri[282]
111.Coronation of Virgin, Ivory Caning, French[141]
218.Couch in Bronze, Roman[248]
212.Couches and Sofa, Greek[244]
96.Crown of Charlemagne[114]
82.Crown-Derby covered Cup and Saucer[95]
141.Crozier of Clonmacnois[177]
142.Crozier of Bronze, Irish, in Edinburgh[178]
140.Cumdach, or Case of Molaise’s Gospels[176]
103.Cup, with Translucent Enamels set transparently[123]
165.Cup, Standing, Cambridge[198]
166.Cup, Enamelled, King’s Lynn[198]
175.Cup, with Cover, Silver-gilt, French[209]
178.Cup of Gold, Oxford[210]
306.Cup, Drinking, Anglo-Saxon[383]
195.Cuttack, Native Silver Jewellery of[225]
196.Cuttack, Filigrain Jewellery of[225]
262.Damask, Silk, Early Saracenic[307]
266.Damask, Silk, Sicilian[311]
267.    ”        ”[312]
268.Damask, Silk, Florentine[313]
314.Dante’s “Inferno,” from Woodcut of[402]
269.Diaper in Velvet Brocade, Italian[314]
225.Dining Room[253]
226.Dining Table on Trestles[253]
7.Dish, Valencia[9]
15.Dish, Early Pesaro[19]
24.Dish, Lustred, Gubbio Ware[27]
28.Dish, Embossed Fruit, Gubbio[31]
32.Dish, Urbino[36]
35.Dish, Venetian[39]
43.Dish, Rhodian[47]
50.Dish, Rustic Palissy Ware[56]
57.Dish, Rouen Ware[63]
71.Dish, of Slip Ware, by Thomas Toft[81]
72.Dish, of Lambeth Delft[82]
148.Dish, Spanish, silver[184]
200.Door, Press, in Church of St. Jacques[231]
205.Door, Iron-bound, Monastery of Krems[238]
21.Drug-pot, Siena[26]
30.Drug-pot, Castel-Durante Ware[33]
94.Enamel, Cloisonné, Altar Tray and Chalice[111]
97.Enamel, Champlevé, of Geoffry Plantagenet[115]
99.Enamel, Châsse in Champlevé[117]
100.Enamel, Champlevé, French[118]
106.Enamel, Battersea[131]
108.Enamelled Haka Stand, Mongol period[135]
109.Enamelled Pen-and-ink Stand, Jaipur[136]
110.Enamelled Sarai, Punjaub[137]
93.Enamelled Tile, from Sindh[107]
311.Epistle of Jerome, from the, in “Book of Durrow”[393]
251.Escritoire of Marie-Antoinette[286]
3.Ewer, Greek or Etruscan[4]
48.Ewer and Tazza, Oiron Ware[53]
263.Fabric, Silk, of Iconium, Arabian (Lyons Museum)[308]
33.Faenza Plate[37]
34.Faenza Maiolica[38]
180.Fire-dog, Silver, at Knole Park[212]
294.Glass Vase or Bottle[365]
298.Glass Tablet in Relief, Roman[370]
300.Glass, Venetian Enamelled[375]
301.Glass, Venetian[376]
303.Glass, Spanish[380]
304.Glasses, German[381]
307.Glass, Stained[385]
308.Glass, Window, English[386]
90.Glazed Pierced Water-Bottle, from Madura[104]
274.Gloves, State, formerly belonging to Louis XIII[324]
198.Gold Jewellery of Bombay, Native[227]
128.Gold Brooch and Earrings, Etruscan[162]
202.Grille or Herse on Queen Eleanor’s Tomb, Westminster[233]
203.Grille, Tabernacle, from Ottoberg, Tyrol[236]
280.Guipure, Flemish[338]
281.Guipure Lace, Italian[339]
167.Hanap, German[199]
199.Hinges, &c., Haddiscoe Church[229]
201.Hinge to Porte Ste. Anne of Notre-Dame[232]
284.Honiton Lace, Modern[342]
158.Hour-glass Salt, Oxford[194]
112.Image Painter[142]
88.Incense Burner, Satsuma Ware[102]
89.Incense Burner, Arita Ware[103]
191.Italian Damascene Work[220]
118.Ivory Carving, Fourteenth-century Pierced Work[148]
119.Ivory Diptych, English[149]
120.Ivory Casket, Lid of, Spanish[150]
122.Ivory Comb[151]
123.Ivory Mirror Case[152]
124.Ivory Tankard, Flemish[154]
125.Ivory Panels of Pulpit Door, Saracenic[156]
126.Ivory Ink Horn[157]
127.Ivory Box, Indian[159]
114.Ivory Carving with Archangel[145]
115.Ivory Vase[145]
74.Jar, Staffordshire Stone[84]
147.Jewel, Spanish[183]
197.Jewellery, Native, of Trichinopoly, Madras[226]
261.Kincob of Ahmedabad[303]
285.Lace Point, Irish Modern[343]
276.Lace, Point, Genoese[334]
277.Lace, Grounds[335]
282.Lace, Point, Venetian, Finest Raised[340]
283.Lace, Mechlin, Border of[341]
257.Lacquered Boxes, Sindh[292]
258.Lacquered Leg of Bedpost, Sindh[293]
76.Lamp, Black Egyptian Ware, Wedgwood[88]
149.Lamp, Moorish[185]
278.Lappet, Brussels[336]
279.Lappet, “Point d’Alençon”[337]
113.Leaf of Roman Diptych[143]
204.Lock in Klagenfurt Museum, German[237]
312.“Lyme Missal,” page from the Caxton[397]
313.“Lyme Missal,” page from the Caxton, the Crucifixion[399]
17.Maiolica, Sgraffitto[22]
18.Maiolica Plate[23]
13.Medallion in Enamelled Earthenware, Della Robbia[17]
246.Mirror Frame, Seventeenth Century[279]
206.Mirror, Wrought-Iron, French[239]
242.Mirror Frame, Venetian[270]
310.Monogram, Illuminated, portion of “Book of Kells”[392]
144.Monstrance, Spanish[180]
168.Monstrance, Italian[200]
287.Mosaic, Roman, found at Avignon[347]
288.Mosaic, Roman, Ancient[348]
286.Mosaic, Roman, from Woodchester[346]
289.Mosaic, Head in, from “Battle of Issus”[350]
290.Mosaic, Geometric, Church of Ara Cœli, Rome[357]
291.Mosaic from the Alhambra[363]
292.Mosaic, Saracenic, from Monreale[363]
293.Mosaic, Indian, from the Taj Mehal[364]
129.Necklace, part of, Head of Bacchus, Etruscan[162]
194.Neck Ornament, Silver[224]
296.Necklace of Glass and Gold, Phœnician[367]
107.Necklace, Punjaub[134]
45.Ornament on Cupola of Mosque of Soliman the Great[49]
222.Panel, Flemish[252]
223.Panel, German[252]
224.Panel, English[252]
139.Pattern, Irish Trumpet[175]
146.Pax, Spanish[182]
169.Pax, Italian[201]
77.Pedestal, Jasper, Wedgwood Ware[89]
170.Pendant, Cellini, Paris[202]
20.Pesaro Portrait Dish[25]
16.Pitcher, Caffaggiolo Maiolica[21]
8.Plaque, Earthenware, Alcora Ware[11]
19.Plateau or Tazza, Caffaggiolo Ware[24]
22.Plate, Siena[26]
23.Plate, Siena[26]
54.Plateau, Rouen Ware[60]
56.      ”        ”[62]
58.Plate, Lille Ware[65]
59.Plate, Moustiers Ware[66]
60.Plate, Strasburg Ware[67]
86.Porcelain, Oriental, Chinese with French Ormoulu Mounting[100]
91.Pottery, Glazed, of Sindh[105]
92.      ”        ”        ”[106]
150.Rapiers, Spanish[186]
95.Reliquary, Byzantine, Cloisonné Enamel[113]
104.Salt-cellar[cellar], portions of, by Pierre Raymond[128]
49.Salt-cellar, Oiron Ware[54]
174.Salver, Flemish[208]
208.Seat, Assyrian[242]
221.Seat, Scandinavian[251]
228.Seats, Fourteenth Century[255]
220.Sella, Roman[248]
61.Sèvres Vase[69]
62.Sèvres Porcelain Clock[70]
63.Sèvres Vase[71]
192.Shield, Damascened in Gold, Indian[221]
155.Shrine or Reliquary[192]
172.Silver-gilt German Cup[206]
171.Spoons, Apostle, Cambridge[205]
116.Staff, Pastoral, German[146]
81.Statuette, Derby[94]
210.Stools and Chairs, Folding, Greek[243]
236.Stool of Carved Wood, Italian[264]
255.Stool and Armchair, Empire style[290]
143.Sword of Boabdil, Madrid[179]
272.Syon Cope, Portion of[322]
181.Table at Windsor Castle, Silver[213]
216.Tables, Roman[246]
232.Table (Kursy), Saracenic[257]
240.Table, Elizabethan[268]
249.Table, Writing, Louis Seize[284]
252.Table of Marie-Antoinette, inlaid with Sèvres Plaques[287]
177.Tankard, Nuremberg[210]
179.Tankard, English[211]
275.Tapestry, Italian, Dismissal of Hagar and Ishmael[331]
26.Tazza, by Giorgio, “The Stream of Life”[29]
27.Tazza, by Giorgio[30]
46.Tazza, Henri II. Ware[51]
207.Throne, Assyrian[242]
39.Tile, Persian[43]
12.Tile, Alhambra[15]
69.Tile, Encaustic, Monmouth Priory[79]
55.Tray, Rouen Ware[61]
259.Tree, Homa or Sacred, Assyrian[300]
260.Tree of Life, Assyrian[300]
265.Tree of Life, Apostolic, with the Cross Emblem[310]
214.Tripod, Folding, Roman[245]
185.Tureen at Windsor Castle[216]
70.Tyg of Wrotham Ware[80]
68.Urn, Romano-British[78]
1.Vase, Greek, Oinochœ[4]
2.Vase, Greek, or Crater[4]
4.Vase, Greek, Signed by Necosthenes[4]
6.Vase, Græco-Roman[6]
9.Vase, Buen-Retiro[12]
10.Vase, Alhambra[13]
11.Vase, Hispano-Moresque[14]
25.Vase in Copper-ruby Lustre[28]
37.Vase, Persian Flower, with Chinese Decoration[41]
44.Vase, Siculo-Arabian Ware[48]
52.Vase, Nevers Ware[58]
64.Vase, Delft[73]
67.Vase, Dresden[76]
78.Vase, Chelsea[91]
80.Vase, Bow Porcelain[93]
83.Vase, Worcester[96]
85.Vase, Chinese[99]
87.Vase, Ancient Japanese[101]
101.Vase, Enamelled, found in Essex[119]
105.Vase, Painted Enamel by Pierre Raymond[129]
187.Vase, Silver[216]
188.Vase, by Adam[216]
305.Vases, Decorated German[382]
130.Vessel, Etruscan Bronze[163]
247.Vessel for Holy-Water[280]
14.Virgin and Child, Della Robbia Ware[18]
302.“Vitro di Trina,” Venetian[377]
135.Votive Crown of King Suinthila[171]
40.Wall Decoration, Persian[44]
264.Wall Hanging, Silk, Arabian[309]
36.Ware, Persian Lustred[40]
42.Ware, Rhodian[46]
65.Ware, German Stone[75]
75.Ware, White Salt-Glazed, Staffordshire[85]
241.Ware, Great Bed of, Elizabethan[269]
38.Water-bottle, Persian imitated Chinese Porcelain[42]
132.Wine Crater in Silver, Antique Roman[165]
182.Wine Fountain[214]
239.Wood Panel, Carved, French[267]

HISTORIC ORNAMENT.

CHAPTER I.
POTTERY.

In a former volume of this work, under the respective headings, the Pottery of the Prehistoric ages, and of the oldest nations, as Egypt, Assyria, and Phœnicia, has been noticed. The pottery of primitive Greece has also been mentioned, and some illustrations have been given. It is here intended to give a brief outline of the history of Ceramics dating from about the end of the thirteenth century; but to connect this sketch with the notice of Cyprian pottery already given it will be necessary to say something of the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman pottery. Greek vases had been found in great quantities in Etruria before they were found in the islands and colonies of Greece, or to any extent in Athens, and from this circumstance they were wrongly supposed to have been of Etruscan workmanship. The Etruscans imported these vases from Greece during the fifth and sixth centuries B.C., many of which had been placed in their tombs, from where they have been exhumed during the last hundred and fifty years.

The vases found at Athens and other parts of Greece were also, as a rule, found in tombs and burial-places; one class in particular—the Athenian lekythi—were made specially to contain the sacred oil or wine and to be afterwards placed in the tomb. These vases are of a long, narrow, and elegant shape, and were decorated with appropriate funeral subjects outlined on a white ground. This white ground is known as matt, and is of a dull surface; it is not a glaze, but simply an engobe of clay fired at a very low temperature. The draperies of the figures are occasionally coloured red, brown, pale green, or a bluish tint, and some of them are remarkable for their beauty of drawing and expression of sentiment in the design. They date from B.C. 450 to 350. Greek vases are characterized by their beauty of shape as well as by their refined decoration. Some of the richly decorated ones were given as prizes to the victors in the Olympian games, and it has also been conjectured that some of the terra-cotta vases found in the tombs were designed to represent the costlier metal vases that were offered for prizes at the games held in honour of princes at their death, the coarser terra-cotta vases being used at the death of the common people.

The shapes of the Greek vases vary in the different periods, getting more elegant as they approached the middle period—the fifth and the first half of the fourth century B.C.—and larger in size with the handles more elaborate in the later periods. The principal varieties are known under the following names:—the Amphora, a full-bodied vase with two handles, used for carrying wine; the Hydria, a wider bodied vase, used for carrying water: it has generally one large and two smaller handles; the Crater, a large wide-mouthed vessel, used for mixing wine and water; the Lebes, a round basin usually placed on the top of a stand or tripod; the Oinochoè, a ewer-shaped vase, used for pouring out wine; the Lekythos, a long bottle-shaped vase, used for holding oil; the Aryballos, for perfumes or oil; the Cantharos, a two-handled cup on a foot, used for drinking purposes; the Kylix, a shallow cup on a foot, used for drinking wine; and the Rhyton, or drinking horn, made in the shape of an animal’s head or a sphinx.

Greek Ceramic ware, like the Etruscan and Roman, was coated with a scarcely perceptible thin glaze, supposed to be composed of a vitreous alkaline that merely hardened the clay body and left a very faint polish on the surface.

The colouring on the majority of the Greek vases of the sixth century is a brown or red glaze on which are painted the designs in black; the markings on the figures and drapery are incised, showing the groundwork, or being sometimes filled in with white, and the faces and limbs usually painted a white colour and fired at a low heat. Sometimes a purple tint was painted over the accessories. Vases of this period have also a white biscuit ground with similar coloured decorations as those of the red ground.

In the fifth century B.C. a change took place in the style of decoration: the figures and accessories are left in the red ground colour of the vase, and the surrounding groundwork is black; the interior markings are in faint yellow or black, and incised slightly with a tool. This is the period of the best designs and of delicate and correct drawing. Some of the kylixes of this period are exceedingly beautiful, and are usually signed with the name of the artist. Some artists’ names are Meidias, Polygnotos, Epictelos, Pamphaios, Brygos, Euphronius, &c. It is said that the greatest artists of Greece—Phidias, Polycletus, Apelles, and Myron—furnished designs for the potters.

The Greeks in their vase paintings observed strictly the æsthetic laws of proportion and space division (Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4) as they did in their architecture. The precision of touch which they displayed is remarkable, and the skill in the freehand rendering of their geometric and floral borders, not to speak of their figure-work, is astonishing when we think that if they made a mistake on the absorbent biscuit ware on which they painted, it could not be altered without showing the defect.

Fig. 1.—Greek Vase. Oinochoè.

Fig. 3.—Greek or Etruscan Ewer.

Fig. 2.—Greek Vase. Crater.

Fig. 4.—Greek Vase. Signed by Nicosthenes.

The Levantine island of Samos has been celebrated from the earliest times for its pottery. It has been mentioned by Homer and Herodotus as unparalleled, for its size, in the wealth and artistic qualities of its people. It was renowned for its temples and metal work as well as for pottery. The Temple of Juno—the Heræum—was built in marble, and was of great magnitude—a treasure house of art in itself. The Samians were great traders, and their beautiful red pottery was carried by their ships to all parts of the known world. The clay of which the Samian ware was made was of a fine red compact earth; the pottery was usually thicker than that of the other Greek ceramics, and the decoration was partly modelled and partly incised (Fig. 5). This ware has been found in nearly all parts of Europe, the design of which inclines to the Græco-Roman style, and is doubtless of the variety made during the Roman occupation of the island.

Fig. 5.—Samian Bowl.

Fig. 6.—Græco-Roman Vase.

A Græco-Roman vase in terra-cotta is shown at Fig. 6.

Roman pottery and fragments of it have been found in every country that was formerly under the Roman rule, and consists of examples both of a very simple kind and artistic. Great quantities have been found in England, and every year almost brings new examples to light, consisting of vases, lamps, and panels in terra-cotta.

Although the Greeks never quite lost the art of making pottery during the Middle Ages, they did not produce much artistic work after A.D. 200, and between this time and the end of the fourteenth century. Artistic pottery as glazed ware was imported into Europe from Damascus through the Arabs or Saracens about this time. Cups from Damascus in glazed pottery were reckoned among the treasures of kings, and it was from Damascus that the Arabs undoubtedly brought the secrets of glazed earthenware to Spain, where they established the potteries that fabricated the famous Hispano-Moresque ware. Before dealing with this ware, it is necessary to note briefly the various kinds of glazed wares anterior to its invention. The process of glazing terra-cotta tiles, bricks, and vessels is of great antiquity. In Egypt, as early as the fourth dynasty (B.C. 3766-3600), examples of glazed terra-cotta tiles were in use. Copper has been employed at these early dates to produce a turquoise blue enamel in Assyria and Babylon, and tin has been used in the glaze mixture on the enamelled bricks from the same countries. These ancient tiles and bricks, therefore, belong to the category of fayences. The word fayence, now of so wide application, is derived from Faenza, a town in Italy, where enamelled earthenware, or maiolica, was manufactured in the fifteenth century, which was distinguished by its fine polished white enamel. Fayence is a ware that is distinct from porcelain; it is a potter’s clay mixed with a marl of an argillaceous and calcareous nature and sand. According to the composition, and the degree of heat required in firing, it is called “Soft” (Fayence à pâte tendre) and “Hard” (Fayence à pâte dure).

English earthenware made from pipeclay is “soft”; stone ware, Queen’s ware, and some other special wares are hard. Soft wares are unglazed, glazed, and enamelled. The glazed or varnished wares, as we have seen, were made by the ancient civilized nations, as well as the coarser terra-cotta or unglazed wares. In medieval and in modern times enamelled ware, as distinct from merely glazed or varnished wares, have been made, as well as porcelain or China ware; the latter is called also Kaolin, and is a fine white earth in which silex is the chief constituent, which is derived from a decomposition of feldspathic granite.

Vitreous glaze (or glass) is composed of sand or other siliceous matter fused with potash or soda; this is ground and mixed with water, forming a liquid in which the clay biscuit ware is dipped, and afterwards fired, in order to make it impermeable to liquids. Oxide of lead in considerable quantities is added to the vitreous glaze, which increases its fusibility, but still keeping it transparent; this is what is known as a plumbeous glaze. This glaze may be coloured yellow by the addition of iron oxide; green by copper oxide; blue by cobalt; and black by manganese. All these coloured glazes were known to the ancients.

A further addition of the oxide of tin to the vitreous or plumbeous transparent glaze, in comparatively small quantities, produces the opaque enamel known as a “stanniferous” or tin glaze. This is the enamelled glaze of the Della Robbia ware, of the Hispano-Moresque, and of the Italian maiolica.

From recent analysis of the enamel on Assyrian tiles and bricks it has been ascertained that the oxide of tin was used by the enamellers of that early time, but not to the same extent as the vitreous glaze.

Persia was the natural inheritor of the art of the ancient land of Mesopotamia, and the beautiful siliceous and probably the stanniferous glaze, and also metallic lustres, have been used in that country from very early times. The Arabs, or Saracens, evidently brought the workmen from the East, and imported many pieces of Damascus ware during the independent Caliphate of the Damascus Caliphs in Cordova in Spain, which lasted from the eighth century to the year 1235, when the Moors drove the Arabs out of Spain. The Arabs (says Riaño) had, as early as the beginning of the twelfth century, if not before, established the industry of metallic-lustred pottery in Spain. Edrisi, the Arab geographer, wrote in 1154, in describing Calatayud in Spain: “Here the gold-coloured pottery is made, which is exported to all countries.” This gold-coloured pottery is likely to have been similar to the siliceous glazed ware of the East. The next reference to lustred pottery is made by Ben Batutah, a celebrated Arab traveller, when travelling from Tangiers to Granada, and when passing Malaga (1349-57) he says: “At Malaga the fine golden pottery is made, which is exported to the furthermost countries.” The golden pottery here referred to is the tin-glazed Hispano-Moresque. At Manises, in the kingdom of Valencia, the famous lustred pottery fabriques or workshops were in a flourishing state in the fifteenth century, when Eximenus, in his “Regiment de la cosa publica,” quoted by Riaño, speaking of the excellent things made in his time at Manises in Valencia, says: “Above all, the beauty of the gold pottery, so splendidly painted at Manises, which enamours every one so much that the Pope, and the cardinals, and the princes of the world obtain it by special favour, and are astonished that such excellent and noble works can be made out of the earth.”

The same author translates a document he found in the British Museum, which gives a description of the whole of the making and preparing of the golden lustre as used at Manises in 1785: speaking of its composition, the document runs thus: “Five ingredients enter into the composition of the gold colour: copper, which is the better the older it is; silver as old as possible; sulphur, red ochre, and strong vinegar, which are mixed in the following proportions: of copper three ounces, of red ochre twelve ounces, of silver one peseta (about a shilling), sulphur three ounces, vinegar a quart.” All these ingredients are fused together, and afterwards ground and diluted with water and the vinegar to make the gold-coloured glaze or varnish for use in the decorating of the ware. A woodcut gives a very imperfect idea of Hispano-Moresque pottery, as the lustre and colour is everything in the ware; the designs generally are very simple leaf-work shields and small geometric repetitions. The beautiful dish (Fig. 7) is one of the finest examples of the ware made at Murcia in the province of Valencia. The statement of Eximenus regarding the Pope, the cardinals, and princes sending for this ware seems to have been correct, for most of the pieces known have been found or brought from Italy, to which country the majority of them had evidently been exported.

Fig. 7.—Valencia Dish; Hispano-Moresque. (S.K.M.)

Besides the lustred ware manufactured in the peninsula in the Middle Ages, the Azulejos, or tiles of bright colours, were made in small pieces, and were embedded in the walls to form geometric patterns. This manner of using these tiles was derived from the coloured and geometric Byzantine mosaics, tiles being used in Spain where mosaics would be used in the Eastern Empire; and perhaps the earliest use of them in Spain was in the Alhambra decoration of the fourteenth century. Afterwards the tiles became larger and more complete in their patterns. Terra-cotta figures and ornament, green and white-glazed pottery were also made by the Moors in Spain.

In the sixteenth century Spanish pottery design was of the Italian Renaissance character. Unlike the Moresque work, the designs were shaded and the colours more subdued, but the Moresque design still continued in favour, and to keep its flat treatment and bright effect of colour. The Italian kind of pottery was made at Talavera, at Andujar, and at La Rambla, as well as unglazed porous and coloured ware at the former place, and white unglazed pottery at the latter places. Coarse green and white pottery was made at Toledo in the sixteenth century; a large well-head or brim, with an interlaced Moresque band in relief, from this place is now in the Museum at Kensington.

A bowl of Talavera ware of the eighteenth century, painted in imitation of the Italian maiolica ware, is also in the Museum. The colours used are green, blue, orange, and manganese tint, which are usually found on the Spanish pottery of this period.

The well-known and extensive potteries at Alcora were established by Count Aranda in 1726, where porcelain and pipeclay wares were made with all kinds of designs, mostly imitations of France, Holland, England, and China. Most of the principal painters and modellers at these works were Frenchmen or Germans. The names of the chief artists were Haly, Knipper, Martin, Garces, Ferrer, and Prato. The Duke of Hijar, son of Count Aranda, succeeded his father (1800-1858) in the management of the Alcora potteries. A specimen of this ware is shown in the Rococo plaque (Fig. 8) with the subject of Galatea.

Fig. 8.—Earthenware[Earthenware] Plaque; Alcora Ware. (S.K.M.)

Another celebrated pottery, connected with royalty, was founded by King Charles III. in 1760 in the gardens of the royal palace of Buen Retiro at Madrid. This King, coming from Naples to inherit the Spanish Crown at the death of his brother Ferdinand, was anxious to establish a similar pottery in Madrid to that which he had previously founded at Capo di Monte, at Naples, so he brought his staff of artists, workmen, and director of the works, Bonicelli, over from Italy to Madrid, and established the Buen Retiro works at a great cost. The yearly expenses of these works were £20,000, and all the pottery made was for the exclusive use of the King and Royal Family, and was sent as presents to foreign princes. This was the case for the first thirty years until the death of Charles III. (1798), after which the pottery was allowed to be sold, but at a very high price. The workmanship of this pottery is good, but there is nothing particularly artistic about it. The designs are in the false taste of the late Italian mixed with Louis Seize incrusted motives. A vase in the Buen Retiro ware is shown at Fig. 9. A room in the royal palace, Madrid, is covered with plaques of this ware.

Fig. 9.—Buen Retiro Ware. (S.K.M.)