PLATEAU, DIAPERED AND WITH RAISED RIBS AND STUDS, IN BLUE
AND GOLDEN LUSTRE. THE ARMS OF LEON, CASTILE, AND ARAGON.
HISPANO-MORESCO. 15TH OR 16TH CENTURY. SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
[Medium amplification]
[Largest amplification]
![[Medium amplification]](#9026670596236322616_ill_pg_160_med.jpg.id-8957191218164437897.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
![[Largest amplification]](#9026670596236322616_ill_pg_160_lg.jpg.id-8221891229213285729.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
No. 1680-'55. Plateau, gold shield in the centre, with the arms of Leon, Castille, and Aragon. The diapered ground is curiously ribbed, and dotted with raised studs. (See woodcut.)
No. 243-'53. Plateau, in the centre an escutcheon of arms of Aragon, Leon, and Castile. (See woodcut.)
SALVER, DIAPERED IN GOLDEN LUSTRE, WITH THE SHIELD OF
ARAGON, LEON, AND CASTILE. HISPANO-MORESCO. 15TH OR 16TH CENTURY.
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
[Medium amplification]
[Largest amplification]
![[Medium amplification]](#9026670596236322616_ill_pg_161_med.jpg.id-1474555679282677261.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
![[Largest amplification]](#9026670596236322616_ill_pg_161_lg.jpg.id-8395435558852149083.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
No. 104-'69. Vase, with shield of arms, seemingly of Sicily and Portugal.
Specimens of a later date are distinguished by the redness of the lustre, such as No. 327-'66, a bowl, with feather-like ornament in the centre; Nos. 326-'66 and 328-'66 are good examples of this lustred ware of the last and early present century made at Manises, Valencia.
It is almost impossible to classify the existing specimens of Hispano-Moresque pottery. A few examples are marked with the monogram of Manises, or possess some special sign, such as the Eagle of St. John, which would make it appear they were made in the province of Valencia, but as the texts from ancient authors only praise this pottery and give no details of its general characteristics, it is very difficult to assign any given specimens to the manufactories of Aragon and Valencia. The receipts which I have given prove that the ingredients used were the same, the modification in lustre was owing to the different combinations of silver and copper. The system hitherto adopted of classifying this ware by the localities in which it has been purchased is not a safe one, unless borne out by further evidence. All that can be done at the present time is to point out the oldest specimens, and probable period of their manufacture. As a general rule the finest specimens are also the oldest, for this industry decayed after the Moors were expelled from Spain, and Italian pottery was imported into that country in the 16th century.
The opinion which has been so generally accepted that gold lustred pottery was made and exported from the Balearic Islands has been contradicted by Dn. Alvaro Campaner y Fuertes in a letter addressed to Baron Davillier which appeared in the "Museo Balear," Palma, 1875, in which he refutes the Baron's arguments on the pottery which he supposes to have come from that locality.