there mainly producing jars and bowls of an iridescent nature, in appearance somewhat akin to much of the faïence of old Persia, which they also resemble in being sadly fragile, alas! Nor must Puebla be forgotten, this town's artists in pottery having enjoyed a high reputation, throughout many centuries, for majolica, having a brilliance of colour like that associated with the Post-Impressionist painters. As fine as this ware are the Puebla tiles, also, in general, of glittering hue, and still used frequently in the decoration of churches in Latin-America. Nevertheless, the potters whom the Mexicans themselves regard as their cleverest are those of Guadalajara, who often ornament their handiwork with gold or silver, affixed after the piece is fired, the men of this school having likewise a taste for pictorial decorations. No account of Mexican pottery would be complete without what are known there as Afarénas: places where the Indians make earthenware for their own use, probably employing exactly the methods of their ancestors in Aztec days. A splendid artistry, a rare technical skill, are displayed in many of these primitive workshops; and even when looking at such of their creations as are intended merely for cooking utensils, seldom or never does the temptation arise to say with the poet—
What! did the hand, then, of the potter shake?
In the past, in many lands, pottery and sculpture were closely affiliated; and, as will be shown later, Mexico is one of these places where this affiliation is still Architecture. in evidence. Moreover, the bulk of her faïence is made anonymously; and the gentle art of self-effacement, singularly foreign as a rule to people of any aesthetic predilections, is also practised considerably among Mexican architects. In this matter they form a curious contrast to those of the United States, where egotism is so rife that, to a great many buildings, there are affixed prominently metal plates, bearing the designers' names. But, while this reticence on the part of the Mexican
