POTTERY AND PORCELAIN low, and white enamel. Whether Germany derived - knowledge of the art from Saracen bources it is impossible to affirm, but the firs work in glazed pottery in Christian Europe of which we have any knowledge is found at Leipsic, where the convent of St. Paul, finishec in 1207, had a frieze of glazed or enamelle( bricks, with raised figures of Christ and the apostles. At Breslau, in the Kreuzkirche the monument of Henry IV. of Silesia (who died in 1290) is a great work in enamelled or glazec pottery, including a life-size figure of the duke. But these are isolated examples, and the art does not seem to have survived in Ger- many. Nor is it altogether certain whether these works are glazed or true enamelled pot- tery. In Italy, after the decay of the Pvoman empire, pottery was made in rude forms untL the 13th century, when we know that wares 781 FIG. 6. Italian Majolica Vase. were produced covered with a lead glaze and decorated with colors. This glaze, fusing with the colors, produced a peculiar mingling in the surface decoration, and the ware is known as mezza majolica. Luca della Robbia of Flor- ence, born about 1400, acquired the art- of covering pottery with a stanniferous enamel, long practised by the Saracens in Majorca, and in 1438 produced and placed in the Duomo at Florence his first work, the "Resurrection," consisting of a plaque having a blueground,'on which are raised figures in white. From this commencement is dated the origin of the best art in Europe. Luca taught the art to his nephew Andrea. The latter in turn left four sons, one of whom, Girolamo, went to Paris and worked and died there, having survived his brothers. With him the secrets of the Della Robbia family perished; but the great 680 VOL. xiii. 50 secret of stanniferous enamel had become known. During the 15th century Italian pot- ters continued to make mezza majolica and improved in the decoration of it. Toward the close of the century they began to use tne stanniferous enamel, and the art sprang at once into its period of greatest success The mezza majolica was decorated at first with masses of color, then with Saracen patterns, and finally with arms, heads, and portraits Pesaro and Caffagiolo had factories, which were celebrated in the 15th century, and re- tained their renown in the 16th. Other fac- tories rapidly earned fame, at Faenza, Flor- ence, and elsewhere. The ware made with the new enamel was called porzellana, a word the origin of which is unknown, but from which we have porcelain. The styles which characterized ,the mezza majolica decoration continued in use on the new ware until about 1530, when they were abandoned, and the next ten years cover the period of the finest Italian majolica. The Gubbio factory now took the lead. ^ Giorgio Andreoli, known as Maestro Giorgio, a sculptor and painter, devoted him- self to the fabric. His work is remarkable for golden yellow and brilliant ruby red, for rich" metallic lustre, and for superb paintings in a great variety of styles. Francesco Xanto and Orazio Fontana of Urbino rivalled him in all kinds of work. Many of the most eminent artists of Italy furnished designs for the deco- ration of pottery, and some of- them probably amused themselves occasionally by doing the work of painting. Castel Durante, Naples, Pavia, Perugia, Venice, and numerous other localities in Italy produced majolica wares. These were always soft pottery, covered with brilliant enamel and painting. In England the name " Raffaelle ware " has been given to ma- jolica, from the fact that many of the designs of Raphael Sanzio are found on pottery. It is not known that he furnished these, but Marc Antonio's engravings after Raphael seem to have been freely used by designers. Battista Franco, Taddeo Zuccari, Raffaelle dal Colle, and others, are known to have furnished de- signs. Guido Durantino, Girolamo Lanfran- co, Flaminio Fontani, and others, were celebra-
- ed painters of the ware. The decline of the
art began before 1560, but it continued to be practised in Italy down to the 18th century. Articles were made in a vast variety of forms, huge vases, ornamented pitchers and jugs and nips, dishes of every shape and size, amatorii dishes with portraits of ladies to whom they were presented, and great numbers of vases and pots for drug shops. At Oiron in France, about 1520, a private pottery was established y Helene de Hangest-Genlis, widow of Arthur jouffier, a lady of high rank, and was con- inued after her death by her son Claude Gouf- er. The products were few in number, and _ robably not made for sale. The ware is of very fine clay, with a thin glaze. The decora- ion was made by graving out patterns in the
