the north side, two unknown benefactors alighting on the ground-hence the name to the cathedral moulder on their endless watch. In 1641 the gate-house was sold by the audacious Puritans for eighteen pounds. How the cathedral became so incomplete, no one can decide. The local tradition is, that the west end of the nave was pulled down to the tower and sold, before Henry the Eighth had determined to make the convent a cathedral and the throne of a bishop's see. But there is a doubt whether the cathedral was ever completed after the commencement to rebuild in 1311. There is now no part existing older than the reign of Edward the First, except portions of the chapter-house and the round, arched gatehouse. The debased glass windows in the north and south aisles, tradition says, were the gift of Mistress Nell Gwynne. The letters T. W., twisted into a cypher, on the bishop's throne and elsewhere, do not stand for Wolsey's name, but for that of Thomas Wright, an ambitious receivergeneral of the chapter in 1541, during the first episcopate. JOHN BULL IN THE CHINA SHOP. parent varnish. IN TWO PARTS. PART II. Of all the crockery "crazes" that the present or any other century has produced, the most extraordinary is that affecting the "Henri Deux Ware," once styled "Faïence de Diane de Poitiers," but now generally classed as "Faïence d'Oiron." The manufacture of this remarkable ware preceded the struggles of Palissy by several years, and is remarkable as having been at once carried to a high degree of perfection, and then unaccountably lost. For a long time considerable mystery existed concerning the Henri Deux ware with which, it is unnecessary to say, Henry of France had nothing to do whatever. At one period it was referred to Italy, and was supposed to have been brought thence by Catherine de' Medici or her relations, and to have been the work of Benvenuto Cellini, Girolamo della Robbia, and others. It was not till 1862 that M. Fillon commenced those researches which eventually traced the mysterious ware to the untilthen-unheard-of townlet of Oiron, near Thouars in Touraine. This little place became a lordship, because it pleased the Sieurs de Gouffier to establish themselves and build a château there. The lordship consists of a considerable plain, visited in winter by flocks of web-footed birds, whose habit it is to wheel in a circle before of Oi-rond (goose-round) inscribed in the charter-house of the château. Here, about the year 1529, the manufacture of fine pottery was commenced by the direction of Hélene de Hangest, the widow of Artus Gouffier, Sieur de Boisy, and Governor of Francis the First when Duke of Valois. Dame Hélene had succeeded in securing the services of a potter named Charpentier; and it would seem that, aided also by the artistic taste of her librarian, Jehan Bernart, this gifted lady anticipated by a couple of hundred years the employment of fine pipeclay in England. After the death of Madame de Boisy, the manufacture was carried on by her son Charles, until the château was harried during the civil wars in 1568. The distinguishing characteristic of Henri Deux ware is, in the first place, the body, which is very light and delicate and of a pure white pipeclay, of so fine a texture that it did not require, like the ordinary Italian faënza, any coating of opaque coloured glass or enamel, but merely a thin transGreat care was required in its manufacture. It is supposed, although some good authorities dissent from this theory, that the foundation was first moulded by hand (not turned in a lathe), quite plain and without the least relief, the surface hatched with cross lines, and a thin outer coating or "engobe" of the same clay applied. The ornaments were then engraved in the same manner as the "champ levé" enamels, and coloured pastes introduced into the hollows left by the graver. The surface was now made smooth, and the object baked and varnished. This work then was clearly incrustation rather than painting. style of decoration is unique-a smooth surface of the finest inlaying resembling the niello or damascening of steel work. Initial letters, interlacings, and arabesques on the smooth surface are enriched with raised ornaments in bold relief, consisting of masks, escutcheons, shells, &c. The immense value of Henry Deux ware is due, not only to the peculiar character of its fabric and its artistic merit, but, in some measure also, to its excessive rarity. Only fifty-four wellauthenticated specimens are described by Mr. Chaffers. Of these twenty-eight pieces are in France, twenty-five in England, and one in Russia. Many of these ceramic treasures bear witness to their first owners in the salamander of Francis the First, the The monogram of Henry the Second, and the monogram and arms of Anne de Mont morency. Etruria. It was found necessary to fix up Sèvres porcelain for domestic use had generally a plain ground, painted with flowers either detached or in wreaths; but the pieces intended for state occasions were designed with great care, both as to form and colour. Up till the middle of the last century, the porcelain made at St. Cloud and Sèvres was of the kind designated pâte tendre or soft porcelain, differing much from the hard porcelain of the Chinese, which had long been imitated in Saxony with perfect success. In 1761 the second son of Paul Hanüng, founder of the Frank-purchasing and not accepting. However, enthal manufactory, sold the secret of the since it is the custom in France, I must process to M. Boileau, director of the conform to it; and, besides, a king ought Sèvres manufactory. Want of Kao-lin, to encourage the fine arts. Let them have however, prevented the success of the new five shillings a-piece!" fabric, until 1765, when, in the Limousin, not only was the Kaolin discovered, but the pure white felspar (petuntse) indispensable in the manufacture of true porcelain. Madame Darnet, the wife of a poor surgeon at St. Yrieix, having remarked in a ravine near the town a white unctuous earth, which she thought might be used as a substitute for soap in washing, showed it with that object to her husband, who carried it to a chemist at Bordeaux, who, having heard of the quest for porcelain earth, forwarded the specimen to the chemist Macquer, who recognised it immediately as Kao-lin. Madame Darnet, like many other benefactors of her race, made nothing by her discovery; and in 1825, old and in utter misery, applied to M. Brongniart, director of the manufactory of Sèvres, for the means of returning on foot to St. Yrieix, when the poor woman was granted a pension. After this discovery, both hard and soft porcelain continued to be made at Sèvres until 1804. The pâte tendre was remarkable for its creamy and pearly softness of colour, the beauty of its painting, and its depth of glaze; and, for some time, the artists experienced great difficulty in managing their colours, so as to obtain the same effect upon a more compact and less absorbent material. Strangely enough, the manufactory of Sèvres, an intensely royal institution, not only escaped ruin under the revolution, but was warmly supported by the Directory, who appointed three commissioners to rule it, until, in 1800, the first consul appointed the celebrated M. Brongniart sole director. Under the management of this great master of the ceramic art were produced the superb presents of Sèvres porcelain, which Napoleon was fond of bestowing on his relatives. On one occasion he sent a vase, worth twelve thousand pounds, to the King of The hues peculiar to the best period of Sèvres were gros-bleu, a dark, heavy Oxford blue; bleu de roi, a little brighter, but still a deep, rich colour; turquoise blue; violet; a beautiful yellow, called jonquille; various greens (vert pomme, or vert jaune, vert pré, or vert Anglais); rouge de fer; and the lovely rose pink, incorrectly called Rose Dubarry in this country. It is known in France as Rose Pompadour. Pink was the favourite colour of Madame de Pompadour, during whose time the finest specimens of rose-grounded porcelain were produced. Between 1757 and 1764, very skilful artists, among whom was the celebrated Boucher, were employed in painting the highest-class porcelain. Although destitute of the artistic sense of her predecessor, Madame Dubarry was yet very fond of porcelain, and spent large sums on choice pieces to present to her friends. She writes: "I presented her (Madame de Mirepoix) with a complete service of Sèvres porcelain, with a breakfast set in landscape, blue and gold. I moreover gave her two blue porcelain cats, as fine as those on the mantelpiece in my little drawing-room. They had cost me two thousand eight hundred francs." These famous cats formed part of the bribe paid to Madame de Mirepoix for presenting Madame Dubarry at court. They were of old turquoise céladon, with head draperies of ormolu, bearing candelabras of the same, for four lights each, upon their backs. The ears were pierced, and diamonds to the value of one hundred and fifty thousand francs suspended from them. Various marks have been used from time to time at the, by turns, Royal, Republican, and Imperial manufactory at Sèvres. From 1753 to 1792, the glorious period of pâte tendre, the mark consisted of two blue interlaced italic L's, containing within them one or two letters of the alphabet which indicate the date. Thus A is the first year, B the second, Q, or the comet, 1769, and Z expresses 1777, the last of the first series. After this date the letters were doubled: thus, AA signifies 1778, and RR closes the series in 1795. During the Republic the mark was made in blue, green, or red, and the practice of dating the ware fell into disuse. From 1793 to about 1798 or 1800 the Republican monogram RF was placed above the word Sèvres; but between 1800 and 1803 the RF was omitted and the word Sèvres employed alone. The Consular period is indicated by M. Nle. (Manufacture Nationale) above the word Sèvres generally stencilled in red. From 1804 to 1809, during the first Imperial period, the mark was simply M. Imple. de Sèvres, also stencilled in red; but from 1809 to 1814 the Imperial Eagle, painted in red, was introduced, around which were the words at full length, "Manufacture Imperiale," and "SÈVRES" in capitals. When the Bourbons returned, the ancient mark of the two interlaced L's was revived and printed in blue. Inside the letters are a fleur-delys, the word Sèvres in capitals, and the last two figures of the year AD, for example, twenty-one for 1821. Under Charles the Tenth various marks were used-interlaced C's with crown or fleur-de-lys, sometimes with the words "DECORE À SEVRES" in capitals. At the end of the year 1830, just after the revolution of July, the C's and crowns fade out, and there remains but a fleur-de-lys over the word Sèvres and the numerals 30. Under Louis Philippe the interlaced triangles with Sèvres and the date in a medallion, were used for three years; but in 1834 the initials of the king, interlaced under a crown with Sèvres and the date in a medallion, were employed. Stern simplicity came in with the Republic of 1848, and Sèvres went back to RF. S 51 in a medallion, a mark improved under the empire first into an Eagle with S on one side, and 52, or whatever the date might be, on the other, and then into the hideous great N topped by an imperial crown and supported by S and the date. In addition to the marks of the manufactory the artists themselves often signed their work, but the catalogue of painters on pâte tendre would prove too long for our present purpose. Long before the hard paste was introduced at Sèvres, it had, thanks to the hair powder discovery previously referred to, been made at Meissen, in Saxony, under the patronage of Augustus the Second, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. So early as 1715, Böttcher succeeded in making a singularly fine and perfect white porcelain. Early attempts to paint upon this white body were very imperfect, and were confined to a blue colour, under the glaze, or imitations of Oriental china. Under Höroldt's direction, in 1720, a higher style of painting, accompanied by gilding, and medallions of Chinese figures and flowers, was introduced, and some very good work was produced. In 1731, Kändler, a sculptor by profession, superintended the modelling, and continued till 1763. During his direction the masterpieces of Dresden china were produced. He introduced those wreaths and bouquets of flowers, in relief, for which Dresden, of the best period, is particularly remarkable; and modelled animals and groups of figures with great success. Exquisitely beautiful paintings were also executed by Lindener. Many of these are copies in miniature of the best pictures of the Flemish School, and others are exquisitely executed birds, flowers, and insects. The Porcelain figures, clock cases, and snuff boxes, made at Dresden, are highly prized, as are also the modelled flowers and butterflies, and the "Lace" figures. The "Honeycomb" and "Mayflower" vases, the first of which was copied from a fine Oriental vase in the Japan Palace at Dresden, were also greatly admired and extensively copied at Chelsea. The first mark used at Dresden appears to have been a monogram of "AR," signifying Augustus Rex. This was used till 1712, when the caduceus came into voguelasting till 1720, after which date the well-known crossed swords-the arms of the Elector as Arch Marshal of the empire -were employed as a mark, in blue, under the glaze. On pieces of the time of Augustus III., from 1733 to 1763, the palmy time of Meissen, are found the letters "K.P.M." sometimes alone and sometimes surmounting the crossed swords. Another famous porcelain is that made at the works at Capo di Monte, founded in 1736 by Charles III., King of Naples. It is claimed as an outcome of native genius, but was more probably simply introduced from Meissen by Queen Amelia of Saxony, consort of Charles III. Be this as it may, Capo di Monte has a distinctive style of its own, differing widely from either Sèvres or Dresden. Its character is peculiar. Shells and coral, the sea fruit of the Mediterranean, are moulded in high relief, and adorned with finely modelled figures. For thinness and transparency the paste equals Oriental eggshell, and the beautiful forms of the Capo di Monte ware are charming in their infinite variety. This curious porcelain is now very rare, but reproductions in coarser and more opaque paste are scattered broadcast over Europe. The early mark is a very badly and clumsily formed fleur de lys, roughly painted in blue. The second and better period is indicated by a crown over an "n" or "N" in red or blue. In the hard paste period the Capo di Monte ware bears the crown, and a monogram of "RF" for Rex Ferdinandus. England was far from keeping pace with continental countries in the production of pottery; indeed, a coarse kind of pottery covered with a lead glaze, often of a dark dull green colour, appears to have supplied the wants of our ancestors down to a comparatively recent period. Red, brown, and mottled ware was also made in large quantities, in the district of Staffordshire known as the Potteries, and sold by pedlars all over the country. The manufacture of butter-pots was important enough to induce special legislation, and in 1661 the potters of Burslem were compelled by Act of Parliament to make their pots of such a size as to hold fourteen pounds of butter, and so hard as not to imbibe moisture, by which the butter might appear of greater weight than was actually sold. Towards the end of the seventeenth century the salt glaze was introduced, and quickly superseded that produced by sulphide of lead. The new glaze was said to have been discovered by accident; but, as it had long been in use in Germany, it was more probably imported than invented. In 1688 the two brothers Elers accompanied the Prince of Orange to England, and, having settled in Staffordshire, made a fine red ware by using the soft red iron ore or hæmatite of Lancashire, and also produced a fine black body—said to have been the precursor of Wedgwood's famous Egyptian ware-from a mixture of clay and ironstone. Great secrecy was preserved in every detail of manufacture. It was said that an idiot was employed to turn the throwers' wheel, and that it was by feigning idiocy, and thus obtaining employment, that Mr. Astbury learned their secrets and began to make red ware on his own account. Disgusted at competition, the Elers discontinued their works and removed to London. Astbury next produced a white stone ware, and various improvements were made up to the time of Josiah Wedgwood, who produced the Queen's ware and the famous Egyptian and Jasper wares. The exquisite cameos, vases, and medallions made by Wedgwood are too well known to need any particular description in this place. Most of his work is marked with his name in full, or thus, "Wedgwood and Bentley," sometimes followed by "Etruria." While the manufacture of pottery was being carried to perfection in Staffordshire, London made great advances in porcelain. A species of transparent earthenware had been discovered as early as 1671 by John Dwight of Oxford, who set up manufactories at Fulham, which remained in operation till the middle of the last century. Specimens of early Fulham ware are scarce, and not unfrequently of doubtful authenticity. About 1730 the celebrated works at Stratford-le-Bow were established, and in 1744 a sample of china clay was brought to this country from America. It was introduced at Bow, and a patent was taken out for producing a porcelain from an "earth, the produce of the Cherokee nation in America, called by the natives 'unaker'." Mixed with other ingredients, this "unaker," a more or less pure kind of Kao-lin, produced the now eagerly sought for "Bow china." The manufactory was called New Canton, and after making much pure white porcelain, turned out the highly-prized "Bee" jugs, so called on account of a bee being embossed or painted either on the handle or under the spout. The peculiar position of the bee exposed him to great risk of being broken off, and a perfect specimen is therefore esteemed a peculiar treasure. Doubt has recently been thrown upon the authenticity of the Bee jugs as Bow china-specimens having been found with the word Chelsea and the triangle mark upon them. Figures as well as tea-sets are said to have been made at Bow, and these in many cases represented living persons: Quin as Falstaff; Garrick as Richard; Frederic, Duke of Cumberland, striding triumphantly over the Pretender; John Wilkes, &c.; but these statuettes in pure white china are attributed by other authorities to Chelsea. An O impaled by an arrow is supposed on good authority to have been the Bow mark; but so much confusion exists between Bow and Early Chelsea ware, that the subject is over brittle and slippery withal to dogmatise upon. 66 known to connoisseurs. The colours are very fine and bright. The "bleu de roi," apple green, and turquoise, nearly approach the best specimens of Sèvres, and the famous claret colour is a hue peculiar to Chelsea. There is another special quality in Chelsea-ware. It will not, like the pâte tendre of Sèvres, bear any fresh exposure to the heat of the furnace without splitting and cracking, so that it cannot be repainted and doctored like its French rival. Paul Ferg, a German, whose prints are in request, left Vienna in 1718, went to Dresden, and passed thence over to England, where he painted porcelain admirably with subjects resembling those of Berghem and Wouvermans; but falling into poverty, was at last found dead at the door of his lodgings, exhausted by cold, want, and misery. Nollekens's father worked for Chelsea to better purpose, and Sir James Thornhill deigned to design for the same establishment, while the finest landscapes were by the pencil of Beaumont. Birds and insects, which are represented in great perfection, were generally designed by foreign artists. The famous Chelsea works are said to have been founded by Francis, first Earl and Marquis of Hertford, who brought over workmen from Dresden with some of the Saxon clay, and set them up at Chelsea In the early days of Chelsea, painting on in the place since called Cheyne Walk. It porcelain seems to have been an unremuwould appear, however, that the manufac-nerative art. We are told that Francis tory was in full operation at least as early as 1745, and it is probable that it was originally started in 1730 by the Elers on their retreat from Staffordshire. In the "'forty-five" the Chelsea work had undoubtedly attained great perfection, as a company, which, at that time, desired the exclusive privilege of establishing a porcelain manufactory at Vincennes (afterwards that of Sèvres) urged the necessity of competing with the "new establishment just formed in England of a manufacture of porcelain, which appears more beautiful than that of Saxony by the nature of its composition, and which would occasion considerable sums going out of the country, unless they succeeded in producing in the kingdom what would have been sought at great cost abroad." The best Chelsea ware was produced between 1750 and 1765, "Butcher Cumberland," being the patron of the establishment. His death and the retirement of Spremont, added to the hostility of other manufacturers, caused the Chelsea works to be broken up. In 1769 the works were purchased by Duesbury, of Derby, who carried on the two manufactories simultaneously until 1784, when Chelsea was finally abandoned, and the workmen and models transferred to Derby. The early forms of "old Chelsea" are very much after the style of the French porcelain of that period, but the later productions are after the best German models -the vases, dishes, figures, flowers, and branches being considered by learned chinamaniacs equal in execution to Dresden. A coating of vitreous glaze of unusual thickness covers the Chelsea ware, and is remarkable for its inequalities. In some cases it would seem that a mass of glaze had been applied, and the cup spun around to throw off what was superfluous. some such method appears referable the presence of the "Chelsea spiral," well To one Chelsea china has, like Sèvres, always been costly. Horace Walpole's pair of cups of "claret ground, enriched with figures in gold," were sold for twenty-five guineas to Mr. Beckford. More recently, at the Angerstein, Bernal, and Cadogan sales, old Chelsea fetched extravagant prices the vases ranging from hundred to two hundred and fifty guineas, and plates fetching ten pounds a piece. At the sale of the Marryat collection startling prices were obtained; a butter-boat sold for eighteen pounds ten shillings, a chocolate cup and saucer for fifty guineas, and a coffee-cup and saucer, "bleu de roi, with fruits and birds," for twenty-four pounds ten shillings. With the exception of the disputed Bow triangle, there is no doubt or confusion about the Chelsea marks. The earliest is an embossed oval, on which is an anchor in relief, without colour. An upright cross, with the anchor, is also an early mark. Subsequently, the anchor alone was used, painted in gold or in red, and later again in red or in purple, according to the quality of the specimen. The finest specimens are marked with the golden anchor. Three dirty spots, without glazing, are found at the bottom |