[1] The archaeologist is frequently puzzled as to the place of origin
of some example of ancient pottery--was it made in the district where
it was found, or had it been imported from some other centre? When we
possess a sufficient body of analytical data obtained by the use of
one general chemical method, an analysis of a fragment will
frequently enable such a question to be answered, where now all is
doubt and speculation. But the analytical results published hitherto
are often not worth the paper they are printed on for such a purpose,
the older methods of silicate analysis being only approximate.
[2] It must always be borne in mind that, side by side with the
production of artistic wares in all countries, the traditional craft
of the village pot-maker continued, and has probably been less
interfered with than is generally imagined, except in the British
Isles. Any country market-place in Spain, Italy, Greece, France,
Germany, or Holland is provided to-day with a simple peasant pottery
little removed in its forms, its decorations, or its technical skill
from the country work of the middle ages. In England the cheapness of
machine-made pottery has largely destroyed such village industries.
[3] _I tre libri dell' Arte del Vasajo_, by Cipriano Piccolpasso of
Castel Durante, A.D. 1548.
[4] The earliest glazed objects found in Egyptian tombs (once
dignified by the name of Egyptian porcelain) are hardly to be called
pottery at all, though we have no other name for them. The material
is largely sand held together by a little clay and glass.
[5] Foreign pottery had been imported into Egypt at least as early as
the XIIth Dynasty, e.g. the Cretan polychrome ware of the Middle
Minoan period (Kamares style) found at Medinet Ghuraib ("Kahun") and
the Cypriote (?) "punctuated" black ware from the same site, and from
Khata'anah (17). The date between the XIIth and XIIIth Dynasties is
certain (14), but the Middle Kingdom Egyptians do not seem to have
imitated these earlier foreign forms. British Museum, No. 17,046, is,
however, probably an instance of an Egyptian idea imitated by the
foreign potter (17).
[6] Some of these figures appear to have been made with a mixture of
sand, clay and coloured glass which produced a real glassy
porcelain--the earliest porcelain of which we have any record.
[7] On this subject see in particular Mazard, _De la connaissance par
les anciens des glaçures plombifères_, a scientific and valuable
monograph (1879); also Rayet and Collignon, _Hist. de la céramique
grecque_, p. 365 (or _B.M. Cat. of Roman Pottery_, Introduction).
[8] For a full description and lists of such kilns see Walters,
_Ancient Pottery_, ii. 443-454.
[9] See examples in colour on Plate V.
[10] A peculiarity of the Persian and allied blue glazes, of many
shades, is that they appear to have been produced not by dissolving
the colouring matter in the glaze, but by coating the white ground of
the ware with a thin wash of some cobaltiferous substance--probably
an earth containing varying proportions of cobalt, manganese and
iron--and then melting a thick alkaline glaze over it.
[11] See Drury Fortnum, _Archaeologia_, vol. xlii.
[12] Specimens of Turkish and other Eastern wares exist with
elaborate English silver mounts of the time of Elizabeth, and these
were doubtless included under the name of "Damas Wares."
[13] See Riaño, _Spanish Arts_, Victoria and Albert Museum Handbook,
pp. 149-151; and _Sobre la manera de fabricar la antigua loza dorado
de Manises_ (1878).
[14] See examples in colour, Plate VI.
[15] There is ample documentary evidence to prove how largely the
lustred pottery of Spain was imported into Italy from the 12th
century onwards; and it is important to note in this connexion that
almost all the fine examples of Hispano-Moresque in our modern
collections have been obtained from the palaces of ancient Italian
families.
[16] Piccolpasso, _I tre libri dell' arte del Vasajo_, dated 1548. It
has been several times translated both into modern Italian and
French. The English reader will find an excellent abstract of this
interesting MS. in the volumes on _Majolica_ by Drury E. Fortnum.
[17] For a full account of the lustre process see Franchet, _Comptes
rendus_ for December 1905, and W. Burton, _Society of Arts Journal_,
2846, vol. lv., 1907.
[18] See Magne, _Le Palais de Justice de Poitiers_ (Paris, 1904);
also Solon in _Burlington Magazine_ (November 1907).
[19] See B. Fillon, _Les Faiences d'Oiron_ (1862).
[20] See E. Bonaffe, _Les Faiences de Saint-Porchaire_ (1898).
[21] See examples in colour, Plate X.
[22] An excellent summary of the remains of English medieval pottery
will be found in Hobson's "Medieval Pottery found in England,"
_Archaeological Journal_, vol. lix.
[23] Böttger at Meissen made a similar ware as his prelude to the
discovery of white porcelain, but this was after Dwight's death.
[24] For a discussion of the stages through which this was achieved
the reader is referred to special works, such as Prof. A.H. Church's
_English Earthenware_, and W. Burton's _English Earthenware and
Stoneware_.
[25] It is amusing or annoying to find in European museums the wares
of Wedgwood, Turner, Adams and one of the Leeds potteries, all lumped
together as "Wedgwood," and yet one can hardly wonder at it,
remembering how much has been written of Wedgwood and how little of
the other English potters of the 18th century.
[26] See examples in colour, Plates VII. and VIII.
[27] S.W. Bushell, _Chinese Art_ (Victoria and Albert Museum
Handbooks, ii. 5-6).
[28] _Yao_ is the Chinese term equivalent of the English "pottery" or
"ware."
[29] See Brinkley, _Japan and China_, ix. 353-365.
[30] Solon, _The Noble Buccaros_ (Stoke-upon-Trent, 1896).
[31] M. Reinand, _Relation des voyages faits par les Arabes et les
Persans dans l'Inde el à la Chine dans le IX^e siècle_ (Paris, 1845).
[32] The suggestion has been made that the _céladon_ wares found in
Western countries were made by Moslem potters and not by the Chinese,
but this theory is not generally accepted. On this point consult
Karabacek, "Zur muslimischen Keramik" in _Österreichische
Monatsschrift für den Orient_, vol. x., 1884; A.B. Meyer, "Über die
Herkunft gewisser Seladon-Porzellane" under "Über die Marta banis,"
ibid. vol. xi., 1885; Hirth, _Ancient Porcelain_ (1888), and Bushell,
_Oriental Ceramic Art_ (1899).
[33] It is of interest to note that the "Delft" of Holland, also a
product of the 17th and early 18th centuries, makes the nearest
approach in quality to the blue and white porcelain of the Chinese.
[34] See Drake, Sir W., _Venetian Ceramics_; and Davillier, Baron
Ch., _Les Origines de la porcelaine en Europe_.
[35] A perfect _tour de force_ in this inartistic style of work,
preserved in the Dresden Museum and formerly attributed to Meissen,
has been shown to be the work of Vincennes. See _Gaz. des
beaux-arts_, September 1904.
[36] _Travels in England and Scotland_ (Eng. trans.), vol. i. p. 97.