116 On the Maniifacture of Glass, Porcelain, <^c. 



Egyptians in the manufacture of porcelain ; and no one can 

 examine similar specimens without feeling convinced of the 

 great experience they possessed in this branch of art. The 

 manner in which the colours are blended and arranged ; the 

 minuteness of the lines, frequently tapering off to an almost 

 imperceptible fineness ; and the varied directions of tortuous 

 curves, traversing the substance, but strictly conforming to 

 the pattern designed by the artist, display no ordinary skill, 

 and shew that they were perfect masters of the means employed 

 to produce the effect proposed. 



The Egyptian porcelain should perhaps be denominated 

 glass-porcelain, as partaking of the quality of the two, and not 

 being altogether unlike the porcelain-glass invented by the ce- 

 lebrated Reaumur, who discovered, during his curious experi- 

 ments on different kinds of porcelain, the method of converting 

 glass into a substance very similar to china-ware. 



The ground of Egyptian porcelain is generally of one ho- 

 mogeneous quality and hue, either blue or green, traversed in 

 every direction by lines or devices of other colours — red, white, 

 yellow, black, light or dark blue, and green, or whatever the 

 artist chose to introduce; and these are not always confined to the 

 surface, but frequently penetrate considerably into the ground, 

 sometimes having passed half, at others entirely through the 

 fused substance ; in which respect they differ from the porcelain 

 of China, where the flowers or patterns are applied to the surface, 

 and perhaps justify the use of the term glass-porcelain, which 

 I have adopted. In some instances, the yellows were put on 

 after the other colours, upon the surface of the vase, which was 

 then again subjected to a proper degree of heat ; and after 

 this, the handles, the rim, and the base, were added, and fixed 

 by a repetition of the same process. It was not without con- 

 siderable risk that these additions were made, and many vases 

 were broken during the operation ; to which Martial alludes in 

 an epigram on the glass cups of the Egyptians.* That the 

 Egyptians possessed considerable knowledge of chemistry and 



• Martial, Epig. lib. xiv. 115. Calices vitrei : — 



" Adspicis ingenium Nili, quibus addere plura 

 Dum cupit, ah, quoties perdidit auctor opus." 



