106 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893. 



ill ]>;»1(' lilno, tlion^li neither so unusual nor so immediately attractive, are fine speci- 

 mens of their kind. Their princii'al decoration consists of bands of ornamental 

 Cufic, the spaces between V)eing filled with delicately penciled devices that recall 

 the illuminated Persian manuscripts of the fifteenth century. The glass lamps seem 

 to be of Venetian manufacture, and probably of the fifteenth or early sixteenth cen- 

 tury. They are all of lace glass of various patterns, somewhat coarse in make, and 

 they preserve the usual form of the mosque lamp. In addition to these there are 

 two trumpet-shaped lamps of the same kind of glass, which have been used either 

 as the oil receptacle of a pottery lamp or perhaps independently, as they would be 

 too large for any but the largest size of lamp. Some of these Venetian lamps have 

 been thought by their Mussulman owners to be too simple iu style, and accordingly 

 they have been painted with tiowiug scrolls in gold, which gives them rather a tawdry 

 appearance. 



" Of Spanish wares the only collections of any note are those of the Conde de 

 Valencia de Don Juan, Senor Don Guillermo de Osma, and of the Archieological 

 Museum of Madrid. Unfortunately the latter collection must be dismissed with but 

 little notice, for the objects were arranged iu panels upon the walls of the room, 

 reaching to the ceiling, and it was therefore barely possible to see them, and quite 

 out of the question to examine any of them closely. One of the plates is said to 

 have an Arabic word upon it, a most unusual thing, but as it was at least 12 

 feet from the floor it was not possible to verify this statement, which has already 

 been doubted. Among the objects nearer at hand was, however, one of the famous 

 Alhambra vases, a fine specimen standing more than 4 feet high, but unfortunately 

 wanting one of its handles. It is decorated in yellow or pale blue, with a profusion 

 of arabesque designs and inscriptions, one of the latter referring to its use as a 

 water jar. This vase came from the jiarish church of Hernos (Jaen), w^here it was 

 used as a holy-water vessel. A similar story is told of an equally fine vase, now in 

 the museum at Palermo. Another jar of Toledan make is interesting as bearing the 

 name of the maker. It is an oviform vessel of common clay, nearly 3 feet in height, 

 nnglazed, and with two projecting ears or handles on the shoulders. The ornament 

 consists of imjjressions from oblong stamps, with animals, monsters, etc. Near the 

 neck are impressed three stamps inscribed iu black letter en toled me feci dj perez. 

 This dates probably from the sixteenth century. 



"The collections of the Conde de Valencia and Senor de Osma areshown together, 

 and comprise a superb series of the lustered wares of the various Spanish factories, 

 a numlter of tiles, interesting for their devices as well as for the technical processes 

 of their manufacture, and a large and unique series of a curious ware believed to 

 have been made in Andalusia in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but of which 

 the history is at ]iresent somewhat uncertain. Among the lustered wares the most 

 remarkable pieces are two dishes painted in blue and luster, with figures in fantastic 

 costumes of the fifteenth century, one of the dishes representing a fishing scene, car- 

 ried around the dish in a quaint fashion. T\yo covered bowls are also worthy of 

 remark, both from their rarity and the originality of their design, the covers being of 

 the same shape as the bowls, but somewhat larger in the mouth, and when placed 

 together the form is that of a barrel with narrow ends. Many other pieces of this 

 beautiful series deserve mention, if space permitted. The Andalusian ware, how- 

 ever, is less known, and therefore deserves more particular notice. Though it can 

 scarcely be said to possess so great a charm as the lustered wares, yet it has an origi- 

 nality and vigor which is rarely found in any but the earliest productions of Valen- 

 cia and Malaga. It recalls in appearance the Italian sgratfiato wares, though the 

 proc( ss of manufacture is of quite a different character. The method employed is, 

 however, not quite clear, but seems to have been to draw the outlines of the design 

 in some substance which was thrown off in the furnace, leaving little or no trace of 

 its presence, but which, before the firing, ])()ssessed an antipathy to the colored 

 glaze used to fill up the design, so that these glazes could be applied close up to the 



