** 



Porcelain and Earthenware. 233 





Art. II. — On Porcelain and Earthenware. 



The art of pottery has been practised by mankind from the re- 

 motest periods. The ingenuity of the savage has shapen vessels of 

 earth for domestic uses, on the plains of Tartary — in the rocky cav- 

 erns of ancient Greece — and on the sultry banks of the Oronoco. 

 In the progress of science and refinement, it has advanced from the 

 sun-dried bricks in the tower of Babel, to the beautiful and splendid 

 porcelains of Dresden and Sevres — is now an important object in one 

 department of manufactures — and in the present state of society is a 

 necessary of life. Its fabrication combines the skill of the chemist 

 and the taste of the artist, with the dexterity of the mechanic, and 

 many of the choicest specimens are entitled to a distinguished rank 

 in the fine arts. 



The subject may be considered in four sections. 



I. A history of the origin and progress of the art; 

 II. The nature of the materials wrought into pottery; 



III. An outline of the process employed; and 



IV. A description of the various kinds of ware. ai 



I. A History of the Art. 



The most ancient specimens of this art, are the bricks found in the 

 ruins of Babylon. That city built by Nimrod, 2,200 years B. C. is 

 now a series of mounds, overspread by the dust of its own decompo- 

 sition, and lying in huge masses of undistinguishable ruin. Long 

 narrow rifts and channels between the hills, indicate the ranges of its 

 once populous streets ; and the great tower of Babel, the witness and 

 the cause of the confusion of languages, stands highest among the 

 hills : a monument and a record of the advances made in some of 

 the arts, as well as of the ambition of the inhabitants in that early age 

 of the world. The city is given over to desolation — the Euphrates 

 annually overflows all but its highest summits; but when the waters 

 retire, the mounds are perforated in every direction for building ma- 

 terials, and in the hope of finding hidden treasures.* Mr. Rich a late 

 traveller describes the Birs Nemrood the largest of the mounds, as 

 seven hundred and sixty two yards in circumference, and one hun- 

 dred and ninety eight feet high. It is supposed to be the tower of 

 Babel, and consists of three receding stories. The interior of the 



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* See Keith on the Prophecies. 



