138 



POTTERY. 



Similarity 

 between 

 pottery 

 and porce- 

 lain. 



Pottery, state fit to be applied to the earthen ware. It must be 

 ""Y*" * spread thinly over the glazed surface ; and the vessel, 

 having afterwards been exposed to the heat of an ena- 

 mel kiln, or a red heat, the platina assumes its metallic 

 form, and acquires greater brilliancy from the presence 

 of the glaze. The precipitates of gold are applied ex- 

 actly in the same way ; but gold does not afford nearly 

 so brilliant a lustre as the platina, and exhibits, indeed, 

 more the colour and symptoms of copper than of gold. 

 The preceding discussions on the manufacture of 

 pottery are, in every respect, applicable to the cognate 

 subject of porcelain. Substances, the same naturally 

 in form, and requiring a similar mode of preparation 

 as the kaolin and petuntse of the Chinese, are unknown 

 in this quarter of the world. European porcelain, like 

 stone-ware, is, as specified in the foregoing observa- 

 tions, made of the finest species of clays and silex or 

 flint, substances analogous to those of which the china- 

 ware is formed ; and these ingredients are prepared, 

 amalgamated, biscuited, glazed, and printed, exactly 

 by the process already illustrated w ith regard to pot- 

 tery. Some elegant kinds of European porcelain are 

 reckoned as beautiful and valuable as those of the East : 

 yet they are made on the same principles as pottery ; 

 and the two articles, indeed, may with propriety be 

 regarded as species of the same manufacture, differing 

 in elegance and in estimation according to the coarse- 

 ness of the materials of which they are respectively 

 constructed. For this reason we did not, under the 

 head PORCELAIN, give an account of the manner in 

 which that commodity is made in Europe, but referred 

 our readers to the present article for suitable informa- 

 tion on the subject. 



We need not mention here, that the most elegant 

 and perfect pottery and porcelain yet made in this 

 country were manufactured by Mr. Wedgewood, and 

 his sons who succeeded him. The most celebrated, 

 probably, of all his productions, were his imitations 

 of jasper, which were manufactured into vases, medal- 

 lions, and other ornamental forms, and which soon 

 found their way into the collections of the curious in 

 every quarter of Europe. He also made some cameos 

 of exquisite workmanship ; the most famous of which 

 was that of a slave in chains, in the attitude of suppli- 

 cation for liberty, with the motto inscribed underneath, 

 Am I not a man and a brother ? Of this he distributed 

 many hundreds, to excite the humane to assist in the 

 abolition of the slave trade. We cannot, however, at 

 present give any account of the inventions of this ce- 

 lebrated manufacturer, but defer our observations on 

 this head till we come to give an account of his life. 

 See the articles PORCELAIN and WEDGEWOOD, Josias, 

 and the works there referred to. (#) 



POULTRY. See HATCHING, Vol. X. p. 656; and 

 ORNITHOLOGY, Vol. XVI. p. 112. 



POUSSIN, NICHOLAS, a distinguished French paint- 

 er, was born at Midelle, in Normandy, in the year 

 154. He acquired the rudiments ot the art under 

 Ferdinand Elle, a Flemish portrait painter ; but he im- 

 proved himself rapidly by copying prints after Raphael 

 and Julio Romano, which were lent to him by his 

 friends. At the age of eighteen he quitted his father's 

 roof, for the purpose of acquiring information ; but he 

 was obliged to return by ill health. On his recovery 

 he set off for Rome, but some untoward accident again 

 compelled him to return, when he had reached Flo- 

 rence. During his stay in France he became acquaint- 

 ed with Marino the poet, in whose house he resided 

 for some time. In 1624, Poussin at last accomplished 



Mr. 



Wedge 

 wood. 



his desire of visiting Rome. On his arrival at the ca- Pottery. 

 pital he found his friend Marino in a state of bad S "T"~*' 

 health, which at last proved fatal; but, previously to that 

 distressing event, the poet had introduced Poussin to 

 Cardinal Barberini, the nephew of Pope Urban VIII. 

 from whose patronage he had reason to expect the 

 greatest advantages. The cardinal, however, was dis- 

 patched on a legation from the Pope, and Poussin was 

 left at Rome without any decided patron. This event 

 compelled him to dispose of his pictures at a very low 

 price; and he is said to have sold his battle pieces at 

 the price of seven crowns each, and a picture of a pro- 

 phet for eight livres. The ardour of Poussin to im- 

 prove himself in his profession was not damped by 

 those unfavourable circumstances. He copied several 

 of the pictures of Titian, Dominichino, and Raphael ; 

 and, under the roof of 11 Fiamingo, the sculptor, he 

 studied with assiduity the fine specimens of ancient 

 sculpture which Rome then possessed. 



When the Cardinal Barberini returned to Rome, the 

 talents of Poussin were brought immediately into no- 

 tice. The cardinal employed him to a great extent, 

 and paid him liberally for his pictures; and, in a short 

 time, his talents became known in France, not only 

 by fame, but by many of his Italian pictures. The 

 king of France, Louis XIII. was thus induced to 

 write him a letter, requesting him to return to his na- 

 tive country ; and, after considerable hesitation, Pous- 

 sin complied with the request, and arrived in France 

 in 1640. 



Poussin rose rapidly in the estimation of the French 

 court, and was immediately employed by the patrons 

 of the arts. His success, however, was attended, as 

 usual, by the envy of inferior artists, and Vouet and 

 Mercier persecuted him by their criticisms and their in- 

 trigues. Disgusted with these proceedings, he request- 

 ed permission to return to Rome, where he arrived in 

 November, 1642. In this capital he spent the remain- 

 der of his days, prosecuting his art with assiduity and 

 success. He died at Rome in the year 1665, in the 

 seventy-second year of his age. 



Poussin painted for Prince Justiniani a historical pic- 

 ture, representing Herod's cruelty ; and he spent seve- 

 ral years on the celebrated pictures of the seven sacra- 

 ments of the Romish church. His death of Germani- 

 cus has been greatly admired. He never went beyond 

 easel pieces, for which he had a constant demand ; 

 and he was in the habit of fixing the price which he 

 expected on the back of the canvas. A life of Pous- 

 sin has recently been published by Maria Graham. 

 See PAINTING Vol. XVI. p. 248. 



POUSSIN, GASPAR, whose real name was Dughet, 

 was the brother-in-law of Nicholas Poussin, who was 

 married to his sister. He was born at Paris in 1600. 

 He went to Rome to visit Madame Poussin, his sister, 

 and was at first employed in preparing the pallet, 

 pencils, and colours, for Nicholas, who, in return, in- 

 structed him in the principles of the art. His reputa- 

 tion as a painter gradually increased, and he rose to be 

 one of the best painters of landscape that ever appeared. 

 At Rome he dropped his own name, and took that of 

 his brother-in-law. He died in 1662, in the sixty. 

 second year of his age. 



POZZUOLO, formerly PUTEOLI, a town of Naples, 

 in the province of Lavora, and about six miles distant 

 from Naples. It is agreeably situated on a point pro- 

 jecting into the sea, in the centre of the Bay of Poz- 

 zuolo. In tfie square of the town is a beautiful mar- 

 ble pedestal, covered with basso relievos, representing 



