THE POTTER'S ART. 



Fig. 12. 



was reputed to be the inventor of the potter's wheel. Other 

 mechanical inventions were also ascribed to him, among which 

 were the saw, the chisel, and the compasses. He was said to 

 have taken the idea of the saw from the back-bone of a fish. His 

 skill was said to have excited so violent a jealousy on the part of 

 his uncle Daedalus, that the latter having enticed him to the 

 Temple of Athena, on the Acropolis, flung him headlong from its 

 summit. The goddess of the shrine, however, caught him in his 

 fall, and metamorphosed him into a bird, to which she gave the 

 name PEEDIX, the Partridge. 



THEEICLES, of COEINTH. According to Theophrastus, this 

 celebrated potter invented a composition consisting of a black 

 paste susceptible of an high polish, which was much prized. He 

 gave his name to a certain sort of vases called THEEICLEA^. 



Some scholars have, however, questioned his existence altogether, 

 contending that the name of the vases was derived from their style 

 of ornamentation, which included the representation of animals, 

 eypia, Theria. 



As in modern times, the most eminent sculptors supplied 

 models and designs to the Greek potters. Among these may be 

 named PHIDIAS, POLYCLETES, and MYEON. 



14. The Chinese traditions carry back the practice of the potter's 

 art to a very remote epoch. Father Entrecolles, a French mis- 

 sionary, resided in China at the beginning of the last century, and 

 his letters published in Paris, in 1741, supply some curious and 

 interesting information on this subject. Writing in 1712, he 

 says, that at that time ancient porcelain was very highly prized, and 

 bore large prices. Articles were extant which were reputed to have 

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