THE POTTER'S ART. 



because I am prepared for death, and because your whole people 

 have not the power to compel a simple potter to bend his knee 

 before images which he has made." 



Palissy, to the eternal disgrace of the monarch and the priests, 

 was detained in the Bastille, where he died at little short of a 

 hundred. 



16. The works of Palissy are characterised by a peculiar style and 

 qualities. While the forms are in general correct and pure, there 

 is no painting properly so called. The figures are given in coloured 

 relief, whether they be mere ornaments, representations of natural 

 objects, or historical, mythological, or allegorical subjects. The 

 enamel is hard and brilliant, but often disfigured by a multitude 

 of small inequalities ; a defect which is also observable in the pro- 

 ductions of the German potters of that day. The colours are 

 generally brilliant, but little varied. The white is yellowish, and 

 very inferior to that of della Robbia. The other tints are confined 

 to a pure yellow, an ochre yellow, a fine indigo blue, a greyish 

 blue, an emerald green, a yellowish green, the violet produced by 

 manganese, and a brownish violet. They included no fine white, 

 nor any tint of red. 



The bottoms of the articles are generally marbled with tints of 

 blue, yellow, and brownish violet. 



In fig. 23 is represented a porcelain flask (Bouteille de Chasse), 

 attributed to this potter, preserved in the Cabinet Sauvageot. It is 

 oval in form, the largest diameter being 10 inches, and bears the 

 Montmorenci arms. Palissy was employed by the Due de Mont- 

 morenci to decorate the Chateau d' Ecouen. 



The natural objects represented on the pieces of Palissy, are 

 remarkable for truth of form and colour, having been, with the 

 exception of certain leaves, moulded from nature. It would appear 

 from the selection of this class of decoration that Palissy was more 

 or less a naturalist. The shells with which he has ornamented many 

 of his pieces are all tertiary fossil shells from the Paris basin, and 

 probably also that of Grignon and its environs. The fishes are 

 those of the Seine, and the reptiles, a prevailing subject, those of 

 the banks of the same river. 



Most of the pieces, and especially the dishes and plateaux, are 

 surcharged with objects in coloured relief, and evidently were 

 never designed for the table, but were used to furnish the great 

 buffets and sideboards called DRESSERS, which were placed in the 

 dining halls of that day. 



The productions of this potter must have been extremely 



numerous, for they are still found in great quantities in the 



cabinets and collections, public and private, and with the vendors 



of antiquities and curiosities of all countries. The varieties of 



138 



