MR. GLADSTONE'S COLLECTION. 



325 



dejeune service Mr. Gladstone says, in his " Wedgwood : an 

 Address : " I have a dejeuner, nearly slate-coloured, of the 

 ware which, I believe, is called jasper ware. This seems 

 to me a perfect model of workmanship and taste. The tray 

 is a short oval, extremely light, with a surface as soft as 

 an infant's flesh to the touch, and having for ornament a 

 scroll of white ribbon, very graceful in its folds, and shaded 

 with partial transparency. The detached pieces have a 



ribbed surface, and a similar scroll reappears ; while for 

 their principal ornament they are dotted with white quatre- 

 foils. These quatrefoils are delicately adjusted in size to 

 the varying circumferences, and are executed both with a 

 true feeling of nature and with a precision that would 

 scarcely be discredit to a jeweller." 



Mr. Gladstone possesses a fine collection of English and 

 foreign fictile art, including besides this service a portion of 

 a Queen's ware dessert service, of the plain escallop shell 

 pattern, with leaves effectively drawn, and specimens of red 



