Porcelain and Earthenware. 233 
Art. Il.—On Porcelain and Earthenware. 
Tue 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; 
Il. 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. 
1. 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 
* See Keith on the Prophecies. 
