434 KEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



cally to identity, between the vases contained in the cases devoted to 

 so-called Persian porcelain in the Dresden collection and certain other 

 vases in the same collection which are classed as Chinese. 



CHINESE AND EUROPEAN SYSTEMS OF MANUFACTURE COMPARED. 



Whatever the variety of the Chinese porcelain was which consti- 

 tuted so important a factor in this early Arab trade, and whatever the 

 date at which it made its first appearance in Europe, specimens of it 

 had, prior to the commencement of the second half of the seventeenth 

 century, found a place in the collections of princes alone. About that 

 time, however, Chinese porcelain became more generally known, and 

 the fine quality of the glaze, its transparency, and the brilliant style 

 of its decoration excited universal admiration. Strenuous efforts were 

 at once made on all sides to discover the secret of its manufacture, but 

 these researches, though resulting indirectly in other discoveries and 

 in great progress in the European manufacture, were not crowned with 

 success. They had, in fact, led to the creation, in France and England, 

 of soft porcelain, which, if in some respects superior to the Chinese 

 porcelain from a decorative point of view, was also more fragile and 

 more easily scratched than the latter. This soft porcelain was made in 

 France, at St. Cloud perhaps about 1695, at Chantilly in 1735, at Yin- 

 cennes in 1740, and at Sevres in 1756; and in England, at Chelsea in 

 1745, at Derby in 1748, and at Worcester in 1751. Eecourse was then 

 had to the Jesuit missionaries in China, with the result of obtaining the 

 valuable letter from P. d'Entrecolles, dated 1712, supplemented ten 

 years later by further details. The difficulty incident to translating 

 technical Chinese expressions, combined with want of acquaintance with 

 chemistry on the part of the author, as well as the primitive condition 

 of that science more than one hundred and fifty years ago, prevented 

 the practical use of the information supplied by P. d'Entrecolles. An 

 attempt was made to secure the knowledge desired by obtaining speci- 

 mens of the materials employed. The fact, however, that these were 

 sent either in a partially fused state or in the forms of several almost 

 impalpable powders mixed together prevented a recognition of their 

 real nature. 



What it had been impossible to learn by direct inquiry was, however, 

 discovered by chance. In 1718 Bottger found an important bed of 

 white and plastic clay in Saxony, and with it made the first " hard " 

 porcelain manufactured in Europe. The Government had this bed 

 carefully guarded, imposed oaths of secrecy upon the staff employed, 

 had a strict account kept of all the clay taken out, and transported it 

 under armed convoy to Albrechtsburg, the place of manufacture, 

 which was converted into a veritable fortress. In spite, however, of 

 these precautions the secret leaked out in course of time, and with it 

 the clay also, to Vienna and St. Petersburg. Later, in 1765, Guettard 

 discovered in France the kaolin of Aleuyon, and Macquer, three years 

 later, found the remarkable beds of Saiut-Yrieix. 



