302 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



August, 1 910 



Bernard 



Pahssy, 



the 



Famous 



French 



Potter ar 



id His Works 





By Charles A. 



Brassier 





ERNARD PALISSY, whose statue by Bar- had conducted his labors systematically, and when he at- 

 rias appropriately graces the court yard tained his object, he was able to repeat his work and ob- 

 of the Ceramic Museum at Sevres, is one tain the same results. A few vessels, ornamented with 

 of the most interesting figures in history, life-like representations of reptiles, insects and small ani- 

 Born about 15 10, near Agen, now in mals, and colored true to nature, were a revelation to the 

 the department of Lot and Garonne, ceramists of those times and brought prices that soon en- 

 France, he was apprenticed early in life abled him to forget the hardships through which he had 

 to a potter, and interested himself greatly in the technique fought his Avay to success. He continued and perfected his 



of his calling, particularly in the 

 possibilities of the various ma- 

 terials. He traveled in France 

 and Germany, keeping this object in 

 view and studying, for this purpose, 

 geology and natural history, support- 

 ing himself in the meantime by work- 

 ing as a land surveyor. About 1539, 

 however, he settled at Saintes and 

 here, while engaged in his calling, he 

 began his systematic researches into 

 the manufacture of pottery and the 

 composition of enamels. It was here, 

 he says in his book, "L'Art de la 

 Terre," "that without considering 

 that I had no knowledge of argila- 

 ceous earths, I began my researches 

 into enamels, like one who gropes in 

 the dark." 



An enameled cup of faience which 

 came into his hands inspired him 

 with the determination to discover a 

 method of producing white enamel. 



researches, and soon became famous, 

 winning favor with the nobility and 

 royalty, in the embellishment of 

 whose palaces his genius was chiefly 

 employed. This friendship stood 

 him in good stead at the time of the 

 massacre of St. Bartholomew, when 

 the powerful protection of Queen 

 Catherine and Anne de Montmor- 

 ency, wife of the constable, saved 

 him from the fate that befell so many 

 of his fellow Huguenots, for Palissy 

 had embraced the reformed faith. 



A man of studious habits and keen 

 intelligence, Palissy was among the 

 earliest of French scientists to sub- 

 stitute for the fables and fanciful 

 theories of so-called philosophers, 

 hard facts, that were capable of 

 practical demonstration. In 1575 

 he commenced the delivery of a 

 course of lectures on natural history 

 and physics, in which he gave a cor- 



and for nearly sixteen years, neglect- Po^rait of Palissy. From an old English miniature i"^^t account of the origin of springs, 

 ing almost everything else, he de- on vellum at Cluny the formation of stones and fossil 



voted his time and attention to in- shells, and advanced theories as to 



vestigations and experiments in this direction. During this the best methods of purifying water, the use of marl as fer- 

 perlod, doubtless, he made the discoveries as to colorings, tillzer, etc., that modern scientific research has proved to 

 glazes, etc., that laid the foundation for his future success, be correct. He was arrested as a heretic in 1588 and im- 



His first attempts were unsuccessful, but 

 he pursued his researches with unparal- 

 leled persistence and energy, sacrificing 

 everything to what was then considered 

 more or less of a chimera, and to what 

 brought him no profit. He exhausted 

 all his resources, and lacking fuel for 

 the firing of his kilns, was reduced to 

 the necessity of burning piece by piece 

 his household furniture. Ridiculed by 

 his neighbors, bitterly reproached by his 

 wife and tormented by the cries of 

 his hungry children, he nevertheless 

 persevered, until finally, when reduced 

 to the last desperate extremities, success 

 rewarded his efforts. 



Unlike most of the Investigators and 

 experimentalists of his time, Palissy 



Palissy's reproduction in pottery of one 



of Briot's masterpieces. The 



Temperentia plate. 



mured in the Bastlle, but in 1590, be- 

 fore his case had been disposed of, he 

 died. 



Quite a number of authentic speci- 

 mens of his work are in existence, and 

 they are practically as priceless in value 

 as they are superb In execution. At the 

 Louvre and Cluny Museums, from 

 which our Illustrations are obtained, he 

 is very completely represented by im- 

 portant specimens showing the three dis- 

 tinct styles that he adopted in the course 

 of the development of his art. His first 

 dishes were usually oval in form, decor- 

 ated in the center and at the edges with 

 animals, modeled after nature, fish, 

 frogs, snakes, shells and shell-fish, re- 

 posing on flowered moss, or swimming 



