August, 1 9 10 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



303 



in streams of transpar- 

 ent water; at the back 

 enamel marbled in yel- 

 low, green, and red. In 

 his second style Palissy 

 partly abandoned the 

 rustic decoration of his 

 pieces; he retained only 

 the shells as a framing, 

 and gave to the central 

 subject the chief import- 

 ance. Finally, in his 

 third style, he aban- 

 doned the rustic com- 

 pletely, and used only 

 the marbled enamel as a 

 poly-chrome attraction. 

 The modeled figures 

 then became very im- 

 portant, and sometimes 

 he reproduced in poly- 

 chrome pottery, the pew- "La Belle Jardiniere," a famous plate by 

 ter vessels of the at that 



time celebrated Briot, such as the famous piece which gives 

 the "triumph of temperance," of which an illustration is 

 here presented, and he modeled in miniature sculpture and 



would be, after firing, 

 known quantities, a 

 knowledge that enabled 

 him to duplicate, with 

 such wonderful certain- 

 ty, the color effects of 

 the fish, reptiles, insects, 

 etc., he loved to repro- 

 duce. The extent to 

 which his style was imi- 

 tated affords the most 

 practical proof of the 

 favor it enjoyed. 



The specimens of his 

 art collected at the 

 Louvre and the Cluny 

 Museums and presented 

 in this article, certify 

 the brand of excellence 

 that time and fame have 

 stamped on the works of 

 Palissy preserved in the Cluny Museum the French artist and 



scientist. If not an 

 axiom, that imitation can never be quite as good as the 

 original, still it must appear that these examples are in 

 evidence sufliciently to illustrate the conclusion that the 



Pitcher belonging to the famous Temperentia basing 

 and two candlesticks, all in the Louvre i 



A cup and pitcher made by Bernard Palissy and now preserved 

 in the Louvre 



afterward colored and enameled a very diversified series of 

 small articles, nurses, hurdy-gurdy and bagpipe players, etc. 



We produce herewith a portrait of Bernard Palissy from 

 an old French miniature of his period on vellum, that is 

 preserved at the Cluny 

 Museum. Palissy is rep- 

 resented, full face and 

 in court costume with 

 ruffs. His doublet is 

 embroidered and re- 

 lieved with gold, the 

 sleeves are be-ribboned, 

 and on the chest is braid. 

 Above the head appears 

 the inscription: B. Pal- 

 issy. 



His works reflect 

 alike genius and artistic 

 taste, and his art was 

 original, m a r v e lously 

 true to nature in execu- 

 tion and coloring, and 

 probably i n a more 

 marked degree than any 

 other master of the 

 ceramic art, he learned 

 to perfect colors that 



Large platter embellished with reptiles, fish and shells made by 

 Bernard Palissy 



form, definition and tint this workmaster gave to his de- 

 velopments will ensure them a lasting place in the recep- 

 tacles of ceramics, if for purposes only of copying alone. 

 Equally well, Palissy will be judged by his characteristic 



of practicality. In no 

 lesser degree we are to 

 admire his patience in 

 the face of the fact that 

 the resources of the 

 chemistrv of long ago 

 were small in compari- 

 son with those of the 

 present time; nor do we 

 admire him less when we 

 realize that with our im- 

 mense varieties of pig- 

 ments he would not 

 ha\'e \iolated those 

 canons of taste, against 

 which our own oppor- 

 tunities have not com- 

 pletely g u a r d e d us. 

 A knowledge of his age 

 makes one say that 

 Palissy left the "Pot- 

 ter's mark" on the six- 

 teenth century. 



