120 
MARKS AND MONOGRAMS, POTTERY, &c. 
[Nature and Art, September 1, 18GG. 
men employed in making a new sewer in the rue 
de Turbigo, in Paris ; both contained human bones, 
but one only had an inscription, which runs as 
follows : — 
“ Ici est le corps de tres-haute et tres-puissante dame 
madame Suzanne Gamier, veuve de tres-haut et tres-puissant 
seigneur messire Charles de Brancas, comte de Yillars, 
chevalier d’honneur de la feu reine, mere du roi Louis XIV, 
lieutenant-general des camps et armees de Sa Majeste. Au 
jour de son deces ilgee de LIX ans IX mois, decedee le ll e 
jour de novembre 1685, a huit heures du soir . — Requiescat 
in pace!” 
The Comte de Villars was the son of Julienne 
d’Estrees, daughter of the Marquis de Cceuvres, 
and sister of the too celebrated Gabrielle d’Estrees, 
and died in 1 G 81 : it is supposed that the second 
coffin contains his remains. It is curious that the 
coffin containing the relics of a countess of Choiseul- 
Beaupre was found about five years since side by 
side with another bearing no inscription, which 
was also conjectured to be that of the comte. 
The family of the Comte de Yillars mentioned 
above is extinct. 
Some interesting Roman antiquities were dug 
up a short time since at Vienne, in the Isere ; 
amongst the most important are the following 
bronzes — a Hercules, about a foot high, covered 
with a lion’s skin ; another Hercules, smaller in 
size, wearing a coat of mail like that of a Roman 
knight i a small panther, with one paw on a round 
ball, and a collar of ivy around its neck, evidently 
one of the beasts of Bacchus ; and two small 
Mercuries, one bearing a caduceus in silver ; besides 
a quantity of sacrificial knives, spring scissors, 
lamps, hinges, and a mass of fragments of silver 
vases and other objects. 
A mosaic of the thirteenth century has been 
discovered in Rheims, in which are two medallions, 
one representing Abraham with a sacrificial knife 
in his hand, and the other Isaac. The pavement 
is nearly five feet below the present surface of the 
ground, and is in perfect preservation. 
The museum of Strasbourg has been enriched 
by a very rare and curious bas-relief found in the 
heart of the town. It is more than two feet 
long by sixteen inches wide, and represents Mithra, 
a Persian divinity, attached to the worship of 
Zoroaster, and who, introduced into Rome under 
Pompey, penetrated about the third century of our 
era with the Roman legions into Germany. 
MARKS AND MONOGRAMS, POTTERY AND PORCELAIN. * 
W HEN the mighty editor of the Eatansioill 
Gazette poured into the astonished ear of the 
admiring Pickwick the instructions given to his 
critic for composing his famous article on Chinese 
Metaphysics, he enunciated a principle which, how- 
ever absurd may have been his application of it, 
we are bold enough to ask our readers to follow 
with us on the present occasion. Mr. Pott’s 
directions, it will be remembered, were to “cram” 
by reading in the “ Encyclopaedia Britannica,” for 
“ Metaphysics” under the letter M, and under the 
letter C for “ China,” and to combine the informa- 
tion thus acquired. What is now proposed is so 
far in agreement with this original theory that 
Pottery, Porcelain, and the marks and monograms 
by which the various productions of such ware are 
distinguished, will be considered in order. We 
must, however, in the present number, confine our- 
selves, after a few general introductory remarks, to 
some observations on the essay on “the Vasa fictilia, 
of England” prefixed to the volume. We shall 
thus, too, be adopting, in great part, the plan of 
Mr. Chaffers’s interesting hand-book, which, though 
its title (with the exception of the “ Vasa fictilia ”) 
might lead one to expect little beyond a dry but 
useful catalogue of marks and monograms, will be 
'* Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain, with 
Historical Notices of each Manufactory, preceded by an 
Introductory Essay on the Vasa Fictilia of England, and 
followed by a copious Index. By W. Chaffers, F.S.A. 
Second edition, considerably enlarged. (London : John Davy 
& Sons.) 
found to contain much valuable information, not 
only for professional and amateur collectors, but 
also, though in a somewhat less degree, for the 
student, the manufacturer, and the general reader. 
It is for the last that this article is chiefly intended ; 
and it is with the productions of pottery and porce- 
lain as toorks of art that we specially concern our- 
selves. Those who desire ancient classic lore con- 
nected with the subject, or information on the 
mechanical contrivances and chemical combinations 
employed in fabrication, will require far more than 
can come within the scope of our article, or, we may 
add, than Mr. Chaffers’s book can afford. Such 
may be referred to more learned, elaborate, and 
scientific treatises, as, for instance, Birch’s “History 
of Ancient Pottery,” and “ Traite des Arts Cera- 
miques,” by Brongniart, which are mentioned, 
amongst many others, in the most useful though 
almost formidable array of books of reference, 
occupying four pages, which follows the preface. 
Those, again, who wish to inquire into the “History 
of Pottery and Porcelain, Mediseval and Modern,” 
cannot do better than peruse, and if possible, obtain 
as 'a permanent possession, the charming volume of 
that title, by Mr. Marryat. It contains, in a con- 
densed form, information of the greatest interest on 
the subject, and is written in so pleasing a style, 
and is so replete with exquisite illustrations, as to 
be an ornamental as well as literary addition to a 
drawing-room library. 
It is scarcely necessary to insist on the extensive 
and increasing interest taken by the public, and 
