266 
MEDIEVAL COLLECTION. 
from revealing the secrets of their art. This glass is peculiarly 
elegant in shape and light in weight. This latter quality it owes to 
the absence of lead. Many modes of ornamentation were applied to 
it The older specimens are generally of plain white or coloured 
glass, with borders, coats of arms, or figures, painted in enamel, and 
enriched with gold. Others are frosted all over. Others ornamented 
with lace-work (vasi a ritorti di latticinio) formed by threads of opaque 
white glass placed spirally, which is occasionally further enriched by 
interposing betw r een them bands of coloured glass. Another, and 
very curious variety (vasi a reticelle) is ornamented by a net-work 
formed by diagonal white threads crossing one another and enclosing 
a bubble at their intersections. 
The German glass is heavier than the Venetian in substance, and 
more clumsy in form. It is generally richly enamelled with figures 
or coats of arms, and was made chiefly during the 16th and 17th cen¬ 
turies. A very usual design is the Imperial Eagle, bearing on its 
wings the arms of the various states and cities which formed the Holy 
Roman Empire. 
Cases 125—136. Italian Majolica. This enamelled earthen¬ 
ware derives its name from the Island of Majorca, from whence it is 
supposed to have been first imported into Italy, though it does not 
appear whether it was made in the island or brought there from Spain. 
Several specimens of early w T are bear the arms and alliances of the* 
House of Arragon, in w T hose dominions the Balearic Isles were 
included. Many of the smaller states of Central Italy paid attention 
to this art. The collection comprises specimens made at Faenza, 
Gubhio, Pesaro, Castel Durante, Urbino, Deruta, Caffagiuolo, Ri¬ 
mini, Padua, Sienna, and Venice. The earlier specimens, a.d. 1480 
—1510, are large dishes enamelled on one side only, and painted 
either in strong bright colours or in blue and yellow; in the latter 
case, the yellow 7 has a metallic reflection, or irridescence. The next 
class, dating from about 1510—1525, is smaller in size, frequently orna¬ 
mented w T ith arabesque borders, and w 7 ith metallic yellow 7 and ruby. 
The third, a.d. 1530—1550, is painted with subjects occupying the 
whole of the plate, generally taken from Roman Mythology; the 
colours are bright, rarely irridescent, and with a great preponderance 
of yellow, in the next class, a.d. 1560—1580, the drawing dete¬ 
riorates, the colouring becomes dull and brow 7 n, and the subjects are 
frequently enclosed in arabesque borders. In the next century Ma¬ 
jolica almost entirely disappears, having been probably driven out of 
esteem by Oriental porcelain. 
Cases 136—139. Flemish Stoneware. This is a hard dense 
pottery, well suited to domestic purposes, and which is occasionally 
richly ornamented. It was made in the neighbourhood of the Lower 
Rhine. There are three principal varieties. The first, usually cy¬ 
lindrical jugs, narrowing at the top, is a yellowish w ? hite, the orna¬ 
ments well executed. The second is brown, ornamented with 
coats of arms or figures under arches. The third is grey, with orna¬ 
ments in relief, the ground being usually coloured blue or dark 
maroon. Vessels of the second class appear to have been extensively 
imported into England during the 16th century, and are frequently 
found in excavating under old buildings. They are alluded to by old 
writers under the name of Bellarmines. 
