64 
the art of transfer printing on china, by which means a great 
saving of labour was accomplished, at the expense, perhaps, of some 
originality of design. This discovery, however, had great com¬ 
mercial value ; it laid the foundation of a large export trade, which 
has increased regularly down to the present time. The Chelsea 
works were subsequently removed to Derby, where the manufac- *- 
ture was carried on with great success. At Plymouth, Bristol, and 
other places in England, porcelain of good quality was made, but 
these fabrics lasted only for a short time, and specimens have now 
become scarce. 
The most beautitul and precious porcelain ever produced was 
undoubtedly that of Sevres. As in many other instances, it seems 
to have reached its culminating point soon after its introduction, 
for certain it is that nothing before or since has been made to equal 
the beauty and richness of the finer Sevres productions between 
1753 and 1769, and this is mainly owing to the soft velvety 
quality of the paste, which was at that time merely experimental 
and only preparatory to the discovery of hard paste like the 
Oriental, which was considered to be the only true porcelain. 
This, when arrived at, was found ultimately to be far less adapted 
for rich colouring than the earlier specimens, hence the value of 
the old Sevres fabric. 
But if the French can claim the merit of richness of painting 
and colour, they never approached in form or beauty of outline 
the contemporary works of Wedgwood. There are few things in 
the way of art that we have so much reason to be proud of as the 
exquisite productions of Wedgwood. His finer works were 
moulded into forms so truly chaste and classical that they are still 
sought after, and collected with greater eagerness than they were 
at the time of their production. 
<* The Ceramic art has always been an object of royal patronage, 
nor is the art less associated with the names of celebrated historical 
characters. The story of Palissy or Bottcher is full of romance. 
Dr. Johnson spent much time at the Chelsea works in endeavouring 
^ to make some theoretical improvement; Nelson, in the midst of 
his victorious course, found time to collect the porcelain of Copen¬ 
hagen and Capo di Monte, and during the past year Mr. Gladstone, 
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, himself a distinguished collector, 
has borne eloquent testimony to the labours of Wedgwood. 
CASE 0 0. 
Egyptian Pottery. 
1. Figure of the deity Phtha Socharis, the pigmy, a bow-legged 
naked dwarf; that form of Vulcan particularly worshipped at 
Memphis. 
2. A sepulchral figure, remarkable for the tint resembling the 
turquoise blue of Sevres. 
