59 
January, 1923 
faience 
Nurse and Child, a 
faience figurine modeled 
by Claude Barthelemy, 
Avignon, 16th Century. 
This and the other illus¬ 
trations are by courtesy 
of the Metropolitan 
M us eum of Art 
OF OLD 
FRANCE 
In The Colorful Porcelains of Rouen, Moustiers and Marseilles 
The Collector Finds Engrossing Interest 
GARDNER TEALI. 
T HE history of the pot¬ 
ter’s art is filled with 
many unsolved mysteries. 
This is particularly true of the 
history of the early faience of 
France. We find it difficult to 
understand why French crafts¬ 
men appeared to take no thought 
of the fine maiolica wares of the 
Italian potters in the early days. 
They might easily, it would 
seem, have followed the methods 
of the craftsmen of Gubbio, 
A 17th Century faience 
pilgrim’s bottle made in 
Beauvais 
(Below) 
French faience 
dish of 16th 
Century make, 
from Rouen 
A rare Rouen 
plate with mu¬ 
sic score decora¬ 
tion, dating from 
1710 to 1720 
A plate from the 
Nevers fabrique, 
1644, with pic¬ 
torial center and 
grotesques 
(Left) The 
Sacrifice of 
Noah, a 16th 
Cent ury pla¬ 
teau from Lyon 
Deruta, Pesaro and Urbino, 
particularly since Francois I 
had employed Girolamo della 
Robbia on the faience decora¬ 
tions for the faqade of the Cha¬ 
teau de Madrid, which stood 
in the Bois de Boulogne, and 
had brought other Italian pot¬ 
ters into France. Moreover the 
Italian Piccolpasso had pub¬ 
lished a handbook on the art 
of making maiolica and this 
(Coninued on page 9<5) 
A Nevers pilgrim bottle 
in the faience of 1640- 
1700 
(Right) An ex¬ 
ample of Mar¬ 
seilles faience 
dating from 
about 1760 
(Left) An 18th 
Century pla¬ 
teau, made - in 
the old works 
at Rouen 
(Right) A fai¬ 
ence dish with 
handles, from 
Moustiers, dat¬ 
ed about 1730 
