who-unlike his great relative Pierre-was incessantly engaged in copying and repeating himself: every quality which can be attained by unrelenting attention he shows to admiration, but his enamels clearly foreshadow the coming decadence of the art. Destitute of intention, he sought relief from the monotony of mechanical excellence in expedients unworthy of an artist. By the glitter of foil, and the blaze of gold, he attempted to cover up his poverty of resource, and his want of real science. In looking at the casket of the British Museum collection-the sides of which are covered with scenes from the History of Joseph-the eye is dazzled and satiated by the shifting play of light on the shot enamel, till it is cheated by the agreeable iridescence into forgiveness of defects thus ingeniously concealed.

The easier path to credit and success once opened, it was quickly filled. The three younger Limosins (Léonard, Jean, and Joseph), Suzanne de Court, Martial Courtois, and his brothers Antoine, Pierre, and Pierre l'Ainé-degenerate sons of an able father— zealously worked on in this direction. Even M. D. Pape-a man of much vigour and talent, who is supposed to have been the Martin Didier who succeeded Léonard as émailleur du roi, and who most certainly had been his pupil-though he himself remained faithful to the direction given by his early training, could not succeed in communicating the impulse to others. The

old inspiration fast died away, and those who did not devote themselves to captivating attention by pandering to the more vulgar instinct of sense-to the desire of the eye to be irritated by lustre and bright coloursheld fast but the empty forms of a once life-giving creed. The work of Pape, though it at first imposes respect by a certain air of sober dignity, by the large handling and breadth of touch, by the beauty and brilliancy of the white, gradually shows want of intention. The enamels, by him, on an ebony casket in the Louvre, representing children at play, are admirable for spirit and brilliant effect; but his 'Triumph of Galatea,' after Raphael, in the same collection, betrays the weariness of habit.

The century drew to a close. The spring of creative energy which had once seemed inexhaustible, which had once seemed destined to replenish unceasingly the spiritual forces which would nourish national life, had been checked, and its waters now shrank within the limits which they had formerly overflowed. The vast resources of initiative vigour furnished by the Renaissance had been wasted and misapplied. Léonard's successors mock us with the semblance of what might be, and is not, and the new current sets towards a future of dull and mechanical perfection. Limoges enamel-painting, once fostered by the intelligent sympathy and direction of a brilliant and accomplished court, sank till it became a mere industry. No fresh

impulse disturbed the placid surface beneath which the old inspiration lay buried. In lieu of taste and fancy, men offered patient workmanship. Exact distribution and fusion of materials, perfect precision of point, needle-like fineness of line, elaborate raised work of flowers, and scrolls, and jewels, these are the attractions which distinguish henceforward the products of Limoges, and these culminate in the completeness of stupid finish and relief bestowed upon all their work by the Laudin, and by Jacques Nouailher, who attained the height of favour and credit as enameller to the Jesuits of Limoges under the Regency of Anne of Austria.

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CHAPTER VI.

POTTERY.

Faïence Henri II.-Palissy.

J'ay trouvé grace devant Dieu qui m'a fait connoistre des secrets qui ont esté jusques à present inconnuz aux hommes.-Letter from Palissy to Antoine des Ponts.

THE passion with which men-under the influence of the Renaissance-sought to make all things beautiful, communicated itself with electric rapidity to the remotest, to the most modest provinces of art. The same secret flame inspired alike the humblest and the loftiest effort, and gave to the results of each the same quality of value, if not the same importance. Thus an earthenware cup or dish has for us just as precious significance as the carvings of Goujon or the vast plans of Bullant or De l'Orme. The name of Palissy rings with as full a tone as that of Clouet, or Cousin ; and the faïence Henri II. claims equal notice with the engravings of Duvet or Delaulne.

But Palissy ware, and the ware of Henri II., though they have their origin in a common inspiration, are differentiated by special qualities. Palissy ware was

the outcome of productive artistic energy, passionately seeking a fresh issue, whereas the faïence Henri II. seems rather the artificial creation of an exacting and fastidious taste. Form and colour are alike stamped with the signs of personal character, and the interest inspired by the accent of a refined and highly-wrought individuality—which unmistakably distinguishes the smallest fragment of this ware-is heightened by the mystery which hangs over its origin. Neither the date nor the place of its production are known, and but fifty-two undisputed pieces in all have been discovered. Of these, several examples are in private collections ; some at Narford Hall; and about ten years back a magnificent ewer was purchased by Mr. Malcolm, of Poltalloch, but the greater portion are in national museums, the Louvre possessing seven, and South Kensington five, three of which are unsurpassed in beauty, and one of which bears on its reverse printed in the paste this mark-, the only one as yet detected upon any piece.

One or two specimens were first engraved with great delicacy in the Monumens Français of Willemin (1839), and these plates were accompanied by a notice in which the special merits of this faïence were acutely and subtly estimated by M. André Pottier. In 1861, the attention of all connoisseurs had been drawn to the subject, and MM. Delange, father and son, brought out a 'Recueil des faïences Henri II.,' in which all the principal