Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-01-16
China and Other Ware.

otncT w
1t was in the reign of William and
Mary that old china came tothe throne on
which it has held sway ever since by the
divine right of its own charm. The
pleasant Queen Mary was Stuart in
spite of her virtues, and loved to see
pleasant things about her, and the fan
tastic forms and rich cclors of the
Oriental porcelain had touched her
fancy. She had solaced the term of
her absence from England with its
accumulation, and she brought great
quantity of it with her from the Hague
where the taste for it was already form
ed, as every one knows, that Is familiar
with the Daich articles OF the day.
whose fronts are often mere plastrOns
of porcelain, the access of the Dutch to
the ports OF tie Orient having filled
Holland with strange wares and strange
fashions. Holland not only imported,
but in her Delf initiated the Chinese
wares, sometimes carrying out the
imitation exactly 10 all the curiosity of
its quaint design, and sometimes decor
ating the objects with the pencils of
her best artists. The Queen procured
other china also, wherever it was to be
had, SO that, as We are told. her cOllec-
tion was " wonderfully rich and plenti-
full" Partisan and Damascus cups,
and fine glasses, such as the storied
50 Luck of Eden Hail." were not un-
familiar by that time in England, and
there were several potteries producing
fine results in France; but the beautiful
Sevres, with all Its exquisite colors-
its bleu du roi, rose du Barri, vert pre-,
and jonquille: it, embedded jewels and
Vatican paintings-single plates
whose earlier and best manufacture
now bring at auction sometimes as
much As a thousand dollars, and set OF
three jardineires recently selling for
fifty thousand dollars-was not yet in
existence; and neither was Dresden,
the Chelsea with its rich claret, nor the
Capo di Monte with its shells and corals
and figures in such high relief as to
cast distinct shadows, nor many other
fine chinas. Nevertheless, the Henri,
Deux faience, decorated with masks
and scutcheons and fine damascene
work, with its rosy reliefs and dark
yellow backgrounds, was all that could
be wished; the Palissy ware had reach
ed perfection in cups, platters, incense
burners and possibly statuettes, having
unrivaled brilliancy of enamel colors.
purity of tint and outline, in all its
reptiles, shells, fruits and foliages; and
there was almost unlimited choice
among Italian wares, and gorgeous
Luca della Robbia, the Castle Durante,
the Fontana. Il e delightfully."- decorated
Venetian majolicas, and countless others
on which Raphael and his contempor-
aries had not disdained TO lavish their
designs. All this, skilfnlly used, con-
stituted no mean or frivolous ornament,
the critics of the day TO the contrary
Notwithstanding. Whether or not the
Queen filled her palace with china, jars.
vases, idols, statuettes, pilgrim bottles,
cups and plates and monsters, giving
preference always to the Japanese and
Chinese products-rhe egg she'll, the
sea green, the imperial ruby, the blue
and white Nankin, the crackle-perhaps
by reason Of the remoteness which gives
fictitious value, perhaps through the
fascination of the hideousness of its gods
and demons. 8" In a few years almost
every great house in the Kingdom says
the historian who did not appreciate
this sort of beauty contained a museum
of these grotesoue baubles.