Buried in the dust of untold ages, specimens of the potter's art have and continue to be un earthed, telling us of civilizations before un dreamed of. Assyria and Babylon, in the im mense library of Nippon, formed of clay cones and tablets, reveal the history and most intimate details of their existence 7000 ac. The bricks of Babylon were coated with a stanniferous enamel, the secret of which was lost for ages, to reappear in the 13th century when the Moors drove the Arabs out of Spain and established the kingdom of Granada. Egypt on her painted walls at Thebes, 4000 s.c., depicts the whole proc ess of the art, including the use of the potter's wheel, which even then as already said must have been of great antiquity for they represent their god Ptah as fashioning the egg of the world on it. Glazes were early known to them, no less than seven colors being in use about 1500 B.C. The Greeks had obtained a certain technical excellence 2500 B.C. and later proved themselves magnificent potters. There is noth ing finer in fictile art than their vases with friezes of figures, each one telling some story of mythology or of their warlike prowess, whilst the exquisite little Tanagra figures are distinguished by an inimitable grace. The art was at its best from 700 to 200 s.c. Much of this pottery which was unknown to Europe until the 18th century was found in Etruria and was for some time regarded as the product of that country, but Etruscan antedated the Greek period, dating from 1000 to 300 s.c., and though toward thE close it was imitative of Greece it never equaled it. Etruscan civilization was merged in that of Rome, the natural suc cessors of Greece, and the art was carried on by the Romans until the 1st century of our era. By them it was carried to Gaul, Italy and Eng land and though never equaling that of Greece is distinguished by a black ware obtained by manipulation of the heat during firing and which when made by them in England later be came known as Upchurch ware from the site of its manufacture; and by the beautiful Arren tine, or Samian ware as it is erroneously called, a red body, the composition of which has never been determined. Mesopotamia, Crete, Syria possessed a knowledge of lustres, a Rakka bowl bearing a date equivalent to about 790 A.D. though probably later. Persian pottery ex erted a far-reaching influence. Their Arab conquerors were not in themselves an artistic race but fascinated by the beauty of the Persian style they largely adopted it and with the modifications demanded by their religion it is known as Saracenic art, the Arabs being known as Saracens during the Crusades. Probably much of the work ascribed to the Arabs was executed for them by Persian workmen. To Persia we are indebted for the beautiful refiets metalliques, which possibly may have been the Murrhine vases, those priceless treasures of Rome of which no positive trace remains. These beautiful lustres made their reappearance during the Renaissance, the secret of manufac ture again disappearing until rediscovered in the 19th century.
Before telling how the art was carried into Europe by the Moors another civilization, that of the Orient, demands notice. The Chinese, those indefatigable workers, the acknowledged past masters of the ceramic art, claim an antiquity equal to that of Egypt which until very recent times was not verified by actual specimens, but examples are now appearing lending color to their claims. These examples differ little from those of other countries. The Han dynasty, 206 a.c.-220 A.D., furnishes examples of glazed pottery and from that time progress must have been rapid. Unlike Euro pean, Chinese civilization had not halted and the Tang period, 618-906 A.D., was remarkable
for the development of the ceramic and kindred arts. Even life size figures in pottery were made and which European potters a thousand years later considered a great achievement. The pottery of the Sung dynasty, 960-1280 A.D., had disappeared and became legendary in the 16th century, the Ch'ai and Ju wares made famous by Chinese writers. The period marked the introduction of kaolin in the body, not as yet a true porcelain but perhaps best described as a porcellaneous stoneware. It was then that pieces of alternate colors of clay were made, the prototype of the agate ware of Whieldon, Wedgwood and other English potters of the 18th century. We are but just beginning to emulate their elusive flambe glazes, the crackled ware and the wonderful colors such as sang de bansf produced by a reducing fire. With their characteristic reverence for age the Chinese have always delighted in reproducing their own past triumphs and so skilfully has this been done that there are but few who may reasonably be classed as experts who can dis tinguish the difference. The beautiful celadons are also of the period and were the forerunners of true porcelain which was probably produced early in the Ming dynasty, 1368-1644. (See PORCELAIN ) . While the wares we have but hinted at continued to be produced, they were largely overshadowed by the new body. The great centre of production has since the 7th century been the town of Ching-te-Chen and in spite of its having been several times destroyed, has always phcenix-like risen from its ashes. The Japanese learned much from the Chinese, as also they did from the Koreans who were responsible for the establishment of the indus try at Karatcti (Hizen) end of the 7th century; Satsuma l457-86; the Ralcu factories at Kioto 1550; Seto 1590, and later at Haji. It is diffi cult to understand the Japanese preference for these Korean wares, which in no wise excelled their own productions except for some supposed superiority for use at their tea ceremonies. What merits Satsuma wares possess is due not to Korean but to Japanese influence, the art instinct being prompted by the work of the Chinese, whom they soon began to rival. Practically no good pottery was made in Japan until Kato Shirozayemon, called Toshiro, finished his five years studies in China and came to Seto in 1200. Porcelain was not made until about 1513. Hav ing obtained mastery of the art it spread all over the kingdom and was patronized and en couraged by emperors, princes and potentates. Two distinct styles are apparent, that made for use at home and that intended for export. The so-called old Japan, imitated and copied by nearly every manufacturer in Europe, is an example of the latter. Japanese pottery is largely the work of an individual or at least of a family, while Chinese- is the result of com bined workmanship. This individual work of recent years has been largely superseded by that of factories which to the great debasement of the national art have been induced to copy European designs with a result, with the single exception of price, disappointing and reizretable. There remains, however, a number of artist potters who refuse to prostitute their talents, such as Miyagawa, Kozan, Seifer, Sobei, Watano and others. Even this eiimpse of Japanese ceramics would be incomplete without reference to the great Imari artist Kakiyemon whose isolated designs on a white ground inspired the beauti ful productions of present day Copenhagen porcelain and to whom many of the early Euro pean factories were largely indebted.