The introduction of porcelain into England created the soft porcelain. The history of the earliest manufacture is involved in much obscurity. A manufactory established at Stratfonl•le-liow was abandoned in the early part of the 18th cent ury,having been probably established in an early part of the 17th century. The specimens were painted and mtxlelled by Frye, Moser, Bacon, ko. At Chelsea, the porcelain or gomroon ware, as it was then called, was made earlier than 1695. At first it imitated, in its blue and white patterns, the Chinese or French models; but George II., the Duke of Cumberland, and others, procured superior means of manufacture from Germany, and under the management of Spremont it attained great excellence ; but the potteries were abandoned in 1765. The vases were modelled by foreign artists in forms resembling Dresden, and painted by first•rate painters, while a fine claret colour is said to be peculiar to this fabric. Many of the drawings arc very beautiful, and the vases realise immense prices. On the abandonment of the Chelsea works a factory was subsequently set up at Derby, where the moulds, workmen, &c., had been transferred, but has since been discontinued. Those of Worcester, founded by Dr. Wall in 1751, who is said to have invented the art of printing upon porcelain, not only attained, but maintain great excellence. At first they imitated the Chinese, then the Sevres and Dresden ware and fancy ornaments. Rockingham, established in 1757, is best known for its brown or chocolate ware. At Colebrook° Dale in 1756, at Nantgarrow in 1S13, and at Leek in Staffordshire, minor establishments of porcelain have flourished. The manufacture of hard porcelain in England, com mence' by Cooksworthy at Plymouth in 1705, and subsequently transferred to Bristol in 1776, was abandoned since that period, till revived by the late Mr. Minton in 1S50.
The soft porcelain of France was manufactured at St. Cloud as early as 1695, and was succeeded by that of Vincennes in 1740, which attained great perfection and modelled bouquets of great beauty about 1751; but two years afterwards it was removed to Sevres, under the patronage of Madame de Pompadour. In 1768 the accidental dis covery of kaolin and pilitunse led Macqner, the superintendent of the establishment, to the production of hard porcelain; but the manu facture of soft porcelain was not entirely abandoned till 1504. This manufactory has produced the most beautiful examples of European porcelain, distinguished by the beauty and brilliancy of its colours, the dark and light blue, yellow, green, and Dubarry, or rose-pink, and the elegance of its paintings, after Watteau and other artists, although the forms till 1785, when classical shapes were introduced, by no means equalled its rivals of Dresden. The high prices and demand for this elegant article of vertu have led to various counterfeits, the doctoring of old specimens, and the fabrication of modern imitations, so that it is as difficult to detect spurious Sevres porcelain as false coin. Other places, as Chantilly in 1735, Orleans in 1753, Arras in 17S2, Tournay in 1750, and Paris in 1773, manufactured soft or hard porcelain ; and in 1735, at La Deeds., near Florence, a hard and a hybrid porcelain w•as manufactured in imitation of oriental, Sevres, and Capo di Monte, distinguished by its modelled forms. At Venice the manufacture ceased in 1812. At La Neve, near Bassano, in Lombardy, at Turin in the end of the 18th century, and at Capo di Monte, near Naples, a porce lain, finely painted and moulded in high relief with shells and figures, is said to have flourished from 1736 to 1821, an offshoot of which was established at El Buen Reties, near Madrid, about 1759, but was completely destroyed in 1812 ; but another fabric was subsequently established near Madrid in 1827. A fabric of hard porcelain flourishes at Vista Alegre, near Oporto.
Although the use of vessels with plumbiferous glazes has been in great part superseded by other wares, yet it is still extensively manu factured in England, France, Germany, Portugal, and in Switzerland, different localities using different processes, as the actual metallic lead in Finisterre, and tho galena in other places, as in Sardinia. The
manufacture of majolica has in fact never quite disappeared in Europe ; into Naples it was introduced at the close of the 18th century, and pieces of a peculiar kind were made ; the recent majolica of Venice is thin, with bluish-white enamel and ornaments in repouss6 work. In Holland, a manufactory, the survivor of the delftware, still remains. Glazed wares of a green colour arc made at Smyrna ; in India, and at Pcgu. The use of stannifcrous glazes in the Fast has been continued till the present day, since an early period : they are still used in Turkey, Asia Minor, and Narocco, with red ornaments on a white ground, and oriental patterns. At Shershel, in Algeria, lamps are made. In Persia, as early as 1146, fayences of deep blue, with white ornaments, and of a golden colour at a later period, have been made. In Arabia, the use of enamelled wares, especially for tiles and other architectural ornaments, dates from the 10th or 11th centuries.
The modern potters, like the ancients, often placed on their ware inscriptions giving the name of the place of manufacture or of tho maker. Those on the early French and Italian majolica are initial letters, monograms, dates, and coats of arms. Thus, Savona has the arms of the town ; Nevers, N. ; Rouen, a fleur-de-lis ; B. stands for Bernard Palissy ; Boast has a wheel ; Cologne, an anchor ; Delft, occasionally a sword ; Wedgwood and his successors stamped their names ; old Dresden has the monogram A. R., King Augustus, K. P. M., "the Royal Porcelain Manufactory," and crossed swords ; Venice, the imperial arms ; Fiirstenburg, an F.; Frankenthal, the lion and crown ; ' Nymphenburg, the arms of Bavaria ; Ludwigsburg, a ducal crown and C. C.; Berlin, a globe and cross ; Fulda, F. crowned ; St. Petersburg, a K. crowned ; the Hague, a stork ; Copenhagen, waves ; Nyon, trouts ; Chelsea, anchors ; Derby, a crowned D ; Plymouth, the astrological sign for Jupiter ; Worcester, W. and other marks ; Swansea, a trident. Sevres has several marks,—a sun under Louis XIV., a crowned eagle under Napoleon, a comet ; the other French potteries have monograms and marks. The Chinese marks have the name of the maker, or date when made, generally in red or blue, in a square label in the seal or court characters, imitating the impression of the seals or stamps they affix to their documents and books.
The application of the fine arts to the embellishment of porcelain, and the refinements of luxury, have vastly increased the value of modern porcelain. Fora long time hard porcelain was the monopoly of princes, and the expense of producing specimens with charming colours and elegant designs was very great ; but the desire of possessing beautiful and rare specimens by the rich has greatly increased their value : for example, the majolica salt-cellars have realised at public sales from 10 guineas to 64/. ; the Gubbio plates from 11/. to 21/. ; those of the artist %ante 80/., and vases of larger size 220/. ; a Palissy candlestick, 84/. The ware of La Doccia has augmented its price 2000 per cent., and a small cup of this ware is worth from 30/. to 40/. Chelsea vases of any size, painted with religious or historical subjects, obtain from 100/. to 150/., and small cups of this ware 25/. to 30/. Nor has the reputation of Chinese crackle declined, and even mandarins might pause at the prices given ; 60/. and 70/. being paid for sea-green or turquoise blue vases. Green crackle has found amateurs to purchase at 131l.; and a few flat jars, surmounted by kelins, or mystical stags, 235 guineas. Last, though not least, two jars have been the subject of a suit in Chancery. Under such circumstances, the acquisition of instructive collections transcends the power of princes or the prudence of governments.
(Brongniart, Trait) des Arts Ceramiques, 8vo, Paris, 1844; Birch, History of Ancient Pottery, 8vo, Lend., 1858; Marryat, History of Pottery and Porcelain,tvo, Lend., 1857.)