Duke of Augustenburg lost a crown during an hour's conversation with him in a billiard-room. Bismarck began by calling the duke "Highness," to give him a foretaste of the glories awaiting him, then intimated that Prussia must have Kiel given her by the possible monarch, and on finding the duke stiffer than was convenient, began to call him "Serenity," to show that his chance was gone, and plainly told him in the end that Prussia could wring the neck of the chicken she had hatched. In short, Prince Bismarck was much abler and much bolder, and, it may be added, much more unscrupulous, than those with whom he had to deal. The work he had to do was as rough as it was great, and probably a less dictatorial man could not have done it. Success has glorified a character which failure would have exposed to much merited reproach.
POTTERY AT THE PARIS EXHIBITION.
The extensive collection of pottery at the Paris Exhibition brought together from so many countries, is of high interest from a technical, as well as from an art point of view. All that is now being done in pottery manufacture, all that has lately been achieved in the way of progress, has been here illustrated. An examination, even a rapid one, shows at once how far in advance of other countries England and France are.
Leaving all strictly art questions out of consideration, it is instructive to notice how the technical processes of manufacture impose limits on an artist's scope, and how these scopes have been widened by recent discoveries. It is not intended in this short note to do more than allude to the more important of these, and before doing so it is worth while mentioning that for domestic purposes English earthenware is still unapproached.
The pâte-sur-pâte decoration, so largely used in England and in France, is a good illustration of how a process in itself confines the artist's power within certain limits.
The nature of the ornamentation consists in applying by the brush, and modelling with tools, raised decorations of "paste," which is often, for the sake of artistic effect, in high relief. The paste is of much the same composition as the body on which it is applied, and requires a similar temperature to convert it into China, i.e., 1,800° C. The colors which can be used for staining this paste must therefore also be capable of being produced at this heat, and the result is an entirely new range of ceramic colors. It is fortunate for the success of this style of decoration that the colors obtained are harmonious, of a subdued tone. They are quite unlike any that can be produced at a lower heat. Apart from the artist's manipulation, which may vary much in delicacy, the general effect of the production is almost wholly the natural result of the process, and is therefore not due entirely to the artist.
Another and distinct application of raised decoration is very largely represented in the French court. It was first used at Bourg-la-Reine some ten years ago, and is now made in many other localities. It consists of painting in clay on earthenware with pallet and brush in various gradations of relief, somewhat like impasto. The heat for firing is comparatively moderate, and the range of colors that can be employed is very wide.
The difficulties of painting under glaze are by degrees being overcome, and one manufacturer has, for the first time, produced gilding under glaze. The colored glazes shown are rich and brilliant, and are well worth the particular notice of those who have paid attention to their production.
The organization of the Sèvres manufactory and the fact that it is under the direction of a chemist of repute lead to expectations of discovery resulting from the research here carried out. And as a fact discoveries of no small value have been made of late years. Besides such discoveries as of compounds yielding new colors, there are some which take rank as new processes.
For example, the late François Richard, an artist on the staff of the manufactory, found that a large proportion of the enamel colors can be made which will bear a temperature of 600° C. — a higher temperature than has been hitherto supposed possible. This higher temperature now employed fuses and softens the glaze; the colors painted on it blend with it so that, on cooling, there is produced that softness and brilliancy hitherto characteristic of pâte-tendre decoration. This process has been named the demi-grand feu. A great benefit arising from this discovery is that many vases damaged in firing, which would formerly have been abandoned, can now be preserved, as the accidents which so often happen in firing can be repaired. Defects in glaze and color can be con-
