btained imitation of the expensive, polychrome glazed ware of the
period (see fig. 8). This painted pottery continued in use until about
the time of the XXIInd Dynasty. From this time onwards, till the
Ptolemaic period, the commonest pottery was a red ware, usually covered
with a white slip. Under the XXVIth Dynasty a finer homogeneous white
ware occurs, usually for vases with a rude representation of the face of
the god Bes on their bodies.

[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Egyptian blue-glazed pottery.]

The XXVIth Dynasty marks a new period of development in the history of
Egyptian faience. The old deep blue colour had gradually deteriorated
into an ugly green (British Museum, No. 8962), which was replaced by the
Saite potters with a new light blue of very delicate tint, imitated, in
accordance with the archaistic spirit of the time, from the old light
blue of the earliest Dynasties. The glaze itself is very thin and
"sugary" in texture. The old decoration of the blue with designs and
inscriptions in manganese-black is abandoned; on the _ushabtis_ the
inscriptions are now incised. Side by side with this light blue glaze
was used an unglazed faience, a sort of composition paste with the
colour going right through.[6] It has more variety of colour than the
glazed faience, light green and a dark indigo blue being found as well
as the Saite light blue. Sometimes it is of a very soft, almost chalky
consistency. It was used for vases, but more generally for small figures
and scarabs (6). The commonest vase-form of this period is the pilgrim
bottle, now made with the neck in the form of a lily flower, and with
inscriptions on the sides wishing good luck in the New Year to the
possessor. These flasks appear to have been common New Year's gifts.

[Illustration: FIG. 8.--Egyptian pottery with painted ornament and sham
marbling.]

Under the Sebennyte kings of the XXXth Dynasty a further new development
of glaze began, of a more radical character than ever before. The colour
deepened, and the glaze itself became much more glassy, and was thickly
laid on. The new glaze was partly translucent, and differed very greatly
from the old opaque glaze. It first appeared on _ushabtis_ at the end of
the Saite period. A curious effect was obtained by glazing the
head-dress, the inscription &c., of the _ushabtis_ in dark blue, and
then covering the whole with translucent light blue glaze. This method
was regularly used during the succeeding Ptolem