k,
divided by mouldings and decorated with strap-work and arabesques. Vases
similar in shape and technique, with ornament of Cufic characters and
arabesques in horizontal rows, are to be found in the museums at St
Petersburg, Palermo and Stockholm. As to the exact date of these,
experts are not agreed. Though presenting all the characteristics of the
14th-century Hispano-Moresque ornament, it seems probable that they were
produced at the same period as the large lustred wall-tile formerly in
the Fortuny (now in the Osma) collection, an inscription upon which is
by some held to refer to Yusuf III. of Granada (1409-1418), not to Yusuf
I. (1333-1354). Another remarkable example is a dish (Sarre collection,
Berlin), which, it is claimed, bears upon its back, in Arabic, the word
Malaga; it is ornamented with eight segmental compartments filled
alternately with strap-work designs and arabesques in lustre. Malaga was
reconquered by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1487, and after this its
industry probably decayed, as it is not mentioned by Lucio Marineo in
1539 among the localities where ceramics then flourished.

_Valencia._--The emirate of Valencia was reconquered by Aragon in 1238.
The history of its lustred ware is known from 1383, when Eximenes (whose
evidence has been erroneously held to date from 1499) mentions the
golden ware (_Obra dorada_) of Manises. Valencian pottery of this kind
was an offshoot of the Malagan industry, as in documents lately
published (ranging from 1405 to 1517) it is repeatedly designated Malaga
ware (_Obra de Malaga_). Its decorative qualities became famous
throughout the whole of Europe and North Africa. The ware was chiefly
manufactured at Manises by the Moorish retainers of the Buyl or Boil
family, lords of Manises, who levied dues upon the output of the kilns,
and occasionally arranged for its sale. It is distinguished as regards
its ornamentation from the pottery of Malaga by the adoption of a more
natural rendering of plant form motives and by the use of armory. The
ware consists of drug pots, deep dishes, large and small plates,
aquamaniles, vases, &c. Some dozen varieties of ornament were employed
during the 15th and early 16th centuries, including mock arabic
inscriptions, various flower or foliage patterns taken from the vine,
bryony, &c., and gadroons. The centres of dishes frequently bear the
arms of a king or queen of Aragon, of the Buyls of Manises, or other
Valencian or Italian families