own, of Faenza and
Cafaggiolo was probably the same Armenian bole that was used so
magnificently by the makers of the Turkish pottery, but on the white
enamel ground this colour was most treacherous and uncertain. It must
be remembered that many of these colours owe their tint to the lead
used in their composition, or to the grounds containing oxides of lead
and tin on which they were painted. Piccolpasso describes the
preparation and composition of the various colours used in his day.

5. _Coperta_, or transparent glaze. In the later majolica a thin
coating of soft rich glaze was applied over the fired painting to give
a smooth bright surface. This _coperta_ was a soft lead glass
consisting of silica (sand), 20 parts; oxide of lead, 17 parts;
potash, 12 parts; and common salt, 8 parts; fused together and then
finely ground in water.

6. _Methods of Glazing and Decorating._--In the mezza-majolica and the
early majolica it is probable that the clay vessel was dipped in the
white bath to give it an envelope (_invetriatura_) before it was fired
at all; but it must soon have become apparent that it was much better
to fire first the shaped vessel until it was about as hard and brittle
as a clay tobacco-pipe, and then coat it with the white enamel, by
dipping it into a bath or pouring the fluid material upon it. This was
the practice described by Piccolpasso. A coating of white enamel, the
thickness of glove leather, having been obtained, the piece was
carefully taken by the painter, who first etched in the outline on the
absorbent powdery ground, and then shaded the figures, landscapes,
&c., in blue or in a mixture of blue and yellow, adding the other
colours as gradated washes. The vase was then fired a second time to a
heat greater than the first, so that the enamel was melted on the
vessel and the colours sunk into the enamel at one and the same
operation. This method of painting on the unbaked enamel demanded a
bold direct treatment--for alteration or retouching was
impossible--and much of the vigour of the earlier designs is due to
this fact. As the ware became more refined in its treatment it was
felt that this method did not yield a sufficiently brilliant surface,
and so the painted and fired piece was coated with a film of _coperta_
and fired again at a slightly lower temperature to make it smoother
and more glossy. Still pursued by the idea of