, but really imitated from the "Delft" copies of Chinese and
Japanese porcelain. When Rouen and Moustiers became famous for their
distinctive wares Nevers copied their designs also, and on a gradually
descending scale the manufacture continued to the end of the 18th
century, when France was flooded with the rude _Faiences patriotiques_
from this centre.

[Illustration: FIG. 49.--Dish of Rouen enamelled pottery, painted in
blues and deep red.]

The genuine French tin-enamelled ware, freed from the traces of Italian
influence, first developed itself at Rouen under the famous Poterats in
the later part of the 17th century. A new scheme of ornamentation was
gradually evolved in the daintily-designed scalloped and radiating
patterns adapted from oriental fabrics, lace and needlework, and from
the ornamental devices of contemporary printers. These designs, having
been skilfully drawn on the pieces, were filled in with bright blue,
strong yellow, light green, or a bright bricky-red in palpable relief,
applied as flat washes or in fine lines; and the result was a gay and
sparkling ware much superior in decorative value to the later Italian
majolicas (see fig. 49). So successful was this Rouen ware that rival
factories were quickly started at Saint Cloud, Sinceny, Quimper, Lille,
and other places in the north. Saint Cloud and Lille made fine pottery
of this class at the end of the 17th and in the early 18th century. It
was imitated at Nevers, the potters' marks shown being those of J.
Bourdu and H. Borne. In the south of France, Pierre Clerissy established
the industry at Moustiers in 1686, and, though the early Moustiers ware
bears a strong resemblance to the debased Italian majolica of the time,
the Moustiers painters soon left that behind, and on a glaze of
inimitable whiteness and softness they deftly pencilled blue patterns
based on the engravings of designs after Berain, Marot and Toro. At a
later date Olerys, who had been to Alcora to introduce the French
faience into Spain, returned to Moustiers and introduced a pale
polychrome style very inferior to that of Rouen. These pieces are
covered with patterns outlined in blue and filled in with yellow, pale
green and light purple. Olerys is also said to have introduced the
grotesque style of Moustiers, founded on the caricatures of Callot.
Other factories were started from Moustiers, such as those at Apt, Ardus
and Montauban, and even at Narbonne, Bordeaux and Clermont-Ferran