rts of European potters
without a certain amount of overlapping, for during the 18th century all
the three kinds of European porcelain were struggling for supremacy. It
is advisable, therefore, to keep clearly in mind which kind of porcelain
is in question, for many problems of manufacture and decoration are
absolutely determined by the nature of the materials.

If we could trust to documentary evidence alone, the earliest European
porcelains were made at Venice in 1470, and again in 1519; while we also
read of its manufacture at Ferrara in 1561.[34] Unfortunately,
documentary evidence alone is not conclusive, and the first European
porcelain, known from actual specimens as well as by documentary
evidence, was that made at Florence in the laboratory of Francesco de'
Medici, between 1575 and 1585. Specimens of this rare porcelain are to
be found only in great museums and private collections, where they rank
among our chief ceramic treasures. They show clearly that the Florentine
potters never fully mastered their difficult material, for the ware is
always imperfect and compares indifferently in whiteness and
translucence with fine porcelain, while the glaze is neither smoothly
melted nor free from defects. Obviously the effect of Chinese blue and
white porcelain was aimed at, the decorations, reminiscent of the style
of the Persian pot-painters, being executed in cobalt blue alone. These
rare and interesting pieces bear distinctive marks; for at their period
the use of painters' marks or monograms had become fairly general on
artistic pottery in Europe. One of the best known marks is the "palle"
or balls of the arms of the Medici family, bearing the letters "F M M E
D II." for "Franciscus Medici Magnus Etruriae Dux II."; while other
pieces have a rude representation of the Great Dome of Florence and the
letter "F."

[Illustration: Florentine Potter's mark.]

[Illustration: PLATE VIII.

Chinese. K'ang-hsi period.

Chinese. Black ground. K'ang-hsi period.

Chinese (_Famille Verte_). K'ang-hsi period.

Chinese (_Famille Rose_). Ch'ien-lung period.

Chinese. Plum-blossom jar. K'ang-hsi period.]

Fortunately, too, besides the few specimens of Florentine porcelain that
have survived to our day a manuscript has been found in the
Magliabechian Library at Florence which states that the paste was
composed of 24 parts of sand, 16 of a glass (powdered rock crystal 10
and soda 8), and 12 parts white earth of Faen