used as the artist's medium. The idea appears to
have been adopted from an old Chinese vase by Robert, the chief painter,
and at the London International Exhibition of 1862 some small cups
decorated in this method, by Gely, were first shown. The most successful
work in this style was, however, that produced by M. Solon, who worked
at Sevres until 1870. In that year he came to England and was employed
at Minton's, where for about thirty-five years he continued this method
of work, one of the few artistic and beautiful styles of pottery
decoration of the 19th century. As practised by M. Solon the _pate sur
pate_ decoration took the form of paintings of figure subjects or dainty
ornamental designs in white slip on a coloured porcelain ground of
green, blue, dark-grey or black. On such grounds a thin wash of the slip
gives a translucent film, so that by washing on or building up
successive layers of slip, sharpening the drawing with modelling tools,
or softening or rounding the figure with a wet brush, the most delicate
gradations of tint can be obtained, from the brilliant white of the slip
to the full depth of the ground. This method was rapidly adopted by all
the principal European factories, though nowhere was it carried to such
perfection as at Sevres and at Minton's. M. Taxile Doat has executed
many extraordinary pieces in this style of decoration at Sevres, and in
the British Museum there is a large vase of his, presented by the French
government at the beginning of the present century. One great feature of
French porcelain manufacture during the 19th century was the development
of the industry at Limoges and the neighbouring district of central
France. Limoges was a small centre of porcelain production in the period
between 1780 and 1850, but after the latter date it rapidly developed
into a pottery centre second only in importance to that of the Potteries
district in England. We can do no more than mention this fact, because,
for the most part, the activities of Limoges have been devoted to the
production of pottery commercially, rather than pottery as an art.

The Franco-German War proved a disaster for Sevres, and all work came to
a standstill for a time. The existing manufactory, which was almost
completed before the outbreak of the war, was opened by Marshal MacMahon
in 1876, but for many years the work was continued under great
discouragement. Between 1879 and 1889 attention was paid to the study
and imitation