France during the reign of Henry VIII., these pavement-tiles are the sole productions of fictile art, properly to be called decorative, which appear to have been used in our country.

The tiles at Great Malvern appear to be of two periods only; a few, the remains of the pavements of the more ancient structure, are of the time termed in architecture the Decorated period; the remainder appear to have been fabricated about 1450, at the time when the church was rebuilt. The work was probably commenced by Prior John Malverne, whose liberality was recorded in the window on the north side of the choir, nearest the east end. Its advance appears to have been slow, for the consecration of the altars in the choir and transepts of the new church did not take place until 1460; the construction of the clerestory of the nave and the great west window was probably subsequent to that period. The tiles of the earlier date measure, in most instances, 5 in. square, the later examples 6 in.; some fine square tiles of unusual dimension may be seen in the north aisle of the nave; they measure 9 in. square, and 24 in thickness.

One more fact remains to be noticed in regard to the use of fictile ornaments as accessories to sacred architecture; the only example of the kind, hitherto recorded, has been found at Great Malvern. In the spring of 1843 a portion of a cross, fashioned in clay, well burned and glazed, was found

by a person digging in the garden adjoining the east end of the church. It measures about 14 in. across the arms, the foot being shaped, suitably for insertion in a socket, for the purpose of fixing the cross in some elevated position. Having occasion to go upon the roof of the church, during the progress of some repairs, I noticed on one of the original ridge-tiles of the roof of the choir a projection, which on closer view proved to be a socket prepared to receive the foot of such an ornament as the cross in question. There can be little doubt that a crest thus formed originally ran along the whole length of the ridge; the ridge-tiles were deeply serrated in the spaces intervening between the larger ornaments, which were thus affixed by means of tenons and sockets. The effect of such a crest, in breaking the straight regularity of the outline of the roof as seen against the sky, must have been admirable. It may be observed that the representation of the church, and buildings of the monastery, which may be seen in the curious window on the north side of the choir, wherein the principal circumstances of the foundation of the Priory are commemorated, exhibit the decorative crest running along the ridge of the roof. It is surprising that so effective an expedient for producing, at a very small cost, a decoration not less durable than pleasing to the eye, should not have been adopted in modern times.

Yours, &c. ALBERT WAY.

within Versailles. The same reason that has led to their exclusion has prompted the omission of pictures commemorating the principal civil scenes of that disastrous epoch; and, perhaps, the less such horrible atrocities, and the countenances of their authors, are brought to public recollection the better. There is nothing to admire in them, nothing to imitate : that page of the history of France is to be read only as a dreadful record of the madness and the vices of a dissolute nation; an awful instance of the consequences of bad administration by

We find one picture of Charles I. of England in this gallery: it is a contemporaneous one by an unknown hand, not of much value as a work of art, but curious from its representing the king with features less strongly marked than in the picture by Vandyck. It must have been taken in the early part of his reign. While, however, there is such an absence of portraiture with regard to this unfortunate monarch, the gallery is rich in beautiful likenesses of his amiable and excellent queen. Of these there is one taken in about the twenty-fifth year of her age in a white dress, and another in red, with the Vandyck cuffs at the wrists, both by artists not named, and the latter said to be a copy of one by Sir P. Lely. But the best portrait of the queen, certainly the best picture that has ever borne her name, and one of the finest works of art at Versailles, is a half-length in black by an unknown hand. It represents the Queen at the age of about sixteen, the time of her marriage, and shows her to have had that lovely dignity of countenance, combined with a patient mildness of expression, which always hovered around her features. The manner in which the subject is executed is masterly in the highest degree, especially the treatment of the eyes and the forehead, where a few curls playing upon its ivory surface cast a richly tinted shadow upon the skin. We have never seen any engraving of this picture, and we recommend it most strongly to the notice of all visitors of Versailles; its number is 2079 in the general catalogue. To us, who are warm sympathisers with that illustrious lady and all her descendants in their unmerited misfortunes, this picture has formed a point of riveted attraction by the hour together.

In the same room there is a very striking portrait of Oliver Cromwell, by whom is not said, but evidently a contemporaneous picture of great vigour, and valuable for its details. It is placed in a wretched light by the side of a window, but can be readily examined. The drawing and expression closely resemble those of the portrait in crayons at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. A beautiful picture of Prince Edward of Bavaria, by an unknown artist, stands opposite to GENT. MAG, VOL. XXII.

the last named portrait, and a still better one of his brother Philip (by Vandyck ?) is placed at its side. There are two good copies of Vandyck's, probably by his pupils, portraits of Prince Rupert and of Charles Louis elector of Bavaria, which complete the series of portraits of this family. About the same part of the room is a remarkable picture of Christina of Sweden, surrounded by the French nobles of the time, listening to Descartes, who is demonstrating a geometrical problem; it is by Dumesnil. Close to it is a large and masterly head of the same queen by a contemporary artist, not named in the catalogue.

The heads of Sebastian Bourdon by himself, of L. Testelin the painter and engraver by C. Lebrun, and of the Chancellor Seguier by H. Testelin, are all well worthy of careful remark.

The golden age of Louis XIV. occupies some large rooms with the portraits of its principal characters, and constitutes one of the most interesting portions of the collection. Nearly all the portraits are here genuine, nearly all contemporaneous, and most of them admirable as works of art. Their state of preservation is in general excellent, and the brilliant mass of warm colour which they present cannot fail of immediately attracting the notice of the connoisseur. There is a good whole-length likeness of Louis XIV. at the age of 9, by H. Testelin; and two splendid portraits taken at a later period by Philippe de Champagne: one of these in particular, at the end of the room, No. 145, is the best of the younger likenesses of the king. There are numerous other portraits of the Grand Monarque in the state apartments and various parts of the palace; but we now speak only of the collection in this upper suite of rooms. One of Philip, Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis, painted by Matthieu, senior, in 1665, is a good picture; the portrait is in a medallion held by Henrietta his duchess, habited as Minerva. Close by these two pictures is a charming likeness of Henrietta herself, the universal favourite of her family and the French court, and whose sudden death still remains a mystery even to those best read in the history of the times. This princess, like only very few of the Stuarts, had

F

beautiful blue eyes, and was the most comely of the children of her unfortunate parents, though she bore little resemblance to the peculiar beauty of her mother. The painter's name is unknown. A grand picture by Mignard of a notable personage, Mlle. de Montpensier, cannot but attract the eye of the most indifferent visitor. Her countenance corresponds most fully to her character, her aspect being peculiarly haughty and quick. Had it been possible for a female to have ascended the throne of France, she might have proved herself another Elizabeth. There were seven other portraits of the princess in this part of the gallery, but we pass by them and come to a masterly likeness of the great Condé by Michel Corneille : it is a whole-length of the size of life, and is an excellent specimen of the master. The good portraits of the Duke and Duchess de Longueville are in the state rooms; but there is a crowd of pictures up stairs and in the gallery we are now examining, of all the eminent personages of the court of Versailles; and scarcely any notable character remains undelineated. There are six original portraits of the Grand Dauphin, one of them by Rigaud, the others anonymous, in this division of the gallery; all good pictures and all bearing the same testimony to the noble features of the prince, whose death was an immense calamity to his country. There are also in these rooms portraits of Marie-Anne de Bavière his consort, and of the Duke and Duchess d'Orléans (the Regent), as well as of the Duke and Duchesse de Bourgogne; but they are not the best of these subjects, which are kept in the state apartments. Of the beautiful La Vallière, there are in this gallery only two originals, with no names of painters attached; one of Madame de Montespan, and two of Madame de Maintenon, (including a Mignard); the best pictures of the royal mistresses are in the state apartments.

Of the foreign princes of this epoch, one of the best portraits is that of Don Juan of Austria, by Van Hull, a remarkably fine picture, and others, by unnamed artists, of the Great John Sobieski of Poland, and of Frederick III. of Denmark. A highly valuable and unique portrait is one of James II.

of England at the age of 18, while Duke of York, and in the service of his cousin Louis XIV. The features of this monarch were at that time peculiarly pleasing, and, like his sister Henrietta d'Orléans, he must have been one of the best looking personages of the French court. In this picture he is dressed in armour, and there is an inscription on it,

JACQVES STVART DVC D' YORK.

In another picture by its side, of more recent date, he is styled,

IACQVES. 7. Roy. DE. LA. GRANDE.

BRETAGNE.

The countenance of this king testifies to the excellent tenor of his life, now at length coming to be understood when the mass of misrepresentation and prejudice under which it has been obscured is crumbling before the light of truth thrown on it by the publication of contemporaneous memoirs and papers. There is placed near this picture, as it should be, a good portrait of Maria-Beatrix-d'Este, his second consort, one of the most amiable and virtuous ladies of her age. On the opposite wall is a picture with two portraits of the Prince of Orange and his wife, and others of Charles II. of England with his queen.

We have been much struck by an energetic picture from an unnamed painter, the portrait of Cardinal de Retz, which gives a capital idea of the peculiar acuteness and courage of the original; and we may say the same of a most excellent portrait of Turenne by H. Rigaud, full of fine colouring and able drawing. These are both choice morceaux. A good Philippe de Champagne, the portraits of F. Mansart and C. Perrault, united in the same canvass, is to be remarked, not only for the likenesses of such eminent architects, but also as a forcible and effective picture. Francis Porbus, senior, has left here an excellent portrait of the great Cornelius de Witt; and there is close by it a curious picture by F. Denys (of Antwerp) of F. P. de Brouckoven, Seneschal of Antwerp, A.D. 1656. There are able contemporary portraits on these walls of Montecuculi, Prince Eugene, Marlborough, Colbert, Louvois, Vauban, and other great characters of the time, all worthy of close examination

as correcting or verifying the engraved likenesses of these historical personages with which every body is acquainted.

We find here also a skilful portrait of Lenostre, the garden architect of Louis XIV. by Carlo Maratta, and one of Mignard, by Rigaud; others, contemporaneous, but some anonymous, pictures of Molière, Racine, and Boileau, Fenelon, Mons. de Sévigné; Girardon and Coysevox, the sculptors; Keller, the founder of all the bronzework for Louis XIV.; Murillo, by an unknown hand, but a good picture; Coypel, Rigaud; Largillière, one of the best painters of that time, but little known in England; Vanderwerf and Carlo Maratta, each by themselves; and numerous others, " thick as leaves in Vallombrosa," of all degrees of merit and interest.

We here bring our brief notices of this collection of portraits to a termination, strongly recommending all visitors of Versailles to devote an hour or two to this division of the palace. This large series of pictures will probably be much augmented in future days; and, indeed, fresh acquisitions of portraits are daily making by the king. It is to be hoped, however, that the rage for retouching portraits will not be allowed to run riot within these walls. We have observed several pictures in this collection greatly injured by inexperienced modern hands; and, indeed, an old portrait is something sacred, not to be handled heedlessly, but rather to be kept from dirt and destruction than attempted to be embellished or improved. In general these pictures are as well arranged as the circumstances of the locality will admit, although many are in absolute obscurity on account of the light being admitted only through side-windows. We cannot sufficiently praise the good taste and judgment of Louis Philippe in forming this immense series of historical illustrations, and whosoever would complete his knowledge of modern European history, to him we would say, Go and study the Portraits of Versailles.

Yours, &c. H. LONGUEVILLE Jones.

MR. URBAN,

YOUR correspondent W. C. (April, p. 369) will, I am sure, pardon me for

attempting to add another word to his interesting paper on the Roman pottery. The numerous quotations he has cited are all highly illustrative of the esteem in which the potter's art was held among the Romans, both for sacrificial and ordinary domestic purposes. Whether that singularly beautiful red glazed earthenware which Stowe so aptly compares to coral, and of which such vast quantities have been since exhumed in every part of England and France where their respective records have assigned a Roman station, be really the identical Samian pottery of Pliny, is, I think, a question yet to be decided. But whether it be from Italy, Greece, or Spain, the quantities† which have been from time to time discovered, betoken, I think, a somewhat more extensive use than W. C. seems inclined to give to it, in supposing it not to have been in general use except among the upper classes. In the various excavations in the city of London I have generally observed that the quantity of this ware has far exceeded that of any other, from what is termed the Roman level. The almost endless variety in shape, size, and ornament, which seems to characterise these vessels, induces me to think they must have been in very general use. The great number of potters' stamps, moreover, indicates, I think, a rather extensive trade. If a complete list of those found in England, even during only the last twenty or thirty years, and now lying scattered through private and public collections, were to be placed before your readers, they would be surprised at its length and variety. The subject, although it has elicited from your correspondent a paper of considerable interest and research, is not yet exhausted; I venture to hope that a few additional illustrations may not be unacceptable.

The "terra Samia" of Pliny appears to have been white, and seems to have possessed some medicinal properties. (Lib. xxxv. c. 6.) Our author states that it was not much esteemed among the painters on account of its greasiness

* Vide Stowe's account of the Discoveries in Spitalfields, 1576.

+ Exeter appears to have been remarkably prolific. Vide Shortt's Silva Ant. Iscana, p. 117.