The illustration we give of the lion ewer is a fine example of Minton’s reproduction of the celebrated Henri II. faïence. This wonderful ware is of distinct character and ornamentation, differing from every other kind of pottery. It was made at Oiron, in France, from 1524 to 1550. There are less than one hundred known pieces. Five pieces are in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Two are in the Louvre. Some of the pieces are valued at over £3,000 each. Who shall say that there is no romance in old china and pottery when vases and ewers, tazzas and salt-cellars, have pedigrees as long as a race-horse’s, and whose whereabouts are as well known as that of a reigning prince? [Illustration: MINTON. LION EWER. Reproduction of “Henri II. Ware.”] The plaque of painted majolica is a good specimen of what Minton can do. It was made about 1865, as was the lion ewer alluded to on p. 184, and the candelabrum is also of the same period. There is a fine fountain executed in Minton majolica; it is 36 feet high and 39 feet in diameter. At the summit there is a group, larger than life size, of St. George and the Dragon. It was one of the features of the International Exhibition of 1862; it now embellishes the scanty grass plot in front of the Bethnal Green Museum. [Illustration: MINTON. PORCELAIN CANDELABRUM.] Some fine old Sèvres pieces have been copied by Mintons, and great fidelity has been shown in reproducing the old ground colours of rose-du-Barri, gros-bleu, turquoise, and pea-green. Chinese porcelain has been imitated with especial success. The most notable artistic achievement is the _pâte-sur-pâte_ work, by M. Leon Solon. The coloured background is worked upon in white clay, and the delicate modelling of figures in this material is of great artistic beauty. Each result is a personal creation of the potter which cannot be duplicated. SALE PRICES. MINTON. £ s. d. Vases, pair, gold wreath handles, with panels of Cupids in gold and pink on an ivory ground, 16-1/2 in. high; and a vase nearly similar, by A. Birks. Christie, January, 1902 42 0 0 (_These first nine items were from the Colin Minton-Campbell Collection._) Vases, pair, and covers, nearly similar, with fruit in the Oriental taste on brown ground, by A. Green, 46 in. high. Christie, January, 1902 15 4 6 Vases, pair, beaker-shaped, painted with lilies and grasses in colours and gold on dark-blue ground, richly gilt, by Leroi, 33 in. high. Christie, January, 1902 33 12 0 Vases, pair, with Cupids and flowers in white and colours on black ground, in coloured and gilt borders, by L. Birks, 33 in. high. Christie, January, 1902 63 0 0