From the increased use of decorative tiles and the encouragement afforded to the production of artistic pottery, furnaces and boteghe had been established in various parts of northern and central Italy, particularly in Romagna, in Tuscany, and in the lordship of Urbino, where the manufacture was patronized at an early time by the ruling family, as also by the Sforza at Pesaro. Here the first use of the metallic lustre would appear to have been developed; but we have even less historical evidence of the date of its earliest introduction than in the case of the tin enamel. Before that great improvement was adopted by any of the potteries in Italy, the pearly, the golden, and the ruby lustre colours were produced at Pesaro, and perhaps at Gubbio where it subsequently attained its greatest perfection. Pesaro being a coast town of the Adriatic, and one where furnaces had long existed, would form a ready asylum for oriental workmen fleeing from persecution in their own country. It is reasonable to suppose that from them the use of these metallic pigments was acquired, and accordingly we find early pieces presumably of this fabrique, the decorative “motif” on which is eastern to a marked degree. Painted wares had been produced anterior to the use of the metallic pigments, and among them specimens are occasionally found betraying Persian influence in their design. [Illustration] The outlines on the “mezza maiolica” of this period were traced in manganese black or zaffre blue, with which last the shadings are also indicated; the flesh is left white. A certain rigidity but truthfulness is observable in the design, crude and wanting in relief, but precise and free from timidity. A moresque border frequently surrounds a coat-of-arms, portrait busts in profile of contemporary princes, or that of a saint or heathen goddess; or the sacred monogram; or, again (betrothal gifts) a heart with joined hands, as in the woodcut; or portraits of ladies with a ribbon or banderole, on which the name is inscribed with a complimentary adjective as “bella,” “diva,” and the like; such are the principal subjects of these early _bacili_. The admirable “madreperla” lustre of these pieces, changing in colour and effect with every angle at which the light is reflected from their brilliant surface, is the leading characteristic and special beauty of this class of wares, which must have been in great request and produced in considerable quantity. Pesaro and Diruta lay claim to their production, and each fabrique has its champions. [Illustration]