Another exceptionally fine and interesting piece has recently been acquired in Italy by signor Alessandro Castellani. It is a shallow basin in the centre of which the figure of St. Mark, with the lion, is painted in the usual blue pigment, and in a manner which stamps it as the work of a master’s pencil. What makes this specimen particularly interesting is the existence of a monogram composed of the letters G. and P. which is painted on the volume held beneath the lion’s paw, while on the reverse of the piece the usual mark occurs, as given in the accompanying facsimile. It has been suggested that this monogram may be that of Raffaelle’s great pupil, Giulio Pippi _detto_ Romano, and that, as it has been stated that he occasionally painted upon enamelled earthenware, this piece may be considered as his work. That the design was from the hand of that master is probable, and that its execution was by able ceramic painters is equally so: but Giulio Romano died in 1546, whereas the Medici porcelain does not appear to have been perfected before 1580. [Illustration] This Florentine porcelain is especially rare; scarcely thirty examples being known to exist. Three of these are at South Kensington, and one is in the possession of the present writer. It is of value to our subject, not merely as an important episode in the narrative of the rise and progress of ceramic industry in Italy but from its exceptional nature, as one at least of the specimens was decorated by an artist whose handiwork is to be recognised upon pieces of the Urbino enamelled earthenware. The fine “Brocca” 15 inches high, belonging to the baron Gustave Rothschild, is surmounted by an elegantly formed handle springing from grotesque winged masks, modelled in relief. The body is decorated with two belts of grotesques, divided by a narrower one, on which are masks and scroll ornaments; beneath these is a band divided into arched panels or compartments, in each of which is a flower in somewhat Persian taste. These grotesques are executed with great freedom and force and at the same time with a careful finish and delicacy, and in the manner of an unknown painter who worked at the botega of Camillo Fontana. It remains to us only to notice the productions of the present day, many of the more meritorious of which are only imitations (in some instances, we regret to say, produced for fraudulent purposes) of the more excellent works of an original period of art: and to give some account of the mode of manufacture, the forms and uses of the pieces, and the manner of their decoration.