Potteries are said to have been established at BOLOGNA and IMOLA, and pieces have been ascribed to them. A plate is in a French collection, well painted and of about the year 1500, which has the name of RAVENNA on the reverse. Passing to the northern duchies of Italy we find that Alfonso I., duke of Ferrara, found means, notwithstanding his troubled and warlike rule, to establish a fabrique of Maiolica at his castle in FERRARA. Although the precise period of the introduction of the art is unknown, as early as 1436 the name of “Maestro Benedetto _bocalaro in Castello_” is recorded; in 1472 one Enrico, and in 1489 Gio. da Modena, are named; while in a _memoriale_ of expenses in 1443 occurs the first mention of painted and glazed wares. A curious document in the archives of Mantua, dated 1494, tells us that Isabella (d’Este), wife of the marquis of Mantua (Gonzaga), had sent a plate which had been broken into three pieces to be repaired at Ferrara by the _Maestri_ working at the castle; this was done, and the mended plate returned at the desire of the duchess of Ferrara with another as a present. From 1506 to 1522 the artistic works seem to have been discontinued, probably on account of the wars in which the duke was engaged: and from 1534 to 1559, during the reign of Ercole II., the work does not seem to have been encouraged. Pietro-Paolo Stanghi of Faenza is the only artist recorded, having made the ornaments to a stove in the castle; but Alfonso II. took more interest in the manufacture, and Vasari speaks of the fine productions of his furnaces. Nearly half a century then passed away before we hear of fresh experiments in the production of porcelain directed by Mº. Camillo, of Urbino, assisted by his brother Battista, and which seem to have resulted in success. When injured by the accidental explosion of a cannon, which ultimately caused his death and that of three gentlemen in 1567, he kept the secret, refusing to divulge it. This event is mentioned by Bernardo Canigiani, the ambassador of the Florentine court, who speaks of Camillo da Urbino as a maker of vases, painter, and chemist, and the true modern discoverer of porcelain, “_Ritrovatore moderno alla porcellana_.” It would seem, however, that his brother, Battista, must have known something of the process, which he may have been able to perfect by experiments, for it appears that between 1568 and 1569 the work was continued, as on the 17th December of the latter year an entry is made of an unusual allowance of wine for a workman engaged in preparing the ingredients “_per far porcellani_.” The cruet or vase, here engraved, is of about this period; it is at South Kensington, no. 505. [Illustration]