We have already spoken of the TURQUOISE BLUE, but the colour is so important that we will quote more fully the somewhat enigmatical account of it given by Hellot. ‘The _bleu du roi_ ground, called before the Christmas fêtes of 1753 _bleu ancien_ (Oriental turquoise by daylight, emerald or malachite by artificial light), with which his majesty has been so satisfied, is composed as follows....’ We are then told that we should purchase at the Sieur Moniac, in the Rue Quincampoise, opposite to, etc.;--but it is needless to follow these details--in fact I only quote a few words as a sample of Hellot’s innumerable recipes for colours. This blue enamel, for it is an enamel, and not painted _sous couverte_ like the old Vincennes blue, is composed of ‘_aigue-marine_’ (some preparation of copper) three parts, Gravant’s glaze one part, and of minium one and a third parts. The ingredients are melted together, _à très grand feu_, and the resultant glass finely powdered. ‘This powder is dusted through a silk sieve, upon the _mordant_ that has been applied to the surface of the already glazed porcelain. The piece is then heated in the “painter’s stove” (the muffle). The first layer of colour comes out sometimes crackled, and always irregular (_mal unie_). To make the enamel uniform, the piece is again coated and again passed through the painter’s stove.’ Not only the strength and quality of the enamel, but its tint also, vary much, even in pieces dating from the best period; some examples tend more to green than others. In the more brilliant and intense examples of the _bleu céleste_, to give the colour its old or one of its old names, the ground on close examination appears to be more or less mottled, darker clots, as it were, floating about in a lighter medium. Indeed some such ‘texture’ seems to be necessary to bring out the full effect and brilliancy in the case of other glazes and transparent enamels on porcelain, and to its absence the dull and ‘uninteresting’ aspect of much of our modern porcelain may be attributed. ROSE POMPADOUR.--We have seen that the various shades of pink derived from gold (see the note on p. 284) had for some time been used in the decoration of porcelain, but that the recipes for them were regarded as precious trade secrets. The _rose carnée_, or _Pompadour_[191] (often wrongly called _rose du Barry_), belongs to this class. The credit of its first successful employment as a uniform ground-colour is probably due to the chemist Hellot.[192] This colour was in use at Sèvres for only a short period of years, say between 1753 and 1763. The dated specimens in the Wallace collection range between 1754 and 1759. One is almost tempted to associate its sudden disappearance with some whim of Madame de Pompadour; perhaps having in her possession nearly all that had been made, she wished to ‘corner the market.’ The manufacture seems to have ceased _before_ her death (1764), and afterwards the [Illustration: _PLATE XXXIX._ SÈVRES]