from an early day, but the real cobalt blue was introduced into China from Europe during the Ming period (about 1500). They at once seized it, and from it was produced that charming variety known as the "heavenly" or "celestial" blue; the glaze, the clay, and the color, are all perfect; and it certainly deserves its name of heavenly. A mania for it has existed, and continues to exist, in Europe. One of the finest collections in England--that of Mr. Rossetti, the poet--was recently sold. In America, Mr. Avery and Mr. Hoe, of New York, Mr. Wales, of Boston, and Mrs. Burlingame, of Cambridge, have many beautiful examples. Fine pieces of this blue sell for from twenty-five to [Illustration: FIG. 108.--_Celestial Blue Teapot._] [Illustration: FIG. 109.--_Celestial Blue Snuff-Bottle._] five hundred dollars. The color varies from light to dark; some collectors choose one, some the other. Some pieces are known as the "six-mark," and many attach an added value to this evidence; but it does not seem to indicate greater perfection: many of the finest pieces I have seen have no potter's mark. Within the last twenty-five years a very active desire for these fine blues has broken out in England, which does not abate. It has not been so keen in France, and prices have not there gone so high. [Illustration: FIG. 110.--_Pot in Boston Art Museum._] This celestial blue was painted at Nanking, and is a wholly different thing from the ordinary Canton blue of trade. It is probable that some of this blue dates back to the Ming dynasty. The color was mostly painted under the glaze. This luminous blue is nothing like the turquoise, which also the Chinese carried to great perfection. The turquoise was produced from copper, the celestial from cobalt. The pieces Figs. 107, 108, and 109 are excellent examples of the celestial blue. Fig. 107 is a large vase of Mrs. Burlingame's, and has the stately palm which is much used in this color. The vase is some eighteen inches high. Fig. 108 is a delicately-formed teapot, with exquisite glaze and paste, the blue showing in the reserves and along the handle and spout. It was given to the writer by a gentleman in Holland. Fig. 109 is a most dainty bit, a small snuff-bottle. There are some few others in this country--two of them, mounted in silver, belong to Mr. Schlesinger, of Boston. [Illustration: FIG. 111.--_Incense-Pot, from Mr. Avery's Collection._] The Art-Museum of Boston has now two exquisite pots of turquoise blue, bought at the sale of Mr. Heard's collection for some six hundred dollars. We picture one of these to show the form, and the dragon which finishes the top (Fig. 110). The dragon is in dark red, the pot in turquoise blue; but this blue has another and a rare quality: it is covered all over with delicate spots or dots of the same color, what is called "soufflé"--this is said to be produced by blowing the color through a fine screen or gauze on to the clay.