"Such was the mystery which hung about all connected with this curious ware--a mystery which not a little enhanced the interest taken in it, and perhaps the estimation in which it was held. "This mystery is now, to a great extent, cleared up. "At the court of King Francis lived a widow lady of high birth, named Hélène de Hangest. Her husband had been governor of the king, and Grand-Master of France. She was herself an artist, and a collection of drawings by her of considerable artistic merit is preserved. They are portraits of the celebrities of the period. She was in favor at court; the king himself composed a rhymed motto to each of her portraits, and some of these verses are written in his own hand. It is established that Hélène de Hangest set up a pottery at her Château of Oiron, and that Francis Charpentier, a potter, was in her employ. To his hand, under the auspices of the Châtelaine of Oiron, is due the famous ware of 'Henri-Deux.' "Mr. J. C. Robinson gives it as his opinion that the technical merit of the 'Henri-Deux' ware is very small. With due deference to Mr. Robinson, who, as a rule, writes well and learnedly upon this and cognate matters, we do not think he would say this if he had been able to appreciate the subject from a potter's point of view. The _body_ of the 'Henri-Deux' ware is of admirable texture and quality; the mode in which the various clays are incorporated into the substance of the pieces without shrinking or expansion, the clearness, thinness, and smoothness of the glaze--which, by-the-way, is plumbiferous--all these things are so many marvels of skillful manipulation, and fill the mind of a practical potter with admiration." These curious and interesting facts were brought to light by the researches of a French _savant_, M. B. Fillon, about 1862. [Illustration: FIG. 78.--_Henri-Deux Faience Vase._] It appears that this ware was not made for sale, and that it was not sold, but was made for presents, and therefore was produced only in small quantities. The clay itself is what the French term _terre de pipe_, and what we know as pipe-clay--a white, delicate, and very light clay. The inlaying, or the incised lines which are filled with colored clays, are most delicately cut, and so much resemble work done by book-binders that some persons have suggested that they were made with the tools used in the bookbinder's trade. At any rate, one should give these pieces a close look, for any thoroughly good piece of work is a source of supreme satisfaction. Admirable copies have been made of some pieces of this work by an artist named Toft, which were exhibited at Philadelphia in 1876 by Minton, of England. [Illustration: FIG. 79.--_Henri-Deux Salt-cellar._]