The pieces are often ornamented with armorials and devices of Francis I., Henri II., and Diane de Poictiers, as well as those of members of the French nobility of about the middle of the sixteenth century. There are jugs, covered cups, biberons, dishes, salts, flower vases, and candlesticks, all curiously put together in sections, and ornamented with impressions from binders’ stamps run in with differently coloured clays. This use of binders’ stamps is unique, and has been made with the utmost skill and taste. Sometimes casts have been made from the stamps so that the impression shows in reversed colours. The ornamentation is like a book-finisher’s work, and several of the same stamps and rolls show on contemporary Italian bookbindings. At that time there was a strong Italian influence both in French as well as in English decorative bookbindings. It has already been supposed that the ware may have been sent as a present to Henri II. from the family of Catherine de Medici, and M. H. Delange even goes so far as to credit Girolamo della Robbia with the work. He, as well as many other Florentine craftsmen, worked in France for Francis I. It is not now likely that any definite knowledge as to the maker of the Saint Porchaire Faience will ever be obtained, but it will always be a notable example of the high decorative importance of binders’ stamps, which are designed upon certain principles, especially with regard to their combination in groups or lines of groups. Attempts to imitate this ware have often been made, but so far they have failed; the original seems to possess qualities and peculiarities that are impossible to imitate closely. Art forgeries are now so common and so excellent that there are really very few things that cannot be copied so exactly that it is difficult to distinguish between the original and the copy, but the Saint Porchaire ware is so far one of the very few things that completely baffle the cleverest artist, and this is largely due to the curious use of the binders’ stamps. Engraved wooden blocks were used in China, Corea, and Japan as early as the sixth century, and quite likely long before. These blocks were cut in the same manner as the European block books, except that type and illustrations were not shown on the same block. In Thibet similar blocks were cut and charms were printed from them. The use of separately engraved types which could be arranged as desired seems to have been known in these countries at about the same time, but it was not so suitable to their then requirements, and so it made no headway. They soon reverted to the simple block engraving as better. No doubt the reason of this was that the number of separate letters that might be required was so great that it was practically prohibitive. The letters both in China and Japan are still mainly in the syllabic stage, and so there are a great number of them. The alphabetical stage is, however, gradually being reached, especially in Japan.