A recent visitor to the workshop of Haviland & Co., near Paris, where much of their faience is painted, thus describes what he saw: “While in Paris, I studied the way in which the vases are painted, and was surprised to find what an amount of care is expended upon them. They demand more exact treatment than China or English faience. The artist works as if the material were canvas. A bouquet of flowers, for instance, is minutely painted, and the shades of the grounds are all carefully studied. Nothing is left to chance. During the process of firing everything fuses, and it is then that the appearance of boldness is produced. If a vase were painted, as on a cursory examination it appears to be, with a bold brush and careless hand, the result would be a mere daub of no value. The peculiar talent of the artists consists in producing an effect of boldness and carelessness with a great deal of work and a close imitation of nature. Could all the work actually bestowed upon one of these vases, and as it can be seen before firing, be seen after firing, the faience of Limoges would resemble that of England or any other pottery which is painted on the glaze. But the process is different, and after the firing the detail of the work melts away, leaving behind that fascinating harmony of colors which has never before been produced on any pottery. Nothing has as yet been invented to replace work and care; and when anything you may see presents something pleasing, be certain that both have been lavished upon it. No writing or music seems so easy to imitate as that which cannot be imitated; and it is the part of a good author to conceal the method he employs.” There are now in the Smithsonian Institute at Washington three pieces of Haviland faience which may be taken as exemplifying much of what has been said. These are the Memorial Vases (Fig. 238) and Bracquemond’s tile-piece allegorizing Human Progress. Let us take the vases first. They are the joint productions of MM. Bracquemond, designer, and Delaplanche, sculptor, and are intended to commemorate the Centennial of American Independence. The broad and easily understood conception is intensely American, and was, in fact, due to American inspiration. They fitly stand in the capital, not only as lasting memorials of the hundredth anniversary of America’s entrance into the great commonwealth of nations, but as a congratulatory compliment from the ceramic artists of France.