Belgium, in at least two of the seats of its ceramic wares, has been closely allied with France. From Antwerp, the great centre of Belgian art, issued majolica of Italian styles in blue and yellow, violet and green, and another quality after the Oriental porcelain patterns. Toward the middle of the seventeenth century, if not earlier, Antwerp was in close relations with France. Tournay was of French origin in so far as its faience is concerned, and it was not until its workshop passed into the hands of Peterynck, of Lille, that it rose to eminence. The pieces attributed to it show a compound of Rouennais, Flemish, and Chinese decoration. Brussels had carried the art in 1761 to such a height, that its faience was said to be preferable to that of Delft and Rouen, with which it is possible it may sometimes be confounded by collectors. At Tervueren, near the capital, some pieces still in existence were made which are decorated with wreaths and bouquets and armorial bearings executed in colors of moderate purity. HOLLAND. [Illustration: Fig. 285.--Delft Blue-and-white. Eighteenth Century. Chinese Style. Height, 17½ in. (Mrs. John V. L. Pruyn Coll.)] For our present purpose, all Holland may be said to be comprised in the single town of Delft. Its works date from 1310, and may be divided into two eras, that preceding the making of “porcelain,” and that during and after the fabrication miscalled by that name. The Delft faience is thin and hard, and was decorated with landscapes and scenes by the best painters of the time. It was made into tiles, large plaques, baskets, vases, statuettes, and many other forms. Toward the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries, when the Dutch were laying the foundation of their trade with Japan, the fine quality of faience, which has never been equalled by any other country, began to be produced. We find this imitation of Oriental porcelain officially recognized in 1614, and for a hundred and fifty years it was currently referred to as porcelain. In reality it was a fine faience, modelled and decorated after the peculiar forms and patterns with which their trade with Japan had made the Dutch almost exclusively familiar. The paste, which consisted chiefly of the clay of Bruyelle, near Tournay, was skilfully mixed with sand and carefully manipulated. The sand made it hard, and gave it a capacity for being wrought into thin pieces suitable for table services. The bluish enamel was perfectly smooth and even; and the decoration, chiefly in blue and iron-red, after the Oriental designs, imparted to it much of the appearance of Japanese porcelain. [Illustration: Fig. 286.--Delft Blue-and-white. Eighteenth Century. Size, 21 in. by 18 in. (Mrs. John V. L. Pruyn Coll.)]