Don Buenaventura Pedro de Alcantara inherited in 1725 the estates belonging to the title of Aranda in the province of Valencia. Count Aranda found that the inhabitants of the village of Alcora made coarse earthenware of every description, and that their vicinity to the sea coast favoured exportation; he determined, therefore, upon establishing in 1726 a manufacture of pottery there, in which fine wares might be made in imitation of those imported from Italy, Germany, France and England. The count's efforts were so successful that in less than two years specimens of different kinds of Alcora pottery were exported to a very large extent. No account has hitherto been published which gives any idea of the importance of this manufactory, nor have the names of the artists who worked there been known, or the works which they executed. Wishing to ascertain this, I applied to the Duchess of Hijar, the present representative of the house of Aranda, and permission was granted me, thanks to the kindness of the Duchess's _Apoderado general_, Sr. Robles, to look through the Archives, where the accounts, contracts, and details of the manufactory are kept. This has enabled me to give an idea of the importance of this industry, and the names of the artists who worked there, which have been ignored until the present time by writers on ceramic art. Count Aranda spent in 1726 about £10,000 in establishing the manufactory of Alcora, and in May, 1727, the first specimens appeared, consisting of pottery made "in the manner of China, Holland, and other localities." The manufactory was at that time under the superintendence of Dn. Joaquin Joseph de Sayas and Joseph Ollery, a Frenchman, chief draughtsman and carver, who was engaged at a good salary in 1726, and brought to Alcora from Moustiers by the painter, Edward Roux. In 1728 Count Aranda increased his salary owing to the "excellent manner in which Ollery has worked at Alcora, the fine and numerous models which he constructed, which have contributed to make my manufacture the first in Spain." Five painters and two modellers from Cataluña and six Valencian painters and two modellers joined these French artists. The personnel of the fabrique was completed with eleven potters from the locality. The French painters, M. Pierre Maurissy and M. Gras, and the master of the modellers, M. Sebastian Carvonel, were engaged in 1728 for two years to work at the manufactory. Ollery only appears in the lists up to 1737. The Count granted him a yearly pension of 500 francs besides his salary, "for his especial zeal in the improvement of the manufactory, and his great skill in directing the construction of every kind of work." From this date until the manufacture of porcelain in 1764, only Spanish artists worked at Alcora.