From the establishment of the manufactory in 1759 by Charles III. until 1803 the styles adopted at Capo di Monte had been followed. At the beginning of this century Dn. Bartolomé Sureda went to Paris to learn the manner in which Sèvres porcelain was made. On his return in 1803 he was appointed director of the works at Buen Retiro and endeavoured to imitate the paste and brilliancy of decoration of Sèvres. Two workmen came over from Paris--Victor Perche, and Vivien. Among the finest specimens of this period of the manufactory are a splendid clock and four vases, two mètres high, with porcelain flowers, which exist in one of the state rooms of the Palace of Madrid. The vases are placed in the four corners of the room. The clock is ornamented with large biscuit figures. A large number of vases exist at the royal Palaces of Madrid, Aranjuez, and Escorial, of Retiro china. They are often finely mounted in gilt bronze with muslin or porcelain flowers. The blue of the imitations of Wedgwood is not so pure, nor is the biscuit work so fine as the English. Gold is often added to these specimens. We find at the archives of the Ministry of Finance interesting details of a dinner service made in 1798 for Charles IV., and a centre-piece, which probably is that now in the Casa del Labrador at Aranjuez. When the French made their entry into Madrid in the spring of 1808 they took possession of the position occupied by the royal manufactory. In July of the same year it continued in the hands of the French, who forced open the doors of the laboratory. Porcelain continued, however, to be made there during the reign of Joseph I.; we find in "Travels through Spain and part of Portugal," London, 1808, p. 23, that, the author says, "the gardens of the Buen Retiro are open to the public. In the neighbourhood of these the royal porcelain manufacture is carried on in a large white building." Lord Blayney, in his "Narrative of a Journey through Spain and France in 1810-1814," London, 1814, says that "the royal manufactures of tapestry and porcelain have declined since the death of Charles III. and have now entirely ceased." We find in "Paseos por Madrid," Madrid, 1815-8, p. 87, it stated that "The English, at the second entry of our troops in Madrid, ruined this building in order that it should not be used as a fortress by the French troops." Richard Ford, in his "Handbook for Travellers in Spain," London, 1845, says, "Everything was destroyed by the invaders, who turned the manufactory into a fortification, which surrendered with 200 cannon, Aug. 14th, 1812, to the Duke of Wellington. Ferdinand VII., on his restoration, re-created La China, removing the workshops and ware rooms to the Moneloa." The South Kensington Museum contains an interesting collection of Buen Retiro porcelain of different kinds, of which may be named: No. 344-'66. A vase of biscuit porcelain, two-handled, with frieze of classic dancing figures and flowers.