"The very same. He made great blue and white enameled tiles for wall decoration too; figures of babies and children, as well as whole altars fashioned entirely from this beautiful enamel. Whether he used a plumbiferous, or lead glaze; or a stanniferous, or tin glaze, we do not know. Probably it was of tin. But the important fact is that he got a fine durable surface, very shiny and very hard, which wrought a revolution in pottery-making. If you visit Florence some time you can still see set in the walls of some of the public buildings the identical enameled terra cottas made by Luca della Robbia." "I'd like to see them." "Then tell your dad to take you to Italy after this war is over. We will pray that Germany may spare these art works of the world." Mr. Croyden did not speak for a moment; then he said: "And while you are remembering so many things remember in addition that the word _glaze_ comes from the term _glassing_ or _glazing_, which means putting a coating of glass over the surface. Of course the covering is not really glass, but it is hard and shiny, and so people used to think it was. Some day I will tell you more about the different kinds of glazes." "So it was the Italians who gave Europe its glazed pottery and porcelain," remarked Theo. "Not alone the Italians," protested Mr. Croyden, "although they helped. Somebody else had a share in the discovery--somebody very far away from Italy. It was the knowledge of the Italians combined with the skill of this other distant nation that gave to Europe the perfect product." "What nation was that?" demanded Theo. "The Dutch." "The Dutch!" "Yes. You see at this time the Dutch were great traders, and it was while the nation was at the height of its commercial glory that the Dutch began bringing from China shipments of Chinese porcelain. Portuguese traders had also brought some of it into Europe, so in these two ways the beautiful blue and white ware we know so well was introduced to the Continent. "The Portuguese were content to import it; they never attempted to copy either the pottery or the porcelain. But the Dutch were more ambitious. As early as 1300 they began experimenting with glazed pottery. To the knowledge of glaze which they got from Italy they added all they could find out about the making of Chinese wares. They learned that the blue color the Chinese got came from oxide of cobalt, which would melt and mingle with the glaze when exposed to a high temperature; they also learned a little--a very little, of the clay. As a result they began to turn out a blue and white pottery known as Delft, which they soon made in great quantities and sold to European nations at a much lower price than imported Chinese potteries and porcelains could be bought." Mr. Croyden bent forward and tossed a small log upon the fire.