We need not here repeat a history we have already elsewhere written under various titles. The reader anxious to study in detail everything connected with this interesting branch of art is therefore referred to those works. What we should like to point out in this place is the exact part that vases ought to play in a luxuriously furnished residence, and how porcelain and faience collections may be most tastefully disposed. Our first advice is not to mix promiscuously together different classes to the detriment of all. Faience, for instance, always more bulky and less refined in its forms and ornamentations, should not be associated with porcelain, which is naturally more delicate and brilliant in its tones. The old "epis" made at Pre-d'Auge are suitable for a vestibule; the vases "da pompa," of Italian maiolica, may stand as ornaments on high pieces of furniture, such as a book-case, or adorn the walls of a dining-room. The bold forms of the hanaps of Palissy, of the drinking-vases of Urbino, or the "broccas" of Ferrara, are well adapted to the proximity of etageres adorned with fine specimens of the goldsmith's art, and the walls may then be decked with large plates in relief, or with subjects painted by Xanto, Fontana, Maestro Giorgio, and other illustrious maiolica painters. Here also may be hung up the sober products of Rouen, Nevers, Moustiers, and other French manufacturers, or even the brilliant specimens of the "famille verte" and the "famille rose" of the Chinese; the delicate productions of Japan being reserved for the etageres and glazed cabinets.

Even in the case of a homogenous collection, the same general rules must be attended to. Faience will harmonise perfectly with hangings of any light absorbing material, such as cloth, and we have seen a most excellent effect produced by a madder background. Damask of a garnet or deep-red colour associates admirably with porcelains, and we have been shown a cabinet of this colour hung with a sort of silver net-work in large meshes, enabling the objects to be hung up and fixed without the least difficulty. Nothing more was needed than a hook attached to one of the corners of the net, by which means any particular piece could be at once shown and examined.

Large dark-green porcelain Vase, of truite or fine crackle enamel. (Collection of II. Barbct de Jony.l.

We may add that faience ware is the natural complement of furniture of carved wood of the Mediaeval or Renaissance periods, while Italian maiolicas find their appropriate place on the credence tables and cabinets inlaid with marble or ivory.

The porcelain of Sevres and Saxony also have their place clearly marked out in a tastefully furnished apartment. If the style be unmistakably a Louis XV. suite, the girandole, with flowers, the twisted vases of Dresden will show to the best advantage upon the mantel-pieces, the consoles and encoignures. Bronze associates excellently with these brilliant creations, and candelabra with flowers, or even with subjects, harmonise perfectly with undulated ornamental marquetry work, and capricious "rocailles".

In our opinion, the Sevres porcelains are less suitable for this style. Their delicacy renders them more adapted to the simpler furniture of the Louis XVI. period. The corners arranged in the elegant etageres, and the bonheurs du jour seem invented on purpose to receive the little vases with turquoise ground, the "trembleuses" with their amorini, and the jewelled cups relieved with enamel pearls.

The larger pieces, again, those rare treasures so difficult to acquire, will find their place among the chased bronzes of Gouthiere and his school. Their creamy glaze, exquisitely ornamented, is needed to endure the proximity of those girandoles treated with the care of goldsmith's work, and relieved with delicate acanthus foliage, like finished gems. The composition of these chimney-pieces, adorned with porcelain flowers, or of luxuriant consoles, no longer presents any mystery. The question now is to bring together their various and rare component elements. In his "Journal de Lazare Duvaux," M. Courajod writes as follows on the subject:- "This extravagant taste [for porcelain] causes an entire flora to burst into blossom. Complete parterres, with all their various plants, were turned out of the Vincennes furnaces, and were quickened into life under the hands of skilful craftsmen, who forged a bronze vegetation for those flowers in enamel." Duvaux took an active part in this fashionable movement, which consisted in strewing porcelain bouquets on the lustres, branches and girandoles, introducing them into every part of the furniture. Remembering who those were that ordered him to mount these flowers of Vincennes, and examining the descriptions of the pieces produced by him, we may confidently say that Duvaux was one of the first to manufacture these branches, either gilded in ormolu or varnished au naturel, those plants of twisted wire, and artificial bouquets, which for a time gave to apartments the appearance of gardens or hothouses. Nothing was wanted to complete the illusion, not even the natural fragrance artificially imparted to those bouquets.

It is quite possible that at its first appearance the fashion for porcelain flowers was exaggerated ; but it is at least certain that there is nothing more charming than those groups, whose elegance admirably relieves furniture of mahogany with ormolu mountings and brocatella marbles, whose delicacy would appear unequal to bear any other weight except that of flowers.

Japanese porcelain Plate, ornamented with the symbolic Crane. (Collection of A. Jacquemart.).

As we have elsewhere anticipated, Oriental Ceramics are a valuable addition to our decorative materials. The exceptional size of certain pieces,. the vigorous composition and the noble and severe elegance of others, render the Chinese and Japanese vases almost indispensable accessories to certain furniture. What could harmonise so well with the Boule marquetry work as those voluminous ornaments, sparkling with the splendour of gold, bright iron-red, and deep blue. Those enormous porcelain jars (potiches), and slender beakers, where the bouquets of ornamental flowers and draperies of the most vivid patterns, relieve the dead white or bluish glaze, are assuredly the only Ceramic creations capable of sustaining, without being crushed, the proximity of copper and tortoise-shell inlay-work.

These porcelains also afford the best relief to lacquer cabinets, and most effectively brighten up the corners of a sumptuous apartment, by attracting the rays of light. When we see the part played by the gigantic Chinese and Indian vases in the hotels of M. Edouard Andre, M. Barbet de Jouy, and those of the Rothschild family, we cease to be astonished at the enthusiasm with which they were hailed when first introduced from the East by adventurous traders. At present, they have become extremely rare, and the last brought to light had to be sought in the Portuguese palaces, where they had been hidden away for upwards of two centuries.

Vase of old Vineennes, soft paste porcelsin, with flowers in relief. (Collection of L. Double.).

We have still to examine the part that may be played by Oriental porcelain in the service of the table. It must be admitted that nothing brings out the elegance of the goldsmith's work and the crystal purity of the Bohemian glass more effectively than the showy, bright and harmonious colours of Chinese porcelain. The almost absolute impossibility of any longer bringing together a sufficiently complete uniform set, does but enhance the charm of a service, the various pieces of which, all borrowed from an analogous style, add variety to the graceful effect of the whole. We accordingly often see on princely tables a Chinese dessert service succeed the modern porcelain marked with the family cipher or arms. Complete sets can of course be found only in the kinds of comparatively modern, bespoken in India or Japan during the last century. They are then found with the soup tureens, the various classes of vegetable and side dishes, and the sets of plate-suitable for each course. We confess to a preference for tables varied with diverse patterns, in which scenes with figures, bouquets, and different allegorical subjects are continually challenging attention, while often stimulating the curiosity of the guest.

We will pass over the services of Sevres, for, apart from some fortunate persons who have formed them at distant periods, who can now hope to possess one? Those of the Rothschild family, or the so-called Buffon service belonging to M. Leopold Double, should be seen in order to form an idea of the sympathetic luxury that conjures up a table alive with all the memories of an era of taste and genius. Here we have the monogram of the favourite artist in her time, one of the most potent patronesses of the royal factory at Sevres; there the cipher of the polished bishop of Strasburg, the Rohan who became famous by a state trial of lasting interest; elsewhere, the armorial bearings of the Maupertuis, of the Mazade, etc. Large bowls and rafraichissoirs (Menteiths) now filled with sweet-smelling flowers give a charm to the table, which the gold or silver plate would be powerless to impart without these happy accompaniments.