CHINESE PORCELAIN IN WEST
received certain porcelain vases from the ruler of Persia
in 1487. The maritime laws of Barcelona, dating from
the same epoch, also show that porcelain was among the
objects imported from Egypt. At a still earlier date,
1440, Jean de Village, a commercial agent of Jacques
Cur, was employed by the Sultan of Babylon to
carry three bowls and a plate of Chinese porcelain
to Charles VII. Great interest is said to have been
excited in France by these objects, and it can scarcely
be doubted that little time was suffered to elapse before
a fresh supply of similar pieces was procured.
On the other hand, the difficulty or trafficking in
such a fragile material has to be remembered: the
Cape of Good Hope route had not yet been discovered,
and Oriental porcelain coming to Europe must
have been transported on the backs of camels across
the desert. The information that one might expect
to derive from catalogues of early collections is
greatly obscured by the double signification attaching
to the term "porcelain." When, indeed, mention is
made of vases, plates, dishes, and goblets of "porcelain"
with handles, covers, and so forth of silver or
gilt bronze, it is scarcely possible to imagine that the
material of which these pieces were manufactured
could have had anything to do with shell. Nevertheless,
there are obstacles to full belief in M. du
Sartel's conclusion that "porcelain," or keramic productions
of the Orient, constituted an important item
in the collections of European virtuosi from the middle
of the fourteenth century. The decorative designs
on several of the specimens described in the
catalogues quoted by M. du Sartel are essentially
European. Some of these designs are on the metal
mountings of the specimens, but some appear to be
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