Note 173 — Chapter XVII · THE SOFT-PASTE PORCELAIN OF FRANCE SAINT-CLOUD—LILLE—CHANTILLY—MENNECY—PARIS—VINCENNES—SÈVRES.

The extreme limits for this mark are 1712-62, but Chaffers says it was not used before 1730, according to another authority not before 1735. De Frasnay, in a note to his curious little poem in praise of fayence (1735), says: ‘le secret du beau rouge n’est guère connu en France que d’un très petit nombre de personnes.’ The point is of interest in connection with the origin of the famille rose in China. We may here note that the minute quantity of gold—the source of all these pink and purple colours—is not necessarily introduced in the form of the tin salt, the purple of Cassius. But this difficult question will be best treated in connection with the history of glass.