ber; they are in fair preservation, exhibiting a remarkable proof of the durable quality of these glazed tiles, and shew how advantageously they might be employed externally for purposes of architectural decoration.

Under the head of personal devices or badges may be noticed the doubleheaded eagle, displayed, surrounded by a circular bordure bezanté (fig. xviii.); this tile was found in 1843 in the wall at the north-east corner of the church, and its date appears to be of the 14th century. The swan displayed, ducally gorged, and chained, adopted as a royal badge in token of descent from the Bohuns, whose device it had been, may be seen here, and also at Little Malvern church. (fig. xix.) The nave of a wheel, with the Stafford knot issuing from it, is likewise found in both churches. (fig. xvi.) Many examples of the introduction of the badge of the Stafford family as a decoration might be cited; it occurs on the gates at Maxtoke Castle, Warwickshire, which are clamped with ornamental iron-work; the tiles fabricated for Thornbury Castle, on which the nave of the wheel appears with flames issuing therefrom, have recently served as one of the ancient examples selected for imitation, according to the very successful revival of the process of making decorative pavements at the works of Messrs. Barr, and St. John, at Worcester.

On one tile, now much defaced, may be discerned a bird apparently standing on an heraldic wreath, as if intended for a crest; if the conjecture be correct, that it represents a pelican, it is doubtless the memorial of some member of the ancient family of the Lechmeres, of Hanley Castle, who had contributed to the fabric of the church of Great Malvern. Another benefactor, whose name arrests the eye with more than common interest, is commemorated by the figure of a talbot seiant, with the legend, Sir John Talbot (fig. xiii.); this tile occurs also at Leigh, and in other neighbouring churches.

I have been informed that a tile, formerly to be seen in the choir, was charged with the armorial bearings of the Lygons of Madresfield, and that it is now in the possession of Lord Beauchamp. I have not been able to

ascertain the fact. It has also been stated that the table tomb on which the ancient effigy, now placed in the north transept, is laid, was formerly faced with tiles, amongst which was to be found the bearing of Corbet. this, or some equally vague and untenable conjecture, this effigy has been assigned to a member of that family.

On

A few personal devices may merit attention, such as the monogram composed of the interlaced letters R and E, (fig. xii.) which is possibly the memorial of Richard de Estone, Prior of Malvern, who died 1300; this tile may also be seen at Leigh, and in other churches. On the inscribed circular bordure are the words In te d'ne f... (? speravi). A single tile, now wholly defaced, exhibited the curious canting device of Tydeman de Winchcomb, Bishop of Worcester, 1395-1401. It represents a sort of capstan, with a rope wound around, bars being inserted at intervals for the purpose of turning it, and a large comb; this whimsical expression of the name Winch-comb is surmounted by the mitre and pastoral staff. The same device is thus noticed by Anthony Wood as existing at Oxford: "The farthermost lodging at Gloucester Hall did one Winchcomb build, but I rather thinke that one Compton did build it, for there is a perfect allusion of his name, viz. a combe and a ton; and that he was a bishop, I suppose, because there is a miter over the aforesaid allusion." (Hearne, Liber Niger, App. ii. 584.) The occurrence of the device of this prelate at Great Malvern is in some measure explained by the fact of his grant to the Priory, regarding the appropriation of the church of Upton Snodbury, in consideration of hospitalities exercised by the monks; the particulars are given by Thomas in his Hist. of Malvern, and Nash, Hist. Worc. II. 440.

Two singular tiles form the memorial of an individual whose initials IN appear on both ; in one instance surrounded by the pious aspiration, ffiat misericordia tua domine sup' nos, (according to thy mercy be it done to us, O Lord, fig. viii.) and the other gives apparently a clue to the name, by the canting device of a heart transfixed by three nails (fig. xv.) The inscription modum sperauimus (too

much have we hoped) appears on the bordure. It has been suggested to me by an obliging correspondent, that the monogram 1 N, introduced in various parts of Bristol cathedral, denotes Abbot John Newland, elected 1481, and that the place of his birth, from which his name was taken, was possibly Newland, the chapelry adjoining to Great Malvern, part of the possessions of the Priory. Although the tiles have the appearance of being of a somewhat earlier date, and the obvious intention of the device would be Nail-heart, a name which occurs in these parts of England, I cannot wholly reject the supposition that these little memorials may appertain to Abbot Newland.

I can offer no satisfactory explanation of the tile, pl. i. fig. vi. The scutcheons are evidently humble imitations of heraldry, presenting the implements of the artizan or the husbandman, the axe and hammer, and so forth. The sacred monograms ibe and rpc appear in intervening spaces, and the inscription Benedictus deus in donis suis (blessed be God in his gifts) runs along the margin. May not these representations of the implements of rural toil have been fanciful bearings assumed by some local gild or fraternity in humble life, whose unostentatious contribution to the fabric of God's house was recorded by this simple memorial stamped with the aspiration of pious gratefulness?

There are some small tiles here, as also in the north aisle of the Lady Chapel at Worcester cathedral, which may possibly present the marks or initials of the artificers by whom these pavements were fabricated. On one at Malvern may be noticed the letters,

WHIL

LAR

on another, the letters s and w, unless the latter be a fanciful device or symbol. The occasional introduction of inscriptions, formed with small tiles, each stamped with a single letter, has been already noticed; an example, curious on account of its late date, formerly existed at Malvern, of which the two letters BO, large Roman capitals, impressed on the clay, and filled in with white earth, precisely according to the ancient method of fabrication, still exist. An undeniable evi

dence is hereby afforded that this process of producing fictile decorations had not been totally disused in Worcestershire as late as 1640. When Cole visited Malvern church, June 25, 1746, the inscription, of which these letters formed a part, was perfect: it marked the resting-place of an incumbent of the parish. Cole notices the ancient effigy, now placed in the north transept, which then lay near the wall, under the window nearest the east end of the south aisle of the choir. Adjoining to this, as he states, lay a black marble slab to the memory of Francis Moreton, 1714, and close to this, on the north, was this inscription, on tiles, all round the verge of a grave;

HERE LYETH THE BODY OF EDMUND REA LATE VICAR OF MUCH MALVERNE DECEASED THE 23 OF DEC. ANNO DO. 1640. (Cole's MSS. vol. x. 126.) Numerous are the varieties of elegant and elaborate design, presenting no sacred or commemorative allusion, which may still be distinguished on the defaced and neglected tiles in the church of Malvern. In some instances, complete sets of these may still be seen in the choir at Gloucester cathedral, the work of Abbot Sebrok, which presents the most striking example that exists of pavements of this kind, executed during the fifteenth century. It appears probable that the Malvern manufactory supplied this and numerous other similar decorations, of which traces are found in churches of the adjacent counties. It may interest some natives of Worcestershire to be reminded, that from an early period this manufacture had flourished in the county, as appears by the discoveries of kilns, previously noticed. The more choice and elegant productions of the porcelain works of later times are far more generally attractive, but those who care to investigate the progressive industry of their forefathers will not overlook the singular fact, that from the period when the red ware, usually termed Samian, introduced by the Romans into Britain, had ceased to be used, until the times of the renaissance, when the tasteful maiolica of the Italians was imported from Venice, and the use of pottery, as one of the elegancies of life, had been introduced by intercourse with

France during the reign of Henry VIII., these pavement-tiles are the sole productions of fictile art, properly to be called decorative, which appear to have been used in our country.

The tiles at Great Malvern appear to be of two periods only; a few, the remains of the pavements of the more ancient structure, are of the time termed in architecture the Decorated period; the remainder appear to have been fabricated about 1450, at the time when the church was rebuilt. The work was probably commenced by Prior John Malverne, whose liberality was recorded in the window on the north side of the choir, nearest the east end. Its advance appears to have been slow, for the consecration of the altars in the choir and transepts of the new church did not take place until 1460; the construction of the clerestory of the nave and the great west window was probably subsequent to that period. The tiles of the earlier date measure, in most instances, 5 in. square, the later examples 6 in.; some fine square tiles of unusual dimension may be seen in the north aisle of the nave; they measure 9 in. square, and 24 in thickness.

One more fact remains to be noticed in regard to the use of fictile ornaments as accessories to sacred architecture; the only example of the kind, hitherto recorded, has been found at Great Malvern. In the spring of 1843 a portion of a cross, fashioned in clay, well burned and glazed, was found

by a person digging in the garden adjoining the east end of the church. It measures about 14 in. across the arms, the foot being shaped, suitably for insertion in a socket, for the purpose of fixing the cross in some elevated position. Having occasion to go upon the roof of the church, during the progress of some repairs, I noticed on one of the original ridge-tiles of the roof of the choir a projection, which on closer view proved to be a socket prepared to receive the foot of such an or. nament as the cross in question. There can be little doubt that a crest thus formed originally ran along the whole length of the ridge; the ridge-tiles were deeply serrated in the spaces intervening between the larger ornaments, which were thus affixed by means of tenons and sockets. The effect of such a crest, in breaking the straight regularity of the outline of the roof as seen against the sky, must have been admirable. It may be observed that the representation of the church, and buildings of the monastery, which may be seen in the curious window on the north side of the choir, wherein the principal circumstances of the foundation of the Priory are commemorated, exhibit the decorative crest running along the ridge of the roof. It is surprising that so effective an expedient for producing, at a very small cost, a decoration not less durable than pleasing to the eye, should not have been adopted in modern times.

Yours, &c. ALBERT WAY.

within Versailles. The same reason that has led to their exclusion has prompted the omission of pictures commemorating the principal civil scenes of that disastrous epoch; and, perhaps, the less such horrible atrocities, and the countenances of their authors, are brought to public recollection the better. There is nothing to admire in them, nothing to imitate : that page of the history of France is to be read only as a dreadful record of the madness and the vices of a dissolute nation; an awful instance of the consequences of bad administration by

the governing, and of national immorality on the part of the governed. It is not intended to notice the portraits of the period subsequent to Louis XIV., and the concluding remarks of these papers will be confined to those of the brilliant reign of this monarch, and that of his predecessor.

There are several excellent portraits of Louis XIII., including a contemporaneous one, on horseback, at the age of seven years, and another at the age of ten, the painters being un. known. The finest portraits of this king are those by Philippe de Champagne in the Louvre, of which there are only copies at Versailles; but there is a remarkable picture here, by Gaspard Crayer, of Louis XIII. and Ferdinand IV. king of Bohemia, a good specimen of that master's style. Of the second son of Henri IV., who, though duke of Orleans, was never christened, only baptized, and who died in 1611, in his fifth year, there is one pleasing portrait preserved in this collection; but of his next brother, Gaston-Jean-Baptiste de France, Duke of Orleans, and Regent of the kingdom after his brother's death, there are several excellent pictures. Some are copies of fine Vandycks, others are by contemporary painters not named in the catalogue: one represents him in full Roman costume with a flowing grey wig, and, though well painted, produces by this contrast a truly lu. dicrous effect. Philippe de Champagne has painted a first-rate picture of Anne of Austria while Regent; there is another of the same Queen by an unnamed artist of the Spanish school; and two valuable pictures of her Majesty, with the two royal children, Louis XIV. and Philip of France, afterwards Duke of Orleans. One of these pictures represents the Queen on her knees with her children, assisted by St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, his sister, all praying to the Virgin Mary, and placing under her protection the crown of France, in compliance with the well-known vow of Louis XIII. This is the work of Philippe de Champagne, and in his best style, exceedingly rich and brilliant in colouring, at the same time that it is harmonious in tone. The same master has here one of his magnificent portraits of the Cardinal de Richelieu: it is a three-quarter canvass,

full of all the best points of art, and well worthy of study.

Most of the great lords and ladies of the court of Louis XIII. are portrayed in this collection by contemporaneous hands: among them two of the best pictures are those of Henri de Senecey, Marquis de Bauffremont, and Marie de Senecey, his sister, Duchesse de Randan, and governess to Louis XIV.; they are charming productions of art.

Of the portraits of the distinguished savans of that period, the best is one of Galileo, by Francisco Boschi, a bold, masterly picture. There are several good canvasses in this part of the collection by Sebastian Bourdon, Vouet, &c.; one of Rubens, by a painter not named, but probably one of his pupils, is worthy of attention. It appears to be a copy of his own famous picture, with the large black hat, the eyes looking to the right, and the hair made out in great detail.

We now come upon a rather numerous series of European princes and statesmen who flourished in the time of Louis XIII. One of the best pictures is the portrait of Philip IV. of Spain, very much in the style of Velasquez, but probably by some less eminent member of the Spanish school. Near it is a capital work of Gaspard Crayer, the portrait of Ferdinand of Spain, third son of Philip III. He was made a Cardinal, and went by the title of the Cardinal-Infante; but nevertheless gave himself up to military pursuits, and fought with the imperial armies in the Netherlands. We must not omit to notice a most masterly portrait of Antony Triest, Bishop of Ghent; the name of the painter is not known, but it possesses a breadth and vigour which would make us look upon it as a Rubens if its colouring were more mellow. It may probably be an early Vandyck. There is a little gem in this room, by Vandyck himself, the only one mentioned in the catalogue as being undoubtedly from his pencil; a portrait of Thomas de Savoie, Prince de Carignan, who commanded the French armies in Italy A.D. 1643-55. The picture is only sketched in with bistre and white; but it is a splendid sketch, and valuable to any one who would carefully study the works of that great

master.

We find one picture of Charles I. of England in this gallery: it is a contemporaneous one by an unknown hand, not of much value as a work of art, but curious from its representing the king with features less strongly marked than in the picture by Vandyck. It must have been taken in the early part of his reign. While, however, there is such an absence of portraiture with regard to this unfortunate monarch, the gallery is rich in beautiful likenesses of his amiable and excellent queen. Of these there is one taken in about the twenty-fifth year of her age in a white dress, and another in red, with the Vandyck cuffs at the wrists, both by artists not named, and the latter said to be a copy of one by Sir P. Lely. But the best portrait of the queen, certainly the best picture that has ever borne her name, and one of the finest works of art at Versailles, is a half length in black by an unknown hand. It represents the Queen at the age of about sixteen, the time of her marriage, and shows her to have had that lovely dignity of countenance, combined with a patient mildness of expression, which always hovered around her features. The manner in which the subject is executed is masterly in the highest degree, especially the treatment of the eyes and the forehead, where a few curls playing upon its ivory surface cast a richly tinted shadow upon the skin. We have never seen any engraving of this picture, and we recommend it most strongly to the notice of all visitors of Versailles; its number is 2079 in the general catalogue. To us, who are warm sympathisers with that illustrious lady and all her descendants in their unmerited misfortunes, this picture has formed a point of riveted attraction by the hour together.

In the same room there is a very striking portrait of Oliver Cromwell, by whom is not said, but evidently a contemporaneous picture of great vigour, and valuable for its details. It is placed in a wretched light by the side of a window, but can be readily examined. The drawing and expression closely resemble those of the portrait in crayons at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. A beautiful pic ture of Prince Edward of Bavaria, by an unknown artist, stands opposite to GENT. MAG, VOL. XXII.

the last named portrait, and a still better one of his brother Philip (by Vandyck ?) is placed at its side. There are two good copies of Vandyck's, probably by his pupils, portraits of Prince Rupert and of Charles Louis elector of Bavaria, which complete the series of portraits of this family. About the same part of the room is a remarkable picture of Christina of Sweden, surrounded by the French nobles of the time, listening to Descartes, who is demonstrating a geometrical problem; it is by Dumesnil. Close to it is a large and masterly head of the same queen by a contemporary artist, not named in the catalogue.

The heads of Sebastian Bourdon by himself, of L. Testelin the painter and engraver by C. Lebrun, and of the Chancellor Seguier by H. Testelin, are all well worthy of careful remark.

The golden age of Louis XIV. occupies some large rooms with the portraits of its principal characters, and constitutes one of the most interesting portions of the collection. Nearly all the portraits are here genuine, nearly all contemporaneous, and most of them admirable as works of art. Their state of preservation is in general excellent, and the brilliant mass of warm colour which they present cannot fail of immediately attracting the notice of the connoisseur. There is a good whole-length likeness of Louis XIV. at the age of 9, by H. Testelin; and two splendid portraits taken at a later period by Philippe de Champagne: one of these in particular, at the end of the room, No. 145, is the best of the younger likenesses of the king. There are numerous other portraits of the Grand Monarque in the state apartments and various parts of the palace; but we now speak only of the collection in this upper suite of rooms. One of Philip, Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis, painted by Matthieu, senior, in 1665, is a good picture; the portrait is in a medallion held by Henrietta his duchess, habited as Minerva. Close by these two pictures is a charming likeness of Henrietta herself, the universal favourite of her family and the French court, and whose sudden death still remains a mystery even to those best read in the history of the times. This princess, like only very few of the Stuarts, had

F