The red in it is almost as vivid as sealing-wax, and it has
a wonderful polish not unlike that on modern Egyptian ware. No one has
ever been able to discover from what clay this marvelous pottery was
made. Some historians think the ware was first made by wandering
Greek artisans. The Romans also made a very beautiful black ware now
known as Upchurch pottery because of the location in England in which
it was found. This black color, scientists have decided, was not
produced by mixing a pigment with the clay as did the Greeks, but
resulted from an ingenious use of oxide of iron which, when burned by
a reducing fire, turned black; the Romans also gave us Castor ware, a
pottery moulded from a dark clay and having on it figures traced in a
lighter color."
"Did anybody else in Europe make as beautiful pottery as the Greeks
and Romans?" inquired Theo.
"Perhaps not so beautiful," answered Mr. Croyden. "Yet before we hear
either of Greek or Roman we find the Egyptians and Assyrians, nations
famous for their skill in the arts as well as their prowess in war,
making pottery and tiles. These have been preserved to us in tombs
and pyramids, for these races, you know, were accustomed to pay great
honor to their dead.
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