"
A smile of anticipation passed over Theo's face.
"Long ago there lived in France a wealthy woman named Helene
d'Hengest, who was deeply interested in all the arts, and who owned a
beautiful home known as Chateau d'Orion. Here she had a library, a
rather rare possession in those days, and a librarian called
Bernard. Now many persons think that it was this Bernard who was the
maker of the now famous Henri Deux ware, or Faience d'Orion."
"Why should they think that?" questioned Theo.
"Well, there are several excellent reasons," Mr. Croyden
replied. "One is that the ware shows traces of a book-binding
tool. Book-binders, you know, use many small instruments to decorate
or tool their leather. This faience was a ware of natural
cream-colored clay, and upon it was tooled a flat design the hollows
of which were filled in with darker clays that were afterward covered
with a lead glaze. Infinite care and pains had evidently been expended
upon each piece of the ware, such pains that it must have taken much
time to complete even a single article. No manufacturer could have
afforded to do this, and therefore the inference had been drawn that
the pottery was made purely for pleasure by some one who had an
abundance of leisure.
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