Just when the Moors went to work to make their tiles and their lustred dishes, we do not know. But as ornamental tiles--_azulejos_--were used to decorate their walls, we conclude that the production began almost at once. These tiles were not only used in bands or strips on the walls; they were also used as pavements, and the floors of the Alhambra were glittering with them, some few of which still remain there.
Mr. Ford's description of them, thus quoted by Marryat, says: "Moorish very fine, and most ancient; surface plain, painted and enameled blue; the elaborate designs in gold lustre. The inscription on the shield is the well-known motto of the Mussulman founders of the palace of Granada: 'There is no conqueror but God.' The date of its manufacture may be placed about 1300."
[Illustration: FIG. 59.--_From the Alhambra._]
Our engraving of one of these tiles (Fig. 59) gives a good representation of the design, but it cannot, of course, express the color. No one can fail to see how far away it is from the commonplace and the ordinary geometric patterns into which the dull man invariably falls; no one can fail to be struck with the simple intricacy which interests, we cannot tell why.
Another remarkable piece of their work is _The Vase of the Alhambra_ (Fig. 60), one of the most beautiful and most interesting vases anywhere known. This is sometimes called "La Jarra," and is figured in Owen Jones's "Alhambra," where will be found much more that is worthy of attention. This is supposed to have been made about 1320. I take the description from Marryat's work: "It is of earthen-ware; the ground white, the ornaments either blue of two shades, or of that gold or copper lustre so often found in Spanish and Italian pottery. This beautiful specimen of Moorish workmanship, which is four feet three inches in height, was discovered, with another similar to it, beneath the pavement of the Alhambra, and is said to have been filled with gold. It was copied in 1842, at the manufactory of Sèvres, from drawings made in Spain by Dauzats." It has since been copied by Deck, of Paris.
[Illustration: FIG. 60.--_The Vase of the Alhambra._]
_Malaga_ was probably the place where the best of the Moorish work was made, and there the manufacture continued for centuries. At Valencia faiences were afterward largely produced, as they are still.