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Eaftttn Coaft o f the Bay o f Napks , were famous for tbeir drinking
Vafes . Modena made fome alfo , but , thefe o f Jdria were the mojt
durable : Cuma in Campania , as well as Reggio in Calabria , were
praifed for their manufaBures ; there were fome alfo at Saguntum m
Spain , at Pergamos in Afia , as well as in the ijland o f Samos ,
at Erytrea a Town o f Ionia , and at Tralles manufaBures had flourished
; but thofe o f Coos furpaffed all the others.
Tbefe Vafes were become the objeB o f a very great Commerce
(9) by fea and -by land , which fuppofes , that the manufaBures from
whence they came , mufl have been greatly employ’d , that o f courfe
, their Vafes were very common , in ufe almoft every where , and
o f ’ a price purchafable in proportion to the very great number : tbefe
could not therefore be the manufaBures , that produced thofe Earthen
Vafes , which according to Pliny were dearer than even the Murrhine
Vafes (10) ; that which Petronius broke before be died , to prevent
its falling into the hands o f Nero , had coft ( 1 1 ) three hundred
talents ; one may judge hy the greatnefs o f the fum , that , thefe
Vafes and thofe o f Earthen Ware compared to them , could not have
lorn fo high a price , had they not been extremely fcarce , which
could never have been at leaft with refpeB to the latter , i f there
were fourteen manufaBures employed in the making them ; it is then
certain , that Pliny means to fpeak o f Earthen Ware Vafes , much
more Ancient than thofe o f his time : but as their Antiquity alone
would not have been fufficient to have raifed them to fo exorbitant
a price , befides they would have been like thofe which they then
made , ’it is abfolutely to be beleivd , that , the one were far fupe-
riour ’to the others ; that , the moft precious had fomething peculiar
i'n their execution , which diftinguished them from thofe that were lefs
fo , and inshort , that they were fuch , that however defirous people
might he o f gaining greatly by counterfeiting them , they could not
arrive at the imitation o f them.
I f
fi,'! Hac qmqui f ,r mma tm f q a t , « h o ci. ( 10 ) Umoiam m p m n h hxccrU , M etiam
m q .lp o , rm m - . n h Hiß . Non B . 1 Í - « f A f ia > B pH r s confient q «m Mnrrbma. Idem.
m os; A f t i en P iém o n t, Pollentia qui é toit fur les bords du Tanaro,
& Surrento qui exifte encore fur le r iv ag e Oriental du G o lp h e de
N ap le s , étoient renommées par leurs Vafes à b o ir e . Alodene en faifo
it auffi , mais ceux d’ A d r ia étoient les plus, durables . Cumes en
Campanie demême que R e g g io en .C a lab re tiro ien t beaucoup de gloire
de leurs fabriques; on t ro u v o it à Sagiinte en Efpagne à Pergame en
A fie , ainfi que dans l ’isle de Samos , à E ry tre v ille d’ Ionie & à
Tralles des maïuifaftures qui s’étoient rendues recommandables , mais
c ’étoient celles de Co os qui l ’emportoient fur toutes les a u t r e s .
Ces Vafes étoient devenus l’objet d’un très grand commerce (9) par
terre & par m e r ,c e qui fuppofe que les manufaêlures d’où ils fortoient
devoient être fo r t occupées , que pa r conféquent leurs produélions
étoient fo r t communes, employées prefque par-tout & d’un p r ix qui
p u t les faire achetter du plus grand nombre ; ce n’étoient donc pas
elles qui fabriquoient ces Vafes de t e r r e , que felon Pline on p a yo it
plus cher que les Vafes M ur rhins mêmes ( 1 0 ) , car celui qu’avant de
mour ir Pétrone brifa p ou r l ’ôter à N é ron a v o it c o n té , ( 1 1 ) ju iq ii’à trois
cent ta len ts : on peut juger par la grandeur d’ une pareille fom m e ,
que ces Vafes & ceux de terre qu’on leur comparoit , ne pouvoient
être d’ un p r ix fi confiderable que parce qu’ ils étoient d’ un extrême
r a r e té , ce qui ne d evoit jamais ê t r e , au moins à l ’égard de ces dern
ie rs , s’il y eut eu quatorze manufaêiures employées à les fab r iq ue r :
il eft donc évident que Pline entend p a rle r de Vafes fiéliles beaucoup
plus anciens que ceux de fon temps: mais comme leur antiqu ité feu le
n’eut pas fuffie p ou r les p o r te r à ces pr ix exhorbitants fi d’ailleurs
ils eulfent été femblables à ceux qu’ on faifoit alors , il faut abfolu-
nient croire que les uns étoient fo r t fupérieurs aux antres , que les
plus précieux a voien t quelque chofe de fingulier dans leur exécution
qui les diftinguoit de ceux qui l ’étoient m o ins , & qu’enfin ils étoient
tels q u e , malgré l ’envie de gagner beaucoup en les con tre fa iian t, on
ne p o u v o it pa rvenir à les im ite r .
Si
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( 1 1 ) T . Petrmiius Confuhris mrtruyus, invi- rmUam Mmrbiriam trecentis taUnris mptam fieg it.
dia Jf^eronis Friacipis , tu mtnßim ejus exheredares , Plin. H iß . Nat. Hb. ^6. cap. p .V iä e not. Harduini.
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