he began a project to determine the nature of its production. The piece of fine white pottery may have derived from Faenza, Urbino, Saint-Porchaire or even China. In Palissy's time pottery covered with beautiful white tin-glaze painted with enamels was manufactured throughout Italy, Spain, Germany and the South of France. A man as travelled and as acute as Palissy, however, would have been acquainted with its appearance and properties. At the neighboring village of La Chapelle-des-Pots, Palissy mastered the rudiments of peasant pottery as it was practised in the 16th century. He may also have learned of manufacture of European tin-enamelled pottery. In his work Palissy produced ceramics using a great many ingredients including tin, lead, iron, steel, antimony, sapphire, copper, sand, saltwort, pearlash, and litharge. Rustic pottery For nearly sixteen years Palissy labored to recreate the pottery that he had seen, working with the utmost diligence but never succeeding. At times he and his family were reduced to poverty; he is said to have burned his furniture and the floor boards of his house to feed the fires of his furnaces. Meanwhile, he endured the reproaches of his wife, who, with their children clamouring for food, likely regarded her husband's endeavors as little short of insanity. All these struggles and failures are faithfully recorded by Palissy in his autobiography. Palissy failed to discover the secrets of Chinese porcelain or white tin-glaze maiolica, but he created a style of rustic pottery, called "Palissy ware," for which he is now famous. Analysis confirms that Palissy used coloured lead glazes, lead silicates with added metal oxides of copper [for green], cobalt [for blue], manganese [for brown and black], or iron [for yellow ochre], with a small addition of tin [for opacity] to some of the glazes. The pottery is decorated with reliefs mimicking wildlife from Palissy's native Saintonge marshes. These include fish, crustaceans, reptiles, ferns, and flowers. In 1542, a peasant revolt against the "gabelle" salt tax in Saintonge resulted in royal forces, headed by the Duc de Montmorency, arriving near Palissy's home. The duke was impressed by Palissy's artistry and commissioned him to build retreats at the Château d'Écouen and Meudon. Palissy's work there included the construction of wild gardens and ceramic creatures, following a romantic style similar to that of Italian artists Vasari, Cellini, and Michelangelo, and foreshadowing the baroque period. Work in Paris In 1548 Palissy was brought to