54 Tiles from the chapel of Chteau de la Bastie d'Urfé, France. Culture: French, Rouen. Dimensions: Overall: 25 1/4 × 38 in. (64.1 × 96.5 cm). Maker: Masséot Abaquesne (French, active 1538-57). Date: ca. 1557-60.Faience, or tin-glazed and enameled earthenware, first emerged in France during the sixteenth century, reaching widespread usage among elite patrons during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, prior to the establishment of soft-paste porcelain factories. Although characterized as more provincial in style than porcelain, French faience was used at the court of Louis XIV as part of elaborate meals and displays, with large-scale vessels incorporated into the Baroque garden designs of Versailles. Earlier examples of French faience attest to the strong influence of maiolica artists from Italy. Later works demonstrate the ways in which cities such as Nevers, Rouen, Lyon, Moustiers, and Marseille developed innovative vessel shapes and decorative motifs prized among collec