SOME eighteen months ago we began to prepare a special issue in honour ofJohn Mallet, to be published in the year he was due to retire, at the age of sixty, from the Victoria and Albert Museum. This planned coincidence was over- taken by the events at the Museum - sufficiently recorded in these pages - which led to the departure of a group of eight curators, including some of its most eminent scholars. Of this select group, John Mallet is one of the most greatly missed in the Museum, not only for his learning and the breadth of his interests, but also for his humour and the lightness with which he carries his knowledge. This issue is dedicated to him as an affectionate pre-birthday tribute.

John Mallet became Keeper of the Ceramics Depart- ment (a title now abolished) in 1976 on the retirement of Robert Charleston. He had joined the Museum as an Assistant Keeper in 1962 after six years at Sotheby's, where he was fortunate in enjoying the benevolent and brilliant tutelage ofJim Kiddell, as well as that of Tim Clarke. In addition to acquiring a working knowledge of European and Oriental ceramics, John also catalogued sculpture during those years. He has always retained the happiest memories of that period and Sotheby's has shown its grati- tude to him by generously contributing towards the cost of colour reproduction and extra pages in this issue.

Between coming down from Balliol and joining Sotheby's John worked briefly for Art News and Review, using a number of pseudonyms as well as his own name. He has written a diverting account of this period under the title 'Brief Encounter' (1989) - one of the most recent items in his copious bibliography, which is listed on p.360. John's scholarly writing began in earnest with an article in this Magazine on some terra-cotta medallions by Roubiliac. Two years later he catalogued the porcelain at Upton House, and this was the start of a stream of publications on Chelsea and the English rococo which has continued ever since. Indeed, his writings have ranged over a for- midable variety of English ceramics: perhaps his most important contributions have been on the early vases by Wedgwood at Saltram House (1966), on John Baddeley of Shelton, an early Staffordshire maker of pottery and porcelain (1966 and 1967), and the mysterious 'A-marked group' (with Robert Charleston, 1971). His infectious en- thusiasm for modern ceramics has been demonstrated in a number of reviews, papers and catalogue introductions.

It is, however, John's fundamental work on Italian renaissance ceramics, particularly istoriato maiolica which will be most familiar to readers of this Magazine. His love for Italy goes back to his schooldays, when his father was British Ambassador in Rome. The unequalled collections of the V&A have made it, since its foundation in the 1850s, one of the world's leading power-houses for the study of renaissance pottery (alongside the Museo Inter- hazionale delle Ceramiche in Faenza, founded at the begin- ning of this century by Gaetano Ballardini). J.C. Robinson, C.D.E. Fortnum and Bernard Rackham were all leading scholars in their generations, and W.B. Honey and Arthur Lane also made important contributions. John Mallet has maintained this tradition in spectacular style through the 1970s and 80s. During the years in which an enormous amount of new archaeological and archival research has been done in Italy, and the subject has been moving at an extraordinary rate (see p.360), John has maintained his position as the world's most admired authority on istoriato maiolica with a series of magisterial articles. His contri- butions to Apollo in 1970-71 on the maiolica in Polesden Lacey re-opened the question of the early work of Francesco Xanto Avelli - a problem which had been muddied by a flawed article by Ballardini and Rackham in 1933. His perceptive approach to Xanto's work was continued in further articles in 1976 and 1984, and by a brilliant and seminal paper delivered in 1980, but printed only in 1987, on Xanto's associates and imitators. Other subjects on which he has broken new ground include istoriato maiolica at Pesaro, the painters Nicola da Urbino and Francesco Urbino, Faenza maiolica, and (in a monumental article in this Magazine in 1987) the highly important Urbino work- shop of Guido Durantino. It must always be regretted that circumstances did not permit him to produce a completely new edition of Rackham's V&A catalogue - since his critical acumen and eye for style are superior to Rackham's - but his forthcoming catalogue of pottery at Waddesdon Manor, as well as many future contributions to the subject, are keenly awaited.

In his time at the V&A John made a number of remarkable acquisitions for the Museum, many of which have been recorded in this Magazine. The most spectacular was probably the Shvres Egyptian Service, and his tact and tenacity were never more evident than during the years in which he negotiated the outstanding Finney gift of Meissen birds and figures in 1984. The supplement on p.384 of acquisitions made by the Museum since 1987 is the last that can be described as emanating from the Department of Ceramics and Glass, which is now officially known as a 'Section' of the 'Collections Division'. However, the great collections remain, and John Mallet's contribution to their enhancement and understanding will not be forgotten. We wish him many productive years of retirement.