I peeked at the numbers on the bottom, and they are just fuzzy enough that I can't make out a date. I don't know about Italy, but in most other parts of Western Europe, a handwritten seven has a slash through it. I'm wondering if what you're interpreting as 1741, isn't 1941 instead. Then again, patterns are sometimes identified through numbers, instead of names. My formal Bavarian China doesn't have a 'name'. It's not typically imported into the U.S., and is simply identified by a number. Since it has the word Italy, and not Italia, I presume it was meant for export to an English speaking country. Actually, the pieces have enough variance in the tolerances of the tops, they look handworked and perhaps joined to a slip cast bottom. I'd call them more 'primitive' than crude. Perhaps produced in a smaller cottage industry shop. They proliferated in many pottery producing areas. I know jack poo about Italian pottery, but also think they're newer than 75 years. And are very pleasant pieces. The thing about 'dating' older pieces by relating them to an ancestor. Just because you can link them to a person who is the equivalent of a great grandparent in age, doesn't date that object to the same era. My great-grandfather was born before the Civil War, but I assume he was still purchasing new items well into the 1940s.

They are from a potter wasp. As has been said, they are very small stingless beneficials which help you limit pesky insects. They are "capsules" where their youngsters will hatch and develop, then wait to emerge as adults to do the same sort of thing next year. Set the little "pots" in a sheltered place outdoors where they will be protected from sunlight and rainfall.

Yeah it’s hard to really capture it in pics. It’s been so long now I can’t remember the exact “recipe” of French Gray but I had them add one extra bag of black quartz and one extra bag of blue to each batch. That causes it to pull more dark turquoise

Mediterranean herbs - rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano - love heat! So does basil. As long as they receive enough water, they will thrive outside. I'd want a better draining, less moisture retentive soil for the perennial herbs but the basil should be happy in the potting soil. I prefer to grow my basil in a container (but only outdoors) because I can then maximize both the sun and heat it receives. Like floral, my summers are a tad cool ;-)