THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART
COLLECTION OF
W. T. WALTEES
TEXT EDITION TO ACCOMPANY THE COMPLETE WORK
LIMITED TO FIVE HUNDRED COPIES
NUMBER
OMENTAL CERAMIC ART
COLLECTION OF
W. T. WALTERS
TEXT EDITION
TO ACCOMPANY THE C0MPLE2E WORK
TEXT AND NOTES BY
S. AV. BUSHELL, M. D.
Physician to H. B. M. Legation, Peking
NEW YORK
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1899
Copyright, 1896,
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
/VK
PREFACE.
THE late William Thompson Walters, of Baltimore,
(lied on November 20, 1894. The work ^vhich is
here briefly introduced was begun by him nearly fifteen
years before. At his death he left it practically com-
pleted. It only remained, therefore, for those intrusted
with its details to assemble the several parts and dis-
charge the mechanical duties necessary to its publication.
That publication is now entered upon in conformity
V! with his expressed wishes and instructions, and as, had
^ he lived, he would himself have had it. Furthermore,
it is done in the belief that it will add one more to
the many useful things that were the outcome of his
purposeful and well-filled life. Mr. Walters was the
first American to create a collection of Oriental ceramics,
and in the many years that he devoted to the subject he
became more and more impressed with the need there
was of some authoritative work respecting it — a work
which should treat, with such precision as was possible,
of its origin, its history, and its qualities, and take it in
at least some slio-ht deo;ree from that vasiue and indeter-
minate condition in which all contemporary or recent
European writers have left it. Not that the literature of
Oriental porcelain is copious in any modern tongue, but
that those who have written best about it have had
hardly anything to say, while those who have written
at any length have been capricious, empirical, and only
too misleading. The only way in which this purpose
could be effected, if at all, was to seek in China itself
705S00
VI PREFACE.
whatever historical matter might exist in relation to the
one distinguishing art of that country, the art of the
potter.
In the inti'oduction, written in 1883, to a very useful
and instructive little volume on Oriental art, privately
published by Mr. AValters in the ensuing year, he set
forth his opinion on this point with a clearness which it
is interesting at the present time to recall. "Notwith-
standing," wrote Mr. Walters, "the numerous works that
have been published on this subject, we hav^e as yet but
an imperfect knowledge of the age, history, and meaning
of much that appears in collections of Oriental porcelain ;
and until some European residing in China, well versed
in the subject and ^vell acquainted with the Chinese
language, has obtained access to the stores of native col-
lectors, we shall l)e to a certain extent ^vorking in the
dark."
The more deeply the subject was looked into the
less prospect there seemed to be of a successful issue.
The only translation that existed of the writings of a
Chinese authority was that made in 1856 by M. Stanislas
Julien, of the Citing -te-clien T''ao Lu. This was for years
the ultimate reference of students of Chinese ceramics,
but, although M. Julien was a great scholar and eminent
sinologue, it was of little value and in some essential
matters misleading. The difficulty was with the Chinese
text. Given a sentence or tw^o in Chinese descriptive of
a piece of porcelain, its shape, the quality of its paste, its
color, or other of its attributes, and the sinologue who is
learned only in the language 7?^?' se may translate it with
the profoundest erudition and yet not convey its real
meaning; but if he have before him the actual piece
which the Chinese author has been describing, and if he
have also a well-founded knowledge of Chinese por-
celain, then his translation Avill be of a very different
PREFACE. Vll
<;haracter and much more instructive. In such matters
the Chinese author is perfectly intelligible onl}'- when
the reader adequately understands the subject. If, for
instance, the reader knew that the Chinese writer was
discussing celadon, he would not, in translating, read
blue for green, although the Chinese word used meant
equally blue or green, according to the application made
of it. The illustration is a radical one, but it indicates
accurately a case in which a very learned sinologue
befogged many patient students.
It was while pursuing the matter with the best
authorities abroad that Mr. Walters heard indirectly
from Prof. A. W. Franks (now Sir Wollastou Franks),
of the British Museum, of a translation of a Chinese
work called the T^ao Shuo, which had been made by
Dr. Stephen W. Bushell, of Peking. Dr. Bushell had
already become well known as a sinologue, and especially
for his unremitting industry in the direction of the
ancient literature of porcelain. He had been for many
years the medical officer of the British legation at Peking,
and had devoted himself to the study of Chinese until he
had attained among European scholars the reputation of
an authority of the first rank. Prof. Franks w^as greatly
interested in the T''ao Shuo, pointed out the importance
that it possessed for students of Oriental ceramics, and
expressed the hope that it would secure publication. Dr.
Bushell's translation of it was accordingly secured for
that purpose, and was found to be most instructive and
interesting. It was proposed then to publish the trans-
lation together wdth other papers on the subject, includ-
ing a new version from the Chinese text of the Cldiuj-te-
ohm T''ao Lu, already done into French by Julien. The
whole would have made a considerable and a not unim-
portant addition to the stock of information relating to
Chinese porcelain in the English language. When, how-
Vlll PREFACE.
ever, a year or two later, Dr. Biishell visited the United
States and entered upon a discussion of the question
with Mr. Walters, it was decided to revise the project
and bring out the present work, which contains, so far a&
all niodei'n knowledge of the subject goes, the best infor-
mation that Chinese letters convey respecting the origin
of porcelain and its history through successive ages.*
Mr. AValters laid the foundation of the present collec-
tion nearly forty years ago. As has been said, he was
the first in this country to create a collection of Oriental
ceramics. The ceramic store of the United States was
never great. We have had a modest share of English
pottery since our earlier days, but no accumulation of it.
Of Oriental porcelain a very little found its way to Colo-
nial families, and only a few traces of it remain. Our
first President had a domestic service of Chinese manu-
facture, and it was very fine in its way ; but it belonged
strictly to the category of commercial porcelain familiar
to the last century as East India china — that is, porcelain
made for export from Chinese ports and fashioned for
household use or conventional household decoration, and
having no relation to the artistic product of the China-
man's kilns. The remains of this set of china are pre-
served in the National Museum at Washington. Prob-
ably the most artistic of our early acquisitions of Chinese
porcelain were the pieces of blue and white that New
England ship captains brought back from their voyages
to the North Pacific, and of Avhich many interesting
examples are still to be found in old New England
* So far as the Chinese texts relating to processes of manufacture are con-
cerned they are of slight and only incidental interest. They tell about the
petuntse and the kaolin, about the composition of glazes and the management
of kilns, but no European potter has ever added from them a scintilla to his
knowledge. The Chinese potter's formula is not unlike the chemist's analysis
of one of Nature's healing waters— it is complete ; but in the one case it is in-
dispensable that the application be made by a Chinaman, and in the other that
the compounding be done by Nature herself.
PREFACE. IX
homes. As far as any broader awakening of taste in the
matter of Oriental porcelain is concerned it must be
referred to the occasion of the Centennial Exhibition of
1876. Many people had long before acquired an ac-
quaintance with the subject at the great European exhi-
bitions and through the op^^ortunities of foreign travel,
but our first popular knowledge of it most undoubtedly
dates from our exhibition at Philadelphia. Now there
are numbers of collections in the United States, some of
them of great extent and value. It can also be confi-
dently said that nowhere else do collectors betray any
keener intelligence, or, perhaps, an equal knowledge of
the general subject; whereby it has been rightly ob-
served by Chinese and Japanese connoisseurs that if one
wants to study fine Oriental porcelain he must come to
America.
The plates in color with which this work is illustrated
were made by Louis Prang, of Boston. Several experi-
mental plates were made abroad, and the work of every
European house of importance was examined, before Mr.
Prang was asked to make lithographs of three pieces of
porcelain of different colors. His immediate success
determined the question ; and when, two years later,
some twenty of the plates were shoAvn to French
lithographers in Paris, their criticism was that the im-
pressions from the stone had been foi'tified by color
applied with the brush. They could not believe that
work of such excellence could be produced by simple
lithography. This very satisfactory opinion has been
since confirmed by many lithographers, and it is conceded
that these plates represent the highest type of work that
has been produced in that branch of art. Tlie color
of Oriental porcelain is more akin to the color of . some
brilliant mineral than to the familiar pigments of an
artist's palette ; and as truth of color was the first
X PREFACE.
requiremeut, many and serious difficulties had to be over-
come. Mr. Prang, however, was equal to the task, and
during the years that it was in progress at his house
in Roxbury he devoted to it a degree of watchful care
and untiring energy that were far from commercial in
their inspiration.
William M. Laffan.
May, 1896.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Preface v
Introduction 1
CHAPTER I.
Origin of Porcelain 12
CHAPTER II.
Relations of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Ceramics . . 25
CHAPTER III.
Introduction to the Classification of Chinese Porcelain. In-
scriptions. Chronology .39
CHAPTER IV.
Marks on Chinese Porcelain. Marks of Date. Hall Marks. "^
Marks op Dedication and Felicitation. Marks op Co>imen-
dation. Marks in the Form of Devices 59
CHAPTER V. !
Classification of Chinese Porcelain. Primitive Period. Sung ,
Dynasty. Ju Yao. Kuan Yao. Ting Yao. Lung-ch'uan
Yao. Ko Yao. Tung-ch'ing Yao. Chun Yao. Three Fac- !
TORIES AT ChI-CHOU, ChIEN-CHOU, AND Tz'tj-CHOU. UtENSILS
of Sung Porcelain 127
CHAPTER VI.
Yuan Dynasty 177
CHAPTER VII.
Ming Dynasty. Reigns of Hung-wu, Yung-lo, HsOan-te, Cii'eng-
hua, Hung-chih, Che;ng-te, Chia-ching, Lung-cii'ing, Wan-li,
T'ien-ch'i, Ch'ung-chen 189
xi
Xll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
PAOH
TECHNiqUE DUIUNG THE MlNG PeUIOD. CoLOKS. EMBOSSING.
Chiseling. Openwork Carving. Gilded Decoration. Deco-
rations IN Enamels. Firing 260
CHAPTER IX.
Ching-te-ciien. Thk Imperial Porcelain MANirFACToiiY . 276
CHAPTER X.
The K'ang-hsi Period 293
CHAPTER XI.
Letters of Pere d'Enthecolles 332
CHAPTER XII.
The Yung-cheng Period 359
CHAPTER XIII.
Official List of the Designs and Colors produced at the
Imperial Manufactory in the Reign of Yung-cheIng . . 367
CHAPTER XIV.
The Ch'ien-lung Period 391
CHAPTER XV.
The Twenty Illustrations of the Manufacture ok Porcelain
described by T'ang Ying 420
CHAPTER XVI.
Modern Period (1796-1895). Imperiai> List of the Year 1864 . 463
CHAPTER XVII.
The Forms of Porcelain Objects and their Uses in China . 488
CHAPTER XVIII.
Peculiar Technical Processes. Cracki,e Porcelain. Furnace
Transmutations. Souffles. Laque Burgautee. Pierced ^-^
and "Rice-grain" Designs. White Sup, etc. . . . 508 )
CONTENTS. XI 11
CHAPTER XIX.
PAGE
Chinese Cekamic Colors 525
CHAPTER XX.
Motives op Decoration of Chinese Porcelain .... 557
CHAPTER XXI.
Porcelain made for Exportation. Special Forms and Designs.
Indian China. Armorial China. Jesuit China. Hindu
Style. Oriental Porcelain decorated in Europe. Imita-
tions 604
CHAPTER XXII.
Porcelain Production in the Other Provinces of China. The
White Porcelain of the Province of Fuchien. The Yi-
HBING BoCCARO WaRE OF THE PROVINCE OF KlANGSU. ThE
Potteries of the Province of Kuangtung .... 622
CHAPTER XXIII.
Chinese Bibliography in Relation to the Ceramic Art . . 639
CHAPTER XXIV.
Korea 670
CHAPTER XXV.
Ceramic Art of Japan 685
CHAPTER XXVI.
A General Sketch of the Ceramic Art of Japan . 708
CHAPTER XXVII.
The Principal Ceramic Wares of Japan. Owari Pottery and
Porcelain. Kyoto Wares. Hizen Productions: Old Imari
Porcelains, Hirado Blue and White, etc. Satsuma F.aIences,
KuTANi OR Kaga Wares 723
Appendix. — Descriptive List of the Illustrations . . 767
Index 90S
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
INTRODUCTION.
DURING a residence of twenty-five years at Peking,
as physician to her Britannic Majesty's legation,
the study of Chinese ceramics has been my chief distrac-
tion. I have obtained access, in the exercise of the duties
of my profession, to several palaces and private houses,
and have in this way had many opportunities of seeing
the treasures of native collectors, which usually are so
rigidly closed to foreigners. The Chinese themselves
maintain a profound interest in the subject, especially
from an antiquarian point of view, and the literature
which relates to it is very extensive, ranging as it does
' over many centuries. The best special work is the
T''ao Sliuo, "A Description of Chinese Pottery," in six
books, published in the year 1774, by Chu Yen. The
learned author quotes many of the older wi'iters, and
describes all the varieties of the potter's skill that became
celebrated before the close of the Ming dynasty in 1643.
I translated this work into English, at the request of the
late Mr. AV. T. Walters, some years ago, so that I now
have it before me for reference. For the older wares
there is also the manuscript catalogue, illustrated by
eighty-two water-color drawings, of Hsiang Yuau-p'ien, a
celebrated collector of the latter half of the sixteenth
century, which I brought before the notice of the Peking
Oriental Society in 1886,* and which I hope some day to
'* Chinese Porcelain before the Present Dynasty, by S. W. Bushell, M. D. ;
extract from the Journal of the Peking Oriental Society, 1886.
2 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
publisli ill full. The colored illustrations are fairly
exact, and are indispensable for the proper comprehension
of the text of Chinese writers on this subject, in the
absence of actual specimens of the different kinds of
porcelain described. The author of the T''ao Shuo is
not so satisfactory as a guide to the porcelain of the reign-
ing dynasty, of which he gives only a short resume in his
first book. For this we must turn to the Ching-te-chen
T'^ao Lu, the well-known memoirs on the productions of
Ching-te-chen, published in 1815, which were partially
translated into French by Stanislas Julien in 1856,* and
which have been the main source of information for all
European wi'iters. The ti'anslator seems, however, to
have had little if any practical acquaintance with Chinese
porcelain, and he had, moreover, no native expert at hand
to refer to in case of difficulty, so that his rendering of
technical points is often erroneous. It is always safer to
turn to the original, which is happily no longer rare, as the
book has been lately republished in China. Ching-te-chen,
which has been for centuries the seat of the imperial
manufactory of porcelain, occupies a place in China like
to that which Sevres does in France or Meissen in
Germany, It is, indeed, in the present day the sole
source of artistic porcelain in the Chinese Empire. The
regulations and detailed accounts of the imperial works
are to be found in the different official statistical de-
scriptions of the province of Kiangsi, of the prefecture of
Jao-chou-fu, and of the district of Fou-liang, in which the
manufactory is situated. But, unfortunately, these books,
which at irregular intervals are issued and republished
in a revised form by the authorities, are very difficult to
procure, even in China. The most complete account is
contained in the Fou-liang Hsien Ohih, the " History of
* Uistoire et Fabrication de la Porcelaine ehinoise, par M. Stanislas Julien,
Paris, 1856.
INTRODUCTION.
the Walled City of Fou-liang, " and I am most grateful
to the director of the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris for
his generous loan of this rare work, the eighth book of
which includes a long memoir entitled T''ao Cheng, or
" Porcelain Administration." This edition was published
by a commission presided over by Ho Hsi-ling, a member
of the Hanlin College and of the National Historiog-
raphers' Office, whose preface is dated the third year of
Tao-huang (1823), although the list of officials in the
book is continued up to the twelfth year of the emperor
(1832). The first edition, which was published in the
period Hsien-shun during the /S'^/i^ dynasty, in the year
1270, was burned. The present edition gives twenty-one
old prefaces, which are all printed in full, and the first of
these is dated 1325. The fifteenth, by - ang Ying, the
most celebrated of the superintendents of the imperial
manufactory at Ching-te-chen, is dated the fifth year of
CJi'ien-lung (1740). The entire series of these official
statistical works, ^vere it possible to obtain it complete,
would furnish the most authentic of accounts, in chrono-
logical sequence, of the imperial manufacture of porcelain.
Since my return to Peking last year I have succeeded
in acquiring a recent edition of the Chiang-lisi T''ung
Chill, the " Genei'al History of the Province of Ki-
angsi," published in the seventh year of the reigning
Emperor J-^uang-hsu, by an imperial commission presided
over by the famous Tseng-Kuo-fan. It is bound in
native fashion in one hundred and twenty volumes,
and contains one hundred and eighty books, of whicli
the ninety-third gives the T\io-Chmg, or "Porcelain
Administration," of Ching-te-chen, brought up to date.
I am indebted to M. Garnier, the talented director
of the museum at Sevres, for the opportunity to consult a
report written by my lamented friend, M. Scherzer, who
visited Ching-te-chen in 1883, at which time he was
4 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Freach consul at the river port of Hankow. It is
curious to compare tliis recent report witli the two
valuable letters of the old Jesuit missionary Pere
d'Entrecolles, written from the same place in 1712 and
1722, toward the close of the long reign of the Emperor
K''ang-hsi, the culminating period of ceramic art in
China.* The worthy Father collected his information
from his converts among the artists and workmen, and
his letters are all the more valuable in that we have so
little from native writers during this reign.
From the foregoing some idea may be gained of the
material which is available to the student who under-
takes to present a general account of Oriental ceramic
art. To illustrate such a work there could be no better
opportunity than that which is afforded by the W. T.
Walters collection. Such is the object which it has
been sought here to attain. The illustrations and text
have had to be arranged independently, most of the
colored plates having been completed beforehand. The
text-cuts will be inseited, as far as possible, in appro-
priate places, and there will be a descriptive list of the
figures included later on, which it is hoped will remedy
the disjunction which the issue of the book in j^arts has
rendered unavoidable. For text-cuts of the first section
a selection has been made from the series of objects of
Chinese porcelain mounted in metal, in which the collec-
tion is so very rich. The mountings are generally in
gilded bronze of French workmanship, dating for the
most part from the 18th century. Some of them by the
famous Gouthiere are of the highest artistic mei'it, and
indicate the vivid appreciation of Chinese colors for the
decoration of the luxurious interiors of the time of
Louis XV and Louis XVL It is difiicult, indeed, to
* Lettres edifiantes et cuneuses, xviii, pp. 234-296 ; xix, pp. 173-203, Paris,
1781.
INTRODUCTION.
imagine anything more effective than the soft changing
tints of the turquoise glaze of the vases in Figs. 1 and
20, and of the bowl (Fig. 40), when exhibited in sucli
perfect contrast with the gilded material of their grace-
ful framework. The same may be said of the lovely
openwork mounting in gold, fashioned to strengthen the
etched turquoise vase of Fig. 8, and of the filigree mounts
of the beautifully decorated K\mg-lisi vases exhibited in
Figs. 11 and 30, lovingly executed and signed by the
modern jeweler, Boucheron of Paris. Mountings of
Persian and Japanese workmanship will follo^v in other
sections. Some of these mounts are interesting as aids
in determining the age of the piece, like the Elizabethan
silver-gilt mounting with the hall mark of 1585 of the
blue and white Chinese Jug, No. 7,915, in the South
Kensington Museum, and the blue and white pieces
which are said to have been at Burghley House in the
possession of the Cecil family since the days of Queen
Elizabeth.
The Walters collection is remarkable for its single
color or monochrome examples, and comprises many
choice specimens of brilliant beauty in this attractive
branch of art, in which the Oriental potter stands
unrivaled. There is room for much difference of opinion
on the question of the comparative merits of mono-
chrome glazes and of painted decoration in enamel colors
upon porcelain. With the Chinese collector, as with the
European or American amateur, it is a matter of taste,
and the preference appears to be equally divided. Tlie
earliest acquaintance of European collectors with
the porcelain of China was confined to monochrome
examples, including, of course, blue and Avhite. Of the
five-color pieces of the Ming period it is difficult to find
any trace in the early European collections ; and, indeed,
it appears that it is only within recent years that such
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
pieces have left China. M. Vogt, the director of the
porcelain manufactory at Sevres, the most recent writer
on the subject and a thoroughly competent judge, writes
(pages 22, 23) : " The form commands the decoration ;
the Chinese have wisely preferred simple, absolutely
ceramic forms, of which their vase {poticlie) is the
essential type. In this shape, fashioned in one opera-
tion, the surface is unbroken from the base to the mouth ;
it is in reality a cylinder witli flowing depressions. For
the decoration of Chinese vases, whatever may be the
merit resulting from the fantastic art of the composition
or from the harmony of the colors, we pi'efer, for our
part, not the decorated vases, but the pieces which have
the ground left as they come from the kiln, the beauty
of the enamel being the dominant quality (la qualite
maitresse) in ceramics. The more beautiful the enamel,
the more opposed it is to decoration ; no color, no gild-
ing, could resist the vibrating force of absorption of the
-jlambes called lo-kan^ mule's liver; ma-fei, horse's lung —
mixtures of red, blue, violet, and yellowish-green run-
ning over the porcelain like a stream of lava, so much
chopped-up blood, lungs, and liver, as it were, melted
into enamels ; any addition would spoil the softer colors,
such as the tea-dust glaze, or the iron-rust of the
Chinese." *
Mr. Walters wrote, in the introduction to his early
catalogue,f " Our interest and effort have been more in
the direction of securing characteristic examples of the
beautiful, either in form, color, or material, than of the
merely curious." This aim has, in truth, been fully
realized ; for what can be imagined more beautiful, in
all these three respects, than the famous peach-bloom
* La Porcelaine, par Georges Vogt, Directeur des Travaux Techniques de la
Manufacture Nationale de Sevres, Paris, 1894.
f Oriental Collection of W. T. Walters, Baltimore, 1884.
INTKODUCTION.
vases, which he was one of the lirst to appreciate, out-
side China, excelling as they do in purity of form, in
perfect finish of material, and in a diversified play of
color, whereby they have been so aptly likened to the
warm and varied hues of the skin of a j)each "^'^ ripening
in the sun ? They mark the culminating point of
Chinese cei'amic art. The contemporary vases of similar
form of pure white, of the sea-green tint called celadon,
or of the pale gray-blue known by the Fi'ench as clair de
lune^ after its Chinese name of yueh pai^ are almost as
attractive. The ci'imson and pink monochrome glazes of
the succeeding period, derived fi-om gold, ai'e less pure,
but have the softness of the muffle stove in wliicli they
are developed — a quality which the}' share with another
famous color, the coral red, which is derived from
peroxide of iron. The older colors, which attest the pre-
eminence of the Chinese potter, include a camellia-leaf
green of deepest iridescent sheen, sapphii-e blue, and
powder-blue, ap])le-green and citron-yellow, a finely
crackled turquoise glaze of purest tint, and, last but not
least, the celebrated Xrtv/f/ //<7o, or sang de h(eut\'A broadly
crackled glaze imbued ^\ itli i-ed of marvelous depth, the
despair of modern imitatoi's. This is a short list of some
of the successes of the Oriental decorator in the line
of single colors. Working as he does with impure
materials, with the chemical composition of which he is
totally unfamiliar, his chief successes are often due to
pure hazard. jNIany (»ther colors will be described later.
* " Peach-bloom " is a better name in English for this charming glaze than
" peacli-blow," because the latter is only applicable to the flower, while the
former corresponds to the peau de peche^iheianw adopted by French ceramists.
Neither of the two is Chinese ; they generally call it CMang-toti Hung, from its
resemblance to the variegated beans of the Dolichus sinensis {Chiang-tou),
which are pink spotted with brown ; some call it P'ing-kuo Hung, "apple-
red." The green mottling which so often accompanies it is termed P'ing-kuo
Gh'ing, or "apple-green."
8 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
as well us the decoration of the paiuted pieces, on which
the artist works with the same palette.
According to a Chinese adage, " Knowledge comes
from seeing much," and 1 would like to refer the student
to some of the collections available for the study of the
subject of Oriental ceramics, and at the same time seize
the opportunity of tendering my grateful tlianks to the
owners of the private collections in the United States
which I have had tlie opportunity of seeing, and from
which I have learned not a little. There seems to be a
widespread enthusiasm in America for the beauties of
Oriental art, and the beautiful objects illustrated in this
book kave doubtless, by tlieir exhibition in the galleries
at Baltimore, helped in no small measure to form a gi'ow-
ing taste for the rare and beautiful. There are, so far,
no national collections in Amei'ica, but thei*e are objects
of interest in the private collections of Mr. Charles A.
Dana, Mr. James A. Garland, and Mr. W. M. Laifan, and
in the Avery collection in the Metropolitan Museum at
New York, and in the Hippisley collection on loan at the
Smithsonian Institution at Washington, of which a cata-
logue,"^ rich in Chinese lore, has been published by my
friend Mr. Hippisley, who is a sinologue of foi'emost
rank. Among the European collections of most easy
access are the Franks collection in the British Museum ;
the Salting collection, Avhich includes so many magnifi-
cent pieces, in the loan exhibition at the South Kensing-
ton Museum ; and the Grandidier collection at Paris.
Sir Wollastou Franks, who has presented his treasures to
the British Museum, \% facile princeps among European
authorities, and the author of a well-known handbook. f
* Catalogue of the Hippisley Collection of Chinese Porcelains, by A. E. Hip-
pisley. Report of National Museum, 1888, Washington, D. C.
f Catalogue of a Collection of Oriental Porcelain and Pottery, by A. W.
Franks, F. H, S., F. S. A., second edition, London, 1878.
INTRODUCTION. 9
M. Grandidier, ti critical as well as an enthusiastic
admirer of Chinese porcelain, and the compiler of a fine
book * illustrated by forty-two heliogravures, has recently
presented his collection to the republic, and it is ali'eady
worthily installed in one of the galleries of the Louvi'e.
The Sevres Museum contains an Oiiental department
of considerable value. The museums of Amstei'dam and
The Hague display a selection of the porcelain l)rought
over in such quantities by the Dutch East India Com-
pany in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The
Dresden Oriental collection is })robably the most ancient
in Europe, having been chiefly brought together, accord-
insc to its former director, Dr. Grraesse,f bv Auo;ustus tlie
Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, betAveen
the years 1694-1705. This is the palmy period of the
reign of the Chinese Emperor I^Cauij-liHi (1662-1722), to
which time most if not all of the more important Chinese
pieces in this large collection must be referred. This
collection is also remarkable for its series of old Japan
Jars and beakers decorated with polychrome enamels. It
was stored awa}^ for many years in the vaults of the
Japanese palace, but is now full}^ exhibited in the
Johauneum on the opposite side of the rivei".
The question of celadon is one of the most interesting
of ceramic problems, and its solution has thrown a flood
of light on the intercourse bet\veen distant nations in
early media3val times. ;^ Celadon, as is well known, is
the name applied to a peculiar kind of porcelain of sea-
sreen tint, which is found distributed throuo-hout
southern and western Asia, along the eastern and
northern coasts of Africa, and in the adjoining islands,
* Let, Ceramique chiiioise, par E. Grandidier, Paris, 1894.
]; Die K. Porzellan uiid Gefuss-Sammlung zu Dresden, von Hofrath Dr. J. G.
Th. Graesse, Dresden, 1873.
X Ancient Porcelain: A Study in Chinese Mediivval Industry imd 'I'rade, by
F. Hirlh, Pli. D., 1880.
10 ORIENTAL CERAMK' AKT.
from Cera 111 aud the Key Island on the east to Mada-
gascar and Zanzibar on the west, as well as in Japan and
China. A quantity has been dug up in recent times in
Cairo, and Persia is a never-failing source of the thick,,
round dishes with fluted borders, foliated rims, and
tooled decoration under the glaze, which Mohammedans
value so liighly because they are supposed to change
color at the contact of poisoned food. The Arabs called
them iiKiiiaham, a name derived from Mai'taban, one of
the states of ancient Siam, the modern Maulmain ; and
one of their eucyclopyedists, wi-iting early in the seven-
teenth century, declared that *' the precious magnificent
celadon dishes and other vessels seen in his time Avei'e
manufactured at Martaban." Starting fi'om this. Prof.
Karabacek, of Vienna, has lately ti'ied to prove that this
old celadon was not Chinese. Others, like Jacquemart,
had previously ascribed it to Persia or to Egypt, arguing
princij)ally fi-om the difficulty of transporting such large
quantities by caravan traffic across Asia. But this diffi-
culty vanishes now that we know from Mohammedan as
well as Chinese sources of the long sea voyages under-
taken by the Chinese in early times.
Arabian Avriters speak of fleets of large Chinese junks
in the Persian Gulf as early as the ninth century, and
theii' I'oute may be followed in the official annals of the
T\ing dynasty. Chinese authors of the Sung dynasty
describe how their ships travelled along the coast of
Africa as far south as Zanzibar, "which they call Tsang-
pa, and copper " cash " of the 2)eriod have lately been
dug up there mixed with fragments of celadon vessels.
They carried eliding fzii^ "green, or celadon, porcelain,"
and brought back ivu ming y% " cobalt mineral." In the
next dynasty, when the Mongols ruled Bagdad as well as
Peking, the traffic by sea was still more constant. Marco
Polo ti'a veiled homeward in the suite of a Mongolian
INTRODUCTION. 1 1
princess, and described the route from Zayton to Hor-
muz ; and Ibn Batista, who came to China soon after-
ward, also alludes to the trade in Chinese porcelain. In
the Ming dynasty, which succeeded, the andjitious Em-
peror Yjuig-lo dispatched the figliting eunuch, Admiral
Cheng Ho, who carried Chinese arms into Ceylon, and
who was again sent on a more peaceful mission by the
next emperor, Hman-te^ in the year 1430, to the south
coast of Arabia, to the port of Magadoxo in Africa, and
to Jiddah, the seaport of Mecca in the Red Sea, to which
he carried celadon porcelain, as well as nuisk, silk, cam-
phor, and copper " cash." This was the time that >SV-
tTia-ll blue was brouo-ht to China. Cobalt liad lono;
previously been employed in Persia in the decoration of
tiles and other objects of faience. After the appearance
of the Portuguese ships in their seas Chinese junks were
no more seen, but celadon porcelain was left behind in
all the coasts they visited, and there seems little reason to
doubt its exclusively Chinese origin.
CHAPTKR I.
OHKilX OF PORCELAIN.
PORCELAIN was invented in China. The exact
date of the invention, however, is wrapped in mys-
tery; it is, in fact, liardly likely that it will ever be
definitely settled, as it must have been by a gradual
progress in the selection of materials, and in the perfec-
tion of processes of manufacture, that porcelain was
at last evolved from oi'dinary potteiy. For the creation
of a scientific classiiication of ceramic products we are
indebted to M. Brongniart,* and it will be well first to
define the distinctive characteristics of porcelain. Por-
celain ought to have a white, translucent, hard paste, not
to be scratched by steel, homogeneous, resonant, com-
])letely vitrified, and exhibiting, when broken, a con-
choidal fracture of line grain and brilliant aspect. These
qualities, inherent in porcelain, make it impermeable
to watei', and enable it to resist the action of frost even
when uncoated with glaze. These characteristics of the
paste, es[)ecially the translucence and vitrification, define
porcelain very well. If either of these two qualities be
wanting, we have before us another kind of pottery ; if
the paste possess all tlie othei' properties, with the excep-
tion of translucence, it is a stoneware; if the paste be
not vitrified, it beloui^s to the cate2:orv of terra cottas
or of faience.
The Chinese define ])oj-celain, \\hich they call ^
(/.c'l')), as a har<l, com[)a('t, fine-grained ])otteiy ^^ {^'(fo),
* Traite des Arts Venouiquftt. par Alexandre Broiigiiiart, two volumes, 8vo,
with Atlas, Paris, 1844.
12
ORIGIN OF PORCELAIN. 13
and distinguish it by the cleur, resonant note \\ hich it
gives out on percussion, and by the fact that it can not be
scratched by a knife. They do not lay so mucli stress
on the whiteness of the paste, nor on its translucency, so
that some of the pieces may fail in these t^vo points,
when the faV^ric is coarse; and yet it would be difficult
to separate them from the poi'celain class. The j^aste of
the ordinary ware, even at Ching-te-chen, is com[)osed
of more heterosfeneous materials than that fabricated
in European factories, and may even be reduced in some
cases to a mere layer of true ])orcelain earths plastered
ovei- a substratum of yellowish gray clay. The Chinese
sepai'ate, on the other hand, dark-colored stonewares, like
the reddish-yellow ware made at Yi-hsing, in the prov-
ince of Kiangnan, known to us by the Portuguese name
of hoccaro, or the brown stoneware produced at Yang-
chiang, in the southern -part of the province of Kwang-
tung, which is coated with colored enamels, and is often
put in European collections among the monochrome por-
celains.
The Chinese Avoi'd for pottery in its widest sense is
fao, wdiich includes all ceramic products, from con^mon
earthenware to porcelain. Like many of the great
nations of antiquity, they claim for themselves the inven-
tion of the potter's wheel. M. Bronguiart is inclined to
admit their claim, and even attempts to trace the route
by which it mav have reached E2:y|)t, throusfh 8cvt1iia
and Bacti'ia ; but such speculations seem too hazardous.
It was certainly known to the Egyptians at a very early
period, probably not later than twenty-five hundred years
befoi-e our era. Scenes depicted at Beni Hassan and at
Thebes show us the Egyptian potters at w ork, and figure
the simple wheel, consisting of a flat disk or hexagonal
table, placed on a stand, Avhich appears to have been
turned with the left hand while the vase A\ns shaped
14 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
with tlie riglit.* Tlie Chinese claims go back to about
the same period, as tliey attribute the iuveutiou of the
potter's wheel to the director of [)ottery attached to the
court of the fabulous Emperor Huang 1\ to whose
reign they carry back their cyclical system of chronology,
starting from a date coiTesponding to w. v. 2637. The
Emperor Shun, whose reign is ])laced in h. c. 2255-2206,
is generally credited with the first improvements in the
art of welding clay. Ssii-ma Oh'ien, the Herodotus of
China, the compiler of the SJnJi ('Jti, the first of the
dynastic histories, says in his biography of SJiuu, that
before he came to the throne he made [Jottery at Plo-pin.
This name, by the way, furnishes an explanation for a
Japanese seal, figured in the J^^ranks Catalogue (Plate
XV, Fig. 191), which reads in Chinese Ho-jmi chiJi li/u.,
or Offshoot of Ho-piu, a title taken from old Chinese
lore to be bestowed on a favorite potter })y one of the
Japanese feudal princes. Pere d'Entrecolles describes
the inunense value a Chinaman attaches to any pieces of
pottery he can attribute to the reigns of Yiia and Shun.
Tradition says that Yao adored simplicity, and had his
sacrificial vessels fashioned of plain yellow earthenware,
and that Shun was the first to have them glazed, and
the credulous collector classifies his prehistoric pieces
accordingly.
Coming to more historical times, the period of the Choii,
dynasty (b. c. 1122-249), the third of the Three Ancient
Dynasties, its founder, Wu Wajig, is recorded to have
sought out a lineal descendant of the Emperor Shun, on
account es])ecially of his hereditaiy skill in the manu-
facture of pottery, to have given him his eldest daughter
in marriage, and to have appointed him feudal ruler of
the state of Ch'en (no\v Ch'en-chou Fu, in the })rovince
of Honan), to keep up there the ancestral worship of his
* History of Anrie7)t Pottery, by S. Birch, London, 1858.
ORIGIX OK POIKEI.AIN. If)
accoinplislied ancestor. This iiohle is sup[)ose<l to have
been the first director of ]X)tterv uiuler tlie new dynasty,
an official often alluded to in the Cerfiiioniiil Cla-sslc and
in other ancient records of the pei'iod.
The Choit Ritual lias been presei'ved among tlie
classical books, and consists of an elal>orate detail of the
various officers, with their respective duties. It has been
translated into French. ■^'' The officers were classed then,
as now, undej" six boards. But when the Ijook was
edited in the first century n. c. b}- Liu Hin, the sixth
section, which \vas that of the Board of AVorks, ^^as
found to be wanting. To sup[)ly the deficiency he incor-
porated the K^io hmtg chi^ an artificer's manual of the
same period. This includes a shoi't section on pottery,
which gives the names and measurements of several kinds
of cooking vessels, sacrificial vases, and dishes, in the
fabrication of which the different processes of fashioning
upon the wheel and of molding are clearly distinguished.
The vessels are described as having been made by two
classes of workmen, called respectively fao-jen, "pottei's,''
and fang-jen, " niolders."
But few specimens of ])ottery that can l)e cei'tainly
referred to the Three Ancient Dynasties have survived
to the present day, although ritual vessels and other
antiques of bronze are to be seen in native collections by
thousands. These last often have inscriptions upon
them, beginning perhaps with the number of the month,
the \vaxing or waning period of the moon, the day of the
month and its cyclical number; rarely is the year of the
reigning sovereign or feudal suzerain prefixed ; never his
name, as far as I knoAv. It was during the JIan dynasty,
which i-eioned from b. c, 202 to a. d 220, that the system
of dividing the I'eigns into periods of years with honorific
* Le T'-heou, U, oh liifex iki Tcheou . traduit du Cliiiiois par E. Biot, Paris,
1851.
16 OKIKNTAL CEHAMIC ART.
titles {^nien. Juio) was inaugunited in \^. v. 163. This pro-
vided for the first time a convenient means of dating
vases and otlier objects.
Bricks and tiles are among the most useful of ceramic
products. They may even rank as historical monuments
when inscribed. The Chinese antiquary collects them in
chi-onological series to show the changes in the style of
the written charactei', or ])uts one upon his writing-table
for daily use, excavated into the shape of an ink pallet.
They were first molded, with the date inscribed on one
side, during the Hau dynasty. Some of the pottery of
the period is also inscribed. There is, for instance, a
bottle-shaped vase of dark reddish stoneware in the Dana
Collection, in New York, molded in the shape of a l)roiize
ritual vessel of the time, enameled with a deep-green iri-
descent glaze, much exfoliated, which is engraved on the
surface with a date corresponding to b. c. 133, the second
year of the period Yuaii-l-Kang. A similar vase in the
British Museum, although it has no insci'i})tion upon it,
evidently dates from about the same time, and specimens
of this kind are not unconnnon in Chinese collections.
The vase illustrated in Fig. 49 is a good example of this
class, an ancient stoneware of ljro\vnisli-red paste, invested
Avith a thin but lustrous glaze of camellia-leaf green,
which came from the collection of Chang Yin-huan,
formerly Chinese ministei- at AVasliiiigton, as a relic of the
Ha7i dynasty.
There is no word, liowever, of porcelain so far in
Chinese books, and we have to do only with an o[)aque
stonew'are, invested w ith colored glazes. It remained for
European wi-iters to asci-ibe the existence of porcelain to
so remote a period, as in the case of the little medicine
bottles dug u]> out of Egy[>tian tombs that had not, it was
supposed, been disturbed before, and which were conse-
quently attriliuted to the eighteenth century b. c. Their
ORIGIN OF PORCELAIN. 17
pretensions to sucL an antiquity have been so abundantly
disproved that it is hardly necessary to refer to them
here. They must have been fraudulently provided and
surreptitiously placed in these tombs by the Arab \vork-
men, Avho were rewarded wdienever any antique was
discovered.
Other authorities consider the muri'liiiie vases of the
ancients, which were described as " cooked in Parthian
fires," and wliich were so hii^hly valued that the Emperor
Nero gave the equivalent of a quarter of a million dollars
for one, to have been made of Chinese porcelain. It is
far more probable, as has been suggested by Mr. Nesbitt
in his notes on the histoiy of glass-making, that these
murrhine vases were made of agates and other hard
stones, the colors of which had V)een modified in the East
by heating and staining; and that the false murrhines
wei'e glass bowls imitating hard stones, but with various
strange tints not to be found in natural stones.
With regard to the origin of porcelain in (yhiua, the
Chinese themselves confess that previous to the com-
mencement of the T\(N</ dynasty, in a. d. 018, there are
no criteria for forming an opinion. The names of some
score of different sacrificial vases, drinking vessels, and
other objects may be collected from books, but nothing
is said about their structure or place of production. It
was reserved for a Western scholar to carry back the
invention to tlie IIa)i dynasty, and to date it precisely
as between b. c. 185 and a. d. 87. These dates, adopted
by M. Julien in his preface (Joe. ('it, p. xx), have been
generally followed by writers on tiie subject, as derived
from Chinese records, although based, as we shall show,
on fallacious grounds. They are deduced from a short
note in the a[)pen(lix to the memoir on the administra-
tion of porcelain in the annals of Eou-liang (^Fou-liang
Hsien Chili, l)ook viii, folio 44), which reads, "The
18 OUIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
ceramic manufacture of Hsin-p'ing, according to local
tradition, was founded in the time of the Han dynasty,
and was probably of strong, heavy, and roughly finished
material, moulded and fashioned after methods handed
down from ancient times."
Commenting on this passage M. Julien writes : " Sous
la premiere dynastie des Him^ ^^in-p'mg etait uu Iden
[district] qui faisait partie du royaume de Hoai-yang,
fonde en Tan 1 85 avant J. C, par I'empereiir Kdo-ti des
Han occideutaux. Ce royaume fut appele Ihli'in houe,
dans la deuxieme aimee de la periode Teliavg-ho (I'au 88
apres J. C.) du regne des Haii orientaux. Or, comme la
porcelaiue parut pour la premiere fois sous les Han^ dans
le pays de Sin-i^ing (aujourd'hui Hoai-ning-hien, de-
partement de TcJi'in-tcheoii-foK., dans le Honan), qui a
pu appartenir aussi bien au royaume de Hoai-yang (ju'a
celui de Tcliiii^ il s'ensuit qu'on pent en placei* I'inven-
tion entre les annees 185 avant et 87 apres, J. C."
The Chinese names of the geographical dictionaries
from which these facts are taken are o-iven in footnotes,
but all the trouble of reference would have been saved
had M. Julien known that Hsin-p'ing was the original
name of Fou-liang Hsien. It is recorded in the geo-
graphical section of the official annals of the T\mg
dynasty {Thing Shv^ book Ix, folio 25) that this walled
city was founded under the name of Hsin-p'ing, in the
fourth year of the period Wu-te (a. d. 621), with juris-
diction over a tract which formed part of the old district
of Po-yang ; that it was i-e-established in the fourth year
of K\ii-yuan (716), under the new name of Hsin-
ch'ang; and that its name was finally changed to Fou-
liang (which it has kept to the present day) in the first
year of the period T''ien-2)ao (742).
In another part of his book (p. 88), in reference to
porcelain made at Hsin-p'ing by Ho Chuug-ch'u, in the
ORIGIN OF PORCELAIN. 19
year 621, for the use of tlie emperor, Julien strangely
identifies this Avith another IIsin-[)'inir, con-espoii(liiig to
the modern Pin-chon, a department in the prefecture of
Si-ngan, the capital of the province of Shensi, a city
which certainly had this name during the Eastern Ilan
dynasty (25-220), but never since, so that this identifica-
tion involves another anachronism of several centuries.
The name signifies '' Newly Pacified," and a number of
cities seem to liave V)orne it in tuin for a brief pei'iod.
Hsin-p'ing occurs constantly in different })ages of the
annals quoted a])ove as the old name of Fou-liang, and
it is, besides, referred to more than once in the last thi'ee
books of the Ching-te-chm T\io Lxi, which are omitted in
Julien's translation. An exti'act, for example, is (pioted
in book viii, folio 2, fi-om the biography of Chu Siii,
styled Yu-heng, an official under the T\in<i dynasty,
who was superintendent at Hsin-p'ing, when, in the first
year of the period Chi)if/-Jiin(/ (a. d. 707), an imperial
decree was received by the Governor of Hung-chou,
ordering him to supply with all s[)eed a inunl)er of
sacrificial utensils for the imperial tombs. Chu Sui is
desci'ibed as having pushed on the work so energetically
that they were all sent befoi-e the end of the year.
Hung-chou is the old name of the modem Nan-ch'ang
Fu, the chief city of the province of Kiangsi, and Jao-
chou, within the bounds of which lies Fou-liang Ilsien,
is stated in the Annals of the T'aiuj dynasty to have
been actually at that time under the jurisdiction of the
Governor of Hung-chou.
It seems to me certain that llsin-p'ing in all these
quotations must i-efer to the same place, which is
recorded to have furnished a supply for the inq^erial
court, as early as the seventh century, to be sent to the
capital in the northern province of Shensi, and which has
been the seat of the imperial potteries since the year
20 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
1004, in which CHiiug-te-cheii was founded, down to the
present day. It follows, necessarily, that we must give
up the Han dynasty as furnishing a certain date for the
invention of porcelain. This clears the ground for
further research, AVe know that the word fzu^ which
noeans porcelain in the present day, first came into use
during the Han dynasty, and Mr. Hippisley {loc. cit.,
p. 393) takes this coining of a new word to designate
the productions of that age to be a strong argument in
favor of the early date. Others, more skeptical, before
reaching any decision, ask to be shown actual specimens
of translucent body that can be certainly referred to the
period.
In default of such material we will pass on to the T\mg
dynasty, which ruled over the Avhole of China for nearly
three centui'ies, during what has been described as a
protracted Augustan age, when arts and letters flourished
abundantly. During the short-lived ISui dynasty (581-
617) which immediately preceded the T\tng we hear of
a kind of green porcelain {lil tz'it) invented by a
President of the Board of Works named Ho Chou to
replace green glass (liu-li), the composition of which had
been lost. The contemporary annals of the Sni dynasty
{Sui S7iit, book Ixxxviii, folio 7), which give his
biography, say : " Ho Chou liad an extensive knowledge
of old pictures and a wide acquaintance with oV)jects of
antiquity. China had long lost the art of glass-making,
and the workmen did not dare to make fresh trials, but
he succeeded in making vessels of green porcelain which
could not be distino-uished from true o-lass." Consider-
able progress must have been made about this time in
the ceramic manufacture at Fou-liang Hsien, as it is
recorded in the geographical account of the district that,
in the early years of the reign of the founder of the
T^ang dynasty, T'ao Yii, a native of the place, conveyed
ORIGIN OF PORCELAIN. 21
his porcelain to the c«ipital of the empire in the province
of Kuan-chung (now Sliensi), where his ware, known by
the name of "false jade vessels," was all jiresented to the
emperor. The same book records that in the fourth year
(a. d. 621) of the same reign an inipei-ial decree was
issued ordering the potter Ho CUiung-cli'u, referred to
above, and otlier natives of Hsin-p'ing (now Fou-liang),
to make a supply of i)orcelain utensils for the use of the
imperial court.
The ceramic ware produced at this time is desci-ibed
to have been of finely levigated paste, thin in ])ody,
translucent, and brilliant as white jade. This description
seems exaggerated, yet the contemporary name of
"imitation jade" is enough, almost, to prove tliat it
must have been really porcelain, taken into consideration
with the fact that it was the production of the same
district that j^i'oduces the finest porcelain of the present
day. No simile would be more appropi-iate ; for a highly
polished bowl of white jade is quite as translucent as tlie
most delicate piece of egg-shell porcelain.
AVe know that the ceramic art was highly appreciated
during the T''ang dynasty from the frequent reference to
it made in the books of the period. The Buddhist
monks had their alms-bowls (^><>, Sanskrit jx/tnf) and
their ablution vases (Jcun-cliHh-ka, Sanskrit hiiydiht)
made both of porcelain (fz'ii) and of common earthen-
ware (?/;«), preferring the new material on account of its
simplicity to 1>he gold, silver, bronze, and precious stones
which had been employed previously.
Tea first came into ireneral use as a ])everaue al)out this
time, and there is a classical treatise on tea, called Ch'a
Ching^ written by Lu Yii in the middle of the eiglith
century, which is still extant. It contains ten sections,
entitled (1) Origin of the Plant; (2) Implements foi-
Gathering; (3) Manufacture of the Leaf; (4) Utensils
22 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
used in preparing the Infusion; (5) Methods of Boiling;
(6) Drinking ; (7) Historical Summary ; (8) Districts
of Production; (9) Ilesume : and (10) notes on
illustrations.
Among the utensils, the bowls {(va/i) used for drinking
tea are briefly described, and classified according to the
effect of the color of their glaze in enhancing the tint of
the infusion, which was made by pouring boiling water
upon the powdered tea, the leaves having been previously
ground in a mortal'. The bowls prefen-ed by the author
were those of Yueh-chou, tlie modern Shao-hsing Fu, in
the province of Chehkiang ; those of Hsing chou, now
Shun-te Fu in the ])rovince of Chihli, where \vhite
j)orcelaiii is still produced in the present clay, being
ranked next. He writes (folio 5) : " Yueh-chou bowds
are the best. Some persons place Hsing-chou bo\vls
above those of Yueh-chou, but they are, in my opinion,
mistaken. Hsing-chou poi'celain resembles silver, while
Yueh-chou porcelain is like jade — the first point in which
Hsing is inferior to Yueh ; Hsing-chou porcelain resem-
bles snow, Yueh-chou porcelain is like ice — the second
point of inferiority; Hsing-chou porcelain being ^'S'hite
makes the tea look re<l, while the Yueh-chou porcelain
being green gives a greenish tint to the tea — the third
point in which Hsing is inferior to Yueh."
This porcelain, however, Avas more highly appreciated
by others, as one writer of the time observes that " the
white teacups of Hsing-chou porcelain, like the bi'owu
ink-slabs of Tuan-hsi stone, are prized throughout the
empire by high and low alike." Both kinds of porcelain
are described as o-ivino- out a clear, resonant ring; when
struck ; and a celebrated musician is said, in his
biography, to have been in the habit of using ten cups
of Yueh-chou or Hsing-chou porcelain to make a musical
chime, playing upon them with ebony rods.
(HlKilN OF I'OKCELAIX. 23
The poets of this, the classical age of poetry, make
constant reference to porcelain cups in their verses in
praise of tea and wine, both favorite subjects for odes.
They liken the bowls to curled "disks of thinnest ice,"
to " tilted lotus leaves floating upon a stream," to '' white
or green jade." Such similes are applical)le only to
poi'celain. One of the most i-enowned of these poets, the
younger Tu, who lived 803-852, Avrote a letter in verse
begging for the loan from Wei Ch'u of some white
porcelain bowls from the Ta-yi potteries in the province
of Sse-chuan, which is often quoted: "The porcelain of
the Ta-yi kilns is light and yet strong. It rings with
a low jade note, and is famed throughout the city. Your
Excellency's white bowls surpass hoarfrost and snow.
Be gracious to me and send some to my poor mat-shed."
The first line praises the quality of the fabric, the second
the resonance of the material, the third the color of the
glaze.
Arab trade with China was vei'v extensive in the
eighth and ninth centuries, when Mohammedan colonies
were formed in Canton and other seaport towns. One
of the travelers, Soleyman by name, wi'ote an account of
his journey in the middle of the ninth century, which
has been translated into French, and lie furnishes the
first mention of porcelain outside China which may be
quoted in confirmation of the Chinese descriptions of the
time. He says: "They have in China a very fine clay
with which they make vases which are as transparent as
glass ; water is seen through them. These vases are
made of clay."^ The Arabs at this time were thor-
oughly well acquainted with glass, so that this evidence
is almost conclusive.
* Relation des Voyages fails par lea Arahes et les Persans dans I'liide et a la
CJiine dans le IXe s-ihle de I'tre chretienne, par M. Reinaiid, menibre I'liistitut,
Paris, 1845.
24 OlilKNTAL (EKAMK^, ART.
AVe pass next to the Eiupei'or SJuli Ti^ung (954-959)
of the Posterior Chou, a brief dyiuisty whicli reigned
just before the Sinn/, wlio encouraged tlie manufacture
of porcelain at his capital in Honan, now K'ai-feng Fu.
The pieces which were known afterward as CKai porce-
lain, that being the name of tlie imperial house, were
described as being " as blue as the sky, as clear as a
mirror, as thin as paper, and as resonant as jade."
This eclipsed in its delicacy everything that [)re-
ceded it. The description refers clearly to an azure-
tinted monochrome glaze produced by the use of the
native cobaltiferous mineral.
It is probable that no perfect specimens of these
delicate wares are still extant, so that we have to be
content with only a literary proof of their existence.
The Chinese are satisfied with this; they delight in
literary research, as much as they dislike digging in the
o;round, fearino; to disturb the rest of the dead. We
must be content to wait for future discoveries to satisfy
those sceptics who demand tangible evidence of tlie
existence of true })orcelain before the ^nng dynasty.
No one, as far as I know, disputes that it existed. But
further discussion of this interesting subject must l)e
deferred, meanwhile, to a future chapter.
CHAPTER II.
DELATIONS OF CHINESE, KOREAN, AND JAPANESE CERAMICS.
rr^HE civilization of China, whether it be indigenous,
-L or derived, as some learned men think, from an
Accadian source in westei'n Asia, is certainly much more
nucient than that of either Korea or Japan. Those who,
like M. Terrien de Lacoupei-ie, would bring it from the
Mesopotamian regions, or from the southern shores of
the Caspian Sea, place the date of its introduction into
China within tlie third millennium before Christ. The
Chinese, who consider, on the other hand, that their
culture is entirely of native growth, date it from about
the same time, during which the legendary — as distinct
from the purely mythical — period of their histoiy begins
with Fu-hsi, the reputed founder of the Chinese polity,
whose ]'eign is placed by them in b. c. 2852. Their
€yclical system of chronology is dated from the reign of
Huang T% the "Yellow Emperoi'," the first of the
periods of sixty years commencing with the year b. c.
2637. He is credited ^vith a full court of officials, who
are described as having introduced many of the useful
arts, the ceramic art among the rest. , Tlie invention of
the potter's wheel is generally atti'ibuted to his director
of pottery. The Shu King, oi- Booh of History, which
has been translated into Euglish by Dr. Legge, and
which is one of the most authentic of the ancient
classics, begins with the reigns of Yao and Shun, wiiich
immediately precede the "Tlii'ee Ancient Dynasties "of
Hsla, Sluing, and Choii, the first that were coni[)Osed of
hereditary lines of sovereigns,
25
26 ORIENTAL CKKAMIC ART.
Citou Jl.siii, the last sovereign of the second ancient
dynasty, ^vas an abandoned tyrant, who perished in the
flames of the Lu T'ai, or Deer Tower, liis hixiirious
j)alace of [)leasure, in m. c. 1123, the year that he was
defeated ))y Wu Wang, the founder of the Chou
d} nasty. One of the chief feudal nobles of the empire
during the i-eign of the tyrant Chou Hsin was Ki Tzii,
the Viscount or Chief of Ki. This noble vainly sought
to turn the licentious monarch from his evil Avays, but
was cast into prison, whence he was I'eleased by the
victorious WuWaiuj in i?. c. 1122. He was offered a
high post under the neAV rule, but declared that he could
not I'ecognize the sovereignty of a usurper, and he
retired to the country now forming the kingdom of
Korea. The peninsula Avas then inhabited b}' barbarous
tribes, among whom he introduced the first elements of
culture, and he was accepted by them as their first ruler^
and was so I'ecognized by the new sovereign of China.
Korea is indebted to China for the knowledge of writ-
ing, as ^v^ell as for most of the sciences and useful arts.
They use the written characters of China to this day,
although they have also an alphal)et, derived proV)ably
from the Sanskrit, adapted by Buddhist pilgi'ims fi-om
India, who doubtless reached Korea by way of China.
There has been frerpient intercourse with China through-
out historic times. The Chinese invaded the country in
force during the Ilaii and T\ni(j dynasties, and claim to
have reduced it to the condition of a province during
the latter re(jirne. Most of the Tartar dynasties that
have ruled over China, when they emei'ged from their
native wilds on the noi-th of Korea, have first invaded
Korea and conipelled its submission before overrunning
China. The present Manchu dynasty is no exception to
this genei-al lule. The Koreans, however, were not
without some knowledge of pottery in the earliest
CHINESE, KOREAN, AND JAPANESE CERAMICS. 2(
periods of wliicli we have an account of them from
Chinese sources. The Chinese liistoi'iographers in tlie
Hail times mention them as makino; vessels of unirlazed
earthenware in archaic forms and designs, similar to
those alluded to in the ancient classics of China, and
attributed to the ancient emperors Yao and Shun.
Sucli prehistoric vessels are found everywhere through-
out eastern Asia, as well as in North and South America,
and are remarkable for the general similarity of theii-
shape and rude ornamentation. This prehistoric potters-
has l)een more thoroughly investigated in Japan, where
immense deposits have been discovered in ancient shell
mounds at Omori, in the vicinity of Tokio, and else-
where throughout the country. Several specimens have
been figured in special works in Japanese ceramics.*
The subject is treated at length by Prof. Morse and Mr.
Satow in their papers upon the Shell Mounds of Omorif
and Sepulchral Mounds at Kaudzuke.J
Prof. Morse describes the pottery which he discovered
at Omori and other places in Japan as being black, or
black with a reddish tinge, or red of various shades, and
made of coarse clay. The vessels are in many cases
unevenly baked, and \\\i\\ few exceptions they are quite
thin ; the surfaces ai'e generally smooth ; the rims of the
vessels, either straight, undulating, or notched, |)roject at
intervals into points, or have variously formed knobs.
The borders are frequently ribbed Avithin, or marked
with one or more parallel lines outside, the lines often
inclosing a row of rude dots. The surfaces of the
vessels are oi-namented with curved lines, i:)ands of
*See Japanese Pottery, by James L. Bowes, Liverpool, 1890.
f Shell Mounds of Omori, by Edward S. Morse, Professor of ZoOlogy,
University of Tokio, Memoirs of the Science Department, University of Tokio,
Japan, 1879.
J Ancient Sepulchral Mounds in Kaudzuke, by Ernest Satow, Transactions
of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. viii, Tokohama, 1880.
28 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
oblique lines running in one direction round tbe vessels^
followed by a band of similar lines running in an
opposite direction, and sometimes these lines cross each
other. The bottoms of some of the pots have matting
impi'essions. These designs have either been roughly-
incised or, as in the case of the mat marks, impressed, or
they are smoothed out of wet clay, or carved in dry clay
before baking ; and, like all the pottery found in shell
mounds throughout the world, these works bear the
impression of the cord mark.
In some instances he found that the vessels had been
painted with mercury sulphide, but in no example
had any attempt been made to paint designs or patterns,,
except that in some cases the color was applied to
interspaces between lines or curves already marked. The
objects, discovered mostly in fragments, are grouped as
follows : Cooking vessels answering to pots, stewpans,.
etc.; hand vessels, such as bowls and cups ; vessels with
constricted necks, possibly used as water bottles ; and a
few vessels of various forms w^hich may be designated as-
ornamental jars and bowls. Much difference of opinion
exists as to the age of these deposits. None of the
frasfnients shows the least sio-n of havino; been thrown or
turned ; and the supposition therefore is that they were
made at a period at least anterior to the use of the
potter's wheel in Japan, the invention or introduction of
which is refeiTed by the Japanese to the eighth century
of our era. Prof. Moi'se considers them much more
ancient, on account of differences in the species of the
accompanying fauna as compared with those of the
present day ; he even thinks that the pottery may have
been made by a pre-Aino race.
The most interesting portion of Mr. Satow's report
upon the discoveries at Ohoya and Ohomuro is that
which refers to the fragments of human figures and of
CHINESE, KOREAN, AND JAPANESE CERAMICS. 29
Lorses, roughly and inartisticjilly molded in soft clay and
imperfectly baked, probably by exposure to the sun.
Among the traditions of the ceramic industry recorded in
old Japanese books is a story relating the making of
pottery figures in the third year of the Cliristian era, to
take the place of the persons and animals previously
buried around the graves of people of rank, which is
probably based upon fact, although it may be untrust-
worthy as to period. The common version runs as
follows: "The Emperor Saiuin {\\\\o is said to have
reigned from b. c. 26 to a. d. 70, and to have died at the
age of one hundred and forty-one years) signalized his
reign by the repeal of a barbarous custom which doomed
the imperial retainers, as well as horses and perhaps
other animals, on the decease of the sovereign, to be
buried alive in holes in the ground around tlie tomb. In
the year 3 a. d. the empress died, and Suiimi, at the
suggestion of his retainer Nomi no Sukune, called together
one hundred of the hajihe or potters of Idzumi province
that they might make clay figures of men and horses, to
bury in the place of living victims, as an example foi-
future ages. The workmen molded the figures under the
direction of Nomi no Sukune and interred them in a
circle around the tomb. The emperor rewarded his
adviser by conferring upon him and his descendants the
office of chief of the potters, with the title of Hajihe no
Tsukasa.'''' Mr. Satow, without supporting the correctness
of the Japanese dates, adopts the native view that the
tumuli explored were really ancient Inirial places of the
imperial family.
The ancient Japanese annals called Kojikl state that in
the early part of the same reign a Korean })rince became
naturalized in Japan, and brought with him a noted
potter of Shiraki, a principality of Korea, from whom
descended the workmen of Kaciami no Hazama, in the
30 ORIENTAL (EUAMIC AUT.
province <>f Oiui, who for iiiany centuries were reputed
t'oi' the fahrication of 81iii'aki ware. This is generally
quoted as the first iuti'oduction of a foreign element
into Japanese ceramic art, although the relics identified
with this production are of very ^^I'iniitive construction,
scarcely equal to that of the shell heaps, being also
handmade, roughly molded, nnglazed, and presenting
nothing worthy of the name of decoration. The baking
was effected in holes dug in tlie ground. Mr. Ninagawa^
says that in the present day the manufacture of hand-
made pottery in the Shiraki style is carried on at the
village of Kimura, in Yamato province, but tlie workmen
now make use of a raised earthen stove.
But the native chronology of these times is very uncer-
tain, and it is not till the fifth century, when it becomes
more accurate, that we can accept Japanese ac(M)imts of
intercourse with the outside woi'ld with any confidence.
In the year a, u. 463 the Emperor Yuriahu is said to
have dispatched an envoy to Korea to engage the services
of a skilled potter, which resulted in the advent of a
man named Koki, w^ho settled in the province of Kawachi,
and there taught the ceramic methods of his people,
which gradually spread to other parts of Japan.
The vases fio-ured in Ninas-awa's work Kvmn-ko dzu-
setait as prehistoric are probably more recent than, is
usually supposed. Many of them contained, ^vhen dis-
covered, the curious carved and polished jade ornaments
called, from their shape, magatama^ Tciidatama, etc. ; and
jade, according to Prof. J. Milne, is a stone foi'eign to
Japan, and must have been imported from abroad.
The progress of the art in Japan was confessedly very
slow, and aided at eveiy step by Korea or China, although
* lu his work on Japanese pottery entitled Kwan ko dzu setsii, published at
Tokio, in five parts, with colored illustrations, and a partial translation of the
text in French.
CHINESE, KOIIEAN, AND JAPAXESK ( EliA.MK S. .'U
the invention of tlie potter's wlieel is claimed by tlie Jap-
anese, as well as in quite recent times that of clay sec--
gars. The invention of the wheel is atti'ihiited to tlie
Korean Buddhist monk Giogi, who lived from 670 to
749 A. D. The process of enameling \vas not adopted till
the ninth century, according to Mr. Ninagawa, who states
that although glazed ware was known in Ja])an in the
eighth century, the specimens were prohabh- im])()ited,
and that glaze was not applied by Japanese pottei's till
the next century. The green glazed tiles used in build-
ing the roof of the imj>eriai palace at Uda in 794 are
supposed to have been of Chinese manufacture.
Mr. Chamberlain's researches into the ancient writings *
have demonstrated that the chronology of the Japanese
anterior to the opening of the fifth century c)f oui- era is
fabricated, and that even the myths and legends, as
related in the earliest written documents extant, are so
intermingled with imported Chinese elements that mucli
of their suggestiveness is destroyed. He shows the nar-
row limit of the stock of knowledge possessed by the
early Japanese before the commencement of Chinese and
Korean intercourse, and that they ^vere certainly not
acquainted with a number of the arts and products which
figure in true historical periods. " They had no tea, no
fans, no porcelain, no lacquer, none of the things, in fact,
by which in later times they have been chiefiy known.
They did not yet use vehicles of any kind. They had
no accurate method of computing time : no money ;
scarcely any knowledge of medicine ; neither do we heai"
anything of the art of drawing, though they j^ossessed
some sort of nuisic and poems, a few of Avhich are not
without merit. But the most impoitant art of Avhicli
they were ignorant was that of writing."
* See the introduction to his transhition of tiie Kojiki in the Tr<in.<>ii<'(ions of
the Asiatic Society of Japan, 1883.
32 ORIENTAL CERAMIC AR'J'.
The peninsula of Korea, projecting as it does from the
northeast of China toward the Japanese islands, has been
the route by which the knowledge of many of the arts
has traveled to the latter country. Korea, which was
anciently divided into three principalities — Kaoli, Petsi,
and Sinra — was not united into one kingdom until about
the middle of the tenth century, after it had recovered,
its independence, toward the close of the Tktng dynasty
in China. In a. d. 463, accoixling to the Japanese report
translated by Mr. (now Sir Wollaston) Franks,* some
Japanese princes introduced from Petsi a number of col-
onists, among whom were some potters; but these were
stated to have belonged to a Chinese corporation estab-
lished in Korea. Koreans were also concerned in found-
ing the factory at Karatsu (Hizen) at the end of the
seventh century, as well as some other industries, the
principal of which was the well-known ware of Satsuma,
whei-e the kilns were built on Korean models, and the pot-
ters formed a class apart, not being allowed to marry out
of their own community. Excepting, however, the Sat-
suma ware, the Koreans do not appear to have intro-
duced any pottery of remarkable excellence, and we hear
nothing of their making- porcelain. The real reason why
the Japanese attached such a fanciful value to Korean
vessels, and why they continued to import Korean pot-
ters long after they themselves had made so much prog-
ress in the art, was connected with the Tea Ceremonies, a
peculiar institution which they adopted from the Chinese,,
and which has been often described. It is to the Chinese
that they are really indebted for their greatest advances ;
the fii'st good Japanese glazed pottery having been made
at Seto, about 1230, by Toshiro, who had learned the art
in China; while the first porcelain made in Japan is
attributed to Gorodayu Shonsui, who went to study the
* Japanese Pottery, by A. W. Franks, London, 1880.
chinksp:, kokp:an, and .Japanese ceuamics. .S3
manufacture in China, and returned, to settle at Hizen,
in the year 1513.
The " Father of Pottery," Kato Shirozayemon, nioie
familiarly known as Toshiro, crossed the sea at the age
of twenty, in company with the Buddhist abbot Dogen,
with a view to studying the nioi-e advanced processes of
the art in China, and returned six years latei', in 1229, to
carry his exjierience into practice at the village of Seto,
inOw^ari. He brought back materials with him and made
utensils of China clay which are called by tea-drinkers
Kara-mono^ " Chinese w'are.'' The tea jars and tea bowls
made from Seto clay by him and his descendants for four
generations are known as Ko Seto, " Old Seto." They
are fashioned of stoneware, invested with a black, brown,
or yellow glaze, and are good in form and color, as well
as perfect in technique. Not only have they served as
models for Japanese potters down to the present day, but
the celebrity of the ware has given the generic name of
Seto-mmio, or " Seto ^vare," to all subsequent ju-oducts of
the ceramic art.
Gorodayu Shonsui, who brought to Japan the art of
porcelain-making, was a native of Ise, and imitated the
example set by Toshiro nearly three hundred years
before, by traveling to China to study the technical
methods of an art new to his countrymen. He si)eut
several years in Foo-chow, during which time he is sup-
posed to have visited Ching-te-chen, and returned in the
eighth year of the Chinese Emperor Chtng-te (a. d.
1513). This reion is cele})rated for its l)lue and white
porcelain, decollated in cobalt blue undei- a white glaze,
and we iind that this is the kind of decoration that was
tii'st produced in Japan. Shonsui took the precaution to
import a considerable quantity of the petuntse, I'aoJin,
and cobaltiferous manganese used by Chinese potters,
and employed them in the making of various small
34 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
objects, such as ])0\vl8, sake bottles, and tea jars, painted
in })lue under an uncrackled glaze. A specimen marked
with his name, made by him in China, is preserved at
Nara. He settled finally in the pi-ovince of Hizen, wheie
he built several kilns, and he is regarded not only as the
founder of Japanese porcelain, but as the first Jap-
anese ceramist to apply the princii)les of drawing to the
ornamentation of pottery, as the few rude outlines occa-
sionally found upon the older ware scared}^ merit the
name of painted decoration.
But the materials brought over by Shonsui were soon
exhausted, and, in default of native material, he was
unable to create a genuine native industry, and his suc-
cessors could achieve nothing but faience, although that
faience was no longer plain, but relieved by faii'ly
executed designs under the glaze, copied in part from
Chinese models. It was not till the close of the six-
teenth century (1599) that a Korean named Risampei,
who had l)een brought over to Hizen after the Korean
war by a general of the army under the command of
Prince Nabeshima, found the lacking ingredients at
Mount Idzumi. He established a new industry in Arita
for the production of blue and white ware QSo?netsuke),
and, as the materials were now abundant and cheap, a
large quantity of porcelain was turned out. The novelty
of the manufacture, as Captain Brinkley observes in his
Historij of Japanese Keramics, combined with the pop-
ular taste for jiorcelain already develo[)ed by familiar-
ity ^vitll the tine specimens China furnished under
the MiiKj dynasty, soon made it exti'emely })opular,
though he declares that for us it does not possess so
much interest, being copied directly from the Chinese
blue and white, to which it is considerably inferior in
purity and finish.
It is worthy of remark that neither Risampei nor any
CHINESE, KOREAN, AND JAPANESE CERAMICS. 35
other among the large number of Korean potters brought
over by Taiko's generals could ini[)art to their con-
querors a knowledge of decoration in enamels over the
glaze. This honor was reserved for Higashima Tokuzaye-
mon, a potter of Imari, in the same })rovince of Hizen.
He is said to have learned from a Chinese visitor to
Nagasaki the method of painting with vitrifial:)le colors
upon the glaze, and succeeded, with the assistance of
other potters, and after experiments spread over several
years, in this new class of decoration. This was al)()tit
the middle of the seventeenth century. The official
Japanese report * says that it was in the second year of
Sho-ho (a. d. 1645) that the export of pieces ornamented
with colored, enamels, in gold and silvei', etc., was begun,
in the first place to a Chinaman named Ilachikan, after-
ward to the Dutch traders. It was made especially for
the foreign market, and was distributed b}' the Dutch,
who had a settlement upon the island of Desiraa, near to
Nagasaki, and were allowed exclusive trading privileges,
to all parts of Europe, where it afterwards became
known as "old Japan." M. Jacquemartf quotes from
the Reports of the Dutch East India Company the
record that in 1664 eleven ships arrived in Holland Avith
forty-four thousand nine hundred and forty-three pieces
of Japanese porcelain. The museum at Dresden is
remarkable for a large series of noble jars and vases of
the most elaborate form and decoration, which was
mainly brought together by Augustus the Strong, King
of Poland and Elector of Saxony, between the years
1694-1705.
The Chinese apply the name of icn fsai, or " five
colors," to this kind of decoration, the Ja[)anese foi'm of
* IjC Japon dV Exposition, Unimrselle d«1878, pviblie a Paris sdus la direction
de la Commission Imperiale Japonaise.
f Histoire dela Porcelaine, par A. Jacqueniart ct E. Le Blant, Paris, 1862.
36 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
which, go-sai, is also used iu that country, although the
name of nishihi, or " silken brocade," is much more
commonly employed in eJapan. The reign of Wan-li in
China was especially celebrated for its porcelain, dec-
orated in colored enamels, which supplied the first
models for the Japanese, even the " mark " being often
copied. Ching-te-chen suffered very much in the wars
at the close of the Ming dynasty, which was finally
overthrown in 1643, and the porcelain industry became
s^imost extinct. Some of the potters perhaps found their
way to Nagasaki, conveyed there by the Dutch, who
seem to have done much to develop the manufacture in
Japan, if indeed they were not the means of introducing
it. The old crackled ware of China that has always been
so highly appreciated in Japan is imitated there in
recent times under the name of hihi-yahi ; and the sea-
green, or celadon, under the name of seiji-yahi,se{ji l)eing
the Japanese form of dCing-tx' n^ or " green porcelain,"
the ordinary Chinese name of this class.
A recent report * upon Japanese porcelain exhibited
at Chicago in 1893, shows how they are still working in
the old lines and succeeding iu producing marvels of
imitative art. The author says that, speaking broadly,
there are at [)resent two schools of ceramists in Japan,
one of which he calls the Yokohama school, the other
the Sinico-Japanese school. The former owes its exist-
ence primarily to the demand of foreign exporters and
tourist amateurs for brightly ornate and decorative speci-
mens, and produces a mass of objects in the ornamenta-
tion of which pi'ofusion of color and lavishness of labor
are set conspicuously above excellences of technique and
chastity of taste. They figure by hundreds on the
shelves of bric-a-biac <lealei's, decorated with mol)s of
* Artistic Japan at Chicago : A Description of Japanese Works of Art sent
to the World's Fair, by F. Brinkley, Yokohama.
CHIIS^ESE, KOREAN, AND JAPANESE CERAMICS. 87
saints, crowds of warriors, or gardens of flowers painted
witli microscopic accuracy ; but all sucli were ostracized '
by the Japanese art critics and ruthlessly excluded from
the P^ine Arts Section of the Exposition. The latter,
the Sinico-eTapanese school, has its center at Kioto, and
Seifu Yohei figures as its most prominent representative.
This potter is placed in the foremost rank for his suc-
cesses in the celadon, ivory-white, and coral-red glazes.
The reproduction of the old Chinese celadon has always
been the chief ambition of the Japanese, but no one has
ever approached Seifu in this line. Occasional pieces of
canary-yellow, turquoise-l)lue, or aul)ergine-purple faience
from his kiln are said to have shown the hand of a
master of monochromatic glazes, and his canaiy-yellow
oflazes with reserved desio^ns in rich blue to have i)een
of K^ang-hsi type. Next to him among the masters of
the Sinico-Ja])anese school is ranked Miyagawa Kozan,
of Yokohama, whose essays of the (Chinese yao-inen or
"transmutation" glaze astounded the public, some of
his polychrome glazes exhibiting tints of rare beauty,
although they never convey the impression of depth and
soliditv that belong^s to the Cliinese ^^"are alone. Wlu-n
his first copies of the celel)rated Cliiaiig-fsu-JniiKj or
"peach-bloom" appeared in the market, the astute
Chinaman, detecting a golden opportunity, hastened to
acquire as many as possible, inclosed tlieni in the
traditional silk-lined boxes of his country's collector, and
sold them to trustful Occidentals at figures commen-
surate with the magnitude of the deception. The
periodical openings of the kilns at Ota are eagerly
watched, and the successful pieces incontinently carried
off to New York or Paris by such adroit middlemen.
The third potter of this school is Takemoto Ilayata, of
Tokio, who excels in the glossy black glaze, sometimes
showing tints of raven's-wing green, and hairlike lines of
8(S OKIKN'I'AI. CERAMIC AKT.
silver or duppliiig of gokleii ))i'0\vii, in his reprodiictious
of the ohi Chien Yao of the Sum/ dynasty, which used
to turn out the choice cu[)s so higiily pi-ized hy the
dilettanti of the Japanese tea clubs.
But these things are not made for the purpose of
deception. Like Yeiraku of old,- the modern Japanese
believes that until a potter cau reach the standard of the
old masters, he can liave no business in attempting to
strike out new lines. Who, as Captain Brinkley says,
that is familiar with what China achieved prior to the
close of the eighteenth century, will deny that the field of
reproduction offers ample scope foi' the genius of any
modern e.\])ert ?
CHAPTER III.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CLASSIFICATIOiSr OF CHINESE PORCE-
LAIN. INSCRIPTIONS. CHRONOLOGY.
THE most satisfactory classiticatiou of porcelain would
be a chronological one, whicli should be based upon
the actual characteristics of the objects to be classified,
with reference to the history of the subject. The classifica-
tion of Oriental porcelain in European collections has been
hitherto mainly empirical. A glance at one of the many
works of Albert Jacquemart, so beautifully illustrated
by the artistic etchings of Jules Jacquemart, will show
how the author confounds Japanese and Chinese speci-
mens, and endows Korea with an elaborately decorated
archaic ware of perfect finish \vhich was certainly never
produced in that country. In his History of the Ceramic
Art, for instance. Chapter III,* on Korea, is illustrated
by two figures only, and the first of these is a jar
(^potiche) of Chinese blue and white decorated with fioral
arabesque designs ; the second, a Japanese red and gold
wine-pot painted with the imperial Kiri-mon, four times
repeated ; while among the four specimens selected to
illusti-ate Chapter II, on Japan, the second is a Chinese
eggshell plate, although only " the vulgar," accoi'ding to
the author, confound such artistically enameled pieces
with those of his own Chinese Rose family ; the third, a
"mandarin jar" with gold filigree ground, is as certaiidy
Chinese ; and the fourth, a hexagonal vase " with reticu-
* Iliatoire de la Cemmique, par A. Jacquemart, Paris, 1873. Translated
into English by Mrs. Bury Palliser, History of the Ceramic Art, second edition,
London, 1877.
39
40 OKIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
lated open-work [taiiels of vigorous iron-red, framing
softly painted medallions," lias every appearance of be-
lono-ins: to the same school of ai't. The Chinese class of
laqne hurgautee porcelain again is referred by M. Jacqiie-
mart to Japan ; and " old Japan " pieces of Imari origin,^
decorated in colors, are placed by him, on the other hand,
among the Chinese ware, because they are often marked
underneath with a Chinese nien hao, or reign.
It is always unsafe to rely implicitly upon the marks
attached to Oriental porcelain. The Japanese constantly
employ Chinese marks, penciled, however, generally in a
peculiar style, so as to betray a foreign hand to any one
familiar with the native style of writing. The Chinese
themselves seldom attach a true mark of date, excepting
upon pieces produced at the imperial manufactory.
There special writers are retained to pencil the
seal, which is outlined in the most approved antique
style.
The classification of the modern private fabrics pro-
duced at Ching-te-chen described in the books includes :
(1) Kuan hu cli'i (*^ ~^ ^), ''Imperial ancient
ware"; (2) Sltang hu chH (_h "^ H-), "Ware of the
highest antiquity"; (3) Chung hu clti (fp lb ^h
Ware of middle antiquity"; (4) Yuhu cli'i {^fy ~^ ^),
"Glazed ancient ware"; (5) Hsiao hu clCi (/J^ ~^ ^),
"Small ancient pieces"; and (6) CJCcmg hu cli'i,
(^ "^ oi^)? "Ordinary ancient ware." It is not pre-
tended that any of these things are really ancient, but
the Chinese consumer adores antiquity, and wnll have
nothing called modern ; so that we find the commonest
of crockery shops or street stalls full of articles of blue
and white marked Hsiian-te, and of colored pieces
marked Cli eng-liua, that have not the slightest pretension
to date from the Ming dynasty. The former reign was
celebrated for its blue, the latter for its colors, and the
CLASSIFICATION OF CJIINKSE PORCELAIN. 41
ware of to-day must be marked accordingly. It is a
mere matter of fashion or custom.
The reign of K'ang-hd (1662-1722) is famous both
for its dazzling monochrome glazes and for the brilliant
enamel colors of its decorated porcelain. The long reign
of this emperor forms the culminating period of ceramic
art in China ; the imperial factor}^ tui'ned out pieces of
the finest quality, and the private potteries produced a
profusion of ware of every grade, that was circulated
throughout the Chinese Empire, and distri])uted besides
to all parts of the world by the ships of the East India
Companies ; yet genuine marks of this reign are rare. It
is recorded in the annals of Fou-liang that in the six-
teenth year of the reign of K\i)ig-hsi (1677), when the
imperial factory was rebuilt after the civil wars excited
by the rebellion of Wu kSan-kuei, the governor of the
city, Chang Ch'i-chung, issued a proclamation forbiikling
the potters of Ching-te-chen writing either the name of
the reign, or texts from any of the sacred or classical
works, lest the porcelain should be broken and the sacred
characters trampled in the dust and profaned. The im-
perial pieces of the time when he was the official in
charge are consequently found with only a double ring, a
survival of the old mark of wdiicli it formed the border,
underneath ; the unofficial ware marked with a fanciful
artist's signature, a spray of flowers, a leaf, a vase, etc., or
with some propitious symbol, if not with a flctitious date
of the preceding dynasty. I refer especially to the tall
vases, jars, and beakers, and the large round dishes,
which occupy a prominent place in most Oriental collec-
tions, boldly decorated in enamel colors, relieved per-
haps by a ground enameled black, gi'een, buff, or yellow,
painted either over the white glaze or on " biscuit."
In spite of the marks, there is slender ground for the
common practice of classifying any of these large pieces
42 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
as Ming, eveu if they be of coarse fabric, rough execu-
tion, and so-called archaic aspect.
A few words on the writing and history of China may
not be out of place here before proceeding to the classi-
fication and description of marks on porcelain. The
Chinese language, I need hardly say, is monosyllabic, and
each word is represented by a separate " character " in
tlie written script. These characters seem to have been
originally pictures of natural objects which have been
subsequently combined in various ways, as phonetics,
and as determinatives or radicals. The radicals in
modern use are 214, a number arbitrarily fixed for dic-
tionary purposes, as a means of classifying the 20,000 or
more written characters of the language, and of provid-
ing a convenient method of coining new combinations.
The large majority of the characters in actual use consists
of the two parts referred to above — viz., a radical, which
gives a clew to the meaning by indicating the particular
class of things or ideas to which the combination of
which it forms a part belongs, and a phonetic, which
conveys some idea of the sound.
A few words of frequent occurrence in works on
ceramics may serve as an illustration, and at the same
time afford an opportunity of defining the meanings of
the characters. Among the radicals, those referring
directly to the subject are the 98th, ^, wa, a general
name for earthenware, while was originally a picture of
a round tile ; the 108th, HU, miny the ancient form of
which resembled a circular dish ; while the 121st, ^,
fou, applied to ceramic vessels generally, delineated a
wine-jar or vase; and the 193d, |^, li, in its original
form showed the mouth, belly, and crooked legs of a
three-footed caldron, the upper horizontal line being the
cover. In older books these different radicals are often
interchanged so that the characters p'ing, " vase," and
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 43
ying, " cruse," may be written either with iva, " earthen-
ware," or fou, "■ vessel," prefixed to tlie two phonetics.
Some of the characters had originally other radicals,
such as mu, " wood," yi'i, " jade," <^hm, " metal," or shih,
" stone," attached to the phonetics, and a study of the
ancient forms employed in writing \vill show the ma-
terials of which these utensils were made.
Wa, ^, with the addition of different phonetics,
forms ^, cJtumi, a brick, ^, p'i., applied to fine terra-
cotta ware of the period anterior to the Christian era, ^,
fza, porcelain, and the names of many utensils, such as
^, ying, a cruse, with perforated '' ears " for stringing a
cord, ^, weng, a large earthenware jar, etc.
Mill, JH, is the radical of many kinds of vessels of
domestic and sacrificial use, such as ^, cIkih, winecups,
^,pen, basins, ^, pei, winecups, ^, /ran, bowls, ^, i/il,
basins, j^, Jio, boxes, ^, p^an, dishes, etc.
M)u, f^, is the radical of a natural group of characters
relating to vases, and the like, such as ^, hutg, fish-
bowl, ^, yao, jar, '^, p'lng^ bottle, ^, tsun., sacrificial
vase, ^, huan, covered pot, fan, wine-jar, etc. It forms
an integral part of p^, fao, a very ancient character,
applied to pottery in its widest sense, so as to include all
kinds of ware fired in kilns, and of ^, yao, a character
of more recent construction, signifying both kiln and, as
a secondary meaning, the product of the kiln. Both of
these words are used in modern books as synonyms of
^, fzu, porcelain. The original forjn of p|f|, fao, was
"lU, without the radical '^,foi(, place, which was added
subsequently, and it is written thus in the ancient diction-
ary Shuo Wen, which defines it as meaning " earthen-
ware," "composed of ^,f<)ii, and ^, pao, the phonetic
being omitted." It had two different sounds, fao and
yao, both of which are preserved in old names ; j5|^, T'ao
(the modern P'ing-yang-fu in Shansi) being the name of
44 ORIENTAL CERAMKl ART.
one of the principalities of the ancient Emperor Yao;
Kao Yao (.^ fl^) that of the upright judge of the time
of the Emperor Shun, tlie successor of Yao. Originally
meaning " kiln," fao is now used to signify " pottery," in
its widest sense, including porcelain among the other
products of the potter's skill. Unfortunately, the word
pottery is often used by us in ordinary parlance to mean
faience and conunon earthenware, in contradistinction to
porcelain, so that the rendering of fao as " pottery," con-
venient as it is, may be liable to some misconception.
The rendering of tz'u as " porcelain " would also be some-
times inappropriate, as the Chinese include in the term
any [)ale stoneware in which the paste has been suffi-
ciently vitrified to produce a cleai" ring on percussion,
although it may be too thick and opaque to transmit
light, one of the characteristics on which we rely in our
definition of porcelain.
With regard to the transliteration of the Chinese
characters into English, the system adoi)ted here is that
of Sir Thomas Wade, whose syllabary of the mandarin
dialect, exjdaiued in his Chinese Course, the Tzu Erl> Chi.,
is almost universally followed in China, and foi-ms the
basis of tlie two most recent dictionaries of the Chinese
language, the large work of Mr. Herbei't Giles, and the
small, inexpensive Pocket Dictionarif of the Rev.
Cliauncey (xoodrich, Peking, 1891, which every one who
is interested in the subject ought to possess. The
20,000 characters of the written script are comprised
in a syllabary of some 500 sounds. Tn speaking?
these ai-e diffei-entiated into four " tones," which,
however, may l)e disregarded in writing. The vowels
and di])hthongs must be generally pronounced as in
Italian, the consonants as in English. Some consonants
at the beginning of words may be .'ispirated ; such as ch,
k, i>, and /, when they have an apostrophe affixed, are
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 45
written Gh\ h\ p\ t\ and pronounced accordingly, fa, for
example, being read like " hit hard" witli the first two
and last two letters omitted. The initial A-S' is one of the
peculiarities of the Peking mandarin dialect ; liaimj is
pronounced somewhat like " hissing " without the first i :
another peculiarity is the softening of the initials h and
ts before certain vowels, by which the name of the
famous emperor of the last century has become Chrien-
lung, instead of KHen-lung, that of the Ming emperor
who reigned 1522-1566, Chia-ching, in j)lace of Kia-
tsiiig. This results from the same philological law
which causes similar changes of Latin vvorils in the
Italian and French of modern days.
The written script of the Chinese has also become
gradually changed in course of time. Its most
archaic form is seen in the inscriptions upon ancient
bronze v'essels dating from the three earliest dynasties,
which have been discovered at various times buried in
the ground, and illustrated in voluminous works by
native antiquarians, such as the Po hv fan, which was
published in thirty books in the reign of Hsikni-ho
(11 19-1125), and the Hsi-Cli'ing hu chien, the well-known
large folio catalogue of the extensive collection of the
Emperor Cliien-luiig (1736-1795). Among the most
a,ncient inscribed monuments are the ten stone drums of
the eighth century before Christ, preserved in the gate-
way of the Confucian Temple at Peking, which are
engraved with odes in praise of hunting and fishing,
written in the antique script which was invented by
Chou, the grand historiographer of Ih'nini Wang (b. c.
827-780), to replace the archaic ideographic characters.*
These are the ^ ^, Clitian tz'u, the cliaracters in ^vhich
the ancient aiuials were wi'itten upon tablets of bamboo
* The Stone Drums of the Chou Dynasty, by S. W. Bushell, M. D. Transac-
tious of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. viii. 1873.
46 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
before the iuveritioii of paper. In foreign books they are
commonly known as '' seal characters," because modern
seals are usually engraved in this style. The seals and
other marks on porcelain are often penciled in this
antique script, so as to require tlie use of the Shuo Wen,
an ancient dictionary of a. u. 121, for their decipherment.
These chai-acters, called ^ ^, fa cluani, or "greater
chuan,'' \vere succeeded by the " lesser chuan," lisiao
cliuaii^ /J^ ^, which wei'e invented by Li Ssii, the
notorious minister of ChHn Shih Huang, the enq3eror of
the third century b. c, who burned the old books and
built the Great AVall of China.
A pair of porcelain seals in the collection, with lion
handles I'ichly decorated in colors, of which one is shown
in Fig. 58, are inscribed with cJuian fzu. The inscrip-
tions are seen in Fig. 59. The first, on tlie left, has three
characters in tlie most archaic script, HsiaiKj Sltan SJiih —
i. e., " native of Hsiang Shan "; the second is inscribed
with four characters, P^ei SJniai-tu Yin, "■ seal of P'ei
Shuai-tu,'' the personal name of the individual for whom
the seal was made. These w^ere followed almost immedi-
ately by the square characters called ^, //, " official,"
that were first used in writing documents in the official
Boards, and were afterward gradually transformed into
the regular characters called i^ ^, Ic'iai sJiu, which, first
fashioned under the Chin dynasty (265-419), have sur-
vived wdtli little modification to the present day, and are
employed in printed books as w^ell as in formal written
manuscripts. Two different cursive sci'ipts have sur-
vived at the same time: the !^ ^, ts'ao shn, or "grass
hand," in w^hich the characters are contracted and abbre-
viated for the quick write]-, which w^as invented ])y a
eunuch of the palace in the first century b. c; and the
^"X ^, lining sh% or " running hand," in which the char-
acters are rapidly written without raising the pencil, but
CLASSIFICATION^ OF CHINESE PORCELAIN, 47
unabbreviated, wbich was started by Liu Te-sheng in the
reign of the Emperor Iluan Ti (147-167).
Any of tliese styles of writing may be found upon
porcelain. The " grass hand " is the most difficult for
the uninitiated, because the characters are contracted
according to the fancy of each individual scribe. The
stanzas of poetry which are quoted as labels for pictures
are often written in this style ; it is found also on the
little porcelain bottles which have drifted in such num-
bers from Egypt into our museums, and ^vhicli Avere
supposed once to be of fabulous antiquity, until the
lines scribbled upon them — ^' The flowers open, and lo !
another year," " Only upon this solitary hill " — opposite
rudely outlined flowers, had been traced to poets of the
T'ang dynasty.
Such scraps of verses are often written on small pieces,
and form, perhaps, the sole decoration, as in the case of
a little pair of hlanc-de-chine winecups from the [)rovince
of Fuchien, of which Fig. 60 is one. The stanza carved
in the paste under the velvety glaze of creamy tone
reads :
" Drunken with wine, I leave in you, sir,
A libation for the bright moon."
There is always presumed to be in China an intimate
connection between the art of poesy and Bacchus, and
Luna.
The verses inscribed on vases are usually connected
with the subject of the decoration, which is perhaps
chosen to illustrate the verse. The vase, for example, in
Fig. 61 is decorated in the lower panel with a picture of
a hunting scene, to illustrate an ode of the Emperor
Ch'ien-lung's composition, which is written in the upper
panel and signed with the imperial autograph:*
* The name of the emperor is framed in coral-red, the special color of the
imperial " vermilion pencil." The character Ch'ien is here written in antique
48 ORIENTAL CERA3IIC ART.
^' Clouds overspread the vaulted sky, the air at dawn is chill;
The ring is spread for the hunt, when the sun is but three poles
high.
Clad in warm cloak of sable fur, it seems to me like spring:
How different for you all round, in your single, unlined coats! "
Another beautiful vase of tlie same p^eriod (Fig. 62),
decorated on one side with a view of a picturesque laud-
scape with temples on a wooded hill, representing the
island of Yen Yii Shan, '' The Hill of Mist and Rain," in
the lake at the city of Hangchou, has four stanzas of
rhyming verse penciled in black on the reverse side (b),
perfectly written, and signed in antique style with the
seal Yun Ku^ " Valley of the Clouds." They may be
rendered :
^' For miles round, orioles warble at dawn in the rose-tinted
trees;
Botli sliore hamlets and hill forts show the wine-ttags waving in
the breeze.
Here in the Southern Dynasties stood four hundred and eighty
fanes,
And as many wood-circled spires, all half hidden by mists and
rains."
The coral-red bowl of the Tao-Kuang Period (Fig. 63),
has an inscription reserved in white on the bright-red
ground, which also refers to tlie subject of the decora-
tion, reserved on the other side of the bowl, consisting
of sprays of \vliite plum blossoms delicately tinted with
soft green and i-ed. The verse, >vith a fanciful heading
inscribed in a leaf-])anel " Moon Cut," is signed Ya Wa?i,
script ; in other siniilur iuscriptions, as in Fig. 65, below, it is replaced in the
first small circular panel by three parallel unbroken horizontal strokes, the first
of the eight " trigrarns " of divination, which, like Ch'ien, conveys tlie mean-
ing of " heaven."
CLASsiFicATioisr op^ OHiNEsp: poii(;p:rvAiN. 49
^' Literary Toy," which occurs also as a " mark," as we
shall see later. It may be translated :
■" The trees, enveloped in clouds of melting, d:i\vn-red tint,
Show leaves of deepest green and flowers of jadelike white;
The buds, like ])recious pearls, spread out earl}' in the spring-
time;
The powder-pot of [)alace beaut}' sprinkled into snowy
flowers."
We will give oue more inscription, in verse, from the
pen of the Emperor Ch'ien-limg, in Fig. 65, which is
a slightly magnified representation of the beautiful little
snuft'-bottle shown in Fig. 64. It is interesting as
devoted especially to the ceramic question, and as giving
the views of an illustrious connoisseur, whose poetic
effusions, I may mention, are printed and fill some tens
of volumes.* The other side of the snuff-bottle (Fig.
64) is decorated in enamel colors with a miniatui-e
garden scene containing a rockery and moinitain peonies,
and a boy carrying a basket from which he is feeding
a hen and chickens. The inscription is penciled in
black and authenticated by the imperial seal in red
affixed below in two small labels. There is also a mark
underneath, written in one line of seal characters, ClCien-
lung nien cltili, "Made in the reign of C hHen-lung ''''
(1736-1795). The ode runs:
* Wylie, in his Notes on CMnene Litemture (London and Shanghai, 1867),
says that, besides several extensive collections of essays and discourses, this
monarch left to posterity a quadruple collection of poems. The first, in forty-
eight books, contains 4,150 pieces, composed during the first twelve years of
his reign ; the second, in one hundred books, contains upward of 8.470 pieces,
composed between 1748 and 1759 ; the third, in one hundred and twelve books,
contains 11,620 pieces, written during the next twelve years ; and the fourth,
also in one hundred and twelve books, includes 9,700 pieces, written between
the years 1772 and 1789, the whole work comprising about 33,950 poetical com-
positions.— Editor's Note.
50 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
" Yueli-chou porcelain of the Li dynasty of T'ang is no longer
extajit: *
The imperial ware of the Chao house of Sung is rare as stars at
(lawn.
Yet the ancient ritual vessels of Yin and Chou abound in the
present da}':
Their material, bronze, is stronger; vessels of clay are more
fragile.
But though strong and rude tliey l:ist, the weak and polished
perish :
So honest worth wears well in daily life, and should be ever
})rized.
The Chu dynasty of Ming, going back from to-da^', is not so far
remote:
And the artistic gems of Hsuaii and Ch'eJig may be seen occa-
sional I3',
Their brilliant polish and their perfect coloring are universally
lauded;
And among them the 'Chicken Winecups ' are the ver}^ crown
of all.
The Mutan peonies under a bright sun opening in the balmy
spring;
The hen and chicken close together, and the cock in all his glor}''.
With golden tail and iron spurs, his head held straight erect,
In angry poise ready for combat, as if he lieard the call of Cbia
Ch'ang.
The clever artist has rendered all the naturalistic details
In a style handed down from old time, vaiying in each period:
But I will think only in iny own tniinl of the ancient Odes of
Ch'i,
And not dare to cheiish my own ease when it is time to rise early.
" Composed by tlie Emperor Ch'ieii-hmg in the cyclical year
ping-shen, and sealed by him."
*The Yueli porcelain of the T'mty ((518-906) and the "Imperial Ware"
(Kuan Yao) of the Sung dynasty (960-1279) will be described presently. The
Tin and Chou were the last two of the three ancient dynasties b. c. The
reigns of the Ming dynasty alluded to are those of Usiian-te (1426-1435) and
CA'e/(5^-7t«rt (1465-1487), both famous for their porcelain. Chia-Ch'aug lived
in the reign of Ming Tsung (926-933), of the After T'ang, and was employed
by the emperor on account of his skill with lighting-cocks. The Ode of Ch'i,
referred to in the last stanza, enjoins the sovereign not to lie in bed after cock-
crow. The year ping-sJien of the cycle corresponds to a. d. 1776.
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 51
A pamphlet was ])ul)lished early in the nineteenth
century with a transhition of this inscription and an
illustration of the winecup from which it was taken,
which is decorated with a picture similar to that
described above. It is entitled Ly-Thtnr/^ An Imperial
Poem in Chinese, by Kien-Lung, with a Ti-anslation and
Notes by Stephen Weston, F. li. S., F. S. A., London,
1809. Dedicated to Sir Geoi'ge Staunton, Bart. It is
quoted in Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porce-
lain^ by W. Chaffers, 1891, seventh edition, pp. 310,
312, " to show the difficulty of translating Chinese."
The translation certainly differs fi'om mine. It begins :
'' Ly-T'ang, idle and unemployed, in a vacant and
joyless hour spake thus : ' Behold the sun, star of the
morning, rise on my furnace and illumine my hall undei-
an imperial dynasty.' Great is the beauty and high the
antiquity of sacred vases," etc.; but I will refer the
curious to the Catalogue of the British Museum, a whole
page of which is filled with the titles of the Avorks of
Mr. Weston, who seems to have been a leadins; lioht of
the Society of Antiquaries of the time.
The marks on Chinese porcelain are ^vritten on dif-
ferent parts of the piece. In the more ancient speci-
mens they occur generally on some part of the surface,
written in a vertical or horizontal panel which forms
part of the decoration, because the base is so often
left unglazed. Under the reigning dynasty, on the con-
trary, the mark is usually either penciled or inq>ressed
underneath the vase or bowl. The inscription generally
marks the date according to the native systems of
chronology, of which there are two : first, the cycle
of sixty years ; second, the nien-hao, or title of the reign
of the emperor.
The cycle of sixty is indicated by a combination of
the " Ten Stems " with the " Twelve Branches."
52 ORIENTAL CERAMIC AllT.
The "Ten Stems" which compose the Denary Cycle
are:
1. ^, Chia Corresponding tu the element yfC
2. 2i. Yi j -^^'^^ Wood.
•^- PS? i^iiig j Cori-esponding to the element ^
4. T, Ting ] Huo, Fire.
5. yXi, Wn I Corresponding to the element i.
6. a, Chi j rV, Earth.
7. ;^, Keng j Corresponding to the element ;^
8. ^, Hsin j <^%^>^, Metal.
9. i, Jen j Corresponding to the element 7jC
10. ^, Knei j ^^'^^'^^', Water.
The " Twelve Branches " which compose the Duo-
denary Cycle mark the divisions of the Chinese zodiac,
the horary periods of the day, and are equivalent to the
animal cycle adopted from the Tartars. They are :
1. ^, Tzii ^, >S7/^/, theKat.
2. 5, Ch'ou 4^, iV"/?/, the Ox.
3. g, Yin ^, Bu, the Tiger.
4. ^P, Mao %, Tu, the Hare.
5. J^, Ch'eu f I, Lung, the Dragon,
6. Ei, Ssii i'S, She, the Serpent.
7. ^, Wu i^, Ma, the Horse.
8. ^, Wei ^, Yamj, the Goat.
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 53
9. f^, Shell |g, Ilou^ tlie Monkey.
K). S, Yii H, 67^/, the Cock.
11. ^, Hsii ;^, 67/'//^///, the Dog.
12. ^, Hai 3^, 67//, tlie Pig.
By joiniug the first of the twelve to the first of the
ten signs the combination ^ -J*, chl(i-tzn,\^ formed, and
so on in succession until the tenth sign is reached, when
a fresh commencement is made, the eleventli of the
series of twelve " branches " being next appended to the
sign ^, chia. The sixty combinations thus formed are
called the Cldatzu series, commonly known as the cycle of
sixty. This has been employed from a period of remote
antiquity for the puipose of designating successive days.
It was not till the Han dynasty, in the century preced-
ing the Christian era, that it was a})plied to the number-
ing of years. The official chronology starts with the
year b. c. 2637, so that the beginning of our era cori'e-
sponds with the fifty-eighth year of the forty-fourth
cycle. The following table shows the cycles posterior
to the Christian era, and will be found useful for the
calculation of any given cyclical date :
54
OKIKNTAL CERAMIC ART.
TABLE I.
CHINESE CYCLES 45 TO 76, OR A. D. 4 TO 1923.
CYCI.E
COMMENCING
CYCLE
COMMENCING
CO
A. D.
A. D.
A. D.
A. D.
A. D.
A. D.
A. D.
A. D.
A.D.
A. D.
2
4
64
02
4
64
!/5
304
364
124
184
244
y^
304
364
124
184
244
<1
604
664
424
484
544
<
604
664
424
484
544
904
964
724
784
844
904
964
724
784
844
1204
1264
1024
1084
1144
O
1204
1264
1024
1084
1144
o
1504
1564
1324
1384
1444
o
1504
15641324
1384
1444
1804
1864
1624
1684
1744
1804
18641624
1684
1744
^^
04
64
24
84
44
¥^
34
94
54
14
74
r, fl:
05
65
25
85
45
r.*
35
95
55
15
75
rt ^
06
66
26
86
46
1^ *
36
96
56
16
76
T^|]
07
67
27
87
47
J m
37
97
57
17
77
jsm
08
68
28
88
48
)X J^
38
98
58
18
78
SE
09
69
29
89
49
B^
39
99
59
19
79
^4^
10
70
30
90
50
m^
40
00
60
20
80
^*
11
71
31
91
51
^a
41
01
61
21
81
i*
12
72
32
92
52
i *S
42
02
62
22
82
^a
13
73
33
93
53
^M
43
03
63
23
83
^)^
14
74
34
94
54
¥ M
44
04
64
24
84
r,^:
15
75
35
95
55
^E
45
05
65
25
85
rti^
16
76
36
96
56
rt^
46
06
66
26
86
Tfl-
17
77
37
97
57
J *
47
07
67
27
87
;x^
18
78
38
98
58
jX *
48
08
68
28
88
^m
19
79
39
99
59
S S
49
09
69
29
89
jtM
20
80
40
00
60
^JX
50
10
70
30
90
4-E
21
81
41
01
61
^x
51
11
71
31
91
s^
22
82
42
02
62
ii^
52
12
72
32
92
^*
23
83
43
03
63
^S:
53
13
73
33
93
¥ #>
24
84
44
04
64
^ SJ
54
14
74
34
94
r, ffl
25
85
45
05
65
2.^]
55
15
75
35
95
rt !^
26
86
46
06
m
rt M
56
16
76
36
96
T-M
27
87
47
07
67
T E
57
17
77
37
97
)X=f
28
88
48
08
68
;X^
58
18
78
38
98
efl:
29
89
49
09
69
e*
59
19
79
39
99
^s
30
90
50
10
70
m ffi
60
20
80
40
00
^#
31
91-
51
11
71
^m
61
21
81
41
01
SM
32
92
52
12
72
ii*
62
22
82
42
02
5^E
33
93
53
13
73
63
23
83
43
03
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE POKCELAIX. 55
It will be observed that this table has been cut in two,
and the parts placed side by side in order to bring it
within the limits of the page. The second column of
Chinese cliaracters is l)ut a continuation of the Urst col-
umn of Chinese characters, and each column of figures in
the second part of the table is but a continuation of the
corresponding column in the first part. The short col-
umns at the top show the date of the beginning of each
cycle in regular order, a. d. 4, 64, 124, 184, 244, ;i04,
etc., followed by the years corresponding to the sucr
cessiv^e years of the cycle. For example, ^ -f-, Cliia
Tzu, is the cyclical sign of each of the years mentioned
above, ^vhile ^ 3r» Yl Cli^ou^ the second cyclical sign,
corresponds to the years 5, 65, 125, 185, 245, 305, 365,
etc. ^ ^, Cilia Wu, the thirty-first sign, corresponds
to the years 34, 94, 154, 214, etc. Now, if it be wished
to ascertain the cyclical year ^ )%, Keng Hsii, of the
period Tao-hua)ig of the ChUmj dynasty, an inspection of
Table III shows that the first yeai" of Tao-lfiang Avas
1821, and that the period closed with 1850. Turning to
Table I, it \vill be found that a cyclical period began
with 1804, and as it would end 'with 1868, the period
Tao-kiiang naturally falls within that cycle. Fixing ^
£, H><iii Ssn, as the first year of Tao-kuang\s reign, and
going down the column, we reach the sign ]^ ^ ^ve are
in search of, and identify it as tlie year 1850, the last of
the reign.
The legen(hiry period of Chinese history (as distinct
from tlie purely mythical ages which preceded, and
which, accordino- to the more exti'avaoant chronolo2:ers
of the country, reach back some two t)r three millions of
years to the creation of the world) begins with Fn-lii, the
reputed founder of the monarchy, the first year of whose
reign is placed in e. c. 2852. He is the first of the Wu
Ti., or Five Rulers, \\'\\o are succeeded by the Emperors
56
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Y(K) (h. c. 2356) and Shun (b. c. 2255), with whose
reigns the /Shu Cldng^ or " Historical Classic," opens.
JH^aJi-hPs immediate successors were Shen-nung, the
Divine Husbandman (b. c. 2737) ; Ilaang-ti, the Yellow
Emperor (b. c. 2697) ; SluioJuio (b. c. 2597) ; and Chucm
Hsil (b. c. 2513). The Emperor Shun was succeeded by
the Great Yii (b. c. 2205), the founder of the first of the
twenty-four dynasties which have I'uJed the empire in
succession down to the advent of the leigning Manchu
dynasty in a. d. 1644.
TABLE II.
SUCCESSION OF THE CHINESE DYNASTIES.
1. Hsia J
2. Shang* j^
3. Chou ^
4. Ch'in ^
The Three Ancient
Dynasties.
5. Han ^
6. Eastern Han
206
A. D. 25
The usurper Wang
Mang occupied
the throne a. d,
9-23.
4<i^
7. After Han ^ %
8. Chin -g
9. Eastern Chin
221
265
317
Three Kingdoms,
—. p{ , divided
China, the ^
Han, Jj| Wei^
and ^ Wu.
* In B. ('. 1401 the title of this dynasty was changed from Shunn to Yin.
CLASSTFK ATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN.
57
10.
Siiug
*
11.
Ch'i
^
12.
Liaiij^
m
13.
Ch'eii
m
14. Sui p§ . .
15. T'aiig jf . .
16. After Liang ^ ^
17. After T'ang ^^ jg
18. After Chin ^ §
19. After Han ^ )^
20. After Clioii :^ ^
21. Sung 5J5 . .
23. Yuan JC . .
24. Ming 0^ . .
25. Ch'ing ^^ . .
420
479
502
557
589
618
907
928
936 -i
947
951
960
This period is
known by the
collective name
of y^cin Pel
ClPno, Northern
and Southern
Dynasties, as tlie
Jl Wei ruled
the north from
420 to 550.
These short-lived
dynasties are
known collec-
tively as the 5!.
ft Wii Tai, Five
Dynasties.
22. Southern Sung "S tI? • 1127 -{
The Niu-chih Tar-
tars occupied
Nortli China
(1115-1234) as
the CJuii dyuas-
[ Mongolian dynasty
1280 -! founded by Kn-
1368
( The reigning 2fa)i-
58
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
TABLE III.
REIGNS OK THE LAST TWO DYNASTIES.
EMPERORS OF THE
Dynastic Title,
OH ^[lAO HAO.
T'ai Tsii . .
HuiTi . . .
Ch'eng Tsu
Jen Tsiing .
Hsiiau Tsung .
Ying Tsuug
CLing Ti . .
Yiug Tsung
(resumed govei'iimcnt)
Ilsien Tsuns: .
Hsiao Tsung .
AVu Tsu no-
Sbib Tsung
Mu Tsu no; .
8hen Tsung
Kuang Tsung
Hsi Tsuug . .
ffi fll # Cliuang Lieh Ti
EMPERORS OF THE ^ ^^ ,
ifrjil ShihTsu .
Sheng Tsu .
Skill Tsung
Kao Tsunof
Jen Tsung .
Hsiian Tsu no;
AVen Tsung
Mu Tsuns: .
m
MING DYNASTY.
TiTi-E OF Reign,
OR NIEN HAO.
f^ ^ Hung-wu .
^ ^ Cliien-vven
^ ^ Yung-lo .
m m Hung-hsi .
M. Wi Ilsiian-te .
jE j^ Cheng-t'uug
5: # Ching-t'ai .
^ )lg T'ien-sliun
Date of
Accession.
. 1308
. 1399
. 1403
. 1425
. 1426
1436
1450
1457
111, *^^
IS ap:
m at:
?0
The leigning sovereign
Ok
3^^^
^
M
Ch'eng-liua
Hung-chih
Clieng-te .
Chia-ching
Luug-ch'ing
Wan-li . .
T'ai-cli'ang
T'ien-cli'i .
Cli'img-cLen
1465
1488
1506
1522
1567
1573
1620
1621
1628
niE GREAT CH'ING DYNASTY.
)I[| t§ Shun-cliih
it*
K'anof-lisi .
Yung-clieug
Cli'ien-lung
Chia-cli'ing
Tao-kuang
Ilsien-feng
T'uno'-cbih
Kuang-hsii
1644
1662
1723
1736
1796
1821
1851
1862
1875
CHAPTER IV.
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. MARKS OF DATE. HALL
MARKS. MARKS OF DEDICATION AND FELICITATION.
MARKS OF COMMENDATION. MARKS IN THE FORM OF
DEVICES.
THE " mark " on porcelain is generally understood to
be any inscription or device indicating the time at
which the specimen was made, or the make, or the work-
man, and which forms no part of the decoration. The
Chinese word for '' mark " is ^)^, A^uan, which is usually
translated " seal," although the term includes written
inscriptions of the kind indicated above as well as
impressed marks. The mark is generally penciled by
a special writer employed for the purpose on the bottom
of the piece before it is fired. The foot, which has been
left a solid mass for convenience of handling during the
different operations of the potter, is at last shaved ott*
and polished, and the writer attaches the seal upon the
surface of the unbaked white clay. The glaze is after-
ward applied, either by immersion, or by sprinkling, and
the piece is ready for the furnace. The mark is usually
written in cobalt blue imder the glaze. This is the case
not only in pieces painted in blue, and in those in which
underglaze blue forms part of the decoration in colors,
but also, often, in those enameled with single colors, and,
occasional!}^, in decorated ware ^vllich has no blue in its
painted designs. In other pieces, decorated in enamel
colors, the mark is outlined in one of the colors of tlie
muffle-stove from the palette of the decorator, such as
black or overglaze blue; while those painted simj^ly in
59
60 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
coral red or oold have seals written underneatli over the
glaze in the same color as that emj^loyed in the decora-
tion.
This description applies especially to the porcelain
produced at the imperial manufactory at Ching-te-chen.
In tlie private manufactories a special writer is not em-
ployed, the mark being attached by the artist who paints
the decoration. He pencils his signature, a motto, or
some painted device, or perhaps a label descriptive of the
picture he has painted, on some part of the piece. Tliis
is not always inscribed underneatli the foot, so that we
may iind the artist's monogram in some cases underneath
the piece, in others attached as a signature to the picture,
or following the verses which accompany it. In this
same way a descriptive label like "The mountains are
high, the rivers long" (^Slian hao shui chhiinj) may be
written either at the head of the landscape or under the
foot of the vase. In the latter case it often occurs, writ-
ten in the seal character, as an ordinary mark of pieces
decorated with landscape paintings. The former case is
exemplified by the beautiful little teapot illustrated
in Fig. 68, one of the most perfect specimens of the Ku
Yueh Hsiian style in the collection, which is marked in
bright blue enamel underneath Twig climg nien eldh
"Made in the reign of Yung-clteng'' (1723-35). It is
decorated in two broad panels, framed in delicately tinted
floral scrolls, filled with landscapes, penciled in overglaze
blue, which are headed hy half stanzas of verse, written
in black, with two carmine seals attached. On tlie
reverse side is a mountain view with the superscription
" The echo-resounding Southern Mountains," sealed Shan
hao, "The hills are high." In front there is a river scene
labeled " A cottage smoking far oif on the Northei-n
Islet," and sealed Slivi clihtng, " The rivers are long."
The definition of a "mark," quot.ed above from the
MARKS ON OIIINESK P0K(1E!.AIN. 61
Franks Catalogue of Oriental Porcelain., seems therefore
to require some qualification for China, where the mark
certainly sometimes forms part of the decoration,
Chinese marks are written either in the antique script
known as chuaiij or seal character, of which there ai-e'
several varieties, which is so called because it is now
principally employed on seals; or in the ordinary modern
script, called Ic'ai-sh'u., used in printed books and formal
manuscripts. The running-hand script called lising-sMi
is rarely employed for marks, although it is often seen in
the verses written to accompany the decoration of vases.
Chinese writing, it is hardly necessary to say, is read
from above downward and from right to left ; each
character represents a word to a Chinaman, a Korean, or
a Japanese, although pronounced differently according to
the locality. Just as Arabic numerals are pronounced
differently in European countries.
These marks may be classified as :
1. Mai'ks of Date.
2. Hall Marks.
3. Marks of Dedication and Felicitation.
4. Marks of Commendation.
5. Marks in the Form of Devices.
I. Marks of Date.
These are of two kinds, the first indicating the number
of the year in the cycle of sixty, the second the year
of the reigning emperor. The two methods of dating
may be combined in the same mark, as in that given in
Hooper and Phillips's Manual of Maries (p. 190), which
reads, T^'uiig-cliih shih erli nien huei yu, or "The twelftli
year (Jcuei yu^ of T\mg cliihr The eighth emperor of
the present ClPing dynasty, who was canonized as Mn
Tsung., reigned during the period 1802-74 under the
62 ORIENTAL CERAIVIIC ART.
title {iiieit hao) of T''iuig chih, uiul tlie twelfth year of
his reign, a. d. 1873, will Vje found on the Cyclical
Table given above (Table I) to correspond to huei yu,
the tenth year of the seventy-tifth cycle. In the Manual
it is erroneously given as 187-4. There is one small point
to be noted in Chinese chronology, an ignorance of which
has constantly led to miscalculation of dates in foreign
books : the whole of the year in which an emperor dies
is always reckoned as belonging to his reign, and the
reign of his successor does not begin officially until the
first day of the first month of the next year, when a new
nien hao is inaugui'ated.
Another compound "mark" of this kind is seen in
Fig. 38, at the bottom of the little l)owl-sliaped winecups
decorated with the eight Buddhist emblems, displayed
in pairs bound with waving fillets, of which the wheel
of the hiAV and the conch-shell of victory are in the fore-
ground. The mark, penciled underneath in red, is Tao
hauruj htng hsil 7iieii clUh, "Made in the (c3"clical) year
Icmg-hm of the reign of Tao-hiang,^'' indicating, as may
be seen by reference to the Tables, the date of a. d, 1850.
Most of the cyclical dates, however, ai*e given without
the reign, which involves an nncertainty as to which
of the cycles is intended. Many of these ^vould belong to
the reign of K'^ang hsi, in the sixteenth year of which
(1677) the official in charge of the potteries issued a
proclamation forbidding the inscription upon pottery of
the sovei'eign's name, oi- of any sacred text. " To this
period is certainly to be referred the cyclical mark, Yii
hsin ell" (HI nien chili, which has excited an interesting
discussion. It was first published byJacquemart and Le
Blant (Joe. cif., p. 161), taken from a bowl in the Musee
Cerami(|ue at Sevres, made of wdiite Chinese porcelain,
subsequently decorated with flowers and European
iigures in Germany during the first half of the eighteenth
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 6S
century, and it was attributed to tlie right year (1721)
from the style of decoration, although the mark was not
corj-ectly understood. It was first explained ))y Sir
A. W. Franks (Joe. cit., page 208) as meaning '*]Made in
the hsin-chbou year again | recurring]." Tlie Emperor
K^ing-lisi came to the throne in the thirty-eighth year
of the seventy-second cycle, a. d. 1661, and died Decem-
ber 20, 1722, so that he had reigned for a whole cycle
on the recurrence in 1721 of the thirty-eighth year of
the cycle, an event unexampled in Chinese history, which
has thus happened to be recorded upon porcelain. The
bowl in the Franks Collection on which it occurs is
described as being of " Chinese egg-shell porcelain
painted inside with a group of flowers and fruit in
enamel colors, the outside coated with a delicate rose
color." I have seen in a Chinese collection at Peking
a " rose-backed " saucer dish with an exactly similar
decoration, inscribed underneath with tlie same mark.
These specimens are of intei-est to us from another point
of view, as a proof of the employment of the delicate
enamels of the famille rose class at this early date.
Another cyclical date, which reads, Pincj-lml^iien chilly
"made in the year^^m^-Asw," is given by Du Sartel* (p.
95), taken from an octagonal brushpot, painted in blue
and white with landscapes and verses. He attributes it
to the same reign of K\nig-JiHl, so that it would. indicate
the twenty-third year of the seventy- third cycle, which
corresponds to a. d. 1706.
Marks of date of the second kind, referring to the
reign, give only the itieu hao, or title of the emperor,
A Chinese emperor on his accession loses his personal
name, and selects an honorific title instead, by wliidi
he continues to be known during his reign, unless he
chooses to change it. The new title is not adopted,.
*La Porcelaine ile Chine. Par O. du Sartel, Paris, 1881.
64 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
however, as explained already, till the new year succeed-
ing the death of his })redecessor. After his death
he is canonized under another new title, the temple
name, or miao hao, under which he is worshiped in the
ancestral temple and referred to in all formal documents
of subsequent dates. In former times the nien liao Avas
frequently changed during the reign to mark the occur-
rence of any important event, or for some superstitious
reason ; but since the accession of the Ming dynasty
in 1368, the only instance of such a change is that of
the emperor canonized as Ying Tsung, who adopted on
his accession in 1436 the title of Clieng-Vmuj. He was
taken prisoner by the Mongols and dethroned in 1449,
and adopted the new title of T''ien-i<lnni in 1457, when
he recovered the throne on his return to his own country,
after a captivity of eight years in Tartary. During the
interregnum his brothei' carried on the government under
the title of Ching-fai, a nien hao signalized by the
introduction into the palace workshops of the Byzantine
pi'ocess of cloisonne enameling upon metal, which, con-
sequently, is known to this day as " Chingthti Lany
The reign mark consists usually of six characters,
written in two columns of three words, oi- in tliree
columns of two words, occasionally in one line, either
vertically or horizontally. The first character is Ta,
" great," .followed by the name of the dynasty ; the next
two charactei's give the nien hao ; the last two are nien,
"year" or "period," and chili, "made." The first two
characters, indicating the dynasty, are often omitted and
then the mark consists of only four characters. The
dates on the older specimens are generally written in the
plain charactei' ; those of the present dynasty are often
in antique scri])t, inclosed within a square border in the
form of a seal, which may be either penciled with a
brush or impressed in tlie paste with a stamp.
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 65
Sung and Yuan Dynasties. — It is recorded in the
annals of Fou-liaug-lisien tliat during tlie Snng dynasty
the Emperor Chen Tsiing^ who founded the imperial
manufactory of Ching-te-chen in the period Chiiig-te
(1004-1007), from wliich it derived its name, ordered
that the four characters Ching-te nien cJdh,, "Made in
tiie period Ching-te,^'' should be inscribed on the ware
made for the palace. The Fi-anks Collection contains
a vase enameled olive-2:reen and touched with jxokl to
imitate patinated bronze, in the ornate style of the reign
of CKien-hing witli a seal of tliis pei'iod penciled in
gold ; and also a bowl painted in blue, w ith a nien hao
of a later reign underneath, l)eing marked (see No. 1) 2a
Sung Yuan feng nien cliih — i. e., "Made in the period
Yitan-feng (1078-1085) of the great Sung'''' ; but doubts
are suggested as to tlie authenticity of either of these
two pieces, which doubts I would venture to emphasize.
The period of Hsuan-lio (1119-1125) of the reign of
Hui Tsung, the eighth emperor of the Sung dynast}^, is
represented, so far as its nien hao is concerned, by two
pieces in the Waltei's Collection. The first, a pure white
vase of fine shape and perfect technique, illustrated in
Plate XC, with the decoration worked in relief and
etched, consisting of a broad band of fungus scrolls,
traversed by a pair of horned lizardlike dragons, extend-
ing round the middle, and of symbols encircled by fillets
above and below, is marked in underglaze blue (see No.
2), Hsi'ian ho nien chih, " Made in the period Hsi'ian-hoy
The second (Fig. 69) is a small quadrangular vase with
swelling body and I'eceding neck, composed of a very
fine, dark-brown paste, invested with a pur})lish mottled
gray glaze, overlaid with a whitish gray overglaze, \\ Inch
runs down in a rich unctuous mass not reaching to the
base of the vase. It has the mark, in two characters
only, of Hsi'ian-ho, the same nien hao, which is carved in
6^ ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
the center underneath, and filled in ^vith gi-ayish-white
enamel. This comes from the Brinkley Collection. It
is of perfect technique and finish — too much so, indeed,
to belong really to such an early date — and it seems to
be a reproduction of the Kuan Yao, the " imperial ware "
of the SiUKj dynasty which was made at the capital
K'ai-feng-fu ; and the first piece appears to me to be
a clever reproduction of the porcelain made at Ching-te-
chen at the same time, which ^vas described to resemble
the purest white jade. I would refer both pieces to the
reign of ICcmg-hsi (1662-1722), with all deference to
my learned friend Captain Brinkley, in whose catalogue*
his piece is attributed to the reign of Ckia-cJdng of the
Ming dynasty. I may just mention here that the Jap-
anese have recently gained no small reputation in Peking
for their expert reproductions of ancient Sung porcelain.
Their marvelous skill in olden days in the decoration of
pottery with mingled glazes of brilliant tints was no
doubt likew^ise of Chinese origin and inspiration.
, The^emperors of the Yimn, dynasty (1280-1367) gave
no special patronage to the porcelain manufacture, and
no nien hao of this period is found among marks on por-
celain, although the mark of CliiJt-cIieng, the last reign
of this dynasty, is occasionally found on the foot of
cloisonne enamels on coj)per, and the titles of some
of the other reigns on ritual utensils of bronzed
Ming Dynasty. — In the Ming dynasty, ^vhich suc-
ceeded the Yuan, the imperial factory was rebuilt at
Ching-te-chen by Hung-wu, the founder of the new line,
whose reign is represented in collections by a few pieces,
of somewhat doubtful authenticity, inscribed (see No. 3)
Ta Ming Hung wu nien chih, or simply Himg wu nien
cliih, with the name of the dynasty omitted.
Those marked with the nien luio of his son, Yting-la
* Rare Chinese Porcelaiits, New York, 1893, \\. 13.
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 67
(1403-1424), the third of the line, iiichide more veri-
table specimens, with marks both in the plain character
(see No. 4) and in an antique seal script (see No. 5).
The latter is found especially on the white eggshell bowls
characteristic of this period, Avith decoration worked in
relief or etched in the paste, of which Fig. 70 is an illus-
tration of a remarkable example, which has the mark
Yung Jo nien cliili faintly engraved at the bottom undei--
neath the glaze. Some other bowls of this date are
described in Chinese books as molded in the same form as
the one just mentioned, with the figures of two lions,
lightly impressed under the white glaze in the interior,
playing with a brocaded l)all, and having inside the ball
the same seal faintly etclied in the paste in four tiny
characters, not nearly so large as grains of rice, the exte-
rior of these boAvls beino" decorated in blue and white.
The reign of Hman-te (1426-35) is celebrated for the
excellence of its blue and white as well ms for its blue and
red monochromes, and it shares with that of Clieng-liua
(1465-87), which is famed especially for its colored dec-
oration, the distinction of being the Ming mark most
frequently found on porcelain. The two intervening
reigns were occupied by battles with the Mongols, and
their titles are not recorded among marks. The two
nien liao of Ilung-lisi (1425) and T-ai-di'ang (1620) are
also conspicuous for their absence, due [U'obably to the
fact that each lasted less than a year. All the other nit )i
liao of the Ming dynasty are represented.
The usual form of the mark of IIsi'u(n-t(^ (1426-35) is
(No. 1) Ta Ming Hman te nien eltiJi, "Made in the
period Hsiian-te of the great Mivg [dynasty ].*' This is
sometimes etched in the paste ; occasionally the last four
characters are impressed with a square seal so as to
appear in relief. The seal form (No. 2), which has been
copied from the Franks Catdlogve^ Plate III, Fig. 24, is
QS ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
described there by tlie author as taken from a specimen
which is " probably modern." It is the form so fre-
quently found on the incense pots of bronze, for the
manufacture of which this reign was specially celebrated.
The mark of ClCeng-liua (1465-87) is very common.
It has been more frequently forged than any other, and
oidy a very small pi'oportion of the pieces so marked can
be genuine. The usual form is (No. 3) Ta Ming Cli'eng
hua nien eliiJi, " Made in the period (Jh^eng-hua of the
great Ming [dynasty]." The inscription of (No. 4) Ta
Ming Gh^eng-Jina yuan nien yi yu, " The iirst year of
CK'eng-hua of the great Ming [d3masty] yi yn (of the
cycle) " occurs on a square vase decorated in enamel
colors in the Salting Collection, which iixes the date
most precisely, in twofold fashion, as a. d. 1465; the
style and coloring of the decoration, however, belong to
the reign of K'afig-hsi (1662-1722) of the Manchu
dynasty. The four-character mark (No. 5) ClCeug liua
nien cliih also occurs, either penciled or impressed, in
the plain character as well as in the antique scrij)t shown
in No. 6. Most of the so-called old crackle of ai'chaic
type, with mask handles and encircling bands of iron-
gray paste in the midst of the stone-colored ground of
the clumsy vase, is stamped underneath with this last
form of the mark, Avhich, in these cases, is evidently
fictitious.
The mark (see No. 7) Ta Ming Hung cliili nien chili,
" Made in the period llimg-chih (1488-1505) of the great
Ming [dynasty]," is found on bowl^ and dishes enameled
yellow, and on a few rare pieces of porcelain of pecu-
liarly heavy solid material decoi-ated in colors of a very
archaic type.
The mark (see No. 8) Ta Ming Cheng te nit)i cJtih,
" Made in the period Cheng-U (1 506-1521,) of the great
Ming [dynasty]," is comparatively rai-e. Tt occurs, how-
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 6ti
ever, on bowls decorated with green dragons as well
as on pieces of blue and white porcelain. It was in this
reign, we are told, that a new supply of Mohammedan
blue {Hui chJincj) was obtained from the west, and there
is anlnteresting collection of porcelain of the period witli
Arabic inscriptions in the British Museum, It is exhib-
ited in a glass case together with several sacriiicial vessels
of bronze, which are marked with the same nien hao, and
decorated with medallions of Arabic scrolls — another
proof of the prevalence of the Mohammedan religion in
China at this time.
The mark (see No. 1) 2h Ming Chia ching nien chili,
" Made in the period Cliia-chmg of the great Ming
[dynasty]," represents the next reign (1522-1566), which
is characterized by the deep blue of its ])ainted decora-
tion on porcelain. The mark often occurs in a vertical
or horizontal line written in a panel in the midst of the
decoration. In the large round dish, three feet across,
which will be described presently, there is a horizontal
panel outside, near the rim, with the exceptional inscrip-
tion, Ta Ming Cliia citing liu nien cliih, "Made in the
sixth year of Chia-ching'''' (1527). The big globular
vase illustrated in Plate XLIX has the ordinary form of
the mark boldly written underneath in the same dee]\
strong blue with which the jar is decorated.
The two marks (see No. 2) Ta Ming Lung citing nien
chill, "Made in the period Lung-cli'ing (1567-1572) of
the great Ming [dynasty] " and (No. '^) Ta Ming Wan
li nien cliilt, "Made in the period Wan-Ii (1573-1619)
of the great Ming [dynasty |," are always coupled
together by the Chinese with regard to their porcelain,
which is very similar in type. The reign of Wan-Ii,
being nuich longer than that of his predecessoi", is more
frequently found. The Japanese are fond of counter-
feiting Chinese marks, especially those of Wan-li and
*I0 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Vhia-cJu'nf/, and these very often occnr on Imari pieces
wliicli Lave no pretensions to be contemporary, and
which at once betray tlieir alien origin l)y the peculiar
style in which the mark is written.
The marks (see No. 4) Ta Ming T''ieii (•Ji^i nien, cJiih,
''Made in the period Tien-c]}Ji (1621-1627), of the great
Ming [dynasty] " and (No. 5) Ta Ming ClCung dim
nien c-'Az"/*, "Made in the period GlCung dim'''' (1628-
1643) of the great Ming dynasty, are very rare, and
occur generally on inferior pieces. The only exception
tLat I am aware of is in the case of a series of little glob-
ular vases marked underneatli with the single character
T''i€n, " Heaven," said to be a contraction of the 7iien
Jiao T'ien cli'i. I have seen them decorated in color, as
well as painted in l)]ue, and in both cases resembling
good specimens of the preceding reign of Wan-li. There
is one described in the Catalogue of Blue and White
Oriental Porcelain exhihited hij the Burlington Fine
A.rts Cl'uh in London in 1895, although the mark which
is figured in Plate III; Fig. 22, of the Catalogve, is
erroneously deciphered there as Ihi, " Great." A mark
of dedication on a temple sacrificial vase, dated the ninth
year of Ch'''ung diSii (1636), will be noticed latei'. The
Chinese were too busily occupied during the last two
reigns of the Ming dynasty in disputing the advance of
the rising Manchu power to pay much attention to the
porcelain manufacture, and the records are absolutely
silent on the subject.
CKing Dj/nasty. — Date marks of the reigning dynasty
are found, like those of the Ming^ consisting either of six
characters, or of four ouly, with the first two, the name
of the dynasty, omitted. A new fashion of writing the
characters in antique script, in the form of an oblong or
square seal, came into vogue in the reign of K''ang-hsi,
and in tlie nineteenth century the majority of the ])ieces
MAliKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 7l
made in the imperial factories at Cbing-te-cbcu are dated
in that way. The mark of the first reign, Sliun-cliAli
(1644-1661), is very I'are, and it is doubtful whether there
is a genuine instance of a seal mark, although one is fig-
ured here for the sake of completeness. Tlie seal mark of
K''mig-lisl^ even, is not common, although I have seen it
on authentic pieces. It was not till the reign of GlCien-
lung that the date came to be more often inscribed in the
seal character than in the ordinary plain script.
The first emperor of the new Manchu dynasty reigned
eighteen years under the title of Shun-cliih (1644-1661).
There is a record of large fish-bowls and veranda plaques
having been ordered by him from Ching-te-chen for the
decoration of the palace at Peking, such as had been sup-
plied in the reign of Wan-li of the Mmg dynasty, but
the mandarins in charge were obliged to reply that it was
impossible to produce them. The mark occurs in the
plain character (see No. 1), Ta Cli'ing Shnii chili nien
cliih, " Made in the reign oi Shun-chfh of the great Cli'ing
[dynasty]," on small pieces both of enameled and of blue
and white porcelain, decorated in the style of the later
emperors of the Ming. It is almost as rare, howevei', as
the marks of the last two reigns of the former dynasty,
and without the mark the few specimens that I have seen
could hardly have been distinguished from Wan-li pro-
ductions. With regard to the seal mark (see No. 2), it
is probably always fictitious.
The next reign, that of K''ajng-]iu (see No. 8), lasted
for the long period of sixty-one years (1662-1722). The
early part of his reign was occupied in consolidating
the Manchu rule in the south of China, and in fighting
with the viceroy Wu San-knei, who had declared himself
independent. The potteries suffered much in this rebel-
lion, and the imperial factories were burned to the
ground during the troubles which lasted from the twelfth
72 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
to the sixteenth yeur. Tliey were rebuilt in this last
year (1677), and a new era in the history of the ceramic
art was inaugurated. Earlier in the reign the manufae-
torv had been under the direction of the governors of the
province, among whom Lang T'ing-tso was the most
celebrated, as the inventor of the brilliant sang-de-boevf
glaze, which is called after him, Lantj Yao. In the year
1677 the official in charge issued a proclamation forbid-
ding the inscription of the imperial luen liao, or of any
sacred text, upon porcelain, which, in consequence, had
to be marked with the hall-mark of the manufacturer,
with the signature' [of the artist decorator, or with some
pictorial or fanciful device. Many of the finest })ieces of
this time were not marked at all, although a double ring
in blue is often found underneath, surviving as an empty
relic of the old mark. We are not told when the decree
was rescinded. The first imperial commission for the
porcelain works was appointed at Peking in 1680, and
arrived in Ching-te-chen in the following year. One of
its most important members was Ts'ang Ying-hsiian, who
became subsequently famous for his monochrome glazes,
shades of "eel-skin yellow," varying from brownish old-
gold tints to olive, and " snake-skin green," with its
brilliant iridescent sheen, and who is generally credited
with the invention of the mottled "peach-bloom," and
the pure pale-blue clai}' de lime, the finest pieces of which
have underneath, the six-character mark of the K\(ng-hsi
(see No. 3) period, delicately penciled in underglaze
cobalt blue. The little eggshell winecup (Fig. 18) shows
the ordinary method of inscription of the mark at this
time, encircled with a doubled ring. The characters are
so minute as almost to require a lens for their decipher-
ment. The seal mark also read (see No. 4), Ta OhHng
K''ang-lisi nien chih, " Made in the reign of K\mg-li^i of
the great CKing [dynasty]," has been often counterfeited,
MARK8 OiS^ CHINESE PORCELAIN. 73
but, as 1 have already observed, 1 have seen it on uii-
•doubtedly genuine pieces.
The title of this reign means "Peace and Joy," and a
quaint mark penciled in blue under another eggshell
winecup, Fig. 71, which is decorated with a picture of
lotus plants and water-birds, painted in blue and filled in
with the pure red and the deep brilliant greens of the
■early K''ang-hsi period, must be referred to it. The
mark reads, Hsi cKao chi wan chih chen, " A gem among
rare trinkets of the reign of joy," and was no doubt writ-
ten in this peculiar w^ay to avoid the inscription of the
full nien luio, forbidden by statute at the time, lest it
should be profaned on the dust heap. The pair of man-
darin ducks swimmino; iu the water and the kinocfislier
:flying above are perfect in their miniature painting. The
verse, penciled in blue —
" The root is jade buried in tlie mud:
In tlie bosom lurk pearls of liquid dew " —
is sealed with the character Shang, " A Gift," inclosed
in a small panel. The verse refers to the Jadelike white-
ness of tlie lotus root, which makes a favorite sw^eetmeat,
and to the pearly drops of water ^vhicll collect upon the
leaves, and are taken by the Buddhists as types of the
sacred " jewel of the law."
The succeeding emperor, Yang-cheng, reigned fioni
1723-1735. The porcelain of the time is charactei-ized
by its finished technique as well as l)y its crisp decora-
tion and delicate coloring. The superintendents of the
imperial factory were Nien Hsi-yao, distinguished for
the purity of his monochrome glazes, and T'ang Ying,
the most famous of all, a fertile inventor and wonderful
reproducer of ancient colors, whose name Ave shall meet
very often in subsequent pages. The private kilns of
the time also turned out a (piantity of tine work, in
74 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
emulation of the imperial manufactory, as shown by the
eggshell tea services and the beautiful ruby-backed
plates, vv^hich were made principally for export to
Europe. The Walters Collection is rich in these, and it
contains some of the largest imperial pieces as well, like
the magnificent round dishes, one of which is illustrated
in Plate XLVIII, and the pilgrim bottle shown in Plate
XL VII. Both of these are marked in the ' ordinary
script (see No. 1^, Ta CKvng Yung-cheng nieii cliih^
" Made in the reign of Yung-chetig of the great Cli'ing
[dynasty]." A rare eggshell bowl from one of the
private kilns, very richly decorated, in enamel colors of
the famille rose and gilding, with a scene of family life,
surrounded by diapei-ed grounds and floral brocades, is
seen in Fig. 72. It is marked in underglaze cobalt blue
with the six-character inscription written in stiff archaic
style inside a double ring. The seal form of the same
mark (shown in No. 2), occurs more rarely.
The reign of the next emperor, OhHen-hmg, was
nearly as long as that of his grandfather JT^ang-hsi, and
he terminated it by abdicating after the completion of a
full cycle of sixty years (1736-1795). The porcelain is
generally good and veiy })lentiful, and is so similar to
the productions of Ynng-clieng that the two reigns are
often classed together under the same heading. The
mark of Ta ClCing ClCien-lung nien chih, " Made in the
reign of Cli'ien-lung of the great ChHng [dynasty],"
occurs in both the common (see No. 3) and seal char-
acters, though moi'e generally in the latter (see No. 4),
one of the forms of which in four characters, with the
name of the dynasty omitted, is seen in No. 5.
Tlie Emperor Chia-cli^ing, the son of Yung-cheng^
reigned 1796-1820. The best porcelain of the earlier
period is equal to that of the preceding reign, but
toward the end it indicates a gradual process of degener-
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 75
atioii. The mark, which occurs less frequently iu the
ordinary script (see No. 6), is Ta GKing Cliia-cKiiuj
nien cJiih, "Made in the reign of Chia-ch''ing\)i tlie gi-eat
Cli'ing [dynasty]," which is shown in No. 7.
Tao-humig succeeded his father in 1821, and reigned
till 1850. Some of the finest work of this time was
lavished upon ordinary table services, and I'ice bowls
with this mark are eagerly sought by collectors, like the
medallion bowl with an etched spiral ground of crimson
rouge cVor^ brocaded with flowers of Fig. 73, which has
underneath it a square seal penciled in blue (see No. 9),
Ta Citing Tao-kuang nien cJiili, " Made in tlie reign of
Tao-hnang of the great CliHng [dynasty]." Specimens
of the mai'k in the oi'dinary script (see No. 8) are less
commonly met with. The son of Tao-liiang, who suc-
ceeded his father, i-eigned under the title of llsien-feng^
A, D. 1851-1861. During the early part of his reign
some fine work ^vas produced at the imperial factory,
which is usually found marked in iull (see No. 10), 2a
Cliing Hsien-feng nien ehih, " Made in the reign of
Hnien-feng of the great Ch''ing [dynasty]," penciled in
red in the common script. The mark from this time
onward seems, for the most part, to have been relegated
to the private potters, and is usually indifferently pen-
ciled (see No. 1). In the sixth year of this reign the
province of Kiangsi was devastated by the TaijMug
rebels, and Ching-te-chen especially was almost de-
populated, and the porcelain indiLstry has never since
recovered.
The next emperor who ascended the throne adopted
the title of Timg-cUli, and reigned 1862-1874. The
porcelain is marked (see Nos. 2 and 3) Ta CFing
Tung chill nien chili, "Made iu the reign of 2^'ung-chili
of the great Cli'ing [dynasty]." A good idea of the
productions of the imperial factory is gained from an
76 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
official list of the palace indents of the year 1864, which
we will extract pi'esently from the provincial statistics of
the time.
This last emperor was succeeded by his cousin, who-
was enthroned under the title of Kuang-hsil in 1875, and
is still reigning. The imperial ware (kvan ycio) of the
present day is usually marked in ordinary characters
(see No. 4) Ta Cli'ing Kuang Jisil nlen chih, " Made in
the reign of Kuang hsil of the great Cli^'mg [dynasty]."
But the ceramic art is in these days at its lowest ebb in
China, and its productions may be dismissed in the
native phrase as " not ^vorth collecting." Still less
worthy of consideration is the porcelain of the private
kilns (.S'.sv) //<^^o), which is sometimes marked with a
rudely outlined seal (see No. 5), usually, however,
inscribed with a mark of one of the older reigns of the
most transparently fictitious character.
There is another form of this date mark to be noticed,
in which the character ////, " imperial," is substituted for
nien^ "year." This form, which means that the piece
bearing it \vas made by special order of the emperoi",
occurs also on specimens of carved jade and of clohonne
enamels on copper produced in the imperial works of
the period indicated. I have seen the folloAving four
instances on porcelain, of which the second, figured in
Hooper's Manual Qo<\ cit.), is given hei-e as an example
of the sei'ies. These are :
1. ICang-lisi ij'n rlul (1662-1722).
2. Yung-cheng iji) clih (1723-1735).
3. ClCien-limg iji'i cliili (1736-1795).
4. Clda-cliHng yil chih (1796-1820).
The accompanying mark, penciled in red, is found
underneath the "chicken-cups" (clu htng) made by
order of the Emperor ClPien-hmg^ and inscribed with
the poem of ]jis oAvn composition, which I translated in
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 77
the last cliaf>tei-. One of them is illustrated in the
pamphlet which is quoted there, and the illustration is
bettei- than Mr. Weston's grotesque translation of the
inscription. These are the most prized of teacups
among Chinese virtuosos of the present day, and the
curio dealers of Peking ask a hundred taels for a perfect
pair — the same price that used to be asked by the
dealers of the last dynasty for their prototypes, the tiny
eggshell chl hang winecups of the famous reign of
ClCmg-liua. The seal (see No. 7), is to be read Ta
ClCiiig Cli^ien-lung fang hu — i. e., " Copy of antique of
Chien-lung (1736-1795) of the great ChHng [dynasty]."
The cups are decorated in colors, like the little snuft"-
bottle with the same inscription in the AValters Collec-
tion, with a picture of a rockery with peonies growing
upon it, and a boy feeding a hen and chickens from a
basket. See Fig. 64.
This seems to be the place for a seal mark of one
character of not infrequent occurrence in collections,
which has not been hitherto deciphered (see No. 8). It
is said to signify Cliih, "By Imperial Order," and is
found on K^ang-lisi porcelain of the most artistic deco-
ration, the mark varying considerably, ho^vever, in the
shape and arrangement of the strokes in dilferent cases.
The first form is taken from a magnificent round dish,
twenty-eight inches in diameter, decorated in l)rilliant
enamel colors of the K\(ng-lisi period, with a party of
ladies in boats, gathering lotus flowers in a lake, while
other gayly\lressed damsels are looking on from a pavilion,
the borders of the dish being filled with richly brocaded
diapers interrupted by medallions of flowers. The sec-
ond form (see No. 1 ), which is apparently a variation of
the same mark, is taken from a square beaker of the
same period, decorated on the four sides with flowers
relieved by a black ground in the style of Plate IX, and
78 ORIENTAL (^ERAMIO ART.
is u rare instance of an inscription in tliis peculiar class
of decoration, \\ liicli is almost always unmarked,* The
third form (see No. 2) is taken from a large blue and
white dish belonging also to the ICmuf-ltsi period. This
ap[)ears to me to be intended for anotlier character called
chill, in^ynonym of cJriJi, " to make," which, however, also
means " by order." They are examples of a large and
vai'ied category of marks introduced at a time when the
use of the ]>r<)])er ///\'ii liao was forbidden by the
authorities.
2. Hall-Marks.
The term " hall " is used here in its most comprehensive
sense, reaching from the palace or pavilion of the emperor
down to the shed of the potter, so as to include the recep-
tion hall of a noble, the library of a scholar, the studio
of an artist, and the shop of a dealer. The Em[)eror of
China stamps his ode with the seal of the pavilion in
which he has just composed it, the official in charge
of the imperial manufactory attaches his hall mark to the
porcelain produced there, the artist or writer uses the
name of his studio as anomde phime,i\\e dealer has his
trading hall-mark inscribed on the porcelain made for
sale at his shop, and the potter occasionally authenticates
his productions with his o^^ n mark. The hall-mark on
porcelain may belong to any one of these different classes,
and it may mean made for the particular hall, as well as
at the hall, the name of which is insci-ibed on the piece,
the clew being sometimes suggested by the meaning of the
name. For example, of two new hall-marks supplied by
this collection, the one Yi yil faiu/ chili must be " Made
at the Ductile Jade Hall," while the other, in wliich the
* Another form of this mark, in which the first part of the character is more
correctly penciled, is given in tlie Franks Catalogue, Plate XIII, Fig. 130. It
is deciphered there as " Fan, the maker's name," but the Chinese experts that
I have consulted refuse to pass this reading.
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 79
name Ssii hui tshto fangim taken from a ]ine in one of the
Ancient Odes of Cliinese classical times, would in all
probability be " [Made/'orJ tlie Straw [i. e., thatched]
Pavilion on the Kiver Bank."
The usual w^ord employed for " hall " is ^, t^ang, but
we find also other terms of similar meaning nsed occa-
sionally" in its stead in inscriptions on porcelain, such as
^, Iv, a " palace pavilion," ^, fing, a " summer-house,"
^, cJiai, a " studio," p, Ihsiian, a " balcony or railed
terrace," or a porch projecting beyond the eaves, |1| ^,
shan-fang,a " mountain retreat, " and other synonyms.
The mark (see No. 8) Jen ho huan, " Hotel of Benev-
olence and Harmony," is often cited as the earliest
instance on record of a hall-mark, and it would appear to
denote the establishment for which the vase was made.
It is quoted from the Ni lea In, a little book on anti-
quarian subjects, published early in the sixteenth century,
in which the author describes a bottle-shaped vase of white
Tingchou porcelain of the Sung dynasty in his own
collection, as "having upon it this inscription, fired in the
glaze, in the handwriting apparently of one of the Ni
family, father or son," referring io two famous calligra-
phists of the eleventh century.
The fashion of inscribing upon j)orcelain made foi- the
imperial palace the name of the pai'ticular j)avilion for
A\diicli it was intended seems to have begun in the reign
of Yung-clieng. Of the two examples which I give, the
first (see No. X), Lang yi/n ho, " Pavilion for Moonlight
Recitation," occurs on a flower-})ot decorated in colors of
the reign of Yung-clieng (1723-1 735), the second (see
No. 2), Tzu 8lm ho, " Pavilion for Presentation of Books,"
is inscribed upon the covers of a pair of circular boxes of
the kind used for holding incense or chi})s of fragi-ant
wood. They are eight inches in diameter, and are painted
in red and blue with bats flying among clouds, and
80 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
inurked on tlie foot with the oi'diiiary seal of the Chia-
ch'lng period (1796-1820).
There are two other hall-marks \vhicli are generally
referred by Chinese authorities to the palace, viz. (see
No. 3), Ching wet fang cJiiJi, " Made at the Hall of
Reverent Awe," which is attributed to the ChMen-lmig
period (1736-1795), and (see No. 4) Slien te fang cliih
" Made at the Hall for the Cultivation of Virtue," which
is said to have been the name of a paviliou founded by
the Eaiperor Tao-knang (1821-1850), and by him given
a name chosen from the classics (^Tlie Great Learning^
chap. X. p. 6). " Hence the sovereign will first take
pains about his own virtue." This mark is much sought
after by Chinese collectors. There is an example of it
here in the bowl (Fig. 74), which is decorated in delicate
enamel colors with butteriiies relieved l^y a monochrome
ground of soft coral-red tint. It has been conjectured
that it might be the hall name of the official in charge of
the imperial factory, but this could liardly be, as in China
it would be contrary to etiquette for a subject to select
one from such a text. There is a saucei' dish in the
Franks Collection (No. 387 in the catalogue) marked
(see No. 5) Slien te fangjxj hu cliiJi, " Antique {po hf)
made for the Sheu te Pavilion," and the learned author
tliinks that " from peculiarities of make it is probable
that this dish is of the early part of the reign of Jiang-
7(^6"," so that the " antique " nuist be well executed if our
account of the origin of this mark be correct. The form
of tlie ordinary seal of the reign Avith^^o ku is common
enough on Jade carvings from the inq^erial workshops,
which are usually fashioned after ancient models, and are
marked in this way to indicate the fact.
A hall-mark quoted in Hooper's M((niial (Joe cit., p.
205) as taken from a bowl, one of a [)air, the other being
marked as above, is (see No. 6) (li((ii diing cliai ('lu]i,
MAKKS ON CHINESE J'OKCELAIN. 81
"Made for the Reti-eat of Quiet Stillness," so that this
mark would pi'obaljly belong to the same period as that
of Shell te t'ang.
The last palace marks which \\e will give here are
taken from a pair of beautiful bowls, examples of the
finest work of the pi'esent day : inferior, however, it
must be confessed, both in technical details and in tone
of coloring, to the poi'celain of the reign of CliJien-limgj
which is said to have furnished the models. These
bowls are in the possession of Sir Nicholas O'Conor,
K. C. B., her Britannic Majesty's late envoy plenipotenti-
ary at Peking, who has kindly permitted me to copy the
marks. They are decorated in enamel colors inside and
out, with floral sprays of roses and wistaria, the stems of
the latter winding over the rim, so as to cover the
interior of the boNvl with gracefully trailing blossoms ; a
single magpie is perched on one of the bi'anches ; and the
whole is I'elieved by a monochi'ome ground of soft gray-
green tint. On the outer surface near the rim is the
hall-mark (see No. 7) Ta Ya Chai, "Abode of Grand
Culture," and near it, in a small oval panel framed by
dragons, the motto (see No. 8) T'ieit ti yi cliia cli'iin^
" Spring throughout heaven and earth as one family ! "
Underneath there is another mark penciled in red (see
No. 9), YiiiKj clCing ch'ang r/t'u//, '' Eternal Prosperity
and Enduring Spring ! " These bowls are interesting
from the fact that they are part of a dinner service made
specially at the imperial factory at Ching-te-chen for
the empress dowager, who has ruled China for so many
years, and who is noted as being herself a clever artist
and calligraphist. She is said to have sent down some
bowls and saucer dishes of the Cli'kii-hi mj period from
the palace at Peking as patterns to be copied at Ching-te-
chen. Ta ya Clial is the name of one of the new pavil-
ions in Civ mm CKun Kuiuf, "The Palace of Enduring
82 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Spring," on the westeru side of the "Prohibited City/'
at Peking, where this empress, the " AYestern Buddha,"
as she is colloquially called by tlie Pekingese, resided
until she reniov^ed to the new palace which was prepared
for her at the termination of the emperor's long minority.
The propitious mark underneath the world-embracing
motto in the dragon label, and the decoration, all point
to spring, of which season the Wistaria Sinensis is one
of the floral emblems.
The ordinary liall-marks are so numerous that it would
be quite useless to attempt to give a complete list. They
are found on porcehiin of the })resent dynasty from the
reign of K\ing-hsi downward. It \Aould be useful to
arrange them in chronological se(|uence liad we sufficient
material at our conunand. At present it is only possible
to make a short selection for illusti-ation hei'e, beginning
with the two unedited marks in the Walters Collection,
that have been already quoted.
The first, one of the earliest of the class that we have
met with, is inscribed on the bottom of the square teapot
(Fig. 75), which is decorated with dramatic and domestic
scenes in blue and white of the K\t))g-lisi])^Yio([, and has
rims and borders of canary or '' Nankin yellow." The
upright rim is surrounded by small panels of floral sprays
of the four seasons ; the knob of the cover is carved in
open work, with the character la ("rank") encircled by
a four-clawed dragon penciled in blue ; and the handle is
tinted black on a pale-yellow ground to imitate basket
work. The mark is (see No. 1) Yi yii fang cliih^ " Made
at the Ductile Jade Hall," and is such as would be likely
to be chosen by a potter, using white jade as a well-worn
simile for fine porcelain.
The other is a Cli'ien-limg vase ^vitll the rim and foot
incased in metal mounts (Fig. 76), which is enameled
with a minutely crackled turquoise glaze of soft, charm-
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. SH
iiig tone. The decoi'ation, delicately etched in the paste
under the glaze, consists of a pair of five-clawed dragons
pursuing the effulgent disk of omnipotence in the midst
of cloud scrolls and lightning flames. The foot, colored
brown underneath, has the mark engraved in the paste
(see No. 2), 6hl hut ts\io fang, " The Stra^v (i. e.,
thatched) Pavilion on the River Bank." The name is
taken from a text in the ancient Minor Odes of the King-
dom., Book xiv, Ode 5, the first line of which is, " By
these banks (^Ssd han^ has the palace risen."
The above mark is curious for the omission of the ^\ ord
chih, "made," in which it agrees with the tMo hall-mai'ks^
that follow (see No. 3) : Lu yi fang, " The Pavilion with
the Waving Bamboos," and (see No. 4) Feng Itsien fang,
" The Hall for the Worship of Ancestors." The former
occurs on K\(ng-]isl pieces decorated in colors, with
either a white or a mazarine blue ground ; the latter on
more modern porcelain, is that which is usually inscribed
on ritual vessels, perhaps as an indication of their being
intended for use in the ancestral temple.
Another unpublished mark occurs more than once in
the Walters Collection, which must be included in this
class, although the \vord " hall " happens to be omitted in
its composition. The first piece (Fig. 67) is a rice-bowl
of lotus-flower design, \vith an eightfold foliated wavy
rim, and eight petals molded in relief round the foot, dec-
orated with dragons and tiny sprays of flowers relieved
by a coral-red ground. The second, ilhistrated in Fig.
77, is one of a pair of four-lobed winecups, with indented
rims, painted in delicate enamel colors, with the eight
Taoist genii crossing the sea. Chung-li Ch'iian and Lii
Tung-pin are seen on the left of the picture mounted
upon a dragon, which is guided by a damsel swimming
in front, holding up a flaming jewel. Lan Ts'ai-ho and
Ho Hsien-ku are still upon the shore ; the former is scat-
84 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
tering flowers from his basket, as if to propitiate the
waves ; the latter, the virgin member of the sacred group,
carries a lotus cup upon a stick and a small branch of
twin peaches upon her shoulder, A few white jasmine
flowers and buds, painted in soft tints, are sprinkled over
the interior of the cup, as if to imbue its contents with
their fragrance. The mark in all three cases is in the
seal character, penciled in red (see No. 1), Hsieli chii
tmo, "Made for [or at] the Hsieh Bamboo | Hall ]."
Compare the mark figured in the Franks Ckitalogue
(Plate VI, Fig. 72), which is read (see No. 2), Hsieh dm
elm jen tsao^ "Made for [or by] the lord [Chu jen | of the
Hsieh Bamboos." Hsieh is the name of the valley in
the Kun-lun Mountains where Ling Lun, minister of the
fabulous Emperor Huang Ti, is said to have cut bamboo
tubes of different lengths when he is supposed to have
invented the musical scale and fashioned the first musi-
cal instruments. The style and coloring of these bowls
indicate the reign oi Tao-huang (1821-50), or perhaps
Chia-cJi'ing (1796-1820).
The next mark, which is taken from a brush cylinder
(pi t'ung), carved in open work to simulate a clump of
baml^oos ofrowino" from rocks, and tinted in delicate
enamel colors of the CKien-l/img })eriod, is to be read
(see No. 3) Lit chu slum fang dim ts'ang, "Precious
Treasure of the Green Baml)oo Mountain Lodge."
Another six-character hall-mark of the same time is
(see No. 4) Chi tig lien t\ing fang hu diih, "Made as a
copy of an antique at the Ching-lien Hall." This woidd
be tlie mark of an official or scholar posing as an admirer
of Sung Ching-lien, a supporter of the founder of the
Ming dynasty in the fourteenth century, and a distin-
guished commentator on the classics.
A hall-mark indicative of a lover of flowers, which wa8
first publislied by Jacquemart and Le Blant Qoc. eit., p.
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 85
188), is Tza t£a faiuj chili, " .Mude at the Hall of
Purple Thorn " (see No. 5), taken by them from a cliarm-
ing vase, decorated witli figure subjects, in the possession
of M. Holtrop, librai-ian to tJie King of Holland. There
is another hall-mark (see No. 6) published on the follow-
ing page of the same book, taken from a bowl enameled
green outside, yellow inside, ^vith iish and water plants,
with the reading, T'ieu mao famj cliih, ^'- Fahi'ique dans
la salle dii ciel voiUr The second charactei-, howevei', is
ch\in(/ ("prosperity"), not mao, which has an extra
horizontal stroke at the bottom, so that we must read
instead, "Hall of Heaven-sent Prosperity," which is a
common trading-hall name in China.
I have been permitted to select four ^^■inecups from my
own collection to illustrate the subject of hall-marks.
Fig. 78 is a cu[) of the thinnest eggshell textuiv and
most translucent glaze, decorated in colors, with }>ale-
green bamboo and red dianthus ilo^vers ; a ])at, emblem
of happiness, is flying across with rlii cli''iiu/, the jade
symbol of good fortune, in his mouth ; there is a short
inscription penciled in black behind, "A })ropitious
prayer for a thousandfold harvest" ; and a couple of fra-
grant jasmine blossoms are painted inside. The mark
penciled in red on the bottom of the cup is Chili hsiu
ts'ao fauf/, "The Straw (i. e., thatched) Pavilion adorned
with Variegated Fungus." It is a specimen of the reign
of ICamj-hsi (1662-1722). The next. Fig. 38 (a), del-
icately painted in gold with sprays of chrysanthemum
flowers, is attributed to the reign of Yhikj-cIu'ikj (1723-
35) ; it is marked nnderneath in red, Ching ssu fang chih,
''Made for the Pavilion of Classical Bookcases."* The
third is a tiny cup. Fig. 79, of the reign of Ch'ien-Iung
* There is a pair of teacups with this mark iu the Ilippisley Collection (0/^/-
logtie, Nos. 120 and 121), " Teacups (a pair) with covers, of thin white Yung
Ch§ng porcelain, decorated with two imperial tive-clawed dragons pursuing
86 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
(1736-95), decorated in delicate enamel colors with a
combination of the three propitious plants, symbols of
longevity — the fir, bamboo, and blossoming pruniis
(^Sun(/, c7tu, mei). The mark penciled underneath in red
is Pao shen cliai chih, ''Made for the Retreat where
Virtue is Precious." The fourth. Fig. 80, one of a pair
of winecu})s referred to the reign of Chia-e]i'ing {17^^-
1820), which are covered inside and out with flying bats
painted in red, fifty on each cup, and have the circular
foi'm of the character slioa ("longevity") emblazoned on
the bottom of each in red and gold. The decoration
conveys the felicitous phrase, SJtua/it/ sJiou pofu, " Two-
fold longevity and the hundred happinesses." The mark
penciled underneath in red is Fu cliing fang chi\
" Made at the Hall of Happiness and Good Fortune."
The Chinese potter lavishes some of his choicest work
on the decoration of these little winecups, and many more
might be selected with other marks, but space is limited,
and these few must suflice for the present.
Toward the end of the i-eign of K''ang-lisi, glass works
were founded at Peking under the direct patronage of
the emperor, with the assistance of the Roman Catholic
missionaries. The production was known as Kuan liao^
or " imperial glass " ; it included pieces colored in mass,
pieces made of layers of different color su^^erimposed
and subsequently carved, and pieces either of clear or of
opaque \vhite material, painted with translucent enamels
of different colors. These last are commonly known in
the present day as Kti Ytieh Hallan^ because the hall-
mark, Kii Y'lieli Hsilaii cMh, "Made at the Ancient
Moon Terrace," is often inscribed underneath. Tradition
says that one of the directors of the factory named Ku,
sun amid clouds, all iu deep red, the clouds, the dragons, and the scales of
the latter being outlined in bright gold ; covers bear similar decoration.
Mark, Chiiuj sail fang, an imperial or princely hall-mark as yet unidentified."
MARKS UN CHINESE PORCELAIN. 87
whose patronymic was a character composed of Ku,
" ancient," and yuth., " moon," broke it up into two com-
ponent parts to form his studio name. The accomj^any-
ing mark is engraved underneath a bowl of this kind,
which is fabricated of white glass and is colored brown,
the outside of the bowl being etched with a landscape of
hill scenery touched with the same brown enamel. The
Emperor Yimg-cheng is said to have been enamored of
the new art and to have sent down to Ching-te-chen some
of the finest specimens, to be reproduced in porcelain
under the auspices of the celebrated T'ang Ying. The
objects >vhich Avere produced in this and the succeeding
I'eign of Oh^ieii-lung are among the most precious of
treasures ; they have a paste of peculiarly vitreous aspect,
white, and fine-grained, and are decorated in translucent
enamels, often with European subjects. The variety
is known as Fang JCu Yueli Hsikm, " Imitations of the
Ancient JNIoon Terrace | Work]." The teapot figured in
the last chapter is a notable example of this beautiful
style of decoration. The Chinese exquisite will pay in
the present day over a hundred taels for a little ClPien
lung snuff-bottle of clear glass, lightly touched \vith
a design in colors, authenticated by this mark ; and much
more for a small porcelain vase of the variety, decorated
with a pastoral scene of European style in enamels of the
famille 7'ose.
Another unedited liall-mark with the anoihI hsi'mn,
found on decorated porcelain of the Cliiea-hing period,
is (see No. 1) Clien ting h.silati cliih^ literally, " Made in
[or for] the Dust-tixed Terrace." " Dust " {cli'en') is the
" world " in Buddhist metaphor, and ting (" inunovable")
is the word used by Buddhists to convey the idea of
mental abstraction, so that we should render this hall-
name, " Terrace of abstraction from Mundane Affairs.''
Some of the earliest hall-marks have names referring
88
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
to the quality of the porcelain, distinguishiug either the
fineuess of the paste or the brilliancy of the coloring.
One of those already given, " Hall of Ductile Jade,"
refers to the fine fabric, while the accompanying mark
(see No. 2) of the same early ]_)eriod, which is penciled
in blue under a small vase with celadon-glazed body,
with a ring of chocolate-brown tint round the shoulder,
and having the neck decorated with peaches in under-
glaze blue touched with peach-color, refers to the color-
ing, being Pi yiln fatuj cJiili^ " Made at the Hall of Moss-
Green-Jade Clouds."
To the former class, also, belong the following marks:
(see No. 3) Chi yil fang cltUi, " Made at the Hall of
Rare Jade"; (No. 4) Lin yil fang rhih, "Made at the
Hall of Forest Jade " ; and (No. 5) Yil fang rhia r-AV,
" Beautiful Vessel of the Hall of Jade," Avhich occurs
both in the ordinary script and in "seals" of varied style,
of which one with the third character imperfect is given
here in No. <>.
Of the latter class. No. 7, which reads, Tsai gun fang
ell ill ^ "Made at the Hall of Brilliant Colors," a frequent
mai'k on porcehiin decorated in enamel colors, is another
example.
Among other marks of commei'cial character, which
may be either those of potters or of dealers in the ware,
are: (No. 8) Yi yii fang chili, "Made at the Hall of
Profit and Advance"; (No. 9) Yang lio fang cliih,
"Made at the Hall for the Cultivation of Harmon} ";
(No. 10) Ta shn fang rhih, "Made at the Great Tree
Hall"; and (No. 11) C/fif shun Mei yil fang chih,
"Made at the Beautiful Jade Hall of Riches and Suc-
cess." The last of these is a conq^ound name, of which
the first part, 67/'/7 shun, must be that of the shop or
trading fii-m, who eulogize their ware under the title
of beautiful jade, a conq>arison often met with.
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 89
The above hall-names represent generally the marks of
the factory. The indi vicinal name of the potter is rarely
found attached to his work in China, whicli dift'ers in
this respect from Japan. In the ivorv-white porcelain
of the province of Fuchien it is sometimes found, etched
in the paste under the glaze. In the colored stoneware
of the province of Kuang-tung the name of the potter
occurs more frequently, being stamped in the paste
under the foot of the i)iece, so that the insci-iption
appears either in intaglio or in relief. The mark (No.
12) Ko Ming hsUuig cltih, "Made by Ko Ming-hsiang,"
for instance, is not unconnnou on vases of reddish paste
from these potteries, of such archaic aspect that they
have been mistaken for ancient specimens of the Sung
dynasty.
One curious seal, shown in No. 13, taken from an
antique crackle vase of porcelain of gray tone, decorated
with propitious inscriptions worked in reserve and filled
in with colored glazes of the Ming period, gives the name
of an individual potter. Read in inverse fashion, from
left to right, it is Wv Chen hsien yao — i. e., "Pottery
[from the Kiln] of Wii Chen-hsieu."
Another mark which must not be omitted from the
list is that of Hao Shih-chiu, the celebrated and scholarly
potter who flourished at Ching-te-chen in the reign of
Wcni-U (1573-1619) — a poet, too, whose merits were
often sung in contemporary verse. He chose as his
sobriquet Hu gin Taojen, "The Taoist hidden in a pot"
(No. 1), a sympathetic device for a ceramic artist, which
was adopted from an old legend of a Taoist recluse who,
according to an ancient book on the Taoist Immortals,
possessed the magic faculty of concealing himself within
the pilgrim's gourd which he carried on his girdle. This
mark was inscribed by him underneath his delicate egg-
shell winecups of pure white and dawn-red tints, eacli of
90 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
wliicli was said to Lave weighed less than the forty-
eighth part of a Chinese ounce. A verse may be quoted
here wliich a fellow-poet wrote to him :
" In your searcli after the ])liilosoplier's stone, you strive in tJie
market place.
Far from tlie rustling furs and changing clouds, 3^our heaven is a
teapot.
I know you, sir, only as the maker of those dawn-red winecups,
Fit to be launched from the orchid arbor to float down the nine-
bend river."
The last stanza refers to the Lan T''iiu/ or " Orchid
Pavilion," where, in the fourth century of our ei'a, a party
of celebrated, scholars used to meet to drink wine and
compose verses. The scene with the cups floating doAvn
the river has been a favorite subject foi' Chinese pictoi'ial
art ever since.
This section may be closed by two unusually elaborate
hall-marks, both of which hap])en to be written in cii'cu-
lar form. The tirst (see No. 2) comes from the foot of a
large rice-bowl, decorated with flowers, fruit, and ])irds,
in enamel colors of the Ch''ien-luii(j pei-iod. Our Chinese
wood engraver, who was instructed to mark the top of
each block for the benefit of the printei', was nonplussed
by this one, and Avhen asked why he had omitted the
usual mark, he exclaimed, " How could I tell Avhere to
begin to read ? " To obviate this difficulty, we have put
it with the first character at the top, and, [)i'oceeding in
the ordinary way to the left, we find the cjuaiut inscrip-
tion, Yuan iven wti kuo chili rhai^ '^ The Reti'eat \cliai\
where I wish to hear of my transgj-essions."
The second (see No. 3), which is penciled in red
round the circumference of the hollow foot of a tazza-
shaped bowl, exhil)its, in combination, the nien hao, the
cyclical date, and the hall-mark of the maker. It is read,
Ta/) humig yi sm nien Kuamj yn t\(tig cliili — i. e.,
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 91
" Made at the Hall of Brilliance and Kiclies, in the
cyclical year yi-ssn of the reign of Tao-huaiigy This
year will be found, on referring to the Tables in the last
chapter, to cori'espond to a. d. 1845. The bowl, which
is mounted upon a tall, holloAv stem, spreading at the
foot, is decorated in blue, with the eight Taoist i^enii
crossing the sea, the intervals being occupied by Ava\ iiig
fillets, and the stem covered with sea-waves ; the interior
of the bowl is painted with a large circular shau (" lon-
gevity ") symbol, encircled by a ring of five bats, em-
blems of the wu fy, or five happinesses or blessings,
namel}", longevity, riches, peacefulness and serenity, the
love of virtue, and an end crowning the life.*
3. Marks of Dedication and Felicitation.
This heading is selected to comprise all the marks, not
included in the last class of " Hall-Marks," that imply
dedication to some particular institution, individual, or
purpose, as well as those expressive of wishes of happy
augury for the future possessor of the piece. The next
heading, " Marks of Commendation," will take the re-
mainder of the written marks — viz., those eulogizing the
material or referring to the decoration of the porcelain.
Some of the hall-marks might have come under these
headings, as the official in charge of the imperial manu-
factory will sometimes have a set of sacrificial vases, or a
dinner service, inscribed with the hall-mark of the friend
or patron for presentation to whom it was specially
made; or the potter, as we have seen, will choose a hall
name descriptive of the jadelike texture of his })oi-celain
or the brilliancy of its color. It was more convenient,
how^ever, to treat the hall-marks separately.
One of the earliest marks of dedication is that of (No.
* See Mayer's Chinese Reader's Manual, p. 312.
92 ORIENTAL CERAMIC AliT.
1) /Shufu, " Iiii})eri{il palace," wliicL was inscribed on
some of the porcelain made for the use of the emperor
during the Yuan or Mongol dynasty (1280-1367). We
shall find a specimen described in our maiuiscript album
of tlie sixteenth century, in Avhich this mark is incised
on the foot of a little vase underneath the ivory-white
glaze. The decoration of this vase consists of dragons
and cloud-scrolls lightly etched in the paste ; and the
author, in his description of the piece, gives us the inter-
esting information that the porcelain of this period waa
fashioned on the lines of that of the Ting-chou manufac-
ture of the early Sinn/ dynasty, and that it in turn sup-
plied models for the pure white porcelain which distin-
guished the reigns of Yung-lo and Hsuaii-te of his own
{Ming) dynasty, which was also ornamented with designs^
incised at the point underneath the glaze.
The sacrificial vessels intended for use in religious
worship often used to have the object for which they
were designed marked upon them, like the white altar
cups of the reign of Hsikm-te (1426-35), which wei'e
inscribed J^, Van, " altar," according to the author of the
Po wn yao Ian. The same book describes sets of white
altar cups made at the imperial factor}^ in the reign of
Ohiorchhu/ (1522-66), which were marked inside -with
the characters ^, r// V^, " tea " ; }g, cliin, ''wine"; ^
^, tsao t'^ang, "decoction of jujubes"; and ^ f^,
cJnang t\()ig, '■'■ (XecoQiiow of ginger"; indicating the dif-
ferent offerings presented in the cups when the emperor
officiated at the Taoist altar.
Inscriptions of dedication to particular temples are not
uncommon, and are often lengthy. Jacquemart quotes
one (Joe. cit., page 166) inscribed on a trumpet-shaped
vase, which is composed of twelve characters, indicating
that it was a ritual vase " made for the temple of Fou lou
tsiang in [1636] the ninth year of T'<''ung-cheng, in sum-
MARK8 ON (CHINESE l^ORCELAIN. 93
mer, on a propitious day." Marks of tLis reign, tlie last
of the MiiKj dynasty, are very rai-e, and tliere is no little
reason for regarding them as, foi- the most part, apoc-
ryphal.
The longest I have met with is that re[)r()duced above
in No. 2. It is inscribed on the base of a pricket candle-
stick of elaborate design, painted in blue with conven-
tional scrolls and formal foliations, one of a pair twenty-
eight inches high, now in my own possession. They
were made in the year 1741 (the sixth of (Jh''ieii-lung)^
by T'ang Ying, the famous directoi' of the imperial j)or-
celain manufactory, the successor of the still more illus-
trious scholars and artists Lang and Nien, and dedicated
by him to a Taoist temple at Tungpa, a town situated on
the northern bank of the canal which connects T'ungchou
with Peking.'^
"■ Reverently made by T'ang Ying of Slieu-yang, a
Junior Secretary of the Imperial Household, an<l Captain
of the Banner, promoted five honorary grades. Chief
Superintendent of Works in the palace Yang-hsin Tien,
Imperial Commissioner in Charge of the thi'ee Customs
Stations of Huai, Su, and Ilai, in the province of
Kiangnan, also Director of the l^>rc'elain Manufactory, and
Commissioner of Customs at Kiukiang, in the province
of Kiangsi ; and presented by him to the Temple of the
Holy Mother of the God of Heaven at Tungpa, to remain
there throu2:h time everlastintj; for offerino- sacrifices before
the altar ; on a fortunate day in the spring of the sixth
year of the Empei'or Cli'leii-hnu/.'"
Among marks of dedication to institutions I \\\\\
* This temple, like so many of those in the vicinity of Peking, is now in
ruins. The candlesticks formed part of the sacrilicial set of five vessels ( Wii
kung)ma.de for the principal altar of the temple. I saw the two flower vases
with tnimpet-shaped mouths belonging to the set, but their inscriptions had
been purposely erased. The tripod incense burner which once figured as the
center-piece of the altar set had long before been broken and lost.
94 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART,
([uotetwo. One is a seal mark sliowii in No. 1 {^Burling-
ton Fine Arts Club Catalogue of Blue and White, loc. Ht.,
Plate II, Fig. 17), from a j)late with flanged brim
decorated with eight horses i-eserved in white on a
<lelicate blue ground, which is to be read t^h/ii^cli'ang,
indicating that it was made for the Shu-ch'ang Kuan,
a college of the Hanlin Yuan, the national university at
Peking.* The other (see No. 2) is a maik in the })lain
character (Franks' Catalogue, loc. cit., Plate XII, Fig.
150), Shuai fu hung yung, " For the public use of the
general's hall," from an old bowl painted in blue, with
four-clawed dragons emerging from the sea and pursuing
jewels in the clouds.
Two marks of more priv^ate chai'acter are (No. 3)
Sheng yii i/a chi, " For the Elegant Circle of Revered
Friends," and (No. 4) Yu lal, " For Coming Friends " ;
both of which occur on porcelain painted in blue, of
no great artistic value.
Porcelain utensils are sometimes ordered from Chiug-
te-chen by shops in different parts of China to be
inscribed with the hall-name of their firm and an
advertisement of the wares sold there, and we will give
one specimen here as an example. It is a little circular
gallipot of fine porcelain, decorated in blue on the cover,
with a son offering a present to his aged parents, and on
the sides with a landscape, which has underneath an
inscription written in underglaze blue in five columns, to
indicate the particular shop for which it Avas made.
This reads, Cliing tu Cheng yang men wai Ta shan Iwn
hsi foit lu pel Yun hsiang ho Jmang huo shou yax) j^'u
(see No. 1); which may be translated, " Yun Hsiang Ko,
or ' Cloudy Fragi'ance Hall,' a shop for scented wares
and prepared drugs, at the west end of the Ta-shan-lan,
on the north side of the street, outside the Creat South
Gate of the Capital [Peking]."
* See Mayer's Chinese Oovernment, y>- 25.
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 95
The only Mongol mark that I liave ever seen inscril^ed
on porcelain may be classed as a mark of dedication. It
occurs penciled in surface red on the bottom of bowls
and saucer-shaped dishes of three different sizes, forming
a dinner service, decorated with bright enamel colors and
gold in the style of the impei'ial ware of the Tao-hnang
period. The interior contains Buddhist symbols of happy
augury alternating with longevity characters ; the exterior
is occupied by the seven precious emblems of a chaJcror
vartin, or universal sovei'eign, posed upon lotus thalami
on a floor of sea waves, and delineated in the traditional
manner of the Lama sect. The inscription written
within a panel (see No. 2) is Baragon Tamed, in Mon-
golian script. This is the name of the Right or A¥estern
Wing of the Tumed Banners, a principality of southern
Mongolia. A daughter of the Emperor Tdo-huang was
given in marriage to the hereditary j)rince of these
Mongols, who was granted a palace in Peking, and the
service with this mark was no doubt made at the
imperial manufactory at the time as part of the wedding
outfit.
Marks of felicitation are very common, and occur on
porcelain of all periods, more especially on articles
intended for presents. One of the most common is the
Shitang Jisi, or "twofold joy" symbol (No. 8), the
special emblem of wedded bliss, a combination of two
hsi (" joy") characters placed side by side. This symbol
is j)asted on the lintels of the door on the happy occa-
sion, and is also inscribed on porcelain articles intended
for wedding presents either as a niai'k or as part of
the decoration. Two forms of it are published in
Hooper's Mani(((l Qoc. cif., page 198), but wrongly
deciphered, " (?) I{^e, a vessel, vase, ability, capacity."
A curious combination of a date-mark with a felicitous
formula (see No. 4) has been taken from the bottom of a
96 OKIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
set of saucer-sbaped dishes, decorated in blue and white
of the MiiKj period, where it ^vas found penciled in l)lue
in anti(|ue scri}>t. The s(|uai'e panel in the middle
inclosini^ the motto Teli na cliang clijoi, " Virtue, Culture,
and Enduring Spring," is surrounded by a circle inclos-
ing the inscription Wan li iiien ts(to, " Made in the reign
of Wan-ir' (1573-1619).
A mark of the same period occurs in the Franks
Collection {Catah(jue, he. c/'L, Plate VI, Fig. 74) with
the inscrii)tion, written as a legend of a medal pierced
with a square hole, in the form of an ordinary Chinese
"cash " (see No. 5), which reads, (Jlihing ming fu hueiy
" Long Life, Riches, and Honor." It is taken fi'om a
shallow l)owl, five and a quarter inches in diameter,
which is desci'ibed in the following w^ords : "In the
inside is a circular medallion with a stork amid clouds,
painted in a dark blue ; round this a broad band of pale
green, over which is a running pattern in gold consisting
of flowers and scrolls ; outside, two branches of flowers
with a bird on each, ^^ainted in dark blue. The same
mai'k occurs on a bowl of similar decoration in a Gei'man
mounting of silver gilt of the sixteenth century." AVe
find the mark in the Walters Collection upon the tall
ewer of graceful form (Fig. 81) decorated in the style
and coloring of the W((n-h period, with blue phcenixes
and storks flying among clouds. It is studded all over
with uncut turquoises and garnets arranged alternately,
mounted in crilded settin2:s of Persian or Indian work-
manship, shows traces of gilded rings, and is fitted at the
upper and lower rims and at the end of the spout with
engraved metal mounts. The mark is ^vritten under-
neatli in imderglaze blue encircled by a double ring.
Among other marks of similar meaning are (No. 1), Fit
hitei cKang clihin, " Riches, Honor, and Enduring
Spring " ; and (No. 2) Fu luel cliia cIl'!, " A Perfect Ves-
MAIJKS ON ( IIIXKSE I'OltCKLAI \. '.> <
sel of Wealtli mikI Honor/' which is found on old speci-
mens of blue and white, inscribed both in the ordinary
character and in the seal script.
The most fre([uent vows of the Chinese are oifei-ed for
the threefold blessings of hap[)iness, rank, and longevity,
and the deities who confer these gifts are tlie most
ardently worshi[)ed of an}^ We shall find the three
gods constantly I'epreseuted upon porcelain, with their
respective characters, perhaps, in the background. See^
for example, the vase illustrated in Plate XVllI, which
is blazoned with the two large characters, Fu^ "Ilajtpi-
ness," and Slioii, '' Longevit}^" interrupted by round
medallions containing pictures of the corresponding
divinities. Sometimes a piece of porcelain is actually
molded in the foi'm of the last two characters, like the
\vine-pots of the i-eign of K\ing-hsi decorated xur hiscuit,
of which Fig. 82 offers a conspicuous example. It is
fashioned in the shape of the character Fii, " Happiness,"
has a cover formed of the first "dot '' of the hieroglyph,
and is inscribed on the handle and spout with archaic
forms of the sJiok ( '* longevity ") charactei*. These forms
are almost infinite, and a not uncommon decoi'ation of a
pair of vases or bowls consists of a hundi-ed different
forms of the character /V. balanced by a hundred of the
sJtou hieroglyphs. A favorite decoration of blue and
Avhite in the Ming dynasty consisted of a pair of dragons
holding u}) in their claws sjioii charactei's instead of the
traditional jewels.
The three characters, /"'//, hi, slioii, occui' constantly also
as marks, either conjointly or singly. The compound
marks in one of the seal foims (see No. 8), and in the
ordinary script (see No. 4), are appended. The single-
character marks are found on porcelain of all ages. The
little ivory-"\vhite plate of ancient hlauc de Cliine, which
is inlaid with Oriental irold work set with uiu-ut rubies
98 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
and emeralds, and which figures as the oldest piece in
the Dresden Museum, having been originally brought to
Europe by a crusader from Palestine, we are told by the
late curator. Dr. Graesse, is inscribed underneath with
the character fu. One of the forms of the mark lu^
" rank," is shown here (see No. 5), taken from a saucer-
dish of brilliant blue and white attributed to the K^ang-
hsi epoch. But of them all, the character s/fof/ ("longev-
ity ") is the most frequent and variable, and it is found
in an endless variety of shapes, in circular, oval, and
diamond-shaped medallions, in addition to the ordinary
oblona: forms. One of the oblono; forms is inscribed on
the snuff -bottle shown in Fig. 102. An oval form is
seen in the right-hand panel upon the blue and white
vase (Fig. 83), the other panel in front displaying the
seal character cNie?i, " heaven." Thi'ee of the circular
medallions are displayed upon each of the two basket-
work bands encircling the crackled vase (Fig. 84). One
of the oblong forms of the character shou, often found on
good blue and white porcelain of the kind that used to
be highly appreciated in Holland, is commonly known
there as the "spider mark" (see No. 1).
The ff/Ifot or svaMika symbol, the peculiar variety of
the cross with the four arms bent at rio-ht ano;les in the
same direction, which dates from prehistoric times and is
found in all parts of the world,* occui's in China as a
mark on porcelain, either plain or inclosed in a lozenge
with looped angles, or enveloped in a waving fillet. This
symbol is clearly shown in Plate LXII, in a small panel
u[)on the swelling neck of the vase, where it alternates
with the "jevvel" symbols. It is a synonym of Wmi^
" 10,000," in Chinese, and two or four of these symbols
are often intervowen symmetrically with the circular
* La Migration des Symbolen, pur le Comle Goblet d'Alviella, Paris, 1891, v,
chap ii, De la (^roix Gaminee.
MAEKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 99
form of the Hhou character so as to form an ornamental
monogram, to be read Wan sliou, " For myriads of ages."
This is the special birthday vow of his subjects for the
Emperor of China, and it corresponds to the Persian
" O King, live forever ! " The monogram with two svas-
tika symbols, one on either side, is displayed prominently
in the center of the pilgrim bottle illustrated in Fig. 50,
developed, as it were, in the bosom of a sacred lotus
blossom. Fig. 85, the gourd-shaped vase enameled in
K\ing-ksl colors with rich designs of floral })rocade
pattern, also exhibits on the neck a combination of red
svastiln and yellow shou symbols.
Many of the marks ^vhich are passed by as undecipher-
able are curious forms of these " happiness " and " lon-
gevity " symbols. The mark (No. 2) which is found in
the Burlington Fine Arts Ckiialo(j\ie {loc. cit.^ Plate II,
Fig. 15), taken from a Chinese basin decorated in blue
witli alternate asters and lotuses, is strangely deciphered
there as " To-da-kichi-hei, probably name of maker." It
is highly improbable that any one with this cuiious
name, which is Japanese, if anything, had to do with the
making of it. I should venture to read the scrawl as
simply a variation of Fu shou, " Happiness and
Longevity."
Another vow of similar meaning is often found in-
scribed in large antique characters upon bowls as part of
their external decoration, or put underneath as a mark,
written either in the seal character or in conunon script.
It is read (see No. 3), Wan shou lvu chkiiuj, | " May you
live for] myriads of ages, never ending!" A second
mark of this kind is Fu shou shnamj ch'ikin, " Happiness
and long life both complete.'^ A longer Tiiaik (No. 4) is
the oft-repeated formula, SJiou pi iiait shan, Fu Ju tung
A«/, "The longevity of the southern hills, the happiness
of the eastern seas." We shall find a still moi'e extended
100 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
version of this propitious formula directed to be penciled
upou blue and white bowls in the imperial factory during
the Ming dynasty in the reign of Clila-clmiij (1522-66),
viz., Sliov pi no)) slum, cliiv, Fu ju lung Tun shen — i. e.,
^' May your life be longer than that of the southern hills,
your happiness as deep as the eastern seas ! " The " isles
of the blessed " are placed by the Taoist legend-mongers
somewhere in the Eastern seas, and theii* " star of lon-
gevity shines down from the southern heavens upon
immemorial hills," The last felicitous mark of this
kind that we will give is (No. 5), T'''ien h}ian tz'n fa.,
^' May the rulers of heaven confer hap]iiness!"
The single propitious characters, ^, r/*/, "good for-
tune," ■^,/i/, " pros[)erity," and ^, ch^ing, "congratula-
tions," occur as mai'ks ; also the propitious combinations
(No. 6), Ta (Id, "Great good fortune," and (No. 7) Chi
hsimig jv /, " Good fortunes and wishes fulfilled," the last
mark })eing written usually in the seal character, as in
that given here.
A mark often found on the cylindrical vessels, which
are used by the Chinese Avriter or artist as brushpots
{^lyi-f img)^ is M^en ('IxiDg slum ton, " Scholarshij) eipial to
the Hills and the Great Bear" (see No. 1), implying the
wish that the happy possessor, when he wields his brush-
pencil, may attain the exalted heights of the Tai Shan,
the ancestral mount of China, and of the pei ton, the
polar consteUation, the celestial abode of his s})ecial deity,
the god of literature, whose image ap[)ears in Fig, 86.
The mark of (No. 2) CJinang i/naii dii //, " May you
obtain the degree of chuang-yuan ! " occurs also on cylin-
■der vases of this kind. Tiiis descree is the hisfhest
attainable in the state examinations, and the chief object
of ambition for every candidate as a first step upon tho
ladder leadinof to hio-li ofKcial rank.
MAltKS ON CHINKSK POKCELAIN. 101
4. Mauks of Commendation.
This lieMdiiig is intended to comprise the rest of the
written marks on porcelain, those that refer to the quality
of the material, comparing it to fine jade and other rare
stones and jewels, or to the charactei* of the decoration
with which the piece is painted. They go back as far as
the Ming dynasty, and are frequently found jienciled in
seal characters, as well as in common script, on specimens
dating from the Wan-li period (1573-1619).
A few of these eulogistic marks selected from the
many are : (No. 3) Ohi shili j)ao tincj cliili dien, " A gem
among precious vessels of rare stone " ; (No. 4) Chi yil
IKio ting cliili clien, " A gem among precious vessels of
rare jade,'' in which the character ^^^'W, "precious," is
written in a contracted form; (No. 5) Chi eh en ju yi'i.,
"A gem rare as jade"; (No. 6) Chi wan jit ///^, " A
trinket rare as jade"; (No. 7) Po l-u chen tvan, ^'- A
jeweled trinket of antique art " ; (No. 8) Wen yil pao
ting, " A precious vessel of worked jade " ; (No. 9) Nan
cli^Kan cli^in i/ii, "Brocaded jade of Nan-ciruan," an
ancient name of Ching-te-chen, which it derived from its
situation on the "southern" bank of the Chang " i-iver."
A mark of conuuendation in the seal script, which is
found upon blue and white pieces, is (No. 10) rJo xheu
chen fs\ing, " To be treasured like a gem from the deep " ;
it occurs also in the conunon charactei".
Among two-character marks of similar signification
are: (No. 11) Hsi i/ii, "Western jade"; (No. 12) Chen
yil, "Precious jade"; (No. 13) Wan yi'i, "Trinket
jade"; (No. 14) Chen yi), "Genuine jade"; (No. 15)
Yil chen, "Jade jewel"; (No. IG) Chen ivan, "Precious
trinket"; (No. 17) 17mw;/, '' Artistic trinket" ; (No. 18)
Fao sheng, " Of unique value " ; and (No. 19) Kii chen,
"Antique gem." A quaint mark, found underneath a
102 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
blue and white cii)), is (No. 20) Yuiuj .sJieng, which
means " Ever full," if it refer to the cup, " Ever prosper-
ous," if it be the hall-name of the potter.
Any of the above characters may occur singly as marks,
and we very ofteu find Yii., " Jade," Clien, " gem," Pao^
"precious," etc. The mark Cli''imn^ shown in No. 21,
signifies "perfect," and is one of the most frequent.
Some services of porcelain are inscribed underneath with
different single characters, which are intended to be read
consecutively to form sentences Avhen the plates or dishes
are arranged in proper oi'der. The copper " cash" of the
first half of the seventeenth century were also cast with
single characters on the reverse, which could be read, con-
secutively when a series of the coins happened to be
available, so that this curious practice is not peculiar to
porcelain.
Marks referring to the decoration are not so common
as those praising the make. Two have already been
given, Shan hao shui ('li\inij^ "The hills are lofty, the
rivers long," found on pieces painted wdth landscapes, and
the mark Ymig ch''ing clVang chhin, "Ever-flourishing,
enduring spring," which applies to the floral decoration
of the bowl as Avell as to the name of the palace of the
empress dowagei- for which the dinner service on which
it occurs was made.
A mark (see No. 1), Tsai cJi'uan cliili lo, " [-'-l know
that they rejoice in the water," found upon porcelain dec-
orated with fishes and water-plants, and evidently refer-
ring to the subject, requires a word of explanation. It
is taken from the works of Chuang Tzti, the celebrated
philosopher of the fourth century b. c, who is related to
have had the following discussion with Hui Tzti, a rival
philosopher :
OJimmig Tzii. — How the fish are enjoying themselves
in the water!
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 103
Hui Tzu. — You are not a fisli. How can you know ?
Cliuang Tzu. — You are not 1. How can you know
that I do not know that the fish are rejoicing ?
Another mark referring to the subject of decoration
occurs upon saucer-slmped dislies painted in colors with
lotus flowers and reeds (see No. 2), Ai lien clieii shang,
" Precious gift for the lover of the lotus." The mark
(No. 3) Tan kuei, " Red olea fragrans," a floral metaphor
for literary honors in China, is found inscribed underneath
bowls decorated inside with a scholar holding a branch
of this symbolical flower.
The private seal of the artist-decorator, which is usually
attached to the painting or appended to the scraps of
verse which accompany the picture, like the seal on the
beautiful ICang-hsl vase illustrated in Plate VI, ^\•hich
is the studio name or 7i<mi deplume of the artist, (see No.
4) Wan sJiih chii., " The Myriad Rock's Retreat," or the
seal on the little winecup in Fig. 71, which is simply
Shang, " A gift," is not infrequently found underneath
the foot of the piece as a mark. Such marks are found
on porcelain of all qualities, and some of the finest pieces
of the K''ang-lisi period are inscribed with them, espe-
cially in the class decorated in enamel colors. The
next mark of the same kind (No. 5), inscribed Cliu sliih
ehil, " The Red Rock Retreat," is taken from a set of
IPang-hsi bowls decorated with agricultural scenes, with
poems attached, celebrating the successive steps in the
cultivation of rice.
Such marks are called by Chinese connoisseurs cliia
hhian, or " private marks," and are even by them passed
by generally as illegible, and as hardly worth the trouble
of deciphering. They form the majoi-ity of those marks
found in every collection of Chinese porcelain which have
to be labeled "uudeciphered," although a collection of
such artists' monograms would not be without interest if
104 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
arranged in proper chronological order. They are rarely
found before the present dynasty, })iit M. du Sartel Qoa-
cit.^ page 105) figures a typical example, " Taken from a
vase similar to others marked witli the period I/img-
ck'ing'' (1567-1572).
The mark numbered 6 is attached to a stanza of verse
written on the back of the charming eggshell vase with
undulatory glaze decorated in sepia with a spray of
chrysanthemum and a single head of spiked millet, as
shown in Fig. 87. The seal, outlined in vermilion, the
only touch of bright color, is " Ta," the artist's name, the
two characters above it beino- Chi7i hu, " The Golden
Valley," his place of abode. The verse —
A spray plucked from the garden of Tung-li:
A precious flower rescued from tlie frosty blast of winter —
is a quotation from the Buddhist monk Wu-k'o, who
refers in it to the Tuno:-li o-arden of T'ao Yuan-minsc, the
"lover of the chrysanthemum." A pair of vases of the
K''ang-h8i period, formerly in the Marquis Collection
at Paris, like the one in European mounting illustrated
in Fig. 88, which have a pale cobalt-blue monochrome
body, a ring of dark brown round the shoulder, and a
dragon encircling the neck painted in blue and dark
brown or maroon, are marked underneath with a typical
private mark, a seal (see No. 1) containing two charac-
ters, which look like a corruption oifv shou, " Happiness
and longevity."
It may be useful to give here a table of tlie Chinese
numerals, in their ordinaiy and more complex forms, as
an assistance in deciphering dates. They occui* alone,
among the earliest marks, engraved underneath flower-
pots, saucers, and other specimens of the Chtin-chou por-
celain of the Sling dynasty, which is distinguished for
the brilliant colors of \t^ jlamhe glazes.
MAKKS ON CIIINESJi: POliOELAlN.
105
Yi - -
—
^
1
Erh - - -
— *
^
2
San - - -
—
*
3
Ssii - - -
m
m
4
Wii -
w.
ffi
5
Liu - -
I.
m
6
€h'i - - -
-t
m
7
Pa - -
A
m
8
Ohiu - - -
A
JA
9
Shih - - -
+
t&
10
Pai - - -
fl
100
Ch'ien - -
=P
1,000
Wau - -
M
10,000
5. Maeks in the Form of Devices.
This heading is intended to comprise all marks of
pictorial character, whether merely ornamental, or sym-
bolical in their signification. As examples of pui-ely
ornamental marks, two may be selected for illustration.
The first (see No. 2) is taken from a small IPang-hsi
plate of the finest quality, painted in blue ^vith four-
clawed dragons. The second (see No. 3) occurs on blue
and white, painted for the European market, decorated
with foreign designs, and accompanied by inscriptions in
foreign letters, often incorrectly written. A tall covered
cup and saucer with this mark is illustrated by Jacque-
mart and Le Blant (Plate XVI, Fig. 1), painted with
a medallion containing a European king and queen
seated, and with kneeling figures in panels, which has
106 ORIENTAL CEKAMK Airr,
inscribed round the edge, " L'Empike de la vektu est
ETABLi JUS q'au BOUT DE l'uneks [Univers]." Another
cup of Oriental porcelain painted in hlue, with the same
mark, is described in tlie Franks Catalogue (No. 583) as
having a copy of a Eui'opean picture of the sea, Avith
a siren rising from the waves, and a lal)el inscribed
" Gardes-vous de la syrene ! "
The symbolical devices are very numerous, and of such
varied origin that it will be necessary to consider them
in some detail. The Chinese are very fond of the phi-
losophy of numbers, and of arranging all kinds of objects
in sets or '^ numerical categories," and the symbols of
divination and of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism
are all grouped in this way, usually in sets of eight, the
number of the pa htm, the eight ancient trigrams. The
individual members of the different sets may not all
occur as marks, but the groups are so constantly used in
the decoration of porcelain, either alone or in combina-
tion with other designs, that it will save repetition to dis-
pose of them here once for all. It Avill be convenient to
arrange the devices under the following five subdivisions :.
1. Symhols of Ancient Chinese Lore. — Pa hua and
Yin yarig. Pa Yin, " Eight Musical Instruments."
8hih-erh Chang, " Twelve Ornaments embroidered
upon ancient sacrificial robes."
2. Bnddldst Symhols. — Pa Chi-hsiang, "Eight Em-
blems of Happy Augury." 67*!.'/ Pao, " Seven Pai'aj^her-
nalia of a c]i((hravartin, or universal sovereign."
3. Taoist Symhols. — Pa An Hsieny " Attributes of the
Eight Immortals, Emblems of Longevity."
4. llie Hundred Antiques {Po Ju/). — Chin, Chiy
Shu, Hua, "The Four Elegant Accomplishments." Pa
Pao, " The Eight Precious Objects," etc,
5. Devices intended to be read in " Rehiis ''"'fashion^
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 107
1. Symbols of Ancient Ohiiiese Lore.
The most aiicieut of these are tlie Yin-yang symbol of
•dualism, which represents the ci'eative monad or ultimate
principle, divided into its two elements of darkness {yin)
and light (jjang), and the Pa l-ua, the eight trigrams
formed by different combinations of broken and unbroken
lines, also representing respectively the same two dualis-
tic elements. They are seen modeled upon the four sides
of the fatnbe vase illustrated in Plate XXIIl, each of the
sides of whicli displays two of the trigrams. separated by
the yin-yang symbol. This last is represented by the
circle in the middle, which is divided by a spiral line
into its two essential elements, the negative yin and the
positive yrt/i'^ ; the former, the darker half, eori'esponding
to darkness, earth, femininity, etc., the other half corre-
sponding to light, heaven, masculinity, and the like. The
trigrams begin with three unbroken lines representing
" heaven," and end ^vith three l)roken lines representing
" earth," the intermediate diag-rams beino- different com-
binations of these two lines, representing vapor, fire,
thunder, wind, water, and mountains. A ceaseless proc-
ess of revolution is held to be at Avork in Natuiv, during
which the various elements of properties indicated by the
diaajrams mutually extino-uish and o-ive birth to one
another, and thus produce the phenomena of existence.
The development of the Pa hua is attributed to Fti-hi^
the legendary founder of the Chinese polity, wlio is
believed to have lived early in the third millennium b. o. ;
a. dragon-horse appeared out of the water of the Yellow
River and revealed the first plan to him. Wen Wang,
the virtual founder of the Chon, the third of the Three
Ancient Dynasties, during his imprisonment at the hands
of the tyrant Slioii, in the twelfth century b. c, devoted
himself to tlie study of the diagrams, and appended to
108 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
eacli a short explanatory text. These explanations, with
certain amplifications by his son, the famous Cliou Kiing,
" Ducal Prince of Chou," constitute the ancient work
known as the Book of Changes of the Cliou dynasty^
which, with the commentary added by Confucius, forms
the Yi Ching, or Canon of Changes, the most venerated
of the Chinese classics. The entire system of this work,
wliich serves as a basis for the philosophy of divination
and geomancy, and is lai-gely appealed to as containing
not only the elements of all metaphysical knowledge, but
also a clew to the secrets of Nature and of being, reposes
upon the eight trigrams.*
The Eight Musical Instruments, Pa Yin, of ancient
times, which wei'e made of as many different materials,,
are found in the decoration of porcelain as a complete
set, as well as sometimes, though rarely, separately, as
marks. They are :
1. eliding, " Sounding Stone," which is suspended upon
a frame and struck with a wooden hammer. It is usu-
ally made of jade carved in the form of a mason's square^
with a hole pierced near the angle for suspension. Being^
a homonym of CJt'ing, " Good Fortune," it often figures
witli that meaning on the rafters of houses, etc.
2. Chung, " Bell," made of metal, clapperless, and
suspended, to be struck by a mallet. Bells as well as
sounding stones are hung in sets upon frames to p]-oduce
musical chimes.
3. CJCin, '' Lute," with strings of silk. This often
occurs as a mark, usually wrapped in its brocaded case.
4. Ti, " Flute," made of band;)oo.
5. Chit, "Box," made of oi'dinary wood, with a metal
hammer inside.
6. Kn, " Di'um," covered with skin.
* See Mayer's Vhineae Header's Munual, p. 33B; and Legge's Yi King, \n
Sacred Books of the East, vol. xvi (Oxford, 1882).
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 109
7. Shemj, " Reed Oi-gan," a moutb instrument dating
from very early times, in which the body or wind-chest
is made of gourd, witli seventeen i-eed pipes of different
lengtlis inserted at the top.
8. H.silan, " Icarina," made of baked chiy, in the shape
of a cone pierced with six holes.
Several of these musical instruments are seen inclosed
in small medallions in the decoration of the vase shown in
Fig. 89. They may all be found figured in a learned
paper on Chhiese Music, by Mr. J. A. Van Aalst,'^ \\\\o
is himself a cultivated musician.
The next series of symbols derived from ancient Chinese
lore ai'e the Twelve Chang, or '' Ornaments," with ^vhich
the sacrificial robes used to be embroidered. They are
referred to in the earliest of the Chinese classics, where
the Emperor Sliiiii desires at this remote period " to see
these emblematic figures of the ancients.""f The robes
of the emperor had all the twelve figui'es painted or
embroidered upon them ; the hereditary nobles of the
first rank are said to have been restricted from the
use of the sun, moon, and stars ; those of the next
two degrees were further restricted from mountains and
dragons; and by a continually decreasing restriction five
sets of official robes were made indicating the rank
of the wearers. The figures are taken from au official
edition of the SJiu Clilmj, or Historical Classic, referred
to below% the illustrations of which date from the ^StuKj
dynasty. The series comprises :
1. Jih, the "Sun" (No. 1), a disk supported upon
a bank of clouds, with the three-legged solar bird inside.
In the works of Hwai Nan Tzii, who lived in the second
century b. c, tliis fabulous bird is alluded to as inhabiting
* China. Imperial Maritime Customs. Chinese Music. By J. A. Van
Aalst. Published by order of tlie Inspector General of Customs, Shanghai, 1884.
f The Chinese Classics. Translated bv Dr. Lega;e, v. iii. The Shoo King,
p. 80.
110 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
the Sim, The sun in Chinese dualism is the concrete
essence of the masculine principle in Nature, the source
of brightness and energy.
2. Ytieli, the " Moon " (No. 2), a disk supported upon
the clouds, containing a hare, under the shade of a cassia
tree, occupied with pestle and mortar, pounding the drugs
of immortality. The moon is the concrete essence of the
feminine principle in Nature ; it is inhabited by the hare
and the three-lesfsfed toad, and thei'e o'rows the tree
(the cassia) which confers immortality on those who eat
its leaves. The Chinese " old man of the moon " (Yueh
Lao) is popularly said to tie together with an invisible
cord the feet of those who are [)redestined to a l)etrothal.
3. Using Chen, the " Stars,'' represented by a stellar
constellation of three stars connected in Chinese fashion
by straight lines (No. 1).
4. SJuiii, " Mountains," wliicli have been worshiped
in eastern Asia from prehistoric times (No. 2).
5. LniKj, " Dragons,'' a pair of the fabulous five-
clawed scaly monsters (No. 3), resembling somewhat
in shape the huge saurians which paleontologists have
brought to light in recent years.
6. HiKi Chung, the "Variegated Animal'' (No. 4) —
i. e., the })heasant, or "flowery fowl " of the Chinese.
7. TsuitgYi, the "Temple Vessels " (No. 5), used in
the services of the ancestral temple, of which one was
said to have had the figure of a tiger upon it, another
that of a kind of monkey — animals distinguished for
their filial piety, according to tlie connnentators on the
classics.
8. Ta'ao, " Aquatic Grass " (No. (i).
9. Hvo, " Fire " (No. 7 ).
10. Fen Mi, "Grains of Rice" (No. 8). These are
also often repi-eseuted on the [)ierced medallions of
ancient jade, the earliest tokens of value in China.
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 1 1 1
11. Fu.an "Axe" (No. 9).
12. Fu (No. 10), a "Symbol'' of distinction, to wliicli
no special signification is attached, and which seems to
have been of purely ornamental origin. It is used in the
sense of "embroidered," in modern phraseology, and often
occurs as a mark on poi-celain of decorative character.
2. Buddhid Symbols.
Buddhism was first heai-d of in China some two cen-
turies before Christ, and Buddhist priests came from
India as early as the first century of tlie Christian
era, bringing with them images, pictures, and books, and
a knowledge of the elaborate symbolism of the new
religion, much of which had been borrowed from pre-
existing Indian sources. Lamaism, the Tibetan form of
Buddhism, was inti'oduced much later, under the infiu-
euce of the Mono-ol dynastv which ruled China in the
thirteenth century, and tliis is the cult which is chiefiy
affected bv the Manchu Tartars who now occupy the
throne at Peking.
Of the Buddhist synd>ols found upon poivelain the
most frequent are the eight symbols of good fortime,
kuoAvn by the name of Fa CJii-hsiang, pa meaning
" eight," cJu'-Jisia/fg, " hai)[)y omens." They were among
the auspicious .signs figured on tlie sole of the foot of
Buddha; they are constantly used in the aichitectural
decoration of temples, and are displayed in ])orcelain,
stone, or gilded wood upon the altar of every Buddhist
shrine. They are usually drawn round with fillets, and
are:
1. The " Wheel " (Chinese Ltnt, Sanskrit Chahv), the
sacred wheel of the hi-w, whicli appears whirling in the
air enveloped in fiames, as the sign of the advent of a
Chakravarff} Baja, a "Wheel King," or universal mon-
112 ORIENTAL CERAMICS ART.
arch (No. 1). This is sometimes replaced by the large
hanging Bell (Cliinese Chung^ Sanskrit Ghantci), which
is struck with a mallet on its outer rim dui-ing Bud-
dhist worship.
2. The " Sliell " (( Jhinese Zo, Sanskrit SahMa), the
conch-shell trumpet of victory, which is also blown dur-
ing certain religious ceremonies (No. 2).
3. The '' Uml)rella " (Chinese San, Sanskrit CJtaftra),
the state umbrella (No. 3) held over the head of person-
ages of rank throughout the East, a Avell-known symbol
of sovereignty (" Lord of the White Umbrella ").
4. The " Canop}^ " (Chinese ICai, Sanskrit T)hvaja)y
hung with streamers and jeweled tassels (No. 4).
5. The "Flower'' (Chinese Ilaa, Sanskrit Pcuhnci),
properly the sacred lotus, a rose-colored variety of the
Nehmihium speciosum, but often represented in China by
a peony or some other flower (No. 5).
6. The "Vase" (Chinese P '///(/, Sanskrit Kalasci),
which may have a flower and miniature ju-i scepter
placed inside, or perhaps a ti'io of peacock's feathers
(No. 6).
1. The "Fish" (Chinese Yil, Sanskrit M<(ts>ja), the
golden fish, represented in paii's (No. 7), an emblem of
fertility.
8. The" Entrails" (Chinese Chang, Sanskrit /9rk'«^.s«).
The "lucky diagi'am," an angular knot (No. 8) formed of
a line without beginning or end, an emblem of longevity.
It was customary in ancient times to cut open the abdo-
men of the sacrificial victim and to augur fi'om the posi-
tion of its entrails.
These Pa Ohi-hsiang form the principal motive of dec-
oration of the blue and white ritual wine-pot in Fig. 90,
the swelling body of which is decorated with the set of
eight, encircled by waving fillets, and supported by con-
ventional flowers of Indian lotus. The conch-shell, um-
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 113
brella, and canopy are seen in tlie pir-ture. The same
symbols are molded in relief so as to project upon the
scrolled background of tlie accompanying snuft'-bottle
(Fig. 91), and one can distinguish on the side illustrated
the umbrella and the Hame-eiicircled wheel, flanked by
the flower upon the right and the vase on the left. The
large pilgrim bottle shown in Fig. 50 has its circumfer-
ence filled with the same Buddhist emblems of good
fortune, while the large round medallions display at the
front and back of the vase the eight attributes of the
Taoist genii, with other symbols of longevity and happi-
ness. This vase forms altogether a perfect mine of reli-
gious symbolism, with the emblems of diiferent religicms
reposing upon it side by side, in a w^ay that does not
strike a Chinese mind as unnatural or inconsistent.
The " Seven Gems " (in Chinese 67/'/ Pao, in Sanskrit
Sapta Hatiui) are taken fi'om the porcelain service which
was made foi- the daughter of the Emperor Tao-laiKDig^
who was ffiven in marriaixe to the Tumed Pi'ince, and
which has been already described in the illustration of
its Mongol mark of Baragon Turned. They are the
attributes of the universal monarch, such as Pi'ince Sid-
dharta would have been had he not become a Buddha,
and they are often figured in Buddhist temples upon the
base of his throne. They comprise :
1. The "Golden Wheel" (No. 1), Chin Luh, the
victorious jeweled wheel of a thousand spokes which
heralds the advent of a ClidhraiHirtfi Raja^ or " Wheel
King."
2. The " Jadelike Girl " (No. 2), Yii Sil the beau-
teous consort, who fans her lord to sleep, and attends
liim with the constancy of a slave.
3. The " Horse " (No. 3), Ma, which appears to sym-
bolize the horse-chariot of the sun, implying a realm
where the sun never sets, as well as the celestial steed
114 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
which spriugs Pegasus-like from the clouds to deliver
the sovereign from any (hmgei-. It carries on its back
the saci'ed ahns-bow 1.
4. The " Elephant " (No. 4), Hsiang, the white ele-
phant which was borrowed from Indian Buddhism by
the Buddhist kings of Burmah and Siam, and which
seems to ])e Indra's elephant Airavata. He carries the
sacred jewel of the law.
5. "Divine Guardian of the Treasury" (No. 5), CJiu
Ts'ang Shen, the minister who regulates the affairs of the
empire.
6. "General in Command of the Army" (No. <j), Cliu
Ping GlPeii^ with drawn sword and tiger shield, ^vho
conquei's all enemies.
7. " \Vondei'-w(M'king Jewels" (No. 7),-/" / (Im, in
Sanskj'it Chiiifa-inani, fulfilling every wish. They are
figured here as a bundle of leweled wands Ixtuiid round
with a cord.
Tiie Buddhist symbols which occur most frecjueutly as
" marks," either in simple outline or bound with fillets,
oi- inclosed in panels of different form, are the lotus
flower (No. 8), which is usually accompanied by a few
^vaving reeds, the palm leaf (No. 9), on which the scrip-
tures were Avritten in ancient times, the pair of fish, the
srivatsa^ or endless knot, and the svastiha symbol. This
last, which has been already referred to, is a mystic dia-
gram of great antiquity and wide distribution, mentioned
in the Ramayana and found in the rock temples of India,
among all the Buddhistic people of Asia, and even as the
end^lem of Thor amono; Teutonic nations. It is one of
the sixty-five figures visible on every footj)rint (Sripada)
of Buddha. In China it is the symbol of Buddha's heart
— i. e., of the esoteric doctrines of Buddhism — and is the
special mark of all deities worshiped by the Lotus
School. The images of Kuan Yin, the god (or goddess)
MARKS ON OIIINESTi; PORCELAIN. 1 1 5
of mercy, have sometiiiieis a lotus H<n\ei-, sometimes a
svd'Stika, figured on the breast.
3. Tamst Symhoh.
The Taoist set of eight symbols are comprised iu the
Pa An Ifsmt, the attributes of the eight Taoist genii or
immortals. They are :
1. The " Fan " {Shan) carried by Chung-li Ch'iian,
with which he is said to revive the souls of the dead.
2. The '^ Sword " (Cliien) of supernatural power,
wiehled by Lii Tung- pin.
3. The ''^Pilgrim's (^onv^V {Hu-lu) of Li Tieh-kuai,
the source of so many magical appearances.
4. The "Castanets" {Pan) of Ts'ao Kuo-ch^iu, who
always has a pair in his hand.
5. The " Basket of Flowers " (Hua Laii)^ borne l)y
Lan Ts'ai-ho.
6. The "Bamboo Tube and Kods" ( Ya /t^/O, a kind
of miniatui'e drum cari'ied b}^ C^hang Kno.
7. The "Flute" (1):), upon which Han Hsiang Tzti
plays.
8. The "Lotus Flower" {Lien Hiui) of the virgin
damsel Ho Hsien Ku.
The fan is sometimes replaced l)y the fiy-Avhisk {'jing
shua), the pilgrim's gourd is nearly always accompanied
by the crooked iron staff {hun) of the lame beggar, and
the flower basket by the spade {cluni) of the florist.
These Taoist symbols are coiT^tantly met Avith in Chinese
ai't as architectural designs, pattei-ns of Avail paper and
domestic furniture, etc., as well as in the decoration of
jade, Ijronze, and porcelain. They occupy the large
central medallion on the two sides of the ClPkn-Jung
pilgrim bottle decorated in colors, shown in Fig. 50,
being represented there as bound together in |)airs with
116 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
waving fillets, displayed iipou a ground filled with cloud
scrolls and sprays of conventional flowers. The palm-
leaf fan and the sword are seen tied together, the casta-
nets and the drum with its two rods inside, the gourd,
crooked staff, and flute, the basket of flowers and the
lotus.
The emblems of longevity which so frequently occur
as marks are mostly of Taoist origin, or connected with
Taoist mythological legends, and they may consequently
be referred to here. The greatest desire of a Chinaman is
for long life, which is reckoned as the first and chief of the
five happinesses, and the Taoist hermits, like the medise-
val alcliemists, spend their time in the search after the
elixir of immortality.
The most prominent position in the mystical fancies of
the Taoists is given to the peach. The most ancient
superstitions of the Chinese attributed magic virtues
to the twigs of the peach, and the fabulists of the
Han dynasty added many extravagant details to the
legends already existing. The divine peach-tree which
grew near the palace of the goddess Ihl Wang Mu,
whose fruit ripened but once in three thousand years,
was celebrated by them as conferring the gift of immor-
tality. The peach as an emblem of longevity is found
as a mark (No. 1) in combination with a bat, the homo-
nym of/?/, "happiness."
A still more common emblem of longevity is the
sacred fungus (Jlng-chiK), the Polyimrus lucidus of bot-
anists, distinguished by the brightly variegated colors
which it develops in the ordinary course of its growth.
When dried it is very durable, and it is placed upon the
altar of Taoist temples and often represented in the hands
of their deities. It is occasionally seen held in the
mouth of a deer, and one of these animals always accom-
panies Sliou Lao, the longevity god. The fungus is
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 117
specially valued when a tuft of grass has grown through
its substance, and this is carefully preserved with the
dried specimen. The tuft of grass is generally found,
too, in the mark, and has been a puzzle to collectors, who
have often described the peculiar combination as a cocks-
comb or some other flower, under the idea that a fungus
could not have leaves. In the mark photographed in
Fig. 92, from the foot of one of a pair of blue and white
gourd-shaped vases of the JCanf/-]isi period, Fig. 98, the
fungus is represented in the middle of five such tufts of
grass. In the other mark (No. 1), a more frequent form,
it is accompanied by a few blades only.
Three other plants which figure as emblems of longevity
are the Sung, Cliu, Mei, the Pine, Bamboo, and the
Prunus, the first two because they are evergreen and
flourish throughout the winter, the prunus because it
throws out flowering twigs from its leafless stalks up
to an extreme old age. The accompanying mark (No, 2),
reproduced in facsimile from a large bowl with flaring
mouth, decorated inside and out with dramatic scenes in
the most brilliant blue, of the ICang-lisi period, is
composed of two tiny twigs of prunus blossom encircled
by the usual double ring.
Amouir the animal emblems of lono;evitv are the deer,
the tortoise, and the stork, all of which occur occasionally
as marks. The hare (No. 3) is found more frequently
than any as a mark. It is the animal sacred to the moon,
where the Taoists believe it to live, pounding with pestle
and mortar the drugs that form ihid elixir vitic. It is said
to live a thousand years, and to become white when it
has- reached half its long span of life. The stork, in the
form that is usually figured as a mark, is seen inclosed in a
small circular medallion in the decoration of the gourd-
shaped vase in Fig. 85 ; it is the patriarch of the feathered
tribe, attaining a fabulous age, and is the aerial courser of
118 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
the Taoist divinities, often represented bringing from
a paradise in the clouds the tablets of human fate which
it carries in its beak. The tortoise is also sometimes seen
accompanying the longevity god, and the common felici-
tous phrase Kuei ho ch>i shoU' means, " May your
longevity equal that of the tortoise [^'?/6/] and stork
\]io I ! " As a mark, however, it is rare in China, although
more commonly used in Japan in the form of a tortoise
with a hairy tail composed of strings of confervoid
growth.
4. The Hundred Antiques {Po Kii).
The expression Po Ku, which is constantly used in
the description of Chinese art, refers to the almost
infinite variety of ancient symbols and emblems, derived
from all kinds of sources, sacred and profane, which form
a common motive in the decoration of porcelain and other
art objects. Although the word "hundred" is used
vaguely as a noun of multitude, it is not a mere figure of
speech, as it would not be a difficult matter to enumerate
more than that number of antique symbols appertaining
to this category. These antiques sometimes form the
sole decoration of vases ; sometimes they are grouped in
panels of diverse form, as in the blue and white "haw-
thorn " jars in which the floral groiuid is interrupted by
medallions ; in other cases they are ari'anged singly
within the l)ands of floral brocade or diaper which en-
circle the borders of a round dish or other piece.
The tall two-handled blue and white cup illustrated in
Plate XIV is decorated, for instance, with groups of
these symbols, the intervals of the conventional borders
of foliated design being filled with paraphernalia of the
scholar and artist — books on tables, brushes in vases,
water receptacles, and scroll pictures, enveloped with
MARKS ON CHINESE POKOP:LAIN. 119
waving fillets aud mixed with tasseled wands and double
diamonds, symbols of literary success.
The large and beautiful plate (Fig. 94) painted in
brilliant enamel coloi's of the K^imj-hxl period, with a
broad band of peony sci-olls peneti-ated by archaic
dragons around the I'im, succeeded by narrower rings of
fret, displays in the intei'ioi" a typical example of the Po
Ku style of decoration, artistically carried out. The
centei' })iece is a tall, graceful vase with rings hanging
upon o[)en scrolled handles, decorated with sprays of
lotus, standing upon a tripod pedestal, filled with a
bouquet of peonies, floral emblems of literary success
leading to wealtli and honor. A low vase "vvitli wide,
bulging body, decorated with dragons at the side, holds
peacocks' feathers, emblems of high rank. On the other
side, a lion-shaped censer upon a four-legged stand is v
emitting a cloud of incense shaping above into the foi-ms
of a pair of storks, symbols of long life and of conjugal
felicity. A second set of incense-burning apparatus, a
bundle of scroll pictures tied up in a brocaded wrapper,
'AJii-i ("wish-fulfilling") scepter or wand, a musical
stone, and other felicitous symbols, and a sword witli a
paper-weight in the foreground, fill in the picture. The
background is a scroll picture partially unrolled to show a
pine-clad mountain with pavilions and temples, a represen-
tation of theTaoist paradise, the immemorial hills {Slioii
SJia/i) where their immortal hermits are wont to wander.
The Po Ku symbols, like those of the Buddhist and
Taoist cults, are also often arranged in numerical cate-
gories. The sets most frequently met ^vith ai-e the Pa
Pao or "Eight Precious Things," and the "Four Accom-
plishments of the Scholar." These occasionally occur in
the ornamental borders of plates and vases, generally
bound with fillets, and they are also found singly as
marks. The usual set of the Pa Pao comprises :
120 ORIENTAL OEHAMIC ART.
1. A sphere (No. 1), representing a jewel or pearl
(^chif), often draw n with effulgent rays issuing from its
surface. The dragon is generally depicted in pursuit of
such a jewel. It answei's to the Buddhist jewel of the
law, the special symbol, also, of a universal monarch.
2. A circle inclosing a square (No. 2). This repre-
sents a "cash" (cA'/V/^), the ordinary money of the
Chinese, wliich is a round copper coin pierced with a
square hole in the center for convenience of stringing.
A couple of them may be united by a fillet, or a long
line form an ornamental border to a plate. Sometimes
the god of riches will be seen emerging from the clouds
at night, with a string of such " cash " whirling round his
shoulders, in the act of tilling a treasure chest, while the
guards are sleeping beside it.
3. An open lozenge (faitf/shenr/) with ribbons en-
twined round it (No. 1). This is a symbol of victory or
success. A pair of such objects interlaced make a
common symbol, a pattern for jewelry, or worn in the
front of the caps of boys, conveying the idea T\mg hshi
fang sheng, or " Union gives success."
4. A solid lozenge (No. 2), another form of the same
symbol (fcmg sheruf). A musical stone of jade or a
plaque of bronze may be fashioned in this shape.
5. A cJCiiig^ or musical stone of jade (No. 3). Also
cast in sonorous metal. Struck with a hammer, it is a
very ancient musical instrument, and minute directions
for its manufacture are found in old books. A set of
sixteen, of different size and thickness, form the pien
ch^iiig^ or " stone chime." It is also a Buddhist musical
instrument. On account of the similarity of the sound
of its name ^vith that of the word cJiHng, which means
"happiness" and "good luck," it is often seen in sym-
bolical decorations on the rafters of a house, the side of
a winecup, etc.
I
i
MARKS ON C1IINP:SE PORCELAIN. 121
6. A pair of l)ooks (j<hu) strung together l)y a ribVjon
(No. 4). This symbol is generally found as one of the
four which represent the elegant accomplishments of the
Chinese scholar, the t)ther three being r/ii/i,, rltM^ and //w,a,
the lyre, the chess-boaixl, and scroll paintings.
7. C/ineJi, a pair of horns (No. 5). The rhinoceros
horn used to be considered an object of great value in
China, and Avas elaborately carved into winecups, girdle
clasps, and many other things. A horn brimming with
good things is emblematic of plent}', like the cornucopia
of our own classical times.
8. An artemisia leaf (the al yeJt, shown in No. 6). A
fragrant plant of good omen, used from ancient times for
the " moxa." The Buddhist pi-iest at his ordination
places small balls of the dried leaves upon his head and
ignites them to burn a number of spots into the skin.
At the festival of new moon in the fifth month every
householder nails to the posts and windows of his house
some leaves of the artemisia and sweet flag, tied together
in bundles, to dispel noxious influences.
These objects are sometimes seen borne by a proces-
sion of fantastic figures representing tribute bearers from
abroad. The set is variable, and any one of the members
may be replaced by a branch of coral, a silver ingot, a
brush and cake of ink, etc., ov by a svastiha symbol, or
by one of the Buddhist emblems of good fortune, such as
a lotus flower, conch shell, or pair of fishes. These sym-
bols, as the eight aquatic jewels {Sliui pa jx^o), represent
the treasures of the sea, and are pictured in combination
with winged sea-horses and other monsters floating upon
the Avaves of the sea — a common decoration of the in-
terior of bowls and dishes.
The " Four Accomplishments " of the Chinese scholar
— music, chess, calligraphy, and painting — are known by,
tlie collective title of Cliin Ch^l Sliu Hua, and are
122 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
represented by the articles named in the title, viz. : (1) a
lyre wrapped in its embroidered case; (2) a chess- or
rather f/o-board, with round boxes for the white and
black " men *" ; (3) a pair of books placed side by side or
tied together' with a fillet ; and (4) a couple of scroll
pictures. They are inclosed in panels within a diapered
band encircling: the shoulder of the vase illustrated in
Fig. 95, and each one of the four occupies a prominent
position in the successive panels of the vase shown in
Fig. 96, so that it is unnecessary to illustrate them
separately. They all occur, besides, as marks. The
exercise of the four accomplishments is a common motive
of decoration for figure subjects, and some of the finest
vases of the K\vng-lm period, both blue and white and
brilliantly enameled in colors, exhibit bevies of Ijusy
damsels or parties of literati gathered in four grou2:)s^
which are depicted either on the same vase, or on a pair
of bowls of the same set, two of the groups being
displa3^ed in the latter case on the sides of each of
the bowls.
The vase just alluded to (Fig. 96), which is referred
to the K^mg-lisi period, is decorated in coral i-ed and
pale green with touches of gold, Avith floral brocades
and diapered bands of varied pattern, surrounding four
large panels with indented corners which are filled with
selections of these Po Kn designs. The four sides have
been separately photographed, to give an idea of the
variety of the devices.
The first picture (Fig. 96) shows the outline and
decoration of the vase ; the othei' three give the suc-
cessive panels, starting from the first and proceeding
round the vase from left to right. The first panel has in
the center a three-legged censer of complex form Avith
dentated libs, and a cover surmounted by a one-horned
grotesque lion ; the corners are occupied by a folding
MARKS OX CHINESE porci:lain. 123
chess-board, with two boxes for the "men," a pair of
horn cups bound witli fillets, an open book, and a magic
wand (jii-f) ^^ith its fungus-shaped Jeweled head, a
cylindrical pot {j^f-t^KHiJ) with a picture scroll, a feather
whisk, and two brushes inside, and a water receptacle
with tiny ladle near at hand ; two cups and a fluted
incense l)OX with ])alm-leaf cover fill in the intervals.
The second ])anel (Fig. 97) contains a vase of "haw-
thorn " pattern interrupted by l)ands of ti'iangular fret,
mounted upon a stand, with an emblematic spray of
blossoming prunus inside ; in the corners a lyre in its
brocaded case tied with ribbons, the staff and fan of the
mendicant friar, a jar of wine {(•liiu tmoi) ^vith a ladle
inside and a \vinecup near at hand, a censer decorated
with trigrams, and a covered incense box beside it: in
the intervals are a ^vate]■pot {shui cli'eng), a libation cu[),
the round " cash " symbol, a lozenge displaying a svastiha
symbol, and two interlacing rings, an archaic form of
money and of the earliest hieroglyph I'epresenting it.
The third panel (Fig. 98) has as its center-piece a tripod,
censer with dentated ribs and upright loop handles;
two books, having their volumes inclosed in the usual
cloth cases, and a Ju-i wand tied with a fillet, beloiv,
a sacred alms-bowl, the holy grail of Buddhism, reposing
on a bed of Ficus religiosa leaves, and a pair of casta-
nets, ahove; a palette and pair of brushes, the "cash"
symbol, a palm leaf, and the interlacing lozenge-symbol
(^fang-slieng) filling in the intervals.
The fourth panel (Fig. 99) exhibits a tall vase of
graceful form, decorated with an archaic dragon, c<ui-
taining a branch of coral and two peacock's feathers,
emblems of high rank, with a couple of scroll pictures
tied together with a cord half hidden by the vase, a
bundle of rolls of silk and a flute, a palm-leaf fan and
Buddhist rosary on either side of its neck ; a low table
124 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
with four divisions filled apparently with nuts, having
two teacups in their saucers beside it, a waterpot and
a foot rule, a third small cup, and the interlacing ring-
symbol, complete the emblematic decoration.
This is enough to show the great variety of the PoKn
symbols. Two of them, which often occur sej)arately as
marks, are the ]p(W ting (No. 1), or precious censer, a
bronze antique with either three or four legs, which is
often roughly shaped, so that it was mistaken by Jacque-
mart for a modeling table ; and fu^ the ornamental
symbol (No. 2) which formed one of the designs embroid-
ered in olden times upon sacrificial robes.
5. Devwes intended to he read in '^ Rehus'''' fasliion.
The Chinese language being monosyllabic, and having
comparatively few vocables to express the myriads of
written characters, lends itself readily to puns, and a
subclass is necessary for devices of this kind. The idea
of Ling Hsien Clmi Slioii — i. e., " The Sacred Genii
worshiping the Longevity God " — is involved, for in-
stance, in a floral device consisting of interlacing sprays
of polyporus fungus, narcissus flowers, bamboo tAvigs, and
peach fruit ; * the fungus is called ling cltili, the narcissus,
shwi hsien, hua, oi- '' the water fairy," chu, " bamboo," is
used as a " I'ebus " for " worship," which has the same
sound, and the peach suggests the deity of longevity,,
whose special attribute it is. Again, a device which
often occurs as a mark on porcelain is composed of a bat,
a peach, and a couple of " cash " united by a fillet, and is
read Pii Slioii Sliumig CKiian — i. e., '' Happiness and
Longevity both complete " ; the bat (/'«) is a homonym '
of (/''/) "happiness"; the peach is the sacred fruit of
* This floral device is carved in the bottom of a magnilicent dish of white
jade, the " brusli- washer " (jo<- 7m) of a Chinese writer or artist, now in.
the Walters Collection.
MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN. 125
longevity (shou), and c/i'uwi, the ancient term for " cash,"
means also " perfect." We have had this last character
already as a single mark. Dozens of such curious con-
ceits might be cited.
Tlie richly decorated vase of the Ch^ien-lung period
enameled in colors with gilding, illustrated in Fig. 100,
which has flowers of the four seasons in its four lar^ce
panels — the magnolia yulan and peonia of sjJrhg, the
hydrangea, pinks (dianthus) and flags (iris) of sum7ner,
the oak with acorns and russet leaves and the chrysan-
themums of autumn, the blossoming plum and early roses
of winter — has the two oblong panels on the neck
occupied by an emblematical device of this kind, which
is composed of a chain of symbols hung M'ith knotted
ribbons and jeweled beads. It suggests the felicitous
motto, Chi elibing ya yil — i. e., " Good Fortune and
Abundance of Riches"; the hanging musical plaque of
jade of triangular form {cJu^cli'ing) suggests the homo-
phone "good fortune"; and the pair of fishes (////)
involves the idea of prosperity and abundance {yi'()j
which is read with the same vocable, although ^vritten
with a different charactei'.
The accompanying mark (No. 1 ) has already been
published in the Franks Oatalogue, so often referred to
(Plate VII, 88), taken from a pair of circular trays,
which are decorated, in colors with gilding, with ladies
engaged in two out of the "four accomplishments," viz.,
painting and chess. The first exhibits "two ladies, one
seated at a table with a brush in her hand, the other
(her attendant) standing with a hand-screen behind the
former, a stand with vases, etc." ; the second has " three
ladies seated on a carpet and playing at a game some-
what like chess, in the background a stand with vases,
stool with tea things, etc." The mark, which is com-
posed of a pencil-brush {pi), a cake of ink (ting), and a
1 26 ORIENTAL CEKAJMIO ART.
magic wand (ju-i) symbolizes the phrase I^i ting jvA —
i. e., " May [things] be fixed as you wish ! " The same
mark occurs also on blue and white porcelain of good
style.
The decoration of the pair of eggshell winecups, of
which one is shown in Fig. 78, includes another " rebus "
in the shape of two flying bats (/'*?), with triangular
plaques of jade {cln-cli'iiir/^ in their mouths, suggesting
the felicitous phrase Shuang fa <-lil dt'^ing — i. e,, "Two-
fold Happiness and Good Fortune."
The magnificent Yung-Cheng dish, ilhistrated in Fig.
101, would also l)e suggestive to a Chinese mind, and it
would imply, from its floral decoration, the felicitous
sentence, Yil fang fa huei, or " Jade Halls for the Rich
and Noble," the three flowers displayed in the interior of
the dish being the magnolia (j/fl-Ian), the double pyrus
(Jiai-fang^, and the tree-peony, which is often called the
fu-lcuei flo^ver, as the special floi'al emblem of riches and
high rank. Many of the titles of Chinese art designs are
of this alliterative character, and suggest at once the
conventional details which make up the composition.
CHAPTER V.
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. PRIMITIVE PERIOD.
SUJSra DYNASTY.— JU YAO. KUAN YAO. TING YAO.
LUNG-Ch'VAN YAO. KO YAO. TUNO-Ch'iNG YAO. CUtTN
YAO. THREE FACTORIES AT CHI-CHOU, CHIEN-CHOU, AND
TZ'U-CHOU. UTENSILS OF SUNG PORCELAIN.
IT has already been sbowu in Cliapter I, fi'om tlie evi-
dence of contemporary writers, that porcelain must
have been known in China at least as early as the T'ong
dynasty. But the jadelike resonant wliite ^vare of Hsin-
p'ing, the modern Ching-te-cheu, in the province of
Kiangsi, and the cups of Ta-yi, in the Ssuclnian province,
so often celebrated by the poets of tlie period, together
witli the enameled bowls of Yueh-choii and the other
colored fabrics described in the early books on tea, have
long since disappeared. Even the famous porcelain of
the After Chov dynasty, which reigned a. d. 951-960,
known at the time as imperial ware, subsequently as
Ch'ai Yao, after the name of the reigning emperor, who
decreed that it should ])e produced "blue as the sky,
clear as a mirror, thin as paper, resonant as jade," is
described by modern collectors as almost a phantom, and
as being so rare that in the present day fragments are
set in gold like je^vels, to be woi'n in the front of the
cap.* The author of the ClChig pi tsang, a little book
*Tliis practice of cutting fragments of broken porcelain into oval plaques
for mounting into buckles for girdles, or buttons for the tol)acco pouch, is
useful for the study of the rarer glazes, and for comparison with any unbroken
specimens which we have before us for classification. They show the tiiick-
ness of the glaze as well as the texture of the paste, both of which are impor-
tant criteria for determining the age of a piece.
127
128 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Oil art piiblislied in 1595, writes: "I have seen a broken
piece of Cli'ai Yao made into a ring and worn on the
girdle, the sky-blue color and brilliant polish of which
corresponded to the description as given above, but it
differed in ])eing thick." It seems hardly necessary,
therefore, to include these diiferent wares in our classifi-
cation, or to occupy our space witli any of tlie other less
important productions which are described in the older
books, but are not seen in collections of the present day.
It is different when we come to the Sung dynasty,
which began in 960 and lasted till 1280, when it was
overthrown by Kublai Khan, the grandson of the famous
Genghis Khan and the founder of the Yuan dynasty,
which ruled China till it was in its turn succeeded by
the native Mimj dynasty in the year 1368. We have
actual specimens of the porcelain of these times in our
possession and can compare them with the descriptions of
the writers on ceramic subjects. They agree in having a
certain primitive aspect, being invested generally with
glazes of single colors of uniform or mottled tint, with
plain or crackled surface, so that the two dynasties are
justly classed together l)y M. Grand id ier,''^ whose classifi-
cation of Chinese porcelain I propose to follow here,
arranged as it is in chi'onological order after a Chinese
model :
1. Primitive period, including the Sunfj dynasty (960-
1279) and the Yuan dynasty (1280-1367).
2. Ming period, comprising the wliole of the Ming
dynasty (1368-1643).
3. K\ing-lm period, extending from the fall of the
Ming dynast}^ to the close of the reign of K\(ng-liHl
(1662-1722).
4. Y'wng-cheng and ChJien-lung period (1723-1795).
* La Cenimique chinoise, avec 42 heliogravures par Dnjardin, par Ernest
Grandidier, Paris, 1894.
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINP:kK PORCELAIN. 129
5. Modern period, from the begiiiuing of tlie reign of
Chm-ch''mg in 1796 to the present day.
This classification gives five faii-ly well marked ceramic
classes, and as a rule it will not be found difficult to
decide from the style, from the method of decoration, or
from the colors employed, to which of these classes a
particular piece should belong.
The first, or Primitive period, is named from the com-
paratively simple character of its ceramic pr<^ductions.
This must be stated with some qualification, howevei*, as
many of the different processes of decoration were intro
duced, and it will be seen that there were considerable
advances in the ceramic productions, before the end of
the period, when they are compared with the really
primitive porcelain of the T\in<j dynasty. At first the
pieces were eithei' plainly fashioned on the wheel, or
molded, and invested with glazes of different color, the
brilliance of which constituted the chief charm. After-
ward more work was lavished on the paste, which was
worked in relief, engraved, or carved in open-work
designs. The delicacy of some of the molded decora-
tion of this period in the interior of the white bowls and
platters of the Ting-chou kilns, with phcenixes flying
through floral scrolls, and other elaborate designs, has^
indeed, hardly been surpassed since.
Among the monochrome glazes are found whites of
various tones, grays of bluish and purplish tints, greens
from pale sea-green celadon to deep olive, browns from
light chamois to dark tints approaching black, bright
rt'7, and dark purple. Especially notable are the pale
purple, often speckled with red spots ; the brilliant grass-
greens of the Lung-ch'uan porcelain, called t.suug-lu, or
" onion-gi'een," by the Chinese ; the yueh-pai, or dair de
tuns, a pale gray blue, and the auhergine, or deep purple
{(jK'ieh tzu), of the Chiin-chou ware ; these last kilns were
130 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
also remarkable for the brilliance of their yao-pien, or
" trausinutatiou " mottled tints, due to the varied degrees
of oxidation of copper silicates.
Painted decoration was more sparingly employed, al-
though in the province of Chihli both the Ting-chou and
Tz'ti-chou porcelains were painted with brown flowers, as
we learn from the Ko hi yao hm, a work published in i\\e
fourteenth century. The same book describes the vases
produced at Yung-ho-chen, in the department of Lu-ling-
hsien, in the province of Kiangsi, as ornamented with
painted designs. The potteries here were closed during
the wars at the end of the Sung dynasty, and the major-
ity of the potters fled to Ching-te-chen, and seem to have
initiated the potters there in new methods of decoration.
^ As early as the tenth century cobalt blue, as w^e learn
from the official annals of the Sung dynasty (Sung Skill,
book 490, f. 12), was brought to China by the Arabs,
under the name of wu^mingj^iii It had long been used
in western Asia in the decoration of tiles and other arti-
cles of faience. It was first employed in China, probably,
in the preparation of colored glazes, as we know nothing
pf painting in blue before the Yuan dynast}'.
The decoration of porcelain sur hiscuit Avith glazes of
different colors, Avliich prevailed in the early part of the
Ming dynasty, must also have begun in the Sung, if we
are to accept the statement quoted in the T''ao Skuo,
that the celebrated image of Kuan-yin* enshrined in the
Buddhist temple Pao-kuo-ssti at Peking dates from that
dynasty. The bonzes of the temple confidently asse;'t it,
claiming also that it is a miraculous likeness, in th'^^ tie
goddess herself descended into the furnace while it was
being fired and fashioned the ductile clay in her own
image ; and they point triumphantly to the laudatory
verses composed by the Emperor CJi^ ien-lung, which are
* The Goddess of Mercy.
I
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 131
engraved upon the carved blackwood jjedestal of the
shrine, which supports and screens the sacred image,
made by impei'ial order in the palace Avorkshop of the
jVel-iv(f-fu, as sufficient evidence. It is a finely molded
figui'e about a foot high, seated upon a lotus pedestal of
the same material, colored crimson, with the chin sup-
ported by the right hand, the long taper fingers drooping
gracefully, and the elbow resting upon the knee, 'i'he
face, the right arm, the breast, and the left foot, which is
extended in an a\vk\var(l pose to exhibit the sole, are
bare, covered with an opacpie white enamel. From the
necklet, which is yellow, hangs a square network of
yellow beads attached to the inuei' garment gii'dliug the
waist, which is colored red-brown of charming mottled
hue. The figure is loosely wrapped in flowing drapery
of purest and bluest turquoise tint, Avith the wide sleeves
of tlie robe bordered with l)lack and turned back in front
to show the yellow lining ; the upper part of the cloak is
extended up behind over the head in the form of a
plaited hood, which is also lined with canary yellow.
The brow is encircled by a tiara of gold and crimson,
with a tiny image inlaid in the front, and flower designs
in relief on either side. The right hand holds a circular
min-oi', \vith Sanskrit characters carved in open work,
enameled, of dark-brown color, suiTOunded by a halo of
golden flames."^*
* I have liad the privilege of paying several visits to the shrine of this god-
dess, wlio lias, somehow, an irresistible fascination. The prior of the mon-
asterj' assures me that his records show that the imaire has been tliere since
the foundation of the temple in the thirteenth century, and I see no reason to
doubt his assertion. The colors are of the same type as those of the finest
flower-pots and saucers of the Chlin-chou porcelain of the Siiitg dynasty. A
Chinese author of the Minr/ period writes that there must have been porcelain
decorated in colors during the Sung dynasty, basing his statement on this very
image of Kuan-yin. Most people have been led astray by its traditional name
of Yao-p'ien— i. e., " Furnace Transmutation " — and imagined, like Dr. Ilirth
that it was invested with an ordinary ff a mbe glaze. The colors, the turquoise
blue, canary-yellow, brown of "old gold" and "dead leaf '' tones, crimson
132 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
The ordinary decoration of painting in enamel colors
upon poicelain pi'eviously lired, and subsequently fired
again in the muffle stove to fix the colors, was certainly
unknown at this period. We read occasionally, it is
true, of butterflies, birds, fish, or fabulous beasts, outlined
by some magic transformation on the surface of celadon
vases, but these appear to be merely accidental resem-
blances of the colored patches so often produced during
the firing of these glazes. Such reddish or purple stains
occuri'ing on ancient pieces, from partial oxidation of
the coloring material, are specially prized by collectors
as marks of authenticity, and an artificial patch is
usually daubed on in modern imitations to deceive the
unwary.
A general idea of the form and coloring of the por-
celain may be gathered from the water-color illustrations
of the album of the sixteenth century to which I have
already briefly referred. It was described in a paper read
by me before the Peking Oriental Society in 1886, aud
published there in the Journal of the Society, whicli is,
however, difficult to procure, so that I may perhaps be
forgiven for repeating part of the description. The
album, bound in four volumes, between boards of sandal-
wood, came from the library of the palace of the hered-
itary princes of Yi. It is entitled Li tal uiing fe'y> tou
i>''^^ S fti ^ fi BI |§7 Illustrated Description of the
Celebrated Porcelain of Different Dynasties. The writer,
-S jti V^^ Hsiang Yuan-p'ien, who himself dv^w and
colored by hand the eighty-two illusti'ations copied from
pieces in his own collection and in the collections of his
friends, was a native of Chia-hsing-fu, in the province of
and red-striped purple, are laid on in perfect contrast, and make one almost
understand the rhapsodies of some of the older ceramic writers about the bril-
liancy of the colors produced at the Chun-chou kilns. The image is con-
sidered too sacred to be photographed or even portrayed in colors by a profane
artist.
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 133
ChekijiDg, a celebrated connoisseur wlio lived in the six-
teenth century. The author of the CliHng pi ts^ang,
ab"eady referred to, includes his name in the list of col-
lectors given by him in book ii, f. 3, and the seal of
Hsiang Yuan-p'ien is relied upon by connoisseurs to this
day as a guarantee of the authenticity of a picture to
which it is attached.
The first leaf contains an introduction by way of pref-
ace, which runs : " In ancient times, while Slmn was still
living in the midst of the fields, he tilled the ground and
made pottery as a means of livelihood ; so that even before
the Three Ancient Dynasties the art of molding clay was
already in existence. But very many years have elapsed,
and his generation is so remote that no examples of his
work can have survived. Passing on to the 67/'///, Harij
Wei, and Chin dynasties, we come to the earliest men-
tion of potters, in the case of the ^vinecups of Chi Shu-
yeh and the wine-vessels of Hsii Ching-shan. Successors
of these two men in their daily work })roduced an abun-
dant quantity, do^vn to the reign of the house of Ch'ai,
which was the first to become celebrated for its ceramic
ware, so that in the present day men search for mere
fragments of this porcelain without being al>le to find
any, and declare it to be but a phantom.
" Next to the Ch'ai pottery, we have the porcelains of
Ju, Kuan, Ko, and Ting following for inspection, till
finally w^e come to oui' own dynasty, and have before us
porcelain of the reigns of Yuikj-Io, Hman-te, ClCeng-Jma,
and Hiing-cJdli, to compare ^vith the specimens of the
Sung, which it even surpasses, excelling both in texture
and form as well as in brilliancy of coloring.
" I have acquired a morbid taste for refuse (literally
* scabs'), and delight in buying choice specimens of the
Sung, Yvan, and Ming, and in exhibiting them in equal
rank with the bells, urns, and sacrificial wine-vessels of
134 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
bronze, of the Three Ancient Dynasties, the (Jli'iii^ and
the Han.
'^ AVitli tlie aid of two or three intimate friends, who
meet constantly both day and night for discussion and
research, I have selected a series of pieces out of those
that I have seen and that I possess myself and compiled
this book. I have painted the specimens in colors and
given the source of each one, so that I may preserve them
from being lost and forgotten, and be able to show
them to my friends. Say not that my hair is scant and
sparse and yet I make what is onlv fit for a child's
toy!"
" Written by Hsiang Yuan-p'ien, styled Tzu-ching,
native of Chiadio."
The signature is accompanied by two seals in antique
script, impressed in vermilion, "The Seal of Hsiang
Yuan-p'ien," and J/ry //;/ tSJian jett, " A dweller in the
hills at Mo-lin." The author is described, in the volu-
minous Imperial Cijclopmlia of Celehrated Wi-ifern and
A/'f/.sfs, "as a clever calligraphist as well as a skillful
painter and collectoi- of objects of art " ; and it also alludes
to him as signing his writings with the literary title of
Mo-Uu cln'r sJiih^ "Reti]-ed scholar of Mo-lin.''
There are eighty-three illustrations in the album,
arranged in oi'der according to the purpose for ^\ hich the
objects tigui'ed are intended to be used. They comprise :
Censers for burning incense.
Ink Pallets, Pen Rests, and Water Pots for the library
table.
Vases of varied forms for holding flowers.
Jars and Libation Cups for sacrificial wine.
Wine Ewers and little Cups, Teapots and Teacu[)s,
Kice Bowls and Dishes for ordinary use.
Rou2;e Pots and Perfume Boxes for the toilet.
Pagoda enshrining a jade image of Buddha, and a jade
CLASSIFICATIOIsr OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 135
jar containing sacred relics from India, presented by the
empress to the Porcelain Tower Temple at Nanking.
Oil Lamps and Pricket Candlesticks of elaborate design.
The pieces figured appear to be choice examples of the
different kinds of porcelain appreciated by collectors at
the time and to have been selected from the best avail-
able sources. The forms and ornamental decoration of
most of the objects have been modeled after the ancient
bronze vessels, which are dug up in such abundance in
China and have been figured in illustrated catalogues by
many collectors. A detailed description of each piece is
written on the opposite page, giving the size and color,
the source of the design, the name of the owner, and often
the price he had paid. The pictures are usually of the
natural size, one on each leaf ; sometimes, when small, two
on the page. The rarity of the specimens is indicated
by the high prices recorded to have been paid — a hun-
dred ounces of silver, for instance, for a pair of tiny egg-
shell winecups, a price confirmed, as we shall see, by
printed books of the time.
Of the 83 objects figured, -1:2 areattiibuted to the Svng
dynasty, a. d. 960-1279, only 1 to the Yuan (1280-
1367), the remaining 40 to the Ming dynasty, of which five
reigns are represented : Yimg-h (1403-1424) by 1 piece;
^§«^^/^^^^ (1426-1435) by 20 pieces; Cli'tng-lma (1465-
1487) by 11 pieces; Hurig-cluh (1488-1505) by 4 pieces;
and Cheng-te (1506-1521) by 4 pieces. Two of the
pieces of the last reign are teapots of red '' boccaro "
stoneware from the i)otteries which were founded then
by Kung Ch'un at Yi-hsing, in the province of Kiang-nau ;
all the rest of the Ming pieces come from the imperial
manufactory at Ching-te-chen, in Kiangsi province. The
Yuan dynasty piece marked Shu fu, " imperial palace,"
comes from the same place. The 42 Sung specimens
are selected from several fabrics famous at the time, and
136 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
comprise : 3 pieces of Ju Yao, " Ju-cbou porcelain " ; 10
pieces of Kuan Yao, "Imperial porcelain"; 12 pieces of
Ting Yao, "Ting-cliou porcelain," tlie white, purple-
brown, and black glazes being all represented ; 1 of Ko
Yao, and 1 1 of lAing-c'huan Yao from Lung-ch'lian-hsien ;
1 of Tung-clCing Yao, and 4 of Chun Yao, " Cblin-clioii
porcelain."
I liave arranged the objects described according to
their source, and have added a brief description of each
of the different kinds of porcelain. The description
of each specimen is a literal translation of the author's
words.
'A % Ju Yao.
The Ju Yao was the porcelain made during the Sung
dynasty at Ju-chou, in the province of Honau, the modern
Ju-chou-fu. We are told that the porcelain hitherto
sent to the capital from Tung-chou was found to be too
fragile, and that a supply was therefore oi'dei'ed for the
use of the court from Ju-chou. The new porcelain
resembled the celebrated Clikii ware of the preceding
dynasty, which was made in the same province, and
which the emperor ordered should be of the color of the
clear sky in the intervals between the clouds after rain.
The glaze is described as being so thick as to run down
like melted lard, and as often ending in an irregularly
curved line before reaching the bottom of the piece.
The surface was either crackled or plain, and the latter
was preferred if the color was perfectly pure and uni-
form. The color is described by the artist as that of the
pale azure-tinted blossoms of the Vitex incisa, the " sky-
blue flower " of the Chinese, a flowering shrub which is
common upon the hillsides in summer thi-oughout cen-
tral and northern China ; it is the yiieli ixii, literally
" moon white," of the modern Chinese silk dyer, which
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 137
we kno^v iu ceramic parlance as clair de lime, and this is
the name o-iven also to the tint of the 'Tv Yu, or " Ju
Glaze," of the modern rej^roductions of the ancient color.
This is well shown in Plate LI, 2, an illustration of
a clair de hine vase of the K\nig-lm period. The tint of
the ancient Ju Yao nearly approached that of the Sung
cup illustrated in Plate XII, 1, only it was of bi-ighter hue
and of purer blue.
Three pieces of Ju Yao of the Sung dynasty are illus-
trated in our ancient album, and described by the artist :
" Vase (^w), of slender, upright, hoi-nlike form, with
wide, trumpet-shaped mouth, modeled after an ancient
bronze design, with four prominent vertical dentated
ridges. It is ornamented with grotesque dragons' heads
on a rectangular scroll ground upon the body, and with
conventional palm leaves filled in with scrolls round the
neck. Specimens of Ju-chou porcelain are extremely rare,
and when found are usually plates and bowls, so that
a perfect unbroken vase like this is almost unique, and it
makes, like other sacrificial wine-vessels of the time, a
charming receptacle for flowers. Moreover, it excels in
material, form, and color both Kuan and Ko porcelain,
and is far more valuable than either. I saw it at the
capital, in the possession of Huang, General of the
Guards, who told me that he had given 150,000 ' cash '
for it." * H. 6i in.
" Vam {Ku), of solid, rounded, beaker-shaped outline,
copied from an ancient sacrificial vessel of bronze, with a
band of ogre (fao-fieli) faces on the body, invested, like
the last, with a plain uncrackled glaze of pure " vitex-
blue " color. A choice specimen of this rare fabric, it
makes also a perfect receptacle for flowers." H. 4i in.
*The copper " cash " of China has varied in value at different times, but the
normal rate of exchange is 1,000 for a tael, or Chinese ounce of silver, which
is worth intrinsically about one Mexican dollar and one third.
138 OEIENTAL CERAMIC AET.
" Wine Jar {F'u Tsu/i), fasliioned in the shape of
a duck, after an ancient bronze design, the body being
hollow to contain the wine, and the beak forming the
spout. From the back springs a vaselike neck, with
a movable cover, and a loop handle supported upon gro-
tesque figures. Ornamented with encircling bands of
spiral pattern worked in the paste under the ' starch-
blue' {fen eliding) glaze, which is coarsely crackled. The
perfect finish of the fabric and the antique character of
the coloring and crackled pattern make this a rare
S2)ecimen of ancient wine-vessels. The duck floats grace-
fully upon the waves, and men of old made wine-jars in
its form, as a symbol that one ought to swim lightly on
the surface, and not be di'owned in the Avine like the
drunkard." H. 5i in., L. 5 in.
g ^, KuAisr lAo.
The Kuan Yao is the " imperial porcelain " of the
Sung dynasty, huaii meaning "government" or "im-
perial." The manufactory was founded in the capital
Pien-chou, the modern K'ai-feng-fu, in the beginning of
the twelfth century. A few years later the dynasty was
driven southward by the advancing Tartars, and a manu-
factory was founded in the new capital, the modern
Hang-chou-fu, to supply the palace with porcelain of the
same kind, and the productions of the new kilns founded
in the city near the Temple of Heaven was also called
Kuan Yao. The same name is used, in fact, for por-
celain made in the imperial manufactory at Ching-te-chen
to-day.
The porcelain produced at the old capital seems to
have resembled the celebi'ated Ch'ai ware, which was
fabi'icated probably at the same place, as it was the capi-
tal of the After Chou dynasty at that time. The glaze
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 139
of the Kuan Yao was generally crackled, of various tints,
of which yiieh pai (claii' de June) was the most highly
esteemed of all, followed hy fen cWing, " pale blue," ta lu,
^' emernld-greeu " (literally tjros vert), and lastly Jiiii se,
"gray/' The Hang-chou ware was made of a reddish
paste covered with the same glazes, and we read of iron-
colored feet and brown mouths, the upper rim being
more lightly covered with glaze and showing the color of
the paste underneath.
There is a t3q3ical example of this class in the little
crackled teacup in this collection figured in Plate XII, 1,
and the illustration exhibits very well the tone of color
of the crackled o-laze and the characteristic brown rim
round the edsie.
The album contains ten illustrations of the imperial
porcelain of the Sn/h/ dynasty, of which the pallet figured
as No. 8 indicates clearly the red color of the fabric,
exposed in the parts which are left unglazed.
" Tn'j^od Cenmr {Ting), fashioned after an old bronze
design, with a rounded, three-lobed body composed of
three monstrous oo;re-like faces with frio;htful features
and protruding eyes projecting from a finely etched scroll
ground, three cylindrical feet, and two upright looped
ears. The s-laze of lio-ht bluish tint, as clear and lustrous
as a precious emerald, is covered throughout with a net-
work of icelike crackle, so that it is a most choice ex-
ample of the grand imperial porcelain of the time. This
piece likewise came from the palace at Peking. I saw it
at Nanking, at the palace of the Governor Chu Hung,
Grand Tutor of the Emperor." H. 4 in., D. 4 in.
" Censer (Ln), of depressed globular form, with two
curved loop handles and three mammillated feet, a shape
adapted from the bronze work of the T''/e?i-pao period of
the T^ang dynasty, and often reproduced in the celebrated
bronze urns of the reign of Hman-te of our own dynasty.
140 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
It is covered Avitli fiu antique glaze of brilliant depth,
pale blue in color, fissured with a reticulation of icelike
cracks throuc-hout. From the collection of Chance Chui-
chang of Su-chou." H. li in,, D. 5 in.
^'■Inh Pallet ( Yem^^ copied from a pallet used by the
emperor in the Hsuan-ho Palace. The outline is like
that of a vase, with loop handles at the sides for passing
a string through for hanghig the pallet upon the wall. A
lai'ge oval patch is left unglazed in the middle for rub-
bing the cake of ink upon, leaving the red paste exposed.
The under surface (which is also illustrated) has the
figure of an elephant etched upon it, surmounted by a
hexagram, which, taken with the vase shape, make the
' rebus ^ T\ii ■p'i)i<j yu. lisiang, ' An augury of great peace.'
Like the upper surface, it is invested with a pale bluish
glaze crackled throughout, encircled by a red-brown ring
left unglazed." L. 5i in., Br. 4 in.
" Water Pot (Shui Cl^eiig) of ovoid form, with a
slightly flaring mouth, and two small loop handles from
which movable rings hang suspended. A band of cicada
j)attern is engraved round the body, a ring of palmations
encircles the foot, and a chain of rectangular scroll,
between two lines of dots, surrounds the neck. The
glaze of pale bluish tint is uniformly crackled." H.
3 in.
" Pencil Rest ( Yen Slian^, modeled in the form of a
miniature range of hills with a high peak in the middle,
covered with a glaze of bluish tint as bright as the vitex-
tinted azure sky, crackled throughout with icelike lines.
The antique color and the luster of the glaze far excel
those of the ICo Yao pencil rest figured beside it. It
cost me twenty taels of silver at Peking." H. 3 in., L.
4i in.
" Vase {Fang Hii)^ of flattened quadrangular section,
with a bulging body and a cover surmounted by four
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE POKCELAIN. 141
spiral projections. Two handles of grotesque heads sup-
porting rings are worked in relief on the front and back
of the vase. The o-laze of briofht o-reenish-blue is covered
with icelike crackle. This vase was in the collection of
K\io Ch'ing-lo, who bought it for fifty taels without the
cover. The owner, happening to be fishing one day,
found in the boat a cover which had been drawn up in
the net, and purchased it for ten strings of cash. It
proved to be the original cover, and he wrote some verses
in commemoration. Since Ch'ing-lo's death I know not
what has become of the vase." H. 8 in., D. 4i in.
" Teaeiip {Glib a Pei), of upright form, with wavy out-
line and vertically ribbed sides, molded in the sliape of
a Buddha's-hand citron. Invested outside with a pale
blue glaze, white inside, both surfaces traversed with a
coarse network of lines like crackled ice." H. 3 in.
^'' Lihation Cup {Cliueli), of ancient bronze design, with
three feet and a wide channeled lip. A double band of
rectangular scroll ornament encircles the body, which has
a loop handle on one side springing from a dragon's head.
The glaze is pale blue with icelike crackle throughout."
H. 6 in.
'■'■Libation Cup (^CluieJi), of design somewhat similar to
the last, but more elaborately ornamented with projecting
dentated ridges and geometrical scroll patterns. The
glaze of sky-blue color without a single line of crackle,
and the delicate and complicated ornamentation, executed
without a blur, make it a remarkable specimen of this
imperial fabric." H. 4J in.
^^ Saucer {Tieh T''o), of complex form, modeled after a
red lacquer carved saucer of the period, Avith an engraved
decoration executed in the formal scroll pattei'us charac-
teristic of lacquer work. The glaze is of the light bluish
tint of an Qgg, and is marked with no crackled lines."
D. 4i in.
142 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
% g, Ting Yao.
Ting Yao is the name applied to the porcelain fabri-
cated in the Sung d^^nasty at Ting-cliou, in the province
of Chihli. This is well described in the Ko hti yao km,
published in 1387, one of the princij^al works on anti-
quarian subjects of the Ming dynasty :
" Specimens of ancient Ting-chou porcelain in which
the paste is finely levigated and the color white and of
rich luster are valuable ; those of coarser fabric and yel-
lowish color are inferior. Those with tear-drops outside
are genuine. Some of the engraved designs are very
beautiful. The plain pieces are also good, but those
ornamented with painted decoration are less highly
esteemed. The best belong to the periods Hsi'ian-lio
(1119-25) and Cheng-lio (1111-17), but it is difficult to
find perfect specimens of these reigns. There is a purple
Ting-chou porcelain, the color of Avhich is purple, and a
black Ching-chou porcelain colored black like lacquer."
The white variety is known as Pai Ting or Fen Ting,
fai being " white," and fen, " flour," to distinguish it
from the coarser yellow ^vare alluded to above, Avhich is
called T'' u Ting, from tu, " earth." The red variety is
often referred to by the older poets, and is compared to
carved red jade or carnelian. The black kind is exti'emely
rare. Our artist observes : " I have seen over a hundred
specimens of the white, and some tens of the purple-
brown ; but the black is so rare that in my whole life I
have met ^vith only one piece, which I figure here."
Pieces of Ting-chou porcelain are probably more com-
mon in modern collections than those of any of the other
8ung dynasty factories. The bowls and dishes are often
impressed inside with intricate and elaborate designs,
composed principally of the modern peony, lily floAvers,
and flying phcenixes. The material was very fragile, on
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE POKCELAIN. 143
wliicli accouut it used to be the fasliiou to bind tlie rims
of the pieces made for the use of the palace with copper
collars to preserve them from iujury. Tlie Ijowls and
dishes seem to have l)eeu often placed in the kiln bottom
upward, so as to rest upon the rims, which were in such
cases left unglazed. The glaze of the best pieces of this
Avare is of a dull white, when compared with the soft,
velvety gloss of the white porcelain of the province of
Fuchien. It is less translucent, and of soft " ivory-white "
tone.
Northern Ting-chou porcelain has been more imitated,
perhaps, than any other. First comes the Nan Tinr/^ or
" Southern Ting," fabricated after the Sung emperors had
been driven south by the Mongols in 1127; then the
Hsiii Ting, or " New Ting," a name given to the vases of
elegant shape with contracted waist made in the Yuan
dynast}^ (1280-1367) by P'eng Chiin-pao, a worker in
gold. Next, the false Wen Wang censei's of Chou Tan-
ch'uan, the clever potter of the reign of Wan-li (1573-
1619), who imposed upon the connoisseurs of his time by
his reproductions of the incense burner which forms the
first illustration in our album, and of others of the
same kind.* He worked at Ching-te-chen, and repro-
ductions of the old Ting Yao are still made there.
Twelve examples of the Sung dynasty have been
selected for illustration, including six of the ^vhite vari-
ety, five of the purple, and one black.
" Censer (^Ting), of quadangular form and oblong sec-
tion, with two upright looj) handles, resting on four legs
curving upward below. The body, witli eight verti-
cal dentated ridges, is covered witli antique designs carved
in relief. Copied from a sacrificial vessel dedicated to
the ancient sovereio-n Wen Wane/ fio-ured in the J^o hi
*His story is well told by Julien {loc.cit.) iu pp. xxxiii and xxxiv of his
Pi-eface du Traducteur.
144 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
foUj an illustrated collection of old bronzes, this censer
was made at the imperial factory, and it is perfectly fin-
ished with delicate carving fine as bullock's hair or floss
silk. It stands square and upright, without leaning a
hair's breadth, and is exactly proportioned in every part.
The glaze, uniformly lustrous and translucent, is like
mutton fat or fine white jade. It is a choice specimen of
the fabric of Ting-chou in Chen-ting-fu, worthy to be
placed at the head of the incense burners of different
factories, and its equal is rarely, alas ! to be seen in the
present day. It was shown to me in the palace of the
Prince of Chin, standing upon a stand of fragrant lign-
aloes, with a cover carved out of the same wood crowned
by a lizard dragon of moss-green jade." H. 4i in., Br.
3i in.
" Censer' ( Yi), in the form of a sha^Ded bowl of depressed
globular form, rounding in at the neck and slightly exj^and-
ing at the mouth, resting upon a low circular foot. The
neck is encircled by a band of rectangular scroll pattern,
interrupted by two handles fashioned as lions' heads in
slight relief. The glaze of pure white without stain
resembles mutton fat or fine jade, and it forms a beauti-
ful ornament for a scholar's library. It is an old piece
which has been j^reserved for generations in our family
cabinet, and I now draw it for my friends." H. 2 in., D.
4iin.
'^Miniature Vase (Hsiao P''in(j), of nearly cylindrical
form, slightly bulging in the middle, with two pointed
open handles projecting upward from the shoulder. Dec-
orated with two scroll bands, above and below, engraved
under a pure white glaze resembling congealed fat." H.
3 in.
" Saxirificial Jar {Hsiang Tsun), modeled in the form
of an elephant, after an ancient bronze vessel made for
the ancestral temple. The body is hollowed into a jar
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 145
for wine, of wliich the uplifted trunk of the elephant
forms the spout, and a narrow canopy arching over the
saddle makes the handle, which has attached to it a round
cover ornamented with geometrical and spiral scroll
borders and surmounted by a knob. The rope girths
and ornamental details are engraved under the white
glaze. It holds about a pint of wine." H. 4i in.,
L. 5 in.
" WiUow-hasket Cup {Liu-tou Pei)^ molded in the form
of a basket of rounded shape bulging beloAV, with the
osier twigs bound with ropes all worked in the paste
under the white glaze. This is a novel and cui'ious
design for a wine-cup." H. 2i in.
" Plicenix Candlestick {Feiui Tencj)^ of elegant form and
design, a branched j)ricket candlestick for three candles.
A slender pillar, springing from a square, solid, polished
stand, curves at the top to end in a crested phcenix head,
from the beak of which hangs a ring chain with a lotus
suspended upon it. The stem of the lotus branches
below into three flowers to hold the candles, which are
shaded by a large overhanging leaf. The natural details
are etched in the paste under the white glaze. It is a
rare specimen of Ting-chou porcelain, which I use to
light my o\vn library." H. 21 in.
" Tripod Censer {Ting), with plain loop handles and
feet springing from grotesque heads. Modeled after an
ancient bronze with ogre (fao fieli) faces carved upon
the body on the upper part, a band of foliated outline
below. The artistic chai'acter of the design is executed
in the spirit of the Three Ancient Dynasties ; the color of
the glaze is a warm purple of translucid depth, of the same
tint as that of ripe grapes. Ting-chou porcelain is usually
white, the purple {tzii) and black (ono) glazes being much
more rare, and such a choice example as this of the pur-
ple variety is rare indeed. I bought it for ten taels of
146 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
silver at Peking from the stall of a curio dealer at the
Buddhist temple Pao-kuo-ssu." H. 31 in., D. 4 in.
" Water Pot {Shui OKeng), modeled after a tazza-
shaped bronze cup of the Han dynasty, of oval form,
with foliated rim ; it has a fluted body, with a scroll-like
border composed of coiled silkworms, and a ringed hol-
low foot. The glaze is pur]:>le, of the color of the fruit
of the aubergine plant. It is mounted on a carved rose-
wood stand, with a coral spoon inside, for use on the
writing table." H. 2 in.
''^ Jar (Hfi), modeled after an ancient sacrificial wine-
vessel of bronze, of ovoid form and quadrangular section,
with a lobed body decorated with a band of scrolled
dragons round the shoulder, a chain of interrupted fret
encircling the foot. Two loop handles terminating in
horned heads project from the neck with rings suspended
upon them. The glaze is deepest amethyst, of the color
of very ripe grapes, and beautifully lustrous. I saw it
in the palace of the Prince of Chiang-yu, where I painted
the picture for my friends." H. 6 in.
" /Small Vase (llsiao P''i)uj), of the kind once used
for divining stalks, adapted for flowers upon the writing
table. The body, of square section slightly expanding
upward, is carved in a formal, zigzag pattern ; it has
a round mouth and a lo\v, circular foot. The glaze is
purple, of deepest tone and beautiful color." H. 4 in.
" Wine Vessel (CJiia), of a characteristic bronze form,
with three pointed feet, a plain loop handle and two studs
on the upper rim. It is decorated with bands of gro-
tesque dragons' heads carved in relief. The color of the
glaze is pur[)le, like the aubergine fruit, and the decora-
tion is very finely carved. I got it from a fellow-citizen
in exchange for a winecup of jade." 11. 4 in.
" Duck-lieaded Vase {Fu Tmii)^ of black Ting-chou
porcelain. A bottle-shaped vase ^vith swelling body and
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 147
ringed neck, which curves over to end in a duck's head,
the orifice of the vase, defined by a lip, being in the con-
vexity of the curved neck.* The black color painted
upon the head and neck gradually fades away below into
the body of the vase, which is enameled white. The
black glaze is of the greatest rarity in Tiug-chou poi'ce-
lain. In my whole life I have seen over a hundred
specimens of the ^vhite, some tens of purple, but only
this one of black." H. 6 in.
hB ^ ^1 LuNG-cn'tTAN Yao.
The Lung-chbiiaii Yao is the porcelain that used to be
made atLung-ch'iian-hsien, in the prefecture Ch'u-chou-fu,
in the southern part of the province of Chekiang. Dur-
ing the early part of the Sting dynasty the factory was
at Liu-t'ien, some twenty miles distant from the walled
city of Lung-ch'iian, and under its jurisdiction. Two
brothers named Chang, who are said to have lived here
in the t^velfth century of our era, are celebrated for their
productions. The elder, called for that reason Chang
Sheng yi, introduced a new glaze, distinguished by its
crackled texture, which became known as Ivo Yao^ or the
'" Elder Brother's Porcelain." " Chang Secundus," Chang
Sheng erh, fabricated his ware on the old lines, only
improving the luster and color of the green glaze, so that
his productions continued to be called by the old name
of Lung-ch'iian Yao.
These potteries furnished the main source of the famous
old celadon and crackled poi'celains, Avhich were exported
at this time from China to all parts of Asia, as well as
to the eastern and northern coasts of Africa. They
constitute WieCli'ing Tzn, ^ ^, the "green porcelain/^
* This curious form is still in use in China, as shown in Fig. 117, ■which is a
cehidon piece in the collection referred to the A"rt«5'-As2 period.
148 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
IKti' excellence of the Chinese, and are well known to the
Japanese, who esteem them very highly by the same
name, which they pronounce Sei-ji. During the Sung
dynasty there was considerable commercial intercourse
by sea between China and the Mohammedan countries,
and we read in both Arabian and Chinese books of the
time of " green porcelain " as one of the articles of trade.
The Chinese describe it as carried as far as Zanzibar, which
they call Tsangpa, and are curiously confirmed by the
discovery there in some old ruins, during Sir John Kirk's
residence as H, B. M, consul-general, of a quantity of
celadon vessels, principally in fragments, mixed with
Chinese coins of the Sung dynasty.
The Arabs and Pei'sians call this peculiar porcelain
"tnartahdni, and value it very highly from its fancied
property of detecting poisoned food by changing color.
The name comes from Martaban, one of the states of
ancient Siam ; and Prof. Karabacek, of Vienna, has lately
tried to prove that it is not Chinese, basing his theory
mainly upon a passage quoted from the encyclopedist
Hadji Khalifa, who died in 1658, that "the precious
magnificent celadon dishes and other vessels seen in his
time were manufactured and exported at Martaban, in
Pegu." But there is no evidence that porcelain was ever
made at Maulmain (Martaban), Rangoon, or elsewhere in
Burma. Others have attributed it, with as little success,
either to Persia or to Egypt, because so much has been
discovered there, but neither of these countries produced
true porcelain, although they excelled in the decoration
of faience. An Arab manuscript in the Bihliotheque
Nationale at Paris, treating of the life and exploits of
Saladin, mentions that this emir presented in the year
1171 forty pieces of this kind of Chinese porcelain to
Nur-ed-din.
Marco Polo, after his travels in China in the thirteenth
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE POKCELALN. 149
century, seems to have ])een tlie first iu Europe to use the
name of " porcelaine " to describe this product of the far
East. It had probably been applied previously only to
shells, and Marco Polo applied the same term to the
cowries which he found used as money in Eastern coun-
tries. The crusades w^ere apparently the earliest means
of introduction of specimens of this w^are to the AVest.
Dr. Graesse relates that the most ancient piece in the
Dresden Museum was brought by a crusader from Pales-
tine. Perhaps it came through Egypt. A present of
porcelain vases was sent in 1487 by the Sultan of Egypt
to Lorenzo de' Medici, and it is mentioned about the same
time in the maritime laws of Barcelona as one of the
articles imported into Spain from Egypt.
It is curious that the earliest specimen of porcelain that
can be now referred to as brouglit to England before the
Reformation, viz., the cup of Archbishop Warham, at
New College, Oxford, is of the sea-green or celadon
kind.
The glaze of the Lung-ch'iiau porcelain is of a mono-
chrome green color, varying from bright grass-gi'een, the
tint of the Chinese olive, a species of canarium, through
lighter intermediate shades to palest sea-green. The
term celadon is well known to collectors as applied to
these different shades of color. Celadon was the name
of the hero of the popular novel L'Astree, written by
Honore d'Urfe in the seventeenth century, \\\\o used to
appear on the stage dressed in clothes of a kind of sea-
green hue of a gray or bluish tint. This shade became
fashionable, and the name was borro^ved to describe a
similar shade in the color of Chinese porcelain. This
peculiar shade, however, is specially characteristic of the
Lung-ch'iian porcelain of the 3Iing period, made in the
city of Ch'u-chou-fu, to which place the manufactory was
removed early iu the Ming dynasty. It was here that
150 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
the characteristic large dishes >vere made marked under-
neath with a ferruginous ring, showing the portion of the
paste left unglazed, so as not to adhere to the support
in the kihi. The okler pieces attributed to the Sung
dynasty are completely covei'ed with glaze under the
foot, and are generally of a more decided grass-green
color, approaching the emerald-green tint of jadeite, ^vhich
seems to have been the effect especially aimed at. The
decoration was either worked in relief or engraved in the
paste, and its eifect was enhanced by the different shades
of color produced by the varying depth of the glaze.
The vessels are often fluted or I'ibbed, and with wavy or
foliated rims ; some have a peony or a lotus blossom,
fish or di'agons, sprays of flowers or geometrical patterns
etched in the paste. Others have a pair of fishes worked
in relief in the bottom, or a pair of rings attached outside
to handles.
The accompanying illustration (Fig. 119) is taken from
a little dish of typical Sung celadon in the Walters Col-
lection. The glaze is crackled, of a greenish-brown tone
approaching that of the olive, shot and flecked with
bright grass-green, the tint of onion sprouts. A pair of
fish are worked in bold relief in the paste underneath the
glaze as if swimming round inside the dish. The rim of
the foot, unglazed, shows a reddish buff paste. There is
no " ring " underneath.
The other cut (Fig. 120) represents a celadon dish
etched inside with a spray of peony, which is attributed
to the Ming dynasty. The sides are fluted in the interior
and correspondingly ribbed underneath. The glaze is of
sea-green shade, varying in tone according to its depth.
The under surface of the dish, which is about a foot in
diameter, has been photographed, to show the peculiar
ferruginous ring with its ragged edges, where the paste,
left bare, is flred of a reddish buff color.
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 151
Our album contains eleven specimens of Lung-cli'uan
porcelain attributed to the Sung dynasty.
" Water Pot {^Shid ChJeng) for the writing table, in
the shape of a globular tazza-like bowl, Avith a cylindrical
foot slightly spreading at the base, and a round cover
with a knob on the top. The cover is etched with a
radiating geometrical pattern, the bo^vl decorated with
sprays of chrysanthemum flowers alternating with Polyp-
oruk fun2:us heads mins:led with o-rass. The flowers
stand out in strong relief as if painted in a picture. The
glaze is bright green, of the color of fresh moss or of wil-
low twigs as they hang down in early springtime." H.
4 in.
'■'■Water Pot {Sliul 67iV;?^^), modeled after a bronze
casting of the T\ui(j dynasty, of globular form, with a
slightly flaring mouth and three small mammillated feet.
The shoulder has two handles worked in relief as lions^
heads with curlino; mane holdinjx rino-s ; above and
below them the body is circled ^vitll interrupted chains
of rectangular and spiral fret, etched under the glaze,
which is translucent and lustrous, of the color of moss-
green jade or nephrite." H. 2i in.
'■'■ Vase {Hit), bottle-shaped, with a bulging body, con-
tractinoj to a slender neck, \vhich swells ao-ain to a
bulbous enlargement to end in a small orifice defined b}"
a light lip. The nai'rowest part of the neck is marked
by a prominent ring. Vases of this form, copied from
an old bronze figured in the Po hu Vou^ are esteemed for
holding peonies and orchids of different kinds, because
the small mouth prevents the water o-ivinc; out a bad
odor. The glaze is bright green, of the color of young
onion sprouts, so that the color is as beautiful as the
form is distinguished. It always stands on the dining-
table in my own house." H. 6 in.
" Floioer Vase {Hua Nang)^ with several mouths, of
152 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
crackled Limg-cb'lian porcelain, of a depressed ovoid
form bulging below, it contracts above to an oval mouth
wliicli is surrounded by four other smaller tubular
mouths springing fi-om the shoulder of the vase. The
color of the glaze is as green as parrots' feathers and
crackled like broken ice, a rare variety of this ware,
adapted for displa3'ing the colors and mingling the fra-
grance of different kinds of roses on a small table. It is
enshrined in the Clii-hsiang-an Temple of my native
city." H. 3 in., Br. -41 in.
'■^ Small Vase {Hsiao P''hig), of hexagonal form, with
a low circular foot, and a lip shai'ply drawn into a round
mouth, covered with a brilliant glaze of the color of a
fresh green cucumber." H. ^\ in.
^^ Miniature Vase {Hsiao P''ing), for a single flo\ver,
of semiglobular form, flattened below, with a tubular
neck, having two loop handles at the sides strung with
slender movable rino-s. Invested with a brio;ht mono-
chrome coat of green, it makes a charming receptacle for
a small flower like a dwarf orchid, a balsam, or a sprig
of jasmine." H. 2 in.
^'' Palm- Leaf Vase {Cliiao Yeli P''t/ig), fashioned in
tlie form of a whorl of palm leaves surrounding a hollow
stem adapted to hold Avater for flowers. The veining of
the leaves is engraved in the paste, and the surfaces are
colored s-reen, lisrht or dark, accordino; to their natural
shades, sliowing that the ancient workmen spared no
pains in the fabrication even of a little work of art like
this." H. 6 in.
" Pliinoceros Jar {So Tsuii)^ a sacrificial wine-jar for
the ancestral temple, modeled after an ancient bronze
vessel figured in the Po hu ton. It is molded in the
form of a hornless rhinoceros, with the body hollowed
out to hold wine, the j^e^^ked saddle on its back being
hinged in front to make the cover of the jar. The con-
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 153
voluted folds of the skin and the other natural details are
worked in the paste so as to be picked out in darker
shades in the bright green glaze of the color of young
onion sprouts. In the present day porcelain is much
used for sacrificial vessels in place of gold and copper.
The altars are not so luxuriously furnished, but the
resources of the people are not infringed upon, so that it
should not be lightly esteemed. I saw this jar at Nan-
king, in the hall of a Taoist temple for the worship of
Heaven." H. 4i in., L. -Ai in.
" Gourd-sJiaped Jar {P\io Tsiui), molded as a wine-
vessel, in the form of a recumbent gourd of elongated
oval shape, curving up at the neck to a round orifice,
which is fitted ^vith a ringed cover. A long, curved
handle, with a dragon's head at each end, is attached to
the gourd by ring chains. The cover and shoulder of
the jar are decorated with plain and foliated bands
picked out under the glaze, which is of the usual green
color." L. 6 in.
" Wine- Vessel ( YiS) of the form of an ancient bronze
sacrificial vessel of that name, ^vith the finest details of
the metal work carefully finished to a hair's breadth.
The body, of fiat quadrangular section, is contracted
above to an oval orifice which is fitted Avith a rounded
cover. To the two loop handles on the shoulder of the
vase are attached rino; chains hangins; down from the
ends of a curved rod by Avhich the jar can be suspended.
The sides are decorated with foliated panels, the rims
with brocaded bands and formal borders, and the out-
lines of deer and dragons of antique design fill in the
intervals. The glaze is a bright grass-green." H. -4 in.
" Oil Lamp ( Yu Teiuj), copied from a bronze design.
The lipped saucerlike receptacle is poised on the tip of a
leafy branch which springs from a foliated pedestal, Avhile
fiom underneath tlie branch a second support curves
154 OEIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
down, to end below in cliicken's claws. The glaze is of
the color of green onion sprouts, the form of antique
elegance." H. 4 in.
^ ^, Ko Yao.
Ko Yao, which means " Elder Brother's Ware," was
the name referred to already as having been given to the
ceramic production of Chang the elder, who was a potter
of Liu-t'ien, in Lung-ch'lian-hsien, in the twelfth century of
our era. The porcelain which he made was distinguished
especially for its crackled glaze, which was described as
having the appearance of being " broken into a hundred
pieces," or as looking "like the roe of a fish." It had
also the iron-gray foot and the red mouth Avhich charac-
ized some of the older fabrics of the Hung dynasty, and
is said to have almost rivaled the Kuan Yao, " the impe-
rial porcelain of the period." The color of the glaze
varied from bluish gray or celadon to rice color or stone
This was the original Ko Yao ; the name has since
been extended to include almost all kinds of porcelain
covered with crackled monochrome glazes, of the differ-
ent shades of celadon, gray, and white. So we have Ko
Yao of the Yuan dynasty, which was fabricated in large
quantities at the same pottery, but ^vas far inferior to the
old porcelain l^oth in grain and in color. Specimens of this
are brought to our museums in modern times from Bor-
neo and other islands of the Eastern Archipelago as far
east as Ceram, among other old relics of Chinese porce-
lain which the natives prize so highly. Mr. Carl Bock,
in his Head- Hunter 8 of Borneo, alludes to these : " Among
his [the Dyak's] greatest treasures are a series of gudgi
hlanga, a sort of glazed jar imported from China, in green,
blue, or brown, ornamented Avith figures of lizards and
I
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 155
serpents in relief. These pots are valued at from one
liundred to as mucli as tliree thousand florins (£8 to
J6240) each, according to size, pattern, and, above all, old
aaje, combined, with s^ood condition. Accordins: to the
native legend, these j^trecious vases are made of the rem-
nants of the same clay from which Mahatara (the
Almighty) made first the sun and then the moon. Medici-
nal virtues are attributed to these wares, and they are
regarded as affording complete protection from evil spirits
to the house in which they are stored."
There is also a modern Ko Yao made at Ching-te-chen
up to the present day in the pattern of the old ware.
There is only one piece of Ko Yao of the Sung dynasty
illustrated in the album, a small pencil-rest covered with
a crackled glaze of j^urplish celadon which can hardly be
distinguished from that of the Kuan Yao, viz. :
" Brush Rest ( Yen Slimi), made after a bronze model
of the Han, dynasty, as a miniature range of hills with
four peaks of irregular height, and covered ^vith a glaze
of pale bluish celadon crackled like broken ice. Of
antique form and lustrous color, it forms an artistic rest
for the skilled pen of the writer." H. 1 in., L. 4 in.
We can add three pieces from the AValters Collection
which are referred to the Sung dynasty : (1) A minia-
ture censer {Hsiang Ln), shown in Fig. 122, covered
Avith a thick grayish speckled glaze, traversed by a
crackled network of brown lines, with thi-ee feet of dark
iron-gray color surrounded at their base with brown lines
of stain. (2) A small water pot (Shui Ch'eng), shown
in Fig. 123, invested inside and out, as well as under the
foot, with a thick, unctuous translucent glaze of dark
brownish-gray tone crackled throughout; the mouth
tinged copper-red, the foot-rim dark iron-gray. (3) A
little vase, wdth mask-handles in relief (Fig. 124) of light
gray crackle, covered with a deep I'ich glaze fissured with
156 OEIEISTTAL CERAMIC ART.
a network of dark lines connected hy a iew more super-
ficial lines, and with the same glaze under the foot ; the
foot-rim shows a pale iron-gray paste.
:^ ^ g, Tung-Ch'ing Yao.
Tfnt(j-('Jt\')i(/ Y((o, which means " Eastei'ii celadon porce-
lain," is the name of the porcelain which was fabricated
at private factories in the vicinity of K'ai-feng-fu, the
Eastern capital, during the Northern Siuig dynasty (a. d.
960-1126). It resembled the imperial porcelain of the
time, but was of coarser make and paler color, and it was.
never crackled.
The name of Tniuj-cli ukj has sui'vived to the present
day as that of the typical celadon glaze, so well illustrated
in Plates VII and XXXVIII. The first syllable of the
name is, however, generally written with another charac-
ter of the same sound meaning " winter," changing the
expression to " winter-green " or " ever-green," and this i&
the form used in the imperial lists of to-day.
The one piece of the Sung dynasty figui'ed here is.
described as follo^vs :
" Water Bowl {II></'), resembling in shape an octagonal
iiower-pot, with an eight-lobed body resting on a circular
foot, and a foliated rim round the top. It is decorated
outside in panels with formal sprays of flowers, including
the plum blossom, polyporus fungus and grass, peony and
bamboo, etched in the paste under the glaze, which is of
the color of plumes of kingfisher feathers 2:)ainted on in
several layers, with its surface raised in faint millet-like
tubercles. Made for washing the brushes of an artist, it
is well adapted for the decoration of a dinner table with
an open-work rockery, or for growing flowering bulbs of
narcissus." H. 5 in.
CLASSIFICATIOlSr OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 157
^ g:, Clitm YaO.
Chilli Yao is the name given to the porcelain fabricated
at Chiin-choii from the early part of the Sung dynasty,
which began in the year a. d. 960. This corresponds to
the modern district of Yii-clioii, in the province of Honan.
It was not ranked high among the [)otteries of the period,
because the material Avas not so finely levigated, and be-
cause the forms were generally original, instead of being
copied from classical designs. The glazes were, however,
remarkable for their l)rilliancy and for their varieties of
color, including as they did the Jf a jnhe or transmutation
glazes, composed of flashing reds, passing through every
intermediate shade of purple to pale blue. This was not
much appreciated at the time, being described as a fail-
ure in the firing of one of the pure monochi'omes, but its
reproduction in the hands of more I'ecent potters is uni-
versally regarded as one of the chief triumphs of Chinese
ceramic art.
The author of the J^o wu yao Ian, one of the best of
the antiquarian works published near the end of the
Ming d3aiasty, written by Ku T'ai, in sixteen books, and
printed in the reign of T'ien-rh^i (1621-27), says in the
fifth book, which is the one devoted to ceramics : " Chiin-
chou porcelain includes pieces of vermilion red, of bright
onion-green, vulgarly called parrot-green, and of aubergine
purple. AVhen these three colors, the first red as mineral
rouge, the second green as onion sprouts or kingfisher
feathers, and the third purple dark as ink-black, are pure
and witliout the least change of color, they comprise the
highest class. Underneath the piece one or two numerals
are often inscril^ed as marks. The colors of pig's liver,
of flaming red, and of blues and greens mingled in
blotches like a child's tear-stained face, ai'e due only to
158
OEIENTAL CERAMIC AET.
insufficient firing of the above tliree colors ; tliey are not
distinct varieties of glaze. Such vulgar names as ^ nasal
mucus ' and ' pig's liver ' only provoke ridicule. The
flowerpots and saucers of this porcelain are of great
beauty, but the other things, like the barrel-shaped seats,
the censers and round pots for incense, the square vases
and jars \vith covers, all these have the paste composed
of yellow sand, so that they are of coarser fabric. The
new pieces made in the present day are all fabricated
out of Yi-hsing clay, so that, although the glaze is some-
what similar to the old, and the work as well finished,
they will not resist wear and tear."
The image of the Buddhist divinity Kuan Yin in the
Pao Kuo Ssii at Peking, described already, exhibits a
rare and brilliant combination of these different colors in
the glazes with which it is invested. The flowerpots and
saucers referred to by the author quoted above are the
specimens seen in modern Chinese collections that are
valued at such very high prices in their ow^n country that
few genuine examples are exported. There are two re-
m.arkable examples, however, in the Walters Collection
•whicli seem from their mountings to have come out of
one of the imperial collections at Peking — a pair of
bowl-shaped flowerpots. One of them is illustrated in
Plate XCIV, showing the stip})led gray-blue glaze spotted
with darker tints. The companion flowerpot is enameled
with a ground color of darker tone and more thickly
flecked with crimson passing into purple. Their pres-
ervation is due to the thickness and solidity of the
material, and they figure in the cultured interior of a
Chinese house to display the flowering bulbs of the narcis-
sus or the dwarf shrubs of the blossoming plum, which
flower at the new year, the one great national holiday.
The marks are the numerals 1 to 9 deeply engraved under-
neath in the paste, either singly or repeated ; in the last
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE POKCELAIN. 159
case, for example, the number is carved inside one of
the feet, as well as on the base of tlie flowerpot or
saucer.
Fig. 125 is a pictui-e of a little water-[)ot, xhui-cU'eng,
of the ancient Chiin Yao of tlie Sung dynasty, such as a
Chinese writer loves to put on his table, and it is marked
underneath, with the character sav, " 3," carved in the
paste. An archaic dragon is modeled on one side in bold
relief so as to lift up its head above the rim. It is cov-
ered with a rich, deep, finely crackled glaze, of yueh-pai
or clair-de-lune color, with a patch of deep aubergine tint
shaded with lighter purple round the edge. It shows in
miniature two of the characteristic colors of the time. It
had been shattered into fi'agments, and when first seen
was coated with lac dating from the Ming dynasty,
which has since been scraped off.
These things were reproduced with some success by
T'ang Ying in the reign of Yung-clieng, 1723-35. His
pi'oductions may be distinguished b}^ their perfect execu-
tion and finish, the texture being finer and the paste
whiter than in the originals. A beautiful example of his
work is seen in Fig. 126, showing a sLallow bowl mounted
upon three foliated feet, modeled in the shape of one of
the bowls of Chun Yao made in the Sung dynasty for
the cultivation of narcissus bulbs, and enameled ^vith a
copper-red glaze of mottled tint exhibiting a pink ground
flecked with darker red spots. The bottom, coated with
a grayish glaze, is engraved with the character san, "3."
The seal of the period Yung-cheng is impressed in the
paste in the middle underneath. This seal had been
filled in with cement, plastered over and artificially
tinted, showing that the bowl had been intended to
figure as a relic of the Sung ; and it is really such a
perfect reproduction as to be liable to deceive the very
elect, had it not been marked with the reign in which
160 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
T'ang YIng flourished, as well as with the numerical
mark of the older regime.
Our artist figures four specimens of Chiiii-chou por-
celain of tlie Sting dynasty in the manuscript album, all
of darkest purple-brown, or mihergiae color.
'■'■Jar (Tsnti), of ovoid form, slightly expanding above
the short neck to a circularly rimmed mouth. The two
handles whicli })r(>ject from the neck are fashioned in
open-work relief as phoenixes, with crested heads and
bodies tei'uiinating })elow in spiral curves. The numeral
wu, ' 5,' is inscribed under the base as a mark. The
glaze is dark purjole-brown. The source of the design
can not be traced, although the elegance of the form and
the artistic fluish of the work are such as no common
potter could have executed. Chiiu-chou used at the time
to be ranked at the bottom of the potteries of the Sung
dynasty, yet this jar in its perfect form and beautiful
color makes a I'eceptacle for flowers equal to any one
either of Ju, Kuan., Ko, or Ting porcelain. Its ' mark
is an additional proof that it is really a Chiin piece.
I am now the fortunate possessor." H. 3i in.
" Miniature Vase {Hsiao P ''ing)^ of oval form, ^vith a
bulbous neck sha})ed like a ' head ' of garlic. It is
enameled with a glaze of mottled blue and purple
{eliding tzii), and is of the colors vulgarly known as
' ass's liver and horse's lung.' It is in my own collection^
and is one of the tiniest of vases, little more than an inch
high,flt to hold a single pearl orchid or a jasmine flower."
" Wine-Pot {IIu), of depressed oval form, with a short
neck ending above in a circular mouth, a tiny spout at one
end, and a minute solid triangular handle at the other.
It must originally have had a small round cover, which
is now lost. The surface is covered with formal floi'al
sprays and spiral scrolls worked in relief under the glaze,
which is of aubergine purple color. Specimens of Chiin-
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 161
choii porcelain are often, like this piece, of novel original
desio-n, as the potters did not usually copy tlie antifpie.
Of the colors used in its decoration none excelled the
vermilion red {('liu hv)i(/) and the cmhergine purple
{chbieli tzii)^ of the latter of which this is a fine example ;
the moonlight white (^yueli hsia pai^, or clair <Je /w/6, and
the pale green Qfii clPhig) being both inferior glazes,
when compared with the others. It holds about a pint
of wine." H. 3 in., D. 5 in.
^^ Dragon Lamp (Ohlao Teng), molded in the form of
a grotesque hornless dragon, with its coiled scaly body
hollowed into a receptacle for the oil, its serpentlike
head elevated with protruding tongue and open mouth to
receive the wick. The glaze is bluish purple of the color
of ripe grapes. It is a lamp of rare design, lifelike and
awe-inspiring, and illuminates the whole I'oom when
lighted." H. 16 in.
Magnificent pieces of this Chliu-chou fabric are to be
seen in Chinese collections, remarkable for the brilliant
and variegated coloring of the rich, unctuous, li(piescent
glaze, which exhibits all the transmutation tints of
the copper silicates in their pi'istine perfection. The ma-
terial is generally, however, a reddish stoneware rather
than porcelain. I have just seen a large tripod censer
with rounded bowl and receding neck thickly imbued
with a mottled opalescent glaze of clair-de-lune type, con-
trasting with the red color of a pair of archaic dragons
worked in bold relief round the hollow of the neck, and
partially reserved betw^een two irregularly undulating
lines of glaze. The dragons form a frieze, half hidden,
as it were, in azure-tinted clouds.
162 OEIENTAL CERAIMIC ART.
Three Other Manufactories.
There were several other iiiaDufactories in different
parts of China dui'iug the Sung dynasty, of which three
must not be omitted, although their productions are not
illustrated in our album. These are (1) Chi-chou, in
the province of Kiangsi, celebrated for its crackled por-
celain ; (2) Chien-chou, in the province of Fuchien,
famous for its black teacups, of ]3riceless value for the
tea ceremonial of the time ; and (3) Tz'u-chou, in the
province of Chihli, where a peculiar kiud of stoneware,
enameled white and painted in brown, is fabricated down
to the present day.
(1) The CJd-chou Yao, "§ j'W ^, was made at Yung-
ho-chen, in Chi-chou, which corresponds to the modern
Lu-liug-hsieu in the prefecture Chi-an-fu, in the province
of Kiangsi.* The Ko hu yao lun says that the colors of
the porcelain were white and purple-brown, like that of
Ting-chou, but that it was thick and comparatively
coarse in fabric, and not ^vorth so much money ; and that
in the Sung dynasty there "were five manufactories, of
which that of the Shu family was the most celebrated.
Some of the smaller pieces were decorated with painting,
and one of the daughters of the family, called Shu Chiao,
or " The Fair Shu," was a skillful artist. The Sui CK'i,
^ ^, or crackled vases, ^vere, however, the most
famous productions of this factory, and rivaled the
similar vases of Ko Yao, which they resembled in color
and in being reticulated with lines like fissured ice.
Tradition says that during the troubles at the close of
the Sung dynasty, when the famous minister AVen T'ien-
hsiang (1236-82) came to this place, the porcelain Avas
* Julien, in the preface of his work {J,oc. cit.), places this factory correctly in
Kiangsi province, but refers it on page 16 of the text to Kuangsi, in the south-
east of Cliina, and on page 76 to Shensi, in the far northwest.
CLASSIFICATION OF (iniNESE PORCELAIN. 163
transformed in the kilns to jade, and that the potters iied
in boats down the river to Ching-te-chen, where they
settled, and continued for generations to make this
crackled ware.
(2) The Cliien Yao, ^ ^, was the original porcelain
produced at the ancient Chien-chou, in the province of
Fuchien. This corresponds to the modern prefecture
Chien-ning-fu. The manufactory, ^vhich was established
at Chien-an at the beginning of the Siing dynasty, was
moved afterward to Chien-yang. In the Yua/t dynasty,
which succeeded the Sung, this last place became still
more famous for its ceramic production. During the
Sung the shallow bowls and cups with everted rims,
enameled with a black glaze speckled with white, which
sometimes ran down in brown drops, were appreciated
above all others at the tea ceremonies. They were
called " hare's fur cups " or " partridge cups," from their
resemblance in color to the skin of the common hare and
to the plumage of the Perdrix cinerea. They were thick
and heavy and kept hot a long time — another cpiality for
which they were highly prized by the old " tea-tasters."
The practice of the competitors at these tea parties \vas
to grind the tea leaves to fine dust and put a little of the
powder into each of the cups, to fill the cup Avith boiling
^vater, and stir up the mixture with a bamboo whisk.
After the powder had subsided the tea was drunk, and
the cup was again filled with water, the process being
]'epeated as long as any trace of tea-dust remained visible
at the bottom of the cup. The more " waters " the tea
would bear the better it Avas considered ; and the dark-
colored cups of Chien-an were valued, for one reason,
because they showed the slightest trace of pale yellow
dust as long as any of the tea lasted.
The Chinese ceremonial was afterward adopted in Japan
at their tea clubs, which have been so often described.
164 OKIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
The Japanese also showed an imiiieDse appreciation for
the " hare-skin " glaze of the teacups of Chien-an, which
they imported for their own use and valued at such fab-
ulous prices. Three cups with silver rims, attributed to
the twelfth century a. d., from the collection of the
Japanese archaeologist, Ninagawa Noritane, are described
in one of Captain F. Brinkley's catalogues * as being
about five inches in diameter and two and a half inches
deep, and as having a lustrous black glaze covered with
yellowish metallic-looking lines.
These potteries have long been extinct. The porcelain
fabricated in the province of Fuchien in the present day,
and still known as Olden Yao, or Chien Tz'it, is the well-
known blanc-de- Chine variety, with a soft-looking, velvety
glaze, which comes from Te-hua, of which the libation-
cup shown in Fig. 57 is a typical specimen.
(3) The Tz^u Yao, ^ ^, was the ware produced at
Tz'u-chou, which was formerl}^ under the Jurisdiction of
the prefecture Chang-te-fu, of Honan province, but is
now under Kuang-p'ing-fu, in the province of Chihli.
The ceramic ware is made out of a peculiar kind of white
clay found here, and is really an opaque white stoneware
rather than porcelain, covered with a dull, white glaze,
and decollated with floral and other designs painted in
dark l)rown or dull blue. The forms of the pieces and
the style of decoration in the present day are of archaic
character, and are often wrongly classed as Korean. They
include figures of deities, of Taoist and Buddhist saints,
as well as vases and jars, and all kinds of common uten-
sils. At the present day these potteries supply the
coarser articles used by the common people' of Peking
and throughout northern China. There is a general
reseml)lance in the ware to the old Ting Yao, which was
* Collection of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean Porcelain, Pottery, and .
Faience, p. 96.
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 165
made in the vicinity, Ting-clioii being witliin the bounds
of the same prefecture of Kuang-p'ing-fu.
The Ko hu yao Ivn^ referring to the production of the
Sung dynasty, says that good specimens of Tz'u-chou
ware resembled the products of Ting-chou, onl}- tlieir
glazes exhibited no traces of tears. They comprised Ijoth
engraved and painted decorations, and the plain pieces
fetched as high prices as those of Ting-chou. He adds,
however, that the production of his own times (fourteenth
century) was not worthy of description.
Three modern pieces of this ware are reproduced in
Fig. 104 to show its archaic character and peculiar style
of decoration: (^a) A Wine Flask, Chiu P'^ing^ painted
in two shades of brown, with a floral spray. (V) A
gourd-shaped vase, Hu-lii P'ing, painted in dark brown,
with the character AiT ("happiness") above and a spray
of flowers belo^v. (r) Twin Figures of Two Merry
Genii, Ho Ho Hrli Hiking, with a tube, intended to
hold a stick of incense when placed upon a Taoist altar,
projecting from the shoulder of one of the figures ; the
details of the costume being picked out in lighter and
darker brown.
Some Utensils of Sung Porcelain.
The short account of 2:>orcelaiu of the Sung dynasty
given above may be supplemented by a list, condensed
from the fifth book of the Too Shuo, of some of the
other articles fabricated at the time that have not been
already alluded to. The books from which the author
usually quotes are those describing the artistic furniture
and paraphernalia of the scholar's library, so that uten-
sils for the use and ornament of the writino-.table occur
on every page of his book, in the same way as such things
fill the greater pai-t of our manuscript album.
166 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
" A Vase (/*'/y///), of white Ting-cliou porcelain, which
the author of the JVi hu In bought at Hsiu-chou, with
four liaiidles, fired with the inscription Jen ho huaiiy
' Hotel of Benevolence and Harmony,' written obliquely
across, in the handwriting apparently of one of the Mi
family, father or son." The author refers here, no doubt,
to Mi Fei, a famous calligraphist of the eleventh cen-
tury A. D.
" Vases {P''itig), of Kuan, Ko, and Ting porcelain, the
finest of which are the slender beakers with trumpet-
shaped mouths, with a brilliant blue glaze sinking into
the ' bone,' speckled with vermilion spots rising in relief ;
the others, to be chosen for the scholar's library, should
be the h^w and graceful vases shaped like paper beaters,
those with goose necks, like aubergine fruit, like flower
jars or flower bags, the receptacles for divining stalks, or
the bulrush-shaped vases. Vases qs^Wq^ p' ing were used
in ancient times both for drawing water and for holding
wine ; the Buddhist used them for ceremonial cleansing ;
it was not till the Sung djaiasty that they were used for
flowers. Flower vases of bronze, which are not liable to
breakage by frost, should l)e used in the winter and
spring, of porcelain in the summer and autumn. Large
vases are preferred for the hall and reception room, small
ones for the library. Copper and porcelain are esteemed
above gold and silver, to cultivate simplicity ; rings and
pairs should be avoided, and rarity be the quality sj)e-
cially aimed at. The mouth should be small, the foot
thick, so that the vase may stand firmly and not emit
vapor. If the mouth be large, a tube of tin should be
fitted inside, to hold the flowers upright."
'^ Inh Pallet {Yeii)^ of Ko Yao, belonging to Ku Lin,
engraved with a rhyming verse of four lines : ' Neither
the fine clay pallets of the Ts'ung Tower nor the ancient
tiles of the Palace of Yeh, Are equal to those of Ko por-
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 167
celain iu its antique elegance. These are green as the
waves of spring, and liold water most perfectly : So that
even pallets of the Unest stone must be ranked below
them.' "
" A Pencil Rest (PI Ko), of white Ting-chou porcelain^
molded iu the form of a boy lying upon a flower."
" Waterpots {Sliiii OKeng) for the writing-table from
any of the different potteries, shaped like a fish-bowl,
like a Buddhist patra or alms-bowl, with ribbed sides,
in the form of a chrysanthemum flower with hollow
center," etc.
" Water Pourers (Slnd Ohii), little vessels with spouts,
in the form of an upright or recumbent gourd, of a pair
of peaches, of two lotus capsules, a herd-boy lying upon
a cow, or a toad."
''^Larger Waterpots {Hii)^ with handle and spout,
fashioned like a gourd with the leafy stem trailing round,
like an aubergine plant with the stem and leaves attached
to the fruit, like a camel, this last adapted to serve also
as a pencil rest," etc.
^^Dlshes for wasliing Brushes (Pi Hsi^^ of imperial
(Kuaii) and Ko porcelain, are of many kinds, being
round and saucer-shaped, of the form of an althaea flower,
with a rim of the foliated outline of a Buddhist stone
gong, a lotus leaf with tilted margin, a joint of sugar-
cane with everted mouth," etc.
"Those of Lung-ch'iian celadon porcelain comprise
round dishes with a pair of fishes inside molded in relief
under the glaze, chrysanthemum flowers, Buddhist alms-
bowls, plaited and fluted platters."
"Among Ting-chou white pieces are barrels bound
round with three hoops, vessels molded in the shape of a
plum-blossom, a girdle ring, or a woven basket of osier;
others have a cup in the middle to dip the brush in, en-
circled by a saucerlike rim to rub it on ; and any one of
168 ORIENTAL CERA3nC ART. ^
the numerous small round dishes of this ware may be
selected for use as a pencil washer."
^'- Paper Weights {Chen ChiJi), molded in the form of
coiled dragons, of lions and drums, of playing boys and
grotesque monsters."
" Seals ( Yin), with handles of varied design, copied
from ancient seals of jade, gold, and copj)er."
^^ Seal- Color Boxes {Yin-Se CWili), for holding ver-
milion, include square, octagonal, and plaited boxes of
Kuan and Ko porcelain, and the beautiful square caskets
of Ting-chou fabrication with floral designs molded over
the exterior."
" Censers (^Lii), of varied form and design, are generally
modeled after ancient sacrificial vessels of bronze. In-
cense was introduced into China by the Buddhists, who
used the censers of elaborate design called Po-shan Iai.
The Chinese, however, used these outside the temple, but
made their censers for private use after indigenous de-
signs of bronze. The porcelain censers of the Sung
dynasty in turn furnished models for the bronze censers
of the reign of Hsuan-te (\4:2Q-2>^), which are well known
in collections. The incense-burning apparatus in ordinary
use consists of three pieces, comprising a box with cover
to hold the incense, and a vase to hold the miniature
poker, tongs, and shovel, which are made of metal, in
addition to the censer. The Vases (Chu P''huj) selected
for this purpose must be low and solid, so as to stand
firmly without being overbalanced. The Incense Boxes
{Hsiang Ho) of white Ting-chou porcelain and the pro-
ductions of Ching-te-chen are preferred, those from Chiin-
chou being usually of comparatively coarser fabric.
Sometimes they are nested, the outer box inclosing one
or more smaller ones."
" Paste Pots (Hu Tou) include tall jars of Chien-chou
porcelain, black outside, white within ; jars of Ting-
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN. 169
chou porcelain of oval form, fashioned in the shape of a
bulb of garlic or of a bulrush head ; and square vessels
of Ko Yao, like a corn measure, with a horizontal bar
stretched across the top as a handle."
^' Of Reading Laitips (Shu Teruj) the best are the oil
lamps with three nozzles of white Ting-chou porcelain."
Porcelain Pillows (Tz'u Chen?) were much used in
summer during the Sung dynasty, being supposed to be
good for preserving the eyesight. The palace of the
Emperor Ning Tsung (1195-1224) is described as having
been full of them. Pillows of smaller size were made
for supporting the head of the dead body in the coffin,
and these are often discovered in old tombs. For this
reason the author of the K''ao p'an yil shih prescribes
that only those pillows of ancient porcelain that are two
and a half feet Ions; and over six inches broad should be
used, and he insists firmly on the injunction that the
^' corpse pillows," which were generally only one foot in
length, even if made of the finest Ting-chou ware, and
most elaborately decorated with molded designs, must be
ruthlessly discarded. One of these pillows, dug up from
an ancient tomb, is described as having had the well-
known verse of the poet Tu inscribed upon it in four
stanzas, beginning " Wearing a girdle studded with a
hundred jewels."
^^ Watering Pot (Hua Chiao), of imperial porcelain
{Kuan Yao), with the inscription upon it : ' Ked oh ! as
dawn-hued drops scattered by fishes' tails : Rich oh ! as
early rain sprinkling the pear blossoms.' These similes
might refer either to the fabric, of rich red paste, or to
the glaze, the most highly appreciated tone of which was
a pale purple flecked with red spots."
Mottled Hare-Fur Teacups (T n-mao-hiia CKa-ou'), of
Ting-chou porcelain, are often referred to in books on tea
of the Sung dynasty as specially suitable for use at the
170 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
competitive tea-tasting parties ; they were covered with
an iron-gray glaze. In an_oft-quoted line in his ode on
boiling tea in the examination-hall, the poet Su Timg-p'o^
who wrote in the eleventh century, alludes to teacups
from the same factory enameled red : " In flowered por-
celain of Ting-chou, like carved red jade."
The Hare-Fhir Cups {T"' u-mao (Jlicui)^ of Chien-an, in
Fuchien province, were first described by Ts'ai Hsiang,
a native of that province, in his account of the tea-plant,
entitled CKa Lv, which was written in the elev^enth cen-
tury. He says : " Tea being of a pale whitish tint, black
is the most suitable color for cups. Those made at
Chien-an are of a soft black color, spotted like the fur of
a hare. These cups are rather thick and retain the heat,
so that they cool very slowly when once warmed. For
these reasons they are highly prized, and there is nothing
produced at any of the other potteries to rival them."
"A F'ace Chip^ {Jm-tnien Pei)^ a wine-cup molded in
the form of a man's face, of imj)erial porcelain of the
Sung dynasty, is alluded to by the author of the Ni leu
lu as being in the collection of Hsiang Yuan-tu." This
collector seems to have been the brother of Hsiang Yuan-
p'ien, the author of our manuscript Album. The JVi hit
hi, a book on objects of art, was written by Ch'en Chi-ju
in the sixteenth centur}^, so that the author and our artist
must have been contemporaries,
" A Doxhle Wedding Cup {Ho-CVeng Pel) of Ko Yao "
is also described in the work just quoted, as molded in
the form of twin peaches, standing in a saucer of the
same material hollowed out in the center for their recep-
tion. The peaches were detached for use as winecups.
At the marriage ceremony in China the bride and bride-
* A cup of this peculiar form, of pale blue, uncrackled Ju-cliou porcelain of
the Sung dynasty, is mentioned among the things sent from the palace at
Peking by the Emperor Tung-cheng as a model for T'ang Ying to reproduce
at Ching-t6-chgn.
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE PORCELAIN, 171
groom must eacli drink in succession three cups of wine.
The vessels are mentioned in the ancient ritual books,
which prescribe that a wine-jar (tsmt) filled with wane
should be placed upon the altar on the east side of the
door, with a basket tray upon its south holding four
siuo-le cups (chilo) of the shape of the old libation cups,
and one double cup (]w-ch'e)i<f) which was a split gourd.
In ancient times these cups were carved out of shell, as
well as split from gourds ; in modern times they are made
of porcelain, gold, silver, and copper, or of hard stone.
Some of the jade cups are beautifully carved and orna-
mented outside with appropriate symbols in open-w^ork
relief ; a composite cup, for example, fashioned in the
form of two interlacing lozenges, or a pair of linked hol-
low rings, emblems of union and success, overlaid with
peaches and bats, symbols of longevity and happiness,
and with the shuang hs% or " double joy " hieroglyphs,
special attributes of wedded bliss, displayed upon their ^^
surface. j-p
" A Stem Cup {PaPei)^ of octagonal shape, of Ko Yao,
in the collection of Hsiang Yuan-tu." The name of im
pei (literally " handled cup ") is applied in China to the
tazza-shaped cups used for tea or wine, just as the pa tvan j
are the tazza-shaped rice-bowls, with high cylindrical /
stems. Cups w^ith handles at the sides like our teacups
are rarely seen in China even now ; they were quite
unknown in earl}^ times.
^^ BovjJs decorated in Blue {Hua CKing Waii), of Jao-
chou porcelain." The Ko hu yao Inn describes these
bowls produced in the imperial potteries of Jao-chou in
the Sung dynasty as being of thin texture and translucent
material, painted in blue on a white ground, and as but
slightly inferior to the Ting-chou porcelain of the period.
This refers to the earliest porcelain of Jao-chou, which
became so famous in after times.
172 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Wen Chen-lieng, the author of the CJiuang wu cJiik
quoted in the Ching-te-chm Tkio-hi, book ix, gives the
following short account of Sung porcelain : " The Ch'ai
porcelain (of the preceding dynasty) is the most valuable
of all, but not a single piece remains ; it is said to have
been blue as the sky, clear as a mirror, thin as paper,
ringing like a musical stone. Of the porcelains called
Kuan, Ko, and Ju, the best is of pale blue (or green)
color, the whitish glaze comes next, the ash-gray last ;
that crackled with lines like fissured ice of the color of
eel's blood is ranked highest, a black reticulation in the
pattern of the petals of plum-blossom next, minute
broken lines lowest. In Chiin-chou porcelain rouge-red
color is the best ; the green, like fresh onion sj)routs or
emerald jade, and the inky purple, come next ; the
mixed coloi's are not so much appreciated." Again, the
" Kuan Yao has the glaze crackled like claws of crabs,
the Ko Yao like roe of fish. The Lung-ch'iian porcelain
is very thick and of comparatively coarse workmanship."
" For Flower Vases good specimens of Kuan, Ko, and
Ting porcelain should be selected ; an ancient vase of
gall-bladder shape, or one molded like a branch of a tree,
a small divining-rod receptacle, or a paper-beater vase ; as
to the others, like those with decoration engi'aved under
the glaze, the painted blue and white, the aubergine and
gourd-shaped vases, the medicine jars with small mouths,
flattened bodies, and contracted feet, and the new Chien-
chou vases, none of these are so suitable for the study of
a simple scholar ; the goose-neck bottles and the hanging
wall-vases also are not all of good style."
" Among flower-vases of Lung-ch'iian and Chlin-chou
porcelain there are some very large ones, measuring two
or three feet in height, which are well adapted to display
old branches of the blossoming plum at New-Year's
time."
CLASSIFICATIOlSr OF CHINESE POKCELAIN. 173
" In wliite Ting-cliou ware we have Pencil Rests {Pi
K6) of three hills, of five hills, and of children reclining
on flowers ; among the Brush Pots {Pi Tung) of ancient
manufacture, a joint of bamboo is the most valued form,
but it is difficult to find one large enough. Those of old
celadon, with fine decoration worked under the glaze, may
also be chosen. More elaborate forms, like that of a
drum pierced at the top with holes for the brushes and
the cake of ink, although ancient, are in bad style.
Brush Washers {Pi Hsf) of Kuan and Ko porcelain
include althaea-blossom dishes, dishes with rims foliated
like the outline of a hanging gong, lotus-leaves with the
margin tilted up all round, and sugar-canes with expanded
mouth ; those of Ting-chou comprise three-hooped tubs,
plum-blossoms, and sr[uare saucer-shaped receptacles.
Brush Washers of Lung-ch'uan porcelain include round
dishes with a pair of fish, chrysanthemum flowers, and
vessels with hundred-fluted sides. Among Water Drop-
pers {Shiii Clm), for the pallet, of the Kuan, Ko, and
Ting-chou wares, there are square and round upright
gourds, recumbent gourds, twin peaches, lotus capsules,
and aubergine pots with leaves trailing round. For
Seal-color Boxes ( Yin Cli'iJt), the square-shaped, of
Kuan and Ko fabrication, are the best ; those of Ting-
chou, the octagonal and many-lobed shapes, come next ;
those painted in blue on a ^vhite ground, and the oval
boxes with covers, are not so much valued."
^^Waterpots {Sliui Cliung-CKemf), for the writing-
table, are often made of copper, but copper becomes cor-
roded and infects the water, so that it injures the brush,
for which reason porcelain is considered to be a preferable
material. Among such receptacles of Kuan and Ko
fabrics there are miniature fish-bowls, Buddhist alms-
bowls, and round cups drawn in at the mouth. For Ink
Pallets {Pi Yeti), the small, round, shallow dishes, either
174 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
of Ting-chou or of Lung-ch'lian ware, serve excellently.
There are Paste-Pots (Hu-Toit), of TiDg-chou fabrication,
of the shape of garlic bulbs, and oral jars with covers ;
and of Ko ware in the form of a square corn-measure
with a rodlike handle across the mouth."
This account shows how much porcelain was coming
into general use before the close of the Sung dynasty.
One of the principal causes was the growing scarcity of
copper and consequent monetary difficulties, which pro-
voked the passage of sumptuary laws, making the posses-
sion of bronze articles a penal offense, after every avail-
able object had been collected for the mint and melted
down into " cash." Most of the objects of art had pre-
viously been modeled in copper or other metals, and the
corresponding things when first made of porcelain were
generally fashioned, as we have seen, after the older
bronze designs. An early vase of Ting-chou porcelain,
for example, will be found to be molded in the same
shape, with grotesque mask-handles in relief, and chiseled
with rings and borders of similar ornamental frets as
were employed previously in the decoration of bronze
woi'k.
Some of the larger pieces produced at these last kilns
are remarkably fine examples of the potter's art, excelling
in the graceful curves of their classical outline and in the
perfect finish of the ornamental details, which are worked
in flowing relief or graved with the point under the soft-
looking glaze of ivory-white tint. This glaze has usually
a finely crackled surface, and being of a soft, absorbent
nature it is often mottled and stained with age. The
reproduction of these Fen -Ting vases at Ching-te-chen
taxed all the energies of the celebrated T'ang Ying in
the first half of the eighteenth century, and his handi-
work is valued at its weight in gold by collectors of the
present day, more highly even than the original models,
CLASSIFICATION OF CHINESE POKCELAIN. 175
which are not so often seen out of China. The Koreans
worked in the same lines, and the earliest Satsuma ware
produced under their influence in Japan, with its finely
crackled ivory-white texture, offers a surprising resem-
blance to the old Chinese Fen-Ting porcelain.
The specimens of Sung porcelain were generally sent
down from the collections in the palace at Peking as
models of monochrome coloring, and it would be very
interesting to have a complete catalogue of the ancient
relics preserved there. There are manuscript lists in
existence comj)iled by the Chamberlain's department, of
which I have seen two or three, detailing the articles of
furniture and art objects contained in the halls of the
sev^eral palaces. I have had the opportunity of consult-
ing one of these in the library of Mr. H. R. Bishop, of
New York. It is the official list of the contents of the
Shu Ch'ing Yuan, one of the palaces in the Western Park
at Peking, dated the thirteenth year of Clda-chJing (1808).
The objects of art catalogued are of bronze, cloisonne
enamel, carved red lac, jade, and porcelain, and offer, no
doubt, a fair representation of the collections in the other
parts of the palace.
There are eighty-four pieces of porcelain on exhibition,
of which seventeen are attril)uted to the Svng dynasty,
being referred to six of the different potteries referred to
above, and confirming in their character the accounts
quoted from the books.
1. (Tu Yao.
Pencil Mest {Pi SJian), in the form of a miniature
range of hills.
Brush Washer (Pi Hsi), a fluted dish modeled in the
shape of a rose-mallow flower.
176 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
2. Kuan Yao.
Fluted Dish (^P^an), of rose-mallow design.
Vase (jP''lng^, witli a girdle in open-work carving.
3. Ting Yao.
Dish for holding quinces {Mu-hiia P''an), mounted with
a copper rim.
Beaker-shaped Vase {Hua Ku), of Fen-Ting, with a
piece broken out, and cracked.
Shallow Bowl (Iisi\ of Fen- Ting, with copper-
mounted rim, upon two rosewood stands.
Olive-shaped Vase (So-laii P^iiuf), with a copper band
round tlie rim.
Jar, tvith Cover {Kai Wan).
Round Dish (P''a)i), with a copper rim.
4. Dung- YcKilan Yao.
Jar, with Cover {Kai Kuaii).
5. 1^0 Yao.
Two round, fluted Dishes {P\iii), of rose-mallow
design.
Shallow Boivl {Hsi^ for washing brushes.
Round, fluted Dish (Fkui^, of chrysanthemum design.
Waterpot {Shui CKeng), with a coral spoon inside.
6. Chiln Yao.
Douhle Gourd Vase {Hu-lu P''ing).
CHAPTER Vl.
YUAN DYNASTY.
IN the thirteenth century a. d. China was overrun by
the Mongols and was gradually conquered by them,
the Sung dynasty being driven into the sea. A new
dynasty with the title of Yuan was founded in 1280 by
Kublai Khan, the grandson of the famous Mongol
Genghis. In 1368 the Yuan dynasty was overthrown,
the Mongols expelled to the north of the Great Wall,
and a native dynasty once more ruled, under the title of
Ming. The Mongols consequently reigned with their
capital at Khanbalik, or Cambalu, " City of the Khan,"
the modern Peking, for less than a century altogether.
After the Mongol conquest the principal provincial
posts were given to Tartars, who seem to have cared
only for the money they could Avring out of such native
industries as remained after the war, without caring to
support them in any way. Many of the old potteries
disappeared about this time, and Ching-te-chen began to
occupy the prominent position in the ceramic field which
it has held ever since. In 1296, the second year of the
reign of the second emperor, ping shen of the sexagenary
cycle, Fou-liang-hsien was promoted to the rank of a
chou city, a Mongol being appointed governoi- (darvgha)
of Fou-liang-chou, as it was now called. Ching-te-chen
was made a customs station, and the superintendent of
potteries was appointed commissioner, with the title
of fi-ling. In the period Tai-ting (1324-27) the gov-
ernor of the province of Kiang-si was appointed supei'in-
tendent of the potteries (Chien t'ao), and ordered to go
177
178 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
there whenever an imperial requisition was issued, and to
close the imperial manufactory after the work was fin-
ished, pending the issue of a new decree.
The first edition of tlie Annals of Fou-llang-hsien had
been issued during the Sung dynasty in the cyclical year
Tceng lou (1270), of the Hsien-shwi period. Before this
its events had been recorded in the An7ials of Po-yang,
which were published in the year 1215. In the Yuan
dynasty a new edition of tlie Annals of Fou-liang was
compiled by the native scholar Ts'ang T'ing-feng and
published officially in the period Chih-cliih, the cyclical
year jen-lisit (1322). This edition included a special
memoir on the porcelain manufacture, Fao old li'io, by
CJhiang Cli'i, which is found reprinted in every subse-
quent edition of the Annals, as well as in the Statistical
Descriptions of the prefectui-e of Jao-chou-ju, and of the
province of Kiang-si. This is the earliest account in any
detail of the ceramic industry which we have, and I will
translate it here, omitting only some of the less interest-
ing passages, such as the author's diatribes upon the
excessive taxation levied upon the industry in his time :
"The potteries at Ching-te-chen contained formerly
more than three hundred manufactories. The porcelain
produced in its workshops was of pure white color and
without stain, so that the merchants who carried it for
sale to all parts used to call their ware ' Jao-chou Jade.'
It was compared with the j'ed porcelain of Chen-ting-fu,
and with the emerald-green ware of Lung-ch'iian-hsien,
and found to surpass them both in beauty.* """^ '
" The furnaces are carefully measured by the officials,
and their length in feet and the number of workmen em-
ployed in each one are recorded upon the registers, to fix
* The red porcelain of Ting-chou, iu the prefecture of ChSn-ting-fu, used to
be compared to carved carnelian by the poets of the T\wg dynasty. The
other ware alluded to is the old celadon porcelain of Lung-ch'iian, which was
often of bright grass-green tint during the Sung dynasty.
YUAN DYNASTY. 179
the proportion of the tax to be levied ; neither the size of
the fire, nor the number of channels, chimneys, and vent-
holes being reckoned or put on the register.
" The potters are given land to cultivate for their livings
and not paid regular wages ; they are settled round the
masters of the factories, and called together by their
orders when necessary, which is called ' opening the
works.' When they have cased the ware in the seggars
(Jisia), these are placed carefully in different parts of the
furnace so that the contents may be properly fired, which
is called 'firing the kilns.' At the time of lighting the
fire the amount of silver fixed on the register, including
the tax for the workmen passing in and out, according ta
the kiln table, must be paid ; this is called ' reporting the
fire.' After the fire has been kept up one day and two
nights it is stopped, and when the furnace is opened the
merchants throng to buy and select the best pieces ; this
is called ' choosing the porcelain.' For settling the
accounts of the sale an accountant is employed in each
factory, and dealers are licensed by the ofiicials, who
examine the accounts; this is. called the ' shop license. '^
For carrying the porcelain to the river licensed porters
are employed, who are provided with papers to enter the
quantity carried and the number of Journeys for Avhich
the merchants have to pay ; these are called ' porter-
age tickets.' Such are the general regulations of the
manufactories.
"Throughout the province of Che (Chekiang), both
east and west, they prefer the yellowish-black or brown
ware, which is produced in the potteries of Hu-t'ien ; in
the provinces of Chiang (Kianguan), Hu (Hukuang)^
Ch'uan (Ssuch'uan), and Kuang (Kuangtung), the_green-
Jsh-white or celadon ware which comes from the kilns of
Ching-te-Chen proper.
" The bowls (wan) engraved with fish and waves and
y
180 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
those of tazza shape with high feet, aud the dishes (tieh)
with the glaze shaded in different tones and those orna-
mented with ' sea eyes ' and ' snow-white flowers,' are the
kinds which sell profitably in Ch'uan (Ssu-ch'uan), Kuang
(Kuangtung), Ching and Hsiang (Hunan and Hupei).
The large dishes (p^an) of horseshoe shape and of 'betel-
nut ' glaze, the lai'ge bowls^ (j/^f) of lotus-blossom design,
and the square forms with indented corners, the rice-
bowls (wmi) and the platters (tieJi), ^vith painted decora-
tion, with silvery designs, with fluted sides, and with
encircling strings, these are sold readily in Kiangnan,
Chekiang, and Fuchien provinces. The different kinds
have all to be selected to please the fancy of the con-
sumer of each district.
" There are many different forms of censers (lu) made
for burning incense, in the form of fabulous lions (w/),
of the ancient bronze sacrificial vessels tln^/ (three-footed
and four-footed) and yi (bowl-shaped), -pf the ancient
caldrons with three hollow legs calletW/^of the ritual
form used for the worship of heaven (chao-tHen), with
elephants as feet (Jisiang fui), like square scent-caskets
(lisicmg lieii), or round tubs (fung-tzi'i). The various
kinds of vases {j^^ing), for flowers and ornament, include
trumpet-mouthed beakers (hti)^ bladder-shaped vases
(tan), bottle-shaped vases with handles and spouts (Jiii),
vessels of Buddhistic form for ceremonial ablution
(ching), vases shaped like gardenia flowers (chih tzii)
or like lotus leaves (lio yeli), double gourds (hu lu),
musical pipes (lu Tcuan), vases with animal mask-handles
(shou huan) and glass forms (liu-li) ; and there are many
other empty names and fine distinctions difficult to define,
which are really of value to nobody but the dealer.
" Speaking generally, the porcelain consumed in the
two Huai provinces (Kiangsu and Anhui) consists of the
inferior pieces rejected by the provinces of Kiang
YUAlSr DYNASTY. 181
(Kiangsi aud Kiangnau), Kiiaog (Kiiangtung), Min
(Fiichien), and Che (Cbekiaiig) ; the native dealers sell
such to them under the name of Iniang tiao, or ' yellow
stuff,' because the color of the glaze is inferior, and the
ware is only fit to be thrown away. The above is a
short resume of the kinds of porcelain articles made.
" In winter the paste freezes, and porcelain can not be
fired. When the pieces are newly shaped they are very
soft, and must be carried ^vith care into the fire-chamber.
As to the firing the pro23er time can not be exactly fixed,
so that it is necessary to look through the aperture of the
kiln to see whether the porcelain is properly baked, judg-
ing by the white heat of the fire. s^ '^ f)
'^ The porcelain earth prepared from Chin-k'eng stone
is used in the fabrication of the finest porcelain, the I'ocks i
produced at Hu-k'eng, Ling-pei, and Chieh-t'ien being of
the second class. The different earths brouo-ht from
o
Jen-k'eng, Kao-shan, Ma-an-shau, and Tzu-shih-t'ang are
red in color and are used only in the fabrication of the
seggars and molds. If these be mixed with the other
kinds in the preparation of the paste, it is of inferior
quality, aud the porcelain is not worth buying. It is in
the hills of Yu-shan that the mountain brushwood is col-
lected to make the ashes used in the preparation of the
glaze. The method folloAved is to pile the lime burned
from the stone in alternate layers with this brushwood
mixed with persimmon (Dwspy?'os) wood, and to burn
the two together to ashes. These ashes must be com-
bined with the ' glaze earth ' brought from Ling-pei
before they can be used. The pieces after they have
been glazed are fired either upright or bottom upward.
There are several distinct branches of work divided
between the potters, the seggar-makers, and the preparers
of the earth ; the pieces before they are fired are
fashioned by the different processes of throwing the
182 OEIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
paste ou the wheel, finishing it with the knife on the
polishing wheel, and finally by glazing it ; the decoration
is executed by molding, by painting, or by carving the
ornamental designs. The different steps in the ceramic
manufacture are kept distinct, and all provided with
technical names.
" The kilns are inscribed on the I'egister according to
their measurement, and heavy fines are inflicted if they
are lighted without authority. The glaze must be
stamped in three gj'ades of color according to its quality,
and severe punishment follows the use of the wrong
gi-ade. The official inspectors must be bribed at every
step, and if the slightest rule be infringed even the shop-
dealers and the pointers are made jointly responsible and
punished. The penal regulations are both numei'ous and
minute ; yet, where formerly the revenue was most rich
and abundant, there is now nothing but complaint of its
insufficiency. Still the total amount of taxes has been
increased by a large percentage. There are contributions
levied for the governor of the province, who is superine
tendent, and for his deputies, for the monthly expenses
of the officials of Jao-chou, and for the police of Ching-te-
chen, besides an allowance for the widows and orphans
of the potters, the total mounting up to a monthly sum
of over 3,000 strings of ' cash.' Then there are levies in
spring and autumn for the soldiers, taxes for sacred holi-
days and the worship of heaven and earth, presents and
money for the periodical repair of the examination halls,
making one hundred and fifty strings more, all exacted
by the officials on pain of instant punishment. I can
give j)ersonal testimony, as I have seen for several tens
of years past how the successive superintendents of this
place have constantly, when transferred to other posts,
left in debt to citizens of the chou.
" Inquiring for the cause of this failure of revenue^
YUAN DYNASTY. 183
there are five reasons : 1. The opening of the factories
for work depends u^^ou the abundance or scantiness of
the harvest. 2. The porcelain manufactures in Lin-
ch'uan, Chien-yang, and Nau-feng have diverted much of
the profit. 3. If the payment of the taxes be delayed a
day, the police runners come knocking at the gate and
devour everything like caterpillars. 4. The prisons are
without jailers, and the pi'oper officials have deserted
their posts, so that dishonest men have nothing to fear.
5. The permanent local officials are banded together, and
if an honest official should by chance be sent, he is
immediately accused by them and the place made too hot
for him. The times are bad, and it is useless to look for
the honest officers of olden days," etc.
The potteries of Hu-t'ien referred to in this memoir
were at Fou-liang-hsien, in the vicinity of Ching-te-chen,
from which they were separated by a small liver. They
were closed during the Ming dynasty, and are now rep-
resented only by ruins in a small hamlet w^ith a pagoda
on the southern bank of the river.
The other three potteries alluded to in tlie last para-
graph of the memoir were situated at dift'erent stages on
the overland route from Ching-te-chen to Ch'iian-chou,
the chief city of the province of Fuchien at that time,
and the principal port for foreign trade, as we are told
by Marco Polo and by Arab writers of the time.
Lin-ch'lian-hsien was in the prefecture of Fu-chou-fu,
Nau-feng-hsien in the prefecture of Chien-chang-fu, both
in the province of Kiangsi. The porcelain of tlie former
place is described as having been of finely levigated clay,
thin, and generally of white color with a tinge of yellow,
and to have been sometimes decorated with rough paint-
ing. That of Nan-feng, made of similar material, was
slightly thicker ; the pieces were often decorated with
painting in blue, while others are said to have resembled
184 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
the coarser yellowish variety of Ting-choii ware. Chien-
yang-lisien was in the province of Fuchien, nearer to
Ch'iian-choii ; it was already in existence in the Sung
dynasty, and we have seen above that it was celebrated
then for the production of the black tea-bowls which
were so highly appreciated at the competitive tea clubs
of the time under the name of " hare-fur cups."
Chien-yang must surely have been the factory referred
to by Marco Polo as situated in the province of Fuchien,
and as being the seat of the production of the porcelain
exported to all parts of the world from Ch'iian-chou,
which was known to him by its Persian name of Zayton.
The name of the factory given by him may be a local
rendering of Chien-chou, the old name of the department.
The only other factory that Ave know of in the province
was that of Te-hua, ^vhich was not founded till later, in
the Ming dynasty.
He says (Yule's Marco Polo, Book II, chap. Ixxxii) :
" Let me tell you also that in this province there is a
town called Tyunju, where they make vessels of porcelain
of all sizes, the finest that can be imagined. . . . Here
it is abundant and very cheap, insomuch that for a
Venice groat 3^ou can buy three dishes so fine that you
could not imagine better."
Soon after Marco Polo, Ibn Batuta, an Arab, came to
this port, of which he Avrites ( Voyages cflbn JBatmitali,
traduits par Defremery et Sanguinetti, t. iv, p. 256) :
" On ne fabrique pas en Chine la porcelaine, si ce n'est
dans les villes de Zeitoun (Ch'liau-chou) et Sincalan
(Canton). Elle est faite au moyen d'une terre tiree des
montagues qui se trouvent dans ces districts; laquelle
terre prend feu comme du charbon. . . . Les potiers y
ajoutent une certaine pierre qui se trouve dans le pays ;
ils la font briiler pendant trois jours, puis vei'sent I'eau
par-dessus, et le tout devient une poussiere, ou une terre
YUAN DYISTASTY. 18^
qu'ils font fermenter. Celle doiit la fermentation a dure
un mois entier, mais non plus, donne la meilleure porce-
laine ; celle qui n'a fermente que pendant dix jours, en
donne une de qualite inferieure k la precedente. La
porcelaine en Chine vaut le meme prix que la poteiie
cbez nous, ou encore moins. On I'exporte dans I'lnde et
dans les autres contrees, jusqu'^ ce qu'elle arrive dans la
notre, le Maghreb (Morocco). C'est I'espece la plus belle
de toutes les poteries."
Another manufactory which acquired some renown
under the Yuan dynasty was that of Ho-chou, in the
province of Kiangnan, where a goldsmith named P'eng
Chiin-pao produced imitations of the white porcelain of
Ting-chou, of good color but very fragile, which were
called at the time "New Ting-chou Porcelain," and the
best of which, it was said, could hardly be distinguished
from the genuine old ware.
The porcelain produced at the imperial manufactory
at Ching-te-chen is briefly described in the Ko hu yao
hin, which says, under the heading of " Ancient Jao-chou
Porcelain ": " The porcelain made at the imperial factory
was thin, translucent in texture, and very flne. It
included plain bowls drawn in at the waist, and bowls
with unglazed rims, which, although thick, were of pure
white color and |:)erfectly translucent. These were as
good as the Ting-chou bowls, although not so high in
price. ' The white bowls made in the Yiian dynasty,
with small feet and molded decoration, which have
inscribed inside the mouth, /SMiJ'u, or ' imperial palace,'
are also very flne^lj There was, besides, green porcelain
^d~decoration in manj colors, but these are considered
to be more common. Another variety of porcelain was \
of greenish-black color, penciled with designs in gold ;
this consisted chiefly of wine-pots, (chiu hii) and ^vine-
cups (^chiu chaii), which are extremely beautiful." The
-7
186 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
author, speaking of these wiiie-pots, adds : " Such things
were unknown in China before the Yuan dynasty, when
so many novel forms were introduced. In former times
the wide shallow bowls called p'ieli were preferred for
drinking tea because they were so easily dried and did
not retain the dregs. Vases were used for the hot water;
ewers and pots with spouts were new things for tea and
wine ; so ^vere the tall upright teacups {cli^a clivng) with
saucers, and the stem Aviue-cups (^j'rt pei) with tray.
Neither these nor the bowls (yu) with lips were known
in tlie wares of the Sung dynasty, either in imperial or in
Ting-chou porcelain."
There is one specimen of this dynasty in our illustrated
album which is described as follows :
" Small Vase (^Hskio P''ing) of imperial porcelain
{Shufu Yao) of the Ytian dynasty, bottle-shaped, with a
globular body receding to a slender neck, which ends in
a bulging garlic-shaped enlargement surrounding the cir-
cularly rimmed mouth. It is decorated with dragons
with two-horned bearded heads and serpentine bodies
with three-clawed legs, coiling through spiral scrolls of
clouds, all etched in the paste under the white glaze. The
pure white porcelain of our own dynasty of the reigns
of Yung-Jo and Hsilan-te, with the decoration faintly
engraved under the glaze, was all made after the style
of this imperial porcelain. The Shufti porcelain itself
was modeled after the fabrication of Ting-chou under the
northern Sung dynasty, and this vase has its form and
glaze, as well as its style of decoration, all designed like
a Ting-chou piece. The vase has underneath the mark
Shu fu, ' imperial palace,' engraved in the paste under
the glaze. Its form and size adapt it for ornamenting
the middle of a small dinner-table, with a spray of nar-
cissus, begonia, golden lily, or dwarf chrysanthemum put
inside. It is now in my own library." H. 4 in.
YUAN DYNASTY. 187
We have but few authenticated pieces of the Yuan
dynasty in modern collections, so that this specimen is of
special interest, as belonging to a transition period, and
connecting the molded and etched dishes of the Swng
dynasty, which are often seen with rims bound round
^vith copper collars, with the eggshell cups and bowls of
the reign of Yung-lo at the beginning of the fifteenth
century. The other kinds of porcelain, such as the cela-
dons and the crackled wares, show similar transition
characters ; and the massive stoneware cups and bowls,
known commonly as Yuan porcelain ( Yuan Tz'u),
found throughout northern China, can hardly be distin-
guished from ceramic productions of the Sung. They
are characterized by a thick glaze of unctuous aspect,
finely crackled throughout, usually of pale lavender tint
speckled with red, which often onl}^ partially covers the
surface, so as to leave the lower part of the bowl bare.
Another glaze is of a light sky-blue color, sparsely
crackled or uncrackled, which often exhibits a ferrugi-
nous crimson stain at some point, of accidental origin, but
much appreciated by Chinese collectors of the present
day. The vase illustrated in Plate XII, 2, is a typical
example of the period, with its finely crackled dalr-de-
lune glaze stained with a red ferruginous blotch.
One of the massive bowls (H. 3 in., D. 6i in.) of the
Yuan dynasty is shown in Fig. 141. It is composed of
a reddish-gray ware of intense hardness, invested with a
crackled glaze of pale purple tint, mottled with darker
spots, and becoming brown at the edges, which runs
down in a thick mass underneath, covering only two
thirds of the surface, and ending in an irregularly
undulating line. The smaller bowl (H. H in., D. 4i in.),
exhibited in Fig. 3 («), is an example of the crackled
ware of the period of hard, gray, dense texture, covered
with a thick, lustrous glaze of ivory-white tone, minutely
188 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
crackled with a reticulation of dark lines ; the lower third
and the foot underneath are left unglazed.
The Mongols conquered nearly the whole of Asia and
a large part of eastern Europe ; they sent fleets for the
conquest of Japan as well as to Java ; and Chinese junks
sailed every year from the port of Ch'iian-chou to the
Persian Gulf, carrying among other cargo, we are told,
greenish-white or celadon porcelain. Many of the
crackled vessels treasured by the natives of Borneo and
other islands of the Pacific are to be referred, doubtless,
to this time.
Some of these last-mentioned relics seem, however, to
have come from the potteries of the province of Kuang-
tung, being made of a dark-brown stoneware covered
with mottled glazes, often brilliantly colored. This is
the Kuang Yao, which is still made and exported from
Canton at the present day. Some of this ware was
crackled, like the vase shown in Fig. 142, which is a
specimen of Kuang Yao attributed to the Yuan dynasty.
CHAPTER VII.
MING DYNASTY. REIGNS OF HUNG-WU, YUNG-LO, HStTAN-T:fc,
CH':fcNG-HUA, HUNG-CHIH, CH^JNG-Tife, CHIA-CHING, LUNG-
Ch'iNG, WAN-LI, t'iEN-CH'i, CH'UNG-CHifcN.
THE Ming dynasty reigned in Cliina from 1368 to
1643, when it was overthrown by the Manchus,
who still occupy the throne at Peking. The emperors of
tlie Ming dynasty patronized the ceramic art, and the
manufacture of porcelain made considerable advances
down to the reign of Wan-li, during which such large
sums were lavished that the censors vigorously protested
against the expenditure of so much money on mere
articles of luxury. The manufactui-e became gradually
concentrated at Ching-te-chen, where the potters collected
from all parts and established themselves round the
imperial manufactory. From this time forward artistic
work in porcelain became a monopoly of this place,
and the productions of other potteries are noticed only
by way of parenthesis, as they generally confined them-
selves to the fabrication of coarser ware for everyday
consumption, while Ching-te-chen produced the more
decorative kinds, which were distributed from its kilns
throughout China and sent from the most accessible
seaports to all parts of the world.
The mass of native ceramic literature is now so Qvent
as to be rather embarrassing, and we will depend chiefly
on the ofiicial annals of Fou-liang-hsien and on the
T'cM /Shuo, the author of which devotes his third book to
a general account of the porcelain of the Ming dynasty,
and his sixth book to a description of particular speci-
189
190 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
mens of the ceramic art, arranged clironologically under
the reigns to whicli they l)eh)ng.
?^ &, HuN(4-AVij (1368-98).
The founder of tlie dynasty established his capital at
Nanking, and, according to the official records, in the
second year of his reign (1369) the imperial manufactory
was built at Ching-te-chen, on the south side of the
Jewel Hill, which was inclosed within the wall sur-
rounding the manufactory, and formed its " protecting
hill," according to Chinese geomantic science. Offices
were also built on the eastern side for the Tao-t'ai of Chiu-
cliiang (Kiukiang), who was stationed here to superin-
tend the fabrication of porcelain for the use of the
palace, and to forward it annually to the capital.
^ ^, YuNG-Lo (1403-24).
Hung-iou was succeeded by his grandson, who was soon,
however, deposed by his uncle, the powerful viceroy of
the northern provinces, who declared himself emperor in
1403, under the title of Yung-lo, and made Peking, the
famous Cambalu, or city of the Mongol khans, once moi-e
the capital of the Chinese Empire, as it remains to the
present day. The Yii ClCi dicing, or " Imperial Por-
celain Manufactory," at Ching-te-chen, continued, as
before, to furnish imperial ware for the use of the court,
which was sent all the way to Peking by water, the boats
traveling from the potteries down the Chang River to
Jao-chou-fu, across the Poyang Lake, down the great
river Yangtsu to Chinkiang, and thence by the Grand
Canal to Tientsin, and by the river Paiho to their final
destination.
The imperial porcelain of this reign was distinguished
MESTG DYNASTY. 191
for its white enamel, which is described as having been
often pitted on the surface, or perforated by " palm-eye "
spots. It was engraved with ornamental designs etched
in the j^aste underneath, or decorated both in cobalt
blue and in colors. It is generally ranked by native
connoisseurs below that of the reigns of Hsuari'te and
Ch^eng-hua, but above that of Chia-ching and later i-eigns.
The blue and white variety is described in the Po wu
yao Ian, which says: "The cups (^'pei) of form adapted
to be grasped by the hand, with an upright rim, a waist
drawn in, and a glazed foot encircled by an unglazed ring,
which were ornamented in the interior with a pair of
lions playing with brocaded balls, and had inscribed
inside, at the bottom, the seal mark, either in six char-
acters, Ta Ming Yimg lo nien cJiiJi, ' Made in the
reign of Yung-lo of the great Ming dynasty,' or in four
characters (the name of the dynasty being omitted) no
larger than so many grains of rice. These were of the
iirst class. The cups decorated with mandarin ducks in
the interior were ranked next. Those with flowers in the
interior came after the last. The cups were painted out-
side in blue of a deep brilliant color, in designs of
artistic beauty. They have been handed down from dis-
tant times and their value is correspondingl}^ high. The
imitations of modern times are not worth looking at."
The Avhite porcelain of this period, alluded to above,
is still better known. It is often of eggshell thinness,
and has supplied models for some of the most perfect
productions of T'ang Ying in the eighteenth century.
There is a fine large bowl in the AValters Collection
(Fig. 70), the fellow of one thus described in the Franks
Catalogue (Joe. cit, page 2) : " Bo^^'l. One of a pair.
Thin ivory-white Chinese porcelain. Very small base and
wide rim, in which are six indentations. Inside are two
five-clawed dragons, very faintly engraved in the paste
192 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
and glazed over. In the center an inscription, also
engraved under the glaze, in an ancient seal character,
being the mark of the i^eriod Yung-lo, 1404-1424. H.
21 in., D. 8i in."
A small white cup of different form, with low upright
sides springing from a circular rimmed foot, is illustrated
in our album, and described as follows :
" Cup i^Pei) of Yung-lo eggshell porcelain (to-fai tz'u\
with dragons and phoenixes engraved under the glaze.
The foi'm and design of these cups are very beautiful, and
they can be used either for tea or for wine ; they are very
thin, not thicker than paper, and are for this reason called
t() fai, or ' bodiless.' This is a most delicate specimen
of the kind, and it has dragons and phoenixes upon a
scrolled ground very finely etched upon its surface. It is
marked underneath with the six characters Ta Ming Yung
lo nien chih, ' Made in the reign of Yung-lo of the great
Ming dynasty,' cleverly engraved under the glaze.
There are several of these cups preserved, although they
are rare even in choice collections. I have figured this
one in order to give a general idea of their character, so
that collectors of taste may be able to recognize a genu-
ine specimen and not grudge a liberal sum to acquire it.
For my successors who may not be so fortunate as to
find one even, the picture may be of some value. I
copied it in Peking from a cup in the possession of a
prince of the imperial blood." H. li in., D. 3 in.
t±>
m, §, HstJAN-T^ (1426-35).
The reign of Hsuan-te is celebrated for its ceramic pro-
ductions as well as for its artistic work in bronze, and it
is generally considered by Chinese authorities as sharing
with that of Cli'eng-hua a pre-eminent position among the
reigns of the Ming dynasty ; Hsuan-te being unrivaled
MING DYNASTY. 193
in the brilliance of its painting in blue and in the purity
of its red decoration ; CWeng-hua in the artistic treatment
of its combinations of different colors. The " five colors '^
in the decorated pieces of the Hsikin-te period were laid
on too thickly, so as to stand out in prominent relief
when the piece had been fired, while those of Ch^eng-hua
were applied with less lavish profusion, so that the result
resembled a good painting in water-colors. The colored
decoration in both reigns seems to have been effected by
the use of glazes of different colors, laid upon a white
unglazed or " biscuit " ground. The process of decora-
tion of porcelain previously glazed and fired with enamel
colors, which were afterward fixed in the muffle stove^
was not discovered or introduced till much later in
the Ming dynasty. This is specially known by the
distinctive name of Wan-U Wtc ts'ai, literally " five-
colored [porcelain] of the Wan-ll period."
The brilliancy of the blue which distinguished this
reign is said to have been due to the importation from
the West of a foreign product known as blue of
Su-ni-p'o. In other books of the period it is called
Su-mcirli or Su-ma-ni blue, which are evidently varia-
tions of the same name, but whether this be the name of
the color, or of the country from which it came, still
remains to be proved. The supply is reported to have
failed before the reign of CKeng-lma, \vhich depended
solely on native cobaltiferous ores. Hsiang Yuan-p'ien^
in his descriptions, generally uses the term of Hui-liui
ChHng, " Mohammedan blue," which is applied by other
ceramic authors of the time more especially to the cobalt
blue imported in the later reign of Chki-ching by the
eunuch viceroy of the province of Yunnan.
The yet more famous red glaze of the period was
derived from copper. It was applied in several wa3^s —
either as a monochrome glaze upon " biscuit " porcelain^
194 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
sometimes left plain, sometimes cliiseled with ornamental
designs ; or in combination with the white glaze ; or
painted on in decorative designs, in a similar way to the
cobalt blue, and subsequently covered Avitli tlie wliite
glaze. Tlie red designs are described as shining through
the glaze so as to dazzle the eyes. Some Chinese writers
assert that it was prepared by powdering rubies
obtained from the West, and amethystine quartz seems
really to have been introduced into the glaze to give it
greater transparency ; the color could not, however, have
been due to this, because rubies and amethysts would
become colorless in the intense heat of the furnace ; its
application under the glaze shows that it must have
been a copper silicate.
The white porcelain resembled that of the reign of
Yimg-Io, which it even excelled in texture and finish.
The white "altar cups" of this reign are described in the
Po wib yao Ian as finely made, richly glazed, and of per-
fect form, with the character fan, " altar," inscribed in
the bottom inside ; and the white " tea-cups," eJfa clian,
as hardly inferior to the " altar cups," being of rounded
form with a convexity in the middle underneath encircled
by a thread-like rim, brilliant and translucent as fine
jade, decorated inside with dragons and phoenixes deli-
cately chiseled, and with the mark Ta Ming Hsilan te
nien cliili, " Made in the reign of Hsuan-te of the Great
Ming^'' also etched under the white glaze, which
exhibited a faintly tuberculated surface like the peel of
an orange.
The same book describes stem cups decorated with
red fish, and others painted in blue with dragonlike
pines and flowering plum-trees, stemmed wine-cups
painted in blue with historical scenes and sea monsters,
bowls on high bamboo jointed feet, and teacups painted
with illustrations of classical poetry. The large rice-
MING DYNASTY. 195
bowls of moDoclirome vermilion are characterized as
being red as the sun, with rims of white color — like
the sang-de-hceuf bowls of more recent times. Flower
vases (Jiua tsmi) of low, beaker-shaped form with
trumpet mouths ; barrel-shaped garden seats (tso tuii) of
deep green ground, some with brocaded designs carved
in openwork filled in with colors, others of solid form,
overlaid with many-colored designs; barrel seats of dark
blue overlaid with colored decoration like carved lapis
Inzuli, as it were, inlaid with ilo^vers, others painted
with blue flowers in a white ground, and othei's crackled
like fissured ice — all those are comprised in this book
and described as novelties unknown in former times.
Flat jars (^pien htiari) and cylindrical jars (thing hiian)
for honey preserves, oil-lamps of varied forms, receptacles
for birds' food (cliiao sliih pHng) to hold seed and water,
and bowls for fighting crickets (Jisi lisiiai p'^eii) occur in
the same list. The bowls of pure white " biscuit " orna-
mented with desisfns in Avorked o-old are alluded to in
the poetry of the time as of exceeding beauty. There
were two families named Lu and Tsou, at Su-chou-fu,
famed for their cricket bowls, which were elaborately
finished with delicately chiseled and embossed work, and
the names of Ta PIsiu and Hsiao Hsiu, elder and
youngej" daughters of the craftsman Tsou, have been
handed down as having executed the finest work of all.
The game of fighting crickets was then a favorite pas-
time; thousands were staked on the event, and no
expense was spared on the decoration of the materials.
These barrel-shaped seats are still to be seen occasion-
ally in Chinese gardens side by side with seats of similar
form from the earlier Chlin-chou potteries of the Sung
dynasty. Such large pieces are usually of stoneware
rather than j)orcelain, the technique resembling that of
the image of Kuan-yin, enshrined in the Buddhist
196 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Temple Pao-kuo-ssu at Peking, wliich has already been
described. I Lave seen other Buddhist figures of antique
design with the details filled in with colored glaze of the
early Ming period, notably in the Dana collection at
New York, together with some of the large, wide, solid
jars of the time, with Taoist figui-es inclosed in the
carved openwork casing, picked out in turquoise, purj^le,
green, and yellow. The colors differ from the ordinary
colored enamels of later times in being composed of a
lead flux.
To M. du Sartel is due the credit of first calling atten-
tion to these jars and of referring them correctly to early
Ml}ig times. He figures three in Plate II of his work
La Povcelaine de Chine, already cited, with the follow-
ing description (page 155) :
"No. 2. Jarre a mettre le vin, en porcelaine grise et
epaisse. Le decor, de st}'le archaique, colore en emaux
de demi-grand feu sur biscuit, se compose de bordures k
faux godrons, celle du haut souteuant des lambrequins
ornes de fleurs et relies entre eux par des cordons de
perles avec pendeloques. Le corps du vase est occupe
par un paysage courant, presentant sur deux faces
opposees un personnage symbolique. Ce decor, dessine
par des filets en relief, est en partie reste en biscuit avec
quelques teintes jaunatres et en partie bleu turquoise,
sur fond bleu fonce. Hauteur 0"" 42. Coll. O. du
Sartel.
" No. 3. Potiche analogue au vase precedent, decoree
de nelumbos en fleur. Hauteur 0°^ 35, Coll. Leon
Fould, k Paris.
" No. 4. Autre potiche de meme espece, mais dont le
decor, sur fond bleu turquoise, presente quelques parties
emaillees violet clair. La pause est occupee par un pay-
sage courant, avec sujet hieratique montrant Cheou Lao
entoure des emblemes de la longevite, et recevant la
MING DYNASTY. 197
visite mysterieuse des saiuts personnages, ses disciples,
les Pa-Chen. Hauteur O'" 35. Coll. O. du S."
Our album is rich in specimens of this reign, and a
description of these will give a better idea of the ceramic
art of the time than any number of quotations from
Chinese books which might be extended indefinitely.
There are no less than twenty illustrations giv^en, includ-
ing seven of blue and white pieces, and thirteen
decorated in colored glazes, among which the red pre-
dominates, two of these being wholly invested with red
as a monochrome glaze.
" Antique Censer ( Yi Lu), with fish handles, decorated
with deep red, in the guise of ruddy dawn clouds dis-
appearing in bright sunshine. The form of this censer is
modeled after an ancient bronze sacrificial vessel figured
in a collection published in the period SJiao-lising, 1131-
62. The upper two-thirds of the surface is enameled
with a deep red glaze of the ^varmest tint of ruddy
dawn clouds ; the lower part is white, pure as driven
snow", and the red and white melt into each other in wavy
lines, dazzling the eyes. It stands pre-eminent among
the celebrated porcelains of diiferent dynasties ; the
whole surface is strewn with faint, milletlike tubercles,
and it is truly a precious Jewel of rare value. I saw it
at Nanking, in the collection of Chu Hsi-hsiao, the
governor of the city, who told me that it originally came
from the imperial palace, given to one of the princes as
part of his monthly allowance, and that he purchased it
afterward from the prince for three hundred taels of silver.
Even for a thousand taels it could not be l)ought now."
H. 3 in., D. 3i in.
" Water- Dropper (Shid Chu), for the ink pallet,
decorated with colored glazes. Taken from an old
bronze design, the vessel is molded in the form of twin
persimmons (^Diqspyros shitze fruit) hanging upon a
198 OEIENTAL CERA.AIIC ART.
leafy branch, the stem of whicli is hollowed to make
the spout. The color of the fruit is as red as fresh blood,
with slightly raised millet marks ; the leaves are greeu ;
the sepals and stalk are brown ; exactly like a picture
from Nature, by the artist Hsli. Tsung-ssu. It is a rare
jewel for the ornament of a scholar's library, whicli I
bought, with two ink pallets of porcelain, also figured,
from Hsii, a high official of Wu-men." H. 2i in., D.
3iin.
^^ Wine-Pot (^Chiu Hit), with an open scrolled handle
and a spout molded in the shape of a phwnix head,
covered with a monochrome glaze of deep red color. It
was copied from a carved jade wine-pot used by the
emperor. The body, of slender, vaselike foi-m, swelling
above and curving gracefully inward toward the foot, is
chiseled with cloud scrolls and ornamental bands of
geometrical and spiral pattern ; it is surmounted by a
conical cover encircled by rings of foliated design. The
spout is the feathered neck of a phoenix, projecting as it
were fi-om the cloudy background, and terminating in a
crested head with open beak. Among the different kinds
of porcelain of the reign of Hsilan-te the deep red was
the most highly valued of all. In the preparation of the
glaze, red precious stones from the West were pulverized,
and after it had been fired, flashes of ruby-red color shone
out from the depths of the rich glaze so as to dazzle
the eyes. There is no other porcelain to rival this. The
piece figured is in the collection of Huang, General of the
Guards at Peking, who told me that he bought it for two
hundred ingots of silver in paper notes [nominally about
six hundred pounds sterling, although the Government
paper currency was then at a considerable discount], from
one of the chief eunuchs of the palace." H. 62 in.
" Ronge-Pot {Lu Hit) molded in the shape and size of
a persimmon fruit (^Diospyros sldtze) and decorated with
MING DYNASTY. 199
colored glazes. The lobed fruit, of deep red color, has a
short, wide spout of the same tint projecting at one end,
a branch joining the handle at the other, colored brown,
with a green t^vig winding round in openwork relief so as
to display the green leaves Avorked upon the red skin of
the fruit. The cover is the calyx of four segments, A\'ith
the stalk curving upward to form its handle. The red
is of rich color, like fresh blood ; the brown and green
are true to life. It came out of the palace, where it had
been used by one of the imperial princesses to hold ver-
milion for painting her lips and face. It was priced very
high, over one hundred taels, by a curio seller at the
temple Pao-kuo-ssu,* at whose stall I saw it when at the
capital." H. 2i in., D. 3i in.
" Tazza-shaped Oup {^Pa Pei), decorated with three red
fishes on a white o-round. The foi'ni is taken from wine-
jcups of jade of the Han dynast}-. The glaze, of the
aspect of congealed fat, is ^vhite as driven snow, and the
three fishes of deep red color, vigorously outlined, are
crimson as fresh blood with flashes of ruby tint of daz-
zling brilliance. It is truly a rare gem of this highly
prized class. At the foot of the cylindrical stem, which
expands toward the base, there is faintly engraved under
the paste the six-character mark Ta Ming Hsikm te nieit
chill, ' Made in the reign of Hsuan-te of the Great Ming.''
I bought this cup for twenty-four taels from a collector
at Shao-hsiug-fu." H. 3 in., D. 3 in.
" Tazza-shaped Cup {Pa Pei), of the same shape and size
as the above, decorated with three pairs of red peaches
on a white ground. The shaded red, of the tint of red
cherries or of precious garnets, flames out from the depth
* This is the Buddhist temple already alluded to as containing the ancient
porcelain image of Kwan Yin. It is situated in the southern or Chinese city
of Peking, and is one of those thrown open at stated days every month for a
kind of fair, when its courts are thronged with peddlers and curio dealers, who
spread their stalls on both sides of the way to attract visitors.
200 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
of the glaze, very different from the modern imitations of
these wine-cups, Avhich are made by painting the red
color over the glaze, and which remind one only of dull,
ferruginous clay.* These cups are very rare, only three
or four beino: known to exist within the four seas."
" Conical Wme-Oup {Ton lAPei), with a handle boldly
fashioned in openwork relief in the form of an archaic
dragon {ch''ih-l'ung), decorated in colors. The ground
inside and out is engraved with cloud scrolls under the
white glaze ; the band of scrolled ornament which encircles
the rim is picked out in blue, while the dragon, which is
coiled half round the cup, with its teeth and fore-claws
fixed in the rim and its bifid tail opposite, is glazed deep
red. The dragon stands out conspicuously in blood-red
relief from the mutton-fat tinted ground ; only one or
two of these beautiful little cups are known, and a
hundred taels is not considered too much to pay for a
specimen. I figure this one from the collection of the
Lieutenant-Governor of Nanking." H. 2 in., D. 3 in.
^^ Small Wine-Oiq) (^Hsiao Chaii), oi rounded shallow
form with circularly rimmed foot, decorated outside with
three fishes of deep red color on a snow-white ground.
The fish are no bigger than flies, yet the several scales
and spines are chiseled under the sang-de-hoei(f glaze. It
holds one hu — i. e., less than t^vo ounces." H. | in., D.
3 in.
^^ Palace Rice-Bowl {Kung Wan), of gracefully mod-
elled shape, springing from a small circularly rimmed
foot, decorated outside with three fishes of sang-de-hosuf
color upon a snow-white ground, rising in milletlike
granules. It is figured from the collection of Liang, one
* We know from other sources that the art of painting porcelain in the red
prepared from copper silicate failed toward the end of the 3ring dynasty, so
that in the reign of Chia-ching (1522-66) even the imperial potters petitioned to
be allowed to decorate it instead with the iron-red produced by the incinera-
tion of iron- sulphate.
MING DYNASTY. 201
of the cliief eunuchs at Peking, who obtained it himself
from the palace of the emperor." H. 2^ in., D. 7 in.
" Dish (Hsi), for washing brushes in, of circular form
with a flat bottom and upright sides, decorated with red
fishes swimming in undulating waves, penciled in deep
red on a snow-white ground. One pair of fishes, instinct
with life and movement, is painted on the bottom of the
dish inside, and three smaller fishes are swimming round
outside." H. 1 in., D. 5 in.
" Palace Dish {Kuiig Tieh), saucer-shaped, springing
from a circular foot, covered outside with a monochrome
glaze of deep red color, over five-clawed dragons, and
clouds delicately chiseled in the paste. Marked under-
neath with the six-character seal Ta Ming Hsilan te nien
chih, ' Made in the reign of Hsuan-te of the Great MingJ
engraved under the glaze." D. 7 in.
" Perforated Box {Clruan Hsin Ho), painted in deep
red on a white ground. A small round box, with a lid
of the same shape, fashioned in the likeness of a ' cash '
of the period, having a square hole passing through the
middle for tying it on the corner of a handkerchief,
when used as a casket for scent. It is decorated- outside
with encircling bands of spiral fret, and has the inscrip-
tion on the cover, written also in red, Hsilan te fungpao,
■'Current money of Hsilan te,'' a reproduction of the
ordinary legend of the coins of this reign." H. I in.,
D. 1 in.
^'- Relic Pagoda {She-li T^i), of white 'biscuit' porce-
lain decorated in colors (wuts^ai). This is a relic shrine
in the form of a pagoda, one foot and a half high, of
seven stories. Each story is six-sided, surrounded by
a carved open-work railing, and hollow inside. In the
first story there is an altar with a little vase of white
jade standing upon it containing three grains of sacred
relics (she-li = Sanskrit ^arlra) of Buddha. The seven
202 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
stories are mU Lung around the eaves with tiny gold
bells only half an inch long. Within the chamber of
the fifth story there is a little sacred image of Buddha,
of jade, about eight-tenths of an inch higli, with fine
features and venerable figure, seated upon a lotus throne,
exactly like the large Buddha enthroned for worship in
ordinary religious temples. This image of Buddha, tlie
temple bonze assures me, was brought as tribute to
China from a foreign country. The body of the pagoda
shows the intrinsic color of the porcelain, and the dif-
ferent colors are cleverly painted on in turns, the tiles
emerald-green, the railings red, the walls white, and the
windows yellow. The I'elics emit every day at noon
and midnight a radiance of coloi'ed light. I myself saw
the rays emitted on both occasions, and was convinced
thereby of the deep mysteries of the doctrine of Buddha.
The stand is inscribed Avith the mark wiitteu in blue
in a horizontal line, Ta Ming Hman te nien chili, ' Made
in the reign of Hman-te of the Great Ming.'' I saw this
shrine at Nanking at Pao-en-ssii (the famous Porcelain
Pagoda Temple destroyed by the Taiping rebels) in the
house of the prior of the monastery, who told me that
it had been sent from the palace at Peking in the reign
of the Emperor Jjiing-cJi'ing, by special order of the
empress-dowager, who bestowed it upon the temple, to
be preserved and reverently worshiped there."
The remaining seven pieces of this reign illustrated in
the album are painted in blue on a white ground. The
decoration is minutely finished, with borders of fret and
encircling bands of rectangular and spiral chains, exe-
cuted with fine strokes of the brush, so as to remind one
of the delicate finish of the chiseled bronze and carved
cinnabar-lac work of the period.
'^Irik Pallet ( Yen), of oval form, with dragons and
clouds etched round the sides, painted in blue, with a
MFNG DYTSTASTY. 203
band of triangular fret round the upper bordei', and a
double oval ring underneath. The form, an oval slab,
with a crescentic depression at one end, is copied from
a jade pallet used by one of the emperors of the Sung
dynasty. The color of the glaze is white as driven snow,
rising into faint milletlike elevations ; the blue, penciled
in finest strokes, is brilliant and deep as congealed ink,
so that it is really a beautiful specimen. There are two
five-clawed imperial dragons delicately chiseled in the
paste under the glaze, surrounded by cloud scrolls
into which they are plunging their heads. The mark
written underneath in blue, in a vertical line, in the
middle of the oval ring, is Ta Ming Hsilan te nleri
ehih, 'Made in the reign of Hman-te of the Great
Ming: " L. 3i in.
" Small Vase (^Hsiao P''iiig^)^ in the shape of a three-
jointed cylinder of bamboo, with the joints and margins
picked out in blue, and the extremities ornamented with
lines of little rings painted in blue. The blue is the
^ Mohammedan_gTgg_j^gj^/ the Hui-liui tn, r)^tn^^^^jyf~tYnr
period, brilliant and dazzling to the eyes. The upper
ring of circles is interrupted by a line of six characters
not much larger than mosquito claws, but perfectly clear,
written in l^lue, Ta Ming Hsilan te nien cliili, the mark
of the reign. I have had this piece in my possession
since I was a boy ; it has been in my cabinet over fifty
years, and is growing old with me." H. 2* in.
" Jar {Hu), modeled in the form of a goose, and
painted in blue. The goose is always refei'red to in the
classics as a domestic l)ird of watchful nature, a terror
to robbers, and the form was originally chosen for a
wine-vessel as a warning against nightly intoxication.
The feathers and other natural details are outlined in
blue of brilliant color ; the glaze is sprinkled with millet-
like elevations, and it is altogether a fine specimen of
204 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
the reign of Hsuan-te. It liolds about one pint of wine."
L. G in.
" Elephant Jar {ffsianr/ Isirn), painted in blue, of
rounded ovoid form with bulging body, springing from
a low foot, with a receding shoulder and a slightly
flaring mouth, surmounted by a round cover. The cover
has standing upon it the figure of an elephant, molded
in full open-work relief, of plain white. The two ring
handles upon the shoulder of the jar hanging from
grotesque heads are outlined in blue, and the jar, as
well as the cover, is surrounded by several plain bands
of blue. It is of ancient bronze design, and holds nearly
two pints." H. 6i in.
" Teacup {Clthi Pel), decorated in blue with a dragon
pine. Of upright form, rounded below, and slightly
hollowed at the sides, it is modeled, probably, in the
form of a jade wine-cup of the Han dynasty. The glaze
is as translucently white as mutton fat or fine jade,
rising in millet tubercles, and the blue is deep and clear,
painted in the Mohammedan gros hleu of the time. The
fir-tree is designed with a gnarled trunk like a huge
coiled dragon, and lifelike orchids and fungus spring
naturally from the ground beneath, evidently drawn by
the pencil of a celebrated landscape-painter. I bought
a set of four of these tea-cups from a high official at Wu-
hsing." Diani. 2i in.
'•^Sacrificial Vessel (^Yi)^ painted in blue on a white
ground, of ancient bronze design, with an oval body,
having a broad lip at one end, supported upon four
straight cylindrical feet, and a prominent cover with a
horned dragon's head molded in relief projecting over
the lip. The ground is whiter than snow, the blue of
deep tint is painted in the first-class Mohammedan color,
and both blue and white are marked alike with millet-
like elevations. Decorated with blue bands of rectan-
MING DYNASTY. 205
gular and spiral fret round the neck of the vessel, and
with blue lines outlining the rim and relief details
of the cover. An important specimen of the reign
of Hsitan-te, which I got from a collector of AV^u-men,
in exchange for two manuscript volumes of verse
written by a calligraphist of the Yuan dynasty."
H. 5 in.
" Four-humev Lamp (^Ssa T'al Teng), with blue dec-
oration on a white ground. A lamp of complex form,
with an oval receptacle, which has four curved spouts
projecting from it, one on each side, to hold the wicks,
springing from a rimmed foot, and surmounted by a
conical cover of four-lobed outline. A flat dish with an
upright rim stands underneath. The shoulder is looped
for chains to suspend the lamp to a horizontal bar, which
is also looped in the middle to support the cover, and
perforated for a cord to hang the whole apparatus from
the ceiling. It is painted in brilliant blue with encir-
cling bands and chains of spiral fret, and wdth medallions
and foliations of formal pattei'n. On the foot is inscribed
in blue, in a horizontal line, the mark Ta Ming Hs'uan te
nien cliili, ' Made in the reign of Hman-te of the Great
Ming' " H. 5 in., D. 4i in.
There are thirteen specimens of this reign in the Sliu
Ch'iug Yuan palace at Peking, according to the official
list quoted above, of which seven are painted in blue on
a white ground, viz.:
1. Receptacle for Flowers, Hua Nang, in the form of
a square corn-measure with a bar-handle stretching
across the top.
2. Ink-Jar, Mo Kuan.
3. Double Cylinder Vase, Shuang Kuan PHng.
4. Vase with swelling shoulder and small neck, used
for a spray of plum-blossom, and hence caW^di Mei P'ing.
5. Pair of upright Teacups, Cli'a Chung.
206 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
6. Water-Pot, Shni Ch^eng, for the writing-table.
7. E,ice-Bo^v'l, Wan. The next is a large round Dish,
P^an, of monochrome, copper-red, Chi hung, followed by
a Plum-blossom Vase, Mei P^ing, with painted decora-
tion in red on a white ground, the remaining four being
round fluted Dishes, P'^aji, of rose-mallow design, enam-
eled celadon {tung-eh^ing^.
^ ^^^, CH':feNG-HUA (1465-87).
There is an interval of thirty years bet^veen the close
of the last reign and the beginning of that styled Ch^eng-
hua. The emperor who reigned under the title of
Hsuan-te was succeeded by his son, who reigned under
the title of Cheng-fung from 1436 to 1449, when he was
captured by the Mongols and kept prisoner in Mongolia
for seven years, during which his brother ruled with the
title of Olilng-fai from 1450 to 1456. The emperor
returned then to the throne and reigned till his death,
under the new title of T'^ien-shuti, the only instance of a
change of nien-hao during the Ming dynasty ; his reign
lasted till 1464, when he died, and was succeeded by his
son, who reigned as Ch''eng-hua, from 1465 to 1487. In
the reign of Hsilan-te the imperial porcelain manufactory
at Ching-te-chen had been placed under the charge of a
director specially appointed by the emperor to super-
intend the \vork. In the first year of Cheng-Dung this
a[)pointmeut ^vas abolished, as we learn from the official
annals, which state that so many of the people were
enlisted for military service that the imperial works had
to be closed. In the fifth year of ChiJig-fai (1454) it is
recorded in the Yii-cliang Ta shih chi, another descrip-
tive work on the province of Kiangsi, of which Yli-chang
is an ancient name, that the annual amount of porcelain
MING DYNASTY. 207
requisitioned from Jao-clioii-fu was reduced to oue third,
so that, in addition to the abolition of the office of
director, the supply since drawn from private sources
was also diminished. In the following twenty years
there is no official mention of porcelain, excepting the
fact that in the year ting-ch^ou of the cycle (1457) when
the emperor recovered the throne, a eunuch w^is again
sent from the palace to Ching-te-chen as director, and the
imperial manufactory was re-established as before, al-
though we know nothing whatever of the ceramic pro-
duction of this reign.
The porcelain of CKeng-liua, on the contrary, is con-
stantly referred to, and it disputes ^vith that of Hsilan-te
the supremacy of the Ming period, according to the
opinion of different connoisseurs. The general verdict
upon their relative merit is that Hsuan-te stands first in
the brilliancy of its red derived from copper, and in the
purity and depth of its blue imported from abroad,
while it is excelled by CJCeng-hua in artistic decora-
tion in colors. The exotic supply of blue had failed
before this reign, and only native ores of cobalt were
available.
The author of the Po lou yao Ian sa3^s : "In the
highest class porcelain of the reign of Cli'eng-Titia tliere is
nothing to excel the stemmed wine-cups with shallow
bowls and swellins^ rims decorated in live colors with
grapes ; these are more beautiful even than any of the
cups of Hsilan-te. Next to these come the wedding-cups
decorated in colors with flowers and insects, or with a
hen and chicken, the wine-cups of the shape of a lotus-
nut painted with figure scenes, the shallow cups dec-
orated \vitli the five sacrificial utensils, the tiny cups
with flowering plants and butterflies, and the blue and
white wine-cups that are as thin as paper. There are
also small saucer-shaped plates for chopsticks painted in
208 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
colors, rouud boxes for incense, and little jars of varied
shapes fitted with covers, all of artistic beauty and
worthy of admiration."*
With reference to the celebrated " Chicken Cups '^
Chi Kang, there is an ode composed upon them in the
works of Kao T'an-jen, a writer of the seventeenth
century, also known as Kao of Chiang-ts'un, with the fol-
lowing note attached f : " The wine-cups of Cli eng-lvmi
porcelain are of many different kinds, all artistically
designed and perfectly finished, with the colors laid on
in dark and light shades, the fabric strong and of trans-
lucent texture. The ' chicken cups ' are decorated Avith
Moutan peonies and with a hen and chicken under the
flowers, instinct with life and movement." ;|; Among
other decorative subjects painted upon these wine-cups
given by the same writer is a beautiful damsel holding up
a candle to look at luii-fa/ng (cydonia) flowers, called
"Kosy beauty lit up by a flaring silver flame." Then
there are " Brocaded Cups," with medallions of flower
sprays and fruit painted on the four sides ; " Swing
Cups," with a party of young girls swinging ; the
* The official list of the art objects in the Shu Ch'ing Yuan palace at Peking,
referred to above, includes four little saucer-shaped plates, lisiao tieh, of this
reign, decorated in colors, inclosed in a rosewood box, and a perfume sprin-
kler, chiiio, also painted in " five colors."
f M. Julien, in his preface {loc. cit., p. xxx), translates this note from the
Too Shuo, but strangely misconceives the heading, as he translates Ch'6ng, the
contracted form of Cli'eng-h'iut, into " fabriquait," and transforms ko-chu,
" ode-note," into a proper name. Thus he provides two names for this reign in
his list of celebrated potters. Here is what he says : " Dans la periode Tch'ing-
7iOff, figure avec honneur, un artiste que le Traite sur la porcelaine \^T' ao-c?ioue\
appele Kao-than-jin. II fabriquait des jarres ornees de poules. Un autre
ouvrier, nomme Ko-tchou, faisait de jolies tasses pour le vin." Many of the
" marks " in Julien's work are of a like fictitious origin, so that the book,
useful as it is, must be used with caution.
:]: We have seen in the chapter on Marks how these "chicken cups" were
copied in the reign of Ch'ien-lung, who sent one of the originals from the
palace as a model, together with a poem of his own composition, to be
inscribed on the reverse side of the cup. These copies are now valued by
the Ciiinese connoisseurs at many times their weight in gold.
MING DYNASTY. 209
" Dragon-Boat Cups," with boats raciug in the great
dragon festival ; " Famous-Scholar Cups," which have
Chou Mao-shou on one side admiring his beloved lotus,
and T'ao Yuan-ming on the other with his favorite chrys-
anthemum flowers beside him; "Wa-wa Cups," with five
little boys playing together ; and " Grape-Trellis Cups,"
with a grapevine growing upon a frame. Others are
decorated with fragrant flowers, with flsh and water-
weeds, ^vith o;ourds and aubero:ine fruit, with the eio-ht
Buddhist emblems of good fortune, with the flowers of
the utpala, a dark variety of lotus, and w^ith conventional
sprays of the sacred lotus of India, etc. All of these
cups are described as artistically painted, translucent in
color, and of strong texture.
The price of these little cups was already very high
even before the end of the Ming dynasty. The Emperor
Wan-li is said to have always had a pair of them placed
on his dinner-table which were valued at 100,000 cash,
equivalent to 100 taels of silver. The JP'^ii sliu fing chi,
"Memoirs of the Book-Sunning Pavilion," written by
Chu Yi-tsun in the beginning of the present dynasty,
relates how the author " on the days of new moon and
full moon often went, while staying at Peking, to the
fair at the Buddhist tem})le Tz'ii-en-ssu, where rich men
thronged to look at the old porcelain bowls exhibited on
the stalls there. Plain ^^hite cups of Wan-Ji porcelain
were several taels of silver each, those with the mark of
Hsila/n-te or of Cli'eng-liua ranged from twice as nuich
and more, up to the chicken cups, which could not be
bought for less than five twenty-tael ingots of pure
silver, yet those who had the money did not grudge it,
estimating the pottery of this period as more valuable
than the finest Jade."
The eleven specimens figured in our album to illustrate
the porcelain of this reign are all decorated in colors,
210 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
neither the blue and white nor the monochrome "copper
red " of the period being rej^resented.
^^Melon-shaped Wine-Pot {T''ien-K'ua Hu), decorated
in colors. The body, of oval form and indented outline,
molded in the natural form of the lobed fruit, is colored
yellow, and passes above into a rounded cover, the handle
of which, colored brown and green, is designed as the
stalk of the fruit. The spout and handle of the wine-pot
are formed of convoluted branches, with the chiseled
details colored brown, round which tendrils wind in
open-work relief, and from which spread leafy twigs, to
decorate the surface of the wine-pot with leaves, tendrils,
and miniature fjourds, contrastinof in their tones of shaded
green ^vith the surrounding bright yellow ground. In
the porcelain of the reign of CK eng-hua^ that painted in
different colors is the most highly valued, because at this
time the designs were executed in the palace by the most
celebrated artists, and the colors were laid on in their
different shades with finished skill. This wine-pot, of
the natural size of a melon, with the skin and branchlets
of tlie color of the original, and the two surfaces of the
leaves appropriately shaded, is a conspicuous example.
It holds nearly H pints of wine." H, 5 in., D. 3 in,
" Wine-Cup (^Chiu Pei), fashioned in the form of a
purple 1/1(1 an flower (^Magnolia consjyiciui). The bowl,
with indented rim, is formed of the petals of a bursting
blossom, enameled in bright colors, white inside, purple
outside, springing from the green calyx ; the foot, carved
in open-work relief, is a branching twig, enameled brown,
ending in small leaves of shaded green." H. 2 in., D.
2i- in.
" Tazza-shaped Wine- Cup {Pa Pei), decorated in colors
with grapes. Of delicate form and fabric, with a round
shallow bowl slightly everted at the lip, mounted uj)on a
high cylindrical stem spreading at the base. The bowl
MING DYNASTY. 211
is encircled outside with a festoon of grapes with trail-
ing tendrils, 23ainted in colors upon a white ground of
slightly grayish tone. The leaves are bright emerald-
green; the grapes hang down like bunches of purple
amethysts, drawn with the utmost delicacy. The glaze
rises into faint milletlike elevations, and the decoration
is in perfect taste and antique coloring, making this
a choice S23ecimen of the rare productions of a famous
reign, and it is of correspondingly high value. It is
figured from the collection of Wang Sun-chi of Chin-sha,
who says that he pui'chased it for sixty taels from the
sub-prefect of Hslian-ch'eng. It is marked underneath
in blue with the inscription, written in a horizontal line,.
Ta Ming OK'eng liua nien chili, ^ Made in the reign of
CKmg-hua of the great Mingy H. 2i in., D. 2i in.
^^ Two Small Wiyie-Ciips (Hsiao J^ei), decorated in
colors with flowers and insects. Of rounded form, with
slightly swelling lips, and low, circular feet, they are so
thin and delicate that each cup weighs less than one-
third of an ounce. They ai-e decorated outside ^vith
miniature garden scenes, with the cockscomb, narcissus,
aster, and grass sprouting from the green, dotted ground,
the flowers, minute as flies' heads or mosquitoes' claws^
filled in with crimson, green, and yellow, and with flying
dragon-flies and crawling mantis insects as minutely
finished after life. The amount of work lavished upon
each little cup is surprising, and they are choice speci-
mens of the art work of this celebrated reign, which are
well worth one hundred taels a pair. Now, indeed, it
is far easier to get the money than to find such cups. I
saw them at Peking at the house of Huang, General of
the Imperial Guards." H. li in., D. 2 in.
" Ttvo Wine- Cups {Kang Pei), decorated in colors, one
with a pair of geese swimming, the other with fighting-
cocks in a garden. The cups, which are extremely thin
212 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
and delicate, with flat bottoms and slightly swelling
sides, are modeled in the shape of the large porcelain
bowls used for goldfisli, from wliich they take their
name of lumg. The ground is a pure white, on a
material as translucent as the diaphanous wing of a
cicada, and they ai'e most minutely painted in colors
after Nature. The geese are playing in the waves with
wings erect, and water-plants occupy the intervals. The
cocks are standing on each side of a tall crimson cocks-
comb sprouting from a brown, grassy rockery, and small,
yellow butterflies are flying in the air above. These two
little cups, which are very rare and precious, have been
in our family for many years." H. li in., D. 2 in.
" Miniature Oup {Hsiao Pei), molded in the form of
a chrysanthemum-flower, painted in colors. The bowl,
^vhite inside, has two concentric rings of petals outside,
colored yellow, which make the rim dentated; the handle
is the projecting bi'own stalk of the flower, carved in
open-work with a green leaf attaclied, and another shaded
green leaf in the opposite side of the cup makes its lip."
D. II in.
" Miniattire Cup {Hsiao Pei\ fashioned in the shape
of a knotted tree-stump, painted in colors. The surface
of irregularly knotted outline, terminating above in a
convoluted rim, is colored brown, the interior being
white ; a loo^^ projects at one end, strung with a ring,
which forms the handle of the cup. This cup, like the
chrysanthemum cup described above, holds only a single
sif) of wine ; both are in the possession of my respected
friend, Chang Yuan-lung." H. 1 in., D. 2 in.
'"'' Hong e- Box {Pen-chiJi Ho), painted in colors. A
small circular box, with a cover of the same form,
decorated with spiral scrolls in green, contrasting charm-
ingly with the bright yellow ground. It came out of
the imperial palace, where it had been used by one of
MING DYNASTY. 213
the ladies of the court to hold cosmetics for the lips and
cheeks. The decoration is artistic and clearly defined,
and it might be used as a casket for incense, for ground
tea, for betel-nuts, or for prepared perfumes. It has
been for a long time past in my own cabinet." H. | in.,
D. 1 in.
^'' Lotiis-Floioer Lamp (^Lien-Hua Teng)^ of elaborate
form, decorated in colors. The design is that of a lotus
plant, the green, cup-shaped center of the flower forming
the recej)tacle for the oil, being mounted upon its stalk
in the midst of the peltate leaves. Another broad folded
leaf with a convoluted margin is spread out as a support
at the base, and from the top of this spring two other
leaves, the larger one, elevated upon a long curved stem
to overhang the lamp, being balanced by a small leaf on
the other side of the floral receptacle. The leaves are
shaded in green tints with the veining indicated on the
two surfaces ; the petals of the lotus are painted pale
pink, darkening at the tips. This lamp, of an antique
style far excelling the rough work of the present day, is
in the possession of Chu Tz'u-pu, a physician living at
Wu-sung." H. 7 in.
S tp, HuNCx-CHiH (1488-1505).
The emperor Cli^eng-hua was succeeded by his son,
who reigned for eighteen years under the title of Hung-
chih.
This reign is distinguished especially for its mono-
chrome glaze of yellow color, which is of two shades, the
one compared by the Chinese with the tint of a boiled
chestnut, the other with the soft yellow of a freshly
opened hibiscus-flower. Bowls and saucer-shaped dishes
of this pale yellow color, w4th the mark of Hnng-ehih
underneath, are not uncommon. There is a bowl of thin
214 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
fabric, 7i inches in diameter, covered inside and out with
a pale yellow glaze, with a mark of this period, No. 39
of the Franks Collection, and the only specimen of this
nien-lmo in Jacquemart's List is a " soucoupe emaillee
jaiine jonquille " {loc. cit., p. 174).
Three pieces of monochrome yellow are figured in our
album, together with one other specimen of the reign, a
wine-pot decorated in green and l)i'own on a similar
yellow ground, a rare example, which, as the artist sug-
gests, could hardly be distinguished from a production
of the preceding reign of the CTCmg-liua period.
" Small Incense- Burner (^Hsiao Ting)^ modeled in the
shape of one of the sacrificial vessels used in ancient
times for offering corn on the altar, made of ancient
bronze. The body of oblong form, with rounded corners,
is horizontally ribbed, and decorated with a band of
interrupted fret engraved round the rim ; it is molded on
four legs swelling at the top, and has two upright loop
handles. The cover, of vaulted form, with triangular
projections upon the four corners, is chiseled with a bor-
der of similar fret. It is enameled with a yellow glaze
of the color of a boiled chestnut. The form, known by
the name of ' oak basket,' is of antique artistic beauty^
and specially suitable for burning incense upon the altar.
I obtained it at Wu-men from the cell of the bonze
Hu-ch'iu." H. 2 in., D. 3 in.
" Gourd-shaped Wine-Pot {Hu-lu Hu), of pale yellow
ground, decorated in colors. The porcelain of the reign
of Hung-cMli is celebrated for its pale yellow, but it also
included some pieces decorated in colors, fit to be com-
pared w^ith those of the CKeng-lma period, like this
beautiful wine-pot. It is modeled in the shape of a
slender gourd with a contracted waist, the brown stalk of
the gourd curving upward as the handle of the small '
round cover ; a branch winds downward to form an open
MING DYNASTY. 215
convoluted handle for the wine-pot, round which ^vind
tendrils in open-work relief, and from which spring
branchlets and tendrils to ornament the surface with
smaller gourds, green leaves, and tendrils, all worked in
relief and shaded in green to contrast with the yellow
ground ; a small hollow gourd of the same form and
yellow tint projects upward as the spout of the ewer.
It holds over a pint of wine. I acquired it from my
fellow-citizen, Chu, a doctor of literature." H. 5 in.
" Teacup {CKa Pel), one of a pair, molded in the
shape of a hibiscus-blossom. The l)owl of graceful floral
form, \vith flaring indented rim and vertically ribbed
sides, springing from a circular foot ; it is white inside,
and enameled outside with a glaze of a delicate yellow
tint resembling that of the petals of the bursting hibiscus
flower. I have seen many specimens of Hung-cliili por-
celain, but nothing to surpass these two little cups in
beaut}^ of form and color. I got them from a friend in
exchange for a copy of the Thousand Character Classic,
written in running hand by Wen Wei-chung," H. 2| in.
" Dragon Wine- Vessel (^Fan ChHu Yu), modeled in the
form of an ancient sacrificial vessel of bronze. The body
of rounded form is enveloped, as it were, in the wings of
two dragons, worked upon it in relief ; the two heads of
the monsters are worked in salient i-elief upon the cover,
and four dragons' legs form the feet of the vessel. The
whole is covered with a bright monochrome glaze of a
pale yellow tint, like that of the petals of the hibiscus
flower, without spot or flaw, making it a choice example
of the period. I saw it in the collection of the histori-
ographer Chou, of the province of Shansi." II. 4 in.
216 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
iE @, ClltNG-T^ (1506-21).
The mark of this emperoi", son of the preceding, who
reigned under the title of Chmg-te, is not so very rare in
collections, although the porcelain of the period is hardly
distinguished for any special excellence in either material
or decoration. In the beo-innino; of the reign one of the
eunuchs of the palace was dispatched to Ching-te-chen to
superintend the fabrication of porcelain for the court, and
he is recorded to have rebuilt the imperial manufactory
called Yii-ch'i-ch'ang, which has continued to furnish the
annual supplies, with occasional brief intermissions, ever
since. The work remained in the hands of the eunuchs
during the whole of this reign, in spite of constant com-
plaints of their cupidity and oppression both from the
officials and from the potters, and it was not till the first
year of the next reign that this regime was abolished.
The supply of cobalt-blue from Avestern Asia had
failed since the reign of Hsuan-te^ when it had been
brought by Chinese ships which went as far west as the
coast of Africa; in the reign of Clieng-te, as Ave learn
from the Sliili tvu ha7i cTiii, it came again by a new
route, under the name of Hui cli'ina. or " Mohammedan
blue," which " a high eunuch, while acting as governor
of the province of Yunnan, obtained from foreign coun-
tries; it was melted with stone to make imitation sap-
phires, which were valued at twice their weight in gold ;
and when it was found that it could be fired, it was used
in the decoration of poi'celain, the color of which sur-
passed the old." Such intei'course is confirmed by an
interesting case in the Oriental department of the British
Museum, filled with Chinese bronzes with Arabic scrolls
collected by the learned curator, most of them inscribed
with marks of this reign, mixed with several specimens
MrNG DYNASTY. 21 7
of blue and white porcelain with similar Arabic inscrip-
tions, which must have been painted in China at the
same time. I will quote the description of one of these
pieces, which is numbered No. 147a in the Franks
Catalogue :
"■Ink Apparatus. Chinese porcelain, painted in blue.
It consists of an oblong slab for rubbing Indian ink,
with a hole at one end for water ; over this fits a loose
cover, the top of which is decorated with one square and
two circular compartments, containing Arabic inscrip-
tions to the following purport: ^Strive for excellence in
penmanship, for it is one of the keys of livelihood,' and
the Persian word ' Writing-case.' The spaces are filled
with foiTnal scrolls. Mark of the period, Ching-tih,
1506-1522. L. 91 in., AV. 5^ in. It was recently
obtained in Peking, and was therefoi'e probably originally
made for a Chinese Mohammedan, not for exportation."
In addition to blue and white, we have monochrome
pieces of this reign enameled yellow, and others
decorated in colors, applied sometimes over the white
glaze, but usually sur biscuit. When over the glaze,
they may be used in combination with cobalt-blue and
€opper-red applied previously under the glaze. A
favorite decoration of the time is that of the five-clawed
imperial dragon, with the details engraved in the paste
and filled in with green, in the midst of scrolled clouds
or imbricated waves. The green dragons are sometimes
relieved by a yellow ground, as in the vase marked
Cheng te nien chih^ " Made in the reign of Clieng-te^''
described by Jacquemart {loc. cit, p. 175) in these
words :
"Vase de forme basse k fond jaune sur biscuit, avec le
dragon imperial grave et rechampi en vert. Coll. de
Mrae. Malinet."
The Vase shown in Fig. 162 is decorated in this style.
218 OKLENTAL CEKAMIC AKT.
and marked also with the seal-mark Cheng te nien chihy
incised underneath in archaic characters under the glaze,
but it appears to be a production of the beginning of the
eighteenth century. It is decorated on the front and
back with flowers and butterflies engraved in the paste,
and inlaid with green and white enamels, relieved by a
purplish-brown ground with brilliant iridescent tints.
This is the most recent reign represented in our
Chinese manuscript album, and it is illustrated by two
pieces, both of them invested with a monochrome yellow
glaze of orange tint.
^^ Lihation Cup {Glimli)^ modeled in the form of an
ancient sacrificial wine-cup of bronze, with a plain
rounded bowl, encircled by a band of three rings in
slight relief passing round within the loop of the strap
handle, mounted upon three pointed feet, and with two
knobs projecting upward at the base of the wide lip. It
is enameled \vith a rich yellow glaze of the tint of a
boiled chestnut, rising in faint elevations like the skin of
a plucked fowl. It is a choice example of the porcelain
of Cheng-te on account of the antique beauty of its form
and the artistic simplicity of its coloi'ing." H, 5i in.
"■ Pltmiiix and Tortoise-supj^orted Lamp (^Feng Kuei
Teng), modeled after an ancient bronze design. The
receptacle for the oil, a round pan witji fluted sides and
a projecting handle, is poised upon a ball supported on
the crested head of a phceuix, which stands upright,
with ^vings outspread, on the back of a tortoise. The
ornamental details are engraved in the paste, and cov-
ered with a monochrome glaze of the rich yellow tint of
a boiled chestnut."
The other pieces attributed to this reign are two
teapots of colored stoneware, or teiTa cotta, from the
potteries of Yi-hsing-hsien, in the prefecture of Chang-
chou, in the province of Kiangsu. These are situated
MING DYNASTY. 219
not far from Shanghai, a few miles up the river, near the
western shores of the T'ai-wu Lake, and are well known
in the present day for their production of the red
"boccaro" ware, which is preferred to porcelain by the
Chinese for the infusion of tea. The teapots figured in
the album are both unglazed, of the natural color of the
fired paste, one being fawn-colored, the other brick-red,
and both of them are endowed with the curious property
of changing to green when they have tea inside.
They are included here as instances of yao-pien^ or
^' furnace transmutation." The Chinese have a taste for
the marvelous, and describe several kinds of yao-pien^
produced by the creative power of the fire. One of the
old poets relates how music once 23i"oceeded spontane-
ously from a pair of vases during a banquet ; a modern
collector boasts that a bowl of Sung ]3orcelain of his
would keep meat or water fresh for an indefinite time.
An ofiH.cial, again, gravely reports to the emperor how a
whole firing of porcelain slabs for which he was respon-
sible had been transformed in the kiln into beds and
boats with all the furniture complete, and how the
potters in their fright had destroyed them. Sometimes
a vase would appear with a stain on its surface of differ-
ent color from that of the ground, and this Avould take
the outline of a dragon, a bird, or a butterfly. The
above transmutations are all ascribed to miraculous
ao"encv. The last kind of '' furnace transmutation"
ascribed, on the other hand, to human ingenuity, is
where the materials of the glaze have been purposely
combined to produce the wonderful play of brilliant
colors peculiar to the well-known flamhe glaze, with its
flashing streaks of crimson and blue, mingling into every
intermediate shade of purple. Here is the description
of the artist :
^''Teapot {CKa Hii), of Ming dynasty, Yi-hsing yao-
220 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
pien or ' furnace-transmutation ' ware, made by Kung
Ch'un. The potteries of Yi-hsing date from our own
sacred dynasty in the reign of Clieng-te, when a cele-
brated potter lived there named Kung Ch'un, a native of
Yi-hsino", who made utensils of earthen^val•e for drinkinp-
tea, which were often fortuitously transmuted in the
kiln like this teapot. Its original color, a grayish brown
like that of felt, changes to a bright green when tea is
put in, and graduall}^ returns to its proper color, line by
line, as the tea is poured out. This is only a curious
accidental peculiarity, and yet modern virtuosos prize it
most highly. Both this and the following brick-red
teapot were made l>y Kung. I saw them both in the
capital, in the palace of one of the princes, who had
bought them from Chang, a high official of Nanking, for
500 taels. This one is a plain teapot of hexagonal
section, with an angular spout and a broad, overarching
handle, about 4i inches high."
" Teapot (^Clihi Hii), of Ming dynasty, Yi-hsing yax)-
pien ware, made by Kung Ch'un. Of slender oval form,
with a foliated handle and a curved spout. The color of
the paste, a vermilion red, changes to bright green like
the preceding, so as to show the height of the tea inside.
This is a wonderful example of the miraculous power of
heaven and earth, a lusus naturce that I could not have
credited had I not seen it with my own eyes." H. 5 in.
^ ]8^, Chia-ching (1522-66).
The last emperor was succeeded by his cousin, another
grandson of the Emperor ClCeng-liua, and his reign is
almost as celebrated for its porcelain as that of his
grandfather. He reigned for forty -five years under the
title of Chia-cliing. In the beginning of his reign the
MING DYNASTY. 221
appointment of eunuchs as superintendents was abol-
ished, and the assistant prefects of the circuit were
ordered to officiate in annual rotation as directors of the
imperial manufactory, and to provide the funds for the
work. This last was no mean task, as it is recorded that
in the twenty-fifth year (1546) 120,000 taels of silver
were levied from the province as a yearly subsidy, in
addition to the provisions for the workmen ; and that in
1554 this sum was increased by 20,000 taels, in addition
to which the -private potters were required to undertake
the supply of the largest fish-bowls, and were heavily
taxed besides. In 1565 one of the subprefects of Jao-
chou-fu was ordered to reside permanently at Ching-te-
chen as director; but this change did not succeed, and
early in the next reign the old plan of annual rotation
was reverted to.
The supply of Mohammedan blue ^vhich was imported
by the Yunnan route in the preceding reign continued
to arrive, and this I'eign is especially celebrated for the
brilliance of its blue decoration ; ij: was preferredtobe
very dark in color, in which it differs from the porcelain
of Jdsiian-te, the other reign famous for its blue and
white, the blue of which is usually pale in tone. The
best blue of the period was prepared by mixing one pai't
of calcined sliih-tzii ch^ing, or " stone blue," the native
cobaltiferous ore of manganese, with ten parts of
imported blue, as the latter had a tendency to " run " if
used alone. A mixture in the same proportions was also
employed, suspended in water, to produce the beautiful
mottled blue gi'ound for which this reign is also remark-
able; the thin puree of blue, Inui-slnii cJi'lng, as it was
called, being spread with a brush on the paste, so as to
fill in the interstices of the penciled decoration, which
was either reserved in white, or subsequently filled in
with canary yellow or coral red. Sometimes the decora-
222 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
tioii was penciled over tlie mottled blue ground with
strokes of stronger blue.
Decoration in otber colors also occurs, but not to the
same extent as in tlie subsequent i-eign of Wan-li. The
colored glazes in the reign of Chia-cliing were used
either as monochromes, including a turquoise-blue
derived from copper, in addition to the dark and sky-
blue grounds derived from cobalt, the yellow, the brown,
and the red ; or to form colored grounds to relieve the
blue decoration. The monochromes are either plain, or
sj^read over designs previously incised in the paste.
The blue paintings are relieved either by red, brown, or
yellow ; occasionally ornamental designs reserved in the
blue mottled ground were colored red or yellow, form-
ing an attractive variety. The ai't of decoration in
copper-red seems to have altogether declined, owing to
the substitution of a coral-red glaze derived from iron,
prepared by tlie roasting of ciystals of iron sulphate,
which was much less expensive and more easily fired.
The officials memorialized the emperor to be allowed to
use this even for the sacrificial vessels required for the
altar of tte Temple of Heaven.
The white " altar cups " made for the emperor to use
on Taoist altars, and inscribed Avith the name of the
offerings they were filled ^vith, were called by the same
name, fan clian, as the exquisite " altar cups " of the
older reign of Hsuan-te, but they were slightly yellowish
in tinge and less delicate in finish, because the suj)ply of
the best porcelain earth from the Ma-ts'ang Hills was
already beginning to fail. These white cups are described
in the Po wu yao Ian as resembling jade in appearance,
and as having the characters clfa, " tea," chhi, " wine,"
ts^ao fang, "jujube decoction," and cJiiang fang, "ginger
decoction," etched inside under the glaze. The same
book refers to the decoration of all kinds of porcelain
MING DYNASTY. 223
objects ill blue and in colors of this reign, and selects as
gems tlie shallow wiue-ciips ^vith foliated rims, loaf -shaped
bottoms, and circularly rimmed feet decorated outside in
colors with three fishes, and the tiny round rouge-boxes
DO larger than " cash " delicately painted in blue.
Some of the pieces of porcelain produced in this reign
are remarkable for their large size. A vender of sweet-
meats has for years plied his trade in the eastern gate-
way of the imperial palace at Peking with his honey
preserves piled up iu t\vo immense round dishes over
three feet in diameter. They are decorated with five-
clawed imperial dragons disporting in clouds, boldly
painted in dark underglaze blue, displayed upon an
enameled ground of mottled canary yellow, and are
" marked " near the upper I'im, Ta Ming Chia ching liu
nien cliih, "Made in the sixth year (1527) of the reign
of Chia-ching of the great Mingy He regards them as
an heirloom on ^vhicli his luck depends, and has refused
the most tempting offers, declaring that nothing shall
induce him to part with them.
The designs used in the decoration of the imperial
porcelain are found in a long list in the Fou-liang-lmen
Cliili, which gives all the annual indents from the eighth
year, the previous records having, according to these
official annals, been burned. The list is interesting, but
too long for insertion here, and we will only extract the
indents of the two years referred to above, which cor-
respond to 1546 and 1554 a. d.
1. Foe the Twenty-fifth Year of Chia-ching
(a. d. 1546).
Large Fish-JBowls {Kang^^ 300, decorated with a pair
of dragons enveloped in clouds, painted in blue on a white
ground, or reserved in white upon blue.
224 OEIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Jars fitted with Covers {Kuan yu Kai), 1,000, of blue
ground with sprays of couveritioual paradise flowers
{^pa^o hsiang hua^ and arabesque designs (Jiui-hui liud).
Bowls ( Wan), 22,000, blue inside and out, decorated
witli dragons coiling through flowers.
Banquet Boiols {Sliaii Wan), 11,500, of larger size, of
blue ground, decorated inside \vith scepter-framed medal-
lions inclosing phoenixes in pairs ; outside, with phoenixes
flying through flowers.
Hound Dishes (B^an), 31,000, painted inside in blue
on a white ground, with sea-waves and dragons in the
midst of clouds, and outside with nine dragons.
Saucer Blates (Tleh), 16,000, painted inside and outside
in blue on a white ground, with a pair of di'agons in the
midst of clouds.
Teacups {CliJa Chung), 3,000, painted in blue and
white, decorated outside with dragon medallions and
water caltrops {Tntpa hicornis) ; inside with dragons
and clouds reserved on a blue ground.
Wme-Cups (Chill Chart), 18,400, painted in blue and
white, decorated outside with a pair of di'agons in clouds ;
inside, with dragons and clouds reserved on a blue
ground.
2. For the Thirty-third Year of Chia-ching
(a. d. 1554).
Bowls ( Wan^, 26,350, with a blue ground, decorated
with a pair of dragons in clouds.
Blates {Tielb), 30,500, of the same design.
Wine-Cups {Chan), 6,900, white inside, blue outside,
with the typical flowers of the four seasons.
Large Fish Bowls ( Yii Kang), 680, decorated with
blue flowers on a white ground.
MING DYNASTY. 225
Teacups {Oti)^ 9,000, with foliated rims, of greenish
white (cTi'mg pai) or celadon porcelain.
Bowls ( lVa?i), 10,200, decoi-ated outside with lotus
flowers, fish, and water plants, painted in blue on a white
ground ; inside, upon a blue ground, with dragons and
phoenixes passing through flowers, and with a band of
drao-ons and flowers round the rim.
Teaciqjs {Oti), 19,800, of the same pattern.
Libation Gups (^Clmeli), 600, with hill-shaped saucers
{shan-p'ari) to support the three feet, of blue color,
decorated with sea-^vaves and a pair of dragons in clouds.
Wine Pots or Ewers (Hii), 6,000, of white porcelain.
The list of Chi Cli'i or " sacrificial vessels " enumerated
in the same book on one of the other occasions compi'ises
ten Mao Hsileh P''an^ " Dishes for the hair and blood " of
sacrificial victims ; forty Tieh, " Platters " ; four Tai
Keng Wan, " Bowds for plain broth " ; ten Ho Kerig
Wan, " Bowls for savory broth " ; one hundred Chiu
Chung, "Wine-Cups"; twenty-three Chileh, "Libation
cups of tripod form " ; eighty Pien Tou P''an, " Tazza-
shaped Bowls and Dishes " for offerings of bread, fruit,,
etc. ; six T''ai Tsiin, " Large Wine-Jars " with swelling
body and two mask handles of monsters' heads; six Hsi
Tsun, " Rhinoceros Jars," modeled in the form of a
rhinoceros carrying on its back a vase w ith cover ; two
Ohu Tsun, like tall cylindrical cups; and ionv Shan Leiy
" Hill and Thunder " cups, so called from the scrolled
designs engraved upon them. These ritual forms, which
are still in use at the present day, are all figured in book
XXV of the Plustrations of the Institutes of the Peign-
ing Dynasty (^Ta dicing Ilui Tien T^ou). They are
enameled of different colors, according to the temple for
which they are made : Blue for the Altar of Heaven and
for the Temple of the Land and Gi-ain ; yellow for the
Altar of Earth, for the worship of the god of agriculture
226 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
and of tlie goddess of silk ; red for the Altar of the Sun ;
aud ivJiite for the Altar of Jupiter, the '^ year star " of the
Chinese.
In the year 1544 we find the enormous order of 1,340
sets of table services, cho cWi^ each consisting of twenty-
seven pieces, comprising five huo tieh, " fruit dishes," five
ts'ai tieh, "food dishes," five wan, " bowls," five yuii tieh,
" vegetable dishes," three ch^a chung, " tea-cups," one
chiu ohan, " wine-cup," one chiu tieh, " wine-saucer," one
cha ton, " sloj) receptacle," and one ts\i chui, " vinegar
cruse or ewer." Of these services, 380 sets were painted
in blue, with a pair of dragons surrounded by clouds;
160 were enameled white, with dragons engraved in the
paste underneath ; 160 were of monochrome brown of
thu fonct-laque or "dead-leaf" tint (tzii chin)', 160 of
monochrome turquoise-blue {t^m cliUng se) ; 160 of coral
or iron-red (fan hung), " instead of bright copper-red
(hsien hung) ''"' ; and 160 were enameled brilliant green
(ts'ui la).
The designs of the decorated porcelain of this time
are said to have been principally derived from ancient
embroidery and brocaded silks. They are conveniently
described in the Ta'o Shuo, in a list which we extract,
under the following six headings :
1. Painted in Blue on a White Ground.
2. Blue Porcelain.
3. White Inside, Blue Outside.
4. White Porcelain.
5. Brown Porcelain.
6. Mixed Colors.
MING DYNASTY. 227
1. Painted in Blue on a White Ground.
Bowls ( Wan), decorated with dragons pursuing
jewels, and outside with weighing-scales and playing
children.
Bowls with the ground, inside and out, filled with
graceful beauties.*
Boids with medallions framed by bamboo leaves and
the sacred funociis, containing drao;ons in clouds and
dragons and phcenixes passing through flowers.
Bowls decorated outside with dragons emerging from
sea- waves, holding up the eight mystical trigrams;
inside, with the three alchemists (i. e., Confucius, Lao-
Tzii, and Buddha) compounding the elixir vitm.
Bowls decorated outside ^vith dragons and with
phcenixes and other birds ; inside with dragons in the
midst of clouds.
Bowls decorated outside with four fish — the mackerel,
carp, marbled perch, and another; inside, with birds fly-
ing in the midst of clouds.
Wine-Cups {Clian), decorated outside with celestial
flowers supporting the characters Shou shan fu lial,
" Old as the hills, rich as the sea ! " inside, with two
Taoist genii.
Wine-Cups {Cliiu Cliari), \s\\X\ a pair of dragons
among clouds outside, and dragons and clouds upon a
blue ground inside.
Wine-Cups with dragons among clouds outside, and
soaring dragons inside.
Wine-Cups with dragons of archaic design outside,
and storks flying through clouds inside.
* Referring, perhaps, to the slender, graceful flgures of Chinese damsels
called Lange Lysen by the old Dutch collectors, corrupted to "Long Elizas"
in the auction catalogues of to-day.
228 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Wine-Gups with a pair of dragous painted outside,
a pair of pluenixes inside.
Teacups (Ou), decorated outside with playing boys
and the typical flowers of the four seasons ; * inside,
with dragons emerging from water into the clouds, and
with flowering plants.
leaeups (^Ou)^ decorated outside with dragons emerg-
ing from water ; inside, with lions.
Teacups {()n)^ with emblems of tbe six cardinal
points of the universe outside ; soaring dragons
inside.
Gups (^Gliung)^ decorated with flowers and with the
inscription Fn sliou Fang ning, " Happiness, long life,
health, and peace ! "
Teacups {^GJCa Ghung), decorated inside and out with
the myriad-flowering wistaria ; and outside also with
dragons gras^^ing jewels in their claws.
Gup)s {Ghung), with playing boys outside ; dragons
among clouds inside.
Teamips {GKa Ghung), decoi-ated outside with
dragon medallions and water caltrops ; inside, with
dragons and clouds reserved on a blue ground.
Gups (^Gliung), with clouds and dragons outside,
floi-al medallions inside.
Wine Vases (Ghiu T^un), beaker-shaped, decorated
with the flr, bamboo, and plum.
Saiicei'-sliaped Dishes {TieJi), filled inside and out with
bevies of graceful beauties.
Dislies (^Tieli), with cranes, inside and out, flying
through clouds.
Dishes {Tieli)^ decorated outside with dragons envel-
oped in Indian lotus flowers ; inside, with phoenixes
flying through floAvers.
* The tree peony of spring, the lotus of summer, the chrysanthemum of
autumn, and the plum of winter.
MING DYNASTY. 229
Dishes {Tieli)^ decorated outside with fruit-bearing
lotus j)lants ; inside, witli medallions of flowers.
Dishes {TieJi)^ with the same decoration outside;
dragons and phoenixes inside.
Dishes {Tieli), with phoenixes flying through flowers
outside; sporting dragons, both ascending and descend-
ing, inside.
Jars {Kuaii)^ with covers, decorated with a set of
eight precious symbols supported upon branching
scrolls of the sacred funo-us.
Jars {KiLWii)^ ^\dth the eight Taoist immortals cross-
ing the sea.
Jars (Kuaii), decorated with Pao-lao Revels — Pro-
cessions of children in masquerade costume at the new
year.
Jars (^Ki(aii)^ decorated with peacocks and moutan
peonies.
Jars (Ktiaii), decorated Avith lions sporting with
embroidered balls.
Jars (Kuari), ^vith a set of eight precious symbols
supported upon interlacing sprays of conventional
flowers of paradise.
Jars (ICuan), decorated with graceful beauties, and
with difll:'erent kinds of fish feeding upon water-weeds.
Jars (^Kuaii), decorated with the eight famous hoi'ses
— the chai'iot team of the ancient sovereign Mil- Wang
of the Chou dynasty.
Jars (Kuan), decorated with mountain landscapes of
the province of Ssti-ch'uan, "with waterfalls and flying lions.
Jars (Kuari), with the eight mystic trigrams sup-
ported by waves and flames of fire.
Octagonal Jars (^Pa-pien Kuaii), with a picture of the
sea and flying dragons on each of the eight sides.
Yases {P'^incj), bottle-shaped, decorated with hoary
lions and dra2:ons.
230 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Vases (PHng), decorated with scrolls of the sacred
fungus and the floral emblems of the four seasons.
Large Round Dishes {P''an), decorated outside with
floral emblems of the four seasons ; inside, with a land-
scape containing three rams {San ya/ng Vai tai), types
of the revivifying power of spring.
Dishes {P''aTi), decorated outside with nine dragons
and flowers; inside, with dragons mounting from the
sea into the clouds.
Dishes {P''a7i), decorated Avith ocean views containing
flying lions and with dragons upholding the two char-
acters fu shou, " hap})iness and long life."
Dishes (P\m\ decorated outside with four Taoist
divinities ; inside, with cranes flying through clouds.
Dishes {P''a')i), painted outside with clouds and
dragons; inside, with the band of eight Taoist im-
mortals worshiping Shoti Lao, the god of longevity.
JPrwit Boxes {Kuo Ho), of circular form ^vith rounded
covers, decorated with dragons and cranes in the midst
of clouds.
Boxes decorated with hoary lions and dragons on a
blue ground.
Boxes (LIo), painted with dragons and phoenixes and a
group of Taoist immortals displaying longevity characters.
Large Bowls {Kang), for keeping goldfish, decorated
with a pair of dragons enveloped in clouds.
Fish-Bowls {Kang), painted inside with di'agons and
clouds.
Tall Jars {TUiii), for wine, of ovoid form, with a
slender base swelling upward to a rounded shoulder,
and a rim cover fitting over the small mouth, decorated
with the eight precious symbols (^'pa pao) and the eight
Buddhist emblems of good augury (^pa chi-hsiang), sup-
ported by interlacing sjDrays of lotus, with a pair of
scales and playing children.
MING DYNASTY. 231
Tall Whu-Jcvrs {T\iii), decorated with the hundred
different forms of the character sliou^ "■ longevity," sup-
ported by interlacing sprays of lotus.
Double Gourds (JIu lu), painted with different designs.
Ten thousands vases of this characteristic shape, with
contracted waist, are recorded to have been decorated in
the year 1547.
Bitual Bricks {Pa Cliuan). These were inlaid in
the floor of the audience hall or of a temple, to mark the
proper place for the worshiper to prostrate himself.
Wine Seas (OJiiu Hai),^ decorated with different
designs.
2. Blue Porcelain.
Boiols ( Wart), enameled dark blue. Bowls of sky-
blue color and Bowls of turquoise blue.
Dinner Boicls (^Shan Wan^, decorated outside with a
pair of phoenixes flying through flowers ; inside, upon
a blue ground, with scepter-framed medallions inclosing
phcenixes in pairs.
Wine-Cups (^Ohiu Chan), enameled dark blue.
Tazza Cups {Pa Chung), enameled dark blue.
Teacitps {On), decorated outside Avith lotus flowers,
fishes, and water-weeds ; inside, upon a blue ground, with
dragons aud phcenixes enveloped in flowers, and with
a floral band interrupted by dragons round the rim.
Teacups {CKa Chimg), enameled dark blue.
Saucer Plates {Tieli), enameled dark blue. Plates of
sky-blue and Plates of turquoise blue.
Plates {Tieh), with phcenixes aud cranes engraved in
the paste under the blue glaze.
(Tars {Kuaii), decorated with interlacing sprays of
flowers of paradise {pao-lisiang hua) aud with arabesques
{Hui-hd hua).
* The form of these is uuknown ; perhaps they were like our punch-bowls.
232 ORIENTAL CEKAMIC ART.
Jars (JKiMii)^ with clragous engraved in the paste
under the blue glaze.
Large Dishes (P'a/i), blue inside and out, with the
interior decorated with sea-waves and dragons, the ex-
terior with a ground of cloud scrolls, displaying either
three gilded lions or three gilded dragons. One hundred
of these were painted in the year 1552, together \vith
one hundred and eighty .of the tripod libation-cups
(chueJi), with saucers, all decorated in the, same ornate
style.
Fish-JBowIs {Kang), with a blue ground decoi'ated
with a pair of dragons, and clouds.
Fish Bowls decorated outside with a pair of dragons
in clouds and scrolls of fairy flowers upon a blue ground.
Fish Bowls of plain dark-blue monochrome glaze pre-
pared from first-class cobalt.
Tall Jars {Fan), of ovoid form, for wine, decorated
with a pair of dragons in the midst of clouds, enveloped
in flowers.
Bricks (Cliuaii), of dark-blue porcelain.
3. White Inside, Blue Outside.
Bowls ( Wan), decorated outside with a pair of dragons
in the midst of clouds.
Wine-Giq)s (^Chari), with a pair of dragons in clouds
and with birds flying.
Wine-Oups {Cha/ri), decorated with the floral emblems
of the four seasons.
4. White Porcelain.
Boivls ( Wan), with crested sea- waves engraved under
the white glaze.
Wine- Cups {Chiu Chart) and Libation- Cups {ChiXeh
MING DYNASTY. 233
Ohaii), witli phoenixes and cranes engraved under the
the glaze.
. Teacups {ClCa Ou), with oval foliated rims.
Teacups {Cli\i CJnmg^, with dragons engraved under
the white glaze.
Wme-Cu])s {Chin Chvng), enhnieled pure white (fmi
pal).
Wine- Elvers (Ch/'u Hu), Vases (P^ing), Jars (J^uan),
and Dishes {Pkin) of pure white.
Tall Ovoid Jars (T''a7i) Avith crested sea- waves in-
•cised under the ^vhite glaze.
5. Browx Porcelain.
Bowls ( Waii)^ enameled of " brown gold " (tzu chin)
color, with dragons engraved in the paste.
Bowls ( Wan)^ enameled of golden 3^ellow (chin huang)
color, with dragons engraved in the paste.
Saucer-shaped Plates {Tieh), of "Ijrown gold" color,
with incised dragons under the glaze.
Plates {Tieli)^ of golden yellow color, with dragons
incised under the glaze.
6. Mixed Colors.
Boivls ( Wan) and Plates (^Tieh), enameled coral red
with iron oxide (fan hung) ; substituted for the bright
red (hsien hung) derived from copper.
Bowls ( Wan) and Plates {Tieli)^ enameled of emerald-
green color its' ui III se).
Bowls ( Wan), decorated in yellow with phoenixes fly-
ing through fairy flowers displayed upon a blue ground.
Teacups (Ou), painted in blue with dragons and clouds,
inclosed in a yellow ground.
Wine-Cups (Chan) and Bibation-Ciq^s (Chiieh), dec-
234 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
orated in yellow \\ith phoenixes flying through fairy
flowers, displayed upon a blue ground.
Boxes (^Hd), enameled yellow with dragons and phoe-
nixes engraved under the glaze.
Large Dishes {P\m) and Saucer-shaped Plates {Tieli)^
painted in yellow with a pair of dragons and clouds
reserved in a ground enameled of " brown gold " color
{tzH-eldii).
Jars {Kiiaii) of crackled ware {s\d di'i), of which
there is only one entry, in 1542, when three hundred
were made. - -^
Teacups (Ou), with foliated-oiims of greenish-white or
celadon porcelain (ch''ing pai tz^u), of which nine thou-
sand were provided in the year 1554.
Large Fish-Boivls ( Yil Juing), enameled pea-green
(tou cli'ing^.
Glohnlar Bowls {Bo) of the shape of the Buddhist
patra, or alms-bowl, with embossed designs under the
plain glaze.
PS iR> LujsrG-cii'iisrG, 1567-72.
The son of the last emperor, who succeeded him,
reigned under the title of Lung-ch''ing, and died after a
short reign of six years. The porcelain made at Ching-
te-chen during this period is usually described, together
with that of the next reign of Wan-li, under the com-
bined heading of " Porcelain of Limg and Wan^ It
resembled, on the other hand, the ceramic productions
of Chia-ching, especially in the dark color of its cobalt-
blue decoration. The emperor was devoted to the pleas-
ures of the seraglio, and his libertine temperament
is reflected in the decoration of the porcelain, which is
notorious for its erotic character, while the government of
MIXG DYNASTY. 235
the country gradually fell into the hands of the eunuchs
of the palace.
In the fifth year of this reign (1571) Hsii Shih, the
President of the Censorate, presented a memorial to the
emperor, remonstrating with him upon the enormous
amount required by the eunuch in charge of the imperial
household, who had stated that the supply of the dift'er-
ent kinds of porcelain had run short, and required no
less than 105,770 table serv^ices, pairs, and single pieces, to
be furnished within eight months, including bowls, wine-
cups, and teacups enameled inside and out of brilliant
<3opper-red, as well as a quantity of the largest fish-bowls
and square boxes. The memorialist stated that the art
of firing the expensive copper-red had been lost ; that
large fish-bowls, with such broad bottoms and bulging
sides as were drawn in the patterns, could hardly be fired
unbroken ; that the designs of those to be decorated in
the " five colors " were too elaborate to be successfully
produced ; and that the square boxes in three tiers were
a novelty of most difficult fabrication. He prayed, there-
fore, that fail hung or "iron red " might be used instead
of the liskn hung or " copper red," and that the rest of
the things referred to might be reduced to one or two
tenths of the amount required by the eunuchs. More-
over, that because of the devastation of the potteries by
fiood and fire, and the flight of hundreds of the workmen,
he recommended that instead of such a large total install-
ment of fifteen thousand pieces being required at monthly
intervals, the word " monthly " should be altered to
^' yearly," or even that the quantity should be required
at intervals of two years.
The lists of the things supplied in this reign, accord-
insj to the official statistics in the annals of the citv of
Fou-liang-hsien (Fou-Iiang-hsien CJu'h), include:
Table Services {Clio Clii), decorated in blue on a
236 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
white gi'onnd ^vitll a pair of dragous among clouds, \\ith
phoenixes flying through vermilion flowers, with a Joy-
ous meeting (symbolized by magpies), with pheasants of
different kinds, with sprays of chrysanthemum blossoms,
with interlacing scrolls of [)aradise flowers, with the
sacred fungus, and with grapes.
Boioh ( IVan), painted outside in blue, with dragons
and phcenixes upon a floral ground ; in the " Ave colors,'^
with a bevy of beauties and with sprays of cut flowers ;
inside in blue, with medallions of dragons and phoenixes,
with the pine, bamboo, and [)ium, with iris flo^vers or
flags.
Hound Dishes (P''an), decorated in blue and white
outside, with pairs of dragons and phoenixes surrounded
by clouds, with nine dragons and sea-waves, with inter-
lacing scrolls of paradise flowers; inside with dramatic
scenes, with groups of the sacred fungus, with the
emblematic flowers of the four seasons.
Saucer-sliafped Plates {Tieli)^ decorated in blue and
Avhite outside, with pairs of dragons and phoenixes in
clouds, with bamboo shrubs and the sacred fungus, with
dragons and clouds amid sprays of flowers, with the pine,,
bamboo, and plum ; inside with medallions inclosing
dragons, and with the emblematic flowers of the four
seasons.
Wine-Cups (^Ohung), decorated in blue and white out-
side, with a pair of dragons in clouds, with fu-jung
(^Hibiscus mutahilis) flowers, with magpies typical of a
joyous meeting, with interlacing bands of exotic pome-
granates and arabesques ; inside with pheasants flying
through flowers, with blue pied ducks and lotus flowers^
with dramatic scenes, with lions, with historical subjects,
with a pair of weighing scales ; and others enameled
monochrome yellow, with dragons etched in the paste
under the glaze.
MINa DYNASTY. 237
Teacups iOii)^ decorated in blue and white ; outside,
with dragons and phoenixes surrounded by flowers, with
the eight Buddhist emblems of happy augury, M'ith
five dragons and lightly penciled sea-waves, with the
typical flowers of the four seasons emblazoned with the
four characters ClCien Vuii cIlUiuj fal — i. e. " May
heaven and earth be fair and fruitful ! " — ^vith the eight
Taoist immortals worshiping the god of longevity, with
the sacred lotus of India ; inside, with flying fishes, with
nine dragons, painted red, in the midst of blue sea-waves
and fishes, with the pine, bamboo, and plum, with di-ag-
ons and phrenixes in the midst of a floral ground.
'Tars with Covers {Knan)^ decorated in blue and white,
with a pair of dragons coiling through clouds, with
phoenixes flying through flowers, with lions sporting
with embroidered balls, with interlacing scrolls of
raoutan peonies ; decorated, on a blue ground, with
flowers and fruit and with birds of various kinds reserved
in white ; painted in " five colors " with dragons in the
midst of clouds, with fairy flowers of paradise, with
flowering plants and butterflies or other insects.
Vases {P'iiKj), decorated in blue and white, with
dragons and phoenixes enveloped in flowers, with playing
boys carrying branches of flowers in their hands,"*" with
jasmine flowers, with ai'abesques and fairy flowers of
paradise.
Wine-Cups {Chan), decorated outside in blue and
white, with soaring dragons and with the sacred fungus,
in "five colors," with curved waves and plum flowers;
* This is the decoration penciled in blue upon the melon-shaped body of the
wine-pot with the Elizabethan silver mounting bearing the hall-mark of 1585,
which was referred to in my introductory chapter as being in the South Ken-
sington Museum. Four pieces of Chinese blue and white porcelain in silver-
gilt mounts are described in the Catalogue of the Burlington Fine Arts Club,
referred to above, from the Burghley House Collection, said to have been in
the possession of the Cecil family since the days of Queen Elizabeth.
238 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
inside, with dragons in tlie midst of clouds, with althaea
flowers, with the pine, bamboo, and plum; and others
enameled white, with dragons and clouds etched in the
paste under the glaze.
£asins (i^'e/z), decorated outside in blue and white,
with dragons and clouds, in " five colors," with bevies of
beauties, with familiar or with dramatic scenes, with his-
torical subjects, with lotus flowers and dragons ; inside
with dragons and clouds, with scrolled waves and plum
blossoms.
Censers {Hsiang Lu), for burning incense, decorated,
in blue and white, with a pair of dragons in clouds, with
arabesques of flowers and fruit, with birds of various
kinds, with nine dragons and lightly penciled sea-waves,
with lotus flowers ; decorated in red and white, with a
pair of dragons and clouds, with interlacing sprays of
fairy flowers of paradise.
Incense Boxes {Hsiang Ho), decorated, in blue and
white, Avith a pair of dragons soaring into the clouds,
with the pine, bamboo, and plum, \\\\\\ separate sprays of
chrysanthemum flowers.
Slop Receptacles {Cha Tou),oi square form, decorated,
in blue and white, with a pair of dragons in clouds, with
phoenixes and flowers, wdth sea-Avaves and sea-monsters,
with lions sporting with embroidered ])alls, with joyous
magpies on a floral ground, with pheasants.
Vinegar Eivers (Ts^u T^i), decorated, in blue and
Avhite, with pairs of dragons and phwuixes in the midst
of clouds, with flowering plants and quadrupeds, with
pheasants flying thi'ough flowers, with lions playing with
embroidered balls, with single sprays of the typical
flowers of the four seasons.
Tall Wine-Jars {T''an), of ovoid form, decorated, in
blue and white, with pairs of dragons and phoenixes in
the midst of clouds, with outdoor scenes containing wild
MING DYNASTY. 239
animals, witli flying fishes, with the typical flowers of the
four seasons, with the eight Buddhist emblems of happy
augury ; Jars with gilded decorations of peacocks and
tree-peonies. All these have covers with the figure of a
lion molded upon them.
H S Wan-li (1573-1619).
The emperor who reigned for forty-seven years under
the title of Wan-li was the sou of the last. The manu-
facture of porcelain increased to a remarkable extent dur-
ing his long reign, and the Chinese declare that thei'e was
nothiuo; that could not be made of it. It was stimulated
by the large orders for export to foreign countries, which
came from Eui"ope as well as fi'om western Asia. The
Emperor Wan-li is said to have sent a present of large
blue and white vases to Jeliangir^ the Mogul Emperor of
India, which were kept in the palace at Agra until it was
sacked by the Mahrattas in 1771. Blue and white
porcelain of this reign has been discovered recently in
large quantities in Ceylon, as well as in Persia, and a col-
lection of the famous "dragon vases," which Augustus
the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony,
obtained, it is said, from Frederick the Great of Prussia,
in exchange for a regiment of tall grenadiers, may be
seen in the Johanneum at Dresden.
In the preceding reigns the decoration \^'as mainly in
blue and white, with the addition occasionally of colored
glazes to relieve the blue designs, or to make, on the
other hand, a decoration penciled in a single color dis-
played ujDon a surrounding ground of mottled blue.
The rare pieces decorated in colors were inlaid, as it
were, with the same colored o-lazes. It is in the rei2;n of
Wan-li that we find a new process of decoration in
enamel colors introduced, the colors being composed of
240 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
a vitreous blue combined witli a small proportion of dif-
ferent metallic oxides, of the same composition as those
emplo3^ed in enameling upon copper. These enamel
colors were painted upon porcelain which had been pre-
viously glazed and fired, and fixed by a second firing in
the mufile stove. Tliis foi-nis tlie typical Wan-li wu tiai
or " Wan-li decoration in colors." The enamel colors
were often used in combination with underglaze cobalt-
blue in which the outlines and part of the decoration 'had
been penciled before the first firing. The application of
cobalt as an overglaze color was not employed appar-
ently till the reign of K\ing-lisi, as described by Pere
d'Entrecolles in his valuable lettei's, and this point sup-
plies a means of distinguishing the productions of the
two reigns. It may be inferred confidently that any
piece in \vhicli the blue has been fired as a silicate like
the other enamel colors, so that it stands out in relief
above the surface of the white glaze, is subsequent to the
Wan-li period. The principal objection to this mode of
applying the cobalt-blue is that the color has a tendency
to scale off, and this is the reason that the old method of
painting it on under the glaze, even when combined with
enamel colors, remains in vogue to the present day.
. The wholesale production of the reign of Wan-li is
shown l:)y the abundance of porcelain of this time in the
present day at Peking, where a garden of any pretension
must have a large bowl or cistern for goldfish, and street
hawkers may be seen with sweetmeats piled up on dishes
a yard in diameter, or ladling sirup out of large bowls ;
and there is hardly a butcher's shop Avithout a cracked
Wan-li jar standing on the counter to hold scraps of
meat. This is the Ming T£u^ the porcelain of the Ming
dynasty, par excellence^ of the Chinese, with its perfectly
vitrified glaze and brilliant style of coloring, charac-
teristic of the period, but of coarse paste and often
MING DYKASTY. 241
clumsy ill form, the bottom of tlie vase generally im-
glazed, and the mark inscribed outside near the rim. It
is very different from the porcelain which so frequently
figures as Ming in European collections, and which is
usually to be referred to the reign of K^ing-hsi, although
often bearing a fictitious mark of the Ming dynasty.
AVe find Wang Chingmin, one of the Supervising
Censors, remonstrating, in the year 1583, ^vith the em-
peror upon the extravagance of the orders for the palace.
He protests against the expense of the pricket candle-
sticks {cku fed), the large slabs for screens {p'ing feng),
and the brush-handles (^pi huan). There must of course,
he says, be a suflicient provision of bowls, plates, and
cups of different form for the table service of the sover-
eign, and no deficiency should be permitted in the vases
and dishes required for sacrificial worship ; but with
regard to the other things, the apparatus for chess, with
boards and jars for holding the black and white pieces,
this is a mere pastime ; and even the screens and brush-
handles, the ornamental vases and jars, the boxes for
incense and the censers, are not of such urgent necessity.
The numbers are, he declares, much too large — 20,000
boxes Qio) of different pattei'u, 4,000 vases (p^ing), and
5,000 jars (Jcvcui) with covers, of diverse shape and dec-
oration, mounting up with the bowls and other things
to a total of over 96,000. He, moreover, prays that the
dragons, phoenixes, and other decorative designs should
be all painted in plain blue, without the addition of
other colors, because enameling in colors (^wu tscfi^
and openwork carving (ling-lung) were both of difficult
execution and too meretricious in style. He quotes in
his memorial the ancient Emperor SJiun, whose vessels
are said to have been unvarnished, and the great Yic,
who refused to have his sacrificial bowls of wood chis-
eled, as models to be imitated. The result of this appeal
242 OKIENTAL CEEAJIIC ART.
was the lessening by one half of the number of pricket
candlesticks, go-hoards, screens, and brush-handles.
The following list, taken from the same official source
as that of the last reign, will give some idea of the dec-
orative designs used in the imperial potteries.
1. Painted in Blue on a White Ground.
Bowls ( Wail), decorated outside witli pairs of dragons
and phoenixes in the midst of clouds and lotus flowers,
with interlacing sprays of Indian lotus, with fairy flowers
of paradise ; inside, with a medallion of dragons in clouds
and a border of dragons interrupted by the eight Bud-
dhist emblems of happy augury, with crested sea-waves,
and a border of propitious clouds, with fragrant plants,
and with scrolled waves and plum-blossoms.
Boivls ( Wan), decorated outside with dragons in the
midst of clouds, with flshes and lotus flowers, with play-
ing boys, with the seal characters Fu shou Fang ning —
i. e., " Happiness, longevity, wealth, and peace ! " — with
ara))esques of flowers, with sea monsters, with lions sport-
ing with embroidered balls ; inside, with storks flying in
the clouds, with a bunch of lotus fruit, with lilies,
with propitious scrolls of clouds ; and with the inscribed
mark Ta Ming Wan U nien chili, " Made in the reign of
Wan-li of the great Ming [dynasty]."
Bowls ( Wa)i), decorated outside with medallions of
dragons in clouds, with a pair of phoenixes, with bro-
caded designs and sea- waves, with Fu, Lu, and Shou, the
gods of happiness, rank, and longevity, with branches of
sacred fungus ; inside, with a pair of dragons holding
longevity characters in their claws, with Jasmine flowers,
and painted in enamel coloi's inside, ^vith phoenixes flying
through the typical flowers of the four seasons.
Bowls ( Wan), decorated outside with longevity
MING DYNASTY. 243
subjects, with harvest fruits, with emblems of the mid-
summer holiday — sprigs of acorns and artemisia, hung up
in China on the fifth day of the fifth moon — with lotus
flowers, and fishes feeding upon water-weeds ; inside,
with a full-faced dragon coiled in clouds upon a blue
ground at the bottom, and the pine, bamboo, and plum
round the rim.
Bowls (^Wan\ decorated outside with a pair of drag-
ons in the midst of clouds, with the eight Taoist im-
mortals crossing the ocean, with boxes of the typical
flowers of the four seasons ; inside, with a full-faced
dragon with archaic longevity characters, with ju-i
scepters, with hibiscus flowers, and with bamboo sprays
and branches of fungus round the rim.
Dishes (P^m), decorated outside with dragons in
clouds and phcenixes, in pairs, enveloped in flowers, with
interlacing sprays of fairy flowers, with the pine, bam-
boo, and iA\xm ; inside, with branches of the typical
flowers of the four seasons, with arabesque scrolls of
fruit, with ju-i scepters, with the pine, bamboo, and
plum, and with bamboo sprays and branching fungus
round the rim.
Dishes (D^m), decorated outside with dragons and
lotus flowers, ^vith dragons and phcenixes enveloped in
flowers, with the pine, bamboo, and plum, with illustra-
tions of poetry, with familiar scenes, with historical sub-
jects, with j)laying boys ; inside, with sci'olls of clouds,
with sprays of fragrant bamboo and sacred fungus round
the rim, and with dragons, clouds, and conventional
flowers incised under the o-laze.
Dishes (Dkm), decorated outside Avitli medallions of
archaic lizardlike dragons, with branches of sacred fun-
gus, with ji(-l scepters and fairy flowers, with exotic
pomegranates and fragrant flowers ; inside, with a dragon
in the center holding the four chanictevs Yk ng jx(0 iv mi
244 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
shou — i. e., " Ever protecting for myriads of ages ! " ;
round the border, with phoenixes and fairy flowers, the
inscription Yung ])ao Itung fu clCi fien — i. e., " Ever
insuring abundant happiness reaching to the heavens ! "
— and with playing boys.
DisJies (P''a)i), decorated outside with interlacing sprays
of lotus, with dragons and phoenixes supporting a set of
<d\ght precious symbols, with flowers and fruit, with the
pine, bamboo, and plum, with Sanskrit dharani or invoca-
tions, with branches of the typical flowers of the four
seasons ; inside, with a dragon surrounded by flowers, in
the middle, and round the borders with scattered branches
of the flowers of the four seasons, with familiar scenes,
with historical subjects, with bamboo sprays and the
sacred fungus, with longevity pictures, and with moutan
peonies.
Plates {Tielh)^ decorated outside with phoenixes flying
through flowers, with flowers, fruit, and birds, with floral
emblems of long life, with a bevy of beauties, with wild
animals among trees, with dragons and lotus leaves ;
inside, with a set of eight precious symbols and antique
dragons, with Sanskrit invocations supported upon fairy-
flower scrolls, with dragons and phoenixes, with familiar
scenes, and with historical subjects.
Plates (Tielh)^ decorated outside with interlacing
branches of the tree-peony supporting eight precious
symbols, with crested sea-waves, with the Indian lotus
in enameled colors, with fabulous monsters, and with a
group of beauties ; inside, with a pair of dragons among
clouds, with dragons and j^jhoenixes worked in the
paste under the glaze, with flowers of paradise, with lions
sporting with embroidered balls, with the eight Buddhist
emblems of happy augury, with propitiously scrolled
clouds and branches of sacred fungus, with flowers and
fruit.
MING DYNASTY. 245
Plates (Tieh), decorated outside witli the jasmine and
interlacing s^^rays of fairy flo^\'ers, with archaic lizardlike
draojons brino-ino; branches of sacred funofus ; inside, with
dragons and phoenixes painted in enamel colors, encircled
round the rim with the inscription JFhiju tung hai — i. e.,
"Rich as the eastern ocean !" — with the eight Buddhist
emblems upon a brocaded ground, encircled round the
border with a set of eight precious symbols borne upon
scrolls of fairy flowers.
Plates (^Tieli), decorated outside with chains of bamboo
s^^rays and sacred fungus, with flowers and fruit, with a
set of eiglit precious symbols, with pairs of di-agons in
clouds and phoenixes ; inside, with dragons in the midst
of the typical flowers of the four seasons, with longevity
scenes enameled in colors, with pictures of family life,
with sacred peach trees ; round the rim, with grapes.
Wine-Ckips (^Chtmg), decorated outside with a pair of
dragons among clouds, ^vith interlacing bands of exotic
pomegranates, ^vitli lions sporting with embroidered balls ;
inside, ^vith dragons among clonds sui'rounded by flowers,
with propitious scrolls of clouds and a border of fragrant
plants, with nine dragons painted in red in the midst of
blue sea-waves, with water birds and lotus flowers enam-
eled in colors, and with Buddhist invocations in Sanski-it
round the sides.
Wi7ie-0ups (Chung), decorated outside with wreaths
of peaches having archaic longevity characters inscribed
upon the fruit, with interlacing sprays of the flowers of
the four seasons, with Sanskrit Buddhist invocations ;
inside, wdth storks flying in clouds, M'ith jewels emitting
effulgent rays, pursued by a pair of dragons among
clouds worked in the paste under the glaze, with lotus
flowers and fishes, with sea- waves penciled upon a blue
ground.
Teacups {Ou), decorated outside with dragons and
246 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
phoenixes in the midst of flowers, with the eight Taoist
immortals worshiping the god of longevity, with ara-
besque scrolls of conventional fairy flowers ; inside, with
dragons and clouds in a medallion, with fishes and lotus
flowers, with a river scene and reeds, with Sanskrit invo-
cations supported by flowers.
Teacups (Ou), decorated outside with medallions of
dragons and scrolled clouds, with bamboo sprays and
sacred fungus, with fishes and water- weeds painted in
enamel colors; inside, with longevity characters in seal
script, with ju-i scepters, with moutan peony flowers, and
wit\\Ju-i wands enameled in colors.
Wine-Ciips (Chan), decorated outside with dragons
among clouds, with jasmine flowers, with birds, with
graceful ladies, with playing boys, with the eight Bud-
dhist emblems of happy augury supported upon scrolls
of sacred fungus ; inside, with grapes, with sprays of the
flowers of the four seasons, with Buddhist dha7'ani in
Sanskrit script, with garlands of the floral emblems of
longevity.
Wine- Cups iChan)^ decorated outside with a pair of
dragons among clouds in the midst of flowers, with famil-
iar scenes, with historical subjects, with nine monsters in
blue surrounded by red sea- waves; inside, with ^V^Avands
and fragrant flowers, with plum flowers upon scrolled
waves, with pheasants flying through flowers, with red
sea- waves rising into white crests.
Wine-Cups (^Chmi), decorated outside Avith pairs of
dragons and phoenixes surrounded by clouds ; inside, with
yellow hibiscus flowers, with twining scrolls of sacred
fungus, with chrysanthemum flowers enameled in colors.
Boxes {Jio), decorated with dragons in propitious
scrolls of clouds, with dragons and phoenixes in the
midst of flowers, with the inscription T'eng fiao yit sliiin,
T''ien lisia tai pHng — i. e., " AVith favorable winds and
MING DYjS^ASTY. 247
seasonable mius, may peace prevail tlironghout the
world ! " with a symbolical head having the hair dressed
in four puffs bearing the characters Yung pao cWang
chJuii — i. e., " Evei' preserving lasting spring ! " — with
the eight mystic trigrams and the monad yin-yang sym-
bol, with Taoist divinities holding the characters ClCien
ISun clCing tai — i. e., " May heaven and earth be fair and
fruitful ! "
Boxes {Ho), decorated with fabulous monsters paying
court to the celestial dragon, with brocades of scroll pat-
tern, with a group of beautiful forms, with diapered
grounds, -with hibiscus flow^ers, with interlacing lozenges
{fang-sheng), with flowers, fruit, and birds, with flower-
ing plants and insects.
Boxes {Ho), inscribed Wan hu eliding eWiui, Ssu liai
lai cKao — i. e., "Through myriads of ages everlasting
spring, and tribute coming from the four seas " — dec-
orated on the covers with dragons, with the typical
flowers of the four seasons, with familiar scenes, and
Avith historical subjects.
Boxes {Ho), inscribed TUeii hsia fai p'tng, Ssu fang
hsiarig tiao — i. e., " Peace prevailing throughout the
world, and aromatic plants from, the four quarters " —
decorated with Jw-/ scepters, and on the covers with ara-
besques, with figure scenes, and with lozenge symbols
enameled in colors.
Boxes {Ho), decorated with familiar scenes and with
historical subjects ; and on the covers with dragons and
clouds, with playing boys, with the typical flowers of the
four seasons ; and enameled in colors with dragons and
clouds, with flowers, fruit, and birds, with longevity seal
characters supported upon scrolls of sacred fungus.
Cups {Pel), decorated outside Avith winged lions flying
over sea-waves, with interlacing sprays of the typical
flowers of the four seasons, with antique dragons carry-
248 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
ing jasmine flowers, witli branches of sacred fungus, with
pomegranates ; inside, with hibiscus flowers, with tree
peonies, with scrolled sea-waves, with fairy flowers.
Cups {Pei) and Saucers {J^^ari), decorated outside with
moutan peonies ; in gold, with chrysanthemums, with
hibiscus flowers, with the typical flowers of the four
seasons; in enamel colors, with a set of eight precious
symbols, with grapes, with bees hovering round a
blossoming plum ; inside, with hibiscus flowers, with
moutan peonies, with seal longevity characters ; in enamel
colors, with lotus flowers, wdth figures of ancient coins.
Cliopstick Saucers (Chti I^\in), decorated outside
Avith dragons in the clouds and sea-waves ; inside, with
the center worked in relief, encircled by clouds and
dragons.
Wine Seas {Cliiu Hai), decorated with scrolls of
gilded lotus flowers supporting longevity characters in
antique seal script.
Censers {Hsiang Lu), decorated with the eight m3^sti-
cal trigrams and the monad yin-yang symbol, with
branches of sacred fungus, with landscapes, with dragons
and clouds.
Censers {Hsiang Lit), decorated outside with lotus
flowers, with fragrant plants and ju-i wands, with
dragons and clouds worked in relief, with arabesques
and fragrant floAvers, with dragons surrounded by clouds,
with branches of sacred fungus, with conventional fairy
flowers, with branches of sacred fungus carved in open-
work, with figures of ancient " cash."
Yases {P''ing), decorated wdth dragons and phoenixes
envelo^^ed in flowers, with pictures of animal life, with
the ginseng plant and sacred fungus, with argus pheas-
ants and tree-peonies, with storks flying through clouds,
Avith the eight trigram symbols, with the hemp-leaved
lotus of India.
MING DYNASTY. 249
Bealcer-sliaped Vases (Ha FHng), decorated with
medallions of dragons surrounded by the typical flowers
of the four seasons, with religious inscriptions in Sanskrit
script supported upon scrolls of Indian lotus, with phce-
nixes flying through flowers of the four seasons, with
grapes and slices of watermelon, with dragons holding
up the characters slieng shou — i. e., " Wisdom and long
life" — with leafy sprays of apricot, with gilded fishes
swimming among water-weeds enameled in colors.
Floiver Vases {Hna PUng), modeled in the shape of
one of the halves of a double gourd (Jm-Iff), split longi-
tudinally, so as to hang against the ^vall, decorated with
dragons among clouds, with wild geese in reeds, with the
pine, bamboo, and plum.
Flower Vases (Hua F''ing), decorated ^vith flowers
and fruit, with pictures of birds, ^vith flowering plants
and butterflies, with familiar scenes, with historical
subjects.
Flxytjoer Vases {Una P ''ing'), decorated with ph(ieuixes
flying through the typical flowers of the four seasons,
with groups of beautiful figures ; and, in enamel colors,
with dragons enveloped by the flowers of the four
seasons, with a set of eight precious symbols supported
upon scrolls of sacred fungus, with strings of jewels and
fragrant plants.
'Jars (Kuan), decorated with landscapes, with fl}iug
lions, with dragons and clouds, with peacocks and
moutan peonies, with the eight Taoist immortals crossing
the ocean, with the four " lights " worshiping the star of
longevity, and six cranes symbolizing the cardinal points
of the universe ; and Fars enameled in colors with
familiar scenes and historical subjects.
Slop Feceptacles (QKa Toil), decorated with a pair of
dragons in the midst of clouds, and with a string of mag-
pies flying through flowers.
250 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
8lo2J Receptacles {GKa Tmi^^ decorated with dragons
and clouds, with arabesqii;^- of fragrant plants, with
familiar scenes, with historical subjects, with flowers
and fruit, ^vith branches of sacred fungus.
Vinegar Ewers {Ts^u Ti), decorated ^vith a pair of
dragons among clouds, witli interlacing scrolls of fairy
flowers.
Chess-Board (^CNi F\(n), decorated with dragons
surrounded by clouds.
Hanging Oil-Lamps {Citing T\ii^, decorated with
drao;ons niountiuo- from sea- waves into clouds, with the
typical flowers of the four seasons, with gilded chrysan-
themums and hibiscus flowers.
PricTcet Candlesticks {Cliu T\ii), decorated with six
stoi'ks flying to the six cardinal points of the universe,
with the sacred fungus supporting a set of eight precious
symbols and fairy flowers, with jn-i scepters and dragons
in clouds.
PricTcet Candlesticlcs {Chu T\(i), decorated with jewel
mountains in the midst of the sea and with dragons in
clouds, with medallions containing boys seated, with
twigs of Oleafragrans in their hands, with water-plants,
lotus-leaf borders, and flowers.
Jars for Candle- Snuff {Cliien Chu ^^/<:m), decorated
with dragons and phoenixes among clouds enveloped in
typical flowers of the four seasons.
Screens {P^ing), decorated round the border ^vith
brocaded bands inclosing flowers, fruit, and birds, in the
center with a pair of dragons grasping jewels in their
claws.
Pencil-Brush Handles {Pi Ktiati), decorated with
brocaded designs, with conventional fairy flowers and
sacred fungus surrounded by clouds, with the river
pictures and writings discovered in ancient times.
Brush-Pots {Pi Ch'ung), of cylindrical form, deco-
MING DYISTASTY. 251
rated with dragon medallions and a set of eight precious
symbols.
Perfume- Boxes {Hsiang Lieii), decorated with kilin
{cKi-lin) and ornamental medallions, with winding scrolls
of conventional fairy flowers, with spiral bands inclosing
fl.owers and fruit, \vith the eight Buddhist emblems of
happy augury, with branches of the sacred fungus, with
plum blossoms and sea-waves.
Fan Cases (^Shan Hsia), decorated with dragons in
clouds and borders of spiral fret.
Pencil Pests {Pi Chia), decorated with borders of sea-
waves surrounding three dragons in the midst worked in
high relief with openwork carving, and with landscape
pictures.
Pallet Water-Pots ( Yen Shui Ti), decorated with
couchant dragons, with elephants carrying vases of
jewels, Avith familiar scenes.
Betel-nut Boxes {Pin-lang Lit), decorated with familiar
scenes, with historical subjects, with fragrant plants and
lotus petals.
Hat Boxes {Kuan Lii)^ decorated with brocaded
grounds interrupted by round medallions, and with
dragons coiling through branches of the typical flowers
of the four seasons.
Handkerchief Boxes {Chin Bu), decorated outside with
round medallions upon a brocaded ground, with a pair
of dragons grasping the eight characters, Yung pao
cWang shou, ssil hai lai cJi^ao, meaning " EAer preserving
long life, Homage coming from the four seas ! " \\\i\\
familiar scenes, with historical subjects, with the typical
flowers of the four seasons; inside, with branches of the
sacred fungus, with the pine, bamboo, and plum, with
blossoming orchids.
Garden Seats {Liang Tun), barrel-shaped, carved in
pierced openwork with designs of a pair of dragons
252 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
grasping jewels in their claws, with flying dragons, with
lions, with sea-horses.
Wi7ie-Jars {T''a)i), of tall ovoid form, decorated with
propitious scrolls of clouds, with a hundred dragons^
w^ith a hundred storks ; otliers enameled in colors with
a hundred deer and inscribed Yung jpcio chHen h^un — i. e.^
" Ever protecting Leaven and earth ! "
Garden Boioh {Kang), for fish or flowers, decorated
with fishes and water-weeds, with a set of eight precious
symbols and fragrant plants, with lotus flowers, with
groups of graceful forms, with sea-waves and plum-
blossoms.
There are two typical examples in the collection of the
blue and white porcelain of this period which have been
illustrated to show the general style of decoration. The
first, Fig. 153, is a jar with a procession of the eight
Taoist genii crossing the sea holding up their several
emblems, Pa Hsien huo hai, which is inscribed under-
neath with the '^ six-character mark " of the reign inclosed
within a double ring. The second, Fig. 81, is a tall ewer
with long spout and flowing handle, decorated with
phcenixes and storks flying among scrolled clouds, subse-
,quently mounted with metal of Oriental workmanship
and studded all over with precious stones.
2. Painted in Enamel Colors.
Chess Boards (^ChH P\iri), decorated with dragons
among clouds.
Brush Handles {Pi Kuan), decorated with sea-waves
and clouds and ascending and descending dragons.
Brush Cylinders (PI Ch'^ung), decorated with dragons
and sea-waves, and with the typical flowers of the four
seasons in circular medallions.
Floioer Vases {Hua Tswi), with trumpet-shaped
MING DYNASTY. 253
mouths, decorated with waving fillets and ju-i wands,
with landscape pictures, with groups of sacred fungus.
Pricket Candlesticks {Chu T\U), decorated with jewel
mountains in the midst of the sea, with dragons and
clouds, with familiar scenes, with historical subjects,
with sprays of fragrant plants and rings of lotus petals.
Candle- Snuff Jars (^Chien Chu Kuan), decorated with
dragons envelo^^ed in clouds, and with jihcenixes flying
through the typical flowers of the four seasons.
Pish- Bowls {Kang)^ decorated with flowers interrupted
by medallions containing landscapes, with dragons
ascending and descending through blue clouds, Avith
phoenixes in couples.
Perfume- Boxes (Hsiang Lien), decorated with fragrant
plants, with fir-leaf pattern brocades pierced in open-
work, with the typical flowers of the four seasons.
Jars {Kuan), decorated with circular medallions on a
brocaded ground, with the typical flowers of the four sea-
sons, with fruit and birds, with the eight precious
symbols.
Pan Cases (Shan Hsia^, decorated with dragons and
clouds and borders of spiral fret.
Pencil Pests (Pi Chia), decorated with mountain land-
scapes and carved in pierced open-work.
Handkerchief Boxes (Chin Lit), decorated with the
typical flowers of the four seasons.
Sloj) Receptacles (Chhi Toil), decorated with dragons
in clouds and arabesque scrolls, with the typical flowers
of the four seasons.
Fisli-Boiols (Kang), decorated with dragons ascending
and descending through clouds, with arabesques and
sprays of fragrant flowers.
254 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
3. Painted in Mixed Colors.
Teacu])B (^Oii), plain white inside, decorated outside
with waving fillets and exotic pomegranates, penciled in
reserve upon a blue ground,
Fisli-Bowh {Kang)^ white inside, and with a blue
ground outside, decorated ^vith pairs of dragons in the
midst of clouds, with lions playing with endjroidered
balls, with interlacing scrolls of gilded lotus flowers, with
conventional fairy fl.owers.
Brush Cylinders (jPi CKung)^ decollated with white
flowers reserved upon a blue ground, and with white
dragons enveloped in the typical flowers of the four sea-
sons in the same style of decoration.
Wine-Jars {T''aii)^ of tall ovoid form, with a blue
ground, decorated with a pair of dragons in clouds grasp-
ing antique shoii (" longevity ") characters, with winged
threadlike dragons flying through a field of sacred fun-
gus, with woods and wild animals, with familiar scenes,
with historical subjects, and with the picture of the hun-
dred boys.
Barrel-Seats {Liang Tuii)^ decorated in enamel colors
with lotus flowers and dragons encircled by clouds ; and
others enameled with a monochrome yellow ground, in-
closing lotus flowers penciled in brown.
Teacups {Cli^a Chung), enameled yellow inside and
out, with dragons in the midst of clouds and conventional
flowers engraved in the paste under the glaze.
Censers {Hsiang Lu), enameled white inside, and deco-
rated outside with designs painted in enamel colors sur-
rounded by a yellow ground, with archaic lizardlike
dragons carrying branches of sacred fungus, with the
typical flowers of the four seasons, with fragrant plants
and arabesque scrolls.
MING DYNASTY. 255
Vases (PHng), of plain white porcelain, with phoenixes
in couples and conventional fairy flowers engraved in the
paste under the glaze.
Banquet Dishes (Shan P\ui), enameled white inside,
decorated outside with dragons in the midst of clouds,
penciled in red, green, yellow, or brown.
It is a long list, but useful in supplying authentic
materials as an aid to the proper classification of porcelain.
It has been compiled from the series of lists of porcelain
sent to Ching-te-chen from the palace, so that each head-
ing of bowls, for example, may comprise 10,000 or more,
of different size and style of decoration. It is useful,
too, in a negative way, as \ve may infer that any impor-
tant decoration or peculiar color not included in the list
was of subsequent invention.
The decorative designs wei'e for the most part taken
from the patterns of ancient brocades and embroidered
.silks in which China is so rich. The author of the T''ao
Shuo traces back to the third century a. d. official notices
of presents from the emperor of robes of brocaded silks,
woven Avith designs of intertwining dragons on a crimson
ground ; and he quotes a decree of the Emperor Jen
Tsung of the Sung dynasty, issued in the period Ching-
yu (1034-37), ordering that his " ceremonial hat should
be made of dark blue gauze worked with medallions of
dragons and kilins, having the interspaces filled in with
dragons and scrolled clouds in gold," and he compares
these designs with those used subsequently in the decora-
tion of porcelains. He cites as well-known names of
ancient brocade patterns : " Coiling Dragons," " Phoenixes
in Clouds," " Kilin," " Lions," " Mandarin Ducks," " The
Myriad Gems," " Dragon Medallions," '' Ph^^^enixes in
Couples," "Peacocks," "Sacred Storks," "The Fungus
Plant," " Large Lions in their Lair," " Wild Geese nesting
in the Clouds," " Phoenixes enveloped in Cloud Scrolls,"
256 OEIEISTTAL CEEAMIC ART.
" The Lily as an Emblem of Fertility," " The Hundred
Flowers," '^ Phcenixes hidden in Flowers," " Group of
Eight Taoist Immortals," " Dragons pursuing Jewels,"
" Lions sporting with Embroidered Balls," " Fish swim-
ming among Water- Weeds "; and all of these were repro-
duced by the artists on imperial porcelain. The addition
of colored monochrome grounds was also suggested, he
thinks, by brocades, accounting thus for the mottled
blue, the plain yellow, and the brown or "burnished
gold " grounds given in the list. He estimates that
about two-thirds of the designs in the Ming dynasty
were imitated from brocades, the remaining third being
either taken from Nature or copied from antiques ; while
of modern Chinese porcelain forty per cent are enameled
in foreign style, in thirty per cent the designs are taken
from Nature, twenty per cent have antique designs, and
only ten j)er cent brocade patterns.
The decoration of Chinese porcelain during the Ming
dynasty was, however, certainly not free from foreign
influence. The brilliance of the blue which dis-
tinguishes the reign of Chia-ching was confessedly due
to the cobalt ore called Hui-lmi cWing, or " Moham-
r medan blue," which was imported from abroad, to be
used in the imperial manufactory, and we occasionally
meet in the descriptions of the designs with the ex|)res-
sion Hui-hui Wen, or "Mohammedan scrolls," which I
have translated " arabesques." There was frequent
intercourse with Persia after the conquest of that
country by the Mongols, at which time Hulugu (1253—
64), the grandson of Genghis Khan, brought over a
thousand Chinese artificers to his new country; and,
later. Shah Abbas (1585-1627) is said to have settled
a colony of Chinese potters at Ispahan. Previously to
this, as we have seen before, in the account of the pro-
duction of the reign of Cherig-te, porcelain had been
MING DYNASTY. 257
painted in blue, with Arabic inscriptions, at Ching-te-
chen, after designs probably sent for the purpose from
Persia.
Among the vases in the collection attributed to the
reign of Wan-li is Fig. 167, decorated with floral ara-
besques in underglaze blue, and in emerald-green and
vermilion-red enamels, with metal mounts of Persian
work; and Fig. 164, a vase of the same cylindi'ical form^
with birds, fruit, and flowers on a diapered ground,
penciled in black filled in with brilliant enamels.
Fig. 173 shows a unicorn monster in blue and dark
green over a crackled ground; Fig. 174 a vase of tur-
quoise crackle in bold open-work relief ; and Fig. 38 {}>)
a little wine-pot enameled in turquoise blue and auber-
gine purple.
The three pieces of Lung-ch'iian celadon now to be
mentioned date from an earlier time in the Ming: Fig.
159 shows a large solid vase, decorated in relief with
bands of peony and chrysanthemum scrolls ; Fig. 44
a large fluted dish, with foliated rim nearly two feet
across, engraved under the glaze with fruit and flowers ;
and Fig. 175 a beaker-shaped vase of crackled celadon,
with foliated rim and ribbed body, and an etched
decoration under the green lustrous glaze.
The last specimen of the dynasty illustrated here is
a T\t Ting vase of the yellowish-gray ware peculiar to
the Ting-chou potteries in the province of Chihli, Fig.
177, with a molded and carved decoration under the
soft-looking glaze of ivory-white tone. It is of archaic
aspect and design, with a dragon coiled around the neck
pursuing the Jewel of omnipotence among the clouds,
and swells at the rim in the form of a bulb of gai-lic.
258 ORIENTAL CEEAJVIIC ART.
^ f^, T'ien-ch'i (1621-27) and ^ f|, ChVng-Ch^n
(1628-43).
The last two emperors of the Ming dynasty reigned
under the titles of THen-cKi and Cli'ung-chen, but they
Avere too busily engaged in repelling the invasion of the
Manchii Tartars in the north to pay much attention to
the patronage of the ceramic art. It is consequently
remarkable only for its gradual decline, which is shown
by the few dated pieces of these two periods that exist
in collections, and which differ from other porcelain of
the dynasty only in their imperfect finish and -compara-
tively coarse decoration.
The only exception that I know of is in the case of
certain small water-Jars of globular shape marked under-
neath with a single character T^ien^ " heaven," which the
Chinese call T'ien Tzii Kuan., or " Heaven-Character
Jars." They say that the inscription is only a con-
traction of the Qiien-hao, T 'ien-ch'i ; and the style of
coloring, resembling that of the j^i'^ceding reign of
Wan-li, confirms this supposition. I have seen speci-
mens painted in blue and white as well as brilliantly
decorated in vivid enamel colors.
To sum up in a few words the decorated porcelain in
the Ming dynasty :
1. The favorite color was blue, which was painted on
the piece before it was glazed or fired. Usually this
formed the sole " blue and white " decoration ; occasion-
ally it was relieved by a monochrome ground, or, on the
other hand, it formed a mottled cobalt ground surround-
ing designs penciled in some other single color.
2. The earliest decoration in different colors was in
•colored glazes, combined with either a feldspathic or a
JIESTG DYNASTY.
259
lead flux, which were applied sur biscuit and fired in the
ordinary furnace.
3. The art of decorating porcelain in vitreous colors,
such as had been used previously in painted and
cloisonne enameling upon metal, and which were painted
on over the ordinary white glaze and subsequently fired
a second time in the muffle stove, was of later intro-
duction, and flourished especially in the Wan-Ii period.
4. The Ijlue that was generally used in combination
with the enamel colors was always laid on under the
glaze. It was not till the seventeenth century, in the
reign of K^ang-hsi, that a cobalt blue of vitreous char-
acter was invented, to be applied over the glaze like the
other colors, and fired like them in the muffle stove.
CHAPTER YIIL
TECHIS^IQUE DURING THE MING PERIOD. — COLORS. EMBOSS-
ING. CHISELING. OPENWORK CARVING. GILDED DEC-
ORATION.— DECORATIONS IN ENAMELS. FIRING.
THERE is au abundance of material iu the official
records of the Ming period for au account of the
technique of the manufacture of porcelain, but here we
hav^e space for only a short abstract.
The best porcelain-eai-th {t^ao fit), also called huan
fu, or " government earth," was obtained from the
Ma-ts'ang Mountains, near Hsin-cheng-tu, within the
limits of the district of Fou-liang-hsien, where it was
mined in four different places, the names of Avhich are
given. This earth is described as of rich plastic
structure, with sparkling silv^ery spots of crystalline
mica disseminated throughout, which indicates its
kaolinic character dei'ived from the decomposition of
granite. It was brought down the river, the Chang Ho,
to Ching-te-chen in boats, four days being spent on the
journey in winter and autumn, when the river was low ;
less tlian two days in the time of spring floods. The
price paid for this eai'th at the imperial manufactory
was seven taehcents of silver for each picul of one hun-
dred catties.'^ In the eleventh year of the i-eign of
Wan-li (1583) Chang Hua-mei, director of the manu-
factory, reported in a memorial to the emperor that the
hillsides had been mined and countermined iu every
direction, and that so much extra labor was required to
* The tael. or Chinese ounce of silver, is equivalent to about $1.40 (Mexican);
the catty to 1^ pounds, so that a picul would weigh 133J^ pounds.
260
TECHNIQUE DURING THE MING PERIOD. 261
extract the earth that it was necessary to increase the
price to ten tael-cents a picul. In spite of tliis, the
supply of kaolin from these hills soon became exhausted,
and it had to be brought from Wu-meu-t'o, where a new
source of a similar earth had been discovered ; this place
was twice as far away, although wdthin the bounds of
the district of Fou-liang-hsien, and as no more money
was paid, it was difhcult to get it in sufficient quantity.
Several other kinds of porcelain-earth were brought to
Ching-te-chen from Po-yang-hsien and other neighboring
districts, but these were not considered good enough for
the imperial manufactory.
The supply of petuntse, the felds^^athic mineral
employed in combination w^ith the above " porcelain-
earth " in the preparation of the paste, was obtained
from Yii-kan-hsien, in the south, and from Wu-yuan-
hsieu, in the east. The petuntse obtained from Yii-kan
was valued at twenty tael-cents for eighty catties, that
from Wu-yuan at eighty tael-cents for ninety catties,
which were reduced to seventy-two catties after a second
washing and levigation. The feldspathic rock was
pounded on the hillside where it was found, in mills
worked by the mountain torrents, and after it had been
washed and purified by levigation it was cut into
briquettes or little cubes, hence the name of pai-fim-tzu,
or " white briquettes."
The several kinds of rocks which were o-round to form
the material for the different glazes are also described in
order, and the places of production given. The best
were covered w^ith " arbor-vita^-leaf " marks, the Chinese
term for the dendrites which were due to manganese
oxide. This w^as combined with the hen hui, |^ J/^^ C)r
" purified ashes " made by burning alternate layers of
lime and ferns on the mountains called Chang-shan, and
washing the residue.
262 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
All these different materials were worked and brought
to the potteries by private enterprise, tunnels being
excavated for miles at vast expense and with a loss of
many lives, although each man's load produced only a
few cents. Yet, in the thirty-second year of Wan-li, the
governor of the city, Cliou Ch'i-yuan, attempted to make
the working of kaolin a government monopoly, till the
people rebelled and forced him to withdraw his procla-
mations. It appears that the potters were always ready
to resist oppression, as in the twent3"-fifth year of the
same reign they had burned the gate-house of the
imperial manufactory during a riot, in consequence of
which the officials responsible for the affair were recalled
to Peking and thrown into prison, where they died.
Colors.
Blue occupies a paramount position among the colors
of the 3fi/i(/ dynasty. We have referred to the blue
material brought from abroad by sea during the reign of
Hsilan-te and to the " Mohammedan blue," to which the
blue and white of Clila-clung owes its brilliant tint.
There is a long account of this last Imd cKing in the
records of Fou-lianQ;-hsien. The best was described as
exhibiting vermilion spots when crushed with a hammer,
while the ordinary kind was sprinkled with silvery
stars. Sixteen ounces of the imported material yielded
three ounces of "true blue," otherwise called "crushed
blue." The residue was pounded in a mortar with
water, filtered through a stratum of broken porcelain,
and by this means an additional quantity of about half
an ounce was obtained after decantation. This was
mixed with native blue in different proportions to be
employed for the undei'glaze decoration of porcelain, a
combination of ten parts to one forming the " first-class
TECHNIQUE DURHSTG THE MING PERIOD. 268
coloiy' while tlie "ordinary blue" was composed of six
parts of the Mussulman Ijlue mixed with four parts of
indigenous ore.
The native material, called "^ 4^ ^, ClCing Inia
liao, or '' blue decoration color," is the ^vell-know"n
cobaltiferous ore of manganese, found in many different
parts of China, which has been analyzed by M. Ebel-
men,* from a specimen obtained from the province of
Yunnan. During the Ming dynasty the supply for the
imperial works was first obtained from Po-t'ang, in the
district of Lo-p'ing-hsien, near Jao-chou-fu, in the province
of Kiaugsi, where it occurred in irregular concretionary
masses of peculiar shape. This produced a very dark
color, and it is sometimes called by the name of
" Buddha's-head Blue," or Fo-fou cKing^ the traditional
tint of the hair of Sakyamuni being that of la^isjazulh
This source was exhausted in the reign of Chia-ching,
w^hen the mines were closed in consequence of disturb-
ances, and a new supply was afterward brought fi'ora
several places in tlie prefecture of Jui-choii-fu, in the
same province, under the name of Sliih tzit cltHng — i. e.,
" stone or mineral blue."
After desci'ibing the different kinds of blue, the
official records give a list of the materials used in the
composition of the colored glazes used in the Ming
dynasty from the reign of Chia-cliing onward. This is
* The Scientific Works of J. J. Ebelmen, who was Superintendent of the
Imperial Porcelain Manufactory at Sevres for many years, and wlio died in
1852, have been published in three volumes under the title Recuiil des travaux
scientijiqtie de M. Ebelmen, revu et corrige par M. S<dvetat, Paris, 1861. They
include three memoirs of original research on the composition of the materials
employed in China in the fabrication and for tlie decoration of porcelain, pre-
pared in association with M. Salvetat (tome i, pp. 347-455). The materials
were sent from Ching-tS-cliSn by P^re J. Ly, " pretre Chiuois de la congrega-
tion de Saint-Lazare," and by M. Itier from Canton, who obtained the colors
himself from the palette of a Chinese artist actually engaged in the decoration
of porcelain. These memoirs, read before the Academy, are indispensable for
the student of modern Chinese ceramic art.
1
264 ORIENTAL CERA>[IC ART.
most iiiiportaut and iuteresting, and the miueral compo-
nents can be generally identified, as most of them are
^till in use under the same names.
They include ^ j^, cKien fen, ''lead carbonate,"
priced at foui- tael-cents the catty ; X§ z^"^, yen-lisiao,
" niter crystals," priced at two tael-cents the catty ;
^ ^, clCing fan, " iron sulphate," priced at three
"cash" the catty; J^ 1^<^ ^, tai die shili, "antimony
ore," the price of which is not recorded ; -^ ^, liei dt^ien,
" lead," priced at two tael-cents and eight " cash " the
catty ; /^ ^, sung I/siang, " turpentine," priced at five
" cash " the catty ; Q ^, jxu' fan, " white charcoal,"
priced at five tael-cents the catty ; ;^ :^§, chin 2^0, " gold
leaf," ])riced at twenty-five tael-cents the hundred sheets ;
and "^ ^^, hu fimg, " old coppei'," priced at six tael-
cents the catty.
The list of materials is followed by a series of prescrip-
tions for the preparation of the colored glazes, ten in
number altogether.
1. Celadon Glaze, S W ift» Tou-diing Yu, composed
of 'J^ 7K5 V'^^ shui, 1^1 J/>c» ^^<?^^ ^^'^^h ^^^ HC i.j Imang
fu, mixed together. The first two materials are feld-
spathic mineral, or petrosilex ground with water, and
ashes prepared by burning lime with ferns, the ingredi-
ents of the ordinary white glaze, and huang fu, literally
" yellow earth," is a ferruginous clay. The peculiar
grayish-green tint known to us as " celadon," passing into
shades of brown if the iron be in excess, was called ])y
the Chinese at this time tou-cliHng, or " pea-green " ; we
have seen in the official indents that large fish-bowls were
ordered to be furnished of this color in the reign of
Cliia-cliing. The peculiar tint is supposed to be due to
the silicates of lime and ii'on developing a greenish shade
under the influence of a reducing atmosphere in the fur-
nace, maintaining the iron at a minimum of oxidation.
TECHNIQUE DURING THE MING PERIOD. 265
2. Brown Glaze, ^ ;^ ^, Tziv-cliin Yii, composed
of prepared lime ground with water, mixed witli fzii-chin
and pul\^erized quartz suspended in water. Tliis is the
fond laque of French ceramists, passing from the darkest
bronze or coffee-color to " dead leaf " and " old gold "
according to the proportion of the tzu-chin mineral, which
is rich in iron. The Chinese name means " Ijui'nislied
gold," which is an appropriate rendering of some of the
clearer shades. The composition of this glaze is given
in full detail by Pere d'Entrecolles in his second letter,
although he gives it wrongly as a new invention of his
time. It is mixed with the ordinary white glaze and
applied upon the unbui'ued Avai'e.
3. lurquoise Glaze, ^ '^ J^, Ts^ui se Yu, composed
of a mixture of lien clCeng hu fung shtii, a pulverized
preparation of copper suspended in water, niter (Jtsiao),
and quartz {sJiih). It is uncertain whether laminge of
metallic copper, or an oxide like verdigi'is, was employed
in this mixture. Whichever it was, .the result would be
a silicate of copper, producing the beautiful finely crackled,
glaze of turquoise tint known to the Chinese as ts^ui, from
its resemblance to the color of the plumes of the king-
fisher, which they use in jewelry. Bowls and saucer-
shaped plates enameled with this monochrome glaze,
with the mark of the reign of Cliia-cliing underneath, are
not rare.
4. B rigid Yellow Glaze, ;^ ^ y^, Cliin luiang Yv,
composed by mixing sixteen ounces of pulverized lead
(Jiei chHen mo) with one and one-fifth ounces of antimony
ore {che shili), and grinding them together in a mortar.
Hei che slu'h, also called Tal che sJiih, liei and tal both
meaning " black," is a mineral containing iron and anti-
mony. It was analyzed by Brongniart under the name
oifer oligistique terreux. The antimony is the source of
the yellow, which becomes more or less orange on account
266 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
of the presence of iron in the ore. It is the " imperial
yellow " of collectors, and often occurs as a monochrome
glaze, with the marks of all the reigns of this dynasty
from Himg-chik downward, either plain or enameled
over iive-clawed dragons and other designs incised in the
paste.
5. B rigid Green Glaze, ^ |^ vfi, Cltin lii Yu, com-
posed by mixing together sixteen ounces of pulverized
lead, one and two-fifths ounces of pulverized copper
(hu fung 7no), and six ounces of pounded quartz (sJtih
mo). The copper is the source of the green, forming a
silicate, which is dissolved in the vitrified glaze charged
with oxide of lead. The last three glazes in this list —
viz., the turquoise, yellow, and green — are often classed,,
by French writers, with the purple glaze which follows
afterward under No. 8, as couleurs de demi-graud feu.
They differ from the rest in having either a lead or an
alkaline flux.
6. Bright Blue Glaze, ^ W Jfi' Chin diUng !J^;/, com-
posed by mixing sixteen ounces of ^, fe'wi, finely pow-
dered, with one ounce of !^ -^ ^, sliili tzu eliding. The
dark blue glaze used by enamelers on metal, colored with
silicate of cobalt, is called tshd, and the shih tzu cJiHng i&
the native cobaltiferous ore of manganese found, as we
saw above, at Ju-chou-fu, in Kiang-si province. The
combination would produce the bi'illiant sapphire-blue of
pui'jjlish tint, like the hleu df( roi of Sevres, which is
occasionally seen in a collection of CMa-cliing cups. It
is distinguished from the ordinary purple glaze of the
period by being a cotdetir du grand feti.
7. Coral-Med, or Iron-Red, ^ ^X» Fan Hung, com-
posed of one ounce of calcined sulphate of iron {cJiHng
faii^ and five ounces of carbonate of lead {chbien feri)
mixed together with Canton ox-glue {Kuang cliiao).
This is the well-known " coral red " of the mufile stove,
TECHNIQUE DURING THE MING PERIOD. 267
which came into vogue in the reign of Chia-ching, aud
seems, from its cheapness and facility of firing, to have
completely supplanted the more brilliant co[)per-red
du grand feu, which made the reign of Hman-tt so
illustrious, and which reappears in the reign of K'^ang-lisi
in the sang-de-hcBuf glaze of the Lang Yao. AVith the
-exception of gold it is the only muffle color in the list,
and it is a curious fact that even in the present day the
workshops of the decorators in enamel colors at Chiug-
te-chen are called hung tien, or "red shops," another
independent evidence of the early appearance of this
glaze.
8. Furjde Glaze, ^ '^ 'J^, Tzu se Yu, composed of
sixteen ounces of pulverized lead (Jiei cJi'ien mo), one
ounce of cobaltiferous ore of manganese (shili tzu cWing),
and six ounces of pounded quartz (sJiih mo). This is
the manganese purple formed by the solution of a slightly
cobaltiferous oxide of manganese in a lead flux, Avhich is
so often found in association with the turquoise glaze,
and, like this last, it is generally minutely crackled
throuo-hout.
9. Pale Blue Glaze, '^ ^ 'J^, Chiao citing Yu, com-
posed of yu shui and lien Itui, the ingredients of the
ordinary white glaze, combined with sliili tzu dicing, the
indigenous ore of cobalt. Chiao cWing means literally
*' watered blue." This is the ordinary blue of the grand
feu, as M. Salvetat remai'ks, proved by the presence of
lime and petrosilex. The intensity of the blue would
depend on the amount of cobalt in the crude material,
but it would always have a grayish hue when compai'ed
with the bright blue glaze of No. 6.
10. PureWhite Glaze, ^ Q \^,Ch'un 2X(iYu, com-
posed of pounded feldspathic mineral or petrosilex
ground with water (gu sJiui) and incinerated lime (lien
hul). This is the ordinary white glaze of Chinese por-
268 OEIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
celaiii, which was often called at the time THen pa% fieiv
lueaniDg also " piii-e/'
Among the other decorative processes described in the
records of the imperial manufactory during the reign of
Wan-lj are :
1. Embossing.
2. Chiseling.
8. Openwork Carving.
4. (xilded Decoration.
5. Decoration in Enamel Colors.
1. Embossed F ieces, ^ ^, Tul Cli'i, were made by
applying to the surface, before firing, cuttings of the
same paste of which they were formed, and working
these with a moist brush into the shape of dragons, phce-
nixes, flowers, or other ornamental designs. The por-
celain thus decorated in relief was afterward invested
with' glaze and finally fired in the kiln.
2. Engraved Pieces^'^ ^, Clivi ChH, were incised in
the paste, as soon as it had been sufficiently dried, with
dragons and other designs, chiseled with an iron style,.
and were subsequently glazed and fired. The work was
sometimes so delicately executed tliat the pattern could
be seen only by holding the porcelain up to the light,,
like the water-mark in paper, and the mai'k was penciled
under the glaze in a similar fashion, which had the spe-
cial name of Hg ^, an hna — i. e., " hidden or veiled deco-
ration." These processes were not invented at this time,,
however, as we often find specimens of Ting-chou por-
celain of the Sung dynasty with embossed and chiseled
ornament.
3. Openivorh Carving, ^ 3^1, Ling-lung, of porcelains
with ornaniental designs in pierced work, is described
as having been executed by the potters at this period^
although protested against by the censors as too elab-
orate and costly even for the emperor's palace.
TECHNIQUE DURING THE MING PERIOD. 269
I will pause here a \vliile to describe an openwork
vase of the time decoi'ated in colors which is in my col-
lection at Peking. It is bottle-sha})ed, eighteen inches
high, with an ovoid body, gradually tapering into a
broad, cvlindrical neck, ^vliich swells af^ain toward the
mouth. The mouth is surrounded by a broad upright
lip, which is carved with an open band of ornamental
scrolls, and the body is perforated thi'oughout in the
interstices of the design, so as to allow an inner solid
casing to be visible through an irregular open network,
which is carved to represent two pairs of phoenixes dis-
played flying through clouds. The entii'e surface of the
vase is richly brocaded in coloi's. The broad outlines of
the decoration having been first limned in cobalt-blue of
pale shade and penciled ^vith lines of darker blue, the
remaining parts are painted in enamel colors, including a
rich vermilion red, a green of camellia-leaf tint, and
a yellow of palish tone. The yellow parts are outlined
in red, the other colors penciled with darker lines of red
and green respectively, the last becoming almost black.
The two rings of palmations which spread upward and
downward to decorate the upjier part of the neck exhibit
all the four colors, the leaves being painted in regular
series — blue, red, green, and yellow. The lower half of
the neck is covei'ed with a broad band of peony scrolls,
interrupted by two projecting mask-handles, carved in
openwork relief, perforated for rings, and enameled to
represent lions' heads. The shoulder of the vase is encir-
cled by a floral diaper of lozenge pattern, penciled in
red, displaying a ring of the eight Buddhist emblems
• with Avaving flllets painted in underglaze cobalt-blue,
and a lightly sketched border of conventional foliations
surrounds the base, which is perforated at regular inter-
vals with four large holes, through which sti'aps could
be passed.
270 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
The vase is a specimen of the cLass which fiirnished
models for the " old Japau " Imari pieces, which Jacque-
mart comprised in his famille clirysanthemo-'peonie'nne^
although the Japanese copies are of rough crude work.
It is interesting, on the other hand, to compare the per-
fectly finished technique of the CKien-lung period, of
which Fig. 185 exhibits a most excellent example. The
waist of the gourd is fitted with a revolving belt, and
the inner vase is painted witli bats flying among clouds,
seen through the rifts of the ornamental trellis bands of
the outer casing. The delicate profusion of ornamental
design is well indicated in the picture ; it is executed
in fine enamel colors, with touches of gilding. It offers a
complete contrast to the bold execution and strong color-
ing of the old Ming vase, which is still not without its
charm.
4. Decoration in GolJ, ^ ;^, Miao Cliin^ was applied
to porcelain that had been [)reviously fired. The gold
leaf, combined with a tenth part l)y weight of cai'bonate
of lead, was mixed with gum and spread on with the
brush, and the porcelain was fired again in the stove that
was employed to fire the coral-red. A second coat was
sometimes applied afterward, and the piece was again
fired in the mufHe stove. It was used solelv as a o-ilded
monochrome, as well as in combination with other colors.
The lists already mentioned give instances of the use of
gilding in combination with blue and white, directing
chrysanthemum flowers and yellow hibiscus blossoms to
be penciled in gold.
5. Decoration in Enamel Colors, 51 ^> ^^u ts'ai, lit-
erally " in five colors," was only occasionally employed
in the inq^erial manufactor}^ although it was much used
in the private potteries at Cliing-te-chen in the reign of
Wan-li, when the art of painting in blue declined, from
the want of proper materials. The colors employed were
TECHNIQUE DURING THE MING PERIOD. 271
vitreous fluxes, containing only a small percentage of
metallic oxides, the same that liad previously been em-
ployed in enameling upon metal. They were painted
upon white porcelain that had been fired in the furnace,
and then baked a second time in a muflle stove to fix the
colors. Some j)arts of the decoration had often been
previously penciled in underglaze cobalt-blue, and the
outlines of the designs were usually sketched in the same
color.
Firing.
Several kinds of furnaces are mentioned in the recoi'ds.
The imperial manufactory in the l^eginning of the reign
of Chia-ching contained fifty-two furnaces, of which thir-
ty-t\vo were hang yao^ in which the large fish-bowls were
fired, the remainder being either cli'ing yao^ for baking
the ordinary blue and white, or se yao, for firing the col-
ored ware. Later in the reign, when more blue and
white was required, it is related that sixteen of the I'ang
yao wei'e converted into cli'ing yao. Besides these there
were the lisia yao kilns for baking the clay cases or seg-
gars, in which the porcelain was placed inside the fur-
nace to shield it from the blast of the fire.
The hang yao are described as measuring six feet
broad in front, six and a half feet broad at the back, and
six feet in depth, with rounded top. Only one fish-bowl
of the largest size or of the second size could be fired at a
time, or two of the third size, placed one above the
other. A gentle fire was kept up for seven days and
nights, so as gradually to dry the materials, then a fierce
fire was raised and maintained for two days, till the seg-
gars were seen to be red all over and emitting rays of
white heat. The fire was then stopped, all the orifices
sealed up, and the contents were left undisturbed for ten
272 ORIENTAL cera:mic art.
days more before tlie kiln was opened. The fuel was
pine billets, of which one hundred and twenty loads, of
one hundi'ed catties, each valued at four tael-cents of
silver, were consumed for each firing, ten more being
allowed in rainy weather. The largest bowls were
valued at fifty-eight taels each, those of the second size at
fifty taels, although only twenty and eighteen, afterward
raised to twenty-three and twenty taels, used to be paid
by the ofiicials for those fabricated at private kihis.
The ofiicial " squeeze " was tight in China, even four
centuries a^-o.
The cKiiig yao, or ''blue kilns," were of similar shape
to the above, but of smaller size, the corresponding
dimensions in Chinese feet being five, five and a half, and
four and a half. The charge consisted of about two hun-
dred of the ordinary round dishes and saucer plates ; or
of one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty of
those of larger diameter. It would hold twenty-four of
the largest bowls, or thirty bowls one foot in diameter,
only sixteen or seventeen of the ovoid jars with bulging
shoulder called thi))^ but five hundred to six hundred
little wine-cups. The gentle fire lasted two days, the
fierce fire twenty-four hours, the period being Judged by
the state of the seggars as before, after which the furnace
was sealed np. From first to last the firing of the blue
kilns took five days, and about sixty loads of fuel were
consumed, ten raoi-e if the charge consisted of large
bowls, tall jars, or temple bricks, or if the weather were
wet.
The private kilns for firing blue and white were of
larger size and held several times the quantity, the
charge consisting of over one thousand of the smaller
pieces, yet they are said to have used only about the
same amount of fuel. The seggars were piled in tiers
and ranged in seven rows ; the first two rows next the
I
TECHNIQUE DURING THE 3IING PERIOD. 273
entrance were filled with coarse pieces, the third row
contained a few good pieces, the middle three I'ows all
the best porcelain, and the last three rows next the
chimney coarser ware again. In the imperial furnace,
where all the porcelain was of the highest class, empty
cases stood at the front and back, to screen those in the
middle from the blast.
There is no particular account in the official recoi'ds of
the se yao^ or furnaces for the colored ware, but in the
THen Icung THai ton, a small manual of the industrial arts
published toward the end of the Ming dynasty, there is
an illustration showing the form of the open and closed
stoves used at the time to fire the poi'celain decorated
wnth enamel colors. This picture is i-eproduced among the
woodcuts illustrating the article " Porcelain " in the large
Chinese encyclopaedia, T''ou sliu clii clCeng^ in 10,000
books, a copy of which is in the British Museum.
Some of the private potters acquired renown for their
ceramic pi'oductions in the reign of Wan-li, and at this
time we begin to hear of copies of antiques, a branch of
art so much developed afterward. In the province of
Kiang-nan at the " boccaro " potteries of Yi-hsing-hsien, to
which reference has already been made, a man named Ou
became celebrated for his productions, which ^\ere called
after him Ou Yao. He succeeded in reproducing the
crackled glaze of the ancient Ko Yao, and the different
colors of the imperial ware and Chun-chou porcelain of
the Sur^g dynasty, upon the characteristic brown stone-
ware of the place. T^vo of his glazes were afterward
copied in turn by T'ang Ying, as we shall see j)resently.
The imitations of Ting-chou white porcelain made at
Ching-te-chen were still more successful. The I^o wn yao
Ian says of these : " The new censers modeled in the
form of the four-legged sacrificial ting of the ancient
sovereign Wen Wang, and of the bronzed bowl-shaped
274 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
yi with luask-bandles of mousters' heads aud halberd-
shaped '■ ears,' are in no way inferior to the original pro-
ductions of the Ting-chou [)otters, and they may even be
mistaken for genuine old specimens, if the gloss of the
furnace has been removed by friction. The best are
those made by Chou Tan-ch'uan." Many stories are told
of the marvelous ingenuity of this artist, who seems to
have been on friendly terms with some of the foremost
scholars of the time, of Avhich I may quote one : " One
day, as Chou Tan-ch'uan \vas traveling along the river in
a merchant boat to the province of Kiang-uan, he landed
at Pi-ling to visit his friend T'aug, President of the
Imperial Sacrificial Court, and asked to be allowed to
look at an ancient Ting-chou censer, the dimensions of
which he measured with his fingers, while he took impres-
sions of the chiseled decoration upon paper, which he put
in his sleeve and carried with him Ijack to Ching-te-chen.
Six months later he returned, and when he saw T'ang
again he drew from his sleeve a censer, exclaiming :
'Your Excellency has a white Ting-chou censer; I have
got its fellow ! ' T'aug Avas greatly surprised. He com-
pared it with the ancient censer in his own collection, and
there was not a hair's-breadth difference. He tried the
cover and the stand of his own, and they fitted exactly.
He asked him where he had got it. Chou replied: 'I
made it as a copy. I ^vill not deceive you.' The presi-
dent, delighted, purchased it for forty taels of silver, and
put it in his cabinet, beside the original censer, as if they
were a pair. Some years later, at the end of the reign of
Wan-Ji, Tu Chiu-ju, of Huai-an, after he had seen in a
dream a vision of T 'ang's ancient censer, succeeded in
obtaining from Chun-yii, a grandson of the president, the
imitation made by Chou for one thousand taels."
A still more famous potter was the famous Hao Shih-
chiu, who adopted the sobriquet of " Hermit hidden in
TECHNIQUE DURING THE MING PERIOD. 275
the teapot," and lived in a but with a broken potsherd
for a window, where he capped the verses of his literary
friends, and fabricated the delicate wine-cups which
people thronged from all parts of the empire to buy.
The most beautiful of these tiny cups were the ^ |^
^, Uu hsia clian^ or " cups of liquid dawn," invested ^\ ith
undulations of brightest vermilion tint, and the ^ ^
^, luan mu pel, or " eggshell cups," of pure translucent
white, so thin that they were said to float upon water,
and so light that they weighed only half a cliu — that is,
less than a gramme each. He also excelled in the manu-
facture of teapots, some of which were of pale celadon
color, like the old "ware of the Sung dynasty, but
uncrackled ; others enameled in reddish shades of brown
{tzii chin) or "dead leaf," made after the " boccaro" tea-
pots of that color fabricated at Yi-hsing-hsien by the
Ch'en family of potters, all of which he inscribed under-
neath with his own " hermit mark."
An eggshell wine-cup of this reign is shown in Fig. 18,
one of a pair fit to be compared with the translucent
cups of the hermit Hao Shih-chiu, Avhich have the mark
of the reififn of Wan-U inscribed underneath. Pressed
upon a mold before glazing, the decoration appears
inside in o-entle relief, becomius; more visible when the
delicate cup is held up to the light filled with yellow
Shao-hsing wine. The lineaments of one of the dragons
are but dimly visible in the picture.
CHAPTER IX.
CHING-T]&-CHtN. THE IMPERIAL PORCELAIN" MANUFACTORY.
BEFORE proceeding to tlie consideration of the
ceramic productions of the present dynasty it is
necessary to give a short description of Ching-te-chen,
which, as we have already shown, has long been the
chief seat of the porcelain industry in China, where it
occupies a more prominent position than does Sevres, in
France, or Meissen, in Germany. It has, indeed, become
the exclusive source of artistic porcelain, and supplies
the demands of the whole empire, not oul}^ for ohjeU de
luxe, but also for the better class of household porcelain
ware, such as dinner services, teapots, and the like. The
factories in the other provinces, established where there
happened to be available deposits of white plastic clay,
furnish only coarse ware for local consumption. The
exce[)tion is that of Te-hua, in the province of Fuchien
(Fukien), where a kind of white porcelain is produced
covered with a soft, velvety glaze of creamy tint, com-
prising ornamental vases, wine-ewers and wine-cups, tea-
pots, horn-shaped cups of archaic design, etc., and which
is especially celebrated for its statuettes of divinities and
fantastic figures. This will be referred to more fully in
Chapter XXII.
The manufacture of porcelain at Ching-te-chen, accord-
ing to local tradition, as it is stated in the official de-
scription of the province, dates from the Han dynasty
(b. c. 206 — A. D. 220), but the annalist adds that nothing
is known with certainty about the productions of these
remote times.
276
CHnfG-T:fc-CH:feN. 277
The earliest record of the place iu tLe general annals
of the empire is iu a. d. 583, the first year of the reign of
the last sovereign of the short-lived Cli'en dynasty, who
ordered a supply of porcelain plinths {fao cJihi) to be
made there, to serve as pedestals for the support of the
Avooden pillars of the large palaces which he was build-
ing at his capital, Chien-k'ang (the modern Nanking).
They w^re sent, elaborately molded in ornamental designs,
in the style of the ordinary plinths carved out of solid
stone, but were rejected as not sufficiently solid. A
second supply was furnished in due course, but still they
were not strong enough for the purpose required, and
the imperial decree had to be withdi-awu. The plinths
of the inunense columns which support the roofs of such
large buildings are usually made of carved marble or of
some other hard stone, and molded white porcelain seems
to be the most unsuitable of materials. It is, however,
employed with success in Chinese architecture where
less strain is required, as in the famous porcelain tower
of Nanking, which was rebuilt in the reign of the
Emperor Yung-lo (1404-24), and formed one of the chief
ornaments of the ancient capital till the pagoda was
destro3'ed by the Taiping rebels during their occu})ancy
of the city (March 19, 1853, to July 19, 1864). Most
museums possess a specimen of the Avhite L-shaped bricks
of Avhicli it was built, coated with a lustrous white glaze,
which were made at Ching-te-chen. The porcelain of the
sixth and seventh centuries must have been of much the
same character as these bricks, being always compared by
'writers of the time to pure white jade.
It was under the name of imitation jade (chia i/fl)
that the potters of Hsin-p'ing (the modern Fou-liang)
presented their ceramic ware to the founder of the
celebrated T^ang dynasty iu the year 621, when they
carried it to the distant capital of Ch\ang-au, iu the
278 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
j)roviiice of Shensi, and it is said to have rivaled this
stone, so precious to the Chinese, in its whiteness, trans-
lucency, and musical ring. The new porcelain soon
became more widely known, and ^ve find in the official
biography of Chu Sui a notice of an imperial decree
received by him, when he was Governor of Hsin-p'ing,
in the year 707, ordering the production of a set of
sacrificial vases for the funeral temple of the Emperor
Chung-Tsung, the fourth of the T\ing dynasty, who had
just died. The manufacture seems to have degenerated
afterward, and the pale blue ware of other potteries came
into wider vogue, the new color being preferred from its
enhancing the tints of wine and tea, so that the com-
paratively coarse fabric of the cups made at these places
was overlooked.
It was not until the aS'i^?^^ dynasty that regular officials
were appointed to superintend the manufacture of
porcelain and to send supplies to the capital for the use
of the imperial court. The name of Ching-te-chen dates
from this time, and it is derived from that of the period
Cliing-te (1004-1007), in the first year of which a decree
was issued ordering the official in charge of the manu-
factory to inscribe underneath the pieces the mark Ching
te nien chili, " Made in the pei'iod Ching-Ur The place
had been previously known as Ch'ang-nan-chen, from its
position on the southern bank of the Ch'ang River, the
term cheii, which may be translated " mart," being applied
in China to a few populous centers of trade which are
not fortified with regular walls.
Ching-te-chen is in the province of Kiangsi, on the
south of the great Yangtze River, in latitude 29^ 16'
north, and longitude 0° 48' west of the meridian of
Peking-, accordino; to the observations of the French
missionaries of the eighteenth century. The river
Ch'ang, which rises in the mountains which separate
CHmG-T:&-CH]fcN. 279
the proviuces of Kiangsi and Anbui, after a course of
about one hundred miles in a soutliwest direction runs
into the Poyang Lake. On its nortliei'u bank, about the
middle of its course, is the small district town of Fou-
liang-hsien, and near its mouth the prefectural city of
Jao-chou-fu, which has jurisdiction over this and six other
walled towns. Ching-te-chen is situated about four miles
below Fou-liang, on the opposite side of the river, and is
under its jurisdiction, although the mandarin in immediate
charge is appointed from Jao-chou, with the rank of
T'ung-chih, or sub-prefect. There is another official in
charge of the imperial manufactory, who is usually
deputed from the imperial household (Nei Wu Fu) at
Pekins;, and who is at the same time commissioner of the
important customs station at Kiukiang, established near
the point where the Poyang Lake communicates with the
Yangtze. The funds for the porcelain works are directed
to be taken from the customs-chest. The commissioner
forwards the porcelain by boats to Peking, which go
down the Yangtze River to Chinkiang, and thence up
the Grand Canal to Tien-tsiu. At the junction of the
Grand Canal with the Yellow River there is another
large customs barriei', with an imperial commissioner,
stationed at Huai-an-fu, who used formerly to be ex-officio
superintendent of the porcelain works and privileged to
find the funds, T'ang Ying succeeded Nien-si-yao as
commissioner of customs at Huai-an-fu in 1736, with the
control of the customs of the three provinces of Kiangsi,
Kiangsu, and Anhui, and he held the post till he was
transferred to Kiukiang, where he remained till 1749,
when his successor, Ch'in Yung-chiin, was appointed.
The annual sum allowed from the Huai-an transit dues
had been eight thousand taels. Tang Ying says in his
preface to the Fou-liang-Jisiencliih, dated 17-40: " Li the
sixth year of the reign of Yung-clieng (1728) I was
280 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
appointed to take charge of the imperial potteries. In
the first year of GhHen-lung (1736) I was appointed
commissioner of customs at Huai-an, remaining also in
superintendence of the potteries, but during my time
there, on account of the great distance, I was only once
able to visit Ching-te-cheu, when I found everything
going on satisfactorily. Last year (1739)* I was trans-
ferred to Kiukiang. During my regime over ten thousand
taels have been devoted yearly to the Avork, and several
hundreds of thousands of articles of porcelain have been
provided for the use of the emperor."
To the south of the Poyang Lake, twenty miles distant
by river, is the large city of Nan-ch'ang-fu, the capital of
the province of Kiaugsi, which is full of porcelain shops,
its principal staple being the porcelain of Ching-te-chen,
wdiich it distributes to all parts of the south of China.
The trade route to Canton passes this city, and large
quantities are conveyed thither, consisting partly of
finished pieces, partly of plain white porcelain, which has
to be decorated in enamel colors by the Cantonese artist
before it is finally exported. The journey is made by
water with the exception of a day's portage across the
Mei-ling pass. This is shown in a series of water-color
pictures from Canton, intended to illustrate the porce-
lain manufacture of China, which hang framed in the
British Museum, and which conclude with pictures of
the land journey to Canton and of the final packing of
the things in boxes for shipment to Western countries.
* It was in this year, accordiug to the history of the province of Kiangsi,
that the chief commissionership of customs was transferred to Kiukiang, T'ang
Ying remaining in charge and retaining also the directorship of the potteries.
Tliis city is much nearer to Cliing-te-chen, and the director resided there part
of every year to superintend the work in person. Directors were appointed
from the imperial household in rotation up to the forty-third year of Ch'ien-
lung (1778), after which the control was left to the provincial authorities. In
the present day the Tao-t'ai of Kiukiang, who is the native commissioner of cus-
toms, is also ex-officio superintendent of the imperial potteries at Ching-te-chen.
CHING-T:fc-CH:fcN. 281
Fou-liaug is situated in a liilly country surrounded by
mountains of graphitic granite, from the gradual decom-
position of which the kaolinic deposits have been formed.
The natives, as the annalist quaintly I'emarks, partake of
the rude and ruo:«:ed nature of their surrounding's. The
river runs down a rocky gorge till it reaches Ching-te-
<jhen, where there is a tract of open country about two
miles in length and breadth, bounded on the north and
west by the river, which makes a wide curve, on the
south by a smaller stream flowing from the west to Join
tlie river, and on the east by the Ma-an Shan or '^ Saddle-
back Mountains." These hills supply the red clay for
the seggars and for the reproduction of antiques with
•colored bodies. Across the south river is the hamlet of
Hu-t'ien-shih, with a pagoda and the ruins of ancient
potteries of the S^ing dynasty. A quantity of potsherds
of ancient porcelain wei'e collected from these ruins in
the eio-hteenth century and used as models for mono-
chrome glazes, as will presently be seen. The river
strand at Ching-te-chen is thirteen // long, reckoning
from the temple of the goddess of Mercy, where it
emerges from the hills, to the southwest, where it enters
the hills again, re-enforced by the southern stream, and it
derives from this its common name of " The Thirteen Li
Mart." Within the angle of junction of the two rivers
there is an open space of waste ground known as Hsi-
kua Chou, or " Watermelon Island," which forms a mar-
ket-place where the porcelain peddlers display their
stalls. The rest of the space is densely packed \\\i\\
streets of shops, temples, and guild-houses, the intervals
being filled with the kilns and workshops.
There is a good general map of the place given in the
Ching-te-chen T'^ao lu, as well as a bird's-eye view of the
Yli ch'i ch'ang, the imperial manufactory. I have seen it
also penciled in blue upon one of the porcelain slabs of a
I
282 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
large screen, with the impeiial porcelain manufactory in
the middle, encircled by a number of scattered kilns
vomiting flames and smoke from their wide chimneys.
Pere d'Entrecolles writes in his first letter,* dated
Jao-chou, September 1, 1712 : " The sojourn that I make
from time to time at King-te-tching, for the spiritual
needs of my converts, has afforded me an opportunity of
learning the way they make there that beautiful porce-
lain which is so highly esteemed, and which is exported
to all parts of the world. Besides what I have myself
seen, I have gathered many particidars from the Chris-
tians, among whom there are several who work in porce-
lain, and from others engaged in its commerce on a large
scale. I have assured myself of the truth of their replies-
by a constant reference to Chinese books treating upon
the subject, more especially the annals of Feou-leam^ the
fourth volume of which contains an article on porcelain,
" King-te-tching, which is a dependency of Feou-leam^
is hardly more than a good league distant from it, and
this last city is under the jurisdiction of Jao-tcheou.
The annals do not tell us who was the inventor of porce-
lain, nor refer to ^vhat experiments or to what happy
chance the invention is due. They only say that in
ancient times the porcelain was exquisitely white and
free from any fault, and that the articles that were made
of it and transported to other kingdoms were called
'precious jewels of Jao-tcheou.' Lower down they add r
' The beautiful porcelain of a vivid brilliant white and of a
fine sky-blue is all produced at King-te-tching ; that made
in other places differs widely both in color and quality.^
" In fact, without speaking of the works of pottery
which are made everywhere throughout China, and
which ai'e never called porcelain, there are some prov-
inces like Fou-kien and Canton where they work in
* Lettres edifiuntes ct curieuses, xviii, p. 224.
CHING-T:fc-CH]fcN. 283
poi'celain, but straugers can not be deceived with tliese
products ; that of Fou-kien is of a snow white ^vllicb has
no brilliancy, and which is not decorated with other
colors. Workmen from King-te-tching carried there for-
mei'ly all their materials, in the hope that they would
reap a rich harvest from the Europeans who drive a large
trade with Emouy (Amoy), but it Avas all in vain ; they
never succeeded there. The reigning emperor (K^iug-
hsi), who will io-nore nothino- also brouo-ht workmen in
porcelain to Peking, with everything employed by them
in the work ; they neglected nothing, in order to succeed
under his supervision, yet all their labor was wasted. It
is possible that interested motives may have contributed
to their want of success ; however that may be, it is
Kino;-te-tchino; alone which has the honor of furnishino;
porcelain for all parts of the Avorld. Even Japan comes
to buy it in China.
" King-te-tching only needs to be suiTounded by walls
to be called a city, and even to be compared with the
largest and most populous cities of China. The places
called telling {clieii), which are few in number, but dis-
tinguished by a large traffic and trade, are not usually
walled — perhaps in order that they may grow without
hindrance, perhaps to facilitate embarking and disem-
barkinoj merchandise. Kinof-te-tchins; is estimated to
contain eighteen thousand households, but some of the
large merchants have premises of vast extent, lodging a
prodigious multitude of workmen, so that the population
is said to number over a million souls, who consume
daily over ten thousand loads of rice and more than a
thousand hosrs. It extends for more than a leao'ue alons:
the bank of a fine river. It is not, as you might imagine,
an indiscriminate mass of houses ; the streets are straight
as a line and cross at reoular intervals ; everv inch of
ground is occupied, so that the houses are too crowded
284 ORIENTAL CERAjVIIC AET.
and the streets far too narrow ; when passing along you
seem to be in the midst of a fair, and hear nothing but
the cries of the street porters trying to force their way
through.
" Living is much more expensive at King-te-tching
than at Jao-tcheou, because everything consumed there
has to be brought from elsewhere, even the wood burned
in the furnaces. Nevertheless, it is an asylum for num-
berless poor families, who can not subsist in the neigh-
boring towns, and employment is found tliere for the
vouns: as well as for the less robust ; even the blind and
maimed can make a living by grinding colors. In
ancient times, according to the history of Feou-leam^
there were only three hundred porcelain furnaces at
Kinof-te-tchino: — now there are at least three thousand.
Fires are of frequent occurrence, and the god of fire has
many temples, one of which has been recently dedicated
by the present mandarin. Not long ago eight hundred
houses were burned, but the large profits their owners
drew from their rental caused their speedy reconstruction.
" The town is situated in a plain surrounded by high
mountains. The hill to the 6ast forms a kind of semi-
circle in the background, while from the mountains
at the sides issue two rivers, which unite afterward r
one is but small; the other is very large, and forms
a splendid strand more than a league long, spreading
into a wide basin and losing much of its velocity. This
wide space may be seen sometimes filled with two or
three long lines of boats, moored close together. The
sight with which one is greeted on entering through one
of the 2;oro;es consists of volumes of smoke and flame ris-
ing in different places, so as to define all the outlines of
the town ; approaching at nightfall, the scene reminds
one of a burning city in flames, or of a huge furnace
with many vent-holes.
CHING-T:6-CIl]fcN. 285
" It is surprising tliat such a populous place, full
of such riches, and Avith an infinite number of boats
coming and going every day, and which has no walls
that can be closed at night, should, nevertheless, be
governed by a single mandarin, without the least dis-
order. It must be allowed that the j^olicing is ad-
mirable ; each street has one or more chiefs, according to
its length, and each chief has ten subordinates, every one
of whom is responsible for ten houses. They must keep
order, under pain of the bastinado, which is here admin-
istered liberally. The streets have barricades, which
are closed at night, and opened by the watchman only
to those who have the password. The mandarin of the
place makes frequent rounds, and he is accompanied
occasionally by mandarins from Feou-leam. Sti-angers
ai-e hardly permitted to sleep there ; they must either
spend the night in their boats or lodge Avith acquaint-
ances, who become responsible for their conduct.
" They tell me that a piece of porcelain, when it
comes out from the kiln, has passed through the hands
of seventy workmen, and I can Avell believe it, from
what I myself have seen; as their huge workshops have
often been for me a kind of Areopagus, when I have pro-
claimed Him who created the first man out of clay, and
from whose hands we proceed to become vessels, either of
glory or of shame.
" The boats come constantly down the river, laden with
petuntse and haollii which have to be purified by decan-
tation, leaving an abundant residuum, which gradually
accumulates into large heaps. The clay seggars in the
three thousand furnaces last only twice or thi-ee times,
and very often the whole baking is lost. Some of this
debris is utilized to fill in the walls which surround all
the houses, or is carried to the swampy ground adjoin-
ing the river, to make it fit for a market-place, and
286 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
ultimately for building, for wliicli new ground is always
wanted. Besides, in the flood time, the river carries
down mucli broken porcelain, so that its bed is, so to
speak, entirely packed with it, making a refreshing sight
for the eyes.
"The mountains all around are covered with tombs;
at the foot of one of these is a very large pit encircled
by high walls, in which they throw the bodies of the
poor who have no money to buy coffins, which is con-
sidered the greatest of misfortunes ; this place is called
oiian min hem — that is, ' Pit for the Myriad People '; in
the times of plague, which i-avages almost every year,
the huge pit ingulfs heaps of corpses, which are covered
with quicklime to consume the flesh. The bonzes,
at the end of the year, come to carry away the bones
to make room for juore, and burn them with a kind
of funeral service which they celebrate for the unhappy
dead."
The worthy father mentions the Roman Catholic
Church, established by the liberality of the Marquis de
Broissia, but he does not allude to the imperial porcelain
manufactory, which occupies such a prominent place in
all the native descriptions and maps. Perhaps it was
not in active operation at the time; it was not till four
years after the date of his second letter (January 25,
1722) that a new imperial commissioner, Nien Hsi-yao,
was appointed superintendent, after a long interval,
during which the work was intrusted to the local
officials.
The level of the little plain is broken at one point
toward the south by a small hill, where, as tradition
relates, a general of Ch'iu Shih-huang, the builder of
the Great Wall of China, once tethered his horses, and
it derived its original name from this ; it was afterward
called Tu Shan, ''The Solitary Hill," and Chu Shan,
CHING-T]fc-CH:fcN. 287
^' Jewel Hill," the jewel being guarded, according to
geomantic notions, by the dragons of the encircling
mountain belt. The Yii Yao Ch'ang, " Imperial Por-
celain Manufactory," also called Yii Ch'i Ch'ang, was
founded on the south side of this hillock in the reign
of Hmig-wii (1368-98), the celebrated founder of the
Ming dynasty. The annals say : " Tuan T'ing-kuei,
style Pao-ch'i, a native of Ch'ing-ch'iian, who Avas sent
by the Empei'or Hvng-iov^ with the rank of Secretary of
the Board of AVorks, to superintend the porcelain manu-
facture, built the yamen on the south of Jewel Hill, in
spite of the vigorous protests of the natives of Ching-te-
chen, who objected to being called upon to do any work
outside of their own industry." It was afterward
burned down, and it was i-ebuilt in the reign of
Cheng-te (1506-21) on its present lines. In the be-
ginning of the reign of Wan-Ii (1573-1619) it was
purposely fired by the potters as a protest against the
exactions of the palace eunuchs, who, however, were
afterward recalled, and eunuchs have never since been
put in charge. During the reigning dynasty it has
been twice completely razed to the ground : in the
fourteenth year of K^ing-lisi (1675), in connection with
the revolt of Wu San-kuei ; and in the year 1855, when
Ching-te-chen was taken by the Taiping rebels and
almost depopulated. Their disastrous rule lasted till
the third year of Tung-cluli (1864), and in 1866 the
imperial manufactory was rebuilt by the new superin-
tendent, Ts'ai Chin-ch'ing, with its seventy-two build-
ings, all raised upon the old foundations.
The outer wall, three li (about an English mile)
in circuit, incloses the imperial manufactory as well
as the Jewel Hill, which forms the '' Guardian Hill "
of the place on the north. The hill is planted with
trees and covered with pavilions, of which tlie Yii Shih
288 ORIENTAL CERA3IIC ART.
T'ing, '' Imperial Verse Pavilion," and the Huan Ts'ui
T'ing, " Green Encircled Arbor," stand conspicuously on
the crest of the hill. Volumes of odes have been
indited in these summer-houses, inspired by the ring
of furnace fires outside, the dark background of hill and
water, and the calm sky overhead, as the vei'sifiers have
sat there sipping their wine or tea. There are three
temples inside the inclosure : the Yu T'ao Ling Ssu,
" Sacred Temple of the Protector of the Potteries," con-
taining the shrine of the Feng Huo Hsien, the " Genius of
the Fire-Blast," a deified potter, the story of whose vicarious
sacrifice will be related presently ; the Kuan-Ti Miao,
'' Temple of the (National) God of War " ; and the T'u Ti
Ssti, " Temple of the Gods of the Land." The residence
of the superintendent and his clianceTlerie are also inside ;
that of the sub-prefect of Jao-chou, who is the governor
of the place, is built just outside on the right of the
main entrance ; and the Kung Kuan, the " Public
Offices," are also outside on the opposite side of
the gate. Inside this great southern gateway stand the
drum-tower and gong-tower, one on either side of the
avenue leading to the Ta T'ang, the " Principal Hall,"
which has wings at the sides. Beyond the great hall
one comes to a square courtyard Avith rows of buildings
on the right and left for the secretaries, accountants, and
attendants, and there is another large hall at the back,
behind which are the pleasure-grounds and the Jewel
Hill already referred to.
The workshops and stores are on the east and west, out-
side the courtyard ; and the modern arrangement, since
the place was rebuilt in 1866, is the following: On the
eastei'n side are two large buildings, each containing six
workshops for the making of the yuan clti, the ordinary
"round ware" thrown upon the wheel, including dishes,
plates, bowls, cups, and such things ; and beyond these,
CHiNG-T:fe-cn]fc]sr. 289
farther east, seven workshops for decorating the pieces
in blue and white (chHng hud). On the western side of
the courtyard are three workshops for the artists Avho
decorate in colors (ts'ai huct), and another one attached
for the carvers of jade and bamboo ; the imperial por-
celain store (tz'it Icii), with two separate rooms for the
selection of the pieces (Jisiian tz^u) when they are brought
from the kilns ; three workshops for the making of vases
(cho chJi) fashioned on the wheel, including sacrificial
vessels, jars, and ornamental pieces of all kinds ; and five
workshoj^s for the various operations of molding, carving,
and polishing required in the preparation of the square
and pol^^gonal vases, and all the complex forms that can
not be worked upon the ordinary wheel. Beyond these,
farther west, are six workshops for the decoration of the
vases and molded pieces in blue and wdiite — three for the
application of the glaze, one for grinding the colors used
for the CTiun yu^ the reproduction of the old Chiin-chou
porcelain ^vith a soiiffie glaze, which is commonly known
outside China as " i-obin's egg." Next come three labora-
tories with muffle-kilns (lit) for the second firing of the
pieces decorated in enamel colors, which have two
kitchens attached for the prepai'ation of the workmen's
food ; and, finally, seven workshops for the porcelain
decorated over the white glaze in foreign style with
enamel colors {yang ts\ii), for the sou-ffie red {cKui
hung), the monochrome glaze of the grand feu derived
from coj^per, and for the monochrome }^ellow (Chiao
huatig) glaze usually known as "imperial yellow." A
list of the objects made in these workshops for the
imperial palace in the reign of Thing-cliih will be given
in a later chapter, and will give a better idea of the Avork
than any mere description.
There is no mention of furnaces in the official account,
with the exception of muffle stoves for the second firing
290 ORIENTAL CERAJVIIC ART.
of the enameled pieces. In tlie Ming dynasty, as we
have seen, the imperial factory contained furnaces for the
clay seggars, and sejjarate furnaces for blue and white
porcelain, for colored porcelain, and for tlie large fish-
bowls. The last of the fish-bowl kilns (hang yao\ \ve
are told by T'ang Ying, fell down in the reign of
ChHen-lung and was not rebuilt. In the present day
everything is carried outside to be baked in private
furnaces, and all the imperial ware is taken to the
establishments called j96fO cliuing^ because they guarantee
the color of each firing, and are mulcted accordingly for
any loss or imperfection.
The furnaces employed for firing porcelain vary widely
both in size and shape. They maj^ be grouped generally,
according to M. Vogt {La Porcelaine, page 178), under
the three following types :
1. The cylindrical furnace, with direct flame and verti-
cal axis.
2. The cylindrical furnace, with reversed flame and
vertical axis.
3. The semi-cylindrical furnace, with direct flame and
horizontal axis.
The first type is that of the furnaces of the Ming
dynasty in China. They were sometimes built upon
a rising slope in a row of five or six communicating
cylinders, and this is still the ordinary form in Japan.
The second type is a recent European invention for the
purpose of economizing fuel and producing a greater
regularity in its combustion. The third type is that of
the Chinese furnace of the present day ; it was formerly
also employed in Europe for porcelain, but is now
scarcely used there, except for stoneware. Its irregular-
ity fits it all the more for the purpose required. Perfect
regularity is essential, according to M. Vogt, for the
manufacture of ordinary white porcelain, but not suit-
cHiNG-T:fc-CH]&]sr. 291
able for the production of colors Avbicli require different
kinds of flame to bring out the different degrees of
oxidation or deoxidation required. The colors that
resist the heat of the blast-furnace are divided scientif-
ically by French ceramic ^vriters into coideurs du grand
feu and eouleurs du demi-grand feu ; but in China both
of these two classes are fired together in the same charge,
the latter being placed neai* the back of the furnace
under the large vent-hole that communicates Avith the
chimney, where the heat is less intense than it is in the
middle of the furnace. " So the Chinese " (Joe. cit.,
page 188), "whose porcelain is so diversified, employ a
methodically irregular furnace which alloAvs them to
execute, in the same firing, all the fantasies inspii'ed by
their special genius as accomplished porcelainiers. They
are able, in fact, in one operation, thanks to the irregu-
larity of their furnace, to fire successfully the crackles,
which are of difficult fusibility, the fambe reds and the
celadons, which I'equire reducing flames, the blue under
the o'laze, the blacks which fuse so readily, as well as the
series of turquoise, green, yellow, and violet enamels ;
while in Europe, with our furnaces of i-egular type, three
or four different firings would be required to obtain the
same results."
AVe are indebted for a sketch of one of the large modern
fui'naces to M. F. Scherzer, who, when he was French
consul at Hankow, spent three weeks at Ching-te-chen
in 1883 studying the porcelain manufacture. It must
have been no easy task, as he wrote to me at the time
that he could hardly venture to look out of his close
sedan-chair without being pelted with potsherds by the
unruly potters. His plans, with vertical and horizontal
sections, are copied in the book just quoted (page 189),
and accompanied by a full description. The Chinese
furnace contains the three essential parts of such struc-
292 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
tures — viz., the fire, the laboratory, and the cLimney.
The fire, however, is not outside the furnace, as is usually
the case ; it is actually inside the laboratory, in such a
way that combustion is effected in the midst of the
objects that are being fired, without any loss of heat.
The laboratory, which is rectangular in shape, passes
above into a vaulted roof of cylindrical outline. The
rectangular portion below is incased in a massive tliick-
ness of earth ; the vaulted cylindrical roof is free. Out-
side the furnace there are staircases on both sides, by
which the firemen go up to the top of the massive earth
casing to watch the effect of the fire, looking through
apertures in the roof intended for the pui'pose which
are covered at other times with movable tiles. The
dimensions, according to M. Scherzer, are larger now
than they were in the time of Pere d'Entrecolles, the
height being as much as five metres, the length twice as
much, or ten metres, and the breadth three and a half
metres. In 1722 the height was three and a half metres,
the length double the lieight, and the breadth equal to
the height. Pine-wood in billets is the ordinary fuel
used in China. The lai-g^e trunks of the trees are floated
down the I'iver as rafts, tlie smaller branches beins;
brought down in Ijoats. The bundles, or " loads," so
often referred to in Chinese descriptions, are made to
weigh one hundred catties, or one hundred and thirty-
three pounds, and about two hundred of these "loads"
are stated to be required for each firing.
CHAPTER X.
ANEW dynasty of Tartar origiu began to rule China
under the title of Ch'ing, or " Pure," in the year
1644, after the last emperor of the Ming or " Illustrious "
dynasty had hanged himself upon a tree on Prospect
Hill, in the grounds of the palace at Peking. The
young emperor, still a minor, was enthroned with the
title of Shun-cMlij and his rule was gradually extended
over the south of China ; the Chinese general, Wu San-
kuei, who had first invited the Manchus into the country
to assist in putting down a native rebellion, being made
viceroy of the provinces of Yunnan and Kueichou in the
far southwest.
The new officials of the province of Kiangsi were all
at their posts in the second year, and, according to the
annals of the province, the director of the imperial por-
celain factory at Ching-te-chen and the other officers
there were appointed with the same duties and titles
as in the Ming dynasty, and continued to carry on the
work in similar lines. The mark of the first reign of
the new dynasty is veiy i-are, and the poi'celain that
bears it is hardly to be distinguished from that of the
later reigns of the Ming d3aiasty. Doubtless, supplies
were forwarded to Peking for the use of the palace, but
the only notices of the appointment of commissioners
are in connection with requisitions which they fail to
execute.
The first record is that of an imperial decree in the
eleventh year of the reign of Shun-cliih (1654), order-
293
294 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
ing the fabrication of a uiiinber of " dragon bowls "
(Jung hang) for the palace gardens, which were to be
two and a half feet high, three and a half feet in diame-
ter at the mouth, with sides of the thickness of three
inches, and bottoms of the thickness of five inches. For
four years they worked diligently under the orders of
four tao-fai, who were specially appointed in yearly suc-
cession from Jao-chou, and under the personal super-
vision of the governors of the province Lang T'ing-tso
and Chang Chao-lin, 1jut their efforts were in vain, and
the last named, who was governor from 1656 to 1664^
had finally to present a memorial begging for the with-
drawal of the decree.
Tlie dragon bowls required were the large fish-bowls
wliich are usually placed upon stands in the courtyards
of Chinese houses, and which are used for the cultiva-
tion of the lotus and other water-plants, as well as for
goldfish. They were called lung hang, or " dragon
bowls," because they were usually decorated with
dragons, although other decorations also occur. The
author of the Climg-te-clien T\io lu gives among the
designs the following :
" Bo\vls painted in blue with a pair of dragons in
clouds, surrounded by conventional paradise flowers ;
bowls painted in blue with a pair of dragons enveloped
in clouds ; some painted in blue with dragons in clouds
and with bands of lotus petals ; others painted in blue
with four dragons in a ring sporting above a floor of sea-
waves ; also bowls of pea-green celadon color." The
two which stand in ni}^ own garden, in the British lega»
tion at Peking, and which are both marked Ta Ming
Wan U nien cliili in underglaze blue, are decorated
in bright enamel colors ; one, which is twenty-seven
inches high and twenty-five inches in diameter at the
rim, has four five-clawed dragons, enveloped in clouds,
295
paiuted ' round the sides, a baud of wav^es beating upon
rocks at the base, and scroll borders aljove and below ;
the other, of the same diameter, but only one foot high
is decorated with mandarin ducks swimming in a lake,
with lotus flowers o:ro^viuo• in the water. The larwst
dragon bowls were fired in special furnaces, as described
in Chapter VIII, one at a time, with an expenditure of
over seven tons' weight of fuel, and cost at the time
forty-eight taels of silver each.
It was not, by the way, till the early part of the reign
of CliHen-lung, under the direction of T'ang Ying, that
such large porcelain fish-bowls were successfully fired
once more. They were produced by him, according to
the provincial statistics, with mouths ranging in diameter
from three and a half to four feet, and sides from one
and three-fourths to two feet in height, and invested
with colored glazes of three kinds : (1) Eel's-skin yellow
(shaii-yii liuang), (2) cucumber-green {hua-pH lii), (3)
spotted yellow and green {liuang lu tieii). The fish-
bowls {ijil Icang) of the K\ing-hsi period, though
smaller, are occasionally very richly decorated in colors;
they are generally catalogued in Europe as "cisterns."
In the sixteenth year of Sliiui-cluh (1659) another
imperial decree was issued, ordering from Ching-te-chen
the supply of a quantity of oblong plaques of porcelain
for inlaying on the partition walls of o2:)en verandas,
which were to be three feet high, two and a half feet
broad, and three inches thick. A commission was sent
down f]-om the Boai'd of Works, with a high Manchu
official named Ka-pa as president, and Wang Jih-tsao as
secretarv, who were associated with the provincial
tao-fai Chang Ssti-ming, and proceeded to Ching-te-chen
to superintend the Avork, but they also failed, and in the
following year the Governor of Kiangsi, Chang Chaolin,
memorialized the emperor to stop the work.
296 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
The task must really have been more difficult than
that of the large fish-bowls, of which Pere d'Entrecolles
asserts that over two hundred ^vere fired without a
single success, for lie says later in the same letter (loc.
cit., \)o.ge 282) : " European merchants demand some-
times from the Chinese workmen plaques of porcelain,
of which one piece shall make the top of a table or of a
stove, as well as frames for pictures : these things are
impossible ; the largest and longest plaques made meas-
ure only about a foot, and if an attempt is made to
pass that, whatever thickness may be given, they become
warped. Thickness, in fact, does not facilitate the exe-
cution of these works, and this is why, instead of
making the plaques thick, they are made with two faces
united inside by cross-pieces so as to leave the inter-
spaces hollow. Two openings are left in the sides so
that they may be mounted in woodwork or inlaid in the
backs of chairs, where they show very prettily." The
plaques referred to here are, indeed, sometimes very
effective, being decorated in the brilliant enamels of the
period and enhanced by gilding. They are either rec-
tagonal or circular in outline, and are usually decorated
with figure-scenes of dramatic or historic interest on one
side, and with birds and flowers on the other. Perfect
examples, however, are rare, because the Chinese so
often saw them in two with the jade-cutter's wheel, and
frame the two sides as companion pictures, adapted
either for hanging on the wall or for standing on the
table, mounted upon coral pedestals in the usual fashion.
The reign of Shun-cJiih may, in fact, be entirely
neglected from a ceramic point of view, and we may
pass on at once to that of his successor, K''ang-lisi
(1662-1722), which is unquestionably the most brilliant
epoch in the ceramic art of China, and is distinguished
by the purity and brilliancy of its single colors, as well
THE k'ang-hsi period. 297
as for tlie splendid coloriug and perfect technical tinisli
of its painted decoration. The special trinni[)hs of the
ceramic art which have excited the enthusiastic admira-
tion of ardent collectors in the West, as well as in China,
are nearly all the productions of this one period. It is
sufficient to mention the magnificent sang-de-hoeuf red of
the Lang Yao vases, the charming play of colors and
perfect technique of the "peach-bloom class," and the
soft purity of the claii'-de-lune and celadon glazes — all
of which are well represented in the colored illustrations.
The decorative effect of co])alt-blue is brou2:ht out of
the dejoths of the translucent white glaze of the time in
a way that has not been rivaled before or since. The
coloring material was blown upon the raw body of the
vase, and either left as its sole ornament, as in Plate
XCIII, or penciled over the surface with designs of gold,
or combined Avith enamel colors, as in Plate XXVI,
or it Avas mixed with the glaze, as in the sky-blue
bottle illustrated in Plate LXXIV; it was painted
on with a brush in the large class of " blue and white,"
which also has its enthusiastic admirers, appearing as
blue upon a white ground, as in the graceful vase shown
in Plate LXXIII, or as a blue ground with the decora-
tion in white reserve, as in the fascinating " hawthorne "
ginger-jars, of which a choice example is reproduced in
Plate II. The wonderful variety of the decoration in
colors is just as remarkable ; the five colors of the
Chinese — blue, green, yellow, red, and black — appearing
on the same piece in bi'illiant contrast, sometimes
relieved by black, yellow, purple, or green grounds,
sometimes enhanced by touches of gold. Green in
shaded tones occupies a conspicuous j^lace among the
characteristic colors of this period, and the term of
famille verte, introduced by Jacquemart, had its origin
therein.
298 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
It was in the reign of K\iiig-lisi that Chinese porcelain
was first imported on a large scale into Europe. Previ-
ous importations had been confined mainly to celadon
and blue and white. The Dutch were the chief
importers through their East India Company, and we
read of cargoes containing many thousands of pieces.
These must have been mainly, if not entirely, composed
of porcelain made at the time ; the merchants of Canton^
Amoy, and Foochow being in constant communication
with Ching-te-chen, as we know from Chinese accounts.
So ^ve find most of the early European collections, like
that of the museum at Dresden, consisting almost exclu-
sively of productions of this time. The great majority
of the objects in more recent collections also date from
the reign of K\ing-lisi^ partly because they were
recruited from Holland and Germany, but principally
because of the pre-eminent artistic value of the ceramic
^vork of the time, which causes it still to be sought out
from all parts of China.
The " marks " of this period, as was explained in Chap-
ter IV, are rarely genuine. It may be held genei'ally, a&
Sir Wollaston Franks observes, that little reliance can
be placed upon Chinese marks ; the specimens, as he
remarks, are at any rate not older than the dates on
them, but may be much more modern. A visit to the
commonest crockery shop in China will confirm this ; the
blue and white pieces will generally be found marked
Hsuan-te, and those enameled in colors CKeng-hua,
because these two i-eigus of the Ming dynasty had a
great reputation for these two branches of decorations;
the larger vases and Jars provided for wedding-presents
^vill probably have seals of the reigns of K'^ang-lisi or
CWien-lung inscribed underneath ; as the shops are not
kept by curio dealers, nobody is taken in ; it is simply a
custom of the trade. So it was with the K''ang-lisi
THE k'ang-hsi period. 299
potters, who were woDt to inscribe a Ming mark like
that of ChictrcMng on the blue and white vase shown in
Plate LXXIII, or of Cli'eng-hua, as on the white vase,
with etched dragon of Plate XXXIX ; or to fly at higher
game still and suggest the reign of Hsilan-lio of the Sung
•dynasty, although the charming effect of their chiseled
work under a translucent glaze, as indicated in Plate
XC, approached probably that of carved ^vhite jade more
nearly than any production of the more remote period
tliey inscribed underneath.
Early writers on ceramic subjects in Europe were
inclined to accept such marks of date as genuine ; later
authorities, with greater plausibility, regard them as
indicating copies or reproductions of porcelain actually
made at the particular period inscribed. I am not pre-
pared to go even so far as that. M. Grandidier, for
example, writes (Joe. cit., page 154) : "The epoch Tching-
hoa has bequeathed to us a series of grand vases which
will always find fi'antic admirers, and Avhich are worthy
of their great reputation on account of the boldness of
the decoration and the intensity of the colors. Those of
the shape called 'lancella' are composed of' a jar sur-
mounted by a trumpet-mouthed beaker ; others are
quadrangular or ovoid; some have the form of a straight
beaker, of a square baluster or of a rounded baluster;
the group includes besides some statuettes of divinities.
The grounds display three principal shades — yellow, dark
green approaching black, and clear, limpid green. The
■decorations comprise rocks in different tones of green,
trunks of trees and branches in manganese-violet, plants,
flowers, or animals in white, blue, yellow, green, or violet.
Figures are more I'are at this epoch, and occupy a sub-
ordinate place in the composition. This fabrication did
not cease with the fall of the Ming, and many of
the pieces attributed to the Ming period came out of the
300
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Chinese workshops of the fiist years of Khang-hi. The
Salting collection in London contains such vases, seventy
centimetres high, with a ground of blackish green^
yellow, or green, which are ornamented with green rocks,
Avith branches of peach-tree laden with white flowers,
Avith flowering sprays of peonies, magnolias, water-lilies,
sno^vy hydrangeas, etc., which are marked Tching-hoa.
Of the similar pieces in my own collection, . . ,
althoiiiz;!! some were fabricated under Tchinfj-hoa, the
majority are only superb re])roductions executed during
the flrst years of Khang-hi. Their marks, apocryphal as
they are, are yet a precious means of instruction, in that
they giv6 us the date of the primitive type." Again
(page 166): "The early Khang-hi period is a transition
epoch ; the traditions of the old Chinese dynasty are still
honored. The ancient principles and the old methods,,
preserved with great pains during forty years of civil
war, are perpetuated in the ceramic field, and flower for
the last time during the first ten or fifteen years of
Khang-hi. So the specimens have not yet quitted the
livery of the Ming, the brilliant livery of that brilliant
dynasty, an'd proclaim proudly, by their beauty, the prog-
ress achieved under the earlier reign ; they bear the
Ming decorations, whether they be simple copies, or
whether they be vei'itable originals, inspired by more
ancient works."
For examples of the type referi-ed to in the above quo-
tations turn to Plate LV for an illusti'ation of a wine-pot
decorated in colors on a white ground, and to Plate IX
for that of a quadrangular vase painted in enamel colors
relieved by an enameled black ground. There are few
collectors, I believe, outside of China, who do not cherish
these things as relics of the Ming d^masty ; there is no
Chinese connoisseur, on the other hand, who would not
attribute them all to the reign of IPang-ltsi. The end
THE k'aNG-IISI PERIOD. 301
of the Mi n^ dyu'dsty was au age of criticism, and we have
a host of writers on ceramic subjects, but not one of them
refers to such large vases as existing in the reign of
Clteng-litia; had they existed at such an early date they
could hardly have been overlooked. Kor are there any
figured in the illustrated album of the sixteenth century
which has been described in Chapter Y, although it gives
a wine-pot and several wine-cups of the period decorated
in colors. The expert confesses the difficulty of distin-
guishing between an original Oli'eng-ltua piece and a
K\mg-]isi copy, and I ^vould, with all deference, propose
that they shall all he classed as K^ang-Jisi productions
until proofs of antiquity any better than those of archaic
style and ancient mark be brought forward.
In the beginning of the reign of K^mg-hsi, Lang
T'ing-tso w^as still viceroy. In the preceding reign w^e
found him mentioned as personall}^ supervising the w^ork
of the imperial potters at Ching-te-chen. He was
appointed governor (Jisiln-fu) of the province of Kiangsi
in 1654, and was promoted to be viceroy (tsung-tii) of
Kiangsi and Kiangnan in 1656. In the last year of
the reign of Shun-cJiili the viceroyalty was divided :
Lang T'ing-tso remained the tsiing-tu of Kiangnan, and
Chang Chao-lin was promoted to be tsung-tti of Kiangsi.
The provinces were reunited in the fourth year of
K\ing-lisi (1665), with Lang T'ing-tso as viceroy, and he
retained the post till 1668, when he was succeeded by
j\Ia-lo-chi, a Mauchu of the Yellow Banner. I have
given these particulars of the career of the celebrated
viceroy, w^ho was a Chinese native of the northern boi-der
and an early adherent of the invading Manchus, because
the name Lang Yao,* applied to the remarkable ceramic
*This name has been derived by some Chinese of less weight from that of
Lang Shih-ning, an artist protege of the Jesuits, who also lived in the reign of
K'(ing-hsi, and whose pictures are still highly appreciated. A note following
302 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART,
productions of this time, is generally supposed by the
most competent Chinese authorities to have been derived
from him. Yao in its widest sense means "pottery," as
well as " potteries," " porcelain " as well as " kiln," and
the ceramic production of this time has retained the name
of the viceroy, in the same way as the names of Ts'ang
Yiug-hsiian, Nien Hsi-yao, and T'ang Ying, who were in
turn superintendents of the imperial potteries, were after-
ward given to the Ts^ang Yao, Nien Yao, and Thing
Yao, names which the respective productions of their
times retain to this day.
The Lang Yao 'par excellence is characterized by a rich,
deep glaze of crackled texture imbued with the crimson
mottled clouds of blood-red tone, which have earned for
it the name of sang-de-hmif, by which it is generally
known. The color is not uniform, but flashes in streaks
of varied shade produced by the action of the furnace
flames on the copper silicate to which the color is due.
It is more homogeneous, however, than i\\e famhe reds of
later times which, in common parlance, share with it the
name of sang-de-hoenf. Sometimes a quite modern piece
of cJd hung, or "saci'ificial i-ed," so-called because, like
the Lang Yao itself, it was made after the color of the
ancient sacriflcial cups of the reign of Hsi'ian-te, will
appear accidentally, as it were, clothed in a rich garb
rivaling iu intensity that of the finest Lang Yao vase.
An intentional imitation, although it may approach
the description of a bottle in the Franks Collection (loc. cit., page 8), " covered
with a deep but brilliant red glaze," says: " This specimen is from Mr. A. B.
Mitford's collection, and is thus described in the catalogue : ' A bottle : Lang
yno-lze, porcelain from the Lang furnace. The Lang family were a family of
famous potters who possessed the secret of this peculiar glaze and paste. They
became extinct about tlie year 1610; and their pottery is highly esteemed and
fetches great prices at Peking.' " The family is apocryphal and the porcelain
antedated, but the story is generally accepted by later writers, like M. Grandi-
dier, who gives it (page 160) under the reign of Wan-li, without, however,
acknowledging the source of his information.
THE k'ang-hsi period. 303
in brilliancy of tone the rich coloring of the original,
always fails in some point of technical detail. The color
requires perfect fluidity of the enamel to bring it out in
perfection — a condition which the modern potter can not
attain without the glaze " running," so that it becomes
very thin on the upper rim, which often appears nearly
w^hite, and runs down to collect in thick drops round the
foot, which has to be subsequently gi'ound down on the
w^heel. All attempts to reproduce this beautiful color in
the AVest have also failed, principally, it is said, because
it is so difficult to seize the exact moment, a few seconds
more or less in the duration of the firing being sufficient
to ruin the beauty of the fugitive tint.
The principal means of distinguishing the veritable
Lang Yao consists in the perfect potting of the piece,
evidenced by the mathematical regularity of the white
line of enamel which often defines the rim and the condi-
tion of the foot, as ^vell as in the tone of coloring in the
crackled glaze. The condition of the foot is always
a special criterion to tlie Chinese connoisseur, who looks
especially at the paste when it is left unglazed round the
circular rim, to distinguish the pi'oductions of different
periods. The bottoms of these vases are described as
exhibiting glazes of three kinds, having ping-huo ti,
" bases of apple-green (crackle)," 'ini-se ti, " bases of rice-
colored (crackle)," or ixn-tz^u ti, " bases of plain \vhite
porcelain."
If the piece be entirely green, it is a specimen of Lil
Lang Yao, or "Green Lang Yao." This is always
crackled ; it is of a unifoi-m apple-green {2^''ing-Jciio cJi^mg)
shade, paler than that of the brilliant green monochromes
which distinguish the later part of the reign ; the rims
are defined by a line of translucent white enamel, and the
technique is that of the ordinary Lang Yao ; the rare
pieces that I have seen are small in size. The color has
304 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
been called a co})per celadon, but it is better, I think, to
restrict the term celadon to the sea-green tint produced
by a protoxide of iron.
In addition to the magnificent vases and censers of
sang-de-hcei(f, we have a variety of miscellaneous articles^
intended for domestic use, such as saucer-shaped dishes^
basins, bo\vls, tazza-shaped cups, and the like, and
occasionally we even find a round box of the type
adapted to hold seal-vermilion, or a small snuff-bottle,
representing the class. The glaze, always crackled, varies
from an intense blood-red, through intermediate shades of
paler hue, till it becomes sometimes almost pink ; in other
cases it darkens into a dull maroon, or a liver-colored tint.
The bowls are of solid make, heavy-footed, expanding at
the mouth to a thin, spreading rim, which is defined by
a white line. There is a series of bowds of the same
shape as the red bowls, which are decorated generally
with birds and flowers, painted in the brilliant enamel
colors of the early K\mg-hsi period, Avliich are considei'ed
by the Chinese to be productions of the same kilns, and
which are also classified by them under the heading of
Lang Yao. These bowls are characterized by a deeply
crackled glaze of pale greenish tone which is traversed
by red lines, and on the surface of this crackle the enamel
decoration, boldly designed, is laid on with a free brushy
so that the colors, especially the cobalt-blue, stand out in
prominent relief. These bowls wo\dd be classed under
the heading of *' Green Lang Yao," decorated with enamels.
To return to the annals of the province. In the tenth
year of ICang-lisi (1671) the governor was ordered to
supply the ritual sets of sacrificial vessels required l^y
the emperor in the worship of the different temples at
Peking. He dispatched officials from Jao-chou and Fou-
liang to Ching-te-chen to superintend the work and see
that it was executed in accordance ^\ith the imperial
THE r'ang-hsi period. 305
decree. Tlie sacrificial vessels required were all fabri-
cated and successfully fired, the uecessary funds beiug
provided on a liberal scale, so that neither money nor
materials were levied from the people, and the things
were sent on in successive batches to the capital, as soon
as they were finished, as required by the decree.
But troubles supervened in connection with the
rebellion of Wu San-kuei, the viceroy of Yunnan, who
threw off his allegiance to the Manchu empei-or in 1674,
and headed the last expiring eiforts of the native Chinese
against the rule of the Tartars. The imperial factoiy at
Ching-te-chen was burned to the ground in the following
year. The death of AVu San-kuei, which occurred in
1678, was followed in a few months by a final triumph
of the imperial forces, and the [)rovince of Kiangsi was
soon afterward pacified. In the ninth month of the
nineteenth year (1680) an imperial decree was issued
ordering the production of a quantity of imperial por-
celain for the use of the palace, and at the same time
a board of commissioners w^as selected from the officials
of the Nei Wu Fu, or "Imperial Household," and
directed to proceed to Ching-te-chen to superintend the
work. The first commission was composed of Hsu
T'ing-pi, secretary {Lang-cliiUKj) of the Treasury of the
Pi'ivy Purse, and Li Yen-li, an assistant secretary. The
second commission, appointed two years later, was headed
by Ts'ang Ying-hsuan, secretary of the Imperial Parks
Department of the Board of Works, who is stated to
have arrived at Ching-te-chen in the second month of the
twenty-second year (1683), and who at once took over
the superintendence of the imperial manufactory. AVe
are not told how long he remained in charge. After
his time the work was carried on by the provincial
officials, as there seems to have been no appointment of
another imperial commission till the next reiun.
306 ORIENTAL CERA3IIC ART.
To Ts'ano; Yiiify-lisuan is due the brilliaut renaissance
of the ceramic art in China which distinguishes the reign
of K^ang-lm. T'ang Ying, who ultimately succeeded to
the office, in his Life of the God of tlte Furnace Blast,
bears testimony to his genius when he writes : " When
Ts'ang was director of the porcelain works the finger of
the god was often seen in the midst of the furnace fire,
either painting the designs or shielding them from harm,
so that the porcelain came out perfect and beautiful."
The writer of the Ohing-te-clien T^ao-lu says, in his
description of the Ts'ang Yao, that the porcelain made
by him was of fine rich material and thin translucent
texture, that all the different colors were produced, and
that among them the four most beautiful colors were the
snake-skin gi'een with iridescent hues, the eel-skin yellow
of brownish shade, the turquoise-blue, and the varie-
gated yelloAV, although the monochrome yellow, the
monochrome purple, and the monochrome green glazes,
as well as the sovfjfe I'ed and the sovffie blue, were all
remarkably fine. He adds that all these different glazes
were copied afterward by T'ang Ying. AVe may add
that the peculiar brilliancy of these well-known K\tng-
Jisi colors is inimitable.
The porcelain was still called by the old name of
Kuan Yao, or " imperial ware," to distinguish it from
the productions of the private potters. Among the
things sent to the palace, according to the official list,
were fish-ljowls (Jcaiuf), flower-pots (^jien^ basins (//^V),
round dishes (^2^\t)i), beaker-shaped vases (^fstin), censers
(Ju), vases (p^wf), jars with covers (kiian), saucer-plates
(tieli), bowls (loari), teacups and wine-cups (chung, clian).
The decorative designs used included fabulous dragons
enveloped in clouds, birds, and four-footed beasts, fishes
swimming in watei' green with moss, and flowering plants
of all kinds. The porcelain was either painted in colors,
THE k'aNG-IISI PERIOD. 307
or chiseled in relief, or faintly engraved under the glaze,
or carved in open-work : all these different processes are
declared to have been cleverly executed in the imperial
workshops at this period.
Another famous glaze appeared in this reign which
challenges the supreme position genei'ally accorded by
lovers of the ceramic art to the Lang Yao sang-de-hoeuf.
I refer, of course, to the " peach-bloom " {pemi-de-pecJie)
also called sometimes '' crushed strawberry " (^f raise
ecrasee), which is another example of the decorative
power of the same protean color, being due to a for-
tuitous mingling of the silicates of copper. Although
not so intense and brilliant as the sang-de-lceuf, it has
a special charm of its own in its soft, velvety tones,
Avhich remind one of the coloring of the rind of a peach
ripening in the sun. The prevailing shade is a pale red,
becoming pink in some parts, in others mottled with
russet spots, displayed upon a background of light-
green celadon tint. The last color occasionally comes
out more prominently and deej)ens into clouds of bright
apple-green tint. The varied shades of color are well
represented in the illustrations, as will be appreciated
by reference to Plates III, LI (a), LII, and L. The
vases illustrated here are all marked in full, under-
neath, with the " six-character mark '' of the reign,
beautifully written in a minute script, ^vhich is penciled
under the glaze in cobalt-blue.
The Chinese prize the subdued beauty of this glaze
above all others for the decoration of their writing-tables,
and most of the objects originally adapted for this pur-
pose are of comparatively small size. They call it
by the special name oi jjing-h^io hung^ or '^ apple-red,"
and they distinguish also the accessory ping-kuo cliing,
or "apple-green" clouds, and the inei l^uei tzu, or "rose-
crimson " mottled spots. This comparison with the
308 ORIENTAL CEEAMIC ART.
mingled red and green shades of a rosy-cheeked apple is
apt enough, especially as the same idea is often brought
out in the form of the object; two favorite designs,
for example, of the little water-bottles intended to be
used with the writer's pallet are \\\^ iHng-huo tsun, or
" apple- jar," which is molded as an exact facsimile in
size and shape of the fruit, and its fellow, the sliih-Uu
tsun, or " pomegranate-jar " ; I have seen these two
shapes only in China. Another native name for this
^' peach -Ijlooni " glaze, which is the one that is commonly
used by the Chinese dealer, is cliiang-tou htmg. This
might be rendered " haricot-red," the cliiang-tou being
a small kidney-shaped bean of variegated pink color
with brown spots, largely cultivated at Peking and
other parts of China, the DoUchos sinensis of botanists.
Among the other specimens of the peach-bloom class
in the collection are (Fig. 188) a small water receptacle
for the writing-table modeled in the traditional form
of the wine-jar of Li T'ai-po, the famous poet of the
eighth century, from which it derives its name of T^ai-'po
tsun; and Fig. 198, a circular box for the vermilion
used for impressing seals, another indispensable adjunct
of the \vriting-table of the Chinese scholar. Fig. 202
shows a vase similar in form to the one illustrated in
Plate LII, which has been mounted in Japan. Fig. 201 is
a pilgrim bottle \vith a copper- red glaze of " peach-bloom "
type, which differs from the rest in being unmarked.
There is one class of these vases in which the base
of the neck is encircled by the form of an archaic
dragon, modeled in full under-cut relief, which is
enameled with a bright apple-green glaze of uniform
tint, contrasting vividly, as a complementary color, with
the red shades of the vase. Fig. 209 exhibits one of
these dragon-encircled bottles which has the usual mark
inscribed on the foot underneath.
309
The last piece to be noticed here is a little bowl-
shaped wine-cup of egg-shell texture invested, inside
and out, with a " peach-bloom " glaze displaying all the
typical tints (Fig. 210). The mark underneath is that
of the reign of Hman-tt of the Ming dynasty, but tlie
perfection of the technique and the character of the
glaze indicate the ICang-hsi period, and the mark
would perhaps be intended to show that the aim of
the potter was the reproduction of one of the celebrated
^'sacrificial red wine-cups" of the older reign, which, we
know^ were tinted ^vitli the same coloring material.
The first "peach-bloom" vases that reached the
United States seem to have come from Peking, out of
the famous collection of the hereditary Princes of Yi,*
the source also, by the way, of the sixteenth century
album that has been so often referred to. The founder
of this line of princes was the thirteenth son of the
Emperor JCang-lisi T'ang Ying refers to him {Chiang
Jisi thing cliili, book xciii, folio 10) as having, in the
eighth month of the year 1723, personally announced
to him by command of his brother, the Emperoi- Yung-
climg, his own (T'ang Ying's) appointment to be
director of the imperial potteries, and we may gather
from this that the prince was interested in the develop-
ment of the ceramic art. After his death the hereditary
rank of imperial prince (Ch'in AVang) was conferred
upon his descendants, a unique honor, as it is the rule in
China for each generation to descend one step in the
scale of nobility till they become commoners. His
descendant in the fifth generation was the notorious Yi
Ch'in Wang, to w^hom the empress-regent sent a silken
*In the Catalogue of the Art Collection formed by the late Mrs. Mary J.
Morgan, New York, 1886. it is noted that several of the "peach-blow or
crushed-strawberry vases" came " from the private collection of I Wang-ye,
a Mandarin prince," which must be the one I refer to. Wang Teh is " Prince "
in colloquial Pekingese, and Yi is sometimes written /.
310 OEIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
cord in 1861, so tliat lie might expiate by his suicide his
misiuanageraeiit of the Anglo-French war. A young
scion of his house was chosen at the same time to suc-
ceed him, instead of one of his own sous, as an additional
punishment, and it is he who is currently reported since
he grew up to have taken to dissipated ways, and to have
W' asted the valuable collections of his ancestral palace. It
may be of some interest to see traced back, in this way,
to a son of the Emperor IC'ang-hsi, a collection that was
no doubt formed in his reign, the gems of which excited
such interest in ceramic circles on their first appearance,
and which will always rank as trjiimphs of decorative
art.
The vases, though small in size, are generally of fine
technique and graceful form. They share these char-
acteristics with some others of similar make and shape
enameled with diit'erent glazes, which are often marked
in the same style, and evidently belong to the same
period. Perhaps the most beautiful of the monochrome
glazes of this class is the yueli jxci, or clair-de-lune, of
uniformly pale sky-blue tint, wdiicli is illustrated in
Plate LI (b), but the soft, celadon shades displayed
in the illustration (Plate VII), which is modeled in
the graceful lines of one of the finest of the " peach-
bloom " vases, are almost as charming. Two other
vases are given in Plate L, under the heading of Peach-
Bloom Transmutations, one of w^hich is a pearl gray
of pinkish hue, with traces of mottled red lurking inside
the neck, while the other is marbled with variegated
splashes of green, passing from emerald to intense olive
tones, a striking instance of the kiln transmuted green
(yu lie), w^hich we shall meet with presently in Chapter
XVIII.
These t\vo glazes, the sang-de-hceuf and the peau-de-
peche^ were not employed exclusively as single colors ;
THE k'aNG-IISI PEKIOD. 311
tliey were used also in cuinbiiiutiou with other forms of
decoration, and some of the most brilliant blue pieces of
the period are occasionally seen with the painted designs
relieved by one of these colors in place of the ordinary
-white ground. A remarkable example is seen in the vase
illustrated in Fig. 207, the ground of which is a typical
"Lang Yao " crackled glaze, exhibiting all the different
sang-de-bceiif tones, j)assing from paler shades into deep-
est crimson. The neck and shoulder of the vase are
ribbed, and the decoration is modeled in relief in the
paste, and filled in with underglaze cobalt-blue, with
touches of copper-red. It consists of a flowering lotus
springing from a groundwork of crested waves, and a
pair of swalloAVS, one of them perched on a lotus stalk,
the other flying. The large, naturally folded lotus leaves,
lifted upon rough tuberculated stems, and the birds, are
painted in blue ; the flowers and buds are shaded in
addition, in wavy lines of maroon tint within the blue
outlines. The foot, which is enameled white with a
tinge of green, has no mark inscribed.
The rare baluster-shaped vase in Fig. 211, which is
engraved in the paste with a lightly etched design of a
pair of dragons mounting into the clouds from a line of
scrolled sea-waves, and is enameled with a brilliant
crackled glaze of bright green passing into olive at the
edges, is invested with a thick over-glaze of " peach-
bloom " type, collecting in mottled clouds of " crushed-
strawberry " tint, laid on so thickly that the forms of the
dragons are scarcely visible in the ' interstices of the
clouds. The foot, encircled by a broad, uuglazed rim,
has concentric lines of grayish-white crackle in the mid-
dle, with no mark attached.
The " iron-red,'' prepared l)y the incineration of greeu
vitriol (iron sulphate), called also "coral-red" from the
tone of color, which is quite distinct from that of the
312 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
" copper-reds " which we have beeu considering, is found
among the single colors of this time, although much less
frequently than in succeeding reigns. In the reign of
J^''ang-hsi this color Avas employed more largely in
painted decoration : either alone, as in the egg-shell bowl
in Plate LXVII ; or in combination with gold, as in "the
club-shaped vase in Plate XXVIII ; or as one of the
different colors comprised in the ordinaiy polychrome
decoration of the muille oven.
The brilliant blues derived from cobalt were brought out
with vivid intensity in this reign, which is unrivaled for
its monochrome blues, as well as for the beauty of its blue
and white decorated porcelain. The calcined cobaltifer-
ous ore of manganese was either mixed with the white
glaze to produce the gray-blue illustrated in Plate
LXXIV, or it was blown through gauze upon the raw
white body of the piece and subsequently glazed over to
produce the magnificent effect of po^vder blue, so well
represented Vjy the artist in Plate XCIII. This " powder-
blue," also called " Mazarin-blue," or sometimes hleu
f octette, from its whipped aspect, may be either left as the
sole decoration of the vase, or it may be painted over
Avith ornamental designs in gold, fixed by a second firing
in the muffle stove. The vase in Fig. 206, which is deco-
rated in gold with sprays of chiysanthemum and bamboo,
is an example of the last style of decoration. In other
cases, again, the powder-blue ground is interrupted by
medallions of varied form, which are filled with designs,
either executed at the same time in blue, or painted after
the first firing in enamel colors ; an example of a deco-
rated powder-blue vase is illustrated in Plate XVIII. A
decorated vase, on the other hand, may have powder-
blue panels interrupting the main decoration, as in the
interesting vase in Fig. 208, which deserves a word of
description. It is painted in brilliant enamel colors with
THE k'ang-hsi period. 313
gilding, the body witli cliiysantlieinuin scrolls traversed
by lizard-like dragons, the neck with butterflies and
flowers on a pale-green background dotted with black,
with flying storks, and phoenix medallions ; the shoulder
lias a band of floral brocade with pictures in foliated
2:)anels, and the upright rim of the mouth is encircled by
n green border with a black fret ; the twelve panels, fan-
shajDed, quatrefoil, oblong, or in the form of a leaf or
pomegranate, which interrupt the painted decoration, are
tilled in with a powder-blue sonfie gi-ound, outlined in
gold, and painted over in gold with landscapes, Taoist
temples, flying geese, fighting cocks, sprays of flowers, etc.
Another monochrome glaze invented at this period was
the brilliant black called wu eJdn, or " metallic black,"
by the Chinese, which is sometimes called " mirror black,"
after Pere d'Entrecolles, who compared it to the color of
our burning mirrors. It diffei's from the black of the
painted vases, which is of duller aspect, and often of
greenish tone, and gives more the impression of being a
lacquered surface. It is prepared by mixing some of the
calcined cobaltiferous manganese ore Avith the ordinary
white glaze and adding a cei'tain proportion of the fer-
ruginous clay, which produces the tzu-chin, the fond
laque^ or coflt'ee-colored glaze, which will be referred to
presently. The mirror-black glaze is usually overlaid
with a gilded decoration, although this often becomes
almost obliterated in course of time, as in the tall vase
shown in Plate LXXX, and in the pair of large, triple,
gourd-shaped vases illustrated in Plate LXI and Fig. 212.
The charming little vase illustrated in Plate LXII exhib-
its the brilliant intense black with iridescent surface,
which distinguishes some of the finest decorated pieces
of the time.
The brown glaze just referred to,' which is known
technically in the French potteries ix^fond laque, may be
314 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
noticed next. It ranges fi-oiii a dark bronze line to tlie
color of old gold, and is known to ceramic authors by
man}' names, such as '^ chocolate," *•' dead leaf," " cafe mo
lait,'''' etc.; the Chinese name of izu-cliin^ which means
"burnished gold," is as characteristic as an}', and they
distinguish the shade by prefixing /ww^^, "red," OYhuangj
" yellow," according to the p'.edominance of either of these
two colors in the bro\vn. This glaze Avas rarely used
alone ; it was usually interrupted by medallions or other
ornamental designs, which were decorated in surface
enamel colors, as in the garni tui'e of three Jars and two
beaker-shaped vases illustrated in Fig. 213. The last
combination is the most common of all ; it w^as imported
in huge quantities in Dutch ships of the time, according
to old inventories which have been recently published by
Jacquemart and others, and the decoration still retains its
old trade name of " Batavian." Fio". 214 shows a vase
of this class, with the bulging body enameled yellowish
brow^i, and the neck decorated in blue, with formal
sprays of pinks, bands of fret, and floral diaper, which is
marked underneath with a double ring, a favorite mark
of the K\mg-li8i period. Fig. 215 presents a vase of
similar style, in which the " brown-gold " ground that
invests the lower half of the body is succeeded by an
encircling band of crackle, and the shoulder, as well as
the beaker-shaped neck, is painted in blue with flowers
and butterflies ; it has no mark underneath, but evidently
belongs to the same period as the last. Another mode
of decoration was effected by overlaying the browm glaze
wdth designs in white slip ; a bottle-shaped vase of this
kind is seen in Fig. 216, displaying in its somewhat crude
decoration two vases of flowers and a conventional beaded
border executed in slip ; it is an example of a class of
vases decorated by the Chinese in Persian style for ex-
port to that country ; a similar one, indeed, is erroneously
THE k'ang-iisi period. 315
iigured by Jacqnemart under tlie lieadiug of Persian por-
celain. Pere d'Entrecolles tells us that designs were also
painted at this time in metallic silver on the surface of
this brown glaze, and that tlie combination was pretty
and effective. I have never seen a specimen, perhaps on
account of the fuo;itive nature of the silver decoration,
which is easily tarnished and rubbed off l)y wear.
The " turquoise-blue " and " aubergine-purple " ai-e two
colors, dating from previous times, which may be
bracketed together, as they offer several analogies, and
are, moreover, often used in combination in the decora-
tion of the same piece. The glazes are applied 8ur his-
<mit, and have a finely crackled or tniite texture. The
turquoise glaze called Kiing-cJiuo lu, or ''peacock-green,"
by the modern Chinese, although it is also known in
books as fei-ts\ii, from its resemblance to the blue plumes
of the kingfisher, which are used in jewelry, is prepared by
combining copper with a nitre flux. The cJiieh p'i tzii,
or " aid3ergine-])urple," is derived from the common ore of
manganese and cobalt, calcined and mixed like the last
with nitre and pulverized quartz. The Walters Collec-
tion is very rich in turquoise ci'ackle of different periods,
including, as it does, considerably over a hundred pieces,
some magnificent specimens of which, with bronze
mounts by Gouthiere, and which are attributed to the
reign of K''ang-hsi, have already been figured. It is fre-
quently seen on Buddhist images, lions, and other mon-
stei's, magotSj and grotesques of all kinds, such as those
which were so eagerly sought after by collectors of the
eighteenth century. Aubergine-purple, as a single color,
occurs principally on small vases. The two glazes used
together make a very effective combination, as in the
large lions mounted upon square pedestals, which rank
among the chief ornaments of the Dresden Museum.
The colors in these pieces ai'e boldly laid on with a free
316 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
briisli and with no attempt at symmetry ; in. some cases
the purple is flecked with a brush in a rain of drops upon
the turquoise ground ; in others the paste is worked in
relief for. the I'eception of the colors which enhance the
outlines previously tooled in the paste. The wine-pot
shown in Fig. 217 is an illustration of this last method ^
which dates from very ancient times ; it is composed of
grayish paste molded in the shape of a peach, with a hole
in the bottom for the introduction of a liquid, and has the
spout and handle fashioned in the form of twigs from
which leaves proceed to decorate the surface of the pot^
u})on which they are worked in relief and filled in with tur-
quoise, contrasting brightly with the surrounding purple
enamel. These colors are said to develop better when
there is a mixture of common clay with the ordinary hard
kaolinic ingredients of the plate, which is seen to be the
case in this small wine-pot.
The same manganese mineral was used in the prepara-
tion of the purplish brown, which was one of the three
single colors used for enameling the bowls, cups, and
saucer-dishes of the imperial dinner services, on which it
takes a brownish claret tint, due to an excess of lead in
the flux and a minimum of alkali. The other two colors
w^ere a bright green of camellia-leaf tint, and deep yellow,,
the special imperial color, and the services w^ere either
plain or etched with dragons under the glaze. The
services of similar style, enameled in pure white (fien
pai) ovei' five-clawed dragons engraved in the paste, were
used only Avhen the coui't was in mourning.
The imperial yellow coloi' is exhibited in Plate V upon
a jar wath a " six-character mark " of this reign. The
'' eel-skin yellow," or shmi yu liuang^ which is of brownish
tint, is seen in Plate LXXXIII upon a vase etched under-
neath the glaze w^ith dragons ; and again in Plate XXV
upon a tripod censer, a still more typical example, .where
THE k'aNG-IISI PERIOD, 317
it is of less trauslucent aspect, and mottled in character.
The variegated yellow glaze {huang tien pmi), which has
been alluded to as another of the inventions of Ts'ang
Ying-hsiian, seems to refer to the peculiar spotted glaze
of piebald aspect dabbed all over with spots of yellow,
green, purple, and white, which is anything but attractive
to an ordinary eye ; the Chinese call it by the appropriate
name of " tiger-skin " (Jiu-pH).
The green glazes, which are specially characteristic of
the reign, are displayed in all their variety in the colored
illustrations, ranging from the ta lii or gros vert of Plate
IV to the pale gray-green celadon tint of Plate XV. Green
is almost as prominent among the single colors as it is
in the painted decorations in enamel. The same enamels
were, of course, used in both the monochrome and the
polychrome styles, and comparison often affords a most
useful aid to the determination of the age of a doubtful
piece. The crackled green glaze called X7/c^^>'/ lit, or
"cucumber-green,'' is more characteristic of the ChUen-
lung epoch, although the striking vase shown in Plate
LXXXI, with its " cucumber-green " glaze streaked with
mottled tints of deepest olive, may well be a K\ing-lisi
piece. Judging from its exceptional brilliancy. The
remarkable vase which is so carefully reproduced in
Plate LXXIX, with the iridescent bar reflected in a play
of rainbow colors from its ci'ackled emerald-o-reen surface,
is also generally attributed to this period. One of the
green glazes was known in the imperial factory by the
name of sTie-pH lu, because it resembled in its deep luster
the beautiful iridescent hue of the skin of a serpent, like
the monochrome glaze in Plate LXXXII, ^vhich is spread
over the surface of a decorated vase, so as nearly to con-
ceal the original decoration in its intense metallic luster.
The same green was occasionally used to enhance the
eifect of a blue and white piece, touches of green or
^b
318 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
encircling bands being added to the original design, in
the same way that bauds of " dead leaf " or " old gold "
were sometimes attached at this period ; an example of
which may be seen by referring to the chapter on Marks.
The white glaze of the Ching-te-chen porcelain of this
period is very pure in tint and perfectly translucent in
texture, as is well exhibited in the imperial dinner ser-
vices, etched with dragons, that have just been alluded
to, and is fairly represented in the beautiful white vase
illusti-ated in Plate XC, "which is attributed to the IVang-
hsi reign, in spite of its Stoig dynasty mark. It is even
surpassed in purity and lustrous depth of glaze by the
charmino; little vase shown in Fis^. 218, which is molded
in the form of a magnolia blossom, with the details etched
under the glaze, the graceful flower being mounted upon
a twig worked in open-work relief at the foot, and which
bears also a couple of buds, that serve as additional sup-
port to the delicate vase. This white is distinct from
that of the porcelain of the province of Fuchien, which is
either of ivory-white or of creamy tint ; the objects,
moreover, of the Fuchien ware are composed of a paste
of characteristic quality, and should have a separate
corner reserved for them in every collection.
There is another class of plain white porcelain,
modeled on the lines of the ancient Ting-chou ware,
which is remai"kable for its soft-looking, fragile aspect,
in which it reproduces the quality of its prototype, a
white faience of fine texture, that can be scratched by a
point of sharp steel. The reproductions have only the
aspect of soft porcelain, however, although it is the
fashion to describe them as such in catalogues ; there is
nothing produced at Ching-te-chen that is not composed
of hard kaolinic paste. The class I am alluding to is
called by the name of Fen-Ting, after that of the finest
ware of the Sung dynasty ; the glaze is generally
THE k'ang-iisi peeiod. 319
crackled, although 2)laiD pieces occur, like the delicate
little water receptacle in Fig. 219, which is fashioned
after an old Tiug-chou design with two looped handles,
in the shape of a pair of archaic dragons, mounted upon
the rim. Of the reproductions of the crackled Tino-
chou porcelain, there are two varieties generally attrib-
uted to the reign of Khing-hsi. The first is represented
by a series of small, solid, compact vases of graceful
outline, of which two specimens are illustrated in Figs.
220 and 221 ; the soft-looking glaze, with which these
are invested, is traversed 'by a very close reticulation of
fine, brown lines, and mottled with clouds of light buff
tint ; the rims of both vases are defined by lines of plain
white, and the technique generally is that of the early
Khing-hsi period. The second variety, of later develop-
ment, is characterized by a more delicate fabric, often
becoming of egg-shell thinness, and by a whiter glaze,
approaching an ivory-white tone. Two notable exam-
ples are shown in the colored illustrations : the first, in
the sparsely crackled vase of Plate XCI ; the second, in
the typical Fen-Ting gourd, of perfect beauty and finish,
which is so well reproduced in Plate LXXXIX. This
last, ornamented \\\i\\ floral sprays and bands of fret and
conventional scroll, Avorked in slight relief in the paste,
underneath the minutely crackled glaze, which is of
characteristic ivory-white tint. Fig. 222 displays another
graceful egg-shell vase, Avith a molded decoration of a
four-clawed dragon pursuing an effulgent jewel, executed
under a Avidely crackled ivory-white glaze, with uudula-
tory surface. Fig. 223 is that of a small, minutely
crackled square vase, with ribbed corners and four
central bosses, carved in open-woi-k, with branches of
peach fruit, which is modeled in the ritual form of one
of the receptacles for " divining straws," used in Taoist
temples.
320 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
The fabrication of this peculiar Fen-Ting porcelain
was continued at Chiug-te-chen in tlie succeeding reigns
of Yung-cheng and OliHen-lung, and it is not always
easy to refer a particular piece positively to one of the
three reigns. The same paste and glaze were used con-
temporaneously in the preparation of the class of blue
and ^vhite crackled porcelain, which is called by the same
name of Fen-Ting by the Chinese, and which forms the so-
called '^ soft paste " blue and white of American collectors.
Tlie "soft paste" blue and white porcelain is called
by the Chinese by the names 'of sha-fai, "sand-bodied,"
or chkmg-fai, " paste-bodied," and when the glaze is
crackled it is distinguished by the addition of the term
Ic'ai p'ie^i, or "crackled." Its composition will be given
from Pere d'Entrecolles' Letters in the next chapter.
The paste has a soft, poi'oiis aspect, but it is really of
intense hardness, so that it can not be scratched by steel.
The glaze is generally crackled ; even when it is not so
as it comes from the kiln, it becomes crackled in course
of time. The surface of the glaze is undulatory and
often pitted, the characteristics of the chii-pH, or " orange-
peel " glaze of Chinese ceramic authors. It is conse-
quently more porous and absorbent than the ordinary
glaze, and often becomes discolored by age. It has been
su2:o;ested that " soft o-laze " would be a better name
than " soft paste " for this class, but the latter term is
sanctioned l^y usage and may be employed with the
proviso that it has nothing in common with the "soft
porcelain " of Clielsea, or the porcelaine tenclre of early
Sevres. One of the chief characteristics of these pieces
is their lightness when handled, which is really surpris-
ing, as the fabric is not specially thin. The blue is
usually of a grayish tone, and the strokes of the brush
are very neatly and clearly defined, so that the picture
looks, as Pere d'Entrecolles remarks, as if it were
321
painted upon vellum instead of on ordinary papei'. The
pieces are rarely marked ; if there be a date inscribed, it
will be found to be probably that of the reign of
Hsilan-te (1 426-1 -ISS) of the Ming dynasty ; the blue of
this latter period is described to have been pale, of much
the same tint, in fact, as that of the blue in modern
Japanese Hirado porcelain.
There is a small specimen of this crackled blue and
white illustrated in Plate LXVIII, a miniature teapot^
which displays very well the peculiar ivory-white color
of the glaze ; it is marked yil, ^' jade " — not an infre-
quent mark during the I^Cang-hsi period. A typical
example of the uncrackled "soft paste" blue and white
is exhibited in Fig. 221, which presents a baluster vase
(inei 2^''ing), thirteen inches higli, of very light material,
which is decorated m soft-toned blue, under the pitted
uudulatory " orange-peel " glaze, with three formal
upright sprays of lotus, each com^^osed of a folded
peltate leaf, a blossom, and a bud, rising on sepai-ate
stems. Chains of rectangular fret encircling the base
and shoulder complete the simple decoration, which is
neatly etched in a soft-toned blue of pure tint. There is
no mark underneath.
Fig. 172 shows a choice specimen of the crackled Fen-
Ting glaze, with a minutely reticulated undulating-
surface of ivory-^vhite tint, over emblematic designs
delicately sketched in soft blue. The decoration consists
of nine lions, live on the body, four on the neck, disport-
ing with brocaded balls tied with waving fillets, sup-
ported on banks of scrolled clouds and enveloped in
flames. This conveys the felicitous wish, " Cliiu sliih
fling cliiV — i. e., "A family of nine (sons) living
together," a pun on the word sltilt, which means
"family" as well as "lion." In the same way the Ave
bats in the cloud scroll encirclino' the recedino- shoulder
322 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
of the vase suggest tlie " five happinesses " {urn fti), aud
the band of prunus blossom round the foot a flourishing
longevity. The foot has the same crackled glaze spread
underneath, with no mark attached.
The beautiful little cup in Fig. 37 is a K^ing-lm pro-
duction of the same class. It is modeled in the form and
style of the i^swrt/i-fe" period, and is decorated in a similar
underglaze blue with a pair of five-clawed dragons pur-
suing jewels among clouds and ■ flames, on the sides, and
with a second pair of dragons upon the rounded cover,
which is surmounted by a mythological animal ; there is
no mark underneath.
Passing on to the ordinary blue and white (chHng hvu
jpai ti — i. e., "painted in blue on a white ground"), the
reign of K''ang-hsi is unquestionably the finest period,
when the cobalt comes out in its full inimitable brilliancy
from the depths of a rich translucent glaze. The white
ground has often a slight bluish tint, but it is not so blue
as it was in the Ming dynasty ; in the succeeding reigns
it becomes creamy, or is even almost opaque, so as to be
chalky in aspect. The blue is not generally so full and
strong as in the reign of Cliia-ching of the Ming dynasty,
but it is graded, so as to produce a charming modulation,
and a palpitating quality of color, which we rarely find
in earlier work, hardly ever in more recent times ; it is
never flat or dead. As Mr. Cosmo Monkhouse says in
his recent introduction to the Burlington Fins Arts Cluh
Catalogue^ which has been already cited : " It would take
a long time to exhaust the number of changes which the
Chinese ring upon the many tints of blue and white —
white sometimes white as curds, sometimes grayish, some-
times tinged with the faintest blue, like the film inside a
bird's Q^^^. But if the white is varied, what of the
blue ? Sometimes brilliant and opaque as lapis lazuli,
sometimes pure and trembling as a sajDphire, now almost
THE k'an(t-hsi period. 323
black, now wholly gray, sometimes warm as purple,
sometimes cold as a ^viiitry sky. Whatever quality is
taken is of course used throughout, but even this allows
for oreat variation in shade : a dark and lisjht blue are
nearly always employed, and three, if not more, distinct
tones are often seen on the same j)iece."
Blue and white has always seemed to fascinate the artist,
and Mr. Whistler has cleverly illustrated the style of the
poi'celain of this period,* and not without catching some
of the spirit of the Chinese decorator. It is interesting
to compare his work with that of our artist ; the slender-
necked, globular bottle illustrated in Plate XLII happens
to have been drawn by him in Plate XXIV, No. 255, in
the \vork just quoted.
Blue and white may be divided into two classes : blue
upon white, and white upon blue, the latter comprising
those examples in which the blue predominates to tlie
extent of furnishing the ground upon which the un-
touched portions of the white porcelain beneath form the
design of the decorations. This is seen in the vase Just
referred to. Of the sixteen pieces of blue and white
selected here for illustration, no less than thirteen are
attributed to the reign of K'ang-lisi., although the marks
of Hsilan-te, Cli' eng-hua, and Chici'-chmg are inscribed on
three of the objects. The reign always occupies this
preponderating position in good collections. Plate II dis-
plays a magnificent example of the white upon blue class,
the sprays of pruuus sliining in white reserve on the Jar,
which is covered all over, in the intervals of the floral
decoration, with a reticulated ground of pulsating blue.
Before proceeding further with the description of the
decorated porcelain, it seems advisable to submit a scheme
* A Catalogue of Blue and WJtite Xaukin Porcelain, forming the collection
of Sir Henry Thompson. Illustrated by the autotype process from drawings
by James McN. Whistler, Esq., and Sir Henry Thompson : London, 1878.
324 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
of classificatiou under wliicb its many varieties may be
conveniently arranged. In its main lines I propose to
follow Brongniart, who was the first, in Lis Traite des
Arts Ceiximiques, wliich is still the classic of the art, to
divide the colors used in tlie decoration of porcelain into
three classes :
A. Couleurs de grand feu.
B. Couleurs de demi-grand feu.
C. Couleurs de petit feu ou de moufle.
The colors employed in China which resist the most
intense heat of the furnace are the cobalt-blue, the cojd-
per-red, and the sea-green celadon and deep-brown glazes,
which are both derived from iron. The first two are
painted with a brush on the raw white body of the piece
(^siir Je cru), and subsequently covered with glaze, so that
they ai-e both underglaze colors, and the porcelain re-
quires but one firing. The other two are applied as
glazes previously pi'epared, in which the coloring material
is mixed with a feldspathic flux combined with lime.
The second class of colors (de demi-grand feii) are fired
in tlie same furnace as those of the first class {de grand
fen^^ but the pieces are placed in the more temperate
j^arts of the furnace, near the chimney at the back, and
below tlie level of its lower orifice, where they escape the
direct blast of the fire. The colors are three in number —
turquoise-blue derived from coppei', manganese-purple,
and yellow prepared fi'om an ii-on ore containing anti-
mony. The glazes, together with the white glaze which
accompanies them, are condjined with a nitre or lead flux,
and applied sur bis(Mit, the piece having been previously
fired, unglazed, in the large furnace. This class com-
prises the typical San ts'ai, or " Three-color " decoration
of the period.
The third class includes the enamel colors of the mufifle
stove, which are the same as those used in painted and
THE k'aNG-IISI PERIOD. 325
cloisonne enameling upon copper. They are previously
combined ^vitli a llnx composed of powdered quartz,
oxide of lead, and alkalies, into a kind of glass, which
retains in solution a small percentage of the metallic
oxide dissolved in the vitreous mass in the form of sili-
cate. The coloring matters used in China are compara-
tively few, being oxide of copper for the greens, gold for
crimson and pink, oxide of cobalt for the blues, oxide of
antimony for the yellows, arsenious acid for the white
and for moderatino; the tint of the other colors. Oxide
of iron gives coral-red, and impure oxide of manganese
black ; these two colors are generally applied directly,
mixed with white-lead and glue, as they will not combine
wdth silica. The enamel colors are painted upon white
porcelain that has been already glazed and fired, and
wdiich has to be baked a second time in the gentle heat
of the muffle stove to fix the colors. This is the typical
Wit ts'ai, the " Five-colored " or Polychrome Decoration
of the Chinese. The enamel painting may be executed,
also sur hiscuit or upon a crackled ground, or upon one
partially or wholly invested with one of the highly fired,
single colors, such as celadon, for example, or in combi-
nation with portions of decoration previously painted in
one or more of the underHaze colors. The chano-es that
may be rung by the different combinations are almost
infinite ; some have been already described, others will
follow later. Mean^vhile the decorated porcelain of this
reign will be grouped according to the scheme :
Table of Decorated Poecelain.
A. Colors of the grand feu.
1. Decorated in underglaze cobalt-blue.
2. Decorated in underglaze copper-red.
3. Decorated in mixed colors.
326 ORIENTAL CEUA.AIIO AllT.
B. Colors of the demi-g rand feu.
4. Decorated in glazes of several colors.
C. Colors of the Mtifie Stove.
5. Decorated in overglaze iron-red.
6. Decorated iu sepia.
7. Decorated in o-olJ and silver.
8. Decorated in mixed enamel colors.
1. Decorated in Underglaze Cohalt-Blue. — This class
lias been briefly noticed already. The blue and white,
wliich is its normal decoration, is sometimes relieved by
one of the monochrome grounds, such as "Nankin" yel-
low or coral-red, as it used to be in the preceding dynasty,
or it may still continue to be combined with touches of
enamel colors, as it was in the Wan-li Wu-ts\ii, the typ-
ical polychrome decoration of the reign of Wandi. In
the beautiful little vase illustrated in Plate LXII, which
is decorated in brilliant mottled blue of this period, the
intervals between the panels are filled in with sprays of
pruuus, painted in delicate enamels, relieved by an iri-
descent black enameled ground.
2. Decorated in Underglaze Copper-Red. — The color-
ing material is painted with a brush in the same way as
the blue upon the raw^, white body of the porcelain ; the
glaze is blown on as soon as the piece is sufficiently dry,
and it is afterward fired in the large furnace. The color
comes out generally of a dull maroon tint, occasionally it
is a l)right ruby-red, or it may develop "peach-bloom"
tints. The snuff-bottle illusti'ated in Plate XXXVII (2),
which is painted with landscapes in maroon-red, is an
example of this decoration. A fine specimen of the
K\mg-lisi period is presented in Fig. 225. Another fol-
lows in Fi<?. 229.
3. Decorated in Mixed Colors of the grand feu. — This
class is illustrated in Fig. 226 by a vase which may be
thus described : A tall, ovoid vase, seventeen and a quar-
THE k'ang-hsi period. 327
ter inches bigb, with the decoration of a four-clawed,
two-horned dragon rising from the waves of the sea on
either side, executed in relief, and painted in three
colors — underglaze blue, maroon, and celadon. The
bodies of the dragons are brown, the manes are penciled
in blue, the effulgent jewels which they are pursuing are
of shaded brown. The crested waves at the base, wdiich
are painted in blue, have rocks rising out of them, on
both sides, of sea-green celadon tint. The mark, written
underneath in blue within a double ring, is Ta ClCing
K''ang Jisi nien cliih — i. e., "Made in the reign oiK\ing-
hsi of the great ClCing [dynasty]." A vase of the same
type is shown in Fig. 227, with raised outlines decorated
in the same three colors — blue, maroon and celadon —
displaying the combat between the tiger, king of land
animals, and the dragon, prince of the j)owers of the air.
4. Decorated in Glazes of the demi^g rand fen. — This
may be characterized as the typical decoration in three
coloi's {San ts\ii). It must be distinguished from the
San ts'ai decoration of the muffle stove, Avhere the tur-
quoise-blue is replaced by a green of camellia-leaf tint,
Avhicli is sometimes penciled with black, while the other
two colors remain the same. The latter has a plain sur-
face, the former is truitee — i. e,, crackled all over witli a
minute reticulation of fine superficial lines. A combi-
nation of two of the colors — turcpioise and pur[)le — is
found in the little peach-shaped wine-pot shown in
Fig. 217.
5. Decorated in Iron-Red. — This color, which is pre-
pared from peroxide of iron, produced by the incinera-
tion of iron sulphate, being the same as that used for the
coral-red monochromes, is penciled upon the surface of
the white glaze, and fixed by being fired in the muffle
stove. This decoration is the Tsal Hung., or " Painting
in Red," of the Chinese. No more beautiful illustration
328 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
of it could be imagined than that of the egg-shell bowl
of this period, decorated with dragons, which is presented
in Plate LXVII. This decoration in coral-red is often
combined with gold, as in the club-shaped vase of the
reign of IC\mg-hsi, displayed in Plate XXVIII, in which
the effect of the soft red, penciled in two shades, is
enhanced by touches of gilding, with the addition of a
spot or two of black to define the eyes of the dragons.
6. Decorated in Seiyia. — This decoration, although
described as making its appearance late in the reign of
K\m,g-lm^ is more charactei'istic of the succeeding reigns,
especially of that of CKieTi-lung. It is the Ts'ai Shui
Mo, or " Painting in Ink," of the Chinese, and, like the
last, it is often thrown out effectively by touches of gold.
A striking example of painting in sepia is illustrated in
Fig. 230, a ruby-backed plate with a picture of a " dragon
barge" towed in procession, which is probably the work
of a ChHen-lung artist.
7. Decorated in Oold and Silver. — The metals, finely
pulverized, were combined with oxide of lead by means
of a little gum penciled upon the glaze and fixed in the
muffle stove. Painting in gold (Ts'ai Chin) on a white
ground was not so common in this reign, so we must refer
to a wine-cup of the next reign, illustrated in Fig. 38 («).
In the reign of Khnig-hsi gold was lavished in the rich-
est decoration of large vases enameled with the mazarin-
blue and mirror-black gi-ounds. Silver ^vas chiefly
employed in the ornamentation of the coft'ee-brown or
dead-leaf ground. Both colors, especially the silver, resist
wear and tear l^adly, so that only indistinct traces of the
original designs may perhaps be detected in pieces that
have survived to the present day.
8. Decorated in Mixed Enamel Colors. — This class
includes the great majority of the decorated pieces of the
time. Some of the varieties have been referi'ed to
329
already, and it has been explained bow a brilliant green
of shaded tones, usually laid on in thick patches, pre-
dominates among the colors, so that pieces of the old
famille verte, even if they bear earlier marks of date, are
generally to be attributed to this reign. Tlie co]>alt-
blue, which during the Ming dynasty had been applied
under the glaze, is now generally overlaid in the same
way as the other enamel colors and fixed at the same
firing. The other colors are red, yellow, and black,
completing the " five colors " of the enameler. When
blue and red are absent, we have the three-colored (san
ts'ai) decoration of the muffte stove. The coloring of
this inimitable period has an unmistakable cachet to an
accustomed eye, which enables it to be distinguished at
a glance from any reproduction, whether native or Euro-
pean. The two club-shaped vases illustrated in Plates
VI and XVII are picked speciniens of the richest orna-
mentation in enamel colors ; the egg-shell lantern in Plate
XI and the statuette of the goddess Avalokita in Plate
LX are both fine examples of the famille verte. It will
be sufficient to add a cursory description of two more
pieces as typical examples of the Wu ts'ai and Saii ts\ii
enamel decollation.
The first. Fig. 228, is a richly and artistically decorated
vase of the Wu ts'ai class, painted in the most brilliant
enamel colors of the K''ang-hsi period, ^vith a few touches
of gold. It is covered with panel pictures of varied
form, displayed upon floral and diapered grounds, and
separated by a band of floral diaper encircling the
shoulder, interrupted by medallions containing butter-
flies. There are eight panels on the body ari-anged in
two rows, of which the lower panels, representing lotus-
leaves and other foliated designs, contain a grotesque
lionlike monster standing upon a rocky shore; a pair of
peacocks on a rockery with peonies ; a pair of phcenixes
380 ORIENTAL CEKAMIC AET.
by a spreading dryandra-tree ; a warbler perched upon a
prunus-tree with roses underneath. Of the panels in the
upper row, two are filled with vases containing symbols
of rank and honor, the incense-bnrning apparatus, and
books, scroll pictures, lyres, and chess, the emblems of
the " four liberal arts." The other two contain a pair of
storks on a pine, with a peach floating in the waves
below, and a grotesque monster on a rock, with an eagle
flying overhead. The interspaces are filled with butter-
flies and sprays of peony, chiysanthemum, lotus, begonia^
aster, pink, and other flowers. The two quatrefoil panels
on the neck contain rockeries with flowers and butter-
flies ; the ground between is a spiral diaper traversed by
a pair of lizardlike dragons.
The second (Fig. 82) is a choice example of the San
ts'ai, the " Three-colored " decoration of the muflSe stove^
the surface being painted in green, purple, and yellow
enamels. It is a wine-pot molded in the shape of the
character y?/, "happiness," with a movable lid formed by
the first " dot " of the written hieroglyph. The handle
and the tip of the spout have been rej^laced in metal.
The base, unglazed, is marked with the impression of the
stuflp in which the paste was pressed. The rims and bor-
ders are enameled pale green. The spout has shou
(" longevity ") characters of different style, alternately
purple and green, upon a pale yellow ground. The
decoration, which is precisely similar on front and back,
is composed of scrolled bands of lotus design with green
foliations and white and purple blossoms, inclosed in
a pale yellow gjrjund outlined with purple. In the mid-
dle are two foliated panels framed in green relief, con-
taining pictures of various emblems of longevity : on the
front a pine overspreading a rock with the saci'ed fungus
growing upon it, an axis deer, and a sacred stork ; on the
back, a peach-tree with a clump of bamboos, a tiger^
331
and a pair of birds flying, all paiuted in the same soft
colors.
There is a class of j)orcelain decorated sur biscuit, with
•colored glazes, comprising two or three of the above tints,
which is not, properly speaking, painted. The designs,
generally of floral character, having been previously
worked in the paste and engraved with the point, the
piece is fired ; the details are afterward filled in with
glazes of different colors, and the piece is fired again
in the mufile stove. There are bowls, for example, with
the ICang-hsi mark underneath, engraved outside with
branches of flowers growing from rocks — colored maroon,
green, and white — relieved by a ground of imperial yel-
low, enameled plain yellow inside. The saucer-dishes
etched in the paste inside with a pair of dragons sur-
rounded by scrolled waves, with one of the dragons
colored green, the other purple, and the surrounding
ground yellow, come under the same class. The Chinese
distinguish them by the appropriate name of Huang Lil
Hiian — i. e., "Yellow and Green in Panels."
CHAITER XL
LETTERS OF PEKK d'eNTRECOLLES.
THESE letters, wliicli liave been already referred to
more than once, were originally published in tlie
Lettres edifiantes et curiens ■^, and they brought the first
detailed account of the manufacture of Chinese porcelain
to Europe. The two lette.s embody the results of the
personal observations and researches of the Jesuit mis-
sionary, and of the information gathered from such of
his Chinese converts as v\e]'e engaged in the industry.
They are dated Jao-chou, September 1, 1712, and King-
te-chen, January 25, 1722. When the second letter was
written the long and brilliant reign of the Emperor
Khing-lisi was fast drawing to its close. Two years
later — that is to say, in the second year of his successor^
Yung-clieng — the Roman Catholic religion was rigorously
proscribed, the foreign missionaries were exiled to Macao,,
and their churches throughout the different provinces
were either converted into secular schools or destroyed,,
so that we get no more letters on the subject. These
two Avere written at a most interesting time — at a time
too in respect to which there is a complete dearth of Chi-
nese information, so that no apology is needed for giving
here a precis^ in the form of an abridged translation^
as literal as possible, of the writer's own woi'ds. The
second letter, which is mainly supplementary and ex-
planatory, has been interwoven with the first to save
space, and at the same time to maintain the continuity of
the subject. I have slightly modified the orthography of
the Chinese words for the sake of uniformity, with the
332
LETTERS OF PERE d'eNTRECOLLES. 333
exception of tliat of the first two words that occur.
These have since become classical in Europe, and are to
be found in the dictionary of the Academie Frangaise :
" The material of porcelain is composed of two kinds
of earth, one called pe-tun-Ue^ the other named hao-lin.
Tlie latter is disseminated with corpuscles which are
somewhat glittering,* the former is simply white and
very fine to the touch. At the same time that a great
number of large boats come- up the river from Jao-chou
to King-te-chen to be loaded with porcelain, almost as
many small ones descend from Ki-men, laden with j^e-
tun-tse and hao-lin made into the form of bricks, for King-
te-chen itself produces none of the materials. Pe-tun-tse,
of which the grain is so fine, is nothing but pulverized
pieces of rock extracted from quai'ries, to which this form
is given. It is not every stone that is suitable; if so, it
would be useless to go for it into the next province.f
The good stone, the Chinese say, ought to have a slight
tinge of green. The rocks are first broken into pieces
with iron hammers, and the fragments are finely pulver-
ized in mortars by means of levers which have stone
heads mounted with iron. These levers are w^orked
incessantly, either by men or by water-power, in the
same way as the tilt-hammers in paper-mills. The pow-
der is thrown into a large jar full of watei', and stirred
strongly with an iron shovel. When it has been left for
a few moments to settle, a kind of cream forms at the top
four or five fingers thick ; this is taken oft' and poured
into another vessel full of watei*. The operation is
repeated sevei'al times until only the coarse residuum
which sinks to the bottom is left ; this is taken back to
be crushed again in the mortar.
* Crystals of mica. (The notes are added bj' the translator.)
f Ki-meu-hsien is in the prefecture of Hui-chou-fu, in the province of An-hui,
near the source of the Chang River, Avhich flows by Ching-tO-chen.
334 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
" AVitli regard to the second jar, into which has been
thrown all that was collected from the first, after waiting
until a kind of paste has formed at the bottom, and the
supernatant water is perfectly clear, the ^\•ater is decanted
without disturbing the sediment. The paste is emptied
into a large kind of wooden case, the bottom of which is
filled with a bed of bricks, over Avhich is stretched a
cloth of the size of the interior of the case ; this cloth is
filled with the paste, it is covei-ed with another cloth, and
then with a flat layer of bricks, which press out the
water. Before it has become quite dry and hard, the
paste is divided into little squares, which are sold by
the hundred. The name oi lye-tmi-tse \^ derived from the
white color and the shape of these hriquettes. There
would be nothiuo^ to add to this work if the Chinese
were not in the habit of adulterating their merchandise ;
but people who roll little grains of paste in pepper-dust
to mix with genuine pepper-corns would hardly care to
sell pe-tun-tse without mixing it with coarser matters, so
that it has to be again purified at King-te-cheu before it
is fit for use.
" Kao-lin requires a little less labor than pe-tun-tse ;
Nature has done the greater part. It is found in mines
in the bosom of certain mountains, Avhich are covered
outside w4th a reddish earth. These mines are fairly
deep ; it is found there in masses, and is also made into
squai-e hriquettes by the same method that I have described
above. It is to Icao-Un that fine porcelain owes its
strength, and it is only a combination with the soft
earth that fortifies the pe-tun-tse^ which is derived from
the hardest of rocks. A rich merchant told me that some
years ago the English or Dutch had had purchased for
them some pe-tun-tse^ that they took to their country to
make porcelain with, but that, having taken no liao-lin,
their enterprise failed, as they confessed afterward. The
LETTERS OF PEKE d'eNTRECOLLES, ' 335
Chinese merchant said to me, laughing, ' They wanted to
have a body with no bones to sustain the flesh.'
" Besides the boats laden with pe-tun-tse and Jcao-liiij
w^ith which the river bank at King-te-chen is lined,
others are found filled with a whitish and liquid sub-
stance. I have long known that this substance was the
oil (or glaze) that gives porcelain its whiteness and its
luster, but I did not know its composition, ^vhich I have
at last learned. This oil is derived from the hardest
stone. The same kind of rock which is used in the
preparation of the 2)6-tun-fse can also be employed for the
extraction of the glaze, but the whitest pieces are picked
out from the heap, and those ^vhich have the greenest
spots. The history of Fou-liang says that the best stone
is that which has spots upon it like the leaves of the
arbor vitse,* or reddish marks like sesamum seeds. The
rock must first be well ^vashed, and then prepared in
the same way as the iK-tun-tse. When there has been col-
lected in the second jar the purest part of the matter that
has been levigated in the first Jar with all the usual pre-
cautions, to every hundred pounds or so of the cream one
pound is added of a stone or mineral like alum, named sliih-
hcio',^ it must have been first roasted in the fire, and then
pounded ; it acts like rennet in giving a certain consist-
ence, although the matter is always carefully kept in a
liquid state.
" This stone glaze is never used alone ; it is mixed with
another material which forms its essence. This is its
composition : Large pieces of quicklime are reduced to
powder by sprinkling w^ater upon them, and covered
with a bed of dried ferns, upon which is spread another
layer of quenched lime, and so on in succession, one layer
* Dendrites of manganese oxide.
f Gypsum, or sulphate of lime. The action of this is supposed to be purely
mechanical, quickening precipitation.
336 okip:ntal ceramic art.
upon the other; then the ferns are set on fire. After
everything is burned, tlie ashes are spread upon new beds
of dried ferns ; this is repeated six or seven times in suc-
cession, or even oftener for the best glaze. When a suf-
ficient quantity of lime and fern ashes has been burned,
the ashes are thrown into a Jar full of water. With each
hundred pounds it is necessary to dissolve one pound of
shih-lcao, to stir the mixture thoroughly, and then to
leave it in repose till there appears on the surface a cloud
or a crust, which is collected and thrown into a second
jar. This operation is repeated several times. When a
species of paste has formed at the bottom of the second
jar, the water is decanted, and the liquid at the bottom
is preserved as the second oil, to be mixed with the
preceding.
•' For a proper mixture, the two purees must be of the
same thickness, which is tested by dipping in squares of
pe-tiui-tse. With regard to the quantit}^ of the ingredi-
ents, the best glaze that can be made is a combination of
ten measures of the ?iY^t puree of stone with one measure
of that made of the lime and fei'n ashes ; the most sparing
never put less than three measures to one. The mer-
chants that sell the liquid sometimes dilute it with water,
and conceal the fraud by adding a proportionate quan-
tity of shih'kdo to thicken it.
" Before explaining the method of apj^lying the glaze
it is necessary to describe the fabrication of the porcelain.
In the less frequented parts of King-te-chen are vast
sheds, surrounded by walls, in w^hich one sees ranged,
story above story, a great quantity of jars of earth. Inside
these walls live and work an infinite number of work-
men, each of whom has his allotted task. A piece of
porcelain, before it leaves them to be carried to the fur-
nace, passes through the hands of more than twenty
persons.
LETTERS OF PERE d'eNTRECOLLES. 337
"The first work consists in purifying anew, by the
same process of levigation and decantation, both the
pe-tim-tse and tlie hcto-lin. After having been purified,
the two materials are combined in certain proportions :
the finest porcelain is made of equal parts ; for an
inferior kind they use four parts of Icao-lin to six paits of
pe4un-tse ; the least that can be put is one part of hdo-lin
to three of pe-tun-tse.
"When mixed, the material is thrown into a large
hollow oi- pit, well paved and cemented throughout,
where it is trodden and kneaded to w eld it to a proper
consistence ; this is very hard work, and it goes on inces-
santly, so that the Christians employed can not even
come to church without providing substitutes.
" From the mass thus prepared, lumps are taken and
put upon large slates, where they are kneaded, beaten,
and rolled in every sense, taking the greatest care that
there shall be no hollows left, and no admixture of foreign
bodies. A hair, a grain of sand, would ruin all the work.
From such elements are produced so many beautiful
works of porcelain, some fashioned upon the Mheel,
others made simply by molds, and finished afterward
with the polishing-knife.
" The plain, round pieces are all made in the first
fashion. A cup, when it comes off the wheel, is very
impei-fectly shaped, like the top of a hat l)efore it has
been put on the shaping mold. The foot is only a piece
of clay of the diameter that it is intended to have ulti-
mately, and it is not excavated with the knife until all
the other operations are finished. The cup, as it comes
from the wheel, is first handed to a second workman,
who is seated beneath. It is passed by him to a third,
who 2^1'^sses it on a mold, and gives it its shape ; this
mold is fixed upon a kind of Avheel. A fourth workman
polishes the cup with a knife, especially round the rims,
338 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
and makes it thin enough to be transparent ; each time
he scrapes it, it must be moistened carefully, or it will
break. It is surprising to see the rapidity with which
the vases pass through so many different hands, and I
am told that a vase that has been fired has gone through
the hands of seventy workmen.
" Large objects of poi'celain are made in two pieces :
one half is lifted upon the wheel by three or four men,
who support it on each side while it is being shaped ;
the other half is fitted upon the first when it is suffi-
ciently dried, and is cemented to it with porcelain earth,
mixed ^vith water (i. e., slip), Avhich serves as mortar or
glue. When quite dry, the place of junction is pared
with a knife, inside and outside, so that, after glazing,
there remains no inequality of surface. Handles, ears,
and similar adjuncts are attached by means of slip in the
same way. This refers j^rincipally to the porcelain
which is made in molds, or by hand^vork, such as fluted
pieces, or those of bizarre shape, such as animals, gro-
tesques, idols, the busts ordered by Europeans, and such
like. These objects, when molded, are made in three or
four pieces, \vhich are fitted together, and finished after-
ward with instruments adapted for excavating, polishing,
and working the various details that have escaped the
mold. As for flowers and other ornaments, which are
not in I'elief, but, as it were, in intaglio, these are
impressed on the porcelain with seals and molds ; reliefs,
ready prepared, are also put on, in the same way almost
as gold lace is attached to a coat.
"I have lately investigated the subject of these molds.
When tlie model of the piece of porcelain to be made is
in hand, and it is such as can not be shaped upon the
wheel by the potter, they press upon the model some
yellow clay, specially prepared for molding ; the clay is
impressed in this way, the mold being composed of sev-
LE^rTEKS OF PERE d'eNTRECOLLES. 339
eral pieces of pretty large size, which are left to harden
when they have been properly impressed. When they
are used, the}^ are put near the fire for some time, and
then filled witli porcelain earth to the thickness the piece
is to have, and this is pressed into every part with the
hands. The mold is held to the fire for a moment, to
detach the " squeeze " from the mold. The different
pieces which have been separately molded in this way
are joined together afterward with a slip (Fig. 231). I
have seen animals of massive proportions fabricated by
these means ; after the mass has been left to harden, it
is worked into the desired form, and finished with the
chisel ; and, finally, each of the parts worked separately
is adjusted. When the object has been finished oft' with
great care, the glaze is put on, and it is then fired ; it is
painted afterward, if desired, in dift'erent colors, and the
gold is applied, and then it is fired a second time.
" When the time has come to ennoble the porcelain by
painting, it is intrusted to the hands of the Ilua-p''i,^ or
porcelain painters, who are almost as poor as the other
workmen ; not so astonishing a fact, however, as with
a few exceptions they would pass in Europe only as
apprentices of some months' standing. All the science
of these painters, and indeed of Chinese painters gener-
ally, is not based on any principles ; it consists only in a
certain I'outine, helped by a vein of imagination limited
enough. They are ignorant of every beautiful rule of
the art. Still, it must be confessed that they paint fiow-
ers, animals, and landscapes, which are much admired
upon porcelain as well as on fans and on lanterns of the
finest gauze. The work of painting is distributed in the
same workshop among a great number of workmen.
* Hua-p'i means literally " painter on the raw body " (sur k cm), and, like
so many terms of the Chinese atelier, indicates the greater antiquity of deco-
rating in cobalt-blue than that of painting in enamel colors.
340 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
One has the sole task of outlininsi: the colored riuo-s
that are seen on porcelain near the rims of the pieces,
another sketches the ilowers, which a third paints ;
this one is for landscapes, that one for birds and for
other animals.
" With regard to the coloi's of porcelain they are of all
sorts. In Europe hardly anything is seen excepting a
bright blue upon a white ground, but I believe that our
merchants hav^e also imported other kinds.* There are
some pieces with a gi'ound resembling that of our burn-
ing-glasses ; others are wholly red, and among these some
have the red in the glaze {yu-li-liung)\ others have a
sowffie red (cli'ui-hung), and are strewn with little points
somewhat like our miniatures. When these last two
kinds come out in perfect success — a work of some diffi-
culty— they are infinitely esteemed and extremely dear.
" Lastly, there are porcelain vases with pictures of
landscape scenes painted in nearly all the different colors,
enhanced by the luster of gilding. These are very beau-
tiful if no expense is spared ; otherwise the ordinaiy
porcelain of this kind is not to be compared with that
painted in azure blue alone. The annals say that in
ancient times the people used only white porcelain,
probably because the ordinary blue had not yet been
discovered.
" The azui-e blue is prepared in this way : It is buried
in the gravel, which is half a foot thick in the floor of
the furnace, and roasted there for twenty-four hours;
then it is ground to an impalpable powder, in the same
way as the other colors — not on marble, but in a great
porcelain mortar, the bottom of which is unglazed, as is
* The two illustrations (Figs. 232 and 234) are specimens of blue and white
■designs painted for Europe about this time. The cylindrical vase is decorated
in alternate bands of blue upon white, and blue with white reserves ; and
similar vases are often found painted in enamel colors of the period. The
■other is painted in blue with rich panels of floral brocade.
LETTERS OF PERE d'eNTRECOLLES. 341
also tlie head of tlie pestle with which the colors are
pounded.
" The red that is made from the green vitriol (tsao-fan)
is prepared b}' placing about a [)ound of the iron crystals
in a crucible, which is well luted to a second crucible,
having in the top a small aperture, covered, however, in
such a way that it can be easily uncovered if needful.
The whole is surrounded l)y a large charcoal fire in a
reverberating brick furnace. As long as the smoke
which rises is all black, the material is not yet fit ; but it
is as soon as a kind of thin, fine cloud appears. Then
they take a little of the material, mix it with water, and
try the effect on a piece of pine wood. If it comes out a
good red, they take out the brazier in which it is inclosed
and partially cover the crucible. When quite cold, a lit-
tle cake of this red is found at the bottom of the lower
crucible, while the finest red lines the upper crucible.
One pound of iron sulphate furnishes four ounces of the
red used in painting porcelain. This red is combined
with five times its weight of white lead, the two powders
are passed through a sieve, and mixed together dry.
The mixture is incorporated with water thickened with a
little ox-glue when it is painted on, so that it may not
run down the side of the vase.
" Although porcelain is naturally white, and the glaze
serves, moreover, to augment its whiteness, yet there are
certain figures in the production of which a ]ieculiar white
is painted upon porcelain decorated in different colors.
This is prepared by pulverizing a transparent rock,*
wdiich is calcined by inclosing it in a porcelain crucible,
and by burying the crucible in the gravel floor of the
furnace, in the same way as the azure-blue. It is mixed
* The caillou transparent here spoken of is no doubt arsenions acid, the
native arsenical ore, which occurs in large translucid masses. The effect of
the decoration in white upon a pale-green celadon ground is seen in Fig. 235.
342 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
with water, without ghie, with twice its weight of white
lead, and painted on with a brush. The same white
is used for combining with other colors to modify their
tints. Added to the ordinary green, for example, in the
pi'oportion of two parts of white to one part of green, it
makes the pale, clear green, which is often associated
with the darker shade.
" With regard to the other colors which are painted on
the porcelain for the second firing, the dark green is pre-
pared by combining an ounce of ^vhite lead, with a third
of an ounce of powdered quartz, and a tenth to a twelfth
of an ounce of fung Ituap'ien^ which is nothing else than
the scum of copper which rises to the surface wdien the
metal is melted. It is necessary to separate carefully the
granules of metallic copper which are found mixed with
it, as these are bad for the green.
'' The yellow color is prepared by combining an ounce
of white lead, with a third of an ounce of puh^erized
(piartz, and one fifty-iifth of an ounce of primitive red.*
A second workman tells me one fortieth of an ounce of
the last ingredient.
"The deep blue with a shade of violet is prepared
by mixing one ounce of white lead, with one third of
an ounce of pulverized quartz, and one live-hundredth of
an ounce of azure-blue. Another workman says four
five-hundredths of the ])lue.
" The black is prepared by mixing the azure-blue min-
eral with water thickened with ox-glue and a little lime.
When this is painted on over the glaze, the black parts-
of the design are covered with white glaze, which incor-
porates with the black during the second firing, in the
same way as the blue is incoi-porated in the ordinary
* The mineral referred to here has been analyzed by Brongniart, and
found to be a magnetic iron ore {fer oUgistiqxie terreux) containing
antimony.
LETTERS OF PERE d'eNTRECOLLES. 343
glaze, when blue and white porcelain is baked in the
furnace.
" There is another color called tslii,^ from Avhich the
deep violet is made. It is found in Canton, and it conies
also from Peking, the last being much the Ijest. It sells
for about two dollars the pound. This material melts,
and when it is melted, or softened, jewelers apply it
in the form of enamel to silver objects, such as rings
or hairpins. Like the other colors just described, this is
used only on the porcelain which is re-fired. It is not
roasted like the ordinary azure-blue, but pounded and
reduced to the finest powder, which is thrown into a ves-
sel full of water and shaken a little ; the water removes
some impurities, and the ciystal powder, which remains
at the bottom, is kept for use. It loses its line color and
appears grayish, but recovers its violet tint as soon as it
is fired. It can be painted on, mixed with pure water or
with a little glue added.
" To gild or to silver porcelain, a tenth part by weight
of white lead is mixed with the gold or silver leaf, which
has been previously dissolved by the use of gum. The
gold after it has been ground is usually spread with
water over the bottom of a porcelain saucer till it forms
a little ' gold sky ' under the water. This is dried, and,
when used, a sufficient quantity is dissolved off by weak
glue, mixed with the white lead, and applied in the same
way as the enamel colors. Silver comes out with great
luster upon the coffee-bi-own or 'dead-leaf (tzu-clihi)
glaze. If some pieces are painted in gold and others in
silver, the silvered porcelain must not be left so long in
the little furnace as the s^ilded ; otherAvise the silver will
* This must be a misprint for ts'ui, which is the name of the cobalt-blue
glaze used in China by enamelers on copper and silver. It is of somewhat
similar composition to the " deep blue with a shade of violet " described just
before, and is a characteristic color of the period.
344 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
disappear before the gold has attained the degree of heat
required to give it its proper hister.
" Sometimes porcehain is fired a second time only to
conceal some defect, which is painted over with colors.
The enameled porcelain, which is very richly colored,
is not without attraction for many. When dry it is put
into the stove and arranged in tiers and piles, the small
pieces within the large, only taking care that the painted
parts do not touch. The furnaces may be of iron,"^' if
only small ones are required, but ordinai'ily they are
made of clay. One which I saw ^vas of the height of
a man, and almost as broad as one of our largest wine-
casks ; it was made of several pieces of the same material
as the clay seggars in which the porcelain is fired, being
built of large, rounded pieces, a finger's breadth thick, a
foot high, and a foot and a half broad, well cemented
together. The bottom of the furnace was elevated about
half a foot from the ground, and supported by two or
three rows of bricks ; the furnace was encircled by a
well-built Avail of bricks, with three or four air-holes
at the bottom. There is a space about half a foot broad
between this \vall and the furnace, which is left empty
for the charcoal fire, except where it is traversed by sup-
porting spurs of masonry. When the charge has been
introduced, the top of the furnace is closed \vith pieces
of pottery, similar to those of the sides of the furnace,
which fit inside each other, and are cemented together by
mortar or moistened clay. An aperture is left in the
middle, to observe when the porcelain is properly baked,
A quantity of charcoal is burned at the bottom of the
furnace, and also at the same time upon the covei', from
* The furnace used by the cloisonne enamelers at Peking is a small iron cyl-
inder with a movable cover. This is imbedded in charcoal, held by a larger
outside cylindrical case of iron netting. It is fired in the open courtyard, and
the fire is kept up by men standing round wielding large fans.
LETTERS OF PERE d'eNTRECOLLES. 345
which pieces of lighted charcoal are thrown into the
space between the brick wall and the furnace. The pot-
sherd which has been put u})on the hole in the cover is
removed for inspection from time to time, until it appears
that all the enamels are thoi-oughly fired.
"There is a kind of colored porcelain here which is
sold at a cheaper rate than that ^vhich is painted with
the colors of which I have Just spoken. To make ^vork
of this kind it is not necessary that the materials used
should be so fine ; cups are taken which have already
been baked in the large furnace, without having been
glazed, and which are consequently quite white and
without luster ; they are colored by immersing them in a
jar filled with the prepared color, when they are i-equired
to be of single color ; if they are wished to be of different
€olors, such as the pieces called huanglu livan^ which aie
div^ided into a variety of panels, one green, anothei" yel-
low, etc., then the colors are applied with a large brush.
Tliis is all the decoration given to this porcelain, except-
ing that, after it has been fired, a little vermilion is some-
times put upon certain parts, as, for example, upon
the beaks of birds ; but this last color is not baked,
because it would disappear in the furnace, so it lasts Init
a very short time. After the colors have been applied,
the porcelain is re-fired in the large furnace at the same
time as other pieces that have not been baked before;
<3are must be taken to place it at the back of the furnace
and below the vent, where the fire is not so active, be-
cause an intense heat would destroy the colors. The
colors adapted for this kind of porcelain are prepared in
this way: The green'* is made of f ^ukj Jn/t( piei) (oxide
*The copper oxide combined in this way with a tiux of nitre and silica pro-
duces the color we call " turquoise-blue," but which the Chinese call " peacock-
green" (kiing-chtio lit). The decoration sur biscuit, described abo%'e, fired la
the large furnace, is known technically as that of the colors of the demi-grand
fell.
840 ORIENTAL ( ERAMIC ART.
of copper), saltpeter, and jiowdered quartz I'educed sep-
arately to an impalpable powder, and mixed together
with water. The commonest azure-blue material mixed
with saltpeter and pulverized quartz forms the violet.
The yellow is made by combining three-tenths of an
ounce of iron-red with thive ounces of powdered quartz^
and three ounces of white lead. The white is made by
the addition of four-tenths of an ounce of pulveiized
quartz to an ounce of ^vhite lead. All these ingredients,
are mixed together with wnter. This is all that I have
been able to gather about the colors of this sort of porce-
lain, not having any of the workmen among my converts.
" To return to the single colors. The glaze red called
yii-li'hung is made from gianulated red copper, and the
powder of a certain stone which has a shade of red,*
ground together in a mortar with a boy's urine, and
mixed afterward wnth some of the white glaze material,
I have not been able to discover the quantities of these
ingredients; those who have the secret are very careful
not to divulge it. The mixture is applied to porcelain
that has not been baked before, and it is not given any
other glaze ; only special care must be taken that during^
the firing the red color does not run down to the bottom
of the vase. If the red comes out pure and brilliant and
without any stain, it is one of the most perfect achieve-
ments of the ceramic art. The porcelain does not ring
when struck. I have been assured that when this red is
about to be applied, the porcelain is not made of pe-tun-tsey
but that yellow clay is used in its place to mix Avith the
Jcao-lm, pre23ared before it and in the same way with the
pe-tiin-tse. The granules of copper which give the red
are obtained during the purification of silver ingots, of
which there are so many of base alloy in circulation.
The refiners, while the melted copper is hardening and
* Probably amethystine quartz.
LETTERS OF PERE d'eNTRECOLLES. 347
couo-eaYiug, dip a small broom iuto water, aud sprinkle
some of it over the liquid copper ; the film which then
forms on the surface is lifted off with little iron tongs
and thrown into cold water, where it forms into
granules.
" The souffle red (Gh''ui-hung) is made in this way :
Having prepared the red, a bamboo tube is used which
has one of its ends covered \\\i\\ a very close gauze ; this
is dipped gently into the color so as to cover the ganze,
and then, by blowing through the tube, the color is pro-
jected upon the porcelain, which will be found strewn all
over with little red points. This kind of porcelain is
«ven rarer and dearer than the preceding, because the
execution is still more difficult.
"There is also a sovjjie blue (cJi'ui-cJi'ing) ^vhich is
much easier to apply successfully. The finest azure-blue,
prepared by roasting the cobaltiferoiis mineral, is mixed
with water to a proper consistence, and blown in the
same way upon the surface of the unbaked vase ; it is
allowed to dry, and is then covered with the ordinary
white glaze, either alone or mixed with the ' crackle
glaze ' {sui yit), if the porcelain is to be veined. It is
finall}^ fired in the large furnace. The cobalt-bhie mono-
chrome glaze, whether it be souffle or aj^plied by immer-
sion, may have a decoration traced upon it by artist
workmen with the point of a long needle ; the needle
removes as many little points of the dry azure color as
may be necessary to represent the outline of the design,
after which the piece is glazed. After the porcelain has
been fired, the figures appear as if painted in miniature.
" The black porcelain called wu chin has also its price
and its beauty ; it is a brilliant black, somewhat like that
of our burning-glasses, which is very effective in com-
bination with the gold decoration with which it is usually
associated. The unbaked porcelain is immersed in a fluid
848 ORIENTAL cera:^iic art.
mixture composed of prepared azure-blue ; * it is not nec-
essary to use the finest azure, but it must -be rather
thick, and mixed with some of the brown mineral (tzi'i-
chln^ and the materials of the ordinary white glaze. For
example, to ten ounces of azure pounded in the mortar are
added one cup of tzu-chin, seven (iu\)^ oi pal yu (prepared
from feldspar), and two cujis of the lime and fern-ash
mixture. No other glaze is necessary ; when the porce-
lain is fired, it must be placed in the middle of the
furnace, and not near the roof, where the heat would be
too intense. The gold designs are penciled on afterwai'd^
and the piece is fired anew in a particular furnace.
" The glaze referred to just now, called tzu-chin —
i. e., 'burnished gold' (or Iru/i/) — I should name rather
' bronze-colored,' ' coffee- colored,' or ' dead-leaf ' (couleur
de feuille worte). It is a recent invention ; f for its com-
position, common yellow clay is taken, levigated in the
same way as the pe-tun-tse, and mixed with water to the
same consistence as the ordinary white feldspathic glaze.
The tzu-chin puree is first mixed w^ith the feldspathic
puree,, and some of the lime and fern-ash puree of the
same consistence is afterward added to the mixture.
Tlie [)]'oportions of the three ingredients depend upon
the tint i-equired ; it may range from that of ' old gold ^
to the darkest chocolate color.
" 1 have been shown this year (1722 ), for the first time,
a species of porcelain which is now in fashion (a lamode)'.
Its color approaches that of the olive and is given the name
of lu7uj<']i''u(in. I have heard it called rli'in/j hiio — the
name of a fruit which nearly resembles the olive. |; This
*It should be rather " a puree made of calcined cobaltiferous oxide of man-
ganese," the ore which the Chinese used to produce blue, and which, if not
covered with glaze, comes out black.
\ The worthy father must be mistaken here, as we extracted a detailed pre-
scription in Chapter VIII from the records of the Ming dynasty. The color
referred to is the well-known fund laque of French ceramic writers.
:j; The Chinese olive, so called, is the fruit of a species of canarium.
LETTERS OF PEKE D ENTRECOLLES. 849
color is given to porcelain by mixing together seven cups of
the tzii-cliin paree^ four cups of fel(]spathicy^?<7*^6^, two cups
of lime and fern-ash puree, and one cup of crackle puree.
The last, named iiui yu, which is prepai-ed from a kind of
rock, causes a quantity of veins to appear on the porce-
lain ; when it is applied alone, the porcelain is fragile,
and does not I'ing when struck, but, when mixed with
other glazes, the porcelain, although reticulated witli
veins and rings, is not more fragile than usual. The
ordinary variety is marbled all ovei', and cut in every
direction ^vith an infinity of veins ; from a distance it
might be taken for a broken piece \\itli the fi'agments
remaining in place ; it is like a Avork in mosaic. The
color is usually grayish.
'' They tried lately to mix gold leaf and powdered
quartz with the ordinary glaze, and applied it like the
red glaze, but the attempt failed, as it was proved that
the tzit-chin o;laze excelled in srrace and luster. At one
time bowls were made with the ' golden glaze ' outside
and pure white within ; another variation followed, when
upon a bowl to which they were going to apply the tzu-
cliin glaze, they stuck on, in one or two places, a round
or square of moistened paper. The paper was taken away
wlien the glaze liad been applied, and the space filled in
with a painting in red or in azure blue. Sometimes such
medallion spaces were colored ^vith a Idue or a Ijlack
ground, and, after having been fired, wei'e penciled in
gold and fired anew ; a number of such different com-
binations might be imagined.
"Not long ago a new material was discovered that
could enter into the composition of porcelain. This is
a stone, or species of chalk, called Jiua-slili,^ the same
* Ilun-shih is steatite, -which is widely used in China as a febrifuge. But
many other substances have been sent to Europe under tlie same name, so that
Salvetat writes that it is sometimes a mixture of steatite and amphibole, at
350 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
wliicli Chinese doctors use to make a draught which they
say is detergent, aperient, and refreshing. The potters
use it to replace tlie hao-lin. Porcelain fabricated with
hua-shih is rare, and much dearer than the other ; it has
an extremely fine grain, and with regard to the work
of the brush, if it be compared \vith ordinary porcelain,
it is like vellum compared with paper. Moi'eover, this
porcelain is so light as to surprise one accustomed to
handle other kinds of porcelain ; it is also much more
frasrile than the common sort, and it is difficult to seize
the proper moment of its firing. Some, who do not use
the hua-shih to make the body, content themselves with
making a kind of glue of it, in which they inmierse the
porcelain when it is dry, so that it takes up a layer,
on which to receive the colors and the glaze, by whicli
means it acquires a certain degree of beauty. The Jnia-
shih is washed ^vhen it is taken from the mine and pre-
pared like the hao-lin. I am assured that porcelain can
be made of it alone without anything else mixed, but one
of my converts, who works with it, tells me that he
combines eight parts of hua-shih with two parts of pe-
tun-tse. It is five times the price of hao-lin. It is also
used for painting designs over the glaze in sli[).
" There is one secret that the Chinese lament having
lost : they once had the art of painting upon a porcelain
bowl fish or other animals, which became visible only
when the porcelain was filled with some liquid. This
kind of porcelain was called chia-clHing — that is to say,
^ azure put in press,' indicating the position of the color.
The porcelain to be painted thus must be very thin ;
others ferruginous clay, or impure hao-lin. Vogt says (Za Porcelaine, page
225), " It is a natural mixture of two thirds of kao-lin and one third of white
mica." The peculiar porcelain made of it, as described above, is the sha t'ai
of the Chinese, the "soft paste" of collectors, described in the last chapter,
distinguished by its light weight, its tendency to crackle, and the fine, neat
lines of its decoration when painted in cobalt-blue.
LETTERS OF PERE d'eNTRECOLLES. 351
when it has beeu dried, the color is applied with a strong
touch, not outside, as usually, but inside, on the sides
of the cup ; the ordinary decoration is fish, the most nat-
ural thing, as it were, to appear when the cup is filled
with water. As soon as the painting is dry a light layer
of slip is spread over it, which confines the color between
two coats of earth. When the slip has dried, the glaze
is put on inside the cup, which is afterward put u})on tlie
polishing wheel and cut away outside as thin as possible
without penetrating to the coloi', and lastly the outside is
glazed by immersion. When everything is dry it is fired
in the ordinary furnace. The work is extremely deli-
cate, and demands a skill that the Chinese seem no
longer to possess.
" There is another kind of porcelain made here with an
outer pierced casing, carved in openwoi'k (ajour^, so as
to inclose the cup which holds the liquid. The cup and
the pierced casing form one piece. I have seen other
charming pieces in which Chinese and Tartar ladies are
painted after life, with the costume, the coloring, and the
features, all finished in the most recherche style, so that
at a distance the work might be taken for an enamel.
" To-day, it may be said, there is a renaissance, and
the beautiful azure reappears upon porcelain once more.
When it is applied it is of a grayish-black color; when
it is dry and it has been coated with glaze it is eclipsed
altogether, and the poi'celain appears perfectly white ;
the colors are then buried under the glaze, but the
fire brings them out in all their beauty, almost like
the heat of the sun as it brino-s out from a chrvsalid
a gorgeous butterfly in all its brilliant hues.
" The place where the furnaces are presents another
scene. In a kind of vestibule which leads to the furnace
are seen piles of cases made of clay, the seggars in which
the porcelain is incased. The small pieces, like the cups
852 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
intended for tea or chocolate, are put sevei'al in one case ;
tlie large pieces have a separate case for each one. The
workman copies Nature, which protects fruits within an
envelope, so that they may be gradually ripened by the
heat of the sun. The cases are placed in columns inside
the furnace, the two lowest in each column, imbedded in
the gravel floor, l)eing left empty, because the fire has no
power so low down. In the middle piles, Avhich are
seven feet high, are placed tlie finest porcelains, at the
back of the furnace tlie coarser kinds, near the entrance
the pieces of strong color which are made of materials
containing as much pe-tiui-tse as hao-lin., and the glaze of
which is prepared from the rocks with blackish or red
spots, because this glaze has more body than the other.
The cases are made of different colored clays produced in
the neighborhood, kneaded together, and are fashioned
upon the wheel.
" Some one hundred and eighty loads of pine fuel (of
a hundred and thirty-three pounds weight each) are con-
sumed at every firing, and it is surprising that no ashes
even are left. It is not surprising that porcelain is so
dear in Europe, for, apart from the large gains of the
European merchants, and of their Chinese agents, it is
rare for a furnace to succeed completely ; often every-
thing is lost, and on opening it tlie porcelain and the
cases will be found converted into a solid mass as hard as
rock. Moi'eover, the ])oi'celain that is exported to Europe
is fashioned almost always after new models, often of
bizarre character, and difficult to reproduce; for the least
fault they are refused, and remain in the hands of the
potters, because they are not in the taste of the Chinese
and can not be sold to them. Some of the elaborate
designs sent are quite impracticable, although they pro-
duce for themselves some tilings Avhich astonish strangers,
who will not believe in their possibility.
LEITERS OF PERE d'eNTRECOLLES. 358
" I will give some examjiles of these. I have seen hei-e
a large porcelain lantern made in one piece, through the
sides of which shone a candle, placed inside, so as to light
a whole room ; this work was ordered seven or eight years
ago by the heir-a[)parent.* The same prince ordered, at
the same time, various musical instruments, and among
others a kind of little mouth-organ called tseng, which is
about a foot high, composed of fourteen pipes, and the
melody of which is pleasing enough ; but eveiy attempt
at making this failed. They succeeded better with flutes
and flageolets, and with another instrument called yun-lo
which is composed of a set of little round and slightly
concave plaques, each of which has its different note;
nine of these are hung in three tiers in a square frame,
and played upon with rods, like the tympanum ; a little
chime is produced to accompany the sound of other instru-
ments, or the voice of singers. It required, they tell me,
many trials before they succeeded in finding the proper
thickness and density to produce coi-rectly all the notes
of the scale, I imagined myself that they had the secret
of inserting a little metal in the body of the porcelain, to
vary the notes ; but have been undeceived, for metal is so
ill adapted to combine with porcelain that if a cop})er
' cash ' happened to be put upon the top of a pile of por-
celain in the kiln, the coin as it melted would pierce all
the cases and porcelain in the column, so that a hole
would be found in the middle of every one. To return
to the rarer works, the Chinese succeed best in gro-
tesques, and in the representation of animals. The
workmen make ducks and tortoises which will swim in
water. I have seen a cat painted after life, in the head
of which a little lamp had been put to illuminate the
* One of Uiese beautiful eggshell lanterns is illustrated in Plate XI. The
heir-apparent was the fourth son of the emperor, the prince who reigned after-
ward as Titiig-Cheng. It is interesting to find him mentioned as patronizing
the art so early as 1704 or 1705.
354 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
eyes, and was assured tliat in the night the rats were ter-
rified by it. They make here too very many statuettes
of Kuan-yin,* a goddess celebrated throughout all China,
represented holding an infant in her arms, and worshiped
by sterile women who wish to have children.
" There is another kind of porcelain, the execution of
which is very difficult, and which has consequently
become exceeding rare. The body of this porcelain is
extremely thin, and its surface very smooth inside and
out ; notwithstanding which there can be detected in it,
on close inspection, molded designs, such as a ring of
flowers, or other like ornaments.f They are executed in
this way : When it has been shaped upon the wheel it is
pressed upon a mold carved with the designs which are
impressed inside, and then it is pared down outside, as
finely and thinly as possible, with the knife on the polish-
ing wheel, to be ultimately glazed and baked in the ordi-
nary furnace.
" European merchants demand sometimes from the Chi-
nese woi'kmen porcelain slabs, to form in one piece the
top of a table or bench, or frames for pictures. These
works are impossible ; the broadest and longest slabs
made are only a foot across or thereabouts, and if one
goes beyond, whatever may be the thickness, it will be
warped in baking. The extra thickness does not facili-
tate the work, rather the contrary ; and this is why the
native slabs, instead of being made thick, are formed of
two faces, with a hollow interior, traversed by a solid
cross-piece ; these slabs, used for inlaying carpentry, have
two holes pierced at either end, so that they may be
inserted in a bed, or in the back of a chair, when they
look very effective.
* Refer to Plate LX for a finely decorated figure of the period. Kuan-yin is
the Buddhist divinity Avalokita.
f For a striking example of this work, refer to Plate LXVII.
LETTERS OF PERE d'eNTRECOLLES. 355
"The mandarins, who know the genius of Europeans
for inventions, often ask me to have brought from Europe
novel and curious designs, in order that they may present
to the emperor something unique. On the other hand,
the Christians press me strongly not to get any such
models, for the mandarins are not so easy to be con-
vinced as our merchants, when the workmen tell them
that a task is impracticable ; and the bastinado is liber-
ally administered before the mandarin will abandon a
design which may bring him, he hopes, great profit.
" As each profession has its particular idol, and divinity
is conferred here as easily as the rank of count or marquis
is given in some European countries, it is not surprising
that there should be a god of porcelain. The Pou-sa *
(the name of this idol) owes its origin to these kinds of
designs which it is impossible for the workmen to exe-
cute. They say that formerly an emperor decreed posi-
tively that some poi'celain should be made after a model
which he gave ; it was represented to him several times
that the thing was impossible, but all tjjese remonstrances
served only to excite more and moi'e his desire. His
officers persecuted the Avorkmen incessantly. The poor
wretches spent all their money and gave themselves infi-
nite pains, but they got nothing but blows in return. At
last one of them in a moment of despair threw himself
into the burning furnace and was consumed in an instant.
The porcelain which was being baked came out, they say,
perfectly beautiful, and pleased the emperor, who de-
manded nothing more. After his death the unfortunate
man Avas regarded as a hero, and he became in coui'se of
* Pou-sa is the Chinese contraction of the Sanskrit Bvdhisatfra, a personage
"who lias only one more stage of human existence to pass through before he
becomes a Buddha. It is applied secondarily to any idol. The Pou-sa. who
has become proverbial in Europe as the god of luxurious indolence, often
molded in porcelain, is the representation of Maitr^ya, the coming Buddha or
Messiah of the present Kalpa.
356 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
time tlie idol who is now the protector of the workers in
porcelain.
" Porcelain having been so highly esteemed through so
many centuries, one would wish to know in what respects
that of the earlier times differs from that of our own
days, and what the Chinese think of it themselves. It
must not be doubted that China has its antiquaries, whose
predilections are all for ancient "works. The Chinaman,
indeed, has an innate respect for antiquity, although one
finds defenders of modern art ; but porcelain is not like
ancient medals, which reveal the science of distant ages.
Ancient porcelain may be ornamented witli Chinese
characters, but they mark no point in history, so that the
curious could only find something in the style and in
the colors ^vhich could lead them to pi'efer it to that of the
present day. I believe that I heard it said, ^\hen I was
in Europe, that porcelain, to have its full perfection, must
have been buried for a long time in the ground ; this is
an absurdity which the Chinese ridicule. The history of
King-te-chen, speaking of the most beautiful porcelain of
earlier times, says that it was so recherche that the furnace
was hardly opened before the merchants were disputing
for the first choice. There is no question here of having
it buried.
"It is true that in dio-o-ino- uii the ruins of old build-
ings, and especially in cleaning out old abandoned wells,
fine pieces of })orcelain are sometimes discovered, which
have been hidden there in times of revolution ; the porce-
lain is beautiful, because at such times they would only
think of hiding what was pi'ecious, in order to recover it
when the troubles were over. It is esteemed not because
it has gained from the moist earth some new beauty, but
because its ancient beauty has been ])reserved, and that
alone has its price in China, where they give large sums
for the smallest utensils of the ordinary potteiy that was
LpypTKUs OF PEiiE d'entrecolles. 357
used by the Emperors Yao and Shun, Avho reigned many
centuries before the T''ang dynasty, during wliich poi'ce-
lain began to be used by the emperors.
" The mandarin of King-te-chen, who honors me \\ ith
his friendship, makes to his patrons at the imperial court
presents of old porcelain, which he has the talent of mak-
ing himself. I mean that he has discovered the art of
imitating ancient porcelain, or at least that of a medium
antiquity ; he employs at this work a number of artisans.
The material of which these false hu-fung — that is,
ancient counterfeits — are made is a yellowish clay, which
is brought from a place not far from King-te-chen, called
Ma-an-shan (Saddle-back Hill). They are very thick ;
a plate of tliis kind which the mandarin gave me weighs
as much as ten ordinary plates. There is nothing-
peculiar in the workmanship of this kind of porcelain,
except that it is given a glaze prepared from a yello\v
rock, which is mixed with the ordinary glaze, the latter
predominating ; this mixture gives to the porcelain a sea-
green color. After it has l)een baked it is innnersed in a
very strong bouillon made of fowls and other meat ; it is
stewed in this a while, and is afterward put into the most
filthy sewer that can l)e found, ^vhere it is left a month or
more. When it comes out of this sewer it passes for
being three or four centuries old, or at least for a speci-
men of the preceding dynasty of the Ming, when porce-
lain of this color and thickness Avas highly esteemed at
court. These false antiques are also similar to the
genuine things, in that they do not ring when stiuek, and
emit no humming vibrations when held close to the ear.
" They have brought to me from the debris of a large
shop a little plate wliich I value much moi-e than tlie
finest porcelain of a thousand years ago. There is
painted on the bottom of this plate a crucitix between the
Holy Virgin and St. John ; thev told me that thev used
358 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
formerly to export such porcelain to Japan, but that they
had made none of it since sixteen or seventeen years ago.
Apparently the Christians of Japan availed themselves of
this industry during the persecutions, to have images of
our sacred mysteries ; the porcelain, mixed in the cases
w^ith the rest, might escape the search of the enemies of
religion ; the pious artifice would have been discovered
later and rendered of no avail by a stricter search, and
this is why, no doubt, they have left off making things of
tbe kind at King-te-chen."
CHAPTER XII.
THE YU]SrG-CH:^NG PERIOD.
riiHE Emperor Yung-cheng, who succeeded his father
JL K\mg-lm^ reigned for only thirteen years (1723-
35), a comparatively short interval between the long
reign of sixty-one years of his predecessor and the reign
of sixty years of his son and successor, the celebrated
CfCien-lung^ who resigned the throne after he had
reigned a complete cycle, in accordance with a vow
that he had made not to outreign his grandfather, if
the celestial powers would allow him to reign as long.
The ceramic productions of this reign are sometimes
grouped Avith those of the reign of CKien-hmg^ and
described under the same heading, but, in my opinion,
they are of sufficient interest and importance to deserve a
chapter to themselves. It is a ti-ansition period in which
the strong colors and bold, vigorous decoration of the
preceding reign are gradually toned down, until they
merge into the half tints and broken colors which mark
the more regular and carefully finished designs on the
porcelain of the reign of CJiHen-lung. The deep irides-
cent greens boldly laid on in thick patches, which
characterize the last reign, are only by gradual degrees
replaced by a green of less brilliant tone and more even
shade, so that an early Yu7ig-cheng piece often retains a
touch of the old vig-or. If it want somethiusf of the
pristine brilliancy, the new reign is distinguished for the
neat precision of its penciling, the soft purity of its color-
ing, and the finished technique of its ceramic productions.
They are well illustrated in this collection, especially in
359
360 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
the decorated class, as in the magnificent round dishes in
Plate XLVIII and Fig. 101, the pilgrim bottle in Plate
XLVII, and the Buddhist ecclesiastical vase in Plate XX,
all of which are marked in full with the " six-character"
mark of the reign. The decorated citron-yellow vase in
Plate LXV, the Taoist-Triad vase in Plate XXI, and
some of the eggshell plates, although they do not happen
to be marked, are, from their style and coloring, attribu-
table to the same period. Among the single colors, the
gray vase illustrated in Plate LXXXV has the mark of
the reign inscribed underneath, and the pea-green celadon
(tou-cJi ing) vase in Plate XL, the crackled gray vase in
Plate LXXXVI, the etched sea-green celadon (tung-
chHng) vase in Plate XXXVIII, and the pink mono-
chrome vase of "rose Dubarry " in Plate LIII are to be
referred, in all probability, to the same period.
Two of the colors especially characteristic of the JS itn
Yao, or " Nien Porcelain," of this epoch ai'e the dair-de-
lune, or yueh-2)ai, and the bright souffle copper-red. A
specimen of the former is given in Plate LI (b) ; and the
coloi' of the new reio-n is the same, althouoh the fabric of
the porcelain is generally more delicate and the foi'm
more studied. The latter occurs in a rare combination
with painted decoration in the charming little vase of
baluster shape seen in Fig. 250, which deserves a word of
description :
Nien Yao Vase, exhibiting the characteristic mono-
chrome glaze of bright ruby-red tint and sti]:>pled surface.
The souffle glaze is applied over the whole surface, with
the exception of a panel of iri-egular outline reserved on
one side of the vase, where it is shaded off so that the
red fades gradually into a nearly white ground. Within
the panel there is painted, over the glaze, the pictui-e of
Tung Fang So, a Taoist divinity, in flowing robes, speed-
ing across the clouds with a branch of peaches, the sacred
THE YUNG-CH:feNG PERIOD. 361
fruit of longevity, on his shoulder. This is lightly etched
ill sepia and touched with gold, with the addition of a
few strokes of pale overglaze cobalt-blue and rouge d^or
of the Yung-clieng period. The foot of the vase is
encircled by an ornamental scroll, nearly obliterated,
painted over the ruby ground in black and gold. There
is no mark imderneath.
The Nien just referred to is, as the reader ^vill recall,
Nien Hsi-yao, an official of the Nei Wu Fu, or Imperial
Household, who was appointed in the beginning of the
reign of Yung -die )ig, commissioner of customs at Huai-
an-fu, with control over the river dues of the three
provinces of Kiangsu, Kiangsi, and Anhui, and the super-
intendency of the imperial porcelain manufactory at
Ching-te-chen, for which he was also required to provide
the necessary funds out of the customs dues. He held
the post till the fii'st year of the reign of Cli!ien-lung,
when he was promoted, and replaced in the commis-
sionership by T'ang Ying. He was consequently
director of the porcelain works during the whole of the
reign of Yung-cheng, and some of the peculiar produc-
tions of the period are still commonly known as Nien
Yao, after him. He seems to have made periodical tours
of inspection to Chiug-te-chen, during one of which he
repaired the temple of the patron god, and erected a
stone tablet in the courtyard to commemorate the fact.
The inscription on this monument, which still stands
there, records his official visit to the place in the fifth
year of the reign of Yung-cheng (1727), and his orders
that the porcelain made for the use of the emperor '
should })e sent by boat twice every month to be inspected
by him at Huai-an-fu, and that he ^vould forward it on to
the palace at Peking. We have a long list of the deco-
rative designs and colors of the imperial porcelain made
under his inspection, which is derived from official
362 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
sources, and \\ Inch is given in full detail in tlie next
chapter. It supplies a fund of exact information, and is,
on that account, of the greatest interest.
According to the Cliing-te-clien T\io h(, "the vases
made at this time included very many of soft eggshell
color and well-rounded form, the glaze of which shone
with the luster of pure silver. Some were decorated in
blue and white, others in colors, and the various j)rocesses-
of painting, engraving, modeling under the glaze, and
carving in pierced work, were all practiced in turn.
The rejiroduction of ancient wares and the invention of
novelties were undertaken in the imperial factory under
his (Nien's) direction."
The rounded form referred to in this extract is-
exhibited in the oval, melon-shaped vase of six-lobed
outline in Fig. 251, which is coated with a silvery
white glaze, very finely crackled (truiie), with a close
reticulation of dark lines, so as to give a general gray
effect ; and in the white vase of the period in Fig. 252^
the neck of which is encircled with the form of a coiling
dragon modeled in openwork relief and enameled in
rouge <Vor of crimson tint, the rest of the surface being
pure white, except for an occasional single peach-blossom
touched in delicate colors near the foot and on the
shoulder of the rippled surface of the vase, which was-
once marked underneath, but has had the inscription
purposely ground away."^
The good form and perfect technique of the period are
well shown in two other illustrations. The first is a
large baluster vase {mei-p'ing\ Fig. 253, with gracefully
rounded outlines, which is artistically decorated in
*The mark is not infrequently obliterated in China on the lapidary's polish-
itig wheel, and some of the finest pieces of Chinese porcelain are found to have
been thus defaced. Such pieces have usually been stolen from the imperial
palace by some of the eunuchs, or from some Important collection by the
servants in charge and treated in this way to avoid detection.
THE YUNG-CHifcNG PERIOD. 863
brilliant enamel colors with fruits and flowers, tlie
branches springing from below on one side and spread-
ing upward in all directions upon the vase, so as to cover
it with large pomegranates and peaches and bunches of
yellow dragon's eye (^Neplieliwn longanuiii) fruit, mingled
with sprays of scarlet pomegranate-flowers and pink
peach-blossom. The mark underneath, penciled in under-
glaze blue within a double ring, is Ta CKing Yung
<:lieng nien cJiih^ "Made in the reign of Yung-cJieng, of
the great OKing [dynasty]." The other vase (Fig. 257),
though unmarked, is a typical piece of the period, in
form, style of decoration, and coloring. The peculiarly
tall, slender form sjjringing from a spreading foot seems
to have been introduced at this time. The scene depicted
on the vase is the appearance of the Taoist goddess Hsi
Wang Mu coming across the sea, borne upon a floating
lotus-petal. The base of the vase is surrounded by
scrolled and crested green waves, from which green and
blue rocks rise in the background, and a temple with
veranda and curling eaves — the abode of the divinity —
is seen in the midst of the sea, Avith a oicrantic stork
perched on the roof. From a rock behind the temjjle
springs a sacred peach-tree laden with scarlet and pink
fruit, the branches mingled with rosy clouds floating
across the shoulder of the vase, illuminated by the ver-
milion disk of the sun. A second stork is flying back
to the temple, as the aerial messenger of the goddess,
carrying in its beak two scrolls tied by a red band. The
frail craft, a scai-let lotus-petal, floating on the sea in the
foreground, contains two female figures. The goddess is
sitting upon a rustic seat in the stern, dressed in con-
ventional style in long robes and floating, scarf with a
short cloak of lotus-leaves thrown across her shoulders,
and holds a branch of sacred fungus Qing-ehih). The
standing figure in front is her attendant, clad in a similar
364 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
costume with a deep collai- of fig-leaves, liolding a rosy
peach fringed with green leaves, and having a basket by
her side full of flowers and Buddha's-hand citrons.
Fig, 56 shows an example of "slip" decoration in
partial relief, painted in underglaze cobalt-blue, as well as
in the enamel colors, coral-red, yellow, greens of different
shade, and black. It has inscribed underneath the usual
seal-mark penciled in underglaze blue of the reign of
Yung-cheng. It is a brush cylinder (27i-fung), of wide
low form with swelling mouth, decorated with an
a})propriate motive, Meng P'l Sheng Hiia — i. e., "The
Pencil Blossoming in Dreams." On the right a young
man in scholarly dress is reclining asleep upon a couch ;
his figure, and the I'ocks mid palms which rise in the
background, are modeled in salient I'elief. From the top
of his head proceeds a scroll which unrolls to show
another scene, in which the same figure is seated at a
table, with ink upon the pallet and a brush in his hand^
about to dash down upon paper the poem evolved in
dreamland, which he had vainly tried to compose during
waking hours. The title of the picture, which is given
above, is a half stanza from a classical poet. The Chinese
artist always presents a dream as an unrolled scroll pro-
ceeding from the head of the dreamer in this quaint
fashion.
Two little tea-jars are examples of modeling in relief
and openwoi'k carving, t\vo distinct processes of Avork
which distinguish some of the largest and most im-
portant vases of the time. That shown in Fig. 254
has a ring of lotus plants projecting in salient relief
round the base, and another lotus encircling the top
of the cover. It is painted in enamel colors with
gilding, with a temple hung with gold bells rising in
the midst of the sea ; with swallows flying in the air,,
and with a bordei* of gilded diapers encircling the
THE YUNG-CH:feNG PERIOD. 365
shoulder alternating with wav^y scrolls jiainted in black.
The other little jar of similar form (Fig. 255), which has
the foot surrounded by a pierced openwork scroll, is
decorated with lotus-leaf-shaped panels containing sprays
of peonies, displayed upon a spiral black ground, sprin-
kled with blue bamboo-leaves and white plum-blossoms.
The saucer-shaped dish in Fig. 249 («) is included
here, because it hapjiens to have the mark of the reign
penciled underneath in blue, encircled by a double ring,
the eggshell plates of the period being usually not
marked. It is decorated inside in enamel colors, with
a flowering bulb of narcissus, a spray of roses, and two
branching stems of Polypoinis lucidus — the variegated
fungus of Taoist sacred lore. A favorite symbolical
design upon imperial porcelain, which was first intro-
duced in this reign, is that shown upon the OhHen-hing
saucer-dish in Fig. 249 (h), which is painted with
branches of sacred peaches bearing both flowei's and
fruit, that wind over the rim of the dish to decorate the
interior, and with five flying bats, symbols of the five
happinesses. It is a common notion of the Chinese that
every decoration for imperial use must have some recon-
dite meaning of this kind and not be introduced simjily
for ornament, like a landscape or a few sprays of simple
flowers that are thought suflicient for the ordinary cups
and bowls that are intended for more vulsrar use.
The Emperor Yuiig-climg is considered by the Chi-
nese to have been a special patron of the ceramic
art, and some of the more elaborate work that distin-
guished the latter part of the preceding reign was due
directly to the interest he took in it when heir-apparent,
as described by Pere d'Entrecolles in his letters. Dur-
ing his reign he continued to send down to Ching-te-
chen from the imperial collections at Peking a number
of antique objects and specimens of ancient glazes to
366 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
be reproduced in the imperial mauiifactory. The repro-
ductions are described to have been often more finished
and perfect than the originals, and they figure as such in
many a private collection, both in China and abroad.
Their variety and character will be enumerated in the
next chapter, which is taken directly from the oflicial
records of the time.
CHAPTER XIII.
official list of the desions and colors produced at
the imperial manufactory in the reign of yung-
ch:6ng.
THIS list was first j^ublislied in the Cldang-hsi-fung-
cMh, the General Description of the Province of
Kiangsi, in which Ching-te-chen, with its Imperial Porce-
lain Maunfactory, is situated. I am translating it from
the latest edition of this voluminous compilation (book
xciii, folio 11-13). It is given there under the heading,
" An Old List of the Different Colors of the Round and
Square Porcelain, and of the Vases ordered to be made
for the Emperoi'," The following explanatory note is
added by the editors below the title : " AVith resj^ectful
reference to the productions of the imperial porcelain
manufactory, among the ornamental vases and Jars, the
vessels for sacrificial wine and for meat offerings, the
dishes, bowls, cups, and platters for ordinary use, ordered
to be sent in annual rotation to the palace, there are so
many different kind of things, that it would be impos-
sible to attempt to enumerate them all. AVe will ex-
tract fi-om Hsieh's Description (of the province) a list of
fifty-seven kinds given there, in order to give a general
idea of the porcelain made at the time."
The first edition of the Chiang -lisi-tung-cliili^ ^nc are
told in the introduction, was published in the Mi-ng
dynasty, in the reign of Clda-eliing (1522-66). Two
revised editions were issued durino- the \<i\sn\ of K\inq-
hsi (1662-1722), and another in the reign of Yung-
cheng, which was published in the cyclical year jen-tzu
367
368 ORIENTAL cera:mic art.
(1732). This last edition is the one referred to above.
It was coni]nled by Hsieh Min, who was governor of the
province of Kiangsi from 1729 to 1732. The list, there-
fore, can not be later than 1732. It was prepared
specially for the official work, and affords an invaluable
description of the porcelain made in the reign of Yung-
chmg, under the superintendence of the director, Nien
Hsi-yao, referred to in the last chapter. This is alto-
gether confirmed by the internal evidence of the list
itself, as many of the things described are characteristic
productions of his time, and are still known to Chinese
collectors as yien Yao.
This list, with some minor variations, is given by
Julien (JjOr. cit, livre vi, page 192), who quotes it from
the annals of the city of Fou-liang, under the some-
what misleading title Catalogue des emaux et des vases
anciens qWon imite a King-te-tcliin. His translation
of the Chinese, too, is very inaccurate, probably because
he was not familiar with the objects described. I
venture to allude to this because his book is so uni-
versally accepted as the text-book on the subject;
there is no space to notice all the discrepancies, and
I will therefore pass on at once to the list :
*' 1. Glazes of the Ta-hiian period, with iron (-colored)
paste.* (ife # :;^ 11 ffB). These are of three diifer-
ent colors : (1 ) pale blue, or clair-de-lune {yueli pai) ; (2)
pale blue or green {fen clCing^ ; (3) dark green or gros
vert (ta li't) — all of which are copied from the colors of
the glazes of specimens of the Sung dynasty sent from
the imperial palace."
* Julien's rendering the first four examples is Excipient enfer, Excipient en
cuivre, and recent writers have twitted the Chinese, on his authority, for not
being able to distinguish enameled iron and copper from porcelain. The last
paragraph, again, he translates: " Ces trois sortes d'emaux avaient la couleur
et le lustre des vases des Song appeles Nei-fa-song-khi, c'est-a-dire vases fournis
pour I'usage du palais (dans la periode A7«^-<e, 1004-1007)." There is no allu-
sion to this period in the original text.
DESIGNS AND COLORS OF REIGN OF YUNG-CIi:fcNG. 369
The specimens wbich were sent out to be copied must
have been examples of the Kuan Yao, the " imperial
ware " of the Si(7ig dynasty, which was described in
Chapter V as having been made at the capital of the
time, the modern K'ai-feng-fu. It was not till long after-
ward that it came to be called Ta-hian Yao, after the
name of the period Ta-huan (1107-1110), in which it
was invented, to distinguish it from the " imperial
ware " of more recent times.
" 2. Ko Yao glazes, with iron (-colored) paste. (^
" These are of two kinds — (1) rice-colored, (2) pale
blue, or green (celadon), both copied from the colors of
the glazes of ancient pieces sent from the imperial
palace."
Reproductions of the ancient crackled ware of the
Sung dynasty made at Liu-t'ien in Lung-ch'iian-hsien,
the invention of Avhich was attributed to the elder
Chang, from which it derived its name of Ko Yao — i. e.,
" Elder Brother's Ware."
" 3. Uncrackled Ju (-chou) glaze, \s'\\\\ cop23er (-col-
ored) paste. [U ^ %W< & ffl).
" Copied from the color of the glaze of t^vo pieces of
the Sung dynasty — a cat's food-basin {inao shih p'eii),
and a mask-shaped dish (^jen mienhsi^y
The traditional tint of the Ju-chou porcelain is sky-
blue, and the reproduction of the old glaze forms the yu
huo t'ien dicing, "the blue of the sky after rain," of
modern times. The peculiar shape of the second piece
reminds one of the wine-cup (yjen mien pei)i molded in
the form of a man's face, of Sung imperial ware, which
was described in Chapter V. Such a cup would make
a convenient dish for washing (Jisi) pencil-brushes, for
which purpose, from its uneven surface, it would l^e well
adapted.
370 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
" 4. Jii (-clioii) glaze with fisli-i-oe crackle of copper
(-colored) paste. (M # ^ ^ WC HC «)•
" Copied from the colors of the glaze of a piece of the
Sung dynasty sent from the imperial palace."
" 5. White Ting (-chou) glaze. (Q ^ ffl).
" Only one kind is copied, the J^en Ting ; the other
variety, the T^i Ting, is not imitated,"
These two varieties of ancient porcelain have been
already described and illustrated. The Fen Ting,
which is composed of fine white material, is enameled
with a soft-looking, ivoiy-white glaze, with a surface
either j)lain or crackled, generally the latter, as in the
gourd-shaped vase illustrated in Plate LXXXIX. The
little vase in Fig. 256, with foliations molded in slight
relief covered by a s^iarsely crackled glaze, is a piece
attributed to this period, fashioned after an ancient
model.
" 6. Chlin (-chou) glazes, (i^ ffB).
" Five different colors have been copied from ancient
specimens sent from the imperial palace, viz.:
" (1) Rose crimson {Mei-huei Tzii).
" (2) Pyrus japonica pink {Hai-fang Hung).
" (3) Aubergine pur^^le {Chieli-i9 i Tzii).
" (4) Plum-colored blue {Mei-tzu CKing).
" (5) Mule's liver mingled with horse's limg {Lo han
onafei).
" And besides, in addition to these, the four following
varieties have been taken from new acquisitions :
" (6) Dark purple {Shen Tzu).
"(7) Rice-colored (J/^'-s^').
"(8) Sky-blue {Tun Lan).
" (9) Furnace-transmutations, or jiamhes ( Yao Pieii)^
This is the most complete list we possess of the colors
that were produced at the Chlin-chou potteries during
the Sling dynasty, and the whole empire must have
DESIGNS AND COLORS OF REIGN OF YUNG-CHifeNG. 371
been ransacked in order to get together so many
treasures to be copied. The colors, it should be noticed,
are all those of the grand feu, produced by dift'ei-ent
combinations of oxide of copper and cobaltiferous oxide
of manganese, transmuted b}^ the flames, oxidizing or
reducing according to circumstances, of the large furnace.
The skill of the potters in this line at this particular
period has never been rivaled, and their work often
figures in collections among the genuine antiques, for the
form as well as the color of the original seems generally
to have been carefully reproduced. A striking example
of a shaped bowl of antique form, exhibiting the " Pyrus
japonica glaze " — a pink ground flecked with darker red
— was illustrated in Fig. 126. This is marked Yiing-
cheng underneath, indicating that it was an avowed
reproduction of this time. An original j^iece of the
Sung dynasty is illustrated in colors in Plate XCIV.
The names of the colors are genei'ally sufficiently
descriptive of the varied shades, but no two pieces of the
time are exactly alike, and some of the most brilliant
successes in the originals, as w'ell as in the attempts at
reproduction, must have often been due to mere hazard.
" 7. Reproductions of the copper-red of Hsilan-te por-
celain. {^ M. ^ 9- ID- Two varieties are in-
cluded :
"(1) the clear red (Hsien IRmg).
" (2) The ruby red (Pao-shih Hungy
The bright red of ruby tint derived from copper was
used in the reign of Hsikni-te as the color of the sacri-
ficial cups which were employed by the emperor in the
worship of the sun. Hence the name of chi hung^
which means "sacrificial red,'' when it is properly
written. The character used above is a borrowed one of
the same sound, which means •" clear sky," and is prop-
erly used only for the next glaze. Other unauthor-
372 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
ized characters are sometimes substituted by writers
who are ignorant of the derivation of the term, the
strangest of which is cJii hung, " chicken-red," on which
M. Grandidier seems to base his term sang du poulet.
"8. Reproduction of tlie deep blue of Hsiian-te porce-
" The color of this glaze is deep and somewhat
reddish; it has an orange-peel texture and palm eyes."
The orange-peel texture refers to its undulatory sur-
face; the "palm eyes" are due to the production of tiny
bubbles iu the glaze. The color is of purplish tint ; it is
generally crackled, and the saucer-dishes on which it
often occurs are usually found marked underneath ^vith
the seal of Hsilan-te, lightly impressed under the glaze.
" 9. Reproductions of colored glazes of the Imperial
Manufactory, (ft M 'g^ ffW-
"These are of three kinds: (1) Eel-yellow {Slian-yil
Huang). (2) Snake-skin green (she-pi Lii). (3) Varie-
gated yellow {Huang pan tieii)^
These three glazes, which were invented in the pre-
ceding reign of K\ing-lisi by Ts'ang Ying-hsiian during
his directorship, have been described in Chapter X.
" 10. Lung-chbuan glazes. (g| ^ f[B).
"These are of two shades, pale {cli^ien) and deep
{sheifi)^
The Lmig-cKiXan glaze of this time, which derives its
name from the place where the old celadons of the Sung
dynasty were made, is of a pronounced greenish tone,
and it is often called tou-eli'ing, or " pea-green," for that
reason. The color was produced by the addition of a
little cobalt to the next glaze, which is the celadon proper.
The Lung-cliilan glaze is well represented in Plate LXXI,
and in the ground color of the fish-bowl illustrated in
Plate XXXVI.
"11. Tung OJi'ing glazes. (^ ^ ffl).
DESIGNS AND COLORS OF KEIGN OF YUNG-CHifcNG. 373
" These are of two shades, pale (cli'ieii) and dark
{shen)y
This color, the sea-green celadon, takes its name, which
means " eastern green," from the fact that its celebrated
prototype was made at K'ai-feng-fu, the eastern capital of
China in the eai-ly part of the Sung dynasty. Whatever
may have been the materials of the old color, the recent
reproductions owe their tint to the addition to the
ordinary white glaze of a very small pi-oportion of the
ferrugijious cla}' (Jiuang-fii), which protluced the "dead-
leaf " brown (tz'u-cliin). The typical celadon color is
too well kno'svn to need description ; it is, according to
Salvetat, " iiu ton pale clair legerement bleiiatre, analogue
au ton de certains verres de gobeletterie." The peculiar
clear translucency is difficult to i-eproduce on paper, l)ut
the shade of color is perfectly represented in Plates VII
and XXXVIII ; the last vase is one attributed to the
Yinig-cliSng period.
"12. Keproduction of rice-colored glaze of the Sung
dynasty. (^ ^ ^ 9k «)•
"This has been taken from fi-agments of broken
pottery discovered in the I'uins of an ancient manufactory
of the Sung dynasty at a place called Hsiang-hu, situated
twenty li to the eastward of Ching-te-chen, both the
colored glaze and the foi-m of which have been repro-
duced."
" 13. Reproduction of ])ale-blue (or oTeen) o-laze of the
Sung dynasty. (^ W fe tI? ?*)•
"The specimens copied here in form and color were
obtained at the same time as the rice-colored pieces of the
Sung dynasty just referred to."
" 14. Reproduction of the oil-o-reen glaze. (fj^ :J^
H Wi).
" This was copied from an ancient piece of the furnace-
transmutation (^yao ])ieii) class sent from the imperial
374 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
palace, the color of which resembled moss-green jade
(^2?i i/i't), having a brilliant ground variegated with
mottled tints of antique rare beauty."
There is a small vase of the "peach-bloom " type illus-
trated in Plate L, which answei'S remarkably well to this
description, being invested with a green glaze variegated
with streaks and mottled clouds of deepest emeiald^
passing into olive as they run do^vn across the field.
" 15. The Chlin (-chou) glaze of the muffle stove. (|§
infill)-
" The color of this is between that of the Canton
pottery ware and that of the enamel of the Yi-hsing
' boccaro ' stoneware,* and it excels these in its markings
and in the changing tints of its flowing drops."
This glaze is the " robin's egg " of the American
collector, and no better name could be imagined for it.
It has greenish-blue dappling and flecking on a reddish
ground, the green being subordinate to the blue. The
term " muffle " is added to distinguish it from the high-
flred Chiin-chou glazes which are described above and
under No. 6, but in modern usage this is generally omitted^
now that the other glazes are no longer prepared, so that
the " robin's egg " is the " Chim yu " of the present day.
The glaze is prepared, according to the CWing-te-chen
T\io lu (book iii, folio 12), by combining nitre, rock-
crystal, and cobaltiferous manganese with the materials-
of the ordinary white glaze.
"16. Ou's glazes, (g^ fftl).
" These have been copied from productions of the
ancient potter named Ou. There are two varieties made,
one with red markings (Jiung toe/i), the other with blue
markings (Ian wen).''''
This potter flourished in the J///^^ dynasty at Yi-hsing-
*Tiie references here are, doubtless, to the glazes of these two potteries
described in the next two sections.
DESIGNS AND COLOKS OF REIGN OF YUNG-CHifcNG. 375
hsien, near Shanghai, in the province of Kianguan, where
he made a red stoneware, the kind known to us from a
Portuguese word as boccaro ware, which is still made
there.
" 17. Glaze flecked with blue. (^ |i f[tl).
" Tliis has been copied from the colored glaze of an
ancient piece of Kuang Yao sent from the imperial
palace."
The " Kuang- Yao " is the brown stoneware made in
the province of Kuangtung, at Kiang-yang-hsien, in the
prefecture of Chao-ch'ing-fu. An example is illustrated
in the statuette of Bodhi-dharma in Plate XLI.
"18. Clalr-de-hme ^Aaze. (^ Q f|B).
" The color resembles very closely that of the Ta-kuan
glaze (No. 1), but the paste of the jDorcelain is white.
The glaze is not crackled. There are two shades — pale
{cJi'ieii) and deep {shen)^
This is the pale sky-blue glaze derived from cobalt
which is one of the choicest and most characteristic single
colors of the period. It is of the monochrome tint of
the vase of the preceding reign, which is illustrated in
Plate LI.
" 19. Copies of Hsuan (-te) porcelain decorated in
ruby-red. (W ^ U ^/M)-
"There are four varieties: (1) With three fishes, (2)
with three fruits, (3) with three ling-chih, (4) with five
bats, symbols of the five happinesses."
The designs were painted siw biscuit in copper-red, as
described in Chapter VII. The name oi pao-sJiao — i. e.,
" ruby-fired " — comes from an old tradition that powdered
rubies were mixed Avith the glaze ; amethystine quartz is
really used in the present day, but this has nothing to do
with the red color, which is a copper silicate.
" 20. Copies of the Lung-ch'iian glaze decorated in
ruby-red. (^ t| ^ f Hi ^ ^).
376 ORIENTAL CEKAMIC ART.
" This is a new process, introduced during the reigning
dynasty. There are also the following four kinds of
decoration : (1) With three fishes, (2) with three fruits,
(3) with three ling-chili^ (4) with five bats."
The color of the o-round and the effect of the red
decoration may be seen from a glance at the fish-bowl
illustrated in Plate XXXYI, which is fashioned in the
similitude of a lotus-leaf with the details of the plant
picked out in copper-red on the ground of greenish celadon.
Of the different decorations given above, the three fruits
are most frequently seen on the outside of globular jars,
for instance, which are ornamented with peaches, pome-
granates, and Buddha's-haud citrons in the shape of three
medallions. The outlines and leaves are occasionally
touched in cobalt-blue, penciled under the glaze at the
same time as the copper-red.
The small ovoid vase in Fio'. 258 offers a charmino;
example of the decorative effect of these two colors in
combination. Tlie irregular splash that covers one-third
of its surface is of the deepest and most bi-illiantly scin-
tillating ruby color in the middle, and shades off to
crimson and pinkish mottled tints, as it gradually fades
away into the celadon ground which invests the I'est of
the vase.
"21. Turquoise glazes. (|| ^ fjl).
" These are copied from three varieties sent from the
imperial palace : (1) Plain turquoise {8U ts'ui), (2) flecked
with blue {clCing tieii)^ (3) flecked with gold {eliin tieri)^
The turquoise glaze, pi-oduced by a combination of
oxide of copper with a flux containing nitre, and applied
sur biscuit, is finely crackled. It is called by the Chinese
fei-tshd, from the similai'ity of its tint to that of the azure
plumes of the kingfisher which are extensively used by
them in je^velry. It is represented in nearly a hundred
shapes in the collection, and some of its different shades
DESIGNS AND COLORS OF REIGN OF YUNG-CHlfeNG. 377
may be seen reproduced in Plates XLIV, LXXXIV,
XLV, and LXXV. The second variety referred to
above, where it is flecked with purple, is not rare, but
the third variety, the gold-spotted turquoise glaze, is
quite unfamiliar to me.
" 22. The souffle red glaze. (B^ H ffi)."
The method of application of this glaze has been
described by Pere d'Entrecolles in the last chapter, and
a specimen was exhibited there in Fig. 242, of the kind
Avith a ruby-red ground derived from copper silicate.
There is also a soujjle iron-red of coral tint, produced by
sprinkling the prepared oxide upon the ^vhite glaze of
porcelain that has been previously fired in the large fur-
nace, and fixed by baking the piece a second time in the
muffle stove. There is a charming example of this before
us in Fig. 259 ; a vase with a four-clawed dragon in pur-
suit of the jewel worked in relief in the paste, finished
with the graving tool, and I'eserved under the translucent
white glaze, while the rest of the surface is covered with
Si coral-red of soft tone, shading oif into paler tints as it
merges into the irregular edge of the dragon medallion.
The stippled texture, displaying an infinity of minute
mottled points, indicates its soiiffle application.
" 23. The souffle blue glaze. ' (BJC W ffO)-"
This was also described in the last chapter. The cli'iii-
eliding glaze, often called '^ powder-blue," is one of the
chief triumphs of the Chinese potter, and shows at its
best, perhaps, when left as a single color, neither penciled
over with gold nor contrasted with bright enamel colors,
as is often the case. Nothing could be more magnificent
than the vase, eighteen inches high, illustrated in Fig.
260, in its brilliant blue coat of intense mazarin tint, the
ground flecked witli darker spots, displaying, as it does,
every shade of pure color flasliing out from the depths of
a translucent medium. The prepared cobalt material is
378 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
blown upon tlie raw body of the piece, wliicli is subse-
quently glazed and fired in the large fui'nace, so that it
gradually penetrates the glaze, liquefied by the heat of
the grand feu. The glaze must not be of a hard nature^
we are told, like that of tlie white porcelain ; it must be
liquefied by having a lai-iivr proportion of chalk in its
composition, otherwise the color will not penetrate.
" 24. Copies of Yung-lo porcelain, including pieces of
eggshell (fo-fai), of plain white (su-pai), and with en-
o^raved (cliui) and embossed (hung) designs. {'\)j ^ ^
g: IS te * e il S^ ^ ^ M)."
These varieties are all well known to collectors, but
very many of the pieces that figure in collections as genu-
ine relics of early Ming date are copies, with the original
designs and marks carefully reproduced, that came fi'om
the workshops of the period we are discussing. They
are too perfect in technical finish, and never show the
irregularity of shape and pitting of glaze that so fi-e-
quently mark tlie ancient porcelain. The quality, in
short, is exactly that of the decorated eggshell plates of
the same date, and I have heard it argued from this fact
that the latter must really date from the reign of Yung-lOy
even if they were painted in subsequent times ; they are
really contemporary ; it is only that the white eggshell is
ante-dated. For a genuine early specimen of this class^
refer to Fig. 70.
" 25. Copies of porcelain of the reigns of Wan-li, and
of CTienq-te, decorated in the five colors. [^ ^ JK IE
The five-colored decoi-ation of the Wan-li period was
executed in ovei'glaze enamel colors, with the exception
of the cobalt-blue, Avhich was previously painted on the
raw body before glazing. It is illustrated in Figs. 167
and 106. That of the reign of Chmg-te, of more archaic
style, Avas in colored glazes, which were laid upon the
DESIGNS AND COLORS OF REIGN OF YUNG-CHifcNG. 379
uubaked paste, worked in outline and chiseled, and which
were fired in the grand feu. A reproduction of this class
with the Cheng-te mark impressed underneath the vase,
which may date from the time we are considering, has
been given in Fig. 162.
" 26. Copies of porcelain of the reign of CJi'eng-hua,
decorated in the five colors. (^ J^ VCk ^ ^ ^
^ JH)." This has been discussed at suflncient length in
Chapter VII.
" 27. Copies of porcelain of the reign of Hsilan-te, with
painted designs on a yellow ground, (fj^ ^ ^ ^ tt
This refers probably to pieces painted in colored glazes,
with the designs relieved by an enameled yellow ground.
I have seen bowls and saucer-dishes of the kind, dec-
orated with peonies — the flowers violet and the leaves
green — surrounded by a yellow ground, which had the
mark of Hsuan-te underneath. The finely modeled vase
illustrated in Fig. 261, although it has no mark, is an
example of a similar technique, which is to be attributed
probably to this reign of Yung-cheng. It is decorated
with peonies, chrysanthemums, and daisies, growing from
rocks, Avith a butterfly or two flying in the intervals.
The details of the decoration are all lightly engraved in
the paste. The colors are green and purple, ^vith a few
touches of white, displayed upon a background of pure
bright yellow, which is minutely crackled throughout.
The foot is coated with the same tnnte vellow s'laze
underneath, and has no mark attached.
" 28. The cloisonne blue glaze. ('^ ^ f{|).
"The combination of this glaze is founded upon recent
experiments. Compared with the pui-plish-blue glaze
(described under No. 8), it is deeper and more brilliant,
and it has no orange-peel markings or minute bubbles'
(palm-spots)."
380 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART,
The character /y/, (the first of the three) is used here
as a contraction for fa-lang, " cloisonne enamel." The
color referred to is that generally known by the name of
pao-sliih lan^ or " sapphire-blue," which was introduced
about this time, and which is illustrated in Plate
XXIX.
'' 29. Copies of European figures and models after life
executed with carving and embossed work, [yj ^ ^
" Sets of the live sacrificial utensils (tvu hung), dishes
(pki/i), plates (tieh), vases (p''ing), and boxes {lio), and
the like, are also decorated with coloi-ed pictures painted
in the European style."
We saw, in the last chapter, in Pere d'Entrecolles's-
letters, that porcelain was made at Ching-te-chen for
export to Europe, and painted with foreign designs
brought there by Cantonese traders ; and he also tells us
that the mandarin in charge asked him to procure new
designs from Europe, so that he might make more novel-
ties for presentation at court. Here we learn that such
things were made at the imperial manufactory and sent
direct to the emperor at Peking.
On the other hand, many of the sovereigns of Europe
sent to China about this time for sei'vices of porcelain, to
be decorated for them and painted with their coats of
arms. Most collections of Oriental porcelain contain
specimens of " armorial china," the majority of it dating
from this reign and the succeeding one ; some from the
earlier reign of K\mg-}isi. A selection has been pub-
lished with the pieces illustrated in colors by W. Griggs,
London,* and the date is often fixed by tracing back the
piece to its original owner. The mug, for example, in
Part IV of his work, decorated in coral-red, gold, and
* IlluMrations of Armorial China. Privately printed. One hundred copies
only. 1887.
DESIGNS AND COLORS OF REIGN OF YUNG-CIIifcNG. 381
black, which has the arms, crest, and supporters of
Thomas Trevor, created Baron Trevor of Bromham,
December 31, 1711, emblazoned upon it, must have
been made in this reign, because Lord Trevor died June
19, 1730, the impaled arms being those of his second
wife, Anne, daughter of Robert Weldon, Esq.
A teapot of " armorial china," with a ducal coronet
upon it, is illustrated in Fig. 262, and a vase painted with
cojties of European pictures by a Chinese artist in Fig.^
263. The vase shown in Fig. 264 is one of the class
fashioned in European style, with branches of fruit
molded round the pedestal, and a delicate interlacement
of wild roses and other flowers filling the hollows of the
flowing bandlike handles ; it is decorated in gold with
phoenixes and dragons, the latter painted on the outside
of the handles, witli their centipede bodies and winged
insect heads, and of very un-Chinese aspect.
" 30. Copies of porcelain, painted in monochrome
yellow, with chiseled green designs. (^ ^ ^ ^H ^
The porcelain copied here must have belonged to the
class decorated in mixed enamel coloi's, wdiich I have
described under the reign of I^\uig-]isi, at the end of
Chapter X. The designs of flowers, dragons, phoenixes,
etc., were chiseled in the paste, and filled in with green
enamel, while the I'est of the surface was enameled yellow,
the two colors being laid on with a bi'ush snr hiscuit.
"31. Copies of monochrome-yellow porcelain. [^
" Two kinds ai'e made : (1) With plain ground (su ti),
(2) with engraved designs {chui hua).'"' '
The word chiao, used here, means literally " watered,"
but it does not imply the idea of " pale," as it is some-
times rendered ; this is proved by the fact that in the
modern lists it is replaced by anothei" character of the
382 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
same sound, meaning " bright " or " pretty "; it is used
only of single colors. Tbe tint of the " imperial yellow "
of the time was orange, due to the presence of iron with
the antimony. It is the " prohibited color " of the present
day, sacred to the emperor, and is often enameled over
imperial five-clawed dragons, disporting in clouds chiseled
in the paste under the glaze.
" 32. Copies of monochrome purple-brown porcelain.
" There are two varieties made : (1) With plain ground
(su ti), (2) with etched designs (chtd Imci)^
The Chiao Tzu is the purplish-brown single color, pro-
duced by the cobaltiferous ore of manganese (cli'ing Had),
which shares with the " imperial yellow," and the trans-
parent green of camellia-leaf tint, the distinction of being
used for the emperor's services of porcelain.
"33. Porcelain with eno;raved designs. (^^ ^ ^
m).
" All the different kinds of glazes may have this
decoration."
The engraved designs (chm Jiua) are etched at the
point with a graving tool in the paste of the piece before
it is quite dry, and it is subsequently glazed by immer-
sion, or by sprinkling.
The white vase (Fig. 265) of the "Fen-Ting" class
is an example of this work, having on the front and
back of its swelling body the figure of a five-clawed
dragon, enveloped in clouds, delicately etched in the
paste under the ivory-white glaze.
" 34. Porcelain with embossed designs. (^ ^ §
" These may be associated with all the different kinds
of glazes."
The embossed designs (ttii hud) are worked in relief
upon the paste, the outlines having been previously traced
DESIGNS AND COLORS OF REIGN OF YUNG-CH:feNG. 383
with a graver, and any additional paste required is applied
by a brush. Pdte-siir-pdte reliefs are wow executed on
porcelain in this way all over the world. The reign of
Yuiig-cheng is especially distinguished for this kind of
work.
" 35. Coral-red porcelain. (^ H :S M).
" Repi'oduced from old pieces."
The term Mo Hung is applied to the process of paint-
ins: the coral-red monochrome derived from iron over the
glaze with an ordinary brush. The characteristic tones
of color are perfectly exhibited in Plates XXXII and
XCII.
" 36. Porcelain decorated in coral-red. (^ ^X S
M)-
" Reproduced from old specimens."
The term Ts'ai Hung means " Painting in red," just as
Ts'ai Shui-mo (No. 40) means " Painting in black." It is
applied to the art of penciling the decoration in coral-red
over the glaze, the piece being fii-ed afterward in the
muffle stove. Plate LXVII displays a peerless model.
" 37. Porcelain enameled yellow after the European
style. (B^KfeSH)."
The heading leaves it an open question whether it was
the form of the pieces, or the enamel color, that was
modeled after the European style. In all probability it
was the color, and the beautiful lemon-yellow, which
makes its appearance now for the first time on Chinese
porcelain, would be the new shade indicated. The tint is
perfectl}' shown in the ground of the vase which is illus-
trated in Plate LXV.
" 38. Porcelain enameled purple after the European
style, mw^^^m-'
"39. Silvered porcelain. (^ |^ ^ M).''
The term 3Io Yin, " Painting with silver," refers to
the application of the metal in the form of an enamel as a
884 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
single color. It was not spread upon white porcelain, but
ov^er a coat of pale golden tint, liglitly colored with the
"dead-leaf" or tzh-chin glaze. The enamel had to be
gently fired in the mnffle stove on account of the fugitive
nature of tlie silver.
" 40. Porcelain decorated in ink black.* (^ 7]C S
The decoration of porcelain by pictures penciled in
black or sepia was a novelty introduced at this time.
Pei'e d'Entrecolles describes in the last paragi'aph of his
second letter how attempts have been made to paint
vases with the finest Chinese ink, but all in vain, as the
porcelain always came out white — a result not very sur-
prising— as the carbon to which the color of Chinese
ink is due would be immediately dissipated in the fur-
nace. The ruby-backed eggshell plate shown in Fig, 230
is a fine example of painting in sepia, having the encir-
cling bauds of basket-work, diaper, and brocaded patterns,,
as well as the picture which forms its main decoration,
all penciled in that tint. The picture represents the
dragon procession of the great midsummer festival, which
is celebrated throughout China on the fifth day of the
fiftli moon. The large barge made in the form of a
dragon, attended by a smaller boat with a band of music,
is being towed along a river, accompanied by two lines of
horsemen. The banks ai-e fi'inged with willows, and the
crenelated wall of a city is seen in the background,
which is filled in with the usual details of a Chinese
landscape.
" 41, Reproductions of pieces of pure white porcelain of
the reign of Hsilan-te. (t^ ^ g i| Q ^ M).
* In Julien's list, which is extracted from the Fou-liang-hsien Chili, there is
an interesting note attached here, wliicli is made, however, into a separate
heading. It says that " by the new process the details of landscapes and figure
scenes, flowering plants and birds, are all executed with shading, so as to repro-
duce the light and dark strokes in the original pen-and-ink drawing."
DESIGNS AND COLORS OF REIGN OF YUNG-CHlfcNG. 385
"These include many different objects, thick and thin^
large and small."
Tiie first word in the compound term fien-pai used
here (tire fourth and fifth characters) means " filled in,"
or " fully," but another word having the signification of
" pure " is often substituted for it. Few ceramic terms
have, however, given rise to so much misunderstanding,
o^ving to a gratuitous assumption that it Avas glazed white
in order to be afterwards " filled in " with enamel colors.
So Du Sartel creates a class with the heading of "T'ien
Pai," to include a variety of objects painted in colors sur
biscuit — a class which, as Grandidier justly observes,
threatens to remain without a member to represent it.
The " [)iire white " porcelain of the time, which was said
to rival the finest and most translucent white jade, has.
been already sufficiently described in Chapter YII, under
the reign of Hsilan-te (1426-35).
"42. Copies of Chia {-citing) Porcelain painted in
blue, mmmm^)"
The blue and white decoration of the Cliia-ching
period (1522-66) was distinguished for its deep, strong
coloring. It has been fully described already, and is Avell
illustrated in Plate XLIX.
" 43. Copies of CJi'mg-huci Blue and White Porcelain
with the decorations penciled in pale blue, {^j J§^ \^
Peproductions of this period are much more common
in collections than the originals, although genuine pieces
occasionally occur. They are small in size, boxes for
seal vermilion, miniature vases, wine-cups, or tiny saucei's,
and usually have the mark of CVeng-lma (1465-87)
delicately penciled underneath in the same gray-toned
blue with Avhich the decoration is painted. The tech-
nique of the drawing in these pieces is remarkable for
its clear penciling and miniature-like finish, and a small
386 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
round box, as well as its cover, \vill often be found aiost
elaborately painted both inside and outside.
" 44. Rice-colored glazes (^It '^^ f[ll).
" These differ from the reproduction of the rice-colored
glaze of the Sung dynasty (No. 12). They are of two
kinds: (1) pale {cKieii)\ (2) deep (shen^.
"45. Porcelain decorated with underglaze red. (fj
"In one class of pieces (1) the decoration is entirely
painted in the underglaze red ; another class (2) has
green leaves in combination with red flowers."
The term yu-li-hung (the first three of the group of
five Chinese characters immediately above this) means
literally " red inside the glaze " ; the color, due to coj^per
silicate, ranges from a bright " peach-bloom " tint to a
dull maroon. It is a color of the grand feu of very
ancient orio-in in China.
The two classes given above may be illustrated by two
beautiful vases, both dating from the preceding reign of
JPang-lm :
1. Heavy solid vase (Fig. 229), of finished form and
technique, decorated in maroon copper-red, under a white
glaze of harmonious translucent tone, with five horizontal
bands of dragons and other grotesque monsters in scrolled
sea-waves, separated by narrower bands of diaper and
lozenge fret, and with two rings of formal foliations
encircling the lip. The " six-character mark " of the
reign of K\mg-hsi (1662-1722) is penciled underneath
in cobalt-blue in the style of the " peach-bloom " vases.
2. A small vase (Fig. 266), of globular, bowl-like
form, a writer's water-pot {shui cli'mg^, with the rim of
its mouth strengthened by a silver collar. It is decorated
soberly and chastely with two little sprigs of peony,
which have the blossoms tinted a warm maroon, and the
tiny leaves, outlined and veined with the same under-
DESIGNS AND COLORS OF REIGN OF YUNG-CHifcNG. 387
glaze red, filled in with a bright green overglaze enamel.
The mark is precisely similar to that of fig. 229.
" 46. Copies of coffee-brown glazes, ('fj ^ ^ f[tl)-
"Two different shades are produced: (Ij reddish
{hung)', (2) yellowish (huang).''
The Tzu-chm, or " burnished gold," glaze is derived
from yellow ferruginous clay (liuang-t\i) and varies in
shade, in proportion to the concenti'ation of the glaze,
fi'om the darkest chocolate-brown to the tint of " old
gold." It is of ancient origin, and has been referred to
many times already under its various names of " fond-
laque," " dead-leaf," " coft'ee-colored," " cafe-au-lait," " or
bruni," etc.
" 47. Monochrome yellow poi-celain decorated in the
five enamel colors. (^ ^ £ ^ S M).
" This is a novel decoration founded upon recent
experiments."
The enameled yellow ground was either plain or etched
in the glaze with a close pattern of spiral scrolls. A
description of a piece will give an idea of the class.
Large bottle-shaped vase with swelling body, twenty-one
inches high, richly decorated in enamel colors with gild-
ing, with the ground of yellow enamel engraved in scrolls,
interspersed with colored flowers, among which stand
out, in high embossed relief, vases of flowers, bowls of
fruit, incense urns, guitars, chessboard, fans, books, and
scroll paintings, the varied apparatus of a Chinese library,
mingled with emblems and symbols, all painted in the
bi'illiant enamels of the Yung-clieng period.
A charming little vase, decoi-ated in colors upon a yel-
low background, which may also be referred to this
period, is shown in Fig. 261. It is painted in green and
purple, with a few touches of white with peonies, chrys-
anthemums, and daisies growing from rocks, and with
buttei-flies flying above. The details of the decoration
388 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
are all delicately etched in tlie paste. The yellow
ground, of pure tone, is minutely crackled, and the foot
is coated underneath with the same trtiite yellow glaze,
and has no mark attached.
" 48. Copies of monochrome-green porcelain. \\)j ^
"Two kinds are made: (1) with plain ground (sw ti^ ;
(2) with engraved designs (chid Imia)^
The green monochrome (chiao lu) of this period is a
bright, attractive color composed of copper silicate in
combination witli a lead flux. Bowls and dishes of
imperial ware, often etched with dragons under the
glaze, are not rare, but vases are less common, and prized
accordingly ; they are usually pieces that once belonged
to temple altar sets.
" 49. Porcelain painted in colors in European style.
" In the new copies of the Western style of painting on
enamels {fa-lang) the landscapes and figure scenes, the
flowering plants and birds, are, without exception, of
supernatural beauty and finish."
The class of Yang Ts'ai, or "Foreign Coloring," is
very extensive and vai-ied, as it includes not only the
vases, eggshell plates, and other things painted with
foreign designs, but also objects decorated with Chinese
scenes in the same class of colors. It represents, more or
less, the class that has been called the famille rose, on
account of the prevalence of a pink among the enamel
colors. In addition to the pink and crimson derived
from gold we notice a bright lemon-yellow, a pale green,
and a general preponderance of soft tints in mai'ked con-
trast to the bold, vigorous coloring of the K''ang-lm
epoch. The colors were those previously in use among
enamelers in copper, and were first introduced into China
from abroad, probably from India. The art of painting
DESIGNS AND COLORS OF KEIGN OF YUNG-CHIING. 389
in enamels ii[)on copper flourished in China at the same
time, and it would be easy to collect a series of rose-
backed and crimson-backed copper dishes decorated in
the same characteristic style, and painted in the same
colors, as the eggshell porcelain dishes of the period.
'^50. Porcelain with embossed designs executed in
undercut relief, (ft ^ ^ M).
" Tliese are applied in combination with all the differ-
ent colored glazes."
The term hung-lma, which means literally " arched
designs," is used to convey the idea of more salient relief
than that of tui-hua, or " embossed designs," of No. 34,
altliough the two terms are occasionally interchanged.
The dragon curled round the neck of the celadon vase
illustrated in Plate XL is an example of this kind of work
■Avhich may be referred to the reign of Yung-cheng.
" 51. Porcelain enameled Red after the European
style. (B -^ ir fe S M)."
The sincrle colors included in this class would be
the crimson (yen-chih hung) derived from gold, and the
pink (^fen liwuj) obtained l)y an addition of a propor-
tion of the white enamel, obtained fi-om arsenic, to the
crimson. A beautiful example of the latter monochrome,
a rose cVor of the " rose Dubarry " tint, which dates
probably from this period, is shown in Plate LIIL
" 52. Copies of the Black Glaze, (ijj ^ ^ f[tl).
"There are two varieties of this made: (1) with the
decoration reserved in white upon the black ground ;
(2) with the black ground penciled over in gold."
These w ould be reproductions of the so-called " mirror-
black " monochrome glaze, which was one of the special
triumphs of the potters of the preceding reign of ICavg-
hsi, and which is Avell illustrated in Plates IX, LXI, and
LXII. The copies have an intense lustrous depth, but
without the greenish, iridescent tones of the originals.
390 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
"53, Porcelain enameled Green after the European
style. (?S # H fe ^ H)."
This would be the pale-green monochrome, which
is occasionally found replacing the pink on the back of
eggshell dishes of the time, or applied as a single color
on pieces interrupted by painted medallions.
Sometimes it is of palest ecm-de-Nil tint. It is made
by tingeing the white enamel of the muffle stov^e with
a little of the green enamel derived from copper.
" 54. Porcelain enameled Black after the European
style. mn^±^m.).
" 55. Porcelain enameled in Gold — i. e.. Gilded.
(tt ^ S mi)- After the Japanese {Tung Yang).
" 56. Porcelain painted in Gold. (^ ;^ ^ M)*
After the Japanese.
"57. Porcelain painted in Silver. (^ ^ ^ M)*
After the Japanese."
The Japanese are commonly called Tung Yang Jen,
or " Eastern Sea Men," by the Chinese, and Julien is
incorrect in translating the term as " I'lndo-Chine," the
natives of which would be " southerners," and who,
moreover, never had any porcelain to copy. The " old
Imari " porcelain of Japan, which was decorated after
the pattern of later Ming times, and marked with the
same Chinese marks, now comes across to be recopied
at Ching-te-chen, Just as old Delft plates, copied from
older Chinese blue and white, were reproduced later
in the same Chinese factory, as is proved by some
curious specimens on the shelves of the British Museum.
It is not so easy to distinguish the copies of the old
Japanese pieces, Avith a simple decoration of a pair of
quails, a straw hedge, and such-like, painted in soft
colors, from the originals; they form a subdivision of
the class of Yang Ts'ai (No. 49). The Chinese are
inveterate copyists, and it is fortunate that they usually
register the fact, as in the above three cases.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE Ch'tEN-LUNG PERIOD.
AFTER the deatli of the Emperor Yung-cheng^ in
XJl. 1735, he was succeeded by his son, who began his
reign with the title of CWlen-lung on the first day of the
following year, and reigned till the end of the year 1795,
when he resigned the throne after a long reign of sixty
years, in accordance with a vow that his reign should
not exceed that of his celebrated grandfather K\iiig-lisi.
The reign of this last emperor, as we have seen, ranks
as by far the most brilliant period in the history of the
ceramic art. The reign of Yiuig-clieng was distinguished,
as the official annalist has Just told us, by many new
inventions and by a remarkable success in the repro-
duction of the colored glazes of olden times, and in
the long reign of Ch''ien4ung the new inventions intro-
duced in the previous reign were gradually developed,
till the porcelain attained a finished technique and
a decoration of perfect symmetry, which are among its
chief characteristics — so much so, in fact, that one is apt
to get tired at last of its conventionality and almost
mechanical perfection, and long for the artistic irregu-
larity and the bold, vigorous coloring of the older style,
which is so varied as never to be monotonous.
The successes of the early years of Cli'ien-lung are
due to T'ang Ying, the famous director of the imperial
manufactory, who occupies the same position now that
Nien Hsi-yao did in the previous reign of Yung-cheng.
T'ang Ying received his first appointment in the ceramic
field of work from the emperor in 1728, and was ordered
391
392 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
to proceed at once to Chiug-te-chen, to take charge of
the imperial works under Nien Hsi-yao, who was ap-
pointed in the following year commissioner of customs at
Huai-an-fu, still retaining, however, his post of chief
director of the imperial ^jorcelain manufactory. In the
first year of the new reign (1736) T'ang Ying succeeded
him in these two posts, and he remained at Huai-an-fu
till 1739, ^vdieu he was transferred to Kiukiang-fu, whei'e
he lived for tlie next ten years as Chief Commissioner of
Customs of the Provinces of Kiangsi, Kiaug-su, and
Anhui, and Director of the Imperial Manufactory. He
was a voluminous writer, and his writings have been
published in a collected form, including disquisitions
on his work, as well as the poems composed by him,
as he surveyed the surrounding scene from the top of
the Jewel Hill, at Ching-te-chen and on many other
occasions. He relates how, for the first three yeai's,
he always had his meals with the workmen and slept in
the same room with them, so as to gain a fajiiiliar knowl-
edge of all the smaller details of their handicraft. A
chapter of his autobiography ma}^ be quoted here fi-om
the Cliiang hsi thing chih, whicli says that the intimate
knowledge that T'ang Ying finally succeeded in acquir-
ing of the creative power of the fire in the development
of colors had certainly never been equaled :
^' Among the least of crafts, which can yet, however,
supply the needs of an emperor as well as afford a means
of livelihood for the common people, is the art of the
potter in the manufacture of vessels, which, in their
hi2:hest uses, fio-ure as sacrificial bowls and dishes, in
their lowest as articles of daily service for eating and
drinking. Porcelain does not date from to-day, Ke-
searches show that it was first made during the Han
dynasty, that the industry has been constantly practiced
down through succeeding generations, and that among
ji
THE CH'iEN-LUNG PERIOD. 393
all the different localities that of Ch'ang-nan (Ching-te-
<jhen) has prevailed and flourished beyond any other.
The preceding Ming dynasty built the imperial manufac-
tory at the foot of the Jewel Hill, and apj^ointed officials
to superintend the work, but their regulations were bad,
the public funds and materials were wasted, and the
people were oppressed, so that they were imable to gain
3, living by their work. AVho will dare to say that
pottery is a mean thing, and that therefore the super-
intendents need not be so very careful ?
" I (Ying), a native of Sheng-yang, in the province
of Kuantung (Chinese Manchuria), whose family has
for generations shared in the imperial favor, since they
followed the dragon standard to Peking,* had my name
enrolled at my birth in the Nei-wu-fu, the 'Imperial
Household.' In my youth I was employed in the
palace in the Yang-hsin-tien, and worked there for more
than twenty years. In the year that the emperor now
reigning came to the throne (1723) I prostrated myself
to heaven and earth in acknowledgment of the imperial
grace in promoting me to be secretary Qang), and only
fear my inability to deserve such honors. Later, in the
autumn of the sixth year (1728) of the reign of Yung-
cheng, in the eighth month, the late Prince of Yi con-
veyed to me, by word of mouth, the celestial (imperial)
orders, appointing me (Ying) to superintend the porce-
lain manufacture in the province of Kiangsi, and in-
structing me to relieve the workmen in cases of disease
and trouble, and to encourage the trade among the
the merchants. The imperial words were truly grand ;
the emperor's grace is all-pervading, and his thoughts
* Many of the Chinese on the northern frontier joined the Mauchus when
they marched on Peking in 1643. They were enrolled afterward, on the
Manchu plan, under banners, to form the Han Chiin, or " Chinese army," and
their descendants are retained to the present day. T'ang Ying was a captain
of his banner.
394 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
are imfatbomable. In rev^erent obedience to the order, I
(Ying) started at once from the capital, and, in tLe tenth
month of the same year, arrived at the manufactory
at Chiug-te-chen, and hastened to regulate the work
of the potters and the trade of the merchants, in obedi-
ence to the decree. With care and trembling, without
wasting a 'cash' of the funds intrusted to me, I had the
porcelain made according to the indents. A list of the
things sent, and a statement of accounts, have been
forwarded by me each month to the superintendency
of the imperial household (Nei-wu-fu). Up to now, the
cyclical year, yi-mao (1735), I have been seven years
engaged in the work. Although but 'a broken-down
horse,' I put forth all my strength. My ability is poor,
•and my faults many, and it is only by the emperor's
grace that I have escaped punishment. An annual
allowance (in addition to salary) of five hundred taels
has been granted me for fuel and water, so my family
subsists on the imperial bounty, which a life's poor work
could ill requite. The potter's work is a humble one, yet
my own life, as well as that of the craftsmen, depend on
the favor of the emperor, and I can not but proclaim the
imperial grace. The ritual wine-vessels {tsun^ and the
sacrificial bowls (huai) are now all made of clay, so as
not to waste the national resources, and the daily want&
of the people are also supplied by the potter's craft, so
that the work must continue to be carried on by our
successors. If the rules of the art be preserved, the
labor will be halved, and the gain two-fold ; if the rules
be forgotten, money will be wasted, and the artisans^
labor lost, so, for the use of after times, I have compiled
the present epitome. Although I (Ying) dare not
profess a complete knowledge of all the minute details
of the ceramic art, yet I have practiced it diligently for
a long time, and am familiar with the official lists of the
THE CH'iEN-LUNG PERIOD. 395
articles produced, with the composition of the glazes
used in their decoration, with the designs and dimen-
sions of the pieces, as well as with the wages and food
of the workmen, their rewards for diligence, and their
lines for negligence. Although naturally stupid, I have
learned one or two of these things, which I have col-
lected and written down, and had them cut upon stone
tablets, erected on the south side of the Jewel Hill, so
that my successors in the directorship may have some
materials for further researches, and be encouraged in
their careful zeal ; to put on record also the emperor's
compassion for the people, and his instructions that the
funds should not be wasted nor the workman's labor
unrecompensed. What I have carefully written, 1 know
personally, and I submit it with deference to the officials
that shall succeed me. 'The farmer may learn some-
thing from his bondman, and the weaver from the hand-
maid who holds the thread for her mistress.' "
This scrap of autobiography, ^vritten in the high-
flown language, bristling with classical quotations,
affected by the Chinese literati, howevei' feebly rendered
in the translation, is sufficient to show the zeal of the
worthy T'ang Ying in his work. Although nominally
subordinate to Nien Hsi-yao, who was promoted to be
commissioner of customs the year after the arrival of
T'ang Ying at Ching-te-chen, and ti-ansferred to his dis-
tant post at Huai-an-fu, the ^\•ork must have owed much
to his personal superintendence. In the ili-st year of the
reign of Cli'ien-lung (1736), T'ang Ying became in his
turn commissioner of customs for the viceroyalty, and
was himself ti-ansferred to Huai-an-fu, where he re-
mained three years, retaining, like his predecessor, the
post of director of the porcelain manufactory, but only
making, he tells us, one official visit of inspection to
Ching-te-chen during the period.
396 ORIENTAL ( ERAMIC ART.
In 1739 tlie conimissioiicrship ^vas finally transferred
to Kiukiang-fu, and the director was, at his new post^
within easy reach of the scene of his former labors. His
family, who were, as we ha\e seen, originally natives of
Manchuria, were enrolled l>y the new dynasty under the
Han Chiin, or Chinese BaniK^rmen, and T'ang Ying was
captain of his banner. A full list of his titles, in the
year 1741, is inscribed upon the long mark of dedication
which has been taken from an altar candlestick, made
by him in that year, and leproduced in facsimile in
Chapter IV. In addition to his appointments in con-
nection Avith the Imperial Household at Peking, he was
then the imperial commissioner in charge of the customs
stations of Huai-an-fu, Hai-cliou, and Su-ch'ien*disien, in
the dual province of Kiangnnn, and of Kiukiang-fu, in the
province of Kiangsi, with the control of all the customs
dues of the viceroyalty, made up of these provinces, and
was at the same time director of the im[)erial porcelain
manufactory. In the year 1743 he visited Peking, and
he brought up with him on that occasion, no doubt, the
sacrificial set of utensils, which he had made for the
Taoist temple near that city. As soon as he arrived
at the palace he was handed an imperial decree, dated
the eighth day of the fourth month of that year, directing
him to write a detailed description of twenty illustrations
of the manufacture of porcelain, which had been found in
the imperial library, and to send back the album as soon
as he had finished. The pictures were returned in the
following month to their former seclusion, and have never
been, I believe, published. AVith regard to the descrip-
tion w^ritten by the accomplished director, and submitted
at the same time to the imperial glance, no Chinese book on
ceramic art is considered to be complete without it, and I
w^ill translate it in the next chapter from the pages of the
annals of the province of Kiangsi, so often quoted.
THE CH'iEN-LUNG PERIOD. 397
T'ang Yiug returned to his post at Kiukiang the same
year and remained there as director of the porcelain
manufactory till 1749.
The writers of the Chlng-te-chen Tcvo lu say, under the
heading of "The Porcelain of T'ang of the i-eign of
ClCien-lung'^\ "This heading refers to the porcelain
made at the imperial manufactory (at Ching-te-chen)
under the direction of T'ang Ying, Secretary of the
ImiDerial Household. The Honorable T'ang, in the
cyclical year lisu-slien (1728) of the reign of Yung-dteng,
first came to reside at the imperial manufactory as assist-
ant to the director Nien, and he acquired a great reputa-
tion for his work. In the first year (1736) of the reign
of Ch^ieii-lung he was placed in charge of the customs at
Huai-an-fu. In the eighth year* (1743) he was trans-
feri'ed to be commissioner of customs at Kiukiang-fu.
In both these posts he retained the directorship of the
porcelain manufacture. He had a profound knowledge
of the properties of the different kinds of earth and of
the action of fire upon them, and took every care in the
proper selection of the materials, so that his productions
were all highly finished and perfectly translucent. In
the reproductions which he made of the celebrated
porcelains of ancient times every piece was perfectly
successful; in his copies of famous glazes there was not
one that he could not cleverly imitate. His genius and
ability were so great that he succeeded in everything he
attempted. He also made porcelain decorated with the
various colored glazes newly invented — viz., foreign
purple {yang tzu), cloisonne blue (^fa cJCing^ enameled
silver (nio yi)i), painted in sepia (ts'ai sliui-md), foreign
black (y«??^ w^^-eAi??.), painted in the style of cloisonne
* This must be an error. The official annals of the province of Kiangsi
make his appointment date from 1749, and this is conlirmed by the inscription
in Chapter IV, which proves that he was commissioner at Kiukiang in 1741.
398 ORIENTAL CERAIVriC ART.
enamels (^fa-lang liua fa), painted witli foreign enamel
colors on a black ground {jjang ts'ai ivii-clmi), with white
designs reserved on the black ground (hel ti pal Jiud),
with the black ground penciled over in gold (^/lei ti niiao
chin), the new sky-blue monochrome (fien-lan), and the
transmutation glazes {^ao-pieri). The paste of the pieces
Avas white, rich, and compact ; the fabric, whether thick
or thin, was brilliant and lustrous ; and the imperial
porcelain attained at this period its greatest perfection."
" He also, in obedience to an imperial decree, respect-
fully described the ' Twenty Illustrations of the Manu-
facture of Porcelain,' arranged them in order, and wrote
detailed descriptions of the illustrations, which were
presented by him to the emperor."
" The learned Li chii-lai of Lin-ch'iian in his preface to
the Collected Works of the Honorable T'ang, says : ' As
results of his genius alone, flowering and producing fruit
in his mind, the ancient manufacture of the large dragon
fish-bowls and of the Chlin-chou porcelain, which had
long been lost, was re-established ; and turquoise {^fei-
tiui) and rose-red (inei-huei) glazes were produced by
him of new tints and rare beauty. T'ang was thoroughly
devoted to his work, and the brilliancy of his genius is
reflected in the beautiful porcelain made by him.' "
When T'ang Ying was appointed to his new post at
Huai-an-fu in 1736, he left behind, for the instruction of
his successors, a collection of memoranda entitled T''ao
chJeng skill yu Ic'ao, "Draughts of Instruction on the
Manufacture of Porcelain," which ai'e often quoted in
oflicial books. The author writes in his preface to these
drafts, which is quoted in the Fou-liang-hsien Annals :
"AVhen I was sent by imperial decree in the sixth year
of the reign of Yung-climg (1728) to undertake the
superintendence of the porcelain manufactory, I was
unacquainted with the finer details of the porcelain
I
THE Ch'iEN-LUNG PERIOD, 399
works of tlie province of Cliiaug-yii (Kiangsi), wliere
I had never been before. But the materials are the same
as those employed in other art-work and are changed in
the fire in accordance with the chemical laws of the five
elements, and they are combined after old prescriptions,
as Avell as by ne\^' experiments. I worked hard with
heart and strength, and for three years shared with the
workmen their meals and hours of rest, until in the ninth
year, Jimi-hai, of the cycle (1731) I had conquered my
ignorance of the materials and processes of firing, and,
although I dared not claim familiarity with all the laws
of transformation, my knowledge was much increased.
After five more hot and cold seasons had passed by,
during which ' his pottery vessels were not imperfect
and the potter had not asked for sick-leave,' the accounts
were made uj) to the thirteenth year of Yung-clieng
(1735), and it was found that, for an expenditure of
several tens of thousands of taels of treasury silver, no
less than between 300,000 and 400,000 pieces of porce-
lain, comprising all kinds of vases and round ware, had
been sent up to the palace at Peking for the use of the
emperor. After the sovereign had flown up to heaven
on a dragon, in the first year of his successor Cli'ien-hmg
(1736), I received the appointment of Commissioner of
Customs at Huai-an and had to leave the immediate
superintendence of the porcelain works. For this reason
I have collected the drafts of the instructions of these
years, and as many of the scattered leaflets as have been
preserved, and arranged them in order, adding some
notes of the progress of the work during the nine years
in which I have been director,"
T'ang Ying is the last of the directors of whom we
hear anything outside of the pages of the annals, on
which the names of a long line of his successors are
registered. One other artist is often talked of as having
400 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
flourished iu the early years of the reign of CKien-lung,
so that he must have been a eonterapoi'ary. This is the
worker in glass named Hu, who adopted the studio name
of Ku Yueli Hsilan, " Chamber of the Ancient Moon,"
by splitting the Chinese character Hu, his surname, into
its two component parts, Ki( Yueh, as explained in
Chapter IV. He Avas, I am tokl, a worker in glass in
tlie palace at Peking, where a manufactory was founded
under the superintendence of the Jesuit missionaries,
and he is mentioned hei'e only because his productions
are said to have been sent down to Chin2:-te-chen
to be reproduced in porcelain, which was considered
b}^ the emperor to be a more noble material than
glass. The glass made by him was of two kinds: a
clear glass of greenish tint with an embossed decoration
executed in colored glasses, and an opaque white glass,
which was either engraved with etched designs or deco-
rated in colors. It is the former kind that is most highly
valued iu the present day, a tiny snuff -bottle being sold
for as much as several hundred taels, or even for a
thousand dollai's ; the latter kind was the type that was
copied in porcelain. The result was the ware of peculiar
vitreous aspect which is technically known as Fang Ku
Yueh Hsilan, or " copies of Ku Yueh Hsiian." Mr.
Hippisley was one of the first to introduce these wares
to the outside world, and he has exhibited sevei'al choice
specimens in his collection at the Smithsonian Institution
at Washington. He says (^Catalogue, loc. cit., page 423):
" Ku Yueh hslian* introduced about the year 1735 the
use of an opaque white vitreous ware for the manu-
facture of articles of small dimensions, such as snuff-
bottles, wine-cups, vessels for washing pencils in, etc.
* Mr. Hippisley seems to take Ku Yueh Hsiian to be the actual name of the
man, whom he refers to as being " a subordinate officer, I believe in the
directorate of the Ching-tg-chgn factories."
■
PERIOD. 401
Tlie vitreous nature of the body imparts a tone and
brilliancy to the colors used in the decoration which is
greatly admired, and the best specimens of this ware will
well repay minute study. The choice of groundwork is
effective, the grouping of the colors soft and harmonious,
the introduction of European figures is interesting, and
the arrangement of flowers evidence of the highest artistic
skill. The earliest pieces were marked, usually in red,
Ta ChHng iiien chili, '■ Made during the great Pure (the
owing or present) dynasty,' the later pieces had the
mark, within a square seal-like border, Cltien lung nien
chill, ' Made during the reign of ClCien-lung^ engraved
in the foot, and filled with a thick, bright blue enamel
glaze. T'ang Ying (in his imitations of this vitreous
ware in porcelain) appeared to have employed for his
purpose a very pure glaze of a highly vitrifiable nature,
and to have thereby effected an enamel brilliancy that
no other porcelain shows, and to have also secured to
a considerable extent the same soft transparency in the
decoi'ative colors Avhich was so much appreciated on the
Ku Yueh Hsiian vitreous ware. Specimens of this poi-ce-
lain, which is quite rare, are held in very high esteem by
the Chinese, alike for the purity of the paste, the
brilliance of the glaze, and the beauty of the decoration,
and are considered among the finest productions of the
period during w^hich the manufacture attained its highest
excellence."
The glass ware referred to here is outside our prov-
ince. Of the porcelain modeled in the Ku Yueh Hsiian
type a beautiful specimen was illustrated in Fig. 68
— a teapot wath the mark of the Yung-cheng period
penciled underneath in overglaze blue enamel. Another
example is presented here in Fig. 273, which I will
briefly describe :
Small bottle-shaped vase, with a globular body and
402 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
gently tapering neck expanding above into a prominent
lip, coated witli a lustrous white glaze of vitreous aspect
decorated Avitli delicate enamel colors of the Ku Yueh
Hsiian type. On the body is a picture suggestive of an
autumnal scene, with roses growing by a rockery, trees
with autumn-tinted leaves and maro-uerite daisies, in the
foreground of which a pair of quails, beautifully painted
with a miniature-like finish, stand out prominently.
The neck of the vase is decorated with a ring of formal
palmate design, the shoulder is encircled by two bands,
a pink scroll worked in relief succeeded by a blue fret,
and the lip is defined by a line of gilding.
There is a couplet of verse written at the back :
"Years roll by as we sit at the table, painting pictures in colors;
Charmed by all the happy notes of Nature, listening to the call-
ing quails."
The headpiece is a small oval panel with the seal
characters Jen Ho, " Benevolence and Harmony," inside ;
at the foot of the stanza are two small oblong panels
with the inscription Ssu Fang CKing Yen, " Serenity
and calm throughout the empire." The motto is
declared to be appropriate to the emperor alone, and it
is outlined in red, the color of the sacred '^ vermilion
pencil."
The next vase of Ku Yueh Hsiian style, exhibited in
Fig. 263, is an example of the class decorated with
European pictures. It is a small ovoid vase of broad
shape, formed, as it were, of twin coalescing vases, with
the line of junction indicated by a vertical groove. The
shape is like that of the pair of vases of which one is
illustrated in Plate LXXVI, and, like them, it once had
a cover, now lost ; the bottom has had a piece chipped
out so as to remove the date of the four-character seal,
penciled underneath in black, leaving only the tail-end
1
•403
nien chih, but we can not be far wrong in supplying
CKien-lung as the missing half. The vase is painted in
delicate enamel colors, rouge cf^or predominating. It is
decorated with two large oval medallions and two small
round panels with scrolled borders, displayed upon a
floial ground, and with bands of ornamental design
around the neck and foot, all in the ordinary Chinese
style of the period. The small round medallions contain
landscape sketches with European houses. The large
oval panels are filled with copies of Euroj)ean pictures^
cleverly executed, but betraying in the details the touch
of the Chinese artist. In one there is a female figure in
pink dress and purple robe with two children, copied,
apparently, from a sacred picture representing the Virgin
Mother with the Infant Jesus and St. James. The other,
similarly shaped, and upon the opposite side, contains a
picture of a garden scene Avith two girls in European
costume, one of whom is carrying a basket of flow^ers.
The enamel colors used in painting these vases are
precisely those that had been previously used in the
West in enameling upon metal. The working palette of
the enamel painter was rich in variety of colors, as
metallic oxides readily lend themselves to an infinite
number of combinations with glass. The green, blue,
red, turquoise, gray, orange, and yellow may be obtained
either pure or compound, so as to form shades as gradual
as a chromatic scale. The light-red color is called in old
English books upon the subject ** the chief and paragon
of all." It is said to have been discovered by a gold-
smith who studied alchemy, and found it one day at the
bottom of his crucible in trying to make gold.
This last is the color wdiich suddenly makes its
appearance upon Chinese porcelain in the beginning of
the eighteenth century, in common with the other new
enamel colors which ai'e known collectively to the
404 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Chinese potter as Yang Ts'ai, or " Foreign Colors."
The earliest date-mark found upon the " rose-backed "
plates, which are decorated in these colors of the famille
rose, is that of the cyclical year hsin-ch^oii (1721), the
last year but one of the reign of K\ing-hsL It was this
emperor who was probably the means of introducing
these colors into China, through the medium of the
Koman Catholic missionaries, of whom he was a great
patron. He founded a manufactory of colored glass
near the palace at Peking, under their superintendence,
where, no doubt, many of the materials were manu-
factured for the use of the school of enamelers upon
copper that was also established at Peking about the
same time under their tuition, and produced painted
work executed in the style of Battersea enamels. He
even tried to introduce the manufacture of porcelain,
and had all the materials brought up to Peking for the
purpose, as described by Pere d'Entrecolles in his letters,
but this project failed, partly on account, it is suggested,
of the opposition of the porcelain guild. The enamelers
in metal were more successful, and their work was sent
to Ching-te-chen to be reproduced in porcelain. The
same designs occur on both, and are associated with the
same rose-colored grounds and pink diapers. I have a
small mirror, for example, mounted in a copper frame,
which is enameled at the back with the same sacred
picture that is painted upon the vase that has Just been
described, and a long series of such identical designs
might be collected. European pictures are not an inap-
propriate decoration for the enameled work, recalling its
original source, but there is no excuse for the unseemly
scenes which are occasionally associated with them, and
which prove that the missionaries of those days were
assailed with the same scandalous stories that are put
forth about them in the present day.
THE Ch'iEN-LUNG PERIOD. 405
Actual specimens of old European enamels were also
sent at this period to Cliing-te-cLen and copied in porce-
lain. This is proved b_y an interesting cup of Chinese
porcehiin from the Marquis collection at Paris,* wliich is
thus described : " A wide shallow cup with two open
flowing handles, of tine and light porcelain, an exact
imitation, both in form and decoration, of the piece of
Limoges enamel which has served as its model in China,
so that it might even be mistaken for the original. It
has, outside, ornamental designs reserved in ^vhite upon
a black ground, enhanced by gilding ; inside, it is deco-
rated in different colors with flowers and fruit, executed
with the enamels of i\\Q famille verte. Close to the basket
of fruit painted in the bottom of the bowl there is found,
faithfully reproduced, the monogram I. L. of the Limoges
enameler, Jean Laudin."
One of the most remarkable features indeed of the
practice of the ceramic art in China at this period was
the way the world ^vas ransacked for new objects to
copy. Pere d'Entrecolles describes how his mandarin
friends pressed him to get for them new models from
Europe for this purpose. In the last chapter we saw
how specimens of ancient ware of all kinds were sent
down to Ching-te-chen to be copied. Pieces of " old
Imari " porcelain came from Japan at the same time to
be imitated. The author of the T''ao 81mo declares
that the older desio-ns in chiseled frold, in embossed
silver, in carved jade and other hard stones, in lacquer
ware, in mother-of-pearl inlaid work, in carvings of
rhinocei-os hoi-n, band^oo, wood, gourd, and shell, were
all, without exception, executed in porcelain, as exact
copies of the originals, and that the potters were sup-
planting the skilled artificers in all these different
* This cup is now, I liave reason to believe, in the Graudidier collection in
the Louvre.
406 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
braucbes of work. The texture of the ivory, shell, or
bamboo is carefully indicated in the porcelain, and the
surface colors are rej^roduced so as to bring out the tints
of the variegated marble and pudding-stone, the mottled
jade, the striped carnelian and agate, the veined walnut-
Avood, and the carved cinnabar lac, with such exactitude
that it is necessary to handle the piece to convince one's
self that it is really made of porcelain. The aspect of
gold and silver was given by enamels pi-epared from the
metals themselves ; the surface tints of copper and
bronze, the rust of iron, and the play of colors upon
ancient patinated bronze in which the Chinese anti-
quarian takes so much delight, were produced by combi-
nations of different glazes, applied either with the brush
or by sprinkling over the first ground color.
A characteristic example of the iridescent " iron-rust "
(f ieh-7isiic) glaze is illustrated in Plate XIX, showing a
deep bronze-colored ground, speckled with lustrous
metallic spots, and flecked with red clouds. In Fig. 274
is exhibited a specimen of the class of ancient bronze
design which is known as kti thmg ts'ai. It is a libation
cup (chlleli) of anticpie style, molded in relief and
enameled with color to imitate patinated bronze. The
handle is fashioned in the form of a dragon, and the bowl
of the cup is encircled by a broad sunken band containing
archaic designs in relief, with an ogre's face {f ao-f ieli)
under the lip, and conventional scrolls starting from
dragons' heads round the sides. The surface, enameled
olive-brown flecked with " tea-dust," is penciled in gold
with scrolls and borders of rectangular fret ; the ground
of the sunken band, w^hicli is pitted, is partially filled in
with a grayish-blue overglaze of mottled tints passing
into green. There is a seal underneath, outlined in gold,
CJiHen lung nien cliih : '' Made in the reign of CJiHen-
liviigy Some of the larger objects of this class exhibit a
II
PERIOD. 407
remarkable combination of brilliant colors, such as copper
alone is capable of producing, and it is wonderful how the
same tints are almost instantaneously brought out arti-
ficially by the oxidizing power of the furnace flames, that
usually require centuries to develop by gi'adual oxidation
of the metal buried in moist ground.
The technique of the class just described is similar to
that of the transmutation, jlamhe, or [lao-pieii glazes,
which derive their most brilliant colors from the same
protean metal. These flourished abundantly during the
Ch^ien-hing period, to which three of the vases shown
in the colored illustrations may be referred. The egg-
shaped vase in Plate XVI is a brilliant example of the
kind, with its lightly crackled glaze vertically splashed
with all the different tints imprinted by the flames as the
liquescent glaze was running down in the furnace, passing
from tui-quoise through purple and other intermediate
shades of red to the richest crimson. The vase in Plate
LXXXVIII has the same brilliant jiambe glaze running
down over its surface so as to form large tears, only par-
tially covering the crackled surface of mottled olive-brown
tint due to iron, Avhich is often used on such pieces in
combination with the copper that produces the typical
colors. The quadrangular vase in Plate XL VI, with open
scroll handles at the sides and relief panels in front and
at the back, differs from the other two in having a very
line, compact, and white paste ; the shape is one often
reproduced in copper-red (clu-liung) vases oi jlamhe type
in the present day, some of which are of very brilliant
color, albeit wanting in depth and too glossy.
With regard to the monochrome porcelain of this reign,
the colors which distinguished the Yiing-cheng period con-
tinued to be produced under the dii'ectorship of T'ang
Ying, who had learned his art in the ateliers of the latter
period. The soft red derived from gold, passing from the
408
ORIENTAI CERAMIC ART.
deepest crimson of the rose petals, tliroiigli " rouge red,"
or yen-chill luing, down to the palest of the pinks called
by them fen-hung ; the lemon-yellow, camellia-leaf, and
paler tone of green, the bright blue, the brilliant glossy
black, and the other colors of the foreign enameler's
palette, were still prepared, although in process of time
they gi'adually lost something of their pristine purity.
The same may be said of the souffle cop})er-red of i-uby
tone, and the sky-blue or clctir-de-lune, the two finest
shades of the Nien Yao. The coral-red, on the conti-ary,
comes into greater prominence, and is gradually improved
in tone till it excels that of any of older times,* as in the
beautiful monochrome vase selected for illustration in
Plate XCII, and in the vase shown in Plate XXVI, where
it forms a pure vermilion ground round a dragon pursu-
ing the magic jewel, enameled green with touches of
other colors. The ordinary green, yellow, and manganese
brown or purple are common single colors, either plain or
investing an etched decoration engraved with a style in
the part underneath the glaze. The fine white porcelain,
like that of the preceding reign, is of special pellucid
purity and soft, pearly tone ; the egg-shell vase in Fig.
275, Avhich is modeled on the lines of the pink vase illus-
trated in Plate LIII, and which is perfectly plain with
the exception of faintest rings in the paste defining the
rims of the neck and of the foot, is a white vase of this
kind, which ma}- be attributed to either of these two
reigns. A we\x shade which now appears among the
single colors is the intense deep blue known to the
Chinese as pao-shih Ian, or " sapphire-blue," which is often
seen in combination with imperial dragons faintly
engraved in the paste, and usually with a square seal of
* Tlie calcined peroxide of iron was formerly painted on, mixed with a
simple flux of white lead ; now it is combined with the ordinary vitreous flux
of the enameler, and acquires the brilliant tint known to the Chinese as tsao-'rh
Jiung, the " red of the jujube," the fruit of the Zizyi^hus comnnmis.
THE CH'iEN-LUNG PERIOD. 409
the CK'ien-lung period impressed uDderueatli tbe piece,
the foot being coated with the same glaze.
This last glaze, however, is usually finely crackled, as
is shown in the vase of rich sapphire-blue color illustrated
in Plate XXIX. Many of the single colors of the time
are, in fact, distinguished by having this finely crackled
reticulation in the glaze, the trulte of the French, the
yu-tzu wen or "fish-roe" crackle of the Chinese. The
colored glazes in these cases were applied, siw hiscuit, on
porcelain that had been previously fired in an unglazed
state. The manganese-purple and the turquoise-blue of
the time are among the finest of these, especially the
latter, which excels that of any previous period in its
mottled shades of purest cerulean hue, exactly resembling
those of the plumes of the kingfishei', from -N^hich it
derives its Chinese name of fei-ts\ti, which is contracted
sometimes to ts'ui se, se meaning color. The tones of
color are perfectly displayed in the t^vo graceful beakers
of ancient bronze design in Plates XLIV and XLV, the
first of which is modeled Avith archaic details under the
glaze, while the second, left plain, has nothing to detract
from the symmetry of its outlines or the beauty of its
colorius:.
The finely crackled green and yellow monochromes of
the same class, which are usually bracketed together, are
cliaracteristic colors of the period, the production of which
is continued down to the present day. Of the "fish-roe
green," or yu4zu lu, a typical specimen is seen illustrated
in Plate XXYII ; this is also called by the Chinese huf-
2^1 lu, or " cucumber-green," a name more appropriate to
the color of the vase illustrated in Plate LXXYIII ; it
is sometimes called "• apple-green " by Western collectors,
but this term (p^hig-hfo lu) is always applied by the
Chinese to the green which accompanies their ji'ing-liuo
hung, or " apple-red," on the " peach-bloom " vases of the
410 ORIENTAL ( ERAMIC ART.
JPang-hsi period. The yellow crackle of the same type^
called yi'i-icu liuang, or "iisli-roe yellow," is illustrated in
Plate LXXXVII ; under the name of " mustard-yellowy"
which indicates its usual shade, it acquired at one time a
celebrity which it hardly desc^'ved.
The ordinary crackle of tlie time, marked by the wider
reticulation of lines, which is likened to fissured ice, and
hence known by the name of ping lieli teen, is sufficiently
illustrated by the vase of arcliaic design shown in Plate
LXXVII, which is coated with the grayish-blue glaze
called Ju gu, from its resembhmce in color to that of the
ancient Ju-chou porcelain, after which it was modeled ; it is
marked underneath in blue ^\ ith the date-mark of ChHen-
lung. Crackled glazes w^ere among the specialties of the
period, and were produced at Avill in any color or com-
bination of colors. The variety of soujfie glazes was also
very great, and many novel combinations were introduced
by the application of a different shade of the same color,
or of a ne\v color altogether. The second enamel was
sprinkled on in the form of a fine rain by blowing
through a bamboo tube with gauze tied over the end,
which was lightly dipped in the color, or it was flecked,
on in lai'ger or smaller tears with a brush dipped in the
moist color ; or, again, it was painted on in larger patches
of overglaze enamel ; the effect of each process can be
readily distinguished, so that a fuller description is
unnecessary.
The decorated porcelain produced during this long
reign of sixty years is also of almost infinite variety. If
it wants something of the artistic freedom of design and
brilliancy of coloring which distinguish the K''ang-hsi
period, it evinces a grace and technical finish of its own.
Brilliant greens of different shades predominate in the
painted porcelain of the latter reign, which is indicated
by the selection for it of the name oi famille verte. In
THE Ch'iEN-LUNG PERIOD. 411
the new reign the green is paler in tone and occupies a
subordinate position among the colors ; it is supplanted
bv reds of crimson and pink shades derived from gold,
hence the name oifamille rose which is often applied to
the decoration.
The decorated porcelains may be conveniently classi-
fied under the headings of the table in Chapter X :
A. Colors of the grand feu.
B. Colors of the demi-grand fev .
C. Colors of the muffle stove.
We shall find that the eight classes which were com-
prised in the table under the above three headings are all
abundantly represented in the ^productions of the reign of
ChHen-lung.
There is nothing special to be noticed in the fii'st two
classes which include the pieces painted in cobalt-blue
and in copper-red respectively. The blue and white is
generally carefully penciled with graceful floral sprays
and conventional scrolls, but the blue has lost its pulsat-
ing vigor, and the glaze its pellucid depth. The white
ground is purer in tint, but it is apt to become almost
chalky, and one misses the tinge of blue which seemed to
give a note of harmony to the older pictures. Mr. Monk-
house in his appreciative introduction to the catalogue of
blue and white, already referred to, asks: "Does this
tinge come from the pigment with which the vase is
painted ? If so, it is, perhaps, one advantage of the Chi-
nese practice of baking the paste, the blue and the glaze,
at the same firing. The tinge, whether gray or blue, is
always in accord with the quality of the blue."
A typical example of blue and white, with the seal of
CKien-lung inscribed undei'neath, may be seen in the
ritual wine-pot with Buddhist symbols and floral scrolls
in Fig. 90. The two pieces now to be mentioned are dec-
orated in mixed underglaze colors, and belong, therefore,
412 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART,
to the third class on the table. The pilgrim-bottle (^pax>
yueh p'ing) in Fig. 176, outlined in the shape of the full
moon, is decorated on each side with a five-clawed impe-
I'ial dragon coiling round the magic jewel. The dragons,,
the flames proceeding from their bodies, and the effulgent
jewels in the middle, are painted in copper-red of maroon
tint ; the scrolled clouds which fill in the intervals and the
crested sea-waves at the base of the vase are painted in
cobalt-blue. The outside of each loop-handle is decorated
in blue with a spiral scroll, and the seal of the Cli'ien-liing
period underneath is penciled in the same underglaze color.
The smaller bottle-shaped vase in Fig. 276 is an example
of the so-called " soft-paste " class, decorated in the same
two colors as the last piece. The crackled (1^ ai-pieri)
glaze, which has a slightly undulatory surface, is traversed
throughout with a I'eticulatiou of fine lines. The mon-
strous lionlike quadruped, drawn after the unusually
grotesque fashion of this time, is standing at the foot of
a spreading pine-tree, with a bat flying overhead, all
painted in blues of subdued tones : the flames which pro-
ceed from the shoulders and hips of the monster are
tinged copper-red, and its ej^es are lightly touched with
rings of the same underglaze color. There is no mark
attached.
A representative piece of the fourth class, " decorated
in glazes of several colors," is illustrated in Plate XXXI
in the magnificent vase, two feet high, decorated with
imperial dragons in the midst of clouds, with the details
engraved in the paste and enameled green, displayed upon
a monochrome yellow ground.
The remaining four classes, including all the different
kinds of decoration in enamel colors fired in the muflle
stove, are particularly well filled. In the reign of ChHen-
lung, according to Chinese authorities, the highest art was
lavished on porcelain-painting in colors, and the dealers-
Ji
THE CH'iEN-LUNG PERIOD. 413
througed round the mouth of the kilu to have the first
pick of the things as they were taken out. The " red
shops," as the manufactories of colored ware had been
commonly called since the introduction of the coral-red
derived from iron, one of the earliest of the enamel colors,
were now widely patronized, instead of those of the pro-
ducers of single colors and the decorators in plain blue
and white, who had hitherto monopolized attention.
The three beautiful specimens selected for illustration in
colors are unrivaled examples of the style and coloring of
the time. Tlie first, Plate LXIV, is one of a pair of
quadrangular vases, with openwork railings projecting
from the corners, which are richly decorated in coloi's
with gilding. The large panels are painted with land-
scape pictures of the four seasons, bordered by scrolls,
penciled in gold on a soft coral-red, by bands of gokVbro-
caded blue or embroidered yellow. The study of the
colors on a vase of this kind, of which the date is cei*-
tainly known, is an invaluable aid to the correct classifi-
cation of the enameled single colors which are so often
unmarked. The second vase, Plate LXXVI, is a typi-
cal member of \X\%famille rose, exhibiting broad bands of
crimson rouge cVor etched with scrolls. Like the forego-
ing vase the base is enameled pale green undei-neath, a
characteristic of the finest decorated porcelain of this
reign which is worthy of notice. The mark is written
here in bright overglaze blue, in one horizontal line ; iu
the former case it is in the form of a seal, penciled in red
on a white panel reserved in the middle of the pale-
green ground. The third of the CliHen-lung pieces, the
hexagonal lantern with pierced openwork sides iu Plate
XXII, is another striking evidence in its soft, harmoui-
ous tone of coloring, in its graceful decorative designs,
and in its finished technique, of the artistic skill of the
potters of this period.
414 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
It is possible to admire the fine productions of this
time, and yet to prefer the bolder style and stronger
coloring of the decorated porcelain, as well as the
brilliancy of the monochromes of the older reign of
ICang-hsi. M. Grandidier, a practiced connoisseur of
Chinese ceramic art, observes : " Some collectors prefer
the delicate porcelains of the GVien-lung epoch to any
other ; I can find no fault with them ; others remain cold,
dull, and indifferent in the presence of the most perfect
of these marvels, and are only enthusiastically attracted
by the porcelain of the Ming dynasty, so majestic in its
barbaric effect ; these last are not wrong, and I oft'er
them my approval. Some, again, put in the first rank the
productions of the time of K\mg-lisi, and they are right.
I exclude none of these three periods ; each has its special
qualities of a different order, and I admire them all
sincerely without admitting the superiority of any one
over the others. Beauty has always the gift of captivat-
ing me, and under all its forms ; queen of the world, it
reifrns an absolute sovereisfu in the realm of art."
There is no fixed line of demarcation between the
decorated porcelain of the Yung-eheng and ChHen-lung
periods. T\vo pieces, in form and design as well as in
smaller technical details, might pass for productions of
the former reign had they not the mark of CWien-Iung
inscribed underneath, etched under the glaze in the first
case, penciled in cobalt-l^lue in the second. The oval
bowl-shaped vase in Fig. 277 in white with scrolls of
lotus and peony flowers etclied under the clear glaze; the
dragon of archaic design, coiled in openwork relief round
the rim, is enameled reddish brown and touched with
gold. The saucer-shaped dish in Fig. 249 is painted in
the same brilliant enamels as the large dish illustrated in
Plate XLVIII, with branches of peaches springing from
the circular rim of the foot and passing over the boi-der
THE CH'iEN-LUNG PERIOD. 415
of the dish to decorate its interior, as well as its outer
surface. The branches bear pink flowers and buds, as
well as large peaches, the fruit of long life, and they aie
accompanied by five flying bats, painted in shaded red,
emblems of the five happinesses, three being displayed in
the field, two on the outer edge of the saucer. In Fig.
278 is exhibited a charming little vase, modeled as a four-
sided beaker (tsun), of ancient bronze design, with an
archaic scrolled band round the waist, and vertical
dentated ridges projecting from the sides and corners ;
upon it are seen the lizardlike forms of nine dragons, in
undercut relief, painted in delicate CKien-lung colors, of
which a large CKih-limg, with four small ones cra'wling
over its body, composes the handle, while four others
coil round the neck of the vase.
Two other pieces will serve to give an idea of the
great variety of flowers depicted in the naturalistic floral
decoration of porcelain at this time. The flower-pot of
eight-lobed form in Fig. 280 has eight panels of flowers
and fruit, with butterflies and dragonflies, all painted in
delicate enamel colors. The front panel displays the fir,
bamboo, and pranus, so often associated as emblems of
longevity ; the next, proceeding from right to left, contains
flowering bulbs of narcissus and sprays of roses, follo^ved
in order by pomegranates and chrysanthemums ; a group
of begonias; of hibiscus (i?6>s« sw^6/^5^s) branches ; sprays
of Dielytra sj)ectahilis and azure-tipped marguerite dai-
sies; of yellow jasmine and scarlet ling-cliih {PoJi/porns
lucidus)', of red-leaved amaranthus and orchids (Q/mhi-
dium ensifoliiivi). The large double gourd-shaped vase
(Jiit-lu p'ing)^ nearly two feet high, in Fig. 279, displays
in its rich floral ground the " hundred flowers " of the
Chinese, painted in natural coloi's, so that each species
may be recognized at a glance by one familiar with the
garden flora of China. Among them may be distinguished
•116 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
peonies of several kinds, lotus, cbiysauthemum, magnolia,
roses, hibiscus (both pink and yellow), orchids, iris, lilies
(scarlet and white), asters, hydrangea, wistaria, dielytra,
pomegranate, begonia, nai'cissus, convolvulus, syringa
(white and lilac), Pyrus japonica (hcd-fang) and double
peach, Olea fragraiis, cockscomb, etc. The foot is
encircled by a band of formal foliations in shaded blue
and green upon a pink monochrome ground, between
heavily gilded rims. The base enameled, like the inside
of the mouth, pale green, has a reserved panel in the
middle in which is penciled in red the seal Ta cliHng
ClCien lung nien cliili — i. e., " Made in the reign of
ChHeii-htng, of the great ChHng [dynasty]." *
The varied processes of decoration in white slip over
colored glazes ; of embossing in plain, and in undercut
relief ; of pierced designs, intended either to be left in
openwork or to be subsequently filled in with glaze ; and
of making composite vases, composed either of articulated
pieces or furnished with movable appendages — all these
branches of the ceramic art were executed Avith success
at this time, and some examples have been already illus-
trated in these pages. The vase in Fig. 282 displays the
iioi-al embossed work which was so exactly copied at
Meissen in eai'ly Dresden porcelain that it is, at first
sight, diflicult to distinguish the copies from the originals,
as they are now placed side by side for comparison within
the glass cases of the museum at Dresden. It is an
o
* A magnificent jar (kuan) forty-five centimetres high, of broad, massive
form, illustrated by M. Grandidier {loc. cit., Plate XXXVI, 109), is covered
-with the same floral decoration. The author describes it as " composed of an
interlacement, of floral sprays in juxtaposition presenting an infinite variety of
types and of colors ; the Cliinese flora is represented upon it with an incredible
luxury. It produces the effect of an immense sheaf of flowers — of a colossal
bouquet. (From tlie Summer Palace)." The cover is apparenUy wanting.
Its fellow, which is in the Dana Collection in New York, is, if I remember
rightly, complete with the original cover decorated with the same floral ground
crowned witli a gilded knob.
THE CH'iEN-LUNG PERIOD. 417
ovoid vase of fine eggshell texture, overlaid with a close-
set floral decoration composed of chrysanthemums, hai-
t'ang {P yrvs japonica), and daisies, painted in red, green,
and gold. AVithin this floral ground are reserved two
oval panels, painted in delicate enamels with familiar
scenes of domestic life, an interior with ladies drinking
wine out of tiny gilded cups, and a garden with another
group of ladies looking at fighting cocks; scrolled bands
penciled in gold round the rims of the vase complete the
decoration. The vase in Fig. 283 exhibits a floral decora-
tion in full undercut relief projecting from a background
of '' tea-dust," or clCa-yeh mo. The " tea-dust " is one of
the characteristic sourffle glazes of the time, an olive-gi'een
monochrome ground thickly flecked with tiny spots of
lighter green. The vase, grooved with three vertical
lines, has an indented foot and a three-lobed lip. The
branches of fruit in white relief are pomegranates, wind-
ing round the vase and leaving a small interval on the
shoulder, which is filled by a branded stem of sacred
fungus {Polyporii8 lucidus) which is also enameled white.
The foot, coated underneath with the same " tea-dust '^
glaze, has the seal, stamped in the paste, Ta CliHng
Oli'ien lung nien cliili — i. e., "Made in the reign of
ChHen-lung^ of the great ClCing [dynasty]."
No better examples of pierced work could be found
than the lantern wdth openwork panels, which is
illusti'ated in Plate XXII, and the magnificent vase with
pierced trellis-work in the outer casing that is shoAvn iu
Fig. 185. This last is also provided with a movable
appendage in the form of a revolving belt attached to
the waist of the double gourd ; it is marked underneath
with a gold " seal " of the Cliieii-lung period. An
articulated specimen is presented in Fig. 284, which
represents a celadon vase of bronze form and design, cut
across into two parts by a wavy, dovetailed line of four-
418 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
lobed foliated outline. The designs, worked in relief in
the paste, in a broad band encircling the body of the
vase, consist of four monstrous ogre (fao-fieJi) faces,
conventionalized into ornamental scrolls. The varying
depth of the investing glaze produces corresponding
shades in soft tones of pea-green. The seal of Ta dicing
Clbien lung nien chilly " Made in the reign of Cli'ien-luiig,
of the great CliHug [dynasty]," is penciled on the foot in
cobalt-blue underneath a coat of the same celadon glaze.
The last technical process of decoration to be noticed
here is that in which the pierced designs cut in the por-
celain are filled in with glaze, producing a charming
effect when the piece is looked at as a transparency.
This is sometimes known as " rice-grain " decoration. It
may either form the sole ornamentation of a piece or be
employed in combination either with blue and white or
with colored enamels, a few leaves or petals in the latter
case, for example, being treated in this way so as to
appear transparent when held up to the light. The
most usual form is that of bands of diaper or star pattern.
The delicate bowls of this reign which display an intri-
cate conventional pattern, like that of lacework, contrast-
ing in its greenish transparency with the pure white
ground, are amono; the most o^raceful and charminsi; of
ceramic triumphs ; they are called " lace-bowls " by col-
lectors, and have a tiny seal mark of the reign penciled
underneath in blue. Still rarer are vases of which we
have one for illustration in Fig. 285, the sides of which
are pierced throughout with a lacework pattern of con-
ventional peouy-fiowers in the midst of leafy scrolls, and
which has the pierced floral pattern filled in with glaze.
The structure of the vase is of eggshell thinness and
undulatory surface, and the decoration imparts a marvel-
ous lio-htness of effect. The borders of the vase are
encircled by rings of conventional ornament molded in
THE Ch'iEN-LUNG PERIOD. 419
slight relief, so as to be picked out in white on a ground
of palest celadon tint. There is no mark inscribed, but
it could hardly belong to any other epoch, and its peculiar
delicacy and beauty make it a fitting type to close this
brief sketch of the ceramic art of the reign of CKien-
lung, the chief charm of which lies in these two
qualities.
CHAPTER XV.
THE TWENTY ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE MANUFACTURE OF
PORCELAIN DESCRIBED BY t'aNG YING.
T'ANG YING, the celebrated director of the imperial
porcelain manufactory at Ching-te-cheu, to whom we
have already so often referred, came up to Peking in the
eighth year of the reign of the Emperor CWen-lung
(1743). He had been absent for fifteen yeai's, engaged
in superintending the ceramic works, and was sent for
now by the emperor, who was anxious for personal infor-
mation about the details of the industry from a professor
of the art. On the twenty-second day of the fourth inter-
calary month he w^as summoned to the Office of the
Board of Works in the Yano;-hsin-tien, one of the laro;e
halls of the imperial palace, to take part as a member of
a commission which had been especially appointed for
the purpose of revising some of the classical works on
technical subjects. When he arrived there a sei'ies of
twenty illustrations of the manufacture of porcelain,
which had been found in the imperial library, were
handed to him, together with an imperial rescri})t, dated
the eighth day of the preceding month, ordering him
(T'ang Ying) " to arrange the illustrations in their proper
order, and to describe carefully the different processes
illustrated in the water-color pictures, specifying the
hills from which the porcelain earth was obtained, as well
as the sources of the other materials ; and finally to
return the pictures, with the descriptions which he had
written attached, to the imperial library."
The task was completed in twelve days, and the result
420
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 421
was " reverentially submitted to the imperial glance for
correction " in a memorial by T'ang Ying, who subscribes
himself as " Junior Secretary of the Impei'ial Household
(Nei Wu Fu), Tao-t'ai in charge of the Customs at
Kiukiang, and ex-ojjicio Director of the Imperial Porcelain
Manufactory." The pictures have remained in seclusion
ever since, and have never, so far as I know, been pub-
lished. Their description by T'ang Ying, on the contrary,
is to be found either in its complete form or in abstract
in every Chinese book of any pretensions on ceramics.
The most complete form, including copies of the original
imperial decree and of T'ang Ying's memorial announcing
the completion of his task, is contained in the chapter on
porcelain in the Wen fang ssu ^'V^6>, " Kesearches on the
apparatus of the library," by T'ang Ping-chiin, a book
published in the reign of ChHen-lung. The most authen-
tic version is to be found in the official annals of the
province of Kiangsi {Chiang lisi Thing cJiiJi, book xciii,
folio 19-23), wheie it is published as an appendix to the
article on porcelain.
There is, unfortunately, no word of the date of the
pictures themselves; it is only stated that they were
painted by order of the emperor, but of which jjarticular
emperoi- we are not informed. We know that the
Emperor IVang-lm had two series of pictui-es painted to
illustrate the different processes of rice-cultivation and
silk-weaving, which were published, with imperial odes
attached, in the thirty-fifth year of his reign (1696),
under the title of Yu cldh Keng cliih Ton. Each
series consists of twenty-three pictures, ending with the
worship of the patron deities, and the form resembles
that of the Tao Yeh Tou, the 'illustrations of the
Manufacture of Porcelain," which would seem to have
been designed after their model. Ordinary albums of
pictures of the different processes in the preparation of
422 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
tea, silk, and porcelain are common enough, but tLese^
which have generally l^een painted at Canton for foreign-
ers, come under a different category.
There is a beautiful eggshell vase in the collection^
shown in Fig. 287, decorated in the delicate enamel
colors with gilding of the C li' ien-lung j)eriod, which dis-
plays in detail the various processes of the cultivation of
silk in China. The different steps are exhibited in a suc-
cession of scenes with groups of busy women and children
represented as gathered either in the interior of houses of
elaborate design or in courtyards filled with flowering
trees and palms ; from the hatching of the tiny eggs, the
feeding of the worms in every stage of their growth, in
the open baskets ranged on curtained bamboo shelves^
with mulberry-leaves, to the winding of the silk from the
chrysalides, and the weaving of the spun material in
looms of complicated structure. In the first scene a boy
is bringing baskets of mulberry-leaves slung from a pole
on his shoulder ; in the last scene a second is seated at
the large hand-loom. A wreath of red and pink roses
underneath the ujDper rim, which is gilded, completes the
decorations of the vase.
AVith regard to the series of twenty illustrations of the
manufacture of porcelain, T'ang Ying in his memorial
observes that they are not enough to give a complete
picture of all the different technical processes, and that
still less must an exhaustive account of the ceramic indus-
try be expected in his notes, which are intended only to
be descriptive of the illustrations. As far as they go,
however, they form a sketch of the art from the hand of
a master, which is translated in this chapter as literally as
possible, with the addition of a few explanatory notes at
the end of each section.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 423
Ilhistratlou No. 1 : " Mining for the Stone and
Preparation of the Paste."
" III tlio jnaimfacture of porcelain the body is formed of molded
earth. This earth is prepared from stone which must be mined and
purified for the purpose. The stone is found in the province of
Kiangnan, within the prefecture Hui-chou Fu, at Cii'i-men-hsien,
which is two hundred li distant from the porcelain manufactory.
Tlie two mountains called P'ing-li and K'u-k'ou, in this district,
both produce tlie white stone. It is obtained by mining, and when
broken exhibits black veins branching like the deer's-horu seaweed.
The natives take advantage of the mountain torrents to erect wheels
provided with crusliers. Having been finely pulverized, it is then
purified by washing and levigation, and made up in the form of
bricks, which are called 2:)ai-tuii or ' white bricks ' (petuntse). When
the color is uniform, and the texture perfectl}^ fine, it is used for the
making of the round pieces and vases of eggshell and of pure white
porcelain, and of similar objects decorated in blue.
" Besides this there are several other kinds of earth called Kao-
ling, Yii-hung, and Cli'ien-t'an, after their different places of pro-
duction, which are all situated in the province of Kiangsi, within
the bounds of the prefecture Jao-chou Fu. They are dug out and
prepared in the same way as the petujifse, and can onl}' be used for
mixing with this last, or in the making of coarser and thicker
ware.
" The picture shows the different processes of mining, of pound-
ing, and of washing, which are comprised in the heading, ' Mining
for the stone and preparation of the paste,' and it is not necessary
to describe them more fully."
Porcelain consists essentially of two elements — viz., tlie
white clay, or kccoUn, the unctuous and infusible element,
which gives plasticity to the paste, and the feldspathic
stone, or jjtetuntse, which is fusible at a high temperature,
and gives transparency to the porcelain. The feldspathic
stone from Ch'i-men-hsien, alluded to above, has been
chemically analyzed by Ebelmen, who describes it as a
white rock of slightl}^ grayish tinge, occurring in large
424 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
fragments, covered with oxide of manganese in dendrites,
and having some crystals of quartz imbedded in the mass.
It fused completely into a white enamel under the blow-
pipe. Applied by immersion upon a piece of Sevres
porcelain, and fired in the large furnace, it produced a
very line glaze.
With regard to the other materials used in the prepara-
tion of the paste of Chinese porcelain, which varies very
widely in composition, their name is legion. Nearer
sources of the feldspathic rock have been discovered in
Yii-kan-hsien, and at a place called Hsiao-li, not far south
of Fou-liang-hsien, specimens of which have also been
analyzed. Another kind of compact tough rock, which is
pounded in larger mills, yields a yellow material called
huang-ttm., which is used for coarser wai'e, but is said to
be required for the proper development of the colors of
certain glazes.
Illustration No. 2 : " Washing and Purification of
THE Paste."
"In porcelain-making the first requisite is tliat of washing and
purifying the mateiials of the paste, so as to make it of fine homo-
geneous texture. Tiie presence of stars (i. e., crystals of mica) or
of fragments of stone would cause flaws in the porcelain, foreign
bodies or loose paste would lead to cracks.
"The method of purifying the paste is to mix the materials with
water in large earthenware jars, and to stir the mixture with
wooden prongs, so that it remains suspended in the water while the
impurities sink to the bottom. Tlie paste is then passed through a
fine horse-hair sieve, and next strained through a bag made of
a double layer of silk. It is then poured into a series of earthen-
ware jars, from which the water is run off, and the paste is left to
become solidified. A wooden box with no bottom having been
placed upon a pile composed of several tiers of new bricks, a large
cloth of fine cotton is spread inside, and the solidified paste is
poured in, wrapped round with the cloth and pressed with more
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 425
bricks, wliicli absorb all the water. The prepared paste, freed from
the superfluous water, is then thrown on to large stone slabs and
worked with iron spades until it has become perfectly compact and
ductile, and fit for the manufacture of porcelain.
" All the different kinds of paste are prepared in the same way,
the various materials having been mixed in definite proportions
according to their different properties. The picture contains in
detail the various utensils and the different processes of work com-
prised in this department of pre])aration of the paste."
Pere d'Eiitrecolles in his letters gives a more detailed
account of the washing of the materials of the paste and
the proportions of the ingredients. He says that the
finest poi'celain is made of equal parts of kaolin and
petuntse ; that the usual proportion is four parts of kaolin
to six of petuntse ; and that the least amount of kaolin
that can be used is one part to three parts of petuntse.
The larger proportion of kaolin gives a greater plasticity
to the paste, and enables it to be more readily fashioned
on the wheel ; it also gives strength to the material when
fired, so that it will withstand a higher temperature with-
out softening. For this reason the Chinese call it " the
bone," while the feldspar, the more fusible ingredient,
which gives trauslucency to the porcelain, is " the flesh."
The hard porcelain of Sevres and of Germany contain a
greater proportion of kaolin, and are consequently more
aluminous than any Chinese ware. It is found at Sevres,
however, that it was too hard for the proper development,
from a decorative point of view, of the colors, and in 1880
MM. Lauth and Voo^t besran to make a more siliceous
porcelain with a calcareous glaze, attempting to imitate
as closely as possible Oriental porcelain. This porce-
lain, which bears the name at Sevres of i)oi'ceJaine nou-
velle, can be ornamented, like that of China, with glazes
of single colors, with flamhes^ Avith decorations^ under the
glaze in colors of the grand feti, as well as in the muffle
426
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
stove with bright and limpid enamels fixed in relief on
the surface of the pieces."^
This new porcelain is composed of :
Kaolin
Feldspar
Quartz
38 parts.
38 "
24 "
It is fired at a temperature of about 1,350° C; the
older hard porcelain at Sevres is fired at 1,550°; and that
of China, according to the recent researches of M. Vogt,.
at 1,475°.
The following table gives the composition of different
kinds of porcelain :
1
>>
Source.
<
o
<
•<
3
Q
><
<
o
H
S
1
<
o
n
H
•a
<
m
O
Ph
oc
.3
a
<
Meissen
35.43
60.0
2.26
1.55
0.57
Muller.
Sevres .
34.5
58.0
3.0
4.5
Salvetat.
Vienna (old) .
34.2
59.6
().8
2.0
1.7
1.4
Laurent.
SSvres, 1880 .
32.0
60.75
0.8
3.0
4.5
Vogt.
Vienna
31.6
61.5
0.8
2.2
1.8
1.04
Laurent.
Bayeux
30.0
61.6
1.56
3.26
3.56
Salvetat.
Berlin .
38.0
66.6
0.7
3.4
0.3
6.6
A. Laurent.
FoScy (Berry)
28.0
66.2
0.7
5.1
Salvetat.
Limoges .
24.0
70.2
0.7
4.3
6.7
6.1
Salvetat.
Sevres, pate nou-
telle .
23.6
70.83
2.82
2.09
1.1
0.46
Vogt.
Paris .
22.0
71.2
6.8
4.5
0.8
Laurent.
China .
22.2
70.0
1.3
3.6
2.7
0.8
Salvetat.
Bohemia .
21.3
74.78
2.48
0.58
0.64
Muller.
Japan .
20.55
70.77
3.99
3.16
0.83
6.18
Vogt
China .
20.7
70.5
6.8
3.9
0.5
0.1
Salvetat.
China . . .
19.3
73.3
2.0
2.5
2.3
0.6
Salvetat.
Nymphenburg
18.4
72.8
2.5
0.65
1.84
3.3
6.3
Vielguth.
* La Porcelairie, par Georges Vogt.
li
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 427
Illustration No, 3 : "■ Burning the Ashes and
PREPARING THE GlAZE."
" All kinds of porcelain require glaze, and the composition used
for glazing can not be prepared without aslies. The ashes for the
glaze come from Lo-p'ing-hsien, which is one hundred and forty li
to the south of Ching-te-chen. They are made by burning a gray-
colored limestone with ferns piled in alternate layers; the residue,
after it has been washed thoroughly with water, forms the ashes
for the glaze. Tlie finest kind of petuntse made into a paste with
water is added to the liquid glaze ashes, and mixed to form a kind
of puree^ the proportions being varied according to the class of
porcelain. Within the large jar, in which the mixture is made, is
placed a little iron pot, through the two handles of which a curved
stick is passed, to make a ladle for measuring the ingredients. This
is called a ^'e?i. For example, ten measures of petutitse paste and
one measure of ashes form the glaze for the higliest class of porce-
lain. Seven or eight ladles of paste and two or tliree ladles of ashes
form the glaze for the middle class. If the paste and ashes are
mixed in equal proportions, or if the ashes are more than the paste,
the glaze is only fit for coarse ware.
" In the picture the little iron pot whicli is seen floating inside
the large jar is the /?'ey/, or ' measure.' "
Specimens of rock from Lo-p'ing-lisieu were sent to
France by Pere Ly, the Chinese Lazarist priest, and
examined by M. Salv^etat, who describes it as a compact
limestone lightly colored by pyrites disseminated through-
out the mass. The ashes left after repeated combustion
of this rock with ferns are composed mainly of lime, the
action of whicli is to increase the fusibility of the petuntse,
the vitrifiable feldspathic rock which gives its peculiar
properties to the glaze. This rock is the same that is
used in the composition of the porcelain body ; only the
best pieces are picked out for the glaze, those of uniform
greenish tone, which are covered with dendrites in the
form of arbor-vitoe leaves. The Chinese call this Yu-l-uo,
428
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
"glaze fruit" — i. e., essence of the glaze. A specimen
analyzed by Salvetat had tlie following composition :
Water
2.3
Silica
75.9
Alumina
14.2
Oxide of iron
0.8
Lime
0.5
Oxide of manganese
0.3
Magnesia
a trace
Potash
2.8
Soda
3.2
The analysis of two actual glazes chipped off from
pieces of Chinese porcelain l)y the same authority gave:
Silica
68.0
Alumina
12.0
Oxide of iron
a trace
Lime
14.0
Potash and soda
6.0
64.1
10.2
a trace
21.0
5.1
The glaze of Chinese porcelain is always rich in lime.
It is the lime that gives the characteristic tinge of green
or blue, but at the same time produces a brilliancy of
surface and translucent depth never found in the harder
glazes which contain no lime. The glaze of the iwuveUe
porcdaine of Sevres is prepared with thirty-three per
cent of chalk.
Illustration JVo. 4- ■' " Manufacture of the Cases
OR Seggars."
" The porcelain while being fired in the furnace must be kept
perfectly clean; a single spot of dirt makes a colored stain. More-
over, the blast of air and fierce flames of the furnace would injure
the delicate paste. For these reasons it is 7iecessary to place the
porcelain inside the seggars. The clay used in making these cases
comes from the village of Li-ch'un, which is on the northeast of
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 429
Cl»ing-te-cben. It is of three different colors — black, red, and
white. A kind of blackish-yellow sand, which is found at Pao-
shih-shan, is mixed witii the clay to form the paste, so that it may
be more readily fired. The cases are fashioned on a wheel, which
is similar to the wheel used for porcelain. The paste need not be
finely levigated. After the cases have been partially dried they
are roughly finished off with the knife, put into the furnace, and
fired for the first time empty. When baked and ready for use,
they are called by the name of ta-hsia, or ' finished cases.'
"The workmen who manufacture the seggars are accustomed
with the same coarse paste to make, on the same wheel, a supply of
earthenware bowls for the daily use of the potters in their native
hamlets."
The seggars are made of a common yellow ferruginous
clay, which darkens to a brick-red tint when fired. They
are in the form of circular trays about six inches high,
fitting one upon the other, so as to form the columns
seven feet in height, which are ranged inside the large
furnace. Intervals to allow free play of the flames are
left between the piles. The lower cases, which are par-
tially imbedded in the gravel floor of the furnace, are left
empty. The bottom of each tray forms the cover of the
case below, only the top case having a cover of its own.
If the pieces of porcelain are too high for the case, one
or more" circular rings of the same size as the trays are
substituted, by which means the height of the seggar can
be increased indefinitely. In early times, as we saw in
the descriptions of the Ming dynasty, they had special
kilns for firing the seggars ; now they are fired empty,
together with the older cases which are charged Avith
porcelain in the usual way, the new ones being placed in
the middle of the columns. A supply of flat disks (/w^
deaux) made of biscuit porcelain, or of fire-clay, is pro-
vided as supports for the pieces of porcelain, which are
prevented from adhering to the disks by dusting them
over with kaolin.
430 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Illustration No. 5 : " Preparation of the Molds
FOR THE Round Ware."
*' In the manufacture of the round ware each several piece has to
be repeated liundreds or thousands of times : without molds it
would be most difficult to make the pieces all exactlj' alike. The
molds must be made in accordance with the original design, but
the size can not be so precisely measured; they must be larger than
the model, otherwise the piece will come out smaller than the pat-
tern. The ravv^ paste, which is expanded and loose in texture,
becomes during the process of firing contracted and solidified to
about seven or eight tenths of its original size, a result following
from the natural laws of physics. The proper proportionate size of
the unbaked piece is fixed by the mold, and therefore the molders
use the term ' prepare ' (Jisiii) instead of ' make ' (tsao). Each
piece must have several molds prepared, and the size and pattern of
the contents when taken out of the kiln must be exactly alike. A
good practical knowledge of the length of firing required and of
the natural properties of the paste is necessary before it is possible
to estimate the exact amount of shrinkage, so as to fashion the
molds of the proper form. In tlie whole district of Ching-te-chen
there are only three or four workmen reputed clever at this special
handiwork."
Tbe term " round ^vare," or yuan-cliH, is a general
tei'm applied by Chinese potters to all the different kinds
of porcelain articles in ordinary use, such as dishes Q^^avi),
bowls (^wmi), cups (flmng), and platters (tieli). They
are first " thrown " on the ^vheel, the wheels being of two
sizes, managed by different classes of workmen. After
having been fashioned on the wheel, they are given to
the molders to be pressed in the molds referred to above,
which are of rounded form externally, and are composed
of two parts, the outside of the piece being molded in
the one, and the interior by the other, which is called
technically the " core." The use of the mold by Chinese
potters can be traced back to very early times. The
ICao hung chi, a technical work of the Cliou dynasty
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 431
(b. c. 1122-249), wliicli has beeu already referred to, dis-
tingiiislies the ordinary potters (^T''aojeii), who worked
with the wheel, from the molders (Fang jen), who made
the round, tazza-shaped sacrificial dishes called tou and
the oblong bowls for meat offerings called huei. The
Imu Heng, a critical book of the Han dynasty by Wang
Ch'unof, who lived a. d. 19-90, refers to the molds used
by potters of that time under the name of huei-lien :
" The 2^otters make molds of earth which fix the size of
the pieces so that they can not be enlarged or diminished
afterward ; correct estimates of the sizes i-equired must
be made beforehand, as they are changed during baking."
Illustration JVo. 6 : " Fashionino the Round Ware on
THE Wheel."
"There are several different processes of work in tlie manufac-
ture of tliis round ware. The square, polygonal, and ribbed pieces,
and those with projecting corners, have to be carved, engraved,
molded, and finished with the polishing knife, all of Avhich are
different branches of work. The plain round pieces are turned on
the wheel, being distributed according to their size between two
classes of workmen. The first take the large pieces and fashion the
round dislies (^/a?*), tlie bowls {irdn), the cups (chtiug), and the
saucer-plates (tie/i), from one up to two or three-feet in diameter;
the second make on the wheel the same kind of jiieces which
measure less than a foot across. The wlieel consists of a disk of
wood mounted below upon a perpendicular axle, so as to revolve
continuously for a long time, during which the piece must be prop-
erly turned, without becoming too thick, too tliin, flattened, or
otherwise misshapen. There is a carpenter at hand to repair it
when necessary.
"Beside the wheel is an attendant workman, who kneads the
paste to a proper consistence and puts it on the table. The potter
sits upon the border of the framework and turns the wheel with a
bamboo staff. Wliile the wheel is spinning round he works the
paste with both hands; it follows tlie hands, lengtliening or sliorton-
432 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
ing, contracting or widening, in a succession of shapes. It is in
this way that tlie round ware is fashioned so that it varies not a
hair's breadth in size."
The potter's wheel is one of the most ancient instru-
ments of human industry, and the date of its invention
is lost in the mists of time. The simplest form is that
described above, which is kept in motion by the feet of
the workman as he fashions the piece of porcelain with
his hands. Just as simple a form is still in use at many
manufactories — at Sevres, for example. In most large
factories, however, the wheel is of more elaborate con-
struction, and it is kept in motion by some mechanical
means, so that the potter is relieved of a portion of the
woi'k. Even in China, as we see in pictures, an assistant
is often there, rotating the wheel with a rope passed
round it, the ends of which lie holds in his hand, or
balancing himself by a rope attached to the ceiling while
he turns the wheel with his foot. This is the " throwing
wheel " by wliich the soft white clay is fashioned, with
the half of the lingers only, into a shape roughly approxi-
mating that desired ; it is on the polishing wheel, or
"jigger," that it is finally '' turned " to the exact shape of
the model or design.
When the thrower has a piece to fashion on the
wheel, he first places on the top a flat disk, ^vhich he
puts in the middle and moistens with water, and then
upon this disk he places the quantity of paste necessary
to form the piece, dips his hand into diluted paste or
" slip," and puts the apparatus in motion with his feet ;
then, pressing between his hands the shapeless lump of
paste, he raises it, lowers it, makes it into a kind of large
lentil, and pierces the lenticular mass with his two
thumbs ; he lifts it up once more while squeezing the
lump between his thumb and fingers into the shape
ILLUSTEATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 433
desired. He develops it gradually, keeping it moist all
the time with slip, and brings it by degrees to a form
which approaches, more or less, that of the perfect piece.
The smaller objects are shaped between the thumb and
index finger, either of one hand or of both hands.
Larger pieces are made by being pressed between the
hand and wrist or with the help of a pad or sponge.
The workman in this case usually stands, and the size of
the pieces that he can make is limited by the length of
his arms. If this limit has to be exceeded, he must
build up the borders of the cylinder, previously thrown
on the wheel, with bits of paste stuck on with slip.
The pieces with no mouths and those with very narrow
necks are thrown in two halves, which are cemented
together with slip.
The precautions to be taken to secure a good result,
according to Brongniart, are: 1. The paste must not be
too soft; it will be easier to throw, but at the risk of
some defect. 2. The woi'kman must have a sure hand
and not press unequally on any part of the piece that he
is lifting into shape. 3. And specially, it is important
that he maintain a perfect accord between the speed of
rotation of his wheel and the rate of ascent of his hands,
so as to describe a spiral, cylindrical, or conical, in which
the steps are the smallest possible. The more plastic
and kaolinic the paste the more difficult it is to throw it
successfully — not that this paste is harder to throw than
a short paste, but because any inequalities of molding
and pressure are so much more apparent in this than in
a thinner paste. The princi[)al defect of a bad throw is
" screwing " (^vissage). This defect consists of grooves,
more or less apparent after firing, which start from the
base and rise in spirals like the thread of a screws
These grooves are due to inequalities of the pressure
exerted while the piece is in the hands of the workman.
434 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
If the paste be less plastic, less supple, the pieces to be
turned subsequently must be so much the thicker ; gen-
erally speaking, the thickness of pieces of hard porcelain
as they come from the throwing wheel is so great that
one can hardly at hrst sight recognize the form that will
be ultimately evolv^ed on the jigger, the turning wheel
proper.
lUmtratioii No. 7 : " Manufacture of Vases
{Cho cKiy
" The vases and sacrificial vessels, called p'ing, lei, tstin, and yi,
are comprised in this general name of cho ch'i. The plain round
vases are fashioned upon the potter's wheel, in the same manner as
tlie ordinary round ware; they are then dried in the open air and
turned on the polishing wheel to be finished with the knife. After
the vase has been thus shaped it is washed vvitli a large goat's-hair
brush dipped in water, till the surface is perfectly bright and spot-
lessly clean. After tliis the glaze is blown on, it is fired in the kiln,
and comes out a piece of wliite porcelain. If painted in cobalt on
the paste and then covered with glaze, it is a piece decorated in
blue.
"In making the carved polygonal, ribbed, and fluted vases, the
paste, wrapped in cotton clotli, is pressed witli flat boards into thin
slabs, which are cut witli a knife into sections. The pieces are
joined together by a cement (Jiarhotine or slip) made of some of the
original paste witli water. There is another kind of vase which is
made by tlie process of molding, and wliich is finished after it is
taken from the mold in tlie same way. The carved polygonal
vases and the carved molded vases have to be filled in and washed
clean with the brush in tlie same way as the round vases turned
upon the wheel.
" All the varied forms of vases ma}' be engraved with the style,
or embossed in relief, or carved in openwork designs, for which
purposes, when sufficiently dried, they are given to artificers spe-
cially devoted to these several branches of work."
The character cho, which means properly " carved
jade," is applied in Chinese ceramics to vases generally,
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 435
which are called vho cli'l, in contradistinction to the
yuan chJi^ or " round pieces," which include the bowls,
cups, plates, etc., intended for ordinary use. The p'in(/
was originally a bottle-shaped vase, in which the mouth
was less in diameter than the body, but the term is now
applied to all kinds of ornamental vases ; the lei are
sacrificial vases with scrolled grounds ; the fswi are the
vases with flaring mouths that we call beaker-shaj^ed,
and the yi the modern incense urns ; the former are
modeled after ancient bronze wine-vessels, the latter
after the bronze bowls used in olden times for sacrificial
offerings of food and corn.
The round {yuaii) vases are turned upon the wheel,
the square {^fcmg) vases are made of sections of paste,
pressed or molded in various "ways, and cemented
together by slip. The author of the Sliili tvu han chit, a
miscellany published in 1591, says: "In the manufacture
of porcelain it is the square pieces that are the most
difficult. They are so difficult because when taken out
of the kiln they are so often misshapen or cracked and
rarely free from some defect. During their making the
cornel's have to be evenly carved, the fluted parts have
to be scooped out Avith the knife, and the lines of junc-
tion of the sections have to be closely cemented ; in
some unseen corner there may be a want of cohesion, or
some slight irregularity, either above or below, in front
or behind, to the right or left. Hence the common say-
ing that the square is difficult. The round vases are
made at one operation, and follow the movements of the
hands, while the wheel does more than half the man's
work ; not like the square and I'ibbed vases, which
depend wholly upon the manual skill of the artisan."
The different branches of work alluded to above are
more fully described in the letters of Pere d'Eutrecolles,
translated in Chapter XI.
436 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Illustration iVu S: "Collection of the Material
FOR the Blue Color."
" All kinds of porceliiiii, whether round ware or vases, that have
to be decorated in blue, whether modeled after that of the reigns of
HsiXan-te, G/Ceng-hua, Chia-ching, or Wan-li, require this blue
color for the painting of their decoration. The deep blue mono-
chrome glaze, gros bleu, also requires this blue for its preparation.
The material comes from the province of Chekiang, where it is
found in several mountains within the prefectures Shao-hsing Fu
and Chin-hua Fu. The collectors who go into the hills to dig for it
wash away the earth which adheres to it in the water of the moun-
tain streams. Tiie mineral is dark brown in color. The large
round pieces furnish the best blue and are called ' best rounds,'
distinguished in addition bj^ the name of the place of production.
It is brought by merchants to the porcelain manufactory, and is
buried by them under the floor of the furnace, roasted for three
days, and waslied after it is taken out, before it is finally offered
for sale, ready for use. . The material is also found in different
mountains in the provinces of Kiangsi and Kuangtung, but the
color produced by these kinds is comparatively pale and thin, and
it is unable to support the fire, so that they can be used oiih'^ in
painting coarse ware for sale in the market.
" The picture exhibits only the collection of the material : the
processes of preparation and of roasting are not shown."
Blue is the leading decorative color on porcelain, as
the learned author of the T''ao shuo observes. In the
Chin dynasty (265-419) blue porcelain was caWedi pHao
tzii, resembling in color the pale blue shade (^p'iao) of
certain silks. In the T'^ang dynasty (618-906) it was
called the blue color of distant hills ; in the Chou
dynasty (951-960) the blue of the sky after rain ; under
the Wn Yueh the prohibited color, because it was
reserved for the sovereign ; afterward, under the Sung
dynasty (960-1279), although other colors were also
used, the Ju-chou porcelain was baked with a pale blue
glaze ; the finest imperial porcelain of the time was
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 437
starch-blue {fenchHng), and the crackled Ko yao and the
ordinary Lung-ch'tiau porcelain of the time were also of
bluish shade;
Abundant specimens of the Chinese minei-al have
reached Europe. Ebelmen, in his book so often quoted
(vol. i, page 385), says that he had specimens of the
mineral as it comes fi'om the mine, of the same after it
had been roasted in closely luted porcelain crucibles
placed under the floor of the furnace, and of the powder
produced by grinding the roasted material in mortars.
The raw mineral had the form of irreo:ular concretions
hollow in the interior, of a deep bro^vu color with a
slight shade of green, giving a brownish powder which
stained the fingers. Heated in a closed tube it gave off
twenty per cent of water, and after prolonged calcination
acquired a more pronounced greenish shade. It proved
to be a complex mineral of cobaltiferous manganese in
the form of oxides, which did not, however, constitute all
the mass of the fragments, being associated with a vari-
able quantity, up to nearly half the weight, of silicate of
alumina.
The analysis of two specimens gave the following
result :
Loss in the fire (water and oxygen)
Silica (insoluble residue)
Oxide of copper
Alumina
Oxide of manganese
Oxide of cobalt
Oxide of iron .
Lime
Magnesia
Arsenious acid
Oxide of nickel, sulphur
Raw
Roasted
mineral.
mineral
20.00
4.00
37.46
27.00
0.44
2.00
4.75^
27.50 !
5.50
1.65-^
65.00
0.60
1.00
a trace
a trace
a trace
1.00
a trace
97.90
100.00
•438 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
The complex structure of tlie mineral explains the
minute precautions taken by the Chinese in selecting the
best pieces, and also the infinite variety in tbe shades of
blue obtained after firing. The larger the proportion of
cobalt the purer the blue ; a blackish or grayish tint is
said to be due to an excess of nickel or iron, a purplish
to an excess of manganese. The vigor of the color is
due, however, as much to the limpid purity of the white
glaze which it has to penetrate, being painted, as it
always is, on the raw body of the porcelain. Penciled
stcr biscuit upon Sevres porcelain, glazed, and fired cm
gi'and feu, the thinner strokes came out blue, but the
deeper parts were sensibly grayish. Its fugitive nature
caused the loss of much of the color, as it was fired at a
temperature so much higher than that of the Chinese
furnace.
Illustration No. 9 : " Selection of the Blue Material."
"The blue material, after it lias been roasted, must be specially
selected, and there is a particular class of workmen whose duty it
is to attend to this. The superior kind selected is that which is
dark green in color, of rich translucent tint and brilliant aspect.
This is used in the imitation of antiques, for the monoclirone blue
glaze, and for fine porcelain painted in blue. When of the same
dark-green color, but wanting somewhat in richness and luster, it is
used for the decoration of the coarser porcelain made for sale.
The remainder, that has neither luster nor color, is picked out and
thrown away,
"When the material has been selected it is ready for use. The
method employed is to paint with it upon the piece that has not
been fired, to invest the piece afterward with glaze, and then to
fire it in the furnace, from which it comes out with the color
uniformly transformed into a brilliant blue. If it has not been
invested with glaze the color will be black. Should the piece be
overfired, the blue of the painted decoration will 'run' into the
white ground of the piece,
"There is one kind of blue, commonly called 'onion sprouts,*
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 439
which makes very clearly defined strokes which do not change in
the furnace, and this must be selected for fine painting.
"The picture shows baskets filled with boxes of the color, with
an ordinary background ; there is no actual reference in it to
the selection of the color."
The cobaltiferous manganese mineral, which is col-
lected from the hills, where it occurs either on the sur-
face of the ground or at the depth of a few feet, is of
very uncertain composition. One portion of the same
concretionary piece may be rich in cobalt, while another
is quite inert, consisting of silicate of alumina with per-
haps a few crystals of quartz. The pieces are generally
about the size of the thumb and flattened in shape, and
are known commonly by the name of slu'lt-tzu citing — i. e.,
" stone-blue," or " mineral-blue." But the material figures
in books under a nuiltitude of synonyms. In the Sung
dynasty * it was imported from western Asia under the
name of Wu ming yi — i. e., " nameless rarity " — and
there are several specimens of the Chinese mineral under
this name in the Musee iVHistoire Naturelle at Paris,
which were examined by Brongniart. Other names are
T\io cli'ing, '^ ceramic blue " ; Ta cliUng^ " gros bleu " ;
Fo-tou dicing, " Buddlia's-head blue"; Pao-sliih-Ian^
" sapphire-blue," and a number of other names, with the
place of production prefixed; the only difficulty of
which is the way they are contracted — die liao, literally
" die material," being the form usually found in Chinese
books for dieJciang cKing liao, or "blue material of
Chekiang," the province from which the best is obtained.
A name which puzzled me for a long time was Hitn-sliui
dicing, " turbid-water blue," till I found that it referred
to the puree prepared by mixing a little of the first-class
blue with water that had been employed for painting the
* Cf . Chinese Porcelain before the Present Dynasty, by S. "W. Bushell,
(page 52).
440 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
ground of a piece with the decoration reserved in white,
like the celebrated " hawthorn ginger-pots," with their
brilliant mottled grounds of pulsating blue, of which one
is so beautifully illustrated in Plate II,
The same mineral is employed in the preparation of
the black glazes, for which purpose it need not be so
good — that is to say, so rich in cobalt, according to the
Chinese. Sometimes the decoration of what was intended
to be a blue and white piece will come out of the kiln
perfectly black, because the glaze was laid on too thin.
Illustration i\u 10 : " Molding the Porcelain and
G-rindinct the Color."
" After tlie large atid small round pieces have been shaped on
the wheel, and have been sufficiently dried in the air, tliey are put
into the molds which have been previously prepared, and are
pressed gently with the hands, until the paste becomes of regular
form and uniform thickness. The piece is then taken out and
dried in a shady place till it is ready to be shaped with the polish-
ing knives. The damp paste must not be exposed to the sun, as
the heat would crack it.
" With regard to the preparation of the color for the artists, it
must be ground perfectly fine in a mortar; if coarse, spots of bad
color will appear. Ten ounces of the material are put into each
mortar, and it is ground by a special class of workmen for a whole
month before it is fit to be used. The mortars used for grinding
it are placed upon low benches, and at the sides of the benches are
two upright wooden poles supporting cross-pieces of wood, which
are pierced to hold the handles of the pestles. The men, seated
upon the benches, take hold of the pestles and keep them revolving.
Their monthly wage is only three-tenths of an ounce of silver.
Some of them grind two mortars, working with both hands. Those
who work till midnight are paid double wages. Aged men and
5'oung children, as well as the lame and sick, get a living by this
work."
The color referred to above is still the cobalt-blue, the
predominating color of old Chinese porcelain. The
ILLUSTRATIONS OF ^MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 441
Chinese owe their success in the ceramic art in great
measure to their careful and methodical preparation of
the materials. Imagine the patience of a man sitting on
a bench, as described here, for a whole month, with a
pestle in each hand, grinding the same color all the time,
and satisfied with monthly wages of less than half a dol-
lar ; with the addition, however, it is to be hoped, of an
allowance of food ! The editor of the official records of
the imperial manufactory says that two of the chief cri-
teria of success are perfect dryness and fineness of all the
materials : " The furnace must be dry, the porcelain must
be dry, and the fuel must be diy ; then there will be lit-
tle breakage, loss of shape, or dullness of color. The
clay must be fine, the color must be fine, and the work
of the artist must be fine ; then the defects of coarse,
rough finish, of spoiled coloring, and of stains will be
avoided."
Oxide of cobalt is one of the most ancient and widely
known of the coloring matters used in the decoration of
all kinds of pottery. As M. Deck says in La Faience
(loc. cit., page 185) : " The beautiful blue color of the
oxide of cobalt is persistent at the highest temperature of
the porcelain furnace ; its coloring power is so strong
that the least trace is enough to color the vitreous flux.
It has an immense vogue, and is the color most fre-
quently used in ceramic decoration, both in ancient and
modern times. It has the great advantage of accommo-
dating itself to all fires, from the most violent to the
most feeble. It combines and harmonizes with every
kind of medium {fondanf), and can be applied to all
sorts of ceramic bodies, and its blue color is one of the
most beautiful and the most solid in our palette. The
Egyptians and Assyrians employed it from the highest
antiquity ; the Persians, Chinese, and Japanese have
executed charmino; decorations with nothino; but this
442 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
blue ; it is perhaps the most suitable color to be employed
aloue in decoration."
Illustration No. 11 : " Painting the Round
Ware in Blue."
" The different kinds of round ware painted in blue are eacii
numbered by the liundred and tlioii'^und, and if the painted decora-
tion upon every piece be not exact iy alike, tlie set will be irregular
and spoiled. For this reason tlic men who sketch the outlines
learn sketching, but not paintin,; ; those who paint study only
painting, not sketching ; by this means their hands acquire skill in
their own particular branch of work, and their minds are not dis-
tracted. In order to secure a certain uniformity in their work, the
sketchers and painters, although kept distinct, occupy the same
house.
"As to the other branches of work — embossing, engraving, and
carving in openwork — they are treated in the same way, and each
is intrusted to its own special workmen. The branch of decorating
in underglaze red, although really distinct, is allied to that of paint-
ing. With regard to the rings round the borders of the pieces and
the encircling blue bands, these are executed by the workmen who
finisli the pieces on the polishing wheel ; while the marks on the
foot underneath, and the written inscriptions, are the work of the
writers who attach the seals.
" For painting flowers and birds, fishes and water-plants, and
living objects generally, the study of Nature is the first requisite ;
in the imitation of Ming dynasty porcelain and of ancient pieces,
the sight of many specimens brings skill. The art of painting in
blue differs widely from that of decoration in enamel colors."
In this rapid sketch of the art of painting in under-
glaze cobalt-blue most of the different processes of
decoration displayed in collections of Chinese blue and
white porcelain are touched upon. The blue is painted
upon the white body of the j^orcelain before it is glazed
by immersion or otherwise, and the encircling rings which
define the borders of bowls and the shoulders of vases
are easily penciled by a light touch of the brush as the
I
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 443
object revolves on the jigger ; by uo other method could
they be executed with such j^erfect regularity. A single
line of blue of this kind round the rim is the sole decora-
tion of some of the translucently white eggshell wine-
cups of the reign of Wan-li, which are among the liglitest
and most delicate objects ever produced in porcelain.
The work of the writer, who outlines the seals and other
marks and writes the labels and verses that accompany
the pictures, is quite as important as that of the artist,
in the estimation of the Chinese, who are great connois-
seurs of caligraphy, and distinguish at first sight, from
that one criterion, a piece of imperial manufacture (kuan
yao) from the production of a private kiln {ssu yao).
Painted decoration in copper-red under the glaze prop-
erly finds its place here. The technique is the same, and
the pieces, after they have been glazed, are fired in the
same furnace as the blue and white. For an illustration,
see Fig. 229. It may, of course, be used in combination
with the blue in the decoration of the same vase, or with
other colors of the grand feu, such as celadon, or coffee-
brown.
Illustration No. 12 : " Fashioning and Painting
OF Vases."
" The different forms of vases and sacrificial vessels comprised
in tlie general term of cho chH include the square, the round, the
ribbed, and those with prominent angles ; tliere are variotis styles
of decoration executed by painting in colors and carving in open-
work. In copies from antiquity artistic models must be followed ;
in novelt}' of invention there is a deep spring to draw from. In
the decoration of porcelain correct canons of art should be fol-
lowed ; the design should be taken from the patterns of old
brocades and embroidery, the colors from a garden as seen in
springtime from a pavilion. There is an abundance of specimens
of the Kuan, Ko, Ju, Ting, and Chun (wares of the Sung dynasty)
444 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
at liand to be copied ; and water, fire, wood, metal, and eartli (tlie
five elements of physics) supply an inexhaustible fund of material*
for new combinations of supernatural beauty. Natural objects are
modeled, to be fashioned in molds, and painted in appropriate
colors ; the materials of the potter's art are derived from forests
and streams, and ornamental themes are supplied by the same
natural sources. The sacrificial wine-vessels, tsun and lei, are of
equal importance ; the censers, shaped like the ancient bronzes, yi
and ting, emit flames of brilliant color. In addition to the ancient
earthenware drums (wa/ou), many kinds of musical pipes are now
made, and the artistic skill of the color-brush perpetuates on por-
celain clever works of genius."
In this paragraph T'ang Yiiig, instead of describing
the illustration, gives a disquisition upon his view of the
correct canons of art, as applied to the decoration of
porcelain, expressed in high-flown antithetical couplets,.
Avhich are not so easy to render intelligibly in plain
prose. Julien suppresses them altogether as " devoid of
interest from the point of view of histoiy and of fabrica-
tion," but they give us some insight into the ideas of a
Chinese artist and the motives of his decorative work.
Antiquity is always the first desideratum ; the forms of
the objects are taken from productions of the old ceramic
factories of the S^ing dynasty, which were themselves
derived from more ancient bronzes ; and the decorative
designs are often derived from the patterns woven in
China from the most ancient times in brocades or worked
by the needle in. silk embroideries. The prevalence of
colored grounds, of medallions, and of all the varieties
of diaper, in the decoration of Chinese porcelain, is traced
back to the occurrence of similar patterns in these bro-
caded and embroidered silks.*
* The names of more than twenty of these brocade patterns that were copied
in Ming porcelain were enumerated in Chapter VII.
II
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN, 445
Illustration yo. 13 : " Dipping into the Glaze and
Blowing on the Glaze."
" All the different kinds of round ware and vases, including the
pieces decorated in blue, as well as the copies of Kuan, Ko, and Ju
porcelain, must have the glaze applied before they are fired. The
ancient method of putting on the glaze was to apply it to the sur-
face of the vase, whether square, tall, fluted, or ribbed, with a
goat's-liair brush filled with the liquid glaze, but it was difficult to
distribute it evenly in this wa}'. The round ware, both large and
small, and the plain round vases and sacrificial vessels used all to
be dipped into the large jar which held tl)e glaze, but they failed
b}' being either too thickly or too thinh^ covered, and, besides,
so many were broken that it was diflicult to produce perfect
specimens.
" In tlie present day the small round pieces are still dipped into
the large jar of glaze liquid, but the vases and sacrificial vessels and
the larger round pieces are glazed by the souffle process. A bam-
boo tube one inch in diameter and some seven inches long has one
of its ends bound round with a fine gauze, which is dij)ped repeat-
edly into the glaze and blown tlirough from tlie other end. The
number of times that this process has to be repeated depends partly
on the size of the piece, partly on the nature of the glaze, varying
from three or four times up to seventeen or eighteen. These are
tlie two distinct methods of glazing : by immersion and by
insufllation."
The glaze contains a notable proportion of lime, ^vhich
aids in the liquefaction of the feldsj^atliic base, and gives
the slight greenish tinge to the ground, which is one of
the characteristics of Chinese porcelain. It is applied in
China u[)on the raw body of the piece, Avhich has been
previously dried in the open air. In other countries the
unglazed ware undergoes a preliminary baking to bi'ing
it to the condition called degottrdi, so that even the
largest pieces may be strengthened sufficiently to enable
them to be dipped in the water holding the materials of
the glaze in suspension. The porous clay absorbs the
446 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
water, and there is deposited on the surface a uniform
la3^er of the vitrifiable materials suspended in it. Large
vases fiv^e feet in height are glazed in this way at Sevres,
being placed in open wooden cages and lowei'ed by
means of pulleys ; they are imnjersed for thirty or forty
seconds, according to the greater or less strength of the
preliminary baking, and ai"e then allowed to drain, after
which any difference of thickness is corrected as much as
possible by hand.
The Frencli consul, M. Scherzer, fully describes the
Chinese method of glazing by sprinkling : " Having
brought the finely pulverized materials to the consistence
of a liquid houilUe by mixing them with pure water, the
workman takes a tube of bamboo which he covers at
one end with fine gauze and dips it into the glaze, which
he projects upon the vase by blowing through the
opposite end. The number of layers that the worknian
sprinkles in this \vay depends upon the nature of the
glaze. For the white, three layers are applied succes-
sively by blowing, while the fourth and last layer is
given with a very soft brush. For the colored glazes
the operation is more complicated and comprises nine
successive layers ; the first three are ap})lied by blowing
the glaze upon the piece properly dried, sufficient time
being left between each to acquire its original dry con-
dition. The fourth layer is painted on with a veiy soft
brush. The fifth, sixth, and seventh layers are given by
blowing. Finally, the eighth and ninth are applied
with the brush."
M. Vogt says that the qualities required for a perfect
glaze are so numerous that its preparation is unques-
tionably one of the most delicate operations of the
ceramic art. A good glaze ought, during firing, to spread
uniformly over the piece that is being enameled, without
forming either of the defects of "shrinkage" or "bub-
I
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 447
bling." Its fusibility ought to be adapted to the degree
of temperature required for the firing of the paste. If
too fusible, it will penetrate the paste, and the glazing
will be dull and dry; if too hard to melt, it will be
covered all over with little holes, which give to the
porcelain the peculiar appearance that is called technically
coqve iVwiif. There must, besides, be a perfect agree-
ment in the coefficient of dilatation between the paste
and the glaze. If not, as the porcelain cools the glaze
will break, and its surface will Ije soon furro\ved by a
network of lines. This crackled condition, which is
called technically tressaillure, is due solely to a physical
cause ; it is the result of a difference of dilatation
between the ])aste and the glaze, as the piece is returning
to the surrounding temperature. The crackles aie started
when the glaze, as it is cooling, contracts more than the
paste ; being fixed to the paste, it must necessarily crack,
and the space between the lips of the furrows indicates
the difference of contractibility. In the inverse case —
that is to say, when the paste contracts more than the
glaze — the glaze maybe detached in splinters and "scale
oif " ; a piece with this defect is irretrievably lost. It is
not so with the defect called tressaillure. A perfect
master of paste and glazes can produce at will fissures in
the glaze, forming more or less close networks, composed
of lines joining together with no long straight lines
between ; in this case a defect is converted into a good
quality, and we have the craqvele or truite. The Chinese
make such good use of this quality as to be able to
produce on the same piece crackled zones of different
dimensions in the midst of uncrackled srlazes.
The conditions that chanoje the coefficient of dilatation
in porcelain are not well ascertained ; it is known, how-
ever, that alkalies increase it in the glaze, and that silica
increases it in the paste. A paste rich in aliunina,
448 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
invested with a non-calcareous glaze, always tends to
become crackled, according to M. Vogt. This is con-
firmed by Chinese accounts. The Ting Yao, the so-called
'' soft porcelain " of collectoi'S, which is so apt to become
crackled, is characterized by a highly kaolinic paste, and
the glaze is pre]3ared without lime. The milk of lime,
which is an important ingredient of the ordinary Chinese
glaze, is replaced in the crackled glazes by a, puree com-
posed principally of steatite previously ground to a fine
powder. Any of the ordinary colored glazes may be
crackled by adding this last to their ordinary ingredients.
Some glazes are always crackled, without requiring the
addition of anything to their ordinary ingredients, like
the turquoise and aubergine purple, single colors of the
dertii-grand feu^ which are both of triiite texture ; the
turquoise glaze is rich in alkali, being prepared with a
niter flux, and the aubergine glaze is combined with a
minimum amount of lead.
Many of the curious ceramic terms met with in old
Chinese books are due to alterations of the glaze during
firing, such as " palm-eye " spots, the effect of bubbles,
" crab's-claw " and " chicken's-claw " veining in the sub-
stance of the unctuous glaze, and " orange-peel " texture
of its undulatory surface. These partake really of the
nature of small flaws, a recent Chinese writer i-emarks,
and are only particularly noticed as criteria of genuine
productions of an early time, when the porcelain was not
so perfectly glazed as it is in the present day.
Illustration No. 14 : '' Turning the Unbaked Ware
AND Scooping out the Foot."
" Tlie size of the round piece has been fixed in the mold, but the
smooth polisli of the surface depends on the polisher, whose province
is another branch of work, that of ' turning,' He uses in his work
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 449
the polishing wlieel, which in form is like the ordinary potter's
wheel, only it has projecting upward in the middle a wooden
mandrel, the size of which varies, being proportioned to that of the
porcelain which is about to be turned. The top of this mandrel,
wliich is rounded, is wraj:)ped in raw silk to protect the interior of
the piece from injury. The piece about to be turned is put ujton
the mandrel, the wheel is spun round, and it is pared with the knife
till both the inside and outside are given the same perfectly smooth
polish. The coarser or finer finish of the form depends upon the
inferior or superior handiwork of the polisher, whose work is con-
sequentl}^ of great importance.
" With regard to the next process, that of scooping out the foot,
it is necessary, because each piece, when first fashioned upon the
potter's wheel, has a paste handle left under the foot two or three
inches long, by which it is held while it is being painted and the
glaze blown on. It is only after the glazing and the painting of
the decoration are finished that this handle is removed by the
polisher, who at the same time scoops out the foot, after which
the mark is written underneath.
" In the picture the workmen are seen occupied in the two
processes of polishing the surface and scooping out the foot."
To prepare the porcelain for the polishing wheel ©r
" jigger," it has to be dried sufficiently to enable it to be
shaved with the knife without being reduced to powder.
The tools used by the Chinese workmen are of the
simplest kind — thin iron plaques of rectangular or curved
outline. The piece is mounted upon the mandrel, so
that its axis is a prolongation of the axle-tree of the
apparatus, and it is shaved down to the required thick-
ness while the wheel is revolvins:. Encirclincr bands or
fillets that have to be executed in relief, and rings defin-
ing the shoulder or borders of the vase, are carved at
the same time with a neatness and regularity that no
other process could attain.
The removal of the shapeless lump of clay which has
been left projecting underneath the foot is one of the
last operations in the fabrication of the piece; the mark
is penciled in blue, the glaze is applied over it, and the
450 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
piece is ready for tlie furnace. The rim round the edge
of the foot is left uncovered with glaze, and exhibits the
peculiar character of the paste to the eye of a connoisseur.
In older specimens no glaze is applied to the foot, and a
j)ortion even of the outside of the bowl or cup is left
unglazed, the glaze running down in thick, unctuous
masses so as only partially to cover the surface, stopping
short in a wavy line of thick drops. During the Ming
dynasty there were some characteristic differences in the
feet of bowls which may be noted in this connection.
The shallow spreading eggshell bowls of the reign of
Yung-lo have a sandlike rim and smoothly glazed bottom ;
the altar-cups of the reign of Hsuan-te have a conical
projection in the middle with a threadlike rim at the
edge ; the shallow cups painted with fish, of the reign
of Cliia-ching^ have a circularly rimmed base with a
loaflike prominence inside the bowl. In the present
dynasty, too, the foot of the vase is often examined as
a'n aid to the determination of its date, the presence or
absence of glaze, its plain or crackled texture, and its
particular shade of color affording a valuable criterion
for that purpose in different cases.
Illustration No. 15 : " Putting the Finished Ware
INTO the Kiln."
" The kiln is long and round, and resembles in shape a tall
water-jar (weng) turned over on its side. It measures a little over
ten feet in height and breadth, about twice as much in depth.
It is covered with a large, tiled building which is called the ' kiln-
shed.' The chimney, which is tubular, rises to a height of over
twenty feet behind, outside the kiln-shed.
"The porcelain, when finished, is packed in the seggars and
sent out to the furnace men. When these men put it in the kiln
they arrange the seggars in piles, one above the other, in separate
rows, so as to leave an interspace between the rows for the free
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 451
passage of the flames. The fire is distinguished as front, middle,
and back; the front of tlie fire is fierce, the middle moderate, the
l>ack feeble. The different kinds of porcelain are placed in the
furnace according to the hard or soft quality of the glaze with
which they ai'e coated. After the kiln has been fully charged the
fire is lighted, and the entrance is then bricked up, leaving only
a square hole, through which billets of pine wood are thrown in
without intermission. When the seggars inside the furnace have
attained a silvery red color (white heat) the firing is stopped, and
after the lapse of another twenty-four hours the kiln is opened."
The form of the furnace has ah'eady been fully de-
scribed, and the changes in its dimensions from ancient
to modern times have been alluded to. It has gradually
become larger in size, till in the present day, according
to M. Scherzer, although the breadth is about the same
as that described above, being three and a half meters,
the height and length are increased by about one-half
to five meters and ten meters respectively. The way in
which the Chinese take advantage of the irregularity
of the form and of tlie varied force of the fire in different
parts of the furnace has also been described. During
the Ming dynasty tliere were different kinds of furnaces
in the imperial manufactory — furnaces for the clay
seggars, for the large garden fishbowls, for the blue and
white porcelain, and for the colored glazes, etc. In the
present day there are none, with the sole exception of
the muffle stoves for the second firing of the porcelain
painted in enamel colors. Everything is sent out to be
fired in the private kilns, called Pao CJi'mg Yao^ be-
cause they guarantee the success of each firing. There
are two classes of kilns at Ching-te-chen. In tlie first
kind the fuel is pine wood ; all the imperial porcelain is
sent to these. In the second kind, which are intended
for the firing of the commoner and coarser porcelain, the
fuel is ordinary brushwood, which is brought in by men
from the neiohborino; hills.
452 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Illustvatioli No. 16 : " Opening the Kiln when the
Porcelain has been Fired."
" The perfection of the porcelain depends upon the firing, which,
reckoning from the time of putting in to that of taking out, usually
occupies three days. On the fourth da}^, early in the morning, the
furnace is opened, but the seggars inside, which contain the porcelain,
are still of a dull-red color, and it is impossible to enter yet. After
a time the workmen who open the kiln, with their hands protected
by gloves of ten or more folds of cotton soaked in cold water,
and with damp cloths wrapped around their heads, shoulders, and
backs, are able to go in to take out the porcelain.
" After the porcelain has all been removed and while the furnace
is still hot the new charge of ware is arranged in its place. In this
way the new porcelain, which is still damp, is more gradually
dried, and is rendered less liable to be broken into pieces or cracked
by the fire.
" The men in tlie picture who are leaning on the table wrapped
in cloths are those that take the porcelain out of the kiln; the
other men who are carrying loads of firewood are waiting to fire
the next charge; the actual process of carrying out the contents of
the furnace is not clearly indicated."
During each firing the " gentle fire " or ^>6^«'^ feu is
kept lip for about twenty-four hours, to heat the porce-
lain gradually, until the interior is brought from a dull
red to a cherry red. Having attained this stage, the
period of the " fierce fire " or grand feu begins, during
which pine billets are thrown in as fast as possible till
the furnace is quite full, and it is kept full till the neces-
sary white heat has been attained, and this is continued
durins: the third stas^e. This is the s^eneral course of the
fire, but its effect varies in different parts of the furnace
according to the oxidizing or reducing nature of the
flames. If air predominates in the products of combus-
tion, the flame will be oxidizing; if, on the contrary,
unburned gases are circulating in excess, the flame \\\\\
be reducing. The fireman judges by inspection : if the
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 453
flames are perfectly clear, be considers them to be oxi-
dizing; if they are thick and loaded with heavy
volumes of smoke, he concludes they are reducing.
A clever fireman is able at will to make his furnace
pass from one to another of these conditions, and ought
even to know how to keep the flames neutral, neither
oxidizing nor reducing, which will give the maximum
temperature without exerting any chemical influence
upon the porcelain that is being baked.
All hard porcelain is composed essentially of kaolin,
feldspar, and quartz. To give to this mixture the trans-
parency and vitrification which characterize porcelain,
it is necessary to reach during the firing at least the
temperature required to fuse the feldspar. Feldspar
fuses, at about 1_300°_C,, and this is the minimum [)oint
at which a porcelain rich in feldspar can be successfully
fired. For a highly kaolinic porcelain it is necessary
to push the heat up to 1500°, or even to 1550°. Sub-
mitted to these high temperatures, the elements of the
porcelain change their nature; the feldspar in fusion
attacks the quai'tz and the kaolin to form new com- I
binations.
Illustratioii No. 17: " Round Ware and Vases
Decorated in Foreign Style."
" Botl) round ware and vases of wliite porcelain are painted in
enamel colors in a stj'le imitated from Western foreigners, wliich is
consequently called Ycoig ts'ai, or ' Foreign Coloring.' Clever artists
of proved skill are selected to paint the decoration. The different
materials of the colors having been previously finelv ground and
properly combined, the artist first paints with them upon a slab of
white porcelain, which is fired to test the properties of the colors
and the length of firing thej' require. He is gradually promoted
from coarse work to fine, and acquires skill by constant practice;
a good eye, attentive mind, and exact hand being required to
attain excellence.
454 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
" The colors whicli are emploj^ed are tlie same as those used for
cloisonne enameling upon copper {F<i-laug). The}' are mixed with
tliree different kinds of medium, tlie first being turpentine, the
second liquid glue, the tliird pure water. Turpentine is best
adapted for free coloring; glue is more suitable for thin waslies,
water for retouching the colors in I'elief. While it is being painted
the piece is either supported upon a table or held in the hand, or
laid upon the ground, according to its size, and it is placed in the
position most convenient for the ready use of the brush."
The art of cloisonne enameling upon copper was intro-
duced into China from the West. It was one of the
early industrial arts of Byzantium, and is fully described
in the writings of the monk Theophilus, who lived
in the eleventh century a. d. It was from Byzantium
that it must have come to China, as is clearly proved
by the Chinese name for the art, Fa-lan^ or Fa-langy
which is a corruption of Fo-lang or Fo-lin^ the name
of Byzantium in the Chinese historical annals. As ex-
plained by the author of the Fao Shhio, the syllable
lin is pronounced Jang in the dialect of Canton, and he
accounts in this way for the change of Fo-Un to Fo-lang,
Fo-lang ChHen, or " Fo-lang inlaid work," is given by
him as the correct form of the full name ; but the
Chinese shirk trisyllabic locutions as too complicated^
so the third syllable was iirst dropped ; the others
became gradually corrupted to Fa-lan, in whicli the
* The name of Fo-Un or Fu-lin has given rise to much discussion. It first
occurs in the annals of the Sui dynasty (581-621) as the name of a country
situated 4,500 li to the northwest of Persia. It often occurs subsequently,
applied to the Greek Empire as the successor of the Roman Empii-e (7'a th'in),
and as rivals of the rising Arabs (Ta-Shi/i). The initial was originally hard in
Cliiuese, and the name is generally supposed to be derived from irSXiv, just as
the Turkish name of Constantinople (Stamboul, or Istambul) seems to be a
corruption of els ttjv wdXiv. The Greeks were proud of the title of " citizens "
of their great city. Some derive the name from " Frank," but the Chinese
could hardly have heard of the Franks so early as the sixth century. Dr.
Hirth's valuable paper on Cliina and the lioman Orient may be referred to for
a fuller discussion of the question, without adopting, however, his proposed
identification of Fu-lin with Bethlehem.
II
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 455
second character means " blue/' and all trace of the
original derivation is lost. Another common name for
the art, whicli is cultivated in Peking in the present
day, is Ching-tai Lan, or Ching-tai enamel, and the
mark of the reign of Ching-kd is not infrequently found
underneath ancient specimens. The emperor of the
Ming dynasty who reigned under this title occupied
the throne in 1450-56, and he is said to have patronized
the art, and to have had sets of sacrificial utensils made
for temples. It was in 1453 that Constantinople was
taken by the Turks under Mohammed II, and some of
the Greek workmen may possibly have come to China
as fugitives about this time.
Julien translates the expression Fo-lang ClUien Ycu),
'* Porcelaines a incrustations {ornees (Vemaux) de Fo-lang
(de France).'''' Although it is a kiln ware (^yao), it has
certainly nothing to do with porcelain, and there is no
probability of its introduction into China having been
due to France, although it is adopted by Salvetat, who
writes : " This fact presents by itself a very great impor-
tance in the history of the industrial progress of nations.
It is well known that in China enamels upon copper are
made in great perfection. It appears to follow from this
passage that the Chinese only made these enamels in
imitation of productions that Europe — perhaps France —
sent to them by way of exchange."
The old Byzantine enamels w^ere generally w^orked
upon gold. In China the usual excipient is copper, which
is gilded after the enamels have been tired and polished,
so that the designs appear like a mosaic of colors inclosed
in clolmns, the outlines of which are defined by a line of
gold. Two other processes of enameling are also executed
in China: the champUve, in which the pattern is exca-
vated in the solid copper vase, to be filled in with the
enamel colors ; and the transparent {a jour) enameling,
456 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
in which the colors are inserted in open cloisons, having
no background ; both these methods were employed pre-
viously in Byzantium, and may be seen also in old Russian
ecclesiastical work. There is yet a fourth process of
enameling on copper in China, where the colors are
painted on without any previous preparation of the
excipient ; this is chiefly carried on in the province of
Canton, where the art is said to have been introduced
from the country of Ku-li — i. e., Calicut, in India; the
productions are commonly known under the name of
Yang tz'u, or "foreign porcelain." The author of the
Wen fang ssu k'ao says of this : " One often sees incense-
urns and flower-vases, winecups and saucers, bowls and
dishes, wine-ewers and boxes, painted in very brilliant
colors ; but, although vulgarly called porcelain, they have
nothing of the pure translucency of the true material, and
are fit only for the service and ornament of the ladies'
apartments — not for the chaste decoration of the library
of a scholar or mandarin."
The enamel colors in the present day are manufactured
in the glass-works in the province of Shantung, and sent
thence to every part of China to be employed in all kinds
of enameling upon metal, and in the glazing of common
earthenware and faience, as well as in the decoration of
porcelain. They are composed of a vitreous flux, colored
by a small percentage only of metallic oxide, which is
generally kept in solution in the state of silicate. The
coloring matei'ials are oxide of copper for the greens and
bluish greens ; gold for the reds ; oxide of cobalt for the
blues ; oxide of antimony for the yellows ; arsenious acid
for the whites ; peroxide of iron is used for coral-red
and other shades of this color, and impure oxide of man-
ganese gives the blacks. The last two materials which
give the colors directly are only mixed with the flux, not
dissolved. These form the colors of the muflfle stove, by
J
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 457
the fire of wliicli they are incorporated in the softened
wliite glaze. It is impossible to employ them in the
decoration of European porcelain, the hard glaze of which
contains no lime, and when the Chinese enamel colors
were tested at Sevres they scaled off in the stove. They
have all been thoroughly examined in Europe and chemi-
cally analyzed.
Illustration No. 18 : " Open and Closed Muffle
Stoves."
" White paste porcelain that has been previously fired in the fur-
nace is first decorated by the artist with painting in colors. When
it has been painted in colors it must be again fired to fix the colors.
For this purpose two kinds of muffle stoves are used, one kind being
open, the other closed.
" The open stove is used for the smaller pieces. This stove is
similar to that used for cloisonne enamels on copper, and it has a
door opening outward. When the charcoal fire has been lighted
inside, the porcelain is placed upon an iron Avheel, which is sup-
ported upon an iron fork, by which the porcelain is passed into the
stove, and the fireman holds in his other liand an iron hook, so that
he may be able to turn the wheel around in the fire to equalize the
action of the heat. When the colors appear clear and bright the
firing is reckoned to have been sufficient.
" For large pieces the closed stove is employed. Tliis stove is
three feet high and nearl}- two feet and three-quarters in diameter.
It is surrounded by a double wall to hold the charcoal fire, the wall
being perforated below for the entrance of air. The porcelain is
introduced into the interior of the stove, while the man holds
a circular shield to protect himself from the heat of the fire. The
top of the stove is then closed by a flat cover of yellow clay and
closely luted. The firing takes a period of about twenty-four
hours.
"The process of firing the monochrome yellow, green, and pur-
plish brown porcelains is the same as tlie above."
The open muffle stove is no longer used in China. The
author of the Ohing-te-chen T'ao lu says (chapter iv, folio
458 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
5) : " Porcelain painted in colors at Ching-te-chen was
formerly not so highly valued, until the beginning of the
reign of CJiHen-lung, when })oth the mandarins and the
common people thronged to buy it, so that the supply had
to be day by day increased. The manufactories are com-
monl}^ called ' red shops,' but the owners style themselves
' stove-men.' They do not, however, use open and closed
muffle furnaces made in the ancient style, but only build
up a cylinder of bricks on the ground like the mouth of
a well, a little over three feet high and between two and
three feet broad, leavins; holes underneath for the drauo-jit.
The decorated porcelain is put inside, a cover is fixed
over the fire, and that is all. It is called a muffle stove
(shao Iu\ and there are fixed rules for the time of firing.
If you ask them what the open and close stoves are, they
will generally answer that they do not know."
There is a good representation of this modei'n shao lu in
Julien {La Porcelaine Cliiiioise, Plate XIV), which is
copied from the book just quoted. The open stove which
accompanies it is taken from some older Chinese book.
There are good illustrations of the open and closed
muffle stoves of the foi'ms described above in the Atlas
accompanying Brongniai't's classical work (Les Arts
Ceramiques, Plate XLIV) taken from a Chinese book of
the Ming dynasty.
Illustration yo. 19 : " Wrapping in Straw and
Packing in Cases."
" After tlie porcelain has been taken out of the furnace it is
arranged into four separate classes, which are known by the names
of 'first-class color,' 'second-class color,' 'third-class color,' and
' inferior ware,' and the price is fixed accordingly at a high or low
rate. The porcelain of ' third-class color' and the ' inferior ware *
are kept back for local sale. The round ware of ' first-class color ^
and the vases and sacrificial vessels of the ' first and second class ' are
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 459
all wrapped up in paper and packed in round cases, there being
packers whose duty it is to attend only to this w^ork. With regard
to the round ware of ' second-class color,' the dislies and bowls are
tied together in bundles, each composed of ten pieces, which are
wrapped round with straw and packed in round cases, for conveni-
ence of carriage to distant parts.
" The coarser porcelain intended for ordinary use, whicli is dis-
tributed throughout the different provinces, is not packed in cases
with straw, but only tied up in bundles with reeds and matting.
From thirty or forty pieces up to sixty make a ' load ' sufficient for
a man to carry at each end of his yoke. The ' loads ' are packed
inside with reeds and matting and bound round outside with strips
of bamboo, ready to be conveyed either by water or by land as may
be more convenient.
"The workmen wlio do the packing are generally known by the
name of ' mat-men.' "
The above descriptiou refers especially to the produc-
tions of the imperial iiiaiiufactory, only the best pieces of
which are picked out to be sent to Peking, while the rest
are sold locally. A regidar supply is sent to the palace
twice every year, an additional amount being requisitioned
on any extraordinary occasion, such as an imperial wed-
ding ; the lists are generally published at the time in the
Ching Pao, the official "Peking Gazette." According to
T'ang Ying in his "Records of the Porcelain Manufac-
tory," quoted in the Annals of the Province of Kiangsi :
^' After the porcelain made in the imperial manufactory
has been finished, every year at the two seasons of
autunm and winter, a number of broad flat-bottomed
boats and a gang of porters are hired to convey to the
capital the six hundred and more casks packed with round
j^ieces and vases. The annual supply required for the
palace of round ware of the highest class, including
round dishes, bo^vls, cups and saucer-plates, ranging from
between one and two inches up to two and three feet in
diameter, amounts to between 16,000 and 17,000 pieces,
in addition to 6,000 or 7,000 pieces selected from the best
460 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
of the second class. These are all packed together Id
casks and conveyed to Peking, to be ready for imperial
presents, and for the emperor's own use. The vases of all
kinds intended for ornamental and sacrificial use of the
highest class, including ovoid vases with tall, narrow
necks, sacrificial vases witli scrolled designs, beaker-
shaped vases and urns for burning incense, etc., ranging
from three and four inches u[) to three and four feet in
height, require a yearly su})ply of over 2,000 pieces, with-
out reckoning the 2,000 or ^3,000 vases selected from the
best of the second class. These also are all packed
together in casks and comeyed at the same time to
Peking."
In addition to the firing of the imperial porcelain, the
kilns at Ching-te-chen, whicli are num])ered by the thou-
sand, practically supply the whole of the Chinese
Empire, as well as the porcelain required for export to
foreign countries. Boats laden with it are no uncommon
sight iu the inland waterways of China, and I have even
seen a line of large wheelbarrows under full sail, pushed
and supported on both sides by running men and dra^vn
in front by donkeys, speeding along the highways
" Of Sericaiia, wliere Chineses drive
With wind and sail their cany waggons light."
Paradhe Lost, iii, 437.
Illustration No. 20: " Worshiping the God and
OFFERING Sacrifice."
" Ching-te-chen, situated within the jurisdiction of Fou-Iiang-
Hsien, is only some ten or more li in circuit, environed by moun-
tains and rivers, so as to form, as it were, an island, yet on account
of its porcelain production merchants throng to it fiom all quarters.
The private kilns, between two and three hundred in number,
exhibit a constant succession of flames and smoke the whole year
round, and give employment to not less than several hundreds of
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 461
thousands of workmen and assistants. The porcelain industry-
gives subsistence to an immense number of people whose life hangs
on the success or failure of the furnace fires, and they are all
devout in worship and sacrifice.
" Their god, named T'ung, was once himself a potter, a native of
the place. Formerly, during the 3Iing dynasty, when they were
making the large dragon fish-bowls, tl)ey failed in the firing year
after year, although the eunuchs in charge inflicted the most severe
punishments, and the potters were in bitter trouble. Then it was
that one of them, throwing away his life for the rest, leaped into
the midst of the furnace, whereupon the dragon bowls came out
perfect. His fellow-workmen, pitying him and marveling, built a
temple within the precincts of the imperial manufactory^, and wor-
shiped him there under the title of ' Genius of Fire and Blast.'
Down to the present day the fame of the miracle is cherished, and
the potters continue to worship him, not a day passing Avithout
reverential sacrificial offerings. Theatrical shows are also instituted
in his honor, during which crowds of people fill the temple grounds.
He is worshiped here as tlie tutelary gods of agriculture and land
are in other parts of the empire."
The Chinese are devoted to ancestral worship, in the
ceremonies connected with which sacrifice is offered to
the manes or spirits of the deceased. Many of their
deities are canonized mortals who have lived among
them in historical times. No schoolboy must enter a
public school without paying reverence to the picture of
the sacred sage, Confucius, who lived b. c. 551-479 ; and
every soldier worships the image of Kuan Ti, the God
of War, who lived on earth as Kuan Yli, and was
beheaded a. d. 219, after a life of martial prowess. The
potter, T'ung, the vicarious sacrifice of whose life is
sketched above, was not, however, the fii'st deity of the
craft. His predecessor was named Chao, according to
the Ching-te-chm T\io In (book xiii, folio 10), which
says that it was in the reign of Hung-hsi, who lived a. d.
1425, that the assistant director of the porcelain manu-
factor}^, Chang Shan, was the first to worship the patron
462 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
god of the potters, and built a temple within the walls
of the maniifactoiy. The deity, whose surname was
Chao, his name K'ai, and his literary appellation Shu-
peng, is said to have been in charge of the work during
the CJiin dynasty (265-419), to have acquired a wide
re2:)utation for the choice productions inspired by his
genius, and to have risen afterward to the rank of
prince. It was in this dynasty that the famous azure-
blue o:laze first came into vofjue, and we should like to
know more of the history of the director Chao, if he be
not altogether a legendary character. His temple has
long been in ruins, and his cult is now supplanted by
that of another patron -god. The present temple was
rebuilt in the reign of Yting-clieng b}' Nien Hsi-yao, as
commemorated by a stone tablet, erected by him in front
of the main hall, which is still standing. T'ang Ying, in
the next reign, discovered a large fish-bowl, decorated
with dragons, of the reign of Wan-U, the bottom of
which had fallen out in the kiln, and had it installed in
the temple courtyard as a specimen of the porcelain
"composed of the blood and bones of the deity.''
I
CHAPTER XVI.
MODERN PERIOD (1796-1895). IMPERIAL LIST OF THE
YEAR 1864.
DURING the long reign of CKien-lung, which came
to an end in 1795, there was a ojradiial des^enera-
tion in the artistic qualities of the porcelain produced at
the imperial manufactory, and this is reflected in a still
more mai'ked degree in the ceramic products of the
private kilns of Ching-te-chen. The decoration lost by
degrees much of its vigor and freedom of execution, and
the colors gradually failed in the dei)th, pnrity, and
brilliancy of tone which distinguished the older period.
These defects are not compensated by a certain improve-
ment in technical manipulation and a studied finish of
design, which are mechanical rather than artistic. A
century has passed since the death of Cli'ien-lung, and
there has been hardly any check to this steady progress
of degeneration in any of the five reigns of his successors.
These reigns may be conveniently grouped together to
form the modern period of the ceramic art in China,
which will consequently comprise about a century,
dating back from to-day. They are barely represented
in collections, unless perhaps by an occasional imitation,
which has been so perfectly repi'oduced as to deceive the
unwary collector. Still, some knowledge of the porce-
lain of the time is necessary, if only to enable one to
distinguish such modern counterfeits from the real
antiquities that they are intended to represent. A
glance at the designs and processes of decoration in use
463
464 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
at the present time is necessary, moreover, to help us to
understand the descriptions in the older books, when we
have not the actual pieces before us. Chinese art, more
perhaps than any other, is essentially reproductive and
imitative, and most of the modern designs can be traced
back to early periods. The artists seem to have no
inventive faculty, and yet it is astonishing to notice
how rarely they adopt anything from abroad in recent
times.
The imperial porcelain of the reign of Chia-chHng
(1796-1820) can hardly be distinguished, except by the
mark, from that of CKien-lung. It is highly appreciated
by the Chinese connoisseurs on account of its finished
technique and the perfect regularity of its decorative
designs. The figure scenes are carefully painted, and
the scrolled borders and lambrequins are finely and
neatly penciled. There is a class of vases, characteristic
of this reign, which are entirely covered Avith elaborate
scrolls of diverse pattern in underglaze blue, enhanced
by a richly gilded background, and which are highly
decorative ; but this highly ornate style of decoration
seems more fitting for enameling on metal than on a
fragile material like porcelain. The mark on the
imperial porcelain of this reign is usually attached in the
form of a seal, impressed in the paste ; the foot, as well
as the interior of the vase, is often glazed with the same
pale-green enamel that was noticed in the official produc-
tions of the preceding reign.
The perfect finish of the monochromes of the time is
beautifully shown in the finely crackled turquoise vase
that has been illustrated in Fig. 8, which is delicately
etched under the soft-toned glaze with dragons and bats
enveloped in scrolled clouds, and is marked underneath
with the seal, also etched in the paste, of Ta CJCing
Cilia cKing nien chili — i. e., "Made in the reign of
MODERN PERIOD (1796-1895). 465
Chia-chHng of the great CKing [dynasty]." Of the
other single colors the imperial yellow and the coral-red
are among the most successful, although not equal to the
finest productions of the CNien-hmg period.
The bowl illustrated in Fig. 294 is an examj^le of the
more complicated decoration of the period. It is orna-
mented with floral emblems of longevity in a threefold
series, consisting of blossoming prunus-trees, sprays of
bamboo, and fir-trees with Polyporus fungus (ling-cliili),
which are painted in enamel colors inside and outside
the bowl in identical designs, and have the foliage and
flowers pierced in parts and filled in with glaze so as to be
transparent. The decoration is completed by a medallion
containing melons j)ainted in the bottom of the bowl.
The seal, penciled in blue under the foot, is Ta CWing
Chia chHng nieii c/iih — "Made in the reign of Cliict-cli'ingj
of the great CKing [dynasty]."
This emperor, like his accomplished father, Chien-lungy
was fond of poetry. I have in my possession some pieces
of a tea service made for him, which are decorated in soft
enamel colors with bands of floral scrolls, relieved by a
bright enameled gi'ound, and defined by lines of gilding.
These are inscribed with an ode of his own composition,
celebrating the virtues of tea, the rhyming verse being
signed Chia-cJiing in two small panels of round and
square outline, attached at the end of each inscription
and penciled in vermilion. The full seal mark of the
I'eign is also penciled underneath in red, within an oblong
white panel reserved in the bright yellow enamel which
covers the rest of the ground. The accompanying super-
scription is taken from the interior of one of the little
fluted dishes of this set ; and it is followed by an attempt
at a literal version of the simple verse, which consists of
four stanzas of ten characters, each stanza ending with
the same rhyme :
466 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
" Finest tribute tea of the first picking
And a briglit full moon prompt a line of verse.
A lively fire glows in the bamboo stove,
The water is boiling in the stone griddle,
Small bubbles rise like eyes of fish or crab.
Of rare Ch'i-cli'iang tea, rolled in tiny balls,
One cup is enough to lighten the heart.
And dissipate the earl}-^ winter chill."
" Written by the emperor in the middle decade of the ' little spring ' month
(i. e., the first month of winter, the tenth month), of the cyclical year ting-ssu
(1797) of the reign of Chia-ch'ing. (Signed) Chia-ch'ing."
The Emperor Tao-huang, wlio succeeded his father,
Ohia-chHng, reigned for thirty years, from 1821 to 1850.
Some illustrations of the porcelain of his time have been
already given. The finest ^vork was lavished at this time
on articles intended for ordinary use, such as soup-basins,
rice-bowls, teacups Avith covers, and miniature wine-cups,
and the seal mark of Tao-hiiang is usually well repre-
sented in collections of such things. One of the most
attractive of the styles is a plain decoration reserved in
white on a soft coral-red ground, which defines the out-
line of sprays of bamboo, or other simple floral designs
in a charming way. An idea of this may be gained
from the flanged bowl in Fig. 63 ; the floral decoration
in this, outlined in red, has the blossoms of the China
rose slightly touched with pale green. The incinerated
iron oxide in these cases is very finely pulverized and
intimately mixed with the euameler's plumbo-alkaline
flux, and it acquires a brilliancy of tone which is not
attainable by the ordinary method of painting it on com-
bined by means of glue witli a white-lead flux. This
enameled red ground, which dates from the Yung-chmg
period, is the "jujube-red" of Chinese ceramic art. The
" medallion bowls " of this period are perhaps the most
general favorites, and in London, at Christie's auction-
MODERN PERIOD (1796-1895.) 467
rooms, where they ai'e wont to figure under the name of
" Peking basins," they are seldom sold for less than ten
guineas a pair. The name is as misleading as that of
"Nanking blue and white," as porcelain was never made
at either Peking or Nanking. The bowls are found at
Peking to-day, because they were sent there from
Chlng-te-chen at the time they were made for the
service of the emperor. They are ordinary rice-bowls
in shape, as may be seen from a glance at the typical
specimen illustrated in Fig. 73. This has an etched
crimson ground brocaded with conventional flowers, and
the medallions which are reserved in the roiige-cVor
ground contain sprays of flowers and fruit, Avhile the
interior is painted in underglaze cobalt-blue with a
basket of flowers encircled by floral sprays. In a second
set of similar bowls the medallions are filled ^vith land-
scapes of lake and mountain scenery, representing the
four seasons. In a third series, decorated with the same
crimson ground, the medallions display the varied para-
phernalia of the liberal arts known as the /><? hi(, ov
"■ hundred antiques."
In addition to the crimson (^rouge-d\*i') ground, the
"■ medallion bowls " display etched grounds of four other
colors, viz., pink (I'ose (Vor), which is derived also from
gold ; lavender, a manganese color of a charming tint
approaching the shade commonly known as French
gray; lemon-yellow, and blue; this last is the least
successful of the colors, although the rarest, being some-
what of greenish tone. The resei'ved medallions usually
contain sprays of prunus, magnolia, chrysanthemum, and
lotus, mingled with the sacred longevity fungus and
bunches of scarlet nandina berries. The yellow bowls
include, in addition, another series Avith four medallions
filled with miniature landscapes of hill scenery dotted
with temples and pagodas, and a third set with three
468 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
medallions containing outdoor scenes with rams, emblems
of the universal revivifying power of spring, according to
the punning motive, San yang h^ai ta% in which Yang
means " spring " as well as " ram." The blue medallion
bowls have the etched ground overlaid with colored
clouds, and the four medallions painted with mytho-
logical subjects corresponding to the pictui-e in the
interior, which is painted in shaded blue. This is a
circular medallion containing a picture of a male and
female stellar divinity in the midst of clouds, with their
constellations above their heads and a flock of birds flying
around their feet. The picture suggests a joyous meet-
ing of lovers, Imi meaning " joy " as well as " magpie,"
the "joyous bird" of the Chinese. The stellar divinities
in the picture are the cowherd "Ch'ien Niu," riding upon
a buffalo, identified with a constellation comprising por-
tions of Capricornus and Sagittarius, and " Chih Nii,"
the Spinning Damsel, a Lyrse. An ancient legend
related by Huai Nan Tzii, who died b. c. 122, promul-
gates the romantic idea that the two are separated all
the year round except on the seventh night of the seventh
moon, when Magpies fill up the Milky Way to enable
the Spinning Damsel to cross over. A legion of poetical
allusions have sprung from this passage picturing the
separated lovers gazing at each other from afar or
celebrating their joyful reunion.* Of the four medal-
lions on the exterior of the- bowls, two opposite ones
contain separate pictures of the same cowherd and
spinster; the other two are filled with outdoor scenes,
in one of which the Spinning Damsel is seen walking
under a tree with maiden attendants, in the other in
amorous dalliance witli her lover in a garden pavilion.
Some of the most beautiful bowls and plates of this
time, as well as richly decorated vases, have the mark
* Mayer's Chinese Reader's Manual, pp. 97, 98.
MODERN PERIOD (1796-1895.) 469
of Shen-te-fang — " Hall for the Cultivation of Virtue " —
inscribed underneath. It has already been explained
that this was the designation given by the emperor to
one of the halls of his palace. That the mark really
belongs to this reign has been doubted, but it is 2>i'0ved
by a small bowl with everted brim in the Hippisley
Collection (No. 367 in the catalogue), which is " decorated
with a spray of white plum and longevity fungus, beauti-
fully painted, accompanied by a poem from the pen of
the Emperor Tao-kuang, and bearing his seal attached.
The seal is in the form of a little oval panel with the
two characters, placed vertically, reserved in white upon
a vermilion ground. Nothing is sacred to the fraudulent
imitator in China, and this hall-mark is often forged, so
that it is found, as Sir A. W. Franks remarks {loc. cit.,
page 213), ^' on specimens of different kinds and very
vai'ied quality."
Some of the white unglazed porcelain made at this
time, reminding one of the Parian ware of European
pottei'ies, is finely modeled and of finished technique. It
is seen especially in articles intended for the writer's
table, such as cylindrical brush-pots, seals, boxes for seal
vermilion, and the like.
The Emperor Hsien-feng succeeded to the imperial
throne in 1851. During his reign the south of China
was ravaged by the " Long-haired Kebels " (the lai-
pings), who started from the provinces of Kuangtung and
Kuangsi, reached the province of Kiangsi in his third
year, and were not finally expelled till the spring of the
third year of the reign of his successor, Timg-cliili
(1864). Ching-te-chen was besieged and taken by the
rebels, the imperial potteries were burned to the ground,
and the workmen either massacred or driven away.
Imperial porcelain of this period is consequently rare, as
it could only have been produced and forwarded to
470 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Peking duriug the early part of the reign. It resembles
in character the production of 2ao-huang, and is inscribed
generally with the six-character mark of the reign^
penciled underneath in red in the ordinary script.
Among the pieces I have seen that are woi'thy of special
notice are vases of good form decorated with nine five-
clawed dragons, painted in soft enamel colors, on a white
background which is etched in the paste with scrolled
waves ; and a dinner service of bowls, cups, and saucer-
shaped dishes, painted in coloi'S with processional figures
of the eighteen Lohau, or Arhats of early Buddhist
history.
In the third year of the reign of the young Emperor
T\ing-cid]i (1864), after the expulsion of the rebels from
the province of Kiangsi by Li Hung-chang, who was
appointed acting viceroy in that year, while Tseng Kuo-
fan, the celebi'ated viceroy, took command of the imperial
army in the field, the imperial manufactory at Chiug-te-
chen was rebuilt. A shoi't account of the seventy-two
buildings which were erected more or less ou the old
foundations by the ncAV director, Ts'ai Chin-ch'ing, who
Mvas appointed at this time, has already been given in
Chapter IX. Some idea will be gained of the porcelain
manufactured by a discussion of the ofiScial list of the
articles which were requisitioned in this year for the use
of the emperor. This is extracted from the Annals of
the Province of Kiangsi {Chiang hsi Thing chili, book
xciii, folio 13-16), where it comes immediately after the
oflUcial list of the reign of Yung-cheng, the analysis of
which has been given already in Chapter XIII. The new
list is dated the third year (1864) of the reign of T^ung-
chill. It is comprised under two headings, of which the
first is devoted to the vases and larger pieces {cho chH)y
the second to the round ware (jjuan clii).
MODERN PERIOD (1796-1895). 471
" A. Vases to be sent to Peking for the
Emperor. i:^MW^)-
" 1. Quadrangular vases witli api'icot-sbaped medallions
and two tubular handles enameled w itli the Chiin glaze.
The modern Chun Yu is so called because the colors
of the glaze are intended to resemble that of the ancient
Chiin-chou porcelain of the Stmg dynasty. It is the
sovjffie glaze with a greenish-blue flecking and dappling
on a reddish ground, the red being subordinate to the
blue, which has been ap})r()priately named " Robin's Egg"
by American collectors. The form described here is that
of the brilliant jiamhe quadrangular vase illustrated in
Plate XLVI, whicli has an apricot-shaped medallion
worked in slight relief in the paste under the glaze, in
front and behind, and two wide tubular handles at the
sides.
'' 2. Quadrangular vases with apricot-shaped medallions
and two tubular handles invested \vith Ko Yao glaze.
The shape is exactly the same as that Just described,
and it occurs not infrequently from the reign of GlCiein-
Inng downward, in the stone-colored crackle traversed by
a network of reddish lines, Avhich is known as Ko Yu.
Ko means " elder brother," and the name dates from
early in the Sung dynasty, Avhen t^vo brothers named
Chang are related to have made celadon ware at Lung-
chHian. The productions of the elder brother, which
were distinguished by liaving a crackled glaze, were
called Ko Yao, and the name, as applied to crackled
porcelain generally, has survived to the present day. It
is given especially to the ordinary stone-gray crackle
which is seen in every Chinese collection. The cracklins^
&
472 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
is produced by combining with the materials of the glaze
a natural stone called Lan-t'ien shih from its place of
j^roduction, which appears to be a kind of compound
magnesia silicate allied to steatite, and which takes the
place of the lime that gives solubility to the ordinary
glaze.
" 3. Quadrangular vases with the /)« hua symbols
enameled with the Ko Yao glaze. (^ f jl E9 ^ A^
These are tall oblong vases of square section with the
eight trigrams of ancient Chinese mystic lore worked in
relief underneath the crackled stone-gray glaze. The
eight symbols usually stand out in relief on each of the
sides, but sometimes, as in the vase of this kind illusti'ated
in Plate XXIII, there are two displayed on each side,
separated by the dual yin-yang symbol in the middle.
Vases of this form and design stand upon Taoist altars
holding the slips of bamboo used in divination ; the vase
is shaken, and the stated number of slips are selected at
each operation to determine the prognostic, which is
worked out by the presiding seer with the aid of his
divination books, while the ^\ orshiper is burning incense
before the sacred shrine.
" 4. Vases in the foi'm of ancient wine-vessels of Jade
enameled copper-red. (^ fl[ 3l ^ ^ S)-"
Yu hu cli'un is the common name of a vase with bulg-
ing pyriform body poised upon a circularly rimmed foot,
contracting gradually upward with a narrow neck and
expanding sharply at the orifice to make a w^der hori-
zontal lip. The name comes from the modeling of the
form on the lines of the graceful wine-vessels that used to
be carved out of jade, although these last were generally
ewers furnished with a curved spout, an open flowing
handle, and a knobbed cover, while the porcelain type is
an ornamental flower-vase. The term chi-hvng used here
MODERN PERIOD (1796-1895). 473
answers to the bright ruby-reel derived from copper, which
is the most successful of the modern single colors, and
occasionally will almost rival the celebrated savg-ch-hmif
of the JCang-hsi period in the brilliancy of its flashing
tones. The character chi employed above is an unau-
thorized form, that one would hardly expect to find in an
official list ; it means the color of the sky after rain, and
can consequently be combined properly only with citing,
"blue," to form cld-clCing, as in No. 42, beloAV, and
another character with tlie same sound, meaning "sac-
rificial," ought to be substituted, chi-lmng, or " sacrificial
red," being the traditional name of the ruby-red cups
which were made in the reio:n of Hsimn-te for the ritual
worship of the emperor on the Altar of the Sun.
" 5. Vases in the form of ancient wine-vessels of jade
with threads worked in relief decorated in blue. ( p^
I have not seen an example of this kind, but am told
that the vases have encircling rings worked in the paste
in the form of ropes, so as to divide them into sections for
decoration in blue and white.
"6. Vases of the Yil hit cWun, or carved jade type,
decorated in blue with c^arden scenes inclosed by railings.
(W ^ ffi IF 5 ^ § «)."
These vases, the form of which has been already
described, have an open-rail fence drawn round the lower
part of the bulging body, inside which rise clumps of
graceful bamboos, shrubs of naudina with bunches of
berries and flowering trees of all kinds, with an occa-
sional rockery in the intervals. The design dates from
the reign of Cli'ien-lung.
" 7. Vases in the form of paper-beaters, with the fai-
clii symbol, invested with imperial o;laze decorated in
colors. mM'nm±mm ii »)."
The cliih-rli'ui pUng, or " paper-beater vase," has a
474 OKIENTAL ( ERAMIC ART.
cyliiulrical body rounding in above to a straight upright
neck, of about the same length as that of the body of the
vase. If the body is more l)ulging and the upright neck
proportionally narrower, as in the powder-blue vase which
is illustrated in Plate XCIIl, we have the Yv-cli'ui P"* incjy
or "oil-beater vase," the sluqie being that of the mallet
commonly used in China for crushing seed to extract the
oil. The Cai-clii symbol refci red to is the creative monad
disk dividing into the dual yin ycmg, "darkness and
light," which is displayed in Plate XXIII.
*' 8. Quadrangular vases, with the elephant symbol of
great peace enameled skv-'>lue. (^ W 0 ^ >vC i
The rebus T\il p'lng yu linking (fifth to eighth charac-
ters above), " an auguiy of great peace," was referred to
in Chapter V, in the descri[)tiou of an ancient pallet of
Sung porcelain etched with the figure of an elephant.
The vases referred to above have two handles molded in
the form of elephants' heads, implying the same happy
augury. The modern single color called fien-cJi'mg, or
" sky-blue," is dei'ived from cobalt mixed with the feld-
s})athic glaze of the high fire ; it is of somewhat darker
tone than the dair de June of older times, which was pro-
duced by the combination of the same ingredients with a
purer and more translucent glaze.
" B. Round Ware to be sent to Peking for the
Emperor. ["^^ ^ |M^ ^^
" 9. Medium-sized l)owls decorated in brown with
dragons. [% f| ^ ^)."
These are the bo^vls with five-clawed imperial dragons
of maroon tint ; the decoration was painted on with the
copper-red color sur le era, and the piece was subse-
MODERN PERIOD (1796-1895). 475
quently glazed and fired in tlie large furnace, so that
the technique is the same as that of the blue and
white.
" 10. Medium-sized bowls enameled in copper-red.
Ohi-hung is the ruby-red monochrome derived from
copper silicate referred to under No. 4 of this list.
"11. Large bowls painted in blue with the Indian
lotus, mmm^w-'
The Western or Indian lotus (Hsi Fan lien) is the
most common motive of the conventional floral scrolls
with which Chinese porcelain is so often decorated.
" 12. P'ive-inch dishes painted in blue with the Western
lotus. (WS^Si'M)"
The dishes and plates of a Chinese service are all
round, and what we should call saucer-shaped. In this
list those of half a foot in diameter and upward are called
p'an, " round dishes "; those of less size are called tieh,
w^iich we may conveniently render as "platters,"
"13. Medium-sized bowls painted in blue with the
eiirht mystic trigrams and storks in the midst of clouds.
(W « m A ib cf ffl"
The bowls are decorated outside with eight flying
storks enveloped in scrolled clouds. The stork is the
aerial courser of the Taoist immortals, and it is often
represented carrying in its beak bamboo slips of fate
inscribed with the^^^r hita symbols.
" 14. AVine-cups decorated in enamel colors with nar-
cissus-flowers. (5 ^ 7K lUl ^ 51 ^)."
The wine is served hot at the Chinese banquet, poured
into tin}' bowl-shaped cups of porcelain. The Aareissus
tazetta, which has white flowers with yellow cups in the
center, is a favorite floral decoration on porcelain ; it is
the slnii hsien liua, " the water-fairy flower," of the
Chinese.
470 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
" 15. AVine-cups with exj^anding rim painted in red
with dragons. (^ ll f | ic P g 3l)."
This is the design most frequently seen on these little
cups. The dragons, of the imperial iiv^e-clawed type,
are painted in coral-red over the white glaze ; the j)orce-
lain, having been previously glazed and fired in the large
furnace, is decorated with the iron-red color, and fired a
second time in the muffle stove. The bowl illustrated in
Plate LXVII may be referred to as a beautiful example
of this kind of decoration.
" 16. Round dishes a foot in diameter decorated in blue
with a pair of dragons. (W tt f I ffi K M)-"
"17. Soup-bowls Avith di'agous incised in the paste
under a dark imperial yellow glaze. (^ ^ "^ 0g g^
The soup-bowl {pang ivari) is sjnaller and shallower
than tbe ordinary rice-bowl {fern wan). The first charac-
ter used here means literally " pretty " or " bright "; it is
substituted for another of the same sound meaning
" watered," which is technically given to several single-
colored glazes applied with a brush. An lung means
" concealed dragons," but an has a special technical mean-
ing in ceramic art, and an laia is the expression always
used for decorations etched with a style in the paste,
which are brought out more strongly by holding the
piece up to the light.
" 18. Medium-sized bowls of barrel-shaped form with
dragons incised in the paste under a bright yellow glaze.
19. "Teacups enameled bright yellow. (^ J^ ^
SSL}'
The teacup (cli' a-chung) referred to here is taller and
more upright in form than the clt'a-wan, and differs in
never being furnished with a cover, but the names are
often used indiscriminately ; neither has a handle at the
I
MODERN PERIOD (1796-1895). 477
side like our teacups. When a teapot is not used, the
tea-leaves are infused in cups with cov^ers, which ai'e
called hai-ivan, Jcai meaning " cover." AVhen the tea is
drunk, the cover is manipulated so as to leave only a
narrow chink at the rim of the cup, to keep the tea-
leaves inside.
" 20. Medium-sized bowls with dragons incised in the
paste under a bright yellow glaze. (^ S © f I 't'
" 21. Medium-sized bowls of ringlike outline painted in
])lue with designs of the three fruits. (^ ^ ^^ -^ j)P
^ ^ ^)"
The three fruits which are usually represented are
the peach, j)omegranate, and Buddha's-hand citron, em-
blems of the three abundances (san to) of years, sons,
and promotions.
" 22. Soup-bowls with expanding rims w^ith dragons
incised in the paste under a bright yellow glaze. (^ "i^
"23. Kound dishes six inches in diaiueter ]\'iinted in
blue with a pair of dragons. (^ !^ hI ^ ~\1* ^)-"
" 24. Round dishes a foot across painted in blue with a
decoration of spiral scrolls inclosing longevity characters
'' 25. Teacups {GlCa Waii) painted in blue with sprays
of the Oleafragrans flower. (W ;^ >B ^ ^ ^)-''
The Mu-lisl is a dwarf variety of Oleafragrans with
7'eddish flowers, which are even more sweet-scented than
those of the ordinary white variety; it is but rarely
employed for the decoration of porcelain.
" 26. Medium-sized bowls decorated in enamel colors
with sprays of precious lotus, (jj ^ ft ^ 't' ffi)-"
The precious lotus (^pao lieii) is one of the varieties of
the Neliuiihiiiin speciosum held sacred by the Buddhists,
who liken the precious jewel of their faith to the limpid
478
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
drops of pure water that collect upou its l)i'oad peltate
leaves.
" 27. Teacups decorated with white bamboo upon a
ground painted red. (^ It Sfe 6 W ^ ^)"
This charming design, with tlie graceful leafy sprays
of the bamboo reserved in white and relieved by a soft
coral-red background, was adopted in the imperial manu-
factory in the CNien-lvmg period, the seal of which is
found penciled iu blue underneath bowls of almost egg-
shell thinness and purest color. The red is produced
from iron peroxide prepared by the incineration of the
green sulphate. The more modern bowls are thicker,
and the red tends to become of a brick-dust hue.
" 28. Six-inch saucer-dishes painted in blue with the
'three friends' and figure scenes. (^ -^. ^ \ ^
The " three friends" (san yu) in ordinary Chinese par-
lance are the evergreen pine, the bamboo, and the winter-
flowering plum, whicli keep green in cold times of advei'-
sity. In the decoration of porcelain they are usually
grouped in a landscape scene with the figures of hermits
or aged pilgrims. But there is another group of " three
friends" in the persons of Confucius, Buddha, and Lao
Tzu, who are often depicted examining scrolls of ancient
lore, or engaged in distilling the elixir vitm.
" 29. Tea-dishes {ClCa P''an) painted in blue with a
pair of dragons, (W ffl SI ^ ®-"
There are no porcelain saucers in Chinese tea-sets, their
place being taken ])y boat-shaped saucers of metal, lac-
quer, or some other material. The tea-dishes referred to
here are little trays with upi'ight borders of oblong, foui-
lobed, or fluted outline, like the one that was described
under the reign of Chia-cli'ing^ with the imperial verse
inscribed upon it.
" 30. Six-inch saucer-shaped dishes decorated with
MODERN PERIOD (1796-1895). 479
green di-agons on a ground with scrolled waves incised in
the jiaste and painted in colors. (^ H§ 7}v U f |
" 81. liound dishes a foot in diameter, painted in blue
with archaic phoenixes. (W S IE Vffi K M)-"
The l^uei feng is tlie peculiar conventional phoenix of
ancient bronzes in which the body desjenerates into orna-
mental sci'oUs.
" 32. Round dishes nine-tenths of a foot across, with a
blue ground inclosing dragons and clouds painted in yel-
low. (M * ^ s a ii ;t t ^'•"
This is a very ancient style of decoration, \vhich w^e
noticed in the description of the imperial porcelain of the
reign of CMa-ching (1522-66). The piece is first treated
like an ordinary blue and white specimen, which is to
liave the decoi'ation reserved in white upon a mottled
blue ground, the white parts being subsequently enam-
eled yellow, and the dish being retired to fix the color.
" 33. Medium-sized bowls decorated with phoenix
medallions painted in i-uby-red underneath a pure wliite
grouiui. (ig e f IB s ji in H E tf .ffi)"
The red of the grand feu, ^\ Inch is derived from cop-
per, has had the name of pao sliao Imng, literally " ruby-
iired red," since the time of Hsilan-te (1426-35), when it
was first nsed in the decoration of porcelain, and there is a
widespread conviction in China that the color is actually
produced by rubies pulverized and combined with the
materials of the glaze. In the present day amethystine
quartz (tzu ying shih) is used in the preparation of the
color, but this can act only in modifying its solubility and
penetrative power, because, like the ruby, amethyst be-
comes colorless in the intense heat of the furnace. The
expression fienpai yu, which is used here to distinguish
the class from that painted in red under a celadon ground,
like No. 39 in this list, has also given i-ise to much misap-
480 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
prehension both in China and elsewhere. The character
fien., " filled in," is substituted for an older one of the
same sound meaning " pure " or " sweet," and the expres-
sion can hardly mean " a\ hite glaze to be filled in with
colors," although Du Sartel, in La Porcelaine de
Cliine, gives it so on Julien's authority, and makes
it the heading of a whole class, which, as a critic
justly observes, threatens to remain without a member
to I'epresent it.
*' 84. Teacups painted with yellow dragons and clouds
lelieved by a blue ground. (^ tt ^ S S f I
'' 35. Six-inch saucer-shaped dishes of copper-red. (^
"36. Medium-sized bowls of copper-red. (^ ^I ff*
" 37. Seven-inch saucer-shaped dishes of copper-red.
(* ir -b ^ ®."
" 38. Soup-bowls of depressed barrel-shaped form enam-
eled brown. (^ ^ f fll 1: ^ ?i ffi;)."
This glaze, called tzii clmi, or "burnished gold" {or
brunl), by the Chinese, is derived by them from a native
ferrug-inous mineral called tzu chin sliih, which is com-
bined with the glaze in the way so fully described in
Pere d'Entrecolles's Letters.
" 39. Medium-sized bowls painted with phoenix medal-
lions in red under a celadon glaze. (^ ^ fpl ^ H
a + ffl"
Tiung-chbing is the Chinese name of the soft sea-green
shade which we call celadon. In modern books it is
often written, as it is here, with "winter" as the first
character, as if it were " evergreen " ; originally it appears
to have been written with a character of the same sound
(tung) meaning " east," the tint being that of the porce-
lain produced during the Sung dynasty at the eastern
MODEKN PERIOD (1796-1895). 481
capital, the modern K'ai-feng-fu, in the province of
Honan. The combination of the decoration in under-
glaze copper-red of the grand feu Avith the celadon glaze
has been already noticed in the description of the porce-
lain of the reign of Yung-cheng.
"40. Seven-inch round dishes decorated in the five
enamel colors with spiral scrolls and words of hajijiy
augury. (£ ^ K » ^P S -fa "t M)"
The spiral-scroll design is likened by the Chinese to
" silkworm coils " ; forms of it occur on the most archaic
bronzes. A fitting felicitous inscription, which is often
displayed on modern imperial porcelain, is Wari shou tvu
cldang, " A myriad ages never ending ! " Several other
formulae were found in the lists of the Ming dynasty
given in Chapter VII.
" 41. Teacups (ChVc chung) decorated in the five enamel
colors with mandarin ducks and lotus flowers. (3S. ^
The beautiful -waterfowl called Anas galericulata is
commonly known as the '^ mandarin duck." They exhibit,
when paired, a remarkable attachment to each other, and
have thus become emblems of connubial love and fidelity
in a higher sj^here. This decoration is often met with,
and it has already been described in the ceramic art of
the Ming dynasty.
"42. Teacups (^Oli'a Wan) enameled deep blue. (^
The character chi is defined in dictionaries as the color
of the clear sky after rain, and clii chHng in ceramic par-
lance is the deep blue monochrome tint derived from
cobalt, which in its deepest shade, approaching that of
indigo, becomes the ta cliHng of the Chinese, the gros
hleii of Sevres. It may be either blown on to form the
"powder-blue" glaze, or painted on with the brush in
the ordinary way.
482 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
"43. Teacups (67i'« TF^i'/O decorated in colors with the
eight precious emblems. (^ J\^ ^ ^ ^)."
The I^a Pao referred to here are the eight precious
emblems of the Taoist cult, the several attributes of the
eight genii, or immortals, which are displayed on the
large pilgrim bottle in Fig. 50.
" 44. Large bowls decorated with the PaHsien painted
in blue, and sea-waves penciled in red. (^ ^ ^ TK
W ^ A I'll] X mr
The eight Taoist immortals crossing the sea in proces-
sion is a favorite subject of decoration for the sides of a
bowl, each one holding in his Ijands his distinguishing
attribute. A large bowl of the o\(\.famille verte is illus-
trated by the inimitable pencil of Jules Jacquemart in
Plate IX of Histoire de la Porcelaine, although the
author, in his description of the bowl, ingeniously discov-
ered an emperor and empress accompanied by a band of
musicians in the procession of figures.
" 45. Mediuai-sized bowls decorated inside in blue and
white, and outside in colors with lotus-flowers. (^ ■^
^ ^ ^ W « tf ffi)"
" 46. Bowls decorated with the eight symbols of happy
augury. (A ^ P ^)."
The Pa Glii-hsiang, the well-known set of eight Bud-
dhist symbols that are so often found on porcelain, were
figured and described in Chapter IV.
"47. Bowls of peach-yellow porcelain decorated in
green. (H ;fE t* ^ g ^)."
These are said to be invested with a monochrome
ground of the shade referred to, variegated with green
mottled clouds, which are overlaid in the style of some
of the composite ^6i'/?2/>e glazes.
" 48. Round dishes five inches in diameter with purple
and green dragons on a monochrome yellow ground.
i f I M 'K £ t
MODERN PERIOD (1796-1895). 483
This is a very favorite pattern in the imperial palace
to-day. It comes under the heading of the '^tliree-col-
ored decoration of the muffle stove." The outlines of
the designs are incised in the paste and filled in with
manganese-purple and copper-green glazes, so as to be
displayed on the enameled yellow })acl<ground. The
bottom is also coated yellow^, and the mark underneath is
penciled in green.
" 49. Three-inch platters (2/e// ) with purple and green
drao;ons on a monochrome yellow ground. (^ |J h1
" 50. Soup-bowls of the fourth size enameled bright
yellow. mWumM^&)\
" 51. Round dishes five inches in diameter, decorated
with phoenixes and clouds. (5 S £ "^ ^)-"
" 52. Medium-sized bowls decorated in the live colors,
with dragons and ]^h<:enixes in the midst of flowers.
(£ ^ ii a * ^ 4" ffi)"
" 53. Four-inch platters with purple and green dragons
on a monochrome vellovv ground. (^ ^ gg 5ra K k9
" 54. Round dishes nine-tenths of a foot in diameter,
decorated in colors with the eight Buddhist symbols of
happy augury in the midst of a floral ground, i:^ yv
"55. Large bowls decorated in colors, with ])li(enixes
of archaic design flying through flowers. (^ ^ HL $
There is a certain amount of repetition in this some-
what lengthy catalogue, but it is hoped that it may be a
useful contribution to the terminology of the ceramic art,
and it is with this view that the Chinese characters in the
original have been inserted under each heading. Actual
specimens of the articles described are not j'are in collec-
tions, and it is always safest to go back from the known
484 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
to the unknown, and it is more especially so in China,
where nothing modern is acceptable unless it be modeled
after the antique. Chinese decorative art in its present
phase is highly conventionalized. It has never been dis-
tinguished for originality, and some of its most promi-
nent motives, like the dragons and phoenixes that occur
so frequently in the lists, have been adopted from India
through Buddhist cliannels, and may be traced back to
the nagas and garudas of Indian mythology.
Another aspect of modern porcelain manufacture is the
direct and studied reproduction of older pieces. The
correct date is certainly inscribed upon the porcelain of
the imperial factory, but it is rarely, if ever, found upon
the productions of the private kilns. The most ambi-
tious efforts of the private potters are carefully copied
from ancient pieces, and the original marks, as well as
every detail of the ornamental designs, are exactly repro-
duced. For the rest, the general rule is that the com-
moner the ware the more ancient the mark ; and a visit
to any ordinary crockery shop in China will show that
nearly every blue and white cup on the shelves is marked
Hsi'mn-te, and that most of the colored ware is inscribed
CKeng-hua, although everything in the shop is avowedly
modern, and the pieces have not the slightest preten-
sions even in style to such an early date as the Ming
dynasty.
Some of the colorable imitations of celadons and other
single colors come from Japan, but Japanese porcelain
rings with a different note when tested, being made of
other materials than that of China. The Chinese are in
these latter days also coming to the front in the fabrica-
tion of fraudulent counterfeits, and have lately exported
blue and white vases decorated with figure scenes, as well
as others with a raottled-blue ground overspread with
prays and blossoms of prunus reserved in white, and the
MODERN PERIOD (1796-1895). 485
new pieces are occasionally brilliantly executed in this
K^ang-hsi style in a way to deceive the unwary. The
modern copies of the vases of the same period, decorated
in enamel colors, are much less successful, and may be
readily distinguished by the want of luster in the colors,
especially in the greens.
For the single colors the greatest pains are lavished by
the imitator upon the rarest and most expensive, as giving
the most remunerative result. The vase shown, in Fig.
297 is an example of a new specimen of satig-de-hoeuf
glaze of remarkably rich and brilliant color. It rivals a
genuine old Lang Yao vase in its varied i^lay of crimson
shades, albeit the crackled o-laze wants somethino; in
depth of tint. The technique, however, is less perfect ;
the thick, grayish, minutely crackled glaze with which
the interior is coated is deeply fissured in places, and the
foot of the vase has had to be ground on the wheel to
remove drops of glaze that have "run " down during the
firing. It is impossible to remove all traces of such
drops, which usually occur in modern pieces of the kind —
never on the old, when the glaze, which is uniformly dis-
tributed throughout, always terminates below in a
straight line of mathematical regularity, and the foot of
the vase exhibits no marks of the polishing wheel. The
glaze in the new pieces is much more fluescent, so that
the color tends to run down, and the upper rim of the
vase is often left perfectly white. I may perhaps be
excused a personal reminiscence to express my meaning :
On a visit to a curio-shop in Peking one day this year, I
was shown a small sang-de-hoeiif vase, the lower part of
which displayed the richest color, but the upper two
inches of the neck were a glassy white, and I remarked
that, were it not for the neck, it might well pass for an
old piece. A month later I was invited to see a collec-
tion that a traveler was making, and in the most promi-
486 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
nent position was exhibited the same little vase, neatly
mounted in a case, lined with pale blue silk, to throw
out its color. Two inches of the neck had been sawn off,
and the place had been so carefully rounded and polished
that no suspicion of the fact had occurred to the pur-
chaser, who fondly imagined that he possessed a genuine
antique of the first water. I must confess that I did not
expose the ingenious fraud of the " heathen Chinee " at
the time, but am driven to do penance now 2i^ particeps
crirainis.
For cutting porcelain the jade-carver's wheel is the
means commonly employed. The apparatus, which is
worked by a treadle, is fitted with flat disks of soft iron
of different sizes. The disk selected, w^hen it has been
fitted for use, is kept moistened at the edge with a paste
made of garnet or ruby powder mixed wdth water. It is
astonishing to see how" readily a large porcelain vase can
be cut horizontally in two, or the rim of a chipped piece
trimmed perfectly even, by a simple machine like this.
Many a neat ovoid vase has been carved in this way out
of the lowei' part of a broken Ijeaker ; and, by the same
means, originally oblong tiles, intended to be inlaid in
woodw^ork, are often found to have been bisected longi-
tudinally, so that the two faces may be framed and
mounted separately as companion pictures.
The imperial porcelain of the present reign of Kucvng-
hsii continues to be decorated in the same lines, and it
does not call for any special notice. There has been
some attempt at a revival of the ceramic art under the
patronage of the empress dowager, who has ruled
China durinii: two Ions; minorities. In addition to her
other accomplishments, she is a pi'ofessed artist and
calligraphist, and a picture from her pencil with her
autograph signature is often seen occupying the place
of honor among the birthday gifts of a high mandarin.
MODERN PERIOD (1796-1895). 487
The special seals attached to the porcelain made for her
palace have been already given in Chapter IV.
Quite recently Ching-te-cheu has been devastated
by Hoods brought down by the mountain torrents, and
a sad account of ruin and desolation is related by
Rev. Virgil C. Hart, D. J)., one of the latest missionary
visitors to the place. It is to be hoped that better times
are in store for China, and for the porcelain industry,
which was once one of her chief glories. As M. Gran-
didier says, in concluding his work (X<x Ceramique
Chinolse, page 224) : " The modern period, up to the
present day at least, is little worthy of our attention ;
the art is dormant, and holds itself aloof, disowned,
abandoned, dishonored. Cheapness attracts the buyer.
The fatal consequence is a common product ; quality
is incessantly sacrificed to quantity. The hour of
decadence struck a hundred years back, and there is
no sign by which to foresee any serious renaissance
near at hand."
CHAPTER XVII.
THE FORMS OF PORCELAIN OBJECTS AND THEIR USES
IN CHINA.
THIS is a wide subject, on which there is oppor-
tunity here for only a few desultory remarks. An
extensive collection of Chinese porcelain exhibits a long
series of objects of multitudinous shapes and sizes,
removed from their original habitat, and far from their
usual surroundings, so that the proper use of some of
the things can hardly be guessed by the uninitiated.
Images of Buddhist and Taoist divinities, torn from
their temple shrines, are grouped with profane figures,
and sacred ritual vessels, intended for ancestral offerings
of food and w^ine, are mingled promiscuously with
common utensils of daily life. A seated representa-
tion, for instance, of Maitreya, the Buddhist Messiali,
with rosary in hand, whose smiling features and luxuri-
ant fio-ure have earned for him in France the traditional
title of the Pousa or god of content and sensuality, is
placed close to the reclining figure of Li T'ai-po, the
celebrated poet, who has fallen, overcome with wine,
and is embracing his capacious wine-jar, designed to
hold water for the ink-pallet of a modern emulator of
his genius. An ecclesiastical vase from a Buddhist
altar, like the one of a pair, illustrated in Plate XX,
should be distinguished from an ornamental flower-vase
or a perf ame-sprinkler ; and a sacred libation-cup, or
a cup designed for use during the marriage ceremony,
from an ordinary wine-cup. Sweet-smelling flowers are
highly appreciated by the Chinese, and we see per-
488
THE FORMS OF PORCELAIN OBJECTS. 489
f orated baskets of porcelain in which they are sus-
pended before Buddhist altars, pierced cylinders and
boxes for the table, and openwork flasks, fashioned in
the form of scent-satchets, intended to be strung uj)on
a lady's girdle, filled with blossoms of the scented
jasmine or of the Olea fragrans. So one ought to be
able to diagnose the use of an incense-urn or a Joss-stick
holder, to recognize a bowl for goldfish, a flowei-pot, or
a dish for flowering bulbs, an arrow-receptacle (chien
thing), or a brush-cylinder (^9^ t\mg), the apparatus for
a game of gohang, or a dice-box. The dice-box is a little
round tray with a raised circular rim, within which fits
tlie dome-shaped cover in which the dice are shaken ;
this is taken off to show the result of the throw.
Cricket-fighting is another favorite pastime with the
Chinese, and the curved hollow cellules with movable
covers, in which the tiny champions are brought to the
fray and incited to combat, are sometimes molded out of
white biscuit porcelain, although ordinary faience^ being
more absorbent of water, is a better material for the
purpose. The cricket naturally lives in dam^^ places,
and, in solitary captivity, is kept in an earthenware jar
with a cover like an old-fashioned tobacco-Jar, the lid
of which is excavated to hold water. The cricket-bowls
of ancient porcelain that we read of are of wide, shallow
form, and are used as the arena of the fio^ht.
The author of the Tao Shuo, in the first chapter of
bis book, gives a brief sketch of the various kinds of
objects made during the present dynasty, the outlines
of which may be followed here with some amplification
by the way. He begins with a list of the sacrificial
vessels of bronze, dating from the Three Ancient
Dynasties, that are now all made in porcelain, including
the large vessels of varied form called tsun, the smaller
vases called lei, from their scrolled designs, the tripod
490 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
or four-legged bowls called thig^ the bowls without feet
(yi) for oiferiugs of corn, the wiue-jars (yu)^ and the
libation-cups (cliiieli). The forms of the ancient vessels
are not, however, always exactly copied, nor are the uses
necessarily the same in modei-n times. The ting and yi,
for example, which used to contain rice and millet, are
now employed for burning incense, which was unknown
in ancient China before the introduction of Buddhism ;
and the ancient vessels of bronze, fashioned in the form
of an elephant or of a rhinoceros, in which the holloAV
body contained the wine, are now represented by the
same animals, molded of solid porcelain, carrying on their
backs capacious vases with movable covers. The forms
of these are figured in the illustrated ritual books, and
accompanied by a minute description of the different
designs and dimensions.
Some idea of the variety of the sacrificial vessels may
be gathered from an account of the tables set out for the
ceremonial worship of the emperor at the T'ai Miao, the
Ancestral Temple in the Prohibited City at Peking, to
which he proceeds in state four times every year, to offi-
ciate as chief priest and preside over a banquet prepared
for the spirits of his ancestors. A i-ow of six libation-
cups (cliileh) tilled with wine is placed in front, followed
by four tureens of yellow porcelain containing soup and
broth, which include a pair of teng, tazza-shaped, with
solid stem and spreading foot, and a pair of Jising with
mask handles and three scrolled legs, all of which are
provided with covers. In the center are four deep
dishes, with spreading feet and shaped covers, made of
wood, lacquered and gilded, filled with boiled rice and
three kinds of millet, a pair of /'?^ of oblong shape, and a
pair of oval huei.^ These are flanked on either side by
* One of these dishes, made of yellow porcelain, is figured by Grandidier {La
Ceramigue Chinoise, Plate II, 7).
THE FORMS OF PORCELAIN OBJECTS. 491
twelve stemmed bowls with covers coutainiDg all kinds
of cooked dishes, sturgeon and minced carp, deer's
sinews, minced hare and minced deer, sweetbread, pickled
pork, etc., with cakes of different sorts, and fruit, includ-
ing hazelnuts, water caltrops, the prickly waterdily
{Euryale ferox), jujubes, and chestnuts ; the twelve
bowls {j)ien) on the right being made of closely Avoven
slips of bamboo, lacquered yellow, the twelve {tou) on
the left of carved wood, gilded. Next come three large
oblong metal trays on separate stands with the meat
offerings of a bullock, a sheep, and a pig. A box of
woven bamboo, in front of all, holds rolls of undyed silk
stuffs, which are burned so that the spirits of the deceased
may be clothed as well as fed.
The Wu Kung, or set of five sacrificial utensils, which
is never absent, is displayed in the foreground on a sep-
arate table, consisting of au incense urn in the centei\
with two pricket candlesticks and two side pieces. The
last are changed at each season, a pair of rhinoceros vases
(Jm tsun) being set out in the spring, a pair of elephant
vases (lisiang tsuii) in the summer, a cup-shaped pair of
vessels {cliu tsun) in the autumn, and a pair of plaiu
ovoid vases with spreading lips (Jiu tsun) in the ^vinter.
The ritual vessels for the Ancestral Temple are
enameled yellow, that beiug the imperial color. It is
aIso, in accordance with notions upon color symbolism,
which the Chinese share with other ancient Oriental
nations, the color of earth, so that the porcelain vessels
for the Altar of Earth in Pekins; are also enameled yel-
low, as Avell as those used by the emperor in his worship
of the patron god of agriculture, and by the empress in
her worship of the patron goddess of silk, at their
respective temples. Blue is the color of heaven, and its
temple is roofed with tiles of sapphire tint, and the ritual
vessels used upon the Altar of Heaven have to be
492 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
enameled blue, as well as those used in the Temple of the
Land and Grain, where the emperor offers annual sacri-
fices for a favorable harvest. Red is tlie symbolical color
of the sun, and the ritual vessels of porcelain displayed
upon its altar are still investe<l with that color, as they
used to be in the days of Jlsilan-te, when the famous
ruby-red, derived from copper, was first introduced for
the altar-cups to hold the wine offered up by that emperor
in the worship of the sun. White is the color of Jupiter,
the Year Star of the Chinese, and is reserved for the
sacred vessels used upon its altar.
Some of the Buddhist altar sets of five pieces (v)w
lung) that have just been referred to are noble speci-
mens of the ceramic art. A similar set is often seen on
Taoist altars, like that made by T'ang Ying for presenta-
tion to the Temple of Tungpa, near Peking, of which the
inscription was given in Chapter IV.
The same sacrificial set of five pieces is displayed upon
the domestic altar of larger Chinese houses, but in smaller
houses one sees perhaps only a single censer, like the
specimen of ivory-white Fuchien porcelain, illustrated in
Fig. 302, which is inscribed underneath wath the sacred
swastika symbol. In other cases a tazza-shaped cup is
placed before the sacred shrine, to hold a daily offering
of fresh flowers, flanked by a pair of lions mounted upon
pedestals, from which spring little tubes to hold the
molded rods of fragrant sawdust, which are commonly
called " joss-sticks " by foreigners, " joss " being the
pigeon-English corruption of the Portuguese Dios. The
burning of incense is an indispensable accompaniment of
every act of worship. One of these lions (shih-tzu) i&
exhibited in Fig. 303, and the tube which holds the stick
of incense is seen in the picture rising from the pedestal
at the back. The lion figures in Buddhism as a protector
of the faith. The tazza-cup is called ch'ing shui wmi, or
TIIE FORMS OF PORCELAIN OBJECTS. 493
" pure-water bowl " ; it may be replaced by a plain white
bowl of ordinary form, and the beautiful "lace-bowls" of
the reign of Ch^kn-lung are specially prized for the
purpose.
Two other Buddhist vessels may be noticed here, the
alms-bowl (Chinese j»<9, Sanskritj9a«!/'«), and the lustration
vase (Chinese tsao-p'ing, Sanskrit hundikd^, which eveiy
mendicant monk carried in olden times. The alms-bowl
is of flattened globular form rounding into a small circu-
lar mouth. The lustration vase, intended for ceremonial
ablution, is of more varied form ; one of them is pre-
sented in Fig. 304 with a tall, curved S23out springing
from the monstrous head of a dragon, which is richly
decorated with floral diapers and bands of conventional
ornament, painted in colors of the K^mig-Jisi period,
relieved by a tzu-chin ground of " old-gold " tint. The
older lustration vases are larger and of plainer form;
sometimes they are elaborately worked ift the paste,
under a crackled glaze of the Sung dynasty, with dragons,
frogs, fish, crabs, and all kinds of water plants — antitypes
of the famous Palissy ^vare, which is ornamented in simi-
lar style.
There is another incense apparatus with no religious
significance, which is provided as part of the furniture of
eveiy Chinese reception-room or library of any preten-
sions. The emperor is always represented as having one
on the table before his throne, and it is a necessary part
of the equipment of a scholars study. This is the San
She, or " Set of Three," which is so often seen mounted
on stands in Chinese collections, carved in jade, rock-
crystal, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and other precious ma-
terials, molded in bronze or silver, enameled in painted
or cloisonne work upon metal, as Avell as in faience
and porcelain. The three pieces of this set comprise
an urn (lu) for burning the chips of sandalwood or
494 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
other scented material with the fumes of which the
room is to be impregnated; a box (Jio) with a cover
to store the fragrant fuel ready for use ; and a vase
(^jy'ing) to hold the miniature tongs, poker, and shovel,
made usually of gilded copper, with which the fire
is kept up.
The Chinese literati are very particular in selecting
their library apparatus and writing-tools, and a long
series of scholars have published at different times a small
library of books on the subject. For the writing-table
there are porcelain pallets {yeii) ; rests for the cake of
ink {mo chuang) ; water-pots (sliui chJeng) of varied
form, with tiny ladles of gilt metal or coral inside ;
water-droppers (fi-tzii) of quaint designs, such as a tor-
toise or a three-legged toad distilling drops from its
mouth, a lotus-pod, or a miniature wine-ewer ; paper-
weights (^chen ehik), a coil of dragous, a scantily clad
urchin or gayly dressed girl reclining upon a leaf, or such
like; hand-rests (^;/^'6»)of oblong shape, with convex
surface, to support the ^vrist when ^vriting. The pencil-
brush {pi) of the writer or artist may be mounted in a
porcelain handle {pi kuan) ; it has a bath {pi hsi), a dish
in which it may be dipped and washed, which is often a
specimen of ancient celadon, or of some other celebrated
production of the older dynasties; "there is," according
to our Chinese authority, " a bed (^;/ chuang) for it to lie
down in, a rest {pi ho) for its support, the orthodox form
of which is a miniature range of hills, and a cylinder {pi
fung) for it to stand up in when not in use." The
ancient seals {yin) of the Han dynasty, which used to be
carved in Jade or molded in copper, are now all copied
in porcelain ; they are of oblong form, surmounted by
handles, fashioned in the form of a camel, a tortoise, an
archaic dragon or tiger, a curved tile or two interlacing
rings. Some of these seals have been dug up in Irish
THE FORMS OF PORCELAIN OBJECTS. 495
bogs, supposed to be of great antiquity, and a volume has
been published on the subject.""
There are oblong plaques of poi'celaiu, covei'ed ^vith
written inscriptions, or decorated with pictures, in blue
or \vhite, or in colors, jjrepared to be mounted as panels
in large leaf screens, framed in carved and lacquered,
wood ; decorated porcelain panels for inlaying in an
oblong wooden pillow, to provide a cool rest for the
head in the hot season ; hollow slabs of circular and
oblong shape, with pictures painted on both front and
back, to be inserted in the woodwork of beds, a round
slab being placed at the head of the bed in the middle,
succeeded by a series of oblong slabs, extending down
the sides, and triangular mounts for the legs. Then
there are porcelain mounts for the two ends of the
wooden rollers attached to scroll pictures ; porcelain han-
dles for walking-sticks ; sets of chessmen \vith boards,
and other games, including a pair of bowls, of the
traditional form of the Buddhist alms-bowl, for holdintr
the black and Avhite men for the game of wei-cK'i, the
^' miniature war practice " of the Chinese.
With regard to vases adapted for the display o'f cut
flowers to decorate the reception-room or library, it
would require a volume to describe all the varied shapes
and designs. Archaic bronze forms alone, in Avhich
China is so rich, afford an inexhaustible series of models,
as may be seen by a glance at the voluminous illustrated
books on the subject such as the Po hu fou, and the Ilsi
eliding hu chien catalogue of the imperial collection of the
Emperor Cli'ieii-lung, which have already been referred
to. The older ceramic productions supply another sug-
gestive source of inspiration, and according to the
T^ao ShvA), select specimens of the Ting-chou, Ju-chou,
crackled Ko Yao, and imperial porcelains (Kuan Yao) of
*Nottces of Chi/me Seals found in Ireland, by Edmund Gettj, Dublin, 1850.
496 OEIENTAL CEEAMIC AET.
the Sung dynasty, as well as porcelain vases of the
celebrated reigns of Hsilan-te, OJi'eng-hua, and Ohia-
ching, and cloisonne enamels on copper, of the reign of
Ching-tai, of the Ming dynasty, are sent down from the
palace, and gathered, besides, into the workshops at
Ching-te-chen from all parts of the empire for the
purpose.
The same book describes porcelain vases generally a&
ranging in size from a height of two to three inches up
to between five and six feet. In shape the hu are round,
like the ancient earthenware vessels of that name; the
tan are round and swelling below like the gall-bladder,
from which their name is derived ; the tsun are broad
and round in section, with low body and expanding
mouth, the hu of slender hornlike form, with vertical
ridges on the body and trumpet-shaped mouth ; these
last two are archaic bronze forms, being varieties of
what we, for some unexplained reason, call beakers.
There are two special works before us on flower-vases,
both of which were published toward the end of the
Ming dynasty in the beginning of the seventeenth cen-
tury. The first, entitled PHng sJiili, " History of Vases,"
is by Yuan Hung-tao, a famous scholar and high official
who died in 1624, and whose biography, together with
that of his two brothers, " The Three Yuan," as they were
called by their contemporaries, is recorded in the Ming
shiJt (or Annals). In his description of the forms he
says :
"Among the vases in private collections in the province of
Kiangnaii, the finest are the ancient beakers {hu) with trumpet-
shaped mouths, invested with a bright azure-blue penetrating into
the paste marked with patches of vermilion tint rising in slight
relief ; these may be termed golden halls for flowers. Next in
rank come select specimens of the imperial potteries of the Sung
dynasty, of the crackled Ko Yao, of the crackled white porcelain
I
THE FORMS OF PORCELAIN OBJECTS. 497
of Ilsiang-slian, near Ningpo, and of the ivory-white Ting-chou
ware ; these, when slender and graceful in form and of rich luster,
all make elegant cots for the fairy blossoms. Vases for the deco-
ration of the scholar's study ought not to he large and heavy, and
any of the porcelain productions of the above factories, such as the
vases shaped like paper-beaters, those with goose-necks, those
fashioned in the shape of aubergine fruit, the flower bags or baskets
{hua nang), the flower-beakers {hua tsun), the receptacles for
divining-rods, and the bulrush-shaped — any of these that are short
and small are suitable for chaste decoration."
The other book, called F Hng hua p^u, is a treatise on
vases and the methods of arranging flowers in them, by-
Chang Ch'ien-te, a son of the author of the CKi/ng pi
tsang, an antiquarian work that has ali-eady been quoted,
and for which he wrote a preface dated 1595. He says:
"In the art of floral decoration the first requisite is the selection
of the vases. In spring and winter they should be of bronze, in
sunmier and autumn of porcelain, on account of the variations of
temperature. The larger ones are placed in the reception-hall, the
smaller in the library, on account of exigency of space. Bronze
and porcelain are preferred to gold and silver, as harmonizing
better with the simple tastes of a scholar. Rings and pairs are to
be avoided, and special attention is to be given to rarity and beauty.
The mouth of a vase should be small and the foot thick, so that it
may stand firml}'^ and not emit unpleasant vapor."
The last paragraph recalls a favorite shape of the
Ming dynasty, slender below, enlarging upward to a
wide, bulging shoulder, and finally rounding into a small
narrow neck; this is the mei pHng or "prunus vase" of
the Chinese, who consider the form appropriate for the
display of blossoming branches of the mei luia, the
winter })lum ; in American auction catalogues it is often
called a '^gallipot," for some reason not clear to the
uninitiated. Gourds are considered most suitable for the
display of lotus-flowers, bulrusli-shaped vases for peony-
blossoms. The Chinese never arrange flowers in mixed
498 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
bouquets ; a spray or two of Ijamboo may be put with
orchids, or a few l)lades of reed or other water-phiut
with lotus-blossoms, that is all. The festivals of the four
seasons must be celebrated b}^ a lavish exhibition of their
floral emblems, the spring peony, the summer lotus, the
autumn chrysanthemum, and the winter prunus. Each
montli of the year, too, has its distinctive flower, which
the florist is expected to produce for his jjatrons in due
rotation, as well as to provide a supply of cut flowers
for other calendar holidays and festive occasions.
Next to vases for cut flowers we come to flowerpots
for growing plants, wliich are always pierced in the
bottom with one or more holes, and are often provided
with saucers. Some of the smaller ones, intended for
interior decoration, are finely modeled and elaborately
painted in colors. The ancient Chlin-chou flowerpots, in
their brilliant red coats of richly varied transmutation
tints, rank as the most valued treasures of the Chinese
connoisseur. The larger flowerpots, which are intended
for the veranda and balcony, are also of varied form and
design, being round, square, or polygonal, barrel-shaped,
or like a miniature tank with rolled sides, and in other
cases simulating the trunk of a tree or some grotesque
monster. Tlie large dragon fish-bowls (lurig hang) that
are placed on wooden stands in Chinese gardens or court-
yards and filled with lotus-plants or with goldfish have
been often referred to. Smaller bowls (^yu hang) of the
same shape are made for keeping goldfish in rooms, and
are often decorated in the traditional way with dragons ;
others are made in the shape of the Buddhist alms-bowl
as flattened globes with small circular mouths, the most
attractive of which, perhaps, are the white bowls in
which the sides have been pierced on geometrical lace-
work patterns and filled in with transparent glaze, giving
a charmingly light effect as they stand on a side-table in
THE FORMS OF PORCELAIN OBJECTS. 499
front of the window. The shaped dishes of foliated
outline mounted upon low, scrolled feet are for the
cultivation of narcissus-flowers, which it is the ambition
of every Chinese householder to have in full blossom
upon New Year's day ; the bulbs are supported in the
dish by a layer of pebbles and kept watered. A circular
dish of plainer form is generally seen upon one of the
tables at the same time piled up with a heap of Bud-
dha's-hand citrons or fragrant melons to perfume the air;
the large Yung-cheng dishes, of which one is illustrated
in Plate XLVIII, are used in the palace for this purpose,
and a still more choice receptacle for the fragrant fruit
is a dish of old Lung-ch'iian celadon, or of some other
kind of ancient porcelain of the Sung dynasty.
Many other objects are made of porcelain for the recep-
tion-room : Barrel-shaped seats (^Tso-hvti) ; slabs of rectan-
gular or circular shape for insertion in the tops of tables
and benches ; hanging baskets with pierced sides for
flowers, hanging lamps (Jcua-teng) of eggshell thinness, or
with openwork panels, like the two beautiful examples
illustrated on these pages ; and all kinds of boxes and
cabinets of varied shape and design.
Three characteristic forms of the floral receptacles with
pierced openwork sides through which the fragrance of
the flowers is diffused throughout the room, are shown
here. Fig. 306 is a hanging basket decorated in enamel
colors, with gilding of the ICang-hsi period, with floral
band near the rims, and the sides painted in black, green,
and yellow to simulate wicker. The cylinder w^hich fits
inside is painted in coral-red Avith scrolls of lotus and a
ring of spiral fret.
Fig. 307 shows a basket-shaped bowl, with a cover
surmounted by a lion, decorated in JPang-hsi colors.
The handle is painted in black lines upon a yellow ground
to imitate basket-work. The sides are pierced in six
500 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
panels of hexagonal trellis interrupted by cbrysanthe-
mum-llowers alternately red and liglit purple, and the
<jover has a similar openwork design. The borders are
painted with scrolls in red. The perfume globe, hsiang
chHu, in Fig. 308, is of light biscuit porcelain inlaid with
ICaiig-lisi colors, a bi*illiant green in combination with
the usual enamels of the oAdfamille 7'ose. The pierced
medallions contain alternately peony and lotus "flowers.
It has a tiny round cover for the introduction of the flowers,
and is strung with a silk cord, although it would usually
stand on the table. It is fashioned in the likeness of one
of the globular gourds which are often carved in open-
w^ork as receptacles for fragrant flowers, as cages for
singing cicadas, or to carry fighting crickets in safe cus-
tody inside.
There must always be a paii* of hat-stands (mao chia)
on one of the side-tables for visitors' hats, which are kept
on the head during calls of ceremony, but are allowed to
be taken oif on less formal occasions ; these are often
made of porcelain and vary very much in form. M.
Grandidier describes an elaborate porte-calotte exhibited
in his collection in the Louvre, consisting of a sphere
supjDorted by a long tube, to which it is buttressed by
branches of foliage, mounted upon a lobed stand with
trefoil feet, the globe being hollow so as to hold fire or
ice, according to the season, for the purpose of warming
or cooling the hat. Another not uncommon design has a
little box supported upon long, curved spindle legs with
a perforated lid, adapted to hold a scent sachet or a few
chips of sandalwood.
Having disposed of objects of utility, we come to those
intended solely for decorative purposes. To this class
belongs the great majority of the vases and jars seen in
Oriental collections. Their function is purely orna-
mental, although in form they are lineal descendants of
THE FORMS OF PORCELAIN OBJECTS. 501
the flower-vases, the wine-receptacles, and the Jars with
covers for storing preserved fruits and dried tea-leaves,
that were made for actual use in earlier times.
An ornamental group or set of five pieces is often seen
arranged in line on one of the long side-tables of tlie
Chinese reception-hall. This is the Wv She, or " Five
Set," and it may be either of a single color, or decorated
in one or several enamel colors, or painted in blue and
white. It consists of a vase (^l^ing)^ in which the mouth
is less in diameter than the body, placed in the middle, a
pair of jars (kuaii) with covers on each side of the cen-
tral vase, and a pair of beaker-shaped vases (htt), with
flaring mouths wider than the bodies, at the two ends of
the line. This arrangement differs from that of the gar-
niture de clie7ninee, or " mantelpiece set," of European
collections, which is also composed of five pieces of simi-
lar design displayed in line, but the central vase of the
Chinese *set is missing, its place being usurped by a third
covered jar; two other jars are placed at the ends of
the line, and the pair of beakers between the jars.
Tliis was the conventional " o-arniture " of the Dutch in
their interiors of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
in which the Oriental porcelain lighted up the old oak
furniture, and gathered an added brilliancy contrasted
with its dark settincr. These were ideal surrouudinofs for
the lustrous blue and white porcelain of the IV ang-hsi
epoch, and it could hardly be exhibited anywhere under
greater advantages.
One of these garnitures de cheminee has been photo-
graphed for Fig. 213. It is decorated in bands and
panels of varied form painted in bright enamel colors
with gilding, relieved by a monochrome tzu-chin ground
of coffee-brown tint. The ground is interrupted by
encircling bands and lambrequins of floral brocade, by
blossoms of peony, aster, peach, and plum, and by scrolled
502 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
aud foliated panels filled with pictures of landscape
scenes with temples and pagodas. The covers of the
Jars, enameled with the same brown ground, have leaf-
shaped reserves painted with peony-flowers. The pecu-
liar style of decoration is commonly known in Europe as
" Batavian," the Dutch having imported it so largely in
the last century, during the time that they were the chief
merchant-carriers from the far East.
The magnificent ovoid vases, five feet in height, with
bell-shaped covers on the top, which made their first
appearance toward the end of the reign of K'^aiig-lm.,
gorgeously decorated in colors of the famille rose, are
called by the Chinese ti p'ing, or " ground vases," their
place being on the ground at the sides of the entrance of
the hall, mounted upon low stands of carved wood. In
Europe they are seen occasionally on the grand staircase
of a palace, supporting branched chandeliers of ormolu.
A peculiar shape of the reign of K^uig-lisi is !he chien
thing, or " arrow cylinder." The Manchu Tartars have
always been famous for their skill in archery, and even in
the present day the military officer depends on it for his
promotion. The arrow receptacles are either tall cylin-
ders, or of square tubular form, and are mounted in
socketed pedestals of the same material surrounded by
an openwork railing. They are very richly decorated in
the brilliant enamel colors of the period, combined with
relief molding and chiseled openwork, as exemplified in
the characteristic specimen in Fig. 313.
The small vases with thin necks tapering upward to a
contracted orifice, like the pair of which one is pre-
sented in Fig. 309, are perfume sprinklers (Jisiang shui
ping^. This pair, which came from the collection of a
Persian prince, uncle of the Shah, had been mounted in
that country with metal, and doubtless used there for
sprinkling\ose-water, the favorite scent of the Persians.
I
THE P^ORMS or POECELAIN OBJECTS. 503
The porcelain is, of course, Chinese, and it is decorated in
the chai'acteristic style of the K''ang-hsi period with a
powder-blue ground, interrupted by three reserved medal-
lions of quatrefoil, pomegranate, and fan shape, which are
lightly penciled in underglaze blue upon a white ground
with wild flowers growing from rocks.
The smallest vases of all are the snuff-bottles {yen hu),
one or two of which are generally laid upon the small
table that stands on the divan of a Chinese reception-
room, with little ivory spoons attached to the stoppers
inside, to ladle out the contents. The tobacco plant is
indigenous to America, and there is no reason for doubt-
ing that it was introduced into the Far East by Spanish
or Portuguese ships at about the same time that it
reached Europe. In fact, the Chinese Emperor Wan-li
(1573-1619) vied with his contemporary, James I of
England, in fulminating edicts which he issued against
the new weed, that was then just coming into vogue in
China. It flourished, notwithstanding, and in the pres-
ent day it is cultivated throughout the empire and
smoked alike by man, Avoman, and child. But the little
bottles seem to have been made in China before the
introduction of snuif, and the apparent anachronism is
due to the fact that they Avere originally intended to
hold valuable aromatics or rare drugs, Avhich is proved
by their old name of yao p'iiig, or "medicine-bottles."
Glass bottles are now gradually coming into use for the
purpose, but old-fashioned druggists still send out their
pills in the little porcelain flasks. The 'itinerant medi-
cine-venders often have a supply of these little flasks
made to order, with their professional name inscribed on
one side, and perhaps a quaint superscription on the
other, like chH tal or pa tai, "seven generations" or
" eight generations," to indicate that the secret formula
has been a hereditary possession for so long a period.
504 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Before tbe Portuguese ships appeared in the Indian
Ocean and interrupted tlie traffic, Chinese junks visited
the coasts of Africa and Arabia, and seem to have taken
a quantity of these medicine-bottles of coarse fabric and
rough manufacture to store the precious aromatics which
formed the most valuable part of their cargo. Little
bottles of the kind are found to-day in Cairo, and their
fraudulent introduction into ancient tombs by the Arab
workmen has led some to claim for them a fabulous
antiquity, after Rosellini,* who describes one as having
been " found by him in an Egyptian tomb which had
never been o])ened before, and the date of which be-
longed to a Pharaoh reigning not later than the eighteenth
century before Christ." Their false pretensions have
been long ago exposed by Sir Walter Medhurst and Sir
Harry Parkes, in the Transactions of the China Bi'anch
of the Royal Asiatic Society, and need hardly have been
alluded to here, had one not seen a row of the so-called
snuff-bottles exhibited among true Egyptian antiquities
in the AbVjott Collection in New York, and found Dr.
Prime boldly claiming, in his book on the Pottery of all
Times and Nations published in 1879, an age of a thou-
sand years for tliree snuff-bottles in his own collection,
obtained by him from Arabs at Thebes and Cairo.
There is a peculiar attraction in Chinese snuff-bottles,
and I have seen three envoys of great European powers
at Peking vying with each other in the acquisition of
rare specimens. They are made of many other materials
besides porcelain, such, for example, as cameo-glass, jade,
rock-crystal, amethyst, caruelian, chalcedony, heliotrope,
sardonyx, chrysoprase, turquoise, agate, nielle bronze^
damascened iron, painted and cloisonne enamels, carved
cinnabar lac, etc. Several pamphlets have been written
on the subject, the latest of which is the beautifully
* I Monumenti delV Egitto, etc., vol. ii, p. 337. Pisa, 1834.
THE FORMS OF PORCELAIN OBJECTS. 505
illustrated contribution, under the title of CJdnese Snuff-
Bottles by Mr. M. B. Huish to the Opuscula of the Odd
Volumes Sette, of which, unfortunately, only one hun-
dred and forty-nine copies have been printed, the circu-
lation being;; limited to Odd-Volume members.
Of the porcelain snuif-bottles several of quaint form
and cunning device have been selected for some of the
head-pieces for these pages, and Plate XXXVII is
specially devoted to their illustration. The collection
exhibits, in epitome, many of the diiferent processes of
decoration, including single colors plain and crackled,
painting in blue, red, and in many colors, relief modeling
and openwork carving in those provided with a pierced
outer casing. The different forms of larger vases are
reproduced in miniature, single or bijugate ; there are
flasks upright and recumbent, gourds of all kinds, trellis
designs, and basket Avickerwork. One little bottle simu-
lates a bursting cob of maize, another the fruit of the
eggplant, a third is fashioned, as it Avere, of two lotus-
leaves joined together, a fourth of a pair of butterflies.
A quaint form is that of a Chinese damsel whose
inverted body is the receptacle for the snulf, while one
leg is hollowed for the spoon, which is cemented to the
tiny porcelain foot that is made to officiate as the
stopper of the strange bottle.
The civil mandarin may have the one hundred and
eighth bead of his official rosary, or the clasp of his
girdle, made of porcelain ; the military mandarin, the
broad ring which protects his thumb against the bow-
string, or the little tube which is attached to the top of
his hat to hold the streaming peacock's feather. Chinese
ladies are said to possess in their inner apartments
boxes, large and small, for holding powder, rouge, and
other cosmetics, in which they indulge so freely, as well
as bottles for liquid scents ; they occasionally wear in
506 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
their headdress elaborate liairpins of porcelain, they
adorn theraselv^es with earrings and bracelets, fasten
their robes with porcelain rings and buttons, and attach
ornamental pendants to their girdles. Some of these
things are very delicately decorated. There is a certain
badofe worn at relio;:ious ceremonies which often finds its
way into collections ; it has inscribed on one side the
Chinese characters chai chieh, " fasting and abstinence,"^
inclosed within an ornamental frame, and on the other
side the same motto in the Manchu script ; it may be of
oblong or oval form, or shaped like a double gourd.
The pretty little vase-sha])ed receptacle in Fig. 314,,
with globular body and wide-spreading neck, is an
imperial hand-spittoon (cha-toii). It is decorated in twa
shades of coral-i'ed with a pair of five-clawed dragons
pursuing pearls in the midst of clouds, a band of conven-
tional flowers, and rings of gadroon and spiral fret. It
may be referred confidently to the ClxHen-luung period^
although there is no mark underneath. A pair of taller
vessels of the same form are usually seen on the toilet-
table in a Chinese room, perhaps with a toothbrush
standing up in one ; they take the place of glass
tumblers with us.
Our Chinese guide proceeds next in the T\io Shuo to
give a brief enumeration of the porcelain services and
other things made for the dinino-.room. He beo-ins with
rice-spoons, teaspoons, and the chop-stick service. The
latter consists of a pair of chop-sticks for each guest
(which he uses in lieu of knife and fork) and a number
of little saucer-shaped dishes of varied form, some empty,,
for the guests to lay their chop-sticks on, or to use as they
help themselves from the bowls that are being constantly
brought in courses of four or eight plats ; others dotted
about the table filled with melon-seeds, peach-kernels^
nuts, and sweetmeats. The " drageoirs," or comfit-dishes^
THE FORMS OF PORCELAIN OB.JECTS. 507
are sometimes modeled in the form of a large lotus-
flower or plum-blossom in movable compartments, so
that they can be taken to pieces to form separate little
dishes for the dining-table. Comfit dishes of this floral
or geometi'ical design, dating from the reign of ICang-hsi,
are often very richly decorated, being enameled sur'
biscuit with graceful scrolls of the same flower, displayed
upon a bright green or buff-colored ground.
The ditt'erent kinds of bowls, teacups, wine-cups,
dishes and platters have been already referred to, and it
is not necessary to describe all the various forms of
teapots and wine-ewers. The tall ewers of cylindrical
shape with tiara-fronted tops, like that in Fig. 168, are
used by the Chinese for iced fruit-sirups ; the Mongols
are fond of the same design foi' their Icouniis or milk-
wine ewers, which are made of bronze or silver. The
ordinary wine-cups of the Chinese are small, sometimes
not larger than thimbles ; marriage wine-cups are of
more elaborate design ; sacrificial libation-cups are
molded in the form of bronze ritual- vessels with hieratic
designs. For the dining-table there are also vinegar-
cruets, oil-lamps, pricket candlesticks, and square recep-
tacles for the snuff from the candles (la tou), made of
porcelain. For daily use there are wash-basins, pots,
and pans, and jars of manifold form and capacity, which
need not be minutely described.
Some of the dinner services used for sendins: out
dinners from restaurants are of very elaborate character,
the covered dishes being molded in the form of ducks,
fishes, and the like, so as to indicate the nature of their
contents.
White services, decorated with arabesques and other
designs incised in the paste under the glaze, are intended
for use during mourning. Imperial mourning-bowls are
etched with five-clawed draorons under the white srlaze.
CHAPTER XVIII.
PECULIAR TECHNICAL PROCESSES. CRACKLE PORCELAIN.
FURNACE TRANSMUTATIONS. SOUFFLES. LAQUE BUR-
GAUTEE, PIERCED AND " RICE-GRAIN " DESIGNS.
WHITE SLIP, ETC.
BEFORE proceeding to a consideration of the colors
and the motives of decoration of Chinese porcelain^
a few words may be said on certain characteristic tech-
nical processes of their ceramic art. Some of the
peculiar methods referred to have been successfully imi-
tated in Japan, as well as, more recently, in Western
countries, but they were all first invented in China, the
original country of the art.
Crackle porcelain is one of the most peculiar produc-
tions of the Oriental potter, and has not been success-
fully imitated elsewhere. Several of the most ancient
wares are distinguished by their crackled glazes. There
lies on the table before me at tlie present moment a col-
lection of potsherd fragments of bowls and dishes dating
fj'om the Sxing and Yuan dynasties, recently dug up
within the precincts of the city of Peking, which are all
crackled. The glaze lias been laid on so thickly in some
of these ancient pieces that it is actually thicker than the
underlying paste, accounting so far for the hackneyed
native simile of " massed lard." It ranges in color
through all shades of purple to the j^ale cerulean tint
known as yueh pal, or elair de hme, and has its lustrous
depth traversed by an infinity of lines so as to look like
fissured ice. The Chinese collect such fragments of old
vessels, when the color is suflficiently attractive, to mount
508
PECULIAR TECHNICAL PROCESSES. 509
them in girdle clasps, or to frame them in gilded metal
for use on the study-table as rests for the wrist of the
writer, etc. An old legend declares that the azure-tinted
j)orcelain of the ancient Imperial House of Ch'ai, whicli
flourished in the tenth century, was so brilliant that a
fragment placed in front of the helmet of a warrior
would even deflect the course of an arrow.
There are two varieties of the old celadon porcelain
made at Lung-ch'iian during the Sung dynasty which
differ in the glaze, one being uncrackled, while that of
the other was crackled. The invention of this last was
attributed, as we have seen in Chapter V, to an elder
brother of a family of potters named Chang, and it was
from this fact that it first came to be known as Ko Yao,
ko meaning " elder brother." Another common name for
crackled porcelain is sui clt'i, sui meaning " broken," or
" shattered in pieces." This name, derived from the
mosaiclike aspect of the glaze, looking, it was said, as if
the porcelain were made of a thousand sej)arate pieces
cemented together, also dates from the Sung dynasty,
when it was applied to the crackled porcelain produced
at Chi-chou, in the province of Kiangsi. Tliis is de-
scribed in the old books as resembling the ancient ho
yao, both in color and in being I'eticulated with lines like
fissured ice. Descriptive names of crackle that are often
met with are pbig-lieh, " fissured ice," which is applied
to the coarser variety, and yii tzii, " fish-roe," ^vhich is
applied to the variety with a closer crackled network
that is called by French ceramic writers truitee, oji
account of its fancied resemblance to the fine scales of
the trout.
Crackling, as has been explained in Chapter XV, is
due to a physical cause. It may happen accidentally in
some pieces during the firing of a European furnace,
although it is then considered to be a defect. Its
510 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
productiou in China even was doubtless originally acci-
dental ; but it had to be produced artificially in the imita-
tion of the old glazes which exhibited this peculiarity,
until finally the Chinese potter was enabled to produce
it at will. The crackled glaze in the present day, accord-
ing to the Ching-te-chen T''ao lu, is pre[)ared from a
natural rock found at San-pao-p'eng, from which place it
is brought to the manufactory in the form of prepared
bricklets called sui cli'i tun^ or " crackled-ware bricklets."
These, when finely levigated, produce the ordinary
crackled glaze ; when they are roughly washed the
crackled lines appear at larger and wider intervals. In
the old crackle of the Sung dynasty, made at Chi-chou,
the porcelain, which was heavy, thick, and of strong,
coarse texture, was coated with glazes of two colors,
either rice-gray or light blue. The mosaic-like crackled
lines were produced by the addition of hua-shih, or stea-
tite, to the materials of the glaze. When ink or vermil-
ion was rubbed in, and the su2:)erfluity rubbed off after
the piece was finished, a charming network of fissured
lines appeared of subdued black or red tint.
There was another variety of crackled porcelain pro-
duced at the same manufactory in which a decoration in
blue was added to the grayish-white crackled ground,
being painted on the raw body before the application
of the glaze. Specimens of archaic-looking crackle
roughly decorated in blue, generally with dragons,
are found in the present day in Borneo and other
islands of the Eastern Archipelago. They are highly
prized by the Dayaks and handed down in families
as heirlooms. Some of them may date from the Sung
or Yuan dynasties, like the plain crackled ware with
which they are associated. The little tripod censer in
Fig, 66, although it may not perhaps be so old, is a good
illustration of the style.
PECULIAK TECHNICAL PROCESSES. 511
There is another kiud of crackled porcelain of more
modern date than the last, in which the surface, origi-
nally white, is tinted pink or crimson. It is represented
by comj:)aratively small pieces, such as vases a few inches
high, teacups, and the like, and the surface is usually
tiiiely crackled, or truitee. The color is produced by
yen-chill hung, or rouge d'o)\ combined with a flux, and is
the same as that employed for the celebrated ruby-
backed dishes. The crackled piece, after it has been
fired, is placed in a little cage oi- netting made of iron
wire and heated strongly in a coal fire ; it is then re-
moved, and the color, suspended in water, is blown on
the heated surface with the usual bamboo tube covered
with gauze ; it produces immediately the effect desired,
and requires no further firing.
Crackled porcelain may also be decorated in enamel
colors, which are fixed in the oi'diuary way by a second
firing in the mufile stove, and some very beautiful bowls
of the K''ang-hsi period illustrate this combination. The
style and technique of the colors fix the date, if the bowl
be not marked, with a certainty that could hardly be
attained by an examination of the crackled glaze alone.
A striking example in the present collection is the
statuette of Kuau Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, which is
reproduced in colors in Plate LX.
With regard to the crackled glaze in single colors,
v/hich include some of the most attractive of Chinese
monochromes, they are well represented in the colored
plates. The Chinese potter claims to be able to crackle
any one of the monochrome glazes by introducing some
of the mii-cli'i tun, or " crackle petuntse," into the ingre-
dients. Some of the single colors, however, such as the
coral-red produced by iron, and the rouges d''or of pink
and ruby shades, are never in actual practice so treated.
These colors are so delicate as to require no extrinsic
512 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
adornment to add to their charm. Some others of the
monochromes, on the contrary, are always crackled, such
as the turquoise-blue derived from copper, and the auber-
gine purple of cobaltiferous manganese, both couleurs cho
demi^g rand feu. Turquoise crackle in its varied shades is
fully 'illustrated in Plates XCIII, LXXXIV, XLV, and
LXXV ; and a magnificent vase of finely crackled purple
blue of deepest and richest tone is presented in Plate
XXIX.
Several of the early ceramic productions of the Sniu/
and Yuan dynasties are distinguished by their crackled
glazes, like the two pieces illustrated in Plate XII. It
was during his repeated attempts at the reproduction
of such ancient pieces that the modern Chinese potter
acquired his skill in the management of crackle. The
modei'n representation of the old dair-de-lime crackled
glaze of Ju-chou is the vase illustrated in Plate LXXVII^
with its glaze of the color technically known as ^'2/ yu —
i. e., '' Juchou glaze " — varying from pale blue to gray^
traversed by a reticulation of reddish lines; the repre-
sentative of the purple-colored imperial w^are (huan yao)
of the soutJiern Sung dynasty is the crackled lavender
vase in Plate XLIII, with its brown-tinted mouth and
its foot artificially coated to simulate the brown paste of
the original model. In a similar fashion the crackled
white Fen Ting vases exhibited in Plates LXXXIX
and XCI, both of which date from early in the present
dynasty, are the representatives of the ancient ivory-
white crackled porcelain made at Ting-chou in the
Sung dynasty, from which they take their name ; and
the crackled grayish-green vase in Plate LXXXVI
is a representative of an ancient celadon.
The most brilliant of all the crackles is the celebrated
Lang-yao of the reign of K''ang-lisi, already described
in Chapter X, the original sang-de-hcevf of ceramic
PECULIAR TECHNICAL PROCESSES. 513
connoisseurs, which ranks deservedly among the highest
achievements of the Oriental potter. Its gorgeous
mottled dress of mingled tones of crimson and ruby
shade can be seen in the four vases, selected from the
series in the collection, to be illustrated in Plates LIX^
LVII, I, and LVI. The largest and most characteristic
example, perhaps, is the vase in Plate LIX, which shows
the crackled texture of the glaze, the stippled ground,
and the vertically streaked play of rich colors, passing
from the deepest crimson through all intermediate shades
to pale apple-green toward the rim. The tall, graceful
vase in Plate LVI and the beaker in Plate I both ex-
hibit rich, full tones of red, deepening in the latter
case almost to black upon the shoulder of the vase.
But a more j)erfect example than the bottle-shaped
vase in Plate LVII, in its rich coloring and finished
technique, could hardly be imagined, and it displays
near the base the typical patch of apple-green which
is so often associated with the ox-blood red. An occa-
sional vase of the Lang yao type is seen, in which the
crackled glaze is entirely apple-green (^p'ing-lcvo clCing^y
with perhaps a patch of red near the lower rim.
The green monochromes of Chinese porcelain are
generally produced by copper, the exceptions being
the celadon proper, or tung-chHiig, the sea-green tint
of which is due to ferruginous clay, and the modern
representatives of the old Lung-ch'lian celadons, which
are brought to a more pronounced grass-green or olive-
green hue by the addition of a small dose of cobalt
to the ingredients of the former glaze ; any of these
celadon glazes may be purposely crackled. A brilliant
green derived 'from copper is the leading note in the
decoration with colored enamels of the K^ang-hsi period,
and the same color appears naturally in the foreground
among the monochromes of the time. It is distinguished
514 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
by its marked iridescence, a quality which is displayed
in a high degree by the vase illustrated in Plate LXXIX.
The vases in Plates LXXXI and LXXVIII are invested
with crackled green enamels of two of the shades com-
prised by the Chinese under the name of hua-p'i I'ii, or
^'cucumber-green," which is fairly distinctive, although
other names are used in European books, such as
^'camellia-leaf green," or "apple-green." Tlie last term
ought, I tliink, to be confined to the pale green so
often found upon porcelain, associated with tlie " apple-
red," which is also due to copper ; the same dual com-
bination that occurs curiously on the rind of a ripe
apple. The fourth vase of green crackle, illustrated
in Plate XXVII, is a typical example of the "fish-roe
green " {iju-tzu-cK ing) of the Chinese, which, like its
congener, the truitee yellow or nuistard crackle, was
a favorite glaze of the OKien-lung period. A fine
specimen of this yii-tzu huang, or "fish-roe yellow," of
the Chinese, is displayed in Plate LXXXVII.
The discussion of transmutation colors succeeds that
of the ordinary crackled porcelain by natural transition,
because tliey attain their most brilliant effect in com-
bination with a crackled glaze. The name of "furnace
transmutation " is a literal rendering of the Chinese
term yao pien, which is applied especially to the flmnhee
porcelain of variegated coloring, due to different degrees
of oxidation of the copper silicates to which it owes
its bi'illiant hues, passing from the warmest crimson
through all intei'mediate shades to turquoise-blue. It
is difficult to depict in words the gorgeous effect of
the varied play of colors in this decoration, which is
justly considered to be one of the most marvelous
products of the Orient. The cause of this transmuta-
tion is well known. Copper in its first degree of oxida-
tion gives to the vitrified glaze the bright ruby-red tint
fl
PECULIAR TECHNICAL PROCESSES. 515
known to the Chinese as eld hung^ or '■'■ sacrificial red " ;
witli more oxygen it produces a brilliant green, and at
its highest degree of oxidation a turquoise-blue. Any
of these effects may be produced in the chemical labora-
tory. In the furnace the various modifications are pro-
duced suddenly by the manipulation of the fire. In
a clear fire with a strong draft all the oxygen is not
consumed, and is free to combine with the metal in
fusion. If, on the other hand, the fire be loaded with
thick smoke, the carbonaceous mass will greedily absorb
all the free oxygen, and the metal will attain its mini-
mum degree of oxidation. So, when placed in a given
moment in these various conditions by the rapid and
simultaneous introduction of currents of air and sooty
vapors, the glaze assumes a most picturesque appearance;
the surface of the piece becomes diapered with veined
and streaked colorations, changing and capricious as
the flames of spirits ; the red oxide passes thi-ough
violet and green to the pale blue peroxide, and is even
dissipated completely upon certain projections, which
become w^hite, and thus furnish another happy fortuitous
combination.
The transmutation glazes are of ancient date in China,
some of the Chiin-chou porcelains of the Sung dynasty
being of this class. The name of Lo hem ma fei — i. e.,
"mule's liver and horse's lung" — was, in fact, invented
as descriptive of the mingled colors of one of the
varieties of Chiin-chou vases which was sent down from
the palace in the reign of Yunng-cheng to be copied at
Ching-te-chen. The name ^vas well chosen, suggesting,
as it does, what has been described by an expert* as
the mixture of red, blue, violet, and yellowish green,
flowing over the porcelain like a kind of lava of blood,
lungs, and liver, chopped up and melted into enamels.
* La Porcelaine, par Georges Vogt, p. 23.
516 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
The idea of liver-colored would suggest brown as well,
and we often, indeed, found tbis color present in the
old jiambe glazes, due doubtless to the presence of iron.
The occurrence of yellow and brown spots on certain
-fiambes is always a sure indication of the existence of
iron.
Pere d'Entrecolles, in his second letter dated in 1722,
the last year of the long reign of the Emperor ICang-hsi,
writes : " There has just been brought to me one of
those pieces of porcelain that are called yao-'pieii, or
transmutation.' This transmutation occurs in the fur-
nace, and is caused either by some defect or excess in
the firing, or perhaps by some other causes which are
not easy to conjecture. This piece, which was a failure,
according to the workman, and ^vhich was the eifect of
pure chance, was none the less beautiful nor the less
highly prized. The workman had designed to make
vases of red souffle. A hundred pieces had been entirely
lost ; the one alone of which I am speaking had come
out of the furnace resembling a kind of agate. If one
were willing to run the risk and the expense of repeated
trials, one might discover, as the result, the art of mak-
ing with certainty what chance had produced a single
time." The words of the worthy Father are prophetic,
for it was early in the succeeding reign of Yung-clieng
that the art was verily discovered and rapidly brought
to perfection ; the best pieces of this class are rarely
marked, but the rare marks are seals of Yung-clieng and
ChHen-lu7ig, which are sometimes impressed in the paste
underneath.
The process described above may be characterized as
the academic transmutation method. In actual practice
the result is often aimed at in a more artificial way. The
piece, coated with a grayish crackle glaze, or ^vith a
ferruginous enamel of yellowish-brown tone, has the
PECULIAR TECHNICAL PROCESSES. 517
transmutation glaze applied at the same time as a kind
of overcoat. It is put on with the brush in various ways,
in thick dashes not completely covering the surface of
the piece, or flecked on fi'om the point of the brush in a
rain of drops, etc. The piece is finally fired in a reducing
atmosphere, and the air, let in at the critical moment
when the materials are fully fused, imparts atoms of
oxygen to the copper, and speckles the red base with
points of green and turquoise-blue, so that the glaze
becomes vitrified into the characteristic variegated hues
as it gradually cools. An inspection of the pieces will
indicate the various methods of application. The hexag-
onal vase, for example, illustrated in Plate LXXXVIII,
has a crackled o-laze of olive-brown tint overlaid with
thick splashes of jlamhe glaze, which have run down
in the kiln in massive drops, so as to stand out on
the surface of the vase in marked i-elief. The recep-
tacle for divining rods in Plate XXIII, which is a more
modern piece, with a thinner glaze, also indicates, from
the association of olive-brown with the mottled grays
and purples which bedizen its sides, the presence of iron
as well as of copper.
A curious combination of the transmutation o-laze
with blue and white decoration is presented in the vase,
attributed to the early CJiHen-lung period, that is shown
in Fig. 312. It is painted in underglaze blue with a
landscape scene, hills with temples and pavilions, and a
lake with boats upon it, and with bands of rectangular
fret round the rims. This is overspread with splashes
oijlambe glaze, so as nearly to conceal the picture under
variegated clouds of purple, crimson, and olive-bro^vn
tints, which become crackled where the glaze is thin.
The interior of the vase is coated with the same crackled
and varieo-ated o:laze.
The next special technical process to be noticed is that
518 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
of the application of soiiffih. The bamboo tube with
gauze tied over one end that is used by the potter has
already been described. With that the Chinese blow
on the ordinary white glaze in repeated layers, as well as
many of the single colors, such as the cobalt-blue, the
high-fired reds derived from copper, the coral-red produced
by iron, the pinks and carmines of gold, and the pure
metals, gold and silver combined with a lead flux. The
colors applied in this way can generally be I'ecognized
by the stippled aspect of the glaze, which is well marked
in the sang-de-hoenf glaze of the Lang Yao, and in the
ruby-red monochrome of the succeeding reign oE Yung-
cheng, which is one of the most characteristic glazes of
the class of porcelain known as Nien Yao. What we
have especially to notice now are the compound glazes
in Avhich a second color is blown upon a monochrome
previously prepared. Such is the " Robin's Egg," or
Okiin Yu, which was alluded to in Chapter XIII as a
souffle glaze with a greenish-blue flecking and dappling
on a reddish ground, the red being subordinate to the
blue. The second color in these compound glazes is
either blown on so as to cover the entire surface of the
first with a delicate stippling, combining with and
modifying the original tint, such as red upon a green or
yellow ground, or green upon yellow ; or it is projected
in layer drops, which dapple the surface or run down
over the piece in regular veins, leaving traces like tears.
One of the best-known glazes of this class is the CKa-
yeh-ino^ or " Tea-dust " glaze, produced by the insufilation
of green enamel upon a yellowish-brown ground, which
owes its color to iron. The combination produces a
peculiarly soft tint of greenish tone, which was highly
prized in the reign of Cli'ien-lang, w^hen it was invented,
so that a sumptuary law was made, according to M.
Billequin, restricting the use of this color to the emperor,
PECULIAR TECHNICAL PROCESSES. 519
to evade which collectors used to paint their specimens
with imaginary cracks, and even to put in actual rivets,
to make them apj^ear to be broken.
Another souffie combination of the same time produced
the THeli-lisiu-liua^ or ' ' Iron-Rust Decoration," whicli
has been described in Chapter XIV, and is well illustrated
in colors in Plate XIX. The K'u-tang4^ai^ or "Ancient
Bronze Coloring," which is one of the chief triumphs of
the same reign of CJi'ien-linuj^ offers some analogies to
the iron-rust decoration. There is a specimen in the
Miisee du Louvre (No. 248) which, according to M.
Jacquemart, when placed among bronze objects can not
be distinguished from them ; it is necessary to examine it
closely and to touch it to recognize the work of the
potter. The ground of the piece is bronze-colored, some
of the salient parts being gold-tinted ; while the decora-
tions impressed upon the sides, in the style of metal
casting, have received in the hollow parts a greenish-
blue enamel, which simulates perfectly the natural oxida-
tion of an ancient copper object. A smaller specimen
of similar character is shown in Fis;. 274.
Some of the many imitations of natural materials on
which the Chinese pride themselves were referred to in
the same chapter. There are cups simulating walnut-
wood, with the grain so perfectly rendered in painted
enamels that it is difficult to believe, ^^^ithout handling
them, that it is not the actual veining of wood. The
vase in Fig. 316 is enameled inside and outside in colors
of the K\ing-lisi period, laid on siir hisciiit, to look like
to]'toise-shell.
The carved cinnabar lac, of which a specimen was
illustrated in Plate XXXVII, 4, is sometimes laid and
worked upon a porcelain base, such as a vase or cup. It
is also pei-fectly imitated in porcelain, with the designs
modeled in the paste in similar relief and enameled
520 OKIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
vermilion. There is another peculiar combination of the
incrusted lacquerwork with porcelain, which has been
named 'porcelaiiie laquee hwt^gauUe after hurgau^ the
French name of the shell of the turbo. This was first
noticed and described by Jacquemart, but he erroneously
attributes it to Japan, although the style of art and the
nature of the porcelain both prove it to be Chinese.
The Chinese call it Lo4ien-Tz^u — i. e., "Porcelain inlaid
with shellwork " — and the technique is the same as that
of the incrusted cabinet work of Canton, only worked
upon porcelain instead of wood. The porcelain is com-
paratively thick, with solid rims, and the ground of the
piece is usually left unglazed, so that the lacquer may
adhere more firmly to the surface. The finest vases date
from the reign of IVang-lm^ and it seems to have been
first worked on porcelain at this time, in spite of the
fact that the mark of GKeng-hua of the Ming dynasty
is occasionally found inscribed underneath.
The decoration of the laque burgautee class is gener-
ally of a landscape character, executed in a mosaic
mother-of-pearl, varied sometimes by thin plaques of
beaten gold and silver, displayed upon a velvety back-
ground of ink-black lac. The pieces of shell, extremely
thin, are tinted artificially, shaped with the knife, and
combined cleverly by the artist to form the details of
the picture. The patience of the workman is almost
incredible, shaping one by one the leaves of a willow-
tree, or of a clump of bamboos, the feathers of a bird,
the glittering morsels designed to represent the pebbly
bank of a river, or the faults of a rock, and carving
silhouettes for clouds and waves, fine and supple as
the strokes of a pencil. There is a large bowl in the
Sevres Museum, covered with a lake scene, with lotus-
flowers, reeds, and water-fowl, which is a chef-d''GSVA)re
of naturalistic art. I have seen a lar2:e vase of the
PECULIAR TECHNICAL PROCESSES. 521
kind nearly three feet high, of the K^ang-hsi period,
with the neck and swelling body filled in with black
lac, exhibiting in delicately tinted mosaic the varied
scenes of Chinese lily life, in their minutest details,
each scene being labeled in tiny characters ; the gilded
disk of the sun was shining over all in its pristine
brightness; but the silver walls of the houses had
become quite black from age. The little cylindi'ical
beaker illustrated in Fig. 315 is a less important
example.
The next peculiar technical processes in the short list
that forms the heading of this chapter are those of orna-
mental pierced work of the ordinary kind, and pierced
work filled in with glaze, so as to form the transparencies
which are known from their usual shape as " rice-grain "
designs. These methods have been already described.
They are now well known, and are practiced all over the
world, at Sevres and Worcester, as well as in Japan.
Fig. 318 is a Japanese vase of this description that was
exhibited at the Chicago Exposition. They may be used
in combination with all kinds of decoration, but are most
charming and effective in pure white porcelain, such as
the little white cups of design similar to the one illus-
trated in Fig. 138, which are lined with beaten gold or
silver when used, and the white bowls with lacework
transparencies of the Ch^ien-lung period, which are the
lightest and most delicate of all the triumphs of the
ceramic art. A white cup of the kind just referred to is
presented in Fig. 319. The sides are carved with a
trelliswork of svastikco pattern, in the intervals between
five circular solid medallions, from which stand out in
salient relief figures of the longevity god, alone in his
glorj^, and of the eight Taoist genii, associated in j^airs.
The figures, modeled in " biscuit," project from the glazed
ground of velvety aspect. Their background of clouds,
522 OKIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
and the light scrolls which wind round the borders of the
cup, are worked in white slip, contrasting in its cloudy
opacity with the underlying glaze. The delicate little
cup in Fig. 322 is carved in openwork with a broad trel-
lis band composed of five medallions of pierced floral
pattern, connected by a ground of interlacing cii-cles,
reminding one of the open tilework of Chinese architec-
ture. A narrow pierced band encircles the upper rim.
The little flower cylinder in Fig. 333 shows the com-
bination of pierced work with painted decoration. It is
a receptacle for scented blossoms like the fragrant
jasmine, the mo-li-hua of the Chinese, which is closed at
the top, but has a hole in the bottom for the introduction
of the flowers, shaped for a screw cover. The top and
sides are painted in delicate enamel colors of the Cli'ien-
lung period, upon a ground molded in relief, and pierced
in the intervals of the decoration, so that the scent of the
flowers may penetrate. The figures, which are grouj)ed
under a tall pine, represent the Taoist Triad of star gods.
Lu Hsing stands in the middle, holding a ^'w-^' scepter ;
Shou Hsing, upon his right, is leaning upon a long, gnarled
stafF, Avith a scroll tied to the top, a peach in his hand, his
robes brocaded with longevity characters; Fu Hsing, upon
his left, holding a baby boy in his arms, while two s]3rites
dance in the foreground, clapping their hands. On the
cover is a representation of a Taoist figure speeding across
the clouds, with a branch of sacred peach on his shoulder.
The " rice-grain " decoration, in which the pierced orna-
mentation is filled in with glaze, seems to be of compara-
tively modern introduction in China. No marks anterior
to the reign of CJCien-lung have been noticed, and the
majority of the marked pieces bear the date of his suc-
cessor, Chia-cWing (1796-1820). The white bowls' and
saucer-shaped dishes of the soft, fritty material made in
Persia, which were kuo\vn as Gombroon ware, have rude
PECULIAE TECHNICAL PKOCESSES. 523
decorations of the same nature, but, as Sir A. W. Franks
observes, " there is no evidence to show in which country
this mode of ornamentation originated." In addition to
the ordinary rice-grain work, which is usually associated
with conventional designs, jDainted in blue of grayish
tone, this process supplies a means of varying the usual
colored designs by making the dragons, storks, or other
details transparent, or by picking out some of the leaves
in the foliage or the petals of a flower. The mug of
European form in Fig 321 displays the typical mode, the
sides being pierced with a broad band of rice-grain trans-
jiareucies arranged in a formal star pattern. The handle,
composed of two interlacing bands, is studded at their four
points of junction with flowers worked in relief, which are
tinted in underglaze cobalt-blue, touched with gold, and
the bands of conventional design, which are painted in the
same grayish blue round the borders, are also picked out
with gilding. The upper rim is stained brown ; the
bottom is unglazed, and there is no mark attached.
The class of porcelain with white slip decoration
includes those specimens in which the white decoration
appears to have been applied in a semi-liquid state, tech-
nically called "slip," or engohe, on a colored ground.
Designs are also modeled in relief in the same slip in the
paste of porcelain before it is glazed, and have been
referred to in the description of celadons and jlainhes, as
vv'ell as in that of decorated vases, but these would be
excluded. The white slip decoration is used in China in
combination with one of the dark-brown coffee-colored
monochromes of the tzu-chin glazes, or with the dark and
pale blue and the lavender-tinted glazes derived from
cobaltiferous manganese. Some of the soft, siliceous
wares of Persia are ornamented on a blue ground with
white designs of this kind applied in relief, and they have
been imitated in the Italian potteries, at Nevers, Rouen,
524 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
and elsewhere. For this reason Jacquemart lias attrib-
uted the vases of hard porcelain with white slip decora-
tion on a brown ground to Persia, and he iigures one,
which is undoubtedly Chinese, in Plate XIX, No. 1, of
his book, as a production of Shiraz. There is no reason,
however, to suppose that hard porcelain was ever made
in Persia, although it appears from their style and
designs that some of the specimens were made in China
for the Indian or Persian market. The gourd-shaped
vase shown in Fig. 323, which has a copper rim and cork-
like stopper engraved with figures and birds of Persian
workmanship, is a fair illustration of the style, dating
from the K^ang-lisi period. It is enameled with an ii^i-
descent tzu-cliin ground of dark-brown color. The white
decoration over the glaze, roughly modeled in low relief
and lightly touched with the graving tool, consists of
four sprays of conventional flowers, two on each half of
the gourd. The three circles from which the lower
sprays seem to sprout would be rocks in more finished
work ; in Jacquemart's vase, which is almost as roughly
decorated as this one, there is a somewhat similar design,
which is taken for an articulated cactus-stem ; in addition
to the floral decoration there is an ornamental border
round the bulbous enlargement of the neck of this vase
of scroll design with beaded pendants, which is often met
with upon Chinese vases of this type.
The other illustration exhibits, in Fig. 324, a small vase
of baluster form, also attributed to the K\ing-lisi period,
invested with a pale-blue glaze of the tint called by the
Chinese tHen-chHng, or " sky-blue," sparsely crackled with
a few brown lines. It is decorated in slight relief with a
spray of blossoming prunus carefully modeled in white
slip and finished with the graving tool. The foot, coated
with the same pale-blue glaze underneath, has the promi-
nent rim artificially colored iron-gray.
CHAPTER XIX.
CHINESE CEKAMIC COLORS.
THE principal colors used by the Chinese in the
decoration of their porcelain and the chemical
composition of some of them have been already alluded
to. A list of the colored glazes employed during the
Ming dynasty was included in Chapter YIH, together
with a number of the prescriptions used in their prepa-
ration. Still, a short chapter on the special subject of
ceramic colors may not be superfluous.
The most striking point in Chinese ceramic art is the
paucity and simplicity of the materials wdth w'hich
they produce so many brilliant effects. They have
no chemical knowledge, and their methods are entirely
empirical, depending on the varied effects produced by
the admixture of the simple coloring materials, on the
different results obtained by theu' combination ^vith
different glazes, and on the degree of oxidation of the
minerals due to the manipulation of the fire. Take, for
example, the native mineral which, after calcination and
pulverization, is used for painting in blue and Avhite,
and in the preparation of blue glazes. It is found on
the hillsides in several parts of China, occurring, not far
from the surface of the ground, in small, irregular
nodules of concretionary formation, and is essentially a
cobaltiferous peroxide of manganese, mixed with oxides
of iron and nickel, Avith traces of arsenic, bound together
by a variable proportion of silica. But the composition
of this complicated ore seems to vary indefinitely, not
only in the productions of different provinces, but even
526 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
in specimens dug up from the same hillside. The
purity of the blue depends upon the richness of the
mineral in cobalt ; an excess of manganese will give it a
purplish tinge; it will be darkened by too much nickel
or iron. So the presence of an expert is required at the
imperial manufactory, whose sole duty it is to pick out
the best pieces, judging from their color and aspect, to
supply the coloring material for the painted decoration
in blue and the powder-blue grounds, and for the mono-
chromes ranging from the darkest blue chi eliding down
to the palest clair de lune^ which are obtained by mixing
the calcined mineral in different proportions with the
ordinary feldspathic white glaze of the grand feu. The
blue enamel of the muffle stove, used in overglaze decora-
tion in colors, is also formed of the same cobaltiferous
material, combined with a vitreous flux ; it varies very
much in tone, and is often of purplish tint. The same
mineral is used in the preparation of the ordinary black
glaze of the painted wares, and of the aubergine purple
glaze of the demi-grand feu, but in these cases the colors
are due mainly to manganese, and the Chinese expressly
say that the poorer ores are available for these two
glazes. The cobaltiferous ore is used, again, to modify
the tint of other single colors, to give a pea-green hue to
the ordinary celadon glaze due to the protoxide of iron, or
to convert the carmine {yen-chih hung) of gold purple of
Cassius into amaranth, the color of the blue lotus-
blossom {cli' lug -lien) of Chinese ceramic art.
The influence of different glazes and of the reducing
or oxidizing powers of the flames in changing the colors
of the same material is well illustrated in the case of
copper. When this element is maintained in a highly
siliceous medium in the minimum condition of oxidation
in a reducing fire, it develops, as a suboxide, a brilliant
red of ruby tone, the typical red of the grand feu.
CHENTESE CERA]VnC COLORS. 527
When fired mtli a lead flux it becomes fixed as a pro-
toxide, and develops a brilliant green, ranging from pale
apple-green to the deepest emerald in the gros vert^
according to the concentration of the glaze ; it becomes
in this way the source of all the greens of the muffle
stove, as well as of the finely crackled cucumber-green of
the demi-grand feu, which is applied generally sur
hiscuit. Finally, when fired with niter, or with a lead
flux containing an excess of alkalies, the silicate of
copper is still more highly oxidized, and develops a
beautiful turquoise-blue. Similar changes may even be
made to appear upon the same piece. A Lang-Yao
vase, for example, often displays a patch of apple-green
toward the edge of its rich mantle of sang de hoeuf, and
the peach-bloom glaze owes its charm to the peculiarly
soft combinations produced by the fortuitous mingling
of the two colors. The three colors are all seen together
in the mottled garb of a flamhe specimen, brought out by
the oxidation of the glaze while still fluescent by a cur-
rent of fresh air suddenly introduced into the furnace.
So iron, when fired in a reducing atmosphere in the
large furnace, in the presence of a large excess of sili-
cates, develops, as a protoxide, the peculiar sea-green tint
known to us as celadon, deepening to an olive shade, or
to a dark bottle-green, as the proportion of iron increases.
The same element develops, as a peroxide, a graduated
series of browns, ranging, according to the concentration
of the glaze and the " warming " influence upon the color
of the oxidizing flames, from pale buff, through cafe au
lai% dead leaf, chocolate, and bronze, to the blackish
shade of the darkest fond laque. The peroxide mixed
with a simple flux of white lead painted on the porcelain
over the white glaze, and fired in the muffle stove,
produces the beautiful red which, in its purest tone,
reminds one of coral, and is usually called coral-red.
528 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
This is the mo hung^ or " painted red," ^;ar excellence^ of
the Chinese. When it is combined with a silico-alkaline
vitreous flux it takes on a brighter hue of the same
vermilion color, which suggests to the Chinese the red
cheeks of the ripe jujube, one of their favorite fruits, so
that they call the glaze now tsao-erh hung, or "jujube-
red."
The above shades of red differ completely in tone
from those of the other red of the muffle stove, which is
obtained from gold precipitate, the compound of tin and
gold which is commonly known as purple of Cassius.
This produces the tints of the underneath borders of
the rose-backed dishes, which are enameled with glazes
of single color ranging from deep carmine, the yen-cliih
Jjbung, or " cosmetic rouge " of the Chinese, down to fen
hung, or pink, the "rose Pompadour," or "rose Du
Barry," of French ceramic writers.
There is occasionally, on the other hand, a remarkable
resemblance in the shade of coloring of glazes produced
from different elements, so that a pale cobalt mono-
chrome of sky-blue (fien chHng) tint may be confused
for a moment with an azure-tinted glaze of turquoise
shade derived from copper. On closer inspection, how-
ever, the latter will be seen to have a minutely crackled
texture, being one of the glazes of the demi-grand feu,
while the former is one of the single colors of the
grand feu.
These few introductory remarks are intended to show
that some knowledge of the chemistry of colors is abso-
lutely necessary as an aid to their distinction and classi-
fication. Their proper distinction is often of great
assistance in the correct chronological arrangement of
the specimens in which they occur. The presence of
any of the I'ouges d^or, for example, would prove that
the piece could not be earlier than the seventeenth
CHINESE CERAMIC COLOES. 529
century, in the first quarter of wMch these colors were
introduced.
The coloring materials used by the Chinese in the
decoration of porcelain are few and simple when com-
pared with those employed in Europe. They comprise
oxide of cobalt for the ordinary blues ; oxide of copper
for certain reds and greens and for turquoise-blue ; oxide
of antimony for the yellows ; gold for carmines and
pinks ; arsenious acid for opaque whites ; oxides of iron
for celadon, coral-red, and browns ; and peroxide of
manganese less rich in cobalt for the blacks and purples.
'' In Europe," as M. Ebelmen observes,* " they make use
of the different oxides that have just been enumerated,
and take advantage also of many other substances
unknown to the Chinese. The tint of the oxide of cobalt
is modified by combining it with oxide of zinc or
alumina, sometimes with alumina and oxide of chrome ;
pure oxide of iron furnishes a dozen shades of red, from
orange-red to the deepest violet-red ; oclires, pale or
dark, yellow or brown, are obtained by the combination
of different proportions of oxide of iron, oxide of zinc,
and oxides of cobalt or nickel ; the browns are prepared
by increasing the dosage of oxide of cobalt in the pre-
scriptions for the ochres ; the blacks, by the suppression
of the oxide of zinc in the same preparations. We vary
the shades of our yellows by the addition of oxide of
zinc or of tin to clear them, and of oxide of iron to
deepen their tone. Oxide of chrome, either pure or
combined with oxide of cobalt or the oxides of cobalt
and zinc, gives yellomsh greens and bluish greens, which
can be made to range from pure green to almost pure
blue. Metallic gold furnishes for us the purple of
Cassius, which we can afterward transform at will into
violet, into purple, and into carmine. We may cite also
,* Travavx Scientijiques. tome i, p. 423,
530 ORIENTAL cera:mic art.
the oxide of uranium, and the chromates of irou, baryta,
and cadmium, which give useful colors, and will conclude
by mentioning the recent application of metals unoxidiz-
able by fire, the discovery and preparation of which
require a knowledge of chemistry that the Chinese are
far from possessing."
The poverty of the Chinese palette, however, is more
apparent than real, as they produce by diiferent com-
binations of the colors an infinite variety of shades, so
that the color scale is almost exhausted in their series of
monochromes. Some colors may have escaped their in-
cessant researches, like the abnormal pigments extracted
from petroleum and coal-tar, such as Magenta and Sol-
ferino, the fruits of recent scientific investigation, broken
and fugitive tints of uncertain shade that can well be
spared.
Ceramic colors are simple or compound, pure or
broken ; red, yellow, and blue are simple colors. Red
and yellow form orange, yellow and blue form green,
blue and red form violet ; these are compound colors.
The intensity of the coloring can be attenuated by
white, the colors can be deepened by black. It is by
this means, by the addition of white or black to other
colors, that all the different grades of tone are produced.
M. Grandidier gives a list of about eighty different
shades of color represented by select specimens in his
own collection of Chinese porcelain, now worthily
installed in the Louvre at Paris under his own oflicial
curatorshij^. They occur there not only as monochromes,
but also as backgrounds for painted decoration in blue or
in different colors, relieving and enhancing the brilliancy
of the effect in an infinite series of combinations, several
of which have been illustrated and referred to in our own
pages. Porcelain is conveniently divided into mono-
chrome and polychrome, but in actual practice the same
CHINESE CEEAMIC COLORS. 531
colors are used for both kinds, the only essential requisite
being that tliey will withstand the degree of temperature
required for the firing. The same gold pink {rose cVoi"),
for example, that is used for enameling the monochrome
black of an eggshell dish, serves for penciling the dia-
pered bands that decorate the interior; and the same
cobaltiferous material that is blown on to form a powder-
blue ground is used for painting the blue lines of the
pictures in the medallions reserved for the purpose. In
another class of pieces that have been already decorated
in colors of the gr mid feu, the white ground ma}^- be
subsequently filled in with soft enamels such as yellow
or coral-red, or, again, any of the singly-colored grounds
may be stippled with souffles of other enamel, to be
subsequently fixed in the muffle stove.
The decoration of Chinese porcelain becomes more
interesting when theii' methods of applying the colors
are compared with those employed in Europe. As
M. Ebelmen explains, the processes employed in Europe
are very varied : sometimes pastes of different colors are
used for the body ; sometimes the coloring material is
incorporated with the glaze ; sometimes, again, the colors
are applied uj^on the surface of white porcelain. The
first two methods of decoration require a degree of
temperature as high as that necessary for the firing of
the porcelain itself. The colors employed are called
de grand feu. For painting, on the contrary, upon the
surface of porcelain, only such colors are used as can be
vitrified at a much louver temperature than the pre-
ceding; these are the colors called de moufle, the only
ones that afford, up to this time, resources for painting
upon porcelain pictures that can be compared with oil
paintings of the old masters on canvas.
The Chinese coloring materials can be classed in the
same way as those used in Europe into two main divi-
532 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
sions : tliose that can be compared with the colors of the
grand feu, and those that have more analogy with
the muffled colors. These last differ, however, from the
European muffle colors in being mostly true vitreous
enamels, the same that are used for enameling on metal.
There is an intermediate division in China, known as the
colors of the demi-grand feu, which differ from those of
the first division in being combined w^ith a lead flux, and
fuse at a lower temperature, although practically they
are generally fired in the same furnace. We will
attempt a cursory classification of the colors under these
three divisions, adding a few notes on the principal tones
of color as we proceed.
1. High-fired Colors or the Grai^d Feu.
The principal colors that come under this division
are : the whites derived from the ordinary feldspathic
glaze; the series of reds and a grayish celadon-green
obtained from copper ; the ordinary celadons, olive-
greens, and different shades of brown, which owe their
coloring to iron ; the blues and purples of the cobaltifer-
ous oxide of manganese, and the blacks derived from the
same complex mineral. The coloring materials referred
to above are occasionally used in combination ; the sea-
green celadon of iron is darkened by the addition of a
dosage of the cobalt mineral, and the black monochrome
ground of the cobaltiferous manganese is rendered
lustrous and iridescent by the addition of tzu-chin skill,
the ferruginous material of the fond-laque glazes. The
work of the Chinese potters is mainly empirical, and
some of their principal successes, the despaii' of European
imitators, are due to mixtures, in different proportions,
of the cobaltiferous, in manganesian and ferruginous
minerals, wdth the fusible White glaze. The result will
CHINESE CERA3IIC COLORS. 533
depend not only upon the richness of the materials in
these ingredients, but also upon the atmosphere of the
furnace, in its reducing or oxidizing effect.
The colors of this division are combined with a feld-
spathic glaze, rendered more soluble by a notable addition
of lime. This distinguishes them at once from the colors
of the next two classes, in the flux of which oxide of lead
is an indispensable element. The coloring materials are
usually mixed with the white glaze, and applied upon the
white surface of the unbaked porcelain by immersion, by
insufflation, or with the brush. Occasionally the color is
projected by the souffle method upon the body of the
piece and invested afterward with the white glaze in
successive coats. The porcelain in China is rarely sub-
mitted to a preliminary baking as in Europe, but some
of the ancient celadon glazes are described as having
been aj^plied sur hisciiit.
The white glazes may be noticed first. In eveiy collec-
tion of Chinese porcelain there are two varieties of white
that ought to be carefully set apart from the ordinary
productions of the Ching-te-chen jjotteries. These are
the products of Ting-chou in the province of Chihli, and
of Te-hua in the province of Fuchien. The Ting-chou
ware dates from the Sung dynasty ; it has been described
in Chapter Y, under its two varieties, the Fen Ting, with
the paste white like flour, and the Tu Ting, with a less
pure yellowish body. The glaze, which is either un-
crackled or crackled, has in both varieties an ivory-white
tone, and a texture resembling in surface that of soft-
paste porcelain, to which it is frequently likened. The
decoration, which is often of very intricate floral design
finished off with bands of geometrical scroll-work, is
either molded in relief or chiseled at the point in the
paste under the glaze. The ornamentation of the Ming
dynasty is less elaborate in character. During the pres-
534 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART,
eiit dynasty the old potteries are closed, but fine repro-
ductions of the Fen Ting class have been made at
Ching-te-chen, especially in the reigns of K''ang-hsi and
Ch^ien-lung. The ceramic production of Te-hua is the
Cliien Tz'% or Fuchien porcelain of the Ming and (JKlng
dynasties, which will be described in a later chapter. It
is the typical hlanc de Chine of collectors, with a rich
satiny glaze of siliceous aspect closely blending with the
paste underneath, either creamy white in color, or of a
more opaque tone approaching that of ivory ; it is repre-
sented chiefly by well-modeled statuettes of Buddhist
divinities, such as those of the Goddess of Mercy, of
Maitreya the Coming Buddha, figures of lions and myth-
ological animals, incense-burners, teapots and libation-
cups, the latter of oval or octagonal shape, made to imitate
the cups carved out of rhinoceros horn, with applique
ornaments of archaic character.
After the specimens of these two potteries have been
grouped upon separate shelves, there ^vill remain a varied
assortment of plain white porcelain to represent the pot-
teries of Ching-te-chen. White, when pure in tint, has
always been highly esteemed in China, where the earliest
porcelain was made to simulate the precious cups and
bowls of translucent white jade. The reign of Yung-lo,
the third of the Ming emperors, is distinguished for its
fragile white porcelain ornamented with impressed de-
signs giving transparent effect like the water-mark in
paper, and the reign of Wan-li, toward the end of the
same dynasty, is marked by the renaissance of pui-e white
jadelike wine-cups of eggshell thinness and incredible
lightness. White is the mourning color in China, and a
relic of an imperial mourning dinner service is often seen
on a foreign shelf in the shape of a rice-bowl etched with
five-clawed dragons under a pellucid white glaze. The
delicate^ white cups carved in openwork and the charming
CHINESE CERAMIC COLORS. 535
lacework bowls with pierced designs filled iu with glaze
were described in the last chapter.
Plain white porcelain is generally enameled, but there
is a special variety which is purposely left in the state of
biscuit without any coating of glaze, like the Parian ware
of the West. The special Chinese name for this hfan
tz'u — i. e., "■ turned porcelain," as if the vase were in-
verted, so that the unglazed interior appeared outside,
and the fiction is occasionally kept up by applying a
touch of glaze inside the mouth. Flower-vases molded
with a string network in relief, brush-cylinders, boxes for
seal-color, and water-pots for the writing-table with land-
scapes in salient relief, snuff-bottles, and many other
small objects, are met with of this kind. The covered
cylindrical pots in which fighting crickets are kept, the
open cellules in which they are brought to the fray, and
the trays on which they fight, are usually made of brown
earthenware, because it absorbs water more readily, l)ut
they are sometimes seen molded out of unglazed white
porcelain.
In addition to the glazed white porcelain intended to
remain plain white, a quantity is turned out to be sub-
sequently decorated with enamel colors. Most of it is
finished at the manufactory ; some is sent to Canton and
painted in the peculiar style which characterized the old
porcelain of the East India Company commonly known
as '' India China." An occasional piece has found its way
abroad and been afterward painted in surface colors with
European designs at Meissen or Chelsea.
The reds of the grand feu are derived from copper.
The copper is generally applied in China in a metallic
form, the molten metal, derived from the cupellation of
silver, or from other sources, being granulated by being
thrown into water, finely pulverized, and fused with a
large excess of silica in a reducing fire, so as to be con-
536 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
verted into a protosilicate. The firing is a most delicate
operation, and must be stopped at the critical moment
to attain a bright uniform color: if it be pushed too
high, the metal will be dissipated, and the vase will
come out wholly or partially colorless ; if it be insuffi-
cient, the piece will be dull or liver-colored ; if the flames
be allowed to become oxidizing for a moment, it will be
transformed into a persilicate, and be converted to green
or even to turquoise-blue, this last color representing the
maximum amount of oxidation. Copper is the protean
metal which gives rise in this way to the varied changes
t)f color known as furnace-transmutation, or yao-pien,
which were described in the last chapter.
Ked is a favorite color with the Chinese in the decora-
tion of their porcelain, but this copper-red of the high
fire is easily distinguishable at a glance from the reds of
the muffle stove, which are derived from iron or gold. It
shines out from the depth of the translucent glaze with
tones approaching that of the ruby, so that the Chinese
call \t pao-sJiih hung, or " ruby -red " ; the iron-reds {fan
hung), on the contrary, are more superficial and of coral
or brickdust hue ; the rouges cfor {yen-chili hung), which
are also surface enamels, are carmine or pink.
Copper-red is one of the most ancient of Chinese ce-
ramic colors, being met with in some of the most brilliant
monochromes among the productions of the Chiin-chou
potteries in the Sung dynasty. The reign of Hsi'mn-te
(1426--35) of the Ming dynasty was especially distin-
guished for its ruby-red, which was used at this time
either as a single color or in painted decorations. The
wine-cups used by the Emperor Hsiian-te at the ritual
services at the Temple of the Sun were made of this
color. Later in the Ming dynasty, in the reigns of Cliia-
ching and Wan-li, we are told that the firing of the cop-
per-red was found to be too difficult, and that its place
CHINESE CERAMIC COLORS. 537
was usurped by the iron-red, whicli \vas much cheaper,
^nd easier of application. In the reign of K'cmg-hsi it
reappeared as the Yti-U hung^ or "glaze-inclosed red,"
described at the time by Pere d'Entrecolles, and the
brilliant sang-de-hceuf of the Lang Yao, together \\'ith the
attractive peach-blooms of this period, were both discov-
ered in attempts at reproducing the sacrificial red of
Hsuan-te. The attempts culminated early in the next
reign in the production of the well-known monochrome
red of the Nien Yao, a stippled color of bright uniform
tint, which continued to be successfully produced during
the reign of Clbien-lung. There is a marked renaissance
of the copper-red as a single color in quite recent times,
and a piece is occasionally seen rivaling the finest old
^aiig-de-boeuf in its brilliant tones of color, although infe-
rior in technical finish.
It may be useful to add a few points of distinction
between these different reds. The Lang Yao of the
reign of ICang-hsi, which may be considered as the sang-
de-boenf proper, displays a brilliant red of crimson tone,
permeating the vitreous enamel, which is crackled
throughout, and strewn under the surface with innumer-
able little points. These points have been justly com-
pared to the tiny bubbles of carbonic acid that are
continually rising to burst on the surface of gaseous
water in a thermal spring. The vases are glazed under-
neath, and exhibit three typical bottoms, according to
Chinese connoisseurs, a plain white enamel, a grayish
•celadon crackle, or an apple-green crackle. The red of
these vases is rarely uniform ; their chief charm is in the
mingling modulated tints of their mottled texture and
streaked depths, varied, perhaps, by an occasional patch
of apple-green near the rim. Some are wanting in lim-
pid depth and become brownish or even liver-colored ;
these are failures in baking.
538 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
The Lil Lang Yao, or " Green Lang Yao," of the
Chinese is much rarer than the sang-de-hoe'nf, and it is not
certain that the pieces wliich exist were not accidentally
produced in the firing of vases that were originally in-
tended to be red. On caieful examination a spot or two
of red will generally be found lurking in places where
the glaze is deepest. M. Ebelmen (Joe. cit., page 445)
refers to several examples of celadon coloration as
obtained by him in his experimental researches upon the
copper-red. He explains how a reducing atmosphere is
necessary to maintain the coloring material at a minimum
of oxidation for the production of the red, and how, in
an oxidizing atmosphere, on the contraiy, the color
would totally disappear if the volatilization of the metal
were possible, or would become green if the coloring
material survived in appreciable quantity. According to
this hypothesis, some specimens of so-called celadon&
would be either abortive I'eds or copper-greens of suffi-
ciently poor color. He places in his class of celadon de
cuivre all the vases, barrel-shaped gai'den-seats, and balus-
trade fittings that the Chinese make in stoneware. He
quotes also a very remarkable fact of a fragment of sea-
green or grayish celadon porcelain, showing clearly in
the fracture an opaque-red layer, looking like sealing-
wax, in immediate contact with the paste. The oxidiz-
ing atmosphere, in this case, had acted only on the sur-
face, Avhich it had changed from red to a pale greenish
tint.
Another glaze that owes its charming tints to copper
is the peach-bloom, or peati de pecli£, which has been
already described and fully illustrated in these pages.
The Chi-hung was brought to perfection by Nien Hsi-
yao, the director of the imj)erial potteries in the reign of
Yting-cheng. The name, which means " sacrificial red,'^
dates from the reign of Hman-te of the preceding
CHINESE CERAMIC COLORS. 539
dynasty, as already explained. The red vases of the
Nieii Yao, as this porcelain is called after its inventor,
are coated with a deep, uniform glaze of ruby tone, the
stippled texture of \vhich indicates the method of ap-
plication of the color by insufflation. In the uext reign
of QKien-lung this single color loses something of its
purity and transparency and becomes brownish, so that
it has been compared to that of the skin of a medlar
{jyeau de nejle). The modern chi-hung vases are less uni-
form in tint, developing purplish or crimson mottled
shades like the old sang-de-boeuf, or changing to the varie-
gated flamhe tints described in the last chapter. But
they are improving daily under the stimulus of high
prices, and I have a new vase now before me, clothed in
as brilliant a garb as any ancient Lang Yao specimen.
The next colors of the high fire for consideration are
those due to iron, which range, according to the degree
of oxidation of the metal, from the palest sea-green to
the deepest brown. It is to the paler green shades that
the term celadon is properly confined ; the darker shades,
which are due to the peroxide, are the yellow-browns
and browns of the fond-laque division. Some French
ceramic writers use the term celadon in a much wider
sense, to include the pale blue derived from cobalt,
which is the ymli pat, or clair de June of the Chinese,
and hardly needs a second name of " starch-blue " celadon
(celadon bleu d'^einpois), as well as the soufie tea-dust
{cKa-yeh mo), and some even group the crackled tur-
quoise and purple of the demi-grand feu in the same
division. We use it here as generally synonymous with
the Chinese ceramic color tou-cJi'ing, literally " pea-
green," which includes the two varieties of Tung cKing,
the color of the old celadon ware made at the Eastei'n
Capital of the Sung dynasty, and the Lung-cKuan yu,
the glaze of the ancient Lung-ch'uan celadons of contem-
540 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
porary date. The prescription for the ton-cli'mg glaze^
which was applied to the celadons of the Ming dynasty^
made at Ching-te-chen, was given in Chapter VIII. The
coloring material was derived from a yellow ferruginous
clay, and the color was explained to be due to the sili-
cates of lime and iron developing a light greenish shade
under the influence of a reducing atmosphere maintain-
ing the iron at a minimum of oxidation. A similar pre-
scription produces the Tung-chbing celadons of the pres-
ent dynasty, whereas the Lung-ch'iian glaze of to-day
is made by the addition of a small dosage of calcined
cobaltiferous oxide of manganese, the eft'ect of which is
to darken the shade till it approaches that of the Chinese
olive, which is the traditional color of the ancient Lung-
ch'iian wares.
The celadons comprise many shades of clear green^
some of which approach blue ; others tend to become
gray ; the tones vary with the depth of the glaze, en-
hancing the effect of the incised and relief designs which
often accompany it. The old celadons of the Sung
dynasty are found sometimes darkening almost to bottle-
green, or even becoming in exceptional cases brown-
ish. The ratimiale of this is explained by the chemist
M. Ebelmen, who asks: "What would happen if the
celadon glaze Avere fired in an oxidizing atmosphere ?
The tint would pass into red, and if the iron were in
sufficient proportion a warm tone with hardly any green
in it should be obtained. All these shades are found in
Chinese productions, and if only the oxide of iron be
increased a little, one can pass from the celadons to a
deep lac-brown in an oxidizing atmosphere, to an olive-
green or a bottle-green in a reducing atmosphere."
The browns, in fact, owe their color to the same mate-
rial as the celadons, the compact ferruginous clay, which
is called tzu dtin shih^ literally " brown gold stone,"
CHINESE CERAMIC COLORS. 541
because it is the mineral soui'ce of the ceramic golden
browns. Its preparation and mode of apj^lication were
fully described in Pere d'Entrecolles's Letters. AVhen
mixed with a large excess of feldspar and lime it pro-
duces a clear buff, or an " old-gold " tint. The Chinese
tell how the potters tried to produce a yellow mono-
chrome by mixing actual gold with the glaze of the high
fire, but found that the metal was all evaporated in the
furnace, so that they returned to the or hruni as a grace-
ful and efficient substitute. Among other monochrome
shades of this class, found on highly fired Chinese porce-
lain, are brown ochre, cafe an lait, chestnut, capuchin,
maroon, dead-leaf (^feuille nioHe), chocolate, bronze, lac-
colored (almost black), etc. The darker shades are often
highly iridescent.
The blues of the grand feu owe their color to cobalt,
which resists the highest temperature of the furnace.
The Chinese coloring material is a native cobaltiferous
mineral of very variable composition, which has been
already sufficiently described. The best pieces having
been selected by an expert, they are first calcined in
porcelain capsules, and then pulverized in hand-mortars
for a whole month before the material is considered fit
for use. The purest and most brilliant blues are pro-
duced when the material is applied immediately ujion
the raw white body of the unbaked piece, and covered
with the white feldspathic glaze which it penetrates
under the solving influence of the fire. The magnificent
blue and white decoration, and the powdered blue
grounds of lapis lazuli tint that distinguish the reign of
K\mg-li8i were all executed in this way, giving an un-
dulating intensity and pulsating depth to the color, and
preserving it, moreover, indefinitely, so that a vase two
hundred years old will look as if just fresh from the kiln.
If the ore be not sufficiently rich in cobalt, the color will
542 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
be grayish ; if the glaze be too thin, or the piece be over-
fired, so that the color comes to the surface, it will be
turned black by the oxidation of the manganese, which
is always present in the ore. The soii^e blue may be
crackled by the addition of the proper ingredients to the
white glaze, bringing out a clear color quite different in
tone from the more finely crackled deep sapphire-blue
of the demii-grand feu, illustrated in Plate XXIX, in
which the cobaltiferous material is combined with a lead
flux.
AVhen mixed with the feldspathic glaze and applied in
the fashion of the ordinary single colors the effect of the
cobalt is different. There is no longer the same intensity
and depth of color, but we have in compensation a
peculiar purity of tint and softness of tone in the series
of charming single colors w^hich the Chinese potter has
achieved in this way. The most delicate of all ceramic
colors, the yueh jyai, or clwir de hme, displayed in Plate
LI, is produced by the smallest addition of cobalt.
Added in larger quantity the ordinary t''ien cKing, or
" sky-blue," glaze of the vase shown in Plate LXXIV is
developed in the furnace. A still larger proportion is
requii'ed to bring out the chi-cJiHng, the " blue of the sky
after rain," which is defined as the deep azure of the clear
rifts between the clouds.
We possess many specimens dating from the Sung and
Yuan dynasties, like the two illustrated in Plate XII,
which derive their color from cobalt-tinged glazes of
the grand feu, crackled or uncrackled in texture. They
often display shades of lavender or pale purple, indicating
the presence of manganese in the coloring material. The
celebrated ancient ware of Ju-chou was purer in tint
than any other of the Sung porcelains, being described
as a clair de lune of the color of the blossoms of the
Vitex incisa, the " sky-blue flower " of the Chinese.
CHINESE CERAMIC COLORS. 543
The same cobaltiferous mineral is utilized in tlie ])ro-
duction of the black grounds of the graiidfeii, for which
purpose the pieces of ore that are less rich in cobalt will
suffice. Pere d'Entrecolles describes two kinds of black
glaze. The first, which is duller in aspect, is obtained by
combining three parts of the blue coloring material with
seven parts by weight of the ordinary feldspathic glaze,
but the proportions may be varied in accordance with
the tint required ; the mixture is applied to the unbaked
piece, which is afterward fired in the big furnace. It
forms an effective background for a decoration in gold,
which is penciled on after the first baking, and fixed by
refiring in the muffle. The second black glaze, called
wii chin, or ^' metallic black," which is more lustrous and
iridescent in aspect, is formed by adding some of the tzu-
oJiiji sliih, the ferruginous mineral w^hicli produces the
coffee-brown glazes, to a liquid mixture composed of the
above ingredients, in which the porcelain is plunged, and
baked in an oxidizing fire. If the firing be carelessly
managed the color will be brown instead of black, as we
often see in modern pieces.
The colors of the high fire are used in combination
with each other in the decoration of Chinese porcelain, as
well as singly for monochrome glazes. The essential
point is that all the associated colors should be able to be
brought out properly by the same fire. The uuderglaze
<jobalt-blue seems to be developed with any kind of fire if
only it be buried in the depths of the glaze in the pres-
ence of an excess of silica, so that we see blue and white
painting, with touches, perhaps, of bright copper-red,
associated on one vase witli broad bauds of palest sea-
green celadon and zones of grayish crackle, and on
another find zones of warm dead-leaf brown encirclincr
the shoulder and rims and separating pictures penciled in
blue. The blue seems to acquire additional brilliancy
544 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
when enhanced, as it occasionally is, by a background of
ox-blood or peach-bloom of the same mottled tones as
characterize the single-colored vases of the period.
Many of these different combinations have been already
referred to ; one of the most effective is that of copper-
red with pale celadon, as illustrated in Plate XXXVI ;
in such pieces the red coloring material is painted with a
brush upon the unbaked surface before the celadon glaze
is applied ; it gradually infiltrates under the solving
action of the reducing fire till it penetrates to the surface.
There is always a certain lack of clearness of definition in
designs produced in this way, which is often combated by
tooling the outlines in the paste, or working them into
low relief.
Another common combination of high-fired colors upon
vases is that where the decoration is executed in blue and
maroon with touches of celadon. The cobalt and copper
colors are painted on under the glaze, while the celadon
is inlaid, as it were, in the white enamel, filling in the out-
line of a rockery, for example, or some other detail of the
picture. In other styles of decoration we see lustrous
black grounds with reserve medallions containing cameo
pictures in blue, and powder-blue vases with panels of
mirror-black displaying pictures in gold that have been
penciled on subsequently to the first firing. The dead-
leaf and coffee-colored grounds of the grand feu furnish
in the same way a long series of combinations. Finally
come an infinite variety, designed for additional decora-
tion in enamel colors, which can be fired in the mufifle
stove at a comparatively low temperature Avithout injury
to the original highly fired colors, on which the enamels
are overlaid, or with which they are intermingled.
CHINESE CERAMIC COLORS. 545
2. Colors of the Demi-grand Feu.
Among the monochromes peculiar to Oj'iental porce-
lain there are some which appear to have been applied
SUV hiscuit — that is to say, upon porcelain that has
already been fired in the furnace. On close examination
they are seen to be truite, to have a minutely crackled
texture, a characteristic which is rarely seen in glazes fired
at a very high temperature. On being tested with hydro-
fluoric acid by M. Ebelmen, they proved to contain, in
addition to the blue, yellow, and green coloring agents, a
notable proportion of oxide of lead. This approaches
them to the enamel colors of the mufile stove included in
the next class. They are fired by the Chinese in the
deepest part of the large furnace, and are placed below
the level of the vent-hole opening into the chimney,
where the temperature is much lower than it is in the
body of the kiln.
The colors of this class are not numerous ; they com-
prise turquoise-blue, aubergine-violet, yellow, and green.
Their composition is sufiiciently well known, as they are
all included in the list of colored glazes of which the
prescriptions were given in Chapter VIII, extracted from
technical books of the Ming dynasty, and the Chinese
accounts have been confirmed by a qualitative analysis of
actual specimens.
The mode of application of these glazes is described by
Pere d'Entrecolles. The bowls, for example, are first
fired unglazed in the large furnace, from which they come
out quite white but lusterless ; if they are to be single-
colored, they are immersed in a crock containing the
coloring materials made into a kind of cream with water ;
if they are to be party-colored, like the bowls known to
the Chinese as " tiger-spotted," which are daubed all over,
546 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
inside and outside, with irregular blotches of purple,
green, yellow, and white, the colors are laid on with a
brush. Tlie piece is finally fired again in the most tem-
perate part of the large furnace, as a fierce fire would
destroy the colors.
These were the earliest vitreous colors used in China,
and they were employed centuries before the enamel
colors of the muffle stove were introduced. Fusing as
they do at a comparatively low degree of heat, they are
availaVjle for the decoration of common pottery or earth-
enware, as well as of porcelain, and they are widely
utilized for this purpose throughout the East, more
especially foi- architectural decoration. In the celebrated
porcelain pagoda of Nanking, which was rebuilt in the
beginning of the fifteenth century (but is now destroyed),
only the white bricks were made of porcelain ; the
colored tiers, panels, and antefixal ornaments were all of
enameled earthenware. The roofs of the palaces and
imperial temples in Peking are covered with yellow tiles ;
those of the princes with bright green ; the Temple of
Heaven shines in the sun as intensely purple as the vase
in Plate XXIX ; and bi'oken ornaments in all the soft
tones of crackled turquoise are to be picked up in the
ruins of the summer palaces which were burned in 1860.
All the four colors are represented also in the grotesque
monsters of European form, and in the helmets and
trophies of arms that were designed by the Jesuit Frere
Attiret for the fountains and other decorations of the
Versailles that was built under his superintendence at
Yuan-ming-yuan in the last century for the Emperor
Oh^ien-lung. These were made at the potteries near
Peking. I allude to them here because at these very
potteries they are now busily engaged in making a
quantity of vases and bowls glazed with the same beauti-
ful colors, to which the soft excipient seems to impart
I
CHINESE CERAMIC COLORS. 547
an added softness, which are destined for exportation to
supply the increasing demands of enthusiastic collectors
of " single colors." The fact that yellow clay used often
to be mixed with the porcelain earth in the old fabrics, to
enhance the brilliancy of the glaze colors, gives a certain
vraisemhlance to the fraudulent reproductions which I
have seen sold for as many dollars as they would cost in
cents to produce.
3. Enamel Colors of the Muffle Stove.
The materials used by the Chinese in their ordinary
decoration in colors fuse at a much lower temperature
than that required for baking porcelain, and they are
painted over the glaze on pieces that have been pre-
viously fired, and which must be retired in the muffle
to fix the colors. They may be compared to our own
muffle colors, but they differ in some essential points^
in their composition as well as in their mode of appli-
cation.
There is, to begin with, a radical difference in the first
principles of Chinese art, shown in the want of per-
spective, the absence of shading, and the studied avoid-
ance of mixed tints. The hio-hest aim of the artist
at Sevres is to copy an oil-painting on canvas of one
of the old masters, to reproduce exactly every varied
shade of color in the original, and to take care that,
after baking, the picture shall appear uniformly glazed.
The Chinese artist is attempting to reproduce on porce-
lain a water-color on silk or paper of one of his old
masters, limned in pure, soft colors, with no broken tints
and no mixed tones. The Chinese colors are far from
presenting the uniformity of thickness and glazing that
is considered to be de rigioeur in Europe in a painting
on porcelain. Some are brilliant, perfectly fused, and
548
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
laid on so thickly as to stand out iu tangible relief on
the surface of the porcelain ; the carmines obtained from
gold, the purple-blues, the greens, and the yellows are
examples ; others, such as the iron-reds and the blacks,
present generally a dull surface, and are only glazed
in the thinner parts ; their depth is always less than
that of the vitrified colors. In the Chinese pictures
there is no shading in the figures or other details ; the
outlines are sharply defined by single lines of red or
black ; there is no gradation in the different tints ; the
colors are laid on in Inroad strokes, to which the artist
returns occasionally to execute a damask, either with the
same color, with other colors, or with metals ; he rarely
mixes on his palette powders of different coloring ma-
terials. The aspect of their pictures, when examined
closely, reminds one of the glass mosaics that were so
artistically executed in Europe during the thirteenth
century, and in which all the details of the design and
modeling of the figures were produced simply by red
or brown lines upon the mosaic ^vork executed in frag-
ments of white or colored glass.
- These enamels are colored by a small percentage only
of the metallic oxide dissolved in the vitreous mass, and
they require to be laid on thickly to give the proper
intensity of tone ; this gives a relief which is impossible
to obtain by any other method, and imparts a certain
cachet to Chinese productions. The general harmony
of the coloring is due to the nature and composition
of their enamels. The flux, in China, is composed of
silica and oxide of lead combined with a greater or
less proportion of alkalies. It holds in solution, in
the state of silicates, a few hundredths only of the
coloring oxides, the number of which is extremely
limited. The coloring materials are oxide of copper
for the greens and the bluish greens, gold for the reds.
CHINESE CERAMIC COLORS. 549
oxide of cobalt for the blues, oxide of antimony for the
yellows, arsenious acid, and more rarely stannic acid,
for the whites. Oxide of iron and the impure oxides
of manganese, which give the first red, and the second
hlaclc, are the sole exceptions, and this is, no doubt,
because it is impossible to obtain these colors in solu-
tions by means of the oxides that have just been
mentioned.
M. Ebelmen sfives the followins; resume of his re-
searches :
" 1. The colors called muffle colors — that is to say,
baking at a very low temperature compared with that
at which porcelain is baked — are essentially few in
number.
" 2. The palette is composed not of colors, properly
so called, but of enamels — that is to say, of plumbo-
alkaliue glasses, variously colored by a few hundredths
of dissolved oxides.
" 3. The composition of the vitreous flux is generally
very uniform ; its tint is always light, and it is this
lightness of tone, as well as the vivacity of the color-
ing, which gives Chinese porcelain its harmonious effect
and characteristic richness.
" 4. The enamels are colored by oxide of cobalt, by
oxide of copper in the state of binoxide, and by gold —
all substances easily soluble in a vitreous flux, and of
very simple preparation.
"To these shades the Chinese add a yellow derived
from antimony, and an opaque white, the base of which
is sometimes tin, sometimes arsenious acid, both of
which they mix with the other enamels, as they combine
these last with each other to obtain a nearly infinite
variety of shades, which, however, it is always possible
to decompose and to reduce to the five following ele-
ments : blue from oxide of cobalt, blue or green from
550 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
oxide of copper, carmine from gold, and yellow from
oxide of antimony.
''If we add to these enamels the very impure oxide
of cobalt, which, under the glaze, will always develop
into blue, the same oxide mixed with white lead to
make it adhere to the glaze becomes black ; and the
calcined oxide of iron, which, combined with white lead
and with flux, produces a series of iron-reds, dull or
brilliant, like or dark ; and finally gold, which is made
adhesive by the addition of a tenth part of white lead,
we shall be able to gain a complete idea of the means
that form all the resources of the Chinese decorator."
The enamel painting in colors of the next period,
which came in after the new Manchu dynasty was firmly
established, is commonly known as Khmg-hsi Wu ts'ai
— i. e,, "Decoration in colors of the reign of K^'ang-lisir
The pictures are usually executed entirely in enamels,
the underglaze blue being replaced by a surface cobalt
silicate of vitreous composition, which accompanies the
old purple enamel color derived from the same native
manganese ore less rich in cobalt. The full, strong
red of coral tint continues and improves in purity of
tone, and the greens become more and more prevalent
and brilliant, so that the class has been called by the
distinctive name of famille verte. This class, the color-
ing of which is perfectly shown in the vase illustrated
in Plate VI, is also known in China by the name
of ying ts'ai, or ''hard colors," to distinguish it from
a different style of coloring which was introduced
toward the end of the same reign, executed in pale tints
of pure tone and broken colors, among which carmines,
pinks, and an amaranth purple, all derived from pre-
cipitated gold, appeared for the first time in ceramic
art. This constitutes the decoration in jua7i ts'ai, or
" soft colors," which is known also by the name of fm
CHINESE CERAMIC COLORS. 551
ts'ai, or " ^2^^ colors." Plate LXIII is a fine example of
the style.
But it is time to examine the enamel colors in detail.
They are brought to Ching-te-chen in the shape of
irregularl}^ broken fragments of vitreous composition
from the glass-works in the province of Shantung. A
collection of Chinese glass will exhibit all the different
single colors in their primitive state, simply molded into
shape to form various kinds of utensils and ornaments.
The pieces as they come from the glass manufactory, com-
posed of a plumbo-alkaline flux of very uniform com-
position tinged by the metallic oxide which gives the
color, have first to be pounded and finely pulverized, and
at the same time a variable proportion of white lead is
added if it be necessary to increase the fusibility, and
some siliceous sand if the color be too soft. The color is
finally worked on the palette, either with turpentine, with
weak glue, or with pure water, and painted on over the
glaze with the brush.
In addition to their use in the decoration of painted
porcelain, these enamel colors are all used singly to pro-
duce monochromes. The class of monochrome enamels,
all of which are fired in the mufile, will include : the reds
of vermilion and coral tint derived from iron, exemplified
by a typical example in Plate XCII ; the carmines and
pinks derived from gold, of which one is represented in
Plate LIII ; the yellows, ranging from the pale canary of
Plate LXV to the deep imperial yelloAV of Plate V, which
are derived from antimony, tinged more or less by the
presence of iron ; the plain, uncrackled greens of varied
tone and sheen, often iridescent, w^hich owe their color
to copper binoxide ; the uncrackled sapphire-blue of
intense tone known as ^J)«<9-5^^'^ Ian, due to cobalt silicate ;
the deep grayish purple (tzii) manganese monochrome,
and a brilliant glossy black of vitreous composition.
552 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
The white enamel colors owe the opacity of their tint
to arsenic, of which they generally contain about five per
cent. The vdtreous compound is widely used also in
combination with other colors, being mixed with them,
to modify their tint and make them opalescent. The
various white enamels known to the Chinese by the
names oi y a pal, "ivory-white," lisuehpai, "snow-white,"
smd po-li pad, "glass-white," differ but slightly in. com-
position. The yioelip)(ii, " moon- white," of the enameler's
palette, which has a pale greenish tinge, is prepared by
adding a small amount of one of the transparent greens
to the white.
The blacks, of varied composition, all owe their color to
cobaltiferous manganese not rich in cobalt. The calcined
mineral is sometimes painted on combined with white
lead as a flux and mixed with glue, when the surface
will be a dead black, and only partially vitrified at the
edges by combining with some of the silica of the white
glaze. The wu chin, or " metallic black " of the enam-
eler's palette contains an additional quantity of oxide
of copper, which imparts a greenish tone. The same
coloring material, when mixed with the oi'dinary viti'eous
flux, produces the brilliant color known as Hang liei, or
"glossy black," which contains a smaller proportion
of oxide of manganese than the other blacks.
The blue of the enamel painter, like that of the grand
feu, owes its color to cobalt. There are many shades,
differing in fusibility, but all made by the same method,
and consisting of oxide of cobalt, more or less impure,
dissolved in a more or less fusible plumbo-alkaline glass.
The color is very intense in the state of silicate, so that the
deepest sapphire-blue does not contain more than one and
a half per cent of oxide of cobalt, and the lighter azure-blue,
called fen cKing, yields only one-third as much on an
analysis of the flux. The presence of oxide of manga-
CHINESE CERAMIC COLORS. 553
nese skives a violet tint. The enamel fuses on tlie surface
of the porcelain in salient relief so tbat it can be distin-
guished at once from the underglaze Ijlue ; its brittleness
causes it to be easily injured, and it is occasionally found
broken and scaled oft* in patches, the result of wear.
The green enamels used for the surface decoration
■of porcelain are all colored by oxide of copper, being
either pure, or changed to a yellowish tone by the addi-
tion of prepared yellow, or to a bluish tone by the
addition of arsenical white or the use of a harder flux.
The flux is varied according to the tint desired. Oxide
of lead in excess deepens the green ; soda communicates
a tint less blue than that developed by potash under
similar circumstances. Tlie pale sea-green tint used for
filling in distant mountains is called for that reason sJtan
lii, or " mountain green " ; this is the pure biuoxide of
copper, and it is converted into turquoise-blue of darker
or lighter shade by being mixed with dift'erent propor-
tions of white enamel containing arsenic. The color
called hu lii, or vert passe, is made by the combination
of antimonial yellow with the copper green. The deep-
est shade of camellia-leaf gi-een, called ta lii, or gros vert,
is brought out in the firing of the pure copper oxide dis-
solved in a highly plumbiferous flux combined with
the smallest possible proportion of alkalies.
The yellows of the mufile stove are colored by anti-
mony. Antimony alone is colorless, but in combination
with oxide of lead it gives a bright canary-yellow when
pure. When contaminated with iron a reddish or orange
tone is produced. The purest tint is exhibited in the
yellow ground of the vase illustrated in Plate LXV, and
tne same yellow characterizes the finest painted decora-
tion of the period. The imperial yellow, which is spe-
cially reserved in China for the use of the sovereign,
is of fuller, deeper tone, approaching orange. Peroxide
554 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
of iron is purposely mixed with the pulverized yellow
enamel to produce the surface color of dull aspect which
is known by the name of hu Ciing, or " old bronze."
The deep purplish brown monochrome enamel, ap-
proaching a dark claret color, which is known to the
Chinese as tza, is produced by manganese. The oxide of
manganese communicates to alkaline glazes, as we saw
in the colors of the demi-grand feu, a beautiful violet
d''eveque (bishop's purple), or aubergine purple ; to lead
glazes it gives the brownish or grayish purple of the
muffle stove, wdiich we find in imperial ware in combina-
tion usually with dragons and other ornamental designs,
etched at the point in the paste underneath.
The reds of the enameler's palette remain for considera-
tion. They consist of two distinct and well-defined classes,
viz., the rouges defer, which owe their color to iron per-
oxide, and the rouges d''or, which owe their color to gold
precipitate, the purple of Cassius. The former are of
brickdust or bright coral hue ; the latter are I'ose-colored,.
carmine, or pink. Peroxide of iron is self-colored, and
does not require to unite chemically with any other sub-
stance to bring out its tint. In this it resembles the
peroxide of manganese, which produces the black, and
the technical application of the two colors is consequently
the same. The peroxide of iron requires only a simple
flux to cause it to adhere and to glaze its surface. It i&
prepared in China by the incineration of crystals of green
vitriol (sulphate of iron). The peroxide is combined
with five times its weight of white lead, the two materials
being passed through a fine sieve and triturated together ;
a little glue must be dissolved in water w^hen it is used
on the palette, anfl it must be painted on with a light
brush. The color applied in this way is of deep, full
tone, but of dull aspect, as it depends for vitrification on
the small proportion of silica that it is able to absorb
>
CHINESE CERAMIC COLORS. 000
from the underlying glaze; it differs from the ordinary
enamel colors in not being in apprecial)le relief. This is
the ta hung, or gros rouge, of the Chinese, also known as
mo hung, or " painted red," being the oi'dinary red of
decorative painting on porcelain. The iron peroxide, like
the peroxide of manganese, is also employed in combination
with the ordinary plumbo-alkaline vitreous flux when the
color is required to be more brilliant and glossy. The
bright coral-red single color, known to the Chinese by
the name of tsao-^rh hung, or " jujube red," is produced
by this means ; it differs from the other in being completely
vitrified, even when laid on thickly, and excels it in trans-
lucency and luster, although not so deep and full in tone.
The vase illustrated in Plate XXVI displays this ground
in combination with a decoration in enamel colors ; in
other cases it is employed with the best eft'ect to form
a rich ground for ornamental designs reserved in white,
as in the charming little bowds of the ChHen-lung period,
which are so gracefully decorated with white sprays of
bamboo, thrown out in crisp outline by the lustrous ver-
milion background.
The rouges d'or are of comparatively modern introduc-
tion into the Chinese ceramic field, and seem to have been
quite unknown until the latter part of the reign of K\ing-
hsi. They are not mentioned by Pere d'Entrecolles, but
the cyclical date corresponding to the year 1721 has been
found on several saucer-dishes of Chinese porcelain deco-
rated with enamels of this class, and they occur among
the colors of vases painted in the style known us Juan
ts^ai, or " soft coloring," that are credibly attributed to
the reign of IC^ang-hsi. The color called yen-chih hung,
from its likeness to the cosmetic rouge of the Chinese, is
brought to Ching-te-chen in the shape of irregular frag-
ments of ruby-colored glass, the precipitated purple of
Oassius having been previously combined with a vitreous
556 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
flux. This is finely pulverized, worked up on the palette
with water or turpentine, and painted on without further
addition to produce the deep carmine of the rose-backed
es-o-shell dishes, or the crimson blossoms of a flower on a
decorated piece. The color is known also as hua Jiung,
or "flower red," on account, probably, of its frequent use
in coloring petals. Anal}sis shows it to consist of the
usual plumbo-alkaline flux, tinged with about one-quarter
per cent of metallic gold. A pink called /m hung, of
the " rose Du Barry " type, is prepared by mixing the
materials of the carmine color with those of the ordinary
white enamel. The third color of this class, which is
called by the name of chUing lien., or "blue lotus," is pre-
pared by mixing together three enamels — the caiminCy
colored ruby-red by dissolved gold ; the ivory-white^
made opaque by arsenious acid ; and the deep blue
derived from cobalt ; the result when fired is a deep
amaranth of purplish tone.
Gold is also used in its ordinary metallic form in gild-
ing porcelain and in penciling upon it decorative designs,
which are fixed bv beina; fired in the muifle, Pere d'En-
trecolles has described fully its method of preparation
and its application, mixed with one-tenth of its weight of
white lead, by means of weak glue. It is singular that
exactly the same proportions ai-e employed in Europe in
mixing the gold with the flux which makes it adhei'e to
the porcelain, although the flux used at Sevres is subni-
trate of bismuth. Silver is also employed in China in its
metallic form, combined with white lead, whether as a
souffle overglaze or as an efliective decoration penciled
upon a dead-leaf ground.
CHAPTER XX.
MOTIVES OF DECOEATIOX OF CHINESE PORCELAIN.
THE principal modes of decoration have been casually
alluded to already in the description of particular
pieces and of the style of different peiiods, but a short
resume of the more usual motives selected by the Chinese
artist may be attempted in a separate chapter. A com-
plete account of the varied phases of an art the principles
of -which diff'er so completely from our own, or of the
alien religions and strange philosophy which furnish its
chief subjects, is hardly to be expected. The first impres-
sion is apt to be that of the grotesque, and we notice the
absence of pei'spective in the landscapes, the want of
drawino; in the fio-ures, and the strang-e forms of the weird
monsters that are so often introduced. It is necessary
to get accustomed to these peculiarities to appreciate the
full effect of the vivid and harmonious colorino: in which
the brush of the Oriental decorator of porcelain has
never been surpassed. The same effect is aimed at
whether he be painting on the ra^v body with a single
color, such as cobalt-blue, so that the picture may be
imbibed in the fire in the translucent depths of the wdiite
overglaze, or whether he be working with the vitreous
colors of the enameler's palette, which are applied over
the glaze and fixed in the lesser heat of the muffle stove.
It is brilliancy which is the leading note in the decoration
of porcelain, and it is produced in its perfection in the
vivid greens of the polychrome pictures of the o\d. famille
veHe, as well as in the pulsating vigor which distinguishes
the best " blue and white " of the same reign of ICancj-
557
558 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Tisi. These two acliievements mark the culmiuating point
of the ceramic art of Cliina, and they have never been
surpassed in any other country.
The earliest prehistoric pottery that is dug up from
the ground in all parts of Eastern Asia, specimens of
which are so highly prized by the Chinese as relics of
the time of their sacred emperors, Yao and Shun, w^hose
virtues are extolled by Confucius, is made of coarse, yel-
lowish clay. It is roughly ornamented with indented
dots and scored lines arranged in geometrical patterns,
or with string marks, impressed while the clay was still
moist, and has generally a remarkable similarity to the
archaic pottery discovered in other parts of the world.
In the Han dynasty it begins to be marked with inscrip-
tions in the same way as the bricks and tiles of the
period, which indeed it exactly resembles in material and
structure. An example of this is a roughly shaped globu-
lar vessel, six and a quarter inches high, six inches in
diameter, with an expanding mouth strengthened by a
prominent lip, which has been added to my collection
since the chapter on Marks was written. The form is
precisely that of some of the Anglo-Saxon urns dug up in
England. The mark, Avhich is stamped under the foot of
the vase, so that the characters stand out in low relief, is
Wufeng erli nien — i. e., "second year of the Wu-feng
period," which corresponds to b. c. 56, the eighteenth
year of the reign (b. c. 73-49) of tlie ^m^^erov Hsuan Ti
of the Han dynasty.
The more finely finished pieces of the Han dynasty
are composed of a kind of gray faience coated with a
brilliant green glaze derived from copper, the tint of
which is fitly compared by the Chinese to that of the
rind of a cucumber. The vases, modeled in the form of
the sacrificial bronze vessels of the period, have usually
mask handles fashioned in the shape of monsters' heads,
I
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 559
and are ornamented ^vith encircling bands worked in
relief in the paste under the glaze. These bands are
generally filled with the forms of grotesque dragons
and other monstrous creatures traversino; a frieze of
clouds. The designs are identical with those employed
at this period in the mural sculptures of tombs carved in
bas-relief on stone which I was the first to introduce into
Europe by the exhibition of a series of rubbings at the
Oriental Congress at Berlin in 1881.* The photographs
of these rubbings are included in the beautifully illus-
trated volume f lately published by my friend M. Cha-
vannes, the learned Professor of Chinese at the College de
France^ which should be consulted by every student of
early Chinese art. The scenes displayed so strikingly in
these mural sculptures are of the most varied character,
and are especially interesting as indications of the ancient
myths of the Chinese, before they were modified by the
introduction of Buddhism from India. AVe see the
astronomical star-gods, headed by the Supreme Deity
enthroned in the Great Bear, round which the lesser
satellites continually circle in token of homage, the storm-
gods in the midst of clouds shaping themselves into the
forms of dragons and winged horses, the elemental gods
of wind and rain, and the dreaded god of thunder
canopied by a rainbow, the latter being depicted as a
two-headed dragon with arched body. There are battle
scenes and warlike processions with chariots and spear-
men, representations of the early men of mythical times
with serpent bodies, and peaceful pageants, such as
Confucius attended by his disciples, or the meeting of
Confucius and Lao Tzu. Historical scenes from classical
times follow, a series of pictures of the assassins of
* Inscrij)tions from the Tombs of the Wu Fuinily from the Neighborhood of the
City Chiahsiang-hsien in the Province of Shantung. By Dr. S. W. Bushell.
j; La Sculpture sur Pierre en Chine au temps des deux Dynasties Han. Par
Edoiiard Chavannes. Paris, 1893.
560 OKIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
tyrannical sovereigns, and of the noted examples of
feudal devotion, the virtuous heroines of ancient stoiy
and the paragons of filial piety, that have so often sup-
plied motives for the decoration of porcelain in more
modern days.
One of tlie stone slabs figures the felicitous omens that
herald the rule of a virtuous sovereign ; the well of pure
water that appeared spontaneously without digging ; the
miraculous bronze tripod in which food could be cooked
without fire ; the spotted unicorn called lin {hH-liii) ; the
yello\v dragons that appeared swimming in the lakes ; the
calendar plant of the time of the Emperor Yao, that
indicated the day of the month by throwing out a sprout
on each successive day of the waxing moon, till there
were fifteen, and by dropping one by one these sprouts
each day of the waning moon; the six-legged monster;
the white tiger that harmed no man ; the jade horse ;
Jade growing up miraculously from the ground ; the red
bear ; the twin tree with two trunks united above ; the
crystal gem (^pi-liu-li), disk-shaped, with a round hole
in the middle ; the deep-green tablet (Jisuan Icuei) of
jade, of oblong shape, with pointed top, an ancient badge
of rank ; two-headed quadrupeds, birds, and fishes ; the
white carp that appeared to Wu Wang, the founder of
the Chou dynasty, as he was crossing the ford at Meng-
chin ; the white deer on which foreign envoys from the
south are said to have ridden to the court of the ancient
Emperor Huang Ti\ the silver wine-jar (ym weng)^
and the Jade symbol of victory {ijil slieng), the form of
which resembled that of a weaver's spindle, or of two
disks united by a central bar.
Bronze has been one of the principal materials for
artistic work in China from the most remote times, and
the collections of bronze antiquities that have been pub-
lished in the many illustrated books that are referred to
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 561
in tlie chapter on Bibliography have furnished a mine of
wealth for the potter in supplying forms as well as
decorative designs. The circular mirrors of bronze, for
example, which go back to the Han dynasty (b. c. 206-
A. D. 220), are molded and engraved on the back with
varied designs, accompanied often by written inscriptions,
and form by themselves a suggestive chapter of Chinese
art. The round mirror is a sacred article in the Taoist
cult, being supposed to have the power of detecting evil
spirits masquerading in human guise by reflecting their
true form, and the back is usually covered with pictures
of mythological and astrological character. In the Han
dynasty we have winged figures of the celestial deities,
four-horse chariots, and grotesque monsters in the style
of the mural sculptures of the time, lions and phcenixes
in the midst of arabesquelike scrolls of flowers, dragons,
and sea-horses in festoons of grapes. The divinity Hsi
Wang Mu, "Royal Mother of the West," with kneeling
attendants bearino; olferinofs, and bands of musicians, is
seated, either enthroned alone, or in association with
Tung "Wang Fu, "Royal Father of the East"; the
legends connected with these two deities are supposed
to be partly borrowed from Hindu sources, being
arranged like those relating to Indra and his consort,
and the Buddhistic aspect of the figures, posed as they
are occasionally on lotus thalami, lends some color to the
supposition. The astrological figures on the Han mii'i'ors
are those of the four quadrants of the uranoscope, viz.,
the azure dragon of the eastern quadrant, the somber
tortoise and serpent of the north, the white tiger of the
Avest, and the red bird of the south. The bronze mirrors
of the T\vn(j dynasty (618-906) display a further series
of astrological figures, including the twelve animals of
the solar zodiac, the twenty-eight animals of the lunar
zodiac, the asterisms to which they correspond, etc.
562 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
The list of the animals of the solar zodiac has beeu
already given in Chapter III, in connection with the
duodenary cycle. They are represented on the backs
of the mirrors in rings, which are sometimes filled in
with sprays of ilowei's or leafy scrolls. On porcelain of
more modern times the animals are occasionally grouped
in a landscape scene filled in with ordinary details.
They are also found molded in porcelain, either in a
series of small animal forms, or as statuettes with human
bodies and animal heads.
One of the large bronze mirrors of this period, fifteen
inches in diameter, with the usual boss in the middle,
perforated for a silk cord, has round the boss a ring of
the four quadrants enumerated above, followed by a
succession of concentric rings. The second of these
rings has the pa hua^ the eight trigrams of broken and
unbroken lines, used in divination; the third ring con-
tains the twelve animals of the solar zodiac ; the fourth,
the ancient names of the lunar asterisms in archaic
script ; the fifth, the figures of the twenty-eight animals
of the lunar zodiac, followed by their names, the names
of the constellations over which they rule, and those of
the planets to which they correspond. The planets are
arranged in the same order as in our days of the week,
and the Chinese are supposed to have derived their
first knowledge of the division of the periods of the
moon's diurnal path among the stars into weeks of seven
days about the eighth century, when they obtained also
the animal cycles, which had been previously unkmown
to them. Their knowledge of the twenty-eight lunar
mansions is, however, far more ancient, and long dis-
cussions have taken place as to whether they were
invented in Chaldea, India, or China, or derived from
some common source in central Asia. Professor W. D.
Whitney, in his studies on the Indian Nahsliatras, or
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 56&
Lunar Stations, sums up the discussion by the con-
clusion that, " considering the concordances existing
among the three systems of the Hindus, Chinese, and
Arabians, it can enter into the mind of no man to doubt
that all have a common origin, and are but different
forms of one and the same system."
In addition to the astrological and hieratic devices on
these old bronze mirrors, which are mostly of Taoist
character, with wild animals, such as the deer and hare^
bringing herbs in their mouths to the hermit, or sacred
birds, such as the swallow and crane, carrying in their
beaks scroll messages from the gods or fateful talismans
for the religious recluse, there is another kind with purely
ornamental decoration. These are covered with sprays
of natural flowers and buttei'flies, with conventional gar-
lauds of idealized flowers, such as are called by the Chi-
nese pao hsmng Jma, or '' flowers of paradise," with flsh
swimming in waves among moss and water-weeds, with
boys circling round the field weaving flowers, with drag-
ons and phcenixes disporting in tlie midst of floral ara-
besques, and with many others of the designs that we
find so often repeated later as art motives for ceramic
decoration.
In Buddhism, bronze objects of the same circular form,
looking like large medallions with the face polished to a
mirrorlike surface, represented the sacred w^heel (/« hiQi)^
and are molded on the back with Sanskrit dharani.
One of these is sometimes placed in the hand of a Bud-
dhist divinity, or suggests the decoration of a porcelain
dish penciled with concentric rings of Sanskrit writing.
The ancient bronze moldings, in connection with the
carvings in jade of the Han dynasty, which were exe-
cuted in a similar style, furnished in fact the first models
for the porcelain manufacture. The old crackled wares
of the Sim(/ dynasty, the grass-green celadons, and the
564 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
ivory-white Tingcliou porcelain of the same period (960-
1279), all have the decorative designs molded in reliefer
engraved in the paste underneath the glaze, which was
applied subsequently. We know nothing from actual
experience of the older fabrics, but are told in the })ooks
that they were made in imitation of white and green
jade, and that they owed their chief beauty to the bi'il-
liant tints of their single colors, emulating the emerald
hue of moss-green jade, or the clear blue of the sky after
rain. Specimens of the Sung dynasty are not so uncom-
mon ; the vases are seen to have been molded with the
designs of the character that has been described, outside,
so as to cover their surface ; the bowls, cups, and dishes
have had the interior ornamented by being pressed upon
the mold and finished afterward with the graving tool.
Among the most frequent of the molded designs are
phcenixes flying among flowers, and brocaded grounds
composed of intei'lacing sprays of Moutan peonies and.
lilies, the rims being defined by encircling bands of fret
of varied pattern. A pair of fishes is occasionally seen
in Ijold relief in the bottom of a circular dish of old cela-
don porcelain, and the same design is found on the older
copper basins of the Han dynasty ; other dishes are
lightly engraved under the glaze with a spray of lotus or
of peony, or with grounds of checkered and fluted pat-
tern. There is no reference to painted decoration till
toward the end of the Sung dynasty, and even then only
in the case of some of the coarser productions, which
seem to have been occasionally roughly ornamented with
a few strokes of brown derived from some ferruginous
material, or witli touches of a dull blue composed of
impure manganiferous cobalt laid on over the glaze and
incorporated with it at the same firing. The blue and
white of the Yuan dynasty (1280-1367) was probably
of the same type, and perhaps some of the crackled jars
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 565
roughly painted iu blue with dragons, that are cherished
as heirlooms by the Dayaks of Borneo and in other islands
of the Eastern Archipelago, may date from this period.
China has never been so isolated from the outer world
as some have supposed. The oldest writings and tradi-
tions have so much in common with those of the ancient
Accadians and Babylonians as to suggest the theory of a
joint origin for both.* Many of the philosophical ideas
of the early Taoist writers are evidently inspired from a
Hindu source, and the Buddhist missionaries, when they
came to China in the first century a. d., brought with
them carved images and sacred pictures, and besides
exercised subsequently a considerable influence on Chi-
nese art, as is freely confessed by native writers on the
subject. Even before the Christian era the Emperor Wi/
Tl of the Han dynasty had opened up intei'course with
w^estern Asia, sent envoys ^vho penetrated as far as
the Persian Gulf, followed by a large army, which con-
quered the Greek kingdom of Ferghana, enthroned a new
king there, and exacted a tribute of Nisgean horses, so
famous in classical history, which were, indeed, the
avowed object of the expedition. Herodotus describes
these horses, which " sweated blood," as coming from
Nisa in Media ; and Ssu-ma Ch'ien, the author of the
Sliih Chi^ the first of the official Chinese histories, who
has been called " the Chinese Herodotus," describes them
in similar terms under the name of JSfi-ssu horses ; while
Li Kuang-li, the commander-in-chief of the expedition,
who was appointed in the year b. c. 102, Avas given the
honorary title of Nissean General. The Greeks are
described in the Chinese history under the name of
Yuan, which is equivalent to laon, the name they have
always borne in Asia ; and the influence of Greek art is
* Western Origin of the Early Chinese Civilization. From 2300 B. C. to 200
A. D. By Terrlen de Lacouperie. London, 1894.
566 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
betrayed by several details in the mural sculptures of
Chinese tombs dating from the Han dynasty as well
as in early Buddhist sculpture.
During the succeeding centuries there was occasional
intercourse both by land and by sea until the thirteenth
century, when nearly the whole of Asia was under the
dominion of the Mongol descendants of Genghis Khan^
who occupied the thrones of both China and Persia, over-
ran Russia, and reached nearly to the walls of Vienna.
Marco Polo in his well-known Travels describes his jour-
neys about this time between Europe and Cathay both
by sea and by land. Rabruquis, the envoy of Saint
Louis of France to Mangu Khan, who arrived at Kara-
korum in the year 1252, found there a Parisian gold-
smith named Guillaume Boucher, who was specially
attached to the court and had made for the Khan's
palace a wonderful fountain of silver, which he describes
minutely. It was in the form of a tall ti'ee surmounted
by an angel with a trumpet, having four large receptacles
concealed in its trunk, from which started four pipes,
emerging in the form of gilded serpents, and terminating
in the mouths of four silver lions which surrounded the
foot of the tree, and furnished a supply of wine, cosmos
made from mare's milk ; mead made from honey, or
rice-water, whenever either of these four beverages was
required. It was toward the close of this dynasty that
the Byzantine art of cloisonne enameling in copper seems
to have been first introduced into China, as the nUn-liao
of Chili^cheng (1341-67) is found underneath the foot
of pieces which there is no reason to doubt are actual
productions of the time, although the art was not offi-
cially adopted until the reign of CJdng-tai (1450-56) of
the next dynasty.
We are told by Sir John Malcolm, in his History of
Persia (volume i, page 422), that a hundred families of
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 567
Chinese artisans and engineers came to Persia with
Hulagu Khan about the year 1256, and it has been
surmised that theie were some potters among the
number. If there had been the}^ would have found
many processes of decoration in use there in the fabrica-
tion of faience and fine earthenware (for no true porce-
lain has ever been made in Persia) such as would seem
hitlierto to have been unknown in their own country,
and it seems natural to conclude that these would have
been introduced into China about this time rather than
invented de novo. The reign of Hsuan-te (1426-35) was
the first to become celebrated for its blue and white, and
the Chinese attribute its excellence to the quality of the
cobalt mineral which was imported by them at the time --^^
vJrom Western Asia under the name of " Mohammedan
^blue.'^ The process of decoration in enamel colors com-
bined with a lead flux, which were painted on over the
white glaze and fixed by a second firing in the mufile
stove, came in later.
Blue was the leading color in the decoration of porce-
lain throughout the Ming dynasty (1368-1643). The
other colors were at first principally used as grounds to
relieve the blue designs, or to fill in ornamental details
that had been previously reserved in white on a blue
ground. Even in the reign of Wan-li (1573-1619),
when painting in enamel colors had come into wider
vogue, the blue was still sketched in first on the raw
body, while the other enamel colors were filled in after-
ward over the glaze. A complete palette of overglaze
enamel colors appears later as a characteristic of the
reign of K^ang-hsi (1662-1722), and the large vases of
this class decorated in brilliant enamels of the fatnille
verte, that are so often classified as Ming pieces because
they are inscribed with the mark of Cli' eng-lma^ are
really productions of the K\mg-Jisi period.
568 ORIENTAL CERAJriC ART.
Next to bronze designs and antique carving, the
patterns of old silk brocades and woven stuffs afforded
frequent motives for the decoration of porcelain, as we
have already seen in Chapter VII. China is the original
country of silk, and it has been celebrated for its woven
productions from the most remote times. The twelfth
book of the Po wu yao Ian, an excellent work on
objects of art which has often been quoted, and which
was published in the beginning of the seventeenth
century, is devoted to ancient silks under the heading of
cldii, " brocades," and hsiu, " embroideries," the former
of which were woven on the loom, the latter worked bv
hand with the needle. It includes an account of the
designs used in different dynasties, in which there occurs
a curious notice of five rolls of brocade with draerons
woven upon a crimson ground that were presented, in
the second year of the Cliing-cli^'u period (238), by the
Emperor Ming Ti of the Wei dynasty to the Empress
of Japan, who is recorded to have sent an embassy to
the Chinese court in that year. Under the Sung
dynasty (960-1279) is given a list of about fifty brocade
patterns of the same general character as those enumer-
ated on pages 255-256 ; and this is followed by another
long list of figured silk handkerchiefs of the time, which
were woven with designs similar to those of the brocades,
and used for head wrappers and for carrying things in.
This list of handkerchiefs ends with a reference to the
white wool kerchiefs of the Kitan Tartars, the arabesque
designs used by the Niichih Tartars, and the white
kerchiefs of the Koreans of the period, which were
woven with figures of eagles, vultures, and flowers, with
pheasants and other birds.
All the different desio-ns enumerated in both these
lists have been constantly used in later times in the
decoration of porcelain.
Ji
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 569
The painter on porcelain claims for himself only a
subordinate position in the school of Chinese art, and his
greatest triumph is a colorable imitation of one of the
old painters on silk and paper, whose pictures are kept
mounted upon rollers in Chinese cabinets. These pic-
tures are either graphically sketched in black ink, or
delicately tinted in water-colors, painting in oil being
unknown to the Chinese. The Chinese artist is first a
writer, and he acquii'es his skill in outline as a callig-
raphist of the written script, which was often originally
a picture of the object. He has always possessed, as
M. Paleologue observes in L'Art Cliinois (page 246),
the sentiment of color, and has acquired by intuition, as
it were, a perfect skill and finished delicacy in its appli-
cation. It is mainly in the advantage they have taken
of the vibration of colors that the Chinese have revealed
their power as colorists. Instinct and observation have
taught them that by shading the tints upon themselves a
singular depth and intense power can be brought out.
In painting on porcelain, even more perhaps than in
painting on silk, they have made the colors vibrate and
pulsate by putting blue upon blue, red upon red, yellow
upon yellow, in every shade from the lightest to the
darkest. The defects of want of perspective and ab-
sence of relief modeling are less noticeable on porcelain
than in pictures executed on a larger scale.
With regard to the different branches of his art there
is nothing that the artist on silk or paper, followed in
his turn by the painter on porcelain, has not attempted.
He treats in succession religious and historical subjects,
scenes of actual daily life, illustrations of poetry, romance,
and the drama, landscapes and copies of Nature, animals
real and mythical, flowers natural and symbolical, etc.
The Chinese generally recognize four genres, viz.: (1)
Eigures {rien Wu); (2) Landscape {Shan Shui), the
570 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
name meaning literally " liill and water"; (3) Nature
{Hua Niao)^ literally "flowers and birds"; and (4)
Miscellaneous {Tsa Hua).
As a striking example of tlie first class of decoration
with figures, the large vase, thirty inches high, that is
illustrated in Figs. 328 and 341, may be presented. It
is painted with a battle scene, sketched with a certain
amount of life and energy, so that the picture covers the
whole surface of the vase, extending over the neck as
well as the body. The colors used are the brilliant
overglaze enamels of the K'ang-hsi period (1662-1722),.
greens of different shade pi'edominating, and the daik
cucumber-green, the pale apple-green, and rich purple
exhibit the finely crackled texture which distinguishes
some of the monochrome glazes of the period. The
names of the generals that are written on their ban-
ners show that the scene is taken from the Hsii Slmi
Ha, a well-known collection of stories of brigands of
the reign of Hiii Tsung of the Sung dynasty, in the
beginning of the twelfth century, and we must turn to
the book for a short explanation :
The general, Sung Cliiang, had been sent by the emperor witli an
army to recover the city of Ch'in-chou in the province of Sliensi,
which had been captured by brigands. Tlie brigands, led by Lei
Ying-ch'un, accompanied by his v/Me P'o-p'o Niang, who was called
Pai Fu-jen, " The White Lady," a noted swordswoman, whose
charger was a lion that vomited flames, had taken refuge in the
Hung-tao Mountain, wliicli was over one hundred miles round.
Sung Chiang had advanced his troops, massed in three divisions, to
the attack, and Lei Ying-ch'un had been killed by Lin Ch'ung in
the first battle. The White Lady, when told the news of the death
of her husband, had wept bitterly, but had hastened to the front, and
had defeated the two generals Hua Jung and Ch'in Ming, whose
horses had fled affrighted by the lion, and alarmed by the power of
the enemy's magicians over the elements.
Sung Chiang, the imperial general, afterward had a number of
imitation lions made with moving eyes and heads filled with sulphur.
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 571
wliicli could be lighted at tlie critical moment. This is the moment
chosen for illustration. The White Lady, wielding a long-handled
sword, is seen in the foreground mounted upon a grotesque lion,
and her charger is just turning back, frightened by the dummy
lions which are grouped on the other bank of a river, as if being
driven in a team by an attendant. Slie is attended by two of her
generals on horseback, whose names are inscribed on their bannei's
Chang Ying-kao and Ching Ch'en-pao, and the large, waving
triangular banner dis2:>lays the constellation of the Great Bear and
the archaic dual symbol in token of her occult art. The loyal
generals are gathered on tiie other bank of the river, the large
square flag wliich is carried b}^ one of the horsemen being inscribed
Ta Sung, " Great Sung," the name of the reigning dvnasty. The
smaller group depicted on the neck of the vase represents the
commander-in-chief of the imperial army and his staff, the waving
banner being inscribed Shiiai, the title of his rank. His commands
are rendered by the man below, who is beating a drum. They are
all gazing upward, looking at an apparition in the sky in the guise
of a martial figure, which is approaching with each foot poised
upon a fiery wheel. This is Kuan Ti, the national god of war, who
appears in China at critical occasions as an omen of victory, and
animates the fray, just as the gods of ancient Greece were related
to have done in Homeric times.
We are told in the stoiy that afterward the White Lady
returned riding a chestnut horse, to be killed by Hu Yen-
sho, and that her two generals, whose names are given
above, were slain at the same time by the great general
Ch'in Ming and by Kuan Sheug the " long-sworded/'
whose devices are to be seen inscribed among the rest
upon the vase. The background of the picture is a
mountain scene with large pines growing from precip-
itous rocks.
The next illustration (Fig. 16) exhibits a " cool pillow "
of porcelain for summer use, which is also painted in
brilliant enamels of early ICaiig-lisi date, laid on over
the white glaze, including manganese purple, coral-red,
black, and a few touches of gold, relieved by bright
emerald-green and pale primrose-yellow grounds. It is
0<2 ORIENTAL CERAIVIIC ART.
covered in the middle with a foliated panel of floral bro-
cade, with peony scrolls painted in colors on a yellow
ground, so as to extend over three of the sides. The
fourth side has a round hole in the middle of a painted
flower, which is fltted with a screw cover, so that fragrant
flowers or scented herbs may be introduced into the hol-
low interior of the pillow. The borders are surrounded
by bauds of diaper and spiral fret. The square ends, of
which one is shown in Fig. 342, are decorated with scenes
from some comedy. A traveler of mature years, with an
attendant carrying baskets of fruits or flowers, is stand-
ing in the courtyard of a house at the porch of which
stands a lady, bowing politely as she listens to him talk-
ing. The wine-cups j)laced side by side on the table
inside suggest an approaching wedding, which is perhaps
the subject of the discussion.
Porcelain is often molded after sacred designs in the
form of images and the like, or illustrated with themes
derived from some one of the religious cults followed in
China, and a word of introduction on the subject may be
attempted here. There are in China three systems com-
monly spoken of by foreigners as " religions," and known
as Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. The first is the
cult of the literati, of which Confucius, who lived b. c.
551-479, is the prophet, and the reigning emperor, as the
Son of Heaven and the vice-regent of the Supreme Deity
on earth, is the great high priest, and he has the sole
right of offering sacrifice, unless he deputes the duty to
one of the princes or high mandarins. It is really a sys-
tem of state philosophy rather than a religion, as Confu-
cius was himself a professed agnostic, and was wont to
refuse to discuss the supernatural with his disciples, but
the practice of ancestral worship is inextricably inter-
woven with its tenets. The state gods, like Kuan Ti, the
God of AVar, are deified mortals, and subject to promo-
I
MOTIVES OF DECOEATION. 573
tion or degradation by the emperor, who rules the celes-
tial hierarchy on the same lines as the earthly mandarin-
ate, and may even adopt into it any deity from the other
cults.
The God of War has already been noticed as appearing
in the air as an omen of victory in a battle scene depicted
on the large vase illustrated in Figs. 328 and 341. Kuan
Yii, a well-known historical character, rose into celebrity
in the troublous times at the close of the Han dynasty.
He is reputed to have been in early life a seller of bean-
curd, but to have subsequently devoted himself to study,
until in the year 184 he casually encountered Liu Pei,
when the latter was about to take up arms against the
rebellion of the Yellow Tui'baus, and a solemn compact
was sworn in a peach orchard. The fidelity of Kuan Yii
to his adopted leader remained unshaken in despite of
many trials. At an early period in his cai'eer he was
created a baron by the notorious regent Ts'ao Ts'ao, who
tried to turn the hero from his fealty to Liu Pei, whose
tAvo wives had fallen into his power, by shutting up Kuan
Yii at night in the same house with the two imprisoned
ladies ; but the trusty warrior preserved their reputation
from innuendo, and proved his own fidelity by mounting
guard in an antechamber the livelong night with a lighted
lantern in his hand. His martial prowess was proved in
many campaigns with Liu Pei, before the throne of his
chief as sovereign of Shu became assured, but he fell a
victim at last to the superior force and strategy of Sun
Ch'iian, the founder of another of the Three Kingdoms
into which the empire then became subdivided, and Avas
taken prisoner and beheaded in the year 219. Although
always celebrated as one of the most renowned of China's
heroes, it was not till early in the twelfth century that
he was canonized by the Emperor Hid Tmng of the
Simg dynasty. By the Emperor Waii-li of the Ming
iff
574 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
dynasty he was raised, in 1594, to the rank of TV, the
highest in the hierarchy, and since that date, and espe-
cially since tlie accession of the reigning Manchu dynasty,
his worship as the God of War has been firmly established.
The porcelain figure presented in Fig. 343 is Kuan Ti,
the Chinese God of War, as he sits enshrined upon the
altar in the gateway or front hall of most of the temples
in China. It represents a mail-clad warrior seated, in a
speaking attitude, with one hand uplifted, in a wooden
chair which has dragons' heads projecting from its arms,
one of his legs resting on rocks, the other placed on a
lion footstool. The figure is molded in one piece, with
the exception of the liands, which can be detached.
The principal God of Literature is the stellar divinity.
Wen Chang Ti Clitin, whose constellation is one of the
smaller groups of stars in Ursa Major. He is represented
in pictures as a dignified figure in mandarin dress and a
broad-brimmed hat of antique style, riding a mule, accom-
panied by attendants carrying banner-screens and other
paraphernalia. His superior claims have been ousted,
however, by one of his satellites known as K'uei Hsing,
who is the personification of the star hhtei^ and who is by
far the most popular God of Literature in the present
day, although he was not formally canonized till the four-
teenth century. Tradition says that he once lived on
earth, and attained by his literary genius the highest
grade at the official examinations, but was refused the
post to which he was entitled on account of his ugliness,
whereupon he precipitated himself in his despair into the
Yellow River, and was borne to the place which he now
occupies in the firmament by the dragon. The porcelain
statuette reproduced in Fig. 86, which is decorated in
overglaze enamel colors, shows K'uei Hsing standing with
one leg upon the head of a fish-dragon, which is rising
from the waves. His face is that of a demon, with
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 575
repulsive features, projecting canine teeth, protuberant
eyes, and two budding horns; the bare arms and legs are
encircled by bracelets and anklets, and the cloak waving
loosely above the head with long, floating ends conveys
the impression of movement. A pencil-brush is wielded
in his uplifted right hand, and he holds a square cup of
ink in his other hand, or a cake of ink molded in the form
of a silver ingot. The fish-dragon (yil-lung), which is his
special attribute, is the emblem of literary perseverance
and success, and is often used alone in symbolical decora-
tion, as in the blue and white piece shown in Plate
LXIX. The Yellow River passes in its course through
a famous defile known as Lung-Men, or " Dragon-Gate,"
and according to old legends, when the salmon ascend
the stream in the thii'd moon of each year, any that suc-
ceeded in passing through the precipitous rapids at this
point become transformed into dragons. The list of suc-
cessful candidates is called the " dra2:on list " in allusion
to this.
Taoism is the second of the three srreat relio-ions of
China. Lao Tzii, the founder of the occult philosophy of
the Taoists, is said to have been l)orn in the year 604
B. c, and to have been a keeper of the official records at
Lo, the capital of the Chou dynasty, in the province of
Honan, till near the close of the fifth century b. c, when
he was visited by Confucius. The meeting of the two
sages is one of the scenes on the mural tomb sculptures
of the second century that have been already alluded to,
and it forms occasionally the motive of the decoration of
a porcelain vase. After a long period of service Lao Tzii
retired from office, foreseeing the decadence of the suze-
rain house of Chou, and ti'aveled away to the west. The
governor of the frontier pass of Han Ku besought him
to write a book before retiring from the world, and was
intrusted with the Tao Te Chmg, before the author dis-
576 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
appeared from mortal ken. This work, the Bible of
Taoism, has been translated into several European lan-
guages. Later legends have assigned to its author a
period of fabulous antiquity, and a miraculous concep-
tion through the influence of a star, alleging him to have
been the incarnation of the supreme celestial entity,
which they called the " Venerable Prince of the Great
Supreme," whence he is also termed Lao Chiin, or " Ven-
erable Prince." Shou Lao, the " Ancient of Ages," the
stellar god of longevity, whose celestial seat is near the
south pole, is supposed to be the disembodied spirit of
the venerable philosopher. The mystic elements of his-
teaching were progressively developed by his early dis-
ciples in their search after an elixir to preserve the body
from decay and death, and in their efforts to discover the
lapis divinus, and to transmute metals into gold, which
gave rise to the ancient study of alchemy, in its two lead-
ing branches. Their first great patron was the Emperor
Wu Ti (b. c. 140-87) of the Han dynasty, and from his
period onward the reverence paid to Lao Tzii began to
assume a divine charactei*. In a. d. 666 the emperor of
the T''ang dynasty canonized him with the title of " Im-
perial God of the Dark First Cause," and other titles
were added subsequently, till it has become difficult to
distinguish his attributes from those of Shang Ti, the
supreme god of the celestial hierarchy. Shang Ti is
identified with the northern pole star, his chariot is the
Great Bear, and the stars of the circumpolar space consti-
tute his court — the Taoist kingdom of heaven — under
appropriate titles. Shou Lao is established at the oppo-
site pole of the heavens, and only appears on auspicious
occasions. He is represented (Fig. 348) as a venerable
man of benevolent aspect, with bald head, protuberant
forehead, and long, flowing white beard, dressed in robes
brocaded with the character shou, "■ longevity," and carry-
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 577
ing a sacred peach in his hand. Sometimes he is mounted
upon a deer, or' speeding through the air on a stoi-k, or
he may be depicted as a mortal sage in a rocky landscape
riding an ox on his long journey to the west.
The old " Nature gods " of the Chinese, the devouring
ogre of the wilderness, called T'ao-tieh, whose features
are delineated on archaic bronzes, the rain- and storm-
gods, which appear dimly outlined in the dark clouds
before the tempest, and the dreaded thunder-god, whose
bolts are the prehistoric stone axes and celts that are
often found in ground washed aAvay by the torrent after
a thunderstorm, have all been adopted by the Taoists,
but they are rarely seen on porcelain, and need not detain
us here.
Much more popular is the Taoist Triad of Happiness^
Rank, and Longevity, " Fu, Lu, Shou," which is depicted
in Fig. 325. The vase is decorated in delicate enamel
colors with gilding of the Yung-cJieng period, with scat-
tered scrolls of clouds and flying storks bringing branches
of peaches in their beaks. On one side the strokes of
the character sIwk, '' longevity," filled in with a brocaded
ground, are interrupted in the middle by a peach-shaped
medallion containing a picture of a group of figures
gathered under a spreading pine. The three principal
figures represent the Taoist Triad, the others being only
attendant sprites. The Star God of Rank, Lu Hsing^
stands in the middle, dressed in mandarin robes, with a
winged official hat of ancient style, and holding a jii-i
scepter ; the Star God of Longevity, Shou Hsing, stands
on his right, leaning upon a long staff, to the top of
which is slung a scroll, and holding in his left hand a
peach, the sacred fruit of life ; the Star God of Happi-
ness, Fu Hsing, on the other side, has a babe in his arms,
who is reaching out his hand for the peach. The boy
dancing at the side holds up a lotus-flower, the one stand-
578 ORIENTAL CERA^^C ART.
ing at the back a hand-organ (tseng). On the other side
of the vase the strokes of the companion character /"?/,
^' happiness," are interrupted in the middle by a circular
medallion containing a picture of the Taoist goddess,
Hsi Wang Mu, accompanied by two female attendants,
crossing the sea on a raft.
The goddess is represented again in the saucer-shaped
dish of eggshell porcelain painted in soft enamel colors
with gilding, which is shown in Fig. 339. The central
panel is designed in the shape of a peony-petal, and
sprays of peony-flowers and buds are displayed upon the
lilac diaper which surrounds it. It is painted in sepia
tints, touched with gold, with the picture of two grace-
ful female figures, representing the Taoist divinity, Hsi
Wang Mu, with a youthful attendant standing upon
branches of equisetum moss, as if floating on water, with
their scarfs flowing in the breeze. The goddess, dressed
in dragon-brocaded robes, holds a gilded sce^^ter ; the
attendant carries a dish of peaches, the " fruit of life " of
Taoist story. The rim of the dish is encircled by a band
of pink diaper, interrupted by medallions containing
sprays of peony, the floral attribute of the goddess.
Hsi Wang Mu, the queen of the genii, is the ruler of
the Taoist paradise in the K'un-lun Mountains, which is
celebrated in ancient myth and fable. Legends in the
old books record the visit of the Emperor Mu Wang in
his journey to the west in b. c. 985, and relate how he
was entertained by the goddess in her fairy abode, where
she lives, surrounded by troops of genii, on the shores
of the " Lake of Gems," where grow all kinds of trees
bearing fruit of jewels and precious jade, and the peach-
tree whose magic fruit confers the gift of immortality.
The goddess bestows this fruit upon the favored beings
admitted to her presence, or dispatches it by the azure-
winged birds who serve, like the doves of Venus, as her
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 579
messengers. The magiiiliceiice of her riioimtain palace is
described iu glowing terms by Lieh Tzti, a Taoist alle-
gorical writer of the fifth century b. c. In later times
the Emperor Wu Ti of the Ha/i dynasty is alleged to
have been favored with visits by Hsi Wang Mil and her
fairy troop, and his regal entertainment of his super-
natural guests is a well-worn theme of old picture and
story.
The suuif-bottle shown in Fig. 347 exhibits Shou Lao
again, in the guise of an aged pilgrim, leaning upon a
long staff to the gnarled head of which is tied a double
gourd, the traditional pilgrim's bottle. The deer at his
side has a branch of the sacred Polyporus fungus in its
mouth, and the bats flying round are introduced as sym-
bols of happiness. At other times he is seen as a vener-
able figure seated on the rocks in a mountain landscape
under a pine-tree, with the bamboo, flow^ering plum, and
sacred fungus growing near, and his familiar animals, the
deer, tortoise, and stork, near at hand, while the motley
crowd of immortals and genii gather round in homage,
distinguished by their various attributes. The best
known of these is the group of Taoist rishi, or hermit
immortals, that constitute the J^a Hsien, the " Eight
Genii," of the Chinese, whose emblems Avere given iu the
chapter on Marks. The individual members of the eight
have long been venerated among the Taoist saints,
although they do not seem to have formed into a defined
group before the thirteenth century. They are regarded
as the patron saints of different arts and industries, and
are found separately as porcelain statuettes, or united in
the decoration of porcelain bowls and dishes, especially
on those intended to hold sacrificial offerings. Their
names and attributes are as follows :
1. Chung-li Ch'uan, who lived during the Chou dj^nasty, and
was one of the discoverers of the elixir of life. He is represented
580 OEIENTAL CERAMIC AET.
as a fat man, with bare, pendulous abdomen, holding a sacred fun-
gus, or a peach, in one hand, and in the other a fly-brush, or a fan,
witli which he is said to revive the spirits of the dead. He is also
known as Ilan Chung-li.
2. LiX Tung-pin, born in 755, was one of the most prominent
among the later Taoist patriarchs, who held office as magistrate of
Te-hua, and studied the mysteries of alchemy in the recesses of the
hills called Lu Shan in the province of Kiangsi. A personage of
martial aspect, he is armed with the sword of supernatural power,
with wliich he traversed the empire for upward of four hundred
years, slaying dragons and ridding the earth of divers evil things.
He is also known by his personal name of Lii Yen, and is worshiped
everywhere as the special ])atron of the sick, who hang up the
magic sword by their bedside to exorcise maleficent spirits. Under
the designation of Lti Tsu, or the " Patriarch Lii," he is the patron
saint of tlie fraternity of barbers.
3. TA T''ieh-l:imi — that is to say, " Li with the Iron Crutch " —
presents himself in the guise of a lame and crooked beggar dressed
in rags. No precise period is assigned to his existence on earth, but
he is said to have been of commanding stature and dignified mien,
and devoted to the stud}' of Taoist lore, in which he was instructed
b}"" Lao Tzu himself, who used to summon his pupil to the celestial
spheres. When his spirit mounted on high, the care of his body,
Avhich remained on earth, was confided to one of his disciples. On
one occasion, unhappily, the watcher was called awa}' to the deathbed
of liis mother, and his trust being neglected, when the disembodied
spirit returned it found its earthly habitation no longer vitalized.
The first available refuge was the body of a lame beggar, whose
si)irit had at that moment been exhaled, and in this shape the sage
continued his existence, supported by an iron crutch, and carr3dng
a pilgrim's gourd, from which clouds and magic apparitions are
often seen to be issuing. He is the special patron of astrologers
and magicians.
4. Ts'ao JCiio-cIi' lu is said to have been the son of a famous
general of the tenth centurj^, and brother of an empress regent of
the Su7ig (iywA^iy. He is dressed in oflScial robes, wears a winged
hat, and carries a pair of castanets. He is the patron of mummers
and actors.
5. Ija7i Ts'ai-ho, a legendary being of whom little is known, the
sex even being uncertain. One stor}'- says that it was a weird woman
I
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 581
dressed in a tattered blue gown, with a cloak of leaves, who used to
beg a liveliliood in the streets, clianting a doggerel verse denunciatory
of fleeting life and its delusive pleasures. She carries a spade and
a basket of flowers, and is worshiped b}' gardeners and florists as
their tutelary saint.
6. Chang Kuo Lao, a celebrated necromancer, who is said to
have flourished in the seventh and eighth centuries, and to have
possessed a wonderful white mule which carried him thousands of
miles at a stretch. He used to carry the picture of his mule folded
and hidden awa}"^ in his wallet, and made the beast resume its proper
shape b}' spurting water on the picture. At other times he would
conjure it out of liis magic gourd. He is recognized by the peculiar
musical instrument which he carries, a kind of drum of bamboo,
with a pair of rods. He is the patron of artists and calligraphists,
and of scholars generally.
7. Han Hsiang Tz-iX is reputed to have been a great-nephew of
the celebrated statesman Han Yii, who lived 768-824, and was an
ardent lover of transcendental study. As a pupil of the patriarch
Lii Tung-pin, he gained admission into the Taoist paradise and
■climbed the tree of life, the sacred peach-tree, fiom which he fell
to the ground, and, in descending, entered into the state of immor-
talit}'. He is represented as a young man plajnng upon a flute, and
is specially worshiped b}' musicians.
8. Ho Hsien Kii, the maiden immortal of the group, is said to
have been a native of tlie neighborhood of Canton. At the age of
fourteen a spirit visited her in a dream, and instructed lier in the
art of attaining immortality by eating powdered jade and mother-
of-pearl. She followed these instructions implicitly, vowed herself
to a life of virginity, gradually renounced ordinary human food,
and acquired the facult}' of traversing the hills in spiritualistic
fashion, as if endowed with wings. She used to return at night
with the herbs she had gathered during her solitary wanderings.
She still appears occasionally to her favored votaries, floating upon
a cloud of many colors, as depicted on the charming eggshell dish
illustrated in Plate LXHI, where she is represented as carrying
in her hands a large jar of the elixir of life. She is usually clad in
a cloak of mugwort-leaves, carries a lotus, and is the tutelary genius
of housewifer^^
Tlie obloug porcelain plaque wbicli is exhibited,
mouutecl in its frame of carved wood, in Fig. 352, is
582 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
painted in enamel colors of the OhHen-lung period, with a
picture of the eight immortals (Pa Hsien) crossing the
sea on their way to the immortal realms on the far bank.
The shore to which they are proceeding is a conventional
mountain scene, with tall pines in the foreground, repre-
senting the Elysian fields of the Taoist cult.
Tung Fang So, who lived in the second century b. c.^
was one of the favorite associates of the Emperor Wu
Ti of the Han dynasty, into whose service he entered
B. c. 138, when the young sovereign summoned the most
gifted scholars and men of genius. He encouraged the
emperor's leaning to the superstitious and marvelous, and
was soon after his death adopted as a Taoist saint and
endowed with all kinds of miraculous qualities. He was
declared to be an embodiment of the planet Venus, and
to have been incarnate many times in the course of
Chinese history. The goddess Hsi Wang Mu, who saw
him during her visit to the court, is said to have
exclaimed, " That is the boy who once stole three of my
sacred peaches, and acquired thereby a longevity of nine
thousand years ! " He is always represented holding a
gigantic peach in his hand, or speeding across the clouda
with a branch of the fruit of life thrown over his
shoulder.
The list of Taoist genii is nearly endless,* for every
vocation has its tutelary saint, who is often a deified
mortal who once worked at the craft, as in the case of
the patron Pousa of the potters, the story of whose
vicarious sacrifice has been related in the chapter on
Ching-te-chen,
Sailors worship the goddess Ma Ku, and build temples
* There are several books on the subject, one of the earliest being the Shen
Hsien Chuaii, by Ko Hung, written in the fourth century A. D., which gives
a series of biographical notices of eighty-four immortals. Cf. Harlez, Le
Livre des Esprits et des Imrnortels. Essai de mythologie Chinoise d'aprh le»
textes originaux. Bruxelles, 1893.
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 583
at the seaports, where she is enshrined under the title of
T'ien Hon, "Empress of Heaven"; she appears riding
upon the storm-clouds, or floating on the rough sea- waves,
to direct her votaries in times of danger, and is liberally
proj^itiated by ex voto offerings w^hen they are once more
safe on shore. The complaisant Taoists have even dedi-
cated an altar for thieves, and supplied them with a
deity of their own, to whom they devote a portion of
their ill-2:otten chains after a successful raid. Some of the
genii are connected with, folk-lore rather than religion,
and partake of the nature of the fairies of Western story,
like the mischievous elf who hides away in the thorny
recess of the jujube-tree, or the tiny peachling whose
abode is in the kernel of the fruit.
Among other genii often represented in the decoration
of porcelain are : Liu Han, ^vhose familiar is the three-
legged toad from the moon, which reveals to him secrets
of immortality and hidden treasures, and who holds up
a coin or jewel between finger and thumb, or weaves a
string of cash in the air ; Wang Ch'iao, the philosopher
j^rince of the sixth century b. c, who is seen playing
upon the flute as he rides through the air upon the white
crane, from whose back he w^aved a final adieu to the
world as he ascended to the immortal realms ; and the
scantily clothed hermit, Huang An, who sits cross-legged
upon the back of a tortoise swimming across the sea.
The twin genii, called Ho Ho Erh Hsieu — that is to say,
'' Two Genii, of Union and Harmony " — are perhaps the
most popular of any. They are two cronies, Arcades
ambo, who take many forms, being represented sometimes
as ragged mendicants, with staff' and besom, in friendly
converse, as they approach a priest who is ringing a
monastery bell ; sometimes as a couple of hermits ^^-ith
smiling, boyish faces, one carrying a lotus-flower, the
other a box from underneath the cover of- which a cloud
584 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
may be seen issuing whicli is shaping itself into the form
of bats as emblems of happiness. The twin merry genii
are presented in Fig. 346, wdth the arm of one encircling
the neck of the other. They have gold bracelets and
anklets, and their robes are richly brocaded in enamel
colors with gilding of the ClCien-lung period, so that they
have altogether a very mundane aspect, and their super-
natural character might hardly be suspected were it not
for the cloud-enveloped pedestal of celadon tint on which
they are posed, which mark them as celestial beings.
These smiling features pervade domestic life in China:
they are printed on the wall-paper, and woven in silk as
appropriate hangings for the marriage couch, and even
towels imported from abroad are seen stamped in fugitive
ink with the effigies of the two merry genii. Should
there be an estrangement between lovers or friends, one
of them must go to a temple, burn incense at the shrine
consecrated to the two genii, and bring away a pinch of
ashes from the censer, and if this be surreptitiously put
into a cup of tea and the decoction be drunk by the
estranged one unknowingly, it will infallibly bring about
a complete reconciliation.
Buddhism, the third great religion of China, was intro-
duced from India. The earliest missionaries came over-
land to the southwest of the Chinese Empire, the modern
province of Ssu-chuan, and arrived in the second century
B. c, but gained few converts. It was not till the year
61 A. D. that the Emperor Ming Ti, in consequence of a
dream of a golden figure of supernatural proportions,
whose head was encircled by a shining halo, sent an
embassy to India, which brought back with them many
sacred books and images. Two Indian priests, Matanga
and Gobharana, accompanied the mission on its return to
China, and the emperor built a temple for their residence
at Loyang, then the capital. It was called Pai Ma Ssti,
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 586
"White Horse Monastery," in commemoration of their
having brought the Sanskrit books on a white horse, and
they forthwith proceeded to translate those books into
Chinese. Buddhism penetrated subsequently to Korea,
and through that country into Japan, which, however, it
did not reach till the middle of the sixth century.
Buddhism is well known, in comparison with Taoism,
and there is a vast literature on the subject available for
reference, so that it need not detain us so long. One of
the most recent works on the subject is that written by
Dr. Waddell,* on the borders of Tibet. It is well illus-
trated, and will be found a mine of myth and symbolism,
the author having, he tells us, purchased a Buddhist
temple, with all its ritual fittings, and obtained much of
his information on obscure points from learned lamas on
the spot.
Sakyamuni, the historical Buddha, is rarely molded in
porcelain, more precious materials, such as jade, rock-
crystal, amethyst, or turquoise, being considered more
suitable for his exalted dignity when represented on a
small scale. His principal representations are :
1. His JBirth, A figure of a child standing erect upon a lotus-
thalamus, pointing upward to heaven witli his right hand, down-
ward to earth with his left, according to the tradition which tells
us that he cried out at the moment, '^I the only, most exalted
one ! "
2. Sctkya returning from the 3Iou7itains. Of ascetic aspect,
with beard and shaven poll, attired in flowing garments and hold-
ing his hands in a position of prayer. The ear-lobes are enlarged,
a sign of wisdom, and the brow bears the ilrna, the luminous mark
that distinguishes a Buddha, or a Bodhisattva.
3. The All-wise Sdkya. A Buddha seated cross-legged upon a
lotus throne, resting the left hand upon the knee, the right hand
raised in the mystic preaching pose. The hair is generally repre-
*T}ie Btiddhism of Tibet, or Lamaism, with its Mystic Cults, Symholism, and
Mythology, and in its Relation to Indian Buddhism. By L. A. Waddell, M. B.,
etc., London, 1895.
586 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
seuted as a blue mass composed of short, close curls, and a jewel is
placed about midway between the crown and forehead.
4. The Kirvuna. A recumbent figure lying upon a raised
bench, with the head i^illowed upon a lotus.
5. In the Sdkyamuni Trinity. Either erect, or seated in the
attitude of meditation, with the alms-bowl in his hands, between
his spiritual sons, the Bodhisattvas Manjusri and Samantabhadra,
the three forming a mystic triad.
Manjusri, or Manjughosha, "Tlie sweet-voiced," the
Buddliist Apollo or God of Wisdom, is tlie great dis-
peller of ignorance. Witli the bright sword of divine
knowledge, which he wields in his right hand, he cuts
all knotty points, and he carries in his left hand the
bible of transcendental wisdom placed upon a lotus-
flower. He is often represented mounted on a lion.
Samantabhadra, "The All-good," the other celestial
Bodhisat of the Buddhist Trinity, is always seated upon
an elephant, and usually holds a book.
Gigantic images of the above triad occupy the center
of the large hall of a Chinese temple, while the walls are
lined with figures of the eighteen Lohan (Sanskn't,
Arhat), representing the chief of the early apostles or
missionaries of the faith, each provided with its own
particular shrine and altar. The number was originally
sixteen, and the Japanese still keep to the original group,
not having adopted the two saints which have been more
recently added in China. Each of these " eighteen
Arhats " is figured in a fixed attitude, and each has his
distinctive symbol or badge, in the same way as our apos-
tles are represented — Mark with a lion, Luke with a book,
etc. The group is sometimes painted on a porcelain vase
or snuif-bottle, or is seen passing in procession round the
sides of a bowl or cup intended for sacrificial use.
The two best-known members of the group are perhaps
the seventeenth and eighteenth : Dliarmatrdta^ born, like
' MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 587
the original sixteen, in India, and Ho-shang, " The
Monk," the only one that has a Chinese name. Dhar-
matrata, as a lay devotee, wears long hair. He holds a
vase and fly-whisk, carries on his back a bundle of
books, and gazes at a small image of the mystic celestial
Buddha Amitabha. He wrote seven works, of which
the chief, Uddnm)arga, a collection of verses from the
Buddhist Canon, has been translated into English by
Mr. W. W. Rockhill.
Ho-shang, "The Monk," is the familiar Pu-tai Ho-
shang, "the Pnest with the Hempen Bag," whom the
Japanese call Ho-tei, that being their pronunciation of
the first two syllables of his name, which mean " hempen
bag." They describe him as a Chinese bonze or monk,
who lived about a thousand years ago, and was remark-
able for his fatness, his love of children, and especially
for always carrying a large hempen sack, from which his
name was derived. The bag, which has always a bol-
sterlike roundness, is put to many uses ; it may be a
bed on which the owner is reclining, a receptacle for the
hundred precious things, or a trap for the little boys and
girls who cluster round and are enticed inside to see the
wonderful things it contains ; whatever it may be, it is as
inseparable from Ho-tei as are his fair, round stomach and
double chin. In China he represents the last incarnation
of Maitreya^ " The Loving One," the coming Buddha or
Buddhist Messiah, and his obese image, with a loosened
girdle in one hand and a rosary in the other, is enshrined
by them in the front hall of every temple, under the
name of Mi-lo Fo— i. e., Maitreya Buddha. He ranks as a
Bodhisat, having only once more to pass through human
existence to attain Buddhahood, and under this title, con-
tracted to poii-sa, or poussah, has become proverbial in
French as an emblem of contentment and sensuality.
His image is very frequently molded in porcelain, and it
588 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. %
lias often been erroneously considered to be that of tlie
martyr j)atron of tlie potters, and labeled as le dieu de la
porcelaine. Maitreya is supposed now to be enthroned
in the Tushita heaven, and he is a favorite deity of the
Tibetans,
The most popular of all the Buddhist divinities in
China, as well as in Japan, is Kuan Yin, the Goddess of
Mercy, whose figure is illustrated here in Plate LX.
She also ranks as a Bodhisat, and is identified with
Avalokita, " The Keen-seeing Lord," the spiritual son of
the celestial Buddha Amitabha, who shares with him the
dominion of the Paradise in the West. This is the most
powerful of all the Bodhisats, and the one of which the
Dalai Lamas of Tibet pretend to be the incarnation.
Avalokita, being a pure mythological creation, is seldom,
like Buddha, represented as a mere man, but is invested
with all kinds of supernatural forms and attributes.
The four-handed form figures him as a prince sitting in
the Buddha posture, with the front pair of hands joined
in devotional attitude, while the other hands hold a
rosary and a long-stemmed lotus-flower. Another form
has eleven heads, piled up in the shape of a cone, and
eighteen, or even forty hands, grasping symbols and
weapons, and stretched out in all directions to defend
and I'escue the wretched and the lost ; and some of the
manifestations are endowed with a thousand eyes, ever
on the lookout to perceive distress. The Chinese Bud-
dhists relate that Avalokita once appeared on earth as a
daughter of a king of the Chou dynasty in 696 b. c,
although Buddhism was not introduced into the country
till long after that date. The princess was sentenced to
death by her father for refusing to marry, but the execu-
tioner's sword broke without harming her. When her
spirit went down to hell, hell was changed into paradise,
until Yama, the ruler of the realms below, sent her back
I
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 589
to life, and she was miraculously conveyed upon a lotus-
petal to the island of Potala. Hers is the image that is
worshiped throughout the far East to-day as the personi-
fication of love and charity. In one of its shapes, Kuan
Yin the Maternal, the Goddess of Mercy has a child in
her arms, and is specially sacrificed to by women desirous
of offspring, who load her altar with ex-voto offerings of
doll-like babes made of silk or molded in porcelain.
These are the images that have been occasionally mis-
taken for representations of the " Virgin and Child."
Bodhidharma is a Buddhist saint frequently repre-
sented in Chinese and Japanese art, and he is seen
molded in stoneware in Plate XLI. He was the twenty-
eighth and last of the line of Indian patriarchs, and the
first Chinese patriarch. The son of a king in southern
India, he came to China by sea in the year 520, and was
the first to bring the palm called patra (J5orassus flahel
liformis). He settled in Loyang, where he was called
" The AVall-gazing Brahman," because he remained per-
fectly still the whole time engaged in silent meditation.
He died about the year 529, and was buried in the monas-
tery grounds, but was met, the legend says, soon after,
enveloped in his shroud, on his way back to his native
land, holding one shoe in his hand, saying, when ques-
tioned, that he had forgotten to bring the other. The
grave was afterward opened ; the corpse had disappeared,
and only a single shoe was found. Bodhidharma is often
pictured crossing the water standing upon a reed, which
he had plucked from the bank. The Chinese form of his
name is Tamo, and some of the more credulous of the
early R-oman Catholic missionaries in China were inclined
to believe, from the similarity in the names, that he
might be identified with St. Thomas, who is supposed to
have gone as an apostle to India, and might well, they
argued, have extended his journeyings to China.
590 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
The influence of Buddliism on Chinese art was of the
most profound and far-reaching nature, and extended to
buikling and sculpture, as well as to the carving of
images in precious stones, the casting of ritual vessels
of novel design in metals, and the painting of sacred
pictures on paper and silk. In all these arts the Hindu
monks are said to have been skilled, and they imposed
their canons on the Chinese, so that down to the present
day the sacred images are modeled on the old lines,
and exhibit a marked Aryan type and physiognomy.
Monasteries were soon founded throughout China in the
most picturesque spots in the hills, with tall pagodas
to enshrine sacred relics and chaityas of varied form as
funeral monuments, such as now make a necessary
adjunct to every Chinese landscape. One of the ordi-
nary forms of the chaitya, or dcigaha, is seen molded
in porcelain in Fig. 349. It is a microcosm of the
universe according to Buddhist ideas. The plinth is
square, the form of earth ; the hollow shrine, with open
door, has the vaulted form of heaven ; and the spire is
horizontally ridged to represent the thirteen celestial
spheres in superimposed tiers; the umbrella-shaped top
is crowned with the " jeweled vase," bound with waving
fillets. The painted decoration of strings of colored
beads and gilded rings hanging from grotesque mon-
strous heads, and of arabesque scrolls of conventional
flowers, is also of Buddhist type.
Among Buddhist mythological animals, the dragon
(jutga) and the golden-winged bird (^garuda) are the
chief. The former had a serpent form like the cobra,
and the latter had something in common with the
adjutant-bird, the enemy of the serpent tribe, but the
Chinese have modified both after their previous con-
ceptions of the dragon (lung) and phoenix (feng). The
lion is an animal that occupied an important place in
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 591
Hindustan as one of the insignia of royalty and a sup-
porter of the throne, and it is often figured also as
a guardian of the jewel of the law. It was new to
China, not being a native of the country, and even now,
although a pair of bronze or stone lions stands before
the gateway of every palace and large temple in China,
and another is often molded in porcelain in miniature, as
we have seen, for ritual use, they are ahvays of grotesque
form, and have flames issuing from the hips and
shoulders, the attributes of mythological animals. The
lion in ordinary Chinese art is a tame beast, sporting
with a brocaded ball ; their own king of beasts is the
dreaded tiger, which contends with the dragon as the
prince of the powers of the air.
The elephant, the horse, and the hare are sometimes
seen in a picture on a porcelain vase, crossing the dark
sea which leads to paradise, the only animals that have
obtained admittance to Nirvana by their own merit. The
elephant is also molded in porcelain for the Buddhist
altar as the bearer of the jeweled vase, and the horse
as carrying on his back sacred books ; the hare, which
now lives in the moon, was exalted after it had offered
itself a willing sacrifice as food for Buddha when he was
starving. When horses form the decoration of a vase, it
is generally the team of eight famous horses of the
ancient Emperor 2Iu Wang, which were driven by his
charioteer Tsao Fu, on his expedition to the K\m-lun
Mountains to visit Hsi AYang Mu, the Queen of the
Genii.
The four supernatural or spiritually endowed crea-
tures {Ssu Ling) of the Chinese are the dragon, the
phoenix, the tortoise, and the unicorn. Sometimes the
tiger is associated, making a group of " Five Ling."
1. The dragon (Lioig), the chief among the scaly reptiles, is
conventionally depicted as a four-footed monster, resembling some
592 OKEENTAL CERAMIC AKT.
of the huge saurians that have recently been discovered by paleon-
tologists, and the fossil bones of such, it may be added, really
figure as "dragon's bones" in the Chinese pharmacopoeia. It
is conventionally represented with a bearded, scowling head,
straight horns, a scaly, serpentine body, with four feet armed
with formidable claws, a line of bristling dorsal spines, and
flames proceeding from the hips and shoulders. The claws, origi-
nally three in number on each foot, were afterward increased to
four and five, the last number being restricted to the imperial
dragon of the last and present dynasties, as brocaded on imperial
robes and painted on porcelain made for the use of the palace.
The dragon, in ancient philosophy, corresponds to the East, to
spring, etc., and ''Azure Dragon" is the name of the eastern
quadrant of the urauosphere. It has the power of transformation,
and the gift of rendering itself visible or invisible at pleasure.
Kuan Tzu (seventh century B. c.) declares that ''the dragon
becomes at will reduced to the size of a silkworm, or swollen till it
fills the universe ; it desires to mount, and it rises until it affronts
the clouds; to sink, and it descends until hidden below the
fountains of the deep." The early cosmogonists described four
kinds of dragons : the celestial dragons {t'ie?i lung), which support
and guard the mansions of the gods ; the spiritual dragons (shen
lung), which rule the winds and produce rain for the benefit of
mankind ; the earth dragons {ti lung), which direct the fiow of
rivers and springs ; and the dragons of hidden treasures {fu ts'ang),
which watch over buried wealth concealed from mortals. The
Buddhist dragon of the law {fa limg) is represented as . tightly
grasping the jewel of the faith in one of its outstretched paws ;
originally hostile, it has become submissive to Buddha and a trusty
guardian of the faith. The celestial dragons in Chinese art, as
they ascend and descend, are usually represented in pursuit of
effulgent jewels that appear to be whirling in space, and that are
supposed to be of magic efficacy, granting every wish. The
congener of the celestial dragon is the cMao lung, the dragon of
lakes and marshes, who is figured in the luuar zodiac, already
referred to, as a dragon-headed serpent without feet. The ji^'aw
lung is the dragon coiled in a circle, hibernating in the watery
depths, that often forms medallions on bowls and dishes ; some say
it is the dragon which does not mount to heaven. The ch'ih lung
is the archaic dragon of ancient bronzes, a clinging, lizardlike
reptile with clawless feet and spiral bifid tail, that is often molded
in relief on libation wine-cuj^s and other porcelain vessels of
MOTIVES OF DECOEATION. 593
antique design. The Chinese dragon is sometimes hornless; occa-
sionally, but very rarely, it is provided with a pair of wings. The
fish dragon has already been alluded to as the chosen emblem
of literary success ; and there is also the yellow dragon, or dragon
horse, the most honored of its tribe, which rose out of the river
Lo, in the time of the fabulous Fu-M, the legendary founder of the
Chinese polity, with a scroll upon its back inscribed with the eight
mystic trigrams (jsa hua). The dragon is peculiarly symbolical
of all that pertains to the Son of Heaven, the emperor's throne
being styled the dragon-seat, and his face described as the dragon-
countenance ; his banner is the dragon flag, and after his death he
is borne aloft by dragons to the regions of the blessed.
2. Feng is the name of the male, huang the name of the female,
of a fabulous bird of wondrous form and mystic nature, the second
of the four supernatural creatures. The compound of the two
{feiig-huang) is the generic name of the bird, which has many
symbolical analogies with the phoenix of the Greeks, and, like it, is
immortal, has its dwelling in the highest regions of the air, and
only ap^Dears to mortals as a presage of the advent of virtuous
rulers, or an emblem of an auspicious reign. In the fabulous times
of Huang Ti the phoenix made its nest in the palace, and the
ancient Booh of History records that they came with measured
gambolings to add sj^lendor to the musical ceremonies of the great
Shun. In the eastern gateway of the palace of to-day a huge
bronze phoenix hovers under the roof of the great hall, over its
nest, which is also fashioned of bronze in the shape of a circlet
of clouds. The phoenix has always been taken as the presage and
emblem of a virtuous sovereign, and it figures still as the special
emblem of the Mikado in Japan. In China it used to rank above
the dragon, which was the emblem of a good minister. In the
present day it has become the special emblem of the empress, and
the dragon that of the emperor. In poetry the inseparable feng
and huang are models of conjugal love. The phoenix is usually
depicted with the head of a pheasant and the beak of a swallow,
a long flexible neck, plumage of many gorgeous colors, a flowing
tail, between that of an argus pheasant and a peacock, and long
claws pointed backward as it flies. They are seen flying in the
midst of scrolled clouds mingled with forked flames, or wending
their way through a close floral ground, which is preferably made
up of sprays of the tree-peony. Three times three is the lucky
number for the decoration of a vase, just as we find nine dragons
594 OEiENTAL cera:\iic aet.
on another vase in pursuit of whirling jewels, or nine lions sport-
ing with as many brocaded balls. If there be ten, one is certain
to be much larger tlian the rest, and it will be the parent dragon
or phoenix, with nine young ones.
3. The tortoise {Kuei) is the third of the supernaturally endowed
creatures. The greatest of the tribe is the divine tortoise, which
rose out of the river Lo, and presented to the gaze of Yii the
Great a mystic plan of numerals inscribed upon its back, which he
deciphered and adopted as the basis of moral teaching and a clew
to the philosophy of the unseen. Tlie shell of the tortoise was
used in divination by the ancient Chinese, who augured from the
lines on the scorched shell, in the same way as other ancient tribes
used to augur from the roasted blade-bone of a sheep. Like the
rest of the sacred group, the tortoise is given a marvelous longev-
ity, even a span of five thousand years, and after a certain age it
bears the sign of its patriarchal dignity in the shape of a hairy
tail. As an emblem of strength it appears in Hindu legends, sup-
porting an elephant, which in turn bears the world ; in China it is
represented as bearing on its back P'eng Lai Shan, tlie sea-girt
abode of immortal genii.
4. The unicorn {Ch'i-lin), the fourth of the group of supernatural
creatures, has its generic designation compounded of the names of
the male {ch'i) and of the female {lin). It is usually written
k'i-lin, and this name, under the form of kylin, is often erroneously
applied in European ceramic books to lions, and generally to other
lionlike grotesque creatures with which the Chinese fill in rocky
landscapes under the generic name of hai-shoit, or '' sea-monsters,"
the chimeres of old French catalogues. The Chinese unicorn has
the body of a deer, with slender legs and divided hoofs, the head
resembles that of the dragon, the tail is curled and bushy, like that
of the conventional lion, and the shoulders are adorned with the
flamelike attributes of its divine nature. Its appearance is a happy
portent, and it used to grace the palaces of the ancient emperors of
fabulous times. It is said to attain the age of a thousand years, to
be the noblest form of the animal creation, and the emblem of per-
fect good ; and to tread so lightly as to leave no footprints, and so
carefully as to crush no living creature.
Other supernatural animals occur occasionally. They
are usually composite creations, like the dragon-horse
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 595
of ancient fable, lionlike monsters with the heads of
wolves, and the like. The fox is a beast whose nature
is deeply tinged with supernatural qualities, and it bears
a worse reputation in China than its brother does in
European fairy tale. It is a spirit of mischief, of super-
natural cunning, with the powder of assuming various
forms, its favorite and most baneful transformation
being into the semblance of a young and beautiful
girl, in which shape it lures its victim to destruction.
The fox is the courser upon which ghostly beings ride,
and when it reaches the term of a thousand years it
becomes a Celestial Fox, characterized by a golden color
and nine tails, and serves in the halls of the Sun and
Moon. The hare has already been alluded to as living
in the moon, where it sits under the shade of the Olea
fragrans tree, pounding the elixir of life with pestle and
mortar. Its companion in the moon is the toad {clihin-
cliht), into which the lady Ch'ang-ngo was changed,
after she had stolen from her husband the drug of
immortality which had been given to him by the god-
dess Hsi Wang Mu, and taken flight with her precious
booty to find refuge wdth the moon. These legends
appear to be of Taoist origin, and the animals are those
that the solitary hermit was accustomed to see in his
mountain retreat. He was wont to gather his herbs
in the light of the full moon, and this luminary was an
important power in his alchemistic speculations. The
deer is another of his sacred animals ; it is represented
bringing the Polyporus fungus (ling-chiK) in its mouth,
and is always placed near the deity of longevity as one
of his peculiar attributes.
The other animal attributes of Taoist divinities are
the tortoise and stork, whence comes the usual birthday
greeting, " May your years be those of the tortoise and
stork ! " The stork (Iio) is the sacred bird par excellence.
596 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
and is supposed to attain a fabulous longevity. The
variety usually represented is the Manchurian crane
{Qrus viridirostris), which is characterized by a plum-
age of white and black, and by a bare crimson patch
upon the crown. It must not be confounded with
the egret, which is often found in the decoration of
porcelain in combination with the lotus, and which has
no mythological attachments. The stork is the aerial
steed of some of the genii, and it brings the talismanic
rods of fate in its beak from the other world. In
pictures of the Taoist paradise it is often seen swimming
round the rock on which the sacred peach-tree is grow-
ing, or gathering in large flocks upon the pine-clad
shores of the Mount of the Immortals.
There are also a number of emblems of longevity
selected from the vegetable kingdom, which supply
frequent motives of decoration. Among fruits the most
prominent place is given to the peach {fao). It is an
emblem of mamage, as well as a symbol of longevity ;
the early odes liken a bride in her graceful elegance and
promise to a blossoming peach-tree, and the most ancient
superstitions of the Chinese attribute magic virtue to its
twigs, which were brought in the beeks of sacred birds.
The peach is the tree of life in the mystical dreams of
the Taoists ; it grows in the grounds of the palace of the
goddess Hsi Wang Mu, bearing fruit that ripens but
once in three thousand years, and conferring that period
of life upon those that are fortunate enough to taste it.
The peach figures with the pomegranate and the Bud-
dha's-hand citron, as "the three fruits" (san Icuo) sym-
bolical of the three abundances (san to), viz., abundance
of years, abundance of sons, and abundance of happiness.
The fungus of longevity (chih), usually called ling-
chill, ling meaning "miraculous," is a branched woody
fungus of brightly variegated coloring, known to bot-
MOTIVES OF DECOEATION. 597
anists as Polyporiis lucidus, as determined by Sir
Joseph Hooker from a dried specimen taken by me from
a Taoist temple at Peking to tlie herbarium at Kew.
Chinese myth dilates upon its rapid growth, its vivid
coloring, and its durability. It sometimes incloses
curiously a growing plant, so that blades of grass appear
to be sprouting out of its substance, a combination of
good omen ; more propitious still is a branching stem
bearing seven or nine heads, and this sometimes forms
the motive of the shape of 2i flamhe vase, the gorgeous
coloring of which is intended to represent the natural
tints of the variegated fungus. A branch of this fungus
is placed as a magic wand in the hand of Taoist genii,
and the peculiar shape of the head of the jeweled ju-i
scepter, which has been frequently referred to, betrays
its original derivation from the same fungus form.
The Chinese gourd is another of the chosen emblems
of longevity on account of the durability of its dried
fruit, as well as a symbol of fertility from the quantity
of seeds it produces. There are single and double
gourds of varied form, cultivated varieties of Lagenaria
vulgaris, the calabash or bottle-gourd. Bottles and
drinking-cups have been made of its dried shell from the
most ancient times, and it is still used in temples for
libation-cups and ladles for sacrificial ^vine. The variety
of the bottle-gourd called hu-lu, the "double gourd,"
which is naturally contracted into a waist in the middle,
is the pilgrim's gourd ^:>rt;' excellence. The Taoist hermit
carries one strung upon his girdle, and occasionally con-
jures spirits and apparitions from its interior, like the
magician in the stories of the Arabian Mghts.
The pine, bamboo, and winter-blossoming plum {sung,
chu, met) are constantly grouped together as a threefold
symbol of longevity. The first two figure as evergreens,
emblems of a green old age ; the last as a tree which
598 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
throws out blossoming twigs from its gnarled, worn, and
leafless trunk before the winter is over. The three may
form the sole decoration of a vase, or be combined in
Taoist pictures to form sacred groves in their mountain
paradise, or a canopy for the God of Longevity, as he
sits enthroned on the "rock of ages" {shou sJiaji), wor-
sliiped by the motley crowd of immortals.
The plum {Prumts doynestica) is sacred to Lao Tzii,
who is said to have been born under its bi'anches, and
three of its purple fruit form his special attribute. This
fruit, called li in Chinese, is to bp distinguished from
the smaller and sourer fruit called mei {Prunus Tnume),
the blossoming twigs of which make such an effective
floral decoration, as in the so-called " hawthorn " jars
and vases.
This charming variety of prunus is the typical flower
of winter, the tree-peony {PcBonia nioutan) being the
typical flower of spring, the lotus {Nehimhiutn sped-
osuiii) of summer, and the chrysanthemum of autumn.
These " Flowers of the Four Seasons " [Ssu Chi Hua)
are a frequent motive for the decoration of the four faces
of a quadrangular vase, or the four side panels of a
bowl. The amateur of the chrysanthemum is T'ao Yuan-
ming ; the lover of the lotus, the poet Li T'ai-po ; and
a pair of large round dishes or bowls are often decorated
Avith companion pictures of these two worthies sur-
rounded by their favorite flowers. T'ao Yuan-ming
was a noted scholar and poet of the fifth century, who
resigned the seals of ofiice in preference to "bending
his back" to a superior functionary, remarking that it
was not worth while to " crook the loins for the sake of
five measures of rice." After he had retired he passed
his days drinking, playing upon the lyre, and making
verses amid the chrysanthemums that embellished the
garden of his retreat, until he died, 427 a. d., at the age
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 599
of sixty-two. Li T'ai-po, the most famous of the poets
of China for his erratic genius, romantic career, and
devotion to the wine-cup, as well as for his powers of
verse, has already been often referred to. The scene in
which the emperor himself is handing dishes to liim at
a banquet, while his favorite and haughty concubine
attends with the poet's brush and ink-pallet, and the
chief privy counselor, Kao Li-ssu, pulls off his boots,
is often pictured on porcelain as the ne plus ultra of
success of literary genius.
The Chinese artist excels in flowers and birds. The
four plants to which he devotes the most attention are
the prunus {mei^, the bamboo (chu), the orchid (Ian),
and the chrysanthemum (cliii), and most art books con-
tain a series of studies of these, some of which, pub-
lished over two centuries ago, are curious examples of
the technique of printing in different colors. Among
the other flowers used in decoration the following may
be mentioned : Sliao-yao, the Pcwnia alhijlora'^ T'u-mi,
the Rom rugosa', Jui-hsiang, the Vilniinum odoratissi-
mum', Mo-li, the Jasminum samhac] Lien-hua, the
Nelumbium speciosnm ; Kuei-hua, the Olea fragrans ;
Hai-t'ang, the Pyrus specfahilis', Chih-hua, the Gar-
denia florida ; Ting-hsiang, the Syringa sinensis ;
Ch'iang-wei, the Posa indica; Mou-tan, or Pwonia
moutan ; Yii-lan, or Magnolia yulan ; Chi-kuan, tlie
Celosia cristata ; Hu-tieh-hua, the Iris japonica ; Hsiu-
ch'iu, the hydrangea ; K'uei-hua, the hibiscus ; Chiu-
hai-t'ang, the Begonia, discolor ; Ho-pao moutan, the
Dielytra spectabilis ; Shili-chu, the Dianthus or pink ;
and the Shui-hsien-hua, the " Water-fairy " flower, or
Narcissus tazetta. Some of tliese may be combined to
form a floral rebus, or they may be massed together with
sprays, as in the vase shown in Fig. 279. Particular
birds also are commonly associated with particular trees
600 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
and flowers, such as phoenixes, peacocks, or pheasants
with the Moutan peony; partridges or quails with mil-
let ; swallows with the willow ; storks with the pine, etc.
The composition called Po Niao CKao Feng, or " The
Hundred Birds paying Court to the Phoenix," represents
all the dift'erent kinds of birds coming in pairs to gather
round a couple of phoenixes which are seen strutting
proudly in the foreground.
Painters of figure subjects {jen-wii) have a wider
range of selection, as may be gathered from a glance
at the catalogue of the Anderson Collection which is
now in the British Museum.* The kind of pictures
chosen for the decoration of porcelain is often a reflex of
the manners and customs of the times. The close of the
Ming dynasty was a period of luxuiy and indolence, and
the decollated porcelain is painted with pictures of court
life, with bands of gayly dressed damsels playing instru-
ments of music, and with all phases of processional pomp.
Magistrates are represented seated in state at the justice-
table, and parties of scholars and poets are grouped in
garden pavilions, drinking wine and making verses.
The emperor Lung-cWing (1567-72) was notorious for
his profligacy and for his devotion to the pleasures of
the harem, and we find some of the imperial porcelain
of his reign so defaced with erotic scenes that there is
no place for it in a decent collection. After the Manchu
conquest of China in 1644, when the emperor IVang-lisi
was firmly established on the throne, and the impei'ial
porcelain manufactory was once more at work, the
decoration reflects a changed scene. Pitched battles,
single combats of spearmen mounted on party-colored
horses, and military processions with men in armor,
* Descriptive and Ilistorical Catalogue of a Collection of Japanese and Chinese
Paintings in the British Museum. By W. Anderson, F. R. C. S., London,
1886.
MOTIVES OF DECORATION. 601
are the new order of the clay. The ladies of the court
•even are often seen mounted on horseback and engaged
in equestrian sports, a\ hich the emperor ^vatches seated
in a raised pavilion. The heroes most frequently pic-
tui'ed are the military commanders of the troubled
times of the " Three Kingdoms," and the historical
drama supplants for the moment scenes of comedy.
There is a certain crude vigor in the art of the earlier
half of this reign, which has led many to attribute the
productions to a more archaic period. Before the end
of the long reign of sixty years a more finished style
has come into vogue, and the strong, brilliant colors
that distinguish the older style are gradually being
replaced by shades of softer tint, such as seem to befit
the new themes, which are illustrations of the processes
of agriculture and silk- weaving, pictures of the liberal
arts, and scenes from the tales of the popular drama.
Themes from the classical times of the ancient Book
■of History are popular subjects of illustration ; such
as the story of Shun, the model emperor of ancient
times, who was chosen to succeed to the throne on
account of his filial piety by the Emperor Yao, who is
pictured approaching with a cavalcade bearing presents
to Shun as he is plowing in the fields with an ox ; or
that of Kiang Tzii-ya, the trusted counselor of Si Po, the
prince of Chou, in the twelfth century b. c, who is
sitting on the rock, fishing with a rod, when the prince
<jomes to offer him the minister's bado:e of ofiice and
a state chariot for him to ride in. Among literary
subjects may be mentioned The Seven Worthies of the
Bamboo Grove {Chu Lin Ghbi Hsien^, a famous asso-
ciation of learned men who used to meet, about the
year 275, for discussion and jovial relaxation in a grove
of bamboos; and the "Orchid Pavilion" {Lan Ting),
the rendezvous in the fourth century of a party of
602 ORIENTAL (ERAMIC ART.
distingiiislied scLolars, whose compositioDS in prose and
verse have survived to the present day in the hand-
writing of the celebrated calligrapher, Wang Hsi Chih^
who was one of their niniiber. A pattern for poor
scholars is the high mandarin of the Han dynasty, wha
is seen in the picture reading a book while carrying
bundles of fagots, as the humble seller of firewood used
to do when his thirst for knowledge led him to read
incessantly, until the fame of the wood-seller's learning
was noised abroad, reached at last the ears of the
emperor, and led to his appointment to oiSce.
The " Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety " and the
*■' Virtuous Heroines," whose stories as models of chastity
and wifely devotion are recorded in the old annals, are
familiar to all students of Chinese lore. The Chinese
standard of female beauty is seen in the "Pretty Girls"
{Mel Jmi), with long, graceful figures, which the old
Dutch collector used to call ^^lange lijsenP The artist
occasionally poses the figures with slender bamboos
waving in the background, or willow-branches drooping-
overhead, as accessory suggestions of airy grace and
willowy elegance. Others are scattered in a garden
picking flowers, or again collected in four groups prac-
ticing the four liberal accomplishments of "writing,,
painting, music, and chess." Familiar life is not neg-
lected by the artist, and ladies and children are seen
in the midst of ordinary household surroundings, em-
bellishing the interior of an eggshell dish, or decorating
a charming vase of the famille rose. Children are
sympathetically shown, either masquerading in mock
procession, or flying kites and playing games, such
as hobby-horse and blind man's buff. Stories of clever
children are also pictured, like that of the rescue of the
little eleventh-century boy who had fallen into a large
porcelain fish-bowl as he was trying to reach a frog.
I
MOTIVES OF DECOKATION. 603
by one of his playmates, who liad the presence of mind
to seize a stone and bi-eak a liole in the side of the bowl
to let out the Avater, while the rest of the children were
running away affrighted, leaving their comrade to drown.
The rescuer was Ssu-nia Kuang (1009-86), who after-
ward became one of the most distinguished statesmen
and historians of the Sung dynasty.
CHAPTER XXL
PORCELAIN .MADE FOR EXPORTATION. SPECIAL FORMS
AND DESIGNS. INDIAN CHINA. ARMORIAL CHINA.
JESUIT CHINA. HINDU STYLE. ORIENTAL PORCELAIN
DECORATED IN EUROPE. — IMITATIONS.
DOWN to tbe end of the Ming dynast)^ the Chinese
seem to have carried on the porcelain manufacture
on their own lines, and decollated it after their own taste;
we hear nothing of novel forms or special designs made
for exportation to foreign countries. There had been a
large quantity of Chinese porcelain exported to Western
countries from early Mohammedan times, when the
Arabs first came to Canton by sea, and were permitted to
establish a colony there under the control of their own
magistrates. Chinese fleets rode in the Persian Gulf, as
related in their own annals of the ninth century, and
confirmed by Mohammedan writers of the time. Dur-
ing the Yuan dynasty (1280-1367), when the same
Mongolian house ruled Persia and China, the relations
between the two countries became still more intimate,
and there w^as constant traffic by land as well as by sea,
for an account of which the celebrated Travels of Marco
Polo may be consulted. In the Ming dynasty the over-
land route was barred by the Mongolian Timur (the
great Tamerlane), but Chinese ships continued to go
west, touched at Ceylon and Ormuz, passed the Straits of
Babelmandeb into the Red Sea, to land cargo at Jidda,
the port of Mecca, and coasted the shore of Africa as far
southward as Magadoxu and Zanzibar. The voyages
are described in detail in the Chinese annals of the reigns
604
PORCELAIN MADE FOR EXPORTATION. 605
of Ytmg-lo (1403-25) aud Hsiiaii-te (1426-35). Early
in the next century the Portuguese made their appear-
ance in these seas, and from this time no more Chinese
junks were seen in the Indian Ocean. The great mart
was in the Persian Gulf, and any porcelain that reached
Europe before the discovery of the voyage round the
Cape of Good Hope Avould have come by caravan to
Cairo or to Aleppo. Ancient Chinese porcelain has been
found in the present day at many stations of the route
that has been thus briefly sketched. Collections have
been gathered from Kandy, and from other parts of the
interior of Ceylon ; many of the older specimens in the
South Kensington Museum were purchased in Persia by
Major Murdoch Smith ; and the greater part of the old
celadon dishes in European possession are described as
having been obtained in Cairo. Chinese celadon has also
been discovered by Sir John Kirk in ruins at Zanzibar,
together with Chinese "cash" of the tenth and eleventh
centuries. Potsherds of the same peculiar sea-green
ware have even been dug up, we are told, on the African
mainland farther south, on the sites of ruined cities in
Mashonalaud.
In the year of the Hejira 567 (a. d. 1188) we find the
first distinct mention of porcelain, out of China, in the
record of a present of forty pieces having been sent to
Nui'eddin, the Caliph of Syria, by his lieutenant Saladin,
afterward the celebrated hero of the Crusades, on the
occasion of his concpiest of Eg3'pt. It penetrated subse-
quently to the principal countries of Europe, and is
classed in court inventories of the thirteenth and four-
teenth centuries among the most precious possessions of
sovereigns, being mounted in gold and silver and inlaid
with jew^els. It was about 1440 that the Sultan of
Babylonia (i. e., Cairo, which was often called Babylonia
in the middle ages) sent a present of three bowls and a
606 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
dish of Chinese porcelain (^'porcelaine de Sinant) to
Charles VII, King of France. In 1487 an ambassador
arrived at Florence from Egypt with valuable presents,
including some large vases of celadon porcelain for
Lorenzo de' Medici. In the same year porcelain is
enumerated in the Maritime Laws of Barcelona among
the imports from Egypt into Spain. The earliest piece
of Oriental porcelain that can be referred to as having
been brouo;ht to Eno-land before the Keformation is a
pale sea-green bowl mounted in silver gilt, which is
preserved in New College, Oxford, under the name of
Archbishop Warham's cup, and which is said to have
belonged to that prelate (1504-32). In the year 1506,
Philip and Joan, of Austria, who had taken the title of
King and Queen of Castile, left the Low Countries for
Spain, but were driven by a storm into Weymouth,
where they were entertained by the high sheriff. Sir
Thomas Trenchard. When the king took his leave he
presented his host with some bowls of blue and white
porcelain, one of which was inclosed in massive silver
gilt, Moresco pattern, and one of them is said to be still
kept in the Trenchard family.
Mounted specimens of Elizabethan date are not so
uncommon. In the Blue and White Catalogue of the Bur-
lington Fine Arts Club {loc. cit., page 3), a basin deco-
rated in four panels with vases of lotus-fiovvers and birds,
mounted in English silver gilt (Elizabethan hall-mark),
and lent by Sir Wollaston Franks, is described. At the
same time there were exhibited four celebrated pieces,
mounted in the same style, from the Burghley House
collection, which are believed to have been in the Cecil
family from the time of Queen Elizabeth. One of the
pieces, painted in brilliant blue with phoenixes and
chrysanthemums, was marked with the date of the con-
temporary Chinese Emperor Waii-li (1573-1619). Mr.
PORCELAIN MADE FOR EXPORTATION. 607
Cosmo Monkboiise, the learned editor of the catalogue,
says in his Introduction : " Perhaps it was out of the
same ' parcel ' of china that the Lord Treasurer Burgljley
offered to Queen Elizabeth one porringer of Svhite por-
selyn ' garnished with gold, and Mr. Robert Cecill a ' cup
of green pursselyne,' as New Year's gifts in 1587-88."
After the discovery of the route by the Ca2:)e of Good
Hope, porcelain became better known in Europe. The
Portuguese navigators aj)peared on the shores of the far
East in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and
arrived at Canton in the year 1517, where they were at
once admitted to trade. Japan was opened to them in
1542 by the shipwreck of a Portuguese vessel on the
shore of the island of Kyushu, ^vhere they were well
treated by the Japanese, and allowed to set up a trading
establishment at Nagasaki. During the time that the
Portuguese enjoyed the monopoly of the East Indian
trade they imported splendid collections of porcelain,
including vases of the largest size, like those that used
to be installed in the Royal Palace of Alcantara, now
unfortunately dispersed. The Dutch succeeded the
Portuo-uese in the control of the trade with the far East,
Van Neck established a factory at Batavia in 1602, the
Dutch East India Company was formed in the same
year, and under its auspices vast quantities of porcelain
were imported into Holland and the north of Europe.
A fine selection, made 1698-1722, is still to be seen in
the Johanneum at Dresden, and another is preserved in
the palace at The Hague.
The English East India Company, which was estab-
lished in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, did not for a long
period after its foundation succeed in opening a direct
trade with China, being excluded by the Portuguese and
Dutch. The port of Gombron, opposite to Ormuz, in
the Persian Gulf, was for a long time the chief entrepot
608 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
of the British trade, and the earliest " China ware "
introduced into England derived its name of " Gombron
ware" from this place. In 1631, among the Avares and
merchandise allowed to be imported from India, a
catalogue includes " China dishes and puslanes of all
sorts." In 1640 a factory was established at Canton, and
direct trade has been carried on, with occasional inter-
ruptions, since that date.
With regard to the kinds of porcelain imported, a fund
of interesting information has been gathei'ed by Du
Sartel (loc. cit, pages 112-148) from French catalogues
of the eighteenth century, of which that of the Fonsper-
tuis Sale * is one of the most important, containing notes
by Gersaint, a celebrated expert of the time. The ear-
liest porcelain imported was of single color, principally
celadon or white ; blue and white followed, as confirmed
by Pere d'Entrecolles, writing in 1712, who says that up
to that date this ^vas almost the only kind exported from
China to Europe. Gersaint also writes in the same strain
in 1747.
The porcelain imported seems to have been generally
a selection from the ordinary contemporary productions
of the private potters of Ching-te-chen. The work of
the imperial mauufactoiy could only have been exception-
ally represented, as it is reserved for the service of the
emperor. The private collections of Chinese connoisseurs
were not ransacked, as the}^ are in these later days, so
that we can hardly expect to find any important exam-
ples of ancient ceramic art among the piles of dishes^
plates, and tea services that were imported, as we gather
from old bills of lading, by the hundred thousand.
Among the larger decorated vases of the reign of K^ang-
hsi, a certain number are usually set aside in European
* Catalogue de la vente des tableaux, bijoux, porcelaines, etc., de M. Angram,
Vicomte de Fonspertuis. Paris, 1747.
PORCELAIN MADE FOR EXPORTATION. 609
collections because they happen to be inscribed with old
marks, and are supposed, moreover, to have an archaic
aspect. Representative cabinets of so-called Ilman-te
and Oil' eng-hua porcelains are filled in this way, although
genuine Ming dynasty porcelain, which is rare even in
China, is conspicuous by its absence.
It was in the reign of JCang-hsi (1662-1722) that
porcelain seems to have been first made at Ching-te-chen
in new forms and special designs for the European
market. These were often executed after European
models and designs taken there for the purpose by
native agents from Canton. The earliest pieces with
foreio;n desio-ns were made for Persia and the Moham-
medan market, and were decorated with scrolls of Arabic
writing, generally texts from the Koran, the incorrect
lettering of which, apart from the character of the floral
designs with which they were associated, betrayed the
Chinese hand. Next came Chinese copies of the old
Imari ware of Japan, which were so perfectly executed
during the reign of K'ang-hsi that it would be some-
times difficult to distinguish the copy from the original
were it not for the different quality and ring of the
paste. In later days Delft ware has been copied in a
similar way, one of the faience plates, originally painted
in blue after Chinese lines, having been reproduced in
porcelain, so that it might have been mistaken for the
first model, if the Chinaman had not tried to copy the
initials of the signature of the Dutch decorator.
Porcelain has also been decorated in China for the
Hindustan market in the form of quadrangular sweet-
meat trays, oblong boxes with covers, and the like,
painted with copies of Indian miniatures, such as nautch
girls dancing before men of rank, holding up swords and
flowers, or potentates seated on marble tei'races with
attendants standing behind holding fans, and a line of
610 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
slender arches of palace architecture rising in tlie back-
ground. The cover of a betel-nut box of this class is
illustrated by Jacquemart (loc. cit.^ Plate XVII, Fig. 3),
as an example, however, of his class oi 'porcelaiiie hindoue,
the existence of which is highly problematical. A label
is occasionally attached to these pictures, penciled in
gold ; but the Arabic inscriptions are always very incor-
rectly written, evidently by persons unacquainted with
the language, and the unaccustomed hand is detected as
readily as when the Chinese artist is trying to form
European letters.
The usual style of Arabic inscriptions on Chinese por-
celain is shown in Fig. 103, an eggshell saucer-shaped
dish, with designs penciled in black and filled in with
gold, which is to be attributed, from its technique, to
about the middle of the eighteenth century. It has a
medallion in the middle with a dentated border from
which four projections extend inward, which is filled
with Arabic writing, and a broad belt of the same script
on a gold ground encircles the border of the dish. The
rim is surrounded by a narrow band of floral scrolls con-
sisting of alternate sprays of peony and chrysanthemum
of purely Chinese design. Two dishes of the same shape,
size, and technique are now in the British Museum."'^"
The name of " porcelaine des Indes " in France, of
" India china " in England, was applied generally in the
eighteenth century to the decorated Chinese porcelain
which was imported in such large quantities, and eagerly
sought after, until the time came when a similar material
could be produced in Europe. Although the art of mak-
ing hard porcelain was discovered in Saxony by Bottger
in 1708, it was not till 1760 that it was made at Sevres,
and it hardly came into domestic use before the end of
the eighteenth century. Meanwhile it was made and
* See the Franks Catalogue, loc. cit., Nos. 619, 620.
POKCELAIN MADE FOR EXPORTATION. 611
specially painted in China for exportation, and often
from designs furnished by Europeans. In the sale
catalogue of the collection of Vicomte de Fonspertuis by
Gersaint, which has just been referred to, the Chinese
and Japanese are generally referred to as "Indiens."
Some confusion would have been avoided if the term
" porcelain of the East India Company " had been adopted
instead of " India china." Jacquemart has ascribed the
porcelain of this class to Japan, but on very slender
grounds. Others by a still more singular hallucination
have attributed it to Lowestoft in England, although
there are many dated specimens anterior to 1777, the
date of the so-called invention of hard paste at Lowes-
toft. Sir A. W. Franks has exposed these fallacies and
proved its Chinese origin. A large proportion of it was
evidently painted in Canton by Chinese artists, the por-
celain being brought for the purpose overland from
Ching-te-chen, glazed in the ordinary white state, with
the addition perhaps of a few rings or outlines in under-
glaze blue defining the spaces intended to be tilled in
with colors. The style was similar, and the colors
employed were the same that were used in the ateliers
of Canton in the decoration of j)ainted enamels on copper,
which are a specialty of the place, under the name of
ycmg tz'i\ or " foreign jDorcelain," so called, we are told,
because the art was originally introduced from Calicut
in India. Precisely similar designs occur on the copper
and porcelain objects of the period, which w^ere molded
in identical forms, and fired in the same muffle kilns to
fix the colors. The porcelain of this class is known to
the Chinese by the name of ya7ig ts'ai, or "foreign colors."
It is comparatively rare, however, in China, having been
principally made for exportation and sent abroad at the
time it was made.
Many of the services have on them the armorial bear-
612 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
ings of the persons for whom they \veie made. The col-
lection in the British Museum is very rich in this class of
^' armorial china," including portions of services made for
Frederick the Great, and for the royal families of Den-
mark and France, as well as many pieces with the arms
of European families of rank, and of merchants wlio
are known to have traded with China. A large service
was made for the palace of the Swedish kings at Grips-
holm, the name of which is inscribed on the pieces.
The large, deep plate illustrated in Fig. 52, which is
nearly nineteen inches across, is an earlier specimen of
armorial china than the above. The decoration is partly
in underglaze blue, partly in overglaze muffle colors of
the ICang-hsi period, blue, green, yellow, and red, with
touches of gold, and the rim is gilded.
Some of the earlier pieces decorated with foreign
designs were painted entirely in blue. The tall cups
with covers called " Keyser cups," which are illustrated in
Sir Heniy Thompson's Catalogue, and also by Jacque-
mart, are painted with a broad panel containing St. Louis
of France and his queen on a canopied throne, and nar-
rower alternate panels with kneeling figures and birds,
and have inscribed round the top, l'empire de la vertu
EST etabli jusqu'au BOUT DE l'univers. The inscription
is occasionally misspelled in a way that at once betrays
the Chinese hand (see page 106). A second well-known
series of tall cups and saucers is painted in blue with a
Dutch design known as Kockock in liet Huisje (the
cuckoo in the house); a sketch of a small building on a
platform with trees and plants and two birds above.
The decoration was sometimes copied from European
pictures brought to China for the purpose, so that we
find in collections of Chinese porcelain sea views with
Dutch vessels, punch-bowls with pictui-es of English har-
vesting and of the harvest feast inscribed undei'neath
PORCELAIN MADE FOR EXPORTATION. 613
HARVEST HOME, aud grotesque copies of the famous pic-
tures of the elements by Francesco Albani, now in the
gallery at Turin. One would hardly expect to see an
English political cartoon on Chinese porcelain, but refer
to Franks Catalogue, loc. cit, No. 625 :
" Punch-Bowl. Chinese porcelain, painted in colors with gild-
ing; on each side are a pair of medallions exactly similar, each
forming a satirical coat of arms. No. 1, Bust of John Wilkes;
crest, a lion passant; supporters, Sergeant Glj'n and Lord Temple;
motto, ALWAYS READY IN A GOOD CAUSE; above is inscribed,
WILKES AND LIBERTY. No. 2, Bust of Lord Mansfield, with a
h3'dra below; crest, a viper; supporters, Lord Bute and the Devil;
motto, JUSTICE SANS piTiE. The devices on this bowl appear on the
heading to an address by John Wilkes, 'To the Gentlemen, Clergy,
and Freeholders of the County of Middlesex,' dated from King's
Bench Prison, Saturdaj^ June 18, 1768. They are entitled 'arms
OF LIBERTY AND SLAVERY.' "
A Dutch skippei', detained in harbor after a voyage to
China, would have a picture of his ship painted on porce-
lain, as shown b}^ the service noticed by Jacquemart and
Le Blant (Joe. cit., page 384), which was decorated in
colors with gilding, with a vessel under full sail, flying
the Dutch flag, and inscribed underneath, t : schip.
VRYBURG CEYOERT : DOOR '. CAPITEYN JACOB. RYZIK IN :
CHINA. INT lAAR. 1756 (The sliip Vryburg, conducted by
Captain Jacob Ryzik, in China, in the year 1756). A
plate of similar decoration, described in the Franks Cata-
logue (loc. cit., No. 598), has the inscription, written in a
medallion, chris"^ schooneman opp^. stuerman op t'sciiip
VRYBURG : TER REEDE WANPIIO IN CHINA INT lAAR : 175()
(Christopher Schooneman, chief mate of the ship Vry-
burg, in the roads off Whampoa, in China, in the j^ear
1756). Whampoa is the harbor of Canton, and the plates
were doubtless painted in that city while the ship was in
port. There would be hardly time to send the order on
614 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
the long overland journey to Ching-te-chen, and it is still
less likely that the artists of Nippon had anything to do
with them, although M. Jacquemart argues so at some
length.
Occasionally the decoration is of more familiar charac-
ter. Fig. 361 represents a saucer-shaped eggshell dish in
the Walters Collection, painted in brilliant enamel colors
with gilding. The design that decorates the interior^
composed of waving foliations mingled with paneled
bands, has the shaj^e of a coat of arms, and it is sur-
mounted by the figure of a white goose, the Chinese
emblem of marriage, standing upon a gilded visor of gro-
tesque form, looking somewhat like a crest. The two
oval shields displayed side by side in the middle contain
the monograms i. v. e. and i. b. upon blue grounds of
different shade. These are no doubt the initials of the
Dutch bridal pair whose names are penciled in full below
within a blue baud in gold letters, ian : van : ens and
lOANNA bochoute. The band of scrolled foliations that
encircles the above designs is etched in gold. The
border of the dish is decorated with a gilded diaper
interrupted by four foliated medallions. Two of these
contain miniature portraits of the happy couple, the other
two are filled with symbols of good omen, a heart between
two pairs of clasped hands, tied by ribbons to musical
stones, hung with beaded tassels and waving fillets.
The porcelain made to ordei' for the European market^
with which the Dutch inundated Europe for more than a
hundred years, is generally overdecorated, in accordance
with the foreign taste. Jacquemart Justly distinguishes
the objects made at the same time which were decorated
according to Chinese taste by classifying them under
the title of " porcelaine artistique." A single spray of
flowers, a sacred or mythological figure encircled by a
lightly etched floral scroll or a key border, or a dramatic
PORCELAIN MADE FOR EXPORTATION. 615
scene with the personages in antique costume, forms the
whole decoration, following the canons of Chinese art.
The result is more attractive than the most gayly deco-
rated scenes of familiar life framed in as many rings of dif-
ferent floral diaper as it is possible to get into the space ;
such, for instance, as surround the seven-bordered eggshell
plate illustrated in Plate X, fascinating as this is from its
minute finish. The vases of the same style and period
being covered with richly dressed officials in their robes
of office, have been sometimes classed apart under the
title of " mandarin porcelaine." This style is a favorite
one with the Cantonese artist to the present day, when he
is working for his foreign patron, although the native
school of art, following always the canons of the old
masters, disdains the modern costume of everyday life.
Among the objects made for Europe are found wash-
basins and ewers of elaborate form completely covered
with floral brocaded grounds of diverse pattern, inter-
rupted in the middle by a medallion with a coat of arms.
The tea services which w^ere imported consisted generally
of a teapot with a hexagonal or octagonal tray, a pair of
ovoid jars with covers as tea-caddies, a graceful cream-
jug with cover, one large bowl, a variable number of tea-
cups with or without handles, sometimes furnished with
saucers, often without, and a plate or two for cakes, or a
couple of saucer-shaped dishes. Few perfect sets remain,
but several separate pieces of the class have already been
figured. Fig. 362 show^s a typical teapot with a cup and
saucer of the same pattern, which are not so elaborately
decorated as some of the services of the period, but still
somewhat overloaded with floral ornaments, as the sj^rays
of prunus with birds perched upon them seem to be a little
cramped for want of space, in the intervals betw^een the
foliated panels displaying ch^i-lin in the midst of brocaded
flowers, with which the rest of the surface is covered.
616 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
There is one class of Chiuese porcelain wliicli has been
dignified with the name of " Jesuit china," as it was sup-
posed to have been made under the influence of the Jesuit
missionaries. The pieces are usually painted in blue and
white, and date from the earlier part of the reign of
K''ang-hsi (1662-1722). They are characterized by hav-
ing the crucifix and other sacred symbols of the Roman
Catholic faith inti'oduced in the intervals of the decoi'a-
tion, which is usually of the ordinaiy Chinese style, as
may be seen in the jar illustrated in Plate XIV, which
has the cross and three nails with the Christian mono-
gram I. H. S., inclosed in a quatrefoil panel. The sym-
bols in these specimens are penciled on the paste under
the glaze, and must have been put on at the same time as
the other part of the decoration, before the firing.
Jacquemart in his several works on ceramic subjects has
tried to establish the existence of both Hindu and Siam-
ese porcelain, but on very insufficient grounds ; and I am
strongly inclined to agree with Sir Wollaston Franks that
there is no evidence that true kaolinic pottery was ever
produced either in Hindustan or in any of the countries
of the peninsula of Farther India. They have, on the
contrary, always depended on China and Japan for their
supply of porcelain until quite recent times, when a few
factories have been established there on European lines.
The class of pieces on which Jacquemart principally
relied is well exemplified in the bowl illustrated in Fig.
363.
It is necessary to say a few words here on the subject
of the decoration of Oriental poi'celain in Europe. This
was first attempted in Holland, as is shown by M. Havard
in his researches into the annals of the corporation of Delft
potters.* It was about 1700 that these potters are said
to have discovered the secret of the preparation of a cer-
* Histoire de la faience de Delft. Par Henri Havard. Paris, 1877.
PORCELAIN MADE FOR EXPORTATION. 617
tain number of the colors of the muffle stove. These
enamel colors, which were of the same class as those em-
ployed by the Chinese, were used not only for their own
soft faience, but also in the decoration of hard porcelain
imported from the far East, being applied on white
pieces, or on pieces spaced with a few blue lines, as pre-
pared at Chiug-te-chen for the artists of Canton, which
were passed on to Europe for the purpose. Other pieces,
in which the decoration appeared to Dutch taste to be
sparse, had the white ground filled in with various acces-
sories and details of semi-Oriental style, the result being
a curious hybrid combination of colors as well as of styles.
Some of these may be seen illustrated by Du Sartel, with
the piece in its original state jjlaced side by side with the
sur-decoration. Gersaint, the " expert " of Paris, in his
catalogue published in 1747, describes t^vo square bottles
of porcelain of this kind painted in colors with figures
of men and tigers, and adds that "the figures, animals,
and otlier ornaments on these bottles have been painted
in Holland, as is done there, often Tuial a propos, on pieces
of fine white porcelain."
It is not difficult to distinguish the work of the Dutch
decorator by the aspect of the colors, apart from the
style ; the Dutch palette compi-ised black, red derived
from iron, a dull blue, and a pale green ; the four enamels
are applied in strong relief, but are wanting in vivacity
and transparency, and look as if the coloring oxides were
not sufficiently developed. The red is especially dis-
tinctive, being ahvays of deep brick-red tint, imperfectly
glazed, and standing out in tangible mass, piled on, as it
were, with a thick brush. The Chinese iron-red, on the
contrary, is of coral tint, is perfectly incorporated with
tlie glaze, and affords no appreciable relief even when
most intense in tone.
Several of the other European manufacturers of porce-
618 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
lain of the eighteenth century tried tlieir skill in the decora-
tion of Oriental porcelain. The work of Saxon artists is-
seeu in the Dresden Museum placed beside the primitive
pieces of old Japanese porcelain ; the work of French artists
is preserved in the Musee at Sevres ; and there are in the
British Museum several examples of color painting from
Bow and Chelsea, and of transfer printing from Worces-
ter, all executed on Oriental porcelain. The Musee de
Limoges contains an interesting series of specimens,
including some of rare Venetian work, like the Jap-
anese vase illustrated by Du Sartel Qoc. cit., Fig. 117),.
which was originally an artistic production of an
Oriental artist of the seventeenth century, simply orna-
mented with a narrow scroll border round the shoulder,
and with light sprays of flowers repeated at the base and.
round the neck, penciled in coral-red and gold. The
Venetian artist, in his task of filling in this chaste and
graceful decoration, had at his disposal only the black
enamel which was used in his country for enameling
upon glass. Treating the porcelain vase as if he were
decorating one of the feathery glass cups that he was
accustomed to handle, he first completed the floral scrolls
on the neck with an elaborate band of birds and flowers
of charming design, and then painted on the body of the
piece two large vases with Japanese flowers springing
from their interior. The rest of the space was filled, in
with a garden scene, enlivened by the figures of two
mandarins with strange birds and insects flying round
them, painted according to the fancies, more brilliant
than exact, which the Italian artist fondly imagined
about the things of the far East. At a later date much
Oriental porcelain, principally blue and white, according
to Sir Wollaston Franks, has been spoiled by painting it
in tawdry colors, with gilding — a detestable process
which, he says, was carried on not long ago in London.
I
POKCELAIN MADE FOR EXPORTATION. 619
There are also quite modern forgeries on which coats of
arms have been added to old pieces of porcelain painted
in colors, where the sparseness of the original decoration
left room for such additions ; these can be detected by
the different conditions of the old and new enameled
•colors, the former being somewhat altered by passing
twice through the fire.
Su7'-decoration in all its phases is also practiced in
China. It may be contemporary with the original deco-
ration, as in the case when a blue and white piece has
come out of the kiln with some defect of the glaze, and a
spray of flowers has been deftly painted on in enamel
colors to conceal the defect and fixed in the mufHe. On
the other hand, it may be quite modern, and an attempt
may be made, for example, to increase the value of a blue
and white vase by plastering on a fusible enamel of some
other color, such as the yellow of antimony, which is
^«asily refired, and so present the original blue designs
with a new livery. The " ginger-pot " illustrated in
Fig. 357 was originally an ordinary example of the
reign of K''mig-lm (1622-1722), marked underneath in
blue with a double ring, and had the scattered prunus-
blossoms reserved in white, on a blue ground of poor
color, traversed in the usual way by a reticulation of
darker lines. It has been varied by having the petals of
the alternate flowers filled in with bright-green and dull-
red enamels, so as to present a kind of formal diaper
studded with blossoms of these two shades. The red
might pass, as the buds of the prunus are naturally
tipped with red, but the glaring inconsistency of green
flowers stamps the production at once as a forgery, apart
from the coloring, which is certainly not that of the
K''ang-hsi period, if it be Chinese at all.
Another kind of subsequent decoration is shown in
Fig. 359. It is a strongly made porcelain bowl of the
620 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
K\mg-hsi period (1662-1722), with the interior painted
in blue under a wliite glaze with chrysanthemum scrolls
spreading over the field, and with a floral border round
the rim, while the exterior is enameled with a dark-
brown monochrome glaze of "dead-leaf" type. The
chocolate-colored glaze has been pierced through to the
white paste underneath, so as to decorate the bowl out-
side in intaglio with a broad band of floral sprays and
birds, executed in European style. This has been
worked on the lapidary's wheel, probably in Austria.
The Chinese cut porcelain, hard as it is, is cut with the
utmost facility on the jade-cutter's lathe, which is pro-
vided with cutting disks and piercing tools of soft iron
that, when in work, are kept constantly moistened with
corundum paste. The top of a chipped vase or bowl
will be shaved off evenly — "barbered" as they call it —
or the jagged edges of a fracture will be neatly round ed^
for a new piece of porcelain to be fitted in the holes
and cemented round the rim. A reproduction of the
original design is then painted over a f raid in common
oil colors. The Chinese collector has a horror of a mao
ping (crack or other small defect), and infinite trouble is
taken to conceal one by carrying sprays of flowers along
the fissures, or even by investing the whole of the white
ground of the vase with an inky coat of lampblack
hardened by cement, or by applying a uniform coat
of lacquer. The sur-dec(yi'ation a froid will become dis-
colored in time, and it may be detected at once by
a wash of weak acid, which should always be sponged on
in case of doubt.
The question of the modern reproduction of ancient
wares is a burning one. Caveat emptor ! The W'Ould-be
connoisseur of porcelain must buy his experience while he
educates his eye. Any other test is worthless. Where
the demand is so great the supply threatens to become
POECELAIN MADE FOR EXPORTATIOlSr. 621
unlimited. At tlie Kioto Exposition of 1895 the latest
triumphs of the Japanese in the imitation of old Chinese
porcelain were exhibited on long shelves ; the Ching-te-
chen potters are daily improving in their reproductions
of the finest sang-de-hoeuf and blue and white of the
K''ang-hsi period, and even the tile works of Peking are
busily occupied in these latter days in the manufacture
of single colors for the markets of the United States. In
Europe the old Chelsea potters turned out Chinese por-
celain with marks complete ; the earliest Meissen ware
was an exact copy of the ancient artistic sort of Japan ;
and the pride they take at Sevres in the reproduction of
Chinese eggshell is proved by the display in the museum,
of the original plate and its copy, placed side by side,
as if to defy the visitor to distinguish between the two.
The well-known shop of Samson at Paris is full of all the
varieties of " Oriental porcelain " made in France, but
one views them there as avowed imitations. It is differ-
ent when one sees the same French things, as I have seen
them, in the back room of a curio-dealer at Shanghai,
purposely begrimed with real Oriental dirt to give an air
of antiquity, and the casual globe-trotter is more apt to
be deceived under such altered circumstances. However
it may be, many of these forgeries find their way into
cabinets, and flaunt for a brief while their borrowed
plumes, until they are detected as impostors and banished
to another sphere. The Walters Collection is happily
free from such unauthorized intruders, so the question
need not detain us further. But it has been laid down
on good authority that doubt is one of the first requisites
of the scientific inquirer, and it is certainly required
in China for things Chinese almost more than in other
parts of the globe.
CHAPTER XXII.
PORCELAIN PRODUCTION IN THE OTHER PROVINCES OF
CHINA. THE WHITE PORCELAIN OF THE PROVINCE OF
FUCHIEN. THE YI-HSING BOCCARO WARE OF THE PROV-
INCE OF KIANGSU. THE POTTERIES OF THE PROVINCE
OF KUANGTUNG.
ri"^HE pi'ovince of Kiangsi has been the one great cen-
-L ter of the porcelain manufacture during the present
dynasty, and it may be said generally that nothing of
any artistic value is produced elsewhere in China in the
present day. In earlier times a certain amount of por-
celain was made in other provinces for local consumption,
and some of the fabrics attained special excellence and
even acquired a wider vogue under some of the past
dynasties when directly patronized by the emperor reign-
ing at the time, or temporarily stimulated by demands
for export abroad, but most of the different manufac-
tories have failed, either from want of support or from
exhaustion of the materials, and those that still remain
produce now nothing worthy of their old renown.
A list of these potteries, ancient and modern, has been
compiled by Julien (loc. cit., pages li-lxvi), and the differ-
ent localities referred to have been indicated upon a map
of China prepared by him for the purpose. Thirteen out
of the eighteen provinces of China are represented in this
list, but many of the potteries, included because they
have been mentioned only once perhaps in some ancient
book, have long been extinct, and some of the others,
like that of Sin-p'ing, in the province of Honan, tjie
622
PORCELAIN PRODUCTION IN OTHER PROVINCES. 623
reputed place of tlie iuveDtion of porcelain, are, as
we have endeavored to prove, purely hypothetical.
The principal potteries that were still working toward
the end of the Ming dynasty, in the beginning of the
seventeenth century, are briefly enumerated in the THen
hung Wai wu^ a little manual of industrial work which
was published at that time. It says (Book II, folio 10) :
" The white plastic clay called e-fu is required for the fabrica-
tion of porcelain, and the finest and most beautiful pieces can not
be made without it. Throughout the whole of China there are
only a very few places in which it is found — viz., in the north: (1)
at Ting-cliou, in the prefecture of Chen-ting-fu (pi-ovince of
Cliihli); (2) at Hua-t'ing-hsien, in the prefecture of P'ing-liang-fu
(province of Shensi); (8) at P'ing-ting-chou, in the prefecture of
T'ai-yuan-fu (province of Shansi); (4) at Yu-chou, in the prefec-
ture of K'ai-feng-fu (province of Honan). In the south it is pro-
duced (1) at Te-hua-hsien, in the prefecture of Ch'iian-chou-fu
(province of Fuchien) ; (2) at Wu-Yuan-hsien and at Ch'i-men-
hsien — both situated in the prefecture of Hui-chou-fu (province of
Anhui).
" In the potteries of Te-hua there are fabricated onl}' the figures
of divinities and statuettes of famous persons artistically modeled
and various ornamental objects of fantastic form not intended for
actual use. The porcelain which comes from the districts of Chen-
ting-fu and K'ai-feng-fu is occasionally of j^ellowish shade. The
productions of all the other districts are far from equaling that of
Jao-chou-fu (in the province of Kiangsi).
" The two kinds of porcelain that were made at Li-shui and at
Lung-ch'tlan, in the prefecture of Ch'u-chou-fu, in the province of
Chekiang, had the enamel applied after the pieces had been fired.
The cups and bowls (from these two districts) which range from
sea-green, or celadon, up to a dark-green color approaching that of
lacquer, are called CKu Yao — i. e., ' Ch'u Ware,' after the name of
the prefecture.
" With regard to the porcelain which is so eagerly sought after
by foreigners from all the four quarters of the world, this is
all fabricated at Ching-te-chen, in the district of Fou-liang-hsien,
and the prefecture of Jao-chou-fu. Porcelain has been constantly
produced there from the period Ching-te-chen (1004-07), when the
624 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
imperial manufactoiy was founded, down to our own days, although
neither of the two materials of which the paste is made is pro-
duced in the district."
The porcelain of the province of Chekiang acquired
some renown as early as the Chin dynasty (265-419),
when it was made at Wen-chou-fu, and in the T\tng
dynasty (618-906) the cups of Yueh-chou, the modern
Shao-hsing-fu, were esteemed above all others for tea
services, and the famous ware of "prohibited color"
reserved for imperial use was produced in the same dis-
trict. Now there remains in this province only a small
local manufactory at Chapu, a port on the northern shore
of Hangcliou Bay. When the Emperor ChHen-lung
visited the province of Chekiang in the year 1780,
a series of illustrations of the handicrafts of the people
was presented to him, which was afterward published
under the title of T''ai p'ing liuan lo fou — " Illustrations
of the Vocations of Peaceful Times " — and which has
been lately republished. The fifty-eighth of the one
hundred pictures is that of the porcelain-seller carrying
his fragile wares in a couple of baskets slung upon
a pole. The artist says in his description :
" In the province of Chekiang they have made porcelain from
ancient times. The prohibited color {pi se yao) of Yueh-chou, the
Lung-ch'iian ware (old celadon), and the Ko Yao, or crackled
celadon, are among the most celebrated of its productions of olden
time. With regard to the different ceramic productions of the
present day the porcelain that is most highly valued by the people
for eating and drinking purposes all comes from Ching-te-chen in
the adjoining province of Kiangsi. Potteries have been recently
establislied in Chekiang at Chapu, whei*e they make vases, basins,
wine-cups, rice-bowls, and the like. The porcelain is white, with
designs painted in blue, and the potters strive to emulate their
rivals of Jao-chou-fu."
Hangchou is one of the places thrown open in Sej)tem-
ber, 1896, to foreign residence and trade, as a result of
PORCELAIN PRODUCTION IN OTHER PROVINCES. 625
the recent war between China and Japan ; and it will be
interesting to inquire whether the potteries at Chapu
(tlie port of Hangchou) are still working, and, if so,
what is the quality of the production.
The potteries at Ting-chou in the province of Chihli
ceased to work at the close of the Ming dynasty, when
we found Chou Tan-chu'an making at Ching-te-chen re-
productions of ancient four-legged censers of the peculiar
ivory-white finely crackled ware that used to be produced
at Ting-chou, and astonishing his contemporaries by his
imitative skill. During the present dynasty all the Fen
Ting ware, the so-called " soft paste " porcelain, whether
plain white or decorated in soft underglaze cobalt-blue,
has continued to be made in Kiangsi. It is the same
with many of the other old wares ; the Ju Yao and the
imperial porcelain {Kuan Yao) of the Sung dynasty, the
old celadons, plain and crackled, and the jfambe glazes
of ancient Chiin-chou among the rest. These were all
attempted to be reproduced by T'ang Ying in the reign
of Yung-clieng (1723-35), in the imperial manufactory
at Ching-te-chen. Their original localities know them
no longer.
The potteries at Tz'u-chou in the province of Chihli
are indeed the only representatives of the better known
manufactories of the Sung dynasty that have continued
to turn out porcelain down to the present day. Their
productions were not much esteemed in former days,
when they were described as a kind of inferior " Ting-
Yao," and the modern work is still less valued, its only
recommendation being a certain archaic simplicity of
form and design. The paste is very white, but it is
opaque and imperfectly vitrified. This Tz'ii-chou ware
is well known in Peking and throughout northern China,
as it supplies the domestic needs of the common people.
Among the more curious objects are pillows made in the
626 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
sliape of scantily clothed urchins and hollow in the
interior, so that they can be filled, if it be desired, with
hot water in cold weather, Kudely molded idols and
figures of Buddhist and Taoist saints are also produced
here, roughly painted in different shades of brown
(tzu-cliin) derived from iron peroxide, or penciled in a
dull blue with manganiferous cobalt applied over the
glaze.
The province of Fuchien, in the south, has long been
noted for its production of porcelain. The Clden Tz'u,
or Chien Yao — i. e., " Fuchien porcelain " — oi the Stoig
dynasty, was originally fabricated at Chien-an-hsien, in
the prefecture of Chien-ning-fu, although the potteries
were moved later in the same dynasty to Chien-yang-
hsien, which is within the bounds of the same prefecture
farther north. The porcelain of Chien-an is referred to
by the author of the Ch''a Iai, a book on tea written in
the eleventh century, in which he speaks of the teacups
of Chien-an under the name of " leveret-fur cups," and
describes them as being of thick material invested with
a soft black glaze flecked with lighter spots like the fur of
a hare. Other authors of the time speak of the black
glaze being sprinkled with yellowish tears. These cups
w^ere the most highly prized of all by the enthusiasts of
the competitive tea parties of the time. AV hen tea clubs
were started in Japan these were the cups that were
valued by the Japanese at a hundred ounces of silver
each, and they supplied models for some of the early tea-
jars made in that country, the dark, speckled glaze of
which might be described in the very words of the old
Chinese writers of the Sung dynasty in their description
of this fabric* The manufacture of porcelain in this
* A recent letter from Japan says that the potter Takemoto, of Tokyo, is
making a specialty of black glazes, with the aim of rivaling the Chien Yao of
the Sung dynasty, and has succeeded in producing many varieties of mirror-
POKCELAIN PRODUCTION IN OTHER PROVINCES. 627
district continued to flourish during tbe Yuan dynasty
(1280-1367), but after that we hear of it no more.
Early in the Ming dynasty, if not before, potteries
were established at Te-hua-hsien, in the same province of
Fuchien, which was then subject to Ch'uan-chou-fu, but
was afterward placed under the jurisdiction of Yung-
ch'un-chou. These potteries are still woiking, and are
the sole source of the well-known Chien Tz'u of to-day^
which is different from the older ware that was described
under the same name of "Fuchien porcelain," being
white instead of black. This is the pal tz'u, " white
porcelain," ^«/' excellence, of the Chinese, the hlanc de
Chine of French ceramic writers. It differs considerably
from other Oriental porcelain, the paste of smooth tex-
ture being of a creamy-white tint resembling ivory, while
the rich, thick glaze, which has a satiny aspect, like the
surface of soft paste porcelain, blends closely with the
paste underneath. These potteries became renowned
during the Ming dynasty (1368-1643) for their figures
of Buddhist divinities and saints — Kuan Yin or Avalokita^
as the Goddess of Mercy, Mi-lo Fo or Maitreya, as the
Buddhist Messiah, and Ta-mo or Bodhidharma, the last
Indian and the first Chinese patriarch, being the three
most frequently represented. The statuette of the God-
dess of Mercy, illustrated by M, Grandidier (loc. cit.,
Plate X, 28), furnishes a striking example of the skill-
ful modeling of the Fuchien potters. A more elaborate
figure of the many-handed form of the same Pusa is
illustrated fi-ora the Musee de Limoges by M. du Sartel
{loc. cit, Plate XVII, Fig. 60). The divinity is seated
upon a lotus thalamus, with one pair of arms folded in
front with the fingers raised in mystic fashion, w^hile
black and raven's-wing-green glazes, of leveret-fur streaking and of russet
moss dappling ; more varieties, by the way, than I suspect were ever turned
out from the original kilns in China.
628 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
eight other pairs of arms are extended in ev^ery direction,
to display to the whole world, as it were, the various
sacred symbols grasped in the hands. In the same plate
are illustrated two groups of three figures gathered
under a pine-tree, with a rocky background, two of whom
are playing chess, molded in the same ivory-white
porcelain. These are scenes from the legend of Wang
Chi, one of the Taoist ])atriarchs, who is said to have
flourished under the Gliin dynasty (265-419). While
wandering in the hills one day to collect firewood, he
found two aged men playing chess, and laid down his
axe to watch the game. One of the players gave him a
fruit-stone, which he swallowed. After a while they
exclaimed, " It is long since you came, and time to go
home." He found that the handle of his axe had moldered
into dust, and when he reached home many generations
had passed away and he was clean forgotten, so he retired
again to the mountains and devoted himself to Taoism,
till he was finally enrolled among the immortals.
The natives of this province are among the most
superstitious of the Chinese,* and their religious tempei'a-
ment seems to be reflected in the chai'acter of theii'
cei'amic productions. The rice-bowls are molded with
figures in relief of the eight Taoist genii worshii)ing the
Longevity Grod, and the ordinary wine-cups have the air
of sacrificial libation-cups, being shaped like the old
carved cups of rhinoceros horn, and impressed outside
with all kinds of Taoist sacred emblems. When a mark
is attached it is a religious symbol like the swastika, or
sim])ly the name of the potter, stamped somewhere under-
neath the foot or on the reverse side of the piece. They
were not, however, above working for the European
market, as is proved by whole shelves of European figures
* See Social Life of the Chinese. By the Rev. Justus Doolittle. New York,
1867.
PORCELAIN PRODUCTION IN OTHER PROVINCES. 629
and designs molded in this peculiar white porcelain,
which are exhibited in the Johanneuni at Dresden, dating
from the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth
centuries.
Three pieces of Chien Tz'u have been selected from
the Walters Collection for illustration here. The cen-
ser (lisiang hi) in Fig. 371, which is of depressed,
rounded shape, with the body bulging in the middle,
is molded with a floral decoration on one side composed
of sprays of bamboo and peony-flowers growing from
rocks, worked in relief under the ivory-white translucent
glaze with which it is invested. There is a circular
panel stamped underneath, with four archaic characters
in the middle, Hsuan te nien cJiih — i. e., " Made in the
reign of Hsumi-te (1426-35) " — but the piece does not
look so old.
The vase in Fig. 372, of solid make, has the globular
body ornamented with four identical sprays of j)ruuus
(mei hud) modeled in strong relief, and the neck, which
has a wide ring projecting horizontally below, is en-
circled above by a line of fret succeeded by a band of
triangular foliations, while a similar band defines the
shoulder of the vase. The glaze is of pure ivory-Avhite
tint, and the technique generally is that of the Ming
dynasty.
The third, a small vase illustrated in Fig. 373, with
wide circular base and short cylindrical body rounding
in at the shoulder to a straight tubular neck, is an
example of the form known to the Chinese as hoof-
shaped vases (ma fi p'ing^. It is molded in sharp
relief with the eight Buddhist symbols of good augury
(^pa chi-hsiang^ enveloped in waving fillets and leafy
scrolls, and the rims are defined by light conventional
foliations. The rich, satiny glaze is ivory-white with
a slight creamy tinge. There is no mark, but the style
630 OEIENTAL CEEAMIC ART.
of execution points to the reign of Cl^ien-lung (1736-
95), or somewhat earlier.
Two typical pieces of Chieu Tz'ti are illustrated in
Plate XIII. In the little wine-pot molded in the form of
a pomegranate the artist has reproduced remarkably well
the characteristic tone of the white glaze. In the teapot
the glaze is somewhat grayer in shade, but very I'ich
and lustrous, and the uuglazed base exhibits the pecu-
liarly smooth texture of the paste. A picked specimen
of the white porcelain of Ching-te-chen of the finest
quality is illustrated in Plate XC, and it will be seen, on
comparison, to have a slight tinge of blue, although the
glaze is of perfect purity and translucency ; this shade
is due to lime, which is always added by the Chinese
in appreciable quantity to give fluidity to the glaze
when the porcelain is being fired. The white Fen-Ting
glaze is quite different from either of the other tAvo,
as may be seen by turning to Plate LXXXIX, an
admirable specimen, to be referred probably to the
ICang-lisi period. The glaze here looks thinner, and
it has a wavy or undulatory surface, as it seems to sink
into and blend intimately with the siliceous paste under-
neath ; the ivory-white, which is the prevailing tone^
has a creamy tinge, and it is delicately crackled with
an infinity of fine lines.
There is a crackled variety of the Chien-Tz'u, which^
however, I liave met with only in quite modern vases
of no particular merit or beauty, having the glaze deeply
fissured by a wide reticulation of colorless lines ; so that
it ought not to be confounded with the delicately crackled
Fen-Ting porcelain.
In addition to the ivory-white porcelain, which has
given the Fuchien potters their chief reputation, they
also make a quantity of ordinary domestic ware for
local consumption. Missionaries penetrate to all parts
PORCELAIN PRODUCTION IN OTHER PROVINCES. 631
of the interior of China in these days, and one of tliem *
gives a pleasing sketch of the potters at work in this
district which is worth quoting :
" Tek-kwa [the local pronunciation of tlie Te-hua of the man-
darin dialect] is the most extensive manufactor}' of china in the
Fulikien province. The valley is broad, and clothed over a con-
siderable area with very pretty houses, in many cases resembling
Swiss chalets. Pottery, pottery everywhere, in the fields, in the
Btreets, in the shops. In the open air children are painting the
cups. Each artist paints with his own color, or his own few
strokes, whether a leaf, a tree, a man's dress or beard, and passes
it over to his neighbor, who in turn applies his brush to paint what
is his share in the decoration. I have seldom received a more
courteous and cordial welcome than from these artists in earthen-
ware at Tek-kwa."
The writer is somewhat vague in his use of the tei'ms
" china," " pottery," and " earthenware " in this short
paragraph, and we wish that he had looked at the ware
with a technical eye and told us the exact nature of the
material. The Chinese themselves are apt to be just
as vague in their definition of tz'''U (porcelain), and to
find their ultimate criterion in the clear ring that they
can produce by striking the object with their long
finger-nails. This test is not infallible, as a perfectly
vitrified stoneware of colored opaque body, if it be not
too thick, will give as musical a ring as the most snowy
and translucent pottery of pure kaoliuic structure. The
two ceramic wares of China that still remain for a word
of notice would nevertheless always be rejected by a
Chinese connoisseur from his porcelain class, although,
strangely, we find specimens of the first, the faience of the
province of Kuangtung, so often figuring with porcelain
vases on the shelves of tlie Occidental connoisseur.
*Eoery-Day Life in China, or Scenes in Fuhkien. By E. J. Dukes.
London, 1885.
632 OKIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
This is the Kuang- Yao of the Chiuese, the " Pottery
of Kuaiigtung." It is in material a colored stonewai'e,
the fabric passing from pale yellowish-gray through buff
and various intermediate shades of yellow and red to
deep brown. All kinds of things are made of it, archi-
tectural antefixal ornaments, cisterns, fish-bowls, and
flower-pots for gardens, religious images, sacred figures
and grotesque animals, tubs and Jars for storage, domes-
tic utensils, and vessels for eating and drinking, and
many objects of ornament and fantasy — the various
articles, in fact, that are made in other parts of China of
porcelain. The ware is exported to all parts of the
world, and piles of it are to be seen in the commoner
stores in China Town at San Francisco.
There are two principal centers of manufacture in the
province. The first is in the vicinity of the treaty port
of Amoy, from which it is exported by sea. Dr. S. W.
Williams, in his description of the principal articles of
export from China,* says, under Chinaware :
" The largest part of tlie export at present consists of coarse
blue ware to India and the archipelago. Large manufactories of
it exist at Pakwoh, a village near Shih-raa, between Amoy and
Changchou, and the common articles of domestic use find their
way from Amoy to India and the archipelago, Siam, and over the
southern provinces. Its fantastic figures and uniformity of color-
ing and design have impressed themselves on the popular mind
of Asiatics. ... Of the fine ware, which is made at King-
te-ch^n in Jao-chou-fu, not so much is exported. Some of it is
brought to Canton in its plain state, and the pieces are painted
according to demand. The figures are sketched in Indian ink, and
then painted with water-colors mixed with strong glue; the pieces
are then placed in a reverberating furnace about half an hour, and
taken out and washed when sufiiciently cooled. The division of
labor in the preparation and painting of chinaware is carried to
a minuteness not often seen in other branches of native art."
* The Chinese Commercial Guide. By S. Wells Williams, LL. D. Fifth
edition, Hong-Kong, 1863.
PORCELAESr PRODUCTION IN" OTHER PROVINCES. 633
The second manufactory is in the extreme south of
the province of Yaug-chiang-hsien. The author of the
Ching-te-chen T''ao lu says, under the heading of Kuang-
Yao :
" This was first made in the province of Kuangtung, in the
<ii8trict of Yang-cliiang-hsien, in the prefecture of Cliao-ch'ing-fu.
It was probably fired in tlie same way as the foreign painted
enamels on copper (which, the author tells us in another part of
his book, had been copied from those made at Calicut in Hindu-
stan), so that porcelain is included in the official description of tlie
province among the productions of Yang-chiang-hsien. I have
seen censers for burning incense, vases, cups and platters, bowls
and round dishes, gourd-shaped bottles and boxes with covers, and
the like, made of this ware, which were finely decorated in the
most brilliant colors; but in style, finish, and artistic treatment it
is not to be compared with real porcelain, and it is never free
from unsightly fissures in some part of the glaze in which the
body of the piece is exposed to view. Nevertheless, the repro-
ductions that have been made at Ching-te-chen, under the super-
intendence of the dii'ector T'ang Ying, are worthy of attention
for the beauty of their coloring, which exceeds by far that of the
original Kuang-Yao."
The particular glaze referred to in this last paragraph
was a sowfflS blue. It figures as No. 17 in the list giv^en
in Chapter XIII, where it is described as having been
<5opied by T'ang Ying from an ancient specimen of
Kuang-Yao which had been sent down from the imperial
palace at Peking for the purpose. The glazes of the
Kuang-Yao are often, indeed, of the mottled and varie-
gated class, the prevailing ground being blue, which may
be streaked and flecked with green and pass into olive-
brown toward the rim. But many other colors occur,
such as purple, camellia-leaf green, and stone-colored
-crackle; they are usually colors of the demi-grand feu,
and may develop the most brilliant reds of sang-de-hoeuf
tone, as in the figure of the Buddhist patriarch Bodhi-
634 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
dharma, illustrated in Plate XLI, which is invested in
a robe of lustrous crimson. This statuette is a typical
example of Kuang-Yao, and exhibits the reddish-gray
color of the dense, hard material in the pai'ts uncovered
by glaze. On the vases of more ancient date the surface
is often only partially enameled, the glaze stopping in an
irregular line as it runs down and congeals in drops, so
that a third part of the piece may be left bare. In this
it resembles some of the ancient w^ares of the Sung
dynasty, with which it may be confounded if special
attention be not paid to the pdte^ which is peculiarly
dense and opaque, although it may occasionally be of
a pale grayish tint approaching white.
The vase in Fig. 369 is a characteristic production of
the potteries of Kuangtung. Molded of solid form, with
two ring handles in relief springing from grotesque lions^
heads, it is invested with a thick, translucent glaze of
bright green tint, mottled with dark brown, and becom-
ing grayish blue at the edges. This does not quite reach
the bottom of the vase, ending below in an undulatory
line, so that the brown stoneware body is exposed to
view at this spot.
The bottle-shaped vase in Fig. 370, with a pair of
lizardlike dragons (cKili-lung) of archaic shape project-
ing in openwork relief from the neck, is made of light
but hard stoneware of brown color. It is covered with
a translucent crackled glaze of rich emerald-green tint,
passing into purplish gray at the rim of the vase and
over the more prominent parts of the accessory modeling.
In Fig. 374 is illustrated one of the quaint little recep-
tacles for water {shui cJi'eng) designed for the desk of
a Chinese writer. An ancient specimen of Kuang-Yao,
judging from the texture of the paste, which is of pale
buif color, and the celadon hue of the glaze, it is molded
in the form of a sacrificial ox, with a small oval bowl
PORCELAIN PRODUCTIOISr IN OTHER PROVINCES. 635
attached to the mouth, into which the pencil-brush may
be (lipped. A channel leads from this through the
mouth of the ox, the body of which is hollowed to hold
water, and the back is pierced with a circularly rimmed
aperture. The design is adopted from one of the ancient
sacrificial wine-vessels of bronze, which, however, were
usually modeled in the form of a rhinoceros, and this
is suggested by the spiral folds on the skin, the thick
legs, and the grotesque outline of the miniature monster
before us.
The Chinese ceramic ware that remains for our con-
sideration is the Yi-hsing Yao, which derives its name
from its place of production — Yi-hsing-hsieu, in the pre-
fecture of Chang-chou-fu, in the province of Kiangsu.
It has been cursorily referred to already in Chapter VII,
in a notice of some of its earlier productions during the
Ming dynasty. The pottery produced here is a fine kind
of stoneware of various tints — buff, red, brown, and
chocolate-colored, red predominating. The Portuguese
called it hoccaro, and the name has remained. Bottger,
the inventor of Saxon porcelain, fii'st tried his hand in
the imitation of this material in 1708, with some success,
although his essays hardly deserved the epithet of force-
laine rouge^ with which they were baptized. The Elers,
who established a pottery in Staffordshire, England, also
copied the red varieties with great exactness, so that it is
not always easy, according to Sir Wollaston Franks, to
distinguish their productions from Oriental examples.
The Chinese prefer this fine stoneware to any other,
even to true porcelain, for the infusion of tea, and for
keeping delicate sweetmeats. There is a special book
which is often quoted (but I have not seen the original),
called Yang-lisien ming Tin hsi, written by Chou Kao-
ch'i, an author of the seventeenth century, who gives an
account of the teapots (ming hu) made here (Yang-hsien
636 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
being au old name of Yi-hsing). These teapots are
made in the most varied and fantastic forms, such as
a dragon rising from waves, a phcenix or other bird,
a section of bamboo, the gnarled trunk of a pine, or a
branch of blossoming prunus, a fruit such as a peach,
a pomegranate, or a finger-citron, or a flower like the
nelumbium, the Chinese lotus.
Many of the pieces derive their sole charm from the
simple elegance of the form and the soft self-coloring of
the fine, close faience in which it is modeled. Others are
ornamented with designs molded in relief, impressed
with delicate diapers, or engraved with decorative
designs. Others, again, are painted in enamel colors,,
applied with a brush so as to come out in sensible relief,
or inlaid, as it were, in a ground previously prepared for
the purpose, the technique being that of champleve
enamel on copper. The enamel colors may be either
single or multiple. The material makes a charming
background for a spray of flowers worked in clear cobalt-
blue combined with a vitreous flux, or for a landscape
lightly penciled in the soft grayish white afl^orded by
arsenic. The decoration in multiple colors is almost* too
elaborate, especially when the piece is completely covered,,
so that none of the ground is visible, in which case the
nature of the excipient can be detected only by examin-
ing the rim of the foot underneath.
All kinds of things have been made at Yi-hsing-hsien
of this peculiar faience, and out of the multitude of
objects of use and ornament that are usually made in
China of porcelain, there is hardly one that is not also to
be found in hoccaro ware. This last material is, how-
ever, considered most suitable for small ohjets de liixey
and these are often very cunningly and minutely finished.
Miniature teapots and fruit and flowers of charming
design are made to hold water for the writer's pallet ;
POKCELAIN PRODUCTION IN OTHER PROVINCES. 637
perfume-bottles, rouge-pots, powder-boxes, trays, saucers,
and other uameless accessories for the toilet-table of the
harem ; small vases for flowers, comfit-dishes, chopstick-
trays, and miniature wine-cups for the dinner-table. The
mandarin wears a thumb-ring, a tube for the peacock's
feather in his hat, and has enameled beads and other orna-
ments for his rosary made of this material ; the Chinese
exquisite carries a snuff-bottle, the tobacco-smoker has
his water-pipe, and the opium devotee the bowl of his
bamboo pipe artistically inlaid in soft vitrified colors.
Two of these small pieces have been selected for illus-
tration. The first (Fig. 23) is a snuff-bottle of brown
Yi-hsing ware, decorated with a miniature mountain
landscape of temples, pavilions, and bridges, painted in
soft-toned enamel colors. The second is a little receptacle
for water, fashioned out of pale buff-colored faience in
the form of a folded leaf, and imbued with autumnal
tints, the outer aspect being covered with a roughened
brown enamel, while the interior is coated purplish gray.
The ivory stand, carved in openwork with bamboos and
flowers and mounted upon a second rosewood stand,
shows how it was once appreciated in China.
Glazed stoneware is made in the other provinces of
China, but nothing of artistic value or interest seems to
be produced that can be compared with the fine-grained
hoccaro of Yi-hsiug. Potteries near Peking have been
referred to as producing a kind of archaic-looking ware,
which is occasionally enameled in brilliant single colors
so as to cover the ground and conceal the material.
This is a kind of glazed earthenware or terra-cotta, and
can be easily scratched with a steel point. The ordinary
glaze is a reddish brown of marked iridescence, shining
with an infinity of metallic specks, an effective back-
ground to the molded decoration which covers the sur-
face. The designs are generally of hieratic character.
638 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
This terra-cotta is largely used in China for ai'chitec-
tural purposes. The ruins of Wan-shou-shan and the
other imperial summer palaces near Peking that were
burned in I860, have furnished large images of Kuan-
Yin enameled with turquoise-blue and other soft colors,
smaller Buddhist images that were inlaid by the thou-
sand in the brick walls of their temples, and dragons,
k'i-lins, phoenixes, and other figures, that foi-med the ante-
iixal ornaments of the roofs. Not the least interesting of
these relics are the shields and trophies of arms of Euro-
pean design, and the classical figures for the fountains of
the Italian palace which was built in the Yuan-Ming-
Yuen for the Emperor ChHen-lung under the superin-
tendence of the Jesuit missionaries. These were all
made in the encaustic tile-works near Peking.
It has been imagined by some that porcelain was so
common in China that it usurped the place of all other
ceramic wares, but this is not the case. From true
kaolinic pottery, or true porcelain, we pass through all
the different grades of faience and stoneware, in \vhich
the material becomes gradually coarser and less perfectly
vitrified, till we come to ordinary glazed earthenware, and
finally to unglazed terra-cotta, which is roughl}^ fired in
an open kiln. These should be set apart in collections,
and an attempt be made to classify them according to the
different places of production, as well as in chronological
sequence. The study is not Avithout interest, as the de-
velopment of some of the minor potteries that have been
working for centuries in their own lines occasionally
throws a side-light on the gradual progress of the decora-
tion of porcelain. Although this is essentially a Chinese
art, it has been more modified by external influences than
some of its humbler sisters, which I would ventui'e to
bring into more prominent notice for that reason.
CHAPTER XXIII.
CHINESE BIBLIOGRAPHY IN RELATION TO THE
CERAMIC ART.
A SHORT excursion in the vast field of Chinese bibli-
ography is undertaken here, in order to give some of
the principal sources of information that have been availed
of, and to indicate the ground that is open for fui'ther
research. In the course of it the Chinese names of most
of the books that have been quoted in the preceding
pages will be given, with a reference to the dates of their
publication, and a brief sketch of the nature of their
contents.
Of works on the ceramic art that have been published
out of China, two special books * are available for refer-
ence, in addition to more partial bibliographical lists
which accompany some of the general works on pottery,
such as the one of which the title is quoted below.f
Some idea of the vast extent of Chinese literature may
be gathered from the scholarly work of the late Alexan-
* BibliograpMe ceramique. Nomenclature analytiqite de tontes les Publications
faites en Europe et en Orient sur les arts et I'industrie ceramiques, depuis le XVI'
sihle jusqu'd nos jours, par Champfleury, conservateur du Musee de Sevres.
Paris, 1881.
A List of Works on Pottery and Porcelain in the National Art Librae-)/, com-
piled for the use of students and visitors, by R. H. Soden Smith, Science and
Art, Department of the Committee of Council on Education, South Kensing-
ton Museum. The first edition was published in 1875, but revised and enlarged
editions, incorporating later additions to the art library, have since been
issued.
f Pottery : Roto it is made ; its Shape and Decoration. Practical Inatructiom
for Painting on Porcelain and all Kinds of Pottery icith Vitrifiable and Com-
mon Oil Colors. With a full bibliography of standard works upon Uie ceramic
art, and forty-two illustrations. By George Ward Nichols. New York, 1878.
639
640 OEIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
der Wylie, agent of the Britisli and Foreign Bible Society
in China,* which, extensive as it is, is only a short epit-
ome of the i)C ^ EB # ^ # li S, GliHn ting Ssu
Fu chi'ian slut tsinig mu, the voluminous descriptive cata-
logue of the Imperial Library of the present dynasty^
which was drawn up by command of the Emperor
CJi'ieii-lung, and completed in 1790. The library is
arranged, as indicated by the title of the catalogue, in
Ssii Fu, or " Four Divisions," viz., Classics, History^
Philosophy, and Belles-Lettres, and the catalogue alone
consists of two hundred books.
The Five Classics or Canonical Books in the first di-
vision, which have been occasionally referred to in our
text, include :
1. Tlie S. ^^, Yi Ching, "Book of Changes," which is so
highly reverenced by the Cliinese on account of its antiquity and
the unfathomable wisdom which is supposed by them to lie con-
cealed under its mystic symbols. These are the pa kua, the eight
trigrams of ancient divination, which are often represented on por-
celain of all periods, especiall}' on ritual vessels of the Taoist cult.
2. The^ |g, Shu Ching, " Book of History," a collection of
state documents of the "Three Ancient Dynasties," ranging from
the time of Yao and Shun in the third millennium b. c, down to
the reign of P'ing Wang of the Chou dynasty, which ended in the
year b. c. 720.
3. The gi ^^, Shih Ching, " Book of Odes," a collection of
songs of homage and popular ballads, three hundred and eleven in
number, selected by Confucius from among those current in
ancient times in the various petty states into which China used to
be divided.
4. The ^^ ij^, San JLi, " Three Rituals," comprising the Chou
Zii, the Ritual of the Chou dynasty, the Yi Li, " Decorum Ritual,"^
and the official Li Chi, "Book of Rites." The first of the three,
the " Ritual of the Chou," is the most interesting to us in the pres-
ent connection, because it contains a short notice of the govern-
ment potters of the period under the two headings of Vao jeriy
" potters," who worked on the wheel, and fang jen, " molders,'*
* Notes oil Chinese Literature. By A. Wylie. Shanghae, 1867.
CHINESE CERAMIC BIBLIOGRAPHY. 641
showing that these two branches of the handicraft were already
distinguished at this early period. The cooking utensils and sacri-
ficial utensils that they made seem to have been of common clay,
and were directed to be sold in the market under certain official
regulations. The particulars are contained in the ^^ ^J^ "^^j K^ao
kung chi, " Artificer's Record," which forms the sixth section of
the classic. The names and dimensions of the vessels are given in
the original, but little else is known about them, and Chinese
authorities even differ as to whether the potterj^ of the time was
glazed or not. The figures in the ^^ jjjfi ^, San Li Tou, " Illus-
trations of the Three Rituals," in twenty books, b}' Nieh Tsung-yi,
who lived in the tenth century a. d., and in the other illustrated
commentaries of more modern date, are generally imaginarj'^ and
more or less fanciful,
5. The ^^ 7&Hr, CK'un ChHu, " Spring and Autumn Annals," is
the only one of the five canonical books that was actually compiled
by Confucius, It is the history of his native state of Lu (in the
present province of Shantung), from 722 to 484 b. c, derived from
the official records of the Chou dynasty.
In Chinese bibliography the dictionaries are placed
after the classics. The most ancient of them is the J^A
Ya^ ^ ^) a relic of the Cliou dynasty, which at one
time used to rank as one of the canonical books. The
commentary which is always associated with the text
was written by Kiio P'u of the third century a. d., but
the accompanying illustrations date only from the Sung
dynasty, aljout the tenth century. The next dictionary
is the ^ ^, Shiio Wen, which is devoted to an explana-
tion of the ancient characters in which the classics were
originally written ; it was compiled by Hsli Shen at the
close of the first century a. d., and was presented by him
to the Emperor An Ti in the year 121. The largest of
the dictionaries, and the one that is invaluable for special
research, is the flj ]^ h^ )^, P^ei tven yun fu, which
was compiled under the special superintendence of the
Emperor IVang-lisi., and published in 1711 in 110 thick
octavo volumes. The foreign Chinese-English diction-
642 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
aries need hardly be alluded to here ; those by Williams
and Giles are the best.
The second great division of Chinese bibliography
includes the works on history, geography, and kindred
subjects. The "Twenty-four Dynastic Histories" form
the first class. Contemporary records are written day by
day by the state historiographers in China, and one of
the first duties of a new dynasty, when it is firmly estab-
lished on the dragon throne, is to appoint an imperial
commission to compile an ofiicial history of the preceding
dynasty from the archives preserved in the historiog-
raphers' office. These histories are therefore practically
contemporary. They are all framed on a nearly uniform
model, the general arrangement being in three sections, as
follows :
1. Imperial Records, containing a succinct chronicle of the
several emperors of the djmasty. 2. Memoirs, consisting of a
succession of articles on Matlieniatical Chronology, Rites, Music,
Jurisprudence, Political Economy, State Sacrifices, Astronomy,
Natural Piienomena, Geography, and Literature. 3. Narratives,
comprising official biograpliies of all persons of eminence, and end-
ing with a short description of any foreign nations that happen to
have sent embassies to China during the period.
The official histories commence with the ^ g^, Sliili
Chi, by Ssii-ma Ch'ien, who lived b. c. 163-85, and who
has been termed the Herodotus of China. His Histori-
cal Records, in 130 books, start from the most remote
antiquity and extend down to the year b. c. 122. The
other dynastic histories that have been occasionally
referred to, generally by quotations from individual
biographies, are the ^^ ^, Sui Shu, " Book of the Sui
[dvnnsty]," covei'iiig tlie years 581-617; the voluminous
jg^ #, Tang Shu, "Book of the Tang'' (618-906);
the ^ ^, Sang Shih, " History of the Sung " (960-
1279), the most extensive of all, comprising as it does
* CHINESE CERAMIC BIBLIOGEAPHY. 643
496 books; and the g^ ^, Ming Shili, " History of the
Ming'''' (1368-1643), which is the last of the series of
twenty-four.
Works on geography and topography follow next in
order. The series of topographical writings in China is
justly pronounced by Mr. Wylie (loc. cit., page 35) to be
unrivaled in any nation for extent and systematic com-
prehensiveness. Leaving out of account the sections
devoted to geography in the several dynastic histories,
there are separate official works on every part of the
empire. At the head of these may be placed the ^
^ — * ^ j£> Td OhHng Yi tung chih, in 500 books,
which is a geography of the whole empire, published
about the middle of the eighteenth century under imperial
patronage. This takes up the various provinces seriatiniy
giving under each an account of the astrological divisions,
limits, configuration of the country, officers, poj^ulation,
taxes, and renowned statesmen. Under each prefecture
and department is a more detailed description of the
various districts, giving, in addition to the above, the
cities, educational institutes, hills and rivers, antiquities,
passes, bridges, defenses, tombs, temples, men of note,
travelers, female worthies, religious devotees, and produc-
tions of the soil. Besides the above general compilation
there are separate topographical accounts of each of the
eighteen ^ (sJieng) ^'provinces," of every }^ (f^) "pi'e-
fecture " and ^|»| (clioit) " department," of almost every
^ Qisien) " district " or " county," and, in many cases, of
smaller towns included in the district.
The province, for example, of Kiangsi, which interests
us more particularly, containing as it does the great
center of the manufacture of porcelain, has a general
description called 21 ® ffl jS' Gliiang Jisi fung chih,
which has been very often quoted. This was first pub-
lished in the reign of Chia-cJiing (1522-66) of the Ming
644 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
dynasty ; two new and revised editions were issued dur-
ing the reign of ICang-Jisi, and another, much enlarged,
was completed in 162 books in the next reign (1732),
under the superintendence of Hsieh Min, who was then
governor of the province. In the reign of T''ung-chih,
after the Taiping rebellion had been put down, an
imperial commission, whose names and titles fill six folios
of the book, was appointed, under the presidency of the
viceroy, Tseng Kuo-fan, to make a new revision. It was
completed in 1882, and the result is the bulky work in
180 books which is now before us. The account of the
imperial porcelain manufacture forms part of the ninety-
second book, under the heading of T^ao Cheng, " Porce-
lain Administration."
There were other descriptive works on the province in
circulation before the publication of the above, of which
the ^ ;^ /^ ^ f2» ^^^ cluing ta sJiih chi, or " Record
of Important Affairs of the Province," under its ancient
name of Yii-chaug, is the most important. This was
written by Kno Tzu-chang, a president of the Board of
War in the Ming dynasty.
The "^ ^M jfj j^, Jao chou fu chili, is the official
description of the prefecture Jao-chou-fu, in the province
of Kian2:si, which has Fou-liansf-hsien as one of the seven
districts or counties under its jurisdiction. The edition
before me is dated the eleventh year of the reign of
Thtng-cliili (1872) ; it reprints several of the prefaces of
the older editions, the first of which is dated in the
cyclical year lisin-wei (1511) of the reign of Oheng-te oi
the Ming dynasty. There are thirty-two books, the third
of which, devoted to " Bridges, Antiquities, Customs of
the People, and Natural Productions," includes an article
on the porcelain industry, which is appended to the last
section, under the heading of |5§ JJ^, T^ao CWang,
" Imperial Porcelain Manufactory."
CHINESE CERAMIC BIBLIOGRAPHY. 645
A still more complete account of the ceramic industry
is the one that is included in the ;^ ^ ^ jg, Fou Hang
hsieii chih, " The Description of Fou-liang-hsien," which
has been so often quoted in these pages, and which is
referred to in some detail in the introductory chapter of
this work as one of our chief authorities on the subject.
The earliest edition of this work was published during
the Sung dynasty, in the year 1270 ; the edition at our
disposal was the official revision issued in the reign of
Tao-humig (1821-50). The eighth book contains a
memoir on porcelain from the official standpoint, entitled
^ ^, Tao Cheng, " Porcelain Administration."
There is no official description of Chiug-te-chen itself
in the regular series, but the place of one is fairly well
tilled by the ft @. ^ I^ lit, Ohing te chen Tao lu,
** Description of the Porcelain of Ching-te-chen." This
was published under direct official sanction, as described
in the preface by Liu Ping, the chief magistrate of the
district, and is dated 1815. It contains a good map of
the town, a plan of the imperial potteries, and fourteen
woodcuts illustrating the different processes of manufac-
ture, sketched by an artist on the spot.
Gigantic encyclopaedias made up of extracts from exist-
ing works, classified under different headings according
to the subject-matter, form one of the most remarkable
features of Chinese literature. The :;5C ^ #P K- ^'^^
jpHng yii Ian, which is very often referred to, was com-
piled in 1,000 books, divided into fifty-five sections, after
a mandate issued by the second emperor of the Sung
dynasty in the year 977. The largest of all is the ^
^ -^^ ^j Yung lo ta tien, the vast cyclopi^dia of the
Emperor Yung-lo of the Ming dynasty, Avho appointed a
commission of scholars in 1403 to collect in one body the
substance of all the classical, historical, philosophic, and
literary works hitherto published, embracing astronomy,
646 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
geography, the occult sciences, medicine, Buddhism^
Taoism, and the arts. Their work was completed m
1407, and the result was 22,877 books, besides the table
of contents, which occupied sixty books. It was ordered
by the emperor to be transcribed for printing, but the
expense was too great, and it still remains in manuscript,
although many ancient and rare works, that would other-
wise have been irretrievably lost, have been pieced
together again from the extensive quotations in the
mauusci'ipt columns and reprinted separately. From this
we may pass on to the ^ ^ "i' ^ ^ ^ ^ ^, CKin
ting leu chin fou shu cJii cKeng^ the huge cyclopaedia of
the Emperor K''ang-hsi, the second of the present
.dynasty, which contains 10,000 cliHlan or " books." It
gives 426,304 extracts, long and short, from older books^
which are arranged under 6,109 headings, distributed
among thirty-two classes, and the full-page illustrations
number 8,041. These illustrations are executed in the
style of the Ming dynasty, which is celebrated for its
woodcuts, and the printing was done with movable
copper type cast expressly for the purpose, ordinary
Chinese books being piinted from wood-blocks. There
is a complete example of the original quarto edition^
w^hich was limited to about 100 copies, in the British
Museum, and a new edition has been recently published
in octavo form at Shanghai by the aid of the photolitho-
graphic process. There are some curious illustrations in
this encyclopaedia under the heading Porcelain, but of
importance from a literary and antiquarian point of view
only.
Books on art come next for a word of notice. The
Chinese have methodical treatises of more than a thou-
sand years' standing on writing, painting, engraving,
music, and the kindred subjects that are grouped to-
gether under the name of liberal arts. An elaborate
CHINESE CERAMIC BIBLIOGRAPHY. 647
treatise on painting, in ten books, appeared during the
Tang dynasty (618-906), entitled JR ft ^ 4 !£»
Li taiming hua eld, "Records of the Celebrated Pictures
of Different Dynasties," by Chang Yen-yuan, with descrip-
tive and historical details regarding the art, having refer-
ence particularly to a hereditary collection of paintings
in the family of the author, and accompanied by bio-
graphical sketches of the artists. The ^ ^ J H§»
Hsilcm ho hua p'u, is a description, in twenty books, of
the pictures in the imperial collection during the Hsiian-
ho period (1119-25). There is a companion publication
called ^ ^ ^ i§, Hsiian ho shii ])\i^ containing speci-
mens of the calligraphy of successive ages gathered from
the imperial archives of the same time. But all the
older books have been supplanted by the large compila-
tion which was referred to in Chapter V under the title
of Imperial Cycloixedia of Celehrated Writers and Paint'
ers, the ^ ^ iS( "^C ^ ♦ • If, Oh'in ting P'ei wen
chai shu hua p^u. This was drawn up by a commis-
sion appointed by the Emperor K\mg-hsi^ who wrote
the preface himself when the book was published, in the
forty-seventh year of his reign (1708). The titles of the
principal authorities, which are cited in the introduction,
number 1,844. The cyclopaedia comprises 100 cMian, or
books, and it is divided usually, in Chinese fashion, into
sixty-four J9e?i, or volumes. It is a perfect mine of infor-
mation, giving instructions in the arts of writing and
painting, descriptions of manuscripts and pictures, no-
tices of celebrated collections and collectors, and of the
certificates of authenticity w^hich they are in the habit of
writing on the scrolls, biographical notices of writers and
artists, etc. None of the artists on porcelain, however,
seem to be mentioned by name, although there are
occasional references to the designs used in ceramic dec-
orations, as in book xii, folio 24, which gives a long list
648 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
from official sources of the motives of decoration em-
ployed in the eighth year of the reign of Ohia-ching
(1528).
The Chinese, it is well known, have the greatest rev-
erence for antiquity, and the study of ancient relics
and of the inscriptions upon them forms another impor-
tant branch of literature. Archaeologists classify the
specimens, which are constantly being dug up from
the ground, under the two headings of Chin, " Metal,"
and Shih, " Stone." The former class includes sacrificial
vessels, musical instruments, and ordinary utensils of
bronze, bronze mirrors, bronze weapons, and coins ; the
latter class comprises stone sculptures in bas-relief,
carved inscriptions, Buddhist images and other figui-es,
prehistoric stone weapons, vessels and utensils of neph-
rite or other kinds of jade, archaic pottery, inscribed
bricks and tiles, etc. There are separate works on
ancient bronze vessels and on swords dating from the
fifth and sixth centuries a. d., but they include much that
is legendary. The most important of the old books on
ancient bronzes now in circulation is the ^ ^ |^ ~^
pj ^, Hsi'ian ho Po hu Cou lu, " Illustrated Description
of Antiquities published in the Hsilan-ho Period," in
thirty books, which was compiled by Wang Fu in the
beginning of the twelfth century, and has been fre-
quently reprinted since. It is usually printed together
with the ^ "^ m, IVao hu fou, "Illustrated Examina-
tion of Antiquities," the description of a similar collec-
tion of older date written by Lti Ta-lin in 1092, in ten
books ; and with a smaller work in two books entitled
■^ 3E. ^> -^^ y^ tou, " Illustrations of Ancient Jade."
Another collection of the Sung dynasty is the j|§ ]^ ^
*^ m, Shoo hsing chie^i hu fou, " Illustrated Mirror of
Antiquities of the Shao-hsing Period " (1131-62), which
furnished a model for the porcelain censer with fish
CHEN^ESE CERAMIC BIBLIOGRAPHY. 649
bandies of the reign of Hsuan-te of the Ming dynasty,
referred to in Chapter VII. The most magnificent work
of this class of more recent times is the illustrated de-
scriptive catalogue of the imperial collections at Peking,
entitled B fo 1& l^> Hsi chHng hu chien, which was
published by the Emperor ChHen-lung in 1751 in forty-
two folio volumes ; the S ^r ^ ^, Hsi ch^mg hsil
chien, in fourteen folio volumes, is a supplement to the
above catalogue, still unpublished, and circulating in a
few manuscripts only ; and the ^ ^ "^ ^, Ning sliou
leu chien, is another work similar to the preceding, also
as yet unpublished, which is written and illustrated in
■the same superb style, twenty-eight volumes in folio,
being the description of the collection of antiquities in
the Ning-shou Kung, another of the palaces within the
prohibited city at Peking. The original edition of the
Hsi cKing hu, chien costs several hundreds of dollars in
China, but it has been lately so perfectly reproduced at
Shangliai by photographic process, in small octavo, that
it is within the reach of every collector, and it ought to
be at hand, for the study of bronze forms and designs.
The ^ in 1^ 1^ ^ /f^, Shub chHng yuan chen shu
tang, which was quoted in Chapter V (page 98), is very
different from the above, being merely an ordinary
official inventory in manuscript of the furniture and
specimens of art work on daily exhibition in the Shu-
ch'ing Yuan, one of the palaces in the Western Gardens
i^Hsi Yuan) on the northern shore of the large lake in
the imperial city, corrected to the thirteenth year of
Ghia-chHng (1808).
The standard work on ancient jade is the "i^ 5.
H |§, Kxi yii fou p'u, " Illustrated Description of
Ancient Jade," in 100 books, with more than 700 full-
page woodcuts. It was compiled by an imperial com-
mission, composed of the notorious Lung Ta-yuan and
650 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
eigliteen other members, including one writer and four
artists, appointed by the second emperor of the South-
ern Sung dynasty, and it was completed in the year
1176. A manuscript copy was purchased for the Im-
perial Library in 1773 ; the Emperor ChHen-lung ordered
it to be printed in the palace, and it appeared in 1779,
with a preface dedicating it to the emperor. Some
doubts have been expressed by native scholars as to the
authenticity of the book, but on more or less slender
grounds, and w^e may accept the imperial imprimatur as
a sufficient warrant. The genuine character of many of
the objects figured may be more justly criticised ; there
is certainly no ground for the remote antiquity that is
ascribed to some of the inscribed pieces.
In addition to these special works there are several
books of a wider scope devoted to the general subject of
antiquities and objects of art. The Ming dynasty was dis-
tinguished for this kind of research, and the authors of the
four following books, which have been quoted more than
once in our pages, all belong to that time ; each one gives
a short chapter on porcelain. They are all before me now,
and, arranged in the order of their publication, are :
1. The ^ 'fi' ^ Ira, Ko leu yao hm^ "Discussion of
the Principal Criteria of Antiquities," in thirteen books,
by Tsao Ch'ao, published in the reign of Hung-ivu, the
founder of the Ming dynasty, in the year 1387. A
revised and enlarged edition was prepared by Wang Tso
and issued in 1459. The new editor always carefully
marks the additions made by him, so that the text of the
original edition may be easily distinguished. The follow-
ing table of contents will give some idea of the scope
of the work, which is interesting from its early date :
Book I. Ancient Lyres, and other stringed musical instruments.
Book II. Old Manuscripts, with a discussion of the distinctive
characteristics of the paper and ink.
CHINESE CERAMIC BIBLIOGRAPHY. 651
Book III. Inscriptions from ancient stone tablets and other
monuments, classified according to the provinces from which the
rubbings were obtained.
Book IV. Select Extracts from Previous Authors on the subject.
Book V. Old Pictures, with a discussion of the peculiar water-
colors emplo^-ed, and other marks of authenticity.
Book VI. Precious Stones and Jewels, including jade, agate,
moss-agate, rock-crystal, glass, cat's-eyes, emeralds, pearls of dif-
fei'ent kinds, garnets, rubies, sapphires, lapis lazuli, coral, and
amber; rhinoceros horn and ivory, with reference to concentric
openwork spheres, libation-cups, and other carvings; gold, silver,
steel, and inlaid iron-work, white metal; sacred figures occurring in
natural stones; ancient bronzes and methods of distinguishing
false antiques, etc.
Book VII. Ancient Ink Pallets, with an account of the natural
stones suitable for their fabrication, references to potter}^ pallets,
and to pallets made of ancient tiles and potsherds. Curious
Stones; jet and variegated stones used for inlaying furniture,
minerals resembling jade, agate, or mother-of-pearl used for carv-
ing, etc. Ancient Pottery and Porcelain; with notes on the pro-
ductions of different manufactories, commencing with the ancient
azure-tinted products of the Ch'ai potteries, and ending with the
contemporary wares of the imperial potteries of Fou-liang-hsien.
There are brief references to Korean pottery, and to the introduc-
tion of the process of painting in enamels on copper from the
Arabs {Ta-shih), in which the editor tells us that the same color-
ing materials were emplo3'^ed as in the cloisonne enameling on
copper {Fo-laiig Ch''ien), which was so called because it originally
came from Byzantium.
Book VIII. Lacquered Work; painted lac, carved cinnabar lac,
lac inlaid with gold, lacquered furniture inlaid with mother-of-
pearl, etc. Brocaded and embroidered silks, silk stuffs woven on
the loom with threads of different colors. Asbestos cloth, carpets
of silk and wool. Foreign AVoods, sandalwood, rosewood, ebony,
and other fragrant or variegated kinds. Varieties of Bamboo.
Book IX. Description of Objects for the Study and Library.
Brushes, cakes of ink from different parts, principal paper factories,
seal vermilion, books and tlieir care, etc.
Book X. Collections of Essays and Prefaces of old authors on
the subject.
Book XI. Miscellaneous Researches, Part I. On Jade Seals. On
• Iron Tablets of Authority.
652 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Book XII. Miscellanies, Part II. Wording of Imperial Edicts.^
Official Girdles, with a description of the jade, gold, silver, and
other appendages that were worn upoTi them at different times as
tokens of rank.
Book XIII. Miscellanies, Part III. On a series of illustrations
depicting the process of rice-culture and of silk-weaving. Re-
searches on tlie old palaces of the Sxing and Yuan dynasties.
2. The JS "^ ^1^, M hu lu, " Description of Anti-
quarian Inquiries," is a work of the same character as
the last, but smaller, being an account in four books of
old manuscripts, pictures, antiquities, and other objecta
of art and curiosity, etc., by Ch'en Chi-ju, an author of
the Ming dynasty, which was published in the middle
of the sixteenth century.
3. The ^^ ^ ^, CVing pi ts'ang, " Collection of
Artistic Rarities," is another little work in two books on
antiquities, pictures, brocaded silks, ancient bronzes, por-
celain, seals, jewels, and miscellaneous objects of art^
by Chang Ying-wen, who wrote the last page on the day
he died. It was published by his son Chang Ch'ien-t^^
the author of a book on flowers, vases, and the art of
arranging flowers in them, which will be alluded to
presently, and who wrote the preface for his father's
work, which is dated 1595. There is a curious notice in
the second book of a visit to an exhibition, called CKing
Wan Hid — i. e., " Exposition of Art Treasures " — which
was held in the province of Kiangsu in the third month
of the fourth year of the reign of Lung-chJing (1570)^
the objects being loaned for the purpose by four of the
principal families of tlie province.
4. The tS ^ ^ ^? Po tvu yao Ian, " General Survey
of Art Objects," which was referred to in Chapter V, is
perhaps the best work of the class that is under consid-
eration. It was written by Ku Ying-t'ai, in the reign of
IHen-cJiH (1621-27) of the Ming, but remained in manu-
CHnO:SE CERAMIC BIBLIOGRAPHY. 653
script till the beginning of the j^resent dynasty, when it
was printed by Li Tiao-yun, with a preface signed by
himself as editor. It comprises sixteen books, which
make two octavo volumes bound in Chinese style. The
second book is devoted to porcelain, under the several
headings :
1. The Ju-cbou, Imperial, and Ko potteries, of the Sung
dynast}', with lists of the different objects made in the last two
potteries arranged in three classes according to their artistic value.
2. The Ting-chou potteries, with a list of the most important
objects produced there in the Sung dynasty, 3. The ancient
Lung-ch'iian potteries, with an account of the grass-green celadon
porcelain made there in the Simg dynasty, and a list of the objects
that are considered most worthy of notice. 4. Ancient potteries
of the province of Fuchien. 5. Description of the ceramic pro-
duction of Chiin-chou during the Sioig dynasty. 6. The Arabian
enamels on copper, V. Glassware, 8, Ancient and modern pro-
ductions of Jao-chou, referring to the porcelain made at Ching-
te-chen.
There is only the briefest notice in this last section
of the older porcelain of the Sung and Yuan dynasties,
but the productions of the writer's own dynasty (the
Ming) are described at greater length, under the sev-
eral reigns of F^m^-Zo (1403-24), Hsuan^te (1426-35),
CKeng-Jma (1465-87), and Clvia-cking (1522-66), and
Ku Ying-t'ai is constantly quoted by connoisseurs as the
best authority for this period.
Literature is, as it were, a religious cult for the Chinese
scholar, and he cherishes the tools of his craft as almost
sacred. There is a small class of books Avritten in this
connection on the furniture and literary apparatus of the
study, among which certain articles of porcelain find
a place. One of the earliest of the books of this class is
the II ,g. Pi CJdng, '' Canon of the Pencil Brush," by
Wang Hsi-chih, a celebrated calligrapher who lived
654 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
321-379 ; Le wrote down tlie poems of the club tLat
used to meet in the Lan T'ing or " Orchid Pavilion,"
and down to tlie present time tliese poems, as written by
Wang, continue to be cut in stone all over China as
models of handwriting. The ^ M El 1^? ^^'^^ /<*^^
ssu p\i, is one of the older books on the materials of the
study, which was compiled by Su Yi-chien in 986. It
consists of four parts, which ti-eat respectively of pencils,
ink-pallets, ink, and paper, with i-emarks on the various
descriptions and characteristics, historical memoranda,
and essays and stanzas appended to each section.
The ^ §§ -^ y, JCao p'an ijil sliih, by T'u Lung,
a writer of the sixteenth century, is another general
handbook for the man of learning and cultui'e, of some-
what wider scope, discussing, as it does, in order :
Printed Books, Ancient Inscriptions, Manuscripts and Callig-
rapliy, Painting and Artists, Paper, Ink, Brushes, Pallets, Music
and the Lyre, Perfumes and Incense-burning Apparatus; Tea, its
choice brands, preparation, tea-drinking utensils; Flowers, their
cultivation in pots and their display in vases; Storks for the garden
and the different varieties of goldfish; the Country House in the
Hills, its library, medicine-room, summer-house, Taoist and Bud-
dhist shrines, and outdoor pavilion for drinking tea; Furniture,
materials for the study, traveling apparatus, etc.
It is a curious epitome of antiquarian information,
extending to boats and fishing-rods, as well as describing
the forms of vases, etc., and ends with the pictures of
two double and single gourds, which are recommended
as the lightest and most elegant of wine-flasks for the
pilgrim to carry on his girdle when traveling.
The work of the present dynasty of this class that is
the most frequently referred to is the ^C. Wi ^ ^? Wen
fang ssu k^ao, an examination of the belongings of the
scholar by T'ang Ping-chlin, which was published in
eight books in the forty-seventh year of the reign of
CHINESE CERAMIC BIBLIOGRAPHY. 655
ChHen-lung (1782). It is illustrated witli a jwrtrait
of the author and a picture of his study, with palms,
dryandra-trees, and bamboos growing from rocks in tlie
background of the pavilion in which he is seated with
an open volume on the table.
The first two books are devoted to ink-pallets of carved stone,
illustrated I)}'' forty-six full-page woodcuts of appropriate designs.
Book III contains an account of paper, ink, and brushes, and an
investigation of ancient pottery and porcelain. This last is mostly
a medley of quotations from older writers, strung together some-
what loosely, and generall}^ without acknowledgment of the
sources from which the}' are derived, and it contains little that
can not be found under better auspices in the J"rto Shuo.
Book IV is on ancient bronzes and the means of distinguishing
modern imitations; on jade, ancient and modern, its liistory and
characteristics, with notes on the minerals that resemble it; on
lyres, ancient and modern. Book V treats of the history of the
written character, books, and paintings, and Book W of the art of
literary composition. Books VII and VIII give an account of the
drug ginseng, and a collection of essays and miscellaneous
inquiries.
The special books on tea and its preparation occasion-
ally throw some light on the j^orcelain of the correspond-
ing time in their description of the cups and other
utensils employed in its infusion. We should know
nothing of the early fabrics of the T''ang dynasty (618-
906) were it not for the ^ g, Ch'a Cliing, the "Tea
Classic," written by Lu Yii in the middle of the eighth
century, the contents of which have been briefly sketched
in Chapter I (page 14). The author discusses the colors
of the diffei'ent glazes, and gives the palm to the pale-
blue cups from Yueh-chou, as imparting an agreeable
greenish tinge to the yellow liquid. The writers of the
Sung dynasty (960-1^79), on the contrary, such as Ts'ai
Hsiang, who wrote the ^ ^, Cli^a Iai, " Description
of Tea," in the eleventh century, prefer the black cups
656 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
mottled like hare's fur, wliicli came from Chien-an
(Chien-chou), as showing the last trace of the whitish
tea-dust that remained in the bottom in the course of
their competitive trials. The earliest book on the sub-
ject is the Chhian Fu^ " Odes on Tea," by Tu Yu, a poet
of the Chin dynasty (265-419), and he, as well as many
of the other old versifiers, is often quoted when the
ceramic productions of the time happen to be touched
upon by them. Some of the Sung dynasty books on tea
are illustrated with woodcuts, like the ^ g§, Gl^a P''u^
by Ku Yuan-ch'ing, published in 1269, which gives curi-
ous pictures of i\\e little copper roller, the miniature
stone grinding-mill, the gauze sieve, the little " tea-jar "
for the dust, made of carved vermilion lac, the teacup
with its vertically striated bowl and widening mouthy
the graceful ewer for boiling water, of which the
best, the author tells us, were made at this time of
gold, the bamboo whisk, and the napkin, or duster of
brocaded silk. No teapot was used at this period ; the
hot water was poured on a carefully weighed quantity of
tea-dust put into the cup, and stirred with the whisky
which is exactly like that used to-day in other countries
in the preparation of more inebriating " drinks." The
winner in the " tea-fight " was he whose tea withstood the
most " waters," and whose sediment-trace lasted longest
on the bottom of the bowl. For teapots Ave must con-
sequently refer to more modern works, like the |^ ^ ^
^ ^, Yang hsien Ming hu hsi, " Account of Celebrated
Teapots of Yang-hsien (an old name of Yi-hsing)," by
Chou Kao-ch'i, which is a disquisition on those of the
peculiar brown boccaro ware which is still made at Yi-
hsing-hsien, near Shanghai. Two special books on vases
were published toward the close of the Ming dynasty, in
the beginning of the seventeenth century, which have
been quoted in Chapter XVII, viz., the ^ ^, P^ing
CHINESE CERAMIC BIBLIOGKAPHY. 657
shih, " History of Vases," by Yuan Hung-tao, and the
S ^ H§5 P^in(j liucL phiy a small treatise, in one book,
on vases (^ij'ing) and the art of arranging cut flowers (liuob)
in them, by Chang Ch'ien-te, already alluded to as the
author of an introduction to his father's book on antiqui-
ties entitled C King pi ts'ang, which was dated 1595.
The forms of the ritual vases used by the emperor in
the various sacrificial ceremonies at which he officiates are
all figured and minutely described in the various official
books, such as the iJC S ^ ^^ ^ :ft @' Cli'in ting
la Clbing Hui tien fou, the imperial illustrated edition
of the statutes of the reigning dynasty, a voluminous
compilation in eighty books, accompanied by 102 books
of plates. For Buddhist and Taoist ritual vessels refer-
ence must be made to the canonical books of the two
religions. The principal Taoist writer, wdio has been
quoted once, is Chuang Chou, who lived in the fourth
century b. c, and left the work in ten books called ^
-f, Chuang Tzu, which has been translated into English.
The most important manual industries of the Chinese
are rice-cultivation and silk-weaving, the former being
the work of the men, the latter of the women. There is
an annual ceremony celebrated at the Temple of Agricul-
ture at Peking, during which the emperor plows a furrow,
followed by the chief officers of state ; and the empress
picks mulberry-leaves and feeds silkworms on a stated
occasion each year, accompanied by the ladies of the
court, before worshiping the tutelary Goddess of Sericul-
ture at the temple which is consecrated to her inside the
palace. The different processes of work have been fa-
vorite subjects for artists of all periods. The Emperor
K^ing-hsi, the second of the reigning dynasty, Avi'ote a
preface and composed a series of verses to illustrate the
two sets of drawings executed by Chiao Ping-chen, an
official of the Astronomical Board, which are published
658 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
in the f P ^ ^ ^ 0, Yil chiJi King Chili Tou,
" Imperial Edition of Illustrations of Agriculture {Keng)
and Weaving {Cliili)^'' which has been referred to already,
and which was published in the thirty-fifth year of his
reign (1696). The plates, twenty -three in each set, are
engraved in the finest style of Chinese art, and have the
imperial verses on the page opposite each picture inclosed
in a broad frame containing a pair of imperial dragons
represented rising from the sea in pursuit of the flaming
jewel of omnipotence. Apart from their artistic value
they afford naturalistic scenes of ordinary Chinese life,
and it would be interesting to compare them with the
twenty illustrations of the ceramic industry described in
Chapter XV, which seem to have been drawn up on the
same model, should these last ever be recovered from
their hiding-place in the palace libraries.
There is a little manual of Chinese industry called
^ HI ^ tp"? T'^kn hung hai \du^ illustrated with pic-
tures, which was compiled by Sung Ying-sheng and pub-
lished in the year 1637, toward the close of the Ming
dynasty, and which gives a brief account of the various
industrial processes, arranged in three books in the follow-
ing order :
Book I notices agriculture, different kinds of cultivated corn, and
processes of irrigation; culture of silkworms, silk-winding, and
silk-weaving; dyeing of stuffs, manufacture of the colors employed,
including indigo-blue, safflower-red, and yellow extracted from tlie
flowers of the Sophora japonica; winnowing-machines and mills
for grinding corn; salt from sea- and river-water, rock-salt obtained
by mining; sugar, honey, and methods of preserving fruit. Book
II refers to the work of the potter, to tile- and brick-making, and
to porcelain; the metals and their different alloys used in the cast-
* There is a copy of this book, which is very rare, in tlie BibliothSque
National at Paris. Some of the articles in it liave been translated by Stanislas
Julien and published in the proceedings of L' Academic des Sciences and in the
Journal Asiatique.
CHINESE CERAMIC BIBLIOGEAPHY. 659
ing of sacrificial utensils, images, cannon, mirrors, and money;
boats and carts; axes, spades, files, knives, saws, anchors, needles,
and gongs; mineral lime, lime from oyster-shells, coal; crj^stallized
products, alum, iron-sulphate, copper-sulphate; sulphur, arsenic;
mineral and vegetable oils; the manufacture of paper, paper from
the mulberry [Broiissonetia pajyyrifera), paper from bamboo.
Book III describes such metals as: Gold, silver, copper, including
bronze, brass, and white metal, tin, iron, zinc, lead, white lead, and
red lead. Arms: Bows, shields, gunpowder, saltpeter, cannon,
fowling-pieces; mines, cinnabar, vermilion, ink, coloring materials;
spirit distilled from corn; precious stones, pearls, diamonds, jade,
agates, rock-crystal, and glass.
Some of the books that come under the class of miscel-
lanies have occasionally been quoted when they touch on
the ceramic art — for example, the ^ ^ ^ 3^, 8hih ivu
han cku, a general miscellany of ajlfairs and things, by
Huang Yi-cheng, which was published in forty-one books
in the year 1591 ; and the -^ ^ j£, Ch\mg tvu cMh, a
somewhat similar miscellany of rather later date. The
1^ "Olf, Lun Heng, referred to in Chapter XV, is a much
earlier work, being a critical disquisition by Wang
Ch'iing, one of the most philosopLical waiters of the
Han dynasty, who lived a. d. 19-90.
Collected works of individual authors form one of the
principal divisions of the fourth and largest class of
Chinese literature, which is usually known as belles-
lettres. The titles chosen for these woi'ks are often of a
fanciful nature, so as to give the uninitiated no clew to
the name of the author. In the account in Chapter VII
of the porcelain of the reign of Che''ng-kua, for example,
two authors are referred to. The first is Kao Shih-ch'i,
a miscellaneous writer who lived 1645-1704; he is
quoted under his literary appellation of Tan-jen, "The
Tranquil," as Kao T'an-jen ; his collected works are en-
titled f^ 31 >)^ ^, Kax) Chiang-ts'un cli% Chiang-ts'un
chi being a favorite nom-de-plume of the author. The
660 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
collected works of the second author are quoted under
their title of H^ ^ ^^ ^, P\i-shu fing chi, " Memoirs
of the Pavilion for Sunning Books," which was the " hall-
name," or libi'ary-name, of Chu Yi-tsun (1629-97), a cele-
brated scholar and poet. He was the author of the Jih
hsia cliiu wen, a fine historical and archaeological descrip-
tion of Peking in many volumes, and was altogether a
most voluminous writer, his literaiy works, which were
published under the above nom-de-plume, filling no less
than eighty books.
There are two illustrated books on the making of ink
which should have been noticed before, as the woodcuts
which were originally designed as models for the molds
in which the cakes of ink were pressed are very finely
€xecuted, and supply a rich fund of information on
Chinese art motives. The authors, according to the edi-
tors of the Imperial Library Catalogue, who notice both
books at some length, were both good scholars and culti-
vated artists, clever in writing all the ancient and modern
styles of character, and their works are full of antiquarian
and symbolical lore. For this reason they are most use-
ful to the foreign inquirer into such subjects. The first
of these two books is the ^ ^ S %» CKeng shili mo
yuan, " Collection of Ink of the Ch'eng Factory," in
twelve books, by Ch'eng Chiin-fang, of Hi-Hsien, in the
province of Anhui. This is a large collection of cuts,
exhibiting artistic designs for cakes of ink, drawn from
many different sources, sacred and pi'ofane. There is a
series of eulogistic prefaces at the beginning, one of which
is by the celebrated Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci,
the founder of Roman Catholic missions in China. His
preface, dated the thirty-third year of Wanli (1605), is
signed with his Chinese name, "Li Ma-t'ou, of Ou-lo-pa
{Europa), composed and written with a quill by himself."
It includes a complete syllabary written in the Italian
CHINESE CERAMIC BIBLIOGRAPHY. 661
hand and reproduced in facsimile, and the worthy father
has contributed, besides, three European woodcuts as
designs for ink, one of which depicts the " Destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah," by way of inculcating a moral
lesson on heathen readers. The second work is the ~)^
&* S R^' Fang shih mo p'u, " Description of Ink of the
Fang Factory," in six books, by Fang Yii-lu, a fellow-
townsman and trade rival of Ch'eng, who was the
imperial maker of the time, and accused Fang of stealing
his secrets and pirating his ink. The work of the latter,
however, is a fine specimen of xylography executed in
the finished style of the Ming dynasty. It was published
in six books, in the year 1588, and contains 385 cuts of
cakes of ink of all sizes and shapes, exhibiting a large
number of antiquarian, symbolical, and mythical designs,
the same as those which are often used in the painted
decoration of porcelain. Although fairly eclectic in his
religious views, the author shows a certain predilection
for Buddhism, and he gives in the fifth book, which is
devoted to the Buddhist cult, an interesting collection of
emblems and pictures, as well as a series of circular mir-
rors and amulets containing inscriptions in ancient San-
skrit and representations of old manuscripts written on
palm-leaves tied together in bundles. One or two of the
most sacred are inscribed with the quaint label Pu Vo mo,
" Not to be rubbed," as if it were expected that the ink
should be treated as a relic and not used in the ordinary
way. The cakes of ink molded with his signature are
cherished as works of art by collectors of the present
day.
Having disposed briefly of the writers on other sub-
jects who touch more or less cursorily on the ceramic art,
or who throw indirectly some light on the question, we
come at last to the special authors on pottery and porce-
lain. These are, unfortunately, very few in number.
662 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
The subject is looked upon by the literati of the high
school from two points of view : either that the ordinary
bowls, cups, and dishes of every day are too common for
their notice, or tliat porcelain vases and the like of elab-
orate form and brilliant decoration are too meretricious^
and therefore unsuited to the simple tastes of a scholar.
There is always a censor ready to remonstrate with
an emperor who is inclined to patronize the art, on the
ground of expense ; calling his attention to the ancient
kings, Avhose sacrificial vessels ^vere recorded to have
been of plain pottery, and who are said to have deemed
glaze too great a luxuiy for their earthenware. The
ancient sages, according to some modern commentators,
knew everything, and they explain away the primitive
character of rudimentary art, as shown by relics recov-
ered from the ground, by such theories of voluntary
abnegation on their part ; they were only afraid of
exacting too much from the people.
The earliest memoir that we have on the ceramic
industry treats it from an economic point of vmw, dep-
recates the exactions of the mandarins of ihe^ Ytian or
Mongol dynasty, who looked at it only as a source of rev e-
nuej am remonstrates with them as squeezing the poor
Chinese potters so remorselessly that they were driving
away the industry from its old seat at Ching-te-chen.
This memoir, under the title of f^ f£ Ji^-, T^io Chi
LiJbo, " Abstract of Ceramic Records," by ^ )jiI5, Chiang
Ch'i, has been preserved in the annals of the district
of Fouliang ever since it was first printed there in
the edition that was published in the year 1322. It has
been translated in Chapter VI, and therefore requires no
further notice here.
There is no special writer, as far as I know, during the
Ming dynasty, and we have derived most of our infor-
mation from the accounts of the imperial manufactory
CHINESE CERAMIC BIBLIOGRAPHY. 663
detailed iu the official geographical works, io connection
with what has Vjeen gathered from contemporary writers
on art subjects. These accounts are strikingly elucidated
by the water-color drawings of the illustrated album J^
ft ^ fi il If , Li Tai Ming Tzu Tou Fti, " Illus-
trated Description of the Celebrated Porcelain of Differ-
ent Dynasties," by Hsiaug Yuan-p'ien, which dates from
the latter part of the sixteenth century, and which has
been fully described in Chapter V.
T'ang Ying, ^ ^, the most celebrated of the super-
intendents of the imperial manufactory during the pres-
ent dynasty, is the author of the P^ }^ Bl ^, T\io
Yell T'o?</S'/m^(9, the description of the twenty illustrations
of the manufacture of porcelain, which was translated. in
Chapter XV. The other articles from his pen which
have been referred to were mostly written as introductory
to or as part of the accounts of the work of the imperial
factory in the official books. The articles are entitled
K )SL pS, T^(^ cKmg chiy "Records of the Ceramic
Manufacture," or [5^ ^ 7p; f|^ ^, T\io cKeng sliili yu
Ic'ao, " Leaflets of the Regulations of the Ceramic Manu-
facture." They are doubtless included iu the collected
works of T'ang Ying, which the author of the Ohing-te-chen
T''ao Iu (Book VI, folio 3) refers to as having been issued
with an introductory eulogistic preface by Li Chii-lai of
Lin-ch'uan, in the province of Kiangsi, but which I have
not had an opportunity of consulting.
The special work on the ceramic art that is alw^aya
referred to Avhen the subject is discussed by the learned
in China is the f^ ^, T'ao Shuo, a comprehensive
description of pottery and jDorcelain by Chu Yen, which
was first published in the thirty-ninth year of the reign
of the Emperor Ch'ien-lung (1774). The author ^ J^,
Chu Yen, whose literary ajipellation was ^ jl|, T'ung-
ch'uan, was also known as ^ ^, Li-t'ing, the latter being
664 ORIEI!«^TAL CERAMIC ART.
his " hall-uame " or nmn-de-plu7ne, under which a selec-
tion of his writings was published. He was a native of
Hai-yen, in the province of Chekiang, and was a volu-
minous writer, judging from a long list of his works
given in the preface, which was composed by a relative
of the author to introduce a new edition of the T''ao
Shuo issued in the year 1787, which is the best edition.
This list comprises twelve different works besides the
present one, which is characterized as being the most
important of all, and includes " A Commentary on the
Shuo Wen,'''' the ancient dictionary of the second century
A. D., '' Selections from old Prose Authors and Poets
of the T^ang and other Dynasties," "Instruction for
Playing the Lyre," " On the Art of Versification," etc.,
winding up with a " Collection of Verses of his own
[Li T'ing's] Composition." He is described by his con-
temporaries as a learned scholar and antiquarian, and
when he was appointed in the year 1767 to a post in the
secretariat of Wu Shao-shih, who was the governor of the
province of Kiangsi from 1766 to 1771, he at once pro-
ceeded to study the history of the ceramic industry, the
porcelain of Ching-te-chen being the most important
product of the province of Kiangsi.
The title T^ao Shuo means literally " Discussion of
Pottery," the word fao being equivalent to " pottery "
(la ceramique) in its widest sense, and made to comprise
all kinds of clay objects fired in the kiln, so as to include
the different varieties of earthenware, glazed and unglazed,
faience and stoneware (g?'es), as well as porcelain. The
form of the book consists of a series of extracts bearing
on the subject gathered from the wide field of native
literature, in the course of which nearly a hundred and
fifty different authors are quoted. This is accomplished
by a running commentary in the form of notes, which
are distinguished by having the character an prefixed to
CHIKESE CERAMIC BIBLIOGRAPHY. 665
€ach paragraph, and by having the columns of type
printed on a lower level, so as to leave a wider interspace
at the top of the page. The general scope of the work
will be indicated by a glance at the table of contents
which follows :
Book I. Discussion of Modern Times. An account of the por-
celain made at Jao-chou-fu during the present dynasty. The de-
scription of the twenty illustrations of the porcelain manufacture
from the Imperial Library, written in 1743 by T'ang Ying, director
of the imperial manufactory.
Book II. Discussion of Ancient Times. The invention and
early history of pottery. Researches on the productions of the
different potteries, from the beginning of the T^ang dynasty, in
618, to the close of the Yuan dynasty, in 1367.
Book III. Discussion of tlie Ming Period. The Jao-chou-fu
potteries and the porcelain produced at the imperial manufactory
there during the Ming dj'nasty (1368-1643). The processes of
manufacture during this dynasty under the headings: 1. Materials
and Colors. 2. Departments of Work. 3. Coloring Materials and
their Preparation. 4, Painted Decoration in Underglaze Cobalt-
Blue. 5. Embossed Work, Incised Designs, Decoration in Gold
and in Overglaze Enamel Colors, 6. The making of the Cases or
Seggars. 7. Furnaces and the Methods of Charging them. 8.
Rules for Firing the Porcelain.
Book IV. Discussion of Particular Ceramic Objects, Part I. 1.
•Objects of the Thing and Yil (third millennium b. c), referred to
in old books. 2. Objects of the Chou dynasty (b. c. 1122-249).
3. Objects of the Han dynasty (b. c. 206-a, d. 224). 4. Objects
of the ^Vei dynasty (a. d. 221-264). 5. Objects of the Chin
dynasty (a. d. 265-419). 6. Objects of the contemporary Southern
and Northern dynasties (420-588), 7, Objects of the Sxd dynasty
(589-617).
Book V. Discussion of Particular Ceramic Objects, Part II, 8.
Objects of the T'ang dynasty (618-906). 9. Objects of the five
dynasties (907-959). 10. Objects of the aSw/^^^ dynasty (960-1279).
11. Objects of the Ti^a^i dynasty (1280-1367).
Book VI. Discussion of Particular Ceramic Objects, Part III.
12, Objects of the 3Iing dynasty (1368-1643), Description of
some sacrificial utensils made for imperial worship. Porcelain of
the reign of Yung-lo. Porcelain of the reign of Ilsuan-tS. Por-
666 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
celain of the reign of CKeng-hna. Porcelain of the reign of Chia-
ching, under the headings: (1) Specimens painted in blue on a
white ground. (2) Blue specimens; being either decorated in
white reserve on a blue ground, or coated with single-colored
glazes, viz., in cobalt-blue of lighter or darker shade, or in tur-
quoise-blue derived from coppei'. (3) Specimens decorated in
blue outside, with the interior of the bowl or cup glazed white.
(4) White porcelain; eitlier plain, or with decoration incised at
the point in the paste under the white glaze. (5) Brown porcelain
of the fond-laque or "dead-leaf" type; in two shades of dark
brown or " old gold " tint, either plain or engraved, under the glaze.
(6) Single colors, such as coral-red, green, and imperial yellow, and
mixed decorations, not included in the other classes. Porcelain of
the reign of Lung-ck'mg. Porcelain of the reign of W^an-liy
including: (a) Specimens in bhie and wliite; {b) Specimens deco-
rated in enamel colors; (c) 8]iecimens of single colors, and of
complicated decoration not included in the other two classes.
Reproductions of the ivory-white Ting-chou porcelain. The dawn-
red wine-cups and the eggshell cups of Hao Shih-chiu, a celebrated
potter of the reign of Wan-li.
In the 1787 edition of the T'ao Shuo, which is now
before rae, there are no less than four eulogistic prefaces
and appendices from different hands. One of them,
dated in the cyclical year ehia-wu (1774), is by Pao
T'ing-po, the learned editor and publisher of the large
collection of reprints issued in the eighteenth century
under the title of ^P ^ j^^ ^ ^ ^, CMhpu tsu chai
tiling shu. Some Chinese books are to be found only in
these vast collections of reprints, which are analogous to
Bohn's Miscellany, only that all the works are published
at the same time instead of being issued at intervals.*
The woi'k that has just been described is mainly
literary and antiquarian in its character, and it is, besides^
more than a century old. For a more recent account of
the ceramic art in China we must turn to the "Ml ^ Ift
*SeeWylie's Notes on Chinese Literature. The Appendix, pages 205-224,
contains the titles of some of these collections and lists of their contents.
CHINESE CERAMIC BIBLIOGRAPHY. 667
I® ^j Cliing te clien T^io lu, " History of the Ceramic
Industry at Ching-te-cben," which has been partially and
somewhat imperfectly translated into French.* In the
professed translation there is a complete rearrangement
of the order of the books, and a short analysis of the
plan of the original may not be out of place here. The
author, Lan P'u, whose literary appellation was Pin-nan,
Avas a native of Ching-te-chen, who lived, he tells us, in
the midst of the porcelain works, and was constantly
taking; notes of the various technical details with a view
to publishing a book on the subject. But he died
toward the end of the reign of CKien-lung, at the close
of the eighteenth century, and his manuscript was put
by for twenty years, his widow lacking funds to pul)lish
it. In the sixteenth year of the reign of Chia-chHng
(1811) a new governor, or chief magistrate, named Liu
Ping, was appointed to Fou-liang-hsien, and he happened
to engage, as teacher for one of his sons, Cheng T'ing-
kuei, who had been educated as a scholar by Lan P'u.
The professor introduced his old master's book to the
notice of the new governor, who requested him to edit
it, and it was finally published in the year 1815, with a
preface by Liu Ping, and a post-face by the editor, Cheng
T'ing-kuei. As explained in the appendix, the editor
rearranged the manuscript and divided it into eight
sections, which form Books II to IX of the printed work.
Book I contains a map of the district, a plan of the
imperial manufactory, and a series of fourteen illustra-
tions of the different processes of work, which were
sketched on the spot by Cheng Hsiu, a brother of the
editor, and offer a fairly complete picture of the industry
as it is carried on in the present day. The plates in the
French translation differ considerably from these, being
* Histoire et Fabrication de la Porcelaine Chinoise. Ouvrage traduit du
Chlnois, parM. Stanislas Julien, Membre de I'lnstitut. Paris, 1856.
668 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART,
squeezed laterally into half the space, and being, besides,,
occasionally combined together, so as to confuse some of
the details of the work, and they have even been com-
pleted, when thought necessary, by the insertion of parts
of pictures taken from Chinese albums of much older
date. The descriptions of the fourteen illustrations are
mostly abridged, as is avowed by the editor, from those
of the famous twenty illustrations described for the
Emperor GKien-lung by T'ang Ying. Book X, entitled
" Supplementary Observations," is mainly the work of
the new editor, assisted by a string of collahorateurSj.
some with technical knowledge of the art derived from
personal experience, whose names he gives at the end of
the book.
The following is the original table of contents :
Book I. Illustrations of Technical Processes with Descriptions.
Book II. Records of the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory under
the reigning dynasty. Origin of the various kinds of porcelain
made at Ching-te-chen.
Book III. Technical Catalogue, enumerating the different fur-
naces and the classes of firemen employed, the various branches of
manual decorative and artistic work, the auxiliary branches of work,
the forms and designs of objects, the various kinds of glazes and
the coloring materials used in their preparation, etc.
Book IV. General Account of the Porcelain Manufacture as it is
carried on in the present day.
Book V. Examination of the porcelain made at Ching-t^-ch^n
during successive dynasties, beginning with the first year (583) of
the period C hih-tS, in the reign of the last sovereign of the C h'en
dynasty, and ending with the reign of C JCien-lung of the present
dynasty (1736-95).
Book VI. Examination of the different kinds of ancient porcelain
that are now imitated at Ching-te-chen.
Book VII. Investigation of ancient ceramic wares. Examination
of the ceramic productions of the different provinces and districts,
including those of the present day. Investigation of foreign pro-
ductions, referring cursorily to Korean ceramic ware, and to painted
CHINESE CERAMIC BIBLIOGEAPHY. 669
and cloisonne enamels on copper introduced into China from tlie
West.
Book VIII. Miscellaneous quotations on the ceramic subject from
different authors, Part I.
Book IX. Miscellaneous quotations on the ceramic subject,
Part II.
Book X. Supplementary observations on some points in the fore-
going work by the editor, Cheng T'ing-kuei.
The first and last books are the additions of the new
editor, who tells us that the other eight represent the
original work, in his own words, of his old master
Lan P'u.
The Too Lii is indispensable for an inquirer into the
technology of the ceramic industry in China, and its
statements may be relied upon as being generally taken
from actual personal knowledge, but in the historical and
critical accounts of the ancient productions it is decidedly
inferior to the T\io Shuo. The author relies mainly on
the Wen Fang Ssu K\io^ which has already been referred
to as one of the least critical of those which relate to
the apparatus of the scholar's study.
With the exception of mere manuals for the use of the
curio-dealer, I have seen nothing of later date, so that we
have no more recent work of authority on the subject,
and, in truth, the decadence of the ceramic art in modern
times is so rapid that it scarcely deserves a chronicler.
CHAPTEK XXIV.
KOREA.
Korea an intermediary between China and Japan. A class of early
Japanese decorated porcelain wrongly attributed to Korea,
Questionable existence of an indigenous ceramic art in the
country. Notices in Chinese literature of early Korean pro-
ductions. Ancient crackled and celadon examples in Korea.
Korean Mishima ware and other early encaustic decorations.
Relics dug up from tombs. Modern ceramic manufactures.
KOREA is situated midway between China and Japan,
and derives its chief importance from having been
the medium of the introduction of the arts and sciences
from the mainland of Asia into the Japanese islands. The
earlier ceramic relations of the three countries have been
cursorily summed up in Chapter II, and it was noticed
there how the Japanese traced back tlie source of each
successive step in their practice of the cei'amic art either
to Korea or to China. Korea would seem, however,
merely to have played the part of an intermediary, and
to have cari'ied on to Japan the knowledge of technical
points which it had derived from China in the course of
its traffic with the latter country. This traffic has been
principally carried on by sea from the poi"ts of the prov-
ince of Shantung. Korea has only recently been thrown
open, but the country has been thoroughly explored dur-
ing the last few years, and it is now known that no
artistic pottery is produced there in the present day, and
no indisputable evidence of any original skill in former
times has been discovered.
Before the poverty of the land was laid bare it was
possible, w^ith some show of probability, to attribute to it
670
KOREA. 671
the possession of unkuowii art treasures, and Jacquemart
accordingly endowed Korea with a class of decorated
porcelain of artistic beauty and perfect finish, which he
styled Famille archaique de Coree, under the mistaken
idea that the mixed Japanese and Chinese character of
the desio-ns indicated an intermediate oris^in. We are
indebted, however, to his artistic faculty for the separa-
tion of this class from other Oriental porcelains, and for
its correct designation as " archaic," for it seems really to
have been one of the earliest productions in enamel colors
of the Arita kilns of Japan. The porcelain of this class
was among the fii'st brought to Europe from Japan by the
Dutch, whose original trading establishment was at Hi-
rado, not far from the Arita kilns. The importation of
the artistic ware appears to have ceased before the end of
the seventeenth century, so that specimens were eagerly
sought for by the earlier collectors in Europe, who gave
them a prominent place in their cabinets under the name
oi premiere qualite coloriee du Ja'pon. The description of
several pieces may be found in the Catalogue de la vente
de M. Randon de Boisset, which ^vas compiled by the
French expert Julliot in 1777, ^vho writes :
"The late collector, CTidowed with a delicate and severe taste,
gathered together important examples of several kinds, and most
particularly of the ancient Japanese porcelain called premihre
qualite coloriee, for which, as a true connoisseur, he had a special
predilection. This porcelain, of which the composition is now
entirely lost, has always captivated the attention of amateurs by
the fine grain of its beautifully white paste, the charming tints of
its soft reds, the velvet}' tones of its clear greens, and its intense
sky-blue. The merits of this class of porcelain are perfectly recog-
nized, so that some of the best collections are, or have been, com-
posed of it, which alone is its sufficient eulog}'."
This peculiar class, in fact, is readily identified by its
fine compact paste of ivory-white tone, which has been
672 OKIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
justly likened to that of the Hirado blue and white por-
celain, invested with a thin non-vitreous glaze, and simply
decorated, in soft enamels, with a few formal flowers sym-
metrically posed, or a clump of bamboos rising from
behind a trellis fence of straw. The flowers are usually
the iris, chrysanthemum, pink, or peony ; the light orna-
mental borders are triangular or rectangular frets or zig-
zags ; birds or symbolical animals are rarely seen, still
more rarely figures. The designs, sketched either in
black or in red, are lightly touched with soft colors, com-
bined with the perfect harmony that distinguishes old
Japanese art ; the decoration being sparingly applied, as
if to display as much as possible of the perfectly white
ground. The dominating color is a well-glazed iron-red
of rich tone ; the other colors, applied in enamels so as to
stand out in relief upon the surface, are a pale clear
green, a pure sky-blue, a light yellow, and a brilliant
black ; the gold is applied more solidly than usual ; blue
under the glaze is excluded. The vases and jars are gen-
erally small and of polygonal outline, of molded forms,
and not fashioned upon the wheel ; the bowls and cups
are fluted and flanged, and often provided with socketed
stands. A typical example of this charming class is rep-
resented by the sake-bottle of square section illustrated
in colors in Plate XCVII, Fig. 1, which is reasonably
attributed to the middle of the seventeenth century.
Some other specimens are illustrated in colors by Du
Sartel, in La Porcelaine de Chine, to which reference has
often been made.
Pieces of this peculiar type supplied the first models
for many of the early porcelain works of Europe. At
Meissen the imitations were very close, as may be seen in
the Dresden Museum, where the originals and the copies
are purposely exhibited side by side. They Avere also
copied at St. Cloud ; at Chelsea, on pieces bearing the
KOKEA. 67 S
earliest mark — the raised anchor ; at Bow, on the plates
decorated with quails, and elsewhere. There is a bowl
of Bow porcelain in the British Museum decorated in the
same style as the plates with quails, having an inscrip-
tion upon it stating that it was " painted by Thomas-
Croft in 1760 in the old Japan taste"; which shows, as
Sir Wollaston Franks remarks, " that both in England
and France this porcelain was recognized to be Japanese^
and of some antiquity." So it was in China, for it waa
exactly reproduced in the factories at Ching-te-chen dur-
ing the second half of the reign oiK''ang-hsi (1662-1722)^
under the name of Tung Yang Ts'ai or Japanese colors,
so that some care must be taken not to confound these
early Chinese copies with the originals, the main crite-
rion being the different quality of the pate, besides the
frequent occurrence of " spur-marks " * underneath the
foot of the Japanese pieces.
This appears to have been the earliest decorated j)orce-
lain brought in any considerable quantity to Europe from
the East. It was imported into Holland in the ships of
the Dutch East India Company and distributed by them
under the title of porcelaine des Indes. The Dutch seem
also to have exercised some influence over its decoration
in Japan, according to an interesting passage quoted by
Jacqueraart from the account of the embassy of the Dutch
Governor who was sent by the company to Yedo in the
year 1634, and who was rewarded afterward for the suc-
cess of his mission by being given the monopoly of the
valuable trafiic in porcelain. We are told there : f
* The slender projections of the paste designed to support the piece and pre-
vent contact with the floor of the kiln are technically known as " cock-spurs."
They are broken off afterward, and leave small rough marks on the glaze.
They are found occasionally, although rarely, on Chinese pieces. The Chi-
nese technical term is t'o-chih, or " supporting twigs."
f Ambassades Memorables de la Compagnie des Indes Orientales des Provinces
Unies vera les Empereurs du Japon. Amsterdam, 1680, folio; IP partie, p. 102.
674 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
" While the Sieur Wagenaar was preparing for his return voyage
to Batavia, he received 21,567 pieces of white porcelain; and a
month previously a very large quantity had arrived at Disnia [that
is, Desima or Deshinia], which, however, had not had a great sale
because there were not flowers enough upon it. For some years
past the Japanese have applied themselves to this kind of work
with much industry, and they iiave become so skillful at it that not
onl}'^ the Dutch, but even the Cliinese buy of them. The best por-
celain is tl'.at which is made at Fisen (Ilizen), the earth at no other
place being so white or so fine as it is here. The Sieur Wagenaar,
a great connoisseur, and ver}^ clever himself at this kind of work,
invented a flower design upon a bhie ground which was found to be
so prett}^ that out of two hundred pieces on which he had it painted
not a single one remained unsold, so that there was not a shop with-
out some of it on display."
The first porcelain manufactory in the province of
Hizen was founded in the beginning of the seventeenth
century near Arita by Li San})ei (or Risampei), a Korean
potter who was brought over in 1598 in the suite of
Prince Nabeshima. He discovered the necessary mate-
rials in the neighborhood in the Idzumi Mountains, and
initiated the Japanese workmen in the new art. The
earliest decoration is said to have been penciled in cobalt-
blue under the glaze after the fashion of the faience that
previously had been made there. The honor of acquiring
for Japan the art of painting in enamel colors applied
over the glaze is generally attributed to Tokuzayemou, a
native of Imari in the same province, who is suj^posed to
have learned it from a Chinese resident at Nagasaki about
the middle of the century. But the clear vitreous enamel
colors of the muffle stove which distinguish this class of
porcelain were not known at this time in Chinese ceramic
decoration, and when they were introduced into China,
in the latter half of the reign of K''ang-hsi, their source
was acknowledged to be foreign. In India they had
been previously used for centuries in enamel painting
A
KOREA. 675
upou metal. Their introduction into Japan seems to
have been due to the Dutch, at a time when tlie factories
at Ching-te-chen were closed on account of the wars at
the end of the Ming dynasty, and their usual supplies of
porcelain from that source had failed. The influence of
the Dutch in the further development of the ceramic art
in Japan is shown in a more marked degree in the poly-
chromatic "old Imari ware," which gradually supplanted
the more artistic and simply decorated porcelain that has
just been referred to. This porcelain, decorated in the
style of the many-colored Chinese production of the
Wan-li period with blue under the glaze in combination
with overglaze enamel colors and gilding, became the
established ware of the Hizen potteries by the year 1680.
Fig. 381 shows a typical example of one of the more
finely decorated pieces of the period. The foliated
border and the interior of the dish, divided into panels
by lines of underglaze blue, are filled with diapers of
varied design, and the slope is encircled by a broad band
with four-clawed dragons of Chinese type disporting in
clouds. The overglaze colors are a full iron-red, brilliant
green, yellow, and manganese-purple, the last three being
in strong relief. The under surface of the rim is roughly
painted in dark blue under the glaze with sprays of
flowers and symbols in panels. There' are several spur-
marks underneath.
This is a choice specimen of the riclily ornamented
ware known in Europe ixir excellence as "Old Japan,"
which was fashioned and decorated expressly for the
European market, and was imported in large quantities
into Europe toward the end of the seventeenth century,
when Augustus the Strong filled his Japanese Palace
with the magnificent jars and beakers and the huge
dishes which are still displayed in the museum at Dres-
den. There is no longer any question here of sparse
676 ORLET^TAL CERAMIC ART.
decoration such as we are told made the older porcelain
unsalable, the surface being covered with mythological
monsters and gorgeously plumaged birds in the midst
of profuse floral sprays of chrysanthemum and peony.
There is no space in a modest Japanese interior for such
monstrosities, and the native connoisseur can hardly be
brought to acknowledge them as genuine productions of
his own country, any more than he will accept the large
vases decorated with armies of mail-clad figures or legions
of saints that are painted in Yokohama to-day for the
foreign market, and which figure in the West as fair
representatives of the modern ceramic art of Japan.
This long digression is preparatory to the introduction
of the vexed question of the existence of polychromatic
decoration in Korea before the date of its introduction
into Japan. The description of three remarkable speci-
mens may be quoted from the catalogue * of the Brinkley
Collection, which was exhibited at the Boston Museum
of Arts in 1884, where they are described as "Korean
Ware."
"Elephant, on stand. Height, five and a half inches; lengtli,
seven inches. Heavy stoneware, covered with a cream-colored
glaze slightly crackled. The trappings of the elephant are black;
his feet, eai's, mouth, and howdah -cloth are of a reddish brown.
Date, 1260."
"Vase, with narrow base and swelling body. Height, thirteen
inches; diameter, twelve inclies. Stoneware, cream-colored glaze
finely crackled. Round the base and shoulder are lines and a band
of diaper. On the sides are three large medallions bordered by
broad black lines. One medallion contains the figure of an old
man seated ; behind him is a fir-tree with a gourd hanging from
its branches; before him, conventional waves and a design intended
to represent the constellation of ursa major {Sh'chiya no hoshi).
The second medallion contains a stork fljnng down toward reeds
* Collection of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean Porcelain, Pottery, and Faience,
illustrating all the Best-known Wares of the Three Countries, p. Ill, Nos.
779-781.
KOREA. 677
and lotus-plants. The third, an open lily, surrounded by leaves.
All the decoration is in ver}^ dark brown, and the inside is covered
with a glaze of that color. Date, 1300."
"Vase, with narrow base and swelling body. Height, eleven
and a half inches; diameter, twelve inches. Stoneware, covered
inside and outside with a cream-colored glaze. Round the neck
are two bands of floral scroll in red and green enamels. Round
the base a band of conventional leaves. Round the body are three
large medallions. In one is a man seated on a fish swimming in
green waves; in the distance are mountains and a castle. In
another are two figures with trees, a hill, etc., in green and red.
Date, 1300. [This is a very remarkable specimen. Korean ware
decorated with colored enamels is exceedingly rare — so much so,
indeed, that its very existence has been doubted. The present
specimen has been preserved in the province of Kaga, in Japan,
since 1598.]"
There is another archaic-looking ware often attributed
by Japanese experts to Korea, which has crude designs
lightly penciled in dull blue overlaid with a deeply
crackled glaze of grayish tone. The paste is of open
porous texture, like the old Tingchou productions of
China, and the general aspect of the pieces reminds one
of the ancient crackled wares of Chinese origin treasured
by the Dayaks in Borneo and in other islands of the
Eastern Archipelago. A specimen which was brought
from Japan as a piece of ancient Korean ware is pre-
sented in Fig. 134. It is a small globular vase roughly
decorated in dark blue with a broad band round the
body containing two lions sporting with filleted balls,
and a narrow band of conventional ornament encircling
the shoulder. The thick glaze, of ivory-white tone, is
crackled with deeply fissured lines, and covers the base,
only leaving the foot-rim exposed, which is white, of
porous texture, but intensely hard ; there is no mark
inscribed underneath.
With regard to the porcelain objects sent from Japan
as old Korean it is necessary, first, to show that the
678 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
particular piece is not a modern reproduction ; sec-
ondly, that it is not an old piece of one of the less
kno\vn Chinese wares which may have been brought to
Japan through Korea. There are two Chinese wares,
for instance, which often figui-e as Korean upon the
shelves of museums. The first is the Tz'u-chou ceramic
ware of the Chihli province, which is decorated in shades
of brown, and like the peculiar class of Satsuma known
as '' Sunkoroku," to which reference will presently be
made. The second is the ivory-white porcelain of the
province of Fuchien. Ten pieces of so-called Korean
ivory-white porcelain were exhibited at the Boston
Museum of Arts in 1884. Captain Brinkley says, in
regard to this ivory-white porcelain, that " it is often
exceedingly difficult to distinguish it from Chinese ware,
and, indeed, the question is still open whether the
so-called Korean ivory-white is not porcelain of Chinese
manufacture, which found its way to Japan through
Korea. Japanese experts maintain obstinately that such
is not the case. They profess to recognize without
difllculty a difference between the Chinese and Korean
paste, and by way of historical confirmation adduce
the authenticated fact that from the time of her inva-
sion by Taiko's armies (1596), and the consequent paral-
ysis of all her art industries, Korea entirely ceased to
send Japan any specimens of the beautiful ivory-white
porcelain, though its great value to the latter country, as
well as Korea's intimate relations with China, rendered
such a traffic more than ever probable."
There is also an ancient brown stoneware attributed
to Korea coated with a thick crackled glaze resembling
very closely the old Chinese crackle of the Yuan dy-
nasty (1280-1367), which has been illustrated in Fig. 3.
The only certain information that we have about old
Korean porcelain is derived from Chinese sources. The
KOREA. 679
first Chinese author who alludes to it at any length is
Hsii Ching, who wrote the Hsuan-lw feng shift Kao-li
foil ddng^ an illustrated description of the country,
customs, and institutions of Korea {Kao-li), in forty
books, after his return from a mission to the country on
the occasion of an accession of a new king, in 1125.
The maps and illustrations which originally accompanied
the manuscript were unfortunately lost before the book
was printed for the first time, in the year 1167. The
following is a literal translation of his notes upon the
subject :
" There is a ceramic ware made in Korea of green color, wliich
is called by the natives of the country 'kingfisher green.' In these
latter years the pieces have been more skillfully fashioned, and the
color of the glaze has also been much improved. There are Avine-
pots [chiu tsun) molded in the shape of melons, with small lids at
the top surmounted by ducks squatting in the midst of lotus-
flowers. The Koreans are clever also in the making of bowls and
dishes {tocm, tieh), wine-cups and teacups {pei, ou), flower vases
{hua pHjig), and hot-water vessels for tea-drinkers [fang chan),
which are all, generallj^ speaking, copied from the forms of the
Ting-chou wares (of China), so that I need only allude to tliem and
not illustrate them by figures, only giving the wine-pots, as being
of novel and original design.
" In Korea the table vessels used at entertainments for eating
and drinking are usually made of gilded metal or of silver, although
they esteem green porcelain ware more highly than either of these
two materials. They have incense-burners {hsiang lu) shaped like
lions, which are also of ' kingfisher green ' color, the four-footed
monster being represented seated upon a lotus leaf with tilted
margin, which forms the stand of the urn. This is one of the
most ingenious and striking of their ceramic designs; the other
forms are for the most part modeled after the shapes of the ancient
imperial porcelain of Yueh-chou, or from the modern productions
of the kilns of Ju-chou.
" The pottery made by the Koreans includes also large water-jars
[toing), with broad bellies and contracted necks ending in very
*See Notes on Chinese Literature, by A. Wylie, loc. cit., p. 46.
680 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
small rnoutlis, which are as much as six feet liigh and four and a
lialf feet in diameter, and hold between fifty and one hundred
gallons of water eacli. These are used for storing water on the
boats passing upon the sea between islands wiien water is difficult
to ])r()cure, so as to carry on board a sufficient supply."
The term "kingfisher green," used here, is intended to
indicate the liglit blue-green tint of the plumes of the
kingfisher's feathers, which are much used in the East
for inlaying gold and silver oi-naments of jewelry. The
clear emei'ald-green color of jadeite, which is so highly
prized by the Chinese, has earned for it a similar title of
" kingfisher stone " (^fei-ts'vi').
In ceramic parlance the term indicates the translu-
cent emerald-green hue of the old celadon glazes, wdiich
approach sometimes an olive tint. The color was ob-
tained in China by the mixture of an iron mineral
with the ordinary white glaze of the grand feu, dark-
ened by the addition of a variable proportion of the
cobaltiferous ore of manganese, and the term w^as
adopted to distinguish the hew color from the deeper
camellia-leaf green of the older wares, wdiich was derived
from copper. The most ancient Korean porcelain of
which we have any cei'tain knowledge is really a
celadon monochrome of the characteristic tint of this
beautiful variety of jadeite. A pair of bowls of this
kind were j^i'esented l)y the King of Korea to President
Carnot, of France, as " the most valuable of the ancient
productions of his poor country," and are now j^re-
served in the museum at Sevres. There is a similar
bowl, gadrooned below with a border of lotus-petal
design, in the Dana collection at New York, which was,
I believe, originally given by the King of Korea as a
present to an American physician who had been con-
sulted by him.
The next notice of Korean ceramic ware is in the Ko
I
KOREA. 681
Jcu yao lun, the well-known book on objects of art by
Ts'ao chao, published in 1387, which has been so often
quoted. The short paragraph on " Korean Ceramic
Manufacture " (^Kao-li Yao), in Book VII, folio 22, says :
"Tlie ceramic objects produced in the ancient Korean kilns were
of a grayish-green color resembling that of the celadon ware of
Lung-ch'uaii (in Cliina), There was one kind overlaid with white
•spra\'s of flowers, but this was not valued so very highly."
These are the conclusions of a Chinese connoisseur of
the fourteenth century. The second class which he
refers to is a faience inlaid with encaustic designs in
wliite clay, like the so-called Henri Deux faience in
Europe, and it was, on the contrary, most highly valued
in Japan, and formed the model of some of the early
Japanese manufactures, like the Yatsushiro faience of
the province of Higo, which was decorated with stoi'ks
flying among clouds, in the Korean style, or with simple
combinations of lines and diapers, the designs being
traced in the paste and filled in with white clay before
glazing. A typical vase of ancient Korean woi-k of this
kind is illustrated in Plate CXVI. The decoration was
occasionally varied by the execution of a portion of the
encaustic designs in black.
The vogue attained in Japan by the tea ceremonies
known as the cha-no-yu under the Ashikaga Shoguns
was the chief cause of the gi'eat popularity of Korean
pottery in that country. The first fixed rules for the
cult seem to have been made under the patronage of the
Shogun Yoshiniasa (1443-73), after he had retired to
private life in this last year. The famous Taiko Hide-
yoshi in 1594 appointed Sen-no-Rikyu, a celebrated vir-
tuoso, to revise the old statutes of the cult, and the
elaborate code of etiquette drawn up by him has hardly
been varied since his day. Up to this time utensils of
682 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Korean pottery had been preferred to any others for the
tea ceremonial, and the Korean experts of the craft who
were brought over to Japan at the end of the sixteenth
century, after the expedition to Korea in 1592-96, intro-
duced their technique into several of the Japanese manu-
factories. Nearly all Japan's chief potteries are said to
have dated from that time, her teachers in the art of
porcelain-making being Korean captives. In the follow-
ing century a number of Korean potters settled at Yatsu-
shiro, in the province of Higo, and the Japanese pottery
produced there still preserves unmistakable character-
istics of its Korean origin, the fine reddish pate being
enameled with a diaphanous, pearl-gray glaze, uniform,
lustrous, and finely crackled, overlying encaustic decora-
ation in white slip.
One class of Korean tea-bowls is known to the Japa-
nese by the name of Mishima ware, because the formal
lines of its decoration resemble at a distance the printed
columns of the almanac which is issued from a famous
temple at Mishima on the Tokaido, the great route from
Kioto to Yedo. There is a Mishima basin in the Franks
collection in the British Museum, which was sent from
Japan as Korean, but is considered by the learned
curator to be more probably a production of the Yatsu-
shiro kiln, and is described by him as follows :
" Basin. Gray glazed Japanese stoneware, with engraved de-
signs, filled in with white clay. Inside, a chrysanthemum sur-
rounded by similar flowers; and inside and out, borders of zigzag
pattern with hatched lines. Mishima ware. Diameter, five and a
half inches. No. 1185."
The shallow bowl illustrated in Fig. 380 (1), which is
of the same diameter as the above, was also sent from
Japan as an example of Korean Mishima ware, but is pro-
nounced by Mr. H. Shugio to be a Japanese reproduction
KOREA. 683
of the old Korean style, judging from the peculiarities
of the pate. This is of dark reddish-gray color, and is
enameled with a white glaze of soft aspect, decorated in
geometrical j^atterns with formal bands of vertical lines
and encircling rings of diaper, which are lightly etched
with a graving-tool, and filled in with black.
Among the other ancient Korean bowls in the collec-
tion is the one illustrated in Fig. 382, which is of
rounded conical shape with upright edge, and has a solid
circular rim round the foot. It is coated with a smooth
celadon glaze of buif tone, sparsely crackled, and is
roughly scored in the paste underneath with ornamental
lines both outside and inside, the pattern in the interior
simulating a flower. The foot, and a portion of the
exterior surface, where the glaze does not reach the
bottom, show a light-red paste, which is roughened in
crepe-like fashion. The bowl, broken into fi-agments,
has been pieced together and cemented with gold lac-
quer in Japan.
In former times it was the custom in Korea, as well as
in China, to bury pottery with the dead, the pottery
vessels employed for the purpose being a flask filled with
wine and a set of bowls containing a provision of cooked
millet and rice. In more recent times it has been cus-
tomary in both countries to place the funeral meats upon
an altar above the grave. It is a capital oft'ense for a
Korean to dig up this potteiy, but specimens occasionally
find their way into collections, notwithstanding.
The bowl illustrated in Fig. 380 (2), for example, was
brought from Seul, the capital of Korea, by Mr. Walter
C. Hillier, H. B. M. consul-general in Korea, together
with a small saucer-dish of Korean ivory-white ware dug
up from an old grave. It is of archaic conical shape, two
inches high, five and a half inches in diameter, composed
of a hard pale-colored faience, coated with a thin yel-
684 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
lowish glaze thickly flecked with darker spots. The
foot, unglazed, exhibits many glistening points of mica,
marks of an imperfectly triturated clay.
There is no mention of Korean pottery, so far as I
know, by any more modern Chinese writer, and, in truth,
the ceramic productions of the present time seem to be
hardl}^ worthy of notice, being»of the crudest kind pos-
sible, and quite devoid of any artistic interest. The few
authentic specimens in the museum at Leyden and The
Hague are of the most common description, and all recent
travelers confirm the accounts of M. Billequin, who col-
lected some pieces at Peking for the museum at Sevres,
and recorded his experiences in the Gazette des Beaux-
Arts,1877, page 230. Japan certainly owes many of the
technical methods of the different varieties of the old
Satsuma faience to Korea, and Korean potters were the
first instructors in the early productions of most of its
porcelain kilns, but the stroke of genius which converted
a manual handicraft into a new branch of art was due
entirely to the innate artistic faculty of the Japanese
themselves. There is no evidence of anything of the
kind in Korea.
I
CHAPTER XXV.
CERAMIC ART OF JAPAN.
Introduction. Bibliography. Table of the principal centers of
the ceramic industr3\
IT is witli some difficlence that I approach the subject
of the ceramic art of Japan, not being so intimately
acquainted with it as with that of China, and having,
moreover, a very superficial knowledge of the language
and literature. I have been fortunate in having had the
opportunity of i-eferring any doubtful points as to the
date of a piece, or its origin, to Mr. Henry Walters and
to Mr. Sliugio. At the outset I acknowledge my
indebtedness to them. Much more has been written in
Europe upon Japanese porcelain and pottery than upon
Chinese, and the former is, consequently, far better and
more generally known, so that a lengthy disquisition is
not necessary here, even did space allow. There are
several books, both English and French, available for
further reference.
The early relations of Chinese and Japanese ceramics
have already been alluded to, and it has been shown how
the Japanese acknowledge their debt to China at every
step. Chinese is the classical language of the Japanese,
and many of the technical books of the latter are written
almost entirely in the Chinese script, only the order of
the characters being changed, in obedience to the new
construction and grammar of a different language. Most
of the ceramic terms have been adopted directly from
those current in China, and are employed in the same
sense, differing only in pronunciation ; a few have be-
685
686 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
come obsolete, being used only in books, and being
replaced in ordinary parlance by colloquial equivalents.
This last is the case with the Chinese fe'-?/, " porcelain,"
which occurs constantly in the text of Ninagawa Nori-
tane's work, and is used by him to include the ancient
fine white kaolinic potteries coated with camellia-leaf
green and ash-colored glazes, of which he figures two
fragments, in the same way as it is by the Chinese,
although we should question the right of such wares to
be called " porcelain," on account of their want of traus-
lucence. It survives also in the Japanese name of
celadon porcelain, which has always been highly es-
teemed by them under the name of seiji,^ according to
their peculiar pronunciation of the Chinese cKmg tz^u,
literally " green porcelain." The ordinary term for porce-
lain in Japan is 8etotno7io, "Seto-ware," Seto being the
place in the province of Owari where the first fine glazed
pottery was made after a Chinese model, in the thirteenth
century of our era, and the term is now used in Japan in
the same way as chinaware or china is commonly used
by us.
The classical term for " pottery " in its widest sense is
tdhi, the Chinese fao-ch^i [t'ao-k'i], which comprises in
* With regard to the pronunciation of Japanese letters, in the system of
orthography which has been generally followed here, the vowels are to be pro-
nounced as in Italian, the consonants as in English: e. g., a as in father; e as
in prey; i as in machine; « as in no; m as in rule; when a horizontal line is
over 0 ov u the sound is prolonged; diphthongs are ai, as in aisle; au, with the
sound of ow in now. Care must be taken to pronounce the vowels separately;
in cha-ire, " tea-jar," the second word is read eeray, and is consequently some-
times written ire; in Ninsei, the name of the celebrated Kyoto potter, the
second syllable, pronounced say-ee, may be written se'i. N at the end of a
word has the sound of final n in French; in the middle, when followed by b,
m, or p, it is m; and t, in combination, is d. Consonants often become soft,
chi or slii becoming Ji- ho, bo; tsu, dzu; su, zu; /cu, gu, etc. The native
dialectal variations and the different orthographical systems of foreigners make
consistency difficult, if not impossible, and the efforts of the Romajikwai, a
society founded in Japan for the purpose of securing a uniform system of
transliteration, have not yet met with the success they deserve.
CERAMIC ART IN JAPAN. 687
Japan, as it does in China, all kinds of ceramic ware,
common earthenware (Japanese tsuchiyahi), and the dif-
ferent varieties of stoneware (Jaj^anese isJdyaJci), as well
as true porcelain. Yahi means " baked," and yahimono,
" baked ware," is more commonly used in Japan as the
general term for jDottery, including all kinds of Avare
fired in a kiln. The productions of the province of
Hizen, for instance, are grouped under the term Iniari-
yaki\ those of Kyoto are known as Kyo-yahi^ and the
fine faience of the province of Satsuma, Satsuma-yaki, is
so called, as well as the worse stoneware of the pi'ovince
of Bizen, Bizen-yaki or Imhe-yahi. In this sense " yaki "
generally takes the place of the Chinese yao, although
the latter character occasionally occurs among Japanese
marks upon porcelain in the compound hwan-lco (Chinese
huan-yao), "imj^erial ware," and hin-ho (Chinese cltin-
yao)^ "brocaded j^o^elain," as it does also, rarely, in
its primitive sense of " kiln " in the potter's mark of
Fu-ji-yo^^ i. e., " Matchless Kiln." The Japanese name
of the brocaded silk that has just been referred to under
the name of chin is nishihi, and this is given, by an
analogy, to porcelain decorated in enamel colors, which
is, however, known also as go-sai, the equivalent of
wu-tiai, "five-colored," the technical Chinese name.
^' Blue and white " is commonly known in Japan as
sometsuhe, which means simply " figured " ; " crackled
porcelain " is called hihiyaki^ " hibi " being the equiva-
lent of the Chinese wen, " a crack in crocker)^"
The ceramic wares of Japan exhibit great differences
in their composition, texture, and appearance, but may
be roughly classed under three principal heads : 1. Com-
mon pottery and stoneware, coarse or fine, ornamented
by engraving the sui-face, inlaying with colored clays,
and coating it with glazes. 2. A cream-colored faience,
* See the Franks Catalogue, loc. cit., Japanese marks, Plate XIV, Fig. 175.
688 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
with a glaze, often crackled, and delicately painted in
enamel colors. 3, Hard porcelain.
To tlie first of these classes belong the wares of Bizen
and Takatori, old Seto, Shigaraki, and other small
fabrics, and it includes the Kaku wares of Kyoto. The
texture varies from that of the ancient wares of
Shigaraki and Iga, which are fashioned in an earth
almost as coarse as fine gravel, to that of the Banko-
yaki, made in the province of Ise, which has been com-
pared to Wedgwood, the material being a fine brown
clay of remarkable toughness, so that it can be molded
into extremely light and thin forms. The Baku ware of
Kyoto is somewhat soft and tender, while the products
of the Bizen province have an almost metallic hardness.
The Japanese take advantage of the different qualities
of the paste in the fabrication of objects according to
the use to which they are intended to be put. The soft
paste of the Baku bowls makes them feeble conductors
of heat, so that they are preferred by the votaries of the
Cha-no-yu to bowls of porcelain or any other material, as
they retain the heat in the tea for a longer period^
and, moreover, do not burn the hands, as they are
clasped in both palms when the tea is sipped in the
orthodox way. The remarkable hardness and refractory
quality of the Bizen stoneware make it especially suit-
able for incense-burners, hand braziers, and charcoal
stoves, and its fineness and toughness render it a good
medium for modeling, to which use it has been put with
great success, so that in the pottery of Bizen are to
be found the choicest masterpieces of Japanese plastic
skill.
The principal factories of the second class are those
of Satsuma and Awata, and the more modern establish-
ments at Ota, near Yokohama, and elsewhere, where the
recent imitations of the Satsuma ware are produced.
CERAMIC ART IN JAPAlSr. 689
Both the Satsuma and the Awata wares, the latter of
which are made in one of the suburbs of Kyoto, are
made of a kind of porcelain clay of very refractory
nature, which does not undergo a partial fusion like the
genuine porcelain mixture, or, at any rate, not to the
same degree. The glaze is composed of feldspathic
materials and lixiviated wood-ash, without any addition
of lead or borax ; when cooled it is always crackled with
a fine network of superficial lines. The final simul-
taneous baking of the body and the glaze takes place
in a temperature much higher than that to which the
so-called biscuit is submitted in the preliminary firing.
The soft-looking glaze of ivory-white tone forms an
admirable background for the decoration in enamel
colors, which is painted on subsequently and fixed by
a third firing in the muffle stove. This last is an easy
process, so that Satsuma ware is often imported in a plain
state, to be painted by artists in the ateliers of Kyoto or
Tokio. The Awata ware is distinguished from the
slightly buff -colored Satsuma ware by a more marked
yellow tint, which has earned for it the name of ta-
mago-yahi, or " Qg^ pottery." The material of both
these Avares may be considered to be a kind of semi-
porcelain.
The third class comprises the true porcelain wares, of
which the coarsest are included in the productions of
Kutani and Awaji, while the most celebrated fabrics are
in the province of Hizen, at Seto in Owari, and Kiyo-.
midzu near Kyoto. A full and detailed account of the
materials and technique is given in the second part of
Le Japan a V Exposition JJniverselle de 1878, published
at Paris under the authority of the Imperial Japanese
Commission, which has been reprinted in Japan under
the title Z/es Zaques et La Ceramiqne du Japon, Yoko-
hama, 1879. The processes, in the main, are very similar
690 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
to those followed in China, with the exception of the
preliminary firing at a low temperature to which
Japanese porcelain is submitted before it is either
painted or glazed, which is often conducted in an
ordinary malt oven. The clays are evidently less
tenacious than the ordinary Chinese kaolins of Ching-
te-cheu, hence Japanese specimens are frequently
slightly out of shape, and they seem to require
numerous supports in the kiln, which have left the
scars on the glaze known as " spurmarks," which are
rarely found on Chinese pieces.
One of the chief charms of Japanese pottery consists
in the simplicity and marked originality of the old potter,
who was not content with a slavish imitation of the
Korean or Chinese model on which the technique of his
art was professedly based, but always succeeded in
imparting a peculiar cachet to his productions, which are
not to be confounded with their prototypes. He was
truly, in his palmiest days, an artist-potter, and not
a mere machine working for the glorification of his
brother of the brush. This is shown in the pleasing
quaintness of form in which he fashioned the pieces
intended for the personal use of his daimyo pati'on,
and in the loving care which he devoted to their
finish, rude as they look at first sight to an un-
trained eye. The Japanese artist is not ashamed of
his hands or his tools, and just as he delights to
show the marks of the brush in a rapid sketch or
a line of bold calligraphy, so does he prefer to re-
tain the natural prints of the fingers impressed on
the soft clay as the piece is being molded, or even
to accentuate the marks of the spatula with which
it is being roughly shaped and decorated. The simpler
the decoration of this rustic pottery the better, and the
greatest triumph of the artist is to suggest a pine wood
CEEAMIC ART IN JAPAN. 691
on the seashore or a silhouette of the sacred volcano of
Fiijisan (Fiiji-no-yama), in a single curved line. As
a people, the Japanese are singularly free from ostenta-
tion, and their homes exhibit a simplicity and refinement
in all their surroundings which render them unique.
They are devoted admirers of Nature's art. As in
woodwork the ornamental value of the natural grain or
the rugosities of the bark are considered of such high
interest that remarkable specimens are accorded the
most honorable place in the house ; as in metal-work the
natural patina is looked upon as its chief beauty ; so in
earthenware the earthiness of earth has to them a charm
which should not be hidden, but developed by the work
of the artist. The art of it lies in the eloquence it dis-
plays of its earthy nature, Just as the art of old Vene-
tian glass lies in the witness it bears of its vitreous
nature.
I am following here the argument of Mr. Charles
Holme, the author of the sympathetic chapter on
Pottery and Porcelain, in the excellent work on Japan
and its Art by Mr. M. B. Huish, the well-known
editor of The Art Journal, in which periodical the
articles first appeared that are now collected into
a small volume that ought to be in the hands of
every student of the subject. Mr. Holme speaks
with some authority, having devoted much time to
the question both in England and in Japan, and from
the producer's as well as the artistic point of view.
He is defending the simple taste of the native school
of connoisseurs and of those who follow them against
the views of the European collectors, who reserve their
highest admiration for such examples of the ceramic
as display a more florid and elaborate style of decoration
painted in rich colors with a profuse use of gold and
silver.
692 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Mr. Holme's account of the colored glazes used in
decoration may also be quoted with advantage : *
" Tosliiro, a Japanese potter of the early tliirteeiitli centiuy, made
a special visit to China to perfect himself in his art, and on his return
to his native town of Seto, in Ovvari, he introduced great improve-
ment in the character of the wares made there. Although the
glazing of pottery may have been practiced in Japan at a much
earlier date than the time of Tosliiro, there is no doubt that it was
•owing to his exertions that a great impetus was given to the art.
He not only improved tlie quality of vitreous enamels, but he
introduced new and aitistic methods of their application. From
his time onward great attention was paid to tliis branch of the
potter's art, of which it soon became one of the most important and
interesting features. To know something of Japanese glnzes is to
be familiar with the soft greenish grays of the Sanda Seiji ware, the
dull leaden blue or the metallic sheen of the brown glaze of Bizen,
iridescent blacks, reds, browns, and bottle-greens of the Raku wares,
the lustrous 3'ellow-brown of Old, the splashed Oribe wares, the
thick opaque overglazes of Shigaraki, the delicate gra3'S and salmon
shades of Hagi, the heavy brown and yellow glazes of Tamba, or
the speckled graj^s and browns of Soma. These and many others
of like interest and beaut}^ as the}' are better known and their
characteristics better understood, have an ever-increasing charm to
the earnest and sympathetic student, who soon ceases to wonder,
as perchance he may at first have done, at the artistic value in which
the}' are held by the Japanese connoisseur."
There has been much discussion as to whether the rus-
tic simplicity of the Japanese pottery was due to the
innate taste of the people or to the artificial cult of the
Cha-no-yu affected by the feudal nobles, who were
the special patrons of the industry in its early days. In
these discussions it has been usual to assume that the
tea clubs were a peculiar institution of Japan. But we
have seen that the cult was practiced in all its details
in China, and that there are illustrated books on the
* Japan and its Art. By Marcus B. Huish, LL. B. Second edition.
London, 1893. Chapter XIV, p. 230.
CEKAMIC ART IN JAPAISr. 693
subject dating from the early part of the ^ng dynasty
(960-1279), with pictures of tlie apj^aratus, and a full
account of the proceedings at the competitive tea meet-
ings at which the comparative viitues of decoctions
made from the powdered leaves of various brands of
tea, as well as of the frasfrant fumes of the different
kinds of incense imported from the shores of Arabia and
Africa, were tested with the same ceremonial rules that
we find afterward adopted in Japan. Prose authors and
poets of this dynasty in China descant alike on the merits
of the speckled black cups which they liken to the
plumage of the gray partridge {Perdrix cinered) and the
" leveret-streaked " or " hare's-fur " glazes of the pro-
ductions of the kilns of Chien-chou, which were dark
brown or black streaked with lighter spots of yellowish
tinge. There are the kilns at which Toshiro, the " father
of pottery" in Japan, acquired the rudiments of the art
toward the close of the Sung dynasty, and his produc-
tions and those of his immediate successors, figured by
Ninagawa Noritane, seem to be exact copies of the Chi-
nese originals as described above. The archaic shapes
are similar, and the pi'imitive technique is the same, the
way in which the glaze runs down outside and gutters
below, so as only partially to cover the bowl, leaving the
lower margin, as well as the foot, bare. The Japanese
in their estimation of the dift'erent kinds of pottery place
the Chinese or Korean specimens first, and their own
early reproductions next ; the tea-jars and tea-bowls are
wrapped in padded bags of silk brocade, inclosed in
lacquer boxes protected by outer cotton covers, and are
brought out by their ownei's only on special occasions, to
be handled with the greatest care.
The shapes and uses of Japanese vases are well de-
scribed by Sir Wollaston Fi-anks in liis introduction to
the native report on Japanese pottery which forms one
694 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
o^ the art handbooks of the South Kensington Museum.
The pottery utensils used in the tea ceremonies are a
furnace, water-vessels, jars to hold powdered tea, a pan
for ashes, and a tea-bowl. The furnace (fu/'o) is generally
a globular vessel on three legs, with openings in the
upper part to create a draught. Into this upper part fits
the vessel in which the water is boiled, a smaller repeti-
tion of the same form, with two handles and a lid. The
water-vessels comprise a vase or pitcher (midznrSasJii\
with a supply of fresh water for washing the utensils,
and a slop-basin (^nidzu-hohoshi) ; they are usually rudely
made, and often with lacquer covers. The tea-jars
(clta-ire), of which specimens are illustrated in Plates
CXIV and CXV, are generally small oviform vases of
hard pottery, with no decoration beyond the mottled
glaze, and with flat lids of ivory ; they are all of small
size, as the green tea is powdered and very strong,
besides being very costly. The tea-bowl (cha-wan) is
purposely very rudely made, and varies in shape. Some
tea-bowls are round shallow dishes, others tall and nearly
cylindrical ; the tea is not only made in the bowl, but
drunk out of it, and great care is taken to make the
edge smooth to the lips. The ash-pan (JioroJcu) is a
shallow pan of unglazed ware, with incurved rim. It
holds the charcoal ashes with which the brazier or fur-
nace is partly filled, as well as the urn in which the
incense is burned.
Incense-burning formed part of the tea ceremony, and
it was also a favorite pastime among the Japanese nobles
of old times, the incense game consisting of guesses of
the names of the perfumes that were being burned, with
forfeits, etc. The incense-boxes' (kogd) are of the most
varied shapes, generally small in size. The incense-
burner (hd)'o) also varies considerably. Some incense-
burners are modeled after old Chinese forms, others
CERAMIC ART IN JAPAN. 695
quaintly fashioned as men, animals, or birds, like the
urn of Hirado porcelain illusti-ated in Plate CX, which
represents a pup squatted on the ground, the head of
which, detached, forms the cover of the censer; others
are intended to be hung from the ceiling, like the old
Imari censer decorated in red and gold which is figured
in Plate CVI. The lower part of the censer is filled
with fine white ashes, with a piece of lighted charcoal on
the top on which the tablet of incense is placed ; on this
account the old incense-burners in collections sho^v no
marks of fire on the lower part, although begrimed with
smoke above and underneath the lids. They are used
occasionally as clove-boilers {clwji-huro) to perfume the
room with the aromatic odor of cloves.
A small earthenware hand brazier (shiti-rd) is used for
warming the hands, which is usually pear-sha23ed, with
an aperture in the side, and is modeled in many quaint
forms. A small charcoal burner of pottery is fitted inside
the iabakii-bon or portable tobacco-box, from which the
smoker lights his pipe, a miniature Jar of cylindrical
shape.
The objects intended for use on the writing-table are
generally fashioned after Chinese models, and we find
similar cylinders for holding the brushes, vases for water
to dip them in, brush-rests and ink-rests, paper-weights
of varied design, and small screen pictures mounted on
stands, miniature water-droppers for the ink-pallet, boxes
for the vermilion used for seals, small flower-vases, etc.
The flower- vases Qiana-ike) form a large class. Some
are adapted to stand upon the shelves of the recessed
alcove of the living-room, known as the tohonoma, others
to hang against one of the pillars, or to be suspended by
cords from the ceiling. These last are fashioned in all
kinds of designs, a gnarled branch of a fir-tree or a
jointed section of bamboo, a bunch of wistaria-blossom,
696 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
an old pine-cone, a gourd, a firefly, or a swallow beating
against tlie wall. Among ornamental pieces (ohimond)
made by the artist potters there is another long series of
figures of men and animals and other forms generally
taken from Nature.
Teapots and cups for ordinary tea-drinking, sake ket-
tles, bottles, and cups, water-bottles, and other domestic
articles, were also made by celebrated artist potters ; but,
as a rule, such articles as these, being for general use,
have been produced in the way of trade by less renowned
potters ; the great majority of domestic utensils for table
use are made of lacquered wood.
With reoard to the multitudinous modes of decoration
of Japanese porcelain, the subject motives of the pictures,
sacred and profane, and their relations to the art of
China and of the farther west, the w^orks on Japanese
art are so many, and generally so well illustrated, that a
short sketch of the bibliography may be the best way of
directing inquirers to the available sources of informa-
tion. The expedition of Commodore Perry in 1853,
and the treaty negotiated by him on behalf of the United
States, opened Japan to foreign intercourse, but it was
mainly by means of the great international expositions
that its wealth in art treasures was made known to the
outer world. The first collection was made for the Lon-
don International Exhibition of 1862 by Sir Kutherford
Alcock, Avho was then British minister to Japan, the au-
thor of the Capital of tJie Tycoon, an illustrated narrative
of a three years' residence in Japan (two volumes, 1863),
and also of a small volume on Japanese art industries.*
More comprehensive collections were sent to Paris in
1867, and to Vienna in 1873, under the direction of the
Japanese Government, who appointed special commis-
* Art and Art Industries in Japan. By Sir R. Alcock, K. C. B. 8vo.
London, 1878.
CERAMIC ART IN JAPAN. 697
sioners to represent tLem. Mr. W. T. Walters was offi-
cially connected with the Vienna Exposition, and availed
himself of this occasion of acquiring an interesting
series of objects of Oriental porcelain sent from Persia
by Prince Ehtezadesaltanet, an uncle of the Shah, of
which some of the Chinese pieces with Persian mounts
of chased metal have been illustrated in these pages.
A still more important display of Japanese ceramic
art appeared in 1876 at the Great Centennial Exposition
at Philadelphia, and there is a certain amount of authen-
tic information on the ceramic industry to be gathered
from the catalogue,* although the details are not so full
as in the official catalogue of the Exposition Universelle
of 1878 at Paris, which was also published under the
direction of the Imperial Japanese Commission, and to
which reference has already been made. It gives a
sketch of the history and technique, with lists of the
various materials with their Japanese names, that are
used at the different factories, and is a fund of exact
knowledge. The display of Japanese porcelain in the
Chicago Exposition of 1893 that was admitted into the
fine-art section was chiefly remarkable for showing some
indications of a recent renaissance in the art. The chief
representatives of the new school, according to the offi-
cial catalogue, are Seifu, Kozan, and Takemoto. Seifu
Yohei of Kyoto is placed in the very foremost rank of
Japanese potters, whether of ancient or modern times, and
called the Yeiraku of the Meiji era. His chief special-
ties are celadons, ivory-white and coral, but he also pro-
duces Jewelry ware showing vitrifiable enamels as pure
and brilliant and as perfectly applied as the best work
of former days, and canary-yellow glazes with reserved
* International Exhibition, 1876. Official Catalogue of the Japanese Section and
Notes on the Industry of Japan. Philadelphia : Published by the Japanese
Commission, 1876.
698 ORIENTAL CEEAMIC ART.
designs in rich blue of tlie K''ang-hsi type. Miyakawa
Kozan, better known as Makuzu, has his kiln at Ota, in.
the suburbs of Yokohama, and there is hardly anything,
in old Chinese ware that he can not reproduce. The
astute Chinese dealer is said to inclose Kozan's peach-
blooms, for example, in the traditional silk-lined box of
his countiy, and to sell them to trustful Occidentals
at figures commensurate with the magnitude of the
deception. The greatest success of the third potter,,
Takemoto Hayata, a resident of Tokyo, is declared to
have been his copies of the ancient Chien Yao, of the
Simg dynasty, characterized by a glossy black glaze,,
sometimes showing tints of raven's-wing green, striated
with hairlike lines of silver and dappled with golden,
brown, which he mounted with silver rims in traditional
fashion, but which, judging from the description, must
have far outshone the originals. In addition to these
three, Higuchi Haruzane is easily first among the Hirada
potters of the present day. He is distinguished espe-
cially for his success in the Chinese "rice-grain" per-
forated work of the last century.
The vase which was exhibited at the time as his mas-
terpiece is now in the Walters Collection, and is illus-
trated in Fig. 318. It is a beaker-shaped vase (liana-ike)^
nine and a half inches high, with a bulging body of
depressed globular form on a circularly rimmed foot, and
a wide neck spreading in a graceful curve into a slightly
flaring mouth. The decoration is painted in three
shades of uuderglaze cobalt-blue of soft tones, contrast-
ing admirably w^ith the milk-white surface of the piece,
and this again throws out effectively the pale-green,
waxlike translucency of the glaze with which the pierced
designs on the neck of the vase are filled. Three kylin
{cKi-liii) are displayed on the body in darker and lighter
shades of blue, drawn in the traditional Chinese style^.
CERAMIC ART IN JAPAN. 699
with the bodies of deer, unicorn dragon heads and flow-
ing tails, and with flames proceeding from their shoulders
indicative of their supernatural origin. A ring of orna-
mental fret encircles the foot of the vase, and a band
of paulownia sprays of conventional design winds round
the base of the neck. The pierced designs on the neck
represent two phoenixes coiled in medallions underneath
a fringe of scrolled clouds. The mark penciled under-
neath in blue in two columns of the tiniest characters
reads, Bai-hwa do Go Hei sei — i. e., " Made by Go Hei
of the Plum Blossom Hall."
To the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia we owe
the representative series of the olden ceramic wares of
Japan which is now in the South Kensington Museum,
having been transferred at the close of the exhibition in
accordance with an arrangement previously made with
the Japanese authorities, as explained in the catalogue *
which forms one of the museum art handbooks. A still
more valuable selection is contained in the special Franks
Collection, which was first exhibited on loan for some
years at the Bethnal Green Branch Museum, when the
catalogue f which has been so often quoted was issued.
The collection, with many additions made since the pub-
lication of the catalogue, is now in the British Museum,
having been presented by Sir Wollastou Franks, K. C. B.,
the accomplished collector and curator.
The first large special work on the subject published
in Europe was the ponderous and gorgeously illustrated
Keramic Art of Japan^X in which the more ornate vari-
eties of the decorated wares are reproduced in colors.
* Japanese Pottery. Being a Native Report, with an Introduction and
Catalogue. By A. W. Franks. 8vo. London, 1880.
I Catalogue of a Collection of Oriental Porcelain and Pottery lent for Ex/iibi-
4ion hy A.. W . Fr&nks. Second edition. 8vo. London, 1878.
I Keramic Art of Japan. By G. A. Audsley and J. L. Bowes. Folio, 1878,
1879. Imperial 8vo. London, 1881.
700 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
But in tliis, as the authors confess afterward, " some
quite modern works of Ota ware and Shiba decoration
were described as old Satsuma," although some of the
errors were corrected in the large octavo edition of the
book which was published later. Uniform with this is
the volume on Marhs and Seals,^ by one of the joint
authors of the Keramic Art, which is a valuable com-
pilation, as the marks are given in exact facsimile^
although not always correctly deciphered. The same
industrious author has also published a special work on
Enamels,^ and, more recently, another large illusti'ated
volume of 576 pages on Japanese Pottery % with a de-
tailed description of the productions of the different
kilns, followed by interesting notes on the chief motives
of decoration.
The art of Japan has been studied with much success
during recent years in America as well as in Europe, its
chief exponents being M. Louis Gonse in France, Mr.
William Anderson in England, and Professor Fenallosa
in the United States. The large work § of M. Gonse,
which is a veritable edition de luxe, is enriched by a
chapter entitled £tude snr La Ceramique, by M. J. Bing,
a well-known authority on the subject, who was good
enough to go through the Walters Collection with me
one day, with much profit to myself. A small handbook
by M. Gonse was issued in Paris in the following year,
under the same title of L^Art Japonais, as one of the
volumes of the BihliotTieqne de V Enseignement des Beaux-
Arts, with a section on La Ceramique which gives such
an excellent and succinct view of the artistic side of the
* Japanese Marks and Seals. By J. L. Bowes. London, 1882.
f Japanese Enamds. By J. L. Bowes, printed for private circulation, 1884,
and published in London, 1886.
X Japanese Pottery . With Notes on its Decoration and Illustrations from the
Bowes Collection. By J. L. Bowes. Liverpool, 1890.
§ L 'Art Japonais. Par Louis Gonse. 2 vols. gr. in 4to. Paris, 1885.
CERAMIC ART IN JAPAN. 701
industry that it lias been translated and reproduced in
the next chapter.
The excellent work of the German Professor J. J. Rein
may also be referred to for notes on the technique of the
ceramic industry taken on the spot. An English edition*
has been published in London, as Avell as one of the
general work by the same author on Japan. These two
works are the result of several years of travels and
researches in the country undertaken on behalf of the
Prussian Government.
The native literature of Japan upon the subject of
ceramic art is not so extensive as of China, partly because
in the latter country it has been more directly fostered
by the state, since the imperial manufactory was founded
at Ching-te-chen in the beginning of the eleventh cen-
tury, whereas in Japan the development of the industry
was left to private potters under the patronage of the
feudal nobles, who were wont to keep their methods to
themselves with the utmost secrecy. The first precise
details of the porcelain manufacture in Japan "were pub-
lished in 1856, as an appendix to Julien's book on Chinese
Porcelain, iii a short article on Imari-yaki, translated by
Professor J. Hoffmann, of Leyden, from an encyclopaedia
of the productions of the country printed in five volumes
at Osaka in 1799. Among the older books the one most
frequently quoted is the Man-po zen-sho, a general book
on art subjects in fourteen volumes, published in 1694.
A valuable recent record of the arts is the Kbgei Sliirio,
a compilation from older w^orks by Kurokawa Mayori
and Murayama, published in 1878, which is said to have
formed the basis for the government reports issued by
the commissioners of the international expositions already
referred to, and of most of the essays published in
* The Industries of Japan. By J. J. Rein, Professor of Geography in the
University of Bonn. London, 1889.
V02 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Europe. Mr. Bowes says, in the j^reface to his Japanese
Pottery :
"I have availed myself of this work for much of what 1 have
written about the earlier wares, witli which it chiefly deals; l)ut it
is singularly deficient in information about the brilliant develop-
ment of the artistic taste of the country which occurred under the
rule of the Tokugawa fainil}^ during the seventeenth and eight-
eenth centuries, when, without a doubt, the most exquisite exam-
ples of Japanese art were produced."
The same strictures might be applied to the illustrated
work ou pottery (tdhi) by Ninagawa Noritane, the late
archaeologist of the museum at Tokyo, which has been
quoted as the special native work on the subject, and
which has been partially and somewhat impei'fectly
translated into French. This forms Parts II to V of
the Kwam ho dzu setsu, " Illustrations of Antiquity, with
Plates and Descri^^tions," Part I being devoted to city
walls and fortifications, accompanied by photograj^hs,
and it was published in the tenth year of Meiji (1877).
If one turns, for example, to the section ou Satsuma
Yaki in Part III, one finds three specimens illustrated ;
one of these three (Fig. 25) is a narrow-necked vase
(tsifbo) of archaic form, ornamented with only a few
parallel rings round the gloljular body, and coated with
a green glaze, guttering below so as to leave an inch or
more of russet-colored paste exposed ; the other two
(Figs. 26, 27) are plain tea-jars (clia-ire) with small
loop handles, invested with yellowish-brown and dark-
brown glazes, the copper-colored feet of which are figured
separately to show different forms of the itoguiri or
concentric thread-marks. One would think that deco-
rated Satsuma hardly existed for the Japanese archae-
ologist, who, however, figures an interesting rice-bowl
of old Kutani ware in Part V, Fig. 74, and a more
CERAMIC ART IN JAPAN. V03
modern teacup of decorated Awaji crackled ware in
Fig. 30, tlie last plate of bis woi-k.
The latest book * from a Japanese hand has recently
been published in Paris, as one of the volumes of the
Petite Bihliotlieque d''Art et d'' Archeologie, piihliee sous
la direction de M. ICaempfen, Directeur des Musees
nationaux et de VJ^cole du Louvre. It is a compilation
from native sources, with the names of the authorities
generally appended to the quotations, and more care has
been taken with the dates than is the case with some
other Japanese books — the native report on which the
South Kensington Catalogue is based, for example. The
ceramic wares are arranged in tabular form according to
the places of production in the diffe^'ent provinces, with
the names of the first makers, when known, their dates,
and a sketch of their principal productions. The table,
with a few modifications of what seemed to be misprints,
and slight changes in transliteration, is given here (see
the next page), as a most useful summary of the indus-
try. The book takes the form of notes attached to the
Leadings of the table. The author's methods may be
gathered from a translation of his account of the Raku
ware of Kyoto :
"Raku-Yaki. — Tlie Raku-Yaki, one of the varieties of the Kyo-
Yaki, owed their origin to a Korean, a naturalized Japanese, of the
name of Anieya Yeisei (1504-1520). After his death his widow
continued his industr}-, becoming at the same time Ama ('bonzesse'
or Bnddliist nun), and lier ware was consequently given the name
of Ama-Yaki. Choyu, their son, made here, after a model given
to him by Senno Rikiu (1517-1591), the celebrated chajin who
reformed the code of the tea ceremonies, some cups with a black
glaze for Ota Nobunaga (1533-1582), who was then the real head
of the Shogun's Government, In the sixteenth year of Te)isJw
* La Ceramique Japoi^aise. Les principanx centres de fabrication ceramique
au Japan. Par Oueda Tokounosouke ; avec une preface par E. Deshayes,
conservateur-adjoint au Musee Guimet. Paris, 1895.
704 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
(1588), llideyoslii, who had become dictator at the death of
Nobunagu, and is better known under tlie name of Taiko-Sama,
ordered him to .make a set of cups of a reddisli-black color, with
which he was so thoroughly pleased that he gave him a gold seal
inscribed with the character Haku, part of the name of the palace
of Ju-Raku at Kyoto, where Ilideyoshi was then residing. Cho3^u
marked with it afterward all his pieces. It is starting from thi&
period that the name of Rakii was given to the ware made by him
and by his descendants. His cups were called Raku-oha-wan. In
the period Keicho (1596-1014) the gold seal was replaced with
a common seal.
"The Raku-Yaki are composed of a white clay without resist-
ance; it appears red when it is coated exteriorly with a 3'^ellow
earth which becomes red in the kiln; it appears black when a glaze
is used in the composition of which enter pebbles from the Kamo-
gawa (Kyoto) reduced to powder. The Raku-Yaki consist only of
Tezukune (articles fashioned by hand), and were all made without
the help of the potter's wheel or of the mold. This is why one
finds among the pieces that infinite variety of form which justly
constitutes their superiority over similar articles derived from
other sources."
The following is the genealogy of the Raku. They
are all called by the personal name of Kichizayemon :
1. Chojiro choyu (f 1592). 2. Chokei (f 1642). 3. Doniu
(t 1657). 4. Ichiniu (f 1696). 5. Soniu (f 1716). 6. Saniu
(t 1739). 7. Choniu (f 1759). 8. Seitoku (f 1778). 9. Riyoniu
(end of eighteenth century). 10. Tanniu (beginning of nine-
teenth century). 11. Keiniu. 12. Kichizayemon, our contem-
porary.
The interest that has constantly been taken by the
ruling classes of Japan in the ceramic art is proved by
an appendix attached to M. Oneda's work, which is
entitled " Maecenases and Grand Personages who are
cited in the Foregoing Notes as having patronized the
Ceramic Industry." It is a chronological list extending
over eleven pages, beginning with the Emperor Yuriaku
CERAMIC ART IN JAPAN. 705
(a. d. 457-476), who is recorded to have had earthenware
vases made for his own use at Fiishimi near Kyoto, and
ending with Senno Sohitsu, a master of the " Cha-no-yu,"
who ordered, in 1864, services of utensils for the tea
ceremonies from Zoroku, a celebrated potter of Kyoto,
and. rewarded him with a new name beginning with the
same initial as his own.
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CHAPTER XXVI.
A GENERAL SKETCH OF THE CERAMIC ART OF JAPAN.*
I.
. A MONGr all the arts of Japan, the ceramic art
JTJl. remained, down to the most recent times, the least
known to Europeans, and the one on the subject of
which the most erroneous ideas had become current. It
can not be said that this was because it had not already
attracted much attention. Considerably before the first
and timid essays of Albert Jacquemart there had been
long discussions about its history and about its pro-
ductions. Since the early part of the eighteenth cen-
tury collectors of Chinese porcelain have eagerly sought
for what was called in the lano-uasie of the dealers the
vieilles qualites du Japon. But, having started from the
outset upon a wrong track, it seemed that criticism w;a8
bound to be involved for an indefinite period in its
own errors. It required the thorough opening up of
Japan after the revolution of 1868, the points of contact
brought about by the great exhibitions of Paris, Vienna,
and Philadelphia, and the perseverance of two or three
collectors, to throw some light upon the real facts of the
ceramic history.
It is to M. Bing, the great Parisian importer of
Japanese objects, a scholar and at the same time one
*Thi3 chapter is a literal but slightly abridged translation of the article on
La Geramique in the manual of the Bibliotheqne des Beaux-Arts, entitled L' Art
Japonaia, by M. Louis Gonse, the author of the larger book witli the same
title referred to in the preceding chapter. It gives the latest views of the
accomplished author, and is a charming compendium of the subject from an
artistic point of view.
708
GENERAL SKETCH OF CERAMIC ART OF JAPAN. 709
of the most distinguished of collectors — it is to the rigor
of his methods, to the patieuce of his inv^estigations
begun at Paris iu 1878, pursued iu Japau itself, and
continued without intermission during the formation of
one of the most beautiful and most curious collections
that could possibly be seen — that we owe the first and
true clearing up of the question. To-day, thanks to
him, one can say that the history of Japanese ceramics
is made, the canvas is sketched in solid outline ; it will
be possible certainly to fill in details, but not to modify
essential lines.
The study of the questions which touch on the history
and on the classification of the ceramic productions of
Japan would demand developments which neither the
nature nor the extent of this volume allow. I shall
content myself with a rapid sketch of the question, and
shall refer those who are more specially interested in the
subject to the fine and very complete study by M. Biug,
which I have published in full iu my large work.*
As I have said elsewhere, Japanese pottery occupies,
in the family of the ceramic art, one of the first places,
if not the first. I say purposely "pottery," for it is
principally by their work in earthy clays, upon which
the varied play of enamel colors produces the liveliest,
the most sumptuous, and the most unexpected effects,
that tiie artists of Nippon have proved their superiority.
It is sufficient to remark in general terms that hard
porcelain occupies a secondary rank in Japan when com-
pared with that of the soft clays, the faience, and the
ordinary pottery. The kaolinic productions of the
Japanese, perfect as they are occasionally as examples
of successful kiln- work, are only in reality more or less
clever imitations of the admirable porcelains of China.
Tlie Chinese are the ])orcelainiers par excellence, the
* L'Art Japonais. Par M. Louis Gonse. Paris: Quantin. 2 vols. gr. in 4to.
710 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
uncontested masters of kaolin. The Japanese are potters
without rivals. With the former the interest of the
decoration is often subordinated to the beauty of the
materials or to the excellence of the workmanship ; ^vith
the latter, on the contrary, it remains always the domi-
nant aim. The picturesque effect, the advantage to be
gained from the splendor, the transparency, and the
vivacity of the enameled glazes : these are the preoccu-
pations of the Japanese potter. A marvelous instinct
for the laws of decoration has revealed to the Japanese
the fact that pottery, with its forms, its resources, its
infinite methods, offered an incomparable field for the
development of their imagination.
A disregard of this fundamental character of the
ceramic art of Nippon has been one of the most serious
obstacles to Europeans in their study of its history. On
no other question has there been a greater number of prej-
udices to be uprooted ; a priori, it has been necessary on
almost every point to take a stand against preconceived
views. The Japanese porcelains which had been the
delight of our fathers, the dishes and the jars from the
factories of Imari and Arita, decorated in blue, or with a
decoration in blue, red, and gold — all those pieces called
old Hizen, Avith which the Dutch had inundated Europe
during the course of the seventeenth century — were in the
eyes of the pure Japanese only second-rate productions
intended for commercial export. Down to these later
years, the true ceramic art of Japan, that I shall call the
national ceramic art, has remained absolutely unknown to
Europeans. It was with difficulty that a few rare pieces
from Kyoto, known to collectors as vieux truitS, were
brought over with the lacquer that came from that city.
Among the centers of the ceramic industry we knew only
the least interesting, those least appreciated by the natives
of the country, and those least endowed with any per-
GENERAL SKETCH OF CERAMIC ART OF JAPAN. 711
Bonal characteristics. It will be sufficient for me to
remark that the vast collections at Leyden, The Hague,
and Dresden, where Hizen pieces are to be counted by
thousands, do not offer for the visitor's notice a solitary
specimen from Kutani, from Kyoto, from Satsuma, from
Bizen, or from Owari — that is to say, not a single piece
to give him a glimjjse of the originality of Japanese taste
in ceramic matters. It is hardly credible, but it is so not-
withstanding. A stranger who knew nothing of Kouen,
of Nevers, or of Moustiers, or of the soft pates of Sevres,
would be in the same situation vis-d-vis France. The
worst of it is that these false opinions have the resistance
of the most obstinate prejudices ; it will require many
years still to make amateurs and dealers of the old school
understand that their empirical admirations have no value
from the Japanese point of view.
II.
The ceramic industry of Japan is divided, therefore,
into two thoroughly distinct branches : porcelain and
pottery.
The principal center of the porcelain manufacture is
the province of Hizen, where important deposits of kaolin
are found, especially on the skirts of the mountain of
Karatsu, which has in consequence given its name to the
primitive ceramic production of this province. The
pieces of Karatsu ware, dating back to the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries, that I have had before me for
inspection, were of a barbarous type ; they were uni-
formly coated with a gray enamel, rather coai'se, thick
and always crackled, after the fashion of the Korean pot-
tery of which they are simply an imitation.
It was a potter of the name of Gorodayu Shonsui who
brought from China, about 1520, the elements of the
Vl2 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
making of porcelain. The village which rose up round
his first kiln took the name of Arita. There is every
reason to suppose that the pieces that came from the
hand of Shonsui were timid copies of Chinese porcelain,
probably of small dimensions and of blue and white.
His two pupils, Gorohichi and Gorohachi, were already
more skillful. The pieces of theirs that I have seen, and
notably a bowl decorated with sprays, after the Persian
style, in blue upon a finely crackled gray ground, testify
to progress in the art, which was already at its highest
point at the close of the seventeenth century. Kakiye-
mon introduced at Imari, in 1647, the art of decorating
porcelains by means of vitrifiable colors relieved with
gold (Fig. 389). The Dutch, established at Nagasaki,
gave a vigorous impulse to the new productions ; the
exportation rapidly increased and created an almost
inexhaustible source of riches for the Prince of Hizeu ;
the town of Imari became the principal center of the
manufacture, and Europe was literally inundated with
its productions. The finer pieces of Imari may possibly
rival in technical execution the works of the Chinese
ceramic artists, but their decoration is a little mouoto
nous. They are generally mere productions of the w^ork
shop, on which, with rare exceptions, the personal
invention of the artist is not apparent. The best known
type, with a decoration of chrysanthemums and j^eonies,
in blue, red, and gold, has been classed by Albert Jacque-
mart under the name oifamille chrysantlierao-fceoni&Rne.
This is essentially an article of commerce, exempt from
any element of the unforeseen. The pottei's of Delft, in
Holland, devoted themselves to the imitation of its gen-
eral characteristics. Another type, the peculiar inven-
tion of Kakiyemon, is of a more delicate order. The
creamy and soft white of the enamel plays the principal
role here. The decoration, fired in the muffle stove, is
GENERAL SKETCH OF CERAMIC ART OF JAPAN. 713
composed generally of scattered blossoms, painted on
sparingly, of graceful birds, and of gardens with flowers,
which brinf out in its full value the exquisite finish of
the glaze. The paste is of the finest grain. It is from
the study of this type that the productions of Saxony
and of Chantilly were started. The pieces of this sort
have always been eagerly sought for by the aristocracy
of Japan.
In the course of the eighteenth century the same prov-
ince gave birth to the porcelain centers of Okawaji, of
Hirado, and of Mikawaji. The two last were particu-
larly devoted to the making of objects in pure wliite
without any decoration, or in blue and white (Fig. 391).
Fine pieces of Hirado are very highly esteemed. Their
white enamels have never, however, been able to attain
to the incomparable softness of the old white porcelains
of China. On the other hand, they excel the similar
Chinese things in the finish, variety, and grace of their
form. The incense-burners fashioned in the shape of
birds, pigeons, mandarin ducks, and other animals, or
of persons, are objects fit to figure in the most select of
collections.
Many potters of the other provinces have tried their
hands in kaolinic productions ; pieces of high artistic
interest and of great technical perfection have come from
the workshops of Kutani and of Kyoto ; but it is only
in the ceramic centers of Hizen that the art attained a
complete and continuous development.
III.
It is certain that the origin of pottery reaches back in
Japan to the highest antiquity. Japanese authors admit
generally that it was the ancient Korean productions of
Shiraki, Kudara, and Koma that supplied the first mod-
714 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
els for tlieir own indigenous productions. It is, on the
otlier Laud, no less certain that the primitive pottery of
Ja[)an 2)reserved during long centuries an absolutely
embryonic and barbarous character, approximating some-
what to the archaic pottery of the Troad and of Mexico.
In the fifth century kilns w^ere established in different
provinces ; but it is not till the seventh that we can
arrive at any precise indications. A Buddhist priest of
the name of Gryogi who had come from Korea and is
celebrated for the foundation of the temple of Todaiji,
where the treasures of the ancient emperors of Nara are
to be found preserved to the present day, gave a great
impulse to the ceramic industry ; he passes as having
been the inventor of the potter s wheel. A certain num-
ber of pieces made under his direction exist among the
treasures of the temple, and would give an idea of the
progress realized. One can also see in my work VArt
(Taponais (tome ii, page 249) the reproduction of a Gyogi
piece belonging to the magnificent collection of M. Bing.
The knowledge of the process of enameling dates in
Japan only from the ninth century. The first enameled
pieces called Seiji, AV'ith a glaze of neutral gray, recall the
ancient celadons. It is starting from this epoch that the
direct influence of China intervenes.
A curious fact to be noted is that the development
and progress of tjie ceramic industry in Japan coincide
precisely with the inti'oduction of the use of tea. The
necessity of obtaining vases w^ell adapted for the pres-
ervation of the pow^dered tea led the potters to decisive
researches. It is to a potter of the village of Seto, in
the province of Owari, that one owes the first tea-jars
called cha-ire, those little vases coated with beautiful
thick enamel colors, with ivory stoppers, which Japanese
amateurs keep tenderly wrapped up in silken cases in-
closed in double boxes. Toshiro had made the voyage
GENERAL SKETCH OF CERAMIC ART OF JAPAN. 715
to China in tlie beginning of the thirteenth century. His
works, so ardently souglit by collectors, justify tlieir
reputation by the remarkably fine grain of their paste
and by their warm and harmonious glazes. The imme-
diate successor of Toshiro ^vas Tojiro.
In reality, all Japanese pottery is derived, when its
origin is traced back, from the first workshops of Seto.
Hence the consecration of the term setomono (Seto
articles or objects) to denote ceramic ware generally.
The productions of Seto dominate the ceramic industry
down to the beginning of the seventeenth century, the
moment of the appearance of Ninsei, an artist of genius,
who was the veritable creatoi* of the national ceramic
art, and who even down to the present day remains the
greatest ceramiste that Japan has ever produced.
The three elements, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese,
are blended together in him ; and from their union
springs an original art armed at every point, the national
art, in one 'svord. An admirable logic, a powerfully
inventive spirit, a refined and exquisite taste preside
over the work of Ninsei. Not only does he invent and
bring to perfection the technical details, but he frees the
decoration little by little from Chinese conventionalities
a,nd endows it with grand ornamental laws after the
Japanese genius. He creates, so to speak, fundamental
forms of objects so perfectly adapted to their destination
that they have remained in current use ever since. The
work of Ninsei is marked with a popular character ; it
flows from an inexhaustible and charming fancy. His
researches opened up for his successors the boundless
field of polychrome decoration by means of vitrifiable
colors.
Ninsei was a native of Kyoto. The date of his birth,
as I have already said, is not known pi-ecisely, but it
must have been during tlie last quarter of the sixteenth
716 OEIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
century. He worked during the whole of tbe first half
of the seventeenth century, and died about 1660.
Before he devoted himself to the ceramic art he had
already acquired great renown as- a painter. He traveled
in succession through different provinces of Japan, and
visited the principal ceramic centers ; but it was at
K3^oto that he established his domain and founded there,
in the suburbs of Kyomidzu, Avvata, Mizoro, Seikanji^
Otawa, etc., his kilns, the chief of which exists down to
the present day, and still carries on his traditions. It is
to Niusei, and to Ninsei alone, that the glory belongs of
having made of the ancient capital the most energetic
and the most brilliant center of the ceramic art.
The works of Ninsei offer examples of the most varied
styles ; it seems as if each piece which came from his
hand were the fruit of a j^ai'ticular stroke of invention, of
a careful study of the art. The most popular creation of
Ninsei is that of a pottery with a fawn-colored, finely
crackled glaze, decorated with flowers in which blue and
green enamels enhanced by gold predominate. This^
industry, which is carried on at the present time in the
suburbs of Kyoto, principally at Awata, at Kyomidzu
and at Iwakura, is known to us under the general name
of "old Kyoto" ware. There are no ceramic produc-
tions that I prefer to it ; only the suj^erb faiences of
Persia appear to us capable of rivaling these pieces in
harmony and brilliancy. It is hardly necessary for me
to remark that authentic works of the great ceramic
artist are of extreme rarity. Care must be taken not to
confound with them the many pieces of later date which
bear his seal, and which are only the productions of his
workshop. The ancient specimens are recognized by the
fine texture of the paste, by the neatness and suppleness-
of the outline, by the warm transparency of the glaze,,
and by the opalescent reflections of the enamels.
GENERAL SKET(^II OF CERAMIC ART OF JAPAN. 717
The teachiiio-s of Ninsei had the most fruitful results.
Two artists of great renown, Kinkozan and Kenzan, made
Kyoto illustrious at the close of the seventeenth century.
The type created by Kinkozan is very remarkable ; it
is a nearly black " biscuit " of a very close and veiy
homogeneous texture, which sei'ves as a ground for enam-
els laid on in regular designs of marked relief, the prevail-
ing color being a dark blue, discreetly interspersed with
yellow, white, and green.
Ogata Kenzan, who lived from 1663 to 1743, was the
younger brother and pupil of the celebrated lacquer-
painter Koriu. His works are distinguished by an ex-
traordinary freedom in the decorations, laid on in large
masses, of powerful tone, among which emerald greens
give nearly always the predominant note with their
glowing reflections. They show "svell all the advantage
that can be gained from a simplification of the deco-
ration. With Kenzan this apparent artlessness is only
the result of profound technical skill. His fine pieces
are able to compete in the eyes of amateurs with those of
Ninsei. The originality of the forms, of the methods,
and of the designs is no less great. The sense of color is
even superior in Kenzan. From the standpoint of a full,
vibrating, and harmonious richness of enamel coloring, he
still remains without a peer. The matei'ial of Kenzan's
pieces is usually rather coarse, or at any rate light and
friable, and is consequently very inferior to that of Nin-
sei's ; their value consists in the splendid vesture with
which the artist envelops them. The originals can be
distinguished at a glance by a transparency and delicacy
in the enamels which no copyist has been able to imitate.
At the close of his life Kenzan migrated to Yedo, where
he founded the kiln of Imado. As M. Bing has very
justly observed, this ware presents beauties of a differ-
ent order, and constitutes a very marked evolution in
718 ORIEISTAL CERAMIC ART.
tlie research of color effects. In the place of the neutral
grounds on which liis brilliant sketches were first dis-
played, we have here luminous glazes of a highly vitreous
composition which enhanced the bold freedom of the
coloring.
Parisian collections contain very beautiful and very
numerous examples of the different styles of Kenzan's
^vork.
The history of the Kyoto factories gives us next the
names of Ogata Shuhei, who distinguished himself in the
modeling of little figures full of life and spirit ; of Moku-
bei and Kokubei, skillful in the finish of small miniature
objects, of boxes in the shape of animals for pei"fumes or
unguents ; of Dohachi ; and lastly of Yeiraku, the most
astonishing 'pasticlieur that the ceramic art has produced.
Yeiraku is in truth a surprising practitioner. His bowls
for the preparation of tea ai"e marvels of decorative inge-
nuity and of technical perfection. He is the last of the
great ceramists whose works are worthy of exciting the
passion of collectors.
Let us cite, in conclusion, among the special produc-
tions which have remained apart, away from the influence
of Ninsei or of Kenzan, the pottery of Raku, with mono-
chrome glazes becoming generally red or orange, blend-
ing with very friable pates, and the miniature figures in
terra-cotta of Ikakura Goyemon which are the Tanagra
of Japan.
Outside the province of Hizen, the only kilns in which
porcelain, properly so called, has been produced in at all
ancient times are those of Kaga. The center of the indus-
try, founded in the middle of the seventeenth century by
a potter named Goto Saijiro, who had gone and found
out the secrets of the manufacture at Arita, is found in a
locality called Kutaui. But the productions of Kutani
have never had, like those of Arita, a commercial charac-
GENERAL SKETCH OF CERAMIC ART OF JAPAN. 719
ter ; they were destined for the Prince of Kaga, for the
Shogiin, or for some of the celebrated cliajin. This is
what explains their great rarity and the high price that
they have alwa3's I'etained. They deserve, moreover, in
all regards, their celebrity. An artist of the school of
Kano, of the name of Morikage, was the inventor of the
artistic decoration at Kutani, and freed it from archaic
imitations.
At the end of the seventeenth century the art had
acquired a definite character which it has never since
lost. The type is well known ; its beauty resides in the
almost exclusive play of three tones of enamel color,
the effect of which in combination is admirable — green,
yellow, and violet. Fine pieces of Kutani, with their
thick and translucid glazes, have a brilliancy which can
vie with that of real jewels. The association of these
three colors, the intensity of which is multiplied by the
transparency of the glaze, produces upon the eyes a
voluptuous sensation, as it were, at least equal to that of
certain pieces of old Kyoto, Even the jlamhes of China
would almost pale before picked specimens of Kutani.
But of all the branches of the ceramic art of Japan, the
most celebrated, perhaps, is that of the faience of Sat-
suma; it is the one best kno^vn in Europe, thanks to the
productions imitated or painted with overglaze decora-
tions at Tokyo which have flooded our markets fraudu-
lently ticketed as Satsuma. All of those large vases,
flower-receptacles, and dishes of gorgeous aspect, loaded
with gold in relief, were for a long time taken for
authentic Satsuma. At first the dealers all became
enriched by this easy commerce, selling for a thousand
francs at Paris what they had paid fifty for at Yokohama.
The secret has been pretty well kept, so that even to-
day a number of people allow themselves to be taken in.
The pieces that came out of the Tokyo workshops are
720 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
at the same time extremely brilliant, and lend themselves
with marvelous effect as adjuncts in the furnishing of our
rooms. The best are made at Satsuma and decorated at
Tokyo ; these have a certain value in themselves.
One can lay down the general rule that all the pieces
that have come out of the prince's factory at Satsuma are
of small dimensions. One of the largest that is known
is the incense-burner in the form of a cat, executed about
1780, presented by the Prince of Satsuma to the Prin-
cess Tayasu-Tokugawa, and acquired since and brought
to Paris by M. Wakai. This classic specimen of Sat-
suma presents to us, like all the other pieces made for
the use of the Daimyos and of the Shoguns, a very dense
pate of extremely fine texture. The glaze, in play of
color, ranges from creamy white to the gilded tones of
old ivory ; upon this harmonious and soft ground, lightly
crackled, stand out enamels of tender and airy color, in
marked relief, in the midst of which shades of dead gold
marble blend with the most delicious effect. As M.
Bing has remarked, old Satsuma has the properties of
jewelry fully as much as of ceramic ware.
This artistic pottery owes its origin to the expedition
which the famous Taiko Hideyoshi made in Korea. It
is Prince Shimadsu Yoshihisa who brought back from
that country, in 1598, seventeen families of ceramic
workmen whom he established in the village of Nawa-
shiragawa. At first they contented themselves with
copying the Korean productions with a gray glaze, orna-
mented with regular designs in black or brown. It is
only from the beginning of the eighteenth century that
the delicately and niinutely crackled faience that has
become so renowned under the name of Satsuma dates,
and the first decoration of this was designed by potters
summoned from Kyoto for the purpose.
Apart from the production of this type the kilns of
GENERAL SKETCH OF CERAMIC ART OF JAPAN. 721
this province attempted also monochrome pieces, which
j)resent no decoration other than the exquisite colors of
their glazes. These exceptional productions are of the
greatest beauty and of the greatest rarity.
Among the other centers formed by the Korean
potters of 1598, or sprung directly from their influence,
it is necessary to mention the kilns of Yatsushiro, Agano,
Takatori, Odo, Hagi, Idzumo, Tamba, and Zeze, each of
which, in its own style, has produced some remarkable
types.
The potteries of Owari, illustrated by the ancient kiln
of Seto, had little by little fallen into decadence ; we see
them rise again for a moment in the seventeenth century
under the influence of two eminent artists, Shino and
Oribe. Their works present a character of remarkable
grandeur and simplicity. Shino has modeled statuettes
decorated in enamels of the grand feu which attest his
profound knowledge of sculpture.
The stoneware (gres) of Bizen are productions apart,
and their sj^ecial character does not attach them to any
of the types of which I have just been speaking. The
origin of these productions is purely Japanese, without
any trace of foreign influence, and appears to mount up
to the highest antiquity. The fine productions of this
princely faVjric, especially those of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, are particularly appreciated by
European amateurs. The baking of the j^^ste of the
Bizen ware is effected by a very violent fire, Avhich
imparts to it a beautiful brownish red and covers it, by
the fusion of the vitreous particles, with a sort of metallic
glaze. Bizen pieces bear no other decoration ; they are
generally personages or animals modeled with singular
power. The center of this industr^^ has been for cen-
turies past fixed at Imbe.
It is necessary to add to the list of these principal
722 OEEENTAL CERAMIC ART.
centers of the industry the names of those of less
antiquity, or less importance, of Soma (province of
Iwaki), of Akahada (province of Yamato), of Minato
(province of Idzumi), of Awaji, made illustrious in the
last quarter of the eighteenth century by a skillful and
ingenious artist of the name of Mimpei.
Some potters have practiced their art in an altogether
independent fashion, and have created kilns which have
disappeared immediately after their death. Such a one
is the old Banko, a pupil of Kenzan, who established
himself at Kuwana, in the province of Ise, and produced
there works of masterly skill and originality, often rival-
ing those of his preceptor. Such, again, is the celebrated
lacquer-painter Ritsuo, whose incrustations of faience
upon lacquer rank among the rarest and most precious
objects that Japan has ever produced. Such, finally, is
Koren, the lady modeler in clay, who is still living, and
whose works, instinct with spirit, are highly esteemed in
Europe.
Toshiro, Gorodayu Shonsui, Kakiyemon, Ninsei, Shino,
Kenzan, Banko, Kinkozan, Yeiraku, and Mimpei, these
are the names it is important to remember as dominating
the whole history of the ceramic art in Japan.
Modern productions are only a more or less adroit
imitation of the types created by those great artists.
The technical skill is always extremely high, of which
the elegant pottery wares of Kyoto, and the Kutani, Sat-
suma, and Imari pieces of modern days are a proof. The
current industry yields still to commerce some charming
productions, of exceptional cheapness when compared
with our own ; but it creates and invents no longer any-
thing that is worthy of comparison with the art-work of
the finest epochs.
1
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE PRINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. OWARI POT-
TERY AND PORCELAIN. KYOTO WARES. HIZEN PRODUC-
TIONS : OLD IMARI PORCELAINS, HIRADO BLUE AND
WHITE, ETC, SATSUMA FAIENCES, KUTANI OR KAGA
WARES.
I. OWARI.
THE collectors of Japanese ceramic wares and the
writers on tlie ceramic art of Japan may be divided
broadly into two schools. The one school is devoted to
the archaic and rustic potteries, coinciding in their views
with native connoisseurs, who prefer antique simplicity
and quaint originality of design to any other qualities.
Tlieir claims have been ably urged by an enthusiastic
advocate in the preceding chapter. The other school is
more attracted by the artistic decoration and harmonious
coloring of some of the old Hizen porcelains, by the sub-
dued tones and technical finish of the Hirado blue and
white, and by the soft shades of the enamel colors of
decorated Satsuma faience enhanced by the finely
crackled background on which they are displayed. The
latter school is fully justified by the beautiful specimens
of these classes exhibited on the shelves of the cabinets
in the Walters collection, as may be seen by the examples
which have been selected for colored illustration in these
pages.
The wares will be noticed in the order of the " Table
of the Principal Centers of the Ceramic Industry " given
on pages 706 and 707. The list is too long to allow of
a discussion of all the different kilns in the limited space
723
724 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
available here, so that reference will only be made to
those represented in the illnstrations. For the rest, one
may refer to the books the titles of which have been
given in the bibliographical section of Chapter XXV.
The first province in the list is that of Owari, which is
one of the earliest seats of the industry, and which was
so noted in early times that the name of its productions —
" Setomono " — has become a synonym for all kinds of
ceramic wares in Japan, in the same way as china with
us has become a common synonym for porcelains. It is
recorded in the official annals that three potteries of this
province were attached to the court of the Mikado in
816, and there are lists, under the years 905 and 1114, of
the articles of earthenware which were furnished at the
time for the use of the emperor. The first real progress
in the art is attributed to Kato Shirozayemon, a native of
the village of Seto, whose name is generally abbreviated
to Toshiro. He traveled to China in 1223, with a Bud-
dhist monk named Dogen, and stayed there five years,
studying the Chinese processes of manufacture. The
most highly appreciated ware at the tea-testing pai'ties
which were very fashionable in China at this time, as we
have seen, was the dark-colored pottery of the province
of Fuchien {Gliien Tz'u) flecked or dappled with lighter
spots, the tea-bowls of which were known to Chinese vir-
tuosos as " hare's-f ur bowls" or "gray partridge bowls,"
from the spotted aspect of the glaze. These wei'e the
manufactories, no doubt, that Toshiro visited, and the
tea-bowls and jars for powdei-ed tea made in the kiln
which he set up in his native village after his return were
fashioned, after the pattern of the old Chinese pottery of
the Sung dynasty, of a reddish-brown stoneware coated
with dark chestnut-colored mottled glazes, sometimes
sprinkled, we are told, with flying yellow spots. His
successors lightened up the russet and bronze-colored
THE PRINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 725
grounds with a translucent overglaze of golden }ellow,
or with viscid enamels of transmutation type wliicli
became streaked with hviWmut Jlcwihe tints as they gut-
tered down in the kiln over the surface of the jar, but
they always left part of the surface of the piece bare, so
that the perfect potting of the material might be appre-
ciated. Tea-jars (eha-ire) of a similar type were prodnced
in tnrn at the other kilns throughout Japan, and large
collections are made in the present day by the initiated,
who classify them with infinite pains according to the
texture and shade of coloring of the glazes, and according
to the microscopic structiu'e of the paste from different
localities examined with a magnifying lens.
Specimens of these tea-jars from different kilns are to
be found in Plates CXIV and CXV, and the coloi-ed
illustrations give an excellent idea of some of the differ-
ent forms, with their ivory lids, and of the varied coloi-ing
of the glazes, contrasted with the soft shades of the old
brocaded silk bags in which the little jars are wrapped.
The tea-jar in Plate CXIV, 3, is a ])roduction of the Seto
kilns in Owari which we are now discussino;. The water-
bottle (shahu-date) beside it (Plate CXIV, 1), made of a
similar brown stoneware of fine grain, coated with an
olive-brown glaze flecked with lustrous yellow spots and
overlaid with splashes of crackled oi'ange-yellow, is a
more recent production of the Fujina kilns in the prov-
ince of Idzumo, attributed to the beginning of the
nineteenth century. A marked improvement in the
manufacture here was due to a skillful potter named
Zenshiro, who, according to Oueda Tokonnosouke (loc.
cit, page 91), established himself at Fujina in the period
An-yei (1772-80), after an invitation from Matsudairo
Harusato, the daimyo of the province of Idzumo, and
made for him, after his designs, pottery for the clia-no-yiij
of which cult this prince was a great amateur. He was
726 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
succeeded liere in turn by Zenshiro II, Zenroku III, and
Zenroku IV, aud the fifth of the Hue, whose personal
name is Dentaro, is mentioned as still carrying on the
\vork in the present day. A tea-jar from the same kilns
of somewhat earlier date is exhibited in Plate CXV, 3,
and is described there.
The two tea-jars which are illusti'ated in the same plate
come from two other kilns, being specimens of Shigaraki
ware from the province of Omi, aud o"f Takatori ware
from the province of Chikuzen. The Shigaraki potteries
date from the Ko-an period (1278-87), but at first only
jars for storing grain and ordinar}"^ domestic utensils were
made, of a very hard, dense stoneware of grayish color
with a large admixture of sand, which is known as Ko-
Shigarahi, Ico meaning ancient. The first articles for the
cha-no-yu were made in the period Yei-sho (1504-20),
and the names of several of the celebrated masters of the
tea cult have been attached to varieties of this gray stone-
ware made under their instructions. In 1828, according
to the Franks Catalogue (loc. cit, page 41), the Shogun
of the Tokugawa family ordered the manufacture of tea-
jars called Koshishiro-TsuJceminii, since which the factory
has become still more noted for its jars, which are said to
preserve the flavor of the tea remarkably well on account
of the peculiarly hard, impervious quality of the j^wfe.
The Takatori-yaki is yet more famous. In Captain
Brinkle3^'s words :
" If popularity be any criterion of excellence, the first place
among the achievements of Taiko's imported artisans belongs to
the ware made by Shinkuro and Hachizo (natives of the ceramic
district of Ido in Korea) at Takatori in the province of Chikuzen.
Their earliest productions were after the Korean style, having
only one thin coat of diaphanous glaze, but subsequently, with the
assistance of Igarashi Jizayemon, a skillful potter of Seto, they began
to imitate the Chinese fiambe, glazes, and succeeded so admirably
THE PRINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 727
tliat their pieces wei-e unanimously pronounced the chefs-d''c/eicvres
of their times (1624-44). Something of tiiis esteem was no doubt
won for tliem b^' the patronage of the celebrated art critic Kobori
Masakadzu, Earl of Yenshiu, who at the request of Tadaynki,
Duke of Chikuzen, instructed * Shinkuro and Hacliizo in the
shapes and technical details of the pottery which best accorded
with the aesthetic code of the Tea Clubs, and afterward, selecting
certain of their best productions, gave them names indicative of
their peculiar merits. It is scarcely possible to overestimate the
value attaching to pieces distinguished by the approval of such an
amateur."
At a subsequent period of its history cleverly modeled
figures of mythological personages and imaginary animals
were turned out by the Takatori workshops for use as
incense-burners, alcove ornaments, and so forth, which
were coated with a thick, lustrous glaze of a jlarnhe
character, the general color being gray or buff passing
into green, chocolate, brown, or sometimes blue. The
large temple vase (Jiana-ike), eighteen inches high, shown
in Fig. 383, is of a more archaic type, being enameled
with a pale-green crackled glaze mottled with clouds of
olive tint, which only partially covers the surface, so
that the paste, of light-red color, is left unglazed round
the base. Outside the vase, modeled in slip in slight
relief, are the figures of three Buddhist saints, with
halos in the form of wide rings encircling their brows.
One is seated upon a rock in the attitude of meditation ;
another is elevating with both hands an alms-bowl, from
which a spiral column of water is ascending — the special
attribute of Ndgasena ; the third, apparently Vajra-
buddha, is leaning upon a long and knotted pilgrim's
staff. The mark stamped in an oblong panel is in-
* Hacliizo figures in our table as the founder of the Takatori factory. He
was the son-in-law of Shinkuro, according to Mr. Oueda, wlio says that it was
Hachizo and his son Hachiyemon who were sent by the dainiyo to receive the
orders of Masakazu in the period Kwaiujei (1624-43). According to him, the
principal glazes of the Takatori-yaki were white, light blue, and ash-colored.
728 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
scribed Taka (short for Takatori), iu a circle, and
Arashi Tanemune^ the uame of the potter.
To return to the province of Owari : One of the
minor productions of the kihis of Nagoya is tabulated
as Gempin-yalci, the name being that of a Chinaman
who became naturalized as a Japanese and established
himself there. He is wrongly called a Korean in most
Japanese books, even in tlie official reports of the Phila-
delphia Exposition. Indeed, one of the difficulties in
the discussion of ceramic art is the loose way in which
the Japanese writers on the subject apply the term
Korai^ properly Korea, to northern China, and Kochi,
properly Kochin-China or Annam, to southern China,
so that the influence of China on the industry is often
apt to be lost sight of for the moment. In this con-
nection the story of Gempin is worth relating, as told
by Captain Brinkley. In the year 1640, when the Ming
dynasty of China was on the point of overthrow by the
Manchu Tartars, four Chinese nobles came to Japan
to pray for aid against the northern invaders. The
Japanese were at first disposed to entertain the request,
but reflecting that they would be supporting rulers who
fifty years before had sent an army to oppose Hide-
yoshi's generals in Korea, they ultimately decided to
let the Ming fight their own battles. The fugitive
nobles were, however, treated with all courtesy. Con-
fided to the hospitable care of Japanese barons, three of
them seem to have passed the remainder of their lives
in uneventful seclusion, while the fourth, Gempin, resid-
ing at Nagoya, devoted his leisure to painting and
pottery-making. As an artist he possessed considerable
ability, but his ceramic efforts are not very creditable,
though much valued by the Tea Clubs. His pieces
consist of a crackled faience, decoi-ated sometimes with
archaic designs iu blue under the glaze, and sometimes
THE PRIXCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 729
with arabesques in relief. Genuine specimens are gener-
ally marked with his name in blue under the glaze.
Down to the beginning of the nineteenth century
nothing but faience was made in the province of Owari,
although it is to-day the principal center of porcelain
manufacture in Japan. The introduction of porcelain
was the work of Kato Tamikichi, a descendant of the
celebrated Kato Shirozayemon, the " father of pottery,"
who went to China in 1223. Tamikichi was sent to
Hizen in 1804 to study the processes of fabrication
there. It is said that he found the secrets of the manu-
facture so jealously guarded at the various potteries,
that it was not until his marria<2::e with the widow of
an Arita potter and the birth of his child seemed to
afford a sufficient guarantee of good faith, that his new
connections consented to instruct him. After he had
learned all he could, Tamikichi left his wife and child
to shift for themselves, and hastened back to Seto to
impart his knowledge to his old comrades, whom he
rejoined in 1807, after nearly four years' absence. He
was rewarded with a hereditary title of nobility by
the Prince of Owari, who belonged to the Tokugawa
family, and given the privilege of wearing two swords,
a rare distinction for a plain potter. The new industry
flourished apace, and within fourteen years some two
hundred potters had abandoned their old work to take
up porcelain. From the first, decoration in blue under
the glaze (sometsulce) has been a specialty of this prov-
ince, and its blue and white production fifty years ago
is said to have been second to none in Japan. It is
famed to-day for colossal dishes over five feet in diame-
ter, slabs for tables mounted upon baluster stands, and
temple lamps nine feet high ; but the cheaper smalt
imported from Europe has usurped the place of the old
cobaltiferous ores of China, and scarcely a memory re-
730 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
mains of the pure, rich blue of former times, blending
so softly with the fluescent paste.
The decorators of Owai'i porcelain, however, have not
confined themselves to the use of blue under the glaze.
Since 1820 enameled ware has been made at Inazi in the
old Chinese style of the Ming dynasty, a white porce-
lain painted with designs roughly executed in red and
green enamels with an occasional addition of blue under
the glaze. Another variety is decorated with figure
subjects in red and gold upon a white ground, so as
to resemble in general effect modern Kaga porcelain.
Of late years the Owari potters have developed consider-
able skill in the use of colors of the grand feu, and
many pieces decorated in sea-green, maroon, and blue
are exported. Celadon monochromes are also made,
and a species of jlanihe ware in which chocolate color
predominates. There is hardly anything that is not
atten^pted in the jiresent day, but the methods are
rough, and it would not be a great loss to art if the
potters confined themselves to the making of household
utensils, which seems to be their proper field. A large
quantity of their ware is taken to Tokyo to be deco-
rated in enamel coloi's, so that the two places in com-
bination have been fitly styled the Stoke-upon-Trent
of Japan.
Seto itself produces all the materials necessary for the
making of ordinary pottery, but most of the ingredients
required for porcelain have to be brought from Kamo, in
the adjoining province of Mikawa.
The Toyosuke ware was first made by a potter of this
name at Aichi, in Owari, about 1825. It is a ci"ackled
faience thinly coated outside with lacquer delicately
painted in gold. Of less, if an}^, ai'tistic value is the
cloisonne enameling upon porcelain as a base, which dis-
credited the workshops of Nagoya for a few^ years subse-
THE PKINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 731
queiit to 1870, before the liappy renaissance of the
ceramic art which has since appeared.
II. KYOTO.
The origin of the potteries of Kyoto, the old capital
of Japan, is lost in antiquity. Tradition ascribes to the
celebrated priest Gyogi, about the Tembio period (729-
748), the fabrication of earthenware vases at Chawan-
saka (Hill of Cups), where the present village of Sei-
kanji, near Kyoto, is situated, which is still the pi'incipal
center of the manufacture of the Kyomidzu wares.
There were gradual improvements in the technique of
the ware as time went on, but it was the celebrated
potter Ninsei, in the seventeenth century, whose work
brought it to the prominent position, from an artistic
point of view, which it has since enjoyed. He has been
justly given the same place in Japanese ceramics as that
occupied by Bernard Palissy in Europe, and a short
sketch of his career, as given by Oueda Tokounosouke,
may not be out of place here.
Nonomura Ninsei, whose proper name was Seibei. later
Seizayemon, was a native of the province of Tamba. In
his youth he learned the ceramic art from a naturalized
Korean potter of the name of Butsuami. Having come
to Kyoto in the Gemva period (1615-23), he continued
his apprenticeship at the atelier of an artist of Seikanji.
He was attached afterward as potter to the imperial
Prince of Ninwaji, who authorized him to adopt his own
initial, Nin. Hence the name of Ninsei, which is com-
posed of this initial {Niii) and of the initial of his own
proper name {Sei). Ninsei received later from the same
prince the honorary title of Harima no Daijo (a high
official grade of the province of Harima). He died at
Omuro in the period Manji (1658-60).
732 OKIENTAL CEKAMIC ART.
Ninsei established a succession of kilns in the vicinity
of Kyoto, at Mizoro, Omuro, Iwakura, Awata, Seikanji^
etc., where he adopted the different processes of Seto, of
Hagi and Matsumoto, in the province of Nagano, of
Shigaraki, in the province of Omi, etc., as well as the
methods imported by the first Korean potters. He
excelled especially in making objects for use in the
Tea Ceremonies, of ndchii-sashi (water-bowls), dishes,
plates, and such like; a great mnnber of his pieces
were painted, and their designs are the work of the
celebrated painters Kano Taniu and Kano Yeishin, his.
contempoi'aries.
This celebrated potter, who enjoyed a very great
renown, had numerous imitators even during his own
lifetime. In his later years, during the Meireki period
(1655-57), he succeeded in producing pieces decorated in
several colors (I^isJiilcide), which were much admired^
thanks to secrets of technique revealed to him by a
merchant of Kyoto named Chawanya Kiubei, who had
learned them himself from Aoyama Koyemon, a native of
Arita. The Arita potter was afterward prosecuted, and,
it is said, crucified in his own province for having
divulged the secrets of the Hizen kilns, and the Kyoto
dealer became a lunatic at the neAvs of the execution of
his friend.
After the death of Ninsei the Kyo-yaki was divided
into tw^o main branches, the Aioata-yaki and the Kyo-
midzu-yciki. The names of his principal successors have
been given in the preceding chapter.
One of the cleverest of the Kyoto potters, in the esti-
mation of his own countrymen at least, ^vas Mokubei,
who flourished at the beginning of the nineteenth cen-
tury. This is said to be an abridgment of the name
of Aoki Yasohachi, a native of the province of Owari.
In his later vears he became deaf, and took the name of
THE PRINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 733
Robei, TO meaning deaf. From liis youth lie showed a
great taste for art and antiquity, and his imitative ability
procured for him the title of the best artist of modern
times. He afterward embraced the career of a potter,
and succeeded in rivaling by his talent the works of
Ninsei and Kenzan. He is credited Avith the introduc-
tion of molds into Japan, and of many other novel
processes derived from a study of Chinese works on the
ceramic industry, and he also published a work of his
own on the subject. There was nothing that he did not
succeed in reproducing, and so perfectly as to deceive the
greatest cei-amic experts of his time. The enameled
stonewares of southern China, the ordinary decorated
porcelains and celadons of China, the encaustic inlaid
pottery and the ivory-white porcelain of Korea, aie said
to have been copied by him with success. In the fifth
3^ear of the period JBunsei (1822) he constructed private
kilns for the imperial Prince Seiren-in, and made sets of
utensils for the personal use of the princes of Kii of the
Tokugawa house. He died in the year 1832.
The vase {liana-ike)^ seventeen inches high, in Fig.
397, is an example of his work, being decorated in bright
enamel colors, with gilding in Chinese style. The colors
comprise red, green, black, and a light translucent blue of
turquoise tint. The three figures inclosed in three lai'ge
oval j^anels represent the Buddhist Trinity, Sakyamuui,
Samantabhadra, and Manjusri, displayed upon a back-
ground of variegated clouds, their heads encircled by
golden halos. The Buddha is seated on a mat of leaves
upon a rock, his forehead marked with the sacred urna,
and a gilded lishnisha projecting in the midst of the close
black curls of his hair, his hands folded under his robe,
which is brocaded with lotus-flowers. Samantabhadra,
as seen in the picture, is seated upon an elephant, reading
from an open book. Manjusri, upon a grotesque lion,
734 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
holds a rolled scroll in one band, a coral scepter {ju-i) in
tlie other.
The panels are framed by green bands of fi-et, and
bands of similar design encircle the upper and h)\ver
rims of the vase. The space between the panels is lilled
with a close reticulation of floral scrolls of lotus pattern,
extending up to the middle of the neck, which is marked
by a sunk ring containing panels of lotus-blossoms
penciled in gold. The upper part of the neck is dec-
orated with three conventional phoenixes displayed in
colors on the same red backo^round as the lotus scrolls
below.
The mark, written underneath in red within a double
red ring in two columns, is Ko-ki-kwan Mohu-hei tsuhunt,
"Made by Mokubei at the Hall of Ancient Wai-e."
III. niZEN.
The province of Hizen contains many porcelain manu-
factories, and has from tlie first occupied the foremost
rank in Japan for its artistic productions in that material,
Kyoto being moi'e famous for its art work in ordinary
pottery than for its porcelain. Tradition can-ies bnck
the origin of the ceramic industry in this province to the
time of the Emperor Kotoha^ who reigned from 645 to
654.* A few specimens of the primitive pieces made
here hav^e been pi'eserved, vases made of an intensely
hard refractory clay, uncoated with glaze. The earliest
kilns were in the vicinity of the harbor of Kai-atsu,
where the first glazed pottery was made in Japan, and
where gradual improvements were introduced into the
■*It was in the reign of this monarcli that the old method of counting years
by the reigns of the emperors was abandoned in Japan, and the Cliinese sjstcm
of counting by periods called Nien-hao (in Japanese Nen-go) was adopted. The
first period (645-49) was called Tai-kwa. — Editor's Note.
THE PRINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 735
manufacture under the influence of the early Korean
teachers. Tlie first of them was naturalized under the
name of Koji-ro Kwauja, and there is a temple dedicated
to him in one of the adjoining mountains at which the
pottei's still offer incense. In the beginning of the
Keicho period (1596-1614) the daimyo of Karatsu
transferred the Avorkshops, which had previously been
within the walls of his castle, to a locality called Kara-
bori (" Chinese canal "), in a quarter of the town named
Tojin-machi ("Chinese quarters"), where he established
a number of potters who were brought over at that
time from Korea. Many kinds of Karatsu-yaki are de-
scribed, but they are all stonewares of primitive type,
comprising principally articles of ordinary domestic use
and utensils for the tea ceremonies. The factory is now
in a state of decay.
The other ceramic productions of the province of
Hizen are all grouped together under the heading of
Imari-Yaki, Imari being the name of the seaport at
which they are shipped to be distributed to other parts
of the empire. There are many different factories, but
the three principal productions from an artistic point
of view are those of Ai-ita, Okawaji, and Mikawaji
(Hirado). Arita is the most important center of porce-
lain manufactui-e in Japan. It is about fifty miles to the
north of Nagasaki, and its potteries were the source of
the "old Japan" porcelain which the Dutch imported
into Europe in such large quantities during the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuries ; the first export of
pieces ornamented with colored enamels, in gold and
silver, etc., having been, according to the official Japanese
report, in the second year of SJio-lw (1645). Okawaji is
about eight miles to the north of Arita. It Avas the seat
of the private factory of the princes of Nabeshima,
established there in the middle of the ei2:hteenth cen-
736 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
tiiiy, their previous locality, close to Arita, having been
found to be unfavorable to the maintenance of the
required secrecy. The porcelain made here was in-
tended for presentation to the Shogun or to the friends
of the daimyo, the rest being reserved for his own per-
sonal use, so that specimens are comparatively rare in
private collections. The third factory at Mikawaji was
under the special patronage of the house of Hirado, and
produced the plain white ware of finest texture and the
soft-toned blue and white of perfect technique, which ai-e
usually given the first j)lace among the porcelains of
Japan. •
The introduction of real porcelain-making into Japan
is attributed to Gorodayu Shonsui, who went to China
to study the art, and returned to his own country in the
year 1513. After his return he settled in Hizen, and
succeeded in making a ceramic ware decorated in the
Chinese fashion with cobalt under the glaze, although
authorities differ as to the kaolinic structure of the
material. A specimen of porcelain said to have been
made by him in China and marked with his name, as
inscribed below, is preserved in Japan at Nara. The
small brush cylinder in the Walters Collection which is
inscribed with his mark is shown in Fig. 396, although
it would be rash to guarantee its authenticity. It is a
little cylinder, five inches high, with a serrated rim,
painted under the glaze in dull blue with flowering trees
and storks. Through the large oval perforation which
is pierced in one side is seen the mark, penciled in blue,
of Go-ro-da-yu go Slion-sui ts'ukuru, " Made by the honor-
able Gorodayu Shonsui." *
* No Japanese collection seems to be complete without a specimen with this
mark. Cf. Franks's Collection of Oriental Porcelain (Plate XIV, Fig. 183), and
Bowes's Japanese Marks and Seals (Hizen Pottery, No. 81). In the latter case
it is strangely deciphered Go-ro-ta-narabini Slio-zui sin-zo, "Made by Gorota
and Sho-zui together."
THE PRINCIPAL CERA^JIC WARES OF JAPAN. 737
The first of the Arita kilns was founded in the period
KeirchO (1596-1614) by the Korean Li-Sanpei, one of
the many potters brought over to Japan by Nabeshima
Naoshige on his return from the exj^edition to Korea.
After many researches he discovered the necessary
materials in the Idzumi Mountains near the village of
Tanaka, which was afterward called Arita. Damaged
pieces of his fabrication found on the sites of the old
kilns, and preserved in collections under the name of
horidashite, "dug up from the ground," have a white
kaolinic paste. Li-Sanpei, after his naturalization, took
the name of Kane, the Japanese pronunciation of Kin-
Ko, the name of the place where he was born. Several
branches of his descendants are still living, and carry on
the same industry, having changed their name from
Kane to Kanegae.
We may follow Oueda Tokounosouke again in his
account of the Arita kilns. In the seventeenth century
the development of the ceramic industry in the domains
of the princes of Nabeshima was very considerable. One
consequence of this was the destruction of the forests
round all the centers of the industry, and about 1610
orders were issued by the prince prohibiting eight hun-
dred Avorkmen from carrying on their business as potters,
and giving the monopoly of the industry to the Koreans.
In spite of this prohibition, however, a certain number
of Japanese potters succeeded in getting the permission
of the authorities to continue their work. The interdict,
instead of arresting the progress of the industiy, con-
tributed to its prosperity by giving the monopoly of the
manufacture to a certain number of families. Skillful
artists appeared in succession, who distinguished them-
selves by the production of true objects of art. It was
not, however, till the Sho-lw period (1644-47) that a
native of Imari, Toshima Tokuzayemon, learned from a
738 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Chinese traveler at Nagasaki tlie method of decorating
porcehiin with metal.* The process was indicated to
Sakaida Kakiyemon of Nankawarayama (who had, it is
said, served his apprenticeship in the workshops of
Goroshichi, a potter of the house of Hideyoshi), but he
failed in his first attempts. It was not till the aid of
Gosu Gombei had been enlisted, and after many years of
research and repeated experimental trials, that Kakiye-
mon succeeded. The productions of this novel fabrica-
tion, very similar to those of the same class made in
China, were exported afterward in their turn into this
last country from the port of Nagasaki.
In the period Kuam-Jmn (1661-72) a Prince Date, of
Sendai, sent to Arita a porcelain dealer of Yedo, of the
name of Imariya Gorobei, to order some things to be
made thei'e. He took back with him, after two years'
stay in this place, some articles made by Tsuji Kizaye-
mon, who had the reputation of being a clever potter.
The articles were offered by Prince Date at the court of
the emperor, and Kizayemon was afterward a[)pointed
imperial purveyor and commissioned to send an annual
supply to the court. The vases sent to Kyoto for the
personal use of the sovereign were painted with chrys-
anthemum-flowers, the arms of his house, and decorated
with flying storks, emblems of longevity according to-
Japanese symbolism. The grandson of Kizayemon, Ki-
heiji, who became in his turn court pottei', was honored
with the official title of "Hidachi no Daijo." It was he
who is said to have accidentally discovered the use of
seggars. He employed two kinds, the ordinary cylindri-
cal cases piled in columns, in which the more common
pieces were fired, and sepai-ate seggars covered with lids,
* It is uncertain whether the term " metals" {kane) used here refers to gold
and silver only, or comprises other metal oxides as well, so as to denote enamel
<5olor generally.
THE PRINCIPAL CEKAJIIC WARES OF JAPAN. 739
the joints of which were luted so as to be hei'metically
sealed, and which had to be broken when the baking
was completed. Tsiiji Katsuzo, a descendant of Kiljeiji,
is one of the cleverest manufacturers of the present day,
and is specially skilled in pierced work, specimens of
which have been shown by him in the international
exhibitions. He is also one of the court purveyors, and
is besides a leading member of the " Koransha," a com-
pany recently founded at Ai'ita to encourage foreign ex-
port. There is now a technical school at Arita, which
was established in 1880, to teach the ceramic art in all
its branches, and to foster the so-called modern improve-
ments, which threaten to replace the individual touch
which has always been the chief charm of Japanese art,
by mechanical perfections of machinery and plaster-of-
Paris molds, and by the use of the most recondite chemi-
cal colors of the grand feu of Sevres.
The situation of the province of Hizen, immediately
opposite the coast of Korea, made it the chief medium of
the introduction of improvements in the ceramic art of
Japan at a time when dii-ect intercourse between Japan
and China was interrupted. Its ports have, at the same
time, been the means of its export from Japan to the
outer world. The Portuguese made their first appear-
ance there in the year 1542, but we hear nothing of the
import of porcelain into Europe by them, or by the
Spaniards. The Dutch came in 1609, sent a deputa-
tion to Yedo to the Shogun lyeyasu, and were given
authority by him to trade. They established their first
factory at Hirado in the following year, and after the
expulsion of the Portuguese a few years later the mo-
nopoly of the foreign trade remained in their liands,
with occasional interruptions, until Commodore Perry's
expedition in 1853. The Dutch were established at
Nagasaki in 1640, when they occupied the small island
740 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
of Deshima, and Av^ere allowed some miuor facilities for
trade. This, together with a like limited arraugemeiit
with the Chinese, was the sole foreign intercourse al-
lowed by Japan for more than two centuries.
China was devastated by the inv^asion of the Manchu
Tartars in the middle of the seventeenth century, and
the porcelain factories at Ching-te-chen were practically
closed for more than fifty years, which cut oft' the sup-
plies which the Dutch wanted for Europe. This led
them to foster the new industry in Japan, and Imaii
became the chief source of the export of porcelain till the
Ching-te-chen factories were opened again in the early
part of the reign of K'ang-hsi (1662-1722). The porce-
lain made under their auspices in Chinese style was
decorated with Chinese subjects and inscribed very often
with marks of the Ming dynasty of China.
Typical specimens of this " old Japan " Imari class
liave been illustrated in colors in Plates XCV, XCVII,
XCVIII, XCIX, and CV, and need not be further de-
scribed. Two more examples are shown in Fig. 398,
a large circular dish with a floral decoration of the kind
that has earned for the class the name of famille clirysan-
tJiemo-peonienne, and a tall jar (Fig. 399) decorated ^vith
figure subjects and panels of pierced trellis-work.
Round Dish, twenty-two inches in diameter (Fig. 398), deco-
rated with underglaze cobalt-blue in combination with enamel color
and gilding. The center is filled with a basket standing upon a
railed balcony containing a formal bouquet of peonies and cherry-
blossom flanked by two birds. The border is decorated with sprays
of chrysanthemums, interrupted by lambrequins containing alter-
nately peonies and butterflies displayed in colors upon backgrounds
of mottled blue. The under edge is decorated with three sprigs of
plum-blossom. There is no date inscribed underneath, but a num-
ber of large " spur-marks " are visible on the glaze.
Jar, with coyer, thirt\'-otie inches high (Fig. 399), of ovoid form
with rounded octagonal section, painted in underglaze cobalt-blue
THE PRINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 741
of full tone filled in with enamel colors and gilding. The shoulder
of the jar and tlie vault of the cover are pierced with alternated
lozenges and medallions of trellis-work, interrupting mottled blue
bands, overlaid with scrolls penciled in gold. The rims are
encircled by similar bands of blue and gold, three in number,
interrupted by smaller panels of the same shape painted alternately
with sprays of peony and storks. The blue bands are succeeded by
narrower bands of floral sprays upon a white ground. The floral
bands inclose the main decoration of the jar, which consists of four
panel pictures of Japanese execution in Chinese st\de. Two of
these panels contain outdoor scenes, with figures standing on a
balcony and horses in a meadow; the other two are filled M'ith
formal vases of flowers.
The two smaller pieces sliown in Figs. 400 and 401 are
still more markedly inspired by Chinese models, the first
being shaped in the form of the fish-dragon (ifii-lung),
the AN'-ell-knowu symbol of literary genius and success ;
while the second, although, of more modern date, might
almost be mistaken for a specimen of the old famille
verte of the IVang-lisi epocli.
Water- Vessel for the writer's table (Fig. 400), seven and a
quarter inches high, molded in the shape of a fish with a two-
horned dragon's head, its tail curved as if leaping from the water.
Additional support is afforded by one of the posterior fins, and by
a tassel suspended from a cord which passes through the dragon's
mouth. The details are painted in dark cobalt-blue; the project-
ing fins of the fish-body, as well as the bullock-like horns and the
long mustachios of the dragon head, are enameled black overlaid
with gold. There is a mark written in the same underglaze blue
within the throat with the inscription Ta Ming Ghia-ching nien
chih — i. e.,"Made in the reign of Chia-ching (1522-66) of the
Great 3fmg [dvnast}^]," but this piece is evidentl}'^ a Japanese pro-
duction of the fifteenth century.
Sake-Pot, of quadrangular section (Fig. 401), eight inches high,
enameled in colors. It is covered with a scrolled ground of dark
green penciled with black lines inclosing cJi'i-lin conch-shells, and
scattered plum-blossoms, filled in with deep red, pale yellow, and
742 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
manganese purple. A border of crested waves extends in wliite
reserve round the bottom, and the rims are touched with yellow-
brown. Tliere is a mark penciled in blue underneath in Japanese
style, with the inscription Fu ki cJio mei, "Riches, rank, and long
life! " a reproduction of the common Chinese mark Fu kuei cICaug
rning.
The next kilns to be noticed in the province of Hizen
are those of Okawaji (or Okochi). This was the private
factory of the princes of Nabeshima. The kihis were
first established at Iwayagawa, close to the Arita, in the
period Kio-hio (1716-35), but were moved afterward to
their present site, and their productions were ordered to
be reserved entirely for the prince's own use or for pres-
entation purposes, their sale being strictly prohibited.
Great care was taken in the refining of the clay and in
the enamel decoration, which is distinguished by the
prevalence of clear pale tones contrasting excellently
with the pure white paste, a light red color, almost
orange, being especially characteristic. There is never
an excess of ornament, and the style closely resembles
that of the earlier Imari productions which have been
referred to under the name of fmnille artistique, and are
sometimes know^n as the genre Kakiyemon. The designs
are generally somewhat stiff and conventional, but charm-
ing medallions are found with well-drawn birds and ani-
mals and delicately executed floral sprays. Among the
productions of this factory selected for especial notice are
a variety of tea-bowls and sake-cups of delicate texture
known as hushite, " comb-teeth-" because they were orna-
mented with decorative borders composed of closely set
parallel lines resembling the teeth of a comb.
The example of Okawaji ware shown in Fig. 390 is of
rough type and more rustic aspect. It is a sake-bottle
{tokuri) nine inches high, of oval bladder-like form with
irregularly compressed sides, coated with a glaze of
THE PRINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 743
greenish celadon color, deeply crackled throughout with
a network of dark-brown lines. The foot-rini is iron-
gray of a reddish tint. It is decorated in enamel colors
of subdued tone, in combination Avith touches of gold,
with a maple-tree in autumn-tinted foliage, and an old
man standino; on a walk underneath, holdino; iu his hand
a screen fan mounted upon a long handle. The date is
said to be about 1750.
The celebrated Hirado ware ranks as another of the
ceramic productions of the province of Hizen. It is also
known as Mikawaji-yaki, from the name of the district
where it is made, some fifteen miles south of Arita.
The kilns, which are still working to-day in the village
of Oriose, were originally called HiroAlo-gama, or " Hi-
rado kilns." They were founded by Sannojo and his
son Jo-en, who established themselves at Oriose, in the
Keicho period (1596-1614). Sannojo was a son of one
of the Koreans who followed the Prince of Hirado of the
house of Matsura on his return from the Korean expedi-
tion, and who had previously set up kilns at Nakano, in
the district of Matsura, under the patronage of this
prince. Jo-en made a " blue and white " (so7iietsuke)
faience from materials which he discovered at Eo^ami.
Several of his descendants moved afterwaixl to Kiwara
and Enaga, which became known, with Oriose, as the
"Three Porcelain Hills" of Hirado.
The industry made great progress in the period Shotohu
(1711-15^, thanks to a native of the locality named
Yokoishi Toshichibei, who made the first fine })orcelaiu
by mixing the earth previously used with another kind
obtained by him from Amakusa.
It took a new stride in advance after the establishment
in the period Horehi (1751-63) of new kilns, which the
Prince of Matsura reserved exclusively for the making of
articles intended for his own use, or for presents to the
744 orip:ntal ceramic art.
ShogUQ at Yedo, or to his dainiyo friends. Among the
pieces made at these private kihis, a favorite decoration
was a sketch of Karako (" Chinese boys ") playing around
pine-trees. These are described by Japanese connoisseurs
as real works of art, the finest representing a group of
seven children, the others either five or three. Anotlier
class of pieces decorated with relief work of marvelously
delicate execution are not less appreciated by Japanese
collectors.
An illustration of the Karako decoration is presented
in Fig. 402. It is a cake-dish (^Kashizard)^ nine and
a half inches across, of quadrangular outline with the
corners beveled oft", and a nearly flat surface gently
sloping from the straight rim, painted in soft tones
of grayish-blue, with the sketch of a garden scene dis-
playing a group of seven boys, in Chinese dress, quarrel-
ing over an interrupted game of go under the shade of a
spreading pine. Fig. 386 may be referi-ed to as another
instance of the same decoration. It represents a small
incense-burner with a pierced outer casing, through the
interstices of which can be seen a picture of five children
playing in a garden, painted in blue upon the inner
cylinder, while a pine-tree spreads its branches in solid
relief across the open grating of the cover.
The blue of the Hirado porcelain is a soft grayish-blue,
specially attractive from the purity and perfect harmony
of its shaded tones. It excels in these respects the
productions of all the other Japanese kilns, in which
European smalt is often used, the result being a darker
and more solid color, but one with little gradation of tone.
The Chinese mineral, a cobaltiferous ore of manganese,
was imported for use in the Hirado kilns, that found
in the province of Chekiang being preferred by the Japa-
nese, as it is by the Chinese, to any other. The nod-
ules, imported in the raw state, were roasted in the
THE PRINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 745
furnace, and iniich depended upon the skill of the expert
whose duty it was to pick out the best pieces after
roasting. Although the same material is used in Japan
as in China, there is generally a peculiar difference in
tone in the blue of old Japanese porcelain, which seems
to be partly absorbed into the glaze instead of being
under it, while the glaze itself looks softer. The blue,
though put on, as in China, before the glaze, was painted
in Japan on the clay after it had received a preliminary
firing, the principal firing taking place after the glaze
had been added. The different appearance, distinguish-
ing it from the Chinese, is probably caused by the
materials being less hard and more absorbent, the same
cause necessitating the first slight firing, which Japanese
porcelain always undergoes.
Hii'ado porcelain and its different processes of decora-
tion are well represented in our colored plates. The
ordinary blue and white is illustrated in Plate CX, Fig.
1, and Phites CXI and CXIII ; in combination with
relief work in slip in Plate CX, Fig. 2 ; in combination
with more salient molding in relief and with delicate
pierced work in the beautiful censer on Plate CXII. This
last piece exhibits the ordinary style of the mark, being
inscribed underneath in minute script with the potter's
name and that of the locality, " Made at Mikawaji in
Hirado." The quaint originality of Japanese fancy is
seen in some of the forms. The wide-mouthed beaker,
for example, in Plate CXIII, is a molded version of the
familiar fable of the frog, the Japanese emblem of per-
severance and success, its two handles being fashioned
in relief as frogs leaping up from the waves which curl
round the bowl of the vase, into the branches of willow
which sweep down from its upper rim. AVho but a
Japanese would make a censer in the shape of a pnppy
with a movable head for the introduction of the incense.
746 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
as shown on Plate CX ? He has substituted this for the
Buddhist canonical form of a lion, which figures as a
guardian of the law, in the spirit of ridicule which leads
him so often to caricature his deities in pictorial art.
An example of white Hirado porcelain is presented in
Plate CIX, a gourd-shaped sake-bottle with chrysanthe-
mum sprays worked in slight relief in the paste and
finished with the graving tool under soft-looking glaze.
Among the most cherished productions of these kilns are
the small globular incense-burners, with pierced outer
casings and openwork covers, of w^hich one is illustrated
in Fig. 403. It is a miniature hbro tw^o and three quar-
ter inches high, delicately carved in a trellis pattern of
charming design and wonderfully minute workmanship,
enameled with a pale celadon glaze of gray-green tones.
Inclosed in a trellis-work are two circular medallions
containing a crest of three converging mallow-leaves, the
badge of the famous Tokugawa family which ruled Japan
from 1603 to 1868, under the title of Shogun, and, be-
sides, supplied daimyos for many of the feudal princi-
palities. The porcelain trellis-W'OJ-k cover is surmounted
by a tiu}^ bow. A companion incense-burner, which is
illustrated in Fig. 391, has the trellised casing interrupted
by three spra3^s of chrysanthemum-flowers modeled in
slight relief, instead of crests, and an open^york lid of
silver.
The statuette of Sakyamuni Buddha, which is illus-
trated in Fig. 404, is a production of the Hirado kilns
of the close of the eighteenth century, and is painted in
blue with touches of brown and black. It is a standing
figure, eleven inches high, modeled in the traditional
lines, dressed in long, flowing robes with wide hanging
sleev^es which are painted in blue of lighter and darker
shades, with the head encircled b}'' a sweeping halo which
is colored yellow-brown, and holding an alms-bowl of the
THE PRINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF .TAPAX. 747
same tint. The face, the neck, and the bare feet are
reserv^ed en biscidt, the ears are characteristically en-
larsfed, and the forehead has the urna mark of a Bod hi-
sattva. The hair, which is arranged in close spiral curls,
is gray-black, ^vhile the iishnislia which projects in the
middle of the hair is enameled white. Tlie pedestal is
molded in two pieces in the form of a lotus thalamus,
surrounded by rings of petals worked in relief, and
marked above with a circlet of seeds, and is coated ^vith
a whiter glaze of slightly greenish tone. The story is
told in Nao'asaki that one of the hereditary daimyos of
Hirado, who lived over a hundred years ago, was cured
■of a malady by a pilgrimage to a shrine at the top of
Fujiyama, and that each year for the rest of his life he
sent a party of his retainers to the sacred volcano with an
ex-voto offering of one of these figures, which he ordered
to be made for the purpose at his porcelain factory at
Mikawaji.
Colored enamels were occasionally employed in the
decoration of Hirado porcelain, either in combination
with the blue, or by themselves. The usual colors are
of subdued rather than brilliant tints, comprising a rus-
set-brown, a pale clear green, and a straw-yellow. The
vase shown in Fig. 405 is a production of these potteries,
and is referred to their palmy period, the second half of
the eighteenth century. It is a flower-vase (liana-il'e),
€leven inches high, with a floral decoration relieved by a
russet ground broken by a broad band of white round
the middle. This band, which is enameled white of
greenish tone, extends round the lower half of the wide
cylindrical neck, and from the two sides project loop
handles springing from the mouths of grotesque unicorn
dragons, the parts of the neck to which the handles are
attached beins; modeled in slio-ht relief under the o-laze
with a wavy pattern mingled with scrolls of clouds.
748 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
The floral decoration consists of foliated scrolls starting
from two large conventional flowers, one of which is dis-
played npon the front, the other upon the back, of the
globular body of the vase. The idealized blossoms rep-
resent those of the sacred Indian lotus (^Hsi Fan lieri)
of Chinese art, which the Japanese call ICara-husa — i. e.,
" Chinese plant." Light cliains of rectangular fret define
the borders of the floral bands and complete the decora-
tion. The bottom is overlaid with a black silver plate ;
the mark, if there be any, is concealed.
IV. SATSUMA.
Whatever title to ceramic celebrity Japan may base
upon her porcelain productions, it is for her pottery she
will be longest remembered, and of that pottery the first
place belongs incontestably to the Satsuma faience. The
word Satsuma is nearly as well known to us as the word
Japan, and it is familiar not so much for its brilliant
achievements in the past, for the grand part it took in
the war of restoration, or for its tragic rebellion after-
ward, as for the peculiar type of faience which it pro-
duces. Its soft-looking ivory-colored glaze with its deli-
cately crazed surface provides the most charming back-
ground for decoration in enamel colors that can be
conceived, while the texture of the. pate \^ so close and
fine that it can hardly be distinguished from ivory. No
collection is considered complete without a shelf of "old
Satsuma," but the pieces commonly seen abroad differ
essentially from the beautiful faience which is so
highly prized by Japanese connoisseurs. The latter
consists generally of small pieces, cups, incense-burners^
tea-jars, figures, and the like, richly but chastely deco-
rated with a spra)^ of flowers or foliage, occasionally with
a phoenix, Chinese lion or unicorn, in combination with
THE PKINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 749
delicate diapers and lightly penciled fret borders. The
materials were carefully selected and prepared, the pot-
ting of each piece was perfect, and its decoration was
executed with skill and precision, so that the ware has
been justly called " jeweled." The ordinary " old Sat-
suma," on the contrary, is usually of indifferent manu-
facture, it rings with a dull note, and although all the
resources of ingenuity and patience may be lavished
upon its decoration, the pains are often lost, as the
imperfectly enameled pigments do not last, and the thin
wash of alloy which is substituted for pure gold soon
becomes tarnished. Elaborate combinations of diapers,
bouquets of brilliant flowers, armies of gorgeously
appareled saints, peacocks with spreading tails, aud
dragons environed by golden clouds — all subjects, in
fact, that can help to achieve gaud and glitter — are
employed by painters who have long since abjui'ed
the aesthetic creeds of their country. The Japanese
themselves scorn the preposterous jars and huge beakers
which find no purchasers in their own country. They
represent neither the spiiit nor fashion of true Japa-
nese art, but simply the wonderfully adaptive genius of
Japanese artists. Just as in the seventeenth century
the Arita potters covered the " old Japan " ware of that
time with Chinese figures and mythological monsters,
interwoven with garlands of peonies and chrysanthe-
mums, when their patrons complained that their own
artistically decorated vases had not flowers enough for
the Dutch taste, so do the Satsuma decorators to-day
crowd their " old Satsuma " with mail-clad warriors and
long Buddhist processions to satisfy the taste of the
American and European collector.
But much of this " old Satsuma " is not even Satsuma
at all. It is Awata faience from Kyoto painted in con-
ventional Satsuma style, or some other modern ware,
750 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
fraudulently painted at the Sliiba kilns in Tokyo, at the
Ota kilns near Yokohama, or elsewhere. If it is a piece
of real old Satsuma, decorated subsequently in enameled
colors at one of these kilns, the deception is not so trans-
parent. One of the most daring frauds of recent times
was attempted in London in 1879, when a heterogeneous
collection of modern Ota and Shiba pieces, vases, kdro,
and so forth, w^ere sold by auction under the description
of "rarest old Satsuma." A group of some fifty, de-
scribed as " The Papal Pieces," were stated to have been
" prepared for the Jesuit priests' expedition from Japan
to the Holy City, under special auspices of the Prince
of Bungo, in 1582. Francis Xavier himself assisted in
the selection of these papal offerings, but it is well
known that the collection never left Japan, but was
retained by the prince of Bungo in his fortress during
the mission slaughter, after which it was publicly shown
as relics of Catholic devoteeship." Some of the pieces
were stained to give an appearance of age ; others, which
had been broken and mended, were catalogued as " bear-
ing evidence of having undergone much vicissitude and
hiding," and so on.
It would be tedious to refer further to the many mis-
conceptions that have arisen on the subject. For the
first exact information ^ve are indebted to Sir Ernest
Satow, K. C. M. Gr., now H. B. M. minister at Tokyo,
who visited the kilns in 1877,* and whose conclusions
on the vexed question of the period of introduction of
the nisliihi style of decoration in enamel colors are worth
quoting. Speaking of the discovery of white clay in
1624-40, he says that the manufacture of white Satsuma
crackled ware dates from then, but for a long time, he
adds, the wares appear to have been ornamented very
* The Corean Potters in Satsuma, by E. Satow, a paper read February 20,
1878. Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. vi, part ii, Yokoliama.
THE PRI]SrCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAISr. 751
sparingly with color, and lie considers that the nisliihi
style of decoration was originated in the period of
Kwan-sei (1789-1800) by Narinobu, who is reported
to have sent two of his artists to Kyoto to learn the art
of painting figures, landscapes, and set patterns in this
particular style. Another view is that the use of
vitrifiable enamels and gold was commenced shortly
after the discovery of the white clay, about 1630, that
the manufacture subsequently deteriorated for want of
patronage, and that its revival at the end of the eight-
eenth century, although often erroneously described
as the origin, was in reality only the renaissance of
Satsuma enameled faience.
The history of Satsuma faience is au epitome of that
of the ceramic industry of Japan generally, beginning
with the introduction of Korean potters, who discovei'ed
the necessary raw materials and taught the technical
elements of a handicraft which only gradually became
artistic under the inspiration of Japanese genius. Mr.
Oueda (loc. cit., pages 62-74) gives a summary account
of it, which we will follow. The kilns of the Satsuma-
yaki are dispersed at different points throughout the
province. The largest center of fabrication is at
Nawashiro, where there is to-day a very considerable
production. Like the productions of other factories
which abound in the island of Kyusiu (the southern-
most island of Japan, of which the provinces of Satsuma
and Osumi form the southernmost extremity), the Sat-
suma wares date from the time of the Japanese expedi-
tion to Korea {B'unroku^ 1592-95). Shimazu Yoshi-
hiro, daimyo of Satsuma, brought back Mitli his army
seventeen Korean potters, two of whom were named
Hochu and Boku-Heii. Some of the potters established
themselves with the first named in the quarter Korai-
Machi (Korean Street), at Kagoshima, the capital of the
752 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
province; the others at Kushikino, under the direction
of the second. Tliey all came afterward to settle at
Chosa, in the adjoining province of Osurai, having been
snnnnoned to this place by Shimazu Yoshihiro, who
had his i-esidence there. This prince, a devoted amateur
of the Cha-no-yu, ordered from the Korean potters
a large number of pieces to be made after his taste.
They were composed of a fine-grained clay, with a glaze
colored in shades of blue, yellow, and black ; the most
precious had a variegated glaze, called " Jakatsu," which
is defined in the " Man-po-zen-sho," published in 1694,
as a lizard-colored enamel. The pieces are called
Golionde (articles with the honorable seal), which
Yoshihiro appreciated most, and which he marked with
his personal seal. When the daimyo changed his
residence to Kajiki, in another part of the province of
Osumi, he sent for Hochu to come to Tatsu no Kuchi,
built a factory for him there, and charged him to ti-ain
the w^orkmen. Kihei, the son of this potter, adopted by
order of the prince the surname of Kawara (i. e., bank),
from the situation of Tatsu no Kuchi on the bank of
the Kuro-Kawa. After the death of Yoshihiro, which
occurred in the Genwa period (1615-23), Hochu con-
tinued to carry on the work and to superintend the
potters. His family divided into two branches — Tobei,
the younger son of Kihei, surnamed Kawara; and
Kozayemon, his elder son, Yamamoto. Both established
themselves in the second year of Kwanbun (1662) at
Tatsumonji. The Yamamoto are to-day represented
by only a single family, while the Kawara count as
many as twenty-four.
Tobei had a son named Juzayemon, who settled at
Oyamada. His son, who called himself Juzayemon
Hoko, was a potter of great merit. In the fifth year of
Meiwa (1768) he worked in the private factory of the
THE PRINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 753
princes of Shimazu at Tateno, in Kagoshima, which
he left ten years later. Commissioned by the prince
of this house to go to Arita to finish his studies
there, he resumed his industry on his retui-n to
Oyamada in the eighth year of Anyei (1779)
with great success. In the fifth year of Kxoansei
(1793), after having visited in succession the prin-
cipal ceramic districts of the provinces of Hizen
and Chikuzen, he went to Kyoto, and from there to
the province of Owari, where he studied the fabrica-
tion at Ofukei in Nagoya. Returning again to Kyoto,
he formed an intimate friendship with Kinkozan Sobei,
and studied with him the processes of manufacture of
the Kyo-yaki, especially of the Raku wares. The travels
of Juzayemon resulted in an immense progress in the
industry at Oyamada. The origin of the fabrics called
Same-yahi (Sharkskin ware) dates from the time of this
celebrated artist.
Boku-Heii and his companions, who settled at first, as
we have seen, at Kushikino, moved their workshops in
the eighth year of Keiclio (1603) to Nawashiro. In the
nineteenth year of the same period (1614) Boku-Heii
explored by order of Yoshihiro his territories in Satsuma
and Osumi and discovered new materials required for the
fabrication. The kilns of Nawashiro produced thence-
forward articles resembling the work of Komogawa, in
Korea, which acquired great renown. While Boku-
Heii was the director of the factories, Yoshihiro showed
a vivid interest in the industry, and he frequently visited
the Avorks, which under his patronage ra})idly became
important. Here, as at Chosa, he marked \s\\\\ his per-
sonal seal those pieces which he found to his taste, and
they are also called Gohonde. The artisan population of
Nawashiro rapidly increased, and they turned out suc-
cessfully their novel vases of white translucent materials
754 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
aud re[)r()(luctious of the genres known as Hakeme,
Misliiina, and Siinkoroku.*
The factoiy of Nawasliiro, when it was first founded,
included in its personnel the Korean Chin-Tokitsu, a
potter full of talent. His son aud successor, Toju, had a
son Tokitsu, the second of the name, who earned by his
great merit the name of To-ichi (the first of potters) and
a pension bestowed by one of the Shimazu princes. The
present fabricator, Cliin-Jukwan, is a descendant in the
twelftli generation of Tokitsu I. He was appointed in
1857 the director of the factories at Nawashiro, -with
several hundred workmen un^er his orders, and the es-
tablishment prospered under his direction. The loss of
its domains by the house of Shimazu, after the fall of the
feudal regime in 1869, paralyzed the industry for the
moment and threw the workmen into misery. Chin-
Jukwan succeeded by his praiseworthy efforts in rescuing
them from their difficulties, and in assuring independence
for the enterprise and regular work for the potters. The
name of Gyoku Kozan is that which he has adopted since
this epoch.
The factory of Tateno, at Kagoshima, was founded in
the period ^w6l^7^;y6^ (1624-43). This was another pri-
vate establishment of the princes of Shimazu." The most
skillful artist of this factory was Kono-Sanyemon, who
* In 1878, according to the official report of the Paris Exposition, the Korean
potters at Nawashiro numbered five hundred families, including fourteen hun-
dred and fifty individuals, all carrying on the industry of their ancestors.
Never having married any but Korean women, they are said to have retained
their distinctive type and language and many of their old manners and cus-
toms. The Hakeme and Mishima wares are of Korean origin, and both are of
the pate sur pate class. In the Hakeme the designs, usually iu white slip upon
a gray body, look as if executed with a brush (hake). The Mishima, which
has already been referred to, was chased and inlaid with encaustic sprays of
white, gray, or black color, and was so called because it reminded the Japanese
of the lines of idiographs in one of their printed almanacs. The Sunkoroku
decoration was painted in browns of different shades in simple floral and
diapered patterns. Tlie origin of tlie name is obscure.
THE PRINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. ToO
lived in the period Meiwa (1764-71). Plis processes of
mainifacture were those of Hochii. His productions
Avere crackled, the glaze being either white or of different
colors. In the Kwansei period (1789-1800), Narinobu,
prince of the house of Shimazu, had gold employed in
the decoration, and the new productions obtained a great
success under the name of " Nishikide," or " brocaded
ware." They were superior to those of Hochu, which
are valued only from an antiquarian point of view. It
was the artists of Tateno who taught, in the eleventh
year of the period Tempo (1840)^ the fabrication of the
Nishikide to Boku-Sokuan, son of Boku-Shoki, of Nawa-
shiro, where this decoration was heretofore unknown.
Sokuan was appointed afterward by his prince, in the
first year of Kohwa (1844), the director of the new fac-
tory of Iso, which owes its beautiful productions to this
artist. He spent one year there, and then returned to
Nawashiro, where he continued to carry on with success
the fabrication of the " brocade-painted wares."
The decorated Satsuma was never made in large quan-
tities. It was from the first an article de luxe, intended
for the personal use of the daimyo, or as presents to those
he wished to honor. The finest enameled pieces were the
work of the artists of the Tateno factory.
The productions of the Satsuma kilns are represented
in the colored illustrations in Plates C, CI, CII, CVII, and
CVIII, where nine specimens are figured. The compara-
tively small size of the finer and older pieces is shown by
the fact that there is room for two side by side upon
each page, except in Plate CII, and this last vase, deco-
rated with storks flying among clouds in enamel colors
with touches of gold and silver, relieved by an intensely
black ground, is certainly the most recent of the series.
The pictures give a good general idea of the soft, creamy
tones of the finely crazed grounds, ranging from old ivory
756 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
to vellum ; of the artistic style of the chaste decoration
with graceful floral sprays and lightly penciled borders
of conventional ornament; of the harmony of coloring
and technical finish which distinguish the productions of
the artists who worked for the princes of Shimazu at the
end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the
nineteenth. Not a single figure is to be seen, and thei'e
is no sign of the mail-clad warriors and Buddhist pilgi-ims,
or of the profusion of gorgeous colors, such as mai-k the
" old Satsuma " which is painted in the present day in
Japan in such quantities for the export ti'ade.
The earliest piece is the archaic-looking teapot in Plate
CI, where the crackled ground is left undecorated, only
clouded and stained by use in a way that reminds one, it
has been aptly said, of a tobacco-stained meerschaum pipe,
and Avhicli the Japanese collector is fond of bringing out
and polishing with a soft cloth which he keeps for the
purpose. The teacup on Plate C is also undecorated,
except for a splashed line of overglaze round the rim, of
deep amber tint, laid on in one of the monochrome enam-
els used at Nawashiro in the eighteenth century. The
rest of the pieces, which are decorated in the JSfishihi or
brocade-painted style, are sufticiently described. They
all belong to the palmy period of the Satsuma factories.
The other Satsuma pieces shown in Figs. 392, 393, 395,
406, 407, 408, and 410 are all of a type similar to the
above, and are generally referred to the same period —
circa a. d. 1800.
1. Sake-Bottle {Tokuri), eight and a half inclies liigh (Fig.
393), of cylindrico-ovoid form, tapering to a thin neck with a
prominent rounded lip. Decorated in subdued enamel colors with
formal sprays of the kiri Qow ev {Pauloivnia i?nperialis) with grace-
fully waved tendrils. A ring of slender foliations spreads down
from the neck, alternately greenish-blue and coral-red touched
with gold. The flowers are of the imperial type, with a spike of
THE PllINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 757
seven florets rising in tlu> middle flanked by two spikes of five florets;
and the stopper, wliicli is of silver, is molded in tlie shape of a kiku
flower (chrysanthemum), the imperial crest of Japan.
2. Tea-Jar [Cha-tsubo), three and a quarter inches high (Fig.
406), of regular oval form witli rounded lip, painted in enamel
colors and gilding, with a floral brocade ground of checker pattern
interrupted bv two foliated medallions containing bunclies of scarlet
cherry or Pi/rus japonica blossoms enveloped in conventional
scrolls, a gadroon band round the foot, and a light floral scroll
round the neck completing the decoration. The old cover of oxi-
dized silver is fashioned in the shape of a peltate lotus-leaf with the
stalk at the top.
3. Small Figure {Okimo7io), two and a half inches high (Fig,
395), of Hotel, one of tiie seven beneficent beings of the Japanese
Pantheon, decorated in enamel colors Avith gilding. Hotel, the
Japanese transcription of the Chinese Putai, represents Putai
Hoshang, the " Monk with the Hempen Bag," of Chinese ]3uddhist
lore, who is to reappear as the Buddha of the coming age, so that
he may be styled the Buddliist Messiah. With shaven head, broad,
smiling face, and large j)endul()us ear-lobes, his cloak looseh' thrown
back so as to leave the abdomen as well as the right shoulder bare,
he is modeled here in the traditional Chinese lines, holding the
jewel of the law in his left hand, and seated beside the caj)acious
bag wliich is his special attribute. Hisi-obesare richl}' embroidered
with gold brocade, and his bag is emblazoned with the takara-mono,
or " precious things," as symbols of the gifts he has to bestow upon
bis votaries.
These symbols are as frequent in Japanese art as the
po kuj or hundred antiques, are in Chinese art, and many
objects are common to the two lists. The things which
occur most often in Japan are : The anchor, an emblem
of safety ; a branch of coral in a vase, symbol of rank
and honor; rolls {maki?)W7io), either a crossed "pair"
rolled up, or one partially unrolled to show the writing;
a couple of bridges for the lyre, emblems of harmony;
the hammer of Daikoku, which, wielded diligently, pro-
duces wealth ; the spindle-shaped weight with which the
758 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
tradesman weighs his silver ; a pair of keys of the go-
dowu ill which precious possessions are stored ; two rolls
of brocaded silk, or nishilci ; an orange, on a leafy twig,
emblem of fruitf illness ; manifold symbols of M^ealth,
such as the cowry, or ancient shell-money, the copper
cash with a hole in the middle, the hotsubo, a jar full of
precious things to be buried for security, a pile of gold
hohan, a chest labeled " a thousand gold pieces," bag-
purses of money, etc. Articles of fairy lore are the
invisible rain cloak, the wide hat which also renders its
wearer invisible, and the feather robe of supernatural
l)eings. Buddhist symbols include the three precious
jewels of the law emitting eifulgent rays, a pile of sacred
jewels heaped upon a stand, a lion with its forepaw upon
a jewel (^8 hishidanict) as guardian of the faith, and the
palm-leaf fan of the pilgrim saint. The rhinoceros horn
libation-cups of Chinese symbolism have become in Japan
choji, or " cloves," although their shape often belies their
new name.
4. Miniature Figure ( Okiinono) of Chinese boy {KaraJco), with
partly shaven liead (Fig. 407), the hair left in a topknot and two
side tufts, in a richly brocaded dress, holding up a sacred jewel. A
companion Figure, with a palm-leaf fan in one hand, is shown in
Fig. 392.
5. Vase [Hana-ike), six and a quarter inches high (Fig. 393),
decorated in enamel colors and gold, with borders of conventional
ornament round the rims, inclosing a selection of the takara-mono
enumerated above in the description of Hotel, mingled with floral
sprays of chrysanthemum and plum blossom, and with branches with
twin peaches, the symbolical fruit of long life.
6. Small IisrcEXSE-BuRNER {Koro), two and one eighth inches
high (Fig. 408), of bowl-shaped outline mounted upon three scrolled
feet, with an outer casing painted with a minute diaper of flowers
inclosed in interlacing circles, interrupted by three pierced medal-
lions containing a spray of bamboo, a stork, and a bear supporting a
II
THE PEINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 759
leaf -shaped shield, and with a dentated rim molded as three tiers of
leaves.
V. Incense-Burner {Kdro)y six and a lialf inches broad (Fig.
410), of flattened form, with a large cover modeled in the shape of
an 'ancient Japanese court hat. The "base" is encircled with a
diaper of triangular fret pattern; the " cover " is pierced with floral
designs and decorated in the intervals with sprays of scrolled flowers
enameled in colors with gilding.
V. KUTANI.
The last ware which remains for consideration is that
of Kutaui, a name almost as familiar to collectors as
those of Imari, Hirado, and Satsuma. Kiitani is in the
province of Kaga, on the west coast of the main island of
Japan, and its ceramic productions are called Kaga-yaki
and Kutani-yaki indifferently. The exact date of the ori-
gin of the factory is not known. Mr. Oneda gives in the
table (see pages 706 and 707) the period Kivanyei
(1624-43), although in his notes, which we will follow, he
says that the origin of the Kutani-yaki dates back to the
period Keian (1648-51). It was Mayeda Toshiharu,
daimyo of the town of Daishoji, who had the first kilns
constructed in the village of Kutani by two of his vassal
Samurai named Goto Saijiro and Tamura Gonzayemon.
The materials employed in the early wares resembled
those of the stoneware productions of Seto, in Owari, but
the objects, crude and ungraceful in form, were far from
equaling those of this great ceramic center.
Toshiaki, the son and successor of Toshiharu, with a
view to developing the industry in his territory, sent
Goto Saijiro to Arita, in Hizen, in the period Manji
(1658-60) to study the processes of manufacture in use
there. The Arita ^vorkmen were very loath to impart
their secrets to a stranger, but he served as a hired menial
in the house of a potter for more than three years, and
760 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
became initiated in all the details of the art. As soon
as he had learned all he could he fled by night, and his
return made a new era for the ceramic industry of
Kutani. The materials found at Suizuka were used by
him in the fabrication of his finest vases, and there is still
to be seen in that village a porcelain pedestal in the form
of a lotus thalamus, with a seated statue of Buddha upon
it, which is one of the objects modeled by the artist at
this time.
The celebrated painter of Kyoto, Hisazumi Morikage,
happened at this time to be on a visit to Kanazawa, the
chief city of the province of Kaga, and he was intrusted
with the execution of the designs, and contributed
materiall}- to their beauty and renown. Hence the name
of Morikage-shitaye — i. e., " Morikage Sketches " — by
which they are still known.
The early wares, known afterward as ICo Kutani
(ancient Kutani), are of two almost distinct varieties.
The first, of a grayish pate, faience rather than porcelain,
was coated with lustrous, full-bodied glazes of the denii-
grand feu, green, yellow, and purple, the former pre-
dominating ; the decoration usually consisting of large
flowers, in the midst of fret grounds and diaper of archaic
pattern, which are penciled in black so as to show
through the green or yelloAv enameled surface. This
style is compared by the Japanese to the productions of
China and Kochi (Annam), and it was evidently inspired
by the former country. The second variety of old
Kutani is a milk-white porcelain which is compared to
old Imari ware, and may almost be mistaken for it some-
times. The most characteristic examples are to be distin-
guished, however, by the prevalence of a peculiarly soft
russet-red, which differs essentially from the hard, full,
brick-dust red of the old Imari ware. The Kaga potters
used silver much more,freely for decorative purposes than
THE PRINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 761
the Hizeu potters, while they relegated underglaze blue,
on the contrary, to a more subordinate position.
Tradition says that the perfection of their results was
due mainly to the great care and patience devoted to the
preliminary preparation of the materials, that the mixing
and braying of the coloring materials was the daily task
of the women and children at the Kutani potteries, and
that the rich deep red of the older periods was ground
for six months under the pestle befoi-e it passed into the
hands of the painter.
Although the early Kaga productions were so highly
appreciated, the manufacture fell into decay afterward,
and the kilns of Kutani were abandoned some sixty or
seventy years after their foundation. The industry was
revived in the seventh year of Btmikwa (1810), by Yoshi-
daya Hachiyemon, a merchant of Daishoji, who rebuilt
the ancient factories and reproduced the different varie-
ties of the old productions. This was the renaissance of
the ceramic industry of Kutani. In the eleventh year of
the same period (1814) the kilns were moved to Yama-
shiro, a locality which offered greater facilities of trans-
port ; but the necessary materials were still brought there
from Kutani and Suizuka. The new fabrications are
called Yoshidaya-yaki, after tlie name of the merchant
who revived the industry that had almost disappeared.
They rank in quality innnediately after the Ko Kutani,
Yoshidaya was succeeded by Miyamotoya Kiyemon in
the sixth year of Tempo (1835). The new director was
assisted by the painter lidaya Hachiroyemon, who revived
tlie art of decorating in gold upon the red ground in the
characteristic Kutani style. He was the first to intro-
duce the NishiM style of decoration into these potteries.
The porcelain made to-day in the district of Nomi and at
Kanazawa is, generally speaking, very similar to lidaya's.
During the last years of the feudal period the house of
762 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
Mayeda, of Daishoji, encouraged tlie local industry by
large grants of money, and engaged Yeiraku Zengoro, the
twelfth of the famous family of hereditary potters of
Kyoto, to come to Yamashiro to superintend the work.
This potter, whose personal name w^as Hozen, arrived in
1863, and during the five years that he remained a num-
ber of objects were made in the Mnrande, or " gold-
brocaded," style, of finished form and decoration, and fired
in the kilns that were called after him, Yeiraku-gama.
But the Yeiraku kilns were closed at the time of the
revolution in 1868.
Porcelain commonly known under the name of Kutani-
yaki is made in several other localities of the province of
Kaga, within the districts of Enuma and Nomi. The
ceramic productions of these two districts are generally
classified under the headings of Enuma Kutani and
Nomi Kutani. The names of many celebrated potters
are recorded who have worked in these factories, but
there is no space for them here. Potteries exist in the
present day at more than twenty localities in the district
of Nomi alone. It is in these that the porcelain so well
known abroad as Kaga- Ware is made. It is painted
with a profusion of designs of the red and gold type,
often executed with the delicacy and accuracy of a minia-
ture painting, but the gaudy glitter of gilding and massing
of red pigment pall after a time upon the least fastidious
taste. The Japanese themselves have never appreciated
it, and the potters, fearing the inevitable consequences of
the monotony, are now reviving with some success the
richer and more varied methods of the older Kutani dec-
orations in polychrome enamels. One of the Kaga pot-
ters, Watano Kichiji, sent to the Chicago Exposition in
1893 a pair of large vases illustrating this revival. They
were covered with an elaborate and boldly designed
decoration of hydrangea flowers and leaves in full-toned
THE PRINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 763
and brilliant enamels, purple, blue, and green on a yellow
ground. Their decoi-ative effect was fine, and they were
highly praised.
Kutani porcelain is illustrated in Plates CIII and CIV,
and the pictures give a good idea of the peculiarly soft
tone of the red ground in the old pieces, which forms
such an effective background for the decorative scrolls
painted upon it in gold and silver. This is the hinrande
or "gold brocade" decoration of ceramic writers, and it
is evidently inspired by the silk stuff's interwoven
with designs in gold and silver thread, which have
been made on the looms of the far East from time
immemorial, and of which one of tlie favorite grounds
is a soft vermilion. The ceramic designs, too, are
those of the old silk brocades of China and Japan :
dragons winding through crested waves, phoenixes travers-
ing scrolls of the tree-peony, conventional bands of sacred
lotus, and medallions of formal flowers, with borders of
fret pattern, 'encircling rings of lotus-petals, chains of
beads with tassels, and the like.
No large vases nor purely ornamental pieces seem to
have been made in the Kutani kilns in the early days,
only incense-burners and incense-boxes, sake-bottles and
wine-cups, bowls and dishes, and other ai-ticles of daily
use. The small censer in Plate CIII and the first rice-
bowl in Plate CIV are decorated in the tyj)ical style, with
gilded and silvered designs upon the red ground ; the
rice-bowl in Plate CIII is decorated besides with touches
of enamel colors of subdued tone, including a pale green.
The three pieces are referred to the same period, about
the middle of the last century ; they have a buff"-colored
or grayish pate, and are enameled red underneath the
feet as well, one of the bowls being so completely coated
that none of the pate is visible. The third bowl (Plate
CIV, Fig. 2) is somewhat older, being attributed to the
764 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
beginning of the century. It is of thinner, more translu-
cent material, and is molded in the interior with intri-
cate floral scrolls and fret borders, after the technique of
some of the ancient Chinese porcelains, while the rim is
mounted Avith a silver collar in the fashion of ancient
Chinese bowls of the Sung dynasty. The ground
between the red medallions with which it is decorated
outside is filled in with the so-called yorakude or " neck-
lace" designs of the Japanese painted in enamels.
Two other specimens of Kutani ware have been se-
lected for illustration. The censer (Fig. 409), w^hich is
decorated in enamel colors, is attributed to the middle of
the eighteenth century. The bowl (Fig. 411), which is
artistically decorated in brilliant harmonious colors upon
a characteristically milk-white ground, is of earlier date,
and may Avell be ascribed to Morikage, who, we have
seen, was working at these kilns toward the close of the
seventeenth century.
Incense-Burner i^Koro), five inches high, seven and a quarter
inclies broad, with a rounded body, bulging below, mounted upon
three short legs with scrolled feet, and with two handles project-
ing from the sides molded in the shape of grotesque lions' heads
with gilded tongues protruded and curled at the tips. The surface
of the bowl is painted in i-ed, green, and gold, with tiers of mallow-
leaves {cioi) spreading alternately upward and downward so as to
cover the ground. The upper rim is defined by a line of pale
green, succeeded by a band of curved scrolls in colors, and the
lower border is encircled by a ring of rectangular fret. The base
is unglazed, with no marks inscribed. The cover is made of lac-
quered metal.
Large Bowl [Domhiri), six and a half inches high, six and
three-quarter inches in diameter, shaped with tall, upright sides
slightly swelling at the rim, and a bandlike foot gently spreading
outward. It is boldly and artistically decorated with sprays of iris
(^shaga) springing from the base outside and sweeping upward to
extend over the rim and ornament the interior as well as the exte-
THE PRINCIPAL CERAMIC WARES OF JAPAN. 765
rior of the bowl with large, brilliant blossoms and broad purple-
tinted green leaves. The decoration is completed by a ring of
lozenge fret of svastika pattern penciled in red round the foot.
Mark, Faku, " Happiness," in black, in a small square panel, over-
laid with a patch of translucent purple enamel.
The painting, sketched in black outline, is executed in
overglaze enamel colors of finely crackled texture, won-
derfully intense in tone and of marked iridescent luster.
They include a brilliant green, a purplish blue approach-
ing turquoise in some of its translucid tints, and a soft
red derived from iron peroxide, in combination with a
few touches of black. The general effect of the coloring
is magnificent, and one is almost inclined to enshrine this
beautiful bowl as a perfect flower of the ceramic art of
Japan.
II
APPENDIX.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
I. COLORED PLATES.
The original water-color drawings from whicli the lithographic
plates were reproduced were executed by Messrs. James and J. C.
Callowhill, of Boston, artists whose experience as color-designers
in one of the great English potteries gave tliem special qualifica-
tions for the work.
Beaker-shaped Vase [Hua Jvu), 16^ inches high, enameled
with the crackled glaze of the s<i.ng-de bceuf mottled tints of the
celebrated Lang Yao. It exhibits the rich, full tones of the cop-
per-red, deepening almost to black upon the shoulder of the vase.
The interior is coated with the same rich red glaze. The lip is
defined by a prominent line of white, and the foot by a rounded
rim of purest white, projecting be3'ond the " biscuit " edge below.
The base is invested with an apple-green enamel, mottled with
clouds of typical "ox-blood" color. Period IPang-hsi (1662-
1V22). L
Plum-blossom Jar [Mei Hua Kuan), of globular form, with a
bell-shaped cover, decorated in brilliant cobalt-blue of the K''ang-
hsi period (1662-1722), with blossoming branches and twigs of the
floral emblem of the New Year. The branches spread alternately
upward and downward on the four sides of the jar, so as to display
their white blossoms and buds, reserved upon a mottled back-
ground of pellucid blue, which is covered with a reticulation of
darker blue lines to represent cracking ice, a symbol of the coming
spring. The rim is ornamented by a castellated border ; a plain
band of white defines the edge of the overlapping cover. The
outer surface of the lip surrounding the mouth is unglazed, show-
ing the fine white " biscuit," and its inner side is onlv partially
glazed — one of the " points" of the best " hawthorn jars " of this
767
768 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
period. The Chinese offer presents of fragrant tea and preserved
fruits at the New Year in jars of this kind, and tlie plum is the
floral emblem of the season. II.
Flower- Vase [Jlua PHng), enameled with the typical "peach-
bloom " glaze, and displaying a characteristic play of color, so as
to resemble as far as possible the velvety hues of the bloom of the
rind of the ripening peach. A ])erfect idea of the charming con-
trast of soft shades of red is given by the artist, who has repro-
duced the vase in the size of the original, and has attempted to
represent tlie finished polish of the surface as it reflects the picture
of an outside scene. The reverse of the vase exhibits a splash
of apple-green in the midst of the other colors.
The "mark" underneath, beautifully written in underglaze
cobalt-blue, consists of six characters in three columns, Ta ChHng
K''ang-hsi nien chih — i. e., " Made in the reign of K'ang-hsi
(1662-1722), of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." III.
Vase (PHng), 10| inches high, with solid spreading foot and
tapering above to a slender tubular neck, enameled with a mono-
chrome glaze of darkest green color, the gros vert of the French,
the ta lu of Chinese ceramists. This intense ground color is mot-
tled with clouds of varying shade. The texture of the glaze is
" bubbly," and the surface is pitted at places, especially round the
base, where it lias collected in superfluous drops which have been
ground down on the lathe after the piece had been fired. The
base is coated underneath with the pure white enamel distinctive
of the K\mg-hsi period (1662-1722), and this peculiarly strong
green occupies a foremost rank among the ceramic productions of
this unrivaled reign. IV.
Jar {Kuan), nine inches high without the cover, enameled with
a monochrome glaze of imperial yellow. The faint horizontal line
in the middle indicates that the jar was originally fashioned upon
the wheel in two pieces. There is a mark underneath, written in
underglaze cobalt-blue in large, bold characters, Ta ChHng K''ang-
hsi nien chih — i. e., "Made in the reign of K'ang-hsi (1662-1722),
of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." V.
Club-shaped Vase {Pang-chih P^ing), \S\ inches high, richlj'
decorated with the most brilliant enamel colors of the K'ang-hsi
period (1662-1722).
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 769
The decoration is arranged in four panels, tlie two upper oblong
with rounded indented corners, the lower shaped like iicus-leaves,
displaj^ed upon a ground profusely brocaded witli flowers. The
front panels contain pictures of a pomegranate-tree with a couple
of birds perched upon it, labeled Tan Huo, "The Vermilion
Flower," with the artist's studio seal, Wan shih chu, " The
Myriad Rock Retreat," appended ; and of a spray of chrysanthe-
mum labeled (Jhiao Hua, " Fresh Flowers." The two panels behind
contaiti pictures of the tree-peony, with birds and butterflies, and a
similar floral spray with appropriate stanzas of verse signed with
the same seal.
The floral ground is composed of lotus-flowers, with coral-red
blossoms, purple buds, and green leaves, mingled with leaves of
other Avater-plants, on a pale-green background dotted with black.
This ground is overlaid below with grotesque figures of a lion
guarding the wheel of the Buddhist law, and an elephant laden
with sacred books ; above, the characters/"?/ (" happiness ") and he
(" rank "), in black, relieved by sprays of prunus flowers in shaded
red. The character shou (" longevity ") is penciled in red on the
two sides of the neck.
A band of diaper, interrupted by foliated panels containing
censers, and a light spiral scroll in red round the lip, complete the
decoration. VI.
Flower- Vase [Hua PHtig), fashioned on the lines of the peach-
bloom vases (see Plate III), with the same two white rings in
relief round the base of the neck, and a similar mark underneath.
It is covered with a celadon monochrome glaze of purest sea-green
tint varying in tone according to the depth, so as to bring out the
decorative details underneath, which are worked in low relief in the
paste. This decoration consists of a fringe of scrolled and crested
waves round the lower part of the vase, from which project the
tails and a pair of three-clawed feet of two dragons, the remainder
of the bodies of the " sea-serpents " being concealed, as it were, under
the surface of the rough water. The mark written underneath in
cobalt-blue, in three columns, is Ta ChHng K''ang-h,si nien chih —
" Made in the reign of K'ang-hsi (1662-1722) of the Great Ch'ing
[dynasty]." ^ VII.
Plate-shaped Dish [Kuo P\in), 14 inches in diameter, with a
broad rim and a prominent boss in the middle, painted in brilliant
shaded cobalt-blue of the K\mg-hsi period (1662-1 T22).
770 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
The raised medallion in the center is painted with a summer
scene, a group of four ladies on a terraced veranda, gathering
lotus-flowers from the lake below. This is surrounded by a rocky
landscape, with the fir, bamboo, and blossoming prunus on one
side, palms and jasmine-flowers on the other, canopied by a bank
of clouds above, with the sun, moon, and stars, including the con-
stellation of the Great Bear.
The border of the plate is filled with four garden scenes
separated by rockeries, representing the four seasons, with their
appropriate floral emblems. Spring is figured by two damsels witli
book and fan, under the shade of a weeping willow; summer, by a
party in a boat culling lotus-flowers; autumn, by ladies gathering
Olea fragrans', winter, by its special emblem, the flowering
prunus.
Underneath, the foot is encircled by a ring of conventional folia-
tions, and the rim is painted with the eight Buddhist symbols of
happy augury. VIII.
QuADRANGULAK Vase {Fang P''ing) one of a pair, 19^ inches
high, with the oblong sides rounded above and gently tapering
downward, decorated with the typical flowers of the four seasons;
the shoulders with four medallions of fruit, and the neck with
mythical monsters in two foliated panels. The decoration,
sketched in black, and filled in with green, yellow, and manganese
purple, is relieved by a background of brilliant black, with a pur-
plish iridescent surface, passing into olive-brown at the edges.
The Moutan peony, emblem of spring, is accompanied by a
Magnolia yulan tree, with birds in the branches; the lotus of summer
witl) other water plants, storks, and mandarin ducks; the chrysan-
themum of autumn with birds and butterflies; and the flowering
plum of winter has a couple of birds in its branches. The sprays
of fruit include peaches, melons, persimmons, and Buddha's-hand
citrons. The chH-lin on the neck of the vase, with scaly bodies,
horned dragon-heads, lions' tails, and deer's hoofs, seated upon a
rocky floor, are relieved by a yellow background.
The vase is modeled after a form of the Ming dynasty, but is
probably not earlier than K''ang-hsi (1662-1722). IX.
Deep Seven-bordered Plate (Tieh), of eggshell porcelain,
decorated in brilliant enamel colors with gilding, and enameled of
a ruby tint in roiige d'or at the back. In the center is a large leaf-
shaped panel, surrounded by a floral diaper, displayed upon a gold
DESCKIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 771
grouiul; it contains a picture of family life — a lady seated in
a chair, witli two small boys playing beside lier, one holding a
lotus-flower, the other a gilded ju-i scepter; two large jars stand
on the ground, and there is a table behind with vases, books, and
pictures upon it, the accessories of a cultured Chinese interior.
The slope of the plate is encircled by three borders, a band of
pink with dragon scrolls, interrupted b}^ medallions of floral scrolls
in blue, between narrower diapered bands of green and yellow
ground. Upon the border is another pink diaper, studded with
four dragon medallions, and interrupted by four trellis-bordered
panels of white ground painted witli sprays of peony, aster,
chrysanthemum, and Rosa sinensis; this is succeeded inside by a
foliated diaper of pale lilac, outside by a gilded belt of lotus sprays
encircling the rim of the plate.
This beautiful plate is known as the "plate with the seven bor-
ders," the gold brocade round the leaf being counted as one. X.
Octagonal Lantern (Teng), of elongated oval outline, molded
of eggshell porcelain, enameled over the glaze with the brilliant
colors and gilding of the best ICcoig-ksi period (1662-1V22).
The lantern is decorated with a procession of the eight Taoist
Immortals crossing the ocean (Pa Hsien kiio hai), and with sym-
bols of longevity round the borders. The pieced openwork railing
at the top and bottom is carved with cloud scrolls inclosing circular
sho^l characters, worked in slight relief in the paste under the
celadon glaze. The sloping edges are painted with large sJioii
characters, alternately green and gold, enveloped in clouds; and
the receding shoulders are also covered with clouded scrolls upon
a background dotted with black.
The floor of the lantern is covered with rolling crested sea-
waves, painted green; the top is studded with constellations of
gilded stars, a flying stork, and the gilded solar disk. The Taoist
figures occupy the eight panels, represented, with their various
attributes, floating across the sea. Beginning with the principal
and proceeding from right to left, we see:
1. Chung li chHlan, standing upon a large gourd and holding up
a monstrous peach.
2. L'ii Tung-pin, dressed in official robes, with a scroll j)icture in
his hand, and his supernatural sword slung upon his back, stamping
upon a gnarled willow with its green branches waving overhead.
3. Lan Ts\d-ho, on a floating lotus-leaf, carrying a wicker
basket filled with lotus-blossoms and reeds.
772 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
4. Han Hsiang Tzu, playing upon his flute, uiounttHl upon the
head of a gigantic shrimp.
5. Chang Kuo, riding upon his famous mule, with the magic
double gourd slung to his girdle, and a bamboo drum and sticks in
his hand.
6. TIs-'ao Kuo-cli'm, standing upon a carp, holding a pair of
castanets.
7. Li THeh-kuai, standing upon a panicled reed supported bjr
his " iron crutch," a gourd in liis left hand, with the smoke issuing
from it unfolding to show the lame and crooked beggar into which
his spirit passed.
8. Ho Hsien-ku, a slender damsel with a short cloak of leaves,
supported upon a lotus-petal and carrying a lotus-leaf.
The last four figures are seen in Fig. 2 in the text, from a pho-
tograph of the opposite side of the lantern. XL
1. Teacup {CJi'a Wan), of the Hang-chou imperial ware {Kuan
Yao) of the Southern Sung dynasty (1127-1279), of semiglobular
form, curving in at the lip, with a circularly rimmed, slightly
spreading foot, which has a pointed projection in the middle un-
dei-neath; invested with a minutely but deeply crackled glaze of
grayish-blue color, becoming of more pronounced lavender tint in-
side the cup. The rim of the foot, where it is not covered by the
glaze, shows the characteristic brownish iron-gray color of the
paste, and the lip is reddish gray at the edge, where the glaze is
thin. It is mounted on a carved stand of dark wood, and is of
thick, solid material, in order to retain heat, as prescribed in the
ceremonial of the tea clubs of the period. XII.
2. Vase for Flowers [Hua Tsnn), of tj^pical Yuan dynasty
porcelain {Yuan Tz'ti, 1280-1367), of rounded quadrangular form,
with two tubular handles, modeled after an archaic bronze sacri-
ficial design. The glaze, which is spread on thickly, runs down in
an unctuous mass, which does not completely cover the foot, and
shows a grayish buff -colored paste of intense hardness; inside the
mouth of the vase it runs down for about an inch, and ends also in
an irregularly convoluted line. It is of grayish-blue color, with a
shade of lavender, crackled with an irregular reticulation of deep
lines, becoming pale brick-red round the upper rims of the vase
and handles where the glaze is thin. The surface is stained in two
places with mottled clouds of warm red passing into purple at the
edges.
Clouds of this kind, the result of some fortuitous oxidation
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 773
during a firing, are highly valued by Chinese collectors; sometimes
they are fancied to take the form of a bird or butterfly, or of some
other natural object. XII.
1. Wine-Pot ( Chiu Ho), of ivorj^-white Fuchien porcelain
(Chien Tz'ii), modeled in the shape of an inverted pomegranate,
and of about the natural size of the fruit, thedentated apex of which
forms the foot. The handle is modeled as a branch which sends
off two twigs to supply a relief decoration for the bowl as it
winds up to make a loop on the cover, which it envelops in a crown
of leaves. A line of verse is engraved on the back of tlie bowl.
XIII.
2. Cylindrical Teapot ( CA'a JTu), of the same ivory-white
porcelain, in the form of a joint of bamboo bound around with
a knotted cord, with a pair of bearded dragons of archaic lizard-
like design with spreading bifid tails attaclied to it; the one
crawling downward with its back bowed to make the handle, the
other lifting up its gaping mouth as the spout. The round cover is
surmounted by the tiny figure of a grotesque lion. The design,
freely and artistically treated, is clotlied with a soft-looking lus-
trous glaze of the cliaracteristic ivory-white tone of the finest
old porcelain of the province of Fuchien, and the base, unglazed,
shows the smooth, even texture of the paste. XIII.
1. Tall Two-handled Cup and Cover (Kai Wan), with each
loop handle fashioned in a form of two dragons' heads grasping a
round jewel between their gaping jaws, and a bulging cover
surmounted by a metal knob shaped like an acorn of European
design. The cover, as well as the cup, is decorated in pale blue of
pure color, with conventional borders of foliated panels brocaded
with white flowers on a blue ground. The intervals on the cup
are filled with groups of the paraphernalia of the scholar and
artist, books on tables, brushes in vases, water receptacles, and
scrolls pictures, all enveloped with waving fillets, and mixed with
tasseled wands and double diamonds, symbols of literary success.
xlv.
2. Small Jar [Hsiao ICuart), painted in bright blue in tlie early
K^ang-hsi style (1662-1722), with lotus-flowei's and reeds growing
in water, flying insects, and lightl}' sketclied floral spra3^s. The
front of the vase displays, in an interval left in the floral decoration,
a quatrefoil medallion containing the sacred Cliristian monogram
774 DESCKIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
I. H. S., with a cross above, and tliree nails meeting in a point
below. XIV.
Brush Cylinder {J*i T^ung), 9 inches higli, of tall, slender
form, modeled in the sliape of a section of bamboo, witli a double
ring worked in relief in the paste near the foot, between two
lightly etched bands of scrolled design. A ChHh-lung, the dragon
of archaic bronzes, is represented in salient relief as coiled around
the tube, with scowling head and bristling mane, having flames
proceeding from the shoulders and flanks. The cylinder is
enameled with a celadon glaze of grayish-green tint, contrast-
ing with the dragon, which is invested with a white enamel.
The bottom is also celadon, leaving a wide encircling rim
where the grayish biscuit is visible. Period ICajig-hsl (1662-
1722). ' XV.
Transmutation Splash Vase (PHtig), of regular ovoid form,
slightly tapering below, where it is excavated to make a cir-
cularly rimmed foot, and rounding in above toward the mouth,
which is surmounted by the form of a coiling dragon. The
ChHh-lung, of three-clawed archaic design, is modeled in salient
openwork relief so as to grasp the rim with its claws, and nearly to
envelop it with its serpentine body and long, clinging bifid tail.
The vase is enameled with a grayish superficially crackled glaze,
exhibiting a r'lchflambe investment vertically splashed with mottled
stripes of varied changing tint, passing from light blue through
purple and intermediate sliades of red into brilliant crimson where
the glaze is thickest. The dragon is colored red, and partially
splashed with the same fianibe, glaze. The foot is enameled olive-
green, with no mark inscribed. The technique and style of dec-
oration indicate the CKien-limg period (1736-95), during which
this Yao-pien or "furnace-transmuted" glaze was much in
vogue. XVI.
Club-shaped Vase i^Pang-chih PHng), 17|^ inches high, dec-
orated in the brilliant enamel colors, with touches of gold, of the
best period of the reign of K^ing-hsi (1662-1722). The deco-
ration is arranged in two large oblong panels and four larger
circular panels, displayed upon a ground of floral brocade. The
scrolled coral-red ground is studded with chrysanthemum-blos-
soms, alternately tinted apple-green and celadon. The large panel
in front has a picture of a gayly plumaged bird perched upon
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 775
a branch of blossoming prunus, penciled in brown, with red flowers
touched with gold, mingled with sprays of bamboo having tlie
leaves filled in with bright green and overglaze blue. The disk
of the rising sun is seen above, partly hidden by the clouds of
dawn tint, indicated in pale coral-red. The corresponding panel
at the back has a bird on a branch of hydrangea shrub, interwoven
with sprays of Hibiscus rosa sinensis. The circular panels contain
landscapes below, insects above, the Mantis religiosa, with millet
and wild pinks in front, the grasshopper perched on a spear of grass
with trifid panicles, and single chrysanthemums behind.
The shoulder slope of the vase is decorated above with a band of
scrolled chr3^santhemum, with large red flowers and green leaves
studding a purple ground, which is interrupted with four foliated
medallions containing butterflies. The colors of the gadroon
border around the foot, and of the diverse rings of conventional
fret and diaper which encircle the upper part of the vase, are
perfectly shown in the illustration. XVII.
Club-shaped Vase [Pang-chih P''ing), 18|^ inches high, with
a ground of souffle cobalt-blue, in which are reserved panels,
decorated, on a white ground, in enamel colors of the K'^ang-hsi
period (1662-1722), including emerald-green, buff, vermilion, red,
and black. The blue ground was originally overlaid with a rich
decoration in gold of conventional floral scrolls and hanging chains
of symbols, of which only traces now remain.
The reserves are outlined in the shape of the Chinese characters
for happiness and longevity, interrupted in the middle by medal-
lions containing the figures of the corresponding Taoist divinities.
The character Fa in front, with a diapered ground, has a circular
medallion in the middle, with Fu Using, the star-god of happiness,
an aged personage leaning up&n a gnarled staff, attended b}' two
sprites carrying a palm-leaf and a fly whisk. The character Shou at
the back, filled in with a similarly colored diaper, is interrupted by
a peach-shaped panel, with a picture of Shou Using, the star-god of
longevity, inside, in the guise of an aged figure with wrinkled fore-
head and long beard, a branch of his miraculous peaches over his
shoulder, speeding across a rocky landscape, with a conspicuous
spreading pine on one side of the picture. XVIII.
Iridescent Iron-bust Vase (P'my), egg-shaped, with a small
round mouth and a circularly rimmed foot, enameled with a dark-
brown monochrome glaze, thickly speckled \vith minute points of
776 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
deep metallic lustrous aspect, and irregularly flecked all over with
clouds of vermilion color, the lip being covered with a ring of the
same red.
It is a striking example of the fieh-hsiu yu, or " iron-rust glaze,"
of naturalistic color and inimitable metallic luster. The foot is
enameled underneath with a dark olive-brown monochrome glaze
of rugose " bubbly " appearance. There is no mark inscribed,
although it is evidently an early ChHen-lung piece (1736-95).
XIX.
Buddhist Ecclesiastical Vase {PHng), one of a pair, 16f
inches high, of hexagonal section and complicated outline, elab-
orately decorated in brilliant enamel colors with gilding, for the altar
set of a Buddhist temple ; each altar set consisting of a tripod cen-
ser and two pricket candlesticks, flanked by a pair of vases, five
pieces in all.
The body of the vase, of reversed conical form, is modeled in the
shape of a ddgaba, or relic shrine, with a sunk panel in each of the
six sides containing a vase, which stands out i>i relief from the floral
background, displaying the sacred wheel of the law surmounted by
the trisula symbol. The edges and borders are filled with floral
brocades and bands of conventional flowers, sprays of fruit, and
birds, relieved by grounds of different color. The neck of the vase,
channeled externally, and correspondingly fluted inside, is painted
with pendant chains of flowers and jewels, relieved by a red
ground. The foot is painted in green, with rings of palmetto
foliations on a yellow ground, and with gilded chrysanthemum
sprays upon a red ground around the rim. The interior of tlie
vase and the under surface of the foot are enameled pale green.
A small panel is reserved in the middle, underneath, in which
is inscribed the seal in underglaze blue, Ta ChHng Yung-cheng
nien chih — i. e., "Made in the reign of Yung-cheng (1723-35),
of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." XX.
Vase (^PHng), 17 inches high, of cylindrical form, slightly en-
larging upward and receding at the neck, painted in the brilliant
enamel colors of the Yung-cheng period (1723-35).
There is a group of figures on the vase, the three principal
of which represent the Triad of the Taoist cult, called Fu Lu Shou
San Ilshig, or " The Three Star-Gods of Happiness, Rank, and
Longevity," the other smaller figures being attendant sprites. Lu
Using, the " Star-God of Rank," has the place of honor in the
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 777
middle, clad in imperial robes, representing Shang Ti, tlie superior
ruler of the Taoist pantheon, whose throne is the Great Bear,
round which all the other stars revolve in homage ; he holds a
baton of rank, and has a peony, the " mandarin's flower," stuck in
his winged hat. On his right is Shou Hsing, the " Divinity of
Longevity," an aged, bent figure, with wrinkled, smiling face and
bald, protuberant brow, leaning upon a gnarled staff, dressed in
robes brocaded with sprays of peach-blossoms, and carrying a
peach, tlie "fruit of life," in his hand. A stork is flying overhead,
and a tall pine, another of his emblems, covered witli flowering
bignonia, rises in the background. He is attended by three play-
ful sprites, dancing under the flowers and striving to reach the
peach. On tlie left stands Fu Hsing, the personified " Star of
Happiness," liis head covered with a blue hood, his girdle em-
broidered with the sacred fungus and bat, while two other bats, his
special attributes, are flying in the air above ; he holds a child
in his arms, and another is dancing behind. The neck of the vase
is decorated in front with a gi*oup of fruit, composed of a little
bi'anch with twin peaches upon it, surrounded b}'^ twigs of water-
caltrop, Buddha's-hand citron, pomegranate, olive, melon, and
lotus. Tlie foot, excavated to make a circular rim, is unglazed.
XXI.
Openwork Lantern {Teng), of oval hexagonal form, 10^
inches high, with panels carved in openwork designs, decorated
in brilliant colored enamels of the famille rose, belonging to the
ChHen-lung period (1736-95).
The six sides of the lantern have oblong panels pierced with
trelliswork of two different patterns, surrounding solid circular
medallions in the middle, which are painted with pictures of
Taoist saints or hermits, each accompanied by an attendant sprite.
They are figured in landscapes filled in with appropriate surround-
ings, pines, dryandra-trees, the sacred fungus, and spotted deer, and
■carry the usual attributes, such as ling-chih, peaches, baskets of
flowers and herbs, hoes, or pilgrims' gourds ; one of the attendants
holds up a double gourd from which a cloud of smoke is issuing at
his master's behest, which unfolds above to display a flying crane.
The upper and lower receding rims are also pierced with six
smaller panels. The borders and edges are all richly decorated
with painted diapers of diverse pattern with floral grounds.
A similar lamp is figured by Du Sartel in La Porcelaine de Chine,
Plate XXXL XXH.
778 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Oblong Crackled Vase {Fang P^ing), 10^ inches bigh, of
square section, with a circular rim at the base, cuhninating in a
short neck leading to a round mouth, and having the corners
projected in the form of broken, dentated ridges. The sides are
molded in relief, with the creative monad symbol {yin-yang) four
times repeated in the middle, and the series of eight mystic
trigrams {pa hud) above and below. The glaze which invests the
whole surface is superficially crackled, and colored with thin
splashes of grayish mottled purple and olive-brown tints. The foot,
somewhat roughly plastered with grayish purple and olive-brown,,
has a rim showing a gray paste of comparatively coarse texture.
XXIII.
Deep Eggshell Plate ( Tieli), decorated in brilliant enamel
colors of the familU rose with gilding. Of the same eggshell
texture and artistic style as the " rose-back " plates, it is decorated,
instead, underneath the rim, with three floral sprays, boldly
painted in overglaze cobalt-blue. The plate is painted inside with
a garden scene containing a group of figures, representing an
emperor and empress surrounded by courtiers. The emperor,
identified by his robes brocaded with dragons, by the tassels of red
silk on the trappings of his white horse, and by the oval banner
screens embroidered with gold dragons held up by attendants
behind him, has just mounted upon horseback ; the empress, fol-
lowed by court ladies holding dragon-centered processional fans
of peacocks' feathers, is in the act of mounting a piebald horse
with the aid of a stool, supported by a lady attendant, while a cour-
tier holds the gilded stirrup hanging on the off side of the saddle.
The borders of the plate are filled with ornamental diapers of
different pattern; that on the slope inside is interrupted by blue
dragon-scrolls, and the broad blue band that succeeds is overlaid
with dragon-scrolls in gold; the rim is encircled by a gilded
quatrefoil diaper upon a black ground. XXIV.
Tripod Censer {Ting Lit), of depressed globular form, round-
ing ill to a wide, circular mouth, supported upon three feet
of scrolled outline, which spring from the gaping mouths of gro-
tesque lions' heads projecting from the lower surface of the bowL
It is invested with a glaze of brownish-yellow color, mottled
with clouds of darker brown toward the bottom; the glaze,
extended over the molded feet, is paler in the relief parts, deep
brown in the recesses where it is thicker. The base is unglazed,,
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 779
with the exception of a round patch of the cafe-au-lait enamel
in tlie middle.
The censer dates, doubtless, from the Ming dynasty. Vessels of
this form are used in Chinese temples for burning " joss-sticks,"
made of fragrant woods, before the images of the deities. This one
must have come from some Taoist temple, as the openwork cover
of rosewood is surmounted hy a Taoist figure carved out of red
agate, representing an acolyte of the god of longevity, with a peach
in his hand, leaning upon a deer. XXV.
Coral-Red Vase {Hua PHng), with globular body and slightly
spreading neck, decorated in enamel colors, with an imperial dragon
pursuing the jewel of omnipotence, relieved by a monochrome iron-
red ground of pure vermilion tint, of the CKien-lung period (1736-
95). The outlines of the decoration are penciled in underglaze blue.
The five-clawed dragon coiled round the neck of the vase is colored
green, with the enamel laid on thickh', so as to stand out in slight
relief, the jewel being depicted on the shoulder as a yellow disk
with a green spiral coil inside emitting bluish flames. The rim of
the foot shows a paste of grayish tint; the glaze underneath, of
pale-green color, is crackled. XXVI.
Crackled Green Vase [PHng), 16^ inches high, bottle-shaped,
with globular bod}^ and wide tubular neck, invested with a
monochrome glaze of pale " camellia-leaf green " color, minutely
•crackled throughout. The foot is enameled underneath with the
same glaze, which is also partially spread on inside the mouth so as
to leave some of the buff-colored paste visible. The rim of the
mouth is lightly touched with a ring of brown tint. The fine
orackle is sometimes known as truitee, from its resemblance to the
scales of the trout; the Chinese call it T/il tzH wen, or " fish-roe
crackle," as distinguished from the coai-ser reticulation of the
pitig lieh men, or "fissured ice crackle." The color approaches
** apple-green." The period is CK'ien lung (1736-95); it is enam-
eled sur biscuit like the fitiely crackled turquoise vases of the
time, and the paste is of similar character. XXVII.
Club-shaped Vase {Pang-chih P''ing), 17| inches high,
painted in overglaze iron-red of darker and lighter shade, with
touches of gold and spots of black to define the eyes of the
■dragons, executed in the vigorous style and coloring of the reign
of K^ang-hsi (1662-1722).
V80 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
The body of the vase is decorated in panels of different shape,
surrounded by a red ground diapered with clirysantliemum scrolls.
Two large oblong panels contain four-clawed dragons disporting
among clouds, in pursuit of the jewel of omnipotence, which is de-
picted as a gilded disk with spiral center, as if whirling in the air.
At the sides there are two rectangular panels with flowers and fly-
ing insects, branches of pomegranate fruit and blossoming peach
and sprays of bamboo, and two panels of foliated outline below,
with carp swimming in the midst of water plants. The shoulder is
encircled by a brocaded ground of diamond pattern studded with
peach-blossoms and broken by four foliated medallions with chrys-
anthemum-flowers inside; the neck is painted with four circular
shou characters in a graceful floral scroll; the elaborate decoration
being completed by a band of false gadroons round the foot, a ring
of spiral scroll on the upright lip, and a castellated border at the
base of the neck. XXVIII.
Vase (P^ing), 12f inches high, covered with a monochrome
glaze of an intense and rich sapphire-blue color, minutely and uni-
formly crackled throughout. It is a cobalt-blue, the gros bleu of
French ceramists, the pao-shih Ian, or "sapphire-blue," of the
Chinese.
It invests a buff-colored paste, exhibited under the foot, which is
unglazed. The vase is probably not older than the Cfi'ien-lung
period (1V36-95). XXIX.
Flower-Vase {Hua PHng), 10^ inches high, of solid make,
bottle-shaped, with a slightly tapering neck, enveloped in the folds
of a dragon modeled in salient relief with openwork. The vase is
enameled with a mottled glaze of gray ground streaked with pale
purple. The dragon, a three-clawed monster of archaic design,
with a spirally curved tail, is enameled crimson with a rouge-ffor
glaze; one of its long horns, accidentally broken off, has been
replaced in gold. It is marked underneath, below the coat of
purplish-gray glaze, with a seal, very lightly etched in the paste,
containing the inscription Ta ChHng CKlen-htng nien chih,
" Made in the reign of Ch'ien-lung (1736-95) of the Great Ch'ing
[dynasty]." XXX.
Large Vase {PHng), 23^ inches high, decorated with a pair of
five-clawed imperial dragons in the midst of clouds, enameled
green, displayed upon a monochrome ground of yellow. The de-
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 781
tails of the design are etched in the paste with a style under the
green enamel. One of the dragons is emerging from the sea, the
rolling waves of which surround the base of the vase ; the other is
descending, its tail reaching to the top of the neck. They are
enveloped by scrolls of clouds, the rifts of which are occupied
b}' flying bats. A formal band of foliations pointing downward en-
circles the foot, and a ring of spiral ornament surrounds the upper
rim. The foot is enameled yellow underneath, with no mark; the
period would be that of CKien-lung (1736-95); the design is of
imperial character, and the yellow ground of the typical shade re-
served for the use of the emperor, known as " imperial yellow."
XXXI.
Flower- Vase [Hua P''mg), with a wide circular mouth, the
upright rim of which is surmounted by the head of a five-clawed
dragon, its body, projected in salient relief, being modeled in open-
work upon the shoulder of the vase. The surface of the vase is
covered with a deep monochrome glaze of " iron-red " of dark coral
tint and undulating aspect. The dragon is enameled green, the
details are touched in black. The mouth is covered inside with a
greenish-white glaze partially crackled with brown lines, and the
same glaze covers the base, underneath, inside the rim, which ex-
hiljits a paste of grayish tone. It is not older than the reign of
Ch'ien-lung (1736-95). XXXII.
Vase {PHng), 11 inches high, of bottled-shaped outline, with a
tall neck, enameled with a thick opaque glaze of grayish tone,
mottled and streaked with amethyst, passing into splashes of deep
purple shade. The glaze is extended over the lip and for about an
inch downward inside the mouth. Underneath the foot it is
coated with an opaque ivory-white glaze, slightly crackled. The
rim exhibits a rather coarse buff-colored paste resembling that of
stoneware, but paler than that of the ordinary Kuang Yao, the
production of the province of Kuangtung, which is illustrated in
Plate XLI. XXXIII.
Plum-blossom Jar {Mei Hua ITiiati), 10^ inches high, of glob-
ular outline, with rounded cover, decorated with an interlacement
of floral sprays, springing upward from a rockery on one side, and
downward from the rim of tlie jar on the other, so as to cover its
surface as well as that of the cover. Two pairs of magpies are
perched among the branches. The intervals are studded with
782 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
single flowers and buds. The colors are manganese-brown of
purplish tinge, green, and yellow, i-elieved by an enameled ground
of intense black, which becomes shaded with a greenish tone at the
edges. The interior of the jar and the foot are glazed with a
greenisli-white enamel, and the paste is of somewhat gray porous
texture, differing from the perfect technique of the blue and white
" ginger jar " of Plate II, but resembling the well-known large
vases of the K''ang-hsi period, painted with the same colors re-
lieved by a similar black ground. XXXIV.
Vase (P'inff), 14^ inches high, of somewhat thick, solid struc-
ture, with the neck buttressed with two vertical ribs, encircled
above by six tubular handles, and the shoulder studded with a ring
of six prominent bosses. It is enameled with a crackled glaze of
grayish celadon color, reticulated with fine lines of reddish brown,
mottled all over with clouds of copper-red of strawberry hue,
flecked with darker shades of brown. The inside of the mouth
and the under aspect of the foot are also crackled, but of plain
celadon color without mottling. The circular rim of the foot is
touched with a coating of iron-gray, to cover the rather coarse buff-
colored paste, which is accidentally left bare at one point where one
of the handles springs from the neck. It belongs, probably, to the
Ch'ien-lung period (1736-95). XXXV.
Bowl for Goldfish ( Yii ICang)^ 7 inches high, 10 inches across,
modeled in the form of a large lotus-leaf turned up at the edge, so
that the folded margin of the peltate leaf makes the irregularly
convoluted rim of the bowl, which is etched inside and out to rep-
resent the natural venation of the leaf. The two handles which
project at the sides are fashioned in full relief in the shape of lotus-
flowers, one of which, fully expanded, shows the cup-shaped fruit
in the middle. These blossoms, which are colored maroon, are
each flanked by two buds of the same color in similar relief. Two
more flowers are painted in maroon to decorate the front and back
of the bowl ; all the tuberculated flower-stems are represented
curving up from below. The rest of the surface of the bowl is
enameled inside and out with a celadon glaze of greenish tint,
which darkens in the etched parts of the design and becomes nearly
white over the relief parts. The bottom is unglazed, only super-
ficially coated with a thin wash of brown color. Period CJCien-
lung (1736-95). XXXVI.
I
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 783
Six Snuff-Bottles {Pi yen Hu). 1. Of cylindrical fonn, dec-
orated with a dragon pursuing the jewel in the midst of clouds,
painted in black upon a ground of deep mottled yellow; sea- waves
at the foot, lambrequin round the upper rim. Mark underneath, in
blue, Yung-cheng nien chih, " Made in the reign of Yung-cheng "
<l723-35).
2. Of flattened globular form, decorated with landscapes in
maroon-red, with the distant hills and water shaded in the same
copper-red of greenish tint. The stopper, with gilded rim, is enam-
eled of a crackled apple-green to simulate turquoise. Mark under-
neath, in one line of "seal" characters, Ta chHng Tao-kuang nieti
chih, "Made in the reign of Tao-kuang (1821-50) of the Great
Ch'ing [dynasty]."
3. Of baluster shape, enameled with a crackled monochrome
glaze of purplish -gray color. No mark. The spoon is mounted on
metal stopper inlaid with coral.
4. Of pilgrim-bottle shape, made of copper invested with Soo-
chow cinnabar lac, carved with scrolls of peonies, fret borders, and
dragon-head handles. Intaglio mark underneath, a monogram
meaning " myriad-fold longevity and happiness."
5. Of flattened oval form, decorated in enamel colors with a
mountain landscape extending all round, with a figure in the fore-
ground standing in front of a pavilion, an old fisherman on a rock
angling, a rustic behind carrying a plow, and a bo}^ with brush-
wood. Stopper, with gilded rim, enameled to represent coral and
turquoise. No mark.
6. Carved out of clouded agate, sliowing the natural veining of
the stone, supposed to resemble a dragon concealed by clouds.
The stopper, with a rim of turquoise, is mounted with a coi-al
bead. XXXYII.
Etched Celadon Vase {P^ing), 17 inches high, bottle-shaped,
with a bulging body of globular outline, ornamented with bats fly-
ing among scrolled clouds, worked in slight relief in the paste and
etched so as to cover the body and neck of the vase, tlie intervals
being filled in with ornamental borders. Plainly paneled boi'ders
encircle the body above and below, a broad chain of rectangular
fret defines the base of the neck, and a band of diamond-pattern
fret encircles the mouth, interrupted by four floral studs, and suc-
ceeded by a ring of trefoil foliations. The whole surface is in-
vested with a celadon glaze of typical color, which varies in shade
according to its depth, thereby enhancing the effect of the etched
784 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
decoration underneath. Tlie base is enameled white underneath,
without any inscription. The period would be Yung-cheng (1723—
35) or CJCien-lung (1736-95), the vase being a fine example of the
celadon tone of this period called by the Chinese tung-cKing. The
tint resembles that of the vase of the preceding reign, illustrated
in Plate VII, but the glaze is not quite so rich and translucid.
XXXVIIL
White Bottle- shaped Vase (P'm^), with double ring worked
in slight relief in the middle of the long neck under the thick white
glaze tinged witli a shade of green, which covers the whole surface,
reserving the decoration, which is etched in the paste with a grav-
ing-tool and left en biscuit, showing the natural color of the mate-
rial after it has been fired. It consists of a four-clawed dragon,
winding round tlie shoulder of the vase in pursuit of the jewel of
omnipotence enveloped in flames of effulgence. The mark under-
neath, penciled in underglaze cobalt-blue, is Ta Ming CKeng-hua
nien chih, " Made in the reign of Ch'eng-hua of the Great Ming
[dynasty]," but the form, style of decoration, and technical details,
seem to be those of the reign of K^mg-hsi (1662-1722).
XXXIX.
Pea-geeen Celadon Vase {Tsuii)^ of antique form and design,
modeled with a band of lotus-petals rising in slight relief round the
foot, and with three prominent ribs encircling the upper part.
Upon the shoulder is crouched the monstrous form of a dragon,
worked in salient relief and undercut, so as nearly to envelop the
circumference of the vase within its massive folds, the interval
being occupied by the jewel, with its effulgent halo, which the
dragon is pursuing. Of the usual conventional form, it has two
branched horns and a bristling mane, the feet are five-clawed, and
flaming processes issuing from the shoulders indicate its super-
natural character. It is boldly modeled and finished with engrav-
ing. The glaze with which the whole surface is enameled is of
tou-ckHng, or pea-green celadon color, and is not crackled. It
darkens somewhat in the recesses of the molded decoration.
The foot is coated underneath with the same celadon glaze, and
has no mark attached. The piece may perhaps be referred to the
reign of Yung-cheng (1723-35). XL.
KuANG Yao Figure of Bodhidhaema {Ta-mo Hsiang), the
famous Buddhist pilgrim, who came from India to China in the
DESCEIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTEATIONS. 785
year 520, and was the first of tlie Chinese Buddhist patriarchs.
The statuette, 13^ inches high^ is fashioned in the peculiar red-
disli-gray stoneware of the province of Kuangtung {Kuang Yao)y
exhibited at the base and in the liollow of the figure, whicli are
unglazed. He is standing in tlie attitude of religious meditation,
dressed in flowing robes, witli the hands folded in the sleeves ; the
poll is shaven, and the ears have the traditional large lobes of the
Buddhist saint. The breast and face show the natural red color
of the fired clay; the hair, left long behind so as to fall over the
shoulders in curls, is colored dark brown; the rest of the figure is
invested with a thick, lustrous crimson glaze of mottled flmnhe
character, overspread with a reticulated cloud of olive-brown
tint. XLI.
Blue and White Brocaded Vase {PHng), of Persian form,
with bulging body and slender, tapering neck, decorated in pale
blue of pure tint with floral grounds and foliated panels of floral
brocade.
There are four lozenge-shaped panels on the bod}^, of foliated
outline, filled with floral designs in white on a blue ground, con-
nected by straps and linked chains. Leaf-shaped panels of similar
design spread upward and downward; the intervals are studded
with tiny blossoms. The neck has two leaf-shaped paiiels spread-
ing up from the base, and two narrow foliations at the lip ; the
rest is covered with an overlapping floral pattern. Bands of
angular fret round the rim and a ring of conventional ornament to
define the shoulder complete the decoration, which is of aj-abesque
character. The mark inscribed underneath is a leaf, outlined in
blue, a common sign of the K^mg-hsi period (1662-1'722), to which
this little vase is to be attributed. XLII.
Pomegranate Vase [Shihliu JP'ing), being fashioned of a curi-
ous shape simulating a pomegranate crowned with its permanent
calyx. The body, of six-lobed section, is alternately ribbed and
fluted, and drawn in above to a short, slender neck, whicli flares
into a recurved mouth with an irregularly indented rim. The lip
is tinted with a line of dark-brown color, and the foot is invested
underneath with a dark-brown glaze, so that the material might be
mistaken for a dark stoneware, did not a slight flaw in the glaze at
one point lay bare the whitish paste. The vase is coated outside
with a mottled glaze of dull purplish or lavender color, crackled
with a network of dark lines. The interior of the mouth is enam-
786 DESCKIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
€led with a lustrous glaze of grayish white more superficially
crackled. It appears to be a reproduction, to be attributed to the
Yung-cheng period, of the famous Kuan Yao of the Sung
dynasty, which is described as having had an "iron-colored foot"
and " copper-red mouth." XLIII.
Beaker-shaped Vase {Hua Ku), of slender, graceful form,
modeled after an ancient sacrificial bronze, with a prominent band
round the middle, a spreading foot, and a trumpet-shaped mouth.
The surface is covered with molded and etched designs of archaic
bronze character, with an ornamental band of scrolls, proceeding
from dragons' heads, round the middle, between two rings of inter-
rupted rectangular fret, and witli palniations, spreading upward
and downward, outlined in spiral curves. It is entirely covered
with a minutely crackled glaze of pure turquoise tint, which
changes in tone according to its depth, thereby enhancing the
effect of the relief and chiseled work. There is no mark under-
neath, but a similar piece in the collection is engraved with the
seal Ta Ch'ing GlCien-lxing nien chih, and this vase must be
referred to the same reign of Ch'ien-lung (1736-95). XLIV.
Beaker-shaped Vase [Hua Ku), of slender, graceful form, with
slightly spreading foot and trumpet-shaped mouth, modeled after
an ancient bronze design on lines similar to those of the vase figui'ed
in Plate XLIV, but differing in having a perfectly plain surface.
It is enameled with the same finely crackled glaze of mottled tones
of the purest turquoise tint, which extends over the rim inside the
mouth, and invests the base of the foot, with the exception of the
cii'cular rim, which is unglazed, and shows the grayish texture of
the paste. It must be referred to the same period, the reign of
Cli'ien-lung (1736-95). It is a pale bluish variety of the glaze
which Chinese ceramists call Wung-chuo-lu, or "peacock-green."
XLV.
Brilliant Flambe Quadrangular Vase {Fang Tsun), 12 inches
high, of antique design, with two wide-open scroll handles pro-
jecting from the sides of the neck. The mouth has the rounded
corners indented, and the indentations are continued downward as
grooves, which gradually disappear about the middle of the vase.
A pointed ovoid panel is outlined in slight relief on the front and
back, to break the uniformity of the surface. The vase is enam-
eled outside with a gray, superficially crackled glaze, overlaid with
vertical streaks and mottled clouds, so as to exhibit splashes of
\
DESCEIPnVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTEATIONS. 787
brilliant transformation colors of varied tints, passing through
brilliant shades of crimson aiid purple into deep olive-brown. The
upper rim and the interior of the mouth are coated with the same
yao-pien, or " furnace transmuted " glaze. The enamel under the
foot is yellow, and not crackled ; the paste is very white, as shown
by a slight accidental chip. Period, ChHen-lung (1736-95),
XLVI.
Large " Pilgrim-Bottle " Vase, or Pao-yueh P''ing, literally
"full-moon vase," 16 inches high, with floral decoration in enamel
colors of the Yung-cheng period (1723-35).
The scrolled openwork handles, which connect the neck and
slioulders, are fasliioned in the form of grotesque dragons. The
base of the neck is encircled by a band of fret, succeeded above by
a formal palmate ring of foliations, below by a scroll border, and a
ring of scroll ornament surrounds the foot. The body of the vase
is decorated on both sides with flowering branches springing from
a point near the foot and spreading over the surface. On the side
illustrated we see scarlet pomegranate-flowers and branches of the
white prunus and pink Pyrus japonica, mingled with twigs of
bamboo and sacred fungus. On the other side narcissus-flowers,
with white petals and yellow bells in the middle, spring from
rocks clad with fungus, with bamboo sprays, and there is a bunch
of red nandina berries waving above. A pair of butterflies is
flying across the field, and bees are hovering around the plum-
blossoms. The seal penciled underneath in underglaze blue is
Ta CKing Yung-cheng nien chih — i. e., " Made in the reign of
Yung-cheng, of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." XL VII.
Large Round Dish {Ta Kuo P''an), 20 inches in diametei-, with
a floral decoration, painted in the brilliant enamel colors of the
Yicng-cheng period, extending from the base over the rim and
along the sides, as well as filling the interior of the saucer-shaped
dish. The decoration consists of branches of the blossoming plum
{mei-htca) mingled with sprays of pomegranate (shih-lin), both
of which send off twigs before they wind over the rim to orna-
ment the under border of the dish Avith the same white and red
flowers. A clump of the branching sacred fungus (ling-chih),
with its scrolled heads of diverse colors, is sprouting from the
branch of the prunus. The mark penciled underneath in cobalt-
blue inside a double ring of the same color is Ta CJi'ing Yung-
788 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
cheng nien chih — i. e., " Made in tlie reign of Yung-cheng (1723-35),
of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]."
The companion disli, of the same size, style, and mark, is deco-
rated, still more effectively, with branches of the tree-peony (mou-
tan), Magnolia yulan, and Pyrus japonica (hai-t^ang), and has
trailing sprays of the three flowers extending round tliree-fourths
of the lower border. The large, conspicuous blossoms of the
peony are nearly white, tipped with pink, and the magnolia-petals
are filled in with the same white enamel. XLVIII.
Large Globular Jar [Kang), painted in deep brilliant blue, of
the tone of coloring and archaic decorative st3'le characteristic of
the Chia-ching period of the Ming dynasty. The body is divided
into four panels of foliated outline, which are filled with landscape
pictures of familiar life in China. In front, a poet is seated in a
pavilion composing, while a boy attendant holds up his ink-pallet,
and two others carry wine-pot and cup. Two men are working in
the garden below, the trees of which are the symbolical pine,
bamboo, and plum. The scene on the left depicts a scliolar on
horseback riding to visit a friend in his mountain retreat, at the
door of which an attendant is knocking to announce his arrival.
Similar scenes occupy the other two panels. The recesses are filled
with alternate sprays of peony and chrysanthemum, and the
decoration is completed by a band of sacred fungus round the
shoulder of the jar, and another of beaded gadroon pattern round
the base. Underneath, boldly written in dark underglaze cobalt-
blue, is the mark Ta Ming Chia ching 7iien chih — i. e., "Made in
the reign of Chia-ching (1522-66), of the Great Ming [dynasty]."
XLIX.
Tvs^o Vases {JSua PHng), of the "peach-bloom" type. The
first is invested with a grayish-green glaze variegated with streaks
and mottled clouds of intense emerald-green, passing into olive at
the lower edges as they "run " down over the field. A blush of
" crushed-strawberry" tint is seen near the rim at the base. Tlie
magnificent coloring seems to bean accidental success of the potter,
due to prolonged firing of a glaze unusually rich in copper. The
usual mark of Ta ChHng K'^ang-hsi nien chih, " Made in tlie
reign of K'ang-hsi, of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]," penciled under-
neath in cobalt-blue, has also "run," the characters being much
blurred. The lip has been replaced in gold.
The second piece is clad in a rich, smooth glaze of charmingly
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OP^ THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 789
uniform color, a pinkish pearl-gray, reminding one of the hue of
the opening bud of the lavender. It is flecked witli a few olive-
brown spots in the receding hollow of the neck. It is of perfect
technique, with the lip defined by a rounded edge, and tlie foot
enameled pure white underneath, but not inscribed. The interior
of the mouth exhibits a mottled glaze, displaying the most beauti-
ful *' peach-bloom " tints. Period, /l^'a??^-As^ (1662-1722), L.
Flower- Vase [Ilua PHng), of graceful shape, exhibiting in
typical form the mottled play of colors characteristic of the
celebrated " peach-bloom " glaze. The three tints distinguished
by the Chinese connoisseur are all seen in the illustration — viz.,
the chiang tou hung, or " haricot-red," of the ground, the mei
Jcuei pan, or " rose spots," and the clouds of p''ing-kuo ch'mg, or
" apple-green." The glaze ends below in the usual sharply cut
straight line, so as to leave a rim of biscuit round the foot, which is
deeply hollowed out underneath. The mark penciled in brilliant
underglaze blue is composed of six minute characters arranged in
two columns, reading, Ta Cli'ing K''ang-hsi nien chih, " Made in
the reign of K'ang-hsi (1662-1722), of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]."
LI.
Ovoid Vase {Hua PHng), one of a pair, of the same period as
the last, and with the same mark underneath written in still more
minute blue characters, covered with a monochrome glaze of pale
sky-blue tint, a charming example of the rare ?/weA ^:)a^, literally
*' moonlight white," or clair-de-hme glaze. LI.
Flower-Vase {Hua PHng), 7|^ inches high, with a ring of
upright foliated panels molded in slight relief in the paste round
the base. The upper part of the neck, which had a slightly flaring
mouth, has been ground down and mounted with a silver collar of
Japanese workmanship. The vase is enameled with a " peach-
bloom " glnze of " cruslied-strawberry " tint, flecked with spots
of darker red, and mottled with clouds of apple-green passing into
a bright grass-green in the middle. The mark written under-
neath in cobalt-blue under a white glaze is Ta ClCing K''ang-hsi
nien chih, "Made in the reign of K'ang-hsi (1662-1722), of the
Great Ch'ing [dynasty]."
The companion vase in the collection, 8 inches high, of a similar
form, and with the same mark underneath, has a " crushed -straw-
berry " ground, flecked with reddish-brown spots, and onl}^ slightly
790 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
clouded, at one spot, with apple-green. The glaze has run down
in thick drops and partially enfoliated, leaving bare places, which
have been filled in with tiny petals of gold lacquer. The upper
rim is capped with a silver mount etched with a floral pattern, and
the neck is encircled by scrolled clouds and a gold dragon of
Japanese design. LII.
Flower- Vask {Haa PHng), 9 inches high, of eggshell thinness,,
invested with a soft monochrome glaze of pink color, belonging to
the Yung-chefigr (1722-35) or early C^'^ew-Zw/^^ (1736-95) ^period.
This beautiful and rare tint is the same as that with which the backs-
of some of the delicate eggshell dishes of the time are enameled.
It is a variety of the rose <Vor, being derived from gold ; different
shades of pink were produced by combining the " purple of Cas-
sius," which gives a pure crimson tint, with graduated doses of
white. The pink, illustrated here, is called hai-fang hung, or
" Pyrus japoniea red," by the Chinese, from its resemblance to the
petals of that flower ; the deeper crimson of the " ruby-backed ""
dishes, one of which is illustrated in Plate X, they call yen-chih
hic?ig, or "rouge-red." LIII.
Flower-Vase [Hua P''ing), with the "peach-bloom" glaze of
the JCang-hsi period (1662-1722). The illustration, in the size of
the original, shows the gracefull}'^ curved lines of the form and the
perfect technique of the piece. The swelling lip is defined by a
line of white, and two white rings in slight relief encircle the neck
as it springs from the shoulder. The rest of the surface is covered
with a rich glaze of velvety aspect, exhibiting the beautiful play
of colors which distinguishes the "peach-bloom" or "crushed-
strawberry " vases. The neck is coated inside with a glaze of
bright apple-green tint, sprinkled with a few dark-red spots, and
tipped at the edge with a ring of mottled "peach-bloom." The
mark underneath, Ta ChHng JCang-hsi nien chih, " Made in the
reign ofK'ang-hsi, of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]," is beautifully
written in underglaze cobalt-blue, the six characters arranged in
three columns. LIV.
Wine-Pot ( Ghiu Hu), of somewhat rough paste and antique
style, enameled with colors and touches of gold, of the ICang-hsi
period (1662-1722). Of oblong form, with the corners I'ounding
inward, it has an upright arched handle which is painted with
black lines on a yellow ground, to simulate basketwork. The
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF ITIE ILLUSTRATIONS. 791
decoration is in panels, with the typical flowers of the seasons on
the four sides ; the plum of winter, with a bird perched in the
branches, and an evergreen bamboo growing from tlie rocks
beneath ; the tree-peony of spring, with butterflies flying around ;
the lotus of summer ; and the chrysanthemum of autumn. The
intervals are filled with bands of floral diaper, interrupted on
the shoulder by two medallions containing sprays of peony, and
formal sprigs of the same flower are painted on the curved spout.
The foot is glazed white underneath, with no mark attached. LV.
Bottle-shaped Vase {PHng), 16|^ inches high, of good form
and finished technique, enameled with the celebrated red glaze of
the Zang Yao of the reign oiK^mig-hsl (1662-1722). The surface
of the glaze exhibits a superficial network of crackled lines, and
its depth reflects the richly mottled tints of sang-de-bceuf tj'pe,
streaked with lighter shades below. The upper edge of the tall
neck is defined by a rounded rim of white. The foot is apple-green
underneath, not crackled, mottled with undefined rings of pale red.
LVI.
Vase {PHng), 18 inches high, of the celebrated Lang Yao of
the reign of K''ang-hsi (1662-1722). Bottle-shaped, with swelling
body and tall, wide, cylindrical neck ; the rich deep glaze, crackled
throughout, exhibits the characteristic crimson tints of sang-de-
bceuf in its darkest mottling. The base is covered underneath
with a gray, " rice-colored " glaze, slighth^ mottled with brown.
LVII.
Flower- Vase {Hua P^ing), 8^ inches high, covered with the
crackled sang-de-boenf glaze, the characteristic colors of which are
well represented in the lithograph. The mottling of apple-green
crackle exhibited near the foot is still more marked on the opposite
side of the vase. The base underneath is coated with a crackled
white glaze, barely tinted with green. It belongs to the reign
of K'ang-hsi (1662-1722). LVIII.
Large Vase {PHng), 21 inches high, of the celebrated Lang
Yao of the reign of K^ing-hsl (1662-1722), covered with the
characteristic crackled monochrome glaze of sang-de-boenf color.
The colors, of varied tone, pass from apple-green to deepest
crimson, through all intermediate shades, according to the degree
of oxidation of the copper silicates in the glaze. The vase
792 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
is green toward the edges, where the network of crackles is
most clearly visible ; red on the body, where the glaze runs down
toward the foot in richly mottled streaks ; and of dark, sanguin-
eous tint on the shoulder, where the glaze is thickest. The rims
are defined by lines of white glaze ; the base is covered under-
neath with a crackled glaze of pale apple-green color. The plate
shows well the vertical play of colors, the crackled texture, and
the stippled ground which mark this glaze — one of the most
brilliant achievements of the Chinese potter. The reflections give
a touch of contrast to the tone, and indicate the finished radiance
of the surface lit up by the sun. LIX.
Statuette of Kuan Yin [Kuan Yin Hsiang), 1*7 inches high,
mounted upon a pedestal, representing the Chinese goddess of
Mercy, a Buddhist divinity, the special " hearer of prayers," as the
name signifies. Modeled in a dignified pose, she stands upright
with braceleted hands crossed in front, her robes, with broad and
loose sleeves, hanging gracefully down so as to cover all but
the tips of her bare feet. The face, with calm, complacent
features, is marked between the eyebrows with the illumianting
urna, characteristic mark of a Buddha, and the ears have the tra-
ditional pendulous lobes of a Buddhist saint. The hair is crowned
with a tiara of lotus design ; a lotus-flower is suspended upon
the breast by a jeweled necklace, and another hangs down from
the girdle. A short brocaded cloak covers the shoulders and forms
a hood, which projects forward in a point above the head-dress.
The pedestal is fashioned in scrolled outlines to represent the waves
of the sea, with the two-horned bristling head of a dragon emerg-
ing in front, flanked by two four-clawed feet, the hinder part of its
serpentine form being seen behind.
The figure is enameled with a crackled glaze of soft grayish tone
with reticulating brown lines. The decorated parts are painted in
the brilliant colors of the old famille verte ; the hair is jet-black,
the eyebrows are outlined in black, and the lips touched with coral-
red. The hood is brocaded with scrolls of lotus-flowers ; the upper
border of the robe is encircled by shou characters alternating with
flowers. Period, K'ang-hsi (1662-1'722). LX.
Tall Vase {Hu-lu P'm^), 28 inches high, of threefold outline,
fashioned in the form of a double gourd with broad, swelling
waist, and decorated in enameled colors of the K''ang-hsi period
(1662-1722).
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 793
The middle section is decorated on a white ground with two
grotesque lions enveloped in flames, and brocaded balls, looking like
wheels, suiTounded by waving fillets. The balls, outlined in un-
derglaze blue, are painted partly in the same blue, partly in colors,
coral-red and green predominating ; the lions, painted in similar
colors, have the curly manes and spreading tails touched with an
overglaze blue enamel. The borders are filled in with a band of
floral diaper in colors. The upper and lower segments of the vase
are glazed with a monochrome ground of brilliant " mirror-black."
This was once profusely painted in gold, and traces remain on the
iower part of the vase of floral and diapered grounds, inclosing
panels containing rocky scenes with deer, Jc'ilin, and monstrous
quadx'upeds, surmounted by a ring of symbols, including the double
-fish, lozenges, and "cash"; and of panels containing landscapes
with temples on the upper segment. LXI.
Floweb-Vase [Hua PHng), 10|- inches high, of the reign of
ICang-hsi (1662-1722), decorated in panels with cobalt-blue of
brilliant mottled tone, and in the intervals with floral sprays on an
enameled black ground. The body of the vase is decorated with
three quatrefoil panels containing vases filled with bouquets of
lotus-flowers and reeds, pots of sword-grass, and writing apparatus
set on low tables ; the neck, with two leaf-shaped panels below,
having sprays of chrysanthemum inside, with alternate svastika and
jewel symbols round the bulb, and with rings of formal foliations
round the base and rim. The ground between the panels is filled
in with sprays of plum blossom, painted in delicate green and
yellow, relieved by a background of intense iridescent black. There
is no mark underneath. LXII.
Saucer-shaped Dish (Tieh), of delicate eggshell porcelain,
-decorated with brilliant enamel colors of the Ytmg-chenff period
^1723-35). The graceful figure, supported by a scrolled bank of
many-colored clouds, represents one of the female divinities of the
Taoist cult, as shown by her attributes, and seems to be Ho Ssien-
ku, the virgin member of the band of inunortals who, the story
says, occasionally appears to her worshipers in a cloud of diverse
colors. The goddess is dressed in long, flowing robes, with a short
-cloak of lotus-leaves thrown across her shoulders and a long black
scarf with the ends floating loosely down, and has her jet-black
hair ornamented with a pink flower ; a pilgrim's gourd hangs sus-
794 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
pended from her girdle, and slie carries in lier hands a large blue
jar, tied round with pink silk, containing, doubtless, the beverage
of immortality — tlie magic elixir vitce. LXIIL
Quadrangular Vase (JPh/u/ P''ing), 13 Indies high, with ver-
tical openwork railings of scrolled outline projecting from the four
corners, richly decorated in enamel colors, with gilding, of the
ChHtn-lung period (1736-95).
The vase is decorated with foliated panels framed in a blue ground
brocaded with bats in gold. The large oblong panels on the body
are painted on a white ground with landscape pictures of the four
seasons. The picture representing spring is a mountain scene,
with temples half hidden by trees, and a river spanned by a plank
bridge on which a traveler is standing, admiring the peach-trees
with their pink blossoms ; a Pyrus japonica is flowering near a
temple, and the willows on the river-bank are clad in the rich ver-
dure of spring. The summer scene is a similar picture, with pines
and poplars in full foliage and reeds waving over the water. The
picture of autumn, seen in the illustration, has also a mountain
background, with temples and pillared pavilions on the shore of a
river swollen by the torrents of the rainy season, and foliage show-
ing bright autumnal tints. A snow scene follows for winter, even
the fisherman seated in his boat in the foreground being covered
with snow, and showing out white upon the sepia-tinted water.
A grove of pines surrounds the temple buildings ; all the other
trees are bare, sketched in the same neutral shades that darken sky
and water.
The neck of the vase has four small square panels filled with
colored clouds. The shoulder is decorated with bands of conven-
tional floral scrolls issuing from the mouths of two bats displayed
upon a yellow ground. The borders and the openwork railing are
enameled of soft coral-red, overlaid with gilded scrolls, succeeded
by bands of blue with scrolls of gold peonies round the upper and
lower rims. The seal underneath, penciled in red on a white panel
reserved in the middle of the pale-green enameled grounds, which
characterizes the finest imperial porcelain of this period, is Ta
ChHng ChHen lung nien chih, — i. e., " Made in the reign of Ch'ien-
lung (1736-95), of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." LXIV.
Flower- Vase {Hua PHng), of graceful ovoid shape, with
tapering neck and expanded rim, enameled with a pure mono-
chrome glaze of delicate citron-yellow tint. The yellow ground is
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 795
interrupted on both sides of the vase, to be decorated by little pic-
tures sketched in sepia upon a white ground. The pictures are
represented as if painted upon scrolls, partially unrolled so as to
sliow the brocaded mounts at the sides ; one is a mountain land-
scape with a pilgrim in the foreground on the bridge leaning upon
his staff, the other a rustic scene with a cottage in front. The rim
of the lip and the interior of the mouth are white, with a tinge of
green, and the foot of the same color, underneath, with no inscrip-
tion. It is a choice specimen of a monoclirome glaze which seems
to have been produced in such perfection only in the reign of
Tung-cheng (1Y23-35). LXV.
Saucer-shaped Dish (Tie/i), of eggshell porcelain decorated
with brilliant enamel colors of the /amille rose and gilding. The
motive of the decoration is a screen fan, laid down, as it were, in
the dish upon a bed of flowers. The screen is painted with the
picture of a pheasant perched upon a rockery, with daisies and
grass and a branch of shan-li-hiing berries in the background. It
has a curved bamboo handle tinted red, gilded mounts, and black
tassels attached by silken cords. The flowers are sprays of peony
And chrysanthemum, displayed in bright colors upon the sepia
ground of diapered pattern, which is seen lining the rest of the
interior of the dish. The rim is encircled by a wavy band of con-
ventional floral sprays studded with alternate peony and chrysan-
themum flowei's, penciled in sepia and filled in with gold. Period,
Yung-cheng or ChHen-lung (1723-95). LXVI.
Bowl ( Wan), molded after a characteristic design of the reign
of Ykmg-lo, with spreading sides and a gently everted rim nicked
at regular intervals in six places. Of eggshell texture and marvel-
ous transparence, it has yet, in addition to the painted decoration,
a complicated pattern molded in relief in the paste inside, consist-
ing of an interlacing scroll of lotus lifting up eiglit blossoms to
support the eight Buddhist emblems of happy augurj'^ [pa chi
hsiang), which form a circle round the rim of the bowl, surrounded
by waving fillets; this ornamentation, too fugitive to be illustrated,
has the effect, under transmitted light, of watered satin or water-
marked paper. The decoration, painted in coral-red over the glaze,
■consists of nine four-clawed dragons — two pairs inside and two
outside — speeding round the sides in pursuit of whirling jewels, all
enveloped in forked flames, and the ninth coiled in a ring in the
796 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
bottom of the bowl. This is one of the exclusive designs sacred to-
the emperor, and the dragons are all four-clawed, a special mark of
the K''ang-hsi period (1662-1722), to which this bowl belongs. It
is thinner and more perfect in technique than a ChHen-lung bowl,.
with a glaze of softer tone, although not so brilliant nor so vitreous
in aspect, and is of the same style and date as the vase figured in
Plate XXVIII. LXVIL
1. Rice-Bowl {Fan Wan), 7f inches in diameter, of the IT^atig-
hsi period (1662-1722), artistically decorated in shaded blues with
a lake scene, a group of storks standing in a clump of lotus, rocks
and panicled reeds in the background ; a medallion of lotus-flowers
is painted inside in tlie bottom of the bowl, and a band of sprays of
the same flower round the inner rim. The mark underneath is a
six-spoked wheel encircled by a waving fillet with dots, simulating
a flower ; an identical mark occurs on a brilliant "hawthorn-spray '^
plate in the collection dating from the same period.
2. Water Receptacle (Shut Ch'eng), 2\ inches high, for the
writing-table, in the form of an ordinary teapot, decorated in soft-
toned blue under a crackled, soft-looking fen-ting glaze of ivory-
white tint. It is decorated with the paraphernalia of the scholar :
a censer, a book, and a water-pot with ladle inside on a palm-leaf,.
in front ; a lyre in its brocaded case and 2iju-i scepter tied with
fillets, behind ; and with four symbols on top — a musical stone, a
Buddhist wheel, a lozenge, and a " cash " — and two on the cover,
with cloud scrolls between the symbols. The mark underneath is
yu, " jade," the period that of K''ang-hsi. LXVIII.
3. Miniature Vase [Hsiao PHng), 3 inches high, delicately
painted in blue, the depressed bulging body covered with interlac-
ing scrolls of Indian lotus, the neck, which is marked near the base
by a prominent white ring, encircled by conventional bands of
spiral and triangular fret and foliated design respectively. The
mark underneath, in well-written characters, penciled inside a
double ring, is Ta Ming Hsiian te nien chih — i. e., " Made in the
reign of Hsiian-te (1426-35), of the Great Ming [dynasty]."
LXVIIL
Plate {P''an tzfi), \0\ inches in diameter, painted inunderglaze
cobalt-blue of lighter and darker shades, in the free, artistic style
and tone of coloring characteristic of the K''ang-hsi period (1662—
1722). The interior of the plate is decorated with a four-clawed
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 797
dragon emerging from the waves with flames proceeding from its
shoulders and flanks, while two fishes, one a carp, are swimming in
the water which covers the ground with curling crest, dotted with
foam. The border of the plate is encircled by scrolled waves ; its
under surface is ornamented round the rim with six emblems tied
with fillets, including a couple of books, a round jewel, a diamond
{fang sheng), an umbrella, a conch-shell, and a palm-leaf. The
mark underneath, inscribed within a double ring, is Ta Ming Ch'eng-
hxia nien chih, " Made in the reign of Ch'eng hua, of the Great
Ming [dynasty]," but the form and style of decoration indicate
certainly the reign of ICa/ig-hsl. The fabled metamorphosis of
the " Fish Dragon " ( Yii Lung) is symbolical of the scholar's
success at the state competitive examinations, LXIX.
Beaker-shaped Vase [Hua Ku), 11'^ inches high, of solid
material and somewhat arcliaic form, with a flat base not glazed ;
decorated with etched borders and painted blue designs, executed
in the style of the Wan-li period (1573-1619). Three bands of
wavy conventional scrolls, lightly etched in the paste under the
glaze, encircle the vase so as to divide its surface into two parts,
which are decorated in brilliant cobalt-blue of shaded tones. The
body represents a combat between a tiger, the king of land ani-
mals, and a dragon, prince of the powers of the air. Tlie tiger is
in the foreground, crouching upon the reedy bank of a lake, from
the waves of which a dragon has just emerged and is seen ap-
proaching on the right, with its huge scal}^ form half hidden by
clouds ; rocks and clouds fill in the background. The neck of the
vase is painted with a rocky landscape with palms rising in the
background ; a kH-lin is seated in front, with flames issuing from
its throat and body, indicative of its supernatural attributes ; it
has a scaly skin, a two-horned dragon's head, the hoofs of a deer,
and the spreading tail of a lion. A phcenix is flying in the air
above. LXX.
Ovoid Vase, of the Buddhist form, called Kuan Yin Tsioi, be-
cause it resembles the ritual vase carried by the goddess of Mercy,
18 inches high, decorated in shaded tones of brilliant blue, in the
characteristic style and coloring of the K^ang-hsi period (1662-
1722).
The body of the vase displays the grotesque forms of three lions
of the traditional Chinese type, sporting with brocaded balls, the
wheel-like balls being tied with broad fillets, which fill in all the
798 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
intervals with their spirall}'- waving folds. The neck of the vase,
marked with three ribs faintly worked in the paste, is painted in
blue with an encircling band of " scepter-head " ornament above a
liglit ring of spiral fret. The mark underneath is a large double
ring, penciled in blue, such as frequently occurs at the time referred
to, when the potters were forbidden to use the imperial title. This
decorative motive is always called Shih-tzU, k''un hsiu chhi, " Lions
sporting with brocaded balls," and the lions, by a pun on the word
sfiih, which also means "generation," are often said to be symbol-
ical of three generations of the same famil3\ The original ecclesi-
astical signification of lions guarding the sacred wheel of the Bud-
dhist law seems to be quite forgotten, although one can almost
detect the spokes of the wheel in tlie picture before us. LXXI.
Tall, Vase {Hua-Ku), 33 inches high, of archaic form, with six
prominent serrated ridges projecting vertically from the bulging
center, and extending down to the gently spreading foot, and two
handles fashioned in the shape of grotesque lions' heads, channeled
for rings, on the neck. It is painted in cobalt-blue of characteris-
tic tone, under a rich lustrous white glaze slightly tinged with
blue. The decoration consists of conventional scrolls of peonies
arranged in vertical panels. A band of sea-waves stretches round
the base, two undulating rings of foliated scrolls define the bor-
ders of the body, a band of sacred ling-chih fungus winds round
the shoulder, and two horizontal bands of conventional ornament
mark the borders of the neck. Inside the mouth there are two
encircling bands of formal flowers, succeeded by a ring of palmated
design pointing downward. The mark, inscribed in a framed
panel near the upper border, is Ta Ming Wan li nien chili — i. e.,
"Made in the reign of Wan-li (15'73-1619), of the Great Ming
[d3'na8ty]." The bottom is unglazed. LXXII.
Vase (PHng), of gracefully eloiigated ovoid form, decorated in
brilliant blue, in the style and coloring of the best ICang-hsi
period (1662-1722). The picture represents, apparentl}-, a dra-
matic scene. A traveler in official dress is kneeling in the foi"e-
ground on a river-bank, to which the boat is moored from which he
has just landed, his umbrella and bundle thrown on the ground
near. A martial figure stands in front with his hand upon the hilt
of his sword, the hero of the piece, indicated by the long pheasant
plumes in his helmet, who is attended by two soldiers armed with
long halberds. The background is filled in with rocks and waving
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 799
willows, enveloped in clouds of mottled blue. The neck of the
vase is painted with a few light spraj^s of bamboo. The mark
underneath, penciled in blue within a double ring, of Ta Ming
Chia ching nieii chih, " Made in the reign of Chia-ching, of the
Great Ming [dynasty]," is evidently fictitious. LXXIII.
Vase (P''i>ig), 10 inches high, with a decoration of floral bands
and ornamental borders, worked in slight relief in the paste, under
a monochrome glaze of pale grayish-blue color, derived from the
native cobaltiferous ore of manganese. This is the Vieii-ch'ing, or
" sky-blue," of Chinese ceramists, which resembles somewhat in
tint the turquoise glaze illustrated in Plate XLV, although this is,
on the other hand, derived from copper, and differs from the cobalt
glaze in being minutely crackled. The decoration consists of con-
ventional scrolls of .peonies round the body, with a baiid of false
gadroons below and a border of scrolled " scepter heads " above.
The rim of the foot is encircled by a continuous rectangular fret,
and the shoulder is defined by a chain of similar design. The neck
has a ring of palmations, alternatelj^ longer and shorter, ascend-
ing from the base. The rim of the lip is marked with a line of
brownish-yellow color. The foot is enameled underneath with the
same grayish-blue glaze as the vase, without any inscription. It
may be attributed to the early part of the K''ang-hsi period (1662-
1722). LXXIY.
Crackled Turquoise Flower-Pot [Hua P^en), of rectangular
outline and oblong section, with the rim incurved, resting upon four
scrolled feet. The interior is strengthened by six vertical ribs ;
the bottom is perforated by two round holes. It is enameled out-
side with a rich translucent glaze of deep turquoise tint, which is
minutely crackled throughout with a network of well-defined lines.
The interior and the under surface, both for the most part unglazed,
exhibit a paste of whitish texture resembling that of the vase figured
in Plate LXXXIV, and this flower-pot is also to be referred to the
Ming dynasty. It is probably a production of the reign of Wan-li
(1573-1619). LXXV.
Vase, with Cover {A'a^ PHng), one of a pair, of broad ovoid
shape, composed, as it were, of two vases coalesced into one, with
the line of junction indicated b}'^ vertical grooves, surmounted by a
double composite cover crowned by two gilded knobs. It is painted
in the finest enamel colors with gilding of the CKien-lung period,
800 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
tones of red predominating, and is a brilliant example of the /amille
rose. The body of the vase is filled with groups of playing boys
painted upon a translucently white ground. On one side there is
a group of children playing upon musical instruments, and carry-
ing branches of peach-blossom, gathered round three goats, the
special emblem of the creative energies of spring, indicated by the
punning name of the design, " San yang Mai tai.'''' On the other
side the boys surround a central figure holding a vase from which
a cloud is issuing as it unfolds to display five flying bats, symbols
of the five kinds of happiness. The receding neck and the hollow
of the foot are filled with broad bands of ruby-red, with the rose-
d^or ground etched with scrolls and overlaid with chains of
symbols painted in colors, fringed with narrower bands of yellow
and sepia color diapered with flowers. The cover has a similar
scrolled ground, with foliated rings round the knobs. The base^
enameled pale green, is inscribed, in overglaze blue, with one line
of antique " seal " characters, reading Ta Ch'hig (JlCien lung tden
chih, "Made in the reign of Ch'ien-lung (1736-95), of the Great
Ch'ing [dynasty]." LXXVL
Vase ( Tsun), modeled in the form of an ancient sacrificial wine-
vessel of the Han dynasty, with encircling bands worked in slight
relief in the paste, and three solid handles fashioned in the shape
of rams' heads projecting on the shoulder. The glaze with which
it is enameled is of gra3dsh tint, crackled throughout with a close
network of reddish-brown lines. Upon the shoulder of the vase^
where the glaze is thicker, it is pale blue, and the crackled reticu-
lation becomes almost colorless ; also upon the spreading rim of
the foot, where the conditions are similar. The same crackled
glaze extends into the interior of the vase, and invests the base,
which is marked in the middle, under the glaze, with the " seal "^
in dark cobalt-blue, inscribed 7'« ChHng CKien lung nien chih —
i. e., "Made in the reign of Ch'ien-lung (1736-95), of the Great
Ch'ing [dynasty]." LXXVII.
Vase (PHng), enameled with a monochrome glaze of green of
the color of cucumber-rind (the kuap'i I'd of Chinese ceramists),
minutely and uniformly crackled throughout. The glaze exhibits
an undulating surface, and the green color takes on a mottled
aspect in places, becoming slightly paler on the shoulder in one spot
which happens to be more thinly covered. The finely crackled
or truit'e surface of this bottle offers a typical example of the
DESCEIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 801
yii tzH teen, or " fisli-i'oe crackle." The foot is invested underneath
with a similar crackled green enamel. The upper rim is touched
with brown, which is concealed in the illustration by the ebony
stopper. Period, CJi'ien-hotg (1736-95). LXXVIII.
Vase i^Tsun), modeled after an archaic bronze form, with bulg-
ing body, upright rim, and two tubular handles. Composed of
grayish paste, it is invested with a thick brilliant enamel of trans-
lucent eraerald-green, uniformly crackled with a network of brown
lines. Reflected light produces a marked iridescent effect, which
the artist has indicated in the illustration. The enamel, which
thins to a straight edge toward the foot, is stained below by a line
of olive-brown at the point of junction with the ferruginous paste.
The foot, unglazed underneath, and showing the circular marks of
the wheel, is of dark color, almost black. LXXIX,
Tall Vase [P^i/tg), 18|^ inches high, enameled with a mono-
chrome glaze of very dark olive color, becoming black in some
parts where the glaze is thickest, as it collects, for instance, upon
the shoulder and round the edge of the foot. It was originally
richly decorated in gold, with a pair of dragons rising into the air
from the sea, traces being still visible, on close inspection, of sea-
waves below, and of the forms of large four-clawed dragons pursu-
ing jewels in the midst of clouds, extending over the bulging body
and slender neck of the vase. Although there is no mark inscribed
underneath, the characteristic shape, coloring, and decorative style
all indicate the reign of K''ang-hsl (1662-1722). LXXX.
Vase (PHng), 12 inches high, with a bulging body and a solid
circularly rimmed foot enameled with a brilliant Kua-p'i lii, or
" cucumber-green " glaze, minutely crackled throughout. The color
ranges from apple-green to dark olive, the slirface of the vase being
vertically streaked with deep mottled tints of olive, where the glaze
has collected as it ran down in the furnace. The same glaze
extends down inside the mouth, but the foot is unglazed and has
no mark inscribed underneath. If not older, it is an early speci-
men of the reign of ChHeii-liing (1736-95). The lip is mounted
with a silver collar. LXXXI.
Vase {P^ng), 17 inches high, bottled-shaped, with bulging
body and wide neck, painted with a floral decoration of shaded
black, invested with a monochrome iridescent glaze of deep-camel-
lia-leaf green. The decoration consists of a boldly designed pic-
S02 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
ture of peonies, with sprays of other plants, growing from rocks in
the foreground, and a single leafy spray behind. It has run in
some parts so as to be hardly visible under the overglaze, which,
paler above, collects as it flows down the vase in unctuous masses,
becoming of wonderfully deep, metallic-like luster where it absorbs
and mingles with the black underneath. The rim, which has been
broken, has been mended in Japan with gold lacquer. The foot is
enameled pale green underneath, with no mark attached. The
specimen belongs to the reign of K^ang-hsi (1662-1722), which is
famous for the variety of its green glazes, one of which is called
she p^i III, or " snake-skin green," because it resembled, in its deep
luster, the beautiful iridescent hue which distinguishes the scaly
skin of some serpents. LXXXII.
Vase (PHtiff), 15 inches high, with a globular body poised upon
a swelling recurved foot, having a pair of dragons incised in the
paste under a monochrome glaze of " eel-skin yellow " {shan-yu
huang), of the reign of K''ang-hsi (1662-1722). The dragons,
of the typical four-clawed design of the period, are represented in
pursuit of tlie jewel of omnipotence, a disk with spiral center emit-
ting rays of effulgence; the form of one is half concealed by the
rolling waves which are engraved round the base of the vase; the
other is fully displayed in the midst of etched scrolls of clouds and
forked flames, filling in all the intervals. The investing glaze, of
yellowish-brown tint, deepens into olive-brown to enhance the
effect of the incised decoration, and collects in brown drops as it
runs down over the rim of the foot. The base is coated underneath
with the same glaze. The tints resemble precisel}'^ those of the
shan yiX, the common brown eel of north China ; the glaze was
introduced into the imperial manufactory by Ts'ang Ying-hsiian,
who was sent to Ching-te-chen by the Board of Works in the year
1683. LXXXIII.
Vase {Tsun), 9^ inches high, of somewhat archaic form and
design, with the details of the decoration worked in relief in the
paste and finished with the graving tool.
The body is encircled by a belt of rings connected by double
links, between two lines of rope pattern; a ring of studs surrounds
the base between similar lines of rope, and there is another ring of
studs at the top above a single rope line. An interrupted chain of
rectangular fret defines the base of the neck, and the everted lip
is ornamented with a chain of the same fret; the lower part of the
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 805
neck has a band of spiral foliations embossed with studs. I'he vase
is enameled with a crackled glaze of the deep turquoise tint that
is called by Chinese ceramists k''ung-chuo lu, or " peacock-green,'^
which enhances the effect of the relief decoration by the brilliant
play of its richly mottled tints, varying according to the depth of
the glaze. The interior of the mouth, and the foot underneath, are
invested with the same turquoise glaze. There is no mark, but
the solid, very white paste and the general technique resemble
those of the imperial turquoise bowls and plates of the Ming
dynasty, which are usually marked, so that this vase must be
referred to the same period. LXXXIV.
Robin's-egg Gray Vase {PHng), 10 inches high, of egg-shaped
outline, with an archaic dragon modeled in full relief, with open-
work, upon the shoulder of the vase, so as to envelop half of the
rim of the circular mouth with its coils. It is two-horned, with
indistinct claws and a bifid, spirally curved tail, like the cJi'ih-
lung of ancient bronzes. The dragon is colored maroon on a gray
ground; the vase is invested with a thick glaze of bluish-gray
tone, flecked with copper-red spots and streaks of mottled maroon
tints.
The rim of the foot is iron-gray; the middle is plastered with a
yellowish-brown enamel, covering the seal, which is impressed un-
derneath the paste, inscribed Ta CliHng Yung cheng nien chihy
"Made in the reign of Yung-cheng (1723-35), of the Great Ch'ing
[dynasty]." LXXXV.
Vase {PHi^g), 7| inches high, of depressed, bulging form, with
a pair of handles projecting from the shoulder fashioned in the
shape of lions' heads with rings in their mouths. It is enameled
all over with a pellucid glaze of grayish celadon color, crackled
with a wide reticulation of brownish-red lines, connected by a few
superficial colorless lines within the meshes. The foot is invested
underneath with the same crackled glaze, so as to leave the rim
uncovered, which is tinted iron-gray. The upper rim and the han-
dles are touched with brownish-red.
There is no mark. It is probably a production of the Yung-
cheng period (1723-35), emulating the ancient Ko Yao of the
Sung dynasty, which is described as having had iron-colored feet
and copper- red mouths. LXXXVI.
Vase {P^ing), of ovoid form, swelling toward the shoulder,
which is defined b}"^ a line in slight relief as it recedes into the
804 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
neck. The tliin lip of the gently flaring mouth is encircled by a
ring of black enamel, and the two solid handles which project
from the sides of the vase, modeled as grotesque lions' heads and
perforated for rings, are invested with a brilliant bronze-black
glaze of metallic aspect. Tlie rest of the surface is enameled with
a bright yellow monochrome glaze of slightly greenish tone,
crackled throughout with a fine network of superficial lines {trui-
tee). The foot is invested with the same glaze. Period, ChHen-lung
(1736-95). LXXXVII.
Furnace-Tkansmutation Vase {Yao Pien P''ing), of hexag-
onal section, with two open looped handles projecting from the
neck, roughly fashioned in the shape of elephants' heads. The
enameled surface, superficially crackled with a wide reticulation,
exhibits a mottled investment of olive-brown, overlaid with thick
splashes of brilliant crimson shades streaked with purplish grays,
produced by varied oxidation of the copper silicates of the glaze
as it ran down in the kiln in massive drops. The inside of the
mouth shows the substratum of pale-green tint, flecked with a few
Jlambe spots. The foot is of mottled olive -color, leaving a broad
rim unglazed, where the dark, yellowish color of the paste is ex-
posed. Period, (7A'2e?i-?Mn^ (1736-95). LXXXVIII.
Double-Gourd Vase {Hu-lu P''ing), of Fen-Ting porcelain,
with a grayish- white paste of fine texture, and an ivory-white glaze
of purest translucence, delicately crackled throughout with a wavy
network of light-brown lines. The decoration, worked in the paste
in slight relief, consists of two broad bands of floral scrolls, com-
posed of sprays of the lotus, peony, and lily, designed in a conven-
tional or idealized style, with formal borders of gadroon bands and
*' scepter-head " scrolls, and a girdle of rectangular, interrupted fret
round the waist. The base is invested with a similar crackled
glaze. It is an admirable specimen of perfect beauty and finish,
to be referred, probably, to the IC^ang-hsi period, when the potters
of Ching-te-Chen emulated, and surpassed, the makers of the
ancient Ting-chou ware of the Sung dynasty. LXXXIX.
Flower Vase [Sua PHng), of fine form and finished tech-
nique, with molded and chiseled designs invested with a white glaze
of perfect purity and translucence. Tiie body is ornamented with
a broad band worked in relief, composed of a pair of the archaic,
one-horned, lizardlike dragons called chHh-lungy winding through
interlacing scrolls of the miraculous fungus of longevity (ling-chih).
DESCREPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 805
This is succeeded above and below by an etched band containing
symbols encircled by waving fillets, with cloud scrolls in the in-
tervals, the symbols represented being a pair of rhinoceros-horn
cups, and the fang-sheng^ or double lozenge, above, the conch-
shell and the palm-leaf below. Round the lip a ring of triangular
fret is lightly etched. There is a mark of the Sung dynasty
penciled on the foot in underglaze blue — Hsuan ho nien chih — i. e.,
"Made in the period Hsiian-ho (1119-25)," a time when the pro-
ductions of Ching-te-chen are said to have rivaled the finest white
/^jade. This piece, however, is a reproduction, and, from its perfect
technique, is to be attributed to the reign of K^ang-hsi (1662-
1722). XC.
Vase [PHng), of white Fen-Ting porcelain of the K''ang-hsi
period (1662-1722), with a rich, pellucid glaze of pure tone, crackled
with a wide network of superficial, colorless lines. The charac-
teristic translucence of the surface is well represented in the illus-
tration. The foot is enameled underneath with a similarly crackled
glaze, and has no mark attached. XCI.
Bottle-shaped Vase {Ilua P^mg), enameled with a mono-
chrome coral-red glaze of perfect purity, displaying a remarkably
uniform vermilion tint. The lip is defined by a line of white.
The foot is coated underneath with a white glaze of greenish tone,
leaving exposed a ring of paste of grayish color. There is no mark
attached; it belongs, probably, to the CKien-lung period (1736-95).
XCII.
Vase {P^ing), 15f inches high, with a bulging body and
slender cylindrical neck, exhibiting the souffle cobalt-blue glaze of
mazarin tint in its most brilliant tone of coloring.
There is no mark underneath, but the vase, without doubt, is to
be referred to the reign of JT^ang-hsi (1662-1722). The process
of ch'ui chHng, or " insufflation of the blue," on the unburned clay
before glazing is fully described by P^re d'Entrecolles in his
second letter written from Ching-te-chen in the year 1722.
XCIII.
Ancient CH^tJN-CHOu Flower-Pot [Hua-P^eyi), 8 inches across,
of depressed globular form, with slightly spreading feet, per-
forated at the bottom with five holes. The bowl is enameled with
a rich glaze of finely mottled aspect, in which the prevailing tone
of bluish gray is flecked with purple and crimson spots; it becomes
806 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Stone-gray on the upper rim, and is broadly splashed with crimson
at the back near the foot, vvliere it has run down more thickly. In
the hollow of the foot is a brown of olive tint. The paste, where
it is exposed at the top, shows tlie material to be a dense, hard
stoneware of yellowish tint. The upper rim is mounted with a
wooden collar, and the stand is also elaborately carved in rose-
wood, and incised underneath with the cyclical character chiay
indicating that it came from the imperial collection at Peking^
where the stands are marked in this way. There is a companion
flower-pot in the collection, of the same size and shape, enameled
with a glaze of darker tint, and more thickly flecked with crimson,
passing into purple. They are both specimens of Chun Yao from
the Chun-chou potteries of the Sung dynasty. Modern reproduc-
tions of the Chbien-lung period are distinguished by the finer and
whiter texture of their paste and by a more finished technique.
XCIV.
Tall Imari Vase [Hana-ike), 23 inches high, of cylindrical,
beaker-shaped form, swelling into a prominent ridge near the foot,
and flaring above at the mouth. It is decorated in blue and white
in combination with enamel colors and gilding. The floral ground,
painted in blue with interlacing sprays of peonies, is interrupted by
two long panels of foliated outline, which contain flowers growing
from rocks, painted in enamel colors upon a white ground. The
blue floral ground is overlaid with fillets of deep verrailion-red tied
in bows which inclose flowers, and the foot of the vase is encircled
by a ring of foliations filled with stiff upright flowers. The inner
rim of the mouth is decorated in plain blue with a band of peony
sprays; tlie foot is glazed white underneath, with no mark in-
scribed. Period, 1650-1700. XCV.
Statuette, of Tokyo porcelain invested in white enamel, with
the face and right hand reserved en biscuit, representing the
famous general and statesman, Take-nouchi no Sukune, who was
the leading spirit in the celebrated Korean expedition under the
Empress Jingo, and prime minister under three succeeding em-
perors, and who is said to have attained the great age of two hun-
dred and fifty years. The figure is boldly modeled, with bearded
face and beetling eyebrows, the furrowed brow surmounted by
a winged hat of ancient Chinese style. The flowing robes are
brocaded with dragon scrolls and ornamental borders worked in
relief under the glaze, and the figure of a stork flying among
I
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTEATIONS. 807
clouds is emblazoned on the breast. The right hand is lifted up
as if gi'asping tlie official badge of his high j-ank. The mark
incised underneath is Dai Nippon Tokyo Eaouye Riosai tsukuru
— i. e., *' Made in Great Japan at Tokyo by Enouye Riosai." It is
said to have been specially made for the Philadelphia Centenary
Exposition. XCVI.
1. "Old Japan" Imari Sake-Bottle (Tokuri), of square section,
with a bulging body gracefully tapering upward to a slender neck,
ending in a square thin-rimmed mouth. Invested with a glaze of
pure ivory-white tone, it is decorated in a formal archaic style with
floral designs painted in delicate enamel colors with gilding; the
four sides of the body with a gnarled plum-tree bearing red and
gilded blossoms, alternating with a conventional spray displaying
three bundles of starlike flowers; the neck with long, foliated
panels of floral scrolls relieved by coral-red and white grounds.
The base is flat and unglazed underneath, showing a fine paste of
finished technique; the date would be circa 1650.
2. " Old Japan " Imari Sake-Bottle ( Tokuri), of circular sec-
tion, with an ovoid body and a long, slender neck with eveited
lip, decorated in a bold, free hand, after the Chinese style of the
Wan-li period, partly in cobalt-blue of two shades, painted sur
-biscuit partly in overglaze enamel colors, with profuse gilding. A
rocky outdoor scene is represented Avith two aged figures in
Chinese costume in the foreground, one carrying a crooked staff,
standing under the trees; the rocks are clad with bamboos, and
there are palms rising in the background, and an open rockery with
peony shrubs beside it. No mark underneath. Period, about
noo'. XCVII.
Tall " Old Japan " Imari Vase {P''iug), 2b inches high, painted
partly in cobalt-blue, partl\' in enamel colors with lavish gilding.
It is decorated with panels containing pictures painted upon a white
ground, irregularly distributed upon a blue ground richly bro-
caded with flowers. Two large panels, of indented oval outline,
contain identical pictures of landscapes, executed in conventional
Chinese style, with lake scenes and waterfalls, temples and pago-
das; two minor panels, which thev partly hide, are filled with droop-
ing wistaria-flowers; and the two indented panels below display
tlie same outdoor scene, with a traveler in Chinese dress attended
by two boys, one holding a gilded umbrella over his head, the
other pointing to a waterfall. The blue ground which covers the
808 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
remainder of the vase, with tlie exception of a few floral reserves
and a band of white around the shoulder, a deep cobalt color of
mottled brilliant sheen, is overlaid with gilded sprays of chrysan-
themum-flowers, at) occasional blossom of which is penciled in red;
the neck is decorated in gold with a pair of three-clawed dragons
among clouds and flames; the shoulder is gilded with a band of
conventional flowers on white; and chains of spiral and rectangular
fret and heavily gilded rims complete the decoration, with small
square patches of gold-leaf applied at irregular intervals inside the
mouth.
Tliere is no mark underneath. The vase dates from the middle
of the seventeenth century, and is a fine example of the richly
ornamented porcelain produced in Japan at this time for export to
Europe. XCVIII.
"Old Japan" Imari Sake-Pot (Choshi), of hexagonal form
with rounded top, the handle of which is the overarching seal}'"
body of a dragon, which protrudes its head through the side of the
pot to form the spout. The dragon, which has a two-horned head
and four-clawed feet, with red flames proceeding from its flanks, is
modeled after the Chinese type. The enamel colors used in the
decoration are deep " iron-red," overglaze blue of greenish tint,
pale green, and gold. The top of the sake-pot, being the firma-
ment in which the dragon is disporting, is gilded with cloud scrolls
and flames upon a red ground; the cover is painted witli similar
designs and crowned with a floral knob. The six panels are
enameled with grounds of different color; the central panels at the
front and back have a circular medallion reserved in the middle of
the red ground, which contains a gilded floral crest; the side panels
display the three jewels of Buddhistic lore enveloped in flames, and
two identical pictures of crested sea-waves and distant hills. The
feet are three floral buttons. There is no mark, but the date would
be about 1750. XCIX.
1. Teacup (Cha-wan), of Satsuma faience, covered with a finely
crackled glaze of pale, mottled-brown tint, invested round the
upper rim with a line of light olive-brown, which runs down
inside the lip in deep, coloi-ed drops, becoming almost black.
This rare example of Satsuma decorative treatment is referred to
the middle of the eighteenth century.
2. Flower-Vase (Hana-ike), of Satsuma faience, modeled in
the form of a four-lobed beaker, and chastely decorated in soft
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 809
colors with gilding. It is molded with a prominent ring encircling
the base of the neck above four panels bordered in spiral relief,
which spread downward and are painted inside with red peony-
tiowers encircled by green leaves, all outlined in gold. The rest
of the decoration consists of three narrow bands of conventional
ornament, tilled in witli the same three colors — red, green, and
gold. Date, about 1800. C.
1. Incense-bubner (ICdro), of Satsuma faience, finel}'^ decorated
in delicate enamel colors with gilding. The body is divided by
bands of spiral fret into three broad panels, which are filled with
formal sprays of peonies; conventional foliations surround the
shoulder and spread down over the three feet; the neck is encircled
bv the eight mystic trigrams {pa kua) of Chinese philosophy.
The dome-shaped cover, decorated with an ornamental band round
the rim, is perforated by six round holes, and surmounted l)y the
figure <»f the Chinese lion couchant. The rims, both of the censer
and of the cover, are strengthened by a silver casing. Date, close
of the eigiiteenth century.
2. V E WOT {Choshi), of Satsuma faience, of somewhat archaic
design, four-lobed in outline, with a short spout, and overarching
handle, invested with a minutely crackled glaze of ivory-white
tone. It has been used for sake, and the surface is dulled by wear
and stained brownish in some places by the liquid. Pei'iod, 1700-
1750. CI.
Vase {IJana-ike), \\\ inches high, of Satsuma faience, ovoid
in form, bulging above, with two handles fashioned in the shape
of lions' heads projecting from the shoulder. It is decorated with
storks flying among clouds, relieved by an intensely black ground,
which fills in all the intervals of the decoration. The details are
painted with red and green enamel colors in combination with
gilding and silvering, some portion of the cloud scrolls being left
untouched, so as to sliow the natural finely crackled surface of the
ivory-white glaze. The borders are encircled by ornamental bands
of geometrical design, defined by lines of gold. The base is
eiiajnele<l plain black underneath, with no mark affixed. Date,
1800-1850. CTI.
1. Japanese Kutani Incense-burner {Koro), of circular sec-
tion, with three small feet, enameled with an iron-red glaze of
deep vermilion tint, overlaid with gilded and silvered decoration.
810 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
On tlie bod}^ a three-clawed dragon outlined in gold is winding^
round the side, above a floor of crested waves painted in silver;
a band of lotus petals, touched in silver with gilded outlines,
encircles the upper rim. The paste, buff inside, is enameled white
round the edge and underneath the foot. CIII.
2. Rice-Bowl {Meshi-wa/i), of Japanese Kutani ware, enameled
with the same deep vermilion glaze, and decorated in colors, includ-
ing a pale green, in combination with the gold and silver. A con-
ventional scroll of the sacred lotus extends round the bowl,
studding it with four formal flowers, bordered above by a broad
band of ornamental fret, alternately gilded and silvered below,
with a ring of lotus-petals. The foot is red underneath, as well as
the lower rim, leaving none of the paste visible; the interior of the
bowl is coated with a white enamel of pitted texture. Period of
both pieces, about 1750. CIII.
1. Japanese Kutani Rice-Bowl [Meshl-%oa)t), enameled with
a monochrome iron-red glaze of deep vermilion tint, with gilded
rings to define the borders, and decorated in gold and silver, with
a pair of phoenixes with long, trailing tails, traversing scrolls of
the moutan peony wound round a paling, indicated convention-
ally in the intervals. The rim of the foot is painted with lozenge-
shaped symbols, separated by light scrolls of clouds. The foot is
red underneath, the interior of the bowl a greenish white. Date,
about 1750.
2. Japanese Kutani Rice-Bowl {3Ieshi-ioau), of thin, trans-
lucent porcelain, with the interior molded in the style of ancient
Chinese Tingchou ware, with sprays of lotus, chrysanthemum,
aster, and other flowers inclosed in panels, six of foliated outline
surrounding the circular panel beneath, and with an encircling
chain of rectangular frel^— all molded in slight relief under a glaze
of pale celadon color. The exterior of the bowl is decorated in
enamel colors, with gilding, with four round medallions containing
peonies, alternately green and gilded, in a red ground, and with
floral designs in the intervals, connected by a network of beaded
strings hung with sjnnbols and tassels. The foot is enameled red
underneath, with a wliite rim; the lip is strengthened b3^ a silver
collar. Period, 1700-1750. CIV.
" Old Japan " Imari Incense-burner {Koro), modeled in the
form of a rounded bowl, mounted upon three small scrolled feet,,
with two molded handles projecting from the shoulder, fashioned
DESCEIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. Sll
in the shape of grotesque lions, and a cover fitting inside tlie rim
of the bowl, surmounted by an elaborate superstructure, delicately
modeled in openwork relief, consisting of a hollow chestnut-tree
with prickly fruit upon it, burst open so as to show the gilded nuts
inside, and having a spray of chrysanthemum and a bunch of scarlet-
berried fruit attaclied. The rim of the bowl is encircled b}' a band
of fret; the surface, as well as that of the neck, is ornamented
with floral scrolls on a vermilion-red ground. This floral ground
is interrupted, on the bowl, by panels of dentated outline, which are
painted in delicate enamel colors, green, buflF, pale purple, red, and
gold; a broad panel in front with the picture of a mountain scene,
with two aged figures in Chinese costume resting under a spread-
ing pine; two panels, side by side, at the back, one containing
peonies growing behind a reed fence, the other a rockery and a
blossoming plum-tree. The foot is only partiall}' glazed under-
neath, with no mark attached. Period, about 1700. CV.
.Japanese Imari Hanging Censer (JiTdro), of regular oval form,
with a gilded loop-handle at the top for suspension, and an opening
of indented oval outline in front for the introduction of the
incense, which is closed b}' a movable silver lid, pierced in the
middle with a kiri-mon, or Paulownia crest. The censer is dec-
orated outside, in shaded vermilion-red and gold, with panels of
brocaded design, both on the front and back, which are decorated
with jewels emitting efl^ulgent rays poised upon clouds, and with
cloud scrolls, outlined in gold upon a mottled red ground. The
panels hang from dragons' heads at tlie upper corners, and are
encircled by gilded foliations; the intervening ground is spx'inkled
with sacred jewels and conventional flowers. Date, about 1700.
CVI.
1. Sake- Pot (Choshi), of Satsuma faience, with a minutely
crackled glaze, decorated in enamel colors — blue, red, and green —
with gilding. Of square outline, with a spout curving upward
from below and a scrolled handle, it has a cover fashioned in tlie
form of a chrysanthemum, and a second ring of petals encircling
the rim of the mouth, below a dotted blue band which intervenes.
The upper surface of the sake-pot, and tlie four side panels, are
filled with sprays of the fir, plum, and bamboo — the three floral
emblems of long life; the panels are framed in blue and studded
with gilded flowers.
2. Flower- Vase [Hana-ike), of Satsuma faience, enameled
812 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
with a similar finely crackled glaze, and decorated in delicate
colors with gilding. The body is covered witli gracefully waving
sprays of the Paulownia imperialis, displaying large conventional
flowers; the neck is encircled b}^ formal foliations of pointed shape
in two rings, spreading upward and downward. The mottled
brown staining of the surface indicates that the vase has been used
as a sake-bottle. The two pieces are referred to the same period
— the end of the eighteenth century. CVII.
1. Teacup ( CAa-toa/i), of Satsuma faience, decorated in colors^
covered outside with a trelliswork pattern oi svastika design painted
in bright green, outlined with gold, so as to stand out in slight relief
upon the white background, which is finely crackled with brown
lines. Tlie fretted ground is broken on either side by a badge or
crest, tlie one in front being composed of a double garland of
wistaria-flowers, with three leaflets at tlie top, the other of a formal
spray of Paulownia, with a central flower of five florets and lateral
flowers of three, springing from three gilded leaves, representing
the official and private crests of the owner. Bands of diaper
penciled in red and gold encircle the rims. Date, 1800-1850.
2. Flower- Vase (Hana-ike), of Satsuma faience, of graceful
ovoid form, with two handles composed, as it were, of plain and
brocaded fillets tied in knots. The surface, of the usual finely
crackled texture, is decorated with delicate scrolls of a vine with
many colored leaves and curling tendrils. Waving spirals encircle
the foot, which is partly gilded, and the rim of the lip is defined
by a heavy line of gold. Date, 1750-1800. CVIII.
Sake-Bottle (Tokuri), of Hirado porcelain, modeled in the
sliape of a gourd, with a slightly compressed waist, and drawn in
above to a small mouth, which is closed by a round stopper. The
aperture is tightened by a cap of yellow silk, the fringe of which
is seen in the illustration. There is a floral decoration outside,
executed in white slip, worked in slight relief, and finished with
the graving tool; it consists of sprays of chrysanthemum-flowers,^
intermingled with a few ])lades and a single penciled head of grass.
The investing glaze is of soft, white tone with a tinge of green.
There is no mark attached. The date is 1750-1800. CIX.
1. Sake-Bottle (Tokuri), of Hirado porcelain, modeled in the
form of a vase, with a bulging, globular body tapering into
a slender, upright neck. It is decorated in soft-toned cobalt-blue^
DESCKIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 813
with a miniature garden-scene, a sketcli of a rockery and a paling,
with a palm, peonies, and other flowers, behind the fence. At the
back there is a group of five small boys dancing round a couple of
fighting-cocks. Date, 1750-1800. The Sometsuke, or blue and
white, decorated at this period with Chinese boys playing, was
made especially for the use of a prince of the Matsu-ura family
residing at Hirado, and its sale was prohibited.
2. Incense-burner [Koro), of Hirado porcelain, molded in the
form of a puppy squatting o*. the ground, its head, which is
detachable, being the cover, the line of junction being the lower
edge of the ribbon which is represented as tied round the neck.
The flanks are decorated with chrysanthemum-sprays, which have
the flowers worked in white relief, the leaves penciled in blue; on
the back is a panel similarly ornamented with a carp leaping from
waves, and a foliated patch with a blue ground is painted between
the ears. No mark. Period, 1750-1800. CX.
Water-Jar (3Iidsu-sashi), of Hirado porcelain, of bowl-like
form' with upright sides; of circular section below, it becomes
gradually quadrangular, with rounded corners toward the upper
rim. It is decorated with bamboos painted in underglaze cobalt-
blue, shaded in soft tones of grayish tint; a small clump of bam-
boo rises in front, with three-jointed stems, from which branches
of foliage spread over the bowl, while the other side is painted with
a hanging spray of foliage extending along the upper rim. Date,
1750-1800. CXI.
Hirado Blue and White Censer {Jloto), of depressed globu-
lar form, with a pierced outer casing and a rounded openwork
cover, poised upon a pillar with a square base, which is mounted
on a square pedestal with four scroll feet — all molded in one piece.
There are two projecting loop-handles of scrolled form proceeding
from the mouth of monstrous unicorn heads, and the pillar has
a pair of two-horned, three-clawed dragons coiled round it, mod-
eled in salient openwork relief, with the scaly spinous bodies enam-
eled white. Through the outer casing of the censer, which is
pierced in a trellis pattern, the decoration is seen penciled inside in
delicate blue, consisting of a flock of sea-birds on one side and
a pair of butterflies on the other. The rims of the bowl and cover
are encircled by borders of conventional ornament, painted in the
same grayish blue; the intervals of the dragon forms are filled in
with cloud scrolls, and the base of the pillar enveloped in rolling
814 DESCEIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTEATIONS.
sea-waves; tlie pedestal is surrounded by a cliain of rectangular
fret, and the feet with spiral bands. There is a mark painted in
minute blue characters under one of the feet, of which the first
character of the potter's name is blurred and illegible. It reads:
Hirado san Mikawachi . . . Jake sei — i. e., " Made by . . .
Jake at Mikawachi in Hirado." CXII.
t
Hirado Blue and White Vase [Hana-ike), 12| inches high,
of round beaker-shaped form, with a widely flaring mouth, and two
solid handles molded in the guise of frogs crawling, as it were, up
the neck. It is decorated, inside and out, in underglaze cobalt-blue
of grayish tone with a water scene. Two trunks of drooping wil-
low-trees rise from the interior of the vase, decorating its surface
with a mass of foliage, and sending, besides, several branches over
the rim to cover the upper portion of the exterior with gracefully"
curving s})ra3'S. The lower portion is painted with scrolled waves
to indicate the water fi'om which the frogs are supposed to spring.
The scene depicted on the vase, it is suggested, reminds a Japanese
of the famous calligraphist and poet, Ono no Dofu, who lived dur-
ing the tenth century a. d., and who is always represented watch-
ing frogs leaping out of a stream into willow-trees — illustrative of
successful perseverance. There is no mark. It is to be referred,
probably, to the beginning of the nineteenth century. CXIII.
1. Japanese Hot-water Bottle {Shaku-date), used with a
ladle {shakii) inside at tea-ceremonies; brown stoneware, invested
with an opaque olive-brown glaze, flecked with minute yellowish
spots of lustrous aspect, terminating in an irregularh' undulating
line before it reaches the base, so as to show the natural color
of the fired clay; near the top it is overlaid with splashes of deep
yellow color with crackled surface, becoming reddish as they min-
gle with the surrounding ground. Idzumo ware, made at Fujina,
in the province of Idzumo, in the beginning of the nineteenth
centur}'.
2. Japanese Tea-Jar (Cha-rre), made of folds of translucent
paper, gilded in the interior, and coated externality with lacquer to
imitate glazed pottery, from which it can hardly be distinguished.
The cover is made of ivory, the bag of brocaded silk.
3. Japanese Tea-Jar {CJia-ire), of cylindrical form, tapering
upward to the shoulder; made of dark-brown stoneware, covered
with a brilliant yellowisli-brown glaze of mottled aspect and par-
tially crackled surface, invested round the top with a layer of dark
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 815
olive color, wliich runs down behind in a vertical streak, mingling
with the other glaze. Seto-ware, made in the province of Owari
about IVOO. CXIV.
Japanese Tea-Jars ( Cha-ire).
1. Of oval form, with a sharply ridged slioulder contracting to a
small mouth. A paste of light graj^isK material, invested with
a yellowish-brown glaze of brilliant tini, overlaid with a splash of
verdigris color which runs down on one side in two finely crackled
green streaks, ending in olive drops. Shigaraki pottery, made
in the province of Omi about 1850.
2. Of wide, depressed form, with a prominently ridged center,
simulating a covered bowl. Composed of a red clay and covered
with a brown glaze, over which is spread a thick enamel of mottled
gra}^ tone passing into brilliant olive tints, running down irreg-
ularly in unctuous drops. Takatori stoneware, made in the prov-
ince of Chikuzen about llbO.
3. Of oval shape, with a horizontally ridged surface, and two
slightly projecting strap handles. A paste of light-brown material,
covered with a yellowish-brown glaze, overlaid on either side of the
shoulder by an irregular splash of paler yellow with a brilliant
crackled surface. Idzumo stoneware, from Fujina, in Idzumo
province, about 1750. CXV.
Vase (JP^ijig), 12 inches high, of ancient Korean faience, dating
from the thirteenth century a. d., covered with a gray-brown glaze,
crackled where it is thick as it collects round the neck and above
the circular rim of the foot. It is decorated with floral designs and
diapered grounds, inlaid in an ivory-white slip of brilliant crackled
texture. The bod}", defined by encircling rings, is inlaid with two
boldly designed sprays of formal flowers, with flying insects like
wasps filling in the intervals of the floral decoration, and a bird of
rough archaic outline perched upon one of the flowers. The
remainder of the surface is filled in with simple diapers, two broad
bands extending round the neck and shoulder of the base, two nar-
rower bands round the base. The bottom, curioush^ wrinkled un-
derneath, is only partially — for about half of its surface — coated
with a gray-brown glaze, so as to expose the material, which is
a drab-colored faience. CXVI.
816 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
II. TEXT CUTS.
Baluster-shaped Vase {Mei P''mg), of good form, vertically
grooved so as to be of five-lobed section. The decoration, which is
lightly etched at the point in the paste, consists of birds and grace-
ful sprays of bamboos, with lambrequins round the neck studded
with single blossoms, and rings of palmations encircling the rims
above and below. The finely crackled turquoise glaze, which in-
vests the whole, varies in soft translucid tints, according to its
depths, so as to enhance the effect of the engraving underneath.
French mounting of the most graceful and artistic style. Height,
6^ inches.
Pair of Vases ( Yi Tai P''ing), of hexagonal outline, with spread-
ing feet, and slender necks f urnislied at the side with two open loop
handles emerging from projected heads of dragons. The spring of
the foot is encircled by a fillet, binding rings of leaves, which spread
upward and downward, worked in slight relief in the paste. The
finely crackled monochrome glaze of rich and translucent turquoise
tint, together with the form and technique, indicate the reign of
Wan-li (1573-1619), of the Ming dynasty. Tlie mounting is
French ormolu work of the eighteenth century. Height, 12 inches.
No. 1.
Octagonal Eggshell Lantern {To-faiTetig), of the K''a7ig-hsi
period (1662-1722), decorated in brilliant enamel colors with the
eight Taoist immortals {Pa Hsien) crossing the sea in procession.
The other side of this lantern is illustrated in Plate XI, where it is
described in full detail. Height, 13 inches. A full account of each
of the Pa Hsien is given on pages 579-581. No. 2.
Yuan Dynasty Bowl ( Yuan Tz'ti Wan), a small bowl of hard
dense ware of grayish fabric, invested with a thick lustrous glaze of
ivory-white tone, minutely crackled with a network of dark lines.
It is only partially enameled underneath, the lower third and the
foot being left bare. Diameter, 4^ inches.
Jar, of archaic iron-gray stoneware, with a crackled glaze of
stone-gray celadon color; Kioang-yao of the Yuan dynasty.
Bowl, of Yuan dj'nasty ware, of reddish-gray body, with crackled
purplish glaze, mottled with brown. No. 3.
Square Bottle {Fang PHng), one of a pair, of the K''ang-hsi
period, enameled with a remarkably iridescent ground of coral-red
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 817
of intense tone, with reserved ineilallfons painted in enamel colors
with gikling upon a white ground. The panels on the front and
back, shaped like finger-citrons, are filled with pomegranates and
asters, witli a cock crowing; the panels on the sides, shaped a8
begonia-flowers and plum-blossoms, jontain goldfish and moss,
crabs and shrimps. Tiie bottoms are unglazed. Louis XVI
mounts. Height, 14 inches. No. 4.
Large Vase (PHng), of Lang Yao porcelain of K\i)ig-hsi date,
with a brilliant scmg-de-hoeuf glaze of crackled texture, displaying
tlie characteristic mottling and streaked play of color. The base is
coated underneath with a grayish "rice-colored" {mi-si) crackled
glaze, mottled with brown. A rare example of the class, with
an old European mounting. Height, 20 inches. No. 5.
Ovoid Vase ( Yuan PHng), one of a pair, coated with brownish-
red monochrome glaze of K''ang-hsi date,which have been cut across
horizontally and mounted in silver in Europe as bowls with covers.
The enamel, of deep rich tone mottled with darker spots, is finely
pitted on the surface. Tiie bases are enameled pure white. Height,
8 inches. No. 6.
Large Vase {Ta PHng), of the Ming period, coated with a cela-
don glaze {Lixmg-cKiXan yu) of darkest green tint, not crackled, but
dotted all over with minute bubblelike points. The decoration,
which is boldly worked in the paste in slight relief under the glaze,
consists of a pair of phoenixes flying through a floral ground of
sprays of the tree-peony {Pceonia moiitan). The foot is encircled
outside by a band scored with crossed lines. It is unglazed at tlie
base, showing a paste of grayisli-yellow color. Height, 2 feet 5
inches. No. 7.
Vase (PHng), coated with a minutely crackled turquoise glaze of
pure soft tone, over a delicately etched decoration of dragons and
bats enveloped in scrolls of clouds. A gadroon band extends round
the vase, succeeded by a chain of rectangular fret at the foot, also
incised at the point in the paste under the glaze. There is an
etclied seal underneath, inscribed Ta CkHng Chla cKing nien chih,
"Made in the reign of Cliia-ch'ing of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]."
The openwork mounting is of modern French work, executed in
gold. Height, 8 inches. No. 8.
Fruit-Dish (Iluo P''an), one of a pair of rare type, of K^ang-hsi
date, which are molded in the shape of leaves with convoluted
818 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
folded Miargins, and decorated sur biscuit, in colored enamels. The
dish is enameled with a tniit^ ground of apple-gi'een; the handle, a
knotted branch of primus, colored purple, passes over the rim of the
dish, to decorate the interior, in relief, with sprays of flowers and
buds which are colored red, dark blue, and gold.
The companion disli is overlaid inside with branches of fruit,
instead of flowers, which are painted in similar colors. The stands
are designed in gilded bronze as graceful mermaids of classical
form, seated with their fish-legs intertwined, and supporting the
dishes with extended arms. Diameter, 10 inches. No. 9.
Gourd-shaped Vase [Hu-la PHny ), one of a pair of old stone-
gray crackled gourds that have been mounted in Europe, witii
scrolled liandles of graceful design springing from classic masks.
Height, 10| inclies. No. 10.
Vase {P''ing), one of a pair, of Khing-hsi porcelain painted sur
biscuit in delicate enamel colors, the base being unglazed, only
marked with the cross-lined pattern of the stuff on which the paste
was pressed. They are molded with ribbed surfaces as if composed
of a series of jointed bamboo-stems, the joints of which are used as
panels for the decoration of floral sprays. The flowers, including
the lotus, chrysanthemum, aster, peony, peach, plum, magnolia,
pink, iris, and narcissus, with palm-leaves and twigs of bamboo, are
relieved by enameled grounds of white, yellow, purple, and two
shades of bright green. At the base of tlie neck a ring of lotus-
petals modeled in slight relief is tinted red and bound round with
a green strip of reed. Height, 8^ inches. No. 11,
SxuFF-BoTTLE {Pi Yen I£u), decorated in enamel colors and
gilding with groups of the varied paraphernalia of the liberal arts
known as Po Ku, or the " Hundred Antiques," displayed in salient
relief upon a pale-green background of lozenge-pattern fret.
Marked in red underneath with a seal similar to that described
in No. 25. No. 12.
Small Jar with Cover {Hsiao Kuan), enameled with a pale
pea-green glaze {tou-chHng yu), the typical celadon of the ChHen-
lung period. It is decorated in relief in the paste with archaic
designs taken from ancient bronzes, bands of fret of different pat-
tern, rings of scrolled palmations, and other foliated designs of
conventional ornament, which show out in pale relief in the parts
less thickly coated with glaze. There is an impressed seal under-
DESCEIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 819
neath — Ta CWing ChHen lung nien chili, " Made in the reign of
Ch'ien-lung of the Great Ch'ing [d^Miasty]." The jar is elaborately
mounted in metal, parcel gilt, and inlaid with colored enamels.
An openwork floral scroll extends around the foot, inclosing bats
and peaches, linked chains are attached to the upright looj)-han-
dles, a lizardlike dragon is coiling up the shoulder, and a lion with
one of its fore feet upon a ball surmounts the cover. Height, with
mount, 6 inches. No. 13.
Tall Vase i^Hua P'^ing), one of a pair, artistically decorated
in brilliant blue and white of the Khiitg-hsi period, with idealized
floral scrolls consisting of encircling bands and upright sprays of
graceful arabesquelike design. The broad band round the body of
the vase is interrupted by four circular medallions inclosing phoe-
nixes in the midst of clouds, the intervening sprays displaying
blossoms like asters and lilies with anomalous buds and leaves of
diverse form, all springing from the same stalk, the general effect
of which is highly decorative. Mounted in bronze of old European
work. A similar unmounted vase in the Walters Collection shows
the mark underneath — a double ring. Height, 16 inches. No. 14.
Bottle-shaped Vase {P''ing), one of a pair, of J^ien Yao of the
Yung-cheng period, enameled with a monochrome glaze of ruby-red
tint derived from copper. The glaze, of a beautiful uniform tone,
exhibits the characteristic stippled texture which is due to its soufie
method of application. They are mounted with an artistic setting
of the Louis XV period as ewers, with the lip formed of the out-
spread wings of a swan alighting upon a clump of bulrushes.
Height, 16^ inches. No. 15.
Porcelain Pillow {Tz'il Chen), decorated in bright enamel
colors of the K''an.g-hsi period, with a foliated diamond-shaped
panel of floral brocade composed of scrolls of peonj^ relieved by a
yellow^ ground, and with bands of formal diaper and fret round the
two ends. The colors, all overglaze, include a bright green, nan-
kin-yellow of primrose tint, manganese-purple, coral-red, and black,
with a sparing addition of gold. Length, 19 inches. No. 16.
Saucer-shaped Dish (^Kuo PUin), of the K\ing-fisi period,
painted in blue under the white glaze with conventional scrolls of
lotus spreading over the interior and covering the under border
with a symmetrical arrangement of large blossoms, which are fully
expanded, so as to display in each flower the cup-shaped fruit
820 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
studded with the seeds in the midst of a whorl of petals. Round
the base of the dish, underneath, a groove is left unglazed, so tliat
it has a second sharply prominent inner rim, a characteristic of
some of the finest large dishes of the time. In the middle the
mark is penciled in blue, encircled by a double ring, Ta ChHiig
ICang-hsi nien chih, " Made in the reign of K'ang-hsi of the
Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." Diameter, 15 inches. No. 17.
Wine-Cup (Chiu (Jhwig), of eggshell thinness and bell-like
form with upright rim, translucidlj'' white, with the exception of a
formal scroll of underglaze blue penciled round tlie foot outside,
which shows clearly through inside when the delicate fragile cup is
held up to the light. The mark, written in minute characters,
almost requiring a lens to read them, within a double ring, is 2\t
ChHng K^ang-hsi nien chih, " Made in the reign of K'ang-hsi of
the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." Diameter, 2^ inches.
Wine-Cup [Chiu Pei), one of a pair, of delicate eggshell fabric,
with a white glaze having a slight tinge of blue. The decoration
is lightly molded, or impressed in the paste, in the interior of the
cups, so as to show through in shaded tones when held up to the
light, like a Avater-mark in paper. It consists of a pair of five-
clawed dragons in the midst of flames and scrolled clouds, pursuing
effulgent jewels. The mark, boldly written in underglaze blue, in
an oblong double-lined panel, is Ta Ming Wan li nien chih,
"Made in the reign of AVan-li (1573-1619) of the Great Ming
[dynasty]." Diameter, 2^ inches. No. 18.
Tall Cylindrical Ewer [Thing Hu), of the K''ang-hsi period,
modeled in the shape of a three-jointed section of bamboo, with the
rim projected upward in front in the form of a tiara; there is a
short curved spout on one side, and on the other there are two studs
fashioned as grotesque lions' heads and perforated for the copper
handle. It is enameled, inside and outside, as well as over the base,
with a finely crackled monochrome purple glaze of rich aubergine
tint. The elaborate mounts are in French metal-work of the Louis
XVI period. Height, 19 inches. No. 19.
Tall Vase {Hua P''ing), of perfect form and beautifully soft
turquoise tint, dating from the finest period of the reign of K''ang-
hsi. A crested dragon (chHhlung) of archaic form, with waving
scrolls of mane and long mustaches, projects, in full undercut relief,
upon the shoulders of the vase, with its branching tail coiled closely
round the neck. The ground color is a pure turquoise of finely
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF TTIE ILLUSTRATIONS. 821
crackled texture, collecting as it "runs" in greenisli drops, and
mottled witli brownish tints over the dragons. It is magnificently
mounted in tiie most artistic Frencli work of the seventeenth cen-
tury. Height, witli mount, 22 inclies. No. 20.
Small Balustkr Vase {Hsiao Mei P''ing), enameled with dark-
brown, almost black, monoclironie glaze, thickly flecked with iri-
descent spots of metallic aspect. A typical specimen of the " iron-
rust " (<'ie/t-As^^<) glaze of the Ciiinese. It has been mounted in
Europe with flowing handles, a spreading open foot, and a cover in
ormolu. Height, with mount, 8| inches. No. 21.
Large Vase {PHng), one of a pair, of ovoid form, bulging in
the midtUe, alternately lidged and grooved in vertical lines so as to
be of foliated section. Tliey are coated with a monochrome glaze
derived from cobalt of pale-blue color, the Chinese " sky blue ''
{fien-chHug), which is of grayish tone, and becomes nearly white
over the prominent ridges. Dating from the K''ang-hsi period,
they are mounted in ormolu of Louis XVI work, with handles of
fish having garlands of oak witli acorns hanging from their mouths,
tied together at tlie ends with bows. Height, 21 inches. No. 22.
Snufp-Bottle {Pi Yen Hn), of Yi-hsing "boccaro" ware, being
made of fine red faience, enameled outside in soft colors with a
miniature mountain landscape of temples, pavilions, and bridges.
No. 23.
Bowl ( Win), one of a pair, of the IC^a7ig-hsi period, enameled
siir biscuit with a finely crackled monochrome purple glaze of auber-
gine tint. The base is partially coated with a wrinkled grayish
enamel. European mounts of bronze. Diameter, 7 inches.
No. 24.
Snuff- Bottle [Pi Yen. Tin), with an outer pierced casing carved
with nine lions sporting with brocaded balls, between borders of
conventional scrolls, and with a fret band etched round the rim,
enameled white. The mark umler the foot is a red seal inscribed
Chid chHug tiien chili, " iNIade in the reign of Chia-ch'ing (1796-
1820)." The stopper, mounted with a button of glass and ame-
thyst, has the usual miniature s})oon of ivory attached to it inside
for ladling out the snuff. No, 25.
Vase {PHng), coated with a deep rich glaze of greenish celadon
color, crackled throughout. A band is reserved in the glaze round
822 DESCEIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
the shoulder of the vase and filled in with a ring of rectangular fret
succeeded by formal scrolls, all worked in relief in slip and colored
iron-gray. The handles are oval garlands of rosettes in the same
relief-work. It is elaborately mounted in ormolu of old European
Avorkinanship. Height, with mount, 14 inches. No. 26.
Transmutation Vase ( Yao-jylen J^Ung), one of a pair, of Euro-
pean form and design, festooned, as it were, with curtains gathered
np b3^ ribbons in front and hanging in knotted folds at the sides,
and coated with a transmutation glaze of early CJi'len-lnm/ date,
exhibiting all the characteristic brilliant tints as it runs down in
heavy drops, streaked and mottled with ci"inison, purple, and brown,
in variegated clouds. European mounts. Height, 14 inches.
No. 27.
Vase (P^hif/), of JVien Yao of the Yung-chtng period, of the same
ruby-red monochrome glaze as the pair described under 15. The
neck of the vase has been cut down, and it has been mounted in
Europe in gilded bronze as a cistern, placed in an elaborate stand
supported by three dolpliins, and perforated for a tap, which is
fashioned in the shape of a griffin. Height, with mount, 12 inches.
No. 28.
Square Bottle {Fang P''ing), one of a pair, with powder-blue
grounds of the K''ang-hsi period, enameled over in gold with
flowers and birds. Bottoms unglazed, European mounts of the
eighteenth century. Height, 8|^ inches. No. 29.
Vase {P''ing), of decoration similar to the pair described under
No. 11, and mounted in the same style, to form a center-piece of a
set, intended to figure as a garniture de cheminee. The artistic set-
ting, which is beautifully executed in gilded openwork designs of
Oriental scrolls, is signed " F''' Boucheron, Paris." Height, 10
inches. No. 30.
Little Covered Bowl [Hsiao Kai Wari), one of a pair, of
finely crackled turquoise enamel of CKien-lung date, mounted in
European metal-work, and placed upon square pedestals of German
porcelain which are marked F., probably for Fiirstenburg. Height,
with mounts, 7 inches. No. 31.
Snuff-Bottle {Pi Yen Hit), of rounded vaselike form, molded
in a basket-work pattern, with lions'-head liandles, and enameled
with a minutely crackled turquoise glaze of the usual mottled tone.
No. 32.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 823
^ Shell {Lo-ssti), one of a pair, fashioned of pure vihite pdte in the
shape of whelks, and enameled sur biscuit with a finely crackled
turquoise glaze of uniformly blue tint. The round covers are
molded in the form of lotus-leaves, with conical shells on the top as
handles. One of tlie shells is marked in the interior, which is
unglazed, with the Chinese numeral 3 penciled in black; the other
is incised with a line surmounted by a dot. The mounts are French
work of the eighteenth century. Height, 1\ inches. No, 33.
Mug ( Chill Pet), of the K''ang-shi period, painted in brilliant
blue, with a formal mountain landscape containing temples and
open pavilions on wooded hills and houses on the banks of a wide
river. The base is encircled by a ring of conventional foliations,
and the upper rim b}' a band of chrysanthemum-sprays. The
bottom is unglazed. Mounted in Europe, with a silver lid engraved
with a crest. Height, 18 inches. No. 34.
Cylindrical Vase ( Thing PHng), of K\(ng-hsi porcelain, bril-
liantly decorated in enamel colors in the same style as the vase
described under No. 268. It has been cut down and mounted in
Europe as a mug, with a coronet and coat of arms etched upon the
lid. Height, 9| inches. No. 35.
Vase (P^ing), of white enameled porcelain of ancient bronze
form and design, with two loop handles springing from grotesque
heads, and archaic designs worked in slight relief in the paste under
the white glaze. The seal, impressed in the paste underneath, is
Ta ChH7ig Ch'ien-lung nien chih — i. e., " Made in the reign of
Ch'ien-lung (1736-95) of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." The
mounting is European. Height, 9J inches. No. 36.
Bowl ( Wan), enameled with a pale souffle glaze of sky-blue
{tHen- ch'ing) derived from cobalt, mounted in Europe upon a
pedestal representing a clump of bulrushes, together with a pair of
fish of finely crackled turquoise, the "peacock-green " {kung-cliiio
lu) glaze of the Chinese ceramist. Height, 1\ inches.
Cup with Cover {Kai Wan), of the Fen-Ting class, painted in
blue after the early style of the Ming dynasty. The handle of the
cover is fashioned in the shape of a phoenix and colored blue.
Both the cup and the cover are decorated outside with a pair of
five-clawed dragons pursuing jewels in the midst of clouds and
flames, painted in soft-toned shades of blue under the soft-looking
glaze, which is of ivory-white totie and finely crackled throughout —
824 BESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
ill the interior of the piece as well as outside. Height, with cover,
4^ inches; diameter, 3 inches.
Flower-Vase [IFua PHng), molded in the form of a growing
Shantung cabbage {Brassica chhiensis, L. ; in Chinese, Po-ts'ai),
mistaken for an opening Nelumbo, with a sprout springing from
the base, making a smaller receptacle for a separate tiower. The
leaves stand up in duplex tier, shaped in naturalistic detail with
finelj' dentated margins, and colored outside in two shades of green
etched over with the natural venation in black, the stalks being
left white. The interior is enameled with the soft, pale-green
Uionochrome glaze characteristic of some of the finest vases of the
Cfi'ien-lung period, to which, no doubt, this quaint specimen be-
longs. Height, 4f inches. No. 37.
AViNE-Cup [Ohm Pei), of swelling, bowl-like form and most
delicate texture, decorated over the white glaze in gold with sprays
of chrysanthemums. The hall-mark of Ching SsU T''ang Chih is
penciled underneath in red. Diameter, 2| inches.
WiNE-PoT ( CJiiu Hu), a miniature square vessel of the Mmg
period, fashioned in the shape of an old bronze casting. Of solid
make, with an arched handle on the top, and a short hexagonal
spout projecting from one side, it is enameled turquoise-blue over-
laid with splashes of aubergine-purple, both these glazes being of
minutely crackled texture.
Wine-Cup [Chiu Pei), decorated in soft enamel colors with
the eight propitious symbols {pa-chi-hsiang) of Buddhist origin,
arranged in four pairs encircled by waving fillets, and with borders
of conventional scrolls round the rims. The mark, penciled in red
underneath the foot, is 7'ao kuaiig keng hsu nien chih, " Made in
the year keng-hsii (1850) of the reign of Tao-kuang." Diameter,
2f inches. No. 38.
Gourd-shaped Bottle {Mu-lu P''m.g), one of a pair, of the
K''ang-hsi period, decorated on a white ground with convention-
alized scrolls studded with formal cruciform flowers, painted in
mottled blue of very brilliant tone. European mounts, the cover
representing a bee in the middle of a garland of flowers. Height,
10 inches. No. 39.
Fish-Bowl ( YiX Kong'), one of a pair, of depressed globular
form, the traditional shape of the alms-bowl of Buddha, enameled
with a finely crackled turquoise glaze of mottled hue, of the same
date as the vase illustrated in Fig. 20. The two bowls are elabo-
I
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 825
rately mounted in artistic French work of style similar to that of
the vase. Diameter, 9 inches. No. 40.
Pilgrim Bottle (Pei Hu PHtig), with a central l)oss, a chan-
neled foot, and four looped handles at the sides. The surface is
worked in slight relief witli white flowers and butterflies, etched
with the graving-tool, and brought out by a monochrome ground of
pale cobalt-blue. Artistically mounted in Europe for suspension.
Height, with mount, 12 inches. No. 41.
Vase (PHng), one of a pair, painted in brilliant blue of the
K''ang-hsi period. The body is decorated with figures of Chinese
ladies standing, or seated on barrel-shaped seats, arranged in
oouples, beside pots of peonies, and holding flowers in their hands.
Palms fill in the intervals, and a formal band of blue defines the
base of the neck, which is covered with sprays of blossoming
prunus. The mark, penciled in blue underneath, is a leaf encircled
by a fillet, inclosed within a double ring. Height, with mounts of
European work, 1^ inches. No. 42.
FivE-NOzzLED RosADON ( Wu Tsui P''ing), enameled with a pea-
green celadon glaze [tou-ch'ing yu) of the Yung-cheng or early
GhHen-lung period. Artistically mounted in Europe with grape-
knobbed covers, connected by chains, and with garlands of vine
stretched round the necks. Height, with mount, 12 inches.
No. 43.
Large Celadon Dish [Liaig-ch'''uan P^an), of circular form,
with vertically ribbed sides and foliated rim, decorated with floral
designs etched in the paste under the rich glaze, which is of green-
ish tone. The large medallion occupying the bottom inside is filled
with branches of a fruit tree, apparently the JVephelium litc/ii.
The slope is chased with upright sprays of peony-flowers, sixteen
in number, of identical design, in panels corresponding to tlie folia-
tions of the border. The panels on the convexity underneath are
worked with leafy sprays in slight relief. The rim is lightly
etched. Under the foot there is a wide ring of paste uncovered
with glaze, with regular edges, as if ruled by a compass, the bare
field of which, 1^ inches broad, is of brick-dust color. Diameter,
22 inches. No. 44,
Covered Bowl (ICoi Wau), pierced with trellis panels and deco-
rated in enamel colors of the best It^ang-hsi period. The sides,
pierced with six panels of hexagonal trellis-work inclosing sprays
826 DESCEIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
of flowers, are painted with bands of diaper and with borders
of dotted green studded with priinus-blossorns alternately white
and overglaze blue of purplish tone. The cover, which is sur-
mounted by a blue lion, is encircled b}' a belt of trellis, succeeded
by a band of floral pattern similar to that on the bowl. It has been
artistically'' mounted in bronze in Europe as a flower-basket raised
upon a four-footed stand. Height, with mount, 7^ inches.
No. 45.
Oblong Vase {Fang PHng), of lozenge-shaped section, enam-
eled with a pale monochrome glaze of K''ang-hsi date of pure cela-
don tint [Tung cJi'lng). It is molded with symbols under the
glaze, displaying the yin-yang emblem between the eiglit trigiams
{pa kna) in sunk panels on each of the four sides. Height, 11
inches. No. 46.
Vase {PHttg), enameled with a coral-red monochrome glaze of
beautiful color, the charming effect of which is enhanced by the
European ormolu mounts of light sprays and festoons of grapevine
which wind round the vase. The graceful form, with spreading
foot, indicates the Yung-cheng period, and the white enamel with
which the foot is coated underneath is of pale greenish tone.
Height, with mount, 9| inches. No. 47.
Snuff-Bottle {Pi Yen IIu), with carved decoration filled in
with enamel colors of the ChHen-lung period. The two panels
contain the star-gods of happiness, rank, and long life, with their
attributes, mounted on cloud pedestals, displayed upon a back-
ground of scrolled sea- waves. The framework is carved in pierced
work, with the symbols of the eight Taoist immortals {Pa Ilsien)
inclosed in scrolls. The upper rim is gilded. No. 48.
Vase {P^ing), of ancient brownish-red stoneware of the JIan
dynasty (b. c. 206-a. d. 220), coated with a thin but lustrous glaze
of camellia-leaf green. The bottom, only partially enameled over
about one third of its surface, shows the color of the material.
Height, 9J inches. Diameter, 10 inches. No. 49.
Pilgrim Bottle {Pao Yueh P''huj), with two open flowing han-
dles fashioned in the form of archaic two-horned dragons {cKih-
lung), decorated in enamel colors and gilding of the Gh?ie7i-lung
period, in connection with details previously outlined in underglaze
blue. The dragon-handles are in shaded red touched with gold.
Round the neck and in the hollow of the foot are bats displayed in
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 827
tlie midst of clouds. Tlie body is emblazoned on each side with a
central shou (longevity) monogram, surrounded by the eight Taoist
emblems {pa ati-hsien) tied in pairs with waving fillets, inter-
mingled with floral sprays and cloud scrolls, inclosed in a wide
panel by a circular line of blue and gold. The convexities of the
vase between tlie panels are occupied by the eight Buddhist
symbols {pa chi-hsiang) with scrolls and flowers. The seal pen-
ciled in blue underneath has the ordinary seal-character inscription
of the reign of CKien-lung (1736-95). Height, 19| inches.
No. 50.
Large Jar with Covke {Mei Hua Jvuan), of the K^ang-hsi
period, decorated in brilliant hue with blossoming branches of
prunus {mei hua) alternately rising and descending to cover the
surface of the jar as well as the top of the cover. The flowers are
reserved in white upon a mottled blue background, which is penciled
with a reticulation of darker blue lines. A band of triangular fret
defines the upper and lower borders of the jar, and another encircles
the projecting rim of the cover, which is surmounted b}' a globular
knob colored plain blue, A band of conventional foliations, extend-
ing midway up the neck of the jar, completes the decoration. The
mark under the foot is a double ring. Height, with cover, 17
inches. No. 51.
Large Deep Plate {Kuo J*''ati), of Chinese porcelain of early
K''ang-hsi date, with designs painted in underglaze cobalt-blue,
filled in with enamel colors — blue, green, yellow, and red, with
gilding. The rim is gilded. The brocaded grounds of diaper
round the border are in underglaze blue, as well as the outlines of
the diversely shaped panels, which are painted inside with pictures
in colors. The field is filled witii birds flying through spraj's of
chrysanthemum and peony, with a coronet near the top, under
which is a shield emblazoned with the heraldic lion of Holland.
Diameter, 18|- inches. No. 52.
Small Oval Jab {CJi'a Kua7i), one of a pair, decorated with a
pale-blue monochrome ground etched in darker blue with floral
designs. The sides are vertically ribbed, interrupted by three
circular medallions. Of the K^ang-hsi period, the mark under-
neath is a palm-leaf inclosed in a double ring. The mounts are
European, and the covers, of Oriental powder blue, are not original.
Height, without cover, 5\ inches. A tliird little jar in the collec-
tion, with a similar decoration and mark, only with symbols pen-
828 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF ITIE ILLUSTRATIONS.
ciled aiouiid the neck instead of sprays of flowers, is mounted witlr
a Persian cover of chased copper. No, 53.
Blue and White Garniture of the famed Lange-Eleizen
pattern; period, K''ang-hsi. The mark on the foot — Chia-ching
nieft chih — is apocryphal. Height, \1\ inches. No. 54.
Vase [PHiig), with flanged lip, of white enameled porcelain, of
the C/i'ien-lu?ig period, coated with a rich glaze of somewhat
greenish tint over a decoration molded in slight relief in the paste.
This consists of four encircling bands of conventional floral sprays,
defined by prominent rings; the neck is surrounded by two rings
of formal scroll design, and the foot by a continuous chain of rec-
tangular fret, succeeded by a spiral gadroonlike border. Height,
15 inches. No. 55.
Brush-Pot {Pi T^img), of wide cylindrical form, swelling at
the mouth, with the decoration partly worked in relief in " slip,"
painted in underglaze blue and in overglaze enamel colors, includ-
ing coral-red, yellow, greens of varied shade, and black. The
pictures of a scholar dreaming are intended to be an illustration of
the half stanza of verse — Meng pi sheng hua, "Dreaming the
pencil blossoms into flowers." The seal, inscribed underneath in
underglaze blue, is Ta (JKing Yung-cheng nien chih, " Made in
the reign of Yung-cheng (1723-35) of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]."
Diameter, 8 inches. No. 56.
Libation-cup {Chiieh), of white Fuchien porcelain [Chien Tz'ii).
Of hornlike form, it is fashioned in the outline of a knotted branch
of prunus, giving off a blossoming twig, which is worked in relief
outside near the rim. The rest of the surface is decorated in the
same salient relief with other archaic designs — a flying stork on
one side, a four-clawed dragon, half hidden in the clouds, on the
otiier, and a fish emerging from waves underneath; a deer is out-
lined near the foot in front, and floral lozenges project on either
side. The glaze, of satiny texture, blends intimately with the
ivor\'-white paste. Height, 2| inches. No. 57.
Seal ( Yi7i), one of a pair, of oblong form and square section,
with lions mounted upon the top as handles, seated upon brocaded
squares of rich floral pattern, painted sur biscuit, in brilliant enamel
colors of the famille verte, dating from the ICang-hsi period.
Height, 3 inches. No. 58.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OV THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 829
Inscriptions, on the two seals witli lions as handles, of which
one is represented in V\g. 58. That on the left is engraved, the
characters appearing in white reserve. The other is carved in
relief. No. 59.
Wine-Cup {Chiu Pel), one of a pair, of ivory-white Fuchien
porcelain {Chien l^z'ii), molded of floral form, with everted rim,
and supported by three small feet. The stanza of verse etched in
the paste upon the side is 7'sid hou liu chiXn, cho raiug yueh,
" When drunk with wine, save a little, as a libation to tlie briglit
moon." Diameter, 3|^ inches. No. 60.
Hanging Wall.- Vase {Kua P''htg), with flattened back perfor-
ated for suspension, a stand molded in porcelain as part of the
piece, and two open-scrolled handles. It is decorated in delicate
enamel colors and gilding with foliated panels, surrounded by
floral designs, and with conventional palmated borders. The
larger panel is painted with the picture of a hunting scene; the
smaller panel above contains an ode in praise of hunting, signed by
the Emperor CKien-lutuj. The back of the vase and the interior
of the mouth are coated with the pale-green enamel which dis-
tinguishes the imperial porcelain of the time, and the base is coated
with the same, reserving a white panel for the mark of Ta CKing
GhHen-lung nien chih, " Made in the reign of Ch'ien-lung of the
Great Ch'ing [dynasty]," which is penciled in underglaze blue in
one line of antique script. Heiglit, 8^ inches. No. 61.
"Hoof-shaped" Y&.s,^ {Ma-fi PH)ig),\\a,\mg a dome-shaped
body rounding in to a cylindrical neck, decorated in delicate enamel
colors of the GKien-lung period, with a picturesque landscape
representing the woody islet Yen yii shan, in the Western Lake at
Hangchou, with temples and pavilions on the hillside, pine-trees
and willows, waterfalls and bridges, and a boat crossing the lake.
A descriptive ode in four stanzas of rhyming verse is penciled in
black on the other side of the vase, which is also illustrated.
Height, 7 inches. No. 62.
Bowl ( Wan), Mith flanged brim, of the Tao-kiiang period,
decorated on one side with sprays of flowers, hung with an endless
knot — a Buddhist symbol of longevity — painted in colors, and
relieved by an enameled monochrome background of coral-red.
On the other side a verse is inscribed in white characters reserved
in the red ground. The seal, enameled in red on a pale-green
830 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
ground under tlie foot, is Ta ClCing Tao-kuang nien chih — i. e.,
"Made in the reign of Tao-kuang (1821-50) of the Great Ch'ing
[dynasty]." Diameter, 7 inches. No. 63,
SxuFF-BoTTLE {Pi Yen IIu), of flattened form, decorated on one
side in enamel colors with a little garden scene, a rockery and
peonies and a boy witli a basket feeding a hen and chicken. On
the other side an ode upon the ceramic art, written by the Emperor
Cfi'len-lung, is penciled in black, with the imperial seal attached in
red. The mark inscribed underneath in red enamel is CKien lung
nien chih, "Made in the reign of Ch'ien-lung (1736-95)." No. 64,
Snuff-Bottle, same as that represented in Fig. 64, but greatly
enlarged in order to show the inscription, a poem by the Emperor
Chbien-lung in praise of the ceramic art. A translation is given on
page 31. No. 65.
Censeb {Hsiang Lh), of archaic aspect, dating from the K''ang-
hsi period, with a decoration roughly painted in cobalt-blue under
a crackled glaze of grayish tone, traversed by deep brown fissures.
The decoration consists of a pair of four-clawed dragons grasping
the effulgent jewel of magic power, with cloud scrolls atid forked
flames filling in the intervals. Diameter, 5 inches. No, 66.
Bowl ( Wan), designed in the form of a lotus-blossom, with an
outer ring of eight petals molded round the foot, and the rim of
eightfold foliated outline. It is enameled with a monochrome
ground of coral-red, with a decoration painted upon it of two five-
cl-awed dragons pursuing effulgent jewels; and with a tiny floral
spray on each of the foliated panels round the foot, depicting in
order the prunus and bamboo, narcissus, begonia, chryKanthemum,
jasmine, orchid, convolvulus, aster and lilac, and plum blossoms.
The foot is enameled, like the interior, pale-green, with a white
panel reserved in the middle, which is penciled in red, with the seal
Hsieh Chu Tsao, in antique script. Diameter, 7 inches. No. 67.
Teapot {CKa Hit), of the finest K%i Yueh Hsaun type, deco-
rated with two broad panel pictures of landscapes penciled in
bright overglaze cobalt-blue enamel. The rest of the surface is
covered with bands of floral design, containing tiny sprays of many
different kinds of flowers, delicately painted in enamel colors. Tlie
cover is ornamented with a similar floral ground, painted in the
same characteristically translucid enamels, and the knob is made to
simulate a chrysanthemum. There is a seal penciled underneath in
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 831
overs^laze blue enamel inscribed Yimg cheng nien cJiih, " Made in
the reign of Yung-clieng (1723-35)." No. 68.
Quadrangular Vase [Fang P''i)ig), of fine dark-colored paste,
invested with two coats of glaze, in the style of the ancient imperial
productions of the Sung dynasty. The base, which is thinly glazed,
is incised in the middle with the two characters HsiXan ho, which
are filled in with the same grayish-white enamel tliat forms tlie
overglaze of the vase. Height, 3^ inches. No. 69.
Eggshell Bowl {To-fai Wan), of light fragile structure, with
a small base, spreading sides, and a wide rim notched at regular
intervals with six indentations. Invested witli a pellucid glaze of
slightlv grayish ivory-white tone. The decoration, lightly incised
in the paste in the interior of tlie bowl round the sides, so as to
show in transparency when it is held up to the light, consists of a
pair of five-clawed imperial dragons pursuing a flaming jewel
enveloped in clouds. The inscription, which is also faintly en-
graved in the bottom of the bowl, inside, in a bold archaic style,
is Yung lo nien chih — i. e., " Made in the reign of Yung-lo
(1403-24)." Height, 2| inclies; diameter, 8^ inches. No. 70.
Wine-Cup ( Chiu Pei), of eggshell thinness, decorated, partly in
underglaze blue, partly in enamel colors of the K''ang-hsi period,
with a pair of mandarin ducks in a lake with lotus and other water-
plants growing in it and a kingfisher flying above. The stanza
of verse at the back and the peculiar mark are explained in
Chapter IV, page 73. A precisely similar cup, painted entirely in
blue, with the same stanza inscribed at the back, has the ordinary
mark written underneath of Ta CKing IPang hsi nien chih,
"Made in the reign of K'ang-hsi of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]."
Diameter, 2| inches. No. 71.
Eggshell Bowl ( To-fai Wan), decorated in the artistic style
of the " rose-backed " plates with the soft brilliant enamels and
gold of the faniille rose. The richly brocaded floral grounds
inclosing foliated medallions of fruit, and the varied diapers sur-
rounding the panel picture of a Chinese family scene, with a lady
seated and two children playing, which fill the interior of the bowl,
are well shown in the illustration. The exterior is decorated with
similar minutely painted diapers and floral designs, with four cir-
cular medallions of antique dragons on a dark-blue ground, and
with four large foliated panels containing charming sprays of
832 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
peony and clirysantlieniutn. It derives additional interest from
being dated, which very rarely occurs on pieces of the class. The
mark underneath is the ordinary six-character inscription of the
reign of Yung-cheng, which is penciled under the foot in under-
glaze blue written in stiff archaic style, encircled by a double
ring. Diameter, 7| inches. No. 72.
Medallion Bowl ( Yueh-kuang Wan), decorated in enamel col-
ors with a brocaded floral ground interrupted by four circular
medallions. The ground, outside, etched with a scroll pattern, is
crimson (rouge (Por), and is covered with sprays of conventional
flowers painted in delicate colors ; the medallions display fruit and
flowers on a white ground, pomegranates, peaches, and longan
fruit, peonies, China rose, narcissus, and daisies. The interior is
painted in underglaze blue with a basket of flowers surrounded
with four sprays of fruit, flowers, and branched Polyporus fungus.
The seal, penciled under the foot in the same blue, is Ta Ch^lng
Too huang nien ehih, " Made in the reign of Tao-kuang of the
Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." Diameter, 6 inches. No. 73.
RiCE-BowL {Fan Wan), decorated outside with butterflies,
painted in delicate enamel colors, and relieved by an enameled
monochrome ground of coral-red. The rim is gilded. The mark,
penciled in red under the foot, is Shen Te T''ang Chih, which is
said to be an imperial hall-mark of the reign of Tao-kuang.
Diameter, 5\ inches. No. 74,
Teapot {Gh\i Hu), of the JC ang- hsi Y>Gr'wd, decorated in blue
and white, with the borders and rims enameled pale yellow, and the
overarching handle penciled in black upon a yellow ground in
imitation of basketwork. The panels on the side are filled, two
with pictures of domestic scenes, and one with bamboo growing
from rocks. The upright rim has small jjanels with sprays of the
emblematic flowers of the four seasons. The knob on the cover,
carved in openwork with the character hi, "rank," is encircled by
a four-clawed dragon painted blue. The bottom is en biscuit
with the exception of a sunk panel in the middle, which is inscribed
sous couverte, Yl Yil T''ang chih, " Made at the Hall of Ductile
Jade." Height, 9 inches. No. 75.
Vase {P''ing), of the CKien-lung period, with a decoration,
etched at the point in the paste, of a pair of five-clawed imperial
dragons in the midst of cloud scrolls and lightning-flames, pursuing
I
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 833
the magic jewel, which is represented as a round disk emitting a
spiral efiFulgent ray from its center. It is invested with a turquoise
glaze of charmingly soft mottled tones and minutely crackled
texture. There is a hall-mark engraved in the paste underneath,
Ssfi Kan Ts'ao T''ang. The mounting is European work of the
eighteenth century. Height, with mount, 12 inches. No. 76.
Wine-Cup ( Chiu Pei), one of a pair, of four-lobed form with
indented rim, painted in enamel colors, with a procession of the
eight Taoist immortals {Pa Hsien) crossing the sea. The interior
is sprinkled with a few white jasmine-flowers {nio-ll hua), touched
with the same delicate tints. There is a mark under the foot,
Hsieh Chu Tsao, penciled in red, in antique script within a square
panel. Diameter, 2^ inches. No. 77.
Wine-Cup {Chiu Pei), of perfect form and technique, painted
outside in pure colors upon a translucently white ground with a
floral decoration. This consists of a clump of bamboos with
dianthus pinks growing from the ground beneath, and a bat with
a propitious emblem hanging from a ribbon in its mouth flying
above. There are butterflies at the back, and a half stanza of verse
penciled in black, "Vows for good fortune and a thousand fruitful
years !" A blossom and a bud of the fragrant jasmine are painted
inside the cup at the bottom. The hall-mark, Chih Ilsiu Ts'ao
T^mg, is penciled in red under the foot. Diameter, 2^ inches.
No. 78.
Wine-Cup {Chiu Pei), decorated upon a white ground in deli-
cate enamel colors with a floral group composed of the three
emblems of longevity, the evergreen fir {sung), the graceful leafy
bamboo {chu), and the blossoming winter prunus (^we^). The hall-
mark of Pao Sha7i Chai is penciled in red under the foot. Diam-
eter, 2{ inches. No. 79.
Wine-Cup ( Chhi Pei), one of a pair, each painted in shaded red
with fifty bats, covering the ground inside and outside, as emblems
of hundredfold happiness. The circular form of the longevity
character {Shotc) is outlined in red on the bottom of the cup, filled
in with gold. The hall-mark under the foot is J^u Ch^ing T^ang
chih, " Made at [or for] the Hall of Happiness and Good Fortune."
Diameter, 2^ inches. No. 80.
834 DEscRipnvE list of the illustrations.
Tall Ewer (Chiu IIu), of blue and white porcelain of the
Wan-li period. It has a flowing bandlike handle, and a long
curving spout attached to the neck by a spiral buttress; the slender
neck swells into a bulb near the mouth, wliich has a six-sided cover
crowned with a knob. It is decorated with phoenixes and storks
flying in the midst of clouds, and with scrolled bands and foliated
borders round the rims. The mark, penciled in blue under the
foot witl)in a double ring, is ClCang vting fu kuei — i. e., "Long
life, happiness, and honor! " The handwriting, as well as the style
of decoration of the wine-pot, indicate the Ming dynasty. It is
studded all over with uncut turquoises and garnets arranged alter-
nately in gilded settings of Oi'iental work. The rims show traces
of gilded rings, and are mounted in chased metal. Height, 13|
inches. No, 81.
WiNE-PoT {Chiu Hit), tnolded in the form of the character /'«,
" happiness," and decorated sur biscuit in the tj'pical " three
colors" {sail ts^ai) of the IT^ang-hsi period — viz., yellow, green,
and purple. The rims and borders are colored light green; the
spout has a pale yellow ground with diverse forms of shou (lon-
gevity) penciled upon it, alternately pale purple and green; the rest
of the surface is covered with l)ands of lotus-scrolls, with white
and purple blossoms and green foliations, relieved by a pale-yellow
ground outlined in purple, interrupted by panels of foliated outline
in the middle, which are framed in green relief. These panels are
painted with s^'mbolical pictures in the same soft colors; on one
side a pine, ling-chih fungus, and grass growing from rocks, an
axis-deer, and a stork; on the other side a peach-tree, rocks with
bamboo, a couple of birds flying together, and a tiger. The base,
unglazed, is cross-hatched with the lines of the stuff of wliich the
paste was molded. Height, 9 inches. No. 82.
Vase (P'ing), decorated in blue and white of the ICang-hsi
period. The body displays two groups of symbols around oval
panels in the middle, which are inscribed in antique script, ChHen,
*' Heaven," and /SAom, " Longevity "; in front is a palmleaf fan,
ending in a fly- whisk, and a branch of peach-blossoms; behind,
a rolled-up scroll and a spray of chrysanthemum. Light chains of
fret encircle the shoulder and the rim of the mouth. There is no
mark underneath. Height, 8 inches. No. 83.
Vase {PHjig), modeled in the form of a tall bowl with a vaulted
cover, the line of junction being indicated by a prominent ridge.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 835
It is enameled with a crackled glaze of light gray-brown color,
interrupted by transverse bands worked in the paste and colored
black, a gadroon band round the foot, and two basketwork bands
overlaid with circular longevity {shou) characters filled in with
crackled glaze. The two loop-handles, roughly shaped as elephant
heads, are colored black, also the rim of the mouth, and tlie under
surface of the foot. Height, 6 inches. No. 84.
Gourd-shaped Vase {Hu-lu jP'ing), richly decorated in enamel
colors of the K^ang-hsi period, with no gilding. The two segments
are hung with lambrequins of floral brocade, in which chrysan-
themum-flowers are conspicuous, tied with hanging bows of red
ribbon; the intervals being filled in with medallions of storks.
The neck is studded with four large circular shou characters in
yellow, accompanied by four smaller svastika symbols in red.
Encircling bands of floral brocade and formal ornamental scrolls of
diverse pattern complete the decoration of the vase, which is a
striking example of brilliant coloring, as well as of artistic decora-
tion. Height, 18 inches. No. 85.
Figure of K'uei Hsing {Khiei Hsing Jlsiatig), the Stellar God
of Literature, painted in enamel colors. Poised with one foot upon
the head of a fish-dragon, which is swimming in waves, one hand
is uplifted to wield the pencil-brush, while the other grasps a cake
of ink. The cloak waving loosely above his head and hanging
down in long ends, and the general pose of the figures, are intended
to give the impression of movement. Height, 14| inches. No. 86.
Eggshell Vase {To-fai PHng), of delicate texture and undula-
tory surface, decorated over the translucently white glaze with a
spray of cluysanthemuin and a single head of spiked millet, beauti-
fully painted in a neutral sepia tint. The one touch of color is the
vermilion outline of the seal, which is attached to the stanza of
verse, quoted from an ode written upon the chrx^santhenium b}' an
old poet of the T''ang dynasty, which is inscribed on the back of
the vase. Height, 8^ inches. No. 87.
Vase {P''ing), of the K''ang-Jisi period, with a swelling domelike
body and a tall c^'lindrical neck, resembling somewhat in shape a
Buddhist ddgaha. The body is a pale-blue monochrome derived
from cobalt, the shoulder is surrounded by a ring of cofi'ee-brown,
and the neck is painted in dark blue, with a two-horned dragon of
archaic design pursuing a jewel disk. Old European mounts. No
836 DESCRIPllVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
mark. A pair of similar vases, from the Marquis Collection in
Paris, not mounted, have the dragons on the neck painted in
maroon and blue, and the light-blue body of the vase penciled
in darker blue with lotus medallions and shou characters. They
are marked underneath Shou Fa, " Longevity and Happiness."
Height, 10| inches. No. 88.
Wide-necked Vase {Iliia 7'sun), with slightl}'- spreading foot,
decorated in enamel colors of the K^ang-hsi period without under-
glaze blue or gold. It is modeled in relief with foliated panels and
spirally waving scrolls painted with brocaded bands and chains of
fret, and the field, thus divided into panels, is delicately painted
with landscapes, sprays of iiowers, birds and butterflies, vases and
censers, symbols and emblems, and the varied apparatus of literary
culture in China. Among the symbols the eight Buddhist emblems
of good fortune (pa chi-hsiang) occupy a conspicuous position, and
the apparatus of the four liberal arts of the scholar, viz., writing,
painting, music, and chess. The base is plainly enameled, with no
mark inscribed. Height, 19 inches. No. 89.
Ritual Wine-Pot ( Chiu Hu), of ancient bronze form, with a
rounded body mounted on four cylindrical feet, a wide loop-handle,
and a straight spout; the cover wanting. Painted in blue, with
conventional scrolls of sacred-fungus design, and with sprays of
Indian lotus supporting the eight Buddliist symbols of happy
augury {pa chi-hsiang) encircled by waving fillets. A chain of
interrupted rectangular fret round the shoulders and a ring of
spiral fret at the base of the spout complete the decoration. The
mark underneath, outlined in blue, is the seal Ta GKing CKien
lung nien chih, "Made in the reign of Ch'ien-lung of the Great
Ch'ing [dynasty]." Height, 7 inches. No. 90.
Snuff-Bottle {Pl-yeJi-hic), with Buddhist symbols [pa chi-
hsiang), molded in relief. No. 91.
The Mark on the foot of the tall vase shown in Fig. 93. It
consists of the sacred ling-chih fungus enveloped in tufts of grass.
No. 92.
Gourd-shaped Vase (Hu lu PHng), one of a pair, of the
K''ang-hsi period, painted in pure full tones of shaded blue. It is
decorated in two sections with a floral ground of interlacing peony
scrolls inclosing panels of diverse form. The three quatrefoil
medallions on the upper section contain sprays of blossoming
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 837
prunns, and birds. The three panels on the lower section contain
quadrupeds displaj^ed in white upon a mottled-blue background, an
elephant in a panel of pomegranate shape, a lion with one forefoot
on a ball in a ficus-leaf, and a dCi lln in a palm-leaf. Bands of
chrysanthemum scrolls round the rim, above and below, and two
double chains of triangular fret, sepai*ated by encircling rings, in
white relief, complete the artistic decoration. The mark (Fig. 92)
is a sacred fungus with tufts of grass inclosed in a wide double
ring. Height, 16J inches. No. 93.
Large Plate [Kuo P^an), decorated in brilliant enamel colors
of the K''ang-hsi period. The rim is gilded over coffee-brown,
and the slope of the plate is encircled by a red sci-oll and a chain
of fret in overglaze blue between plain rings of yellow, pale purple,
and apple-green. The broad band of peony scrolls round the
border has red and purple blossoms tipped with gold, springing
from a wavy, slender, black stem, relieved by a ground of pale
green dotted with black, and five archaic dragons are wending
their way round through the floral scrolls. The field is occupied
by a tall, graceful vase, of Ming dynasty style, filled with a bouquet
of peonies, surrounded by a varied selection from the paraphernalia
of the liberal arts, which have been described in Chapter IV under
the name of Po Ktc, the "Hundred Antiques." Diameter, 18
inches. No. 94.
Vase {PH?ig), richly and profusely decorated in brilliant enamel
colors of the K^atig-hsi period. The body is decorated in panels,
displayed*upon a ground of lotus scrolls, with the slender forms of
two dragons winding through, relieved by a background of coral-
red. Two of the panels contain mountain scenes: one shows four
old men plajnng (70, with the board placed upon a rock; the other,
a man on horseback, with an attendant carrying a lyre, on his way
to visit a friend who is awaiting him at the door of his mountain
retreat; a third panel has a tiger standing in the foreground;
another a clump of chrysanthemums growing from rocks. The
remaining two contain pictures of the Po Kv.^ or "Hundred An-
tiques." The neck is covered with a svastika pattern brocade,
interrupted by two panels of water scenes — an old man fishing
with a rod in one, a man poling a boat in the other. The shoulder
is encircled by a broad band of floral brocade, with medallions con-
taining the apparatus of the four liberal arts — the case of books of
the scholar, the bundle of scroll pictures of the artist, the folding
838 DESCEIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
board ami boxes for wliite and black men of the ^d-player, and the
lyre in its brocaded case of the musician. A chain of rectangular
fret, penciled in overglaze blue round the rim of the moutli, and
another, black upon a green ground, round the foot, complete the
decoration. No mark attached. Height, IQ^ inches. No. 95.
Vase (I£ua P''lng), of the K''ang-hsi period, decorated in red
and pale green, with touches of gold. The neck and foot are
encircled by successive ornamental bands of fret brocade, diaper,
and gadroon of varied design; the shoulder has a broad band of
brocade interrupted by medallions containing clirysanthemum-
blossoms. The body of the vase is decorated with four panels
separated by a ground of chrysanthemum scrolls richly worked in
red and gold. The panels, which are illustrated in succession in
Figs. 97, 98, and 99, are filled with the apparatus of the liberal arts
and the materials of the scholar, which have been described in
Chapter IV. Height, 15 inches. Nos. 96-99.
Ornamental Vase {Hua P''lng), of imperial porcelain of the
reign of Gfi'ien-hing, richly decorated in enamel colors, with gild-
ing, with no underglaze blue. It has two handles on the neck, of
open scroll design, fashioned as dragons, on which hang suspended
gilded movable rings; and rims of gold define the lip and the foot,
as well as the top of the neck and of the body. The fret borders,
above and below, are penciled in light blue upon a pale vermilion
ground. The vase is decorated in panels filled with flowers and
butterflies and various emblematic designs, the spaces between the
panels being decorated with conventional floral sprays, relieved by
a plain yellow enameled ground. The flowers represented in the
four large panels on the body of the vase are emblematic of the
four seasons. In the first panel (spi'i'ig) which is illustrated
in the picture we see the Magnolia yulan and Poeonia moutan^
growing from rocks, and a pair of butterflies flying in the
air. The next panel (summer) contains hydrangea shrubs,
with pinks (dianthus) and flags (iris). The next (autumn) an
oak with acorns and russet-tinted leaves, overshadowing chrys-
anthemums of varied tint. The last (winter) displays a leafless
pi-unus-tree in full blossom (rnei hua), and the monthly rose [yueh
chi), which flowers in China the whole year round.
The seal, penciled underneath in blue on a white panel reserved
in the pale-green ground, is Ta Gh'ing Cli'len lung nien chih,
" Made in the reign of Ch'ien-lung of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]."
Height, 11^ inches. No. 100.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 839
Large Circular Dish {^Ta Kuo Jt^hin), of the finest imperial por-
celain of the reign of Yung-cheng, artistically decorated in enamel
colors, on a white ground, a companion piece to the disli wliich has
been illustrated in colors in Plate XLVIII, and inscribed with the
same mark underneath. The floral decoration consists of sprays
of peony {Pmoma mouta/i), magnolia {Magnolia yulan), and
"liait'ang" {Pgras spectabilis), Avhich throw off branches to
decorate the under border as they spring from the foot and then
spread over the ritns to decorate the interior of tlie disk. The
pyrus-blossoms are pink, the large peonies nearly white just tipped
with pink, and the magnolia-flowers snow-white, being filled in
with an opaque enamel of a different tone in the white of the
translucent ground. Diameter, 19| inches. No. 101.
Snuff-Bottle {Pi-yen-hu), inscribed with the character shou,
" longevity." No. 102.
Circular Dish (P^a/i Tzti), of saucer-shaped form and eggshell
texture, decorated with scrolls of Arabic writing (for a translation
of which see page 72, Illustrated Edition) penciled in black and
filled in with gold. The outer rim is encircled by a light band of
floral scrolls composed of alternate sprays of peony and chrysanthe-
mum, relieved by a gilded ground. Diameter, 8 inches. No. 108.
Wine-Flask {(Jhiu P^big), of Tz'u-chou ware, fashioned in the
shape of a small pilgrim bottle, with two loop-handles for suspen-
sion, and a mouth drawn in to a fine point. It is painted on one
side with a spray of flowers in darker and lighter shades of brown.
Height, 6^ inches.
Gourd shaped Bottle (IIu-lu PUng), of Tz'u-chou ware, dec-
orated in two shades of brown, with the character/V/, "happiness,"
on the upper segment, and a spray of prunus-blossom, as the floral
emblem of longevity, on the lower segment. Height, 7J inches.
Twin Genii of Peace and Harmony [Ho Ho Erh IIsie7i), the
merry genii of the Taoist cult, molded together in white Tz'u-chou
ware, and painted in brown of two shades. They are intended to
hold an incense-stick before a Taoist shrine, the joss-stick being
inserted in the tube which is seen projecting from the shoulder of
one of the figures. Height, 6 inches. No. 104.
Large Rice Boavl {Fan Wan), of the K^tng-hsi period, with a
fretwork design involving the svastika S3^mbol carved in relief out-
side and enameled white, the recesses being inlaid with a grass-
840 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
green iiioiioclirome. The fretwork is interrupted by four eirculur
medallions, which are decorated, in delicate enamel colors and
gilding, with small pictures of flowers and insects. A band of
spiral fret is penciled in red round the rim of the foot, and the
upper border is gilded. The mark is a lotus-flower modeled under-
neath in slight white relief. Diameter, 7} inches. No. 105.
Small Water-Bowl [S/ml Kamj), modeled after the form, and
decorated in the style, of the large garden fish-bowls of the Ming
dynast^^ The sides are ornamejited with four foliated medallions,
filled alternately with flowers and rocks, and with fruit and birds,
painted in brilliant colors, the intervals being brocaded in blue,
with a diapered ground inclosing small single blossoms painted in
enamel colors, and the rims encircled by gadroon and foliated bor-
ders in colored enamels. The seal, penciled in blue under the
glaze, within a double circle, is 7^a Ming Wan li nien chih,
"Made in the reign of Wan-li of the Great Ming [dynastyl." The
silver cover, of pierced floral design, is Japanese. Height, with
mounts, 5^ inches. No. 106.
FiSH-BowL ( Yu Kang), of rounded shape, with the lower part
vertically fluted outside and enameled with a monochrome glaze of
pale-green celadon tint, while the shoulder is decorated with a pair
of three-clawed dragons of archaic type enveloped in clouds, under
a pure translucidly white glaze. The scrolled clouds are worked
round in relief in the paste, so tiiat the forms of the dragons are
partially hidden; the parts that appear being painted in greenish
celadon touched with maroon, and having brownish-red flames
issuing from their bodies. The technique is probably that of the
Yung-cheng period; the bottom is unglazed, and there is no mark.
Diameter, 10 inches. No. 107.
Vase {P''ing), of imperial porcelain of the CJi'ien-limg period,
richly decorated in enamel colors of i\\e fandlle rouge, with gilding.
Of regular ovoid form, it has two solid handles fashioned in the
shape of elephants' heads projecting from the gracefully receding
neck. The neck and foot are covered with floral scrolls painted in
delicate colors relieved by a ground of critnson [rouge cVor) etched
all over with spiral foliations. The swelling bod}'^, defined by two
bands of conventional scrolls worked in relief, is enameled with a
pale monochrome glaze thickly strewn with tiny rings of darker
tint, looking like minute bubbles, of souffle color, and overlaid with
a vertical rain of crimson flecks, sprinkled on evidently from the
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 841
point of a brusli. This is one of the so-called Chun Yti, or " Chiin
glazes" of the period, artificial facsimiles of the celebrated Chun-
chou glazes of the Siuuf dynasty, aitliough these were really
mottled productions of X\\e grand feu, and not fired in the muffle
stove like this vase. The foot is enameled pale green underneath,
with a panel reserved in the middle for the seal, which is penciled
in underglaze blue, Ta CJCing ChHen lung nien chih, " Made in the
reign of Ch'ien-lung of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." Height, 15
inches. No. 108.
Vase with Flaring Mouth [Ling-chih P''ing), modeled in
the form of the sacred fungus Polyporus lucidtts, swelling into a
large head at the top, and having the stem covered with a number
of branchlets, bearing smaller fungus blades, all roughly worked
in relief in the paste. The whole is enameled with a crackled glaze
of gra^'ish tint, overlaid with irregular splashes of two kinds, a
dull purplish blue and a variegated ^amJe glaze of mottled olive-
brown and crimson tints. The ground color is seen in the inter-
vals of the splashes, and it also covers the foot, which is not
marked. Height, 13 inches. No. 109.
Double Gourd-shaped Vase {flu-lu PHng), enameled with a
finely crackled turquoise glaze of grayish tone over a floral decora-
tion worked in the paste underneath, in the style of the Ming
dynasty or early K''ang-hsi period. The low^er section is worked
with a broad band of freely designed scrolls of the ])olyporus
fungus mingled with blades of grass traversed b}" a dragon of
archaic type. The upper section is decorated with a band of pe-
ony scrolls, from the upper border of which springs a line of
spiral clouds encircling the base of the neck. The base is coated
with a truite enamel of ivory-white tint. The mounts are of old
bronze work etched with similar floral designs. Height, 8 inches.
No. 110.
Cylindrical Vase {Hua T^tmg), with the rim of the mouth
marked with four slight indentations, and the sides molded with
two prominent handles fashioned as lions' heads with oval rings sus-
pended from their tnouths. It is enameled inside and out, as well
as under the foot, with a celadon glaze of bluish tint, which is known
as ,/u Yu, being the traditional shade of the ancient Ju-chou wares
of the Sung dynasty. The glaze is traversed irregularly by
crackled lines, which are colorless in some parts, as under the foot.
842 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
and become reddisli brown in otliers. The rim of the foot is
plastered brown, simulating the natural color of the pdte of the old
Sioif/ dj'nasty ware, which was a ferruginous faience. Height, 15
inches. No. 111.
Vase {P^ing), of the CKien-luny period, decorated in blue and
white with archaic dragons of conventional design, carrying sprays
of flowers in their mouths, which spread over the surface to cover
it with formal scrolls, enveloping the large longevity {sliou) char-
acters, which are penciled on the body of the vase. A chain of con-
tinuous rectangular fret runs round the shoulder, and borders of
scrolls and foliations surround the rims. The broad everted lip i&
painted with a circlet of four pairs of small dragons. Height, 13
inches. No. 112.
Vase {P''ing), with a two-horned, four-clawed dragon modeled
upon it in full relief, bestriding the shoulder and enveloping the
neck within the scaly, snakelike coils. The dragon is coated with
a purplish-brown mottled glaze, the eyes and other small details
being touched witli dark brown. The rest of the vase is enameled
with a grayish, white ground, mottled wnth cloudlike splashes of
olive-brown passing into bluish variegated tint as they fade into
the surrounding ground. The foot is coated underneath with a
similar glaze mottled with brown. Height, 19 inches. No. 113.
Cylindrical Vase [Thmg P''ing), of K'^ang-hsi blue and white,,
artistically decorated with sprays of lotus and peony and with
foliated borders, of similar design to the pair of jars described
under Fig. 178, and mounted in the same style to form 2^ garniture
de cheminee with them. The mark under the foot is a double ring.
The elaborate European mounts make it appear as a slender-necked
vase with ring handles. Height, without mounts, 12 inches.
No. 114.
Gourd-shaped Vase {Kua P''ing), of regular oval shape,
modeled in the form of an ordinary melon {kua), with eight
vertical grooves, and coated with a turquoise enamel of finely
crackled texture and mottled greenish tone, the typical "peacock-
green " {Kxing-chuo Id) of the Chinese. Elaboratel}'^ mounted
with a pedestal and cover of European work of the last century.
The piece is to be attributed from its technique to the early part
of the seventeenth century. Height, 15 inches. No. 115,
•DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 843
Vase {P''ing), of tall arcliaic form, with the bulging part of the
body encircled bj'' two prominent ribs, a horizontally ridged neck,
and a swelling mouth, the rim of which is held in the jaws of two
horned crested dragons, with their necks curving upward and
■downward to form the flowing handles, which are ornamented
with a row of studs in their outer surface. Below the point of
attachment of each handle an oval foliated boss projects from the
surface, engraved with cloud scrolls, and a ring of similar knobs is
embossed round the shoulder of the vase. The enamel is a crackled
glaze of clair-de-lune ( Ykieh-jxxi) tint, deepening to azure blue in
the thicker parts. The crackled lines are reddish brown. The
foot is coated underneath with the same crackled glaze, and
inscribed with a seal, penciled in underglaze blue, Ta ChH?iff Yung
chhig nien chih, "Made in the reign of Yung-cheng of the Great
Ch'ing [dynasty]," Height, 21 inches. No. 116.
Bottle-shaped Vase {P''ing), with the neck curving over to
•end in a duck's head; an ancient bronze design. There is a cir-
cularly rimmed aperture in the convexity' of the neck at the top.
It is invested with a celadon glaze of tj^pical sea-green tint.
Height, 1\ inches. No. 117.
Vase {P''ing), of form somewhat similar to that of the vase
shown in Fig, 163, with a mouth swelling into a broad recurved
lip of indented outline worked with conventional scrolls, enameled
with a brilliant transmutation {yao-jnen) glaze of the CJi'ien-lung
period. A ground of grayish crackled texture is invested with a
Y\(i\\flambe coating, passing into deep crimson mottled tints flecked
with spots of light purplish blue. The foot is enameled under-
neath with a pale purplish glaze, not crackled, and there is no
mark inscribed. Height, 10| inches. No. 118.
" Double Fish " Dish [S/niang Yil P''an), a typical specimen of
ancient Lung-ch'iian Yao of the Su)ig dj'nasty (960-1279), having
a pair of flsh worked in the paste, so as to project inside in strong
relief as if swimming around. The little dish has a plain horizon-
tal rim, and the convexity of the border, underneath, is vertically
ribbed. It is invested with a crackled celadon glaze of greenisii-
brown tones approaching olive-green, shot and flecked with a
brighter grass-green, which the Chinese liken to the tint of onion
sprouts. The rim of the foot, which is unglazed, shows the rtMldish-
buff color of the fabric. Diameter, 5^ inches. No. 119.
844 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Saucer-shaped Dish {P''an), of old Lung-ch'iian celadon of tlie
Ming dynasty (1368-1043). It has a foliated rim, and tlie sides
are fluted in the interior so as to be ribbed underneath. A spray of
peony is etched inside under the i^laze. The glaze is a typical cela-
don of sea-green tint, varying in depth of tone according to its thick-
ness. The under surface of the disii has been photogiaphed to show
the irregular ring in the bottom, which distinguishes the class, when
the paste, left bare, is of the nsual reddish-buff color. Diameter,.
11^ inches. No. 120.
Crackled Cup (/ib Yao Pel), modeled after an ancient design,
simulating a lotus-leaf with convoluted everted rim, to which a
lizardlike dragon is clinging, forming a handle for the cup. It is
coated inside and out with a gra}', stone-colored enamel, crackled
by a network of deeper dark lines connected by superficial colorless
lines. The foot-rim is stained brown, the traditional shade of the
old Ko Yao of the /S<m(7 dynasty. Height, 4 inches. N >. 121.
' Small Censer {Ilslaag Lu), of primitive Ko Yao of the Sung
dynasty. Of globular form, with three small mammillated feet,
it is coated with a speckled glaze of gra^nsh tint, crackled through-
out with a close network of brown lines. The feet show at their
points a fabric of dark iron-gray color, and are encircled at their
bases with brown lines of stain. It has been mounted in China
upon an elaborately carved stand, and has a rosewood cover with
a fungus-shaped knob of white jade. Height, 2 inches. No. 122.
Water Receptacle [Shui Cli'eng), of ancient Sung dj'iiasty
crackle, coated inside and outside, as well as under the foot, with
a thick unctuous translucent glaze of dark brownish-gray tone,,
traversed by a reticulation of dark lines. The mouth is tinged a
coppery red; the foot-rim shows a darkish iron-gray fabric.
Height, \\ inch; diameter, 3 inches. No. 123.
Miniature Vase {Hsiao PHng), of primitive Ko Yao of the
Sung dynast}'. It is molded with two mask handles in relief,^
and invested with a rich glaze of light gray tint, crackled by a
reticulation of dark lines, and is coated underneath with the same
crackled glaze. The foot-rim shows a pale iron-gray paste.
Height, 3 inches. No. 124.
Water-Pot {Shui CJi'eng), of ancient Chun Yao of the Sung
dynasty (960-1279). Of solid dense structure, it has an archaic
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 845
dragon roughly modeled in bold relief on one side so as to lift its
liead above tlie rim. The rich crackled glaze is of the pale-blue
shade known as clair de lane {t/ueh jjcit). It is stained at one
point with a characteristic patch of deep crimson, shaded with a
purple border, whicli is seen on tlie left side of the illustration.
The mark, deeply cut in tlie paste under the foot, is the numeral
san (3), The foot-rim shows a fabric of reddish-gray stoneware.
Height, 2^ inches. No. 125.
Shallow Bowl [Hua Pen), modeled after the form of one of
the ancient Chiin-chou bowls of the Sung dynasty, which were
used for the cultivation of narcissus bulbs, and enameled to repro-
duce the " pear-blossom red " (hai-Vang hung) of the period. It
is circular in form, with a rounded lip of sixfold foliated outline
and vertically ridged sides, and is mounted upon three scrolled
feet. The glaze is a mottled red of the grand feu, derived from
copper, exhibiting a pink ground flecked with darker purj)lish
spots, and it becomes changed to apple-green on the ridges and
more prominent parts. The bottom, coated with a grayish enamel,
has six spur-marks round the rim, and the Jiumeral san (3) on one
side, cut in the paste, and it is stamped in the middle with the
seal Ta CWing Yitng cheng nien chih, " Made in the reign of
Yung-cheng of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." Diameter, 11 inches.
No. 126.
Club-shaped Vase {Pang-chih P''ing), one of a pair of tall
vases of early ICang-hsi date, enameled with a crackled turquoise
glaze of pure tone and uniformly bluish tint, over an artistic
decoration previously molded and etched in the paste. This con-
sists of scrolled sprays of peonies extending over the lower two-
thirds of the body, succeeded by a band containing ogre-like
fao'Vieh heads, displayed upon a spiral background; the shoulder
is encircled by a chain of rectangular fret, and the neck by rings
of formal scrolls. The foot is coated underneath with the same
truite turquoise enamel. The highly decorative mounts are of
European workmansliip of Louis XV date. Height, 27 inches.
No. 127.
Wine-Ewer {Chiu IIu), with a flowing cylindrical handle, an
upright curving spout, and a bell-shaped cover surmounted by a
knob. An earl}^ J{"'ang-hsl piece, it is decorated in panels of
foliated outline, filled with formal trees, painted in deep blue, with
846 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
cross-hatched strokes in a style not common in Chinese art. The
intervals are filled in with floral scrolls and scattered blossoms, and
the rims are defined by chains of fret of varied pattern. Tiie
metal mounting is of Oriental workmanship. Height, 13^ inches.
No. 128.
Broad-mouthed Vase {Hua Tsun), modeled in the form of an
ancient sacrificial wine-vessel, with a liorizontally grooved body
and four vertically projecting broken ribs; the two handles being
fashioned in full openwork relief as alligatorlike dragons. It is
invested with a crackled glaze of transmutation tj'^pe variegated
with vertical splashes of grayisli purple and olive-green, in the
same way as the square vase of similar type illustrated in Plate
XXIII. In the bottom, which is only partially glazed, a coarse
reddish paste is exposed. Height, 12^ inches. No. 129.
Vase [P'in(/), modeled in one of the graceful forms character-
istic of the Yung-cheng period, and charmingly decorated on a
pellucid white gi'ound in the delicate enamel colors of the time.
A magnolia-tree spreads round the vase to cover it with sprays of
snow-white blossoms and buds; a gayly plumaged bird is clinging
to one of the branches, and bright butterflies are flying round.
Tlie intervals are filled in with tree-peonies, branches of Ilihisctis
rosa sinensis and of pink-blossomed Pyrus japonica. The swelling
rim of the foot is scattered with peach-blossoms and small sprays
of chrysanthemum. There is no mark under the foot. Height, 16|
inches. No. 130.
Vase (P'^ing), with three lions projected in full openwork relief
upon the shoulder, represented in pursuit of brocaded balls tied
with fillets, which are executed in similar salient relief. 1'he
lions are of the usual grotesque form, with gilded bodies, touched
with 3^ellow, green, and purple enamels, outlined in dark brown.
The ground of the vase is covered with close spiral curves pen-
ciled in dull brownish red, and it has no claims to either beauty or
antiquity. Height, 16^ inches. No, 131,
Wide-mouthed Vase (Ilua Tsun), enameled inside and outside
with a crackled glaze of grayish-white tint mottled with pale-
reddish spots, traversed by a well-mai-ked, deep network of dark
lines. The bases of the neck and of tlie body are defined by rings
uncovered by enamel and colored iron-gray, succeeded on the neck
DESCEIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 847
by another prominent ring round the .top of tl»e shoulder. The
shoulder is studded with four handles executed in relief in " slip "
as butterflies with suspended rings. The neck is surrounded by a
band of the same iion-gray color, composed of a chain of inter-
rupted rectangular fret between two formal scrolls, and the
upright rim of the raouth is encircled by a single ring of conven-
tional scrolls of the same pattern. The foot, colored iron-gray, is
dotted at regular intervals with small buttons of gray enamel, as
if to cover spur-marks. Height, 11 inches. No. 132.
Large Heavy Vase, of the Sang dynasty; exceedingly dense
body and deep indented glaze of livid red, purple, and gray.
Height, with mount, 14^ inches. No. 133.
SmaEitArchaic Vase, with coarsel}" crackled ivory-white glaze,
crudely decorated in blue. No. 134.
Snuff-Bottles, (1) decorated in blue and white; (2) of white
paste, modeled in high relief, and surmounted by the so-called dog
Fo; (3) of Fen-ting white paste, with a perforated and reticulated
design. No. 135.
Gourd-shaped Vase {Hu-lu P''hig), modeled in the shape of a
large double gourd, with a branch of the same plant worked in
salient undercut relief, spreading down from the top to cover the
upper half of the vase with a reticulation of trailing vines bearing
small gourds, leaves, and tendrils. The intervals of the leafy net-
work are occupied by five flying bats — emblems of the five happi-
nesses, the gourd itself being the emblem of long life, as the Taoist
receptacle of the elixir vitcp. The vase is covered with a souffle
monochrome glaze of pale azure-blue tint [fien-c/i^ing), while the
bats and small gourds are touched with a mottled red derived
from copper, wl)ich runs down to stain the surface of the vase in
several spots. Height, 17 inches. No. 136.
Threefold-Gourd Vase (San JTu-ln P^ing), of composite form
and three-lobed section, simulating three gourds tied together at
the waists, so that tlie three bodies liave coalesced into one, while
the necks remain distinct. The band with which they are girdled
is worked in relief, and the ends tied together in a bow so as to
hang down on one side. It is enameled with a transmutation
( Yao-pien) glaze of grayish crackled texture, darkening to mottled
848 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
crimson, and becoming purplish toward tlie edges, leaving the rim
colorless, as well as the prominent parts of the ends of the ribbons.
The foot is coated with the same grayish-white crackle. Height,
13| inches. No. 137.
Cup {Pel), of Cfi'ien-hmg date, pierced with a broad band of open-
work carving composed of interlacing circles extending round the
sides, interrupted by five solid medallions, on which are posed in
salient undercut relief the figures of the star-god of longevity
{Shoic Using) and of the eight immortals {Pa ITsien), grouped in
pairs, holding their vai'ious attributes, with backgrounds of clouds.
The figures are molded in hrown pate, and touched with colored
enamels of dull tone, including white. A scroll of chrysanthemums
is lightly worked round the foot in an opaque white of different tone
from the lustrous white glaze underneath, and with which the rest
of the cup is enameled. The foot is in white biscuit unglazed.
The lining of the cup is of beaten silver, gilded. Dijtmeter, 3^
inches. No. 138.
Teapot ( CA'a Stt), one of a pair, artistically modeled in the
form of a fully expanded lotus-blossom, the sides being molded
with rings of petals, and the rim studded with the seeds that
naturally project from the cuplike fruit in the middle. The handle
is the bowed body of a dragon {chHh-lung) which is clinging to
the bowl by its jaws and four feet as well as by its bifid tail. The
spout is the hollowed bod}^ of an alligator rising with gaping mouth
to form the lips. The bottom, which is unglazed, is carved to
represent a lotus-leaf, and a second veined peltate leaf with its stalk
attached forms the lid. It is enameled with a truite turquoise
glaze of softly mottled tones, deepening into purple where it
thickens, round the rim of the cover, for example. Height, 4
inches. No. 139.
Vase (P^ing), of thi-ee-lobed outline, with indented mouth, and a
vertically grooved body of solid form, molded with the figures of
three lions projecting in salient relief from the sides. It is enameled
with a transmutation [yao-pieii) glaze of the ChHenlnng period, of
a grayish pale-colored crackled grouiid, splashed with olive-brown
and crimson patches of variegated mottled tints. The mouth, in-
side, and the foot are coated with a light purple, the latter only
partially, so as to expose a yellowish joa^e in the intervals. Height,
9f inches. No. 140.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 849
Yuan Dynasty Bowl ( Yuan T'£%i Wan), composed of a coarse
reddish-gray stoneware coated with a crackled glaze of pale purple
tint, mottled with darker spots, and becoming brown at the edges.
On the under side of the bowl the glaze has run down in a thick
unctuous mass, so as to cover only part of the surface, stop})ing in
an irregularly curved line, and leaving about a third of tiie side,
as well as the foot, uncovered. Diameter, 6^ inches. No. 141.
Jar {Kuan), of ovoid form and archaic aspect, composed of a
rough dark iron-gray stoneware, coated with a thick deeply crackled
glaze of light stone-gray celadon tint. The upper rim is stained
brown. It resembles the ancient jars so highly prized by the
natives of Borneo and other islajids of the Eastern Archipelago,
and is probably a production of the Kuangtung potteries {Kuang
Yao), of the Sung or Yuan dynasty. Height, 5 inches. No. 142.
Miniature Tripod Censer [Hsiao Ting Lu), with two loop
handles, invested inside and out with a gray crackled glaze of the
same character as that described under No. 121. Height, 2 inches.
No. 143.
Broad-necked Vase [Hua Tsun), with mask handles fashioned
in relief as lions' heads holding rings, enameled with a superficially
and minutely crackled glaze of mottled tones, passing from pale
translucid celadon to crimson and ruby tints. The glaze has " run,"
so that the lower part of the vase is densely coated and dark-
colored while the upper rim and the prominent handles remain
almost colorless. In the interior it has collected \wjlamhe drops of
brightly mottled purple. The foot has been ground on the wheel
to remove the superfluous enamel. The base is coated yellowish
gray with a crackled network of brown lines. Height, 13 inches.
No. 144.
Vase [Ilua P^iug), of a ritual form inodeled after that of the
Buddhist ddgaba illustrated in Fig. 349, decorated in brilliant
enamel colors of early K^oig-hsi date, greens predominating, with
a pure vermilion red, an orange yellow, a brownish purple, and
touches of black, without gold or underglaze blue. The neck is
enveloped in the coils of a four-clawed dragon pursuing an effulgent
jewel among green clouds and red lightning-flames; its base is
encircled by a diapered band inclosing medallions of lotus-flowers,
850 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
and the upper rim by rings of svastika pattern diaper and of
cbrysantheraum brocade. The body of the vase has ornamental
fret borders, a graceful chain of conventional lotus sprays below,
and four shou, " longevity," characters emblazoned on the shoulder
above, between the four circular panels with foliated rims, which
form the main decoration. One of tliese panels contains fish
tossed in tlie waves, with a large one rising from the water,
exhaling red flames, as if about to be metamorphosed into a
dragon. The opposite panel has an eagle of majestic aspect
perched upon a rock on the seashore. The other two panels dis-
pla}^ Taoist scenes. In one, two old men, seated on a rocky shore,
are looking at a temple rising in tlie waves and a stork flying across
carrying a tally of fate in its beak. In tlie other, one of the genii
is bestriding the branch of a tree, which is taking the form of a
dragon's head in front, his pilgrim's gourd and rolled scroll slung
on a branch behind, as he crosses the sea in this strange craft.
Height, 18J inches. No. 145.
Beaker-shaped Vase {^Hua Kti), of graceful form and finished
technique, modeled in the lines of an ancient bronze sacrificial
vessel, and coated all over, inside the month as well as outside and
under the foot, with a bright j'^ellow glaze of uniform orange tone,
the typical "imperial j^ellow " monochrome of the C JCien-limg
period. Height, 8| inches. No. 146.
Vase {^P''in(/), of finished technique, dating from the Yung-
cheng period,, enameled with a plain white glaze of pure translucent
tone. A dragon of archaic t^^pe is projected in bold, undercut
relief upon the shoulder of the vase, and colored with a bright-blue
overglaze enamel of mottled tint derived from cobalt. Height, Sc-
inches. No. 147.
Wine-Pot ( Chia Hu), of rustic form, decorated sur biscuit in
the three colors of the demi- grand feu — viz., turquoise-blue, auber-
gine-purple, and touches of pale green — all of finely crackled
texture. It is roughly fashioned to simulate jointed bamboo, with
branches of pine attached as handle and spout, from which sprays
of foliage spread out to decorate the surface in relief. A sprig of
bamboo surmounts the false cover, which is immovable, the wine
being poured in through a hole in the bottom of the wine-pot,
which is coated all round with the turquoise glaze. Height, 5
inches. No. 148.
DESCEIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTKATIONS. 851
Globular Bowl {Shul ClCeng), one of a pair, of lavender
crackle, traversed by a network of brown lines. It is mounted
upon a tall tripod stand of European work. Diameter, 4 inches.
No. 149.
Vase {PUtig), of the K^oig-hsi period, of graceful form and
fine technique, artistically decorated with conventional floral designs,
painted in red and gold with touches of pale green. The body is
studded with live large blossoms of the idealized fl^owers known as
pao hsiang hua, " flowers of paradise," connected by delicate wavy
foliations. A gadroon border with beaded foliations surrounds the
base, the shoulder is encircled by a band of brocaded pattern, and
the rim of the mouth by a similar band, running round under the
lip, which shows signs of gilding. A series of scrolled palraations
springs up from the base of the neck, and it is ornamented above
with strings of beads hung with tassels suspended from a ring of
scroll fret. Height, IV inches. No. 150.
Water-Pot {Shui Ch^eng), for the writer's table, molded in
the shape of a white univalve shell, and lightly tinted with pink
and yellow enamels at the edges; the three feet are tiny shells,
and a lizardlike dragon {ch^ lh-h(?ig) is coiled upon the top of the
shell, executed in full undercut relief. Height, 2 inches. No. 151.
Vase {P^ing), one of a pair of tall bottle-shaped vases, with a
monochrome ground of pale-green celadon tint, decorated in " slip "
with flowers and birds in relief. The floral decoration is composed
of blossoming prunus-trees, bamboos, chrysanthemums, and lotus-
plants, naturalistically modeled, so that most of the flowers stand
out in white relief, but some of the leaves and other details, and the
birds which are perched upon the branches, are penciled in under-
glaze cobalt-blue. The pedestal, flowing open handles, and other
mounts are in European bronze work of ornate style. Height, with
mounts, 2 feet 6 inches. No. 152.
Tea-Jar (CA'a Kuan), a typical specimen both in style and
coloring of blue and white porcelain of the Ming dynasty. It is
painted in brilliant blue, with the eight Taoist immortals {Fa Ilsien)
crossing the sea in procession, holding up in their hands their
peculiar attributes. The scrolled waves lift up crested tops in the
intervals, and the clouds dip down in formal scrolls from above to
form a kind of canopy for each figure. The borders are decorated
852 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
with eiicirclino- \)an(ls of coiiventioiiiil scrolls. Tlie mark, penciled
under the foot in blue, inclosed within a double ring, is Ta Ming
Wan-U fiieu chih, " Made in tlie reign of Wan-li (1573-1619) of
the Great Ming [dynasty]." Height, 0 inclies. No. 153,
Vase [P''ing), bottle-shaped, witli a projecting rim at tlie top,
ami a globular body, from the upper part of which proceeds a short,
solid mouthpiece. It is decorated with floral sprays of peony,
lotus, jasmine, and aster, enameled in briglit colors, surrounded by
scrolls of green leaves, and relieved by an intensely black ground.
A band of white, lightly penciled in red with a triangular fret,
separates the neck from the body. Tlie upper rim is mounted with
metal, and the mouthpiece is fitted with a nozzle of Oriental work-
manship. It was evidently decorated in China for the Moham-
medan market, and has been subsequently mounted, perhaps in
Persia, as part of a narghili. Height, 10| inches. No. 154.
DouBLE-Fisii Vase [Shuang Yil PHng), one of a ))air, with
details molded in slight relief under a celadon monochrome glaze of
typical sea-green tint. Mounted in ormolu of European work.
Height, 6 inches. No. 155.
Tai-1. Club-shaped Vase {Ta Pang-chih PHng), elaborately
decorated in enamel colors with a few touches of gilding in the
style of the ICa/ig-hsi " famille verte." The body is decorated
with a battle scene. The heroine of the tight is on horseback in
front, clad in mailed costume, brandishing a sword in one hand, a
spear in tlie other, and having a small babe wrapped in her girdle,
out of whose head pi'octeeds a thin red line which unfolds above
into clouds displaying the gilded form of a dragon. An uml)rella-
shaped tent with imperial insignia in front is pitched on the hill-
side, in the direction in which the commMiider-in chief is riding,
surrounded by his staff cai'rying flags and banners. The neck of
the vase is decorateil wiiii a picture of the " flveancients" (wulao),
the diviniti(!s of the five ])lanets, examining a scroll with the i/in-
yang dual svnibol inscribcil upon it, the surroundings being of Taoist
character, with pines and stoi-ks, spotted deer, and rocks covered
with SMcred fungus. The shoulder slope is tilled with a broad
band of lotus scrolls traversed by dragons, interrupted by medal-
lions containing lions sporting with brocaded balls. A Vnocaded
band of plum-blossom su(^ceeds, and encircling rings of triangidar
fret and of gadrooji pattern complete the decoration. Height, 30|
inches. No. 156.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 853
V^ASE [PHug), bottle-shaped, witli a swelling globular bodj-^ and
two projecting rings on the neck, dating from the ICang-hsi
period. It is enameled with a dark-brown cofFee-colored mono-
chrome ground, interrupted by four circular medallions painted in
dark underglaze blue with flowers, and by a ring round the slioulder
with alternate lozenges and circles di8pla3'ed upon the white ground.
Tlie mark under the foot is a palm-leaf penciled in blue. It is
mounted with a chased bronze cover of Persian work. Height,
with cover, 8^ inches. No. 157.
Threefold Gourd Vase {San Hu-la P''hig), with a vertically
grooved body simulating three coalescent gourds with tlie necks
distinct, so as to form three oiifices for the vase. It is one of a
pair enameled with a finely crackled turquoise glaze of unusuall}'"
deep tones, becoming almost black in the depths of the grooves and
near the foot, which is unglazed at the base. They have been
mounted in Europe with three-footed stands, tasseled cords tied
round the waists, and covers inlaid with three disks of crackled
turquoise porcelain, hung round witli festoons and tassels and sur-
mounted b}'^ circular garlands of flowers. Height, without mounts,
8 inches. No. 158.
Celadon Vase [Lung -cJi' uan P^ing), of the Ming period, of
whitisli paste coated with a rich unctuous-looking glaze of pale
greenish tone. The decoration, which is worked in relief in the
paste under the glaze, is in three horizontal bands defined by
prominent rings. The lower band is vertically ribbed. The
middle band has waving scrolls of chrj'^santhemunis under a ring
of diamond pattern fret. The upper band contains ititerlacing
sprays of the mountain peony. A spot of iridescent purple black
is to be noticed on the shoulder, shaded with red clouds, starting
from a slight pit in the glaze, and indicating the presence of iron
in the materials. The base is enameled underneath with the same
celadon glaze. Height, 17 inches. No. 159.
Tripod Censer [Ting Lu), with short cylindrical feet, and two
spreading loop-handles of rope pattern, coated with a Lang Yao
glaze of tlie K''ang-hsi period. The glaze, of the usual crackled
texture, displays the characteristic sang - de-boeuf co\oYm^ in streaky
mottled tones, passing in some parts of the surface into pale apple-
green, wliile the rims and more prominent parts are nearly white.
The stand and cover are of rosewood, carved in Cliina in a string-
854 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
net pattern, and mounted with a steatite knob. Height, 4^ inches;
breadtii, 5 inches. No. 160.
Vase (P'm^), bottle-shaped, one of a pair, with wide-spreading
necks, enameled with a monochrome coral-red glaze, penciled over
with two floral scrolls in gold of arabesque-like design on the bodies
and with light floral borders round the edges. They have been
mounted in Persia with copper rims and covers, minutely chased
all over with figures, hunting-scenes, ornamental bands, and panels
containing birds and flowers. Height, 7| inches. No. 161.
Quadrangular Vase {Fang PHng), of oblong section, with
rounded indented corners, molded with two handles fashioned as
lions' heads suspending rings. There is a floral decoration on the
front and back, incised in the paste, and inlaid with green and
white enamels, the surrounding ground being a purplish brown of
brilliant iridescent tints. The decoration consists of flowers grow-
ing from rocks, a blossoming prunus with a twig of bamboo, on one
side, chrysanthemums and grass, with a pair of butterflies flying, on
the other. The mark, incised in the paste under the glaze in
ai'chaic script, is Cheng-te nien chih — i. e., "Made in the period
Cheng-te (1506-21)." It seems really, however, to be a reproduc-
tion of the time of GKien-lung. Height, 7| inches. No. 162.
Vase [P''ing), of depressed ovoid form, with a short narrow neck
widening into a flaring mouth with coarsely serrated rim. A five-
clawed imperial dragon envelops the vase within its coils as it pur-
sues the magic jewel, which is represented on one side as a disk
emitting branching rays of effulgence, the intervals being filled in
with the scrolled clouds in which the dragon is disporting. The
details are modeled in relief in the paste, and finished with the
graving-tool. The investing glaze is a minutel}^ crackled turquoise-
blue of the CK Un-lung period, clouded with characteristic mottling
of greenish tone, and becoming darker where it thickens. Round
the foot, where it has " run " into a thick mass, it becomes deep
crimson, affording a striking example of the manifold transforma-
tions of the protean copper silicates under varied degrees of oxida-
tion. Height, \^\ inches. No. 163.
Cylindrical Vase {Ilua T^nng), of the Wan-li period, deco-
rated upon a white ground with enamel colors — red, green, yellow
of brownish tone, and manganese-purple — without underglaze blue.
The rim of the mouth is colored litrht brown: the shoulder and base
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 855
of tlie vase are encircled by bands of spiral fret penciled in red.
The body is decorated with trees growing from behind an open
rocker^', lit up by tlie yellow-brown disk of the sun, and filled in
with a background of red trellis- work. A peach-tree is conspicuous
with scarlet blossoms, and a clump of bamboo, with graceful green
foliage; orchids and other flowers are blossoming at the foot, and a
pair of birds is flying across above. The neck is covered with
a diaper of foliated pattern, brocaded with branches of fruit and
sprays of flowers. The base is unglazed, with the exception of a
spot of white in the center. Height, 15 inches. No. 164.
Figure of a Cat [Mao Hsiang), naturally modeled in a grayish
paste of light porous fabric, and enameled with a crackled gray
glaze splashed with transmutation colors of bronzelike tones passing
into olive-brown, to imitate tortoise-shell. Height, 7^ inches.
No. 165.
Small Wine-Pot (Chiu Hit), of rustic form, molded in the
shape of a lotus capsule with striated sides and the seeds projecting
all round at the top, and mounted upon three spiral feet; the flow-
ing handle is a roughly tuberculated stalk, and the curved spout
another, while a small folded leaf projects on either side as a decora-
tion. The enamel colors, applied sur biscuit, are green and yellow.
Height, 3 inches. No. 166.
Cylindrical Vase [Hua T''ung), decorated in colors of the
Wan-li period, with floral arabesques, painted partly in underglaze
blue, partly in emerald-green and vermilion enamels. The ground-
work is a bold design of leaf scrolls studded with large blossoms
like those of the wild rose, executed in blue, which is brocaded with
small green leaves and filled in with a diaper pattern penciled in
red. The light bands of scroll which encircle the rims are outlined
in red upon aAvhite ground. The bottom is unglazed, only marked
by concentric lines of the wheel. The vase is mounted with a
collar and lid of copper, which is elaborately chased with bands
containing figures of men, four-footed animals, and birds, and with
floral and foliated designs of Persian work. Height, l^\ inches.
No. 167.
Cylindrical Ewer [Thing Hu), modeled in the form of a
jointed tube of bamboo with a tiaralike projection at the top. The
handle is a one-horned draijon with bowed back and bifid curlinor
tail, and it is colored red with gilded details; the spout springs
856 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
from a lion's liead, and the cover is surmounted by tlie figure of a
unicorn. Tlie surface is covered witli sprays of flowers and butter-
flies of naturalistic design painted in enamels of the CKien-lurKj
period. The flowers include separate sprays of the tree-peony, rose,
hydrangea, lotus, peach-blossom, magnolia, chrysanthemum, lily,
hibiscus, convolvulus, aster, orchid, and nandina berries. Height,
14| inclies. No. 168.
Club-shaped Vase {Pang-chih P''iny), of the K''ang-hsi period,
decorated in blue and white with panels of varied form, inclosed
in a soujffle ground of brilliant powder-blue. There are six pan-
els on the body, of which the two below — square, with indented
corners — are painted with landscapes; the two fan-shaped panels
above contain peonies and chrysanthemums growing from rocks,
and the other two — of rounded foliated outline — are filled with
vases of flowers and peacock's feathers; censers, and the parapher-
nalia of the scholar. There are two panels in the neck, shaped like
leaves of the Ficus religiosa, one of which has a kingfisher inside
perched upon a peony-branch; the other, incense-burning appa-
ratus and a folding fan. The mark under the foot is a double ring
penciled in blue. Height, 18 inches. No. 169.
Vase {Ilua PHng), of the ChHen-lung period, fashioned on an
archaic bronze luodel, with decorations executed in relief and
engraved in the paste, invested with a finely crackled turquoise
glaze, which varies in tone according to the depth, so as to enhance
the effect of the decoration underneath. This decoration consists
of a broad band of peony scrolls round the body and a ring of
upright palniations on the neck, completed by encircling bands of
ornamental scroll and fret designs of varied pattern. The foot,
only partially glazed, sliows a grayish-buff pate in the intervals.
Height, 13| inches. No, 'iVO.
Vase {PHng), of the K^ang-hsi period, very brilliantly deco-
rated in enamel colors, with rich borders of scroll and fret, floral
brocade and conventional foliations. The two large panels on the
body contain a grotesque lion sporting with a brocaded ball tied
with waving fillets, and a unicorn [ch'i-lin) of orthodox traditional
form with flames proceeding from its body; the panels are
separated by vertical bands containing lozenge-shaped symbols of
success {fang-sheng). The vase, slightly cut down, has been fitted
with European bronze mounts. Height, 8| inches. No, 171.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 857
Vase (P'm^), of the Fen Ting, or "soft paste" class, painted
in soft-toned blue in characteristic style with fine and clearly
defined strokes, under a soft-looking ivory-white glaze of crackled
textui'e and undulatory surface. It is decorated witli nine gro-
tesque lions: five grouped on the body of the vase, and four on the
neck, supported on banks of scrolled clouds and enveloped in flames,
disporting with brocaded balls tied witli waving fillets. The
receding slope of the shoulder is encircled by a band of cloud
scrolls, traversed by five flying bats, symbols of the five happi-
nesses, and the foot has plum blossoms, the floral emblem of long
life, scattered over a reticulated ground of mottled blue. The foot
is crackled underneath; no mark. Height, 8f inches. No. 172.
Grotesque Unicokn Monster (7'm GhiXeh Shou), molded in
porcelain of the Ming period, with a lionlike bod}'', having a horn,
shaped like the horn of a rhinoceros, curving up from the middle of
the forehead. The body, etched with a gi'aving-tool, is coated with
a snow-white crackled glaze; the ears, beard, and flowing tail are
overlaid with bright blue; the mane and spiral coils of hair are
touclied with dark green. The interior, which is hollow, is par-
tially lined with crackled glaze, showing a grayish paste in the
intervals. Length, 6 inches. No. 173.
Small Vase {Hua PHng), of turquoise crackle of the Ming
dynasty. It is molded of archaic design, with a ribbed body verti-
cally grooved and a mouth with an eightfold foliated rim.
Round the body and neck of the vase are coiled the forms of two
three-clawed lizardlike dragons, modeled in complete undercut
relief, in pursuit of the jewel-ball, which is attached in front mid-
way between the heads of the monsters. The truite glaze changes
from its pure turquoise tint to olive-gray in the thinner parts, and
deepens into purple where it collects in thick drops. The foot is
unglazed, showing a yellowish-gray ^^d/e. Height, 5| inches.
No. 174.
Beaker-shaped Vase {Hua Ivu), of crackled celadon, dating
from early iti the 3iV/i_(7 dynasty, if not older. The flaring mouth
has a rim alternately projected and indented as if formed of eight
foliations, and the vase is marked with slight vertical ribs starting
from the points of the foliations. The prominent band around the
middle of the vase is etched with triangular lines and clouds show-
ing Indistinctly under the thick glaze. The glaze, which spreads
858 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
over half of tlie interior of the vase, and also covers the base, is a
celadon of green tint and lustrous aspect, crackled with a network
of dark-brown lines, although inside and under the foot the reticu-
lated lines are colorless. The foot-rini shows a pdte of reddish-
yellow color. Height, 11 inches. No. 175.
Pilgrim Bottle {Pei-hu P'^ing), of the rounded form and oval
section known also as Pao-yueh P''ing, from its resemblance to that
of the full moon. Decorated in blue and maroon under the white
glaze, with five-clawed imperial dragons rising from the sea into
the clouds in pui'suit of the wish-granting jewel, which is dej)icted
in the middle of the vase as an effulgent disk. There is a seal
under the foot, penciled in the same underglaze cobalt-blue, with
the inscription Ta Cfi'mg CK len-lxmg nien chih, " Made in the
reign of Ch'ien-lung (1736-95) of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty].'^
Height, 12| inches. No. 176.
Vase {P''iiig),oi the coarser Ting-chou ware of the Ming period
known as T^u Ting. The decorative designs are either molded in
relief or etched at the point in the grayish-white paste, which is-
coated with an ivory-white crackled glaze, become greenish in tone
where it thickens. The neck swells above into a bulbous enlarge-
ment, which is grooved like a bulb of garlic. A dragon of archaic
design is coiled round in salient relief, pursuing a jewel among
clouds. The bulging body is engraved with floral scrolls, a band
of gadroon pattern runs round below and a band of spiral fret
above, succeeded b}'^ a chain of rectangular fret etched round the
shoulder. The foot is coated with the same soft-looking crackled
glaze. The foot-rim shows a hard fabric, which can not be
scratched by a steel point. Height, 13^ inches. No. 177.
Jar [Kuan), one of a pair, with bell-shaped covers, richly
decorated in blue atid white of the ICanghsi period, and mounted
in European work of the eighteenth century in the same style as
the vase in Fig. 114. It is decorated with clumps of lotus inter-
mingled with reeds, alternating with hanging branches of peonies
and sprays of asters. Foliations of brocaded design spread upward
and downward from the borders, which are encircled also with
floral bands. The cover is painted with sprays of peony at the top,^
succeeded by a conventional floral border. The mark under the
foot is a diamond-shaped symbol [fang-sheng), tied with a fillet^
inclosed in a double ring. Height, 17 inches. No. 178.
DESCKIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 859
Five Snuff-Bottles, of the reigns of Yitng-c/wuff a,nd ChHen-
lung. No. 179.
Small Vase {Hsiao P''ing), of wliite Fen Ting porcelain, fash-
ioned after an antique model, with a flaring bell-shaped mouth.
The rims are lightly etched with scroll borders, and the vase is
encircled with three foliated bands worked in slight relief in the
paste. The glaze, of characteristically soft ivory-white tone, is not
crackled, but has the undulatory pitted texture known as chu-pH
wen, or "orange-peel marking." Height, 5^ inches. No. 180.
Vase [P^ing), of bulbous form, with vertical grooves, so as to
be of six-lobed section, invested with a \noli\edi flambe glaze of dark
brownish-crimson tint, flecked with lighter spots at the edges. The
interior is coated with a gra3'ish, superficially crackled glaze, which
also appears on the lip and more prominent points of the surface.
The foot is enameled with a greenish, uncrackled glaze, and has no
mark inscribed. Height, 13 inches. No. 181.
Beaker-shaped Vase (Una Ku), of the K''ang-]isi period,
painted in colors — greens of diverse tone, brownish-yellow, ver-
milion, and shaded purples, relieved b}'^ a black enameled ground.
It is decorated in two divisions. The lower half is covered with
blossoming prunus-trees witli white flowers and buds, and a bird
perched on one of the branches, filled in with colored sprays of
asters and grass and bunches of peaches and persimmons. The
upper half has peach-trees with red and purplish flowers and peony
shrubs with large shaded vermilion blossoms, mingled with the
prunus, a Reeves' pheasant in the foreground on a rock, and other
birds flying among the trees. The foot is enameled white, with no
mark attached. Height, 18 inches. No. 182.
Large Vase i^Ta PHng), of the CKien-lung period, enameled
with a monochrome glaze of greenish celadon tint, deepening in
tone as it thickens in the recesses of the decoration, which is
worked in relief in the paste underneath. This consists of a pa'ir
of five-clawed imperial dragons, one just emerging from the
scrolled waves, which surround the base of the vase, the other
enveloping the body and neck within its scaly coils. Flames issue
from the bodies of the monsters, the intervals are filled in with
scrolled masses of clouds, and the jewel which they are pursuing is
represented on one side as a disk emitting threefold branching rays
of effulgence. The base, unglazed, shows a comparativeh^ coarse,
yellowish paste. Height, 21^ inches. No. 183,
860 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Jar {Kuan), painted in blue and white, of the K^ang-hsi period^
with a band of Amazons riding down a mountain valley toward a
military encampment, the tents of which are seen over the liills in
the distance. They have long pheasant-feathers stuck in their fur
caps, and are carrying flags and banners, with spears slung on their
backs; one has a drawn sword in each hand. The mark under the
foot is a palm-leaf encircled by a wide double ring. Height, 9
inches. No. 184.
GouKD-SHAPED Vase [Hu-lu PHng), one of a pair, intricately
fashioned with carved openwork casings and movable appendages,
and riclily decorated in delicate enamel colors and gilding of the
ChHen-lung period. Through the open trellis bands, inclosing
foliated panels with svastika symbols, glimpses are caught of a
solid cylindrical core painted with bats flying among clouds. Tlie
waists are belted with movable rings, with two projecting scrolled
handles, by which the rings can be made to revolve. The foot is
enameled red underneath, with the seal, penciled in gold, inscribed
Ta CkHng GKien-lung nien chih, " Made in the reign of Ch'ien-
lung of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." Height, 16^ inches.
No. 185.
• Small Teapot ( Ch'a Hu), carved in openwork designs, and
richly decorated in enamel colors and gilding of Yung-cheng or
early ChHert-lung date. The globular body, which represents a
brocaded ball, is studded with four floral bosses with gilded,
pierced centers, and has the intervals filled in with brocaded designs
relieved by an enameled black ground. Two grotesque lions,
colored pink {rose d*or), are crouching upon the ball, of which one
forms the handle, while the other has a tube projecting from its
back as the spout. The cover is crowned by a floral knob set in the
middle of a gilded openwork boss, encircled by the same delicate
floral scrolls as decorate the rim of the teapot. Height, 4J inches.
No. 186.
Vase (P^mg), of K''ang hsi blue and white. The long, grace-
ful neck is decorated with floral scrolls, conventional bands of
ornament, and palmated foliations. The body displays a pair of
hexagonal vases with arrows inside, as well as in the tubular
handles, which are mounted on tripod tables, alternating with two-
pairs of lamps, each pair being suspended side by side with cords
hung with tassels. The mark under the foot is a flower sprig.
Height, 10| inches. No. 187.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 861
Water Receptacle {l^^n-po Txxui), so called because it is
modeled in the shape of the wine-jar {tsun) of the famous poet Li
T'ai-po, enameled outside with a mottled " peach-bloom " glaze of
reddish tone, variegated on one side with a cloud of apple-green.
There is an etched decoration in the paste under the glaze in the
form of three medallions of archaic dragon scrolls. The mark,
written underneath in blue in large cliaracters, is Ta Cfi'lng
K''ang-hsi nien chih, " Made in the reign of K'ang-hsi of the
Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." Diameter, 5^ inches. Bronze mount
and stand. No. 188.
Vase {Hua Tsiin), of the CK'ien-hing period, modeled in the
form of a bronze sacrificial wine-vessel, with the handles fashioned
as elephants' heads, and the sides worked in relief and etched under
the finely crackled turquoise glaze, which is of the usual mottled
tone. The body is encircled by a broad band filled Avith lizardlike
dragons holding scrolls of sacred fungus (ling-chili) in their
mouths, the neck with a ring of conventional palmations, and the
foot by a continuous chain in double outline of rectangular fret.
The foot, partially glazed, sliows a white pate of fine texture.
Height, 9 inches. No. 189.
Gourd-shaped Vase [Hu-lu PHug), of pale-colored Lang Yao
of the K''ang-hsi period. The glaze, which is slightly crackled in
parts, is of liver tint, thickly flecked with light spots, and it is of
minutely pitted texture. The vase is enameled so as to leave a
well-defined white rim round the mouth and at the base; the foot
is coated with a pure white glaze underneath, with no mark in-
scribed. Height, 16 inches. No. 190.
Vase {P''ing), of grayish crackle, executed in the %iy\e of the
ancient Ilo Yao. The glaze, which runs in thick unctuous masses,
is a gray celadon, traversed by a network of reddish-brown lines
connected by more superficial colorless lines. It is stained brown,
as if accidentalh% under the handles and ornamental i-ings. The
two handles are fashioned in the form of lions' heads, surrounded
by fringes of curled mane, and are perforated for rings. They are
colored iron-gra}', like the three encircling bands of fret which are
worked round the vase. The interior of the vase is created with
the same gray crackle; the foot, unglazed, is stained a reddish
brown. Height, 15 inches. No. 191.
Vasf {P''i7ig), of later CJCien-lung date, enameled with a finely
crackled yellow monochrome ground of clouded tone. The dec-
862 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
oration, wliicli is molded in relief in the paste and finished by
engraving, consists of a group of three lions sporting with a
brocaded ball tied with waving fillets, and a single bat fl3'ing
across the neck of the vase above; the enamel colors used comprise
a bright green and purple, with a sparing addition of white. The
base is coated with the same truite yellow enamel, with no niark
inscribed. The fabric is peculiarly thin and light. Height, 12
inches. No. 192.
Statuette (Hsianff), of a mandarin of high rank, richly enameled
in brilliant colors of the K''ang-hsi period, with smiling features of
Chinese type, and flowing mustaches, painted black in openwork
relief. The official robes with wide hanging sleeve are brocaded
with four-clawed dragons on a pale-purple ground, and display the
square insignia of the highest rank embroidered with storks behind
as well as in front. Tlie girdle is set in ancient stjde, with oblong
and circular plaques, which are executed in relief and colored " old
gold," of tint different from the ox'dinary j^ellow derived from
antimony, which is used on the brocade designs. The hat and the
baton of rank, once held in the hands, are both lost. Height, \'l^
inches. No. 193.
Delicate and Graceful Vase {PHng), of the best K''ang-hsi
period; pdte sur pdte modeling of cICi-lin amid surges in fine white
beneath a beautiful translucent glaze, set off with clCi-lin in a
strong peach-bloom tint. Height, with mounts, 9 inches.
No. 194.
Baluster Vase {Mei PHng), finely decorated in bright enamel
colors of the best K''ang-lisi period, with two prominent handles
pierced for rings fashioned in the form of grotesque lions' heads,
and reserved in pure white " biscuit." It is decorated in horizontal
bands separated by chains of rectangular and spiral fret ])enciled
on purple grounds. The broad band round the middle has a pair
of archaic dragons [clCih-lung) in the midst of graceful scrolls of
lotus, relieved by an enameled black ground. A band of ])eony
scrolls spreads round the foot displayed upon the same black
ground, and sprays of peony wind round the shoulder of the vase
with a bright-green background etched with a spiral pattern, A
ring of palmations encircles the neck, filled in with black. The
foot is enameled white underneath, with no mark inscribed.
Height, \\\ inches. No. 195.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 863
Lang Yao Vask i^Lang Yao P''ing). A small bottle-shaped
vase with bulging body, displaying the same rich sang-de-boeuf
coloring as the large vase which is illustrated in Plate LIX. 'J'he
foot is coated underneath with a crackled apple-green glaze mottled
with tints of olive. Height, 9 inches. No. 196.
Vase (Hua jP^i?ig), decorated in brilliant enamel colors of the
ICang-hsi period. Formal rings of conventional palm-leaves
spread upward and downward to ornament the neck and foot with
scrolled foliations, of which four on the neck display the dual yin-
yang symbol with black and gilded red segments. The body of
the vase is covered above with lambrequins of floral brocade,
exhibiting, in regular rotation, sprays of tlie emblematic flowers of
the four seasons — the peony of spring, the lotus of summer, the
chrysanthemum of autumn, and tlie prunus of winter — grouped
with other flowers. The rest of the surface underneath is dec-
orated with butterflies and with scattered sprays of peony and
plum-blossom. The foot, enameled white, has no mark. Height,
16| inches. No. 197.
Box FOR Seal Vermilion ( Yin Se Ho), of circular shape, com-
posed of two equal parts, of which one is the cover. It is coated
with a typical " peach-bloom " glaze, having a light pinkish-red
ground mottled with clouds of darker red, and passing into apple-
green toward the middle. The mark, written in blue in orthodox
style, is Ta GKing K''ang'hsi nien chih, "Made in the reign of
K'ang-hsi of the Great Cli'ing [dynasty]." Diameter, 2|- inches.
No. 198.
Group of Snuff-Bottles, of the Khing-hsi period. No. 199.
Vase, of the K''ang-hsi period; imperial yellow glaze. Height,
11^ inches. No, 200.
Small Pilgrim Bottle {^Pei Hu P''ing), of the Iv^ang-hsi
period, invested with a copper-red glaze of the " peach-bloom "
type and coloring. It has two open flowing handles of wav}' out-
line, and a dragon of archaic form (chHIi-lung) is worked in bold
relief in a raedallionlike coil upon the shoulder both in front and
behind. The rims are lightly mounted in metal. There is no
mark under the foot. Height, 8 inches. No. 201.
Vase {Hua P''ing), of the "peach-bloom" class with foliated
base, the neck of which has been cut, but mounted with gold and
864 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
silver in Japan in the lines of the original form. This is a com-
panion piece to the vase whicli was illustrated in Plate LII, and the
description will be found accompanying that plate. No. 202,
Double-Fish Vase {SJtiutng Yu FHng), modeled in the form
of a pair of fish rising from waves, with their bodies blending into
one, and their gaping mouths coalescing to make a single oval rim.
Thej^ are enameled in soft coral-reds of graduated tone, over details
etched in the paste; the waves at the foot are colored blue and
green, and the eyes of the fish are touched with points of black
enamel. ■ Height, 74 inches. No. 203.
Vase {Hxia PHng), of flattened ovoid form, with an oval mouth
of four-lobed outline, the indentations of which are continued
down the vase as far as the rim of the foot. It is coated with a
lustrous glaze of crackled texture, which is of a pale-green celadon
tone, thickly flecked with clouds of dull cherry-red; become more
intense in the grooved parts, where the glaze is deepest. The
inside of the mouth and the base of the vase are lined with a gray-
green enamel of similar shade, flecked with red, but not crackled.
It is a specimen of crackled apple-green [p'ing-kuo cJiHng) of the
K''ang-hsi period. Height, 7f inches. No. 204.
Lang Yao Vase {P''ing), of form similar to the one illustrated
in Plate LIX, showing the way in which the color is apt to "run,"
so as to be partially obliterated in the furnace. The upper half of
the vase is a pale gray-green crackle with brown reticulations, only
slightly tinged with pink, while the lower half displays all the
rich sang-de-boett/ tones of color, shot with a dark speckled mottling.
The two parts are separated by an irregularly undulating line,
evidently of fortuitous origin. The base is coated with a typical
apple-green crackled glaze slightly clouded over with olive tints.
Height, 18 inches. No. 205.
Vase {PHng), of the K''ang-hsi period, of graceful form, coated
with the mottled cobalt glaze known as " powder-blue " or " maza-
rin-blue," and decorated over the blue glaze of the grand feu with
sprays of large-blossomed chrysanthemum and bamboo painted in
gold and fixed in the mufile. An inscription in ten characters,
penciled in gold on the back of the vase, now half obliterated, is a
stanza taken from an ode on the chrysanthemum. Height, 10
inches. No. 206.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 865
Vase {P''ing), of tlie I'Cang-hsi period, of rare type and magnifi-
cent coloring, Laving the decoration executed in cobalt-blue and
copper-red of the grand feu, enha?iced by a sang-de-bceuf back-
ground of tlie type of the Lang Yao monochrome vases of the
time. The crackled ground exhibits the usual brilliantly mottled
tones, passing from paler ruby shades into the deepest crimson.
There is a floral decoration worked in relief in the paste, the
shoulder is defined by a prominent ring, and the neck, which has,
by the way, been cut at the top, is horizontally ribbed. On the
front of the vase a lotus plant is modeled, growing naturally in
water represented by crested waves; the large folded leaves, lifted
upon rough tuberculated stalks, are painted in blue; the flowers
and buds are shaded in wavy lines of red within blue outlines; a
couple of swallows painted in blue complete the scene, one flying,
the other perched upon a leaf-stalk. The foot is enameled white,
with a tinge of green. No mark. Height, 14^ inches. No, 207.
Club-shaped Vase [Pcmg-chih P''ing), painted in brilliant col-
ors with gilding of the ICang-hsl period. The panels of diverse
form which decorate the vase are of powder-blue souffle ground,
outlined and painted in gold. The panels on the neck display a
mountain landscape and sprays of plum-blossom. The larger
panels on the body contain a picture of a temple in the sea repre-
senting the Taoist paradise, with a stork flying near, bringing a
"rod of Fate" in its beak; a mountain scene with fishing-boats;
a pair of fighting-cocks; and a pine scene with a couple of deer;
the smaller panels show a flock of geese, an aquatic monster, and
four sprays of flowers. The intervening ground is painted wuth
chrysanthemum scrolls traversed by dragons {ch' Ih-lung) ; the
neck, with butterflies and flowers on a pale-green background
dotted with black, with phoenixes in clouds coiled in medallions,
and storks penetrating the floral ground. The shoulder has a ring
of floral brocade, interrupted by four foliated medallions, with
pictures of fish and fishermen, flowers, and apparatus for chess and
incense. Height, 18 inches. No, 208.
Small Vase [Hua PHng), with a one-horned three-clawed
dragon modeled upon it in full undercut relief, coiling round the
shoulder at the base of the long cylindi'ical neck. The ground of
the vase is ? " peach-bloom " glaze of nearly uniform deep tint,
except the slightly prominent rim, which is defined by a clear line
of white. The dragon is enameled a bright apple-green of uniform
866 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
shade, contrasting vividly as a complementary color with the red
backgrout)d. The mark, penciled beneatli the foot in underglaze
blue, is Ta Cli'ing K^aiig hsi nien chih, " Made in the reign of
K'aiig-hsi of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." Height, 9 inches.
No. 209.
Wine-Cup {Chiu Pei), a little bowl-shaped cup of eggshell
texture, with a gently expanded rim, which is defined by a line of
white. The rest of the surface, both inside and outside, is invested
with a mottled glaze of the characteristic " peacli-bloom " type,
flecked with spots of darker, duller red, and variegated with clouds
of apple-green tint, the latter being more marked near the base.
The mark, penciled under the foot in cobalt-blue, encircled by a
single ring, is Ta Ming Hsuante nie7i chih — i. e., "Made in tlie
reign of Hsiian-te (1426-35) of the Great Ming [dynasty]," but
the technique and peculiar st^de of coloring indicate rather the
K'ang-hsi period (1662-1722). Height, If inch; diameter, 2|
inches. No. 210.
Baluster shaped Vase [Mei P''ing), of the ICang-hsi period,
enameled with a brilliant crackled glaze of emerald-green passing
into olive at the edges, invested with a thick overglaze of peach-
bloom red, irregularly mottling the green substratum with clouda
of crushe<l-strawberry color. A lightlj'^ etched decoration in the
paste underneath the glaze of a border of sea-waves round the
foot of the vase, and two dragons mounting among clouds up
the sides, is barely visible through the dense and variegated over-
lying mantle. The middle of the foot, bounded by a broad rim of
" biscuit," is marked with concentric lines of giayish-white crackle.
Height, 6f inches. No. 211.
Triple Gourd-shaped Vase [IIu-lu PHug), of the ICang-hsi
period, a companion piece to the tall vase which is illustrated in
Plate LXI. Tiie middle section is enameled in colors upon a white
ground with butterflies in the midst of sprays of flowers and leaves,
defined above and below by rings of spiral and rectangular fret
penciled in coral-red. The upper and lower sections are enameled
with a black iridescent ground of " raven's-wing " hue, over
designs executed in relief in the paste underneath; these designs
represent on tlie upper part three lionlike monsters surrounded by
flames of fire, on the lower part three lions of the ordinary gro-
tesque type sporting with embroidered balls encircled by waving
DESCEIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 867
fillets. Traces of gilding can be detected on this vase. Height,
28 inclies. No. 212.
Set of Five Pieces ( Wu She), arranged as a Garniture de
Cheminee, composed of thi-ee ovoid jars with covers, and two
cj'lindrical beakers. The pieces are enameled with a monochrome
ground of coffee-brown shade, leaving white reserves of varied
form, scroll pictures, leaf-shaped panels, flowers, lambrequins and
bands of floral brocade, and the like, which are decorated in bright
enamel colors with gilding. The larger panels are filled with hill
landscapes, with temples and pagodas; the flowers that fill the
brocaded bands and stud the intervals include peonies, asters, and
blossoms of the peach and plum. Height, 10^ and 11 inches.
No. 213.
Vase {Ilua PHng), of the K^ing-hsi period, with the body-
enameled with a tziX-chin glaze of light yellowish-brown tint, and
the neck decorated in blue and white with a band of diaper inclosing
three medallions of flowers, succeeded by a ring of svastika pattern
fret, and upright sprays of pinks. The mark, underneath the foot,
is a double ring penciled in blue. Height, 8 inches. No. 214.
Vase [Hua PHng), of the K''ang-hsl period, of complex form
and mixed decoration. The globular body has the lower half
enameled with a tziX-chin {orbruni) glaze of cafe-au-lait color, which
is succeeded by a ring of grayish-white crackle, and this by a band
of floral sprays painted in blue. The upper part, which is shaped
like a "beaker," poised upon the globe, is decorated in blue and
white with pinks (dianthus) growing from rocks and with spraj's
of daisies. No mark. Height, 7 inches. No. 215.
Bottle-shaped Vase {Ilua P''ing), of the K''ang-hsi period,
enameled with a brown tztt-chin glaze of chocolate-color, and
decorated over the glaze, in white slip, with two formal baskets of
flowers on the bod3%and a conventional scroll round the upper rim,
hung with beaded pendants. The foot is enameled white under-
neath. Height, 101 inches. No. 216.
Wine-Pot {Chin Hu), molded in the shape of a peach, with a
hole in the bottom for the introduction of the wine. The handle
and curved sport are fashioned as small branches, which send off
leafy twigs to decorate the surface on which they are worked in
relief in the paste. The paste, which is gray in color, is invested
with aubergine-purple and turquoise glazes of the clenii- grand feu.
868 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
mingling as they meet in brilliant intermediate tints. Height, 5^
inches. No. 217.
Miniature Flower-Vase [Flua Ch^a), of purest white porcelain
of the K''ang-hsi period, chaiming in design and perfect in tech-
nique. It is molded in the sliape of a flowering twig of the
Magnolia yulan, lifting up a blossom, as white as the finest jade
from which the flower takes its name, to form the vase, and but-
tressed by two buds, which rise from the same twig as it winds
round in openwork relief to form the support. The sepals of the
flowers are delicately etched under the white glaze, which is rich
and translucid. Height, 5 inches. No. 218.
Water Receptacle (Shut C/i'eiig), of eggshell. Fen 2\ng,
porcelain, with uncrackled \vhite glaze of soft tone. It has two
handles molded in open relief upon the sides of the bowl in the
shape of a pair of archaic dragons {cWih-lung). Height, 2^ inches.
No. 219.
Vase [P''ing), of Ting- Yao porcelain, bottle-shaped, with de-
pressed bulging body and long cylindrical neck. It is coated
with a deep ivory-white glaze crackled throughout with brown
lines, overspread with light clouds of buff tint partially investing
the brown reticulation. The rim of the mouth is defined by a line
of white. Height, 8 inches. No. 220.
Vase {PHng), of Ting- Yao porcelain of tall, graceful form,
tapering gradually downward from the rounded shoulder. The
rich glaze is minutely crackled throughout with brown lines of
varying depth and color, invested with mottled buff tints clouding
the surface. Height, 8| inches. No. 221.
Vase {P''ing), of delicate Fen- Ting fabric of the l-Cang-hsi
period, invested with a soft-looking undulatory glaze of ivory-
white tone, traversed by a few sparse lines of crackling. The
molded decoration consists of a four-clawed dragon in relief, pur-
suing a disk with dotted, "jeweled" surface and spiral center,
enveloped in flaming raj'S. Height, 8|- inches. No. 222,
Miniature Vase for Divining-Rods {Shih-ts'ao PHng), of
oblong quadrangular form and square section, with ribbed corners,
and ridged sides studded with four central bosses which are carved
in openwork as brandies of peaches. The paste, of Fen-Ting
texture, is invested with a soft-looking crackled glaze of ivory-
white tone. Height, 4 inches. No. 223,
I
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 869
Baluster Vase (Mei PHng), of the Fen-Ting or " soft paste "
class, dating from the reign of K^ang-hsi. Of remarkabl}^ light
weiglit, owing to the porous texture of the material, which is, in
reality, very hard, it is invested with an undulatory glaze, pitted
like the peel of an orange, with uncrackled surface, under which
the decoration is penciled in pure soft-toned blue. The strokes of
the brush are neatly defined in the way that is characteristic of
this material, which differs from ordinar}-^ porcelain as vellum does
from paper. The chaste decoration consists of three formal upright
sprays of lotus, each composed of a single peltate leaf, an expanded
blossom and a bud, with simple rings of rectangular fret round the
shoulder and foot. Height, 13 inches. No. 224.
Small Vase {PHng), of graceful form and finished technique,
decorated on each side with a five-clawed imperial dragon enveloped
in flames, painted in maroon, the underglaze red of the grand feu,
which is derived from copper. The mark, penciled underneath, in
underglaze cobalt-blue of brilliant tint, is Ta ChHng K^ang-hsi
nien chih, " Made in the reign of K'ang-hsi of the Great Ch'ing
[dynasty]." Height, 8^ inches. No. 225.
Vase i^PHng), of tall ovoid form, with the decoration molded in
relief and painted in colors of the grand feu, blue, maroon, and
celadon. Four-clawed, two-horned dragons are depicted on the
obverse and reverse sides of the vase, rising from the waves of the
sea, with brown bodies and blue manes, the jewels which they are
pursuing in the air are shaded in brown, emitting spirally effulgent
rays; and flames proceeding from the limbs of the monsters fill in
the interstices. The rocks that rise out of the blue crested waves
are painted in celadon. Tiie mark, penciled underneath in blue,
within a double ring, is Ta ChHng K^ang-hsi nien chih, " Made
in the reign of K'ang-hsi of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]."
Height, 171 inches. No. 226.
Vase [PHng), decorated in underglaze blue, maroon, and cel-
adon, all colors of the grand feu, with a combat between the
tiger, king of land animals, and the dragon, prince of the powers
of the air, Tlie tiger is standing in the foreground of a rocky
landscape, with large pines rising in the background having their
knotted trunk? painted in brown and the foliage in blue; the rocks
are tinted celadon, and the clumps of Polyporus fungus growing on
the rocks are outlined in maroon, pierced througli by blue blades of
grass. The four-clawed dragon, of fierce aspect, is half hidden in
870 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
scrolled clouds, which roll round the vase, worked on in white
" slip" in slight relief. The mark, penciled in blue within a double
ring, is Ta CfC'mg K''ang-hsi nien chih, " Made in the reign of
K'ang-hsi of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." Height, 16f inches.
No. 227.
Club-shaped Vase {Phing-chih P''ing), of the IVang-hsi pe-
riod, artistically decorated in brilliant enamels, with a touch or
two of gold, without any underglaze blue. It is painted in panels
of diverse form, the intervals being filled in with butterflies and
floral sprays of lotus, peony, chrysanthemum, begonia, pink, and
aster. The panels contain symbols of rank and honor with the
apparatus of the liberal arts and other antiques (/>o k%C)\ grotesque
monsters on rocks, with eagles flying in the air; storks on a pine,
with peaches floating in the water beneath ; phoenixes under a
dryandra-tree, peacocks with peonies, and warblers in a blossoming
prunus-tree. The shoulder of the vase is encircled by a band of
diaper with butterflies in medallions, and the neck has quatrefoil
panels containing flowers and butterflies, separated by a spiral
diaper traversed by lizardlike dragons {cKili-lung) of archaic
design. Height, 17| inches. No. 228.
Vase {PHng), painted in underglaze red of maroon tint derived
from copper, covered with a white glaze of harmonious translucent
tone. The decoration consists of five horizontal bands of scrolled
sea-waves, containing dragons and other grotesque monsters, and
four bands of diaper of lozenge fret pattern, A fifth band of fret
winds round the prominent lip of the vase, succeeded by two rings
of formal foliations. A double white ring round the body breaks
the monotony of the decoration and defines the shape. The mark,
written under the foot in underglaze cobalt-blue, is Ta Ch'ing
K^ang-hsi nien chih, "Made in the reign of K'ang-hsi (1662-1722)
of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." Height, 10| inches. No. 229.
Eggshell Plate {To-fai P''mi), enameled on the back round
the border with a crimson {rogue d''or) ground, and decorated in
front in brilliant enamel colors of the faraille rose, with gilding.
The field is filled with a picture of the Dragon Festival annually
celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth moon, with a dragon-boat
being towed in procession, painted over the white glaze in sepia.
This is framed by encircling bands of floral brocade, and the
border of the plate is filled in with diapers of varied pattern
inclosing panels of scroll ornament and formal flowers, all richly
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 871
painted in delicate enamels, among wliich pink (ro.se tror) pre-
dominates. Diameter, 8 inches. No. 230.
CovEBED-BowL {^Kai Wan), of the K''ang-hsi period, with lions'
heads as handles, an archaic dragon surmounting the cover, and
Taoist figures molded in relief in the midst of scrolled clouds
round the sides. It is an example of the class of ^an Ts'ai or
"three colors," being enameled sur biscuit in yellow, green, and
purple of grayish tone. The foot is unglazed. Diameter, 4 inches.
No. 231.
Cylindrical Vase ( T''un.g P''iag), of the K''aiig-hsi period, dec-
orated in blue and white in the same style as the vase of similar
shape illustrated in Figs. 268 and 35, which are enameled in colors.
The decoration consists of horizontal bands, with alternate grounds
of white and mottled blue. The central band contains archaic
dragons {chHh-limg), with branches of sacred fungus; the other
bands floral scrolls with felicitous symbols and brocaded panels,
and the neck is encircled by stiff upright palm-leaves of formal
design. Height, 11 inches. No. 232.
Censer {ITsiang Lu), of circular shape, bulging below, coated
witli a finel}^ crackled glaze of ivory-white tone invested with
cloud}"^ tints of buff. Carved rosewood stand and cover of Chinese
work. Height, 4 inches; diameter, 8 inches. No. 233.
Vase-shaped Ewer (Ha PHng), with a flowing handle fash-
ioned in the outline of a dragon, a tall overlapping cover, and no
spout nor projecting lip. It is decorated in blue of the IVang-
hsi period with foliated panels of floral brocade, connected by
straps and links, and separated by diapered grounds, and the rims
are encircled by light bands of triangular fret. The base is
unglazed. Height, 11 inches. No. 234,
Plate {F^an-tzU), of ChHen-lung porcelain, coated with a
celadon glaze of pale greenish tone, eiiameled over the glaze in
opaque white derived from arsenic. In the field is a little garden
scene with peonies, cockscombs, asters, and millet, and a cock
crowing on a rockery, a favorite decoration of the time. The
border is filled with a scroll of conventional flowers executed in the
same white enamel. The rim is encircled b}^ a formal border pen-
ciled in over^laze blue, and is colored iron-brown at the edge, with
traces of gilding; on the inner slope of the border is a band of
chrysanthemum scrolls painted in the same cobalt-blue. Diameter,
8| inches. No. 235.
872 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Small Censer {Hsiang Lv), mounted upon four nianunillated
feet, having an overlapping cover pierced in openwork with a
trellis framework inclosing two svastika symbols. Coated with
a thick stone-gray glaze of 7vc> Yao type crackled with brown
lines. An ancient i)iece, with the interior of the cover deeply
stained with incense-smoke. Height, 3 inches. No. 236.
Cylindrical Vases {PHng), a set of three, of the ICang-Jisi
period, with diapered borders and rim bands of fret penciled in
underglaze blue, inclosing panels of varied form, painted with
flowers in brilliant enamel colors with gilding. The central vase
has two large oblong panels on the body: the first containing a
lotus growing with reeds having one large leaf of pale green
splatched with black of purple iridescent tint and a smaller leaf
tipped with overglaze blue; the other containing a spray of
peony; the neck is decorated with a spray of poppies and a begonia
with a grasshopper feeding on its leaves. The two side vases
have small medallions inclosed in the diapered borders, displaying
dragons and peonies at the top; fish, shells, censers, lions, and lilies
down the sides; palm-leaves and musical stones bound with fillets
at the bottom; the large panels are painted on one side with
blossoming branches of prunus mingled with twigs of bamboo, on
the other side with hanging branches of Hibiscus rasa si7iensis\
the necks are decorated with two small sprays of peony. The
mounts are in European work of the eighteenth century. No
marks underneath. Height, without mounts, 11 inches. No. 237.
Vase {P''ing), one of a pair of small bottle-shaped vases,
enameled with a finely crackled turquoise glaze of the ICang-hsi
period. They are elaborately mounted in gilded European bronze-
work, with foliated covers surmounted by strawberries as knobs,
garlands of flowers hanging in festoons round the rims and foliated
pedestals. Height, with mounts, 8^ inches. No. 238.
Tall Beaker of J\"'ang-Jisl porcelain, decorated in the charac-
teristic enamels of the period, showing a court interior, with a
dancing-girl, accompanied by an orchestra, performing before the
imperial circle. Height, 30 inches. No. 239.
Jar [Kuan), of tall ovoid form, with a rounded cover, artisti-
cally decorated in polychrome enamels {^wu ts^ai) of the finest
K^ang-hsi period. Lines of underglaze cobalt-blue define the
rims, but the decoration is entirely executed in brilliant enamels.
DESCEIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 873
among wliich overglaze cobalt-blue is conspicuous. The jar dis-
plays two duplicate pictures of family life, groups of ladies with
slender, graceful figures, and children in courtj^ards filled with
flowers and with various emblems of rank and culture. The cover
is painted with vases, incense apparatus, propitious symbols, and
parapliernalia of the liberal arts. Bands of floral sprays, with rings
of formal diaper and foliated pattern, complete the decoration.
The mark underneath is a double ring, penciled in underglaze
blue. Height, 15 inches. No. 240.
Vase (P'uig) with a pedestal (tso), of decorated porcelain of the
familU verte, dating from the reign of K''ang-]isl. Of similar
style to those illustrated in Figs. 11 and 30, it is fluted and painted
with the same floral designs in green, j^ellow, and manganese purple,
with touches of black. Height, with stand, 8| inches. No. 241.
Club-shaped Vase {Pang-chih PHng), of the ly^aag-hsi pe-
riod, covered with a souffle coral-red ground, interrupted by
reserved medallions of varied form outlined in gold, and decorated
in delicate enamel color. On the body are four panels, two of
quatrefoil shape, two in the form of leaves of the sacred fig {Ficns
religiosa), which are filled with flowers and butterflies; and on the
neck three circular panels with butterflies. Round the shoulder is
a band of diaper, enameled in green, inclosing medallions contain-
ing insects. Height, 11 inches. No. 242.
Cup with Cover {Kai Wa^i), of crackled Fen-Ting ware,
painted under tlie glaze in soft shades of cobalt-blue. The texture
of the material is light and delicate; the glaze, of soft aspect and
ivory-white tone, is traversed with a reticulation of brown lines.
The decoration, consisting of pomegranates, spreads over the rims
of both cup and cover into the interior. The under surface of the
foot and the top of the cover rise in the middle into small pointed
cones, in the traditional fashion of the teacups of the reign of
Hsilan-tS. (1426—35), after which this one is modeled. No. 243.
Club-shaped Vase {Pang-chih PHng), of the K^ang-hsi pe-
riod, displaying the sacred figures of the Taoist Triad painted
in colors, with a rich gold-brocaded background of Mazarin blue.
The gilded designs are scrolls of chrysanthemum, rings of spiral,
and rectangular fret, of gadroon pattern, and of diaper with floral
medallions, and the neck is studded with four large circular shou.
(longevity) characters. Reserves having been left in the powder-
874 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
blue ground for the figures, tliey were first sketched in underglaze
blue, and subsequently filled in with enamel colors of the muffle
stove, bright green, coral-red, dark purple, and black. Height,
17 inclies. No. 244.
Vase (JP^ing), with a yellow-brown ground of the tzH-chin class,
inclosing a number of panels raised in slight relief and painted in
blue with various symbols. A large shou (longevit}') character is
emblazoned on the front and back, interrupted by an oblong panel
containing a fish, erect in the midst of waves, exhaling a slim
dragon. The smaller panels on the neck contain peaches with the
character shou inscribed upon them; and in the intervals on the
body are small oblong panels displaying another form of the same
ubiquitous character below, and round panels witl) Buddhist em-
blems, the wheel of the law bound with a fillet and a pair of fish
above. Height, 9 inches. No. 245,
Small Vase {Hsiao PHng), of white porcelain of the F^n-Ting
tj'pe, of light loose material, invested with soft-looking, sparsely
crackled glaze of somewhat grayish tone. Of hexagonal outline
and section, with a spreading foot, the bulging shoulder is overlaid
with two branching twigs of prunus-blossom {mei hua), modeled in
full relief with openwork. Height, 6f inches. No. 246.
" Hawthorn " Bottle (3fei-hua PHng), a large, conspicuous
vase of the K''ang-hsi period, with a rounded body gradually taper-
ing in to a tall, slender neck, decorated with blossoming sprays of
prunus {mei hua), displa3'ed in white reserve upon a brilliant back-
ground of pulsating mottled blue, penciled with a reticulation of
darker lines. The leafless branches spring from the base and wind
round in ever}^ direction so as to cover the whole surface of the
vase with a close floral investment of white flowers and buds, with
the exception of a narrow band under the prominent white lip,
which is lightly penciled in blue with a triangular fret. The foot
is coated white underneath, with no mark. Height, 17 inches.
No. 247.
Rice-Bowl {FanWan) and Teacup {Ch'a Wan), of Kang-hsi
blue and white porcelain with pierced openwork designs. The
bowl has an outer casing of hexagonal trellis connecting four circular
openwork medallions of floral designs. Through the trellis-work
are seen four couples of Chinamen with fans, and ladies holding
flowers, painted in blue. The interior is decorated with two boya
playing in a garden, within a medallion, and a border of svastika
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 875
pattern tliaper interrupted b}^ four panels containing peaches.
Tlie mark, in a double ring, is Ta Ming GJCeng-hua nien chih,
*' Made in the reign of Cli'eng-hua of the Great Ming [dynasty]."
Diameter, 6^ inches. The cup is pierced with a band comj)osed of
interlacing circles interrupted by six solid medallions painted in
blue with landscapes. To be used, it must have a thin lining of
silver or other metal. The bottom is left en biscuit. Diameter, 4|-
inches. No. 248.
Two Saucer-shaped Dishes {F^an-izii): (a) of semi-eggshell
texture, enameled inside in brilliant colors with a floral decoration
composed of a flowering-bulb of narcissus, a spra}^ of roses, and
two branching stems of Polyporus lucidus, the variegated fungus
of Taoist sacred lore. The mark written underneath, within a
double ring, in cobalt-blue, in the style afl'ected b}' the private
potters of the period, is Ta Cli'ing Yung-cheng nien chih, " Made
in the reign of Yung-cheng of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]."
Diameter, 8J- inches, {b) Of decorated ChHen-lung porcelain,
designed after a well-known imperial pattern of the preceding reign
of Yung-cheng. Branches of peaches spring from the circular rim
which surrounds the foot and pass over the edge of the dish to
ornament the interior with large fruit and pink flowers growing on
the same twigs. This is the symbolical fruit of life, and is
accompanied b}-^ the emblems of all kinds of happiness in the shape
of five bats, which are painted in shades of red, three in the field
of the saucer, two upon its outer border. There is a seal under-
neath, inscribed in underglaze blue, Ta GhHng CKien-lung nien
chih — i. e., " Made in the reign of Ch'ien-lung of the Great Ch'ing
[dynasty]." Diameter, 8l inches. No. 249.
Small Baluster Vase {Hsiao Mei PHng), of the Yung-cheng
period, invested with a monochrome ground of rvxhy red tint
{chi hung), derived from copper. This souffle glaze, strewn with
little points, covers the whole surface with the exception of an
irregular panel on one side, where it gradually fades into a nearly
Avhite ground. The panel is painted with a picture of the Taoist
immortal Tung Fang So, speeding over the clouds, carrying the
branch of jieaches, which he has stolen from the tree of life in the
paradise of the divinity HsiWang Mu, thrown across his shoulders.
It is etched in sepia with touches of gold and a few points of light
overglaze blue and crimson rouge d^or. The foot of the vase is
enameled with an ornamental scroll, partly obliterated, penciled in
black and gold. Height, 8 inches. No. 250.
876 DESCEIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Vase {P''ing), of oval, melon-sliaped form and six-lobed outline,
coated with a white glaze minutelj'^ crackled with a fine reticulation
of dark lines, giving a general gray effect. The technique points
to the Yung-cheng period (1723-35), but there is no mark inscribed.
Height, 8| inches. No. 251.
Vase [Una PHng), of white porcelain of the Yung ching period,
with a dragon coiled in undercut relief round the neck enameled
crimson (rouge (V or). A few single peach-blossoms are painted in
delicate colors on the rippled white surface of the vase, of which
two, upon the shoulder, are seen in the illustration, two others are
near the foot on the opposite side. The mark, which was inscribed
underneath, has been ground away on the lathe. Height, 8^
inclies. No, 252.
Baluster Vase {Mei P^ing),* artistically decorated upon a
translucent white ground of perfect tone, in brilliant enamel colors,
with fruit and flowers. Branches, springing from the base on one
side, spread upward in all directions over the vase, covering it
with large pomegranates and peaches and bunches of yellow
dragon's-eye fruit (Nephelium longan^ mingled with sprays of
scarlet pomegranate-flowers and pink peach-blossom. The mark,
written underneath in underglaze blue within a double ring, is
Ta ChUng Yang-cheng nien chih, " Made in the reign of Yung-
cheng (1723-35) of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." Height, 13^
inches. No. 253.
Small Tea-Jar ( Ch'a Kuan), with lotus plants worked in relief
round tlie base and round the top of the cover, painted in enamel
colors with gilding. It is decorated with a picture of a two-storied
temple, with gilded roof hung with gold bells, standing in the midst
of sea-waves; swallows are flying in the air. The ornamental
border above is composed of panels of gilded diaper alternating
with wave scrolls penciled in black. Height, 5 inches. No. 254.
Small Tea-Jar ( Ch\i Kuan), with an openwork scroll round the
foot, decorated in enamel colors with gilding. Sprat's of the tree-
peony are painted on a white ground within two lotus-leaf-shaped
*The name Mei P'ing means " Plum Vase," this peculiar form being con-
sidered to be most appropriate for the display of branches of blossoming prunus
(mei ?iua) at the Xew- Year's festival. The imperial porcelain of the period, of
which this piece is a striking example, represents, according to Chinese con-
noisseurs, in the perfection of its technique and in the artistic style of its
decoration, the highest achievement of their ceramic art.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 877
panels of convoluted outline, surrounded by afield of floral brocade,
composed of blue-leaved bamboo and overglaze white plum-blossom
on a spiral black ground. This specimen and that shown in Fig.
254 are examples of the " India china " class, being parts of tea
sets painted for exportation to Europe in the first half of the
eighteenth centur}'. Height, 5 inches. No, 255.
Vase {P''ing), of white Fen-Ting porcelain, molded with a whorl
of conventional palm-leaves round the shoulder, connected by eight
ridges with foliations encircling the bulbous mouth. It is covered
with a soft-looking, sparsely crackled glaze of slightl}^ grayish tone.
Height, 6^ inches. No, 256.
Vase {PUng), of tall slender form, decorated, in enamel colors
of the Yung-cheng period, with a picture of the Taoist goddess
Hsi Wang Mu crossing the sea upon a gigantic lotus-petal, holding
a branch of tlie sacred fungus of long life, accompanied by an
attendant carrying a peach, with a basket full of flowers and Bud-
dha's-hand citrons, on the frail craft beside her. In the back-
ground is a temple standing in the sea, with a peach-tree laden
with fruit close b}^; a stork is perched upon the roof, and its mate
is flying across, carrying scrolls in its beak. The clouds, of roseate
hue, are illumined by the vermilion disk of the sun. Height, 18^
inches. No, 257.
Small Vase [Hsiao PHng), covered over two thirds of its sur-
face with a pale celadon glaze of clouded hue, and on the other
third with an irregular cloud of brilliantly mottled red. Of the
deepest sang-de-bceuf shade in the middle, the cloud becomes of
pinkish tint toward the edges, and then gradually fades awa}^ into
the celadon ground. It is evident!}' due to copper silicate soaking
through the investing glaze under the solving influence of the fur-
nace. The glaze is flecked throughout with a multitude of tiny
bubbles, giving a charming effect, and suggesting the souffle appli-
cation of the two colors. Height, 4 inches. No. 258.
Vase [PHng), of the Kang-hsi period, with a coral-red souffld
ground of rharming color. A four-clawed dragon in pursuit of a
jewel encircled by flaming ravs of effulgence is modeled in slight
relief on the surface of the vase etched with the graving-tool,
glazed and reserved in brilliant white. The rest of the ground is
imbued with coral-red, shot with minute mottled flecks, and shad-
ing off gradually into paler tints as it approaches the white relief
878 DESCRIl^TIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
modeling. A broad riiu round the foot underneath is left in white
"biscuit," the middle is sunken and enameled white of greenish
tone. Height, 8|- inches. No. 259.
Vase [P^hiff) of the ICang-hsi period, a magnificent specimen of
the brilliant souffle glaze known as " powder-blue," the clear blue
ground being flecked all over with darker spots. The rims are
clearly defined by two lines of white. The foot is invested under-
neath with a rough brownish-black coating, so as to leave an ovoid
patch of the brilliantly white glaze in the middle, and another
patch at the edge. Height, I7f inches. No. 260.
Vase {Hua PHng), of graceful form, decorated, in green and
purple with touches of white, with peonies, chrysanthemums, and
daisies, growing from rocks, and with butterflies flying in the
intervals of the floral decoration. This is relieved by a minutely
crackled ground of pure yellow color. The details of the designs
are delicately etched in the paste with a graving-tool. The foot
is coated underneath with the same truite yellow glaze with no
mark attached. Height, 10 inches. No. 261.
Teapot ( Ch^a Hu), of " armorial china " decorated with gilded
arabesque borders outlined in red, and with gilded floral sprays on
the spout and handle, w^hile three sprays of flowers are painted on
the cover in enamel colors. There is an identical armorial design
on the front and back painted in enamels with gold of early ChHen-
lung date. It consists of a fanciful coat-of-arms mingled with
branches of flowers and having a bouquet in a vase standing upon
a pedestal on one side. In the middle are two shields, accolles,
with a gilded dual coronet above, beneath which is a red bearded
face emerging between wings, and as supporters are two yellow
eagles touched with red. Height, with cover, b\ inches. No. 262.
Double Vase {Shiimig PHng), formed, as it were, of two vases
coalescing, the line of junction being indicated by a vertical
groove. The shape resembles that of the ChHen-limg vase of the
famille rose illustrated in Plate LXXVI, and, like that, it is
intended to have a cover. It is a typical example of the Ku Yueh
Ms "an class, decorated in bright, delicate enamel colors, rouge (Tor
predominating, with Chinese copies of European pictures of minia-
ture-like finish, and tiny landscapes of European scenery, inserted
in framed panels, surrounded by floral scrolls and ornamental bor-
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 879
ders of purely Chinese style, executed in the same translucid colors.
It once had a seal of four characters penciled underneath in black
enamel, but the bottom of the vase has been broken, and onh-^ parts
of the last two characters, nien chih, remain. The first two were,
probabl}'^, ChHen-lung, indicating the date, 1736-95. Height, 5^
inches. No. 263.
Vase [ITiia PHng), of European style, molded with a pedestal
overlaid with branches of fruit in solid relief, and with a delicate
interlacement of wild-roses and other flowers filling in the hollows
of the flowing bandlike handles. The faces of the vase are
decorated in gold with scrolls of sea-waves below, and phoenixes
with expanded wings and spreading tails above, and on the outer
surface of the handles are centiped-like dragons witii winged
insect heads of very un-Chinese aspect. The gilded decoiation is
completed by a few light floral scrolls, and the edges of tlie
handles, as well as the square rim of the mouth, are heavily gilded.
Height, 11| inches. No. 264.
Small Vase {Hsiao P''ing), of white uncrackled Fen-Ting
porcelain, w^ith a globular body, spreading foot, and swelling lip,
and wide loop handles springing from the mouths of dragons. The
body is delicately etched at the point in the paste, under the soft-
looking ivory-white glaze, with the figures of two imperial five-
clawed dragons disporting in clouds. Height, 6| inches. No. 265,
Water Receptacle [Shui CU'eng), in the shape of a small
glol)ular bowl-like vase of perfect technique, with a small cir-
cularly rimmed mouth, which is mounted with a silver ring. It is
soberly decorated with two small sprays of peony rising from the
base, penciled in underglaze red of maroon tint, the leaves of
which, outlined and veined in the same red, are touched with
bright-green enamel. The mark written underneath in blue, in the
stj'le of the " peach-bloom " vases, is Ta GKing K''ang-hsi nien
chih, " Made in the reign of K'ang-hsi of the Great C'hing [dy-
nasty]." Height, 3^ inches. No. 266.
Vase i^PHng), of charming design and finished technique,
enameled with a pellucid white glaze over a relief decoration deli-
cately molded and etched in the paste underneath. Of quatrefoil
section, the body of the vase is covered, in four large panels, with
symmetrically arranged scrolls of idealistic flowers and bats; orna-
880 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
mental scrolls of conventional design encircle the upjjer and lower
borders of the body and the rim of the mouth, continuous chains of
rectangular fret run down the shoulder and foot, and a band of
palmations extends midway up the neck. There is a seal etched in
the paste under tl)e foot inscribed Ta ClCing ChHen-lung nien
chih, " Made in the reign of Ch'ien-lung of the Great Ch'ing
[dynasty]." Height, 10 inches. No. 267.
Cylindrical Vase (T\iug PHng), of the K\ing-hsi period,
richly decorated in brilliant enamel colors, one of a pair mounted
in European work to form a set with the three vases of the same
shape and size illustrated in Fig. 237. The body is decorated in
four bands; the first and third contain formal flower scrolls dis-
played upon a bright pale-green ground; the second has a pair of
dragons in the midst of flames pursuing jewels with a coral-red
background; tlie fourth is plain red, relieved by a linked chain of
green winding round below. A band of hexagonal diaper at the
foot, of flowers on a yellow ground round the shoulder, and a ring
of palmations in green filled in with red on the neck, complete tlie
decoration. The mark underneath is a double ring in underglaze
blue. Height, 11 inches. No. 268.
Snuff-Bottle, decorated in blue and white, with peach-bloom
dragon; mark, ChHen-hmg. No. 269.
Vase {PHng), of hexagonal section with two tubular handles,
enameled with transmutation [yao-pien) colors of early CJi'ien-lung
date. The groundwork, a crackled glaze, is invested with irregular
splashes of green passing into olive-brown and mingled with pur-
plish grays. Height, 7^ inches. No. 270.
Vase {PHng), of graceful form and very fine technique, dating
from the GKien-hmg period, vertically grooved, with a bulbous
body, and a long neck swelling into a bulb above under the circular
lip. A dragon of archaic type is executed upon the shoulder of
the vase in full undercut relief, with its long bifid tail coiling
upward to encircle the neck. The dragon is enameled green, while
the surface of the vase is coated with a monochrome-yellow
enamel of soft tone, which also lines the foot. Height, 9 inches.
No. 271.
Bean-shaped Snuff-Bottle, with archaic Ic'i-lm in blue and
green on yellow ground; K''ang-hsi period. No. 272.
1
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 881
Vase [Hua PHng), of the Ku Yueh Ilsiian class, molded of
tlie characteristically short, very white, vitreous-looking paste, and
crisply decorated in bright enamel colors of peculiar delicacy and
finish. A pair of quails stand out prominently in the foreground,
backed by an autumnal scene of trees with crimson-tinted leaves,
marguerite daisies, and a rockery with roses. A pink scroll border
worked in relief, succeeded by a blue fret, encircles the shoulder,
and a gilded line defines the swelling lip. The couplet of verse
which has suggested the motive for the little picture is inscribed
on the reverse side of the vase. Height, 1 inches. No. 273.
Wine-Cup ( Chiu JPei), molded in the form of an ancient bronze
libation-cup, and colored with enamels to imitate the surface of
patinated bronze. The genre is known as kii thitig ts'ai — i. e.,
" archaic bronze coloring." The ground shade is olive-brown
flecked with tea-green, which is penciled with gilded scrolls and
encircling bands of fret, while the hollow parts of the designs,
which are artificially roughened or pitted, are partially filled in
with a grayish-blue enamel of mottled tint passing into green.
The seal underneath, outlined in gold, is ChHen-lung nien chih,
" Made in the reign of Ch'ien-lung." Length, 5 inches. No. 274.
Small Vase [Hsiao PHyig), of eggshell thinness and purest
white color. It is encircled near the neck and foot by faint rings
in the paste. There is no mark attached, but it must be a produc-
tion of Ching-te-chen, dating from the Yung-cheng, or, perhaps,
the early CKlen-lung period. Height, 6 inches. No. 275.
Small Vase (-Hsmo P'i>^^), a typical example of "soft porce-
lain," so called, dating from the reign of K''ang-hsi. Light in
weight, the body being of loose texture, it is invested with a white
glaze of somewhat graN'ish tone and slightly undulatory surface,
crackled {k^ ai-p' ioi) throughout. It is decorated under the glaze
with a monstrous lionlike quadruped standing at the foot of a
spreading pine, with a bat flying overhead, painted in blues of sub-
dued tones; the flames which proceed from the shoulders and hips
of the mons.er being tinged red, and its eyes lightly touched with
rings of the same underglaze color, derived from copper. Height,
7 inches. No. 276.
Water Receptacle (Shici Ch^e/tg), oi o\oid form r(junding into
a small circular mouth, above which is coiled in salient relief
882 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
a dragon {chih-lung) of arcliaic type. Tlie bowl is etched at the
point with scrolls of lotus and peony under the white translucent
glaze; the dragon is enameled reddish brown touched with gold.
The seal, etched beneath the glaze in the paste underneath, is
Ta (Jfi'ing Ch'ien-lung nien chih — i. e., " Made in the reign of
Ch'ien-lung of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." Height, 4^ inches.
No. 277.
Small Beakeb [Hsiao 2hun) , modeled after an ancient bronze
form and design, with an archaic band of scroll round the middle,
and vertical dentated ridges down the corners and sides. The
haixlle is formed of a large lizardlike dragon {ch''}h-lung) in
undercut relief, with four smaller ones wriggling over its body,
and four others are crawling over the neck of the vase, which is
enameled white, while the dragons are all painted in soft colors of
the C/i'ien-lung period. Height, 4^ inches. No. 278.
Double Gourd-shaped Vase [Hu-lu PHng), decorated in poly-
chrome enamel colors, shades of pink predominating, of the Cli'ien-
lung period. The decoration is that commonly known by the
name of Po Ilua, or " The Hundred Flowers," the ground being
completely covered with a dense mass of floral sprays, presenting
a huge bouquet, as it were, culled from the Chinese flora, naturally
and artistically rendered. The neck, slightly cut, is mounted with
a metal collar, round the foot is a band of formal foliations, painted
in sliaded blue and green, relieved by a pink ground, between
heavily gilded rims. The base, enameled like the inside of the
mouth, pale green, has a red seal in a white reserve panel, inscribed
in bold, well-written style, Ta Gfi'ing Ch'ien-lung nien chih,
" Made in the reign of Ch'ien-lung of the Great Ch'ing [dy-
nasty]." Height, 21 inches. No. 279.
Flovp-er-Pot {Hua P^en), of ChHen-lung porcelain, molded of
rounded octagonal form, with a projecting lip, a perforated bottom,
and four scrolled feet, and decorated outside with flowers and
butterflies arranged in eight panels. The front panel in the illus-
tration contains a picture of the three symbolical plants of long
life — the pine, bamboo, and prunus; the panel on the left of this,
flowering bulbs of narcissus and roses; the panel on the right,
orchids with sprays of a red-foliaged plant and butterflies; the
other five panels exhibit, in succession, the pomegranate and
chrysanthemum, the Begonia discolor, the Hibiscus rosa sinensis.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 883
the Dielytra spectabiUs, and the azure-tipped maiguerite daisy, the
yellow jasmine, and scarlet fungus {Polyporus lucidus). Height,
9^ inches. No. 280.
Snuff-Bottle, with brilliant decoration on a deep-red ground;
mark, C hHen-lu/ig. No. 281.
Eggshell Vase [To fal PHng), of the Ch'ien-lung period,
decorated in soft enamel colors for gilding. It is overlaid with
a close-set floral decoration consisting of chrysanthemums and hai-
fang flowers and daisies, attached in salient relief, and painted in
red, green, and gold. Two oval panels are reserved in intervals of
tlie floral relief-work, and painted in delicate colors with scenes
of domestic life, a party of ladies drinking wine out of tinj^ gilded
cups, and a group in a garden looking at fighting-cocks. Light
floral scrolls penciled in gold round the upper and lower rims com-
plete the decoi'ation. Height, 8| inches. No. 282.
Vase [Ilua P^ing), of three-lobed outline, covered with an olive-
green monochrome glaze thickly flecked with tiny spots of lighter
green, the typical souffle glaze known as " tea-dust" {ch'a-yeh mo).
Upon this as a background stands out a white branch of pome-
granate, modeled in full undercut relief, with the fruit bursting
open to show the seeds inside, and flowers and leaves naturalistically
rendered. When this, as it winds round, leaves a small interval in
the shoulder of the vase, a branch stem of the Polgporus lucidus is
worked in, also enameled white. The foot is stamped underneath
with the seal Ta ChH/ig GhHen-lung nien chih, " Made in the
reign of Ch'ien-lung of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." Height,
8 inches. No. 283.
Articulated Vase {Chieh P''iiig — chieh meaning joined or
spliced), cut horizontally into two parts in a waved four-lobed line
of foliated outline. Of old bronze form and design, the details are
worked in relief in the paste, representing vaguely four monstrous
ogre {Vao-fieh) faces, so much conventionalized as to form a broad
band of ornamental scroll-work. The celadon glaze which covers
the vase v;,ries from pea-green to lighter shades, according to
its depth, so as to enhance the effect of the molded designs. The
seal underneath, penciled in blue under the same celadon glaze,
is Ta Ch'ing CKien-lnng nien chih — i. e., " Made in the reign of
Ch'ien-lung of the Great Ch'ing [dynast}^]." Height, 6 inches.
No. 284.
884 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Lace-work Vase {^T''ou-hva PHiig), of palest celadon porcelain
of the reign of C Ji'ien-lun;/. The sides are pierced with a floral
design representing conventional {)eonies in the midst of leafy
scrolls, whicli is tilled in witli glaze so as to form a delicate "rice-
grain " transparency, giving the effect of lacework. The vase,
of almost eggshell thinness, is covered with a glaze of pale sea-
green tone, while the borders, molded with bands of conventional
ornament in slight relief, are picked out in white. Height, 7
inches. No. 285.
Snuff-Bottle; twin gourds, with decoration in brilliant enam-
els on yellow ground; mark, G hHen-hmg. No. 286.
Eggshell Vase {To-Vai P''i)ig), richly decorated, in soft enamel
colors and gilding of the Ch'ien-lung period, with illustrations of
the different processes of sericulture. The pictures show in suc-
cession tiie hatching of tlie eggs, the feeding of the silkworms
in the different stages of their growth, as they are kept in open
baskets on curtained bamboo shelves, the winding of the silk
from the chr^^salids, and the weaving of the spun thread in
hand-looms of complicated structure. Women and children carry
on all the branches of work, boys are bringing in baskets of
mulberry-leaves slung on their shoulders from the trees outside,
and one is seated at the loom helping the women. The decoration
of the vase is completed by light sprays of red and pink roses
underneath the gilded rim. Height, 10^ inches. No. 287.
Six Snuff-Bottles {Pi Yen Hu), of various designs, chiefly
of the Yung-cheng and GhHen-lung periods: 1. Decorated in
enamel colors of the Yung-cheng period (288), 2. A royal blue
double gourd (289). 3. Blue and white flower design on a brown
crackled ground (290). 4. Perforated design in reticulated work
upon a ground of broken sticks; dark-green glaze (291). 5. Intri-
cate designs in high relief of lions chasing w^heels and fire emblems;
ChHen-lung period (292), 6, A double bottle with a coral-red
decoration, of the ChHen-lung period. Nos. 288-293.
RiCE-BowL {Fa7i Wan), decorated in colors with the symbolical
plants of long life, the pine and sacred fungus, the bamboo and
prunus. The painted decoration is identical inside and outside,
and it has the foliage and flowers pierced through in parts and
filled in with glaze in " rice-grain " fashion, so as to appear as
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 885
a ])arti;il transparency. The seal, penciled underneatli the under-
glaze blue, is Ta ClCing Cliia-chHnfi nie)i cAi'A, " Made in the reign
of Chia-ch'ing (1796-1820) of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]."
No. 294.
Melon-shaped Snuff-Bottle, with decoration of vines in blue
and white; mark, Yung-chhig. No. 295.
Snuff-Bottle; celadon on modeled decoration; Ch^ien-lung
period. No. 296.
Vase {P''ing), representing a modern attempt at reproduction
of the celebrated Lang Yiao sang-de-hoeuf of the reign of K\ing-
hsi. The crackled glaze exliibits brilliant tones of coloring, but
it is somewhat thin in aspect, especially toward the top of the
vase; at the bottom it has " run " and congealed, and a bare mark
can be detected on one side where a thick drop has had to be
removed on the lathe. No. 297.
Flower- Vase {Hua PHiig), of ovoid form, semi-eggshell tex-
ture, and partially crackled undulatory glaze, decorated in delicate
enamel colors with gilding of the ChHen-limg period. The two
panels have the foliated rims modeled in relief in the paste, and
the sprays of blossoming prunus, painted in red and gold, as
well as the white swallows, are also worked in relief, so as to
project from the intervening ground, which is filled in with dotted
circles sketched in blue. The panels are painted with pictures
of domestic life in the style of the so-called " Indian china" of the
eighteentli century, which was mostl}"^ painted in the workshops of
Canton for the European market. Height, 11|- inches. No. 298,
Vase (PHng), a t^^pical specimen of the soft-looking porcelain
of the reign of K''ang-hsi, painted in blue under a crackled glaze
of ivorN^-white tone, commonly known as chHng-Juia Fen Ting —
i. e., "Fen-Ting porcelain painted in blue." The rim of the
foot shows a paste of loose texture, but very hard, the bottom
being covered with the same crackled glaze as the vase, which
is very light in weight when compared with ordinary porcelain.
The decoration, penciled in soft shades of blue, is a rocky landscape
with a pair of grotesque lions sporting under the shade of a gnarled
pine, through the branches of which the full moon is visible.
Shrubs of prunus and bamboo are growing from the rocks, com-
886 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
pleting the vegetable trio of longevity, and a cou])le of bats are
flyiiig together in the background as symbols of haj)()iness.
Height, 15| inches. No. 299.
Two Snuff-Bottles of the ChHen-lung period: 1. Blue and
white. 2. Modeled in high relief and decorated in brilliant colors.
Nos. 300, 301.
Censek {Hsiang Lii) of ivory-white Fuchien porcelain. It is
modeled as a round basket with ))ierced openwork sides worked
into sprays of peony, and has a band of bamboo as handles attached
by floral studs. Under the bottom, which is unglazed, is a stamped
seal in the form of a Chinese "cash " inclosing the sacred svastika
symbol. Height, with pedestal, 5\ inches. No. 302.
Lion (Shih-tzti), of white Fuchien porcelain [Chien tz'ii), seated
upon an oblong pedestal, with the right forefoot placed upon a ball
with a cord attached to it, the other end of which the lion holds in
his mouth. From the back of the stand a tube rises on the right
to hold the stick of incense. There sliould always be a pair of
these lions before the shrine, and tlie companion would have a cub
in place of the brocaded ball. Height, 5 inches. No. 303.
Lustration Ewer [Ch'mg Shui Hu), of complicated form,
intended for Buddiiist ritual use. It is richly decorated in colors
of the K''anr/-hsi period, with diapers inclosing floral medallions
and bands of conventional ornament, relieved by a tzi>.-chin g^vonndi
of "old gold" tint. The monstrous head of a dragon projects
from one side of the globular receptacle, modeled with for-
midable rows of teeth and black mustaches curling upward, from
which emerges the long curved spout, reminding one of the celestial
dragons that officiated at the miraculous baptism of the infant
Buddha. Height, 8 inches. No, 304.
Snuff-Bottle; gray crackle of the K''ang-hsi period; mark,
Ch^eng-fma nien chih. ' No. 305.
Hanging Basket {Ilua Lan), with two hooks springing from
the rim for the attachment of chains by which it is suspended to a
crossbar, richly decorated in enamel colors of the A''Vm^-A.s'^ period.
The sides are pierced in openwork and painted in yellow, green,
and black to simulate wicker. Through the interstices of the open
A
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 887
casing the decoration of the c^^inder, which fits inside, appears; it
is crisply painted in red with a scrolled ground of lotus-flowers and
a border of spiral fret. Height, 9 inches. No. .306.
Basket [Una Lan,) of IC\ing-hsi porcelain decorated in enanud
colors. The bowl, of depressed globular form, has an arched handle,
strengthened by side pieces, springing from the shoulder, and a
round cover surmounted by a lion as handle. The sides of the bowl
are pierced in six panels of hexagonal trellis interrupted by chrysan-
themum-flowers which are painted alternately red and pale purple,
and the cover is pierced with a similar trellis-work. The handle is
painted in black lines on a yellow ground to imitate basket-work.
Foot glazed white underneath. Height, 5 inches. No. 307.
Pierced Globe fob Scented Flowers {Hsiang C'/i'iii), of light
biscuit porcelain of the K''ang-hsi period, carved with trellis me-
dallions inclosing floral designs of the peony and lotus inlaid with
colors, including a brilliant green in combination with the usual
enamels of the o\A famille rose. It has a tiny round cover on the
top for the introduction of flowers, which are placed as a sacred
offering before the domestic shrine. Diameter, 4 inches.
No. 308.
Rose- Water Sprinkler (Hsiang Shui J^^ing), one of a pair, of
the reign of ICang-hsi, with powder-blue grounds, interrupted by
three reserved medallions, quatrefoil, pomegranate and fan-shaped,
which are filled with wild-flowers growing from rocks, penciled in
shaded underglaze blue with white gi'ounds. Tipped with metal
mounts. Height, 1^ inches. No. 309.
Miniature Vase (Hsiao P''ing), of Fuchien porcelain, with a
bulbous mouth, and a dragon in salient relief, winding round the
neck of the vase and projecting its head on one side. Ivory-white
glaze. Height, 4| inches. No. 310.
Snuff-Bottle, with green and white dragon; mark, Tao-kuang,
No. 311,
Vase (P^ing), of the ChHen-lung period, decorated in blue and
white in the ordinary way with a mountain landscape of temples
and pavilions on the shore of a lake. This is covered with splashes
of Jlambe glaze, laid on over the original white ground, so as nearly
888 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
to conceal the painted design under variegated clouds of purple,
crimson, and olive-brown tints, the glaze becoming crackled in the
thinner parts. The interior of the vase is coated with the same
crackled and variegated enamel. Height, 15^ inches. No. 312.
Arrow Receptacle ( Chien Thing), of square section, mounted
in a socket pedestal of the same material. A production of the
finest Khmg-hsi period, it exhibits a combination of many of the
methods of decoration that distinguished the porcelain of the time,
such as openwork molding, pierced-work carving, and relief model-
ing, all artisticalh' painted in richl}'^ varied designs, laid on over the
white glaze in the brilliant enamel colors of the fullj'-equipped
ceramic palette of the period. Height, 29 inches. No. 313.
Small Vase, with globular body and expanding mouth, intended
for use as a hand spittoon {fan ho pHng). It is decorated over
the white glaze, in two shades of coral-red, with a pair of five-
clawed imperial dragons in the midst of flames and clouds pursuing
jewels, with light bands of gadroon and spiral fret, and with a
scroll of conventional flowers round the mouth. There is no mark
underneath, but the technique and stj^le are those of the C hHen-
lung period. Height, 3^ inches. No. 314.
Cylindrical Beaker {HuorT^ung), with flaring mouth, of laque
hurgautee inlaid on porcelain, of the K''ang-hsi period. The dec-
oration is a mountain landscape with temples, pagodas, and open
pavilions, overlooking a lake upon which boats are sailing, a tall
Avillow with drooping branches forming the background. The
rims are encircled by light borders of diaper pattern inlaid in the
same thin plaques of mother-of-pearl. Height, 11 inches.
No. 315.
Vase [PHng), of the IPang-hsi period, with a few encircling
parallel rings lightly tooled in the paste, coated stir bisctnt with
enamels of different colors, yellow, green, and olive-brown, above a
white glaze of soft ivory tint. The paste is grayish. The eflfect,
which somewhat resembles that of tortoise-shell, is known to the
Chinese by the name of hu p'i toen, " tiger-spotted," Height, 84^
inches. No, 316,
Snuff-Bottle, with foliations in soft parts, white on dark-blue
ground; C hHen-hmg period. No. 317,
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 889
Beakeb-shaped Vask of Hirado porcelain, with the decoration
partl}'^ painted in shaded bhie, partly pierced and filled in with glaze
so as to appear as a transparency. Height, 11| inches. No. 318.
Pierced Cup {T''ou-hua Wan), with the sides carved in open-
work, with a broad band of svastika pattern connecting five solid
medallions, upon which are attached, in full relief, figures of the
longevity star god, Shou Using, and of the eight Taoist immortals,
arranged in pairs. The figures are en biscuit, the clouds in the
background are worked in slip, as well as the floral scrolls, which
are carried round the rims of the cup over the white glaze which
invests the rest of the surface. The foot is unglazed. Period,
CKien-lung. Diameter, 3|- inches. No. 319.
Tazza-shaped Cup (Pa P^0> ^^ ^'^^ C hHen-hmg period, deco-
rated in enamel colors on a white ground, with formal archaic
designs, including six conventionally ornamented pendants hung
with symbols round the bowl, and a ring of brocaded palmations
■encircling the stem. Height, 4|^ inches. No. 320.
Mug {Pei) of GhHen-lung " rice-grain " work, having the sides
pierced with a broad central band of star pattern filled in with
glaze, so as to be seen in transparency. The conventional bands of
ornament that surround the rims and the flowers that stud the
points of junction of the handle are penciled in underglaze cobalt-
blue of grayish tone and picked out with gold. Height, 4f
inches. No. 321.
Pierced Cup (T''ou-hua Wan) of delicate texture, dating from
the GlCien-lung period, carved in openwork [a Jour) with a trellis
pattern of intersecting circles, broken by five circular medallions
of floral design, and with a narrow conventional border round the
rim. The white glaze is of rich unctuous texture, and of the slightly
greenish tone characteristic of Ciiing-te-chen. The foot is left en
biscuit. Diameter, 3f inches. No. 322.
Gourd-shaped Yase [IIu-lu PHng), enameled with an irides-
cent deep-br >wn glaze {fzu-chin yu) overlaid with a decoration,
roughly executed in white slip, of sprays of conventional flowers
springing from rocks. The neck is mounted with a copper rim,
and the mouth is plugged with a corklike stopper of Persian metal-
work chased with figures and birds. Height, 10 inches. No. 323.
890 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Small Baluster Vask {Hsiao Mei I*^i?ig) enameled of a })ale
sky-blue {fien-ch'ing) tint derived from cobalt, sparsely crackled
with rare brown lines, having a spray of blossoming prunus worked
upon it in sliglit relief and finished with the gravingtool. The
foot, of the same blue tint underneath, is colored iron-gray round
the rim. The neck, slightly chipped, is mounted with a copper
rim. Height, 8 inches. No. 324.
Decorated Vase {Hua PHng), painted in delicate enamel col-
ors with gilding of the Yung-cheng, or later JC^ang-hsi, period.
The large characters outlined in brocaded strokes on the twa
sides of the vase are shou, "longevity," andyw, "happiness." The
character shou is interrupted by a peach-shaped medallion, con-
taining a picture of the three stellar divinities, Fu, Lu, and Shou
of the Taoist Triad, with attendant sprites. The character fUy
on the opposite side, is interrupted by a circular medallion dis-
playing a picture of the Taoist goddess, Hsi Wang Mu, crossing
the sea on a raft. The intervals are filled in with colored cloud
scrolls, above which a couple of storks are flying, bringing peaches.
Height, 17 inches. No. 325.
LiBATiON-Cup {Chueh), of old brown " boccaro," of Yi-hsing-
bsien. The paste is seen underneath in the unglazed part, indicat-
ing the material to be a dark grayish-brown faience. The cup has
an open handle invested in two branches of scrolled fungus and
rests on three scroll feet. The molded decoration outside consists
of floral scrolls and a quatrefoil border. It is enameled inside and
out with a brownish-yellow crackled glaze, overlaid with irregular
splashes of mottled purplish-gray color, partially concealing the
yellow ground. Length, 4^ inches. No. 326.
Butterfly-shaped Snuff-Bottle; imperial yellow glaze.
No. 327.
Large Vase ( Ta PHng), decorated in brilliant enamel colors of
early K\mg-hsi date, with the picture of a battle scene taken
from the Ilsii, Shici IIu, a celebrated romance recounting the deeds
of notorious brigands. The heroine, the " White Lady," who is
riding a lion, and the principal generals mounted on horseback^
carry small flags with their names inscribed. Greens of different
shade predominate among the colors; the dark cucumber-green^
the pale apple-green, and the purple exhibit the finely crackled
1
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRAllONS. 891
texture, cliai'acteristic of some of the splendid monochrome glazes
of the period. Height, 30 inches. No. 328.
Libation-Cup ( ChiXeh), of the Kang-hsi period, painted in col-
ors, with hieratic designs taken from ancient bronzes. The two
lizardlike dragons modeled in full openwork relief under the broad
lip of the cup are colored green, and there is another pair, colored
blue, clinging to the sides of the bandlike handle. Short dentated
ridges project vertically from the bowl, which is painted with the
features of the Vao-Vieh ogre emerging from spiral clouds. The
rim, both inside and outside, is surrounded by a band of dragons
and sacred fungus, displayed upon a pale-green background dotted
with black. Length, 4| inches. No. 329.
Snuff-Bottle; imperial yellow crackle. No. 330.
Snuff- Bottlk; blue and white with red dragon. No. 331.
Vase [Hua PHjig), of the finest porcelain of the Yung-cheng
period, artistically painted in delicate colors upon a translucently
white ground with flowers and birds. A yulan magnolia, spring-
ing from the foot of the vase, spreads gracefully round to decorate
it with snow-white flowers and buds, and beneath the tree are
peonies, with pink and white blossoms, and roses, yellow and red.
A flowering branch of Pyrus spectabilis [hai-fang) -with shaded
pink flowers winds across the interval, having a small gayly plum-
aged bird perched upon it, which is seen in the foreground, and
the mate is flj'ing in the background. Tiie neck is strengthened
by a European mounting designed as a trailing vine. Height, 8^
inches. No. 332.
Cylindrical Receptacle for Scented Flowers [Ilsiaiig
Hua T''ung), adopted for offering blossoms of the mo-li hua
{Jasminum samhac) or other fragrant flowers before the domestic
shrine. Closed at the top, the bottom is perforated and shaped
for a screw cover for the introduction of the flowers, and the
sides are pierced in the intervals of the painted decoration, so that
the fragrance may penetrate and be diffused. The group of
figures on the sides represents the Taoist Triad, the three stellar
divinities of happiness, rank, and longevity, and on the top is
painted, in the same bright enamel colors of the ChHe7i-lung period,
the Taoist immortal Tung Fang So, speeding over the clouds.
892 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
with a branch of peaches, the fruit of life, on his shoulder.
Height, 6^ inches. No, 333,
Four Snuff-Bottles: 1. Blue and white; mark, Chien-lung
(334). 2. With foliations in relief; mark, Tao-kuang nien chih
(335). 3. With dark, lustrous-brown glaze over dark-blue deco-
ration; Chien-lung period (336). 4. In the form of a bud, and
covered with a yellow glaze (337). Nos. 334-337,
Beakee-shaped Vase {Haa Ku), of the K''ang-hsi period,
artistically decorated, in bright enamel colors, with a pair of
magpies in plumage of glossiest black, recalling the tint of the
brilliant monochrome glaze of the period commonly known as
" raven's-wing." The birds are perched upon rocks, with a
prunus-tree in the background, which extends its blossoming
branches in all directions to cover the rest of the surface of the
vase with a charming floral decoration. The mark underneath
is an antique form of the character fu, " happiness," in a small
oblong panel, inclosed within a double circle. Height, 13|^ inches.
No. 338,
Eggshell Dish {To-Vai P''mi), painted in the delicate enamel
colors, with gilding, of the famille rose. The diapered band
encircling the rim is pink {rose cPor), the floral brocade which
succeeds it is displayed upon a lilac diaper, and the convoluted
edge of the central panel has the outline, which is that of a peony-
petal folded over at intervals, penciled in gold. The graceful
figures in the panel, upheld by light sprays of equisetum moss^
represent the fairy goddess, Hsi Wang Mu, with a Ju-i scepter,,
and an attendant carrying a peach, painted in sepia tints lightly
touched with gold. Diameter, 7f inches. No. 339,
Snuff-Bottle, in the shape of a gourd overgrown by a gourd-
vine. No. 340,
Large Vase (Ta PHng). The opposite side of the piece
illustrated in Fig. 328, showing the rest of the picture of the
battle scene. The banner in the middle of the shoulder of the
vase is that of the imperial army, being emblazoned Ta Sung,
" The Great Sung," the name of the dynasty that reigned 960-
1279. The group on the neck of the vase represents the com-
mander-in-chief with a flag inscribed with his rank, shuai.
I
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 893
surrounded by his staff; they are gazing upward on tlie god of
war appearing on wheels of fire as an omen of victory. Height,
30 inches. No. 341.
Porcelain Pillow [Tzti Chen). One of the square ends of the
pillow shown in Fig. 16, decorated with a scene from a comedy
painted in overglaze enamel colors. The other end is painted
with a companion picture, taken apparently from the same play.
Diameter, 6 inches. No. 342.
Figure of Kuan Ti {Kuan Ti Hsimig), the Chinese god of
war. Seated in a dragon-armed chair of carved wood, in a con-
ventional attitude, with one foot raised upon a pile of rock, the
other resting on a lion. The figure is decorated in antique style,
sur biscuit, with minute and careful finish, in the rich enamel char-
acteristic of the finest K^mg-hsi period, combined with lavish
gilding to throw out the delicate pierced work of the coat-of-mail.
Height, 11 inches. No. 343.
Snuff-Bottle, with soft enamel decoi'ation, of C h'' ien-lung pe-
riod; mark, C h'eng-hua. No. 344.
Blue and White Snuff-Bottle. No. 345.
The Twin Genii of Peace and Harmony {Ho Ho Erh Hsien),
decorated in bright enamel colors with gilding of the ChHen-hoig
period. One carries in his hand a blossom and leaf of the sacred
nelumbium, or lotus, the other holds a round box, full of precious
gifts of happy omen. The pedestal simulates a bank of clouds,
being worked with tiers of scrolls under the glaze of celadon tint
with which it is enameled. Height, 12 inches. No. 346.
Snuff-Bottle, with Shou-Lao and a deer in brilliant enamels,
on a sang-de-bceuf gronwdil Ch'ien-hoig period. No. 347.
Figure of Shou Lao {Shou Lao Hsiang), the Stellar God of
Longevity. A small statuette of conventional design painted in
enamel colors of the Tao-huang period. A peach, the symbolical
" fruit of life," is held in one hand, and the robe is brocaded with
longevity {skoxi) characters. Height, 8 inches. No. 348.
Relic Shrine, or Dagaba (7"a), richly decorated in enamel
colors with gilding of the ChHen-lung period. The hollow dome
894 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
in the center, witli an open door, symbolizes the vault of heaven,
and it is covered with arabesqiie-like scrolls of conventional " {)ara-
dise flowers" (jpao hsiang hud). The spirelike suinniit is ringed to
represent the twelve upper celestial tiers of the Buddhist universe;
it is surmounted by a sacred umbrella, supporting in its top a pre-
cious jar {jKio-p'ing) bound with fillets. Underneath it is enam-
eled pale green, like some of the finest imperial vases of the time.
Height, 16 inches. No. 349.
Blue and White Snuff-Bottle. No. 350.
Snuff-Bottle, covered with a dark, apple-green crackle; Khtng-
As^ period. No. 351.
Oblong Plaque {^Gli'a PHng), mounted in a frame of carved
wood with a stand as a screen picture. It is painted in colors,
witli a representation of the eight Taoist immortals, or genii {pa
hsien), crossing the sea in procession, on their wa}' to the Elysian
Fields, the Shou Shan, or "Longevity Hills," of Taoist story,
which are represented here as clad with fruit trees and gigantic
evergreen pines. The enamels are those of the ordinary pi'ivate
pottery of the CKien-lung period. Size, 18 X 11|^ inches.
No. 352.
Blue and White Snuff-Bottle; mark, CK' ten-lung .
No. 353.
Flower Receptacles {Ilua Cha), of white Fen-Ting porcelain
of the K^ang-hsi period, delicately molded in the shape of a bunch
of nelumbium bound round with a reed. The folded peltate leaf,
with its naturally convoluted margin, forms the vase. The leaf-
stalk curls round and is tied, as it extends upward, into a bundle
with a fully expanded Hower, showing the cupped lotus fruit in the
middle, a bud, and a smaller leaf; all modeled in natural detail with
the aid of the graving-tool. The soft-looking glaze, of ivory-white
tone, has an undulating pitted surface. Height, 6 inches.
No. 354.
Vase {Hua PHng), of brown Kuangtung stoneware {ICuang
Yao), modeled in the form of an archaic ritual wine-vessel of
bronze, with a string band in relief encircling the neck and oxen's
lieads as handles. It is covered with a pale, greenish-blue glaze of
crackled texture, which " runs " in thick drops. Height, 5 inches.
No. 355.
I
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 895
Saucer-siiapei) Plate (P'an-tzu), of eggshell porcelain of
CK ien-luti g date, painted in enamel colors of tlie fandlle rose,
witiiin panels and floral designs reserved in a richly enameled
ground of mottled crimson tint. The large central panel is ])ainted
with a picture of fighting-cocks and peonies displayed upon a
partially unrolled scroll. Sprays of plum-blossom fill in the spaces
above and below; and the border of the plate is decorated with
small panel sketches of mountain and water scenery, alternating
with sprigs of orchid. Diameter, 9 inches. No. 356.
" Hawthorn" Jar [Mei-IIua Kuan), of the K''ang-hsi period,
with clumps of prunus-blossom, alternating with single flowers,
studding the ground of mottled blue, which is traversed by a
reticulation of darker blue lines. The flowers, originail}'^ reserved
in white, have been filled in, subsequently, with bright green
and brick-dust-red enamels, so as to form a kind of formal floral
diaper of these two colors. Mark, double ring in underglaze blue.
Heiglit, 8 inches. No. 357.
Wine-Pot {Chiu Ha), of the ICang-hsi period, with looped
handle and cover, intended to be connected by a chain, enameled
deep reddish brown of the "dead-leaf" type {tziX chin), and deco-
rated over the brown monochrome glaze in enamel colors with
gilding. It is painted, on the two sides, with the picture of a
Taoist female divinity carrying a basket of the sacred longevity
fungus [ling-chih) suspended by a stick, and the cover is overlaid
with small sprays of flowers. Height, 6 inches. No. 358.
Bowl ( Wan), of the ICang-hsl period, having the interior
painted in blue and white with chrysanthemum scrolls and with
a floral border round the rim. The outside, originally a plain
monochrome brown, has been pierced on the lathe with a broad
band of flowers and birds in European style, executed, apparently,
in Europe. Diameter, 6 inches. No. 359.
Teapot {Cli'a Hu), of the "armorial china" type, richly deco-
rated in enamels of i\\Q famille rose class, with gilding. This deco-
ratior consists of brocaded floral grounds and diapered bands
inclosing foliated panels filled with sprays of chrysanthemum,
peony, and other flowers. An oval panel reserved in the middle
of the brocaded ground looks as if it were intended for a coat-of-
896 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
arms, but is filled instead with a formal flower, which is painted in
black touched with gold. The tray, shown in Fig. 378, of the
usual hexagonal form, with foliated and indented rim, is decorated
with similar designs. No. 360.
Saucer-shaped Dish {P\m-tzii,), of eggshell texture, painted in
bright enamel colors of the famille rose class with gilding. The
decoration, of "armorial china" type, consists of floral bands and
gilded diapers of Chinese style, inclosing emblems, partly European,
partly Chinese, designed for the bridal service of the Dutch couple
whose names and monograms are inscribed in gilded letters. Their
miniature portraits have also been copied by the Chinese artist,
whose work dates from about the middle of the eighteenth century.
Diameter, 8 inches. , No. 361.
Teapot with Cup and Saucer ( CA'a Hu, Wan, Tieh), part of
a service painted in enamel colors with Chinese designs for the
European market, early in the seventeenth century. The foliated
panels contain grotesque Ui-lln, on a floral brocaded ground, and
the intervals are filled in with branches of prunus-blossom and
bii'ds. The teapot has a band of floral diaper round the shoulder,
and the cover is mounted with a floral knob. No. 362.
Bowl ( Wan), decorated in overglaze blue, red, and green
enamels with a conventional floral ground studded at regular
intervals with single blossoms. The formal borders of Indian
style that encircle the rims are relieved by a ground of crackled
yellow, the upper edge is gilded, and there is a rim of green round
the foot. Bowls of this peculiar style have been attributed by
some to Persia, by others to Hindustan, or to Siam; they would
seem, however, to have been made in China for this last country
after the native taste. Diameter, 7 inches. No. 363.
Plate ( P''an tzit), one of a pair, artistically decorated in soft
colors of the farnille rose, with the backs enameled in deep pink
{rose d'or) round the border. The interior is painted with a land-
scape representing the Hsi Hu Lake at Hangchou. Temples are
seen on the rocky islands, approached by bridges of varied form,
small boats are sailing in the lake and another is being towed along
the bank. A range of mountains, dimly outlined in pink, stretches
across in the far distance. The border is filled in with a diapered
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 897
pattern on a pale-pink ground, interrupted by three foliated panels,
which contain sprays of flowers and fruit, peonies and asters,
peaches, pomegranates, and melons. Diameter, 8 inches. No. 364.
Receptacle for "Water {Shut (_'h'e/if/), of the faience called
" boccaro," made at Yi-hsing-hsien. The paste of comparatively
pale color, approaching buff, is coated with reddish-brown and
purple-gray glazes, to imitate the tints of an autumnal leaf, in the
shape of which the little dish is molded. The stand of carved ivory
is mounted upon a second stand of rosewood. Length, 5 inches.
No. 365.
Gourd-shaped Vase {IIu-lu P''big), of the K\tng-hsi period,
enameled with a monochrome celadon glaze of pure tone and pale-
greenish shade. The decoration, which is beautifully executed in
slight relief in the paste, touched with the graving-tool, consists of
a close interlacement of waving scrolls of the tree peony {Pmonia
moutan). The rim of the mouth is defined by a line of white glaze,
and the interior is lined with white enamel, as well as the foot under-
neath, where there is no mark inscribed. Height, IV^ inches.
No. 366.
Tall Beaker (Hua Kti), decorated in cobalt-blue of brilliant
tints developed under the pure translucent glaze characteristic of
the K''atig-hsi period. The surface of the vase is divided by a
light horizontal band of triangular fret into two sections, which are
decorated, with sprays of magnolia springing from rocks, so that
the flowers stand out in snowy-white relief from a shaded back-
ground of pulsating blue. The mark, written underneath in three
columns of two characters, within a large double ring, is Ta ChHng
ICang-hsi nien chih, "Made in the reign of K'ang-hsi (1662-1722)
of the Great Ch'ing [dynasty]." Height, 20 inches. No. 367.
Cream-Jug [Nai Kuan), of the faniille rose class, with a cover
surmounted by a knob, modeled in European form, as part of a tea-
set, and decorated with enamel colors in the style of the rouge (for
dishes. Foliated panels, containing spraj's of peony, hibiscus
(China rose), jasmine, and other flowers, are inclosed in gilded
gr'^und of diaper pattern. No. 368.
Vase {Hua PHng), of Kuangtung stoneware, with ring handles
suspended on lions' heads. The opaque body of dark-brown paste
898 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
is covered with a thick, transhiceiit glaze of biiglit-green tint
mottled with brown and becoming grayish blue at the edges.
Height, 10^ inclies. No. 369.
Vase [PHng), of Kuangtnng stoneware, made of light but liard
material, of brown color, with a pair of lizardlike dragons project-
ing in openwork relief from the base of the neck. It is enameled
with a translucent crackled glaze of rich emerald-green color, pass-
ing into purplish gray toward the rim of the vase and over the
more pron)inent parts of the molding. Height, 13|^ inches.
No. 370.
Censkr {Ilsiang Lu), of Fuchien porcelain, with a floral design
composed of bamboos and peonies growing from rocks molded in
relief under the tj'^pical ivor3'-white translucent glaze witli which it
is invested. A circular seal, stamped under the foot, displays the
inscription in ai*cliaic script, HsiXan-te nien chih, "Made in the
reign of HsUan-te (1426-35)." Diameter, 8 inches. No. 371.
Vase {Hua P'itig), of Fuchien porcelain ( Ghien tz'tc). The neck
is ornamented with a band of fret succeeded by a ring of triangu-
lar foliations, and the body with four identical sprays of prunus
modeled in relief, all worked in the ])aste uiuler the pure white
glaze, which is of ivory-white tone. Height, 7^ inches. No. 372.
HooF-SHAPED Vase {3fa T^i PHng), of Fuchien porcelain, cov-
ered with a molded decoration in relief, displaying the eight Bud-
dhist symbols of good augury, enveloped in waving fillets and leafy
scrolls. The white glaze of creamy tone has a slight bluish tinge.
Height, 6^ inches. No. 373.
Water Receptacle (Shui C/i'Sng), of ancient Kuangtung fa-
ience {ICuang Yao), modeled in the form of a bronze sacrificial
wine-vessel. The paste, of buff color, is invested with a celadon
glaze of pale sea-green shade. Height, 2^ inclies; length, 6 inches.
No. 374.
Okimono, of Hirado ware; three Chinese boys rolling a snow-
ball. No. 375.
Double Fish-Vase {Shuang Yii PHng), modeled in the form
of a pair of fish springing upright from the waves, the bodies of
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 899
which have coalesced to make a single mouth for tlie joint vase.
The dorsal fins project on either side as handles; the other fins, the
scaly bodies, the eyes and other details, as well as a fringe of waves
round the foot, are worked in the paste, as part of the decoration
of the vase, and come out in varied shade through the celadon glaze
of pale blue-green tint with which they are invested. The vases
are mounted as jugs with stands in an appropriate setting of bul-
rushes. Height, 10 inches. No. 3V6.
Vase {J*''ing), one of a pair, decorated with a pale-blue souffle
ground, derived from cobalt, penciled in a darker shade of the same
underglaze color, with a brocaded design of prunus-blossoms and
triangles. Pedestals and stoppers in the form of crowns of Euro-
pean work. Height, 4 inches. No. 377.
Small Tea-Tray {cfi'a pan), from the same set as the teapot
shown in Fig. 360, painted in colors, with a similar crestlike badge
in the middle. No. 378,
Gourd-shaped Vase {Hu-lu PHng), of the K\mg-hsi period,
with the lower two thirds of the globular body covered with a
glaze of cafe-au-lait color, succeeded by a girdle of grayish-white
crackle, and a narrow band of blue and white diaper, the upper part
being decorated in blue with flowers and lambrequins of floral bro-
cade. European silver mounts. No mark. Height, 7 inches.
No. 379.
MiSHiMA Bowl, of dark stoneware, enameled with a white glaze
with the incised designs filled in with encaustic black clay. See
page 682.
Conical Archaic Bowl of Korean faience, of yellowish color
stippled with darker spots. See p. 683. No. 380.
Shaped Dish, of "Old Japan " Imari ware, richly decorated in
brilliant colors with gilding. See p. 675. No. 381.
Old Korean Bowl, with a lightly incised decoration under a
buflf-tinted celadon glaze, sparsely and superficially crackled. See
page 683. No. 382.
Temple Vase, of Takatori pottery, enameled with a crackled
green glaze of mottled tint, decorated in slip in low relief with
Buddhist figures. No. 383.
900 DESCEIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTEATIONS.
Ornament [Okiniono), of Hirado porcelain molded in the shape
of a white colza turnip witli blue-tinted leaves, with a rat crouched
upon the bulb. No. 384.
Vase, of Kyoto faience, with a grayish sparsely crackled glaze
decorated in enamel colors and gilding with flowers and insects in
the " Nishiki," or brocaded, style. No. 385.
Incense-Burner (ICoro), of Hirado blue and white porcelain,
with a picture on the inner cylinder, seen througli the openwork
trellis, of five children playing in a garden, under a pine-tree, which
spreads over the pierced cover. See page 746. No. 386.
Censer {I^dro), of white Hirado porcelain, molded in the form
of a grotesque unicorn lion, with a movable head as a lid, with the
details modeled in relief in the paste and lightly chased under the
glaze. No. 387.
Okimono, of white Hirado porcelain, with the figure of a Shojo,
with smiling face and long hair sweeping the ground, standing
beside a tripod wine-jar with a bamboo ladle in his hand. No. 388.
Incense-Burner {Koi'o), of Imari ware, fashioned in the shape
of a cock perched upon a stump of wood and painted in enamel
colors, black, brown, and red, with touches of gold and silver.
Circa, 1700. No. 389.
Sake-Bottle of Okawaji ware, with a crackled celadon glaze.
Fully described on page 742. , No. 390.
Small Censer [IToro), of Hirado porcelain, with a pierced outer
trellised casing overspread with three sprays of chrysanthemum
flowers modeled in slight relief. Silver openwork cover. No. 391.
Satsuma Figure of Chinese boy {Kara-ko), holding a jjalra-leaf
fan, richly decorated in enamel colors and gilding. No. 392.
Sake-Bottle of Satsuma ware, decorated in soft enamel colors
and gold with sprays of Paulonmia imperialis. Silver Kiku
stopper. — Satsuma Vase, decorated in enamel colors with a selec-
tion from the precious objects called Takaraniono described on
page 758. No. 393.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. 901
Chinese Lion {Kara Shishi), of Hirado porcelain of the eight-
eentli century, with its left fore-foot upon an openwork ball of
quatrefoil brocade pattern. The details are lightly etched under
the white glaze, which is of pale greenish tone. No. 394.
Satsuma Figure of Hotel, the Monk of the Hempen Bag, painted
in enamel colors and gold. See p. 757. No. 395.
Small Cylinder, with perforated side, of Hizen blue and white
porcelain; mark of Shonsui. No. 396.
Vase, of Kyoto porcelain, decorated in rich enamel colors with
gilding, with elaborate floral scrolls and panel pictures of Buddhist
figures described on p. 733. No. 397.
Large Dish, of "Old Imari" ware, painted in underglaze blue in
combination with enamels and gilding in the tj^pical chrysanthemo-
peonienne style. See p. 740. No. 398.
Large Covered Jar, of " Old Imari " ware, decorated in colors
and gold with pictures of outdoor scenes and brocaded bands with
pierced trellis-work panels. No. 399.
Water-Pot, of Hizen porcelain molded in the shape of a fish-
dragon, and painted in underglaze blue with touches of black
enamel and gold. See page 741. No. 400.
Sake-Pot, of Hizen porcelain, decorated with dragons in the
midst of flower-strewn waves, painted in dark green and other
enamel colors. See page 741. No. 401.
Cake-Dish, of Hirado porcelain, painted in blue with a group
of seven Chinese boys playing under a pine-tree. See page 744.
No. 402.
Hirado Censer, of pale celadon tint, with openwork cover and
trellis casing displaying the badge of the Tokugawa house. See
page 746. No. 403.
Figure of Buddha, standing upon a lotus pedestal modeled in
Hirado porcelain, and painted in blue with touches of brown and
black. See page 746. No. 404.
902 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Vase, of Hirado porcelain, decorated in tliree sections, the
middle lightly chased with scrolls enameled white, the other two
decorated in colors relieved by a russet-red ground. See page 747.
No. 405.
Small Jar of Satsuraa faience, with conventional floral sci'olls in
enamel colors and gold. Old silver cover, a lotus-leaf. No. 406.
Satsuma Figure of Chinese boy, holding up a jewel, richly
decorated in enamel colors and gilding. No. 407.
Satsuma Censer, fashioned as a bowl on a tripod stand pierced
with three medallions and delicately painted in enamel colors and
gold. See page 758. No. 408.
Tripod Censer with mask handles, of Kutani porcelain, deco-
rated in enamel colors. Cover of lacquered metal. More details
are given on page 764. No. 409.
Satsuma Censer, modeled in the shape of a court hat, with
pierced work and painted decoration of floral scrolls. See page
759. No. 410.
Bowl, of Kutani porcelain, artistically decorated in brilliant
enamels colors with sprays of iris painted upon a soft milk-white
ground. See page 764. No. 411.
INDE
Note. — The references given below to the text of Oriental Ceramic Art refer to pages
in this edition, while those referring to the Figures and Plates apply onlj' to the Illus-
trated Edition published in ten sections.
A
Abbott Collection, 504
Ablution vessels of porcelain, 21
Accadian source of Chinese civiliza-
tion, 25
Africa, 216; Chinese trade with, 605
After T'ang, 50
Agra sacked by the Mahrattas, 239
Aiclii, 730
Ai lien chen shang, 103
Airavata, 114
Ai yeh, 121
Alcantara, collection in Royal Palace
of, 607
Alchemists, the three, 227; mediaeval,
116
Alcock, Sir Rutherford, 696
Alms-bowl, the sacred, 114, 123. 493;
made of porcelain, 21
Altar-cups, 222; their proper colors,
225. 491
Altar of Earth, utensils for, 225
Altar of Heaven, 225, 491
Altar of Jupiter, 226
Altar of the Sun, 226
Amakusa, 743
Amaranthus, 415
Ama-Yaki, 703
Ameya Yeisei, 703
Amitabha, 588
Amoy, 298; a center of Kuang-yao
manufacture, 632
Analys's of blue material, 437
Ancestral Temple at Peking, 490
Ancestral worship in China, 461
Ancient odes, 79
Anderson, William, 700
N^An hua, 268, 476
An hui, 180, 279, 392
Animals, Buddhist mythological, 590
An lung, 476
./Annals of Fou-liang hsien, 178
Antimony ore, 264
Antiquaries in China. 356
Antiquities, Chinese, 648 ; works on,
648, 649
An-yei, 725, 753
Aoi, 764
Aoki Yasohachi, 732
Aoyama Koyemon, 732
Apple-green Lang-yao. 303
Arabesques, 257
Arabic in.scriptions, 216, 217
Arab trade with China, 23
Arbor-vitfp leaf, 261
Archaic characters, 45
Arhats, 470, 586
Arita, 34, 674, 712; kilns, 735. 737;
technical school at, 739; first jiottery
at, 674
Armorial china, 380, 381, 612
Arrow receptacles, 489, 502
Arsenic, 552
Arsenious acid, colors developed from,
529
Art, Chinese books on, 646
Artificer's Record, 641
Art of Japan, its chief exponents, 700
Artemisia-leaf, 121
Ashes used in the glaze, how prepared,
181, 427
Ashikaga Shoguns, 681
Asia under Mongol rule, 566
903
904
OEIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
Astrological figures, 561
Aubergine, 129, 146, 157-161
Aubergiue-purple, how applied, 315;
of Yung-chgng period, 370
Augustus the Strong, 9, 35, 239
Avalokita, 588, 627
Avery Collection, 8
Awaji ware, 689
Awata ware, 688, 732, 750; how dis-
tinguished from Satsuma, 689
Azure-blue, 340, 341
B
Babylonia (= Cairo), the Sultan of, 605
Bagdad, 10
Bai-kwa do Go Hei Sei, 699
, Bamboo, 117; a symbol of longevity,
' 597
Bamboo grove, the Seven Worthies of,
601
Bamboo tablets, 45
Bamboo tube and rods, 115
Banko-yaki, 688
Baragou Tumed, 95, 113
" Barbering " of porcelain, 620
Barbotine, 434
Barcelona, 149
Basins in Lung-cliing period, 238
Baskets of porcelain, perforated, 489
Bat, a rebus-device, 124; homonym of
happiness, 124
Batavia, a factory established at, 607
Batavian decoration, 502; wai"e, 314
Battersea enamels, 404
Battle-scenes, 570
Beads of porcelain, 505
Beakers (ku), 180
Belles-lettres, works relating to Chinese,
659
Bethlehem, 454
Bethnal Green Museum, 699
Bible of Taoism, 576
Bibliography of Chinese ceramics, 639-
669
Bibliotheque de V Enseignement des
Beaux-Arts, 700
Bibliotheque JSationale, 148
Bing, M. J., 700, 708
Bird, the three-legged solar, 109
Birds and flowers, 599
Birds paying court to the pha?nix, 600
Bishop, H. K., 175
Bizen-yaki, 687, 721
Bleu de roi, 266
Bleu fouette, 312
Black enamel, 552
Black glazes, 313, 440; copies of, in
Yung-cheng period, 389; mineral*
used for, 526
Black grounds of the grand feu, 543
Black, metallic, 313
Blanc-de-chine, 47, 97
Blowing on the glaze, 445
Blue, the leading color on porcelain,
436; the favorite Ming color, 258,
567; under the glaze, 675; selection
of the material, 438; derived from
cobalt, 312; of the grand feu, 541;
Mohammedan, 193, 203, 216, 221 ■,
porcelain, 226, 231, 232
Blue and white, 33, 34, 39, 82, 191, 194,
226, 232, 242, 243, 299, 322, 385, 525,
564, 687, 743; crackle, 320; pieces
illustrated, Figs. 14, 17, 34, 39, 42,
, 51, 54, 83, 90, 112, 114, 128, 135, 176,
178, 184, 187, 204, 226, 232, 234, 247,
248, 269, 290, 300, 331, 334, 345, 350,
353, 386, 396, Plates XLII, XLIX,
CXII, CXIII; imported into Europe,
"298
Board of Works, 295
Boccaro, 13, 1:^5, 219, 273, 374, 375, 635
Bodhidharma, 589, 627, 633; shown in
Plate XLI
Bodhisat, 335, 586, 587
Bodhisattva, 747
Boku-heii, 751, 753
Boku-Shoki, 755
Boku-Sokuan, 755
Bonzes, 286, 587
Bonzesse, 703
Book of Changes, 108, 640
Book of History, 25, 601, 640
Book of Odes, 640
Book of Rites, 640
Borneo, 154, 188, 510
Boston Museum, 676, 678
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. — INDEX.
905
B5ttger, 610, 635
Bottle-gourd, 597
Boucher, Guillauine, 566
Bow decoration of Orieutal porcelain,
618
Bowls, 224, 225, 264; decorated in blue,
171; used for tea-drinking, 22; of
Lung-ch'ing period, 236; of Chia-
chiug period, 224, 225, 226, 227, 231,
232
Branches, the twelve, 52, 53
Brinkley, quoted or referred to, 34,
164, 676, 726
Briquettes, 334
British Museum, 8, 16, 216, 273, 280,
618, 682
Brocaded Avare, 208, 755, 756
Brocade patterns, list of ancient, 235-
236
Brocades, old silk used as decorative
motive, 568
Broissia, Marquis de, 286
Bronguiart, M. Alexandre, 12, 13, 265,
324
Bronze, the chief material for artistic
work in China, 560
Bronze articles, a penal offense to pos-
sess, 174
Bronze sacrificial vessels, different
kinds of, 489
Bronzes, Chinese works on, 648
Brown glaze, its varieties and many
names, 314; its ingredients, 265
Brown porcelain, 226, 233
Browns of the grand feu, 540
Brush pots, or cylinders, 173, 489, etc.
Brush-washers, 124, 173
Bubbling, 446
Buddha, 227, 478; jade image of, 202;
the coming, 587; signs on his foot,
111
Buddha's-hand citron, 141
Buddha's-head blue, 263, 439
/Buddha's heart, 114
Buddhism, 106; its introduction into
China, 111, 584; its spread to Korea
and Japan, 585: its influence on Chi-
nese art, 565, 590; of Tibet, work on,
585
Buddhist bronze objects, 563
Buddhist literature, vastness of, 585
Buddhist, Messiah, 587, 627, 757;
mythological animals, 590; sets of
five, 492; symbols, 95, 106, 111, 112,
113, 114; trinity, 733
Bungo, Prince of, 750
Bunkwa, 761
Bunroku, 751
Bunsei, 733
Burghley House Collection, 237, 606
Burlington Fine Arts Club, 70, 94, 322,
^ 606
Burma, 148
Burning of the books, 46
Butsuami, 731
Byzantium, 454
C
Cafe-au-lait color, 314
Caillou transparent, 341
Cairo and Aleppo, 605
Caldrons with three liollow legs, 180
Calendar plant, 560
Calicut, 456
Cambula, 177, 190
Camellia-leaf green, 316
Canarv'-yellow, 131, 697
Canonical books, 640
Canon of Changes, 108
Canton, 280, 298, 456; visited by the
Portuguese, 607
Canton ware, 374
Capital of the Tycoon, 696
Carmine, 526
Caruot, President, 680
"Cash," 10, 102, 123, 137
Cassia-tree, 110
Cassius, purple of, 528
Castanets, 115
Catalogue of Imperial Library at Pe-
king, 640
Cathay, 566
Catty, its equivalent in pounds, 260
Celadon, the name explained, 148, 588,
J40: imported into Europe, 298. 609;
found in Africa. 148; colorable imita-
tions of. 484; its ingredients, 264;
906
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
in the Yuan, 187; pieces illustrated,
Figs. 7, 13, 26. 43, 44, 100, 107, 117,
119, 120, 142, 152, 155. 159, 175. 183,
204. 235, 284, 296, 366, 376, Plates
VII, XV. XXXV, XXXVI,
XXXVIII, XL, LXXXVI
Celadon de cuivre, 538
Celebrated porcelain of different dynas-
ties, 132
Celebrated Writei's <nid Artids, Vyclo-
pmdia o/, 134
Celestial Fox, the, 595
Censers, 139, 143, 144, 145, 168, 238.
etc. ; used in tea ceremonies of Japan,
694
Ceramic art, appreciated in the T'ang,
21; its culminating period in China,
41; miscellaneous books regarding,
439; bibliography of, in Chinese, 639;
of Japan. 685; its fundamental col-
ors, 710; a general sketch of, 709
Ceramic art, History of the, b}' Jacque-
mart, 39
Ceramic colors, 525-556
Ceramic industry of Japan, traditions
regarding, 29; its principal centers,
706-722; fostered by the Dutch,
740
Ceramic literature. Japanese. 701
Ceramic records, abstract of, 662
Ceramics, Chinese works on, 639-669
Ceramic terms, Japanese, 686
Ceramic wares of Japan, the principal,
723; how classed, 687
Ceremonial classic, 15
Ceylon, blue and white discovered in,
239
Ch'a, 92, 222; chuug, 186, 205, 224; hu,
219
CKa Ching, 21, 656
Chaffers, W., 51
Chai, 79
Ch'ai porcelain, 24, 133, 138, 172
Cha-ire, 702
Chaityas, 590
Ch'ai yao, 127
Chajin, 703
Chakra, 111
Chakravartin (universal sovereign), 95
Chakravartti llaja. 111, 113
Chaldea, 562
ClCa-lu (history of tea), 170, 626, 655
Chamberlain, Professor, quoted, 31
Champleve, 455, 636
Chan (spade) 115; (wine-cup), 200, 224,
306
Chang, 509; (entrails), 112; (prosperity),
85; (the potter), 154; (the twelve), 109
Ch'ang-an (capital of Shensi), 277
Chang brothers. 147
Chang Chao-lin, 294, 301
Ch'ang Ch'i, 178
Chan ching chai chih, 80
Chang Ch'i-chuug, 41
Chang Ch'ien-tg, 497
Chang-chou, 218, 635
Chang Chui-chang, 140
Ch'ang Ch'un Kung, 81
Changes, Book (or Canon) of, 108, 640
Chang Hua-mei, 260
Ch'ang ku ch'i, 40
Chang Kuo, 115
Chang Kuo Lao, 581
Ch'ang ming fu kuei, 96
Ch'ang-nan-ch6n, 278
Ch'ang-ngo, The lady, 595
Chang River, 101, 190. 278
Chang-shan, 261, 461
Chang Sheng erh, " Chang Secundus,"
147
Chang Sheng-yi, 147
Chang Ssu-ming, 295
Chang-te-fu, 164
Ch'ang wu chih, 172
Chang Yin-huan Collection, 16
Cha-no-yu, 705, 752; first utensils used,
726; in Japan, 681; its influence on
Japanese pottery, 692
Chao-ch'ing fu, 375
Chao K'ai, god of the potters, 462
Chao-t'ien (" worship of heaven"), 180
Ch'a p'an, 478
Ch'a-pei, 141, 204, 215
Chapu, 624
Ch'a P'u, 656
Charles VII, King of France, 606
Cha tou (" slop-dishes"), 226, 238
Cha-tsubo, 757
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
907
Cliatlra (" umbrella '), 112
Ciiavannes, M., 559
Ch'a-yeli-mo, 417
Cliawan Kiubei, 732
Chawan-saka, 731
Cli6 (= Chekiang), 179, 181, 439; -liao,
439
Chekiang, 22, 133, 436, 624
Ciielsea color-painting on Oriental por-
celain, 618
Chelsea, soft porcelain of, 320
Chemistry unknown in ("hina, 525
Chgn (gem), 102
Ch'gn (dynasty), 277; (ancient feudal
state), 14
Chgn Chih, " paper-weights," 168
Ch'gn Chi-ju, 170
Ch'On-chou Fu, 14
Ch'6ng Chun-fang (a noted ink-maker),
660
ChSngHo, 11, 142
Ch'gng-hua, 40, 50, 67, 68, 77, 133, 135,
191, 192, 193, 206-213, 220, 298, 299,
301, 323, 436, 484; blue and white,
copied in Yung-chgng period, 385;
marks on K'ang-hsi porcelain, 609;
porcelain, 206; five-color porcelain,
copied in Yung-chgng period, 378
Ch'gng hua nien chih, 68
GlCtncj sliih mo ymm, 660
Cheng-te (emperor), 33, 68, 135, 216,
217, 256, 378; porcelain, 216-220,
378
Chgng te nien chih, 217, 218
Chgn-ting-fu, 144; its porcelain, 178
Ch6n ting hsiian chih, 87
Chen Tsung, 65
Cheng-t'ung, 64, 206
Chen wan, 101
Ch^n yii, 101
Chi (good fortune), 100
Chia (wine-vessel), 146
Chia-ch'ang, 50
Chia-ching, 45. 66, 69, 92, 191, 193, 200,
220, 222, 223, 234, 256, 262-266, 271,
322, 323, 436, 450; designs, 223, 224.
225. 226; copies of, 385; iiorcelain,
220-234
Chia-ch'ing, 74, 80, 84. 86, 129, 464,
465, 466; porcelain, 466; pieces illus-
trated. Figs. 8, 80, 294, etc.
Chia-ch'ing (azure put in press), 350
Chia-cli'ing yii chih, 76
Chia-ho, 134
Chia-hsing-fu, 132
Chia k'uan (private marks), 103
Chiang (= Kiangnau), 179
Chiang Ch'i, 662
Chiang-hsi T'nmi Chih, 3, 309, 392; its
different editions, 367. 613
Chiang-t'ai (paste-bodied), 320
Chiang fang, 92, 222
Chiang-tou Hung (Haricot red or
peach-bloom), 6, 37, 308
Chiang-ts'uu, 208
Ch'iang-wei, the Rosa indica, 599
Chiang-yu (= Kiangsi), 399
Chiao (watered or pale), 381
Cbiao ch'ing, 267
Chiao huang, 289
Chiao shih p'ing, 195
Chiao teng, 161
Chiao tzu, 382
Chia-tzu, 53, 55
Chia Wu, 55
Chia yii. 277
Chi chen ju yii, 101
Chi ch'i, 225
Chi ch'ing, 85, 481, 526
Chi ch'ing yu yii, 125
Chi-chou, 127, 162, 509
Chicken-cups, 76, 208
Chicken-red, 372
Chicken's-claw, 448
Ch'ieh p'i tzu, 315, 370
Chieh-t'ien, 181
Ch'ieh tzii, 129, 161
Chien (sword). 115
Ch'ien ("cash"). 120; (heaven), 98
Chien-an, 163. 164, 170
Chien-chang-fu, 183
Chien-chou, 127, 162, 163, 172, 184
Cliien elm kuan, 253
Ch'ien fen, 264, 266
Chien-k'aug, 277
Ch'ien k'un ch'ing tai, 237, 247
Ch'ien-lung, 3, 45-50, (55, 71, 74,76, 77,
80-93, 115, 125, 128, 130, 270, 280,
908
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
295, 296, 317, 328, 359, 391-419, 420,
458, 463, 473, 478; some specialties
of the period, 410; its fen-ting ware,
318; its flower decorations, 415; its
openwork carving, 269; pieces illus-
trated, Figs. 13, 27, 31,36, 50, 55, 61,
62, 65, 76, 79, 87, 90, 100. 108, 112,
118, 146, 163, 168, 170, 176, 179, 183,
185, 186, 189, 191, 249, 263, 267, 269,
270, 271, 273, 274, 277, 279, 281-286,
292, 296, 300, 301, 314, 317, 320, 333,
334, 336, 844, 346, 347, 349, 353, 362,
Plates XVI. XIX, XXII, XXVI,
XXVII, XXIX, XXX, XXXI,
XXXV, XXXVI, XXXVIII,
XLIV-XLVI, LXIV, LXXVI-
LXXVIII, LXXXI, LXXXVII,
XCII
Cli'ien-lung uien clii, 401, 406
Ch'ien-lung yti chili, 76
Ch'ien Niu the cowherd, 468
Chien-niug-fu, 163. 626
Ch'ien-t'an, 423
Chien t'ao, 177
Chien-t'ung, 489, 502
Chieu tz'ii (Fuchien w^are), 164, 534,
626, 724; examples of. Figs. 371-
373, Plate XIII
Chien-yang hsien, 184, 626
Chien Yao, 38, 164, 627; Takemoto's
I copies of, 698
'^ J Chih-cheng, 66, 566
Chih-chih, 178
Chih-ch'ui p'ing, 473
Chi-hsiang, 111
Chi hsiaug ju i, 100
Chill hsiu ts'ao fang, 85
Chih-luia, the Gardenia tiorida, 599
Chihli, 22, 130, 162, 257
Chih Nil, " the spinning damsel," 468
Chih pu tsu dud ts'ung shv, 606
Chih-tzii. 180
Chi Hung, 302, 371, 407, 472
Ch'ih-lung (dragon), j^n^sim, shown in
Fig. 278
Chi kang. 76, 208
Chi-kuan, 599
Chikuzen, 753
Children in porcelain decoration, 602
Ch'i-lin, 594
Ch'i-men-hsien, 423
Ch'in (or Kin), 108
Chin, Prince of, 144
China, its administrative divisions, 642;
not isolated, 565; Arab trade with, 23
China (porcelain), armorial, 611; ex-
amples of. Figs. 52, 360, etc.
Chin ch'ing Yu, 266
Ch'in, Ch'i, Shu, Hua, 106, 121
Chin dynasty, 56, 133, 436, 624
Chinese art, 646; characters, 42, 43, 44;
chronology, 25; civilization, 26; copies
of old Iniari ware, 609; cycles, table
of, 54; dictionaries, 641; dynasties,
table of, 56-57; literary research, 24;
encyclopaedias, 645, 647; intercourse
with western Asia, 565; numerals,
table of, 105; pronunciation, 45-46;
provinces producing porcelain, 622;
script, 45; syllabary, 44; works on
geography, 643
Chinese-English dictionaries, 641
Chinese and Japanese ceramists con-
trasted, 709
Chinese language, 42, 124; its translit-
eration, 44; used in Japan, 687
Chinese Music, 109
Chinese porcelain, classification of, 127;
decoration of, 557-603; Julien'sbook
on, 701
Ching-ch'u period, 568
Ching-lien Hall, 84
Ching lien fang fangku chih, 84
Ching-lung period, 19
Ching Pao (Peking Gazette), 459
Ching ssii fang chih, 85
Ching-tai, 455, 566
Cbing-f ai, 64, 206
Ching te, 278, 287
Ching-t?-chen passim, its name, posi-
tion, history, etc., 276-292; described
by Pere d'Entrecolles, 283-286; its
furnaces by Scherzer, 291, 292, etc.
Ching-U-cheii T'ao Lu, 2, 19, 172, 281;
quoted, 294, 306, 362, 374, 397, 457,
460, 633; its contents, 668
Chiug-tih (same as Chgng-tg), 217
Ching wei fang chih, 80
II
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
909
Ching-yu, 355
Ch'ing (congratulations), 100; (good
fortune), 108; (a sounding-stone),
108; (pure) 293
•Ch'ing-Cli'uan, 287
Ch'ing d^'nasty, 57; table of rulers of,
58, 61, 62; marks, 70
Ch'ing fan (iron sulphate), 264, 266
Ch'ing hua liao, 263
Ch'ing hua (blue and white), 289
Ch'ing hua pai ti (blue decoration on
white ground), 322
Cli'ing kuo (a fruit), 348
Ch'ing-lien, 526
■Ch'ing pai tz'u (celadon porcelain), 284
Ch'ing pi ts'ang, 127, 133, 652
Ch'ing t'zu, 10, 147, 160, 686
Ch'ing Wan Hui, 653
Ch'ing yao, 271, 272
Chin-hua-fu, 436
Chin-Jukwan, 754
Chin-K'gng, 181
Chinkiang, 279
Chin ku (golden valley), 104
Chin lu (handkerchief boxes), 251
Chin lun (golden wheel), 113
Chin 111 yu. 266
Ch'i pao, 106, 113
Chin (kin) po (gold leaf), 264
Chin-sha, 211
Ch'in Shih Huang (emperor), 46, 287
Chinta-mani, 114
Ch'in ting ku chin t'ou sliu chi ch'eng,
646
Ch'in ting P'ei wen chai shu hua p' it,
647
Chin-Tokitsu, 754
Ch'in wang (imperial prince), 309
Chin Yung-chiin, 2'^9
Chiseled work, 39r,
Ch'i tai (seven generations), 503
Chiu (wine). 92, 222
Chiu Chan, 185, 224
Chiu-chiang (Kiukiang), 190
Chiu chung (wine-cups), 225
Chiu-hai fang, 599
Chiu Hai (wine seas), 231, 248
Chiu hu (wine-pots), 185
Chiu pei, 210
Chiu p'ing (wine-flask), 165
Chiu shih t'ung chft, 321
Chiu tsun, 23
Chi yii pao ting chih slu'n, 101
Chi yu fang chih, 88
Cho cli'i (table services), 226, 235, 435,
443
Choji-buro, 695
Chojiro choyu, 704
Chokei, 704
Choniu, 704
Chopsticks of porcelain, 506
Chou dynasty, 14, 26, 50, 107, 127,
436
Chou Ch'i yuan, 262
Chou Kao-ch'i, 635
Chou Kung, 108
Chou Li, 640
Chou Mao-shou, 209
Chou Ritual, 15, 640
Chou Tan-ch'uan, 143, 274, 625
Chou (historiographer), 45, 215
Choyu, 703
Chronology, Chinese, 14, 25, 52, 53
Chuan (a brick), 43; (seal characters),
46,61; (complete), 102
Ch'uun Fu, 657
Ch'uan (= Ssu-ch'uan), 179. 180
Ch'iian-chow, 184, 188
Chuang-yuan, 100
Chuang yuan chi ti, 100
Ch'uan Hsin Ho, 201
Chuan IIsli, 56
Ch'u chou-fu, 147, 149
Chlieh (Iiorns). 121; libation-cups, 141,
218. 225
Chu Hsi-hsiao, 197
Chu hung (vermilion red), 161
Chui ch'i (engraved pieces), 268
Ch'ui ch'ing (souffle blue), 347
Chui-hua (engraved designs), 381
Ch'ui hung (souffle red). 340, 347
Chu Lin Ch'i Hsien, 601
Ch'un ch'iu, 641
Chun-chou, 168, 471; glazes, 370, 374;
porcelain, 131, 157, 160, 161, 172,
398. 515; potteries, 195
Chung (bell), 108, 112; (cups), 228, 306
Ch'ung-chen porcelain, 70, 258
910
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
Chung ku cli'i, 40
Chung-lioiruan,83, 115, 579
Chung-Tsung (emperor), 278
Chuu pai yu (pure white glaze), 267
Cliiin yao, 127, 136, 157, 159, Plate
XCIV
ChQu-yu, 274, 289. 471, 518
Chii-p'i (orange-peel), 320, etc.
Chu P'ing. 168
Chu P'ing Chen, 114
Church at Ching-tg-chgn, 286
Chu Shan (Jewel Hill), 286
Chu shih chii, 103
Ch'li shun ]\Iei yi; fang chih, 88
Chu Sui, 19, 278
Chu t'ai, 241, 253
Chu Ts'ang Shen, 114
Chu tsun, 225
Chu Tz'u-pu (a physician), 213
Chu Yen (author of T'aoShuo), 1, 663
Chu Yi-tsun, 209
Cinnabar lac. Carved, 519; illustrated
in Plate XXXVII
Citron, Buddha's-haud, 141
Clair de lune, 7, 72, 129, 137, 139, 161,
187, 297, 310, 360, 375, 408; crackle,
512; illustrated in Plate LI
Classification of Chinese porcelain, 39,
127
Cloisonne, a Byzantine art, 566, 730;
flourished in Wan-li period, 259; blue
glaze, 379; enamels, 76, 454
Clove-boilers, 695
Cobalt, 11; native ore of, 267
Cobalt-blue, 105, 194; the predomi-
nating color, 440; introduced by the
Arabs, 130; used in Hizen potteries,
674; failureof supply of, 216; decora-
tion in, 234, 297; underglaze in
K'ang-hsi, 326; pieces. Figs. 22, 41,
53, 93. 324. 367, Plates II, VIII,
XVIII. LXII
" Cock-spurs," 673
Coffee-colored glaze, 313, 387, etc.
Collectors of Japanese wares, 723
Color-grinding described by T'ang
Ying. 440
Colored enamels >ised on Hirado ware,
747
Colored glass factory at Peking, 404
Coloring materials used in decorating
porcelain, 529
Colors, Chinese ceramic, 525-556; de-
scribed by P6re d'Entrecolles, 340-
342; used in the Ming period, 262-
265; that resist lieat. 291. 324; in the
K'ang-hsi period, 324; in the Yung-
chSng period, 367-390; characteristic
of Nien Yao, 360; used by the Dutch,^
617; tlieir symbolism, 491
" Comb-teeth " texture, 742
Comfit-dishes, 507
('ommendation, marks of, 101
(Jomnion pottery of Japan, 687
Confucius, 227, 461, 478, 559
Confucianism, 106, 572
Confucian Temple, 45
Constantinople, 454, 456
" Copper celadon," 304
Copper-greens, 538
Copper-red, 226. 235, 371; during dif-
ferent periods, 536; art of firing lost,
235; underglaze decoration in, 326;
pieces. Figs. 15, 28, 144, 201, 225,
250
Copper silicate, 194
Coque d'ceuf, 447
Coral-red, 7, 48, 311; derived from
iron, 511; examples of. Plates XXVI,
XXVIII, LXVII; combined with
gold, 328; example of, Plate XXVIII;
of the Ming period, 266; of the Ch'ien-
lung period, 408; illustrated in Plates
XCII, XXVI; of the Yung-cheng
period, 383; pieces. Figs. 4, 67. 96,
150, 161. 242, 259, 314
Couleurs de grand feu, 267, 324, 325;
de demi-grand feu, 266, 324; de petit
feu, 324
Counterfeits, fraudulent, 484
Crackled glaze (sui yu), 347, 350; how
prepared, 510; produced at will, 410
Crackled ware of China, 36, 188, 409,
508, 510, 624, etc.; of Japan, 687
Crackle petuntse, 511
Crackling, 508; due to a physical cause,
509; originally accidental, 510
Cream-colored faience of Japan, 687
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
-INDEX.
911
Cream-colored glaze, 676
Cricket-fighting, 195, 489
Crusades, 605
" Crushed strawberr}'," 307
Cucumber-green, 295, 317; illustrated,
Plate LXXVIII
Cups, various kinds of, 145, 208-209
Cycles of sixty years, 53; table of, 54
Cyclop!«dias, Chinese, 645
Cymbidium ensifolium, 415
D
Daishoji, 759, 761
DSgabas, 590; illustration of one, Fig.
349
Dana Coflection, 8, 16, 196, 680
Dark First Cause, 576
Date, Prince, 738
Dawn-red, 89
Dead-leaf, 131, 226, 265, 314, etc.
Deck, M., 441
Decorated porcelain classified, 324, 411
Decorated Satsuma, 755
Decoration, cobalt-bjue predominates,
^^\^^^yiAO: motives of, 557-603; in foreign
" — style, 453^; in enamel colors, 270; in
mixed colors, 326, 412; in sepia, 326,
328; in white slip, 416, 523; in ink-
black. 884; in gold, 270; in gold and
silver, 328; sur biscuit, 331; of differ-
ent wares, 223, 256, 270, 328, 463,
696, 719, 729, etc. ; glazes used by the
Japanese in, 692
Decorative art of the Chinese, 484; de-
signs used, 307, 561, 563, 568, etc.;
objects, 499; proces.ses, 268
Decorum Ritual, 640
Deer, an attribute of Shou Lao, 116;
emblem of longevity, 117, 595
Degourdi, 445
Delft potters and the Chinese muffle
colors, 616, 712; ware in China, 609
Demi-grand feu colors, 324, 411; glazes,
327
Denary Cycle, 52
Dendrites, 263, 427
D'Entrecolles. See Pere d'Entrecolles.
Dentaro, 726
Descriptive list of the illustrations, 767-
902
Designs in the time of PC-re d'Entre-
colles, 351 ; in the Ch'ien-lung period,
406; with Arabic writing, 609
Determinatives in Chinese, 42
Devices as marks, different kinds of,.
105, 106
Dharani, 244, 246, 563
Dharniatrata, 586
Dhvaja, 112
Dice-boxes, 489
Dictionaries, Chinese, 44, 641
Dielytra spectabilis, 415
Dilatation, coefficient of, in porcelain^
447
Diospyros, 181, 197, 198
Dipping, 445
Divination, symbols of, 106
Dogen, Buddliist abbot, 33, 724
Dohachi, 718
Dolichos sinensis, 7, 308
Dollar, Mexican, 137
Domburi, 7^4
Domestic altars, sacrificial vessels used
on, 490
Doniu, 704
Double-ring mark, 41
" Drageoirs " of porcelain, 506
Dragon, 123, 590; a full account of,
591-592; bowls, 294; -gate, 575;
-horse, 107; lamp (Chiao tgng), 161;
procession, Fig. 230; vases, 239
Dresden Museum, 9, 35, 98, 239, 298,
618
Dualism, Chinese, 107, 110
Ductile Jade Hall, 78
Duodenary Cycle, 562
D'Urfe, Honore, 149
Du Sartel, 480
Dutch East India Company, 9, 35, 607;
as importers of porcelain, 298; their
factory at Hirado, 739
Dutch influence on Japanese ceramics,
675, 712
Dutch intercourse with Japan, 739
Dynastic histories, general plan of,
642
Dynasties, the twenty-four. 56, 57
912
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
Earthenware, 13, 21, etc.
Eastern Archipelago, 510
East India companies established, 607
Eau-de-Nil tints, 390
Ebelmen, M.,263, 433, 529, 531, 540, 549
Eel-skin yellow, 73, 395, 316, 372
Egami, 743
Egg-pottery, 689
Eggshell porcelain, 191, 865, etc.;
pieces illustrated. Figs. 70, 71, 78, 87,
210, 219, 230, 335, 375, 382, 385, 287,
339, 356, 361, 363, 364, Plates X,
XI, XXIV, LIII, LXIII, LXVI,
LXVII, etc.
Egyptian potters and pottery, 13, 149
Ehtezadesaltanet,' Prince, 697
Eight Taoist genii, 83, 115, 579; shown
in Fig. 353; book on, 583
'Els T7)v ttSXiv, 454
Elder Brothers' ware, 147, 154, 369
Elector of Saxony, 239
Elements, the five Chinese, 52
Elephant, 114, 591; jar, 204
Elers of Staffordshire, 635
Elixir vitse, 116, 117, 478; prepared by
the hare in the moon, 595
Elizabethan porcelain, 607
Emblems of Happiness, 85
Embossed designs, 268, 383, 389, Figs.
55, 193
"Embroidered," symbol for, 111
Emerald-green, 139, 178, Plate LXXIX
Emouy (=Amoy), 383
Emperor of Japan, embassy to, 568
Empress Dowager, 81
Empress of Heaven, 583
Enaga, 743
Enamel colors. 130, -403, 547, 557, 567;
introduction into China, 675; where
made, 456, 551; list of monochrome,
551; introduction into Japan, 674;
pieces illustrated, Plates VI, X, XI,
XVII, XX, XXI, XXIV, XLVIII,
LXIII, LXIV, LXVI; painting in,
334, 550
Enameled porcelain described by Pere
d'Entrecolles, 344: Satsuma, 755
Enameling, in Japan, 31, 714; on cop-
per, 455; at Peking, 404
Enamels, how colored, 548; how ap-
plied, 410; European, 405; used in
India, 674; special work on, 700
English East India Company estab-
lished, 607; its trade with China, 607
Engobe, 533
Engraved pieces, how produced, 268
Enunia, 762
Erh Ya, 641
Etched designs, Figs. 8, 55, 170, etc.
Etched grounds, 467
Etude SUV La Ceramique, 700
Eunuchs as superintendents, 221, 287
European designs, 354, 355, 403, 609
Euryale ferox, 491 •
Exhibitions, 696
Export, porcelain made for, 604
Exposition of art treasures, 653
Expositions, Japanese ceramic art at,
696
" Face-cups," 170
Faience, 11, 12. 34, 44, 130, 456, 719
Ea-lan, or Fa-lang, name explained,
^^ 380, 454
False jade vessels, 21
Fa Inn (wheel of the law), 563
Famille archai'que de Coree, 671
Famille artistique, 742
Fajnille chrysanthemo-peonienne, 270,
712; example of. Fig. 398
Famille rose, 63, 74, 87; colors intro-
duced by Ch'ien-lung. 404; typical
examples of. Plates XXIV, LXVI,
LXXVI
Famille verte, 129, 297; examples of,
Plates XI, LX
Famous scholar cups, 208
Fan (a Taoist symbol), 115
Fang hu, 140
Fang-jen (molders), 15
Fang Ku Yueh Hsiian, 87, 400
Fang-sh6ng, 120, 123, 247
Fang shih mo p'u, 661
Fang Yli-lu (a noted ink-maker), 661
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
913
Fan hung, 235, 266
Fan-tz'u (turned porcelain), 535
Fashioning and jKiintiug of vases,
described by T'ang Yitig, 443
" Father of Pottery " in Japan, 693
Fei-ts'ui, 315, 398, 409. 680
Feldspar, 426; its fusing point, 453
Feldspatiiic glaze mixed with cobalt,
541
Female beauty, Chinese standard of,
602
Fgn (flour), 142
Fenallosa, Professor, 701
Fgn-ch'ing (starch-blue), 138, 437, 552
Fgng, or Fgng-Huang, the Chinese
phoenix, 590; a full account of, 593
Feng hsien t'ang, 83
Fgng Huo Hsien (Genius of the Fire-
blast), 288
Fgng kuei tgng, 218
FSng t^ng (phoenix candlestick), 145
Fgngt'iaoyu shun, T'ien hsia t'ai p'ing,
246
Fgn-hung (pale pink), 408, 528
Fgn mi (grains of rice), 110
Fgn ting, 142, 318, 370, 533; reproduced
at Ching-t^-chSn, 174; made in
Kiangsi. 625; illustrated in Plates
LXXXIX, XCI; crackle, 320, Fig.
172
F^n ts'ai (pale colors), 550; example in
Plate LXIII
Feou-leam (= Fou-liang), 282
Ferghana, kingdom of, 565
Fer oligistique terreux, 265
Fertility, emblem of, 112
Feuille morte, couleur de, 348
Ficus religiosa, 123
Fighting crickets, bowls for, 195
Figure decoration, 570; examples of,
Figs. 328 and 341
Figures (Jgn Wu), 569
Figure-subjects, 600
Filial piety, animals distinguished for,
110; the twenty-four paragons of,
602
Firing of porcelain, described by Pere
d'Entrecolles, 344, 345; during the
Ming period, 260, 271, 272
First mention of porcelain out of China,
605
Fish-dragon, 574
Fish-roe crackle, Juchou glaze, 370
" Fish-roe green " of Ch"ien-lung ; illus-
trated in Plate XXVII
Fish-roe yellow crackle, 514; illustrated
in Plate LXXXVII
" Fissured ice," 509
Five classics, 640
Five-color decoration, 5, 325, 378, 387,
etc. See Wu-ts'ai.
Five happinesses, 116
Five Ling, 591
Flambe glazes, 6, 104, 107, 157, 219,
302, 870, 407, 516, 517; illustrated in
Plates XVI, XLI, XLVI, LXXXVIII
Flat jars (Pien kuan), 195
Floral devices on ancient bronze mir-
rors, 563
Floral rebuses, 599
Flower-pots for growing plants, their
different sizes, styles, and names, 498
Flowers, art of arranging, 607; used in
porcelain decoration, 415, 598, 599;
of the four seasons, 125, 228, 598:
the hundred, Fig. 279
Flower-vases, 151, 196, 499; Japanese,
693; special works on, 496
Flute, 115; of Wang Ch'iao, 583
Fluxes, composition of, 548
Flying storks, their symbolism in
Japan, 738
Fo-lang Ch'ien, 454, 455
Fo-lin, name explained, 454
Fond laque, 226, 265, 313
Fonspertuis Sale, 608
Foot, scooping it out, described by
T'ang Ying,' 448
Footprint of Buddha, 114
Foreign designs on porcelain nuide for
export, 380, 609
•/foreign intercourse with Japan, 739
Forms and uses of Chinese porcelain
objects, 488-507; of Japanese pottery,
693
,^*^o-to'u ch'ing (Buddha's-head blue),
263, 439
Fou (vessel), 43
G
914 ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
Fou-kien (= Fuchien), 282, 283 Fungus, the sacred, 116, 596, etc.
Fou-liaug, 2, 17, 19, 20, 21, 41, 335; Furnaces and tiring, 271, 290, 344, 351
^^ -cliou, 177; -lisien, 65, 177, 183, 260, Furnace-transmutation, 130, 219, 220,
262, 279, 281, 398, 424, 460 370, 514, 516. See Transmutation.
Foa Uany hsien chih, 2, 17, 178, 279; Fusliimi, 705
U^ its different editions, 645; extracts 'Fu shou (happiness and longevity), 99,
from, 223, 235 '"^ 104
\/^Fou lou tsiang, 92 Fu shou k'ang ning, 228, 242
" Four accomplishments," 121 Fu shou shuang ch'iian, 99, 124
Four-burner lamp described, 205 Fu Tsun (wine-jar), 138, 146
Four seasons, flowers of, 125, 228; Fylfot, 98
vase of, Plate LXIV
Four supernatural creatures of the Chi-
nese, 591
Fox, the, 595 Gallipot, 497
Fragments mounted as ornaments, 508 Garden bowls, 252
Fraise ecrasee, 307 Garden seats, 195, 251
Franks, Sir Wollaston, 8, 32, 693; his Garland Collection, 8
collection, 8, 214, 682, 699; his cata- Garniture de cheminee, 501, 502
logue, 94, 726 Garuda, the golden-winged bird, 590
Frederick the Great of Prussia, 239 Genipin-yaki, 728
French-gray, 467 •Genghis Khan, 256, 566
wFruit-dishes, 226 Genius of Fire and Blast, 461
Fruits in porcelain decoration, 597 Gem-e Kakiyemon, 742
Fu (axe), 111; (bats), 126; (happiness), Genwa, 752
97, 165; (an ornamental symbol). 111, Geography, Chinese works on, 643
124, 490 Ger.saint, porcelain expert, 608, 617
Fuchien, 89, 162, 164, 170, 180. 181, Ghanta (bell), 112
626, 627; porcelain, 143, 318, etc.; Gilded decoration, 260, 270, 343, 390
originally black, 626; now ivory- Giles, Herbert, his dictionary, 44
white, 678; pieces. Figs. 60. 303, 310, N/Glass-(liu li), 180
371-373, Plate XIII " Glaze earth," where obtained, 181
Fu ch'ing fang chih, 86 " Glaze fruit," 428
Fu-chou-fu, 183 Glazed pottery in Japan, 686, 734
Fuel used in tiring porcelain, 352 Glazed ware, ancient, 13, 40, 41
Fu-hi, or Fu-hsi, 25, 55, 107 Glazes, qualities required in, 446;
Fujina, 725 rocks used in their preparation, 261;
Fujisan, or Fujiyama, 691 how prepared, 427; how applied,
Fuji-yo, 687 446; described by PSre d'Entrecolles,
Fu-jung (Hibiscus mutabilis), 236 335, 336, 337; analyzed by Salvetat,
Fu ju tung hai, 245 428; that crackle, 448; monochrome,
Fu ki chb mei, 742 129; used in Japan, the, 692; of the
Fuku, 765 demi-grand feu, 760
Fu kuei cli'ang ch'un, 96 (ilazing, sprinkling method described,
Fu kuei ch'ang ming, 742 y 446
Fu kuei chia ch'i, 96 >/G6, the game of, 242, 744
Fu-kuei-flovver, 126 God of the Furnace-blast, Life of the,
Fu, hi, shou, 97, 242 306
Fu-lin, 454 God of Heaven, 93; of Literature, 100,
I
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX,
915
572, 574; of Longevity, his special
attribute, 124; of Porcelain, 355; of
Pottery-making, 460; of Hiclies, 120;
of Thieves, 583; of AVar, as a motive
of decoration, 573
Goddess of Mercy, 130, 511, 627;
shown in Plate LX
Gods represented on porcelain, 100
Go Hei, 699
Gohonde, 752
Gold, in decoration, 556, 761; colors
developed from, 406, 529 x^
" Golden wheel," 113 /
Gold precipitate, colors developed
from, 528 v
Gombroon ware, 522, 608
Gonse, Louis, 700
Goodrich, Rev. Chauncey, 44
Gorodayu Shonsui, 32, 33, 711, 736
Gorohachi, 712
Gorohichi, 712
Go-sai (= Chinese Wu-ts'ai) 35, 687
Gosu Gombei, 738
Goto Saijiro, 718, 759
Gourd, the Chinese, 165, 497, 597
Gouthiere, 4, 315
Graesse, Dr., 9, 149
Grand Canal, 190, 279
Grand feu, 267, 452; of Sevres, 739;
colors of the, 324, 325, 411, 531
Grandidier, M., 299, 372, 414, 488; his
collection, 9 ; his classification of
Chinese porcelain, 128
" Grape-trellis cups," 209
Grass hand, 46
Grayish-green crackle, Plate LXXXVI
Great Bear, 559
Great Learning, The, 80
Great Wall of China, 44, 177, 286
Greek art, its influence in the Han, 565
Green, crackle, 408, 514; illustrated in
Plate XXVII; enamels, 551; glazes,
317; Lang Yao. 303, 304; mono-
chromes, 513; illustrated in Plates
LXXVIII and LXXXI
Grinding the color, described by T'ang
Ying, 440
Gros bleu, 203, 436; illustrated in Plate
XXIX
Gros vert, 139, 317
Gudgi blanga, 154
Guiliaunie Boucher, 566
Gyogi, reputed inventor of the potter's
wheel, in Japan, 714, 731
Gyoku Kozan, 754
Gypsum (shih kao), 335
H
Ilachikan, 35
Hadji Khalifa, 148
Hague, The, 607
Hai-chou, 396
Hairpins of porcelain, 506
Hai-fang (cydonia). 126, 208, 416, 599;
hung, 370
Ha jibe (potters), 29
Hakeme ware, 754
Hall-marks, 78-91
Hall-names of tirms, 94
Hana-ike, 695, 698, 747, 758
Han Chiin (Chinese army), 393, 396
Han dynasty. 15, 16, 26, 27, 53, 116,
133, 146, 276, 392, 602; bricks and
tiles, 558; carvings, 563; mirrors,
561; piece illustrated. Fig. 49
Handkerchief-boxes, 251
Hand spittoon (cha-tou), 506; example
in Fig. 314
- Hangchou (city), 48, 138, 624
Hanging basket, 499; a good example,
Fig. 306
Hanging lamps, 499
Han Hsiang Tzii, 115, 581
Han-ku, 575
-^ Hanlin College, 3, 94
Hao Shih-chiu, 89, 274
Hard porcelain, its composition, 453;
art of making, 610; of Germany and
Sevres, 425; of Japan, 688
>-^^are (in the moon), 110, 591, 595
/^Hare-fur cups, 170, 184, 724
Hare-skin glaze, 164
Harima no Daijo, 731
Hat-stands, 500
Havard, M., 616
" Hawthorn-jars," 440, 598; examples
in Plates II and XXXIY
916
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART, INDEX.
Head-Hunters of Borneo, 154
Heaven, God of, 93; Empress of, 583;
worship of, 153
" Heaven "-character jars, 258
Heichesliih, 265
Hei ch'ien (lead), 264; mo, 265
Hejira, 605
Hempen Bag, Monk with the, 587, 757,
shown in Fig. 395
Henry Deux faience, 681
" Hermit hidden in the teapot," 274
Herodotus, the Chinese, 565
Hibiscus mutabilis, 236
Hibiyaki, 36, 687
Hidachi no Daijo, 738
Hideyoslii, 704, 738
Hieratic devices, 563
Higashima Tokuzayemon, 35
Higli-fired colors, 532; derived from
iron, 539; used in combination, 543
Higo, 681
Higuchi Haruzane, 698; his master-
piece. Fig. 318
Hi-Hsien, 660
Hindu source of Taoist ideas, 565
Hippisley, Mr., 20; his Collection, 8,
85, 400, 469
Hirado, 712; blue, 744; blue and white,
672; porcelain, 321; processes of
decoration, 744, 745; shown in Plates
CX-CXni; white, 746; example,
Plate CIX; ware, 736, 743; pieces
illustrated. Figs. 318, 384, 386-388,
391, 394, 402-405, Plates CIX-CXHI;
potters, 698; the Dutch factory at,
671, 739; Three Porcelain Hills of,
743
Hirado-gama (Hirado-kilns), 743
Hirth, Dr., 454
Historical Classic, 109
Historical liecords, 642
History, Book of, 640
Hisazumi Morikage, 760
Hizen, 34, 35, 753; origin of the ceramic
industry of, 674, 734; principal por-
celain center in, 710; first appear-
ance of the Portuguese at, 739; ware,
689,735; pieces illustrated, Figs. 396,
400, 401
Ho (boxes), 43
Hoai-ning-hien, 18
Hoai-yang, 18
Ho-ch'eug pei, 170
Ho-chou pottery, 185
Hochu, 751-755
Ho Chung-ch'u, 18, 21
Hoffman, Prof. J., 701
Ho Ho Erh Hsien, 165, 583; shown in
Fig. 346
Ho H.sien-ku, 83, 115,581; shown in
Plate LXni
Ho Hsi-ling, 3
Ho k^ng wan, 225
Holme, Charles, 691
Holtrop, M., 85
Holy Grail of Buddhism, 123
Holy Mother of the God of Heaven,
93
Honau, 24, 136, 157, 481
Honore d'Urfe, 149
Hooker, Sir Joseph, 597
Ho-pao Moutan, 599
Ho-pin, 14
Horeki, 743
Horidashite, 737
Horoku, 694
Horse in Art, 591
Ho-shang " the Monk," 587
Hotel, 587, 757, Fig. 395
" Hotel of Benevolence and Harmony,"
79
Ho yeh, 180
Hsi (water-bowl), 156
Hsia dynasty, 25
Hsiang (the elephant), 114
Hsiang ch'iu (perfume-globe), 500
Hsiang-ho (incense-boxes), 168
Hsiang lu, 155
Hsiang Shan Shih, 46
Hsiang tsun (sacrificial jar), 144, 204,
491
Hsiang t'ui (elephant's legs), 180
Hsiang Yuan p'ien, 1, 132, 134, 193
Hsiang Yuan-tu, 170
Hsiao Hsiu, 195
Hsiao ku ch'i, 40
Hsiao-li, 424
Hsiao P'ing, 144
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
917
i
Hsia Yao (seggar furnaces). 271
Hsi ch'ao chi wan chili clien, 73
Hsi-Vh'iug ku chien, 45, 495, 649
Hsieh chu chu jgn tsao, 84
Hsien-feng, 75, 469
Hsien-hung (copper-red), 226, 235, 371
Hsien-shun, 3
Hsi Fan lieu (Indian lotus), 475, 748
Hsi hsuai p'en, 195
Hsi-kua cliou, 281
Hsin-ch'ang, 18
Hsing Chen, " the Stars," 110
Hsing-Cheng-tu, 260
Hsiug chou, 22
Hsin ch'ou (a cyclical year), 404
Hsing-sliu (running hand), 46, 61
Hsin-hai (a cyclical year), 399
Hsin-p'ing (original name of Fou-liang),
18. 19, 21, 127, 277
Hsin Ssil, 55
Hsin Ting (new Ting), 143
Hsin tsun (rhinoceros jars), 225, 491
Hsiu-ch'iu (the hydrangea), 599
Hsi Wang Mu, 116, 363, 561; visited by
]Mu Wang, 591; represented in Fig.
339
Hsi yil, 101
Hslian-ch'eng, 211
Hsiian-ho, 45, 65, 142, 299; nien chili,
65; palace, 140
Hsiian-liofeng shih Kao-li t'ou ching, 679
Hsilan ho hua j/u, 647
Hsi'ian ho Po Jcu t'ou lu, 648
Hsiian-te, 11, 40, 67, 92, 133, 135, 168,
186, 191, 203-209, 216, 221, 222, 262,
267, 298, 302, 309, 321, 322, 385, 436,
450, 479, 484, 605; noted for blue and
white, 567; porcelain, 192, 193, 198-
205; copied, 371, 375, 379, 606; pieces
illustrated. Figs. 210. 371, etc.; nieu
cliih, 629; t'ung pao, 261
Hsiian Ti, emperor, 558
Hsiian-Wang, 45
Hsil Ching on Korean porcelain, 679
Hsixeh pal (snow-white), 552
Hsun-fu (governor of a province), 301
Hsii Shgn, 641; (a cyclical year), 397
Hsli Shih (President of the Censorate),
235
Hsu Shut JIu (Stories of Brigands), 570
Hsli T'ing-pi, 305
Hsil Tsung-ssii, a native artist, 198
IIu (= Hukuang), 179; (a measure),
200; (jar), 146, 203, etc.; (vase), 151;
(wine-pot), 160; (water-pot), 167;
(ewer), 225
Hua (flower), 112, passim
Hua-chiao, 169
Hua Chung (the variegated animal),
110
Huai an-fu, 274, 279, 392, 395, 397
Huai Nan Tzu, 468
Hua Lan, 115
Hua Naug (flower- vase), 151, 205
Huang (a general of the guards), 137,
198
Huang (yellow), 314; tiao (yellow stuff),
181
Huang An. the hermit, 583
Huang lu huan (yellow and green
panels). 331
Huang lu tien, 295
Huang pan tien (variegated yellow),
372
Huang-ti, " Yellow Emperor," 14, 25,
yhQ, 84, 560
Huang tien pan, 317
Huang-tu, 264, 424
Huan Ti (emperor), 47
Huan Ts'ui T'ing, 288
Hua-p'i (painters sur le cru), 339
Hua-shih (steatite), 350, 510; used to
replace kaolin, 350
Hua tsun, 195
Hu-ch'iu (a bonze), 214
Hui ch'ing (Mohammedan blue), 69,
216, 262; also hui-hui ch'ing, 193,
203, 256
Hui-chou-fu, 423
Hui-hui Wen, 256
Hui se (gray color), 139
Iluish, M. IB., 505, 691
Hui Tsung, 65, 570
Hui-tzu and Chuang-tzu, 102
Hu-k'6ng, 181
Hulu (gourd), 115, 176, 180, 214, 597,
etc.
Huluiiu, 256, 567
■918
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. — IXDEX.
Hundred antiques (Po ku), 106. 118,
etc.
"Hundred flowers" used in decora-
tion, 415; example of. Fig. 279
Hung (red). 314, etc.
Hung-chih, 68. 133, 135, 313. 214. 215,
266
Hung-chou. 19
Hung-hsi, 67, 461
Hung lu Iman, 345
Hung-tien (red sliops), 267
Hung wen (red markings), 374
Hung-wu, 66, 287; porcelain, 190
Hun-shui ch'ing (turbid-water blue),
221, 439
Hunting, Odes in praise of, 45
Hu-p'i (tiger-skin), 317
Hu-tieli-hua (Iris japonica), 599
Hu-t'ien, 179; potteries at, 183; shih,
281
Hu tou (paste-pots), 168
Hu yin Tao jgn, 89
Hwai Nan Tzii. 109
Hydrangea, 599
laon (in Chinese Yuan), Greeks, 565
Ibn Batuta, 11, 184
Ichiniu, 704
Idzumi, 29, 737
Idzumo, 707, 725
Iga, 688
lidaya Hachiroyemon. 761
Ikakura Goyemon, 718
Hlustrations, descriptive list of, 767-902
Imari, 35, 674; -yaki, 687, 712; name
explained, 735; pieces illustrated,
Figs. 389, 398, 399, Plates XCV,
CVI
Imariya Gorobei, 738
Imbe, 721
Imitation jade, 277
Imitations of Chinese porcelain, 469,
620; of natural substances. 519
Immortality, the drugs of, 110
Imperial Cyclopaedia, 134
Imperial Household (Nei Wu fu), 279,
305
Imperial potteries, 2, 66. 72, 287, 288,
305, etc. See Ching-te-chgn.
Imperial ware, 40. 50, 127, 306
Imperial yellow, 266, 316
Impressed designs, 534
Incense-boxes, 168. 238
Incense-burning among the Chinese,
168, 493; part of the Tea ceremonies,
694
" India china," 610
Indra and his consort, 561; his elephant.
114
Industrial processes, work on, 658
Ink, Chinese works on. 660, 661
Ink-black decoration. 384
Ink-pallets, 140, 166, 173, 202; of Tuan-
hsi. 22
Inscriptions, 42, 169; Arabic, 217,
610; example of. Fig. 103; poetic,
48-50. 73, 104. 402; of dedication, 92
Institutes of Ta Ch'ing dynasty, 225
Intercourse with Western nations, 604
Iron, colors developed from, 527, 539;
-peroxide, 478; sulphate, 264; staff of
lame beggar, 115
Iron-red. 235, 536; how prepared, 311;
decoration, 327; pieces illustrated.
Plates XXVI, XXVIII. XXXII
" Iron-rust." 406, 519; illustrated in
Plate XIX
Ise, 33, 688
Ishiyaki, 687
" Isles of the Blessed," 100
Ispahan, Chinese potters at, 256
Itoguiri, 702
Ivory-white, 143, 191, 534; illustrated,
Plate XIII; of Korea, 678, 683
Iwayagawa, 742
lyeyasu, 739
.1
Jacquemart, i\I., 35, 39, 40, 92, 214,
270, 482, 611, 616, 673, 708; and Le
Blant, 105
Jade, 108, 115, 120, 144; miraculous
growth of, 560; vessels of, 171, 198,
472; ornaments, etc., of, 30, 560; not
found in Japan, 31; books on, 648;
-cutter's wheel, 296, 486
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
919
Jadeite, 150
Jakatsu, 752
James I of England, 503
Jao-chou, 2, 19, 182, 190, 207, 221, 263,
, 279. 294. 332. 423; jade, 178; porce-
' lain, 171-176
Jao choii fn rhifi, 644
Jao-chou jade, 178, 179
Jao-tcheou (= Jao-chou), 282
Japan, attempted Mongol conquest of
188; Portuguese intercourse with
607; a porcelain-purchaser in China
283; her indebtedness to Korea, 684
its opening by Perry, 696; its art
691, 700; chief exponents of its art
700; ceramic art of, 685-765; its
ceramic wares, 687, 689, 711, 723
ceramic literature, 700
Japanese language, 686
Japanese Pottery, work in English on,
700
Jars, 144, 146, 153, 160, 203, 224, 237.
etc.
Jasmine, 415
Jean Laudin, 405
Jehangir, 239
Jgn Ho (Benevolence), 402
Jgn ho kuan, 79, 166
Jgn-hsil (cyclical year), 178
Jgn-k'gng, 181
Jgn mien hsi, 369
J6n-mien pei (face-cups), 170
Jen Tsung, 255
Jesuit China, 616, example in Plate
XIV
Jesuits' expedition to Home, 750
" Jeweled " ware, 749
Jewel Hill at Ching-te-ch^n, 190
Jewel of the Law, 120
Jigger, the, 432, 443
Jili hsia cliiu wen, 660
Jo-en, 743
Johanneum at Dresden, 9, 239, 607
Jo sheu chen ts'ang, 101
Joss, explained, 492; joss-sticks, 492
Juan ts'ai (soft colors), 550
Ju-chou, 136; glaze, 369, 512; porcelain,
436
Ju I Chu, 114
.Jui hsiang, the Viburnum odoratissi-
muni, 599
Jui scepter, 112, 119, 123
Jujube-red, 466
Julien, Stanislas, 2, 17, 18, 368, 455
Jupiter, his color, 492
Ju-Kaku, 704
Ju yao, 127, 133-137, 160, 625; glaze, 136
Ju-yu (grayish blue) glaze. 410
Juzayemou, 752
K
Kaempfen, M., 703
Kaga as a porcelain center, 718, 759; its
ware, 762
Kagami no Hazama, 30
Kagoshima, 751, 753
K'ai-feng Fu, 24, 66, 138, 156. 369, 373,
481
K'ai p'ien (crackled), 320
K'ai shu, 61
K'ai-yuan, 18
Kajiki. 752
Kakiyemon, 712
Kalasa (vase), 112
Kamo. 730
Kamogawa, 704
Kanazawa, 760, 761
Kandy, Chinese porcelain found in,
605
Kane, Kanegae. 737
Kang (fish-bowl), 43, 212, 223, 230, 306
Kang-he (same as K'aug-hsi), 80
K'ang-hsi, 4-7, 41, 62, 63, 70-74, 77, 82.
85, 98-99, 103-106, 119, 122, 128, 137.
240, 259, 267, 287, 295-304, 312-323.
329, 332, 359, 380, 391, 414, 421, 674.
740; period, 293-331; brilliancy and
special triumphs of, 296; colors, 499;
decoration, 601; marks, 298; wu-ts'ai,
550; pieces illustrated. Figs. 4-6.
9-11, 14, 16-19, 22, 24, 26, 29, 34, 35,
37, 39, 42, 45, 46, 51-54. 58. 71. 75.
78. 82, 83, 85, 88, 89, 94-96, 105, 110.
114. 117. 127. 128, 145, 152, 156, 169,
171, 178, 182, 184, 187. 188, 193-195.
197-204, 208. 209, 212, 214, 215, 225-
228, 231-233, 236-242, 247, 248, 260,
920
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
266, 268, 272, 299, 304-308, 313, 315,
328, 329, 338, 343, Sol, 357-359, 366,
367,379; Plates I-IX, XI, XIV. XV,
XVII. XVIII, XXVIII. XXXIV,
XXXIX, XLII, L-LII. LIV-LXII,
LXVII-LXIX, LXXI, LXXIII.
LXXIV, LXXVIII, LXXX,
LXXXII, LXXXIII, LXXXIX-
XCI, XCIII
K'ang-hsi yu chili, 76
Kang pei (wine-cups), 811
Kang yao (fish-bowl kilns), 271, 272,
290
Kano Tanin, 719, 732
Kano Yeishin, 732
Kao Chiang-ts'un chi, 659
Kaodzuke (Kodzuke), sepulchral
mounds at, 27
K'aoKu T'ou, 648
E'ao kung cJii, 15, 430, 641
Kaoli. 32; illustrated description of,
679; yao. 681
Kaolin, 285, 333; where found, 333,
described, 423; how prepared. 335;
proportions used in different wares,
425; in Japan, 711
^^Kao-ling, 423
\ Kaolinic porcelain, temperature re-
quired, 453
Kao Li-ssu. 599
Kaoli-yao, 681
K\io p'an yil shih, 169; its contents.
654
Kao-shan. 181
Kao T'an-jgn, 208. 659
Kao-ti. 18
Kao Yao, an ancient judge, 44
Ka-pa, a Manchu official, 295
Karabacek, Professor, 10, 148
Karabori (Chinese canal), 735
Karako decoration, 744, 758; examples
of, 386, 402
Karakorum, 566
Kara-kusa, 748
Kara-mono (Chinese ware), 33
Karatsu, 32; -yaki, 734; -ware, 711
Kashizara, 744
Kato Shirozayemon, 33, 724, 729
Kato Tamikichi, 729
y
Kawara, 743, 752
Keian, 759
Keicho, 704, 735, 743, 7^3
Keiniu, 704
Keng Hsii, 55
Iveng-wu (cyclical year), 178
Kenzaii, Ogata, 717, 733
Keramic Art of Japan, 699
'■ Keyser-cups," 612
Khanbalik, 177
Kliaug hi (= K'ang hsi), 300
Iv'iai shu, 46
Iviangnan, 13, 93, 135, 179, 181, 185,
423
Kiangsi (province), 2, 93, 127, 130, 135,
162, 177, 181. 183, 206, 263, 279, 293,
295, 392-395, 423, 436, 470; devas-
tated, 75; general history of, 3
Kiangsu, 180, 279. 392, 635
Kiang Tzu-ya, 601
Kiang-yang hsien, 375
Kia-tsing, 45
Kichizayemon, 704
K'ien-lung, 45. 49. See Ch'ien-lung.
Kihei, 752
Kiheiji, 738, 739
Kii, Princes of, 733
Kiku-flower, 757
Ki lin (= Ch'i-lin), 251, 560, 594
Kiln, putting the ware in the, 450
Ki-men, 333
Kimura, 30
Kingfisher-green, 680; plumes, 265
King-t6-chen, 332-336, 356
King-te-tching (= Ching-te-chen), 282
Kinko, 687, 737
Kinkozan, 717
Kinkozan Sobei, 753
Kinrande, 762
Kio-hio, 742
Kiri-flower, 756
Kirk, Sir John, 148, 605
Ki Tzu, Viscount of Ki, 26
Kiukiang, 93, 279, 280, 392, 396, 397
Kizajemon, his discovery of seggars,
738
Ko-an, 726
Koban, 758
Kochi, 760
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART, INDEX.
921
Kogei SMrio, 701
Kogo, 694
Kojiki (ancient Japanese annals), 29, 31
Kojiro Kwanja, 735
Koki, a skilled Korean potter, 30
Ko-ki-kwan Moku-bei tsukuru, 734
Ko Kutani, two varieties of, 760, 761
Ko feu yno lun, 130, 142, 162, 165. 171,
185, 650, 680; its contents, 650
Kokwa, 755
Ko Ming lisiang chili, 89
Komogawa, 753
Ko porcelain, 137, 167
Korai-machi, 751
Koransha, 739
Korea, 32, 39, 676-684; its pottery and
porcelain, 670, 711 ; its early knowl-
edge of pottery, 26; Chinese author
on, 679; ware attributed to, 670, 676,
678; its popularity in Japan, 681;
Japan's indebtedness to, 684; burial
customs in, 683; pieces illustrated,
Figs. 134, 380, 382; Plate CXVI
Koro, 758, 764
Ko Seto, see Seto.
Ko-Shigaraki, 726
Koshishiro-Tsukemimi, 726
Kotoku, 734
Kotsubo, 758
Ko yao, 127-136, 140, 147, 154, 155, 160,
169-174, 176, 437, 509; crackle, 273;
glaze, 369, 471
Kozan, Miyakawa, 697, 698
Kozayemon, 752
Ku (ancient), 87; (drum) 108; (vase), 137
Kuai (sacrificial bowls), 394
Kuam-bun, 738
K'uan (mark or "seal"), 59; (imperial
or government), 138; (jars), 43, 229,
306
Kuan-chung (= Shensi), 21
Kuang (= Kuangtung), 180, 181
Kuang chiao, 266
Kuang-hsu, 2, 76; imperial porcelain of,
487
Kuang-p'ing fu, 164
Kuangsi, 469
Kuangtung, 89, 181, 436, 469; potteries,
188; principal centers, 632
L/
Kuang Yao, 5, 188, 369, 375, 632; colors
of, 633; examples of. Figs. 369, 370,
374, Plate XLI
Kuan ku cli'i. 40
Kuan liao (imperial glass), 86
Kuan porcelain, 137, 139
Kuan-ti, the God of War, 461, 572; his
temple, 288; shown in Fig. 343
Kuantung, 393
Kuan Yao (imperial ware), 50, 66, 76,
127, 132, 136, 138, 154, 160, 169-172,
176. 306
Kuan Yin (Goddess of Mercy), 114, 130,
158, 195, 354, 511, 588, 627; shown
in Plate LX
Kuan Yii, his history, 573, 574
Kuan yu Kai (jars with covers), 224
Kua-p'i 111 (cucumber-green), 295, 317,
514; illustrated in Plate LXXVIII
Kua-teng, 499
. Kublai Khan, 57, 128, 177
Ku Chen, 101
Kudatama, 30
Kuei (oblong bowls for meat-offerings),
431, 490; (tortoise), 118, 594
Kueichou, 293
K'uei f^ng, 479
Kuei ho ch'i shou, 118
K'uei Hsing, 574
K'uei-hua (the hibiscus), 599
K'u-k'ou, 423
Ku-li (= Calicut), 456
Kun (staff of iron), 115
Kun-ch'ihka (= Sanskrit Kundika),
21
Kundika (Sanskrit), 21, 493
KungCh'un, 220; potteries founded by,
135
Kung-chiio Iti (turquoise), 315
Kung hua (arched design), 389
Kung Kuan (public ofUces), 288
Kung Tieh (palace dish), 201
Kung wan (palace bowl), 200
K'un-lun Mountains, 84, 578, 591
K'uo Ch'ing-lo, 141
Kuo ho (fruit-boxes), 230
Kuo P'u, 641
uKuo-tieh (fruit-dishes), 226
Kuo Tzii-chang, 644
922
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
Kurokawa Mayori. 701, 753
Kushite, 743
Kushikiiio, 752
Ku T'ai (author of Po wu yao Ian), 157
Kutani-ware, 759-765; examples of,
Figs. 409, 411, Plates CIII, CIV
Ku t'uug (old copper), 364, 357; -mo,
266; -ts'ai, 406, 519
Ku Yueh Hsuau, 60, 86, 400, 401;
style shown iu Fig. 263
Ku yi'i foil, 649
Kwang-hsli, 3
Kwan-ko, 687
Kwan-ko-(hu-setsii , 30, 702
Kwau-sei, 751-753
Kwaiiyei, 759
Kylin, 594, etc.
Kyomidzu, 689, 731. 733
Kyoto, 687; potteries, 716; ware, 731;
examples of, Figs. 385, 397
Kyo-yaki, 753; two branches of, 733
Kyushu (or Kiushiu), 607, 751
"Lace-bowls," 418, 493
La Ceramique, 700; translated, 708-722
La Ceramique du Japon, 698
La Ceramique Jajwnaise, 703
Lace work pattern decoration, example
of. Fig. 285
Lacouperie, M. Terrien de, 35
La Faience, 441
Lagenaria vulgaris, 597
Lamaism, 95, 111; book on, 585
Lamp with four burners, 305; sup-
ported by Tortoise and Pha?nix, 218
Land and Grain, Temple of, 235
Landscapes (Shan shui), 569
Lange-Eleizen or Lange Lysen, 337
Lang lijsen, 603; illustrated in Fig. 54
Lang T'ing-tso, 73, 394, 301
Lang Yao, 6, 72, 267, 485, 537; why so
called. 301; its characteristics, 302;
crackle, 512; vases, 297; pieces illus-
trated, Figs. 5, 160, 190, 196, 205,
Plates I, LVI, LVII, LXIX, etc.
Lang yin ko, 79
Lan P'u, 667
Lan-t'ien shih, 472
' Lan T'ing (Orchid Pavilion), 90, 601
Lan Ts'ai-ho, 83, 115, 580
Lan wf»n (blue markings), 374
Lao-tzu (founder of Taoism), 327, 478,
575, 598
^ Lapis-lazuli, 195, 363, 541
La Porcelaine de Chine, 196
Laque burgautee, 39, 530; specimen in
Sevres Museum, 530
L'Art Chinois, 569
L' Art Japonais, 700
L'Astree, 149
Laudin, Jean, 405
Lead carbonate, 264
Legge, Professor, 25
Lei, 435, 489. etc.
Le Japon a V Exposition Universelle de
1878, 689
Les Laqves du Japon, 689
Lettres edifiantes et curievses, 282, 332
Leveret-fur cups, 626
Li (square " official " characters), 42, 46;
(caldron with three legs), 180
Liang tun (cool .seats), 351
Libation-cup (chileh), 141, 488, 490
Library furniture, 494
Li Chi, 640
Li Chu-lai, 398
Li-ch'un, 428
Lien ch'eng ku t'ung, 265
Lien hua (lotus-flower), 115, -t'eng,
213, 599
Lien hui (^purified ashe-s), 361-367
" Light red " makes its appearance,
403
Li lluiig-chang, 470
Li Kuang-li, 565
Li Ma-t'ou (Matteo Ricci), 660
Lime, 267; an ingredient of glaze, 445
Lin-cli'iian, 398
Lin-ch'iian-hsien porcelain, 183
Ling-chih fungus, 116, 415, 465, 596
Ling Hsieh Chu Shou, 124
Ling Lun, 84
Ling-lung (openwork carving), 341,
368
Ling-pei, 181
Lin yli fang chili, 88
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
-INDEX.
923
k
Lions, 492; in Chinese art. 590
Li Sanpei, 674, 737
Li SsH, 46
List of designs and colors produced in
Yung-chgng, 369-388
Li tni ming hua chi, 647
Li tai ming tz'ti t'oii p'u, 133, 663
Li T'ai-po, the poet. 488, 598, 599
Literature, god of, 100, 572, 574
Li T'ieh-kuai, 115, 580
" Little Spring Month," 466
Liu Han and liis three-legged toad,
583
Liu Hin (Chinese editor), 15
Liu hsia chan (cups of liquid dawn),
275
Liu-li (glass), 20, 180
Liu Pei, 573
Liu Te-shgng, 47
Liu-t'ien, 147, 369
Liu-tou pei, 145
Li yen-li, 305
Lo (shell), 113
Lohan, or Arhats, the Eighteen, 470,
586
Lokanmafei, 6, 370, 515
London International Exhibition, 696
Long Elizas, 227
Longevity, emblems of, 116, 595, 596;
^- god of, 116, 124
" Long-haired Rebels," 469
Lo-p'ing-hsien, 263, 427
" Lord of the White Umbrella," 112
Lorenzo de' Medici, 149, 606
si Lo-tien-tz'u, 520
■ Lotus-Flower, 112. 115; lamp, 213
Louis XVI mounts, Fig. 4
Lowestoft, 611
Lo-yang, 589
Lozenge (symbol of victory), 120
Lu (censer), 139, 168. 306, etc. ; (rank),
82, 97, etc.
Luan mu pei (eggsliell cups), 275
Lii chu shan fang ch^n ts'ang, 84
"Lucky diagram," 113
Lu family of potters, 195
Lu Hu (rouge-pot), 198
Lii kuan (musical pipes), 180
Lii Lang Yao, 303, 538
Lu-ling-hsien, 130, 162
Lun (the wheel), 111
Lunar ^Mansions, the, 563
Lunar zodiac, the, 561; animals of the,
561
Lung (dragons), 110, 590, 591, etc.
Lung and Wan, porcelain of, 334
Lung-ch'ing, 69. 104, 303, 234, 600;
porcelain, 234-339
Lung-ch'lian, 172, 176; celadon, 257,
499, 509; pieces illustrated, Figs.
44, 159, 175; porcelain, 437; Yao,
137. 135, 146-152
Lung-ch'lian hsien, 147, 154, 348, 369;
emerald-green ware of, 178; glazes,
371; copies in rub\^-red, 375; illus-
trated in Plate XXXVI
Lung kang (dragon-bowls), 294
Lung-men, 575
Lung Ta-yuan, 649
Lustration vase, 493; example in Fig.
304
Lu T'ai (Deer Tower), 26
Lii Tung-pin, 83, 115, 580
Lii tz'u (green porcelain), invention of,
30
Lu yi T'ang, 83
Lu Yli (author of Tea Classic), 31
Lyre, 132
Ly-T'ang, 51
M
Ma (horse), 113
Ma-au-shan, 181, 281, 357
Macao, 332
Maecenases, Ceramic, 704
Ma-fei (horses' lung), 6
Magatama, 30
]Magadoxo, 11, 604
]Maghreb (Morocco). 185
Magnesia silicate, 473
Magnolia conspicua, 210
>^ Magpie, " the joyous bird." 468
Mahatara (the Almighty), 155
Mahrattas, Agra sacked by, 239
Maitreya (the loving one), 488, 587,
627; the coming Buddha, 335
Makimono, 757
924
ORIENTAL CERAJIIC AKT.-^INDEX.
Ma Ku, the goddess of sailors, 582
Makuzii, 698
Malcolm, Sir John, 566
Mallow-leaves, 764
Ma-lochi, the Manchu who succeeded
Lang T'ing-tso, 301
Manchu conquest of China, 600
Manchu dynasty, 26, 56, TO
Mancliu Tartars, 111, 258, 502, 740
Manganese, mineral, 316; its occurrence
and different names, 439; analyzed
by Ebelmen, 263; purple, 409
Mangu Khan, 566
Manji, 759
Maujugosha, the Buddhist Apollo, 586
Manjusri, 586, 734
M(m-j)o Zen-sho, 701, 752
Mantel-piece sets, 501
Manual of Marks, 61
Manuscript album, 92, 132
Mao chia, 500
Mao hslieli p'an, 225
Mao ping (cracks and other defects)
abhorred by the Chinese, 620
Mao sliih p'Sn, 369
- Marco Polo, 10, 148, 183, 566
Marguerite daisies, 415
Marks, Chapter on, 59-12i3; of com-
mendation, 91, 101-105; referring to
decoration, 102; of date, 61-78; of
felicitation, 91-100; of dedication,
91-100; of the factory, 88; in two
characters, 101: in the form of
devices, 105; private, 103; undeci-
phered,103; classified, 61; frequently
obliterated, 362; unsafe to rely upon,
40; Japanese use Chinese, 40; seldom
show true date, 40; of K'ang-hsi
period rarely genuine, 298; on Chia-
ch'ing porcelain, 464
Marks and Seals, 700
Marquis Collection, 104, 405
Marriage, emblem of, 596
Martabani, 10, 148
Mashonaland, Chinese porcelain found
in, 605 ^
" Massed lard," 508
Ma-ts'ang Hills, 222, 260
Matsudairo Harusato, 725
Matsura, 743
Matsya (Sanskrit), fish, 112
Matteo Kicci, 660
Maulmain, 148
Mayeda Toshiharu, 759, 762
Mazariu-blue, 312
JMedallion-bowls, 466
INIedhurst, Sir Walter, 504
Medici, Lorenzo de', 149
IMedicine-bottles, 16, 503
Mei kuei, 398
Mei-kuei tzu, 307, 370
Meiji era, 697, 702
Mei-ling Pass, 280
Mei p'ing (plum-blossom jars), 205, 362,
497, etc.
Meireki, 732
Meissen, 2
Mei-tzu ch'ing (plum-colored blue), 370
Meiwa, 752
M^ng-chin, 560
M6ng Pi Sheng Hua, 864
Mercy, Goddess of, 130, (see Kuan-yin).
IVIesopotamia, 25
Messiah, the Buddhist, 488, 587, 757
iMetropolitan Museum, 8
JMiao chin (decoration in gold), 270
Miao hao (temple name), 64
Mica, crystals of, 333
Midzu-kuboshi, 694
Midzu-sashi, 694, 732
jVIi Fei, a famous calligraphist, 166
Mikawa, 730
Mikawaji, 713; -yaki, 730, 743
Milne, Prof. J., 30
Mi lo-fo (Maitreya Buddha), 587, 627
Min (= Fuchien), 42, 43, 181
Mineral blue, 439
Ming dj-nasty, 1, 5, 11, 34, 36, 40, 42,
50, 69, 70, 84, 89, 93, 96, 100, 101, 128-
134, 142, 149, 150, 157, 159, 177, 183,
189-196, 201, 211, 220, 241, 256, 260-
263, 270, 273. 287, 293, 298, 309, 321,
322, 374, 393, 429, 442, 450, 455, 675;
table of rulers, 58, 64, 66; marks, 66,
68; often found on K'ang-hsi pieces,
299; colors, 262; blue the leading
color, 567; decoration, reproduced in
K'ang-hsi,. 300; porcelain, 189-259;
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
925
J
rare even in China, 609; leclinique,
260-275; pieces illustrated, Figs. 7,
70, 44, 120, 159, 164, 167. 173, 177;
Plates XXV, LXII. LXVIII, LXX,
LXXV, LXXXIV
Ming Shih, (Ming annals), 496, 643
Ming Ti, 585
Ming Tsung, 50
Ming tz'u (Ming porcelain), 240
Minor Odes of the Kingdom, 83
Mirror-black, 313
Mirrors of bronze, 561
VMi-sg (rice-color), 303, 370
Mishinia ware, 682, 754; example of,
Fig. 380
Mixed colors, decoration in, 233; of
the grand feu, 328; examples of,
Plates V, XVII
Miyagawa Kozan, 37, 698
Miyamotoya Riyemon, 761
Modeling in relief, in the Yung cheng
period, 364; illustrated in Fig. 254
' Mohammedan blue, 69, 193, 203, 216,
221, 256, 263, 567
Mohammedan countries, 148
Mohammedan scrolls, 256
Mo hung, 383
Mo kuan (ink-jar), 205
Mokubei, 718, 733. 734
Molded designs in eggshell porcelain,
354
Molds, 430.431; their introduction into
Japan, 732
Mo-li hua (fragrant jasmine), 522, 599
Mo lin chix shih, 134
Mo lin Shan jen. 134
Mongol dynasty, 57, 92, 111
Mongol prince, service for, 95
.Mongols, China overrun by the, 177;
drive the Sung south, 143; conquests
in Asia, 188
Mongolian script, mark in, 95
Monkhouse, Cosmo, 412, 607
Monochrome decoration, 5; glazes, 129
of Ts'ang Yiug-hsiian, 72; green, 388
purple-brown, 382; vermilion, 195
yellow, with decoration in the five
enamels, 387; with chiseled designs,
382; liow applied siir biscuit, 545
J
J
Monochrome porcelain of Ch'ienlung,
407, 408; pieces illustrated, Figs. 6,
136, 146, 157. 161. 192, 200, 214, 215,
220-222, 245, 327, 337, Plates IV, V,
XXXIX, LIII, LIX, LXV, etc.
Morikage, 719; -shitaye, 760
Morse, Professor, 27, 28
Motives of decoration, 557-603
Mount Idzumi, 34
Mourning-bowls, imperial, 507
Mourning color in China, 534
Mou-tan, the Eaeonia moutan, 599
Mo Yin (painting with silver), 383
Mu (wood), 43
Muffle colors defined, 549
Muffle stoves described by T'ang Yiug,
457; colors, how prepared, 324; the
secret discovered bj- Delft potters,
616; enamel colors, 547
Mu-kua p'an, 176
Mules' liver (Lo-kan), 6, 370
Mural sculptures on tombs, 559
Murayama, 701
Murrhine vases, 17
Musee d'Histoire NatureUe, 439
Musee de Limoges, Venetian work in,
618
Musee du Louvre, 519
Museum at Sevres, 62, 618
Musical instruments, the eight, 84, 106
Musical pipes, 180
Musical scale, invention of, 84
Mussulman blue, 263
Mu Tsung, 61
Mu-Wang, 229
Mu AVang, Emperor, 578; his eight
famous horses, 591
Mythical ages, 55
Mythological animals, 590, 591, 592,
593
Mvths, ancient Chinese, 559
N
Nabeshima, Prince of, 34, 735, 737,
742
Naga (the dragon), 590
Nagasaki. 35, 36, 607: Dutch factory
at. 739
926
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
Nagasena, 727
Nagoya. 728
Nakauo, 743
Nakshatras (Lunar Stations), 562
Names of Emperors of China, i)ersoual
and postiiumous, 56-57
Nan-cirang fn, 19, 380
Nan ch'uan ch'in yu, 101
Nan-feng-hsien, its porcelain de-
cribed, 183
Nankawarayama, 738
Nankin yellow, 82, 326
Nanking, 135, 153, 190, 277, 467
Nan Pei Ch'ao, 57
Nan Ting (Southern Ting), 1-13
Nara, 736
Narcissus (shui hsien hua), 124, 475
Narinobu, 751
National University, 94
Native blue, 263
Nature (literally, flowers and birds),
570; the Chinese gods of, 577
Nawashiragawa, 720
Nawashiro, 751-754
Nei Wu Fu, 279, 305, 393
Nelunibium speciosum, 112, 477
Nen-go introduced in Japan, 734
Nephelium longanum, 363
Nero. Roman Emperor, 17
New College, Oxford, 149, 606
New process of decoration, 239
New Ting-chou porcelain, 185
Nien (year or period), 64
Nien cliih, 403
Nien hao, 40, 51, 63, 64; when tirst used
in China, 16; in Japan, 734; when it
begins to run, 62; that of K'ang-hsi
forbidden on pottery, 72
Nion Hsi-yao, superintendent of tlie
Imperial Factory at Ching-tg-chen,
279, 286, 302, 361, 368, 392, 462
Nien Yao, its name traced, 302; its
form and colors, 360; its finest
shades, 408; of Yung-ch6ng period,
361; illustrated in Fig. 250, Plate LI
Ni family, 79
m kit lu, 79, 166, 170, 652
Ninagawa Noritane, 30, 31, 164, 686,
693, 702
Niiig shou kit chieii, 649
Ning Tsung, Emperor, 169
Ninsei, 715, 731, 733
Ninwaji, Prince of, 731
Nippon, 709, 710
Nirvana, 586
Nisa in Media, 565
Nisa-an general, liorses, etc., 565
Nishiki (silken brocade), 36, 687, 756,
761; style of decoration, 750
Nishikide, 732, 755
Ni-ssii, 565
Niter (hsiao), 265
Niu-chih (or Nlichih) Tartars, 57, 56a
Nobility, rules for grading rank, 309'
Nobunaga, 704
Nomi, 761
Nomi no Sukune, 29
Nonomura Ninsei, 731
Niichih Tartars, 568
Number, philosophy of, 106
Numerals, table of Chinese, lO^
" Numerical categories," 106
Nur-ed-din, 148, 605
O
" Oak basket," 214
O'Conor, Sir Nicholas, 81
Odd Volumes Sette, 505
Odes of Ch'i, 50
Odes, Book of, 640
" Odes on Tea," 657
Ofukei, 753
Ogata Shuhei, 718
Ohomuro, discoveries at, 28
Ohoya, discoveries at, 28
Oil-green glaze, 373
Oil-lamp (yu tgng), 153
Oil-painting unknown to the Chinese,
569
Okawaji, 713; ware produced at, 735,
742; example of, Fig. 390
Okimono, 696, 757
Okochi, 742
Old gold, 131
Old Imari ware of Japan, 390, 405, 609,
675; examplesof. Fig. 399, Plate CVI;
copied in China for export, 609
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
92r
n
"Old Japan," 85, 40; its source, 735;
models for, 270; examples of, Figs.
381, 399-401, Plates XCV, XCVII-
XCIX, cv
" Old Korean" from Japan, 677
■' Old Ky5to" ware, 716
" Old Satsuma," 748, 749
Old Seto, 688
Olea fragrans, 416, 477
Omens, felicitous, 560
Omi, 30
Omori shell-Leaps, 27
" Onion-sprouts " (a kind of blue re-
ferred to by T'ang Ying) 438
Openwork porcelain described by Pere
d'Entrecolles, 351 ; in the Ming period,
260, 268, 269; in the Yung-ch6ng
period, 364; example in Fig. 255.
(See Ling-lung, Pierced work, and
Rice grain decoration.)
Orange-peel glaze, 320, 372
Or bruni, 348
Orchid Pavilion. 90, 601, 654
Orchids, 415
Ordinary ancient ware, 40
Oriental porcelain brought to England
before the Reformation, 606; deco-
rated in Europe, 616
Oriose, 743
Osumi, 752, 753
Ota, 37; kilns at, 698, 750; -ware, 688
Ota Nobunaga, 703
Ou (a noted potter of the Ming period),
273, 374; his teacups, 225, 228, 237;
his glazes, 374
Ouan min kem (pit for the myriad
people), 286
Oueda Tokounosouke (a French spell-
ing of Uyeda Tokunosuke), 704, 737,
751, 759
Overglaze enamel colors, 674; iron-red
of K'ang-hsi, 326
Owari, 686; its potteries, 721; its pot-
tery and porcelain, 723
Oxide of antimony, colors developed
from, 529; of cobalt, 441; colors de-
veloped from it, 529; of iron, 529
Oxidizing flames, 452
Oyamada, 752
Pa An Hsien, 115
Pa Chi-hsiang, 106, 111, 112, 482, etc.
Padma (flower), 112
Pagoda for relics, 201
Pa Hsien (eight genii or immortals),
^y 252; a sketch of each, 579-581 ; shown
in Figs. 2, 352, Plate XI
Pa hsien kuo hai, 252
Pai (white), 142, etc.
Pai chuan (jitual bricks), 231
Pai Ma Ssii (Wliite House Monastery),
584
Painted decoration, 130; not referred to
until near the end of the Sung period,
564
Painters, some celebrated, 730 •
Painting, Chinese, books relating to,
647; in blue, 130; described by T'ang
Ying, 442; in enamels, 132, 674; in
silver in the Yung-ch^ng period, 390
Bfei fan (white charcoal), 264
\yPai Ting, 142
Pai-tun (white bricks), 423; -tzu, 261
Pai-tz'Q ti (bases of white porcelain),
303
Pai yu, used in jjreparing wu chin, 348
kua (the eight diagrams or tri-
grams). 106, 107, 472, etc.
Pale-blue glaze of the Ming period, 267
Paleologue, M., 569
Palissy, Bernard, 731; -ware, 493 ,
" Palm eyes," 191, 372, 448 ^''
Palm-leaf (chiao yeh), 153 —^
Pan (round dishes), 43, 176, 206, 224,
230, 306; distinguished from tieh,
475; (castanets), 115
Pao (precious), 101, 102; Ch'ing, 290;
Ch'ing Yao, 451
Pao-en-ssu (porcelain tower of Nan-
king), 202
Pao hsiang hua (flower of paradise), 563
Pao-kuo-ssii (a temple near Peking),
130, 146. 158, 196, 199
Pao-lao revels, 229
Pao-lien, 477
Pao shao (ruby -fired), 375; hung, 479
Pao shen chai chili, 86
v^°
928
ORIENTAL CKRA^riC ART. INDEX.
Pao sheng, 101
Pao-shih hung (ruby red), 371
V Pao-shih-lan (sapphire-blue), 380, 408,
439; illustrated in Plate XXIX
Pao-shih-shau, 429
Pao tiug (precious censer), 124
P'ao tsun (gourd-shaped jar), 153
Pao-yueh ping (full-nioou vase), 412
" Papal pieces," 750
^ Pa pao (eight precious things), 106,
119, 230, 482
-J Pa pei (stemmed cups), 171, 186, 199, 210
Paper-beaters, 473
Paper-weights (chgn chili), 168
Pa-pien kuan, 229
Paradise Lost, 460
Paradise, Taoist, 119; flowers of, 563
Parian ware, 535
Parkes, Sir Harry, 504
"Partridge cups," 163
Paste, how it is prepared, 181, 423, 424;
pastes and glazes that crackle, 447,
448; -pots, 168, 174
Pa tai (eiglit generations), 503
Patra (Buddhist alms-bowl), 21, 234,
493. (See Po.)
Patrons of Ceramic Art in Japan, 704
Paulownia imperiulis, .756
Pavilion marks on porcelain, first used,
79
Pa wan (stemmed rice bowls), 171
Pa yin (eight musical instruments), 106
Peach, 124; its place in Taoist fancies,
116; its magic twigs, 596; emblem
of longevity and of marriage, 596;
-yellow, 482
Peach-bloom, 7; its invention 72, 307,
310; of K'ang-hsi, 307, 409; first
specimens that reached the United
States, 309; pieces illustrated. Figs.
188, 202, 209-211, 269, Plates III,
LI, LII, LIV; with streaks of green,
Plate L
Peacock's feathers, 123
Pea-green, 264
Pearl (chu), 120
Peau de pSche, 7, 307, 310, 538
Pegu, 148
Pei (cups), 43, 145, 191, 212, 213, etc.
Pei tou (northern bushel), 100
Pei Wen Yunfu, 641
Peking, 10, 175, 189, 404, 467; arclueo-
logical description of, 660; Oriental
Society, 1, 132; school for enameling,
404
P'en (basins), 43, 238, 306, 427, etc.;
(flower-pots), 306
Pencil-brush, 494, etc.
Pencil-rests, 173, 175; (pi chia), 253;
(pi ko), 167; yen-shan, 140, 155
P'Sng Chiiu-pao, 143, 185
Perdrix cinerea, 163
P6re d'EntrecoUes, 4, 14, 240, 265, 282,
296, 313, 332, 425, 516; his letters
translated, 332-358
P6re Ly, 427
Perfume-sprinklers, 502
Peroxide of iron, calcined, 408
Peroxide of manganese, colors devel-
oped from, 529
Perry, Commodore, 696, 739
Persia, 148, 567; history of, 566; blue
and white discovered in, 239; sili-
ceous wares of, 522
Persian Gulf, Chinese trade with, 188
Persimmon, 197; -wood, 181
Petite Bibliotlieque iVArt et d'Arche-
ologie, 703
Petit feu (gentle firing), 452; couleurs
de, 324
Petrosilex, 264, 267
Petsi, 32
Petuntse, 285, 833; where obtained,
261; its nature, 338, 325; described
by J\I. Ebelmen, 423; proportions
used in porcelain, 425
Pheasant, 110
Philip and Joan of Austria, 606
Pha>uix of the Chinese, 96,590,591;
the birds paying court to, 600
Phonetics, Chinese, 42, 43
Pi (pencil-brush), 125, etc.
P'i, terra-cotta ware, 48
Piao tzu, 436
Pi dhia (pencil-rests), 253
Pi Ching, 653
Pi ch'ung (brush-cylinders), 252 (com-
pare Pi-t'ung).
OEIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
929
Pieu, tbe twelve, 491
Pien ch'ing (stone chime), 120
Pien-chou, 138
Pieu-kuau (flat jars), 195
Pien-tou p'an, 225
Pierced work, 521, 739, etc.; examples
of. Figs. 25, 45,48, 185, 248, 291, 302,
306-308, 313, 321, 322,333, 386, 391,
403, Plate XXII
Pi hsi, 124, 167, 173
Pi ko (pencil-rest), 167, 173
Pilgrim-bottles, Figs. 41, 50, 176, 201,
Plate XLVII
Pilgrim's gourd, 115; example of, Fig.
176
Pi-ling, 274
Pi-liu-li, 560
Pillows of porcelain, 169, 571; illus-
trated in Fig. 16
Pin-chou, 19
Pine, a symbol of longevity, 597
P'ing, (vase, bottle, or flask), 42, 112,
144, 146, 152, 160, 166, 176, 180, 306,
435
P'ing f6ng, 241
Ping-hsu nien chili, 63
P'ing liua p'li, 497, 657
P'ing kuo ch'ing (apple-green), 7, 303;
etc.
P'ing-kuo hung (apple-red), 7, 307, 409,
etc.
P'ing-kuo lu, 409
Ping-kuo ti (bases of apple-green), 303
Ping-kuo tsun (apple-jar), 308
P'ing-li, 423
Ping lieh wen (fissured ice), 410; illus-
trated in Plate LXXVII
Ping-shen (a year of the cycle), 50, 177
P'ing Shih (History of Vases), 496, 656
Pink {rose d'or), 407; (the flower), see
Dianthus.
Pink illustrated, Plate LIII
P'ing-yang-fu, 43
Pi shan, 175
Pi Tung (brush-pot), 100, 123, 173, 489
Pi yen, 173
Pi yil (moss jade), 374
Plants in porcelain decoration, 597
Plaques of porcelain, 295, 495
Plate brought from Palestine by Cru-
saders, 98
Plinths of porcelain, 277
Plum-blossom Hall, 699
Plum-colored blue, 370
Po (= Sanskrit iiatru), 21, 234
Poetic inscriptions, 104, 402
Poetry, classical age of, 23
Poets of the T"ang refer to porcelain
cups, 23
Po ku (antique), 80, 118, 119, 124, 757.
etc.; designs, 122; illustrated in Figs.
95-99
Po ku chgn wan, 101
Po ku Chi wan ju yti, 101
Po ku foil, 45, 143, 151, 152, 495
Poland, King of, 239
Po-li pai (glass-white), 552
Political cartoon on punch-bowl, 613
Polychrome decoration, 325; enamels,
9; in Korea, 676
Polyporus lucidus, 116, 365, 417, 597,
etc.
Po Niao Ch'ao FSng (the hundred
birds paying homage to the phaniix),
600
Porcelain, 22, 36, 339, 428, 606; defined,
12; its origin, 17: different kinds of,
179, 180, 181; classification of Chi-
nese, 39, 127; naturally wiiite, 341;
its materials, 333; proportions of the
ingredients, 428; table of different
kinds, 426; first models for, 564;
ancient period of Chinese, 328; com-
pared with modern, 356; began to be
used by the emperors, 357; called
"imitation jade," 21; different arti-
cles of, 355, 495; can not be fired in
winter, 181; god of, 355; decoration,
216, 268, 339,' 350, 357, 381-384, 436,
572; in European style, 383; motives
of decoration, 557-603: of different
periods, 41, 42, 164, 165, 190, 192,
277, 359, 362, 363. 391, 606. 664;
modern period, 463-487; inlaid, 520;
with engraved designs, 382; Avith
Christian symbols, 357; with pierced
carvings, 351; decorated in Canton,
611; made to order of Europeans,
930
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
614; kinds imported into Europe,
604-609; made for exportation, 604-
621; of provinces other than Kiangsi,
180, 622; Japanese, 685-765; Tower
of Nanking, 135, 277; forms and
uses of Chinese objects, 488-507
Porcelain centers, Japanese, 711, 712,
713; given in tabulated form, 706-707
^ Porcelain earth, 221, 260
Porcelaine de Sinant, 606; des Indes,
610, 673; Hiudoue, 610; laquee bur-
gautee, 520; nouvelle, 425; propor-
tion of chalk in, 428; rouge, 635;
tendre, 320
Porcelain-making, Chinese, 24, 420-430,
440, 449, 458; described by Pere
d'Entrecolles, 337-340; twenty illus-
trations of, described by T'ang Ying,
420-462; Japanese, 32, 35, 701, 710,
712, 734
"^ Porcelain-painting, 412, 569
Porcelain tower of Nanking, 135, 277
Porte-calotte described by Grandidier,
500
Portuguese visit China, 605; arrival in
Canton and in Japan, 607; intercourse
with Japan, 739
Po-shan lu, 168
Posterior Chou dynasty, 24
Po-t'ang, 263
Potiche, 6
Potter's wheel, invention of, 14, 25,
714; introduced into Japan, 28, 31;
described by Tang Ying, 431 ; Bron-
gniart on its proper use, 433
Pottery in its widest sense, 44; pre-
historic, 27; term in Japan for, 686;
its origin and tirst models in Japan,
712; of the Han dynasty, 558; buried
with the dead, 683; when first glazed
in Japan, 686; special Chinese works
on. 661; Korean, 26, 670-684; centers
formed in Japan by Koreans, 721;
ware attributed to Korea, 676; pot-
teries of Ching-te-chgn and other
localities, 179, 180; in the Ming
dynasty, 623
Pousa (a Chinese contraction of Bodlii-
sattva), 355, 488, 582
V't.
Powder-blue, 312; pieces illustrated.
Figs. 29. 169, 206. 260, etc.. Plates
XVIII, XCIII
Po wu yao Ian, 92, 157, 191, 207, 222,
273, 568, 652
Po-yang, Lake, 18, 190, 279, 280;
^ Hsien, 261
Premiere qualite coloriee du Japon,
671; the class described, 672
Prescriptions for Ming glazes, 264-267
Pretty girls, 602
Pricket candlesticks, 93, 242
Priest with the hempen bag, 587;
shown in Fig. 395
Primitive pieces illustrated, Plate XII
Private kilns in Ch'ien-lung period,
463
Private marks, 103
Processes, technical, 423, 424, 508-524
" Prohibited City." 82, 490
Pronunciation of Chinese, 45; of Japa-
nese, 686
Prunus (mei), 117, 597, etc.
Pu k'o mo (not to be rubbed), 661
Punch-bowls with cartoons, etc., 613
Purple (tzu), 145, 383, 554, etc. (see
Color); enameling in European style,
383; pieces illustrated. Figs. 19, 24,
38, 129, 193, 326, Plate XXIX, etc.
" Pursselyne," 607
P'u shu t'ing cki, 209, 660
" Puslanes of all sorts," 608
Pu-tai Ho shang (same as Hotel), 587,
757
Pyrus japonica, 371, 416, 757; red
illustrated in Plate LIII
Q
Quartz (Shih), 265, 424; amethystine,
479
Quince-dish, 176
R
Radicals, Chinese, 42
Raku-cha-wan, 704
Raku-ware, 688, 703, 718
Ramayana, 114
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
931
Randon de Boisset, 671
Rangoon, 148
Raven's-wing green, 37
Reading-lamps, 169
Rebus like devices, 106, 124
Reception-room furniture, 493, 499
Red, 528; different kinds of, 537; of
the grand feu, 479; derived from
copper, 194, 535; from green vitriol,
341 ; enameling in the European style,
389, 554; shops, 413, 458; symbolical
of the sun, 492; boccaro. Fig. 23, etc.,
illustrations of. Plates XVII, XXVI,
XXVIII, XXXII, XLI, LXVII.
XCII. (See Color.)
Reducing flame, 452
Regular superintendents of the imperial
potteries first appointed, 278
Reign name forbidden to be used as a
mark, 41
Rein, J. J., 701
Relic pagoda, 201
Religions of China, 572
Reproductions of Chiin yao colors,
370
Rhinoceros (So), 152; horn, 121; jars,
225
Ricci, Matteo, 660
Rice-bowl, Fig. 294, Plates CIII, CIV
Rice-colored glazes, 369-373, 386
Rice cultivation, pictures illustrating,
421, 657; works on, 658
Rice-grain decoration, 418, 522, 698;
specimens of. Figs. 285, 318, 321
Rice-spoons of porcelain, 506
Riches, God of, 120
Risampei, 34, 675
Ritual bricks, 231; vessels, 491; works
on, 657
Riyoniu, 704
Robei, 733
Robin's egg, 374, 518; blue, 374, 471;
shown in Plate LXXXV; glaze, 289
Rocks used in preparing the glazes,
261
Rock-temples of India, 114
Rokubei, 718
Rosary, official, one bead of porcelain,
505
Rosa sinensis, 415
"Rose-backed" plates, etc., 63, 389.
404; illustrated in Plate XXIV
Rose crimson of Yung-cheng period,
370
Rose d'or (gold pink), 389, etc.; shown
in Plates LIII, LXXVI, etc.
Rose Dubarry, 360, 389, 528
Ro.se, famine, 388,404, 411, 413; shown
in Plates XXII. XXIV, LXVI, etc.
Rosellini's error, 504
Rouge-bo.xes, 212, etc.
Rouge de fer, 554
Rouge d'or, 361, 403, 413, 528, 554, 555,
etc.
Rouge-pot, 198
Rouge-red, 418
Round ware, 224, 236; how made, 430,
431
Rubruquis. 566
Ruby-backed plates, 74; e.xample in
Plate X
Ruby-red, 371, 375, etc.; dragon, Plate
XXX
Russian enameling, 456
Sacred designs, 572; genii, 124; lotus,
112; texts forbidden as inscriptions,
72
Sacrificial colors, 225, 371
Sacrificial vessels, 144, 204, 225; differ-
ent kinds of, 434, 489; their variety,
490; of bronze, 558; marks on, 92
Saddle-back Mountain, 281
Sagittarius, 468
Sakaida Kakiyemon, 738
Sake-bottles, shown in Plates XCVII,
CIX, CX
Sake-pots, shown in Plates XCIX,
CVII
Sakyamimi, 263, 733; principal repre-
sentations of, 585; statuette of. Fig.
404; trinity, 586
Saladin, 148, 605
Salting Collection, 8
Salvetat, M., 267, 373, 427
Samantabhadra, 586, 733
932
ORIENTAL CERAinC AKT. INDEX.
Same-yaki, 753
San (umbrella), 112; ("3"), 159
Sang-de-b(inif , 6, 72, 195, 200, 267, 297,
304. 307, 310, 485, 512; origin of the
term, 302; pieces illustrated, Figs. 5.
181, 196, 207, 258, 297, 347, Plates I,
LVI-LIX, LXVII, LXVIII
Sang du poulet, 372
Saniu, 704
San Kuo (the three fruits), 596
li^arikha (conch-shell), 112
San Li, 640; -Ton, 641
Sannojo, 743
San-pao-p'gng, 510
San sli6 (sets of three), 493; in various
materials and styles, what they com-
prise, 493
San to (three abundances), 477, 596
San-ts'ai (three-color decoration), 324,
327, 329; specimen in Fig. 82
San yang K'ai t'ai, 230, 468
Sanyu (the three friends), 478
Sapphire-blue, 266, 408, 439, 542; ex-
ample of. in Plate XXIX
Sapphires, imitation, 216
Sapta Ratna (Sanskrit), " seven gems,"
113
Sartel, M. du, 196
Satow, Sir Ernest, 27, 28, 750
Satsuma ware, 32, 175, 678, 687, 689,
702, 719, 748-757; pieces illustrated,
Figs. 392, 393, 395, 406-408, 410,
Plates C, CI, CII, CVIII
Saucer and saucer-shaped dishes, 141,
224, 236, 478, etc ; example in Fig.
249
Saxony, Elector of, 239
Scent-caskets (hsiang lien), 180, 505
Scherzer, M., 3,291,446
Scholar and his study, works in Chinese
relating to the, 653; the elegant ac-
complislmients of, 121; articles for
his study, 494
Scooping out the foot described by
T'ang Ying, 448
" Screwing," 433
Scroll-paintings, 122
" Sea-eyes," 180
Sea-green celadon, 36, 360, 373
Seal characters, 46
Seals (yin), 168; ancient, 494; of porce-
lain, 46; examples in. Fig. 58, 59
Seggars (hsia). 179, 181; their manu-
facture, 428; described, 738; furnaces,
271; in the Ming period, 290
Seibei, 731
Seifu Yohei, 37, 697
Seiji (= Chinese CTi'ing tz'u, or " green
porcelain "), 36, 148, 686, 714
Seikanji, 731
Seiren-in, Prince, 733
Seitoku, 704'
Seizayemon, 731
Sendai, 738
Sen-no-Rikyu, 681,703
Senno Sohitsu, 705
Sepia decoration, 328, 384; example in
Fig. 230
Sepulchral mounds, 27
Sericana, 460
Services for dining-room, 507
Seto, 33, 686; -kilns, 724; -mono, 33,
686, 714, 724; -ware, 689, 759
Sets of five pieces, Buddhist, 493
" Seven gems," 113
Seven Worthies, 601
Sevres, 2; hard porcelain, 424; mu-
seum, 9
S^ yao (colored-ware furnaces), 271
Shaga, 764
Shah Abbas, 256
Shah of Persia, 502
Shaku-date, 725, Plate CXIV
Shan (fan), 115; (mountains), 110
Shan-fang (mountain retreat), 79
Shan kao shui ch'ang, 60, 102
Shang (a gift), 73
Shang dynasty, 25
Shanghai, 219
Shang ku ch'i, 40
Shang Ti, 576
Shan lei (hill and thunder), 225
Shan shui (literally, "hill and water"),
569
Shausi, 43, 215
Shantung glass-works, 551
Shan wan (banquet-bowls), 224
Shan-yii-huang (eel-yellow), 295, 372
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
933
Shao-hao, 56
Shao-hsing, 197, 436; tea-services made
at, 624; wine, 275
Shao hsing chien ku t'ou, 648
Sliao-lu (muffle stove), 458
Shao yao, the Pomnia albijk>ra, 599
Shark-skin ware, 753
Sha-t'ai (saud-bodied). 320
Shg-li (sacred relics of Buddlia), 201
Shell mounds at Omori, Japan, 27
Sheug (reed organ), 109
Shgng shou (wisdom and long life), 249
Shgng-yang, 393
Shgng yu yn chi, 94
Sh6n-uung (Divine Husbandman), 56
Sheusi, 278
Shgn-tg-fang, 80, 469
Shgn tg fang chih, 80
Shgn tg t'ang po ku chih, 80
Shgn-tzii (dark purple), 370
Shgn-yang, 93
Shg-p'i lil (snake-skin green), 317
Shiba pieces, 750
Shigaraki, 688; -ware, 726
Shih Chi, 14, 565, 642
Shih Ching, 640
Shih-chu, the Dianthus pink, 599
Shih-grh Chang, 106
Shih kao (gypsum), 335
Shih-liu tsun (pomegranate-jar), 308
Shih mo (pounded quartz), 266
Shih Tsung (emperor), 24
Shih-tzu ch'ing (stone-blue), 221, 263,
266, 267, 439
Shih iDu kan chu, 216, 435
Shimazu, 753, Yoshihiro, 751; Yoshi-
hisa, 720
Shiraki, 30
Shiraz, 524
Shishidama, 758
Shiu-ro, 695
Sho-ho period, 35, 735, 737
Shousui, 34. (See Gorodayu.)
.Shotoku, 743
vShou (longevity), 86, 91, 97, 98, 125
Shou huau, 180
Shou Lao, 116, 230, 576; represented in
Figs. 347, 348
Shou pi nan shan, Fu ju tung hai, 99
Shou Shan. 119; fu hai, 227
Shou tlie tyrant, 107
Shrinkage, 446
Shuai fu kung yung, 94
Shuang fu chi ch'ing, 126
Shuang hsi (twofold joy), 95, 171
Shuang kuan p'ing, 205
Shuang shou po fu, 86
Shu, ch'in, ch'i, hua, 120
Shu-ch'ang, 94
Shu Chiao (the Fair Shu), 162
Shu Ching (Book of History), 56, 109,
640
Shu Ch'ing Yuan, 175, 205, 324
Shu family, 162
Shu fu (imperial palace), 92, 135, 186;
-yao, 186
Shugio, H.,682
Shui-ch'gng, 123, 140, 146, 151, 155,
159, 167, 176, 206, etc.
Shui Chu (water-pourers), 167, 173, 197
Shui Chung-Ch'eng, 173
Shui hsien hua, 124, 475, 599
Shui pa pao (eight aquatic jewels), 121
Shu King (Book of History), 25
Shun (Chinese emperor), 14, 25, 27, 44,
56, 109, 133, 241, 601; pottery of his
time, 357
Shunchih, 71, 293-296
Shuo Wen, 43, 46, 641
Shu-pgng, 462
Shu Teng, 169
Siddharta, 113
Sieur Wagenaar's voyage to Batavia,
674
Silk, 568; culture, illustrated in Fig.
287; handkerchiefs of the Sung, 568;
weaving, pictures illustrating, 421,
657; works on, 658
" Silkworm coils," 481
Silver in decoration, 556
Silvered porcelain in the Yung-chgng U^
period, 383
Single colors, 346, 360
Sinico-Japanese school of ceramists, 36,
37
Sin-p"ing, 18
Sinra, 32
Si Po, Prince of Chou. 601
934
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
Six-legged monster, .leo
Sky-blue, 136, 369, 370, 37o, 524, 528
Slip decoration in partial relief, 364;
illustrated in Fig. 66
Slop-bowls, 238
Smith, Major Murdoch, 605
Smithsonian Institution, 8
Snake-skin green, 72
Snuff-bottles, 503; originall3' for med-
icines, 503; illustrated, Figs. 12, 23,
25, 32, 48, 64, 65, 91, 102, 135, 179,
' 199. 269, 272, 281, 286, 288-292, 295,
296, 300, 301, 305, 311, 317, 327, 330,
331, 334-337, 340, 344, 345, 347, 350,
351, 353, 412, Plate XXXVII
So (rhinoceros), 152
Sodom and Gomorrah, destruction of,
661
"Soft glaze," 320
"Soft-paste" class, 320; examples of.
Fig. 276, Plate LXVIII
Soft porcelain of Chelsea, 320
Sokuan, 755
Solar bird, 109
Solar zodiac, animals of, 562
Soleyraan, Arab traveler, 23
Sometsuke, 34, 687, 729, 743
Soniu, 704
Souffles, 289, 313, 410, 518; blue, 347,
377, 542; examples in. Fig. 260,
Plate XVIII; red, 340, 347, 360,
377, 408; examples, Figs. 250, 259
South Kensington ]\Iuseum, 5, 605, 699
Special designs for the European
market, 609
Sphere, one of the pa pao, 119
Spider-mark, 98
Spinning damsel, 468
Spring and Autvmn Annuls, 641
Square seal, 70; vases, how made, 435
Sripada (Buddha's footprint), 114
Srivatsa, 112, 114
Ssu Chi Hua, 598
Ssii-chuan, 23, 127. 179, 180, 584
Ssu Fang Ch'ing Yen, 402
Ssii kan ts'ao t'ang, 79, 83
Ssu Ling of the Chinese, 591-594
Ssii-ma Ch'ien (the Herodotus of
China), 14, 565, 642
Ssu-ma-kuang's presence of mind as a
boy. 603
Ssii t'ai teng, 205
Ssu yao (private kilns), 76, 443
St. James, 403
St. Louis of France, 566
St. Thomas, 589
Stamboul, 454
"Starch-blue," 138, 437
Star-gods, 559
Star of longevity, 100
Statuettes of Kuan-yin, 354
Staunton, Sir George, 51
Steatite, 472; used in crackling. 510
Stellar divinities, 468
Stems, the ten, 51
Stone-blue, 221, 439
Stone-drums, 45
Stoneware, 13
Stork, the, 475, 595; symbol of longev-
ity, 117; aerial messenger of the
gods, 363
Su-ch'ien-hsien, 396
Su-chou, 140. 195
Sui ch'i, 509; tun, 510
Sui dynasty, 20, 454
Suinin, emperor, 29
Sui Shu, 20, 642
Sui yu (crackled glaze), 349
Suizuka, 760, 761
Sultan of Egypt, 149
Su-nia-li (or Su-ma-ni) blue, 11, 193
Sun, the horse-chariot of the, 113
Sun Ch'iian, 573
Sung Ching-lien, 84
Sung, chu, mei, 86, 117, 597
Sung dynasty, 3, 10, 38. 50, 79, 89. 92.
104, 109, 128-142, 143-155, 159-178,
183-187, 195, 203, 219, 255, 268. 273.
275, 278. 281. 318, 369-373, 436, 499.
508, 510. 515, 693; marks, 65,66; por-
celain, 165; crackles of, Plate XII;
painted decoration first referred to,
563; different wares of, 444; pieces
illustrated, Figs. 119, 122, 124, 125,
133, Plates XII, XCIV
Sung hsiang (turpentine), 264
Snng Shih, 130, 642
Sunkoroku, 678, 754
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
935
Su-ni-p'o blue, 193
Superititendents of imperial i)otleries,
72, 73, 86, 301
Sur-bificuit decoration, 31, etc.
Sur-decoration, 617, 619; an example in
Fig. 357
Su-ti (plain ground), 381
\^Su Tuug-p'o, 170
Svastika, 98, 114, 115, 121, 123. 765
" Swing-cups," 208
Symbolism of the colors, 491
Symbols, Buddhist, 106, 111; Taoist,
106, 115; of ancient Chinese lore, 106,
107; of victory, 560
Tabaku-bon, 695
Table services in Lung-ch'ing period,
235
Ta chi (great good fortune), 100
Ta Ch'in (Roman Empire), 454
Ta Ch'ing {gros bleu), 439
Ta Ch'ing (Great Pure dynasty), Chia-
cli'ing nien cliih, 75, 464, etc.; Ch'ien-
lung fang ku, 77; Ch'ien-lung nien
chill, 74, 416; K'ang-hsi nien chih,
72, 327, etc.; Kiiang hsii nien chih,
76; nien chih, 401; Shun chih nien
chih, 71; Tao-kuang nien chih, 75:
T'ung chi nien chih, 75; Yung-chgng
nien chih, 74, 363
Ta Ch'ing Hui Tien i'ou, 225
Ta Cn'ingyi T'ung Chih, 643
Tael, 137, 260, 264
Ta Hsiu, 195
T'ai-ch'ang, 67
Tai che Shih (antimony ore), 264, 265
T'ai-chi symbol, 473
T'al Kgng Wan, 225
Taiko Hideyoshi, 681, 720; same as
Taikosama, 704
Tai-kwa, 734
T'ai Miao, at Peking. 490
T'ai p'ing huan lo, 624
Tai pings, 75
T'ai p'ing yu hsing, 140, 474
T'ai-pHng yu Ian, 645
Tai Shan, 100
Tai-ting, 177
T'ai tsun, 225
T'ai-wu Lake, 219
Takara-mono, 757
Tukatori ware, 688, 726, 727; examples
of. Figs. 339. 383
Takemoto liayata, 37, 626, 697, 698
Ta-kuan glazes, 368
Ta lii {gros vert, or emerald-green), 139,
317
Tamago-yaki, 689
Tamba, 731
Tamerlane, 604
Tamikichi, 729
Ta Ming, Ch'eng hua nien chih, 68,
211; -yuan nien yi yu, 68; Cheng-
tS nien chih, 68; Chia-chiug liu nien
chih, 69, 223; nien chih, 70, 741;
Ch'ung-chen nien chih, 70, Hsilan-te
nien chih, 67, 194, 199, 201, 203, 205;
Hung chih nien chih, 68; Hung-wu
nien chih, 66; Lung-ch'ing nien chih,
69; T'ien-ch'i nien chih, 70; Wan-li
nien chih, 69, 242, 294; Yung-lo nien
chih, 191, 192
Tamo, 589, 627
Tamura Gonzayeraon, 759
Tan, 180
T'an (wine-jars), 43, 230, 238; (altar).
92; Chan (altar-cups), 222
Tanagra of Japan, 718
Tanaka, 737
T'ang (hall), 79, etc.; (soup), 476
T'ang dynasty, 10, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21,
26, 32, 50, 127, 129, 139, 278, 436, 561
T'ang Ping-chiin, 421
T'ang yao, its name traced, 302
T'ang Ying, 3, 73, 87, 93, 159, 273 \
294, 302. 305, 309, 361, 391, 401;
appointed superintendent of the im-
perial potteries, 279; his autobiog-
raphy, 393; commanded to write
description of twentj' illustrations of
porcelain-making found at Peking,
396; his journey to Peking, 420;
memoranda by, 398; his description
of the Twenty Illustrations translated,
420-462; his successors, 399; value of
bis work, 174; his writings on pot
tery, 663
J
936
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
T'ann Shu, 18, 642
T'an-jen (the Tranquil), 659
Tan kuei. 103
Tanniu, 704
T'ao (an ancient place name), 43; pot-
tery, 12, 13, 44, etc.
T'ao Ch'ang (porcelain manufactory),
644; Ch^ng (porcelain administra-
tion), 3
T'ao ch'eng shih yu k'ao, 398
T'ao ch'i, 686
Tao Chi Liio, 178,663
^'ao ch'ing (ceramic-blue), 439
T'ao cli'u (porcelain plinths), 277
Taoism, 106; its founder, 575; its first
great patron, 576
Taoist genii, 83, 115, 482; paradise,119,
578; symbols, 106, 115; temple at
Tungpa, 93; Triad, 577; shown in
Figs. 244, 325, Plate XXI; writers,
565; devices in old bronze, 563
T'ao-jSn (potters who work with the
wheel). 15, 431
Tao-kuang, 3, 48, 55, 75, 80, 84, 91, 95,
113, 466; poem by, 469; pieces illus-
trated. Figs. 38, 63, 73, 74, 311, 335,
Plate XXXVII; k6ng hsii nien chih,
62; yi ssu nien, Kuangyiit'ang chih,
90
Tao Shuo, 2, 130, 165, 189, 208, 226,
255, 405, 436, 454, 489, 495; its date,
author, and contents, 663, 665, 666
Tao-t'ai (intendant of circuit), 190, 294,
295
Tao Te Ching, 575
T'ao-tieh,137, 145, 406; shown in Figs.
274, 329
T'ao t'u, (porcelain earth), 260
T'ao Teh Tou Shuo, 663
T'ao yil, 21
T'ao Yuan-ming (a lover of chrysanthe-
mums), 104, 209, 598
Tartar dynasty, 293, 740
Ta Shih (the Arabs), 454
Ta shu fang chih, 88
Ta Sung Yuan fgng nien chih, 65
Ta T'ang (principal hall), 288
Tateno, 753, 754
Tatsumonji, 752
Tatsu no Kuchi, 752
Ta Ya Chai, 81
Tayasu Tokugawa, 720
Ta-yi potteries, 23, 127
Tazza-shaped cups, 171, 199, etc.
Tchang-ho, 18
Tching (= Chgn), explained, 283
Tching-hoa (= Ch'gng-hua), 299
Tch'in koue, 18
Tch'in-tcheou-fou (a department of
Ilonau), 18
Tea, its coming into general use in
China, 21; its introduction into Japan,
714; a clas.sical treatise on, 21, 655;
special works on, 655; ceremonies,
32; book on the utensils used in, 656;
adopted in Japan, 163, 681; their in-
fluence on Japanese pottery, 692;
utensils used in, 694; illustrated in
Plates CXIV, CXV
Teacups (ch'a pei), 141; (ou), 225, 228,
231, 237
Tea-dust glaze, 518
Tea-jars, 33; Japanese, Plates CXIV,
CXV
Teapots, 275, 696; Chinese works on,
656
Teaspoons of porcelain, 506
Tea-tasters, 163
Technical processes, 508
Teclinique during the Ming period,
260-275
Te-hua (in Fuchien), 164, 184, 276,
534, 627, 631
Tg hua ch'ang ch'un, 96
Tembio, 731
Temple of Confucius at Peking, 45; of
Land and Grain, ritual vessels of,
492; of the patron god of potters, 461
Tempo, 755, 761
Teng (lamp), 153, 161, 490
Tensho, 703
Terra-cotta, 12, 43, 638
Terrien de Lacouperie, 25
Tezukune, 704
Themes illustrated in decoration, 600,
601
Thieves, god of, 583
Thirteen li Mart, 281
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. — INDEX.
937
Thousand-character classic, 215
Three ancient dynasties, 14, 15, 56
Three color decoration, 324, 483
Three fruits, the, 596
Three kingdoms, the, 56, 573
Three-legged bird, 109; toad, 110, 583
Three Rituals, 640
Thumb-guards of porcelain, 505
Tibet, Buddhism in, 585
Tibetans, their favorite deity, 588
Tieh (saucer plates), 224, 228, 229, 306,
475
T'ieh-hsiu, technique of, 406; Plate
XIX
T'ieh-hsiu-hua, 519
Tieh t'o (saucer), 141
T'ien-ch'i, 70, 157, 258; porcelain of,
258, 259
T'ien-ch'ing, Plates LXXIV
Tien Hou (Queen of Heaven), 583
T'ien hsia t'ai p'ing, Ssvi fang hsiang
ts'ao, 247
T'ien-Kua Hu, 210
T'ien kuan tz'u fu, 100
T'ien kung k'ai tmi, 273, 623; its con-
tents, 658
T'ien-lan (sky-blue), 370
Tien mao fang chih, 84
T'ien pai (pure white), 268, 316, 385; yu,
479
T'ien-pao, IS, 139
T'ien-shun, 64, 206
T'ien ti yi chia ch'un, 81
Tientsin, 190, 279
T'ien tzii Kuan, 258
Tiger, the Chinese, 591; the white, 560
Tiger-skin glaze, 317
Timur the Mongol, 604
Ting, 490; (a cake of ink), 125; (fixed,
immovable), 87; (incense-burner), 139,
143, 145, 214; (sacrificial vessels), 273
T'ing (a summer-house), 79
Ting chou, 129, 136, 142, 146, 162, 165,
268; potteries at, 257; closing of, 625;
porcelain, 79-173, 184, 273, 533; imi-
tations of, 185, 273, 318
Ting-ch'ou (a cyclical year), 207
Ting-hsiang (the Syringa sinensis), 599
Ting ssu (a cyclical year), 466
Ting yao, 127, 133, 136, 142, 143, 160,
164, 176, 448, 625
Ti p'ing (ground vases), 502
Toad, the three-legged, 110, 583
Tobacco-plant, its introduction into
China, 503
Tobei, 752
T'o-chih (supporting twigs), 673
To-da-kichi-hei, 99
To-ichi, 754
Tojin-machi, 735
Toju, 754
Tokaido, 682
Toki (pottery), 686
Tokio, Tokyo, 27, etc.; porcelain, Plate
XCVI
Tokitsu, 754
Tokonoma, 695
Tokugawa family, 746
Tokuri, 742, 756
Tokuzayemon, 674
Tones in Chinese, 44
Topography, Chinese works on, 643
Tortoise (emblem of longevity), 117; a
full account of, 594; -shell, 520
Toshiaki, 759
Toshiharu, 759
Tosliima Tokuzayemon, 737
Toshiro, 32, 714; his influence on Japa-
nese ceramics, 692; his tea-bowls,
725
To-t'ai tz'u (eggshell porcelain), 192
Tou ch'ing, 234, 360; -yu, 264; illus-
trated in Plate XL
Tou li pei, 200
T'ou shou chi ch'eng, 273
Tou, the twelve, 491
Toyosuke ware, 730
Trade of China, 23; with Africa and
Arabia, 504
Transliteration of Chinese, 44
Traite des Arts Ceramiqites, 324
Transmutation colors, 130, 516; glazes,
37, 157, 407, 516, etc.; pieces illus-
trated. Figs. 27, 118, 137, 140, 165,
270; Plates XVI, XLVI, L, LI,
LXXXVII
Tree-peony (emblem of riches and
rank), 126, etc.
938
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
Trenchard, Sir Thomas, 606
Tressaillure, 447
Trevor, Thomas, 381
True porcelain of Japan, 689
Truite, truitee, 315, 327, 447, etc.
Trigrams, the eight, 106, 107, etc.
Tripod cen.ser, 139, 145, etc.
Tsa llua (miscellaneous designs), 570
Ts'ai chin (painting in gold), 328
Ts'ai Chin-ch'ing, 287, 470
Tsai cli'uan chih lo, 102
Ts'ai Ilsiaug, 170
Ts'ai hua (decoration in colors), 289
Ts'ai Hung (printing in red), 327, 383
Ts'ai jun t'ang chih, 88
Ts'ai shui-mo (painting in black), 383
Ts'ai tieh (food-dishes), 226
Tsang-pa (Zanzibar), 10, 148
Ts'ang T'ing-feng, 178
Ts'ang Yao, its name traced, 302; de-
scribed, 306
Ts'ang Ying-hsiian, 72, 302; superin-
tendent of imperial factory, 305;
glazes invented by, 372
Ts'ao (grass), 110; shu (grass hand), 46
Tsao Ch'ao, 650, 681
Tsao-fan (green vitriol), 341
Ts'ao Fu, 591
Ts'ao Kuo-cli'iu, an account of, 580
Tsao-p'ing, 493
Tsao-'rh hung, 408
Ts'ao Ts'ao, 573
Tsao t'ang (decoction of jujubes), 92,
222
Tsgng (a hand-organ), 353, 578
Tseng Kuo-fan, 470
Tsiu (misprint for ts'ui), 343
Tso-tsun, 499
Tsou family of potters, 195
Tsubo, 702
Tsuchiyaki, 687
Ts'u chui (vinegar-cruse), 226
Tsii Erh Chi, 44
Ts'ui ch'ing se (turquoise-blue), 226
Ts'ui lu, 226
Ts'ui se (turquoise), 409; -yu (glaze)
265
Tsuji Katsuzo, 739
Tsuji Kizayemon, 738
Tsun (jar), 144, 153, 160, 171, 435, 489;
(sacrjficial vase), 43, 394; (beaker-
shaped vases), 306
Ts'ung-cheng, 92
Ts'ung lii (onion-green), 129
Tsung-tu (governor general), 301
Tsung Yi (temple vessels), 110
Ts'u ti (vinegar-ewers), 238
Tu the poet, 23, 169
T'u (earth), 142
Tuan T'ing-kuei appointed superin-
tendent, 287
Tu Chiu-ju, 274
Tu-hsia (finished ca.ses), 429
Tui Ch'i (embossed pieces'), 268
Tui hua (embossed designs), 382, 389
T'u-mao chan, 170
T'u-mao-hua Ch'a-ou, 169
Tumed banners, 95; prince, 113
T'u-mi (Rosa rugosa), 599
T'ung-chih (sub-prefect), 279; (em-
peror), 61, 62, 75, 87, 469; list of
articles requisitioned by, 470-483
Tung-ch'ing (wintergreen), 156, 372,
480, etc.
Tung-ch'ing yao, 129, 136, 156; Plate
XXXVIII
T'ungchou (city near Peking), 93
Tung Fang So (a Taoist saint), 360;
his theft of the sacred peach, 582;
shown in Figs. 250, 333
T'ung h.sin fang sheng, 120
T'ung hua p'ien (oxide of copper), 345
T'ung kuan (cylindrical jars), 195
Tung-li garden, 104
Tungpa (a town near Peking), 93
Tung Wang Fu, 561
Tung Yang J6n, 390
Tung Yang Ts'ai, 673
Turning, tools used in, 448
Turquoi.se-blue, 131, 226, 315, 409;
glazes, 265, 376; pieces illustrated,
Figs. 1, 8, 20, 31-33, 40, 76, 110, 115,
127, 139, 148, 158. 163, 170, 174, 189,
192, 217, 238; Plates XLIV, XLV.
LXXV, LXXXIV, XCIII
Tushita heaven, 588 '
T'u ting, 142, 370; ware, 257, 533, Fig.
177
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART.
-INDEX.
939
Tu Yu (an early poet), 656
Twelve Brandies, 51; Cbang, 109
Twenty-four dynasties, 56, 57; Para-
gons of Filial Piety, 603
Twin Merry Genii, 1G5, 583; Fig. 346
Tz'u (porcelain), 12, 20, 21, 43, 44. 686,
etc.; -clien (porcelain pillow), 169
Tzu (puri)le), 145, etc.; -chin (dead-
leaf tint), 226, 313, 348, 349; -yu, 264
Tzu-chlng, 134
Tz'u-chou, 127, 130, 162, 164, 165, 625,
678
Tz'u-en-ssu (temple at Peking), 209
Tz'u shlii-t'ang, 181
Tz'u shu ko, 79
Tzu tz'u fang cbih, 85
Tz'u yao, 164
Tzu ylng slilli, 479
U
TJndeciphered marks, 103
Underglaze colors, 326, 386, 442, 469;
decoration described by P^re d'En-
trecolles, 351
Unicorn, the Chinese, 594; the spotted,
560
Universal Monarch, one of the symbols
of the, 120
Uranoscope, 561
trna, 733, 747, etc.
Ushnlsba, 733, 747
Uten.slls of Sung porcelain, 128
Vajra Buddha, 727
Van Aalst, J. A., 109
Van Neck, at Batavla, 607
Vases, 237, 434; different kinds of, 180
(fang liu), 140; (hu), 151; (ch'i). 162
(ku), 137; (p'lng), 160; (tsun), 146
the manufacture and forms described
by T'ang Ylng, 434, 443; history of,
book on the, 680, 681; for cut flowers,
495; ecclesiastical, illustrated in
Plate XX
Veranda plaques, 71
Vermilion, 161; pencil, 402
Vert passe, 553
Victor}' or success, a .symbol of, 120
Viellles qualltes du Japon, 708
Vieux truite, 710
Vinegar-ewers, 238
Violet d'eveque, 554
Virgin Mother on porcelain, 403
Vlssage (screwing), 433
Vitex-blue, 136, 137
Vogt, M., 6, 290, 446
Vows of the Chinese, 98
W
Waddell, Dr. L. A., 585
Wade, Sir Thomas, 44
Wakal, M., 720
Wall-gazing Brahman, 589
Wan (bowls), 43, 180. 206, 224, 306, etc. ;
(" 10,000"), 98
Wan ku ch'aug ch'un, Ssii hal lai ch'ao,
247
Wanll, 36, 69, 70, 71, 89, 96. 101, 143,
189, 209, 222, 234, 239, 240, 242, 257.
260, 262, 268, 270, 273. 274, 287, 436,
443, 462, 503; decoration in colors,
239; mark often copied by the
Japanese, 36; porcelain, 239-257;
copies of, 378; pieces Illustrated, Figs.
18, 106, 153, 167, 173, 174, 38(a), etc.;
Plate LXXII; -nien ts'ai. 96; wu
ts'al, 193, 326
Wan shlh chii, 103
Wan Shou (" myriad ages"). 99; shan,
638; wu Chiang, 99, 481
Wan yu, 101
Wang-Chi, scenes from the legend of,
628
Wang Ch'iao (the philosopher Prince),
583
Wang Chlng-mln, 241
Wang Fu, 648
Wang Hsl Chili, 602
Wang-Jlh tsao, 295
Wang Mang, the usurper. 56
Wang Sun-chl, 211
Warhara. Archbishop, 149; his cup,
606
Watano Kichiji. 762
940
ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART. INDEX.
Water-droppers, 167, 173
Watered blue, 267
Water-fairy flower, 475, 599, etc.
Watering pot (hua cliiao), 169
Watermelou Island, 281
Water-pot or receptacle (shui ch'gng),
140, 146, 151, 155, 159, 167, 173;
(hu), 167
" Wa-wa cups," 209
Wedded bliss, special emblem of, 95
Wedding-cups, 170, 207
Wei Ch'u, 23
Wei dynasty, 133
Wen chang shan tou, 100
Wgn Chang Ti Cliiln, 574
Wgn Chgn-heng, 172
Wgnchou-fu, 624
Wen Fang ssu K'ao, 421, 456, 654
Wen fan ssu p'u, 654
Wgng, 43, 450
WSn T'ien-hsiang, 162
Wgn Wang, 107, 143
W6n Wei-chung, 215
W6n yil pao ting, 101
"Western Buddha," 82
Weston, Stephen, 51
Weymouth, 606
Wheel of the law, 563
Whistler's illustrations of Blue and
White, 323
White, the color of .Jupiter, 492; carp,
560; charcoal, 264; deer, story of
the, 560; crane of Wang Ch'iao, 583;
enamel colors, 552; glazes, 267, 318,
319; Hirado porcelain, 746; -Horse
Monastery, 585; Lady, 570, 571; white
porcelain, 226, 232; of Ch'ien-lung,
408; of Fuchien, 623; of Hsing-chou,
22; of Ching-tg-chgn, 630; of Tg-hua,
276; of Yung-lo, 191; pieces illus-
trated. Figs. 18, 36, 37, 55, 104, 135,
138, 147, 151, 172, 177, 180, 218, 219,
222, 243, 246, 251, 252, 256, 264-267,
275, 277, 278, 302, 303, 310, 319, 322,
354, 371-373, Plate XC; slip decora-
tion, 341, 523; Ting-chou-ware, 370;
Umbrella, Lord of the, 112; unglazed
porcelain of Tao-kuang, 469
Whitney, Prof. W. D., 562
Williams, S. W., 632
v/Wine-cups, 43, 185, 227, 232, 236, etc.
Wine-jar (tsun), 171
Wine-pots, 185; (chia), 146; (yu), 153;
(hu), 160, etc.
V Winter-blossoming plum, 597
Wistaria sinensis, 82
Wonder-working jewels, 114
Wool kerchiefs of the Kitans, 568
Wrapping and packing porcelain,
described by T'ang Ying, 458
Writers and Painters, Cyclopmdia of,
647
Writing, Chinese, 42
Writing-table, articles for, 494, 695
Wu Chgu-hsien, 89
Wu chin (metallic black), 313; (black
porcelain), 347
Wu f6ng grh nien, 558
Wu fu (five happinesses), 91, 322, etc.
Wu-hsing, 204
Wu k'o (a Buddhist monk), 104
Wu kung (sets of five), 491
Wu-mgu, 205, 214; -t'o, 261
Wu-raing-yi (cobalt-blue), 10, 130, 439
Wu San-kuei, 41, 71, 287, 293, 305
Wu-shg (sets of five), 501
Wu-sung, 213
Wu Tai (five dynasties), 57
Wu tg, 18
Wu Ti (five rulers), 55; (emperor), 565
Wu ts'ai (five colors), 35, 201, 270, 325,
329, 687, etc.; piece decorated in.
Fig. 228
Wu Wang, 14, 26, 560
Wu-yuan-hsien, 261
Wu Yueh, 436
X
Xavier, Francis, 750
Yaki (= yao), 687
Yakimono, 687
Yamamoto, 752
Yamashiro, 761
Yamato, 30
ORIENTAL CERA^lIC ART. INDl X.
941
Yang-chiang-hsien, 13; ;i center of the
manufacture of Kuang yao, 633
Yang ho fang chih, 88
Yang-hsien (an old name of Yi-hsing),
635; teapots, 656
Yang-hsien ming hit, hsi, 635, 656
Yang-hsin-tien, 93, 393, 420
Yang ts'ai (foreign colors), 388, 390,
404, 611
Yangtsii, 190, 279
Yang tz'u (foreign porcelain), 456, 611
Yao (Chinese emperor), 14, 25, 27, 44,
56; his filial piety, 601; and Shun,
ceramic relics of, 558; (jar), 43;
(pottery, etc.), 43, 302, 357, etc.
Yao-pien, 37, 130, 131, 219, 220, 370,
514, etc.; glazes, 407: examples of.
Plates XVI, XLVI, LXXXVIII
/Yao p'ing, 503
Ya pai (ivory-white), 552 (compare
F6n-ting).
Yatsushiro faience, 682
Ya Wan (literary toy), 48, 101
Year-star of the Chinese, 226
Yedo, 717
Yeiraku, 38, 697, 718, 762
Yei-sho, 726
Yellow, the imperial color, 491;
enamels, 217; glaze used in the Ming
period, 553; variegated, 317; of the
muffle stove, 553; Banner, 301; River,
107, 279, 574
Yen (ink-pallet), 140, 166, 202, etc.
Yen-chih ho (rouge-box), 212
Yen-chih hung, 408, 511
Yen-hsiao (niter crystals), 264
Yen shan (brush-rest), 140, 155, etc.
Yen-shui ti, 251
Yen Yu Shan, 48
Yi (sacrificial vessel), 44, 204, 435, 490
Yi, princes of, 132, 309
Ti Ching, 108, 640
Yi Ch'ou (second of the cycle of sixty),
55
Yi-hsing (hsien), 13, 135, 158, 218, 220,
273, 274, 374; -ware, 374, 635, 636
Ti Li, 640
Yi Lu, 197
Yi-mao (a cyclical year), 394
Yin (dynasty), 50; (darkne.ss), 107;
(seals), 168
Yin Ch'ih, 173
Ying (a cruse), 43
Ying-shua, 115
Ying ts'ai (hard colors), 550
Ying Tsung, 64
Yin-sg-Ch'ih, 168
Yin Weng (the silver jar), 560
Yin-yang (symbol), 106, 247, 472; showu
in Fig. 197 and Plate XXIII
Yi-ssu, 91
Yi yli fang chih, 78, 82
Yokohama, 388; school of ceramists, 36
Yokoishi Toshichibei, 743
Yorakude, 764
Yoshidaya Hachiyemon, 761 ; -yaki,
761
Yoshihiro, 752, 753
Yoshimasa, 681
Yu (wine-jars), 156, 490; (glaze), passim
Yil (emperor), 56; (jade), 43, 101, 321,
etc.; (basins), 43, 306; (bowls with
lips), 186; (fish), 112, 125, etc. (= yu,
abundance, prosperity); (imperial), 76
Yuan dynasty, 66, 92, 128, 133, 135,
143, 154, 163, 185, 187, 188, 205, 604;
blue and white of, 564; crackle, 508;
marks, 65; porcelain, 178-188; porce-
lain-making, 627; pieces illustrated.
Figs. 3, 141
Yuan (= laon, Greeks), 565
Yuan, the three (brothers), 496
Yuan ch'i (round ware), 288, 430. 435
Yuan fgng, 65
Yuan Hung-tao, 496, 497
Yuan-kuang, 16
Yuan-Ming Yuen, 638
Yuan tz'ii, 187
Yuau wen wu kuo chih chai, 90
Yu-chang, 206
Til Chang ta shih chi, 206, 644
Yli chSn, 101
Yil Ch'i Ch'ang (imperial manufactory),
190, 216. 281, 287
Yu cli'ing (pale green), 161
Yueh (the moon), 87, 110
Yueh-chou, 22, 127; cups, 22, 624
Yueh hsia pai (moonlight-white), 161
942
OF lENTAL CERAMIC ART.
-INDEX.
Yueh-ltio. 110
yy Yueh pai (moou-white), 7, 129, 136. 139,
310, 860; illustrated in Plate LI
Yueh porcelain, 50
Yuhgng, 19
Yu lisin cli'ou nien chih, 62
Yii Im cli'un, 472, 473
Yu-hung, 423
Yu-kan-hsien, 261, 424
Yu-kang (flsh-bowls), 224, 295
Yu Ku, 115
Yu ku ch'i, 40
Yu-kuo (glaze fruit), 427; t'ien ch'ing,
369
Yu lai (coming friends), 94
Yii Ian (the magnolia yu Ian), 126, 210,
599
Yu-li-liung (red in the glaze), 340, 346,
386, 537
Yu lil (kiln-transmuted green), 310
Yung-chgng, 73, 79, 87, 128, 159, 279,
309, 332, 391, 397, 399, 401, 407, 414,
462; a special patron of tlie ceramic
art, 365; porcelain, 359-366; clair de
lune, 375; official list of colors of the
period, 367; characteristics of, 391;
with embossed designs, 382; in under-
cut relief, 389; with engraved designs,
382; decorated in red, 883, 386, 466;
with the five colors on monoclirome
yellow, 387; enameling in the Euro-
pean style, 383, 389; silvered, 383;
painting in colors in European style,
388; in gold, 390; in silver, 390;
copies of various glazes, colors, and
periods, 878, 879, 381, 385, 388; re-
productions in the period, 871, 873,
384; rice-colored glaze, 386; tur-
quoise, 376; pieces illustrated. Figs.
28, 38, 68, 72, 101, 116, 126, 180, 147,
179, 249, 252, 258, 262, 275, 288, 295,
382; Plates, XX. XXI, XXXVIII,
XL, XLI, XLIII, XLVII, XLVIII,
LII, LXIII, LXV, LXVI, LXXXV,
LXXXVI; nien chih, 60; yu chih,
76
Yung ch'ing ch'ang ch'un, 81, 102
Yung-ch'un-chou, 627
Yung-ho-chgu, 162
Yung-lo, 11, 66, 92, 133, 135, 186, 187,
191, 277, 450, 534, 6U5; porcelain,
190; copies of, in Yung-chgng period,
378; piece illustrated. Fig. 70; nien
chih, 67
Yung-lo Ta Tie)i, 645
Yung pao ch'ang ch'un, 247
Yung pao ch'ang shou, ssu hai lai ch'ao,
251
Yung pao ch'ien k'un, 252
Yung pao hung fu ch'i t'ien, 244
Yung pao wan Shou, 248
Yung sheng, 102
Yun Hsiang Ko, 94
Yun-lo, 358
Yunnan, 193, 216, 298, 805
Yun-tieh (vegetable dishes), 225
Yii nil (jadelike girl), 113
Yuriaku, 30, 704
Yu-shan, 181
Yil-sheng, 560
Yu Shih T'ing, 287
Yu shui, 264, 267
Yii fang chia ch'i, 88
Yii fang fu kuei, 126
Yu T'ao Ling Ssii, 288
Yii-tzii (fish-roe), 509; huang (fish-roe
yellow), 410; lii, 409; w^n, (fish-roe
crackle), 409, 410; Plates XXVII,
LXXVIII
Yii Yao Ch'ang (imperial manufac-
tory), 287
Zanzibar, 148; Chinese trade with, 604
Zayton, Zeitoun, 184
Zenroku, 726
Zenshiro, 725
Zizyphus communis, 408
Zodiac, the twelve animals of the, 561
Zoroku, 705
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