Chapter XVIII: Forgeries and Imitations (3)

[264] See also Hippisley, _Catalogue_, p. 346, where another version is given which makes this Lang actually a Jesuit missionary, a version which Mr. Hippisley afterwards abandoned when research in the Jesuit records failed to discover any evidence for the statement.

[265] See p. 11.

[266] See p. 34.

[267] Op. cit., Section ix. The paragraph in the first letter runs: “Il y en a d’entièrement rouges, et parmi celles-là, les unes sont d’un rouge à l’huile, _yeou li hum_; les autres sont d’un rouge soufflé, _tschoui hum_ (_ch’ui hung_), et sont semées de petits points à peu près comme nos mignatures. Quand ces deux sortes d’ouvrages réüssissent dans leur perfection, ce qui est assez difficile, ils sont infiniment estimez et extrêmement chers.”

[268] There is a very beautiful glaze effect known as “ashes of roses,” which seems to be a partially fired-out _sang de bœuf_. It is a crackled glaze, translucent, and lightly tinged with a copper red which verges on maroon.

[269] The Emperor K’ang Hsi was specially concerned to encourage industry and art, and in 1680 he established a number of factories at Peking for the manufacture of enamels, glass, lacquer, etc. Père d’Entrecolles mentions that he also attempted to set up the manufacture of porcelain in the capital, but though he ordered workmen and materials to be brought from Ching-tê Chên for the purpose, the enterprise failed, possibly, as d’Entrecolles hints, owing to intrigues of the vested interests elsewhere.

[270] Bushell, op. cit., p. 3.

[271] Bk. v., fol. 11.

[272] [chch] lit. watered. This word has been rendered by some translators as “pale”; but probably it has merely the sense of “mixed with the (glaze) water,” i.e. a monochrome glaze. The recipe given in the _T’ao lu_ (see Julien) is incomplete, only mentioning “crystals of saltpetre and ferruginous earth (_fer ologiste terreux_).” Another _chiao_ which signifies “beautiful, delicate,” is applied to the Hung Chih yellow in Hsiang’s Album. See vol. ii., p. 28.

[273] Lit. “yellow distribute spots.” See, however, p. 190.

[274] See O. C. A., p. 317.

[275] The two letters were published in _Lettres édifiantes et curieuses_. They are reprinted as an appendix to Dr. Bushell’s translation of the _T’ao shuo_. They have been well translated by William Burton, in his _Porcelain_, Chap. ix.; Bushell gave a _précis_ of them in his O. C. A., Chap, xi., and Stanislas Julien quoted them extensively in his _Porcelaine Chinoise_.

[276] Père d’Entrecolles (second letter, section xii.) points out that the glaze used for the blue and white was considerably softer than that of the ordinary ware, and was fired in the more temperate parts of the kiln. The softening ingredient (which consisted chiefly of the ashes of a certain wood and lime burnt together) was added to the glaze material (_pai yu_) in a proportion of 1 to 7 for the blue and white as against 1 to 13 for the ordinary ware.

[277] On some of the large saucer-shaped dishes of this period the foot rim is unusually broad and channelled with a deep groove.

[278] See Bushell, _T’ao shuo_, op. cit., p. 192. It is tolerably clear that d’Entrecolles in this passage is giving a verbatim rendering of a Chinese description. The “flowers” is, no doubt, _hua_, and might be rendered “decoration” in the general sense, and the “water and the mountains” is, no doubt, _shan shui_, the current phrase for “landscape.”

[279] For the shape of the _ju-i_ head, see vol. i., p. 227.

[280] “Flaming silver candle lighting up rosy beauty,” a Ch’êng Hua design (see p. 25) but often found in K’ang Hsi porcelain, which usually has, by the way, the Ch’êng Hua mark to keep up the associations.

[281] For further notes on design, see chap. xvii.

[282] There is a small collection of these porcelains salved from the sea and presented to the British Museum by H. Adams in 1853; but there is no evidence to show which, if any, were on board the _Haarlem_.

[283] This design was copied on early Worcester blue and white porcelain.

[284] In spite of Bushell’s translation of a Ming passage which would lead one to think otherwise; see p. 40.

[285] See vol. i., p. 226.

[286] There are frequent allusions to the European trade in the letters of Père d’Entrecolles. In the first letter (Bushell, _T’ao shuo_, p. 191) a reference is made among moulded porcelains to “celles qui sont d’une figure bisarre, comme les animaux, les grotesques, les Idoles, les bustes que les Europeans ordonnent.” On p. 193: “Pour ce qui est des couleurs de la porcelaine, il y en a de toutes les sortes. On n’en voit gueres en Europe que de celle qui est d’un bleu vif sur un fond blanc. Je crois pourtant que nos Marchands y en ont apporté d’autres.” On p. 202, to explain the high price of the Chinese porcelain in Europe, we are told that for the porcelain for Europe new models, often very strange and difficult to manufacture, are constantly demanded, and as the porcelain was rejected for the smallest defect, these pieces were left on the potter’s hands, and, being un-Chinese in taste, were quite unsaleable. Naturally the potter demanded a high price for the successful pieces to cover his loss on the rejected.

On the other hand, we are told (p. 204) that the mandarins, recognising the inventive genius of the Europeans, sometimes asked him (d’Entrecolles) to procure new and curious designs, in order that they might have novelties to offer to the Emperor. But his converts entreated him not to get these designs, which were often very difficult to execute and led to all manner of ill-treatment of the unfortunate workmen.

On the same page we are told that the European merchants ordered large plaques for inlaying in furniture, but that the potters found it impossible to make any plaque larger than about a foot square. In the second letter (section x.), however, we learn that “this year (1722) they had accepted orders for designs which had hitherto been considered impossible, viz. for urns (_urnes_) 3 feet and more high, with a cover which rose in pyramidal form to an additional foot. They were made in three pieces, so skilfully joined that the seams were not visible, and out of twenty-five made only eight had been successful. These objects were ordered by the Canton merchants, who deal with the Europeans; for in China people are not interested in porcelain which entails such great cost.”

[287] This defect is noticed by Père d’Entrecolles, who mentions another remedy used by the Chinese potters. They applied, he tells us in section ii. of the second letter, a preparation of bamboo ashes mixed with glazing material to the edges of the plate before the glazing proper. This was supposed to have the desired effect without impairing the whiteness of the porcelain.

[288] See p. 74.

[289] Second letter, section iv.

[290] See Bushell, O. C. A., p. 320.

[291] See p. 201.

[292] The use of crackle glaze over blue (_porcelaine toute azurée_) is noted by Père d’Entrecolles in his first letter. See Bushell, op. cit., p. 195.

[293] See Bushell, _T’ao shuo_, p. 197.

[294] A somewhat similar but clumsier decoration was the “scratched blue” of the Staffordshire salt glaze made about 1750.

[295] On exceptional examples the red seems to have turned almost black, and in some cases it seems to have penetrated the glaze and turned brown.

[296] A similar combination of coloured glazes was effectively used on the moulded porcelains of the Japanese Hirado factory.

[297] See pp. 48 and 100.

[298] Loc. cit., second letter, section xiv.

[299] Apparently _huang lü huan_, yellow and green (?) circles. But without the Chinese characters it is impossible to say which _huan_ is intended. The description seems to apply to the “tiger skin” ware, where yellow, green and aubergine glazes have been applied in large patches. Bushell (_O. C. A._, p. 331) makes this expression refer to the specimens with engraved designs in colour contrasting with the surrounding ground, such as Fig. 1 of Plate 79; but this does not seem to suit the word _huan_.

[300] Loc. cit., section xiv.

[301] See footnote on p. 89.

[302] The same technique is employed on some of the Japanese Kaga wares.

[303] Apparently derived from manganese.

[304] See p. 80.

[305] Another favourite form is the ovoid beaker (see Plate 101), which is sometimes called the _yen yen_ vase, apparently from _yen_, beautiful. But I only have this name on hearsay, and it is perhaps merely a trader’s term.

[306] See p. 110.

[307] A lotus-shaped set in the Salting collection numbers thirteen sections.

[308] The underglaze blue almost invariably suffered in the subsequent firings which were necessary for the enamels, and, as we shall see, a different kind of glaze was used on the pure enamelled ware and on the blue and white.

[309] Apart from the cases in which the enamel colours were added to faulty specimens of blue and white to conceal defects.

[310] See p. 85.

[311] Op. cit., section vi. “Il n’y a, dit on, que vingt ans ou environ qu’on a trouvé le secret de peindre avec le _tsoui_ ou en violet et de dorer la porcelaine.” As far as the gilding is concerned, this statement is many centuries wrong. The _tsoui_ is no doubt the _ts’ui_, which is very vaguely described in section xii. (under the name _tsiu_) of the same letter. Here it is stated to have been compounded of a kind of stone, but the description of its treatment clearly shows that the material was really a coloured glass, which is, in fact, the basis of the violet blue enamel.

[312] Bushell, op. cit., p. 193.

[313] Loc. cit., p. 195.

[314] See d’Entrecolles, second letter, section xii.

[315] Burnt lime and wood ashes. See p. 92.

[316] Catalogue of the 1910 exhibition, No. 84.

[317] These seals are usually difficult to decipher, and the one in question might be read _shui shih chü_ (water and rock dwelling). This would be a matter of small importance did not the signature read by Bushell as _wan shih chü_ occur in the Pierpont Morgan Collection. Other instances in the same collection are _chu chü_ (bamboo retreat), _shih chü_ (rock retreat), and _chu shih chü_ (red rock retreat). The signature _chu chü_ also occurs on a dish in the Dresden collection.

[318] See p. 212.

[319] See p. 64.

[320] Cat., vol. i., p. 156.

[321] Similar bottles in the Drucker Collection have the “G” mark.

[322] _Fang tung yang_, “imitating the Eastern Sea” (i.e. Japan).

[323] The first specimens (according to Bushell, _O. C. A._, p. 309) to reach America came from the collection of the Prince of Yi, whose line was founded by the thirteenth son of the Emperor K’ang Hsi.

[324] The general reader will probably not be much concerned as to whether the peach bloom was produced by oxide of copper or by some other process. Having learnt the outward signs of the glaze, he will take the inner meaning of it for granted. Others, however, will be interested to know that practically all the features of the peach bloom glaze, the pink colour, the green ground and the russet brown spots can be produced by chrome tin fired at a high temperature. I have seen examples of these chrome tin pinks made by Mr. Mott at Doulton’s, which exhibit practically all the peculiarities of the Chinese peach bloom. It does not, of course, follow that the Chinese used the same methods or even had any knowledge of chrome tin. They may have arrived at the same results by entirely different methods, and the peach bloom tints developed on some of the painted underglaze copper reds point to the one which is generally believed to have been used; but the difference between these and the fully developed peach bloom is considerable, and though we have no definite evidence one way or the other, the possibilities of chrome tin cannot be overlooked.

[325] The form of this water pot is known (according to Bushell, _O. C. A._, p. 318) as the _T’ai-po tsun_, because it was designed after the traditional shape of the wine jar of Li T’ai-po, the celebrated T’ang poet. In its complete state it has a short neck with slightly spreading mouth.

[326] See p. 146.

[327] See p. 64.

[328] i.e. lead glass.

[329] _Chi_, lit. sky-clearing, and _chi ch’ing_ might be rendered “blue of the sky after rain.”

[330] There are some bowls and bottles in the Dresden collection with glazes of a pale luminous blue which are hard to parallel elsewhere.

[331] Loc. cit., section xvii. In another place (section iii.) we are told how the Chinese surrounded the ware with paper during the blowing operation, so as to catch and save all the precious material which fell wide of the porcelain.

[332] I cannot recall any example of the powder blue crackle which is here described.

[333] See Julien, p. 107.

[334] P. 170.

[335] Second letter, section xvii.

[336] The word “mazarine” has become naturalised in the English language. Goldsmith spoke of “gowns of mazarine blue edged with fur”; and “Ingoldsby” says the sky was “bright mazarine.” See R. L. Hobson, _Worcester Porcelain_, p. 101.

[337] See p. 99.

[338] See p. 102.

[339] These glazes generally have the appearance of being in two coats, and in some cases there actually seem to be two layers of crackle.

[340] See p. 125.

[341] i.e. the strong heavy types. Chinese literature speaks of thinner and more refined celadons of the Sung period, but few of these have come down to our day.

[342] Père d’Entrecolles fully describes these spurious celadons. See vol. i., p. 83.

[343] Second letter, section vii.

[344] The _T’ao lu_ (see Julien, p. 213) gives this recipe for the kind of celadon known as _Tung ch’ing_, and a similar prescription with a small percentage of blue added for the variety known as _Lung-ch’üan_.

[345] See Bushell, O. C. A., p. 316.

[346] See p. 147.

[347] There are some fine examples of orange yellow monochrome in the Peters Collection in New York. The colour was also used with success in the Ch’ien Lung period, the mark of which reign occurs on a good example in the Peters Collection.

[348] Bushell, _O. C. A._, Plates xxv. and lxxxiii.

[349] See Monkhouse, op. cit., fig. 22. The crackle on the mustard yellow glaze is usually small, but there is a fine specimen in the Peters Collection with large even crackle. Sometimes this yellow has a greenish tinge, and in a few instances it is combined with crackled green glaze.

[350] Second letter, section vi.

[351] See Père d’Entrecolles, second letter, section xiii.: “L’argent sur le vernis _tse kin (tzŭ chin_) a beaucoup d’éclat.”

[352] See p. 145.

[353] The blue of the cobalt is sometimes clearly visible in the fracture of the glaze; and in other cases the black has a decided tinge of brown.

[354] d’Entrecolles, loc. cit., section viii.: “Le noir éclatant ou le noir de miroir appellé _ou kim_” (_wu chin_).

[355] d’Entrecolles declares that it was the result of many experiments, apparently in his own time. See p. 194.

[356] Second letter, section xi.

[357] See M. Seymour de Ricci in the introduction to the _Catalogue of a Collection of Mounted Porcelain belonging to E. M. Hodgkins, Paris_, 1911, where much interesting information has been collected on the subject of French mounts and their designers. He quotes also from the _Livre-journal de Lazare Duvaux marchand-bijoutier ordinaire du Roy_ (1748–1758), which includes a list of objects mounted for Madame de Pompadour and others, giving the nature of the wares and the cost of the work.

[358] Persian, Indian, and occasionally even Chinese metal mounts are found on porcelain; and Mr. S. E. Kennedy has a fine enamelled vase of the K’ang Hsi period with spirited dragon handles of old Chinese bronze.

[359] White was also used in the worship of the Year Star (Jupiter). Other colours which have a ritual significance are _yellow_, used in the Ancestral Temple by the Emperor, and on the altars of the god of Agriculture and of the goddess of Silk; _blue_, in the Temple of Heaven and in the Temple of Land and Grain; and _red_, in the worship of the Sun.

[360] Brinkley has aptly described it as “snow-white oil.”

[361] Cf. Père d’Entrecolles, second letter, section xviii.: “(The designs) are first outlined with a graving-tool on the body of the vase, and afterwards lightly channelled around to give them relief. After this they are glazed.”

[362] See d’Entrecolles, loc. cit., sections iv. and v. After describing the preparation of the steatite (_hua shih_) by mixing it with water, he continues: “Then they dip a brush in the mixture and trace various designs on the porcelain, and when they are dry the glaze is applied. When the ware is fired, these designs emerge in a white which differs from that of the body. It is as though a faint mist had spread over the surface. The white from _hoa che_ (_hua shih_ or _steatite_) is called ivory white, _siam ya pe_ (_hsiang ya pai_).” In the next section he describes another material used for white painting under the glaze. This is _shih kao_, which has been identified with fibrous gypsum.

[363] See p. 74.

[364] First letter, Bushell, op. cit., p. 195.

[365] _O. C. A._, p. 533.

[366] _Ku chin t’u shu_, section xxxii., vol. 248, fol. 15. In this way, we are told, were produced (1) the thousandfold millet crackle and (2) the drab-brown (_ho_) cups. The colour of the latter was obtained by rubbing on a decoction of old tea leaves. The former is a name given to a glaze broken into “numerous small points.”

[367] See Bushell, _T’ao shuo_, loc. cit., p. 195.

[368] The _Tao lu_ (see Julien, p. 214) informs us that the _sui ch’i yu_ (crackle ware glaze) was made from briquettes formed of the natural rock of San-pao-p’êng. If highly refined this material produced small crackle; if less carefully refined, coarse crackle. In reference to _sui ch’i_ in an earlier part of the same work, we are told that the Sung potters mixed _hua shih_ with the glaze to produce crackle. _Hua shih_ is a material of the nature of steatite, and Bushell (_O. C. A._, p. 447) states that the Chinese potters mix powdered steatite with the glaze to make it crackle. It is, then, highly probable that the “white pebbles” of Père d’Entrecolles and the rock of San-pao-p’êng are the same material and of a steatitic nature.

[369] [chch 3]. Another name of this official, _Yen kung_, is mentioned in the _T’ao lu_, bk. v., fol. 11 verso.

[370] Situated at the junction of the Grand Canal and the Yangtze.

[371] Loc. cit.

[372] Silvering the entire surface (_mo yin_), as opposed to merely decorating with painted designs in silver (_miao yin_), appears to have been a novelty introduced by T’ang Ying.

[373] i.e. porcelain services painted with European coats of arms.

[374] See p. 215.

[375] See p. 225, Nos. 41 and 42.

[376] Cf. p. 25, where “high-flaming silver candle lighting up rosy beauty” is explained in this sense among the Ch’êng Hua designs.

[377] See p. 13.

[378] See p. 225, No. 45.

[379] See p. 224, Nos. 19 and 20.

[380] A beautiful example of a “stem-cup” in the Eumorfopoulos Collection, with three fishes on the exterior in underglaze red of brilliant quality and the Hsüan Tê mark inside the bowl, probably belongs to this class.

[381] See p. 148.

[382] See p. 225, No. 30.

[383] See p. 224, No. 26.

[384] See _Catalogue_ 300–303. “On each is a miniature group of the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove with an attendant bringing a jar of wine and flowers. The porcelain is so thin that the design, with all the details of colour, can be distinctly perceived from the inside.” It is only right to say that their learned possessor has catalogued them as genuine examples of the Ch’êng Hua period.

[385] See p. 224, No. 25.

[386] See p. 201.

[387] See p. 224, No. 27.

[388] See p. 225, No. 36.

[389] _T’ao shuo_, bk. i., fol. 15 verso.

[390] See p. 225, No. 49. _Fo-lang_, _fa-lang_, _fu-lang_, and _fa-lan_ are used indiscriminately by the Chinese in the sense of enamels on metal.

[391] In the _T’ao lu_, under the heading _Yang tz’ŭ_. It is a curious paradox that the Chinese called _famille rose_ porcelain _yang ts’ai_ (foreign colours) and the Canton enamels _yang tz’ŭ_ (foreign porcelain). See _Burlington Magazine_, December, 1912, “Note on Canton Enamels.”

[392] See pp. 224–226, Nos. 29, 37, 38, 49, 51, 53, and 54.

[393] Apart from the rose pinks which are derived from purple of cassius, i.e. precipitate of gold, and the opaque white derived from arsenic, the colouring agents of the _famille rose_ enamels are essentially the same as those of the _famille verte_. The colours themselves were brought to Ching-tê Chên in the form of lumps of coloured glass prepared at the Shantung glass works. These lumps were ground to a fine powder and mixed with a little white lead, and in some cases with sand (apparently potash was also used in some cases to modify the tones), and the powder was worked up for the painter’s use with turpentine, weak glue, or even with water. Cobaltiferous ore of manganese, oxide of copper, iron peroxide, and antimony were still the main colouring agents. The first produced the various shades of blue, violet, purple, and black; the second, the various greens; the third, coral or brick red; and the fourth, yellow of various shades. A little iron in the yellow gave the colour an orange tone.

The modifications of the green are more numerous. The pure binoxide of copper produced the shade used for distant mountains (_shan lü_), which could be converted into turquoise by the admixture of white. The ordinary leaf green was darkened by strengthening the lead element in the flux and made bluer by the introduction of potash in the mixture. Combined with yellow it gave an opaque yellowish green colour known as _ku lü_ (ancient green); and a very pale greenish white, the “moon white” of the enameller, was made by a tinge of green added to the arsenious white.

The carmine and crimson rose tints derived from the glass tinted with precipitate of gold, which was known as _yen chih hung_ (rouge red), were modified with white to produce the _fên hung_ or pale pink; and the same carmine was combined with white and deep blue to make the amaranth or blue lotus (_ch’ing lien_) colour.

The ordinary brick red (the _ta hung_ or _mo hung_) was derived from peroxide of iron mixed with a little glue to make it adhere, but depending on the glaze for any vitrification it could obtain. The addition of a plumbo-alcaline flux produced the more brilliant and glossy red of coral tint known as _tsao’rh hung_ (jujube red).

The dry, dull black derived from cobaltiferous manganese was converted into a glossy enamel by mixing with green. This is the _famille rose_ black as distinct from the black of the _famille verte_, which was formed by a layer of green washed over a layer of dull black on the porcelain itself.

There are, besides, numerous other shades, such as lavender, French grey, etc., obtained by cunning mixtures, and all these enamels were capable of use as monochromes in place of coloured glazes as well as for brushwork.

[394] Bushell, _Chinese Art_, vol. ii., fig. 61.

[395] _Histoire de la porcelaine_, pt. viii., fig. 3.

[396] These marks were discussed by Bushell in the _Burlington Magazine_, August and September, 1906. They are figured on vol. i., pp. 219 and 223.

[397] Quoted from a letter written to Sir Wollaston Franks by Mr. Arthur B. French, who visited Ching-tê Chên in 1882.

[398] Officially the reign of K’ang Hsi dates from 1662–1722, but he actually succeeded to the throne on the death of Shun Chih in 1661, so that his reign completed the cycle of sixty years in 1721.

[399] As Bushell has done in _Chinese Art_, vol. ii., p. 42.

[400] See “Note on Canton Enamels,” _Burlington Magazine_, December, 1912.

[401] See p. 225, No. 40.

[402] Op. cit., second letter, section xx.

[403] Nos. 39 and 55–57.

[404] _Miao_ is used in the sense of to “draw” a picture or design.

[405] Bushell, _O. C. A._, p. 400, explains how the studio name was formed by the common device of splitting up Hu [chch] into its component parts _ku_ [chch] and _yüeh_ [chch].

[406] From the Hippisley collection, _Catalogue_, p. 408.

[407] _Catalogue of Hippisley Collection_, p. 347.

[408] _Chinese Art_, vol. ii., fig. 74.

[409] See p. 224, Nos. 15–17.

[410] A recipe given in the _T’ao lu_ (bk. iii., fol. 12 verso) for the _lu chün_ glaze speaks of “crystals of nitre, rock crystal, and (?) cobaltiferous manganese (_liao_) mixed with ordinary glaze.” But apart from the uncertain rendering of _liao_ (which Bushell takes as _ch’ing liao_, i.e. the material used for blue painting), it is difficult to see how this composition, including the ordinary porcelain glaze, can have been fired in the muffle kiln.

[411] In the jujube red the iron oxide is mixed with the plumbo-alcaline flux of the enameller, whereas in the _mo hung_ it is simply made to adhere to the porcelain by means of glue, and depends for the silicates, which give it a vitreous appearance, on the glaze beneath it.

[412] _O. C. A._, p. 360.

[413] See p. 224, No. 18.

[414] See p. 225, No. 44.

[415] Op. cit., p. 67.

[416] _Catalogue_, K. 18.

[417] _Catalogue_, vol. i., p. 38. The colour has already been discussed in a note on p. 68 of vol. i. of this book.

[418] See vol. i., p. 68.

[419] See Bushell, _O. C. A._, p. 368

[420] The Chinese is _kua yu_ [chch 2], lit. hanging, suspended or applied glaze. The Yi-hsing stoneware was not usually glazed; hence the force of the epithet _kua_ applied.

[421] The gold-flecked turquoise has yet to be identified.

[422] Bushell says this is the sapphire blue (_pao shih lan_) of the period.

[423] [chch] mo, lit. “rubbed.” Bushell (_O. C. A._, p. 383) explains the term _mo hung_ as “applied to the process of painting the coral red monochrome derived from iron over the glaze with an ordinary brush.”

[424] Bushell takes this to be the lemon yellow enamel which was first used at this time.

[425] See p. 37.

[426] [chch 14] _yu t’ung yung hung yu hui hua chê, yu ch’ing yeh hung hua chê._ Bushell (_O. C. A._, p. 386) gives a slightly different application of this passage, but the meaning seems to be obviously that given above.

[427] This note is given by Bushell, apparently from the Chinese edition which he used; but it does not appear in the British Museum copy. It is, however, attached to the list as quoted in the _T’ao lu_.

[428] As already explained, _miao chin_ refers to gilt designs painted with a brush, and _mo chin_ to gilding covering the entire surface.

[429] _O. C. A._, p. 50.

[430] [chch 2]

[431] Translated by Bushell, _O. C. A._, p. 398.

[432] Bk. v., fol. 12.

[433] [chch 3], _yu hsin shih_, lit. “also he newly made.” This is undoubtedly the sense given by the Chinese original, and Julien renders it “il avait nouvellement mis en œuvre.” Bushell, on the other hand, translates: “He also made porcelain decorated with the various coloured glazes _newly invented_,” a reading which makes the word _chih_ do duty twice over, and leaves it doubtful whether T’ang was the inventor of these types of decoration or merely the user of them. Both the grammar and the balance of the sentences in the original are against this colourless rendering.

[434] See p. 192.

[435] _La Porcelaine Chinoise_, p. 216.

[436] See p. 225. “In the new copies of the Western style of painting in enamels (_hsi yang fa lang hua fa_), the landscapes and figure scenes, the flowering plants and birds are without exception of supernatural beauty.”

[437] See p. 209.

[438] P. 397.

[439] An interesting series of these bird’s egg glazes appearing, as they often do, on tiny vases was exhibited by his Excellency the Chinese Minister at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in November, 1913.

[440] There is a very old superstition in China that cracked or broken pottery is the abode of evil spirits. The modern collector abhors the cracked or damaged specimen for other reasons, and it is certain that such things would not be admitted to the Imperial collections. Many rare and interesting pieces which have come to Europe in the past will be found on examination to be more or less defective, and it is probable that we owe their presence chiefly to this circumstance.

[441] See Bushell’s translation, op. cit., p. 6.

[442] The _T’ao shuo_ was published in 1774.

[443] See vol. i., p. 119.

[444] See Julien, op. cit., p. 101, under the heading _lung kang yao_ (kilns for the dragon jars).

[445] The Chinese foot as at present standardised is about two inches longer than the English foot, and the Chinese inch is one-tenth of it.

[446] See p. 58.

[447] There are four examples of the large size of fish bowl in the Pierpont Morgan Collection, but they are of late Ming date.

[448] Possibly the tint named in the _T’ao shuo_ (Bushell, op. cit., p. 5). “They are coloured wax yellow, tea green, gold brown, or the tint of old Lama books,” in reference to incense burners of this period.

[449] Nos. 8, 9 and 11. See Bushell, _T’ao shuo_, op. cit., pp. 16–19.

[450] See p. 140.

[451] A plaque in the Bushell Collection with _famille verte_ painting has also a remarkably lustrous appearance, which I can only ascribe to excessive iridescence.

[452] See Bushell’s translation, op. cit. p. 20.

[453] Figured by L. Binyon, _Painting in the Far East_, first edition, Plate XIX. There is a fine vase of late Ming blue and white porcelain with this design in the Dresden collection.

[454] This green enamel is sometimes netted over with lines suggesting crackle studded with prunus blossoms. Possibly this is intended to recall both in colour and pattern the “plum blossom” crackle of the Sung Kuan yao; see vol. i., p. 61.

[455] _Shên tê t’ang_ and _ch’ing wei t’ang_. See vol. i., p. 220.

[456] See Burton and Hobson, Marks on _Pottery_ and _Porcelain_, p. 151.

[457] Op. cit., pp. 116–175.

[458] _T’ao shuo_, op. cit., pp. 7–30 and _O. C. A._, ch. xv.

[459] The Lowestoft factory started about 1752, but its earlier productions were almost entirely blue and white, often copied, like most of the contemporary blue and white from Chinese export wares.

[460] A curious instance of imitation of European ornament is a small bowl which I recently saw with openwork sides and medallions, apparently moulded from a glass cameo made by Tassie at the end of the eighteenth century; and there is a puzzle jug with openwork neck, copied from the well known Delft-ware model, in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.

[461] Rotterdam was captured by the Spaniards in 1572; but those who are interested in the anachronism of Chinese marks will observe that these plates have the date mark of the Ch’êng Hua period (1465–1487).

[462] See vol. i., p. 226.

[463] Op. cit., p. 207.

[464] An interesting example of an early eighteenth century service with European designs is the “trumpeter service,” of which several specimens may be seen in the Salting Collection. It has a design of trumpeters, or perhaps heralds, reserved in a black enamelled ground.

[465] One of these pieces, for instance, is a plate with arms of Sir John Lambert, who was created a baronet in 1711 and died in 1722. It has enamels of the transition kind.

[466] P. 209.

[467] The willow pattern is merely an English adaptation of the conventional Chinese landscape and river scene which occurs frequently on the export blue and white porcelain of the eighteenth century. That it represents any particular story is extremely improbable.

[468] Frank Falkner, _The Wood Family of Burslem_, p. 67.

[469] Another _chambrelan_ who flourished about the same time and who worked in the same style was C. F. de Wolfsbourg.

[470] _O. C. A.,_ p. 464.

[471] “The mountains are high, the rivers long.”

[472] See vol. i., p. 220.

[473] _Catalogue_, No. 367.

[474] Vol. i., p. 220.

[475] Hippisley Collection, _Catalogue_, No. 169.

[476] _O. C. A._, p. 469.

[477] This extravagant idea has been long ago exploded, and need not be rediscussed. See, however, Julien _Porcelaine Chinoise_, p. xix., and Medhurst, _Transactions of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society_, Hong Kong, 1853.

[478] _O. C. A._, p. 470.

[479] Bk. 93, fols. 13–15.

[480] _O. C. A._, pp. 474–83.

[481] Bushell applies the phrase _pan tzŭ_ to the bowls and renders it “of ring-like outline.”

[482] Bushell renders _ju-i_ in the general sense, “with words of happy augury”; it is, however, applied to ornaments of _ju-i_ staffs and to borders of _ju-i_ heads.

[483] See vol. i., p. 225.

[484] Bk. i., fols. 1 and 2; see Bushell, op. cit., pp. 3–6.

[485] This is a variety of the key pattern or Greek fret, which is of world-wide distribution.

[486] A less usual variety has the ovoid body actually surmounted by a beaker

[487] See Bushell, _O. C. A._, p. 797.

[488] See Bushell’s translation, op. cit., p. 4.

[489] See Bushell, _O. C. A.,_ p. 489.

[490] Among others is the “tantalus cup,” with a small tube in the bottom concealed by a figure of a man or smiling boy. When the water in the cup reaches the top of the tube it runs away from the base.

[491] Loc. cit., p. 204.

[492] The cup with handle was made in the tea services for the European market, but the handle is not, as has been sometimes asserted, a European addition to the cup. Cups with handles were made in China as early as the T’ang dynasty (see Plate 11, Fig. 2); but for both wine and tea drinking the Chinese seem to have preferred the handleless variety.

[493] When the names are known the incidents can usually be found in such works of reference as Mayers’ _Chinese Reader’s Manual_, Giles’s _Chinese Biographical Dictionary_, and Anderson’s Catalogue of Chinese and Japanese Pictures.

[494] Told in the _Shui Hu Chuan_; see _O. C. A._, p. 570, a note in Bushell’s excellent chapter on Chinese decorative motives, of which free use has been made here.

[495] A not uncommon subject is the meeting of a young horseman with a beautiful lady in a chariot, and it has been suggested that this may be the meeting of Ming Huang and Yang Kuei-fei; but the identification is quite conjectural.

[496] Another game, _hsiang ch’i_ (elephant checkers), is far nearer to our chess.

[497] A group of five old men similarly employed represents the _wu lao_ (the five old ones), the spirits of the five planets.

[498] Chang Kuo Lao, the Taoist Immortal, is also regarded as one of the gods of Literature; see p. 287.

[499] Vajrapani is one of the gods of the Four Quarters of the Heaven, who are guardians of Buddha. They are represented as ferocious looking warriors, sometimes stamping on prostrate demon-figures. As such they occur among the T’ang tomb statuettes, but they are not often represented on the later porcelains.

[500] The Kanzan and Jitoku of Japanese lore.

[501] See _Catalogue of the Pierpont Morgan Collection_, vol. i., p. 156.

[502] Indeed it is likely that the modern _ju-i_ head derives from the fungus. The _ju-i_ [chch 2] means “as you wish” or “according (_ju_) to your idea (_i_),” and the sceptre, which is made in all manner of materials such as wood, porcelain, lacquer, cloisonné enamel, etc., is a suitable gift for wedding or birthday. Its form is a slightly curved staff about 12 to 15 inches long, with a fungus-shaped head bent over like a hook. On the origin of the _ju-i_, see Laufer, _Jade_, p. 335.

[503] The Japanese Mt. Horai.

[504] See Hippisley, _Catalogue_, op. cit., p. 392.

[505] The Buddhist pearl or jewel, which grants every wish.

[506] See a rare silver cup depicting this legend, figured in the _Burlington Magazine_, December, 1912.

[507] See W. Perceval Yetts, _Symbolism in Chinese Art_, read before the China Society, January 8th, 1912, p. 3.

[508] Hippisley (op. cit., p. 368), speaking of the various dragons, says that “the distinction is not at present rigidly maintained, and the five-clawed dragon is met with embroidered on officers’ uniforms.”

[509] A dual creature, the _fêng_ being the male and the huang the female.

[510] See Laufer, _Jade_, pl. 43.

[511] See Laufer, _Jade_, p. 266.

[512] See Bushell, _Chinese Art_, vol. i., p. 111.

[513] See p. 300.

[514] They also symbolise the three friends, Confucius, Buddha, and Lao-tzŭ.

[515] _O. C. A._, p. 106.

[516] It is also used as a synonym for “embroidered,” and when it occurs as a mark on porcelain, it suggests the idea “richly decorated.”

[517] Also a symbol of conjugal felicity; and a rebus for _yü_, fertility or abundance.

[518] Having the same sound as _ch’ang_ (long).

[519] _O. C. A._, p. 119.

[520] A pair of open lozenges interlaced are read as a rebus _t’ung hsin fang shêng_ (union gives success); see Bushell, _O. C. A._, p. 120.

[521] Bushell, _O. C. A._, p. 521.

[522] See Hippisley, _Catalogue_ No. 381.

[523] _Ibid._

[524] _Ibid._, No. 388.

[525] _Ibid._

[526] See p. 299.

[527] See p. 258.

[528] See Anderson, op. cit., No. 747.

[529] Bk. viii., fol. 4, quoting the _Shih ch’ing jihcha_.

[530] See chap. xvii. of vol. i., which deals with marks.

[531] See p. 261.

Transcriber’s Notes:

1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been
corrected silently.

2. Superscripts are represented using the caret character, e.g.
D^r. or X^{xx}.

3. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have been retained as in the original.