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CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
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DESCRIPTION. OF VASE.
High-necked vase with melon-shaped body and double protuberance above. One of a pair. Formal handles on the neck in imitation of bamboo-work. ‘The body and protuberances decorated with bamboo stems having yellow and green reserves decorated with flowers and plants. The neck decorated with diaper pattern, yellow on green The flattened top ornamented with black and green triangle-work, .
Period, (Kang-he) 1662-1722.
CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
BY
J. F. BLACKER
AUTHOR OF THE “ABC OF COLLECTING OLD CHINA,” ETC.
ILLUSTRATED _
NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS 1908
(All rights reserved)
PREFACE
Ir there is one regret that accompanies the issue of these “Chats on Oriental China” it is that the illustrations could not be given in all the beauty of their magnificent colouring. In a photograph, however fine it may be, it is obvious that only the shape and the decoration can be given. Roughly speaking, the illustrations represent in its Ming and Kang-he specimens about 4100,000 in value. The pieces represented are the most admirable and the rarest. The reader is advised to bestow much atten- tion on the reading of the descriptions accompanying each picture. There is no form of instruction more valuable than this analysis, which forms the basis of the sale catalogues of the most vecherché collections. The collector who masters this book may betake himself to the museums with considerable confidence that he will be in a position to understand ; in fact, to read the pieces which he wishes to study. Take for example, the unique Salting Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington. To the ordinary visitor interested in porcelain the specimens present an exquisite, if embarrassing, assembly of choice pieces whose colour, decoration, and age cannot be grasped, they can only be admired. 5
6 PREFACE
The eye may be trained, but the understanding never. The absence of a catalogue handicaps and indeed baffles the amateur. But if the knowledge previously obtained is sufficient to enable him to master the subject, the style, form, and colour, nothing can give more pleasure than the investigation of such a collection which has been brought together at a vast expense of time, money, and knowledge. In the British Museum the descriptive labels are helpful.
In this book the reader will find some statements repeated perhaps over and over again. When we chat about anything we do repeat the points on which we want information, or in which we may be specially interested. The information is concise, so that, section by section, the range of Oriental porce- lain will pass before the student, the chief con- sideration which regulates the letterpress being the space at our disposal.
Naturally the labour bestowed on repression is considerable. When we consider the National Collections of England, France, and Germany alone we find material for many volumes. Perhaps of all the museums that of Limoges, where the Jacquemart and Gasnault collections are so well cared for, is one of the most instructive, and the lover of old Oriental could not do better than spend a holiday at this delightful old French town with the object of really learning what these two friends teach.
With regard to books of reference, all of the recognised authorities have been studied, especially the Jacquemart and Gasnault catalogues and de- scriptions, and the Pett Guzde Lllustre au Musée Guimet. The visitor to Paris should make a point of visiting this museum, so little known, so intensely
PREFACE 7
interesting, at the junction of the Rue Boissiére and the Avenue d’Iena. Its aim is to propagate a knowledge of the civilisation of the East, to facilitate the study of ancient historical religions largely by means of images, statuettes, or figures. There we see classified methodically, in chronological order, representations of the various divinities in which form and attitude both have a meaning. The specimens are old and rare. The catalogue of the Franks Collection is referred to in the various chapters. Formerly exhibited at the Bethnal Green Museum, the collection is now distributed in the British Museum, where the pieces may be recognised as having a printed description. The two volumes by the late W. G. Gulland are delightful and very helpful, and it was the privilege of the writer to have spent some hours in his company shortly before his lamented decease.
I owe sincere thanks to Mr. Edgar Gorer, of S. Gorer and Son, Bond Street, for his constant courtesy and his kindness in supplying most of the fine illustrations in the book, and for securing per- mission from other collectors to use their photo- graphs. And more than this, his practical knowledge has been put at my disposal in every way, and specially in reading the proofs. To Messrs. Duveen Brothers, of Bond Street, I am indebted for speci- mens specially noted. To other friends who have helped recognition is due, especially to Mr. C. H. McQueen, whose knowledge of Chinese porcelain has been altogether at my disposal.
The marks are those given in the Franks catalogue, in Mr. Gulland’s books, and in the Guimet Museum guide. The vastness of the subject here shortly treated may bring many collectors into touch with one another, and the author hopes that they will
8 PREFACE
avail themselves of the opportunity of using him as the medium for this intercommunication.
Finally, with regard to the illustrations and the lessons they teach, the reader will note that vases have been selected wherever this has been possible. Generally speaking the vase, being an ornamental and purely decorative object, has received from the Chinese potter that artistic—one is almost tempted to say that reverential—treatment which embodies all that is best in his ceramic art. For the rest, it may be that the mythological aspects of the Oriental decoration, its divinities and their attributes, have received unusual attention. The Buddhist faith, here feebly exposed, embodies the highest truths, and Taoism, the more popular religion, cannot be neglected by any student of Oriental porcelain. The Japanese section is not illustrated. Japanese collectors are keen in collecting old Chinese specimens. |
CONTENTS
PREFACE : . . ; . SECTION I CHINESE PORCELAIN CHAPTER I, INTRODUCTORY : ge HARD PASTE . . . “ .
III, RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY .
IV. A SKETCH SHOWING PORCELAIN CLASSED ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE COLOURS AND GLAZES.
Vv. THE FOUR CHIEF FABULOUS ANIMALS AND TWO GODDESSES ° - :
VI. A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF PORCELAIN. . : .
VIl. THE MING DYNASTY AND ITS PRODUCTS . VIII. THE TSING DYNASTY, KANG-HE PERIOD IX, THE YUNG-CHING PERIOD
Xx. THE KEEN-LUNG PERIOD
XI, MANDARIN PORCELAIN, YUNG-CHING PERIOD AND LATER
PAGE
21 29 35
43
51
131
10
CHAPTER XII.
XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII.
XIX.
XX. XXI.
XXII.
XXIII. XXIV. XXV.
XXXVI.
CONTENTS
KEA-KING, TAOU-KWANG, AND THE LATER EMPERORS .
CHINESE WHITE PORCELAIN
SINGLE OR SELF-COLOUR GLAZES : . CHINESE CRACKLE : .
BLUE AND OTHER COLOURS UNDER THE GLAZE CLOBBER WARE OR REDECORATED PORCELAIN RETICULATED PORCELAIN . . .
DECORATED WITH COLOURED ENAMELS ’
A. THE BLACK FAMILY—‘' FAMILLE NOIRE” B. THE GREEN FAMILY—‘* FAMILLE VERTE”
C. POWDERED AND MAZARINE BLUE WITH ENAMEL COLOURS
D. THE GREEN AND YELLOW FAMILY—*‘ FAMILLE JAUNE”
E. CORAL RED GROUND—‘“* ROUGE DE FER”
F. THE ROSE FAMILY—“ FAMILLE ROSE”
G. OTHER ENAMEL COLOURS
PORCELAIN OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY IMITATIONS OF ORIENTAL PORCELAIN .
SYMBOLICAL DESIGNS. .
A. EMBLEMS IN ANIMALS B. EMBLEMS IN TREES C. EMBLEMS IN FLOWERS
DATE MARKS ON ORIENTAL PORCELAIN ., SYMBOLICAL MARKS AND ORNAMENTS THE IMMORTALS OR CHENS . .
THE DRESDEN COLLECTION
PAGE
139 147 153 175 181
201 203
211
285 2g1
297
3°7 323 337 345
a
CONTENTS 11 SECTION II JAPANESE PORCELAIN AND POTTERY
CHAPTER PAGE XXVII, JAPANESE PORCELAIN AND POTTERY - 349 IMARI, ARITA, OR HIZEN HIRADO NABESHIMA
XXVIII SATSUMA. : ‘ : . oe KYOTO AWATA MARKS, FIRST SET
XXIX. BIZEN OR IMBE : ; : i (OF KUTANI KENZAN WARE YEIRAKU WARE
ys" Isa”, : ; ‘ ‘ 375 BANKO .SOMA SANDA SHEBA VARIOUS MARKS, SECOND SET
SECTION III
XXXI, SALE PRICES : : : + aes
INDEX . , 403
*
re
' ILLUSTRATIONS
VASE, IN PROPER COLOURS, KANG-HE
PAO-YUEH-KOUANG AND TIEN-KONG . THE DRAGON
THE TRUE KYLIN
THE COREAN LION . . THE HO-HO OR PH@NIX
KWAN-YIN, MING .
ANOTHER KWAN-YIN, MING . KWAN-YIN, WITH ATTENDANTS SI-WANG-MU . . OD-DPAG-MED AMITABHA OR AMIDA WAN CHONG, THE GOD OF THE LEARNED KUAN-TI, THE GOD OF WAR . WEN-TCHANG, THE GOD OF WISDOM . PIU-HWO, TAOIST GOD
HAN SEANG-TSE (2) AND CHANG KO-LAOU
BUDDHIST DIVINITIES (2) AND HAN CHUNG-LE .
THE TAOIST IMMORTALS (8) . : THE DOG OF BUDDHA OR COREAN LION. EMBLEMS IN BIRDS, PHEASANTS
WHITE PORCELAIN, KWAN-YIN . . 43
. Frontispiece
PAGE 40
54 55 56 57 60 63 ae OA 67 68 71 72 75 76
97 80
14
ILLUSTRATIONS
‘SANG DE BUF,” SELF-COLOUR. :
**CLAIRE DE LUNE” CRACKLE, SELF-COLOUR . :
TIGER SPOTTED OR SPLASHED GLAZE
PEACH BLOW, WITH WHITE AND CELADON
CRACKLE VASES, &C., MOUNTED IN ORMOLU
BLUE AND WHITE BEAKERS 3 DISHES AND COVERS : .
BLUE AND WHITE VASE; WATER EWER AND COVER
BLUE AND WHITE VASES, WITH LANGE-LYSEN .
BLUE AND WHITE GINGER JAR, OR OVIFORM VASE.
BLUE AND RED UNDER-GLAZE, CONICAL VASE .
RED UNDER-GLAZE, ENAMELS OVER-GLAZE, CYLINDRICAL VASE
RETICULATED INCENSE BURNER
RETICULATED VASE . .
BLACK
BLACK
BLACK
BLACK
BLACK
GREEN
GREEN
GREEN
GREEN
GREEN
GREEN
POWDERED-BLUE, DECORATION
POWDERED-BLUE,
FAMILY, FAMILY,
FAMILY,
FAMILY,
FAMILY, FAMILY, FAMILY, FAMILY, FAMILY,
FAMILY,
FAMILY,
PLATES
“FAMILLE NOIRE,’ TEAPOTS » + BOWL » 13 VASES, TAPERING SQUARE ay VASES, PEAR-SHAPED . ” VASES, TWO ‘*FAMILLE VERTE,” VASE, OVIFORM ” 2 LANTERN, EGG-SHELL a 5 VASES (3), SQUARE-SHAPED “ ss VASE, BEAKER- SHAPED
” ” HEXAGONAL, ARROW - STAND .
» ” VASE, GOURD-SHAPED
WITH ‘* FAMILLE VERTE,” AND BLUE
WITH ‘‘ FAMILLE VERTE,’”? DECORATION,
MAZARINE-BLUE, WITH ‘‘ FAMILLE ROSE,’’ DECORATION, VASES
GREEN AND YELLOW FAMILY, ‘‘FAMILLE JAUNE,” VASE, SQUARE-SHAPED . - i , : ‘
246
249 250
254
ILLUSTRATIONS 15
PAGE GREEN AND YELLOW FAMILY, ‘‘ FAMILLE JAUNE,” JARDINIERE . 257
CORAL RED, ‘‘ ROUGE DE FER,”’ VASE, CYLINDRICAL : 261 CORAL RED, a ae VASE, CYLINDRICAL . = 262 ROSE FAMILY, ‘‘ FAMILLE ROSE,’”’ RUBY-BACK PLATES, &C. . 266 EGG-SHELL, ‘* ROSE” ‘‘VERTE,” VASE . : . . 269 APPLE-GREEN GROUND, MING BISCUIT, TEAPOTS . : 273 APPLE-GREEN GROUND, LANG-YAO, VASES , F 2 294 DELICATE GREEN GROUND, VASE, GOURD-SHAPED . ; 277 DELICATE GREEN GROUND, VASES, KEA-KING . a . 278 AUBERGINE GROUND, VASES, FLAT-SHAPED . ; . 281 MANDARIN CHINA, VASES, CONICAL, EGG-SHELL : « 282 THE IMMORTALS: HAN CHUNG-LE; LEU TUNG-PIN . : 340
LE TEE-KWAE; TSAOU KWO-KIU : é s BAT
LAN TSAE-HO; CHANG KO-LAOU . : 342
HAN SEANG-TSZE; HO SEEN-KOO - 343 FIVE CLAWS; HO-HO BIRD. ; : ; . 354
DOG OF FO; THE KYLIN . ; : ‘ : - 355
che nln tes ie oe eh
Q sl S . <a a2 ] PERN Sek s Cl We arts wk ae ee ee eS
: oe “8
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The chief books referred to in this volume are :— FRANKS, Sir A. W. Bethnal Green Collection. Catalogue of Original Pottery and Porcelain. GULLAND, W.G. Chinese Porcelain. 2 vols. With Illustrations. The small Guide to the Musée Guimet. Paris.
GLOSSARY
Base. The solid support or bottom of any vessel either simple or ornamentally shaped.
Beaker. The Chinese beaker is a trumpet-shaped vase, having neither handle nor spout nor beak.
Biscuit. Porcelain unglazed, having no gloss.
Body. The part of a vase which corresponds with the body in the human figure. The shape may be simple, or two or more forms combined.
Bottle. A vase with spheroidal body, long neck and narrow mouth. The gourd-shaped Oriental bottle may be double, having three bodies diminishing from the bottom upwards.
Burnt-in. A term used to distinguish the painted from the enamelled porcelain, the first being burnt in with the glaze, the second having the colours laid over the glaze.
Celadon. The soft green colour upon pieces of old Oriental. See further in the section dealing with colours mixed with the glaze and burnt in at the first firing. European glaze is nearly always transparent and colourless.
China or Porcelain Paste is translucid, in pottery it is opaque.
) 17
18 GLOSSARY
Colours. Five colours :—green, yellow, aubergine, blue, and red. Three colours :—green, a curious shade ; yellow, varying from pale to bright ; aubergine, also varying in tone.
Egg-shell China first appeared in the Yung-lo period, and later it was as thin as bamboo paper. Under the Lung-king and Wan-leih emperors pure white porcelain of this kind was called “egg-shell.” In many pieces the paste is so thin as to appear to be only two layers of glaze.
Enamel, Mixed with a glassy composition were certain trans- parent or opaque colours which were used in over the glaze decoration. In pottery they are used in the glaze.
Fen-ting. Soft paste, or more correctly, soft glaze porcelain.
Figures, Figurines, Magots, Statuettes, are single, grouped, or attached as ornaments to a piece; such as the eight immortals, etc.
Forms. These are diversified. Cylindrical, globular or sphe- roidal, egg-shaped or ovoid; apple-shaped or pomiform, pear-shaped or pyriform ; cubical, hexagonal, etc.
Glaze. The composition used for coating porcelain or pottery. It literally means covering with glass or any vitrifiable sub- stance having similar properties.
Grand Feu. The kiln at its greatest heat in which the clays were acted upon so as to produce porcelain or pottery. The decoration was often fixed in the “ petit feu,’ or muffle kiln. The hard firing, when less than the maximum heat was required, was done in the “ demi-grand feu.”
Graviata. This name is given to patterns traced or cut on the porcelain or on the enamel.
“ Hundred Antiques.” A form of decoration, consisting of utensils, symbols, vases, &c., called ‘‘ po-ku.”
Kaolin. Porcelain or china clay, derived from the decomposition of granite rocks.
Kiln, “Grand feu” first baking, temperature about 4717° Fahrenheit. “Demi-grand feu” for fixing colours which could bear intense heat which were applied before glazing. More delicate enamel colours were applied for firing in the “ petit feu” or muffle kiln.
Mandarin. A term applied to Chinese porcelain decorated with a certain class of figure subjects.
Mice China has ornament, in high relief, of the branches, leaves, and fruit of the vine, with squirrels or foxes, so-called mice, also in relief. It is Mandarin eighteenth century as a rule.
Moulds. These are used for figures and for the various orna- ments which are fixed upon the piece.
Naga. This word translated means Dragon, which is dealt with under that name.
GLOSSARY 19
Neck. In the bottle, flagon, and flask, the neck is of different length and form. The throat may be narrow or wide, inclining inwards or outwards, or even perpendicular.
Ornaments. These are very varied. They may be in relief, reticulated, impressed, engraved in the paste ; or they may be arabesque, grotesque ; or they may be lines in angles, lozenges, zigzags, ribbons, and paintings of every kind.
Paste. The body of which porcelain or pottery vessels is made. Hard paste cannot be scratched or filed and resists the action of great heat. Soft paste is easily scratched and is melted by intense heat.
Pekin Ware is graviata of the Taou-kwang period. It was never made in Pekin, but the name is still used.
Petuntze. Pulverised “ china rock” forming a white paste (pe-tun) made into bricks (petuntze). It melts in the heat of a porce- lain furnace into a milky glass.
Pin-points are tiny holes found on the bottom of early Chinese porcelain.
Porcelain. A compound of kaolin and petuntze. The kaolin is not fusible, the petuntze vitrifies and envelopes the kaolin, producing a smooth compact body which is translucent.
Pottery. This is formed of a mixture of clays. Ordinary potter’s- clay is used for common earthenware, and a blue clay, of a greyish colour, is much used in making flint-ware.
Saucer. The old Chinese form of the plate is always saucer- shaped. The flattening of the rim produced the dish and plate. Raising the sides gave the bowl, basin, and cup. By adding a handle we have the tea-cup.
Seggar. This is the protective vessel or case in which the pieces of porcelain or pottery are burnt in the kiln.
Slip. The liquid clay which is applied to the piece, under or over the glaze, either by pouring or painting. ~
Stoneware. Hard pottery which forms the link between porcelain and earthenware. In Chinese products stoneware is used with self-colours applied in the glaze.
Vases. All vessels used for drinking cups and goblets, for ointments or perfumes, for holding, carrying, or pouring wine, oil, or water ; and similar or varied forms used solely for ornament.
Willow Pattern. A popular decoration of Nankin blue services. There are several varieties, but all have the weeping willow.
Yao-pien. The Chinese name for splashed, “shot” silk, or variegated glazes.
I
SECTION 1
INTRODUCTORY
CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
CHAPTER: I INTRODUCTORY
THIS book does not pretend to do more than to indicate to the collector the lines on which collections could or should be made, for “Chats on old Oriental China” scarcely imply a scientific treatise. Incident- ally one point will lead on to another, but with always this object in view, to send the collector to the museums to train his eye as well as his under- standing and to bring him in touch with all that makes for beauty in Oriental porcelain, a porcelain teaming with mythology, having decorations satur- ated with that mythology, full of emblems of all that concerns the best and highest life of the Chinese, pointing, we may say, to a religion which, although feebly understood in Europe, has been for centuries a real moving factor in the national life of the Oriental peoples. Hence, when we find the earliest European copies framed on Chinese mythology, and birds and flowers and beasts all unknown to the Occidental mind figuring upon vases
at Dresden, at Chelsea, or at Sevres we are struck 23
24 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
with the incongruity of the association. All Euro- pean factories, at the first, strove to imitate that porcelain which had been in existence in China long before history in Europe had begun its accurate chronology.
There are collectors of the European productions who revel in the delights of fine Dresden groups, of marvellous Chelsea or Worcester vases, of Bristol figures and the other magnificent productions of the European factories in earthenware and porcelain, but we may safely say that the collector who takes up the study of Oriental porcelain relegates all these European productions into oblivion, and has only one desire, to secure the best possible specimens from the land of far Cathay.
The collection of Oriental porcelain is not easy, especially with regard to the finer productions. The old figures, vases and dishes made hundreds of years ago, decorated with taste and skill beyond all comparison, these can be purchased only by the few. But there are many genuine old pieces still un- recognised, but valuable, each telling its own story, and that story one that can be learnt. We said that there were dangers to the collector, and this is true; for centuries the Chinese and Japanese have repro- duced with minute accuracy the early productions —the Ming and the Kang-he—and the European factories have, in these later times, poured out upon the market many marvellous forgeries which would deceive, possibly, the very expert. The German imitations are passable, but those produced in France, especially in Paris, are so excellent that it would be well for buyers to judge of them, by daylight only—in fact, in buying any fine porcelain this rule should be adhered to. Remember this, there is no forgery existing which would deceive an
a
INTRODUCTORY 25
expert worthy of the name, as there is, without exception, always a failure in some point, either in the colouring, glazing, paste, or drawing, which betrays the copy to a thorough student of Chinese porcelain. The best imitations are those made in Hungary about forty to fifty years ago; the German copies by comparison are very inferior and weak. Never buy by artificial light, for “colours seen by candle-light do not look the same by day.” Marks on porcelain should always be ignored, except when the piece bearing the said mark is beyond doubt; it is an added interest to have a mark of the proper period. Not alone are patterns forged, but marks are forged; hence when pattern and mark both agree with the old example, something more is required than a mere superficial knowledge of pattern and mark—that is, the paste or body has to be known, and more, the eye has to be trained so as to distinguish the special character of the piece—in fact, it is the cout ensemble which to the finest judges is the surest guide. They cannot tell why they know, but by a look they do know. It may be that the atmospheric influences extending over long years has softened and modified the colours and taken from them their boldness, so that’ when paste and glaze and colour all please the trained eye the purchase may be made in safety. And here we should advise our readers rather to buy from a respectable dealer than at auction sales. In the excitement of auction sales higher prices may be paid than would be prudent, or, indeed, it may be that the quality of the specimen bid for is not exactly that which the buyer requires, and the difficulty of changing it is accentuated when the purchaser buys at an auction. In fact, toa beginner with money to spend, no advice can be better than that he should
26 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
put himself in the hands of a respectable dealer, informing him of his wants, telling him the price he is prepared to pay, and leaving him to deal squarely and fairly. Not only is there danger of the marks being forged and the pattern copied, but really old pieces of Oriental porcelain are often redecorated, so that upon an old piece is found the most elaborate decoration. This to the collector is most puzzling. He sees the porcelain is rare, and, as we have said, really old, and that the pattern and colour of the decoration is what he has been accustomed to either at Exhibitions, such as those in the National Museums, or in illustrations as given in the best books, yet the specimen is not right and it can be tested. The enamel decoration on a re-decorated piece produces a different effect from that upon an old piece. In the latter the enamel colours do not stand out like modern oil painting, but they lie flat and agree in general character and tone with the porcelain itself. Sometimes, in these re-decorated pieces, traces of the old decorations, covered up under the modern enamel decorations, may be found,
Amongst other hints to the collector of old Oriental porcelain must be one with regard to cracked and mended porcelain. By this we mean not alone those pieces which are built up as far as some particular part is concerned, and which can be tested by striking the various parts with a coin, when the difference between the ring of the original part and the dull sound from the composition used in mending may be easily detected. Further, the sense of smell may be brought into play. Generally, the composition used in mending old porcelain in this way smells of oil or turpentine. The third test may be applied by means of a magnifying-glass
INTRODUCTORY 27
which will at once reveal the difference between the smooth original glaze and the varnish glaze added to cover the mend. But this is not all. Some mending is done at the factories, where a piece of porcelain of the same tone and colour, with the same decoration, is built and fixed on to the sound piece in such a way as to leave no trace that can be detected by sound, sight, or smell. In this case it really matters very little, as the character of the old porcelain is so well preserved that the piece may be regarded as being perfect. A very simple test for detecting a repair in porcelain is to pass the point of a pin, not too heavily, over the suspected part, when if the original has been at all interfered with, scratches and marks of the pin will be easily seen.
II
HARD PASTE
CHAPTER II HARD PASTE
NEARLY the whole of Oriental porcelain is hard paste. By this we mean it cannot be cut with a file. Both paste and glaze are hard, and although some people speak of soft-paste Oriental porcelain our observation teaches us that it is so rare that it may be neglected by the ordinary collector, who, if he should accidentally find a piece, will remember that this soft paste is of a very white colour with an opaque look, and for painting under the glaze seemed to have the disadvantage that the colours were more liable torun than on the ordinary description, which is just like what has been found on early English soft-paste porcelain, where the colours are liable to run upon the paste. In the Chinese soft paste better effect was produced by the hatching and stippling style of decoration which was adopted in later times and superseded the broad washes adopted in the Kang-he period.
Porcelain in China was usually formed of two materials, of which one—Pe-tun-tze—resembles our China stone. It is a white fusible material, a mixture of felspar and quartz, obtained from pounded rock and formed into cakes or bricks, hence its
Chinese name. 31
32 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
The other material is named Kaolin, or China clay. It is infusible, and is derived from the decomposed felspar of granite. This is also formed into cakes. When these two materials, China rock and China clay, have been thoroughly ground, cleansed, sifted and refined into an impalpable powder, they are kneaded together in varying proportions to form a
clay ready for the potter. The wet clay is turned >
on the potter’s wheel or table, then is passed through the hands of various workmen who add handles and other decorations made in moulds, who smooth the surface and so work upon it that the next process— the drying process—is preparatory to the under-glaze decoration. In this semi-soft state the foot remains a solid mass. Any decorations in blue or red or other colours which can be applied under the glaze are then used for painting the under-glaze decoration. The glaze is next applied in various ways by dipping, by blowing on with a tube, by sprinkling, and so on. When these processes have been completed it only remains for the potter to fashion the foot upon the wheel and to inscribe any mark which may be adopted. These being then coated with glaze, the piece is ready for the furnace.
Porcelain placed in the kiln to be fired has to be protected in strong clay vessels called seggars, which admit the heat but protect it from injury. Every piece is placed in the kiln according to the temperature which is necessary for its complete firing. Some pieces would be placed at the top of the kiln, other pieces at the tip-top of the kiln, very much in accordance with the practice in our English potteries at the present time. The furnace when full is entirely bricked up and the whole contents of the kiln are kept at a great heat, usually for a night and a day, after which the kiln
HARD PASTE 33
is allowed to cool off, and in due time the porcelain is removed. In speaking of white porcelain, or porcelain decorated under the glaze, the process is now complete, but if enamel colours are used further burnings in a kiln take place. After the enamel decoration has been applied over the glaze —and the painters who use the enamel colours may take long weeks or months in decorating a single piece—and until the whole is finished, the piece is fired again and again in a kiln at a much lower temperature, the process being quite similar to the previous one, although the heat is much less. Colours which are applied with the glaze, as we shall see later—self-colours, such as the Cela- dons—pass only through the first process and need no second firing.
In Chinese porcelain it is well to note that no distinction is made between pottery and porcelain ; the European distinction is that whereas pottery is opaque, porcelain is translucent. It is often difficult to say when heavy Celadon colours are applied to pieces of Oriental manufacture whether the body is porcelain or pottery. The pieces decorated with heavy Celadon colours are very often on a porcel- laneous stone ware, which is generally accepted as marking the evolution period between pottery and the hard porcelain. There are many examples of fine pottery—stone ware—dating from the Ming period which are unmistakable.
Ill
RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY
ax
+ f ‘
aes
CHAPTER..1u RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY
WE have noted previously that the decoration of Oriental porcelain is largely bound up in mythology, nay, more, it is largely connected with religion. The religions of China must therefore receive some attention from those who would really understand the beauty of the decorations used by the Chinese. China possesses three principal religions, of which two are national—Confucianism and Taoism—one imported from India—Buddhism. Although Con- fucianism may be said to be the official religion of the Court, of the functionaries, and of the learned, it is not a religion in the sense which we attach to the word. Confucius was the reformer of the ancient national religion, which was really fetishism. It isa ~ code of practical morality based upon the duties and obligations of mankind, and respect for both ancestors and antiquity. Idols such as images of gods and spirits are put on one side. Confucius recognised implicitly the existence of a God creator of the world—Chang-ti, the Emperor Supreme, or Thien, the Heaven; the Emperor alone as “Son of Heaven” was, as it were, the priest, acting in the name of all his people, addressing to the Creator of the world prayers and thanksgivings, at . 37
38 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
the winter and summer solstices and at the spring equinox.
Not alone does the God of Heaven partake of these ceremonies in the Imperial worship, but the goddesses of the earth, and the various genii of the waters, of the mountains, and stars, and the Imperial ancestors. No images are made of these, and they are only represented on the altars by tablets on which are their names. Confucianism orders respect and veneration for ancestors, who ought to be cherished and treated as if they were living, so that the ancestral worship was an incessant witness of gratitude and thanks, which has become the only real religion of the followers of Confucius in China.
Confucius was born in 551 B.c. After his death the gratitude of the sovereigns and the admiration of the peoples gave him a rank almost divine. Every city built temples to him, not as a god whom they worshipped, but as a man whom they venerated as a benefactor, and as the master respected by the nation as a great saint in civil life. There are not to be found many images or pictures on Oriental porcelain of Confucius or his followers, for the reason stated that Confucius simply settled a system of morality.
TAOISM.
Taoism differs from the doctrines of Confucius in that it is a gross religion made of superstitious local beliefs in fetishes and demons curiously amalgamated with the higher metaphysical doc- trines of the philosopher Lao-tseu, who was born 604 B.C. He included nearly all of the old Chinese religions, which Confucius had reformed by taking away its superstitions. This he did in order to fight more advantageously against the reforms of
RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY 39
Confucius. In reality, this religion agrees with others ; we may say that all the doctrines of all the religions make a great difference between the beliefs of the common people and those of philosophers and of learned men, for in the higher sense the doctrines of Lao-tseu and his eminent disciples were able to be maintained without danger of comparison against those of Confucius or the most illustrious thinkers of ancient India. Taoism in its popular form recognised a supreme God creator of the world, similarly named to the God recognised by Confucianism, Thien, Heaven, or Tien-kong, God of Heaven, but above him he places a Trinity called the “Three Pures,” really the “Three Pure Ones,” of whom Lao-tseu was one, representing the spirit of knowledge or of wisdom. Below this Trinity is found a multitude of gods, genii, demons, spirits of Heaven, of the earth, of the sea, of the waters, of the mountains, of the rivers, of the provinces, of the cities, of the villages, &c., all designated under the collective name of Chens, “spirits.” For the most part these are ancient heroes, literary men or philosophers deified; hence the gods, such as the eight immortals, are often found as images, or used as decorations, upon vases and other pieces of Oriental porcelain. We give two figures as illustrations.
BUDDHISM,
The earliest history of Buddha is an account of his death written in the Pali language, four centuries B.C, Neither this, nor any of the other histories ranging through the ages to our own times is an authentic story of his life and work—it is simply a legend more or less embellished. The mythology is as follows: Gautama, named Siddhartha, the highly gifted son of
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CHINESE POTTERY, ENAMELLED IN COLOURS. Paé-yueh-kouang, Goddess of the Moon,
Tien-kong, God of the Sun,
— — SS re
RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY 41
a Thakur, or noble of the Rajput tribe, quitted his father’s house in order to meditate upon the evil in the world—upon its origin and its extirpation. He went to ask the advice of two Brahmins who were renowned for their piety, but they were unable to satisfy his yearnings for a higher life. He rested, it is true, faithful to their doctrines—the fundamental truths which they taught—transmigration of souls with a final emancipation, but he saw that their asceticism led only to the enfeebling of the higher powers of the mind, so he decided to find some place where he might find peace in meditation. After a long period spent in reflection, he decided to quit his refuge and preach his faith. He found in Benares, in the “ Woods of the Gazelles,” his first disciples, and accompanied by them he journeyed through Western Bengal, during forty-five years, honoured by princes, loved by the people, in whose language he preached, till he died of old age probably about 477 B.c. You will note, later, the wzl/e cerfs decoration of Chinese porcelain made in remembrance of this beginning of Buddhism.
Buddha taught four truths. First, of evil. Birth, sickness, and death produce pain, so does the separa- tion from those we love and the desire to secure what we cannot obtain. These joined to the know- ledge of existence are the causes of evil. Second, of the origin of evil. The influence of the outside world—suggestion from outside—leads to covetous- ness and all that sensuality brings. Third, of the end of evil. This is only accomplished by the complete suppression of ardent desires—self-abnega- tion. Fourth, of the method of suppression. Abstention from humiliating and unprofitable self- indulgence in any form on the one side, and the renunciation of any belief in torture which is ruinous
42 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
and vain as a means of spiritual growth. Every being is subject to evil, nature in each is essentially the same. Gods, demons, men, and animals are only different degrees of existence. Humanity is the best condition, for only man can attain salvation, he only can obtain deliverance. Regeneration operates only after death and is regulated by the actions done during life. The process is secret, and only step by step, higher and higher, does knowledge of truth lead onwards through the path of salvation to the place eternal—the Nirvana. Only in this blessed abode does the soul rest free from the obligation of being born again, of suffering without cessation the miseries, of life.
Buddhism flourished in India during many centuries, especially in the third century B.C., when in the reign of king Agoka, it became missionary, but about 1100 A.D. it was banished from that country and spread through Eastern Asia, where it has at the present time more than four hundred millions of believers. In China there are eighteen principal sects of this religion, so that it is not surprising that the Chinese Buddhists should commemorate upon their porcelain gods, goddesses, and religious cere- monies of various types, especially as it adopted local superstitions and legends, and lent pomp and éclat to the worship of the dead. Its pliancy and activity are still marvellous.
IV
PORCELAIN CLASSED
CHAPTER IV
A SKETCH SHOWING PORCELAIN CLASSED ACCORD- ING TO THE ORDER OF THE DISCOVERY OF COLOURS AND GLAZES
OUR first task will be to classify the porcelain according to the order of its discovery, and in this relation we shall be largely guided by form and colour, which in the oldest pieces is naturally less diversified than in the later. Perhaps the oldest pottery is that improperly called Jdoccaro, owing to its resemblance to the pottery which, in Portugal, bore this name, and as we shall see presently the Portuguese were the first to visit the land of far Cathay. The colours on boccaro ware are very varied—and some imitate bronze. Many coloured enamels cover other pieces with a dense glaze which completely hides the shape or body. These pieces are usually moulded, but examples have been found where the decoration has been cut with a tool in the paste when wet. Other specimens have been carved in the paste after it had been dried in the sun.
The second class in order of age would be white porcelain made of kaolins from different districts, which gave different tints to the white, and unequal densities to the ware, some being heavy and some
light. Possibly the light ware of this period gave 45
46 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
rise to the idea of soft paste. The white itself varies in tint from a fine creamy glaze, which is very beauti- ful, called “dlanc de chine.” Then there is a bluish white called “ whzte of snow,” and a plain white called “white of flour.” The creamy white is valued very highly by the Chinese themselves, and “Franks” mentions an instance where a Hong Kong merchant, after making many magnificent presents to an English gentleman, gave him as an object of great value a white cup of this kind enclosed in a case lined with silk. This “Jdlanc de chine” was highly esteemed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, especially in France and Spain. It is interesting to notice that this kind of white ware was imitated by the early makers of European porcelain at St. Cloud and Chelsea, and many of these specimens of white hard paste have been ascribed to Plymouth, which, with Bristol, was the only factory to make hard paste in England. The Chelsea imitation of an Oriental teapot with raised flowers is the one which has the noted mark of the raised anchor on a tablet.
With regard to colour applied under the glaze, blue was the first to be so employed. Cobalt had a facility for cohering with the body itself, therefore it was utilised for decoration before the glaze was applied. Sometimes the transparent white glaze was replaced by a blue tinted glaze. In that case, the blue decoration, applied under the glaze by painting on the body of the ware itself, could be easily seen through the blue glaze. Red, derived from copper,! was applied under the glaze, sometimes alone, sometimes with blue, forming the decoration of two colours under the glaze. With these colours used under the glaze, as with the blue alone, the
* This copper-red is very brilliant, and has an iridescent effect when examined by reflected light.
PORCELAIN CLASSIFIED 47
blue tinted glaze was frequently substituted for the transparent glaze. This red was the red derived from copper. At about the same period the reds, derived from iron and gold, were applied as enamel colours upon the glaze at a lower temperature than that used in the main kiln. The second kiln was called a “muffle” kiln. The glaze and the enamel colours were both melted by the heat in the muffle kiln, but the body was not affected. Direct heat was not required, but the melting process was sufficient to unite the glaze itself and the enamel colours so firmly that in some cases the coloured enamel might be taken for the glaze. Generally, however, these enamel colours project far enough from the covering glaze as to be easily felt by the finger.
Next followed the use of gold applied to decorations on the black-—“/amzlle notre”—and green families or on other enamels. Amongst the most beautiful of these enamels was the green, which was applied upon the glaze by the fire of the “muffle” furnace. This colour was derived from copper, and is called “vert de cutvre.’ It soon held a high place in the scheme of decoration of vases, plates, and dishes, as well as figures of the highest quality, and is recognised as a distinct family, “a famille verte.” But whilst the reds and the greens were enamelled on the glaze, blue was still employed for decoration under the glaze. These “/famzlles” are separately dealt with and illustrated.
In order of the discovery of the colours next comes violet from manganese, and the yellows from cadmium and iron, creating a new series, which is termed the yellow family, “la famille jaune.” All these yellows were enamel colours, but they were not often used alone. Sometimes there is a combina-
48 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
tion of two groups, as green and yellow or green and red. These have been classified as “jaune verte” and “vose verte.” We simply refer to these names in case any of our readers should come across them in the descriptive catalogue or in books dealing with Oriental porcelain. Perhaps the most beautiful of all the enamel colours applied to Oriental porcelain is the rose, a red derived from gold. Bearing in mind that we are roughly tracing the age of the colours, that is, the period of their application, this rose red would bring us to the Yung-ching and Keen- lung periods Enriched as the Chinese potters were by this superb tint, they simply revelled in dominat- ing their productions with it. It is classified as the rose family, “la famille rose.’ To these periods belong the beautiful class of pink back plates, to which further reference will be made later. Onward from this time, the trading relations between Europe and China becoming more and more intimate, foreign influences began to make themselves felt in the Chinese potteries; in fact, the Europeans demanded and paid for European shapes and European designs, so that European subjects were reproduced with more or less fidelity, and “armorial” porcelain, on which the arms or crests of European families were painted in enamel on vases, table services, and decorative pieces of various kinds. At this period, too, we find evidences of the influence of the Christian missionaries in China, as shown by the religious subjects enamelled or painted on plates, such subjects, for instance, as “The Crucifixion” and other scenes of biblical history. We have stated that the decoration was modified to meet the wants of the European market, and we note also that the various shapes were also modified to suit that market. The Chinese
PORCELAIN CLASSIFIED 49
used saucer-shaped dishes, but these were largely replaced, for exportation only, by dishes and plates with rims, so that we finally reach the last class, the porcelain called “East India Company” china, decorated with subjects not armorial, nor scriptural, but European. The Chinese themselves were faith- ful copyists, imitating exactly the pattern from which they had to work. We shall deal with this subject more fully in a later chapter.
Vv
FABULOUS ANIMALS AND TWO GODDESSES
GODDESSES
h we dealt shortly with the religions of nead it is necessary to note in this c oe
are either scaly, winged, horned, honk /up before rising to the tas in spring,
ees is armed with five claws on each of its — 53
54 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA —
four members, and is used as an emblem by the Emperor’s family, and by princes of the highest two ranks. The four-clawed dragon is used by princes of the third or fourth class. Mandarins and princes of the fifth rank have, as an emblem, the four-clawed serpent. The three-clawed dragon —the Imperial dragon of Japan—is, in China, the
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THE DRAGON,
one commonly used for decoration. The sacred pearl, adorned with the Yang and the Yin, represent- ing the male and female elements in nature, always appears to be attracting the dragon.
THE UNICORN, KYLIN, OR KILIN.
The kylin, or k’i-lin, was an animal symbolising longevity and good government. It is often found
FABULOUS ANIMALS 55
upon porcelain as a part of the decoration. Its form is more like a deer than anything else, though it has the hoofs of a horse and the tail of an ox. Its head is like that of the dragon, and the body may or may not be covered with scales, In its mouth a bundle of scrolls or some symbol may often be found. Other monsters, notably the Corean lion, also called the Dog of Buddha or the Dog of Fé, are called kylins, but the true kylin is as described above. Though hideous in aspect,
THE TRUE KYLIN.
it shows the kindest disposition, and is so gentle that it would not step upon a worm.
THE COREAN LION.
This animal, often miscalled kylin, is the habitual defender of Buddhist altars and temples, hence its name, the Dog of Buddha or the Dog of Fé. Its appearance is almost always menacing with its sharp, powerful teeth and claws. In reality it is a sort of lion transformed. It has a bushy, often a
56 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
bristling, mane and a tufted tail. It is found painted on vases, or modelled in relief on the top of the covers for vases. When found as a figure the lion is usually playing with a ball, the lioness with a cub, He is
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COREAN LION OR DOG OF FO.
one of four animals representing power and energy. The others are the elephant, leopard, and tiger.
THE FUNG-HWANG, OR PH@NIX OR Ho-Ho BIRD.
This bird, pre-eminent for elegance and benevolence, seems to have been a kind of pheasant, or some say _a bird of paradise. It would neither injure living insects nor growing herbs, but lived in the highest regions of the air, and only descended to earth as the
FABULOUS ANIMALS 57
harbinger of good tidings—happy events to indi- viduals, prosperous reigns to emperors. On Chinese porcelain either one or two birds are used with a decoration of rocks, trees, and flowers, and in such
THE PH@NIX.
decorations it is known as the Foug-Hoang, or Ho-Ho bird. It is frequently represented carrying a scroll. In the illustration this scroll has fillets around it. Amongst the goddesses were two who were espe- cially esteemed. Si-Wang-Mu, the goddess of the
58 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
Kuen-lung mountains, was a being of the female sex, the head of troups of genii who held from time to time intercourse with favourite disciples amongst the emperors. She is usually represented as riding upon the Ho-Ho amongst the clouds with her attendants, or she rests by the borders of the Lake of Gems, where grows the peach-tree of the genii, whose fruit confers the gift of immortality which Si-Wang-Mu bestows upon those favourite beings who for self-abnegation and devotion to the needs of others have deserved to be admitted into her presence. From this Lake of Gems, too, she sent out winged birds with azure blue feathers who served as her attendants and messengers.
Perhaps even more popular than Si-Wang-Mu was Kwan-Yin, to whom full reference will be made later. Both Si-Wang-Mu and Kwan-Yin are found as decorations upon Oriental porcelain and also as figures, some of the finest of which, shown in our illustrations, date from the Ming period. The eight Immortals will also be spoken of later. These are found in sets of figures or in a group of eight or nine. In the group of nine, Lao-tseu, the founder of Taoism is the ninth figure.
60
KWAN-YIN. MING.
This example is very rare, inasmuch as the two attendants form a part of the actual figure, and this, if not unique, is exceptionally rare. The robe in this. instance is decorated with the 100 Shows or Cheous (emblems of longevity) in black on an apple-green ground ; the cape has a small floral design in black on aubergine with green border; the head-dress is of brilliant green with lotus flowers in aubergine, yellow, blue, and black; the head, neck, and hands in biscuit. The small figure on the knee is in a yellow robe, relieved with a small design in black; the attendant on the right of the figure has an aubergine robe with a collar in blue ; the head-dress and peach which she carries in her hand are in black; the attendant on the left has garments with a small black design on a green ground ; the upper portion of the body is in biscuit, except the hair, which is fashioned in a knob at the back and is enamelled black. The pedestal has in the centre panel a reserve containing a sacred carp arising from the waves; this is enamelled in black, yellow, aubergine, and green, on a white ground, and is surrounded with a margin of blue. The front side panels have Joo-e-heads, from which ribbons are depending, in green, black, and yellow, on white ground. The two back panels have chrysanthemums and leaves in aubergine, green, and black, on a white ground.
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ANOTHER KWAN-YIN. MING.
So many references are made to the goddess Kwan-Yin, and she is represented in such a number of statuettes, that no collection of Chinese porcelain would be complete without her. Sometimes she is seated, at others she is standing. Often she is found in white of various tints, but the finest specimens are painted with coloured enamels. Here we have a most beautiful and valuable example in enamel colours of a seated figure of Kwan-Yin. The robe is of pale green relieved with a formal floral design in aubergine, yellow, and black. The neck is adorned with a necklet of beads in yellow enamel. The head-dress is of rich apple-green decorated with a swastika in yellow and with Cheou characters in black. There are also medallions, each containing a hawthorn leaf in green on an auber- gine and black ground. The hair is of black enamel; face, neck, hands, and sceptre in biscuit. The figure is supported on an oblong pedestal, which is surmounted by an upturned lotus flower; the leaves of this are in pale green and aubergine. The front is represented as a sunk panel, on which is a very early diaper design in yellow, green, aubergine, and black. The four corners are incised. The sides of the pedestal are decorated with branches of hawthorn blossoms in green, black, and aubergine, on a white ground, whilst on the back is a river scene with junk, rock, trees, &c., in yellow, green, and black, unglazed on a white ground. Ming period.
62
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63
KWAN-YIN.
The third illustration of this goddess—the queen of heaven— shows her again in connection with the lotus, the emblem of purity, also the symbol of creative power. The fish, too, is often associated with her and with the gods. There was a noted carp which lived at the bottom of Buddha’s lotus pond, but generally the carp is an emblem of longevity, and figures of fish are amongst the charms which frighten away bad demons. The flowers which rise from behind the nimbus or halo round the head of the goddess is the magnolia, the emblem of sweetness and beauty, which, like the prunus, shows its full blossom before the leaves appear. The illustration is the model of a shrine, the back representing a rock in rich aubergine ; this is relieved with bamboo plants in green. In the centre, on an upturned lotus flower, is a seated figure of Kwan-Yin in robes of green and yellow; the other portions of her body in biscuit, as are also the leaves of the lotus flower; under these is a giant leaf supporting the whole; on either side of the Kwan-Yin are two male attendants, the one standing on a lotus flower, the other on a leaf; these figures are in biscuit relieved with green enamel. Under the figure of the goddess is a carp in yellow enamel rising from the waves, which are in green, and
immediately in front is a sacred vessel in green enamel on an auber- gine base.
65
SI-WANG-MU.
This fabulous being of the female sex, dwelling at the head of the genii, is often represented in the decoration of Chinese porcelain, attended by two or four young girls, either floating in the clouds or riding on a fong-hoang, or phcenix. The illustration gives an im- portant figure of Si-Wang-Mu. The flowing robes are decorated with the 100 Cheous in black, and panels of flowers in rouge de fer, yellow, and bright green. The whole of the background is of brilliant green enamel, the reserves having a pencilled design in black on a pale blue ground. The vest has white hawthorn blossoms on black and green. The under-garment, which reaches to the feet, has a formal floral design in green and rouge de fer on a brilliant yellow ground. The lining of the sleeves is also in brilliant yellow. Around the shoulders, and reaching to the ground on either side, are lotus stems in rich aubergine. The hair is enamelled black, with yellow and aubergine ornaments. The ace, hands, and feet are in a rich white glaze. The base fashioned to represent waves in black and white on pale green; on one side of this is a lotus bud, and on the other a large leaf. In the centre of the back of the figure is one of the Buddhistic emblems in green and black on a white ground. The figure is covered throughout with large Crackle. !
Tritt)
BUDDHIST DIVINITY.
Od-dpag-med, Amitdbha or Amida. Amida in the attitude of bearing witness and holding the patra or bowl to receive alms.
The position of the hands designates the functions which are being carried on by Buddha or by his followers at any given time. These gestures are each illustrative of some idea, and are classified under the name ‘‘mudras.” For instance, the hands placed over one another or reposing wrapped up in the lap indicate meditation; the right hand raised, left hand extended downwards, both with palms outwards, imply teaching and charity; the same with the index fingers only extended is a sign of the possession of the world; right hand extended and palm outward signifies charity; fingers clasped with tips together is the world-wide expression of adoration or of prayer for mercy ; right palm on the leg of sitting Buddha with left palm held upwards and outwards is the position for bearing witness; the right hand raised palm outwards with fingers extended is the attitude of blessing; the right hand clasping the index of the left is the habitual attitude of the Buddha supreme and eternal; the head resting on the right palm turned upward signifies meditation on the means of saving mankind. Other magical or mystical positions are: Palms upwards, tips of the thumbs and fingers of each hand touching each other, indicating teach- ing and direction; right hand extended downwards palm outwards, left hand closed, signifying perfection of conduct; right hand elevated and left closed, as in the last attitude, showing love to others in active charity. The study of the “‘mudras” is quite interesting though unfamiliar.
69
THE GOD OF THE LEARNED.
Amongst the figures of the gods, in a country where literature is the sole passport-to success, where examinations on the knowledge of that literature lasted for days, and where the results of the examinations meant so much, it would be quite natural that a high place should be given to the god of literature. Here we have a magnificent specimen, possibly worth about £4,000. It is a figure, of extraordinary size, of Wan Chong (God of Literature). The robe, of exceptionally brilliant green enamel, is decorated with clouds in aubergine, white, yellow, and ~ black; the centre having a large panel containing a flying stork and clouds in vouge de fer, yellow, green, and aubergine, on a white ground, the whole of this surrounded by a narrow margin of aubergine and black. Above this panel, and going round the waist, is a girdle in high relief; this is decorated with small hawthorn blossoms of vouge de fer, raised from a ground of rich aubergine; the borders of the garment contain hawthorn blossoms in aubergine, yellow, blue, and black, on a deep green ground. The exposed hand, which is movable, is of white biscuit, whilst the face is glazed in white, and the head- dress and feet are of brilliant black enamel. Attention may be called to the sublime expression and modelling of the features in this figure, - which can without doubt rank as one of the finest and most important pieces of the period.
70
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72
THE TAOIST DIVINITIES.
The first of these divinities is Lao-tseu, the founder of Taoism. He is usually represented holding a book whilst seated on a buffalo. He lived to a great age in a hermitage situated on a mountain side, when one day a buffalo, ready harnessed, came where he was, and when he had mounted it he was carried away to the west. Chang-Ti, the god of heaven, is represented seated upon a horse and holding a tablet. Héou Tou, goddess of the earth, appears in the dress of anempress. The gods of the stars have various names, but they may be found as images, and we give some of them. Sou Sing, god of the Pole Star and of the North, is usually seated on a stool; before him lies a tortoise enveloped in the coils of a serpent. Koéi Sing, the god of the Great Bear, carries the writing pencil, or brush, and an ingot of silver, symbol of the fortune which is secured by knowledge. He also carries a bushel measure. Nan Kiun Lao, or Ché, is the incarna- tion of Lad-tset and the god of the Southern Cross. He holds a sceptre and rides upon a mule.
Amongst the very old statuettes may be found some that are very ancient, dating from the Sung dynasty (960-1279). These are of violet and blue Celadon. Fou Hi, the first Emperor of China, is a specimen of these figures in the Musée Guimet at Paris. To him is -ascribed the invention of agriculture and writing. Chen Noung, the inventor of medicine ; F6, L6, and Cho, the three gods of happi- ness, and many others.
The illustration is an exceptionally fine and rare figure of Kouan-ti, the god of war, seated ona horse. The armour is in green with yellow edgings, belt, &c.; the under-garments in aubergine, and black boots. The head-dress is green. The horse aubergine and black. All the trappings, including saddle and saddle-cloth, in green and aubergine. Period, Ming.
WEN-TCHANG. CHIEF OF THE FIVE GODS OF LETTERS.
A figure of the god of Wisdom; the robe decorated with clouds in aubergine, green, and white, on a brilliant yellow ground ; the cape on the shoulders has a gold tracery design on deep rouge de fer, whilst at the back the ornamentation is carried out in formal flowers in green and aubergine on a white ground; on either side of the robe are two sacred dragons, finely drawn and enamelled in green, aubergine, and blue; the under-garment, which reaches to the feet, is decorated with flying storks in black and white, and peaches in rouge de fer and green, on a plain apple-green ground, and the border has a light pencilled design on deep green. Above the folded arms is part of another garment, decorated in the centre with a cheou in gold on a pink ground ; the remainder of this has small yellow flowers on stippled green ; the left hand, which is hidden under the folds of the garment, contains a Joo-e in gold; the head is of white glazed porcelain, the crown in biscuit, whilst the hair, eyebrows, whiskers, beard, and moustache are in brilliant black enamel. The third eye, which is seen in the centre of the forehead, is supposed to represent the faculty possessed by this deity of seeing more than any other person or god, for with the aid of this third eye he was able to see not only what took place externally, but to read into the innermost depths of a man’s soul, as well as the past, present, and future. The figure is supported on a rectangular stand, the front of which is decorated with a bold diaper design in aubergine, yellow, and black, on a pale green ground, whilst in the corners are Joo-e heads in yellow, green, and aubergine. The panels at the sides have in each a large flower in yellow and aubergine, with green lotus leaves on a white ground; in the back panel of the upper portion of this pedestal is a large drawing of a running dragon, which has a yellow head, aubergine tail and mane, and a green and black body ; the four remaining panels have flowers and leaves in green, aubergine, and yellow, on a biscuit ground. Ming period. Possibly another form of Wan Chong.
74
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ANOTHER TAOIST GOD.
A figure of Piu-hwo carrying his fly-whisk, with which he was sup- posed to have the power to revive the dead. He is represented in a flowing robe of a brilliant brownish-black enamel. The head, fly-whisk, hand, feet, and base in unglazed biscuit ; the features and expression remarkably well portrayed.
The Taoist divinities are the chief objects of attention amongst Chinese figure-makers, who in beautiful bronze and no less beautiful porcelain commemorated the traditions of past ages. Kwan-Yin, Amitabha, or Amida, and some others are Buddhists both in China and Japan, but the great Taoist divinities, headed by La6-Tseut, the
' founder of Taoism, seem to be specially honoured by the potters. The
deities of heaven and earth, the sidereal gods of the constellations, the secondary divinities, such as F6, L6, and Ché, the three gods of happiness, and the gods of fortune and letters are all to be found in porcelain. The eight immortals belong to the inferior rank of Chens or Esprits. They are described in a special chapter elsewhere, still, we must remark that in blue and coloured decoration on vases, dishes, &c., they are constantly met with, so that it is well to be familiar with their appearance and with theirsymbols. Han Chung-le, the president of the pdchens, and Tsaou Kwo-kiu carry fly-whisks beside their proper symbols, and so do the others occasionally.
There still remain the divinities of the earth, of whom Si-Wang-Mu was the chief. The gods of the seasons, the cities, the mountains, and the sea, all had their functions duly recognised. One word of advice is here necessary. The old Ming figures are valuable, and forgeries are numerous. So are the early Kang-he figures such as this.
V7
THE IMMORTALS.
These Pa Sien are eight in number. They attained immortality in various ways, but the eating of the peach, which is carried as an emblem by Han Chung-le, the god of longevity, and whose fruit confers the gift of immortality, seems to have been indispensable. The illustrations show three figures of two of these gods bearing their emblems.
On the right is a figure of Han Seang-tsze. This personage was a nephew of the great philosopher, Han-Yu, who lived in the first century. The robe is of rich green enamel relieved with medallions, each of which contains a fabulous animal in aubergine, yellow, and white, on very pale green ground; the collar is of aubergine with black tracery design ; the under-garment, the skirt of which reaches to the feet, is of yellow with a small design in black. In his right hand he carries his flute (Tieh) ; this, as well as the hand and head, in biscuit.
Another figure of the same god in quite a different style of decoration. Note the flute emblem. It belongs to the same set as the next.
In the centre is a figure of Chang Ko-laou, who is supposed to have lived in the seventh century. His robe is of aubergine, decorated with flowers and flying birds in pale blue, yellow, white, and black ; the undergarment, which reaches to the feet, is stippled green ground, with a formal design in black. The head-dress is a brilliant black enamel, as are also the bamboo tubes and rod which he carries in his right hand ; the latter and the face are in biscuit, and the beard is aubergine. ll of these are Ming.
78
80
BUDDHIST DIVINITIES AND HAN CHUNG-LE.
Images in porcelain of Buddhist divinities are exceedingly rare. Gautama Buddha may be found in pictures surrounded by sixteen Arhats and four guardians of the world. These Arhats are five hundred in number, and the sixteen occupy a rank superior to the others, under the name of Sthaviras, or ‘‘ the seniors.” Unfortunately, the details of their lives are little known. In Mr. Salting’s Collection there are a number of Arhats, which should be seen.
A pair of seated figures of Buddhistic deities. The robe of one has an aubergine skirt, and the other bright green ; the body is orna- mented with sacred jewels in biscuit, as are the head, hands, and feet ; onehas the Buddhistic crown and coronet in green and yellow, whilst the other has only a crown. Supported on pedestals fashioned as tree trunks, on which there is a vase in aubergine and a bird in green and white. In the centre of each panel of the base, which is of bright green enamel, are Kylin heads, yellow in one instance and aubergine in the other. These are early Ming.
In the middle is a figure of Han Chung-le, the first and greatest of the Taoist immortals, who is supposed to have found the Elixir of Life, and lived to attain the great age of 127 years. The robe is of brilliant green enamel, decorated with flying storks and clouds in aubergine, green, yellow, white, and black; the head and hands are in biscuit, the flowing beard is in black, as is also the fan with which he revived the souls of the dead. Ming of a later type.
81
THE TAOIST IMMORTALS.
A large arbour or shrine in brilliant green and yellow enamels. In the various sections are the figures of the eight immortals, wearing green, yellow, and aubergine robes; on the right-hand upper portion is a small figure of a dove in biscuit. At the base, rising from the waves, is a carp, and also a frog.
Although the Chinese potters had at their command an endless list of gods, goddesses, saints, and devils in their mythology, they appear to have loved to draw and to model the eight immortals, Kwan-Yin, Si-Wang-Mu, and other Taoist divinities, to the exclusion of all except a few Buddhist gods. This seems to be due to their intense desire for a long life as the highest good. Constant use is found for the character Show, which is written in a hundred different ways, as shown in the robes of Kwan-Yin and Si-Wang-Mu in the illustrations of those goddesses. Such pieces as those given here are rare, although these divinities and the eight immortals are very often depicted on pieces in blue and white, and on many specimens in coloured enamels. It is curious to notice how, when they are in the heavens, they are carried upon the clouds; when upon earth Han Chung-le and Han Seang-tse ride upon a fan; Tsaou Kwo-kiu on a log; Chang Ko-laou stands on a frog ; Lan Tsae-ho on her basket, and carries her symbol, the lotus ; Leu Tung-pin stands on his sword ; Ho Seen-koo on a willow-branch, and Le Tee-kwae sits on his gourd. Ming.
82
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FABULOUS ANIMALS. THE DOG OF BUDDHA, THE DOG OF FO, OR THE COREAN LION.
The fabulous animals and birds are few; most of them are, however, met with so frequently on porcelain that it is necessary to be quite familiar with these fantastic creatures in order to grasp the meaning of the Chinese decoration. The /ong-hoang, a singular and immortal bird, is dealt with elsewhere. The animals are four in number— the dragon, the kylin, the dog of F6, and the tortoise with a hairy tail. The last was an emblem of longevity, and is usually an attendant on the god of longevity. Another power was its ability to assume various transformations, and still a third was its enormous strength. We shall only emphasise here the differences between the kylin and the dog of F6, to which the name kylin is so often erroneously applied. The kylin resembles a stag in its body, whilst the dog of Fo is much more like a lion; in fact, with its head, face, mane, teeth, and claws, it does not require a vivid imagination to take it for a lion. The lion and the unicorn may fairly indicate the dog of FO and the kylin.
We show a pair of so-called kylins, the one playing with a cub and the other holding a sacred ball; the bodies of brilliant green enamel, with decorations of aubergine, yellow, and black ; supported on square pedestals, the fronts having a bold diaper design, the sides decorated with butterflies and flowers in aubergine, green, yellow, and black, on a pale apple-green ground ; on the back of each pedestal are four sacred emblems in aubergine, green, and yellow, on biscuit. Ming.
85
EMBLEMS IN BIRDS.
Amongst the symbols used in decoration a bird on a ‘perch is frequently found. The meaning of the symbol depends upon the kind of bird. The parrot—the speaking bird—warns women to be faithful to their husbands. The stork and crane are emblems of longevity, ducks and geese are types of conjugal affection, and as such they are carried in wedding processions. Quails were valued because of their fierceness in fighting. The magpie was a bird of good augury, which is regarded as sacred by the present reigning family, whilst the crow was a foreteller of evil. The peacock is largely valued for the tail feathers, which designate official rank. A piece of coral and two feathers indicate the promotion of a mandarin three steps at a time, a similar coral and four feathers means five steps at a time. The pheasant is an emblem of beauty, it is often used instead of the phoenix or fong-hoang. Amongst the Chinese, gold and silver pheasants of extraordinary beauty give the motif for the rich decoration of ‘*pheasant plates,” and the varieties of the colours remind them of the duty of practising the various virtues.
Here are a pair of pheasants, the plumage in yellow, black, brown, and green, the bodies of pale apple-green. Each bird is seated upon a tall rock enamelled in rich olive green; this is covered with flowering branches in high relief, or decorated in varied colour enamels. Sup- ported on ormolu bases, Louis XVI. period. Other birds, such as eagles, falcons, and hawks, may be found in figures or groups. Early Kang-he.
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Vi
EARLY HISTORY OF PORCELAIN
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CHAPTER V1
A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF PORCELAIN
PERHAPS what we have said will inspire our readers with the desire to know something of the origin of the potter’s art in China. This cannot be definitely fixed. It is lost in antiquity. Far back, centuries before the Christian era, possibly when Egyptian civilisation was at its height, legendary history refers to the invention of pottery and, indeed, places the invention of pottery thousands of years B.c. We have no definite information as to what was made, but we may fairly assume that in those remote times the vessels made were only course clay, rude in form, sun-dried or badly baked in an open fire. Then, possibly, the first efforts at glazing were produced and ornamented, the surface was decorated by drawings with a stick in transverse scratches or concentric rings, and simple bits of clay stuck on to the soft surface formed the first applied ornament, gradually developing, and ever far in advance of Western barbarism. The manufacture reaches the period where actual records were available during the Wei dynasty, 220 A.D., when two potteries were recorded as making porcelain for Imperial use. The
string of dynasties which follows have but slight 91
92 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
interest for the collector. The marks we give (see Marks) range from the Sung dynasty, 960 A.D., to the Tsing dynasty, which came into power in 1644 and continues to the present day. Though we read of porcelain blue as the sky, shining as the looking-glass, thin as paper, giving a sound like a musical stone, we could scarcely hope to find a specimen after the lapse of so many hundred years. Besides, if we did, the piece would be unique and even the experts would doubt its identity. Still, the tiny fragments of this precious ware are recognised in China, and are so valuable that the Chinese have them mounted as personal ornaments.
The first of the dynasties shown in our list has a real claim for consideration, that is, the Sung dynasty, which lasted from 960 to 1279 A.D. The Emperor Chin-tsung, who reigned from 954 to 1007 A.D., adopted as his title name, or men hao, on coming to the throne, King-te, and he founded the royal manufactory at Chang-nan-Chin, henceforward known as King-te-chin. This city remained for many centuries the greatest manufactory of Chinese porcelain. Here, then, we have definite history of a city in the Chinese provinces of Kiang-si, with a present population of 500,000, in which porcelain has been manufactured for centuries, and where the manufacturing is still carried on, although, through wars and insurrections, the work has now and then been suspended for varying periods. There were numerous other factories in thirteen other provinces, notably in Ho-nan, which had no less than thirteen. Historical incidents occur which show that Oriental porcelain was by slow degrees making its way West- wards, Saladin (1137 to 1193), Sultan of Egypt and Syria, who defended Acre for two years against the Crusaders, sent forty pieces of finest porcelain to
EARLY HISTORY OF PORCELAIN 93
Nur-ed-din Mahmud, who recovered Syria from the Crusaders. That celebrated Venetian traveller and author, Marco Polo, writing in 1280, described a visit to a Chinese factory, and stated that the porcelain was exported all over the world. The Yuen dynasty (1279-1367) saw the advent of Roman Catholic mis- sionaries and Florentine traders. They came to Pekin and Hang-chow; and far off Cathay, the land of mystery, romance, and poetry, first made acquaintance with the Western barbarians. We read of porcelain of this period having been moulded, modelled, and painted with flowers. The most noted potter, Pung, was not famous for his own individual work of designing new forms or inventing new colours, but for copying the older wares, and we shall never have an opportunity of seeing his work, which, though beautiful, was very thin and brittle.
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VII
THE MING DYNASTY
CHAPTER. Vit
THE MING DYNASTY (1368-1644) AND ITS PRODUCTS
THE story of the overthrow of the Mongol dynasty by a rebellion headed by a native named Hung-woo, the son of a labouring man, introduces the great Ming dynasty. This man, a former Buddhist priest, captured Nankin in 1355, and thirteen years later he took the title of Emperor. During this dynasty, which lasted till 1644, the progress of the manufac- ture of porcelain was very marked ; indeed, the Chinese themselves are keen collectors of the Ming products, considering them to be the finest ever made. They scarcely exist outside the treasures of the cabinets of princes or of the collections of mandarins. Whether this is due to the extreme devotion of the nation to past history and to their love of ancient relics more than their appreciation of what we consider beautiful, the fact remains that, in the early times, Ming porcelain was rarely exported, so that we have very little to guide us in determining what is or is not porcelain of the Ming period. True, there are the marks, but the marks were copied just as much as the forms and decorations were. The best periods of Ming porcelain arranged in order of merit, and not in order of date, were Suen-tih (1426-1436), 6 97
98 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
Ching-hwa (1465-1488), Yung-lo (1403-1425), Kea- tsing (1522-1567). Ching-hwa is the first in order of reproduction ; his mark is most frequently copied. At about the period of Ching-hwa, Europeans were making efforts to reach the East by sea, and in 1498 Vasco de Gama sailed round the Cape of Good Hope, and thus made an opening, by which eventually trade was carried on by sea to China. The Portuguese were the first to settle in China in 1516. From their factory or settlement in Macco, or Macao, at the entrance to the Canton river, the first sea-borne pieces of Oriental porcelain were sent to Europe by way of the Cape. The conclusion, therefore, must be, in view of these dates, that the earliest pieces found in England and on the Continent were carried overland, by camels, thousands of miles over mountains and through deserts, till at last they reached their European owners. The earliest porce- lain found in England—that is, a Celadon bowl presented to New College, Oxford, by Archbishop Warham, and the bowls of Oriental china given in 1506 by Philip of Austria to Sir Thomas Trenchard— came by land. The Portuguese vessels were not content to sail only to China and to exchange its products for those of Europe, for in 1542 they appeared in Japan. Fernam Mendez Pinto in his “Travels,” published in 1545, states that he and his companions were cordially received by the Prince of Japan. Evidently, then, at the time when Queen Elizabeth was reigning in England the Portuguese were pushing their trade in the East as the Spaniards were in the West, and, as we have seen, the Portu- guese, amongst other commodities, sent Oriental porcelain home, and brought European products back. They brought the Jesuits too. Christian teachers had been at work in China for long years
|
PS — —
THE MING DYNASTY 99
before the Jesuits came, but the activity and know- ledge of these gave them great influence amongst the reigning class practically from the close of the sixteenth to the beginning of the eighteenth century. It is said that they had much to do with the evolu- tion of the beautiful enamel colours of the next dynasty, the “ Tsing,” though the evidence of this is of the slightest. On the contrary, the development appears to have had purely a native origin; an unusual step, it is true, to be taken by a nation which seemed all along the line to be reproducing earlier forms and earlier decoration. From the period when the vases of the Yung-lo period were in demand, painted as they were with lions rolling a ball, with birds or with dark blue or red flowers, we find progress being continually made.
Suen-tih, whose reign is the most celebrated for the production of Ming porcelain, produced very fine examples, with flowers in pale blue, having red fish moulded as handles. Then comes the fine colour paintings of Ching-hwa, through which we reach the perfection of the Kang-he in the Tsing dynasty. It is remarkable that only a few Ming specimens seem to have been identified with enamel colour decoration, though in recent, indeed, quite late times, authorities are ascribing many pieces with green and yellow enamel set in black outline to Ming, rather than to Kang-he. White, green, and crackle pieces are often mentioned in the historical records.
We read that Lord Treasurer Burleigh, William Cecil, Secretary of State for nearly forty years to Queen Elizabeth, offered as a New Year’s gift, in 1588, to his royal mistress “one porringer of white porselyn garnished with gold,” and another gift of a similar kind was made to the Queen by Mr. Robert Cecil, “a cup of grene pursselyne.” Later,
100 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
we read that amongst the effects of Lady Dorothy Shirley were “purslin stuffe, Chinese stuffe, two dozen of purslin dishes.”
It will be noted that it was only with the advent of Shakespeare and the Authorised Version of the Bible that our English spelling took anything like uni- formity. The last note regarding Lady Shirley’s possessions was made in 1620. In the time which had elapsed between these records much had occurred in the Orient. The Dutch, in 1595, sent out their first expedition to the East Indies, and Queen Elizabeth, not to be outdone, despatched three English ships to China in 1596. Three years later the East India Company was founded, a company which at first could not trade in India or China owing to the fierce opposition of the Portuguese and Dutch. They therefore made their headquarters at Gombron in the Persian Gulf. The china ware was brought overland or by coasting vessels to Gombron, which gave the early name “Gombron ware” to porcelain which was universally used before the adoption of the name “china.”
During the Ming dynasty the practice of placing marks upon the porcelain was first adopted, though the rule seems to have been to mark only one piece in a set, yet the method of marking porcelain was far from being universal or methodical. In acquiring Ming porcelain the buyer must be especially careful. For many centuries the old forms were copied, and in counterfeiting the porcelain and decoration it was quite easy to imitate the mark. Here, then, we must once more advise the collector to rely upon sight and touch. We have stated that it is the inspiration of the educated eye regarding the tout ensemble which was largely to be trusted. On the other hand it would not be well to dispense with the necessity for
~ , |
THE MING DYNASTY 101
actually handling the piece with the view to detecting differences between the old and the new work. In dealing with fine pieces there is one advantage: they are submitted to expert after expert, whose opinions may vary, but truth is great and will prevail.
The end of the Ming dynasty was rapidly ap- proaching. The Tartars, with shaven head and pigtail, were “as the storm clouds which had been collecting for some time,” and at length they “burst over the Empire.” The space of time between the years 1616 and 1644, when the struggle for supremacy between the Ming and Tsing dynasties was at its height, leaves the identification of porcelain made
- during that period a matter of considerable difficulty.
In a national struggle, art manufactures are the first to suffer, so that it is quite probable that only a small output of porcelain took place during those troublous years. In revising the Ming period note should be made that Hung-woo preferred black, blue, and white ornaments ; and that gold used as the decoration for a dark-blue ground was first employed. In Yung-lo’s time intense patches of colour were used, and there was a development with regard to the reds; a dark red was widely adopted. The paintings of flowers and of birds and beasts, mainly used figuratively as emblems, became far more delicate.
The Ching-hwa potters seem to have adopted a delicacy and a mastery over the art of porcelain decoration scarcely ever met with in history. It is true that the supply of blue failed, the cobalt was of an inferior quality, but the coloured painting reached high perfection. The marks and designs of the Ching-hwa period furnished unexampled opportu- nities for copying, for although the later Kang-he showed, without doubt, the finest blue and white with regard to colour that was ever made, the pattern
102 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
generally adopted can be distinctly traced to Ching- hwa.
Kea-tsing was noted for the use of enamel colours of a beautiful depth and quality. About this time pure white cups were made imitating white jade, but the quality of the porcelain is inferior to many of the other periods because one of the sources of supply of porcelain earth failed.
Vill
THE TSING DYNASTY
CN
CHAPTER VIII
THE TSING DYNASTY. KANG-HE PERIOD (1661-1722)
BEARING in mind the struggle between the Mings and the Tartars, which lasted, as we have seen, from 1616 to 1644, we may take Shun-che (1644-1661) as the first real Tsing Emperor. Properly, the title of the dynasty, which has existed to our own times, would be the Manchu, Manchoo, or Tae-tsing or Ta Tsing dynasty, which is the twenty-second Im- perial dynasty. The most distinguished Emperor in connection with the manufacture of porcelain was the second, named Kang-he, who had a long and peaceful reign from 1661 to 1722; in fact, he is the only Emperor who reigned for a complete Chinese cycle of sixty years, and we shall find amongst our marks that the sixty-first year is distinguished by a cycle mark and not by the “‘xden-hao,”’ or name mark. Note Fig. 1 in the marks.
Under Kang-he’s guidance the porcelain manu- facture received an immense impetus. Many im- provements were adopted and new colours introduced, especially the enamel colours. Amongst the noted potters living long before his reign were two whose names have come down to us, although identification
of their work is impossible. The famous Pung, as 105
106 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
before noted, was an excellent potter, but he was only copyist of old forms. Chow was a later potter who, near the end of the Ming dynasty, also excelled in imitating ancient vases. The work of these two old potters were copied at first by potters of the Kang-he period. “Franks” says: “It is probably to this reign that we must refer most of the old specimens of Chinese porcelain that are to be seen in collections, even when they bear earlier dates.”
What generally were the qualifications and characteristics of the productions of King-te-chin in this reign? Our illustrations, which should be read carefully, will give guidance to the careful student regarding the Chinese porcelain that was then produced, There seems to have been little doubt that the three-coloured pieces, decorated with yellow, green, and aubergine, were direct copies of the Ming products, Aubergine is a puzzling word and requires explanation. It is a transparent enamel resembling the egg plant in the variation and gradation of its colours, from grey to purple or having various shades up to a rich brown. It will be found in the trees, stems, and branches, forming a principal part of the scheme of colour decoration. The black family—* famille noire” —is of the same period. The black may be composed of other colours, but it is usually coated with a transparent green enamel. Notice that there is a dull black, a mirror black, and this black covered with green enamel. Kang-he black will receive due attention in the illus- trations, It is rare and very valuable.
Perhaps the finest porcelain produced during the Kang-he period was the green family, sometimes used with blue under the glaze. Wan-leih, the Ming Emperor, is sometimes credited with intro- ducing this green enamel. This, however, seems
THE TSING DYNASTY 107
very improbable, for twice in his reign the Japanese invaded Korea, and the Tartars were always in rebellion. On the whole the balance of evidence points to the green family as being a genuine product of the Kang-he period. Another product of the same period was the green enamel used with blue enamel over the glaze, so that it is well to note that the fine greens which are classified as “ /amz/le verte” are usually ascribed to this period. The blue and white of the Kang-he period has been noted before. The most lovely quality of this decoration must be always referred to this period.
Whether we consider the cobalt blue asa colour, as in the celebrated ginger jar with prunus flowers sold at Christie’s for 5,900 guineas, or such pieces as we show in our illustration from Mr. Duveen’s collection, worth £2,000 each, from 1720 right down to our own times this ware has been copied and ever recopied, but there is something in the blue used for decoration, something, too, in the quality of the white porcelain itself, and again something in the glaze, an intense brilliancy. These furnish a combination which has never been rivalled.
The Kang-he period was noted for a very rare biscuit Celadon, in which the surface of the panels in relief is unglazed, though the remainder of the decoration is blue under the glaze. Another fine quality of porcelain was that with archaic decoration having conventional flowers and bands in black and green. The marks of the Kang-he period vary. In the earlier part of his reign the double blue circle and the Kang-he xzen-hao are frequent, but collectors must note that many specimens of this period have no date mark at all. If the two blue rings are used there are no letters inside. The reason of this is rather curious. In 1677 the
108 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
superintendent of the works gave an order to the factories at King-te-chin, in which he forbade the inscription of the Emperor’s name or the characters which gave the history of their sacred great men. This order was given because it was thought that if the porcelain was broken it would be reflecting upon the honour of the Emperor or of these sanctified persons who were represented not alone by inscriptions, but by paintings used in the decoration. However, this law did not remain in force for a very long period. When a piece is found with empty rings or with the symbol marks of the fungus leaf, &c., it can be assigned to a few years later than 1677. The importation to Europe had reached considerable dimensions before this.
We read that in 1664 nearly 50,000 pieces of rare Japanese china were imported into Holland and about 17,000 more of various kinds from Batavia by the Dutch East India Company. In this connection the rivalry between the Dutch and the Portuguese must be noted, because it affected the Oriental trade in porcelain very considerably. Stirred up by the Dutch, the Japanese, in 1640, excited by their fears of the ultimate designs of the Portuguese and the Spaniards, who had later appeared upon the scene, banished them in favour of the Dutch. Some thousands of Christian converts were massacred, and the Dutch were fully established at Nagasaki, where they laid the foundation of that progress towards Western civilisation to which the world, and especially Japan, owes so much.
IX
THE YUNG- CHING PERIOD
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CHAPTER IX THE YUNG-CHING PERIOD (1723-1736)
THE Yung-Ching period (1723-1736), though only thirteen short years, was peculiarly noteworthy, because the Emperor himself took a_ personal interest in the Imperial factories at King-te-chin, and also in the head of the establishment, Hien-Hsi- yao, who, in 1727, was entrusted with the manage- ment. In porcelain much depends upon the potting, and in the actual potting the products of Yung-Ching were far superior to any that had before appeared. The drawing, too, was in every way better, the colours, though not so brilliant, showed such care and taste in blending that even the fine “famille verte” suffers by comparison. As a rule, the decoration was so applied that the porcelain could be admired— that is, the whole surface was not covered by the ornamentation. In some of the smaller pieces the result of this plan is beyond all praise. Only one product suffered. The blue was far inferior to that of Kang-he.
We have already praised the quality of the cobalt applied as decoration to vases, ginger jars, &c., of the Kang-he period. As if to balance this default the rose colour from gold was discovered, which gave
birth to the rose family, “/amzlle rose.” Other products 1
112 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
which had their beginnings in this reign are worthy of notice. First there was a black decorated with colour, mainly with arabesques or curl work. The porcelain was of fine quality and the scheme of colour so subdued as to be entirely pleasing to the eye, the black being relieved by pattern in faint green and further decorated in white, pale yellow, and aubergine of such an admirable character that one wonders why Yung-ching porcelain is not more appreciated. Still the rose decoration begun so successfully in this period, under the succeeding Emperor, received such attention as placed it in the front rank of Oriental porcelain In fact, we may say more. Collectors of the rose family care nothing for Ming with its greens and yellows, nothing for Kang-he with its “/amzlle verte” and black, but they esteem and value above all the “famille rose,’ the Yung-ching chef @euvre, which we shall deal with later when we come to Keen-lung. The pieces of the Yung-ching period, decorated with blue under the glaze with enamel in colour over the glaze, exhibited the same distinctive features which typical china of this period showed—that is, excellent potting and a skilful blending of the under-glaze blue with the enamel colours over the glaze. There is this noteworthy distinction, too, the decoration on the backs of bowls and dishes is almost equal to that on the front. This is a helpful hint, to which careful note should be given.
Perhaps one of the most puzzling and at the same time interesting forms of decoration was the blue used in conjunction with peach bloom. These specimens were ornamented with combinations of three lines either long or bissected, called the Pa-kwa, the single mark forming a trigram essentially male
THE YUNG-CHING PERIOD 113
if the long lines were in the ascendant, and female when the half lines were most numerous. The later marks or symbolical devices will deal more fully with the Pa-kwa. Peach-bloom was undoubtedly first introduced in the reign of Kang-he, and the really valuable and fine examples belong to this period only. It is altogether a misleading term to those who are not experts, who expect to find the delicate pink of the peach blossom or flower. Peach bloom is nothing of this kind. Imagine a dark reddish brown of unusual but beautiful tone pierced through its surface in flecks of dark green and spots of pink such as the flower would be when the first touch of spring coaxed it from the dark-coloured sepal with flecks of green and a touch of pink. It is the colour of the bud when the peach begins to bloom, not the pink of the peach blossom so prettily tinted with yellow. Peach bloom and “clair de lune” are the two very finest self-colours which take precedence even of “sang de beuf.’ We shall have occasion to occur to this again in the chapter on self-colours,
The next class is black with coral red under the glaze; in fact, two colours are found under the glaze in the Yung-ching period, blue and red, The red is of a brilliant tone, not so striking as the red from gold, but still very lovely in its combination with blue. Sometimes these two are used together with added enamel colours, but frequently in under- glaze decoration that favourite ornament, the five- clawed dragon in pursuit of the crystal ball or pearl, may be found. The circular device ball or pearl showing the Yang and the Yin, signs for the male and the female elements in nature, were at this period raised on the surface, and in over-glaze enamels both the waves and the clouds were tinted
7
114 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
with various shades of green and purple and aubergine edged with black.
We have already referred to the rose family, in which the enamel decoration was most carefully and artistically carried out in all its detail. The preponderating influence was a brilliant rose colour accompanied by green, yellow, and blue, all in enamel colours, which were not less striking because still subordinate to the beautiful pink. When waves were used in the decoration they were of a charming sea-green Celadon enamel. The blue painted under the glaze has already been referred to as being inferior in quality, in colour and brilliance to the products of Kang-he. In fact, we must repeat that no blue and white was ever equal to the Kang- he ginger jars and vases decorated with the prunus pattern, usually called the hawthorn, with the lip unglazed on the outside and partly glazed on the inside.
Present day potters produce blue and white ginger jars, but the blue of Kang-he is unapproach- able, the paste is exquisite, and the glaze is in- comparable, The Yung-ching potters did well in blue and white, and the blues, though less brilliant, were very bright and pleasing. The distinctive feature of the period is that the borders of the vases were incised after the manner of the Ming blue and white, a pattern which appears at no other periods. Let us try to explain this. About an inch from the top of the vases there is an incised pattern, a pattern cut in double incised lines, altogether forming a band about half an inch wide. A similar incised band is found round the base. Yung-ching blue, and white often has a decoration of rocks, waves and curious conventional ground in blue of a carefully painted peach-tree springing from the
THE YUNG-CHING PERIOD 115
rocks, painted blossoms of a rich red tone with reddish or yellowish brown spots distributed over the white as if to emphasise the form of the decora- tion. The contrast between the delicacy of the detail is striking when compared with the broad treatment of the Kang-he period. On the one hand there is fine stipple work. This is Yung-ching. On the other hand there is a broad, bold wash of colour. This is Kang-he. One of the most effective forms of decoration is what is widely known as powder or powdered blue, in which the cobalt was sprayed through gauze or dabbed either upon the whole surface, or upon all of the surface except that which by mechanical means was reserved. Students of Oriental china will often come across the expres- sion “painted in reserves or compartments.” By this is meant that the scheme of decoration of the whole surface has been so far modified that certain panels have been left in white for further decoration. Hence we get reserves of various shapes with varying decorations — powder blue vases with reserves decorated in blue; powder blue vases with reserves decorated in “ famille verte,” and so on. The apparently granulated surface of the powder blue is due to the colour having been blown through the fine gauze or dabbed on the whole portion that was not reserved.
Celadon was brought to great perfection in this reign. Not only the various tints of green usually known by that name, and not only the brilliant white Celadon glaze with raised decoration in which a Celadon green is effectively employed, but various glazes in which the colour, being applied in the glaze, was included in the same term Celadon. The decoration, often floral, was noted for its subdued tones of pink, mauve, red, and orange. Vases of the
116 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
Ming dynasty, especially the Suen-tih and Ching-hwa periods, were copied and recopied in every detail. Beautiful bowls were largely made with Celadon or coral grounds, with figures or other ornaments in coloured enamel; sometimes reserves or compartments in white had special treatment of figure decoration. Other specimens imitated jade or agate or cornelian or some other stone. The well-known pale green Celadon is the only one known to the trade by the name Celadon. Red or blue Celadons would be classed under self-colours.
We have noted the green family, “/am7lle verte,” of Kang-he. The Yung-ching products of the same class differ from it in the quality of the colours used. The green enamel itself was much thinner and not so brilliant; it often had a biue shade, but it too was applied as an enamel in con- junction with the under-glaze blue decoration. Instead of the reds from copper the reds from iron were effectively used. A colouring like the red of rusty iron was used in several shades, ranging from an orange red toa bright orange, or even to a salmon pink. Other colours in soft tones were used, but a chief point to remember is that whilst the design was usually drawn in blue under the glaze, all the enamel colours were applied over the glaze, so that a blue tinge is conspicuous, and it is a help to identification.
A reference was made earlier to the rose family. This was a red from gold, and perhaps its highest development is seen in the brilliant ruby-back plates of the Yung-ching and Keen-lung periods, This colour had its origin in Yung-ching’s short reign, and the shades of it vary from pink to purple. As enamel, the rose colour is most wonderfully applied to flowers, drapery, &c., and really it is far more decorative
THE YUNG-CHING PERIOD 117
than the green, the powder blue, or indeed any other colour. It has their artistic merit, and the additional one of being a soft and most attractive tint, if green represents the leaves, rose pictures the flowers; and perhaps the most lovely combination is “vose verte,” where both of these are used in harmony.
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THE KEEN-LUNG PERIOD
patio
CHAPTER X THE KEEN-LUNG PERIOD (1736-1795)
DURING the first seven years of the reign of this Emperor there was but little variation in the character of the porcelain manufacture at King-te-chin. In 1743, however, a new director was appointed to the works—Thang-ing—who continued the high quality of the manufacture of the two previous reigns, and brought the rose family to the most perfect state. Indeed, though the European influence exerted by the Jesuits may possibly have been more powerful than before, yet no European china quite reaches the glowing brilliance of these Chinese vases and dishes. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and Chelsea tried to copy the rose colour, the result being the fine claret colour of the Chelsea china. Sévres came nearest with the Rose du Barri, but, after all, the lover of old Oriental porcelain devotes all his energies to the acquisition of specimens made and decorated in the old times, imitations perhaps of very early Chinese products, but perfectly Chinese in instinct and impression.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to separate Keen- lung china from Yung-ching in unmarked pieces before the full developement of the “vose famille,”
but the reign of Keen-lung was so much longer 121
PO
122 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
comparatively, and during the period the porcelain manufacture was so active, that it will be safe to ascribe the fine specimens of this rose family to it as well as to Yung-ching, when the invention of the rose enamel took place. In the last reign we considered, but only shortly, this “ famzlle rose.” The exquisite delicacy of these specimens lies in the combination of an elaborate, but refined, style of decoration in which the painting was most artistic, with the graceful shapes of the pieces themselves. There are other types, bolder in colour, broader in execution, and, it may be, equally beautiful. Take, for example, a vase ; its body would be covered with large sprays of flowers in rose, yellow, and other enamels, but the rose predominates and gives an effect which is very rich and striking. Chrysanthe- mums, peonies, irises or flags, anemones, pumpkin vines with flowers and fruit—all these were in common use with birds and butterflies, fishes and insects no less finely coloured, and, as it were, thrown up into relief by the use of black with that transparent green enamel which we have before described, and here and there a black spot is applied for the same purpose of enhancing the value of the coloured enamels. The porcelain body of the Keen-lung period is very fine and white, many of the specimens having a style of painting peculiar to the Chinese artists of this period. Flowers such as those we have mentioned— the chrysanthemum, peony, and rose—seem to be ribbed, as if when the enamel was not quite dry a tool was used for the purpose of breaking up the enamel and in this way getting finer effects from reflected light. The porcelain itself sometimes assumed a wavy appearance, such as would be left by the potter’s fingers when the piece was turned on the wheel. A similar wavy appearance is found on
THE KEEN-LUNG PERIOD 123
characteristic pieces on Bristol hard paste porcelain when turned upon the wheel.
Amongst the rarest decoration of this class of porcelain in this period is what is called “ m//e fleurs.” In this class the whole surface is covered with a thou- sand flowers in variety painted exquisitely in enamel colours of every conceivable hue. Yet though the colours are so varied there is nothing but the most pleasing and harmonious effect. Pale lilac, reds and yellows, alternate with delicate shades of greys and blues. When the panels are left in reserves, a figure decoration is freely applied to them, and the figures depicted represent the spirits of the flowers. On the bases, which are covered with pale sea-green enamel,
are found the square seal marks of the Emperor Keen-
lung. It is scarcely possible to have the privilege of seeing such perfect work of Ceramic art, but the collection of the late Mr. W. G. Gulland, of Brunswick Terrace, Hove, was especially rich in “ lle fleurs” pieces.
The class allied to this, but probably later in date, is “mille cerfs”—that is, a decoration consisting of numberless deer ranging in a forest. The colour is not nearly as brilliant as in the “mz/le fleurs” class, though the same wavy porcelain is to be noted. The green, bluish in tone, like the greens of the Yung- ching period, are harmonised with browns ; in fact, the aubergines merge into sepia or brown. The hills are green and brown with some hilltops in blue enamel. The birds are painted quite thinly in rather dull reds. This glaze could be fairly described as late “famille verte.” In this period the Celadons show considerable advance. Celadons were produced late in the Ming and early Kang-he periods, and cover a range of tints which are difficult to describe, as we have seen in the case of peach bloom and “clazr de
124 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
lune.” The “sang de beuf” is also difficult to describe, so that a pilgrimage should be made to any Museum which has a genuine specimen. For instance, in the British Museum, Oriental Section, in the centre of a large cabinet, there is a small bottle-shaped vase which is a real “sang de beuf, a glaze of a brilliant colour shaded towards a deeper claret and the base shading away into a pale yellow, pink towards the lip, which retains the soft, natural tone of the body or paste. Then just below the neck the “sang de beuf” seems to glow with the intensity of the ruby, just before it falls from the shoulder of the piece towards the base. Other colours of this period are known as pigeon’s blood and chicken’s blood, crimson, crushed strawberry, and so on. To nearly all of these colours the remarks which apply to the shading of the “ sang de beuf” can be noticed upon the specimens them- selves. Here the glaze starts at the top of the vase or vessel; there is a yellowish tinge, and the colour has several gradations until it ends at the base, These reds originated in the late Ming period, reached high excellence under Kang-he, and con- tinued through Yung-ching’s reign, and under Keen- lung maintained their high perfection.
The Keen-lung red Celadon has a somewhat blue shade when the light is reflected at an angle. It is well to remember that all those colours which are called Celadon, or self-coloured, have the tints mixed in the glaze. Besides the reds, there are blues of many shades, violets, mauves, &c.—in fact, any colour that could be applied in the glaze was used as the sole decoration of fine porcelain. It is true that in many of the fine vases the body is moulded with flowers or dragons or other patterns, yet the glaze was a whole glaze and therefore Celadon. Notwithstanding this, the Celadon surface was itself frequently decorated
THE KEEN-LUNG PERIOD 125
by designs in enamel colours outlined in black. As we have before shown, it is easy to know whether a piece is decorated with Celadon or with enamel, because all enamel colours stand out from the glazed surface to which it is applied, and by passing the fingers over the decoration the enamel can be felt. This brings us to certain facts that must be re- membered.
Enamels, like Celadons, may be of any colour. They are always burnt in so as to amalgamate with the cover glaze, even if that cover glaze be itself coloured and therefore Celadon. Also there are but a few colours which can be applied before glazing, that is, upon the paste or body directly. We have seen that blue and red were so applied. This brings us to the other development. The Keen-lung class of blue and red under the glaze was derived from that discovered in the Yung-ching period. Its application was developed with surprising skill by the finest workmen, so that the application of copper red under the glaze, in combination with blue, gave splendid opportunities for these artists to display their pre-eminent skill for freehand drawing in applying designs upon the biscuit porcelain before the glazing took place. If, for example, you pass your hand over a piece decorated under the glaze, you will find a surface perfectly smooth, the colour has sunk into the paste.
The next note is worth remembering, because it may be applied as a practical test to distinguish between the old and the modern blue under the glaze. This test of modern blue is to be found with the finest strokes, whereas in the old work each stroke is perfectly smooth or uniform in its outline, never laboured, never hatched, but simple strokes which plainly follow the American plan of never
126 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
taking three strokes when one stroke will do. Most of the modern work reveals a tiny blue dot at the pull-off of the fine hair brush or pencil. The drawing and writing of the Chinese was always done by means of a pencil held perfectly upright by the fingers, so that by examination of the pencil marks it is quite easy to see whether the blue lines have inequality, especially at the point where the brush is removed, and our readers may detect forgeries of the old marks as well as the old drawings by noticing this blue dot at the end of the stroke. It is never found upon an old piece.
The coral red family, which belongs peculiarly to this period, is extremely pleasing, and a very fine result is secured when used with blue under the glaze, leaving the design outlined in red, so that the red, white, and blue harmonise perfectly. But the coral red was also used under the glaze as a ground colour. Then it was thickly powdered with white chrysanthemum leaves and flowers, and it had white reserves often decorated with sprays of conventional white lotus, chrysanthemums, and magnolia. The Chinese varied the colours in their decoration with wonderful effect. Blue under the glaze was, as we have seen, associated with reds under the glaze, but it was quite effective with enamels over the glaze, and we may take this as the next class of the period. The design, or any part of it, was applied to the paste, then the piece was glazed and fired so that on coming from the kiln it was simply a white porcelain piece having blue, or red and blue, decoration under the glaze. Then enamel colours were used to com- plete the design, such as green enamels with the blue designs showing through them and. thin dull reds under the glaze, as before noted, whilst the rest of the piece was coated with decoration in yellow, blue, or even white enamel colours.
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THE KEEN-LUNG PERIOD 127
Perhaps the most—and here adjectives fail: charming, lovely, famous are words which arise in the mind—ruby, pink, rose eggshell plates really should be seen rather than described. These all belong to the “famille rose.” But eggshell was not confined to this family. Dated specimens seem to indicate that the two earlier reigns had seen the origin and progress of this beautiful ruby porcelain, but there is no doubt that many of the finest of the
' marked pieces belonged to the Keen-lung period,
though Yung-ching produced excellent specimens.
Let us give a few examples from the sale-rooms. But first we could wish that all who will read this chapter could betake themselves to the Victoria and Albert Museum, to the British Museum, to Duveen’s or Gorer’s in Bond Street, and see for themselves what Chinese eggshell plates really are. The Salting Collection in the Museum at South Kensington has very fine specimens, and the British Museum has similar specimens in two flat cases, which, unfortu- nately, do not allow the full value of the ruby back to be appreciated. At Duveen’s there are two cases filled with the loveliest specimens ranged before a look- ing-glass, which enables the visitor to see both the design on the front of the plate and the lovely colour at the back.
It is surprising, and yet not astonishing from the point of view of the collector who will have the best, to notice the prices which have been paid for these plates, which are quite small, ranging from 7 in. to 84 in. diameter. A few examples will help in enabling us to estimate their value. One eggshell plate, enamelled with chrysanthemums and a sparrow, and with sprays of peonies round the border, on pink diaper-pattern ground, 8 in. in diameter, sold at the sale of Louis Huth’s Collection for £105. The other
128 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
prices realised at the same sale are no less striking. Saucer dishes, pair, eggshell, with ruby backs, enamelled with branches of chrysanthemums and peonies on a white ground, 8 in. in diameter, sold for #80, but a better pair, enamelled with cocks and peonies in the centre on white ground, with pale green trellis border, 7$ in. in diameter, realised £400. One saucer dish, enamelled with a pheasant, quail and peonies in the centre, and a pale green marble border with pink prunus blossom, and three panels containing flowers, 8 in. in diameter, brought 4135. The first and last of these were not pink-backed, but they were certainly beautiful.
Other eggshell plates at the same sale with ruby backs, which we will describe shortly, even at the risk of appearing monotonous, were: one enamelled with ladies and children in the centre, diaper border, with three panels of flowers, 83 in. in diameter, which realised 4150; another, enamelled with quails and chrysanthemums in the centre, with pink and green diaper borders and three panels of flowers, 4155; another, enamelled with a lady and two children by a table, in a leaf- shaped panel, on gold ground, with border of various coloured diapers, 84 in. in diameter, £200. Two saucer dishes, enamelled with peonies and persimmon fruit in the centre, and shaped border of diaper ground, the border on green ground, with pale pink trellis edge, 7% in. in diameter, £310. A similar pair, but enamelled with ladies and children and vases in the centre, on a white ground, with pale green trellis pattern border, and three panels of black, 72 in. in diameter, fetched the same price, £310. The gem of the whole collection was a plate, finely enamelled with a group of ladies and children, vases and utensils in the centre, with seven borders of various diapers
Oe a
THE KEEN-LUNG PERIOD 129
and small panel of flowers, 84 in. in diameter, £280. ,
The plate with the seven borders is the most famous of these eggshell ruby-back plates. The centre panel or reserve is leaf-shaped, having in enamel colours, very delicately painted, a lady seated with two boys; near her is a table on which are books ; vases behind her and two vases on her left. This panel is surrounded by six diaper borders of various widths, of which the two chief are a deep ruby, interrupted by four reserves in blue enamel, and the other a pale lilac with four reserves enclosing flowers. Between reserves are four dragons in white. The diaper around the leaf is the seventh border. There are other diaper patterns in the five and four border plates which have in the leaf-shaped central panel a decoration which is very similar. Some, how- ever, of these eggshell plates have no diaper work, the sole decoration consisting of two cocks, beauti- fully enamelled, near rocks and foliage. Indeed, these birds are often found in plates with borders. Similar eggshell plates may have landscapes or flowers as the central decoration with or without diaper borders. The name ruby back is given to these plates because the whole of the back, excepting the centre inside the rim, is enamel with a beautiful ruby tint. Indeed, we may say that these plates are amongst the very finest creations of the Yung-ching and Keen-lung periods. To the eggshell china belong the delicate Mandarin vases which, probably, were made for exportation.
XI
MANDARIN PORCELAIN
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CHAPTER XI
MANDARIN PORCELAIN—KEEN-LUNG PERIOD (1736-1795) AND LATER
A MANDARIN is a Chinese official, either civil or military, but the word itself is not Chinese. It is a name given indiscriminately by foreigners to designate any Chinese official of whatever rank. The recognised official grades of mandarins are nine, each distinguished by its dress. The so-called button on the hat—the mandarin button—is conspicuous. It is really a very valuable jewel, and, like the rest of the dress, is worn under precise regulations. It will be interesting to notice how the mandarin’s rank is shown by the dress. The coats were always embroidered with gold and were of coloured silk.
In the first order, the button on the hat was a bead and above that an oblong button of transparent ruby red—transparent red. The coat was violet, with a square plaque on the breast and back decorated, in the civil class with a pelican, in the military class witha kylin, whilst the belt was ornamented with four agate stones set in rubies. In the second class, the button was a red coral button resting on the ruby bead—ved opaque. The coat had embroidered plaques decorated with a hen for the civil class, and a lion
for the military class. The belt was ornamented 133
134 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
with four embroidered plaques with rubies. The third class had a sapphire button—d/ue transparent. The coat had embroidered plaques decorated with peacock’s plumes, each feather having only one eye. The symbolical peacock represented the civil class, and the panther the military class. The belt was ornamented with four plaques of worked gold. In the fourth class an azure-coloured button of lapis lazuli—dlue opague—rested uponasmallsapphire bead. The coat had embroidered plaques decorated with the crane for the civil, and the tiger for the military mandarins. The belt was ornamented with four plaques and a silver button.
The fifth class had a rock crystal button—zw/z¢e transparent—resting on the small sapphire bead ; the embroidered plaques were decorated with the white pheasant for the civil, and the bear as the symbolical emblems. The belt was similar to the last class. The sixth class had a button of white polished opalescent shell—zwhzte opague—with a blue feather. On the embroidered plaques of the coat were the emblems of a stork for the civil, and a little tiger for the military divisions. Four tortoise-shell plaques and a silver button ornamented the belt. The seventh class had a button of plain gold—yelow brilliant—on a crystal bead. The embroidered coat had a part- ridge for the decoration of the civil division, and a rhinoceros for the military. The belt was ornamented with four round silver plaques. The eighth class had two buttons, one upon the other, of worked gold— yellow opaque. The embroidered plaque of the coat bore the quail as the symbol of the civil division, and the stork as the symbol of the military division. The belt had four ram’s head plaques and a silver button. The ninth or last class had the second button of worked silver—dlank opaque. The em-
MANDARIN PORCELAIN 135
broidered coat showed the sparrow as the emblem of the civil mandarins, and the sea-horse as the emblem of the military. Four black horn plaques and a silver button decorated the belt.
It will be seen that Chinese porcelain decorated with figures such as these dressed in their robes received the name of Mandarin china. The actual word comes from the Portuguese “ Mandar, to com- mand.” Much could be said upon the subject of Chinese dress, as applied to porcelain in decoration, but it is only necessary to contrast the style of the Ming and the Tartar dresses,
The Ming long, flowing robes are held up with sashes, and the hair, turned up over the head, is either covered with a soft head-dress or with the Court ceremonial head-dress.
The Mandarin dress of the Tartar shows the robe principally, but there are besides the pantaloons and the high boots with thick soles. The hair is dressed in pigtail fashion, for from their earliest youth the Chinese children are shaved. The boys are shaved all over the head except at the top, and in the case of girls two tufts are left, one over each ear. These facts, while furnishing no actual clue to the age of Mandarin china, showed that at least it could not have been manufactured before the Tartars came into power in 1644. Probably the date of its manu- facture is later.
We can understand that these Tartars, who had enforced their own dress upon the conquered people, but who had at the same time adopted their religion, would continue copying the holy persons such as the eight immortals, the genii, &c., in the same dresses which had been in use for hundreds of years. More than this, there seems to bea strong element of truth in the statement that
136 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
the Mandarin decoration was due to the desire of the European traders to carry home porcelain which should illustrate the people, and the style and the colour of their clothes. If this is so, then the Yung- ching period would be the first in which Mandarin china was produced. At any rate we do know that most of it was made in Keen-lung’s reign, and that the potters of the later Emperors, to our own times, have been manufacturing large quantities for com- mercial purposes.
In Mandarin china the figures vary in boldness and in general character, but the colouring is of one class—pinks, reds, yellows, blues, and greens, so dis- tinct in tone as to receive the name of Mandarin colours. The decoration of this kind of china includes boys and men at games, such as kite-flying ; warriors fighting, marching, or resting; men and children in' masks; figures walking, riding on horses or on vehicles ; lantern shows with scores of people, besides many other designs. This Mandarin decora- tion is associated with great varieties in the ground colours and patterns. Such are the swastika ground, the red ground, the blue ground mottled over the glaze, and the scroll ground. There are also many diaper patterns and a variety of borders of flowers, butterflies, dragons, sometimes in low relief, whilst often examples are met with in which the vases are recessed so as to furnish a flat surface in which the decorative painting of figures, flowers, and birds lies flat in a shaped compartment or reserve, which may be joo-e-shaped, leaf-shaped, kakemono-shaped, or makemono-shaped. In studying the vases given as illustrations these varieties of shaped panels should be noted, as they are constantly used in catalogue descriptions of the decoration. Amongst the most beautiful vases of this period are the conical-shaped
MANDARIN PORCELAIN | 137
eggshell vases with short necks, covered with the most delicate scroll work in gilt, having large reserves decorated with Mandarin figures painted with the utmost delicacy, and the small reserves with rose and other flowers most carefully drawn.
The question has been raised as to whether transfer printing as a mechanical process was ever applied to Oriental porcelain, In England, Dr. Wall, of Wor- cester, is said to have invented transfer printing as early as 1751, and Sadler and Green, of Liverpool, lay claim to the honour of its discovery at about the same time, whilst on the Continent a similar honour is claimed for the factory at Marieberg in 1760. There is no proof that any blue and white Oriental china, except during the most recent times, was ever decorated on a transfer-printed ground. All of the blue and white Nankin and Canton ware was painted by hand under the glaze. When we consider the immense amount of labour necessary to keep up the supply of porcelain to Europe, and also to the United States early in the nineteenth century, it is astonishing that no process work showing transfer printing can be discovered, although the invention must have ‘spread to China before 1796 when Keen- lung died.
We shall treat of “dlanc de chine” later, when we discuss the colours of Oriental china, but it must be remembered that most of the Chinese ware of this type was made during this period. Such were the statuettes of Kwan-Yin and many other gods and goddesses. This cream-white porcelain may date from any period even before Kang-he. The earliest specimens are distinguished by being transparent, although thick, and by the creamy smoothness of their glaze. Some authors, however, ascribe the origin of this ware to the Keen-lung period.
XII
KEA-KING, TAOU-KWANG, AND THE LATER EMPERORS
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CHAPTER XII
KEA-KING, TAOU-KWANG, AND THE LATER EMPERORS
KEA-KING (1796-1821).
WHEN any country is disturbed by internal divisions or by external invasion, the inhabitants pay less and less devotion to art. The reign of this king was certainly disturbed. The people suffered from mis- rule, and though the traditions of the Chinese potters did still keep up, in a measure, the high standard of the previous reign, the neglect of the governing bodies, of the Emperor and Court, took away much of their devotion to the development of the porcelain so-conspicuous in Keen-lung’s reign. The porcelain, however, remained good in the quality of its paste, and now and then it reached excellence with regard to the decoration, which became characterised by conventional designs. Coloured enamels and gold were largely used for ornamentation, the turquoise blue, “famille rose,’ and a good blue-green were conspicuous. Mandarin china still continued to be made, though the modelling was comparatively clumsy and the paste thick, still, however, having the wavy surface always noticeable in Mandarin china, which was, as. we have said, largely made for the 141
142 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
European market. The influence of Western art made itself felt in the decoration. Many scenes were painted with European subjects, especially in the small reserves or vignettes. Some of the finest forms, too, of the early Sévres and early Wedgwood and Adams’ styles were copied and decorated with festoons of raised husks with a landscape in a medallion. This wavy porcelain seems to be specially connected with a comparatively thick blue enamel and a style of decoration usually called Lowestoft. Of course it is not Lowestoft. Lowestoft was a soft paste porcelain imitating early Bow and Worcester. The porcelain of the Keen-lung period, then, might be named the porcelain of commerce. European forms of pieces not used by the Chinese themselves are often found. The process seemed to have been something like this. The East India Company, all the captains and officers of the East India Company’s ships, when visiting China took with them orders for services to be decorated with crests or armorial bearings, with English landscapes, or with sporting or religious subjects. Blue and white was made in vast quantities owing to the demand from Europe. It needs but one sentence of description. It was poor. About this time the Chinese potters copied the Japanese. Imari ware, with its flowers in conventional forms, various Cela- dons in blue, lilac, grey-white on good fine porcelain, are traced to this reign. Perhaps it was most celebrated for the reproductions of the porcelain of earlier periods in which both pattern and mark were constantly recopied.
TAOU-KWANG (1821-1851). In this period there was a special development of
the enamelled rice bowl, although beautiful vases so’
TAOU-KWANG 148
decorated with enamel as to cover the whole surface are not uncommon. The use of two shades of green produces a very pleasing and comparatively new effect. Unfortunately, the Chinese potteries, as in the previous reign, seemed to have devoted much of their time to reproductions. The rice bowls were often decorated in graviata, graffito, or sgraffito patterns, in which the enamel was scratched with a _ point into a variety of twists and turns, forming beautiful variations from the ordinary plain enamel surface. This surface was also painted with flowers and figures. The process seems to have been first adopted by Keen-lung, and many pieces have the Keen-lung mark. Ina set of four very fine examples which came under our notice three had the Keen- lung mark, and the fourth that of Taou-kwang. In all probability the majority of them were made in the later reign and the earlier mark was copied, The copying during this reign included all the older forms from the Kang-he period, and it excelled in reproducing the “ famzlle verte” and the “famzlle rose.” Perhaps the Yung-ching green enamel received the most special attention, for the outline of the design is often found first painted in blue under the glaze, so that the blue shows through the transparent surface enamels and gives a bluish tint to the decoration generally, which was quite the effect produced ‘by a similar decoration in Yung-ching’s reign.
To the same class of rice bowls belong the pierced porcelains with patterns filled with glaze. Here the rice pattern is cut through the paste while the paste was soft. Then as usual the blue decoration was applied painted on by hand, and certain parts received a coating of white enamel before the whole was care- fully glazed. The skilful glazing is shown by the
144 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
evenness with which the pattern, in glaze, matches the general surface of the piece itself. The rice or - Star pattern is the most common of all these pierced porcelains. Some specimens have, however, a diaper pattern, and more rarely a dragon design with flowers and leaves, so cut that portions only are filled with glaze, which gives a very unusual and striking effect. These pierced specimens are not supposed to be earlier than the eighteenth century, and of course they may be very much later.
HEEN-FUNG (1851-1862).
Very little porcelain was made during this reign, owing to the Tai-ping rebellion, during which King- te-chin was destroyed. The first Chinese war with England took place in 1860. The rebellion ended in the next reign.
TUNG-CHE (1862-1875),
With peace after the wars the manufacture of porcelain was resumed. Generally, the best pieces were copied from the antique, though a pale turquoise ground with decoration of flowers and butterflies was made for exportation. Sepia drawings showed some distinction, but there was no new departure of importance. This period is modern, and these later Emperors are only mentioned in order to bring the history up to date, and to call attention to the marks both on ordinary and seal character.
KWANG-SHIU (1875- 3
In the present reign much more importance has been given to the improvement of porcelain, which is largely made for export, high prices being
KWANG-SHIU 145
obtained for imitations which are sold as antiques. The largest customer is the United States of America. The intense conservatism of the Chinese has been largely broken down by the influence of outside pressure. The almighty dollar holds the field. Yet, if it is still true that “for ways that are dark and tricks that are vain,” “the heathen Chinee” is “ peculiar,” he holds no monopoly of such qualities. Western civili- sation runs him close. On the other hand, the honour of a Chinese in trade is generally of a high standard, and the people have a natural instinct for artistic decoration, which has come to them as the legacy of ages past. And with this power they have, too, an unlimited supply of the very finest kaolin. Let us hope that happier times will bring back the glories of the past.
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XIII
CHINESE WHITE PORCELAIN
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CHAPTER XIII CHINESE WHITE PORCELAIN
M. GASNAULT, the friend and pupil of M. Jacquemart, has put on record the results of their united work in the Museum at Limoges. The collector is able to see how he has tried to reconcile and combine the elements of a complete history of Oriental china, how he has collected specimens of all the manufactures, even the smallest, how Oriental porcelain holds the first place in the collection, being represented by most remarkable specimens of industry which in the Celestial Empire to-day is on the decline, after having had a brilliant career through so many ages, that it seemed as if nothing could have led to its failure.
If the Chinese have not yet returned to that state where they have forgotten entirely the art of making porcelain, at least they have lost the secret of those admirable productions—the forms so pure, the glazes so marvellous, the enamels so sparkling, the decora- tion so diversified, and the paintings so exquisite— which remained with us as monuments of an age when there must have been such art in the Ceramic world as has never been seen since. It will be advantageous to say something about the collections at Limoges and the lessons we may learn from them.
The first place in the collection is given to the white 149
150 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
china known throughout the world as “dlanc de chine.” This kind of porcelain was highly esteemed in France, and the Oriental artists and potters from a material which seemed to offer but little resource proceeded to work wonders. By the side of the small sacrificial cups destined for religious uses with the glassy glaze and a tone which recalls that of wax or ivory, in the form of the horn of the rhinoceros or of the flowers of the lotus, which was the plant pre- eminently sacred, one is able to admire examples perfect in execution of which the texture is so thin and fine that it seems dangerous even to touch them. The greater part is decorated with ornaments in white or in white slip, which by a few simple strokes, or by a delicate tracery, almost inconceivably beau- tifies the limited surface. Garlands and detached bouquets of flowers have been engraved upon the wet or the dry clay so finely—indeed, so exquisitely, that they cannot be seen unless held up to the light. Here the sacred dragon winds round the cup as if he wished to defend it from profane hands, and a Buddhist god only appears when a coloured liquid is poured into the cup, which then shows up the lines, before invisible, engraved in the paste.
Again, we find little bottles decorated with dragons and symbolical dogs of Fé or Buddha cut deeply into the paste with a patience and an art unequalled in the productions of the Western Hemisphere. The statuettes of the gods and goddesses are also made in this white porcelain, amongst whom is one to whom we have before referred, Kwan-Yin, a mysterious being, the personification of mercy and goodness, who protects the sailors and saves them from ship- wreck, who takes pity on those who suffer in hell and intercedes for them. She also gives children to those who are sterile.
CHINESE WHITE PORCELAIN 151
Kwan-Yin has many attributes and emblems, Sometimes she has a diadem on her head ornamented with images of Buddha, or she rests seated on a throne of lotus in memory of the miraculous bridge which the gods constructed to enable her to cross the sea. The god of riches is often found as a white statutette, so is Poutai, the god of contentment, with
KWAN-YIN. WHITE PORCELAIN.
a broad smile and round, uncovered stomach ; Cheou, or Chow, the god of longevity, with an enormous bald head. Other figures of emperors and empresses are all of the same type, with the accompanying Ho- Ho birds.
Amongst the finest white porcelain is one kind having a hard and compact paste which lends itself
152 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
easily to the mould, but is not suitable to the turning wheel. Nearly all the pieces of this ware are moulded into figures, incense burners, &c., and on looking into the interior the roughness and un- evenness of the paste can be easily seen, even the marks left by the fingers of the workmen are quite plain, whilst the bottom always preserves the im- print of the canvas on which these pieces are placed after having been moulded. Then there is a white biscuit class, very rare, often having two walls or divisions, of which the outer one only is biscuit, reticulated or pierced with a fine network or trellis of various patterns, through which the interior wall can be seen. Amongst the trellis many Chinese characters are to be found, such as the emblem of longevity, the mark called Cheou, Chow, or Show. We shall have more to say of reticulated porcelain later on, but here we may mention that the reticula- tion on the outer wall is often elaborate, and the cover glazes give a variety of colours equal to that found upon ordinary china. The whole white porce- lain family, whether we consider the beautiful creamy ivory ware, or the dead white, or the blue tinged white, is rarely marked, and when a mark is used generally it is a seal character moulded or cut in the paste. A very rare form of decoration is met with in white, but only occasionally. The surface is covered with minute white points like the points shown in shagreen, only it is not green, but white. Such china has been termed “chazr de poule,’ or chicken skin. It may be noticed that these points are not enamelled, either because they were applied upon the glaze or because the enamel ran off them in the firing.
XIV
SINGLE OR SELF- COLOUR GLAZES
CHAPTER XIV SINGLE OR SELF-COLOUR GLAZES
FOLLOWING the white in order is the remarkable series of single colour glazes of various hues, be- ginning with the sea-green or Celadon, which is a pale green, or even a greyish green; and the yellow, especially the Imperial yellow, which is reserved for the Emperors of the Tsing dynasty; camellia-green like the leaves of that plant, painted in proper colours ; light brown, a bright colour with quite a metallic lustre, was known as “ feuzlle morte,’ or dead leaf colour. So copper-reds give various self-colours such as haricot, various fambés, and through a long range it reaches eventually a pure black. Then there are the blues, covering a range no less varied and inter- esting. Turquoise-blue, a tint which can only be obtained by applying it upon the biscuit china which has already passed through the kiln; the other blues, fouetté, souffié, trempé, are brushed on, blown on, or dipped according to the method used in applying the colour glaze. Another way of applying the glaze was by its being powdered on through a fine gauze or dabbed on by means of a wet swab dipped in the colour which was to be used as the single colour glaze.
The purples as glazes are no less rich in variations, 155
“SANG DE BQSUF.” SELF-COLOUR.
A tall sang de beuf fungus-growth, wonderfully true to nature. Yung Ching period. This example bears on the base the mark of Ching-hwa (1465-1488). Round the base and under the feet it is lacquered. The fungus, which grows at the root of trees, when dried, was so durable that it became the symbol of longevity and immortality. Hence large specimens are preserved in the temples, and it is both painted and modelled with figures of the immortals. It may also be found in the mouth of the deer, another emblem of longevity. The example given is in the finest sawg de buf with all the characteristics of that lovely Celadon colour. This brilliant red was a Kang-he discovery. It is included in the Lang-yao class, being so called after Lang Ting-tso, superintendent of King-te-chin.
The special point to which attention should be given is the lacquered pattern round the base, which is inlaid with pearl shells, in the style known as ‘‘ Zac burgauté.” In Chinese porce- lain this process is uncommon, but in Japanese porcelain and pottery cloisonné enamel is frequent, applied either with or without the metal cloisons. Lacquer, too, may be frequently found as a coat- ing—black with flowers in gold and silver; black with Ho-Ho birds and flowers; a rich red; brown; green; gold, &c. Nearly all of these pieces are comparatively modern Japanese ware, being made largely at Kioto, Seto, Yashima, Yamato, and other factories in Japan. To this class, which includes porcelain in combination with other sub- stances, must be ascribed those delicate Japanese, egg-shell, covered cups and saucers, painted with flowers in colours, and having an out- side covering of the finest basket-work. These are made chiefly at Yamato.
156
157
SINGLE OR SELF-COLOUR GLAZES 159
and in these tints the Chinese have never been rivalled. These self-colour pieces are decorated with symbolical figures or sacred animals, whilst flowers and inscriptions from the sacred books are found as a decoration in gold, which unfortunately lies upon the glaze and is more or less easily removed by hard wear. Again, similar designs are engraved in the paste, or modelled in relief and painted with such colours as are able to resist the temperature of the furnace. Many pieces have spaces reserved in white for further decoration, and sometimes the decoration is executed in white slip on the paste itself after its first firing has brought it to the biscuit state. These lovely single colour glazes are certainly amongst the finest Oriental specimens of porcelain which are worthy of the collector’s attention ; their softness, their brilliancy, their range of colour alike entitle them to a high place in any scheme of decorative treatment either in the home or on the: collector’s shelves. We call them china or porcelain vases, &c., and in that we are only following the Chinese usage, though the colour glaze is often so thick as to hide the material or body of the paste altogether. The thickness prevents any transmission of light; they have an opaque more or less coarse clay white or red body, and amongst our English products would be classified as stoneware. But the colour is ¢he thing, and here we shall repeat ourselves a little, because it is necessary to really understand not alone what the colours are, but generally the order of their invention. The oldest colour was, as we have said, Celadon, or sea-green, which reached a high state of perfection about 1500. No doubt there are many Celadon pieces of great antiquity still awaiting identification. It was in the Seuen-tih period of the Ming dynasty that this Celadon became a famous
160 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
product. The porcelain is very thick, and to this thickness it owes its preservation. Like the English ironstone china, it stands hard wear. All the Persians and the Turks value Celadon not for its intrinsic beauty, but because they thought it to be infallible as a test for poison in their food.
The yellow glaze is the colour adopted by the present Tsing dynasty as the Imperial colour. Fine specimens covered with yellow may then be regarded as having been destined principally for the use of the Emperors, but it does not follow that the use of this colour was proscribed in the decoration, either as a yellow or as a partial tint. Blue was one of the highly esteemed colours as well as one of the earliest. We have dealt with blue as an under-glaze decora- tion. It was not alone used for decorative purposes in drawings of figures, birds, animals, foliage, and landscape, but it was used in various forms as a body colour either on the biscuit itself, before glazing, for with the glaze as a self-colour, as a Celadon, in fact—that is, the blue was applied zz the glaze or zx the enamel.
We read that in 954 A.D. the Emperor Chin- Tsung ordered some vases to be made which should be “blue as the sky after rain when seen between the clouds,” and it is said that his celebrated porcelain was of this blue, fine like a looking-glass, thin as paper, and giving a sound like a musical stone, the only defect being that the feet of the pieces were of a coarse yellow clay. Alas for the romantic story !
The most recent catalogue of the Musée Guimet at Paris, drawn up by the national experts with the assistance of such Chinese experts as were available, states that the story is all a mistake. The word which was translated “blue” should have been trans lated “green,” which brings us back again to Celadon.
SINGLE OR SELF-COLOUR GLAZES 161
During the Sung dynasty (960-1279 A.D.) it appears that a fine red was discovered from which porcelain was made resembling chiselled red jade. This may be the celebrated “sang de beuf,’ which is red, but, as we have seen, red with qualifications.
The purple or lilac glaze before referred to seems to have been made quite as early as the Sung dynasty, but with this, as with all the other glazes, colour alone is no indication of age.
About the year 1600 there lived that famous potter called Chow, whose fame was obtained by his ex- cellence in skilfully imitating ancient vases. All the records that have come to us show very clearly that from the earliest times the potters were in the habit of copying the works of their predecessors. So well was this continually done that they were able to impose upon the best experts of their own country.
The brown glazes, according to Pere d’Entrecolles in a letter dated 1712, were at that time quite recent inventions, and he applied the same remarks to the coffee-colour glazes. The black glaze has been noted. It has several varieties—the dull black itself, the dull black glazed over with green so as to make a bright black giving a green tinge only at the edges, and the Tsing black, which is an uncommon brilliant black familiarly known as mirror black.
There are many other self-colours or single glazes to which fanciful names are given. We have referred to “clair de lune” and the peach bloom. It is very doubtful whether there is any real value in the names themselves, so we advise our readers to examine specimens in the Museums, when such colours as liver colour, pigeon’s blood, crushed strawberry, &c., will be found to be purely arbitrary. Perhaps the widest term applied to these variegated self-colours with a single glaze is splashed or shot silk. These
“CLAIRE DE LUNE” SELF COLOUR. CRACKLE PORCELAIN.
Another production of the Chinese which has never been success- ully produced in Europe is this crackled or crackle ware. They were very proficient in producing regulated crackles, large, small, or medium, and that which was no doubt at first accidental became one of the most important and successful means of decoration. Some pieces, indeed, are really marvellous, showing successive bands of crackle ornament, coloured decoration, self-colour, and white, others have a double network—doudle réseau—with the crackle coloured simultaneously in two tones. Historically this ware is of great antiquity, being noted during the Sung dynasty (960-1270). As a rule, the clay employed is very coarse, of a buff or a pale red colour merging into white. It comes under the designation of porcelain because the Chinese do not differentiate between that which is opaque and translucent.
The illustration, unfortunately, does not show the colour, the beautiful clazve de /wne, which is so rare and so indescribable. The specimen of sang de beuf given under ‘‘Self-colours” is, like this, a fungus of the genus Agaricus, the emblem of longevity, because it was practically indestructible. It was also emblematical of fertility. Emerson wrote, ‘‘ Nobody cares for planting the poor fungus ; so Nature shakes down from the gills of one poor agaric countless spores.” The fungus is used as a mark, as decoration, and, as we have shown, in vase form. Probably its shape and symbolism gave rise to the Joo-e sceptre and to the wide adoption of the Joo-e-head form in ornament. Note that red-coloured crackle glazes are rarely found, and that apple-green, turquoise-blue, and clazr de lune are the most desirable colours in crackle. Feen-lung.
162
163
e t
4
SINGLE OR SELF-COLOUR GLAZES 165
various mottled or splashed glazes are named by the Chinese Yao-pien, by the French flammé or flambé. They have curious yet very beautiful veinings like flames of a fire, hence the name given to them by the French. One colour runs into the other in the most capricious and yet in the most charming manner. The first results were no doubt acci- dental, but soon experience gave certainty to the master mind of the potter, who was able to define and measure the combination of the various metallic oxides which would give him exactly the colouration he desired. The glaze of these pieces was usually applied upon the dried vessel by dipping or brushing or powdering, or, as some say, by blowing on with a tube. Or, again, it may have been a combination of these processes. The potter now had the means of producing an endless variety of splashing by the proper application of the prepared glazes: of violet and blue; of turquoise passing into green; of sea- green, brown, and blue; of maroon, green, and white ; of, in fact, any colours within the range of his knowledge. He only had to be sure of the furnace. He had to know how his metallic oxides would combine under the action of heat. The glaze upon vessels having intricate designs in relief was applied only after the potter was sure that the pot in its biscuit state was suitable and correct in form. With most ornaments the danger of damage was thus considerably reduced. When the biscuit was with- drawn from the kiln the coloured glaze could be easily applied before the second firing took place. We have noticed that a much lower temperature was needed in the second firing and that the heat of a muffle-kiln would suffice. As in the case of the single glazes, a number of fanciful names have been applied to the ware, such as tiger-skin, iron rust, &c. 10
CELADON GLAZES. SINGLE COLOURS AND SPLASHED.
The coloured glazes in the pieces of one colour which we have described are called ‘‘self” or “whole” colour, and they were applied directly on the dry paste or body so that the whole was fired at one time. The great heat required for this process caused variations in the tints, which were partly due to the running of the glaze itself. Where the glaze lay thickest, the colour would be deepest. Practice led to perfection, so that the Chinese potters acquired skill in using the colour with precision and, further, they were able to extend the range of their operations by using several colours on one piece. Greens of many hues, blues in various shades, all kinds of reds and yellows, purples and browns gave to this class great variety and brilliancy. It must be borne in mind that these coloured glazes were also applied to biscuit porcelain, that is, to white porcelain, without any glaze, which had been fired in the kiln for the purpose of fixing the shape. In this division the paste is generally much thinner than in ordinary pieces of Celadon, and much more elaboration was given to engraved and embossed patterns and to reticulated or pierced work. Moreover, it was easy to leave some parts of the design in untouched biscuit.
Our illustration shows a set of three splashed Vases (two flat-shaped and one hexagonal) painted with enamels of green, yellow, and aubergine, in blotches on a white ground. The handles, which are monsters, are in apple-green. This style of decoration is known as tiger-spotted or splashed. Kang-he period.
166
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SINGLE OR SELF-COLOUR GLAZES 169
The process of decoration by blowing is said to produce a curious colouring. Take, for instance, red blown on blue. Pieces so decorated appear to be covered with a soft violet glaze, but on examination it will be found that the opaque blue is sown all over with minute red rings formed as a network resembling the finest lace. By the use of a simple magnifying- glass these rings can be easily traced. It seems difficult to produce such a marvellous decoration, and yet it is quite simple. The colour blown on that is the red, which is driven with force sufficient to form minute bubbles, which burst by the heat of the kiln, and by their bursting form little rings varying from the size of a pin’s head to that of a pea.
It will be well to give just a little time to a summary of the colours which are used on Oriental porcelain of all kinds, first in the under-glaze blue and red, second in the single colour glazes, including all those which are known by the terms splashed, variegated, transmuted, or fammé or flambé. Pre- serving the same order set out in the colour enamels which are used in over-glaze decorations, we find that the blacks, as before stated, were three in number— a common dull black, a mirror or metallic black, and the first of these covered by a thin transparent green glaze, so as to make a shining black. The dull black was produced from manganese which had some impurities in it, whilst the mirror black was made of manganese having cobalt in it mixed with white glaze and an earth containing iron.
The various greens, such as the dark green or gros vert, sea-green or Celadon, apple-green, emerald-green, pea-green, cucumber, and snake-skin were all derived from iron, copper, and a little cobalt.
The many shades of blue—dark blue and that peculiar tint known as mazarine, powder - blue,
PEACH-BLOOM, OR PHACH-BLOW.
The under-glaze reds belonging to the Celadon class differ from the under-glaze painted reds. The Celadon colours are applied in and with the glaze, and the other class is, like under-glaze blue, painted on the biscuit china and then glazed. The range of Celadon reds is very great, from ‘‘ Peach-blow,”? commonly termed ‘‘ Peach-bloom,”’ to ‘‘ sang de beuf.” About sixteen of these beautiful shades are within this range. ‘¢ Peach-blow ’’ is used as a self-colour glaze, covering the whole of the piece, but, like all other colours, it is employed also with other coloured glazes in the decoration of porcelain—white or Celadon. Dr. Bushell describes peach-blow as ‘‘a pale red, becoming pink in some parts; in others, mottled with russet spots displayed upon a background of light green Celadon tint.” This and many other colours were invented by Ts’ang Yeng-hsiian, the director of the Imperial works towards the end of Kang-he’s reign. Around the feet of many fine vases of the Yung-Ching period there are waves in this darkish red, with occasional flecks of green. In these cases the body of the vases is white. Examples occur where peach-blow is used as a Celadon colour in pieces decorated with blue under the glaze.
On the left isa Vase with large bulging body and short expanding neck of a clear white glaze, on which are blossoms painted in peach- bloom, with leaves and branches in blue. Kang-he period (1661-1722). Height with stand, 1o4 in.
A circular shaped Vase with tapering neck, expanding mouth, and a bulbous body. This is decorated with pomegranate fruits in peach- bloom ; the leaves and stalks in rich blue; the whole on a Celadon ground. Kang-he.
170
SINGLE OR SELF-COLOUR GLAZES 173
sapphire-blue, sky-blue, turquoise-blue, peacock-blue, “clair de lune,’ and kingfisher-blue—were all secured from cobalt and copper mixed in various pro- portions,
In dealing with the important red family we have to distinguish between the reds derived from copper and those derived from iron and from gold. The range of tints is very extensive. Those derived from copper give the more or less fanciful names of “ sang- de-beuf,’ “sang de poulet,’ “ sang de pigeon,’ crimson, crushed strawberry, maroon, liver colour, and that curious tint known as peach bloom or peach blow. The reds secured from iron are vermillion, the well- known coral and the tomato tints. From gold, those beautiful shades of colour to which we have referred as being crowning triumphs of the Yung-ching and Keen-lung periods were procured. These, known as ruby, rose, and pink, were really covering a large range of colours from a very faint pink to a red purple.
The yellows have a no less extended range. At the head of the list we find Imperial yellow, then citron or lemon-yellow, eel-skin yellow, straw, canary, mustard, orange, and sulphur-yellow. Thus we see the yellows vary from a faint tinge of that colour to a strong shade which seems to include a little red. All these yellows were derived from antimony, and the variation was largely secured by the addition of iron.
The next class, the brown colour, was derived from iron or from clay in which iron in various pro- portions was present. These browns include various shades such as bronze, chestnut, chamois, chocolate, coffee, “ caf¢-au-lait,’ dead leaf—“ morte feurlle”»—old gold.
The colours on English china for the purposes of contrast are given next. They were derived from oxides of various metals in various proportions. The
174 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
blacks are secured from cobalt, nickel, manganese, iron, and chromium. The greens are variously de- rived; the yellow-green and the emerald-green are secured from chromium and sodium ; the blue-green or celest from chromium, cobalt, silicon, and zinc; whilst other greens are derived from copper and chromium.
Blues come from cobalt and silicon, except the mat blue, which was procured from cobalt, lime, and zinc. The reds were made from gold and iron, which secured many shades of those colours. The blacks were derived from chromium, iron, and manganese. Another class of European colours—the purples— came from cobalt, chromium, tin, and calcium.
XV
CHINESE CRACKLE
CHAPTER XV CHINESE CRACKLE
THE crackle porcelain is a distinct class, though it will be found that many of the pieces having a single glaze are also crackled. They are covered with a clay or enamel which having been burnt in the kiln is taken out and subjected to the action of a current of cold air, or they are dipped in cold water, so that by unequal contraction cracks are formed with a regularity which, although in the first place accidental, became, in the skilful hands of the Chinese, science. Small crackles like the herring’s roe, and large crackles like the ice cracks, could be produced by the potter as he chose. The cracks were filled with Indian ink, red or black, which made them stand out clearly. By further burning, possibly at a lower temperature, the entire surface seems to be covered with a clear glaze quite transparent, which to the touch offers no unequalities of surface. These wonderful potters have so far pushed this unique form of decoration, never successfully imitated in Europe, that it became one of the most important and striking means of decora- tion. Some of their work in this direction is marvellous and shows successive bands of enamel or glaze, crackled, self-colour and white all in one
piece. Other pieces show a crackled network of 177
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CHINESE CRACKLE 179
two tints. Some of our English potters are making good attempts to imitate the fine old Chinese “Jamille verte,’-and surely for crackled porcelain there is still inspiration to be drawn from the East. The glaze was of white or coloured ; the body was somewhat coarse in paste, resembling red or white stoneware. History takes us back to the Sung dynasty, when this kind of ware was first known, and the accidental discovery was converted into an exact method of working. A pretty form of crackle resembles the scales of a trout, and is by the French called ¢ruzté. All the colours that were employed as single glazes in that class seem to have been similarly employed as crackle glazes, with the possible exception of red, which did not lend itself to this process; all the Celadon shades and the blues, including turquoise-blue. The most celebrated crackle is that known as apple-green crackle. This ware has, in addition to the beautiful effect of the crackling, a lovely soft tint of green, which was applied as the glaze.
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XVI
BLUE UNDER THE GLAZE
CHAPTER XVI BLUE UNDER THE GLAZE. NANKIN BLUE
MANY collectors are immensely attracted by what is known as the old blue and white. It is such a widely distributed product, extending over a long series of reigns. We noted before that it reached its highest excellence in the Kang-he period. It was at first reserved for the Court, for Emperors and high dignitaries, but since Kang-he’s reign blue and white may be said to belong to all dates, and the blue and white ginger jars of the present time which may be bought for one or two guineas show how the demand has been a constant one throughout the whole of the time. At a very early period after the Dutch had imported this blue and white from China their potters set about imitating it and produced the fine old blue and white delft which is now valuable, but there is no specimen of delft which reaches anything like the price of the old Chinese blue and white from which it was copied. The honorific inscriptions, the sacred emblems, the immortals and their attendants were quite meaningless to the mind of the Dutch potter, just as they were to the Italian, who was also an Oriental copyist. To the Oriental the decoration of each piece meant something, something it may be
of their history or of their religion. High thoughts 183
184 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
were set out as inscriptions, and inspirations were given by the story on the vase or dish, which when represented on a European copy became only a scheme of decoration, or at its best a germ from which an original scheme of native work might have its birth. So the Dutch, though they at first made delft ware in servile imitation of Chinese patterns, soon saw their way to utilise purely Dutch designs and with these to produce work as fine as that which they had made under the inspiration of the Chinese model.
At King-te-chin, the classical home of porcelain, a city with 3,000 kilns, the best of the blue and white was made; and although there is a large class called Nankin blue which must not be neglected, the latter, in decoration, is immensely inferior to the products of the Imperial factories. It is quite certain that there were many other factories besides those at King-te-chin which produced porcelain, but history leaves few records of them, so that it would be quite fair to include Nankin blue as a product of King-te-chin perhaps decorated at Nankin. It is quite interesting to note how at first this blue and white, now so valued, was not esteemed by Europeans with the exception of the Dutch. Much of it was redecorated on the glaze and the pattern burnt in so as to hide the decoration.
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186
BLUE AND WHITE.
(a) A pair of tall blue and white trumpet-shaped Beakers. Under the neck are four shield-shaped panels connected with an arabesque design ; below this is a broad band ornamented with conventional flowers run- ning round the body. Towards the feet are the stiff leaves of the sweet- flag running down to the base. The whole done in a liquid, trans- lucent blue on a most beautiful white ground. Kang-he period. The sweet-flag is often used for the decoration of porcelain vases, &c., and because its leaves are long and slender and come to a point the Chinese use them to represent swords, which, indeed, they resemble in general shape. On the morning of the first day of the fifth month every family nails up a few leaves of this plant on each side of the doors and windows of the house, so that when the evil spirits come near, they see the leaves, which they mistake for swords, and are thus frightened off. The superstitions of the people as well as their religion are put under obligation to furnish designs for the potter, in which the same idea is represented in a permanent form. In fact, only when we are fully cognisant of Chinese mythology shall we fully appreciate the wonderful stories set out in their porcelain. When will the Chinese connoisseur place before us his stores of knowledge ?
(4) A pair of Butter Dishes and Covers in fine quality blue and white. The dishes and lids have the four seasons design, which are separated with a trellis-work diaper pattern. Note the difference between the two diaper patterns. The handles are coming from the mouth of a monster. Kang-he period.
11 187
BLUE AND WHITE.
(a) A fine quality blue and white Beaker vase with expanding neck and bulging body. The neck is ornamented with blue bands and flowers ; the body divided into four panels and filled in alternately with domestic utensils, flowers, and foliage. Kang-he.
(2) A blue and white Water-ewer and Cover, of fine quality and elegant shape, decorated with ‘ Lange-Lysen,” domestic utensils, and landscapes. Seal mark, ‘‘ Ching-Hwa.” Kang-he period.
Blue was employed for under-glaze decoration amongst the Chinese from time immemorial, though scarcely a specimen earlier than the Ming period can be identified with certainty, owing to the copying and recopying that has been continually practised by the Chinese. True, we often see the Ming marks, say of Ching-hwa or Kea-tsing, but pro- bably the best of them are of Kang-he origin. Even if the pieces are really old they will be often found re-decorated with modern colours. Perhaps amongst the blue and white of the Ming period, those pieces decorated with the soft but rich ‘‘ Mohammedan ”’ blue, as it is called, are the best. Yet, though the colour is never flat or dead, there are certain qualities missing which are quite charming in the later Kang-he. The gradation and modulation of the blue, indeed, even the quality of the blue itself, are all better in the later pieces. Whether, again, the fine Kang-he blue was made early or late in the period, lasting from 1662-1722, isa further matter of doubt. Our readers will remember that in 1677 and for some years after no date marks were allowed to be inscribed, so that only patient study and careful observation will enable any one to place the old blue and white.
188
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BLUE AND WHITE.
These specimens of blue and white Vases answer the tests which are applied to the best porcelain decorated with different designs of flowers, trees, birds, &c., in blue, painted under the glaze. What are the tests ? First, the material forming the paste or body must be so fine as to give a perfect surface. The surface must be a brilliant white when covered by the glaze. The drawing and painting should reveal the best qualities of cobalt blue. The shape of the piece must leave nothing to be required. Now, it is well known that blue and white was, and is, the most common of all Oriental porcelain, and modern work is good, so that it becomes quite easy to make mistakes; in fact, it would not be too much to say that old blue and white is most difficult to judge. Though the glaze is so much a part of the paste that it lasts practically for ever, yet it does get slightly dulled; the extreme brilliancy of the new pieces contrasts with the softer and more beautiful old porcelain. The glaze should not be too thick, for the fine, even quality of the paste is just as much an element as the glaze in giving the old lustre. The blue decoration under the glaze shows a perfect command of outline as well as colour. There is no soaking in of the colour, but the outline is applied by the brush with absolute equality.
The two specimen vases show ‘‘ Lange-Lysen”’ or ‘‘ Long Elizas” and flowers in fluted lotus-shaped medallions covering the whole surface, except under the lip and neck, where there are two bands of triangle- work diaper pattern. The mounts are in French ormolu, Louis XVI. Kang-he period.
191
BLUE AND WHITE. GINGER JARS.
There are several varieties of prunus (so-called hawthorn) blossom in the well-known blue and white ginger jars. The one given in the illustration has the pattern known as the ‘‘ ascending stem” hawthorn. Then there isa ‘‘ descending stem,” and a third pattern showing the head or centre of the blooms arranged in groups. This is ‘* blob hawthorn,” and may consist of three small blooms around a central larger one, forming, roughly, a triangular group ; or four blooms again around a central one, forming a cross-shaped group. This pattern is also known as “spray hawthorn.” The ground is a brilliant cobalt, in which the colour is laid on very much as if it had been rubbed on by the thumb, or still more, as if the colour, when wet, had been so rubbed. Afterwards a network of blue lines was added on the blue ground. The suggestion is that the ‘‘ blob pattern ” imitates the fallen prunus blossoms resting upon the crackled ice in the early spring.
Our illustration shows a Ginger Jar with dome cover. The body decorated with large and small sprays of white prunus, rising from the base and falling from the shoulder. Very brilliant crackled ice ground of deep cobalt ; a narrow band of white encircling the mouth, with a line of blue within, the space between decorated with a formal orna- ment. The lid with similar decoration to that on the jar, the top en- circled with a ring of white. Height, 1oin. Period Kang-he. Value,
about £2,000. Record price, 5,900 guineas.
192
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193
194
BLUE AND OTHER COLOURS, UNDER-GLAZE.
The finest quality of blue and red painted under the glaze were made during the Tsing dynasty, though during the Ching-hwa period (1465- 1488) of the Ming dynasty many good pieces having this decoration must have been manufactured, as the mark of that reign is frequently found in reproductions. Even Kang-he and Yung-ching copies have the Ching-hwa mark.
The illustration—a conical Vase with short neck—shows the four- claw dragons of the sky. These are drawn in blue, as far as the head and body are concerned; the scales are in a soft red. The curious forms meant to indicate clouds are in blue, whilst the fireballs are in red. Variations occur where the nebulz are in red, or even the whole under-glaze may be covered with a bright coral-coloured ground, with the decoration in blue. When this is so the pieces are classified as *‘coral-red.” Again, amongst the various shades of red and brown under the glaze some are found in peach-coloured red. These form a class of ‘‘ peach ware.”” Notice the care with which the scales on the dragons are drawn, and even from the photograph the white seems wonderfully pure. Yung-ching period.
The dragon decoration sometimes represents the /¢ or dragon of the sea swimming in the water or rising from the waves. It was from such a dragon that Fuh-hi (2852-2738 B.c.) learnt and developed the eight diagrams or symbols called the Pa-kwa, which see under ‘‘ Symbols,” The Pa-kwa is used for decoration, usually as a raised design, seldom asa mark. The dragon is never used as a mark.
195
RED UNDER THE GLAZE.
This magnificent, tall, cylindrical Vase is an example of red—vouge de fer—under the glaze, with enamel colours in exquisite harmony applied over the glaze. The merest glance will reveal how artistically the decorator applied his design to the surface at his disposal. Each branch, each leaf, has its value in the scheme of ornamentation. The surface is well covered, but there is no overcrowding. The Vase is of exquisite proportions, decorated on pure white glaze with a bold design of Ho-Ho birds, the plumage of rouge de fer, green, yellow, and aubergine; one bird is partly hidden by rocks drawn in various greens, aubergine, and blue, whilst springing from the back are large flowering branches of the peony flowers and blossoms. The drawing throughout is of the highest merit. The flowers and boughs are shown in yellow, blue, aubergine, creamy white, and black. Underneath the rocks and on the left of the large bird is a large peony in rouge de fer and foliage in various greens, whilst on the right are two other flowers, one of rouge de fer and the other of fine stippled yellow with an aubergine centre. The rest of the vase is decorated with a bold design of ‘flowering peach-bloom branches and other large flowers in deep rouge de fer, aubergine, green, and yellow ; the neck, which is divided from the body of the vase by a narrow black band, contains peonies and other flowers decorated in colours similar to the remainder of the vase. Period, Kang-he.
196
XVII
CLOBBER WARE, OR REDECORATED PORCELAIN
CHAPTER XVII CLOBBER WARE, OR REDECORATED PORCELAIN
MANY lovely specimens of blue and white with the Kang-he marks, with the double rings or with the leaf symbol inside the double rings under the glaze, genuine specimens of old Kang-he, have been irretrievably spoilt by being plastered over with thick enamels of red, green, blue, &c. The old English word “clobber” means a paste to conceal cracks in shoes, and the pity of the clobber decoration was that the enamels, having been burnt in, are to all intents and purposes irremovable. Before me, as I write, is a Kang-he vase with a leaf symbol within the double circle, showing a real old Kang-he blue and white production, but unfortunately the clobberer has plastered coloured enamel over the blue decoration, now faintly visible, and only where a transparent green or pink glaze has been applied ; the rest is absolutely hidden by opaque glazes of rose and yellow, white, lilac, and blue, until the character of the Oriental piece has been entirely destroyed. The number of pieces so spoiled seemed to indicate that there was a demand for clobber ware, or that, as we noted, blue and white was not popular, or that it was imported for redecoration in the absence of
white ware which could be used for the same purpose. 201
202 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
Chinese porcelain in its white state was freely imported into Europe and decorated in the factories of Holland, France, Germany, and Italy, as well as in this country.
Every one who collects china is familiar with the so-called Lowestoft decoration, not a thousandth part of which ever saw Lowestoft; in fact, that researches which have been made at Lowestoft indicate that the manufacture was soft paste re- sembling early Bow and Worcester. Of course, some white Oriental china may have been deco- rated there, though no traces of broken hard paste seem to have been found in the excavations. It may be that Bow, Chelsea, and Worcester did decorate white Oriental china, but the information we have on this point is singularly weak and inconclusive. The clobber decoration is not alone in enamel colours or gold, but even lacquer is used for the same purpose. It is needless to say that the change is never to the advantage of the piece, and often the under-glaze blue may be seen peeping, as it were, reproachfully from beneath the overlying transparent enamel.
Another, but similar name, is sometimes applied to this style of decoration. It is said that an enameller named Globber—hence Globber ware—redecorated white and blue porcelain with enamels at Soho during the latter part of the eighteenth century.
CHAPTER XVIII RETICULATED PORCELAIN
THE porcelain called reticulées comes into the category of blue and white because some of it was decorated with blue under the glaze. The pieces have double walls, of which the outside one is pierced with a pattern, often a network of ex- ceeding fineness, a lace-work in porcelain through which may be seen the exquisite blue design upon the internal wall. It seems just as if the potter had two pieces made to fit at the top and bottom only. On the foundation piece—the internal wall— he expended the art of decoration in blue. On the other piece, even more care must have been shown in cutting the clay into delicate tracery, so minute as to be marvellous. Then the fitting of the two walls together was completed, and finally the firing process took place. Such pieces are pre-eminent in curiosity, in interest and in skill, and their variations are wonderful, Some are only blue and white, some are blue and white with reserves in biscuit. All had the outside wall pierced with a pattern. We are giving as illustrations two magnificent pieces of reticulated porcelain, but these
are coloured with enamel colours. 205
RETICULATED INCENSE BURNER. Of Very Fine Quality.
Specially interesting and exceedingly valuable, this vase deserves careful study. It is a pity that it cannot be given in all the beauty of its colouring. At the top is a large panel containing the figure of a man offering the ‘‘ Fruit of Life” to one of the immortals, at whose side is a deer; the remainder of this has rocks, foliage, a tree, and clouds, richly enamelled in green, aubergine, blue, and rouge de fer ; the whole surrounded by a border of formal design in rouge de fer. The remainder contains sixteen panels. Each of the top eight contains a figure of the eight immortals with their various insignia ; the robes of the figures are enamelled in rouge de fer, aubergine, blue, black, yellow, and various greens; whilst the lower portion has figures of boys playing various games, similarly enamelled. Dividing each panel is a broad band containing formal flowers and leaves in blue, green, and black, on bright yellow, whilst at the top of the base and bottom of the cover are aubergine bands with black tracery design and formal flowers in rouge de fer, blue, and yellow. The whole of the reticulated work is of brilliant yellow enamel. At the base is a broad plain black band, above which is a design of Joo-e- heads in apple-green.
NoTE.—This example is believed to be the largest specimen of reticulated work of the Ming period known to exist, and is equally remarkable for the high quality of its artistic work.
From the Collection of G. R. Davies, Esq.
207
VASE. RETICULATED PORCELAIN.
A very rare and fine quality reticulated bulbous-shaped Vase with short neck. The body is decorated with figures, trees, &c., in a bold design. The shoulder, which is supported from the top by a band ot blue, is decorated with various flowers and leaves. The base, which is a conventional design, is also supported from the centre by dark and light blue bands. The whole vase is brilliantly enamelled in auber- gine, blue, yellow, &c. Ming period. This piece is a specimen of the coloured glazes on biscuit in which, after the piercing of the pattern on the air-dried clay has been carried out, it is fired in the kiln before being glazed. In classification this would be in the ‘‘ Celadon biscuit” class. The reticulation in this specimen, though not so fine as in the other example which we have given, is very wonderful. How skilful the potter must have been to carve such an intricate pattern from a sun-dried vase! How each stroke of the tool must have had careful attention, so that, whilst aiming at a lace-like effect, the body of the vase should still be strong enough to bear the biscuit firing without breaking! Of course care had to be exercised in the painting, which was rarely in monochrome; generally, yellow, green, blue, maroon, and aubergine were employed. Then the second firing took place. In nearly all biscuit Celadon the paste or body is thinner than in ordinary Celadon, because the pattern had to be cut into and through it. To this class belongs the Ming Celadon, having the figures and other ornament in relief.
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XIX
DECORATED WITH COLOURED ENAMELS
12
CHAPTER XIX ‘DECORATED WITH COLOURED ENAMELS
THE section of porcelain which deals with decoration in colours is a revelation of the ingenuity, art, and industry of the Chinese potter. The difference between the Chinese productions and European china are striking ; in fact, they cannot be compared. With the Chinese, the porcelain manufacture was a matter of custom, almost of religion. The gift of a piece of porcelain marked every solemn ceremony— the new year, the birthday, the marriage never passed without the presentation of a cup or vase which bore an inscription or a symbol of good wishes, or a character meaning either longevity or earthly happiness. Indeed, the visitor to the Chinese home could see not only cups and vases, but teapots, dishes, and plates with varied decoration and brilliant colouring, each telling its own story. Sometimes the teapots were made in the form of Chinese characters. On some pieces were the familiar scenes of the home life or of the public life which give us glimpses of the manners of a people, still imperfectly known and less understood, who for centuries opposed the strongest barriers to the curiosity of Europeans, On other pieces were depicted subjects drawn from the sacred
legendsor from the principal scenes of well-known wars. 213
214 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
Then the birds and animals each with its meaning, each a symbol! The peach blossom, the lotus, the dragon of the Emperors or of the princes appear side by side with the kylin, the Korean lion or dog of Fé, the sacred Ho-Ho birds, or Fong-Hoang, &c. On the plates and dishes specimens of the Oriental flowers were spread out in all the glory of vivid colour—peonies and chrysanthemums, lotus and azalea, with insects and butterflies no less gorgeous and certainly no less emblematical. Other specimens had for decoration rocks and trees with birds of rich plumage, and fishes with scales of golden hue.
Amongst these dazzling enamel colours four are most attractive and seem to dominate over all the others. Arranging them in families and placing them in order of age, we should take the black family, the green family, the yellow family, and the rose family. These all show the brilliant tones of a per- fected production, and singularly enough they were, with one exception, ascribed to the Tsing dynasty ; they began to be made in the Kang-he period of that dynasty. Such was the generally received opinion. Further investigation has shown that, with the excep- tion of the “famille rose,” most of these were made during the Ming dynasty, and attention is being drawn to this fact more and more as time reveals many undoubtedly fine pieces of the older dynasty. It may be objected that these fine pieces are later Chinese copies with the old dates, and the objection has certainly some grounds, but we must remember that the invention of translucid porcelain and its decoration was quite fabulous with regard to its antiquity, and we must further bear in mind that the regulations of the social and political life of the Chinese, the organisation of the family, which scarcely permitted the son to follow any other profession than
COLOURED ENAMELS 215
that of his father, perpetuated the trades of a calling or trade. The routine practice, if this expresses the idea better, forbade all initiative in the mere worker. Inspiration creating new forms and colours depended upon the genius who presided over the Imperial manufactories. These and other causes brought this result, that art and industry rested almost stationary, reproducing the same types, the same forms, the same decoration, which responded to the demands, habits and customs of a people whose needs searcely varied. Under these conditions, which furnish food for reflection, when we inquire, “Is this old china or not?” we must note that the mere inspection of hard porcelain made of kaolin, which is almost unalterable with time, will never reveal to the most expert the date of its creation. It is true that certain pieces bear an inscription indicating this or that date, but the number of these is very limited, for the use of date marks does not appear to have been adopted by the Chinese before the end of the fifteenth century. Although it may be objected that these marked specimens are later Chinese copies, and that similarly decorated specimens have simply the old dates recopied, it is quite possible that many of them which are thought to have been imitations may be really old. It will be difficult even for the expert to be certain in his differentiation between fine old Ming and Kang-he.
Coming in the same period as the three Kang-he enamel colours are the two underground glaze grounds powder-blue and coral-red. True powder- blue is Kang-he, but it has been copied, and badly, right on to our own times, whilst in coral red—vouge de fer”—the later Keen-lung specimens can fairly be said to rival those of the earlier period. It is doubtful whether this rivalry would apply to any other class of porcelain.
216 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
A—THE BLACK FAMILY—‘ Famizzce Noire.”
This magnificent production, of which we give examples in our illustrations, is usually ascribed to Kang-he, possibly it may be earlier. Its characteristic quality was a black ground covered with almost in- visible green glaze. The body of these pieces was decorated with flowers in yellow, green, and white, and with butterflies. A common form of decoration —if any can be called common in dealing with such a rare product—was that the panels were decorated with emblems of the seasons. A tree of peony with green, white, and grey blossoms appears to us to be fantastic, but the peony in China grew to the height of 12 ft. The chrysanthemum with flowers of similar colours formed a second panel, the guelder rose with green and white blossoms made the third, whilst the fourth had the lotus flower with tall green and grey flowers growing at the foot of green rocks at the edge of a green lake. The prunus blossom in white or pale green was often used for floral deco- ration, and yellow finches with green wings, white storks, white butterflies and bees are often found. So, too, is a green-faced dragon with a long brilliant green body in coils, sporting itself in mid-air. Reference to our illustrations will bring out other forms of decoration treated at some length.
218
BLACK FAMILY—‘ FAMILLE NOIRE.”
This rare class, which is well exemplified by the fine specimens in the Salting Collection in the Museum at South Kensington, seems to have had the decoration applied in outline or in colour to white porce- lain, and then the black ground was filled in. The black is thin and the tint is not intense. The decoration may be left white, or ‘< famille verte” ox ‘‘ famille rose,’ &c. In these respects it differs from the modern ware, in which the enamel is thick, and the painting of the flowers and insects is far from being brilliant. Such pieces have no value.
The illustration shows a rare pair of hexagonal Teapots, divided into six pierced panels, which are decorated with hawthorn blossom, bamboo plant, and the peach-tree, on each side; the ground of brilliant black enamel. Springing from the base are acantha leaves, decorated in vouge de fer, in high relief; the base decorated with a light tracery design on apple-green ; the necks divided into six panels in apple-green, bright green, and yellow, on which are Joo-e-heads in aubergine on various shades of green. The covers reticulated with design of hawthorn and branches; the stems in aubergine on green and rouge de fer. The handles are formed as dolphins; the head of each is in aubergine, the back in rouge de fer, and the body in yellow. The spouts are seen issuing from monster heads, the latterin aubergine, the former in brilliant yellow. Kang-he.
219
BLACK FAMILY—‘ FAMILLE NOIRE.”
A very artistic octagonal-shaped Bowl, divided into four panels, on which are represented the flowers of the four seasons, decorated in green, white, and aubergine, on a brilliant black background. Divid- ing the panels are four sections of a diamond diaper design in green and yellow; at the base of each of these is a Joo-e-head in green and black. Surrounding the whole of the panels at the base is a light tracery design in black on yellow ground. At the bottom of the interior is an octagonal panel, decorated with rocks, flowers, and foliage in green, aubergine, and yellow, on black ground. Inside the rim is decorated with four panels of diaper design in green and yellow, in the centre of each of which there is a small reserve containing flowers in various colours on black ground, the outer portion of each having an aubergine border. Dividing these four panels are four small reserves, containing flowers in various colours on a seeded yellow ground. Sup- ported on a carved wood stand. In this piece the diaper decoration, in green and yellow, which distinguishes early Ming and Kang-he, is again prominent. These diapers are largely used in borders too. Many of them can be traced in our illustrations, such as the key pattern, the T, the swastika, Joo-e-head, trellis, triangle, herring-bone, honeycomb, ring, diamond, as here, plain, sometimes it is flowered; lozenge, coin, scroll, fish-roe, octagons and squares, net-work, petal-work, speckled- work to imitate fish-skin, scale, curl, Y-work. They should be studied. Kang-he period.., -
220
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222
BLACK FAMILY—“ FAMILLE NOIRE.”
The pair of square-shaped tapering Vases of brilliant black enamel. Three of the four seasons are shown, in which are depicted the flowers of the seasons in green, yellow, white, and aubergine. On the shoulders there are flowers in similar colours, whilst each neck is decorated with peonies in green, yellow, and aubergine, all having the same brilliant black ground. On the vase showing a single face there is the spring scene of peach-trees with flowers and birds. The rocks are conventional in form, whilst the branches and trunks of the trees in aubergine show the darker markings in sepia. To the left of the other vase we find the summer flower, the lotus, in full bloom, with storks wading in the water; to the right the autumn flower, the chrysanthemum, bearsa gorgeous display of bloom. In the top left corner, a butterfly—emblem of conjugal felicity—is flitting round the flowers. The fourth season—the plum and early rose—is not shown.
The black glaze used here must not be confounded with that which was invented in the Keen-lung period, because the Keen-lung glaze was applied in one process. The Kang-he black was a dull black glazed over with green. The painting of the flowers, &c., was first carried out in proper colours, then the black was applied to block out the design, and finally the thin but brilliant green was painted over the black. Variations in the colour scheme may be found. Some have the flowers, &c., left in white upon the black ground. Others have similar drawing white with black ground, only the green glaze was carried all over the piece, so that whilst the ground remained black the decoration was all coloured green. The examples are of the Kang-he period.
223
BLACK FAMILY—“ FAMILLE NOIRE.” A pair of large-sized pear-shaped Beaker Vases.
This quality of old Chinese porcelain is very rare and valuable. The two vases are so shown as to exhibit the usual method adopted by the Chinese in decorating two objects similar in shape. The European style is to decorate the two objects making a pair in precisely the same way. The Orientals reversed the patterns so as to give a right and a left view of them. In these vases the tree trunk and the floral pattern on the one vase takes an opposite direction in the other, so that when they are placed side by side, as in the illustration, they make a balanced design. These are most extraordinary examples of the rare “‘ famzlle notre” porcelain, and of their kind are undoubtedly the finest known specimens. The background is of a brilliant black, decorated with rocks in bright green, and two birds in various brilliant colours. Coming from the back of the rock is a peony, exquisitely drawn and brilliantly enamelled in yellow. The flowers on the corre- sponding side to this are bright green with white stalks. The reverse has peonies. The base and the upper part is almost covered with white hawthorn in a brilliant vitreous white ; the neck decorated with sprays of flowers and hawthorn in white and brilliant coloured enamels. A great feature of the body of the vase is the branches of trees on either side, carried out in aubergine in the most perfect gradation of colour. The designs are opposite in each vase, and thus form a complete pair. The vases are in perfect condition, and of the Kang-he period. Extreme height, 27 inches; height of stand, 34 inches. Value, £10,000.
224
226
BLACK FAMILY—‘ FAMILLE NOIRE.”
(z) A small oviform bottle-shaped Vase, with expanding neck, decorated with rocks, prunus blossom, and branches, in various greens, white, aubergine, and yellow, on a brilliant black enamel ground.
(6) An oviform beaker-shaped Vase decorated with prunus blossom and branches, similar to. the above in colour. Birds in brilliant colours. Black ground. Neither M. Jacquemart nor Franks nor Gulland give very much information about this class of porcelain—black ground covered with an almost invisible green glaze. As in the blue and white class, there are found sprays or branches of white prunus with the “ ascend- ing ’’ and the ‘‘ descending” stem in what has been so long miscalled the ‘‘ hawthorn pattern.” The difference is, of course, one of ground colour. The blue in the one is under the glaze, and in the other the black is painted on the white china in its biscuit state when the other decoration has first been burnt in. The process appears to be this. First the white or coloured pattern is burnt in, in the first firing in the kiln, leaving the ground white. To this the black ground is applied and again burnt in. Over this black ground the green wash is painted, and at the same time coloured decoration added where necessary, causing another visit to the kiln. Finally the whole is covered with a fine transparent glaze and receives its final firing. It seems that unless a process similar to this were adopted the smoothness and beauty of the magnificent decoration could never be attained. Note in one illustration the ‘‘ ascending” stem and in the other the stem is ‘* descending ” over the body and ascending in the neck. Both pieces are Kang-he.
228 CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
B.—THE GREEN FAMILY—‘ FAMILLE VERTE.”
The green family in its finest form is undoubtedly a Kang-he production, but all of the decoration was not in green. Brilliant enamel colours were com- bined with gilding, and flowers such as the white . chrysanthemum, the lotus, the prunus are frequently found in conjunction with black speckled diapers and large panels decorated with various subjects with small reserves decorated with fishes, crabs, and prawns, Figure painting in the green family is not uncommon, Si-Wang-Mu on the borders of the Lake of Gems, mounted warriors in a battle scene or simply marching, and various other military subjects are not uncommon. The ancient pine-tree and the peony are frequently met with, but it is the green, one of the most beautiful enamel colours ever used, which constitutes the attraction in this “ famzlle verte” class, to which family belong many of the figures now known as Ming figures, such as the dog of Fé, having a white body with yellow, green and gold protuberances, green head and green, grey, and red mane and tail. The bases of such figures are usually in diamond or other diapers, which may be further decorated with a single red peach blossom, The earlier Ming figures as a rule have the flesh, face, arms, and hands unglazed.
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GREEN FAMILY—“‘ FAMILLE VERTE.”
A rare and very beautiful oviform Vase, containing on the body two large panels, one with a bird on the branch of a plum-tree, the other with a peony on the branch of a tree under which is a large chrysan- themum and foliage. On each side there are two other panels, one circular, the other leaf shape; these contain as to the former insects, and the latter, cocks. All the panels are surrounded with a narrow border of yellow, black, and aubergine; the body of the vase richly enamelled with flowers and foliage in blue, green, and aubergine, on a bright black ground. At the base is a broad band of formal design in aubergine, yellow, and rouge de fer, on apple-green. At the bottom of the neck is a broad band with flowers in rouge de fer, green, blue, and aubergine, on a stippled black ground ; this is divided by four reserves containing carp and other fishes in rouge de fer, green, and black, on white, the borderings of green and yellow ; under this is a band of Joo-e-headsin aubergine, blue, and green, alternately, depend- ing from a narrow margin containing a formal design in rouge de fer and green on a black ground. The neck has two leaf-shaped panels containing river scenes; the remainder decorated in uniformity to the vase. At the top of the neck is a key design in black on green; depending from this a wave pattern border in aubergine, black, and green; this is repeated at the base of the neck, having under it a narrow band containing chrysanthemums and foliage in rouge de fer, aubergine, green, and yellow on stippled green ground. The whole of the panels in rich ‘‘ famzlle verte’ colours. Kang-he period.
NoTEe.—The connoisseur will at once detect in this vase qualities hardly ever met with in Chinese porcelain. The technique leaves nothing to be desired, and the quality of the enamels and porcelain is of the very highest.
From the Collection of G. R. Davies, Esq.
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GREEN FAMILY—“‘ FAMILLE VERTE.”
The long, slim ladies’ figures so often found in the decoration of very fine Kang-He blue and white represent what were known to the Dutchmen as Lange Lijsen, Lange Lysen, or ‘slender damsels.” This name is familiar in its English form of ‘* Long Elizas.” The older pieces gave these figures very large heads, which later were drawn smaller. The style of hairdressing is also different. Bearing in mind the fact that imitations continued right down through the dynasties, drawing alone cannot be relied on as an indication of age.
Our illustration is an egg-shell Lantern, one of a pair, in the finest quality ‘‘ famille verte”? on white. It shows a court lady and gentle- man playing ‘‘ Go,” seated upon a terrace. At the table is also seated anobleman of high rank, five other female figures being attendants. The remainder of the decoration is of trees with flowering branches, clouds, rocks, &c. Surrounding the neck is a diaper design in auber- gine and black on a bright green ground, this band being intersected with four small reserves containing flowers in green and yellow on a white ground ; the neck has trellis design in rouge de fer on a white ground, relieved with four flowers in green and black; the base is similarly treated, and above this is a broad band of brilliant green enamel decorated with a pencilled Grecian key design in black. Kang-he period.
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GREEN FAMILY—“FAMILLE VERTE.”
The illustration is a set of three Vases of the highest quality ‘‘ famzdle verte,” square-shaped, tapering towards the base, decorated with enamel colours in which green predominates, but with fine blues, soft yellows, and black. The middle vase represents two views. On the left is a mountain stream running through a deep gorge with rocks and moun- tain peaks rising in the middle and far distance. In the foreground is one man riding and another walking across the bridge over the stream. On the right is a similar background of mountains. Down the stream is a boatman steering his laden boat by the aid of a pole. Nearer is a house with a lady looking out at the door. Below is a man fishing.
On the left vase there are two scenes from everyday life. One represents a man playing the Azz, or Chinese lute; below a man is talking to a boy ; a horse stands behind them. The other shows two men playing ‘‘go bang” whilst a lady looks on, near them, on the other side of the hedge, two men are conversing during a walk. On the neck of the vase is a cheow or show character, meaning longevity.
On the right vase, left side, is a house in the foreground with a mountain scene stretching away in the distance. From the window ot the house a Taoist is speaking with Leu Tung-pin, one of the eight immortals, whose feet are on the clouds, whilst his sword is as usual