China: Its History, Arts, and Literature/Volume 1/Chapter 8
Chapter VIII
PORCELAIN DECORATED OVER
THE GLAZE (Continued)
SPECIAL VARIETIES
In examining the subject of enamelled porcelains the wares hitherto discussed have chiefly been those in which the coloured decoration is applied to a white glaze. It remains now to notice other varieties, which, though belonging to the same species, possess characteristics that distinguish them as separate genera.
The most important of these is the Héi-ti-pai-hwa, the "Black Hawthorn" of Western collectors. This ware differs from the celebrated blue Hawthorn only in having a ground of uniform black, instead of clouded or tesselated blue, and in the fact that the white decoration is in opaque enamels over the glaze, instead of being simply reserved in the sous couverte colour. In both cases the decoration consists of plum branches and blossoms in white. The conception is worthy of high praise. Nothing can be softer or more graceful than pure white sprays and blossoms wreathed over a deep black glaze. Another branch of the same family is the Héi-ti-wu-tsai, or ware with five colours on a black ground. In this variety, green, purple, red, and yellow enamels are used to colour the leaves and stems of the plum trees, or to pick out the rocks from which they grow; the general character of the decoration does not differ, however, from that of the Héi-ti-pai-hwa. The earliest authenticated specimens of both wares alike date from the Kang-hsi era, and the manufacture was continued with excellent results until the close of the Chien-lung period (1795). These porcelains are prized in China. They appear to have been produced in limited quantities: good pieces are not procurable without considerable difficulty. The pâte alone guides the amateur to determine whether a specimen belongs to the Kang-hsi or the Chien-lung era—an unessential distinction, seeing that the productions of the two periods, in this class, are equally excellent. An important point is the quality of the black glaze. It should be glossy, uniform, and free from metallic tints. Very often, however, in specimens of the highest excellence, the black ground is pervaded, or broken, by a sheen of dark green. Imitations manufactured during the present century are always faulty in this respect. So valuable has the "Black Hawthorn" become, and so scarce is it in the Chinese market, that European potters recently thought it worth their while to forge some imposing specimens and send them to China for sale. The fraud was easily detected owing to the palpable inferiority of the imported pieces. For some unexplained reason fine specimens of "Black Hawthorn" often bear the mark of the Ming Chêng-hwa era, though they were plainly manufactured during the eighteenth century. There is no evidence that any such porcelains were produced by the Ming potters, unless the use of a spurious Ming-era mark may be regarded as a proof. It is not very likely that highly expert Chinese potters would have carried forgery to the extent of marking fine porcelains with the date of a period when nothing of the kind existed. Nevertheless, Ming specimens of this class are not now seen in the Chinese market.
The collector must be prepared to encounter many modern reproductions of the celebrated old "Black Hawthorn," and still more numerous imitations of porcelain having decoration in coloured enamels on a black glaze. To such specimens a general criticism applies, namely, that their pâte is comparatively coarse, their glaze thin and dull, and their technique altogether inferior. Still, they have deceived, and probably will continue to deceive, many an amateur. The collector whose knowledge is not sufficiently exact to guarantee him against mistakes, would do well to divest himself finally of the delusion that "bargains" may be found in these varieties of porcelain, or, indeed, in any other fine varieties. Their value is thoroughly understood by every dealer in China, and whenever comparatively cheap specimens are offered with assurances of genuineness, it may be taken for granted that they are not what their vendors allege them to be. In both China and Japan the imitator is very active at present. His essays in the former country are seldom such as to deceive a connoisseur of experience, but it is worth while to note an invariable feature of his procedure, namely, that he offers his pieces at prices mid-way between the value of genuine specimens and the cost of reproductions. That the collector is not invariably proof against such chicanery, may be assumed from its continued practice.
To black glaze of the same nature designs in gold were also applied. It has been shown that this fashion, as well as a similar application of gold pictures to soufflé blue grounds, were practised by the Ming potters. Both the early examples and those of the Kang-hsi and Chien-lung eras are open to the same criticism: the gilt designs, being insufficiently fired, present a crude appearance and are easily effaced by use.
Enamelled decoration on a red glaze is another variety which may be practically attributed to the Kang-hsi era (1661–1722). The conception of such a method belongs to the Hsuan-tê (1426–1435) potters of the Ming Dynasty, among whose authenticated productions there are little vessels moulded in the form of red fruits with green leaves and brown stalks. But the ware particularly alluded to here is covered with a soft, red, or ruby glaze—obtained from peroxide of iron—forming a ground for floral design, insects, and so forth in brilliant enamels. Its manufacture cannot be ascribed to a period more remote than the reign of Kang-hsi, and the very few specimens now procurable probably belong to the Yung-ching or Chien-lung era. Some choice pieces have their red surface broken by medallions enclosing beautifully executed designs in enamels of the Rose Family type. The ware occupies a high place among keramic productions. It is among those described by Chinese dealers as "Imperial porcelain," or kuan-yao. The specimens usually found are rice bowls, small vegetable dishes and cups. Vases are rare. On the whole these porcelains may be said to occupy the highest place among Chinese wares decorated with enamels over the glaze. The technique leaves nothing to be desired; the enamels, pure and brilliant, are worked out in the most careful manner, and owing to the thinness of the pâte the fine tint of the body colour shows faintly through the pearl-like glaze, producing an effect of charming delicacy. Many of the best specimens bear the mark of the Yung-ching era in blue sous couverte.
To the same class (kwan-yao) as the variety just described belong specimens having a rich black, or very dark green, ground, to which decoration in vitrifiable enamels is applied. ‘These porcelains, like the Kuan-yao mentioned above, are rare, and examples are, for the most part, confined to bowls, cups and small plates. The black, or dark green, ground is sometimes finely chagrined, or covered with microscopic scrolls, and the enamels are of the highest quality. In some specimens the enamel design is reserved, in others it is superposed, but in either case the technique is perfect, indicating an extreme exercise of the workman's skill. The Chinese connoisseur values these porcelains highly. They nearly always bear a year-mark, the name of a factory, or ideographs indicating esteem.
More frequently found than either of the above varieties are specimens covered on the outer surface with red glaze—generally jujube or coral red—among which arabesques and scrolls are reserved in white. These porcelains often show admirable technique, but their decoration does not demand any very exceptional exercise of skill, and many of them give indications of having been manufactured for ordinary use. The best pieces may be identified by the lustre and richness of the body glaze, by the delicate tracing of the decorative design, by the care shown in picking out the floral scrolls or arabesques—for which purpose the body colour is always used—and by the thinness of the biscuit.
The use of Indian ink for decorating porcelain above the glaze had its origin during the reign of Chien-lung. Such a method requires little comment. It is still largely practised, every variety of design being thus produced on a white ground. Chien-lung specimens are, however, easily distinguished by fineness of pâte and general excellence of technique. The same style of decoration is applied to a light green ground, with charming and artistic results.
Among the choicest and rarest glazes of Chinese potters yellow stands near the head of the list. Further reference will be made to it in the section on monochromes. It is noticed here only as a body colour for enamelled decoration. Its association with blue under the glaze after the "reserved" fashion is a conception already credited to the Ming keramists. The same style was successfully continued at the Kang-hsi and Chien-lung factories, the blue design—generally floral or arabesque—being applied sous couverte and the spaces between its parts covered with yellow enamel. In addition to yellow and blue, a third colour, light green enamel, was sometimes used in decorating specimens of this class. Another favourite and less uncommon type had green designs surrounded by yellow glaze. This style also dates from the Chêng-hwa era (1465–1478), for in the "Illustrated Catalogue" of H'siang a miniature box of that period is depicted having spiral scrolls in green on a yellow ground. The box is shaped like a cash of the time, and is said to have come out of the palace where it had been used by one of the Court ladies for holding rouge. Western collectors usually class pieces thus decorated among the "imperial wares" of the Ming dynasty, an appellation particularly unhappy in this case, inasmuch as genuine specimens of yellow and green porcelain dating from the Ming dynasty may be said to have no existence outside China. Such pieces as have left the country belong to the Chien-lung or Kang-hsi era. The yellow of the Ming dynasty appears to have been canary, or straw colour, varying slightly in tone, but always remarkable for shell-like softness and semi-transparency which even the Chien-lung experts evidently found difficulty in reproducing. Their yellow, surrounding either blue or green designs, is generally an opaque and somewhat heavy colour, though the decorative effect of the combination is undoubtedly beautiful. Large quantities of yellow and green porcelain were manufactured during the Taou-kwang (1821–1851) and Hien-fung (1851–1862) periods, and specimens of these dates are freely offered for sale by Chinese dealers who confidently refer them to the Chien-lung factories. Their comparatively hard colours, lustreless glaze, and chalky pâte should enable collectors to distinguish them without much difficulty. A rarer combination than any of these is that of yellow and purple, the latter colour (of the garnet type) being "reserved" amid the yellow ground. To this category also belongs yellow decoration on a red ground, of which some specimens dating from the Chia-ching (1522–1567) and Wan-li (1573–1620) eras are still to be found. The ground colour is not, however, an enamel but rather a pigment incapable of resisting the effects of wear and tear, and to be therefore classed with inferior orders of manufacture. The decorative design is usually dragons. They figure upon almost all choice porcelains of the Ming dynasty, especially on those destined for imperial use. Similar ware was produced with success down to the close of the eighteenth century.
Yellow designs with blue environment have already been noted as a Ming invention. Later epochs produced few specimens of this kind. Much commoner are pieces having mazarin blue grounds with rich enamelled decoration of the Rose Family type. On these the Chinese potter expended much care and was justified by the result. Ware of this nature scarcely deserves to be classed separately from that having enamelled decoration on a soufflé blue ground, though the two differ more in reality than in description. Fine pieces of mazarin blue with enamel decoration were produced as late as the Chia-tsing era (1796–1821) or even during the early years of Taou-kwang's reign (1821–1851). It may be taken as a rule, however, that the younger the specimen the coarser its pâte and the less brilliant its glaze and colour.
Green was seldom chosen by Chinese potters as a ground for enamel decoration. Delicate céladon glazes from the Kang-hsi or Chien-lung factories, have brilliant red dragons or lizards coiled round the vase. These are rare, and deservedly prized. Belonging to the same era, but more common, are céladons having red peaches or pomegranates suspended in the glaze. Others again, not the least beautiful of the three, show flecks or spots of golden brown floating in their velvet-like glaze. Entirely distinct from this unique céladon colour is thin grass-green with metallic iridescence. This is found sometimes as a body-colour surrounding light purple (garnet) designs—generally dragons. Such porcelains are exceedingly rare. Chinese experts refer their origin to the Chêng-hwa era of the Ming dynasty, but there are no specimens to be seen dating from so distant a period. Green of less transparent character was also used as a field for arabesques, floral scrolls, and so forth, in gold. This fashion seems to have originated in the 18th century.
Chocolate glaze with floral designs in coloured enamels is another chaste and beautiful variety. This glaze, the fond lacque of French collectors, will be spoken of in a subsequent chapter. It does not appear to have been used as a field for enamel decoration before the close of the Kang-hsi era, for the enamels applied to it are always of the Famille Rose type.
The reader will have noticed that the potters of the Sung dynasty almost invariably took ancient bronzes as models for their choicest pieces, in respect of shape and decoration alike. This fashion was followed in a peculiarly realistic manner by the Yung-ching (1723–1736) experts, who conceived the idea of reproducing not only the shapes and designs of fine bronzes, but also their surface. In the early years of the Ming dynasty there had been manufactured in China an exceedingly beautiful bronze, pervaded by a golden hue and having its surface dappled with gold. The Yung-ching potters set themselves to imitate this and succeeded admirably. They produced solid tea-green fields, speckled with yellow so finely and uniformly that the latter colour seemed to pervade the whole, except where it was interrupted by golden flecks floating in the glaze. Round. these pieces ran bands of diaper, arabesques, or floral scrolls in low relief, their raised portions covered with gold, strongly burned in. Sometimes the design was picked out with silver instead of gold. These porcelains are not at first sight very striking. The Western collector will probably prefer many other varieties of decoration. But as a tour de force the gold-flecked wares of Yung-ching and Chien-lung are most admirable. Choice specimens have an almost extravagant value for Chinese connoisseurs. In another variety of the same genre the patina of ordinary bronze is imitated with wonderful fidelity, the designs in relief being either gilt or glazed like the rest of the piece and having their interstices only in darker colour.
Enamel decoration was sometimes applied to a glaze mottled so as to resemble tiger's skin, and therefore called Hu-pi. This is a very uncommon style. It appears to have been employed in the manufacture of small pieces only, such as snuff-bottles and sacrificial cups. On these two classes of objects, collections of each of which have been made by Western amateurs, the Chinese keramist lavished most elaborate decoration. The gentleman of the Middle Kingdom regarded his snuff-bottle with much the same pride and affection as the European beau used to bestow on his snuff-box. The jade carver, the glass-cutter, and the potter devoted all their skill to the adornment of these little vessels. They were from two to three inches high, with cylindrical or flattened circular bodies, and from the stopper there projected into the interior a tiny spoon that served to carry the snuff to the nose. Monochromatic and polychromatic glazes, enamel decoration applied to a surface plain white, coloured in the various styles described above, carved in relief, reticulated, granulated, chagrined—it would be impossible to enumerate all the varieties of decorative device employed in the manufacture of these little objects. Fifty years ago they acquired historical interest in Europe, for Rosellini, in his "I Monumenti dell' Egitto," described one found by him in an Egyptian tomb, which was supposed to have never been opened before. On the strength of this evidence, supplemented by the subsequent discovery of three similar bottles in Egypt, Sir Francis Davis concluded that the manufacture of Chinese porcelain—for the bottles were of true porcelain and undoubtedly Chinese origin—dated as far back as the eighteenth century before Christ. Such a theory did not long survive. Attacked in the first place by M. Stanislas Julien, it was finally demolished by Mr. Medhurst, who showed that the inscriptions on the bottles were extracted from the writings of poets of the eighth century of our era. Exactly similar bottles were afterwards sent by Mr. Wells Williams from China, where they could be purchased in any porcelain store. Their presence in Egyptian tombs remains unexplained, and has no more historical significance than the discovery of Chinese ivory-white porcelain seals in an Irish bog.
Though scarcely worthy to be called a special variety, mention may be made of porcelain in the decoration of which one enamel only, deep emerald green, was employed. The designs were almost invariably dragons or phœnixes, supplemented by clouds, waves, or tongues of flame. Porcelains thus decorated are usually distinguished by careful technique. They are at once brilliant and restful. When their manufacture originated it is not possible to say with certainty, but it probably dates from the closing reigns of the Ming dynasty. No specimens older than the latter half of the sixteenth century have yet been authenticated.
The Chinese keramist showed much skill in the use of graving and moulding tools. Elaborate designs, incised or in relief, were constantly added by him to decoration in enamels. Perhaps the most delicate ornamentation of this kind is to be seen on lanterns of egg-shell hard-paste porcelain. These were employed after the manner of transparencies, and nothing could be softer or more brilliant than the effect of the enamelled pictures and reticulated or incised ornamentation seen by reflected light when the lamp was in use. Profuse decoration belongs chiefly to later periods of keramic development. The Kang-hsi potter depended on the brilliancy and purity of his enamels. His Chien-lung successor sought the aid of moulded, pierced, or incised designs, and in the nineteenth century the artist lost himself in confused elaboration. Hat-rests dating from the Chien-lung era show an extraordinary wealth of technical effort. The button on a Chinese official's cap being his badge of rank, he held his hat-rest higher than a Western lady holds her jewel-case. The keramist obeyed this foible by manufacturing cap-supports ornamented in the most unsparing manner, their embossed or latticed designs picked out with enamels and gold.
A curious and beautiful method of decoration, used sometimes alone, sometimes in conjunction with coloured enamels or blue sous couverte, consisted in cutting a design in the pâte and filling the excised portions with glaze only. There resulted a transparent pattern, resembling lace-work. Such a tour de force must have demanded great skill and care. Probably for that reason, as well as on account of the extremely perishable nature of porcelain thus decorated, specimens are exceedingly rare and highly prized. The design is generally of a formal character, as bands of diaper or star pattern; but occasionally dragons or leaves and blossoms are thus treated. In America, porcelain with pierced ornamentation is commonly known as "Grains-of-rice-ware." In Japan it is called "Hotaru-de," or "fire-fly style." The precise date of its origin is uncertain, but there is every reason to conclude that it was not manufactured before the Kang-hsi era (1661–1722). Mr. A. W. Franks says that "in Persia, white bowls of a soft, gritty porcelain were made, which have rude decorations of the same nature, but there is no evidence to show in which country, China or Persia, such a mode of ornamentation originated." Numerous specimens from the workshops of the nineteenth century are to be met with; but if the collector remembers to look always for a pure white, lustrous porcelain and accurately cut designs into which the transparent glaze is run with uniform precision, he is not likely to fall into error. These features are invariably absent in modern pieces, which show unevenness of surface and a distinctly marked tinge of green in the glaze of the pierced portions. In China this ware is called Yen-ching-tou-hwa.
Porcelain ornamented with white slip may be spoken of here as occupying an intermediate place between enamelled wares and monochromatic or polychromatic glazes. Chinese potters do not seem to have practised this method largely. They employed it chiefly in conjunction with the brown or coffee-coloured glaze called Tsu-chin-se, the fond lacque of French collectors. Over this were moulded floral designs, scrolls, and geometrical patterns in white slip, the effect being at once rich and soft. A rarer variety has mazarine blue ground. In old porcelains of the latter class the tone of the blue is rich and pure, but in more modern pieces it passes into a species of slate-colour, or greyish blue. Many examples of the last variety are to be met with among the productions of the Taou-kwang and subsequent eras. They are generally coarse, clumsy porcelains, evidently manufactured for use rather than ornament. The white slip fashion of decoration probably had its origin about the close of the productive period of the Ming dynasty; that is to say, towards the end of the sixteenth century. It is certain that glazes of light golden brown or deep coffee colour were then in vogue, and these, with white slip decoration, are to be found on pieces that exhibit all the characteristics of later Ming porcelain.
It would be a hopeless task to attempt the enumeration of all the fashions developed by Chinese keramists in the decoration of enamelled porcelains. The principal types only have been mentioned above.
That Chinese decorative fashions were largely influenced by European intercourse from the Kang-hsi era downwards is beyond question. In the "Annals of Fu-liang," quoted in the Tao-lu, the various enamels and ancient porcelains produced or imitated at Ching-tê-chên in the eighteenth century are catalogued. It is there recorded that the Chinese potters "imitated European vases having figures chiselled or moulded," and that "in the manner of painting, or applying enamels to these vases as well as to other pieces, they copied closely the European style of art." The same catalogue includes "vases decorated with enamels in the European style" (Yang-tsai-ki), and says that "landscapes, figures, flowers, plants, birds and quadrupeds were depicted on these porcelains with marvellous delicacy and perfection." When it is remembered what a large measure of imperial patronage was extended to the Jesuit missionaries in Kang-hsi's time, and how they were honoured as the representatives of advanced erudition, it seems natural that not European science only, but European art also, or at any rate the European art tendencies of the age, should have obtained some favour in the Middle Kingdom. Moreover, there were the markets of Europe to be supplied. Japan had adapted herself to their demand at Dutch inspiration, and Chinese keramists had not only Japan's example to stimulate them, but also the counsel of learned men who, although foreigners, were open recipients of the emperor's favours. The result may be traced in two directions. Decorative methods became more and more ornate, until they culminated in the infinite elaboration of the later Chien-lung porcelains. Looking back to the brilliant style of the Lung-ching and Wan-li period (1567–1620), it may, perhaps, be denied that foreign inspiration was needed to develop these into the exuberance of adornment with which their successors were loaded two centuries afterwards. But the difference is not one of degree only. For the dragons and clouds, the phœnixes, the sacred horses, the mythical beings, the waves, the fishes and the aquatic plants which chiefly furnished motives to the early keramist, were replaced in later times by elaborate diapers, rich scrolls, soft floral designs and graceful arabesques. Besides, the decorative enamels themselves underwent an alteration. It is a notable fact that all the principal colours of the "Famille Rose" porcelains, the lemon yellow, the ruby or crimson, the pink, or rose du Barry, and the brilliant black—differing essentially from the dull greenish black of the "Famille Verte" wares—are spoken of in the Tao-lu as "European colours." In fact, the distinct change of genre that occurred at the close of the Kang-hsi era, was largely due either to European inspiration or to some newly formed conception of European taste. Certainly the keramic decoration of the West two centuries ago had very few features in common with the contemporaneous keramic decoration of China. But the difference between the two was much less marked after the "Famille Rose" type made its appearance. The broken colours and half-tints of the latter had a marked affinity with European style, though the decorative designs chiefly employed might easily be mistaken for Japanese. Moreover, much direct copying of European models and designs took place at the request of foreign traders. Mr. A. W. Franks, of the British Museum, has studied this branch of the subject with his wonted care. In the fine collection presented by him to the nation, numerous specimens of Chinese and Japanese wares are included, betraying unmistakable evidence of foreign influence. His remarks on the subject are well worth quoting:—
The earliest specimens modified to modern taste would naturally be anything made in China for Japan, or in Japan for China; next, the wares furnished to other Asiatic nations or to Egypt, and lastly those made for Europe.
It would appear from Pere d'Entrecolles and other sources that, in 1712, Japan was a purchaser of porcelain in China,
With regard to porcelain made for the Asiatic market, there are five specimens in the collection; two of these are saucers with Arabic inscriptions from the Koran, incorrectly written, and resemble a bowl and saucer in the collection of M. Charles Schefer, of Paris, which are inscribed with the name of the provost of merchants at Cairo.
Another dish has evidently been made for the Indian market. Two others are painted from Indian drawings which have been copied with great fidelity and care. Their Chinese origin is, however, betrayed by other portions of the ornaments. As we have already stated, M. Jacquemart has described a similar specimen as Indian porcelain.
From Père d'Entrecolles' letters it is clear that even as early as his time the great manufactory of King-tê-chên made specimens with foreign designs; for instance, "the porcelain," he says, "which is transported to Europe is generally made on new models, often of a strange form, and difficult to succeed in making, for the least defect the European [merchants] reject it, and it remains on the hands of the workmen, who cannot sell it to the Chinese because it is not according to their taste." He afterwards speaks of the models as having been sent from Europe. In his letter of 1722 he mentions that there had just been made large vases of three feet high and more, without the covers, which rose in the shape of a pyramid to the height of another foot. These pieces had been ordered by the merchants of Canton, who did business with Europeans, and had taken a great deal of trouble to make, as out of eighty only eight had succeeded.
In the History of King-tê-chên there are numerous notices of porcelain made in the European taste, and of vases painted with enamels in the European style, landscapes, figures, flowers, animals, etc., "of most delicate execution and marvellous perfection."
It is evident, therefore, that in China porcelain was made for exportation from designs furnished by Europeans, and if this was the case at King-tê-chên, we should naturally find that the factory at Shaou-king Fu to the west of Canton must have made still more. Abbé Raynal, in 1774, mentions this factory, and states that the porcelain known in France under the name of "porcelaine des Indes" was made there.
It is probable, therefore, that from these two factories, and especially from the latter, proceeded the numerous services for dinner and tea, differing altogether from the appliances of the same kind used in China. Many of these services have on them the armorial bearings of the persons for whom they were made. Even royalty patronised Chinese porcelain; portions of services made for Frederic the Great, and the royal families of Denmark and France, are in the collection. There seems also to have been a large service made for the Palace of the Swedish Kings at Gripsholm, the name of which is inscribed on the various pieces. The arms of families of rank are often found, and naturally those of wealthy merchants both in England and abroad. There is such a similarity of style in the arrangement of the decoration of much of this armorial china that there must have been some agent, either in England or at Canton, who supplied the designs and superintended their execution.
M. Jacquemart has ascribed to Japan what Abbé Raynal calls "porcelaine des Indes," our "India china," as well as the armorial specimens; but he has come to this conclusion on the most slender grounds; he argues that the Dutch India Company was the only important company which could have caused such a name to be given to its imports, and that that company traded with Japan. He has, however, quite overlooked the very important India companies of England, Sweden, and Denmark, which had a large trade with China, and that even the Dutch carried on a very considerable commerce with that country, using Batavia as their depôt. In the elaborate sale catalogue of the collection of M. Angrand de Fonpertuis, prepared by Gersaint of Paris in 1747, the Chinese and Japanese are generally spoken of as "Indiens." Moreover, the porcelain with armorial bearings is probably far more common in England than in Holland, and our country had no direct communication with Japan. There are also many specimens which can be traced to families connected with China, or which are known to have been made to order in that country.
While, however, the "India China" has on one hand been attributed to Japan, it has on the other, and by a still more singular hallucination, been ascribed to Lowestoft in England.
There can be no doubt that there was a considerable manufactory of porcelain at Lowestoft, but this was of the usual English soft paste. The evidence of hard paste having been made there is of the most unsatisfactory kind; chiefly the indistinct recollection of persons not acquainted with the difference between hard and soft paste. A few specimens of white Oriental porcelain may have been decorated at Lowestoft, such as one belonging to Lady Charlotte Schreiber; but they must be rare, as most of the services of such porcelain with European decorations seem to belong to an earlier date. The supporters of the Lowestoft theory (which is now, however, nearly exploded) must have been embarrassed by the enormous number of specimens that exist, and by the occasional occurrence of dated examples too old for the so-called invention of hard paste at Lowestoft, such, for instance, as a Punch Bowl in this collection, dated 1769, eight years earlier than the supposed time of the invention. Why, moreover, should English painters, in executing European designs, give in the minor details those Chinese touches which at once reveal the Oriental artists? Had the subjects been Chinese such a proceeding would be natural.
The result has been that a class of Oriental porcelain formerly little cared for, and possessing no great merit, has been elevated in popular esteem, but it is to be hoped that in time it may find its level.
Mr. Franks is apparently mistaken in his inference as to the place of manufacture of some of these porcelains. The Kwang-tun (or Canton) potteries do not seem to have produced any wares of the kind. Their outcome, which will be spoken of later on, consisted of pottery and stone-ware, with monochromatic or polychromatic glazes.
Note must also be taken of Chinese porcelains decorated in Europe. About the year 1700, the Dutch keramists discovered the method of preparing some of the colours used for painting over the glaze. To employ these colours for decorating faience, such as that manufactured at Delft, would have been difficult, if not impossible. Accordingly the first essays were made with porcelains imported from China, offering a greater or less expanse of white surface for the exercise of the enameller's art. About the same epoch the pâte-tendre ware of Sèvres and the hard porcelain of Bottger making their appearance, these also began to be decorated with Delft enamels after Chinese fashions. Such essays were speedily followed by similar imitations from the factories in Italy, Saxony, Austria, and England. It then occurred to the merchants who had hitherto included Chinese decorated porcelains among their articles of trade, that a profit might also be realized by importing white porcelains for ornamentation at the hands of Delft experts. M. du Sartel, in his "Porcelaine de Chine," says that a regular business of this nature sprang up in 1705. The well-known keramist, Gerrit von der Kaade, and his confréres at Delft purchased quantities of Chinese undecorated porcelain, and adorned it with pictures sometimes of purely European genre, sometimes of Chinese type. The industry lasted until 1740, and during this interval of thirty-five years many specimens were produced, excellent alike in technique and artistic conception. Their enamels lacked the brilliancy of the "Famille Verte," and the continued solidity and delicacy of the "Famille Rose," and their designs, even when copied directly from Chinese subjects, presented some feature that betrayed European origin. But they were undoubtedly fine porcelains of their class, and as Chinese year-periods or other marks were often added, a source of some confusion arose for the amateur. M. du Sartel has paid much attention to this branch of the subject. In his interesting work "La Porcelaine de Chine" he offers advice which well deserves to be remembered:—
Arm yourselves, collectors of the future, with salutary and absolute distrust. Let your first care be, in every case, to clean the porcelain with a slightly acid solution in order to remove the dirt accumulated by the action either of time or of an unscrupulous hand. If the specimen is really old, this precaution will cause the enamels to resume all their pristine brilliancy, will unveil to you the cracks, the imperfections, the repairs craftily concealed by unfired decoration. How many specimens, and that two of the finest character, will you not then recognise as having had surface decoration applied to them by a second firing: blue grounds, uniform or mottled, enriched with designs in gold, or with reserved medallions enclosing polychromatic flowers, without counting vases the entire surface of which, originally white, is now red, green, or black?
Then study the specimen closely, and you will see that the additions are badly adapted to the original design; that they cross each other and cover certain parts clumsily, and that the added fields of colour encroach upon the ancient contours. The stalks and the delicate strokes have lost their clearness, or are partially obscured by the ground colour. The painter charged with the task of applying these coloured grounds, or of filling the vacant spaces with flowers and new subjects, skilled though he may have been, has not been able to prevent these secondary colours from spreading during the stoving, and in places overrunning the less fusible Chinese enamels. An intimate union of the two colours has not been produced, as would have been the case in a work executed at one time with enamels subjected to the same temperature.
The special esteem in which are held uniform or variegated grounds (as green, monochromatic or spotted with black) having enamelled decoration, has led to a species of secondary decoration, the first examples of which made their appearance lately. It consists not only in re-covering the white portions of the surfaces of old specimens, originally having a decoration of blue sous couverte, with paintings in enamels of the "Famille Verte" type—the enamels, which are very fusible, being obtained from oxide of chromium, and having a yellowish green tone, lacking in metallic reflections or iridescence—but also in applying this same colour to grounds originally blue, plain, or soufflé. This superposition of two colours, generally associating very badly, produces a character of spuriousness so peculiar and betraying such inferior quality, that the experienced amateur cannot be deceived by it. He knows, in fact, that a glaze coloured with oxide of copper run over cobalt-blue decoration applied to the biscuit would emerge from the kiln almost black, and that, in consequence, a green tint appearing over a perfectly developed blue could only be obtained by secondary decoration made with an extremely fusible colour, such as is not included in the Chinese keramist's palette.
If the general examination spoken of above should not suffice to clear away all sources of doubt, it will be necessary to undertake a more minute and perhaps more difficult study, which, however, will surely furnish proofs vainly sought for in the ensemble of the piece.
These proofs are to be found in the nature of the gold and of the colours employed by European painters in redecorating old pieces or copying them faithfully. Whatever is to be said of copies applies also to added decoration. Some pieces need not occupy our attention because, in their case, Oriental art has simply played the part of inspiring, and because they show of themselves a general cachet of Europeanism. that precludes all possibility of error. In respect of others, however, the maker has designedly prepared his pâte and suitably tinted his glaze, while all engaged in the manufacture, from the potter to the painter, have made a point of servilely copying their model, not excepting the last coup de main given by the dextrous age-simulators of whom we have spoken.
It is here that washing with acid will effect marvels. It should be resorted to at the outset. Then the connoisseur should ascertain how the bottom of the base is made, remembering the Chinese potter's manner of finishing this part of a specimen. He should then seek for some place where, in consequence of an imperfection or absence of glaze, the pâte is entirely exposed. Examined with a magnifying glass this place should present the greyish and non-vitreous aspect of little grains in close juxtaposition, some of them sparkling in the light like mica; unless, indeed, there is question of very fine egg-shell, or semi-egg-shell porcelain, the fracture of which should bear a sensible resemblance to that of matter almost completely vitrified.
Passing now to the colours, it will be recognised that those of imitation pieces have neither the softness, nor the transparency, nor the iridescence, nor the metallic reflections of Chinese enamels, even when the imitator has been able to obtain a luminous appearance by washing in acids cleverly compounded. There are, besides, two enamels which the forgers never succeeded in obtaining, and which are happily found often in decorations of the Extreme Orient. The first is violacious brown, entirely transparent, used by the Chinese to paint branches, trunks of trees, and sometimes flowers or drapery. On imitation pieces this colour is dull, non-transparent, altogether brown, or carmine suggesting the presence of dirty blue. The second of these enamels is that which, obtained from chloride of gold, gives tints of rose colour or deep carmine. On Chinese porcelains this enamel is always brilliant and of remarkably pure tone. On porcelains made in Europe, on the contrary, it is always dull, violaceous, almost claret-like.
As for enamelled grounds over the glaze, thick and uniformly coloured coats of which, having often great intensity of tone, the Chinese potter applies to the surface, our painters replace them by easily recognised grounds of badger brown.
Finally, if careful note is taken of what we have said about want of solidity on the part of gold applied to porcelains in China and Japan, it will be understood that most of the old specimens thus ornamented ought to be now entirely deprived of their gold decoration. This peculiarity offered to modern painters a large field which they have not failed to exploit. They had only to recover and follow the half-effaced marks in order to renew the original decoration. Herein it is the faults of the original gold that enable us to pronounce apocryphal pieces presenting too fair an appearance. In fact, if the painter, learning that a piece may safely be exposed to the low temperature of the gilding furnace, has recourse to the preparations employed in our studios, his gold decoration will be solidly fixed, brilliant, and capable of being burnished with an agate. If, on the contrary, he is content to use gold dust mixed with varnish and applied without caloric, he obtains a metallic tone resembling more closely the Chinese gold, but having thick, heavy outlines, which, moreover, may be entirely removed by scratching with a knife or by washing in an acid solution.
It need scarcely be noted that this obliteration of the gold decoration is not invariably observed in the case of old specimens. Much depended, of course, on the degree of care with which they were kept. Occasionally pieces are found to which their owners attached sufficient value to handle them so tenderly and preserve them so scrupulously that much of the gold decoration remains as fresh as it was when it emerged from the kiln. M. du Sartel concludes his analysis thus:—
In fine there remains to be noticed one more variety of secondary decoration which is of some interest. All amateurs are acquainted with a certain type of blue-and-white vases, generally cylindrical in form. Those that we desire to note here have their necks decorated originally with a slight, narrow border of pattern, their bodies being occupied with large figures that stand nearly as high as the vase. … These figures, boldly designed, nearly always evince veritable talent on the part of the decorator. In order not to distract the eye from the principal subject painted by him with the finest blues of his palette, cleverly graded, he has refrained from ornamenting the shoulder or the lower part of the vase, and has left the space about the figures open. The only fault of this particular type is that it is not sufficiently rare. Collectors are therefore content to possess one or two specimens of it, leaving the others in the stores of bric-à-brac dealers where they accumulate, vainly awaiting purchasers. These are the vases, or at least some of them, that we are surprised to see reappear clothed with new decoration. The neck is now adorned with a triple border in brightly coloured enamels. The shoulder is occupied by a large zone of iron red or green with reserved designs, and above the figures runs a border of scallops or false gadroons in yellow, blue, or green enamel, such as we see on fine specimens of the Famille Verte. Finally, the long robes and accessories of the figures are no longer simply blue, but show a more or less happy addition of gold.
The question has been raised whether these vases should be regarded as a really ancient variety, rare specimens of which, jealously preserved up to the present by Chinese amateurs, had suddenly made a triumphant and unexpected appearance among us. Ought we not rather to recognise the cylindrical vases spoken of above, the low price of which added to the possibility of exposing them to the temperature of the enameller's furnace, indicated them as fit subjects for the crafty skill of our secondary decorators. The latter doubtless transformed some of them, but there can be little question that others were transformed in China, in obedience to orders and directions sent from Europe. So far as we are concerned, we believe that we have seen both kinds, though we are sure that we have never met with any really ancient.
Imitators, knowing well that no decoration over the glaze, however fine, ranks with decoration de grand feu in the eyes of amateurs, have not failed to turn their attention to paintings on the biscuit (under the glaze). In respect of these, the results hitherto obtained with cobalt blue or copper red, applied sous couverte, are so imperfect that there is no danger of confounding them even with the commonest porcelains of China and Japan.
The reader will observe that no detailed note has been taken of enamelled porcelains manufactured during the ninteenth century. The fact is that, with the exception of pieces dating from the early part of the century, the collector will find few specimens possessing decorative or artistic merit. The products of the Chia-tsing era (1796–1821) are often scarcely distinguishable in technique and style from those of the Chien-lung workshops. But from the close of this era and the commencement of the Taou-kwang period (1821–1851), a steady deterioration set in, marked, as might be expected, by the profuse use of pigments and easily applied enamels. Thenceforth a prevailing trick of the decorator was to cover large portions of the surface—frequently the whole interior of a piece was thus treated—with a thick coat of lustreless green or pink, generally roughened, more or less irregularly, like the skin of an orange. Much gilding and unsparing application of ill-assorted half-toned pigments became the fashion, and it apparently ceased to be possible to produce a pure white, lustrous porcelain. The greenish or bluish tinge pervading the glaze of these modern wares, the chalky appearance of their pâte, the irregularity of their surface and the generally clumsy nature of their manufacture, are tests which the amateur should have no difficulty in applying. In proportion, too, as the merits of former potters ceased to be imitable, the transparent device of employing false year-marks came into vogue, so that these periods of decadence may be ascribed a great majority of the specimens distinguished by Hsuan-tê, Chên-hwâ, and Chia-ching dates. The only porcelains of modern (i.e. 1830–1860) manufacture at all are likely to deceive are those with coloured crackle and comparatively sparse enamelled decoration, and the so-called "medallion bowls," that is to say, bowls whose outer surface is covered with lustreless green, yellow, pink, or red pigments, laid over floral scrolls or arabesques engraved in the paste, and interrupted by medallions containing enamelled or painted designs. These bowls probably represent the best achievement of the Taou-kwang and subsequent potters, and in their own inferior fashion doubtless merit admiration.
It must be noted, however, that during the past ten years Chinese potters have succeeded in producing porcelains elaborately decorated with enamels, partaking of the character of both the "Famille Verte" and the "Famille Rose" types. Loaded with ornament, in which formal and pictorial styles are hopelessly confounded, these pieces nevertheless have enamels so brilliant and so cleverly applied that the amateur may possibly be deceived if he estimates them by their surface decoration alone. Examination of the pâte where it is exposed at the base of the specimen, should at once remove all doubt. It will generally be found artificially discoloured, and its rough, granulated character can be detected by the least experienced collector. Naturally, if inferiority of pâte were the only fault to be laid to the charge of these modern reproductions, they might still possess some claim to admiration. But they are bad in every way, above all in their lack of either artistic feeling or decorative instinct. The surface of the vase has been taken simply as a field for displaying bright enamels, and even if these occasionally approach the transparency and purity of their Kang-hsi and Chien-lung prototypes, the general effect is confused and unsatisfactory. It is probable, however, that some of these imitations have found their way into American collections, for they have been exported from the East by dealers of repute.
A rare and very highly prized variety of "jewelled porcelain" is decorated with enamels showing all the properties of glass. From the Ming era the Chinese acquired great skill in the manufacture of cameo glass, using it chiefly to make snuff-bottles, writers' vases, bowls, and other small objects. Towards the close of the Kang-hsi era their keramists conceived the idea of employing glass, or a slightly modified form of it, in the same way as they had hitherto employed vitrifiable enamels for over-glaze decoration. Opinions may differ about the artistic success of this new departure, but as a tour de force it was certainly very remarkable, and from Chinese connoisseurs it elicited applause. Few specimens are procurable, and a very high value attaches to them in China. Occasionally a porcelain vase is found having body-glaze and decoration such that its resemblance to a specimen of cameo glass is striking.
Before dismissing the subject of porcelain decorated with enamels over the glaze, notice must be taken of the "Three-coloured Ware" (San-tsai-ki). This, as its name indicates, is distinguished by paucity of coloured enamels, green, yellow, and red only being employed, with occasional addition of blue sous couverte. Green is the dominant colour, the others usually occupying a more or less subordinate place.
The porcelain dates from the Chêng-hwa era of the Ming dynasty, and its manufacture was continued until the end of the Kang-hsi period. It came from the workshops at Ching-tê-chên. No special interest attaches to it. There is, however, another ware classed by some connoisseurs as San-tsai-ki, but not really belonging to that family, from which it differs primarily in the nature of its pâte—not hard porcelain, but pottery or stone-ware—and essentially in the manner of applying the decoration, which covers the whole surface, leaving no portion of the biscuit exposed. In jars and vases of this faience large portions of the surface are often pierced in reticulated patterns with peonies, dragons, or lions suspended among the reticulation, the intervening spaces having diapers or scrolls in relief. The raised parts as well as the designs suspended in the reticulation are enamelled in green, turquoise-blue, white, maroon, yellow, or purple, some one of which colours, generally turquoise-blue or green, is employed to cover the rest of the surface also. The enamels are opaque and comparatively dull, and the technique is usually of second-rate quality. The choicest specimens of this ware are without reticulation, their decorative effect depending entirely on contrast of rich colours. A frequent and highly artistic type has a bold scroll of peonies in relief, in white or yellow enamel on a purple or turquoise-blue ground. Still more elaborate examples have figures of mythical personages among conventional clouds, with bands of diaper and scroll pattern above and below; green, yellow, white, and purple enamels are employed for this raised decoration, while the body colour is strong turquoise-blue or peacock green. Such pieces are decorative and attractive. In appraising their merit the amateur has to consider before everything purity of colour, richness of glaze, and careful technique. Any muddiness in the tone of the enamels or roughness of surface is a distinct mark of inferiority, and the same may be said of clumsy technique, though the collector must not look for a very high degree of finish in any ware of this class.
It will thus be seen that though both porcelain and faience are included by some connoisseurs in the "Three-coloured" ware, the two are essentially different in appearance. The porcelain, in fact, really belongs to the Famille Verte, from typical examples of which it is only distinguished by paucity of coloured enamels. The term Famille Verte, as already explained, is of European origin: it has no existence in China. The amateurs of the Middle Kingdom recognise the distinctions of Wu-tsai and San-tsai (five colours and three colours), but both types of ware may not improperly be included in the "Green Family" by those who prefer the latter nomenclature. Porcelain of the San-tsai variety was manufactured at Ching-tê-chêng, but the faience or stone-ware mentioned above, came from kilns in the neighbourhood of Peking, in the province of Shansi. According to the records, its manufacture in the latter district commenced in the seventh century, but nothing is accurately known about the products of so remote a date. Not until the close of the Yuan, or opening years of the Ming, dynasty is there anything upon which a verdict may be founded, and even then the specimens are of comparatively insignificant character. A limited number of these are preserved in Japan where they have always been higly valued, though erroneously attributed to Cochin China. Their pâte is hard white stone-ware, its outer surface always covered with enamels of rich colour, while to the inner is applied a partial coat of thin paint-like grey glaze. In nine cases out of every ten these specimens take the form of small boxes used in Japan to hold incense. Sometimes they are round, with the top rudely moulded into the shape of an ox or a stag; sometimes they are made in the semblance of a bird, a badger, or a blossom. The enamels are green, yellow, purple, and mahogany red. The purple varies from the colour of ripe grapes to that of light muddy claret dusted with dark speckles. The green and yellow are rich and lustrous, and the mahogany red has a peculiar wax-like appearance, not seen in any other enamel. Scroll patterns or other designs in relief enter almost invariably into the decoration, the technical finish of which is usually more or less rude. In a manuscript work, entitled Kogo-zuye (illustrations of incense boxes), compiled by a well-known Japanese virtuoso forty years ago, ten celebrated specimens of this faience are depicted. The majority of them are grotesque in conception. One is in the shape of an archaic badger with yellow limbs, purple face and breast, and green body. In another the artist has modelled a purple stag lying on green scrolls and diapers, and in another a claret-coloured carp plunges among yellow waves. The redeeming features of such pieces is the richness and lustre of their coloured enamels, indicating high technical ability. They are referred by Japanese connoisseurs to the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, and there is no reason to doubt the correctness of the estimate; for though, as has been said, the Japanese are mistaken about the place of the ware's origin, collateral evidence shows that they have kept tolerably accurate records of the dates when it came to their country. It need scarcely be said that the specimens of this highly decorative ware familiar to Western collectors belong to later periods than the curious little kogo so much treasured in Japan. These large brilliant, though somewhat crudely finished pieces date chiefly from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, though several are undoubtedly as old as the Wan-li (1573) or even the Chia-tsing (1522) era of the Ming dynasty. The difference between specimens from the factories of these eras and those from the Kang-hsi kilns is scarcely appreciable. The glazes of both are equally pure, lustrous, and brilliant, and their pâte equally hard. In general technique, however, the advantage is with the Kang-hsi ware. In proportion as later periods are reached, the biscuit becomes soft and friable, and the enamels lose their glossiness and depth.