CHINA
notice. It is not easy to account for this silence or for the comparative absence of specimens bearing the cachet of any of the three reigns. That fine pieces were manufactured there can be little doubt, and it is known that the supply of choice Mohammedan blue did not fail. Probably the most reasonable conclusion is that the Hsuan-tê types being closely adhered to by keramists and recognised as standards of excellence by connoisseurs during the years immediately succeeding the celebrated era of their production, the works of those years failed to obtain distinctive recognition.
The next era, Chêng-hwa, which continued from 1465 to 1488, was in some respects even more remarkable than the Hsuan-tê era. The supply of imported Mohammedan blue is said to have failed, and the potters were obliged to content themselves with native mineral. But whatever pigment they employed, it is certain that many pieces of great brilliancy and beauty were produced. The decoration differs from that of the Hsuan-tê epoch in one important respect, namely, that whereas the latter conveys the impression of being engraved in the pâte, the former is of a more superficial character. Thus is furnished a suggestion as to the difference between the imported and the native mineral in the matter of behaviour during manufacture; a difference that may be independently gathered from the text of the records. The Mohammedan blue was capable of resisting the temperature of the open furnace; the Chêkiang blue could not be used except on porcelain protected by muffles. The result was that, in the case of the former, the designs became, as it were, wedded to the pâte, thus acquiring remarkable depth
116
