CHINA
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.
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