CHINESE POTTERY
ruins of the Summer Palace, taking it for old flambé porcelain, till he walked up and tapped it and exclaimed contemptuously 'Wa-te!' (it is pottery). The Chinese have no word for stone-ware, and, in truth, there is no scientific distinction between these three substances, which pass into each other by imperceptible gradations." And yet it is evident from this very narrative that to the Chinese connoisseur there is nothing imperceptible in the difference which struck Prince Kung so forcibly. The truth is that while a stone-ware pâte and a translucid porcelain pâte are often difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish, especially when each is overlaid by thick glaze, no such confusion exists in China between either of these pâtes and pottery or faience in the Western sense of the terms. The latter was not largely manufactured in the Middle Kingdom, its principal uses being for glazed tiles and architectural ornaments. Numerous specimens of architectural ornaments in faience, as statues, mythical monsters, and so forth, existed in the Summer Palace at Peking, and a good example of glazed tiles is furnished by the celebrated "Porcelain Tower" of Nanking, the greater part of which consisted of glazed earthenware. The glazes most commonly found in decorative specimens of faience are green, yellow, turquoise blue, and purple, the two last being often combined. Ware of this type has already been spoken of in connection with "Three-colour Porcelain." Its place of production is the province of Shan-si, and specimens are still procurable without great difficulty. Their decorative and brilliant character have won them favour with amateurs, and many pieces are to be seen in European collections; as for example, vases with
349
