CHINA
occasionally found upon Yi-hsing specimens appeal to any one's taste, but it is impossible that foreigners should sympathise with the ecstasy of the Chinese dilettante when he discovers that the inscription on a pot is written in the style of the Tang dynasty, or that it resembles the penmanship of Wan-yen. It is said in China that skill in a certain style of engraving seal-characters cannot be acquired without unremitting practise for a period of from twenty to thirty years. Naturally the works of men who possessed this skill command, in the Chinese market, prices prohibitive to Western collectors who look only for beauties of form, delicacy and fidelity of modelling, and attractions of pâte and surface.
Not infrequently Yi-hsing clay was used to form the body of pieces covered with monochromatic or flambé glazes. These are easily confounded with the Kwang-yao described above.
In another variety the unglazed surface is brightened by enamelled decoration—scrolls, quatrefoils, floral designs, &c. in bas-relief, the colours employed being chiefly lilac, yellow, and green.
The Yi-hsing pottery is the protype of the celebrated Banko-yaki of Japan. Many pieces of the latter resemble the former so closely as to be quite capable of deceiving inexperienced amateurs. The Japanese product, however, is appreciably lighter and generally has coarser pâte than the Chinese. Of course the great majority of specimens of Banko-yaki, especially the modern manufacture, are essentially different from the Yi-hsing-yao, but certain examples of the former, made expressly to imitate the latter, are not easy to distinguish. The Kyôtô potters also took Chinese boccaro as a model for their shudei, and suc-
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