Chapter 8

Difficulties.—The Porcelain Tower at Nanking.—First Making of Porcelain.—Kaolin and Pe-tun-tse.—Marco Polo.—Portuguese Importation.—The City of King-te-chin.—Jacquemart’s Groups.—Symbolic Decoration.—Inscriptions.—The Ming Period.—The Celestial Blue.—The Celadons.—Reticulated Cups.—The Crackle.—Various Periods.—Individualism.—Marks and Dates.

NO people and no civilization have been or are still of greater interest than those of the “Flowery Kingdom;” and, spite of much study and careful investigation, of none are we less certain than of these. Through thousands of years a peculiar people have developed a peculiar social system—most striking, most distinct, and, in its way, as complete as any other, even if compared with ours, of which we loudly boast. And now this singular people—a people who have grown into a population of four hundred millions, having their barriers broken down by the guns and rams of England, so that trade should enter—are themselves coming out to do the work of the world cheaper than any others can do it. We see them in Batavia, in Siam, in Singapore, in great numbers, as workers, as brokers, as merchants, as manufacturers, and now they are flowing a steady tide into California; and who can say where the flood will reach, where it will stop, and whom it will submerge? No other question of such importance now presses upon us as this.

But here we have to deal only with one of the most perfect and most beautiful of industries—one which seems to have had its rise and its culmination with this strange people.

What we know of it we can hardly be said toknow. The Chinesehave always kept their own secrets, and have not cared to convert us to their methods, or to cater to our ways. We therefore gather, here and there, a scrap of information upon the subject of porcelains; we get, when we can, examples of their work; we try to learn something of their processes; but, after all, can only submit what we gather with some misgivings as to the absolute truth.

We do not know how to spell their names in our letters, and they vary infinitely; so too the inscriptions upon their plates and dishes vary with the knowledge and the fancy of the translator. Of course, we approximate to the truth, but not more; for no two Chinese quite agree as to what this most flexible writing may mean. As to dates on the pieces, some certainty seems to have been reached; and such is valuable. I have added to this articlemarksand dates as now understood by the best authorities in England, and as arranged by Mr. A. W. Franks, who is the latest writer upon the subject. The knowledge of these helps the student, and is valuable to the collector.

Fig. 96.—Pou-tai, “The God of Content.”

The opening cut (Fig. 96) in our chapter shows the Chinese god Pou-tai—the “God of Content.” He is described as “corpulent, his chest uncovered, mounted upon or leaning on the wine-skin which holds his terrestrial goods; his face, with half-closed eyes, beaming with an eternal laugh.”

His image, done in porcelain, is found in the workshops of China, where men wish more than they can obtain; he allays, perhaps, but does not quench. This image would be most useful—at least, mostsuggestive—if it could be set up in everybourseof the Western world.

Fig. 97.—The Porcelain Tower at Nanking.

The Nanking Tower (Fig. 97) once stood near the city of Nanking, from which city much of our finest porcelain comes. It was built with bricks or pottery, the face of which was coated with a dip or slipof porcelain; and the whole thing was valuable and interesting as a monument of the potter’s art. It is now razed to the ground, the last destruction being that of the Taiping rebels.

The history of pottery is in a good degree the history of man. All nations have done something in this way, from the rude clay pots of the barbarians, through the gayly-painted dishes of the incipient civilization, up to the culmination of the art, when perfection seems to have been reached in China through the centuries extending up to the sixteenth. This manufacture, which reached in China and Japan to the point of finest art, has not been surpassed by any civilized race, if equaled. I am unable to do anything but admire a people whose workmen did and liked to do such fine and faithful work, and found such large patronage for it; and it seems a ludicrous and stupid judgment for us, who admire and pay for the sculptures of Mr. Mills and Miss Ream, to call those peoples barbarians!

Are they not justified in callingus“outside barbarians?”

This chapter will treat briefly upon these Oriental productions, and I hope no apology is needed.

Three thousand years (2697B. C.) before our Christian era these Chinese were great potters, had reached to a high point in form and decoration; and porcelain, the finest pottery, began to be made some two hundred years before our era. At that time our ancestors were in a state of gross, if not beastly, barbarism; whiletheyshowed skill, taste, refinement, in this and in other ways.

As late as the seventeenth century cups and trenchers of “honest tre,” or wood, were used in the best castles of England, and the dishes were often square bits of board; and down even to a much later day the fingers were used to carry the meat to the mouth.

Some two hundred years, then, before Christ, it appears that the Chinese had discovered and applied to the making of porcelain two fine clays, one calledkaolin, and the otherpe-tun-tse; the first is a decayed feldspar; combined, these clays produce the fine semi-transparent body which we call china or porcelain. All china, then, has in a greater or less degree this quality of translucency. It appears, therefore, that most of the Canton ware brought to us is not porcelain atall, but simply a kind of stone or earthen ware, coated with an enamel or “slip,” which sometimes may contain porcelain.

So, too, the most beautiful Satsuma ware from Japan is not porcelain, but a fine sort of pottery or earthen-ware, the decoration of which is most marked and harmonious.

For more than two thousand years the “heathen Chinee” has been working at the production of porcelain—and apparently most intelligently and skillfully. He has accomplished this:

1. The materials used are selected with the greatest care.

2. They are combined, and ground, and mixed, with consummate knowledge.

3. The articles desired are turned and modeled with great precision and dexterity, oftentimes with the keenest perception of beauty of line.

4. The decorations exhibit an exquisite feeling as to value and harmony of color, and freedom of design.

This combination of knowledge, skill, and taste, the Chinese were the first to combine in pottery and porcelain, and they have not been excelled.

To those who are ignorant, it seems a very paltry thing to make a dinner-plate; but to make a perfect one requires most of the best faculties of man. Ignorant and foolish people hold the china-lovers in contempt; we reciprocate: we believe that the man who does not perceive and enjoy all this beautiful handiwork is willfully ignorant or pitiably stupid: he has our pity and our prayers.

Traces of porcelain are found in the ancient tombs and among the mummies of Egypt, in the form of small bottles as here shown (Fig. 98). Just what was their use or significance we do not know; but some think they prove that intercourse existed between those countries in very early days.

Marco Polo visited China in the latter half of the thirteenth century, and he told of the great factories for the production of porcelain there; and how certain kinds of earth were collected, and, after being exposed to air and rains for thirty or forty years, were then fit to be made into cups and bowls. Great quantities were sold in the city. “For a Venetian groat you may purchase eight porcelain cups.”

Beginning of course with useful articles simply, this manufacture progressed until pots and vases and dishes were made for purely decorative purposes.

Fig. 98.—Porcelain Bottle, from Egyptian Tomb.

As porcelain was introduced into Europe by the Portuguese about the year 1518, we are obliged to pierce into the dimness of the past with the aid of the Chinese themselves. M. Julien,[9]a Frenchman, has compiled from the Chinese writings mostly all we know, some parts of which may come into this chapter. Jacquemart, Marryat, Chaffers, Demmin, and others, have drawn from him.

As early as the Tchoin dynasty (about 583) fine qualities were produced, and the court of the emperors demanded it. Artists began to appear, and rare and rarer qualities were made. We find that different styles were sought for and were held in highest esteem; that “the Tsin held the blue china in high estimation;” the Soni or Sui (581 to 618) gave the preference to green. The Thang dynasty (618 to 907) required that it should be white; and in 621 Ho made porcelain for the emperor of a white ground, “brilliant as jade;” while the Emperor Tchi-tsong (954 to 959) gave his family name to a beautiful blue, the most highly esteemed of all the ancient porcelains of China.[10]How fine this was we cannot know, as it is not likely that any piece of it exists with us, even if among the Chinese. The production grew, until in 1369 in the city of King-te-chin, according to the statement ofFather d’Entrecolles, it was estimated at a million pieces a year. A vast and varied industry in making china was carried forward here, down even to the present times, when the Taiping rebels (who we are told wereChristians) completely destroyed it.

From the accounts, mostly of the French missionaries, it seems that while the three thousand furnaces at King-te-chin baked the porcelain which was modeled there, it was taken to Nanking and Canton to be decorated; and, as far as we know, the painting of Nanking was superior to that of Canton. King-te-chin is swept away, and Nanking is almost destroyed; so that we can expect no more fine art-work in porcelain from China.

It is likely, however, that much decoration was done at the great city of King-te-chin; but what we know now as “the celestial” or Nanking blue was probably done at Nanking; of this more will be said in the progress of this chapter.

It is impossible here to dwell upon or to know much of the various descriptions of china made down to the period of the Ming dynasty (1368 to 1649). Upon the productions of this period the Chinese collectors and antiquaries place the highest value—in many cases much greater even than is now given to them in Europe.

Some examples of this period are to be seen in Europe and a few in America.

One of our commissioners, who met the Chinese and Japanese at the Vienna Exposition, was told by them that they were purchasing choice pieces of porcelain, intending to take them back to their countries, where they are more valuable than in Europe: for, from the earliest days, it seems that both the Chinese and Japanese have been keen critics and lovers of this most fascinating work.

Jacquemart and others have attempted to arrange the decorated work into groups as follows:

TheArchaic—of which perhaps none exists.

TheChrysanthemo-Pæonienne.

TheFamille-vert, orGreen.

TheFamille-rose, orPink.

Besides these are many sub-varieties. These groups indicate thestyle of decoration of which we shall attempt to give some sketches, although, as they want color, they must necessarily be faint.

The chrysanthemo-pæonienne exhibits the use in various ways of the chrysanthemum and peony. We give here examples to show the style of decoration, as far as we are able to do it without color.

Fig. 99.—Pot from Mrs. Burlingame’s Collection.

Fig. 99 is a pot from Mrs. Burlingame’s collection. It stands about twenty inches high, and is a fine example of the early style of work. The paste and glaze are not so good as in the rose family, but still all is excellent. The chrysanthemums are yellow, red, and black. This work is no doubt very old.

We give (Fig. 100) a sketch of a small snuff-bottle from the same collection, drawn the real size. It is a perfect piece of work: the paste

Fig. 100.—From Mrs. Burlingame’s Collection.

Fig. 101.—From Mrs. Burlingame’s Collection.

is a fine white; the overturned preserve-pot is a clear lemon-yellow, with a little color in the rings; the grasshopper is alive and is brilliant with greens, blacks, and blues. The stopper is a bit of purple amethyst. It is socompletethat it fills the mind with satisfaction, more thorough than the sight of St. Peter’s can give.

Fig. 102.—Chinese Vase.

Fig. 103.—From Miss Wyman’s Collection.

Thefamille-vert, or green, is so called because a clear, brilliant green is the only or prevailing color.

The plate here shown (Fig. 101) is also from Mrs. Burlingame’s collection. The paste is a brilliant white, the glaze perfect; and the dragons, in green, have all that freedom and fancy for which the early Chinese artists were remarkable.

The vase, Fig. 102, also belonging to the green-family, from Jacquemart, is a beautiful example of this style of work. The figures are most deftly drawn and colored. The subject we suppose to be historical.

Fig. 104.—From Mr. Wales’s Collection.

Thefamille-rose, or red, describes a group where the rose and ruby colors are the distinguishing ones. This fine color is produced from gold. Nearly all of this work shows the color in low-relief.

Three very fine examples are given of this rose-family.

Fig. 103 is an octagon plate, with an exquisitely flowered and diapered border, from the collection of Miss Wyman, of Cambridge.

Figs. 104 and 105 are equally good, from Mr. Wales’s collection. In this class rank the delicate egg-shell cups and saucers with “rose-backs,” in which Mr. Andrews’s collection at New York is so rich.

In these three divisions is contained much of the very best productionsof China. The chrysanthemum and peony decoration was probably most in use, and was made in greater quantities than any. Some of the older pieces of this show the chrysanthemum in black (Fig. 99), as well as in other colors. The body of this group is not so fine as the two later descriptions, but the decoration is full of beauty and variety. In the green and rose groups, the paste, the decoration, and the coloring, reached perfection; and it is impossible to surpass the best work of these classes.

Fig. 105.—From Mr. Wales’s Collection.

But in all this work there is no imitation, no absolute copying of the flower, the bud, the landscape, the lady.

The Chinese were fond of a symbolic or fabulous decoration. The engraving (Fig. 106) pictures a conflict going on between the spirits or demons of the water and the air; it is most free and effective. This vase belongs to the collection of Mrs. Burlingame.

I saw in England a small blue vase, at Mr. Talbert’s, upon which was shown the Trinity (three figures) in a sort of balcony in the sky; beneath them was a sea of fire, out of which appeared the dragon ordevil spitting venom at the Godhead, one of which was warding it off with a drawn sword. It was curious, if not true, and showed their notions of European beliefs, obtained, no doubt, from the early missionaries.

The Dog of Fo is one of the sacred symbolic animals, and was placed at the thresholds of temples to defend them from harm.

Fig. 106.—From Mrs. Burlingame’s Collection.

He has feet armed with claws, a great grinning face full of teeth, a curly mane, and might be supposed to be modeled, by an Oriental fancy, from the lion. Sometimes this creature has been described as a chimera.

The fong-hoang also is sometimes pictured. This is a strange and immortal bird, which descends from the regions of highest heaven tobless mankind. It bears a fleshy head, soft silky feathers about its neck, the body ending with a tail combining the feathers of the peacock and the argus pheasant.

In very early centuries this bird was the symbol of royalty.

Other symbolic and sacred creatures are often pictured, among them the kylin, which was believed to foretell good fortune.

“Its body is covered with scales; its branched head represents that of the dragon; its four delicate feet are terminated by cloven hoofs, resembling those of a stag; it is so gentle and benevolent, notwithstanding its formidable aspect, that it avoids, in its light step, to tread under foot the smallest worm.”[11]

The dragon, symbol there of empire and power, is thus described:

“It is the largest of reptiles with feet and scales; it can make itself dark or luminous, subtile and thin, or heavy and thick; can shorten or lengthen itself at pleasure. In the spring it rises to the skies, in the autumn it plunges into the water. There are the scaly dragon, the winged dragon, the horned and the hornless dragon, and the dragon rolled within itself, which has not yet taken its flight into the upper regions.”[12]

The example (Fig. 101) shows this dragon as pictured by the Chinese.

The dragon is shown with five claws, for the imperial household; four claws, for a lower rank in China; while in Japan the creature is usually figured with but three claws. He appears to have been accepted as the symbol of power, much as the lion has been with Occidental nations.

The white stag, the axis deer, and the crane, express longevity; the mandarin duck, affection.

Symbolism also prevailed in the uses of colors and of flowers. Green and vermilion upon the walls of a house belonged only to the emperors.

The primary colors were applied in this way:

Red belonged to fire;

Black to water;

Green to wood;

White to metal;

Earth was represented by a square;

Fire by a circle;

Water by a dragon;

Mountains by a hind.

Pots and vases were made for special occupations, such as those for soldiers, governors, writers, etc. Jacquemart describes a bowl in his collection:

“It is a cup of ‘the learned;’ at the bottom is seen the author, seated under a fir-tree, in deep meditation; hisssé, placed near him, permits him to modulate the songs he may have composed. On the exterior we see the scholar, with his elbows on the table, surrounded by his literary treasures. He reflects, and from his forehead, which he leans on his hand, issues a stroke which unrolls into a vast phylactery, upon which the painter has traced various scenes of the drama to which his genius is giving birth.” In Mr. Avery’s collection is an admirable example of this cup.

Vases, figures, etc., were made for religious uses, and upon the household altars were placed vases for burning perfumes, cups and bowls for wine, images of Fo and other representative deities.

Use was, at the beginning, the motive for the production of all fictile dishes; and china was at first, and it has always been, made for the purposes of the table. Twelve small dishes of fine porcelain were presented to Mrs. Burlingame while at Peking; and the high compliment was enhanced by the fact that they were sent to her unwashed after they had been eaten from by the Chinese owner. The paste and glaze are excellent, and the decoration of the outsides exquisite; but the insides show painting of a much commoner type.

A gift of this kind is considered the height of courtesy in China, where the visitor is treated as a friend.

In Chinese houses are found decorative pieces of the highest excellence and value. It is no uncommon thing for a piece of rare china to sell for a thousand dollars there.

Many of them bear inscriptions, such as: “A precious thing to offer;” “Splendid, like the gold of the house of Jade;” “I am the friend of Yu-Tchouen.”

The chrysanthemo-pæonienne, the customary decoration, while most in use, is, so far as I know, never seen on dinner-services sent to us.

I may ask attention to a characteristic of all the best Oriental art:it is not imitative—not absolutely a copy.

The artist seizes thespirit, the action, the color, of a bird or flower, and, by a few fine, keen strokes, fastens them upon the china. No attempt is made to display a botanical or ornithological specimen. All is free, bold, effective—a sketch, but not a slovenly one. It is not easy for words to explain this.

Now, the methods of the Occidental and civilized peoples, as we call them, are the reverse of this. At Sèvres and Dresden, for example, is to be seen the most elaborate, careful, and detailed penciling or imitation of a flower, or a face, or a landscape, requiring extreme and persistent attention and labor.

This is copying—thespiritis rarely seized; the other is art, and is certainly the highest and the most satisfactory.

The Oriental feels;

The Occidental reasons.

The Oriental perceives and creates;

The Occidental criticises and copies.

Herein lies a supreme difference, sufficient to explain why so much of the Oriental china touches the imagination, and why the European china so rarely does.

The Oriental leads us away out of the region of the real and the commonplace, into a state of ideal and spiritual-sensuous art. He is never without body, the real part, the base of all life and art; but he has glorified it by a display of the fine and subtile essence which may be called its soul.

This is not always so. Often he is most clumsy and rude in form, and common in decoration; but, when he is anartist, he is the finest we know of.

It is probable that the Chinese had some blue equivalent to cobalt

Fig. 107.—From Mrs. Burlingame’s Collection.

from an early day, but the real cobalt blue was introduced into China from Europe during the Ming period (about 1500). They at once seized it, and from it was produced that charming variety known as the “heavenly” or “celestial” blue; the glaze, the clay, and the color, are all perfect; and it certainly deserves its name of heavenly. A mania for it has existed, and continues to exist, in Europe. One of the finest collections in England—that of Mr. Rossetti, the poet—was recently sold. In America, Mr. Avery and Mr. Hoe, of New York, Mr. Wales, of Boston, and Mrs. Burlingame, of Cambridge, have many beautiful examples. Fine pieces of this blue sell for from twenty-five to

Fig. 108.—Celestial Blue Teapot.

Fig. 109.—Celestial Blue Snuff-Bottle.

five hundred dollars. The color varies from light to dark; some collectors choose one, some the other. Some pieces are known as the “six-mark,” and many attach an added value to this evidence; but it does not seem to indicate greater perfection: many of the finest piecesI have seen have no potter’s mark. Within the last twenty-five years a very active desire for these fine blues has broken out in England, which does not abate. It has not been so keen in France, and prices have not there gone so high.

Fig. 110.—Pot in Boston Art Museum.

This celestial blue was painted at Nanking, and is a wholly different thing from the ordinary Canton blue of trade. It is probable that some of this blue dates back to the Ming dynasty. The color was mostly painted under the glaze.

This luminous blue is nothing like the turquoise, which also the Chinese carried to great perfection. The turquoise was produced from copper, the celestial from cobalt.

The pieces Figs. 107, 108, and 109 are excellent examples of the celestial blue. Fig. 107 is a large vase of Mrs. Burlingame’s, and has the stately palm which is much used in this color. The vase is some eighteen inches high. Fig. 108 is a delicately-formed teapot, with exquisite glaze and paste, the blue showing in the reserves and along the handle and spout. It was given to the writer by a gentleman in Holland. Fig. 109 is a most dainty bit, a small snuff-bottle. There are some few others in this country—two of them, mounted in silver, belong to Mr. Schlesinger, of Boston.

Fig. 111.—Incense-Pot, from Mr. Avery’s Collection.

The Art-Museum of Boston has now two exquisite pots of turquoise blue, bought at the sale of Mr. Heard’s collection for some six hundred dollars. We picture one of these to show the form, and the dragon which finishes the top (Fig. 110). The dragon is in dark red, the pot in turquoise blue; but this blue has another and a rare quality: it is covered all over with delicate spots or dots of the same color, what is called “soufflé”—this is said to be produced by blowing the color through a fine screen or gauze on to the clay.

The sea-greens (céladons) are among the rarest Chinese colors, and some pieces are thought to be among the oldest—dating back possibly one thousand years.

The violets and crimsons are also rare and beautiful; they are almost always applied to vases and bottles; and are often flamed, splashed, or clouded.

The imperial yellow, some pieces of which are in the Green Vaults at Dresden, was never sold; it was made only for the royal family of Peking. I have not seen it, but it is described as a very clear and beautiful citron-color. Marryat mentions two pieces in Mr. Beckford’s collection as having been sold for their weight in gold; they would now sell for ten times that.

The small incense-pot (Fig. 111) is from Mr. Avery’s collection. It is a very pure lemon-yellow, and is quaint in form and peculiar in every way.

Nothing can be better here than the condensed information prepared for his catalogue by Mr. A. W. Franks. It is as follows:

“The tints are very numerous; we find, for instance, sea-green orcéladon, yellow, red, blue, purple, brown, black, and several variegated hues. These glazes owe their color to various metallic oxides, of which an account may be found in the ‘History of King-te-chin,’ book vi., section xi. The exact tint must be in some measure due to the amount of firing which the vase has undergone, and the mottlings and other variations of color which they present must have been to a certain extent accidental.

“Among these simple colors the first place must be assigned to the bluish or sea-green tint, termed by the Frenchcéladon. It is probably of considerable antiquity; and it is remarkable that the earliest specimen of porcelain that can now be referred to as having been brought to England before the Reformation—the cup of Archbishop Warham, at New College, Oxford—is of this kind. By the Persians and Turks it is termedmertebani, and it is much valued by them as a detector of poisonous food. Specimens of this porcelain were sent to Lorenzo de’ Medici, in 1487, by the Sultan of Egypt. It owes its preservation, no doubt, to its great thickness. The surface is sometimes covered with impressed or engraved patterns filled in with the glaze.

“Yellow glazed porcelain is much valued by collectors, owing to the supposed scarcity of specimens of this color, it being the imperial color of the reigning dynasty. Many of them, however, bear dates of the Ming dynasty, when the imperial color was green, and can therefore have no relation to the emperor.

“The red glaze is of considerable antiquity; some of the vases made under the Sung dynasty at Tsing-cheou are mentioned as resembling chiseled red jade. One tint, thesang de bœufof French collectors, is much valued in China. Occasionally portions of red glazed vases appear purple, owing probably to a different chemical condition of the coloring-matter in those parts.

“Blue glazes must have come into use in very early times, as blue is stated to have been the color of the vases of the Tsin dynasty (A. D.265 to 419). The tints appear to have varied greatly, one of the most celebrated being the blue of the sky after rain, which was the tint selected for the palace use by the Emperor Chi-tsung (954 to 959).

“The purple glaze is another beautiful variety. Specimens of this color are mentioned as early as the Sung dynasty (900 to 1279). The brown and coffee-colored glazes do not appear to be very ancient, as Père d’Entrecolles, writing in 1712, mentions them as recent inventions.

“A brilliant black glaze is by no means common, excepting where it is used in combination with gilding, and is probably not very ancient, as a brilliant black is said to have been invented under the reign of the Emperor Keen-lung (1736 to 1795).

“The variegated and mottled glazes may properly be included under this head, as they owe their appearance not so much to a difference in the coloring-matter as in the mode in which it is applied. They are called by the Frenchflambé, and were no doubt originally accidentally produced. According to Père d’Entrecolles (second letter, section xi.), such vases are calledYao pien, or transmutation-vases.

“It is probable that many of the specimens which are covered with single glazes are of a coarse ware—rather a kind of stone-ware than true porcelain. Some of the glazes have been applied at a somewhat lower temperature, called by the Frenchdemi-grand feu.”

Porcelain-painting is done in two ways: under the glaze directly on the clay, or upon the glaze. Most of it is upon the glaze, into which it is melted by a mild heat. To show to the uninitiated what time, talent, and labor, are applied to pottery and porcelain, it may be well to state that fine work requires many firings, and that the delicate teacup, which fools hardly look at, passes through some seventy hands toreach its perfectness! In some eyes a big thing (even if ugly) is admirable; a small thing, however beautiful, is contemptible. In the eye of God is anything small, anything large?

Enamelingis a style of glaze mostly applied to a stronger, more opaque body, often not porcelain at all. The enamel, which is made from oxide of tin, may be applied in masses of color upon the glaze so as to produce the effect of slight relief, or cameo. Much of it is beautiful, but it often lacks the fineness and preciousness of china.

Of theEGG-SHELLchina most have seen excellent examples brought from Japan, where it is now made. The cups are turned down to an extreme thinness, almost to that of thick writing-paper, before the last glaze is applied. The oldest egg-shell was a pure white; later, flowers in colors were applied.

Fig. 112.—Grains-of-Rice Pot.

The “reticulated” cups are very curious and interesting; the inner cup for holding the tea is surrounded by another pierced through its side with a variety of designs. It is difficult to see how these could have been baked together without fusing and fastening them.

The “grains-of-rice” cups are made by cutting the design through the body, which spaces are then filled with a translucent glaze; the cut spaces show when held up to the light, and resemble in most cases grains of rice. The engraving (Fig. 112) represents a pot in Mr. Avery’s collection.

Just when the “crackle” decoration was applied cannot well be known, but it was in vogue in the beginning of the Ming dynasty.

It seems that the purity of the paste was greater during this periodthan later, and that the colors, therefore, became more brilliant. “Crackle” china has long been prized, and much sought for, especially the best specimens. This ware shows a network of veins covering the whole piece, the lines of which are sometimes filled with a color such as brown, black, green, etc. It remains a mystery to us how this effect is produced, though it is still made. Marryat seems to believe that the crackle is produced in the glaze, and possibly by subjecting it, when heated, to sudden cold, which causes the contraction and crackle; a close examination shows that the crackles are in the body itself, and are afterward covered with the glaze. This decoration is curious rather than beautiful. The crackles vary in size from a half-inch to a very fine network; and this last is most valued.

Mr. Franks gives the following as the result of his investigations:

“This is one of the most peculiar productions of the art of the Chinese potter, and has not been successfully imitated elsewhere. Occasionally European pieces assume a crackled appearance, but this has not been intentionally produced, and has been subsequent to the baking.

“There is a considerable variety in the colored glazes which are thus crackled. Some colors, such as turquoise-blue and apple-green, seem nearly always to assume a crackled appearance; others, such as the reds, are rarely affected. The color chiefly selected is a grayish white; the forms are archaic, and with ornaments in dark brown, occasionally gilt. The crackled appearance, though now always artificial, doubtless owes its origin in the first instance to accident, and at an early period. Some of the vases of the Sung dynasty (A. D.960 to 1270) are noticed as being crackled. The productions of the two brothers Chang, who lived under that dynasty, were distinguished by one being crackled and the other not. Crackled vases were called ‘Tsui-khi-yao,’ under the southern Sung dynasty (1127 to 1279), and are thus described in the ‘History of King-te-chin:’ ‘The clay employed was coarse and compact, the vases were thick and heavy; some were of a rice-white, others pale blue. They used to take some Hoa-chi (steatite), powder it, and mix it with the glaze. The vases exhibited cracks running in every direction, as though broken into a thousand pieces. The cracks were rubbed over with Indian-ink or a red color, and the superfluity removed. Then was seen a network of charming veins, red or black, imitating the cracks of ice. There were also vases on which blue flowers were painted on the crackled ground.’

Fig. 113.—Crackle Vase.

“A different mode of making the crackles is described in another Chinese work, and is as follows: ‘After covering the vases with glaze, they are exposed to a very hot sun, and, when they have become hot, they are plunged into cold water for a moment. On being baked, they appear covered with innumerable cracks.’ The way in which the size of the crackle is regulated seems to be indicated in one of the receipts for making crackle-vases, given in the ‘History of King-te-chin’ (page 214), from which we learn that the material of the glaze was to be finely or coarsely washed, according to the size of the crackle required.

“The difference between the paste and the thick glaze is well illustrated by fragments of ancient vases, some of which are exhibited. The interior is of a coarse paste, nearly resembling stone-ware, and of a buffor even pale-red color. This is coated on both sides with a white material, in which alone the crackles appear. This illustrates a passage in the ‘History of King-te-chin,’ where porcelain is spoken of as having red bones. Such vases would not be transparent.”

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