Transcriber’s Notes:
1. [chch] = Chinese character. [chch 2] = 2 Chinese Characters, etc.
2. Items marked wth an asterisk (*): Pieces mentioned here from the
British Museum collection.
3. The items marked with two asterisks (**) are stated to have been
copied from old specimens in the palace collections.]
CHINESE POTTERY AND PORCELAIN
_This Edition is limited to 1500
copies, of which this is_
_No._ 669
[Illustration:
Covered Jar or Potiche, painted with coloured enamels on the
biscuit. Eight petal-shaped panels with flowering plants, birds
and insects on the sides; with a band of smaller petals below
enclosing lotus flowers, and borders of red wave pattern and
floral sprays. Base unglazed. Early part of the K’ang Hsi period
(1662–1722)
Height 25 inches. _British Museum._]
CHINESE POTTERY AND PORCELAIN
AN ACCOUNT OF THE POTTER’S ART IN CHINA
FROM PRIMITIVE TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY
BY
R. L. HOBSON, B.A.
Assistant in the Department of British and Mediæval Antiquities and
Ethnography, British Museum. Author of the “Catalogne of the
Collection of English Pottery in the Department of British
and Mediæval Antiquities of the British Museum”;
“Porcelain: Oriental, Continental, and British”;
“Worcester Porcelain”; etc; and Joint Author
of “Marks on Pottery.”
_Forty Plates, in Colour and Ninety-six in Black and White_
VOL. II
Ming and Ch’ing Porcelain
CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD
London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne
1915
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
1. THE MING [chch] DYNASTY, 1368–1644 A.D. 1
2. HSÜAN TÊ [chch 2] (1426–1435) 7
3. CH’ÊNG HUA [chch 2] (1465–1487) AND OTHER REIGNS 22
4. CHIA CHING [chch 2] (1522–1566) AND LUNG CH’ING [chch 2]
(1567–1572) 34
5. WAN LI [chch 2] (1573–1619) AND OTHER REIGNS 58
6. THE TECHNIQUE OF THE MING PORCELAIN 91
7. MISCELLANEOUS PORCELAIN FACTORIES 107
8. THE CH’ING [chch] DYNASTY, 1644–1910 117
9. K’ANG HSI BLUE AND WHITE 128
10. K’ANG HSI POLYCHROME PORCELAINS 145
11. K’ANG HSI MONOCHROMES 176
12. YUNG CHÊNG [chch 2] PERIOD (1723–1735) 200
13. CH’IEN LUNG [chch 2] (1736–1795) 227
14. EUROPEAN INFLUENCES IN THE CH’ING DYNASTY 250
15. NINETEENTH CENTURY PORCELAINS 262
16. PORCELAIN SHAPES IN THE CH’ING DYNASTY 272
17. MOTIVES OF THE DECORATION 280
18. FORGERIES AND IMITATIONS 304
LIST OF PLATES
COVERED JAR OR POTICHE _(Colour) Frontispiece_
Painted with coloured enamels on the biscuit. Eight petal-shaped
panels with flowering plants, birds and insects on the sides;
with a band of smaller petals below enclosing lotus flowers, and
borders of red wave pattern and floral sprays. Base unglazed.
Early part of the K’ang Hsi period (1662–1722). _British Museum._
PLATE FACING PAGE
59. WHITE EGGSHELL PORCELAIN BOWL WITH IMPERIAL DRAGONS FAINTLY
TRACED IN WHITE SLIP UNDER THE GLAZE 4
Mark of the Yung Lo period (1403–1424), incised in the
centre in archaic characters.
Fig. 1.--Exterior. Fig. 2.--Interior view. _British
Museum._
60. REPUTED HSÜAN TÊ PORCELAIN 8
Fig. 1.--Flask with blue decoration, reputed to be Hsüan
Tê period. _British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Brush rest. (?) Chang Ch’ien on a log raft;
partly biscuit. Inscribed with a stanza of verse and
the Hsüan Tê mark. _Grandidier Collection._
61. PORCELAIN WITH _san ts’ai_ GLAZES ON THE BISCUIT 8
Fig. 1.--Wine jar with pierced casing, the Taoist
Immortals paying court to the God of Longevity,
turquoise blue ground. Fifteenth century._Eumorfopoulos
Collection._
Fig. 2.--Screen with design in relief, horsemen on a
mountain path, dark blue ground. About 1500. _Benson
Collection._
62. BARREL-SHAPED GARDEN SEAT (_Colour_) 16
Porcelain with coloured glazes on the biscuit, the
designs outlined in slender fillets of clay. A lotus
scroll between an upper band of clouds and a lower
band of horses in flying gallop and sea waves.
Lion-mask handles. About 1500 A.D. _British Museum._
63. BALUSTER VASE 24
With designs in raised outline, filled in with coloured
glazes on the biscuit; dark violet blue background.
About 1500. _Grandidier Collection (Louvre)._
64. FIFTEENTH CENTURY POLYCHROME PORCELAIN 24
Fig. 1.--Vase with grey crackle and peony scrolls in
blue and enamels. Ch’êng Hua mark. _British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Vase with turquoise ground and bands of floral
pattern and winged dragons incised in outline and
coloured green, yellow and aubergine. _S. E. Kennedy
Collection._
Fig. 3.--Box with bands of _ju-i_ clouds and pierced
floral scrolls; turquoise and yellow glazes in dark
blue ground. _Grandidier Collection._
65. MING _san ts’ai_ PORCELAIN 24
Fig. 1.--Vase with winged dragons, _san ts’ai_ glazes
on the biscuit, dark blue ground. Dedicatory inscription
on the neck, including the words “Ming Dynasty.”
Cloisonné handles. _S. E. Kennedy Collection._
Fig. 2.--Figure of Kuan-yin, turquoise, green and
aubergine glazes, dark blue rockwork. Fifteenth century.
_Grandidier Collection._
Fig. 3.--Vase with lotus scrolls, transparent glazes in
three colours. Late Ming. _Grandidier Collection._
66. PORCELAIN WITH CHÊNG TÊ MARK 32
Fig. 1.--Slop bowl with full-face dragons holding
_shou_ characters, in underglaze blue in a yellow
enamel ground. _British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Vase with engraved cloud designs in transparent
coloured glazes on the biscuit, green ground.
_Charteris Collection._
67. BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN. Sixteenth Century 32
Fig. 1.--Bowl with Hsüan Tê mark. _Dresden Collection._
Fig. 2.--Covered bowl with fish design. _Dresden
Collection._
Fig. 3.--Bottle, peasant on ox. _Eumorfopoulos Collection._
Fig. 4.--Bottle with lotus scrolls in mottled blue.
_Alexander Collection._
68. BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN. Sixteenth Century 40
Fig. 1.--Perfume vase, lions and balls of brocade. _V.
and A. Museum._
Fig. 2.--Double gourd vase, square in the lower part.
Eight Immortals paying court to the God of Longevity,
panels of children (_wa wa_). _Eumorfopoulos Collection._
Fig. 3.--Bottle with medallions of _ch’i-lin_ and incised
fret pattern between. Late Ming. _Halsey Collection._
69. SIXTEENTH CENTURY PORCELAIN 40
Fig. 1.--Bowl of blue and white porcelain with silver
gilt mount of Elizabethan period. _British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Covered jar, painted in dark underglaze blue
with red, green and yellow enamels; fishes and water
plants. Chia Ching mark. _S. E. Kennedy Collection._
70. PORCELAIN WITH CHIA CHING MARK 40
Fig. 1.--Box with incised Imperial dragons and lotus
scrolls; turquoise and dark violet glazes on the
biscuit. _V. and A. Museum._
Fig. 2.--Vase with Imperial dragons in clouds, painted
in yellow in an iron red ground. _Cologne Museum._
71. SIXTEENTH CENTURY PORCELAIN 40
Figs. 1 and 2.--Two ewers in the Dresden Collection,
with transparent green, aubergine and turquoise glazes
on the biscuit, traces of gilding. In form of a phœnix,
and of a crayfish.
Fig. 3.--Bowl with flight of storks in a lotus scroll,
enamels on the biscuit, green, aubergine and white in a
yellow ground. Chia Ching mark. _Alexander Collection._
72. VASE WITH IMPERIAL FIVE-CLAWED DRAGONS IN CLOUD SCROLLS
OVER SEA WAVES (_Colour_) 46
Band of lotus scrolls on the shoulder. Painted in dark
Mohammedan blue. Mark on the neck, of the Chia Ching
period (1522–1566) in six characters. _V. & A. Museum._
73. TWO BOWLS WITH THE CHIA CHING MARK (1522–1566), WITH
DESIGNS OUTLINED IN BROWN AND WASHED IN WITH
COLOURS IN MONOCHROME GROUNDS (_Colour_) 50
Fig. 1.--With peach sprays in a yellow ground.
_Alexander Collection._
Fig. 2.--With phœnixes (_feng-huang_) flying among
scrolls of _mu-tan_ peony. _Cumberbatch Collection._
74. TWO BOWLS WITH GILT DESIGNS ON A MONOCHROME GROUND.
PROBABLY CHIA CHING PERIOD (1522–1566) (_Colour_) 54
Fig. 1.--With lotus scroll with etched details on a
ground of iron red (_fan hung_) outside. Inside is
figure of a man holding a branch of cassia, a symbol
of literary success, painted in underglaze blue. Mark
in blue, _tan kuei_ (red cassia).
Fig. 2.--With similar design on ground of emerald green
enamel. Mark in blue in the form of a coin or _cash_
with the characters _ch’ang ming fu kuei_ (“long life,
riches and honours”).
75. MING PORCELAIN 64
Fig. 1.--Tripod Bowl with raised peony scrolls in
enamel colours. Wan Li mark. _Eumorfopoulos
Collection._
Fig. 2.--Blue and white Bowl, Chia Ching period. Mark,
_Wan ku ch’ang ch’un_ (“a myriad antiquities and
enduring spring”). _Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin._
Fig. 3.--Ewer with white slip _ch’i-lin_ on a blue
ground. Wan Li period. _Eumorfopoulos Collection._
Fig. 4.--Gourd-shaped Vase with winged dragons and fairy
flowers, raised outlines and coloured glazes on the
biscuit. Sixteenth century. _Salting Collection._
76. BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN. Sixteenth Century 64
Fig. 1.--Vase with monster handles, archaic dragons.
_Halsey Collection._
Fig. 2.--Hexagonal Bottle, white in blue designs. Mark,
a hare. _Alexander Collection._
Fig. 3.--Bottle with “garlic mouth,” stork and lotus
scrolls, white in blue. _Salting Collection._
Fig. 4.--Vase (_mei p’ing_), Imperial dragon and scrolls.
Wan Li mark on the shoulder. _Coltart Collection._
77. TWO EXAMPLES OF MING BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN IN THE
BRITISH MUSEUM (_Colour_) 72
Fig. 1.--Ewer of thin, crisp porcelain with foliate
mouth and rustic spout with leaf attachments. Panels
of figure subjects and landscapes on the body: “rat
and vine” pattern on the neck and a band of hexagon
diaper enclosing a cash symbol. Latter half of the
sixteenth century.
Fig. 2.--Octagonal Stand, perhaps for artist’s colours.
On the sides are scenes from the life of a sage.
Borders of _ju-i_ pattern and gadroons. On the top are
lions sporting with brocade balls. Painted in deep
Mohammedan blue. Mark of the Chia Ching period
(1522–1566).
78. PORCELAIN WITH PIERCED (_LING LUNG_) DESIGNS AND BISCUIT
RELIEFS. Late Ming 74
Fig. 1.--Bowl with Eight Immortals and pierced swastika
fret. _S. E. Kennedy Collection._
Fig. 2.--Bowl with blue phœnix medallions, pierced
trellis work and characters. Wan Li mark. _Hippisley
Collection._
Fig. 3.--Covered Bowl with blue and white landscapes and
biscuit reliefs of Eight Immortals. _Grandidier
Collection._
79. WAN LI POLYCHROME PORCELAIN 80
Fig. 1.--Vase (_mei p’ing_) with engraved design, green
in a yellow ground, Imperial dragons in clouds, rocks
and wave border. Wan Li mark. _British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Bottle with pierced casing, phœnix design, etc.,
painted in underglaze blue and enamels; cloisonné
enamel neck. _Eumorfopoulos Collection._
Fig. 3.--Covered Jar, plum blossoms and symbols in a
wave pattern ground, coloured enamels in an aubergine
background. _British Museum._
80. COVERED JAR OR POTICHE (_Colour_) 84
Painted in iron red and green enamels, with a family
scene in a garden, and brocade borders of _ju-i_ pattern,
peony scrolls, etc. Sixteenth century. _Salting
Collection, V. & A. Museum._
81. BEAKER-SHAPED VASE OF BRONZE FORM (_Colour_) 88
With dragon and phœnix designs painted in underglaze
blue, and red, green and yellow enamels: background of
fairy flowers (_pao hsiang hua_) and borders of “rock
and wave” pattern. Mark of the Wan Li period (1573–1619)
in six characters on the neck. An Imperial piece.
_British Museum._
82. LATE MING PORCELAIN 90
Fig. 1.--Jar of Wan Li period, enamelled. Mark, a hare.
_British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Bowl with Eight Immortals in relief, coloured
glazes on the biscuit. _Eumorfopoulos Collection._
Figs. 3, 4 and 5.--Blue and white porcelain, early
seventeenth century. _British Museum._
83. VASE 90
With blue and white decoration of rockery, phœnixes,
and flowering shrubs. Found in India. Late Ming
period. _Halsey Collection._
84. VASE OF BALUSTER FORM WITH SMALL MOUTH (_mei p’ing_).
(_Colour_) 96
Porcelain with coloured glazes on the biscuit, the
designs outlined in slender fillets of clay. A meeting
of sages in a landscape beneath an ancient pine tree,
the design above their heads representing the mountain
mist. On the shoulders are large _ju-i_ shaped lappets
enclosing lotus sprays, with pendent jewels between;
fungus (_ling chih_) designs on the neck. Yellow glaze
under the base. A late example of this style of ware,
probably seventeenth century. _Salting Collection,
V. & A. Museum._
85. VASE (_Colour_) 104
With crackled greenish grey glaze coated on the exterior
with transparent apple green enamel: the base unglazed.
Probably sixteenth century. _British Museum._
86. FUKIEN PORCELAIN. Ming Dynasty 112
Fig. 1.--Figure of Kuan-yin with boy attendant. Ivory
white. _Eumorfopoulos Collection._
Fig. 2.--Bottle with prunus sprigs in relief, the glaze
crackled all over and stained a brownish tint.
_Eumorfopoulos Collection._
Fig. 3.--Figure of Bodhidharma crossing the Yangtze on
a reed. Ivory white. _Salting Collection, V. & A.
Museum._
87. IVORY WHITE FUKIEN PORCELAIN 112
Fig. 1.--Libation Cup. About 1700. _British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Cup with sixteenth century mount. _Dresden
Collection._
Fig. 3.--Incense Vase and Stand. About 1700. _British
Museum._
88. TWO EXAMPLES OF THE UNDERGLAZE RED (_chi hung_)OF THE K’ANG
HSI PERIOD (1662–1722), SOMETIMES CALLED _lang yao_.
(_Colour_) 120
Fig. 1.--Bottle-shaped Vase of dagoba form with
minutely crackled _sang-de-bœuf_ glaze with passages
of cherry red. The glaze ends in an even roll short of
the base rim, and that under the base is stone-coloured
and crackled. _British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Bottle-shaped Vase with crackled underglaze red
of deep crushed strawberry tint. The glaze under the
base is pale green crackled. _Alexander Collection._
89. THREE EXAMPLES OF K’ANG HSI BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN
IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM (_Colour_) 132
Fig. 1.--Ewer with leaf-shaped panels of floral
arabesques, white in blue, enclosed by a mosaic
pattern in blue and white: stiff plantain leaves on
the neck and cover. Silver mount with thumb-piece.
Fig. 2.--Deep Bowl with cover, painted with “tiger-lily”
scrolls. Mark, a leaf.
Fig. 3.--Sprinkler with panels of lotus arabesques, white
in blue, and _ju-i_ shaped border patterns. A diaper of
small blossoms on the neck. Mark, a leaf.
90. COVERED JAR FOR NEW YEAR GIFTS (_Colour_) 138
With design of blossoming prunus (_mei hua_) sprays in
a ground of deep sapphire blue which is reticulated
with lines suggesting ice cracks; dentate border on the
shoulders. _V. & A. Museum._
91. BLUE AND WHITE K’ANG HSI PORCELAIN 142
Fig. 1.--Triple Gourd Vase, white in blue designs of
archaic dragons and scrolls of season flowers.
_Dresden Collection._
Fig. 2.--Beaker, white magnolia design slightly raised,
with blue background. _British Museum._
Fig. 3.--“Grenadier Vase,” panels with the Paragons of
Filial Piety. _Dresden Collection._
92. BLUE AND WHITE K’ANG HSI PORCELAIN 142
Fig. 1.--Sprinkler with lotus design. _British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Bottle with biscuit handles, design of graceful
ladies (_mei jên_). _Fitzwilliam Museum (formerly D.
G. Rossetti Collection)._
Fig. 3.--Bottle with handles copied from Venetian glass.
_British Museum._
93. BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN 142
Fig. 1.--Tazza with Sanskrit characters. Ch’ien Lung
mark. _British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Water Pot, butterfly and flowers, steatitic
porcelain. Wan Li mark. _Eumorfopoulos Collection._
Fig. 3.--Bowl, steatitic porcelain. Immortals on a log
raft. K’ang Hsi period. _British Museum._
94. PORCELAIN DECORATED IN ENAMELS ON THE BISCUIT 142
Fig. 1.--Ewer in form of the character _Shou_
(Longevity); blue and white panel with figure designs.
Early K’ang Hsi period. _Salting Collection._
Fig. 2.--Ink Palette, dated 31st year of K’ang Hsi
(1692 A.D.). _British Museum._
95. TWO EXAMPLES OF PORCELAIN, PAINTED WITH COLOURED
ENAMELS ON THE BISCUIT, THE DETAILS OF THE DESIGNS
BEING FIRST TRACED IN BROWN. K’ANG HSI PERIOD
(1662–1722) (_Colour_) 150
Fig. 1.--One of a pair of Buddhistic Lions, sometimes
called Dogs of Fo. This is apparently the lioness,
with her cub: the lion has a ball of brocade under
his paw. On the head is the character _wang_ (prince),
which is more usual on the tiger of Chinese art.
_S. E. Kennedy Collection._
Fig. 2.--Bottle-shaped Vase and Stand moulded in bamboo
pattern and decorated with floral brocade designs and
diapers. _Cope Bequest, V. & A. Museum._
96. VASE OF BALUSTER FORM PAINTED IN COLOURED ENAMELS ON
THE BISCUIT (_Colour_) 154
The design, which is outlined in brown, consists of a
beautifully drawn prunus (_mei hua_) tree in blossom
and hovering birds, besides a rockery and smaller
plants of bamboo, etc., set in a ground of mottled
green. Ch’êng Hua mark, but K’ang Hsi period
(1662–1722). _British Museum._
97. SQUARE VASE (_Colour_) 156
With pendulous body and high neck slightly expanding
towards the top: two handles in the form of archaic
lizard-like dragons (_chih lung_), and a pyramidal
base. Porcelain painted with coloured enamels on the
biscuit, with scenes representing Immortals on a log
raft approaching Mount P’eng-lai in the Taoist
Paradise. K’ang Hsi period (1662–1722). _British
Museum._
98. K’ANG HSI PORCELAIN WITH ON-BISCUIT DECORATION. _Dresden
Collection_ 160
Fig. 1.--Teapot in form of a lotus seed-pod, enamels
on the biscuit.
Fig. 2.--Hanging Perfume Vase, reticulated, enamels
on the biscuit.
Fig. 3.--Ornament in form of a Junk, transparent _san
ts’ai_ glazes.
99. K’ANG HSI PORCELAIN WITH ON-BISCUIT DECORATION 160
Fig. 1.--Ewer with black enamel ground, lion handle.
_Cope Bequest, V. & A. Museum._
Fig. 2.--Figure of the Taoist Immortal, Ho Hsien Ku,
transparent _san ts’ai_ glazes. _S. E. Kennedy
Collection._
Fig. 3.--Vase and Stand, enamelled on the biscuit.
_Cope Bequest._
100. SCREEN WITH PORCELAIN PLAQUE, PAINTED IN ENAMELS ON THE
BISCUIT 160
Light green background. K’ang Hsi period (1662–1722).
_In the Collection of the Hon. E. Evan Charteris._
101. VASE WITH PANELS OF LANDSCAPES AND _po ku_ symbols in
_famille verte_ ENAMELS 160
In a ground of underglaze blue trellis pattern. K’ang
Hsi period (1662–1722). _Dresden Collection._
102. TWO DISHES OF _FAMILLE VERTE_ PORCELAIN IN THE DRESDEN
COLLECTION. K’ang Hsi period (1662–1722) 160
Fig. 1.--With birds on a flowering branch, brocade
borders. Artist’s signature in the field.
Fig. 2.--With ladies on a garden terrace.
103. CLUB-SHAPED (_rouleau_) VASE (_Colour_) 166
Finely painted in _famille verte_ enamels with panel
designs in a ground of chrysanthemum scrolls in iron
red; brocade borders. Last part of the K’ang Hsi
period (1662–1722). _Salting Collection, V. & A.
Museum._
104. THREE EXAMPLES OF K’ANG HSI _famille verte_ PORCELAIN 168
Fig. 1.--Square Vase with scene of floating cups on the
river; inscription with cyclical date 1703 A.D.;
_shou_ characters on the neck. _Hippisley Collection._
Fig. 2.--Lantern, with river scenes. _Dresden
Collection._
Fig. 3.--Covered Jar of _rouleau_ shape, peony scrolls
in iron red ground, brocade borders. _Dresden
Collection._
105. COVERED JAR PAINTED IN _famille verte_ ENAMELS 168
With brocade ground and panel with an elephant (the
symbol of Great Peace). Lion on cover. K’ang Hsi
period (1662–1722). _Dresden Collection._
106. K’ANG HSI _famille verte_ PORCELAIN. _Alexander
Collection_ 168
Fig. 1.--Dish with rockery, peonies, etc., birds and
insects.
Fig. 2.--“Stem Cup” with vine pattern.
107. _Famille verte_ PORCELAIN MADE FOR EXPORT TO EUROPE. K’ang
Hsi period (1662–1722). _British Museum_ 168
Fig. 1.--Vase with “sea monster” (_hai shou_).
Fig. 2.--Dish with basket of flowers. Mark, a leaf.
Fig. 3.--Covered Jar with _ch’i-lin_ and _fêng-huang_
(phœnix).
108. DISH PAINTED IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND _famille verte_ ENAMELS.
(_Colour_) 172
In the centre, a five-clawed dragon rising from waves
in pursuit of a pearl. Deep border in “Imari” style
with cloud-shaped compartments with chrysanthemum
and prunus designs in a blue ground, separated by
close lotus scrolls reserved in an iron red ground in
which are three book symbols. K’ang Hsi period
(1662–1722). _Alexander Collection._
109. FIGURE OF SHOU LAO, TAOIST GOD OF LONGEVITY 176
Porcelain painted with _famille verte_ enamels. K’ang
Hsi period (1662–1722). _Salting Collection, V. & A.
Museum._
110. TWO EXAMPLES OF THE “POWDER BLUE” (_ch’ui ch’ing_) PORCELAIN
OF THE K’ANG HSI PERIOD (1662–1722) IN THE VICTORIA
AND ALBERT MUSEUM (_Colour_) 182
Fig 1.--Bottle of gourd shape with slender neck: powder
blue ground with gilt designs from the Hundred
Antiques (_po ku_) and borders of _ju-i_ pattern,
formal flowers and plantain leaves.
Fig. 2.--Bottle-shaped Vase with _famille verte_ panels
of rockwork and flowers reserved in a powder blue
ground. _Salting Collection._
111. TWO EXAMPLES OF SINGLE-COLOUR PORCELAIN IN THE SALTING
COLLECTION (VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM). (_Colour_) 186
Fig. 1.--Bottle-shaped Vase of porcelain with landscape
design lightly engraved in relief under a turquoise
blue glaze. Early eighteenth century.
Fig. 2.--Water vessel for the writing table of the form
known as _T’ai-po tsun_ after the poet Li T’ai-po.
Porcelain with faintly engraved dragon medallions
under a peach bloom glaze; the neck cut down and
fitted with a metal collar. Mark in blue of the K’ang
Hsi period (1662–1722) in six characters.
112. THREE FIGURES OF BIRDS, LATE K’ANG HSI PORCELAIN, WITH
COLOURED ENAMELS ON THE BISCUIT 192
Fig. 1.--Stork. _British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Hawk. _S. E. Kennedy Collection._
Fig. 3.--Cock. _British Museum._
113. PORCELAIN DELICATELY PAINTED IN THIN _famille verte_ ENAMELS.
About 1720 192
Fig. 1.--Dish with figures of Hsi Wang Mu and attendant.
Ch’êng Hua mark. _Hippisley Collection._
Fig. 2.--Bowl with the Eight Immortals. _S. E. Kennedy
Collection._
114. HANGING VASE WITH OPENWORK SIDES, FOR PERFUMED FLOWERS 192
Porcelain painted in late _famille verte_ enamels. About
1720. Blackwood frame. _Cumberbatch Collection._
115. VASE OF BALUSTER FORM (_Colour_) 206
With ornament in white slip and underglaze red and blue
in a celadon green ground: rockery, and birds on a
flowering prunus tree. Yung Chêng period (1723–1735).
_Alexander Collection._
116. YUNG CHÊNG PORCELAIN 208
Fig. 1.--Imperial Rice Bowl with design of playing
children (_wa wa_), engraved outlines filled in with
green in a yellow ground, transparent glazes on the
biscuit. Yung Chêng mark. _British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Blue and White Vase with fungus (_ling chih_)
designs in Hsüan Tê style. _Cologne Museum._
117. YUNG CHÊNG PORCELAIN 208
Fig. 1.--Vase with prunus design in underglaze red and
blue. _C. H. Read Collection._
Fig. 2.--Imperial Vase with phœnix and peony design in
pale _famille verte_ enamels over underglaze blue
outlines. _V. & A. Museum._
118. EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ENAMELS 208
Fig. 1.--Plate painted at Canton in _famille rose_
enamels (_yang ts’ai_ “foreign colouring”). Yung
Chêng period. _S. E. Kennedy Collection._
Fig. 2.--Arrow Stand, painted in late _famille verte_
enamels. About 1720. _V. & A. Museum._
119. YUNG CHÊNG PORCELAIN, PAINTED AT CANTON WITH _FAMILLE ROSE_
ENAMELS. _British Museum._ 208
Fig. 1.--“Seven border” Plate.
Fig. 2.--Eggshell Cup and Saucer with painter’s marks.
Fig. 3.--Eggshell Plate with vine border.
Fig. 4.--Armorial Plate with arms of Leake Okeover.
Transition enamels, about 1723.
120. COVERED JAR OR POTICHE, PAINTED IN _famille rose_ OR
“FOREIGN COLOURS” (_yang ts’ai_) WITH BASKETS OF
FLOWERS (_Colour_) 222
Deep borders of ruby red enamel broken by small panels
and floral designs. On the cover is a lion coloured
with enamels on the biscuit. From a set of five vases
and beakers in the _Collection of Lady Wantage_. Late
Yung Chêng period (1723–1735).
121. TWO BEAKERS AND A JAR FROM SETS OF FIVE, _famille rose_
ENAMELS. Late Yung Chêng porcelain 224
Fig. 1.--Beaker with “harlequin” ground. _S. E. Kennedy
Collection._
Fig. 2.--Jar with dark blue glaze gilt and leaf-shaped
reserves. _Burdett-Coutts Collection._
Fig. 3.--Beaker with fan and picture-scroll panels,
etc., in a deep ruby pink ground. _Wantage
Collection._
122. WHITE PORCELAIN WITH DESIGNS IN LOW RELIEF 232
Fig. 1.--Vase, peony scroll, _ju-i_ border, etc.
Ch’ien Lung period. _O. Raphael Collection._
Fig. 2.--Bottle with “garlic mouth,” Imperial dragons
in clouds. Creamy crackled glaze imitating Ting ware.
Early eighteenth century. _Salting Collection._
Fig. 3.--Vase with design of three rams, symbolising
Spring. Ch’ien Lung period. _W. Burton Collection._
123. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY GLAZES (_Colour_) 236
Fig. 1.--Square Vase with tubular handles, and
apricot-shaped medallions on front and back. _Flambé_
red glaze. Ch’ien Lung period (1736–1795). _British
Museum._
Fig. 2.--Bottle-shaped Vase with deep blue (_ta ch’ing_)
glaze: unglazed base. Early eighteenth century.
_British Museum._
Fig. 3.--Vase with fine iron red enamel (_mo hung_) on
the exterior. Ch’ien Lung period (1736–1795). _Salting
Collection, V. & A. Museum._
124. MISCELLANEOUS PORCELAINS 240
Fig. 1.--Magnolia Vase with _flambé_ glaze of crackled
lavender with red and blue streaks. Ch’ien Lung
period. _Alexander Collection._
Fig. 2.--Bottle with elephant handles, yellow, purple,
green, and white glazes on the biscuit. Ch’ien Lung
period. _British Museum._
Fig. 3.--Dish with fruit design in lustrous transparent
glazes on the biscuit, covering a faintly etched
dragon pattern. K’ang Hsi mark. _British Museum._
125. CH’IEN LUNG WARES. _Hippisley Collection_ 240
Fig. 1.--Brush Pot of enamelled Ku-yüeh-hsüan glass.
Ch’ien Lung mark.
Fig. 2.--Bottle, porcelain painted in Ku-yüeh style,
after a picture by the Ch’ing artist Wang Shih-mei.
Fig. 3.--Imperial Presentation Cup marked _hsü hua t’ang
chih tsêng_.
Fig. 4.--Medallion Vase, brocade ground with bats in
clouds, etc. Ch’ien Lung mark.
126. VASE WITH “HUNDRED FLOWER” DESIGN IN _famille rose_
ENAMELS. 240
Ch’ien Lung period (1736–1795). _Grandidier
Collection, Louvre._
127. VASE PAINTED IN MIXED ENAMELS. THE HUNDRED DEER. 240
Late Ch’ien Lung period. _Grandidier Collection, Louvre_
128. CH’IEN LUNG PORCELAIN. _British Museum_ 248
Fig. 1.--Vase with “rice grain” ground and blue and
white design.
Fig. 2.--Vase with “lacework” designs. Ch’ien Lung mark.
Fig. 3.--Vase with the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo
Grove in _lac burgauté_.
Fig. 4.--Vase with “robin’s egg” glaze.
129. OCTAGONAL VASE AND COVER, PAINTED IN _famille rose_
ENAMELS 248
Ch’ien Lung period (1736–1795). _One of a pair in the
Collection of Dr. A. E. Cumberbatch._
130. VASE WITH PEAR-SHAPED BODY AND WIDE MOUTH; TUBULAR
HANDLES (_Colour_) 254
Porcelain with delicate _clair de lune_ glaze
recalling the pale blue tint of some of the finer
Sung celadons. About 1800. _British Museum._
131. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY PAINTED PORCELAIN 264
Fig. 1.--Plate painted in black and gold, European
figures in a Chinese interior. Yung Chêng period.
_British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Dish with floral scrolls in _famille rose_
enamels in a ground of black enamel diapered with
green foliage scrolls. Ch’ien Lung period. _Wantage
Collection._
132. Vase painted in mixed enamels, an Imperial park and a
bevy of ladies 264
Deep ruby pink borders with coloured floral scrolls
and symbols. Ch’ien Lung mark. About 1790. _Wantage
Collection._
133. LATE _famille rose_ ENAMELS 280
Fig. 1.--Bowl painted in soft enamels, attendants of
Hsi Wang Mu in boats. Mark, _Shên tê t’ang chih_.
Tao Kuang period. _British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Imperial Fish Bowl with five dragons ascending
and descending, borders of wave pattern, _ju-i_
pattern, etc., _famille rose_ enamels. Late eighteenth
century. _Burdett-Coutts Collection._
134. PORCELAIN SNUFF BOTTLES. Eighteenth Century. _British
Museum_ 280
Fig. 1.--Subject from the drama, black ground. Yung
Chêng mark.
Fig. 2.--Battle of demons, underglaze blue and red.
Mark, _Yung-lo t’ang_.
Fig. 3.--Blue and white “steatitic” ware.
Fig. 4.--Crackled cream white _ting_ glaze, pierced
casing with pine, bamboo and prunus.
Fig. 5.--“Steatitic” ware with Hundred Antiques design
in coloured relief. Chia Ch’ing mark.
CHINESE POTTERY AND PORCELAIN
CHAPTER I
THE MING [chch] DYNASTY, 1368–1644 A.D.
As we have already discussed, so far as our imperfect knowledge
permits, the various potteries which are scattered over the length and
breadth of China, we can now concentrate our attention on the rising
importance of Ching-tê Chên. From the beginning of the Ming dynasty,
Ching-tê Chên may be said to have become the ceramic metropolis of the
empire, all the other potteries sinking to provincial status. So far
as Western collections, at any rate, are concerned, it is not too much
to say that 90 per cent. of the post-Yüan porcelains were made in this
great pottery town.
What happened there in the stormy years which saw the overthrow of
the Mongol dynasty and the rise of the native Ming is unknown to us,
and, indeed, it is scarcely likely to have been of much interest.
The Imperial factories were closed, and did not open till 1369, or,
according to some accounts, 1398.[1] If we follow the _Ching-tê Chên
T’ao lu_, which, as its name implies, should be well informed on
the history of the place, a factory was built in 1369 at the foot of
the Jewel Hill to supply Imperial porcelain (_kuan tz’ŭ_), and
in the reign of Hung Wu (1368–1398) there were at least twenty kilns
in various parts of the town working in the Imperial service. They
included kilns for the large dragon bowls, kilns for blue (or green)
ware (_ch’ing yao_), “wind and fire”[2] kilns, seggar kilns
for making the cases for the fine porcelain, and _lan kuang_
kilns, which Julien renders _fours à flammes étendues_. The last
expression implies that the heat was raised in these kilns by means of
a kind of bellows (_kuang_) which admitted air to the furnace,
and Bushell’s rendering, “blue and yellow enamel furnaces,” ignores an
essential part of both the characters[3] used in the original.
From this time onward there is no lack of information on the nature
of the Imperial wares made during the various reigns, but it must be
remembered that the Chinese descriptions are in almost every case
confined to the Imperial porcelains, and we are left to assume that
the productions of the numerous private kilns followed the same lines,
though in the earlier periods, at any rate, we are told that they were
inferior in quality and finish.
The Hung Wu [chch 2] palace porcelain, as described in the _T’ao
lu_, was of fine, unctuous clay and potted thin. The ware was left
for a whole year to dry, then put upon the lathe and turned thin, and
then glazed and fired. If there was any fault in the glaze, the piece
was ground down on the lathe, reglazed and refired. “Consequently the
glaze was lustrous (_jung_) like massed lard.” These phrases
are now so trite that one is tempted to regard them as mere Chinese
conventionalities, but there is no doubt that the material used in
the Ming period (which, as we shall see presently, gave out in the
later reigns) was of peculiar excellence. The raw edge of the base rim
of early specimens does, in fact, reveal a beautiful white body of
exceedingly fine grain and smooth texture, so fat and unctuous that one
might almost expect to squeeze moisture out of it.
The best ware, we are told, was white, but other kinds are mentioned.
A short contemporary notice in the _Ko ku yao lun_,[4] written in
1387, says, “Of modern wares (made at Ching-tê Chên) the good examples
with white colour and lustrous are very highly valued. There are,
besides, _ch’ing_[5] (blue or green) and black (_hei_) wares
with gilding, including wine pots and wine cups of great charm.” Such
pieces may exist in Western collections, but they remain unidentified,
and though there are several specimens with the Hung Wu mark to be seen
in museums, few have the appearance of Ming porcelain at all. There is,
however, a dish in the British Museum which certainly belongs to the
Ming dynasty, even if it is a century later than the mark implies.
The body is refined and white, though the finish is rather rough, with
pits and raised spots here and there in the glaze and grit adhering
to the foot rim; but it is painted with a free touch in a bright
blue, recalling the Mohammedan blue in colour, the central subject a
landscape, and the sides and rim divided into panels of floral and
formal ornament. It must be allowed that the style of the painting is
advanced for this early period, including as it does white designs
reserved in blue ground as well as the ordinary blue painting on a
white ground.
_Yung Lo_ [chch 2] (1403–1424)
The usual formulæ are employed by the _T’ao lu_ in describing the
Imperial ware of this reign. It was made of plastic clay and refined
material, and though, as a rule, the porcelain was thick, there
were some exceedingly thin varieties known as _t’o t’ai_[6] or
“bodiless” porcelains. Besides the plain white specimens, there were
others engraved with a point[7] or coated with vivid red (_hsien
hung_). The _Po wu yao lan_,[8] reputed a high authority on
Ming porcelains and written in the third decade of the seventeenth
century, adds “blue and white” to the list and gives further details of
the wares. The passage is worth quoting in full, and runs as follows:
“In the reign of Yung Lo were made the cups which fit in the palm of
the hand,[9] with broad mouth, contracted waist, sandy (_sha_)
foot, and polished base. Inside were drawn two lions rolling balls.
Inside, too, in seal characters, was written _Ta Ming Yung Lo nien
chih_[10] in six characters, or sometimes in four[11] only, as fine
as grains of rice. These are the highest class. Those with mandarin
ducks, or floral decoration inside, are all second quality. The cups
are decorated outside with blue ornaments of a very deep colour,
and their shape and make are very refined and beautiful and in a
traditional style. Their price, too, is very high. As for the modern
imitations, they are coarse in style and make, with foot and base burnt
(brown), and though their form has some resemblance (to the old), they
are not worthy of admiration.”
As may be imagined, Yung Lo porcelain is not common to-day, and the
few specimens which exist in our collections are not enough to make
us realise the full import of these descriptions. There are, however,
several types which bear closely on the subject, some being actually
of the period and others in the Yung Lo style. A fair sample of the
ordinary body and glaze of the time is seen in the white porcelain
bricks of which the lower story of the famous Nanking pagoda was built.
Several of these are in the British Museum, and they show a white
compact body of close but granular fracture; the glazed face is a pure,
solid-looking white, and the unglazed sides show a smooth, fine-grained
ware which has assumed a pinkish red tinge in the firing. The coarser
porcelains of the period would, no doubt, have similar characteristics
in body and glaze. The finer wares are exemplified by the white bowls,
of wonderful thinness and transparency, with decoration engraved in
the body or traced in delicate white slip under the glaze and scarcely
visible except as a transparency. Considering the fragility of these
delicate wares and the distant date of the Yung Lo period, it is
surprising how many are to be seen in Western collections. Indeed, it
is hard to believe that more than a very few of these can be genuine
Yung Lo productions, and as we know that the fine white “egg shell”
porcelain was made throughout the Ming period and copied with great
skill in the earlier reigns of the last dynasty, it is not necessary
to assume that every bowl of the Yung Lo type dates back to the first
decades of the fifteenth century.
[Illustration: Plate 59.--White Eggshell Porcelain Bowl with
Imperial dragons faintly traced in white slip under the glaze.
Mark of the Yung Lo period (1403–1424) incised in the centre in
archaic characters. 1. Exterior. 2. Interior view. Diameter 8¾
inches. _British Museum._]
It is wellnigh impossible to reproduce adequately these white
porcelains, but Plate 59 illustrates the well-known example in the
Franks Collection, which has long been accepted as a genuine Yung Lo
specimen. It represents the _ya shou pei_ in form, with wide mouth
and small foot--the contracted waist of the _Po wu yao lan_; the
foot rim is bare at the edge, but not otherwise sandy, and the base is
glazed over, which may be the sense in which the word “polished”[12] is
used in the _Po wu yao lan_. The ware is so thin and transparent
that it seems to consist of glaze alone, as though the body had
been pared away to vanishing point before the glaze was applied--in
short, it is _t’o t’ai_ or “bodiless.” When held to the light
it has a greenish transparency and the colour of melting snow, and
there is revealed on the sides a delicate but exquisitely drawn design
of five-clawed Imperial dragons in white slip (not etched, as has
too often been stated), showing up like the water-mark in paper. On
the bottom inside is the date-mark of the period etched with a point
in four archaic characters (see vol. i, p. 213). A more refined and
delicate ceramic work could hardly be imagined.
Close to this bowl in the Franks Collection there are two smaller bowls
or, rather, cups which in many ways answer more nearly the description
of the _ya shou pei_,[13] though they are thick in substance
and of coarser make. They have straight spreading sides, wide at the
mouth, with foliate rim, and contracted at the foot. The foot rim is
bare of glaze, but the base is covered. They are of an impure white
ware with surface rather pitted, and inside is a lotus design traced
in white slip under the glaze and repeated in radiating compartments.
These are perhaps a product of the private factories. The same form is
observed among the blue and white porcelain in two small cups, which
are painted in blue with a landscape on the exterior and with bands
of curled scrolls inside and the Yung Lo mark in four characters. The
base is unglazed, and though they are undoubtedly intended to represent
a Yung Lo type, these not uncommon bowls can hardly be older than the
last dynasty. Another blue and white bowl in the Franks Collection has
the Yung Lo mark and the scroll decoration inside, and on the exterior
a long poem by Su Shih, covering most of the surface. It is painted in
a grey blue, and the ware, though coarse, has the appearance of Ming
manufacture, perhaps one of the late Ming copies which are mentioned
without honour in the _Po wu yao lan_. It is, however, of the
ordinary rounded form.[14]
Hsiang Yüan-p’ien illustrates in his Album one Yung Lo specimen, a low
cylindrical bowl of the “bodiless” kind, “thin as paper,” with a very
delicate dragon and phœnix design, which is seen when the bowl is
held to the light and carefully inspected. This style of ornament is
described as _an hua_ (secret decoration), but it is not stated
whether, in this case, it was engraved in the paste or traced in white
slip.
The mention of “fresh red” (_hsien hung_), which seems to have been
used on the Yung Lo porcelain as well as in the succeeding Hsüan Tê
period, brings to mind a familiar type of small bowl with slight
designs in blue inside, often a figure of a boy at play, the exterior
being coated with a fine coral red, over which are lotus scrolls
in gold. There are several in the British Museum, and one, with a
sixteenth-century silver mount, was exhibited at the Burlington Fine
Arts Club in 1910.[15] The term _hsien hung_ is certainly used for an
underglaze copper red on the Hsüan Tê porcelain, and it is doubtful
whether it can have been loosely applied to an overglaze iron red on
the earlier ware. For the bowls to which I refer have an iron red
decoration, though it is sometimes wonderfully translucent and, being
heavily fluxed, looks like a red glaze instead of merely an overglaze
enamel (see Plate 74). Several of these red bowls have the Yung Lo
mark, others have merely marks of commendation or good wish. Their form
is characteristic of the Ming period, and the base is sometimes convex
at the bottom, sometimes concave. They vary considerably in quality,
the red in some cases being a translucent and rather pale coral tint,
and in others a thick, opaque brick red. Probably they vary in date as
well, the former type being the earlier and better. It is exemplified
by an interesting specimen in the Franks Collection marked _tan kuei_
(red cassia), which indicates its destination as a present to a
literary aspirant, the red cassia being a symbol of literary success.
This piece has, moreover, a stamped leather box of European--probably
Venetian--make, which is not later than the sixteenth century. This,
if any of these bowls, belongs to the Yung Lo period, but it will be
seen presently that the iron red was used as an inferior but more
workable substitute for the underglaze red in the later Ming reigns,
and, it must be added, these bowls are strangely numerous for a
fifteenth-century porcelain. That they are a Yung Lo type, however,
there is little doubt, for this red and gold decoration (_kinrande_
of the Japanese) is the adopted style which won for the clever Kioto
potter, Zengoro Hozen, the art name _Ei raku_, i.e. Yung Lo in Japanese.