CHATS ON
ORIENTAL CHINA
BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS
_With Coloured Frontispieces and many Illustrations._
_Large Crown 8vo_, =5s.= _net._
CHATS ON OLD CHINA.
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.
CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE.
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.
CHATS ON OLD PRINTS.
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.
CHATS ON COSTUME.
By G. WOOLLISCROFT RHEAD.
CHATS ON OLD LACE AND NEEDLEWORK.
By Mrs. LOWES.
CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA.
By J. F. BLACKER.
CHATS ON MINIATURES.
By J. J. FOSTER.
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN
[Illustration: DESCRIPTION OF VASE.
High-necked vase with melon-shaped body and double protuberance above.
One of a pair. Formal handles on the neck in imitation of bamboo-work.
The body and protuberances decorated with bamboo stems having yellow
and green reserves decorated with flowers and plants. The neck
decorated with diaper pattern, yellow on green. The flattened top
ornamented with black and green triangle-work. Period, (Kang-he)
1662-1722.]
CHATS ON
ORIENTAL CHINA
BY
J. F. BLACKER
AUTHOR OF THE "A B C OF COLLECTING OLD CHINA," ETC.
ILLUSTRATED
LONDON
T. FISHER UNWIN
ADELPHI TERRACE
MCMVIII
(_All rights reserved_)
PREFACE
If there is one regret that accompanies the issue of these "Chats on
Oriental China" it is that the illustrations could not be given in all
the beauty of their magnificent colouring. In a photograph, however
fine it may be, it is obvious that only the shape and the decoration
can be given. Roughly speaking, the illustrations represent in its Ming
and Kang-he specimens about £100,000 in value. The pieces represented
are the most admirable and the rarest. The reader is advised to bestow
much attention on the reading of the descriptions accompanying each
picture. There is no form of instruction more valuable than this
analysis, which forms the basis of the sale catalogues of the most
_recherché_ collections.
The collector who masters this book may betake himself to the
museums with considerable confidence that he will be in a position
to understand; in fact, to read the pieces which he wishes to study.
Take for example, the unique Salting Collection at the Victoria and
Albert Museum, South Kensington. To the ordinary visitor interested
in porcelain the specimens present an exquisite, if embarrassing,
assembly of choice pieces whose colour, decoration, and age cannot be
grasped, they can only be admired. The eye may be trained, but the
understanding never. The absence of a catalogue handicaps and indeed
baffles the amateur. But if the knowledge previously obtained is
sufficient to enable him to master the subject, the style, form, and
colour, nothing can give more pleasure than the investigation of such a
collection which has been brought together at a vast expense of time,
money, and knowledge. In the British Museum the descriptive labels are
helpful.
In this book the reader will find some statements repeated perhaps
over and over again. When we chat about anything we do repeat the
points on which we want information, or in which we may be specially
interested. The information is concise, so that, section by section,
the range of Oriental porcelain will pass before the student, the chief
consideration which regulates the letterpress being the space at our
disposal.
Naturally the labour bestowed on repression is considerable. When we
consider the National Collections of England, France, and Germany
alone we find material for many volumes. Perhaps of all the museums
that of Limoges, where the Jacquemart and Gasnault collections are so
well cared for, is one of the most instructive, and the lover of old
Oriental could not do better than spend a holiday at this delightful
old French town with the object of really learning what these two
friends teach.
With regard to books of reference, all of the recognised authorities
have been studied, especially the Jacquemart and Gasnault catalogues
and descriptions, and the _Petit Guide Illustre au Musée Guimet_. The
visitor to Paris should make a point of visiting this museum, so little
known, so intensely interesting, at the junction of the Rue Boissière
and the Avenue d'Iena. Its aim is to propagate a knowledge of the
civilisation of the East, to facilitate the study of ancient historical
religions largely by means of images, statuettes, or figures. There we
see classified methodically, in chronological order, representations
of the various divinities in which form and attitude both have a
meaning. The specimens are old and rare. The catalogue of the Franks
Collection is referred to in the various chapters. Formerly exhibited
at the Bethnal Green Museum, the collection is now distributed in the
British Museum, where the pieces may be recognised as having a printed
description. The two volumes by the late W. G. Gulland are delightful
and very helpful, and it was the privilege of the writer to have spent
some hours in his company shortly before his lamented decease.
I owe sincere thanks to Mr. Edgar Gorer, of S. Gorer and Son, Bond
Street, for his constant courtesy and his kindness in supplying most
of the fine illustrations in the book, and for securing permission
from other collectors to use their photographs. And more than this,
his practical knowledge has been put at my disposal in every way, and
specially in reading the proofs. To Messrs. Duveen Brothers, of Bond
Street, I am indebted for specimens specially noted. To other friends
who have helped recognition is due, especially to Mr. C. H. McQueen,
whose knowledge of Chinese porcelain has been altogether at my disposal.
The marks are those given in the Franks catalogue, in Mr. Gulland's
books, and in the Guimet Museum guide. The vastness of the subject
here shortly treated may bring many collectors into touch with one
another, and the author hopes that they will avail themselves of the
opportunity of using him as the medium for this intercommunication.
Finally, with regard to the illustrations and the lessons they teach,
the reader will note that vases have been selected wherever this has
been possible. Generally speaking the vase, being an ornamental and
purely decorative object, has received from the Chinese potter that
artistic--one is almost tempted to say that reverential--treatment
which embodies all that is best in his ceramic art. For the rest, it
may be that the mythological aspects of the Oriental decoration, its
divinities and their attributes, have received unusual attention. The
Buddhist faith, here feebly exposed, embodies the highest truths, and
Taoism, the more popular religion, cannot be neglected by any student
of Oriental porcelain. The Japanese section is not illustrated.
Japanese collectors are keen in collecting old Chinese specimens.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE 5
SECTION I
CHINESE PORCELAIN
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTORY 21
II. HARD PASTE 29
III. RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY 35
IV. A SKETCH SHOWING PORCELAIN CLASSED
ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF THE
DISCOVERY OF THE COLOURS AND GLAZES 43
V. THE FOUR CHIEF FABULOUS ANIMALS AND
TWO GODDESSES 51
VI. A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE EARLY HISTORY
OF PORCELAIN 89
VII. THE MING DYNASTY AND ITS PRODUCTS 95
VIII. THE TSING DYNASTY, KANG-HE PERIOD 103
IX. THE YUNG-CHING PERIOD 109
X. THE KEEN-LUNG PERIOD 119
XI. MANDARIN PORCELAIN, YUNG-CHING PERIOD
AND LATER 131
XII. KEA-KING, TAOU-KWANG, AND THE LATER
EMPERORS 139
XIII. CHINESE WHITE PORCELAIN 147
XIV. SINGLE OR SELF-COLOUR GLAZES 153
XV. CHINESE CRACKLE 175
XVI. BLUE AND OTHER COLOURS UNDER THE GLAZE 181
XVII. CLOBBER WARE OR REDECORATED PORCELAIN 201
XVIII. RETICULATED PORCELAIN 203
XIX. DECORATED WITH COLOURED ENAMELS 211
A. THE BLACK FAMILY--"FAMILLE NOIRE"
B. THE GREEN FAMILY--"FAMILLE VERTE"
C. POWDERED AND MAZARINE BLUE WITH
ENAMEL COLOURS
D. THE GREEN AND YELLOW FAMILY--"FAMILLE
JAUNE"
E. CORAL RED GROUND--"ROUGE DE FER"
F. THE ROSE FAMILY--"FAMILLE ROSE"
G. OTHER ENAMEL COLOURS
XX. PORCELAIN OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 285
XXI. IMITATIONS OF ORIENTAL PORCELAIN 291
XXII. SYMBOLICAL DESIGNS 297
A. EMBLEMS IN ANIMALS
B. EMBLEMS IN TREES
C. EMBLEMS IN FLOWERS
XXIII. DATE MARKS ON ORIENTAL PORCELAIN 307
XXIV. SYMBOLICAL MARKS AND ORNAMENTS 323
XXV. THE IMMORTALS OR CHENS 337
XXVI. THE DRESDEN COLLECTION 345
SECTION II
JAPANESE PORCELAIN AND POTTERY
CHAPTER PAGE
XXVII. JAPANESE PORCELAIN AND POTTERY 349
IMARI, ARITA, OR HIZEN
HIRADO
NABESHIMA
XXVIII. SATSUMA 357
KYOTO
AWATA
MARKS, FIRST SET
XXIX. BIZEN OR IMBE 367
KUTANI
KENZAN WARE
YEIRAKU WARE
XXX. KISHU 375
BANKO
SOMA
SANDA
SHEBA
VARIOUS
MARKS, SECOND SET
SECTION III
XXXI. SALE PRICES 385
INDEX 403
ILLUSTRATIONS
VASE, IN PROPER COLOURS, KANG-HE _Frontispiece_
PAGE
PAÔ-YUEH-KOUANG AND TIEN-KONG 40
THE DRAGON 54
THE TRUE KYLIN 55
THE COREAN LION 56
THE HO-HO OR PHŒNIX 57
KWAN-YIN, MING 60
ANOTHER KWAN-YIN, MING 63
KWAN-YIN, WITH ATTENDANTS 64
SI-WANG-MU 67
_OD_-D_PAG-MED_ AMITÂBHA OR AMIDA 68
WAN CHONG, THE GOD OF THE LEARNED 71
KUAN-TI, THE GOD OF WAR 72
WEN-TCHANG, THE GOD OF WISDOM 75
PIU-HWO, TAOIST GOD 76
HAN SEANG-TSE (2) AND CHANG KO-LAOU 79
BUDDHIST DIVINITIES (2) AND HAN CHUNG-LE 80
THE TAOIST IMMORTALS (8) 83
THE DOG OF BUDDHA OR COREAN LION 84
EMBLEMS IN BIRDS, PHEASANTS 87
WHITE PORCELAIN, KWAN-YIN 151
"SANG DE BŒUF," SELF-COLOUR 157
"CLAIRE DE LUNE" CRACKLE, SELF-COLOUR 163
TIGER SPOTTED OR SPLASHED GLAZE 167
PEACH BLOW, WITH WHITE AND CELADON 171
CRACKLE VASES, &C., MOUNTED IN ORMOLU 178
BLUE AND WHITE BEAKERS; DISHES AND COVERS 186
BLUE AND WHITE VASE; WATER EWER AND COVER 189
BLUE AND WHITE VASES, WITH LANGE-LYSEN 190
BLUE AND WHITE GINGER JAR, OR OVIFORM VASE 193
BLUE AND RED UNDER-GLAZE, CONICAL VASE 194
RED UNDER-GLAZE, ENAMELS OVER-GLAZE, CYLINDRICAL VASE 197
RETICULATED INCENSE BURNER 207
RETICULATED VASE 208
BLACK FAMILY, "FAMILLE NOIRE," TEAPOTS 218
BLACK FAMILY, " " BOWL 221
BLACK FAMILY, " " VASES, TAPERING SQUARE 222
BLACK FAMILY, " " VASES, PEAR-SHAPED 225
BLACK FAMILY, " " VASES, TWO 226
GREEN FAMILY, "FAMILLE VERTE," VASE, OVIFORM 230
GREEN FAMILY, " " LANTERN, EGG-SHELL 233
GREEN FAMILY, " " VASES (3), SQUARE-SHAPED 234
GREEN FAMILY, " " VASE, BEAKER-SHAPED 237
GREEN FAMILY, " " HEXAGONAL, ARROW-STAND 238
GREEN FAMILY, " " VASE, GOURD-SHAPED 241
POWDERED-BLUE, WITH "FAMILLE VERTE," AND BLUE 246
DECORATION
POWDERED-BLUE, WITH "FAMILLE VERTE," DECORATION, PLATES 249
MAZARINE-BLUE, WITH "FAMILLE ROSE," DECORATION, VASES 250
GREEN AND YELLOW FAMILY, "FAMILLE JAUNE," VASE, 254
SQUARE-SHAPED
GREEN AND YELLOW FAMILY, "FAMILLE JAUNE," JARDINIÈRE 257
CORAL RED, "ROUGE DE FER," VASE, CYLINDRICAL 261
CORAL RED, " " VASE, CYLINDRICAL 262
ROSE FAMILY, "FAMILLE ROSE," RUBY-BACK PLATES, &C. 266
EGG-SHELL, "ROSE" "VERTE," VASE 269
APPLE-GREEN GROUND, MING BISCUIT, TEAPOTS 273
APPLE-GREEN GROUND, LANG-YAO, VASES 274
DELICATE GREEN GROUND, VASE, GOURD-SHAPED 277
DELICATE GREEN GROUND, VASES, KEA-KING 278
AUBERGINE GROUND, VASES, FLAT-SHAPED 281
MANDARIN CHINA, VASES, CONICAL, EGG-SHELL 282
THE IMMORTALS: HAN CHUNG-LE; LEU TUNG-PIN 340
LE TEE-KWAE; TSAOU KWO-KIU 341
LAN TSAE-HO; CHANG KO-LAOU 342
HAN SEANG-TSZE; HO SEEN-KOO 343
FIVE CLAWS; HO-HO BIRD 354
DOG OF FÔ; THE KYLIN 355
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The chief books referred to in this volume are:--
FRANKS, Sir A. W. Bethnal Green Collection. Catalogue of
Original Pottery and Porcelain.
GULLAND, W. G. Chinese Porcelain. 2 vols. With Illustrations.
The small Guide to the Musée Guimet. Paris.
GLOSSARY
=Base.= The solid support or bottom of any vessel either simple or
ornamentally shaped.
=Beaker.= The Chinese beaker is a trumpet-shaped vase, having neither
handle nor spout nor beak.
=Biscuit.= Porcelain unglazed, having no gloss.
=Body.= The part of a vase which corresponds with the body in the
human figure. The shape may be simple, or two or more forms
combined.
=Bottle.= A vase with spheroidal body, long neck and narrow mouth.
The gourd-shaped Oriental bottle may be double, having three bodies
diminishing from the bottom upwards.
=Burnt-in.= A term used to distinguish the painted from the enamelled
porcelain, the first being burnt in with the glaze, the second having
the colours laid over the glaze.
=Celadon.= The soft green colour upon pieces of old Oriental. See
further in the section dealing with colours mixed with the glaze and
burnt in at the first firing. European glaze is nearly always
transparent and colourless.
=China= or Porcelain Paste is translucid, in pottery it is opaque.
=Colours.= Five colours:--green, yellow, aubergine, blue, and red.
Three colours:--green, a curious shade; yellow, varying from pale to
bright; aubergine, also varying in tone.
=Egg-shell China= first appeared in the Yung-lo period, and later it
was as thin as bamboo paper. Under the Lung-king and Wan-leih emperors
pure white porcelain of this kind was called "egg-shell." In many
pieces the paste is so thin as to appear to be only two layers of
glaze.
=Enamel.= Mixed with a glassy composition were certain transparent
or opaque colours which were used in over the glaze decoration. In
pottery they are used in the glaze.
=Fen-ting.= Soft paste, or more correctly, soft glaze porcelain.
=Figures,= Figurines, Magots, Statuettes, are single, grouped, or
attached as ornaments to a piece; such as the eight immortals, etc.
=Forms.= These are diversified. Cylindrical, globular or spheroidal,
egg-shaped or ovoid; apple-shaped or pomiform, pear-shaped or
pyriform; cubical, hexagonal, etc.
=Glaze.= The composition used for coating porcelain or pottery.
It literally means covering with glass or any vitrifiable substance
having similar properties.
=Grand Feu.= The kiln at its greatest heat in which the clays were
acted upon so as to produce porcelain or pottery. The decoration
was often fixed in the "petit feu," or muffle kiln. The hard firing,
when less than the maximum heat was required, was done in the
"demi-grand feu."
=Graviata.= This name is given to patterns traced or cut on the
porcelain or on the enamel.
="Hundred Antiques."= A form of decoration, consisting of utensils,
symbols, vases, &c., called "_po-ku_."
=Kaolin.= Porcelain or china clay, derived from the decomposition
of granite rocks.
=Kiln.= "Grand feu" first baking, temperature about 4717° Fahrenheit.
"Demi-grand feu" for fixing colours which could bear intense heat
which were applied before glazing. More delicate enamel colours were
applied for firing in the "petit feu" or muffle kiln.
=Mandarin.= A term applied to Chinese porcelain decorated with a
certain class of figure subjects.
=Mice China= has ornament, in high relief, of the branches, leaves,
and fruit of the vine, with squirrels or foxes, so-called mice, also
in relief. It is Mandarin eighteenth century as a rule.
=Moulds.= These are used for figures and for the various ornaments
which are fixed upon the piece.
=Naga.= This word translated means Dragon, which is dealt with under
that name.
=Neck.= In the bottle, flagon, and flask, the neck is of different
length and form. The throat may be narrow or wide, inclining inwards
or outwards, or even perpendicular.
=Ornaments.= These are very varied. They may be in relief,
reticulated, impressed, engraved in the paste; or they may be
arabesque, grotesque; or they may be lines in angles, lozenges,
zigzags, ribbons, and paintings of every kind.
=Paste.= The body of which porcelain or pottery vessels is made.
Hard paste cannot be scratched or filed and resists the action of
great heat. Soft paste is easily scratched and is melted by intense
heat.
=Pekin Ware= is graviata of the Taou-kwang period. It was never made
in Pekin, but the name is still used.
=Petuntze.= Pulverised "china rock" forming a white paste (pe-tun)
made into bricks (petuntze). It melts in the heat of a porcelain
furnace into a milky glass.
=Pin-points= are tiny holes found on the bottom of early Chinese
porcelain.
=Porcelain.= A compound of kaolin and petuntze. The kaolin is
not fusible, the petuntze vitrifies and envelopes the kaolin,
producing a smooth compact body which is translucent.
=Pottery.= This is formed of a mixture of clays. Ordinary
potter's-clay is used for common earthenware, and a _blue clay_,
of a greyish colour, is much used in making flint-ware.
=Saucer.= The old Chinese form of the plate is always saucer-shaped.
The flattening of the rim produced the dish and plate. Raising the
sides gave the bowl, basin, and cup. By adding a handle we have the
tea-cup.
=Seggar.= This is the protective vessel or case in which the pieces
of porcelain or pottery are burnt in the kiln.
=Slip.= The liquid clay which is applied to the piece, under or over
the glaze, either by pouring or painting.
=Stoneware.= Hard pottery which forms the link between porcelain
and earthenware. In Chinese products stoneware is used with
self-colours applied in the glaze.
=Vases.= All vessels used for drinking cups and goblets, for
ointments or perfumes, for holding, carrying, or pouring wine, oil,
or water; and similar or varied forms used solely for ornament.
=Willow Pattern.= A popular decoration of Nankin blue services.
There are several varieties, but all have the weeping willow.
=Yao-pien.= The Chinese name for splashed, "shot" silk, or variegated
glazes.
I
_SECTION I_
INTRODUCTORY
CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
This book does not pretend to do more than to indicate to the collector
the lines on which collections could or should be made, for "Chats on
old Oriental China" scarcely imply a scientific treatise. Incidentally
one point will lead on to another, but with always this object in
view, to send the collector to the museums to train his eye as well
as his understanding and to bring him in touch with all that makes
for beauty in Oriental porcelain, a porcelain teaming with mythology,
having decorations saturated with that mythology, full of emblems of
all that concerns the best and highest life of the Chinese, pointing,
we may say, to a religion which, although feebly understood in Europe,
has been for centuries a real moving factor in the national life
of the Oriental peoples. Hence, when we find the earliest European
copies framed on Chinese mythology, and birds and flowers and beasts
all unknown to the Occidental mind figuring upon vases at Dresden,
at Chelsea, or at Sèvres we are struck with the incongruity of the
association. All European factories, at the first, strove to imitate
that porcelain which had been in existence in China long before history
in Europe had begun its accurate chronology.
There are collectors of the European productions who revel in the
delights of fine Dresden groups, of marvellous Chelsea or Worcester
vases, of Bristol figures and the other magnificent productions of the
European factories in earthenware and porcelain, but we may safely
say that the collector who takes up the study of Oriental porcelain
relegates all these European productions into oblivion, and has only
one desire, to secure the best possible specimens from the land of far
Cathay.
The collection of Oriental porcelain is not easy, especially with
regard to the finer productions. The old figures, vases and dishes
made hundreds of years ago, decorated with taste and skill beyond all
comparison, these can be purchased only by the few. But there are many
genuine old pieces still unrecognised, but valuable, each telling its
own story, and that story one that can be learnt. We said that there
were dangers to the collector, and this is true; for centuries the
Chinese and Japanese have reproduced with minute accuracy the early
productions--the Ming and the Kang-he--and the European factories
have, in these later times, poured out upon the market many marvellous
forgeries which would deceive, possibly, the very expert. The German
imitations are passable, but those produced in France, especially in
Paris, are so excellent that it would be well for buyers to judge
of them, by daylight only--in fact, in buying any fine porcelain
this rule should be adhered to. Remember this, there is no forgery
existing which would deceive an expert worthy of the name, as there
is, without exception, always a failure in some point, either in the
colouring, glazing, paste, or drawing, which betrays the copy to a
thorough student of Chinese porcelain. The best imitations are those
made in Hungary about forty to fifty years ago; the German copies by
comparison are very inferior and weak. Never buy by artificial light,
for "colours seen by candle-light do not look the same by day." Marks
on porcelain should always be ignored, except when the piece bearing
the said mark is beyond doubt; it is an added interest to have a mark
of the proper period. Not alone are patterns forged, but marks are
forged; hence when pattern and mark both agree with the old example,
something more is required than a mere superficial knowledge of pattern
and mark--that is, the paste or body has to be known, and more, the eye
has to be trained so as to distinguish the special character of the
piece--in fact, it is the _tout ensemble_ which to the finest judges
is the surest guide. They cannot tell why they know, but by a look
they do know. It may be that the atmospheric influences extending over
long years has softened and modified the colours and taken from them
their boldness, so that when paste and glaze and colour all please the
trained eye the purchase may be made in safety. And here we should
advise our readers rather to buy from a respectable dealer than at
auction sales. In the excitement of auction sales higher prices may
be paid than would be prudent, or, indeed, it may be that the quality
of the specimen bid for is not exactly that which the buyer requires,
and the difficulty of changing it is accentuated when the purchaser
buys at an auction. In fact, to a beginner with money to spend, no
advice can be better than that he should put himself in the hands of a
respectable dealer, informing him of his wants, telling him the price
he is prepared to pay, and leaving him to deal squarely and fairly. Not
only is there danger of the marks being forged and the pattern copied,
but really old pieces of Oriental porcelain are often redecorated, so
that upon an old piece is found the most elaborate decoration. This to
the collector is most puzzling. He sees the porcelain is rare, and,
as we have said, really old, and that the pattern and colour of the
decoration is what he has been accustomed to either at Exhibitions,
such as those in the National Museums, or in illustrations as given in
the best books, yet the specimen is not right and it can be tested.
The enamel decoration on a re-decorated piece produces a different
effect from that upon an old piece. In the latter the enamel colours
do not stand out like modern oil painting, but they lie flat and agree
in general character and tone with the porcelain itself. Sometimes, in
these re-decorated pieces, traces of the old decorations, covered up
under the modern enamel decorations, may be found.
Amongst other hints to the collector of old Oriental porcelain must be
one with regard to cracked and mended porcelain. By this we mean not
alone those pieces which are built up as far as some particular part
is concerned, and which can be tested by striking the various parts
with a coin, when the difference between the ring of the original
part and the dull sound from the composition used in mending may be
easily detected. Further, the sense of smell may be brought into play.
Generally, the composition used in mending old porcelain in this way
smells of oil or turpentine. The third test may be applied by means of
a magnifying-glass which will at once reveal the difference between
the smooth original glaze and the varnish glaze added to cover the
mend. But this is not all. Some mending is done at the factories,
where a piece of porcelain of the same tone and colour, with the same
decoration, is built and fixed on to the sound piece in such a way as
to leave no trace that can be detected by sound, sight, or smell. In
this case it really matters very little, as the character of the old
porcelain is so well preserved that the piece may be regarded as being
perfect. A very simple test for detecting a repair in porcelain is to
pass the point of a pin, not too heavily, over the suspected part, when
if the original has been at all interfered with, scratches and marks of
the pin will be easily seen.
II
HARD
PASTE