A SKETCH SHOWING PORCELAIN CLASSED ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF THE
DISCOVERY OF COLOURS AND GLAZES
Our first task will be to classify the porcelain according to the
order of its discovery, and in this relation we shall be largely
guided by form and colour, which in the oldest pieces is naturally
less diversified than in the later. Perhaps the oldest pottery is that
improperly called _boccaro_, owing to its resemblance to the pottery
which, in Portugal, bore this name, and as we shall see presently the
Portuguese were the first to visit the land of far Cathay. The colours
on boccaro ware are very varied--and some imitate bronze. Many coloured
enamels cover other pieces with a dense glaze which completely hides
the shape or body. These pieces are usually moulded, but examples have
been found where the decoration has been cut with a tool in the paste
when wet. Other specimens have been carved in the paste after it had
been dried in the sun.
The second class in order of age would be white porcelain made of
kaolins from different districts, which gave different tints to the
white, and unequal densities to the ware, some being heavy and some
light. Possibly the light ware of this period gave rise to the idea
of soft paste. The white itself varies in tint from a fine creamy
glaze, which is very beautiful, called "_blanc de chine_." Then there
is a bluish white called "_white of snow_," and a plain white called
"_white of flour_." The creamy white is valued very highly by the
Chinese themselves, and "Franks" mentions an instance where a Hong
Kong merchant, after making many magnificent presents to an English
gentleman, gave him as an object of great value a white cup of this
kind enclosed in a case lined with silk. This "_blanc de chine_" was
highly esteemed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, especially
in France and Spain. It is interesting to notice that this kind of
white ware was imitated by the early makers of European porcelain at
St. Cloud and Chelsea, and many of these specimens of white hard paste
have been ascribed to Plymouth, which, with Bristol, was the only
factory to make hard paste in England. The Chelsea imitation of an
Oriental teapot with raised flowers is the one which has the noted mark
of the raised anchor on a tablet.
With regard to colour applied under the glaze, blue was the first to be
so employed. Cobalt had a facility for cohering with the body itself,
therefore it was utilised for decoration before the glaze was applied.
Sometimes the transparent white glaze was replaced by a blue tinted
glaze. In that case, the blue decoration, applied under the glaze by
painting on the body of the ware itself, could be easily seen through
the blue glaze. Red, derived from copper,[1] was applied under the
glaze, sometimes alone, sometimes with blue, forming the decoration
of two colours under the glaze. With these colours used under the
glaze, as with the blue alone, the blue tinted glaze was frequently
substituted for the transparent glaze. This red was the red derived
from copper. At about the same period the reds, derived from iron
and gold, were applied as enamel colours upon the glaze at a lower
temperature than that used in the main kiln. The second kiln was called
a "muffle" kiln. The glaze and the enamel colours were both melted by
the heat in the muffle kiln, but the body was not affected. Direct heat
was not required, but the melting process was sufficient to unite the
glaze itself and the enamel colours so firmly that in some cases the
coloured enamel might be taken for the glaze. Generally, however, these
enamel colours project far enough from the covering glaze as to be
easily felt by the finger.
[Footnote 1: This copper-red is very brilliant, and has an iridescent
effect when examined by reflected light.]
Next followed the use of gold applied to decorations on the
black--"_famille noire_"--and green families or on other enamels.
Amongst the most beautiful of these enamels was the green, which was
applied upon the glaze by the fire of the "muffle" furnace. This colour
was derived from copper, and is called "_vert de cuivre_." It soon
held a high place in the scheme of decoration of vases, plates, and
dishes, as well as figures of the highest quality, and is recognised
as a distinct family, "_la famille verte_." But whilst the reds and
the greens were enamelled on the glaze, blue was still employed for
decoration under the glaze. These "_familles_" are separately dealt
with and illustrated.
In order of the discovery of the colours next comes violet from
manganese, and the yellows from cadmium and iron, creating a new
series, which is termed the yellow family, "_la famille jaune_." All
these yellows were enamel colours, but they were not often used alone.
Sometimes there is a combination of two groups, as green and yellow
or green and red. These have been classified as "_jaune verte_" and
"_rose verte_." We simply refer to these names in case any of our
readers should come across them in the descriptive catalogue or in
books dealing with Oriental porcelain. Perhaps the most beautiful of
all the enamel colours applied to Oriental porcelain is the rose, a red
derived from gold. Bearing in mind that we are roughly tracing the age
of the colours, that is, the period of their application, this rose
red would bring us to the Yung-ching and Keen-lung periods. Enriched
as the Chinese potters were by this superb tint, they simply revelled
in dominating their productions with it. It is classified as the rose
family, "_la famille rose_." To these periods belong the beautiful
class of pink back plates, to which further reference will be made
later.
Onward from this time, the trading relations between Europe and China
becoming more and more intimate, foreign influences began to make
themselves felt in the Chinese potteries; in fact, the Europeans
demanded and paid for European shapes and European designs, so that
European subjects were reproduced with more or less fidelity, and
"armorial" porcelain, on which the arms or crests of European families
were painted in enamel on vases, table services, and decorative pieces
of various kinds.
At this period, too, we find evidences of the influence of the
Christian missionaries in China, as shown by the religious subjects
enamelled or painted on plates, such subjects, for instance, as "The
Crucifixion" and other scenes of biblical history. We have stated that
the decoration was modified to meet the wants of the European market,
and we note also that the various shapes were also modified to suit
that market. The Chinese used saucer-shaped dishes, but these were
largely replaced, for exportation only, by dishes and plates with
rims, so that we finally reach the last class, the porcelain called
"East India Company" china, decorated with subjects not armorial,
nor scriptural, but European. The Chinese themselves were faithful
copyists, imitating exactly the pattern from which they had to work. We
shall deal with this subject more fully in a later chapter.
V
FABULOUS
ANIMALS
AND TWO
GODDESSES