BLUE UNDER THE GLAZE. NANKIN BLUE
Many collectors are immensely attracted by what is known as the old
blue and white. It is such a widely distributed product, extending over
a long series of reigns. We noted before that it reached its highest
excellence in the Kang-he period. It was at first reserved for the
Court, for Emperors and high dignitaries, but since Kang-he's reign
blue and white may be said to belong to all dates, and the blue and
white ginger jars of the present time which may be bought for one or
two guineas show how the demand has been a constant one throughout the
whole of the time. At a very early period after the Dutch had imported
this blue and white from China their potters set about imitating it and
produced the fine old blue and white delft which is now valuable, but
there is no specimen of delft which reaches anything like the price of
the old Chinese blue and white from which it was copied. The honorific
inscriptions, the sacred emblems, the immortals and their attendants
were quite meaningless to the mind of the Dutch potter, just as they
were to the Italian, who was also an Oriental copyist. To the Oriental
the decoration of each piece meant something, something it may be of
their history or of their religion. High thoughts were set out as
inscriptions, and inspirations were given by the story on the vase or
dish, which when represented on a European copy became only a scheme
of decoration, or at its best a germ from which an original scheme of
native work might have its birth. So the Dutch, though they at first
made delft ware in servile imitation of Chinese patterns, soon saw
their way to utilise purely Dutch designs and with these to produce
work as fine as that which they had made under the inspiration of the
Chinese model.
At King-te-chin, the classical home of porcelain, a city with 3,000
kilns, the best of the blue and white was made; and although there is a
large class called Nankin blue which must not be neglected, the latter,
in decoration, is immensely inferior to the products of the Imperial
factories. It is quite certain that there were many other factories
besides those at King-te-chin which produced porcelain, but history
leaves few records of them, so that it would be quite fair to include
Nankin blue as a product of King-te-chin perhaps decorated at Nankin.
It is quite interesting to note how at first this blue and white, now
so valued, was not esteemed by Europeans with the exception of the
Dutch. Much of it was redecorated on the glaze and the pattern burnt in
so as to hide the decoration.
[Illustration: BLUE AND WHITE.
(_a_) A pair of tall blue and white trumpet-shaped Beakers. Under the
neck are four shield-shaped panels connected with an arabesque design;
below this is a broad band ornamented with conventional flowers running
round the body. Towards the feet are the stiff leaves of the sweet-flag
running down to the base. The whole done in a liquid, translucent blue
on a most beautiful white ground. Kang-he period. The sweet-flag is
often used for the decoration of porcelain vases, &c., and because its
leaves are long and slender and come to a point the Chinese use them
to represent swords, which, indeed, they resemble in general shape.
On the morning of the first day of the fifth month every family nails
up a few leaves of this plant on each side of the doors and windows
of the house, so that when the evil spirits come near, they see the
leaves, which they mistake for swords, and are thus frightened off. The
superstitions of the people as well as their religion are put under
obligation to furnish designs for the potter, in which the same idea
is represented in a permanent form. In fact, only when we are fully
cognisant of Chinese mythology shall we fully appreciate the wonderful
stories set out in their porcelain. When will the Chinese connoisseur
place before us his stores of knowledge?
(_b_) A pair of Butter Dishes and Covers in fine quality blue and
white. The dishes and lids have the four seasons design, which are
separated with a trellis-work diaper pattern. Note the difference
between the two diaper patterns. The handles are coming from the mouth
of a monster. Kang-he period.]
[Illustration: BLUE AND WHITE.
(_a_) A fine quality blue and white Beaker vase with expanding neck and
bulging body. The neck is ornamented with blue bands and flowers; the
body divided into four panels and filled in alternately with domestic
utensils, flowers, and foliage. Kang-he.
(_b_) A blue and white Water-ewer and Cover, of fine quality and
elegant shape, decorated with "Lange-Lysen," domestic utensils, and
landscapes. Seal mark, "Ching-Hwa." Kang-he period.
Blue was employed for under-glaze decoration amongst the Chinese from
time immemorial, though scarcely a specimen earlier than the Ming
period can be identified with certainty, owing to the copying and
recopying that has been continually practised by the Chinese. True, we
often see the Ming marks, say of Ching-hwa or Kea-tsing, but probably
the best of them are of Kang-he origin. Even if the pieces are really
old they will be often found re-decorated with modern colours. Perhaps
amongst the blue and white of the Ming period, those pieces decorated
with the soft but rich "Mohammedan" blue, as it is called, are the
best. Yet, though the colour is never flat or dead, there are certain
qualities missing which are quite charming in the later Kang-he. The
gradation and modulation of the blue, indeed, even the quality of the
blue itself, are all better in the later pieces. Whether, again, the
fine Kang-he blue was made early or late in the period, lasting from
1662-1722, is a further matter of doubt. Our readers will remember
that in 1677 and for some years after no date marks were allowed to
be inscribed, so that only patient study and careful observation will
enable any one to place the old blue and white.]
[Illustration: BLUE AND WHITE.
These specimens of blue and white Vases answer the tests which are
applied to the best porcelain decorated with different designs of
flowers, trees, birds, &c., in blue, painted under the glaze. What
are the tests? First, the material forming the paste or body must be
so fine as to give a perfect surface. The surface must be a brilliant
white when covered by the glaze. The drawing and painting should reveal
the best qualities of cobalt blue. The shape of the piece must leave
nothing to be required. Now, it is well known that blue and white was,
and is, the most common of all Oriental porcelain, and modern work is
good, so that it becomes quite easy to make mistakes; in fact, it would
not be too much to say that old blue and white is most difficult to
judge. Though the glaze is so much a part of the paste that it lasts
practically for ever, yet it does get slightly dulled; the extreme
brilliancy of the new pieces contrasts with the softer and more
beautiful old porcelain. The glaze should not be too thick, for the
fine, even quality of the paste is just as much an element as the glaze
in giving the old lustre. The blue decoration under the glaze shows a
perfect command of outline as well as colour. There is no soaking in
of the colour, but the outline is applied by the brush with absolute
equality.
The two specimen vases show "Lange-Lysen" or "Long Elizas" and flowers
in fluted lotus-shaped medallions covering the whole surface, except
under the lip and neck, where there are two bands of triangle-work
diaper pattern. The mounts are in French ormolu, Louis XVI. Kang-he
period.]
[Illustration: BLUE AND WHITE. GINGER JARS.
There are several varieties of prunus (so-called hawthorn) blossom
in the well-known blue and white ginger jars. The one given in the
illustration has the pattern known as the "ascending stem" hawthorn.
Then there is a "descending stem," and a third pattern showing the head
or centre of the blooms arranged in groups. This is "blob hawthorn,"
and may consist of three small blooms around a central larger one,
forming, roughly, a triangular group; or four blooms again around
a central one, forming a cross-shaped group. This pattern is also
known as "spray hawthorn." The ground is a brilliant cobalt, in which
the colour is laid on very much as if it had been rubbed on by the
thumb, or still more, as if the colour, when wet, had been so rubbed.
Afterwards a network of blue lines was added on the blue ground. The
suggestion is that the "blob pattern" imitates the fallen prunus
blossoms resting upon the crackled ice in the early spring.
Our illustration shows a Ginger Jar with dome cover. The body decorated
with large and small sprays of white prunus, rising from the base and
falling from the shoulder. Very brilliant crackled ice ground of deep
cobalt; a narrow band of white encircling the mouth, with a line of
blue within, the space between decorated with a formal ornament. The
lid with similar decoration to that on the jar, the top encircled with
a ring of white. Height, 10 in. Period Kang-he. Value, about £2,000.
Record price, 5,900 guineas.]
[Illustration: BLUE AND OTHER COLOURS, UNDER-GLAZE.
The finest quality of blue and red painted under the glaze were
made during the Tsing dynasty, though during the Ching-hwa period
(1465-1488) of the Ming dynasty many good pieces having this decoration
must have been manufactured, as the mark of that reign is frequently
found in reproductions. Even Kang-he and Yung-ching copies have the
Ching-hwa mark.
The illustration--a conical Vase with short neck--shows the four-claw
dragons of the sky. These are drawn in blue, as far as the head and
body are concerned; the scales are in a soft red. The curious forms
meant to indicate clouds are in blue, whilst the fireballs are in
red. Variations occur where the nebulæ are in red, or even the whole
under-glaze may be covered with a bright coral-coloured ground, with
the decoration in blue. When this is so the pieces are classified as
"coral-red." Again, amongst the various shades of red and brown under
the glaze some are found in peach-coloured red. These form a class of
"peach ware." Notice the care with which the scales on the dragons are
drawn, and even from the photograph the white seems wonderfully pure.
Yung-ching period.
The dragon decoration sometimes represents the _li_ or dragon of the
sea swimming in the water or rising from the waves. It was from such
a dragon that Fuh-hi (2852-2738 B.C.) learnt and developed the eight
diagrams or symbols called the Pa-kwa, which see under "Symbols." The
Pa-kwa is used for decoration, usually as a raised design, seldom as a
mark. The dragon is never used as a mark.]
[Illustration: RED UNDER THE GLAZE.
This magnificent, tall, cylindrical Vase is an example of red--_rouge
de fer_--under the glaze, with enamel colours in exquisite harmony
applied over the glaze. The merest glance will reveal how artistically
the decorator applied his design to the surface at his disposal. Each
branch, each leaf, has its value in the scheme of ornamentation. The
surface is well covered, but there is no overcrowding. The Vase is of
exquisite proportions, decorated on pure white glaze with a bold design
of Ho-Ho birds, the plumage of _rouge de fer_, green, yellow, and
aubergine; one bird is partly hidden by rocks drawn in various greens,
aubergine, and blue, whilst springing from the back are large flowering
branches of the peony flowers and blossoms. The drawing throughout is
of the highest merit. The flowers and boughs are shown in yellow, blue,
aubergine, creamy white, and black. Underneath the rocks and on the
left of the large bird is a large peony in _rouge de fer_ and foliage
in various greens, whilst on the right are two other flowers, one of
_rouge de fer_ and the other of fine stippled yellow with an aubergine
centre. The rest of the vase is decorated with a bold design of
flowering peach-bloom branches and other large flowers in deep _rouge
de fer_, aubergine, green, and yellow; the neck, which is divided from
the body of the vase by a narrow black band, contains peonies and other
flowers decorated in colours similar to the remainder of the vase.
Period, Kang-he.]
XVII
CLOBBER
WARE, OR
REDECORATED
PORCELAIN