CHÜN WARES AND SOME OTHERS
_Chün Chou_ [Chinese] _ware_[251]
THE Chün ware is said to have been first made in the early part of
the Sung dynasty at Chün Chou or Chün-t´ai, the modern Yü Chou in the
K´ai-fêng Fu in Honan. Like the Lung-ch´üan celadon, thanks to its
strength and solidity, it has survived in sufficient numbers to give
us some idea of the qualities which Chinese writers have described in
picturesque terms. That it finds no mention in the _Cho kêng lu_ and the
_Ko ku yao lun_ seems to imply that it was not appreciated by the virtuosi
of the fourteenth century, owing, no doubt, to the fact that, as hinted
in later works, it was chiefly destined for everyday uses and aimed at
serviceable qualities rather than "antique elegance." By the end of the
Ming dynasty, however, its beautiful glazes had won it a place among
the celebrated Sung wares, although even at this time certain varieties
only were considered estimable. The _Ch´ing pi ts´ang_, for instance,
which appears to rank the Chün ware above that of Lung-ch´üan, gives the
following criticism: "The Chün Chou ware, which is red like rouge, is
highly prized; that which is _ch´ing_ like onion blue (_ts´ung ts´ui_),
and that which is purplish brown (_tzŭ_) like ink, are esteemed second;
single-coloured pieces, which have the numerals one, two, etc., as marks
on the bottom, are choice; the specimens of this ware with mixed colours
(_tsa sê_) are not worth collecting." It was not long, however, before
even the despised "mixed colours" were not only appreciated by collectors,
but studiously imitated by the Ching-tê Chên potters.
The body of the wares, which are now classed as "Chün type," varies
considerably in quality and texture. The choicest examples in Western
collections, usually deep flower pots or shallow bulb bowls with lovely
glazes of dove grey, lavender, crushed strawberry, dappled purple and
crimson, and other tints, are made of a clay which, though dark-coloured
on the exterior, shows considerable refinement and closeness of texture
within. It is, in fact, a porcellanous ware of whitish grey tone. It is
noticed that these pieces are almost always marked with incised Chinese
numerals, and there are critics who would confine the Chün wares to this
group alone. But it is clear from a passage in the _Po wu yao lan_[252]
that there were other types in which the body was of "yellow sandy
earthenware," coarse and thick, and without refinement, with all the
characteristics, in fact, of the ware which these same critics habitually
relegate to the category of _Yüan tz´ŭ_, or ware of the Yüan dynasty. But
we shall return to this question later. Modern Chinese collectors, we
are told,[253] in recognition of these distinctions, classify Chün wares
in two groups, _tz´ŭ t´ai_ (porcelain body) and _sha t´ai_ (sandy, or
coarse-grained, body).
The Chün glazes are of the thick, opalescent kind which flows sluggishly
and often stops short of the base in a thick, wavy roll or in large drops.
On the upper edges of the ware they are thin and more or less transparent
and colourless, but in the lower parts and the hollows in which the glaze
collects in thick masses the depth and play of the colour are wonderful.
These irregularities are specially noticeable on the coarse bodies, but
even on the more refined specimens where the glaze has a smoother flow and
more even distribution, the colour is never quite continuous or unbroken.
In the opalescent depths of the glaze, bubbles, streaks, hair-lines, and
often decided dappling are observed, and a scarcely perceptible crackle is
usually present.[254] Some of these markings which variegate the surface
of the Chün wares have been noticed by Chinese writers as "hare's fur
marking" and "flames of blue."[255] Others, which appear to be irregular
partings in the colour of the glaze, have been named _ch´iu ying wên_ or
"earthworm marks." These last rarely appear except on the finer type of
Chün wares, and, like the "tear stains" on the Ting porcelains, they are
regarded as signs of authenticity.
[Illustration: PLATE 35
Flower pot of Chün Chou ware of the Sung Dynasty.
Grey porcellanous body; olive brown glaze under the base and the numeral
_shih_ (ten) incised. Height (without the wooden stand) 5⅞ inches.
_Eumorfopoulos Collection._
]
Though the beautiful Chün wares of the _tz´ŭ t´ai_ group will always be
rare and costly, Western collectors have been fortunate in securing a fair
number of specimens, and a wonderful series of them was brought together
in March, 1914, in the exhibition held by the Japan Society of New York.
The forms of the flower pots vary considerably. Some have globular body
with high spreading neck and wide mouth; others are bell-shaped like a
deep cup; others are deep bowls with sides shaped in six or eight lobes
like the petals of a flower; others are of quatrefoil form; and others of
oblong rectangular shape with straight sides expanding towards the mouth.
The saucers in which they stood are shallow bowls corresponding in form
to the pots, but supported by three or four feet which are usually shaped
like the conventional cloud scroll or _ju-i_ head. They are otherwise
without ornament, except in the case of the plain rounded saucers, which
have two bands of raised studs or bosses, borrowed, no doubt, from a
bronze vessel. These flower pots and saucers are almost invariably incised
with a numeral under the base, and the fact that when the pots and saucers
fit properly the numerals on each are found to tally seems to indicate
they are, as suggested below, size numbers. But there is no doubt that
the saucers or stands were often used separately as bulb bowls, like the
vessels of similar shape which are found in celadon and other wares.
Vases of the fine Chün ware are occasionally seen. There is a choice
example in the Pierpont Morgan Collection, a small ovoid vase with flat
base; and in the same collection is a low beaker-shaped vase with flaring
neck and globular body strengthened with four square ribs in imitation
of a bronze.[256] No numbers have appeared so far on any of these vases,
nor, as far as I am aware, on any Sung Chün wares except the flower pots
and saucers. I have, however, seen dishes on which a number has been
subsequently cut, and numbers occur on later copies of the Chün types
described below.
The numerals engraved under the base of the flower pots, saucers, and bulb
bowls in the finer Chün wares range from 1-10. Their significance has
given rise to some debate, but the most reasonable theory seems to be that
they indicate the sizes of the different forms, No. 1 being the largest,
though an extra large bulb bowl[257] in the Eumorfopoulos Collection has
the additional mark [Chinese] _ta_ (great). This is the view which, I
believe, is usually accepted in China, and Mr. Eumorfopoulos, who has an
exceptional series of these wares, has applied the test to all he has
seen, and has found the size theory to hold good in all but a few cases,
for which an explanation may yet be found.[258] Another suggestion,
supported by some American collectors of note, such as Mr. Freer and
Mr. Peters, is that the numbers refer to the Imperial kilns, and that
the pieces so marked are Imperial wares. Whether the former theory will
continue to stand the test of application to every fresh specimen remains
to be seen. With regard to the latter, I shall give reasons presently for
doubting that any special Imperial patronage was extended to this kind of
ware; and whatever truth there may be in this explanation of the numbers,
it is highly improbable that any serious evidence can ever be produced to
sustain it.
[Illustration: PLATE 36
Chün Wares
Fig. 1.--Flower pot of six-foil form. Chün Chou ware of the Sung dynasty.
The base is glazed with olive brown and incised with the numeral san
(three). Height 7¾ inches. _Alexander Collection._
Fig. 2.--Bowl of Chün type, with close-grained porcellanous body of
yellowish colour. Sung dynasty. Diameter 5¾ inches. _Eumorfopoulos
Collection._
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
]
It would be possible to construct a formidable list of the colours which
appear in the Chün glazes, though many of the accidental effects would
be very difficult to describe. On the edge and salient parts where the
glaze is thin the colour is usually a transparent olive green which
passes with the thickening of the glaze into a frothy grey shot with fine
purple streaks. The grey sometimes remains thick and opaque, covering
large areas, and it is liable to become frosted over with a dull film of
crab-shell green. It is in this frosting and in the opaque curded grey
that the =V=-shaped and serpentine partings known as "earthworm marks"
most frequently occur; and sometimes a steel blue colour emerges in these
partings and in small spots in the grey. For under the grey there seems
to be always blue and red struggling upwards towards the surface. Hence
the blue and lavender tinge which is so constant, the _t´ien lan_ of the
Chinese. But it is the red which almost always triumphs, emerging in
fine streaks of purple, crimson or coral, like the colour lines in shot
silk, or in strong flecks and dappling, completely overpowering the grey,
which only remains on sufferance in a few fleecy clouds. The fine lines
of colour are usually associated with a smooth silken surface to which a
faint iridescence gives additional lustre; whereas the strongly dappled
and mottled glaze is full of bubbles and pinholes (sometimes called "ant
tracks" by the Chinese) which give the surface the seeded appearance of a
strawberry. The red dappling is usually opaque and tending towards crimson
or rouge red. It will be seen that the red varies in quantity from a mere
tinge or flush to the intensity almost of a monochrome, and in tone from a
pale or deep lavender to aubergine, plum purple, rose crimson, and rouge
red. Making allowance for the capricious nature of Chinese colour words,
these tints will be found to correspond with several of those indicated in
the Yung Chêng list quoted on p. 119. On rare examples the grey and red
colours are in abeyance, and the dominant tint is the transparent olive
green, which is usually confined to the edges. This and the crab-shell
green mentioned above supply the green shades which the Chinese writers
include among the Chün colours.
But none of these glazes can with strict accuracy be described as
monochromes "of uniformly pure colour" which the _Po wu yao lan_ seems
to have regarded as indispensable in the first-class Chün ware. In fact,
it is difficult to conceive the possibility of a Chün glaze of perfectly
uniform tint, without any trace of the perpetual war waged in the kiln
between the red, grey, and blue elements. The nearest approach to a single
colour is seen in some of the grey glazes, but here, too, the colour is
only relatively pure; and I am convinced that the expression used by the
_Po wu yao lan_ is exaggerated, and the meaning is that the nearer the
Chün colours approach to uniformity the more they were prized. It is true
that several examples depicted in Hsiang's Album are monochrome purple,
but I have no more confidence in the colouring of these illustrations
than in the carved decoration which is indicated under their glaze, a
phenomenon unrecorded in any other Chinese work, unexampled in any known
specimen of the ware, and unlikely in view of the nature and the thickness
of the Chün glaze itself.
It is clear, however, that an exaggerated mottling of the glaze and a
confusion of many colours was viewed with disfavour by the old Chinese
connoisseurs. These effects were explained in the _Po wu yao lan_ as due
to insufficient firing. Regarded in this light they were viewed with
contempt by the earlier Chinese writers and labelled with mocking names,
such as _lo kan ma fei_ (mule's liver and horse's lung), pig's liver, and
the like. In reality, they were the forerunners of the many delightful
_flambé_ glazes which the eighteenth-century potters were able to produce
at will when they had learnt that, like all the Chün colours except the
brown glaze on the base, they could be obtained from oxide of copper
under definite firing conditions. How far the old Chün effects were due
to opalescence[259] it is impossible to say, but we know that all of them
can be obtained, whether turquoise, green, crimson, or lavender grey, by
that "Protean medium," oxide of copper, according as it is exposed in the
firing to an oxidising or reducing atmosphere, conditions which could be
regulated by the introduction of air on the one hand, or wood smoke on the
other, at the right moment into the kiln.
It should be added that the finer Chün wares as seen in the flower pots
and stands have an olive or yellowish brown glaze over the base, which in
rare instances is overrun by frothy grey or lavender. Another constant
feature of these pieces is a ring of small scars or "spur marks" on the
base.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Plate 37.--Chün Chou Ware with porcellanous body (_tz´ŭ t´ai_). Sung
dynasty.
Fig. 1.--Flower Pot, with lavender grey glaze. Numeral mark, _ssŭ_ (four).
Diameter 8¾ inches. _Eumorfopoulos Collection._
Fig. 2.--Bulb Bowl, of quatrefoil form, pale olive glaze clouded with
opaque grey. Numeral mark, _i_ (one). Length 10 inches. _Freer
Collection._]
The list of porcelains made at the Imperial factories about 1730[260]
includes a series of imitations of Chün glazes from specimens sent from
the palace collections, which serve at once to show the variety of Chün
colours and the extent to which they were copied. The actual colours
described are:
(1) Rose purple (_mei kuei tzŭ_ [Chinese]).
(2) Cherry apple red (_hai t´ang hung_ [Chinese]).
(3) Purple of the aubergine flower (_ch´ieh hua tzŭ_ [Chinese]).
(4) Plum bloom (_mei tzŭ ch´ing_ [Chinese]).
(5) Donkey's liver and horse's lung (_lü kan ma fei_ [Chinese]), with the
addition of four kinds obtained from other sources.[261]
(6) Deep purple (_shên tzŭ_ [Chinese]).
(7) "Millet colour" (_mi sê_ [Chinese]).
(8) Sky blue (_t´ien lan_ [Chinese]).
(9) Furnace transmutation or _flambé_ (_yao pien_ [Chinese]).
The potters of the Yung Chêng period (1723-35) succeeded wonderfully
in their work of imitation, and existing examples bear witness to the
beautiful colour effects which they obtained. The body of the ware,
however, was, as a rule, a fine white porcelain,[262] which had to be
carefully concealed by the brown glaze on the base. Many of the Yung Chêng
specimens are marked with the seal mark of the period, and occasional
instances occur in which this mark has been ground off in order to pass
the piece as old. I have such a specimen, which was actually bought in the
trade for Sung. It is a small dish, with beautiful turquoise green glaze
in the centre and a _flambé_ red on the sides. The place where the mark
has been ground away when washed clean showed a fine white porcelain body.
It is stated in the _T´ao lu_ that the potters at Ching-tê Chên began to
imitate the Chün wares towards the end of the Sung dynasty. No evidence is
given to support the assertion, which may be merely a local tradition; but
one certainly sees occasional specimens with a porcelain body masked by
a dark brown clay dressing under the base, the glazes of which obviously
imitate the Chün. There are, for instance, saucers and bowls of this kind
with purple glaze finely shot with grey on the exterior and a lavender
grey inside which appear to be older than the Yung Chêng period, though
their shape precludes a greater age than the Ming dynasty.
There are, however, many other imitations of Chün ware in which the body
is not of tell-tale white porcelain. The _Po wu yao lan_, for instance,
written at the end of the Ming dynasty, states that "in the present day
among the recent wares all this type of ware (viz. the Chün type) has the
sandy clay of Yi-hsing[263] for its body; the glaze is very similar to
the old, and there are beautiful specimens, but they do not wear well."
Yi-hsing is the place where the red stoneware tea pots, often called
Chinese "buccaro," were made, and we know that a Yi-hsing potter, named
Ou, was famous at the end of the Ming dynasty for his imitations of Ko,
Kuan, and Chün glazes.[264] A bowl in the British Museum seems to answer
the description of Ou's ware. It has a hard red stoneware body, and a
thick undulating glaze of pale lavender blue colour, the comparative
softness of which is attested by the well-worn surface of the interior.
The "Yung Chêng list" includes yet another type based upon Chün ware. It
is called "Chün glaze of the muffle kiln," clearly a low-fired enamel
rather than a glaze, whose colour is between the Kuangtung ware and the
added[265] glaze of Yi-hsing, though in surface-markings, undulations and
transmutation tints it surpasses them. This appears to be the "robin's
egg" type of glaze,[266] to use the American collector's phrase, a thick,
opaque enamel of pale greenish blue tint flecked with ruby red (see Plate
128).
The manufacture of glazes of the Chün type has continued at Yi-hsing since
the days of Ou, and what is called Yi-hsing Chün is still manufactured
in considerable quantity, the streaky lavender glazes being of no little
merit. When applied to incense burners and vessels of archaic form,
they are capable of being passed off as old, though the initiated will
recognise them by their want of depth and transparency and by the peculiar
satiny lustre of their surface.
[Illustration: PLATE 38
Chün Wares
Fig. 1.--Bowl of eight-foil shape, with lobed sides, of Chün type. Sung
dynasty. Close-grained porcellanous ware of yellowish colour. Height 1⅞
inches. _Alexander Collection._
Fig. 2.--Pomegranate-shaped water pot of "Soft Chün" ware. Probably Sung
dynasty. Height 3½ inches. _Alexander Collection._
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
]
Another ware which has a superficial resemblance to Chün yao has been made
for a long period at the Kuangtung factories,[267] if it does not actually
go back to Sung times. A typical specimen, shown in Plate 51, is a vase of
baluster form with wide shoulders strengthened by a collar with foliate
edge, and small neck and mouth, ornamented with a handsome lotus scroll in
relief. The body is a buff stoneware, and the glaze is thick, opaque, and
closely crackled, and of pale lavender grey warming into purple.
Glazes of this kind have been made at several potteries in Japan e.g.
Hagi, Akahada, and Seto.[268] Besides such specimens as this, there
are many of the streaky, mottled Canton stonewares which are remotely
analogous to the variegated Chün wares. The glazes of this type are more
fluescent than those described in the preceding paragraph and have greater
transparency, and the intention of their makers to imitate Chün types is
shown by incised numerals which are occasionally added under the base.
They are known in China as Fat-shan Chün, from the locality in which they
are made, and though some examples may go back to Ming times, the best
may, as a rule, be ascribed to the eighteenth century and the indifferent
specimens to the present day.
From this digression on Chün imitations to which the mention of Yi-hsing
led us, we must return to the original wares. It has been said that
Chinese connoisseurs recognise two groups of Chün ware, the _tz´ŭ t´ai_
and the _sha t´ai_, and there is no doubt that the contrast between the
body material of the two is very marked. In explanation of this the
Chinese to-day allege[269] that the flower pots and stands were made
of a tribute clay sent annually from the Ching-tê Chên district to the
"Imperial kilns" at Chün Chou, and that the coarser articles were made of
native clays. The story has the air of an _ex post facto_ explanation,
and it is open to many grave objections. In the first place it is
nowhere mentioned in Chinese literature, and in the second place the
Chün Chou kilns, so far from having been described as "Imperial" in the
Sung dynasty, are entirely ignored by the earlier writers, and even in
the late Ming works, where they are first mentioned, the Chün wares are
reckoned as of secondary importance. Thirdly, there does not seem to have
been any need to import kaolin, for Chün Chou was in one of the kaolin
producing districts of China.[270] There are, moreover, many specimens
of the Chün type which hold an intermediate position between the finer
flower pots and the coarse "Yüan tz´ŭ" wares, and these have a decidedly
porcellanous body, though inclined to be yellowish at the base rim. Some
of these have glazes almost as smooth and even as the flower pots, and of
a beautiful lavender grey colour with patches or large areas of aubergine
or amethystine purple, which in rare cases covers the entire exterior of
a bowl. In their finer types they are scarcely distinguishable from the
specimens which we have tentatively classed as Kuan on p. 65, and in their
coarser kinds they seem to belong to the so-called "Yüan tz´ŭ" which are
discussed at the end of this chapter.
Meanwhile, we must consider a very distinctive group to which the term
_sha t´ai_, in its sense of "sandy body," applies with particular
exactitude. In the catalogue of the New York exhibition of March, 1914,
I ventured to differentiate this type by the name of "soft Chün," which
its general appearance seems to justify. It is well illustrated in Plates
38 and 39. The body is buff and varies in texture from stoneware to a
comparatively soft earthenware not far removed in colour from that of
delft or maiolica, though, like so many Chinese bodies, it has a tendency
to assume a darker red brown tint where exposed at the foot rim. The glaze
is unctuous and thick, but not opaque, often, indeed, showing considerable
flow and transparency: it is opalescent, and at times almost crystalline,
and endued with much play of colour. It varies from a light turquoise blue
of great beauty to lavender and occasionally to a strong blue tint, and,
as a rule, it is broken by one or more passages of crimson red or dull
aubergine purple, sometimes in a single well-defined patch, sometimes in
a few flecks or streaks, and sometimes in large irregular areas. This
glaze usually covers the entire exterior and appears again under the base,
leaving practically no body exposed except at the actual foot rim. It has
been attributed to various factories. The pure turquoise specimens have
even been called Ch´ai, and a little piece of this kind was figured by
Cosmo Monkhouse[271] as Kuan ware. On the other hand, I am told[272] that
it is widely known in China as _Ma chün_,[273] and is usually thought to
be of the Ming dynasty, but no reason is assigned for either the name or
the date, and both seem to be based on traders' gossip to which no special
importance need be attached. A fine vase of this kind in the British
Museum has been much admired by Chinese connoisseurs, and they have, as a
rule, pronounced it to be Sung. The important specimen (Plate 39) in the
FitzWilliam Museum, Cambridge, was obtained from a tomb near Nanking,[274]
a circumstance which is in favour of an early origin. In other respects
this class of ware seems to answer to the aubergine and "sky blue" Chün
types described by Chinese writers, and I regard it as one of the Sung
varieties of Chün Chou ware, with "yellow, sandy earthenware" body of
which the _Po wu yao lan_ makes mention.[275]
[Illustration: PLATE 39
Two examples of "Soft Chün" ware.
Fig. 1.--Vase of buff ware, burnt red at the foot rim, with thick, almost
crystalline glaze. Found in a tomb near Nanking and given in 1896 to the
FitzWilliam Museum, Cambridge. Probably Sung dynasty. Height 8⅛ inches.
Fig. 2.--Vase of yellowish ware with thick opalescent glaze. Yüan dynasty.
Height 13⅜ inches.
_Alexander Collection._
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
]
That it continued to be made after the Sung period is practically certain,
and there are specimens which one would unhesitatingly regard as Ming or
Yüan from their form. But, on the other hand, the prevailing shapes are
of the Sung kind, and we have very little to guide us in dealing with the
various Chün types except the form and the quality of the ware. The "soft
Chün" was very closely imitated at Yi-hsing on a yellowish body which
resembles the original in colour, but is generally harder, with a thick
unctuous glaze of somewhat crystalline texture and a turquoise lavender
colour, with rather thin and feeble patches of dull crimson, which lack
the spontaneous appearance of the originals. These Yi-hsing copies are
often marked with an incised numeral like the Canton Chün.
With regard to the duration of the Chün Chou factories, the standard
Chinese works on ceramics are curiously silent. They take no account of
the ware after the Sung period, and leave us to infer that it either
ceased to be made or ceased to be worthy of mention after that time. In
two places only have I found any hint of its survival in later times. One
is an incidental mention of Sung, Yuan, and Ming Chün wares in a modern
work,[276] and the other is in the pottery (not the porcelain) section
in the great K´ang Hsi Encyclopædia.[277] The latter passage is taken
from the administrative records of the Ming dynasty, and contains two
references to large supplies of vases (_p´ing_ and _t´an_) and wine jars
obtained from Chün Chou and Tz´ŭ Chou in the Hsüan Tê period (1426-1436)
and in the year 1553 of the Chia Ching period. We further learn that in
1563 an Imperial edict abolished both the tax which had previously been
levied on the Chün Chou wares and the subsidy which had to a great extent
counterbalanced the tax. These documents prove beyond doubt that potteries
of considerable size existed at Chün Chou in the Ming dynasty, though
their mention in this particular context seems to imply that the ware was
no longer ranked among the porcelains, and had apparently ceased to be
regarded as an artistic production.
From this time onwards to the present day the ceramic history of this
district is a blank, and we are unable to say whether the modern Yü Chou
pottery is a continuation or only a revival of the ancient art of the
place. A specimen of this modern ware in the Field Museum, Chicago, has
close affinities with the "soft Chün." Its base shows a buff stoneware
body washed over with dark brown clay, and the glaze is somewhat
opalescent though thinner than the old glaze, and its colour is a light
blue of a tint more grey than turquoise. Quantities of this modern Yü Chou
ware are to be found in Peking, and occasionally it is passed off as old
Chün, but no one with experience of the originals would be deceived by it.
Finally, there is the important group of wares obviously belonging to
the Chün family but commonly described as Yüan tz´ŭ or ware of the Yüan
dynasty (1280-1367), although no sanction for this name is found in the
older Chinese books. The ware, however, is fairly common in the form of
bowls, shallow dishes, and, more rarely, vases and incense burners. The
bowls which are the most familiar examples are usually of conical form,
with slightly contracted mouth and small foot, coated with thick fluescent
glazes, which form in deep pools at the bottom within, and end outside
in thick drops or a billowy line some distance above the base, leaving a
liberal amount of the body material exposed to view. The body is of the
_sha t´ai_ class and usually of coarse grain, varying from a dark iron
grey to buff stoneware and soft brick red earthenware, though, as already
noted, there are finer specimens which link it with the _tz´ŭ t´ai_
group. It is this roughness of substance which has caused the ware to be
relatively little esteemed in China, for the glaze is often of singular
beauty. The varieties in colour are innumerable and clearly due to the
opalescence of the thick, bubbly glaze, combined with the ever-changing
effects of copper oxide on a highly fired ware. Lavender grey, dove grey,
brown, and grey green are conspicuous, but as the thickness of the glaze
varies with its downward flow, so the colour changes in tone and intensity
from a thin, almost colourless skin on the upper edges to deep pools of
mingled tints where the glaze has collected in thick masses. It is usually
streaky and shot with fine lines of colour, but sometimes there are large
areas of misty grey or greenish brown tones too subtle for description. A
section of these glazes will generally disclose the presence of red, and
this red often bursts out on the surface in patches which contrast vividly
with the surrounding tones. If the patches are large they will be found
to shade off into green in the centre or at the edges. It should be added
that crackle is almost always present, though it varies much in intensity
and does not seem to have been intentional.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Plate 40.--Chün Chou Ware.
Fig. 1.--Bulb Bowl, porcellanous ware with lavender grey glaze passing
into mottled red outside. Numeral mark, _i_ (one). Sung dynasty.
Diameter 9¼ inches. _Eumorfopoulos Collection._
Fig. 2.--Vase of dense reddish ware, opalescent glaze of pale misty
lavender with passages of olive and three symmetrical splashes of purple
with green centres. Sung or Yuan dynasty. Height 10⅜ inches. _Peters
Collection._]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Plate 41.--Chün Chou Ware.
Fig. 1.--Dish with peach spray in relief. Variegated lavender grey glaze
with purplish brown spots and amethyst patches, frosted in places with
dull green. Sung dynasty. Diameter 8½ inches. _Freer Collection._
Fig. 2.--Vase and Stand, smooth lavender grey glaze. Sung or Yüan dynasty.
Height 7¾ inches. _Alexander Collection._]
Decoration of any kind is unusual on these wares except on the large
tripod incense burners, which often have slight applied reliefs in the
form of animals, dragons, or peony sprays. Mr. Freer's dish (Plate 41,
Fig. 1) with the raised floral spray is quite exceptional.
Whatever the verdict may be on the technical qualities of these rugged
pieces as compared with more finely finished porcelain, there can be no
doubt of the artistic merit of the subtle glaze colours, and I have seen
people whose undoubted taste in other forms of art had not previously been
directed to things ceramic, display a sudden and unexpected enthusiasm
over the rough Yüan bowls. The peculiar shape of these bowls--which,
without their foot take the form of a half coco-nut--has raised the
question whether it can be in any way connected with the Polynesian khava
bowls. The latter are actually made of coco-nut, and, curiously enough,
their interior after much use acquires a vivid patina, whose colour
recalls some of the Yüan tz´ŭ glazes. The resemblance, however, remarkable
as it is, can only be accidental, for it is practically certain that
the tints of these ceramic glazes were quite unforeseen. Long use has
usually given the surface of the Yüan tz´ŭ a smooth, worn feeling, but
in its first freshness the glaze had a very high and brilliant lustre.
This is shown by a few pieces which have lately been sent from China,
where they were excavated evidently on the site of the old factory, and
still remain in their seggars or fireclay cases to which they became
attached by some accident in the kiln. These and other spoilt pieces or
wasters would be of immense interest if only the circumstance of their
finding had been faithfully recorded. Unfortunately, however, they passed
through many hands before reaching Europe, and we have only hearsay to
support the statement that they were found in the neighbourhood of Honan
Fu. The locality is a likely enough spot and not remote from Chün Chou,
but we must consider that the real origin of the Yüan tz´ŭ has yet to be
settled, and we must still remain in doubt whether the ware is a coarse
variety of Sung Chün Chou ware, a continuation of that manufacture in
the Yüan dynasty, or the production of a different factory. Judging
from the character of the glazes, I am inclined to accept the first
two alternatives, which are not mutually exclusive, for while many of
the specimens have the appearance of Sung wares, there is every reason
to suppose that the manufacture continued through the Yüan period. The
formula, "Sung or Yüan ware of Chün type," adopted in the catalogue of
the exhibition at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1910, is a discreet
compromise which may well be retained till further evidence from China is
forthcoming.
The evidence of Sir Aurel Stein's excavations in the regions of Turfan,
imperfect as it is, points to the existence of this kind of ware at least
as early as the Sung dynasty. Fragments with the typical glaze of the
so-called Yüan-tz´ŭ were found, for instance, on a site which was thought
to have been closed in the Sung dynasty, and again at Vash-shahri, which
was "believed to have been occupied down to the eleventh or twelfth
century." Making ample allowance for error in calculating the dates of
these buried cities, we may still fairly consider that some of these finds
come within the limits of the Sung dynasty.
_Chien_ [Chinese] _yao_
This ware, which has already been mentioned in several passages,
originated at Chien-an, but the factory was subsequently removed to the
neighbouring Chien-yang. Both places are in the Chien-ning Fu, in the
province of Fukien, and the term Chien yao derives from the character
_chien_, which occurs in all these place names. The beginning of the
manufacture is unknown, but it certainly dates back to the early Sung
period, being mentioned in a tenth-century work,[278] and the potteries
were still flourishing at the commencement of the Yüan dynasty.[279] A
characteristic specimen figured in Plate 42 is a tea bowl with soft, dark
brown earthenware body and thick, lustrous, purplish black glaze, mottled
and streaked with golden brown. The brown forms a solid band at the mouth
and tails off into streaks and drops on the sides, finally disappearing
in a thick mass of black. The spots and streaks of brown suggested to
Chinese writers the markings on a partridge's breast or on hare's fur,
and the bowls are usually known as "hare's fur cups"[280] or "partridge
cups." The dark colour of the glaze made them specially suitable for the
tea-testing competitions which were in fashion in the Sung period, the
object of the contest being to see whose tea would stand the largest
number of waterings, and it was found that the least trace of the tea was
visible against the black glaze of the Chien bowls. The testimony of an
eleventh-century writer[281] on this point is of interest. "The tea," he
says, "is light in colour and suits the black cups. Those made at Chien-an
are purplish black (_kan hei_) with markings like hare's fur. Their
material, being somewhat thick, takes long to heat, and when hot does not
quickly cool, which makes them specially serviceable. No cups from any
other place can equal them. Green (_ch´ing_) and white cups are not used
in the tea-testing parties."
[Illustration:
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Plate 42.--Two _Temmoku_ Bowls, dark-bodied Chien yao of the Sung dynasty.
Fig. 1.--Tea Bowl (_p´ieh_), purplish black glaze flecked with silvery
drops. Diameter 7½ inches. _Freer Collection._ Fig. 2.--Tea Bowl with
purplish black glaze shot with golden brown. Height 3¾ inches. _British
Museum._]
The Chinese tea contests were adopted by the Japanese, who elaborated
them into the curious ceremony known as _Cha no yu_, which later assumed
a semi-political aspect. The Japanese _Cha jin_ (initiates of the tea
ceremony) have always prized the Chien yao bowls, to which they gave
the name _temmoku_, and Brinkley speaks of a great variety of Chien yao
glazes which he saw in Japan. Of some he says that "on a ground of mirror
black are seen shifting tints of purple and blue; reflections of deep
green, like the glossy colour of the raven's wing; lines of soft silver,
regular as hair." The tea-testing contests seem to have lost popularity
in China at an early date, and late Ming writers took little interest
in the partridge cups, which one[282] at least of them voted "very
inferior." In Japan, on the other hand, the vogue of the tea ceremonies
has continued unabated to modern times, and no doubt the Chien bowls were
eagerly acquired by the Japanese æsthetes. Hence their rarity in China
to-day. Moreover, the Japanese potters of Seto and elsewhere have copied
them with astonishing cleverness, so that the best Seto imitations are
exceedingly difficult to distinguish from the originals. The ordinary run
of the Japanese copies, however, are recognised by a body of lighter tint
and finer, more porcellanous texture, besides their general imitative
character and the Japanese touch which is learnt by observation but is not
easy to define in words.
Though we hear nothing further of this Chien yao after the Yüan dynasty
it is practically certain that the manufacture of pottery of some
sort continued in the district. A small pot of buff stoneware with a
translucent brown glaze (much thinner than that of the hare's fur bowls
and without the purple tint or the golden brown markings) was found in a
tomb near, Chien-ning Fu with an engraved slab dated 1560. The find was
made by the Rev. H.S. Phillips, who presented the pot, with a rubbing of
the inscription, to the British Museum.
In addition to the characteristic _temmoku_ we have now quite a large
family of bowls, dishes, jars, and vases with thick purplish black
glazes more or less diversified by golden brown and tea-dust green,
which are at present grouped with the Chien yao pending some more
precise information as to their origin. They are, however, distinguished
by a coarse porcellanous body of greyish white or buff colour, and I
understand that many of the bowls have come from excavations in Honan;
and there are features in the ornament and in the ware itself which
suggest that they date back as far as the T´ang period. Fig. 3 of Plate
43, for instance, with its large brown mottling on a black glaze, is
analogous in form and material to the white-glazed T´ang wares and in the
mottling of the glaze to the typical T´ang polychrome. The bowls, which
are usually small and shallow with straight sides, wide mouth, and very
narrow foot, or with rounded sides slightly contracting at the mouth,
have neither the weight of material nor smooth solidity of glaze which
characterise the true Chien yao. On the other hand, they are more varied
in the play of black and brown, and in some cases they have designs and
patterns which are clearly intentional. The two extremes of colour are a
monochrome black, usually of purplish tint but sometimes brownish, and a
lustrous brown often decidedly reddish in tone. Between these come the
black glazes which are more or less variegated with brown in the form
of mottling, streaks, tears, irregular patches, and definite patterns.
The glaze in these bowls usually extends to the foot rim, and sometimes
reappears in a patch under the base. The ornament in some cases takes the
form of rosettes or plum blossom designs in T´ang style incised through
the glaze covering; in others, as in Fig. 1 of Plate 43, we find a leaf
design (evidently stencilled from a real leaf) expressed in brown or dull
tea green; and occasionally there are more ambitious designs, such as a
hare or bird or foliage, incised. On a red brown bowl in the Museum für
Ostasiatische Kunst at Cologne there are traces of a floral pattern in a
lustrous medium which resembles faded gilding.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Plate 43.--Three Examples of "Honan _temmoku_," probably T´ang dynasty.
Fig. 1.--Bowl with purplish black glaze, stencilled leaf in golden brown.
Diameter 6 inches. _Havemeyer Collection._
Fig. 2.--Ewer with black glaze. Height 4¾ inches. _Alexander
Collection._
Fig. 3.--Covered Bowl, black mottled with lustrous brown. Height 7 inches.
_Cologne Museum._]
We have already noted how the purplish black glaze of the Tz´ŭ Chou ware
breaks into lustrous brown; the black Ting ware and the debateable red
Ting have been discussed; and if we add this family which may perhaps be
provisionally described as Honan _temmoku_, it would appear that glazes
analogous to those of the Chien yao "hare's fur" bowls were widely used in
Northern China at an early date.
A word of explanation may appropriately be added here of the expression
_wu-ni yao_,[283] which occurs in several passages in Chinese books on
pottery. It means "black clay ware," and as a general term would naturally
include the "hare's fur bowls." Indeed, one passage[284] actually speaks
of the _wu-ni yao_ of Chien-an, and the _T´ao lu_, which gives the ware a
paragraph to itself, states that it was made at Chien-an, in Chien-ning
Fu, beginning in the Sung dynasty, and that its clay was black. It further
adds that the glaze is "dry and parched" and that it was sometimes green
(_ch´ing_). It is clear from the above quotations that _wu-ni yao_ was a
general expression for the dark-bodied Chien ware; and there the matter
would have ended had not early works, such as the _Cho kêng lu_ and _Ko
ku yao lun_, mentioned it in the category of Kuan and Ko wares, the
former naming it with the Hsün and Yu-hang wares, which were inferior to
the Kuan, and the latter adding to the passage dealing with Kuan wares
the following note: "There are black wares which are called _wu-ni yao_,
all of which were imitated at Lung-ch´üan. They have no crackle." The
_Po wu yao lan_, however, explains that these wares "were admitted _by
confusion_ into the category of Kuan and Ko wares," and that the "error
has been handed down to this day." Probably it was the green variety
which caused the confusion, as there seems no reason why the black glazes
should have been associated with the Kuan class, though the dark red clay
of the Phœnix Hill from which the Hang Chou Kuan ware was made may have
had some resemblance to the dark red brown body of the Chien yao. As for
the Lung-ch´üan imitations, we can only imagine that the statement refers
to the later Ko wares, which are said to have been made with material
brought from Hang Chou,[285] and that their glaze, too, was of the green
variety, as would be expected in the Lung-ch´üan district, the home of the
green celadons. At the same time it will be remembered that _wu-ni yao_
means simply "black clay ware," and might have been fairly applied to any
dark-bodied ware wheresoever made.
As already mentioned, many fragments of pottery were included in the
important finds made by Sir Aurel Stein in his excavations in Turfan.
Unfortunately, many of the sites have little evidential value, because
they have clearly been revisited at comparatively late periods; but there
are a few localities which ceased to be inhabited as early as the Sung
dynasty, and which furnished fragments of glazed pottery and porcellanous
wares. I only mention those sites which, as far as these finds are
concerned, were not vitiated by the occurrence of obviously recent wares.
On one site named Ushaktal, supposed to have been abandoned in the Sung
dynasty, if not before, were fragments of greenish brown celadon with
combed ornament on the body, such as was certainly made in Corea and
probably in China as well. The same site produced opalescent glazes of the
Chün and Yüan type. The site of Vash-shahri, which was "occupied probably
down to the eleventh or twelfth century," produced a number of interesting
fragments (1) with buff and grey stoneware bodies and glazes of the
opalescent Chün and Yüan kinds, (2) the same body with emerald green
crackled glaze, (3) celadon glazes over carved ornament, (4) speckled
olive brown glaze resembling the later "tea dust," (5) opaque dark brown
glaze, (6) speckled dark purplish brown glazes, (7) thick greenish glaze
evenly dappled with pale bluish grey spots.
Early wares found on the mixed sites, such as Kan Chou and Hsi Yung
ch´êng, which were occupied down to Sung times but evidently visited
later, include carved white porcelain and creamy white ware of the _t´u
Ting_ class, and several kinds of _Tz´ŭ Chou_ wares, the _graffiato_, as
well as the black painted. But evidence from excavations of this kind is
always open to the objection that the ruins may have been visited later,
and the broken pottery dropped by subsequent explorers. This objection,
however, cannot reasonably be offered to more than a small proportion of
the objects found, and these finds, though not in themselves conclusive,
may be regarded, at any rate, as valuable corroboration of existing
theories.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 251: [Chinese] is an alternative form of [Chinese].]
[Footnote 252: Bk. ii., fol. 7 verso. In discussing the glazes with mixed
colour, the author says: "Of these wares, the sword-grass bowls and their
saucers alone are refined. The other kinds, like the garden seats, boxes,
square vases, and flower jars, are all of yellow sandy earthenware.
Consequently, they are coarse and thick, and not refined." The first
sentence is difficult, and has given rise to much discussion. The word
_ti_, which Bushell has (rightly, I think) rendered saucers, literally
means "bottom" or "base." Hirth reads it, "Those which have bottoms like
the flower pots in which sword-grass is grown are considered the most
excellent"; and Julien appears to have quite misunderstood the application
of the passage. The original is [Chinese]. The shallow saucers in which
the deep flower pots stood are often included among the bulb bowls. See
Plates 37 and 40.]
[Footnote 253: See the excellent account of the Chün wares by Mrs.
Williams in the introduction to the _Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of
Chinese, Corean, and Japanese Potteries held by the Japan Society of New
York, 1914_.]
[Footnote 254: Shrivelled glaze is sometimes seen on the Chün types of
pottery. Probably this was at first, at any rate, an accidental effect;
but it is the prototype of the "dragon skin" glazes which the Japanese
made at a later date. There is a good example in the Eumorfopoulos
Collection of a bowl with thick grey Chün glaze, with a patch of reddish
colour, and which is shrivelled in the most approved fashion, the glaze
contracting into isolated drops and exposing the body between them.]
[Footnote 255: See _T´ao shuo_, bk. ii., fol. 15 verso, quoting the _Liu
ch´ing jih cha_. In the case of the former (_t´u ssŭ wên_) some confusion
has been caused by a variant reading [Chinese] of the word [Chinese]
(_t´u_ = hare), which refers the simile to the "dodder"; but the commoner
phrase, "hare's fur marking," is far more descriptive of a dappled
surface. Brinkley's explanation of the second phrase, _huo yen ch´ing_,
as referring to the blue centre of a tongue of flame, applying the simile
to the passages of blue which sometimes occur in the variegated Chün
glazes, seems to meet the case. The flame-like effects are mentioned in an
interesting passage in the _T´ang chien kung t´ao yeh t´u shuo_ (quoted in
the _T´ao lu_, bk. viii., fol. 13): "Men prize the Chün cups, tripods, and
incense burners with smoke and flame glaze (_yen huan sê_). Although only
pottery, still they combine the unexpected colours produced by the blowing
tube (_t´o yo_)." The _t´o yo_ [Chinese] seems to have been "a pipe for
blowing up the furnace."]
[Footnote 256: See Hamilton Bell, "'Imperial' Sung Pottery," _Art in
America_, July, 1913, p. 182. The Chinese numerals are given on p. 211.]
[Footnote 257: _Cat. B.F.A._, 1910, B 42.]
[Footnote 258: There is an obvious analogy in the "_size 3_" and "_S 2_,"
etc., incised under the Derby porcelain figures.]
[Footnote 259: See p. 50.]
[Footnote 260: See _Chiang hsi t´ung chih_, vol. xciii, fol. 11 and seq.
Quoted also in the _T´ao lu_, and translated by Bushell, _O.C.A._, p. 369;
and vol. ii., p. 223, of this work.]
[Footnote 261: _Wai hsin tê_ [Chinese], lit. "recently obtained from
outside." Wai evidently contrasts here with _nei_ (the palace), which
precedes the first five. Julien, however, gives it the sense "_émaux
nouvellement inventés_."]
[Footnote 262: See _T´ao lu_, bk. vi., fol. 7. "As to the ware made at
Ching-tê Chên at the present day in imitation of the Chün wares, the body
material is all of beautiful quality." This carries the imitation up to
the end of the eighteenth century. There are, however, imitations made on
a soft pottery body which bear the Yung Chêng mark.]
[Footnote 263: See p. 174.]
[Footnote 264: See p. 181. The list quoted on p. 223 of vol. ii. of the
wares made at the Imperial potteries in 1730 includes "glazes of Ou:
imitated from old wares of a man named Ou. There are two kinds, one with
red markings, the other with blue."]
[Footnote 265: _kua yu_ [Chinese] "applied or added glaze." The
significance of the epithet _kua_ lies in the fact that the bulk of the
Yi-hsing ware was unglazed.]
[Footnote 266: See Bushell, _O.C.A._, p. 374.]
[Footnote 267: See p. 168.]
[Footnote 268: See _Burlington Magazine_, November, 1909, Plate iv., opp.
p. 83.]
[Footnote 269: See Mrs. Williams, loc. cit., p. 33.]
[Footnote 270: The modern Yü Chou. See vol. ii., p. 107.]
[Footnote 271: Op. cit., Plate 1.]
[Footnote 272: By Mr. A.W. Bahr.]
[Footnote 273: The name _Ma_ is supposed to be that of a potter, but the
statement is based on oral tradition only. The character used is _ma_
(horse).]
[Footnote 274: It was deposited in the FitzWilliam Museum by Mr. W.H.
Caulfield in 1896.]
[Footnote 275: See p. 110.]
[Footnote 276: The _Li t´a k´an k´ao ku ou pien_, of which the British
Museum possesses a copy dated 1877.]
[Footnote 277: The _Ch´in ting ku chin t´u shu chi ch´êng_, fol. 10 of the
subsection dealing with _t´ao kung_ (the pottery industry), entitled _T´ao
kung pu hui k´ao_.]
[Footnote 278: The _Ch´ing yi lu_, quoted in the _T´ao shuo_, bk. v.,
fol. 16 verso: "In Min (i.e. Fukien) are made tea bowls with ornamental
markings like the mottling and spots on a partridge (_chê ku pan_). The
tea-testing parties prize them." Oddly enough, the only specimen of this
type of ware which I have seen with a date-mark was dated in the reign
of Hsien Tê (954-960) of the Posterior Chou dynasty; but the inscription
had been cut subsequently to the firing of the ware, and carries little
weight. The piece in question is a remarkably large bottle-shaped vase
with a splendid purplish black glaze with "hare's fur" marking, in the
Eumorfopoulos Collection.]
[Footnote 279: See _T´ao lu_, bk. vii., fol. 8 verso.]
[Footnote 280: [Chinese] _t´u hao chan_.]
[Footnote 281: Ts´ai-hsiang, quoted in the _T´ao shuo_, bk. v., fol. 16
verso.]
[Footnote 282: The _Liu ch´ing jih cha_.]
[Footnote 283: [Chinese]]
[Footnote 284: In the _Liu ch´ing jih cha_.]
[Footnote 285: See p. 72.]