Page 129 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

Wan Li (1573-1619) 67

spring " (see vol. i., p. 225). An intense but more vivid violet
blue, which betrays something of the Mohammedan blend, is seen

on a ewer * of Persian form, decorated with a ch'i-lin reclining

before a strangely Italian-looking fountain. The ware of this

piece, though thick, is of fine grain, and the glaze has a faint

greenish tinge, and its mark, a harc,^ (see vol. i., p. 227) occurs

on several other examples of varying quality, but all of late

Ming character.

Another group of marked Wan Li ware, comprising bowls and

dishes with trim neat finish and obviously destined for table use,

has a soft-looking glaze, often much worn, but, even in the less used

parts, with a peculiar smoothness of surface which is, no doubt,

largely due to age. There are three examples of this group in the

British Museum, all painted in the same soft, dark indigo-tinged

blue. One is a bowl with baskets of season flowers round the

exterior, insects, and a border of dragon and phoenix pattern

while inside is a blue medallion with a full-face dragon reserved in

white. The other two are dishes with figure subjects and gourd

vine borders, which are interesting because the painting shows

signs of a transition state, part being in flat Ming washes, and

part showing the marbled effect which was afterwards characteristic

of the K'ang Hsi blue and white.

In striking contrast with this smooth, soft-surfaced ware is a

vase* of square, beaker shape, and details which indicate a form

derived from bronze. Though evidently an Imperial piece, it is

of strong, heavy build, Avith a hard thick glaze of greenish tinge,

so full of minute bubbles as to spread in places a veritable fog over

the blue decoration beneath. The design, consisting of a dragon

and phoenix among sprays of (?) lily, with rock and wave borders,

Wanis repeated in all the spaces, and below the lip in front is the

ALi mark extended in a single line. similar vase,* but with poly-

chrome decoration, illustrated on Plate 81, will serve to show the

form and design. Both are fine, decorative objects, in a strong,

rugged style, which takes no account of small fire-flaws and slight

imperfections in the glaze. The same strong, hard body and glaze

is seen again on three flat, narrow-rimmed dishes,* which are con-

spicuous for unusual borders, two having a large checker and the

* In the British Museum.

* A similar ewer in Dr. Seligmann's collection is marked with one of the trigrams

of the pa kua.