Page 138 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

74 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

tures^ in the Dresden Gallery from the brush of Frans Snyders

(1579-1657).

We shall have occasion later on to discuss more fully another

kind of blue and white porcelain for which the Chinese and American
collectors show a marked partiality, and which has received the
unfortunate title, " soft paste," from the latter. It has an opaque

body, often of earthy appearance, and a glaze which looks soft
and is usually crackled, and the ware is usually of small dimensions,

such as the Chinese literatus delighted to see in his study, and beau-

tifully painted with miniature-like touches, everj^ stroke of the

—brush clear and distinct. Ming marks Hsiian Te, Ch'eng Hua,
—etc. are not uncommon on this ware, and there is no doubt that

it was in use from the early reigns of the dynasty, but the style

has been so faithfully preserved by the potters of the eighteenth

century that it is wellnigh impossible to distinguish the different

Aperiods. dainty specimen with the Wan Li mark illustrated

in Fig. 2 of Plate 93 will serve to show the delicacy and refine-

ment of this exquisite porcelain. At the same time it should be

mentioned that the imitation Ting wares described on p. 96, vol. i.,
when painted in blue, are included in this group.

Two interesting kinds of decoration mentioned in the Wan Li

list^ are frequently found in combination with blue and white ; these
are relief {ting cliuang or tui hua) and pierced work {ling lung). Though

both have been seen in various forms on the earlier wares, they

occur at this period in a fashion which challenges special attention.

I allude particularly to the small bowls with or without covers,
decorated on the sides with unglazed (or " biscuit ") figures in

detached relief, or with delicately perforated fretwork, or with a

combination of both. The catalogue^ of the Pierpont Morgan

Collection illustrates two covered bowls of the first type with the

Eight Immortals in four pairs symmetrically arranged on the sides,

Aand a " biscuit " lion on the cover doing duty for a handle.

similar bowl, formerly in the Nightingale Collection, had the same

relief decoration and painted designs in the typical grey blue of

the Wan Li period ; and Fig. 3 of Plate 78 represents an excellent

^ Numbered 1191 and 1192. A number of other painters who have introduced these

Chinese porcelains into their work are named by Mr. Perzynski {Burlington Magazine,
December, 1910, p. 169).

2 See p. 63.

8 G 5-7.