Page 186 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

io6 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

them. Two men of good character were first selected, the larger

pieces of porcelain being given to one, the smaller pieces to the

other ; and when they had finished their painting, the amount
of the material used was calculated before the things were taken

to the furnace to be baked. If the results were satisfactory, then
the pieces were given as models to the other painters, and in the
rest of the pieces painted, the quantity of the colour used and the
depth of the tint was required to be in exact accordance with these
models." There was little scope for originality or individual effort
under this system, where everything, even to the amount of material

used, was strictly prescribed. To translate their model with feeling
and accuracy was the best that could be expected from the rank
and file. But with the manual skill and patient industry for which
the Chinese are proverbial, and the good taste which prevailed
in the direction of the work, it was a system admirably suited to
the task, and it unquestionably led to excellent results.

As to the systems in use in the private factories we have no
information, but we may fairly assume that their processes were
much the same ; and that, not having the benefit of the designs
sent from Court, they were more dependent upon the pattern books
and stock designs more or less remotely connected with the work
of famous painters.