Page 198 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

114 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

century, and revived in recent years. The latter part of the state-

ment is unquestionably true, for we have the eye-witness of a

—missionary ^ who visited the place about 1880 and describes the

manufactory as the most extensive of its kind in Fukien " pottery,

pottery everywhere, in the fields, in the streets, in the shops. In

the open air children are painting the cups. Each artist paints

with his own colour and his own few strokes, whether a leaf, a tree,

a man's dress or beard, and passes it over to his neighbour, who

in turn applies his brush to paint what is his share in the decoration."

Unfortunately there is no reason to suppose that the writer made

his observations with an expert eye which would make a distinction

between pottery and porcelain, but in any case it is certain that

he found a vast ceramic industry in full blast at Te-hua.

"AWith reference to the modern ware Brinkley says ^ : con-

siderable number of specimens are now produced and palmed off

upon unwary collectors. But the amateur can easily avoid such

deceptions if he remembers that in genuine pieces of ivory white

the ware is always translucid when held up to the light, a property

which, if not entirely absent, is only possessed in a comparatively

slight degree by the modern product. The general quality of the

glaze and the technique of a piece should be sufficient guides, but

if any doubt remains an examination of the base of the specimens

will probably dispel it. In the old ware the bottom of a vase or

bowl, though carefully finished, is left uncovered, whereas the

modern potter is fond of hiding his inferior pate by roughly over-

spreading it with a coat of glaze."

Probably these observations are in the main correct, but experi-

ence shows that relative opacity and glazed bases are by no means

confined to modern wares. Still, if the collector aims at acquiring

pieces of good colour, whether cream or milk white, with translucent

body, pure glaze and sharp modelling, he is not likely to go far

astray.

The description quoted above of the painting of modern Fukien

ware is interesting in view of the common assertion that the Te-hua

white porcelain was never painted. This assertion is probably based
on a passage in the first letter of Pere d'Entrecolles : " Celle (i.e.

la porcelaine) de Fou-kien est d'un blanc de neige qui n'a nul eclat

^ Everyday Life in China, or Scenes in Fukien, by E. J. Dukes, London, 1885,
p. 140. The reference is given by Bushell in his Oriental Ceramic Art.

» Loc. cit., p. 273.