Page 199 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

Fukien Porcelain 11^

et qui n'est point melange de couleurs." On the other hand, a
distinct reference is made to the painting in colours in a modern

Chinese work.^ Unfortunately, the question has been complicated

by the existence of many pieces of Fukien white which have been

enamelled in Europe. In the first half of the eighteenth century
in Holland, Germany, and elsewhere, there were decorators busy
enamelling white porcelain of whatever kind they could get, and
the blanc de chine offered a ready subject for this treatment. The
decoration thus added was usually in Oriental taste, and might

be confused with indifferent Chinese work. Many of these pieces
are in the British Museum. On the other hand, there are in the

same collection two cups with roughly painted floral designs in green
and red which are obviously Chinese, though the}'' might well have
been painted in the mechanical method described by Mr. Dukes,
which was probably traditional. Mr. Eumorfopoulos possesses
several good examples of this painted Fukien ware, one of which

may be described to show the style of painting affected. It

is executed in leaf green, lustrous red, and the turquoise green

which we associate with the Wan Li period, and the form

—a double-bottomed bowl is likewise reminiscent of the Ming

dynasty.

The Japanese, whose traditions have often proved most mis-
leading, have frequently classed the Fukien white as Corean porce-
lain {haku-gorai or white Corean), probably because specimens
reached them from the Corean ports. In the British Museum, for
instance, there is a beautiful white incense vase, formerly in the
collection of Mr. Ninagawa of Tokio, and labelled by him as
" Corean porcelain, 500 years old." It has all the characteristics of
the finest cream white Fukien ware of late Ming or K'ang Hsi
period, and if this piece is Corean, then I do not believe that even
the subtle perception of the Japanese could find any difference
between Corean and Fukien white. It is only right to add that
other Japanese experts have pronounced it Chinese. Incidentally,

I may mention that the base of this vase is glazed.

Marks were occasionally used by the Te-hua potters, either

^ The Li ta k'an k'ao ku ou pien, a copy of v,hicli, published in 1877, is in the British
Museum. This book does not inspire confidence, but I give the passage for what it

is worth : " When the glaze (of the Chien yao) is white like jade, glossy and lustrous,

rich and thick, with a reddish tinge, and the biscuit heavy, the ware is first quality
. . Enamelled specimens {ivu is'ai) are second rate."