Page 202 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

ii8 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

on the one hand, and those of the early years of K'ang Hsi on

the other.

Reflecting on the insignificance of the Shun Chih porcelains,
one is tempted to ask how it is that the celebrated Lang T'ing-tso,
whose name is usually associated with the beautiful Lang yao of
the K'ang Hsi period, did not succeed in raising the wares of this
period to a more conspicuous level. Lang T'ing-tso was governor
of Kiangsi from 1654 and viceroy of Kiangsi and Kiangnan from
1656-1661 and again from 1665-1668. His name is mentioned
(according to Bushell,^ at any rate, for I have not been able to
verify the statement) in connection with the efforts to make the
dragon bov/ls for the palace in 1654 ; but we shall return to this
point in discussing the Lang yao.

Meanwhile, Ave pass to the reign of K'ang Hsi J^,^ (1662-1722),
the beginning of what is to most European collectors the greatest

period of Chinese porcelain, a period which may be roughly dated

from 1662-1800. Chinese literary opinion gives the preference to
the Sung and Ming dynasties, but if monetary value is any indication
the modern Chinese collector appreciates the finer Ch'ing porcelains
as highly as the European connoisseur. These latter wares have,
at any rate, the advantage of being easily accessible to the Western
student, and they are not difficult to obtain provided one is ready
to pay the high price which their excellence commands. It will
be no exaggeration to say that three quarters of the best specimens

of Chinese porcelain in our collections belong to this prolific period,

and they may be seen in endless variety in the museums and private

galleries of Europe and America, nowhere perhaps better than
in London itself.

With regard to the porcelains made in the early years of K'ang
Hsi there is very little information, and their special excellence has
been assumed mainly on the supposition that the Viceroy Lang
T'ing-tso exercised a beneficent influence on the wares of this
period. He is reputed to have been sponsor of the Lang yao, which

in the ordinary acceptation of the term- includes the beautiful

1 0. C. A., p. 294.

—2 In the second volume of the Pierpont Morgan catalogue which, unfortunately,
—had not the benefit of Dr. Bushell's erudition the late Mr. Laflan extended the term

lang yao so as to embrace the magnificent three-colour vases with black ground and
their kindred masterpieces with green and yellow grounds. It is impossible to justify
this extension of the term unless we assume that the pieces in question were all made
between the years 1654-1661 and 16G5-1668, while Lang T'ing-tso was viceroy of
Kiangsi.