Page 298 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

174 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

and it is distinguished by large masses of dark, cloudy blue set off
by a soft Indian red (derived from oxide of iron) and gilding. These
colours are supplemented by touches of green, yellow, and aubergine
enamels, and occasionally by a brownish black. The ware itself
is heavy, coarse and greyish, but its rough aspect is well concealed
by irregular and confused designs of asymmetrical panels surrounded
by mixed brocade patterns. The panels often contain Chinese
figures, phoenixes, lions, floral designs of chrysanthemums, peony
and prunus, a basket of flowers, rough landscapes or garden views.
They are medleys of half-Chinese, half-Japanese motives, a riot
of incoherent patterns, but not without broad decorative effect
thanks to the bold masses of red, blue and gold. Such is the typical
" Old Imari." There is, however, a finer and more Japanese variety
of the same group which is distinguished by free use of the chrysan-
themum rosette, and the Imperial kiri (paulonia imperialis), and by
panels of diaper pattern and floral designs alternating and counter-
changed in colour, the grounds now red, now blue, and now gold.
The same colour scheme prevailed in this sub-group, and the
dark blue was usually netted over with gold designs.

It was no doubt the success which these wares met in European
commerce that induced the Chinese to take a lesson from their pupils,
and to adopt the " Imari " style. At any rate, they did copy all
these types, sometimes very closely, sometimes only in part. Thus
in some cases the actual Japanese patterns as well as the colour
scheme are carefully reproduced, in others the Japanese colour
scheme is employed on Chinese patterns or vice versa, and, again,
there are cases in which passages of Japanese ornament are inserted
in purely Chinese surroundings. But whether pure or diluted the
Japanese style is unmistakable to those who have once learnt to
know its peculiarities, of which masses of blue covered with gilt
patterns and the prominence of red and gold are the most con-

spicuous.
There will, of course, always be a few specimens the nationality

of which will be difficult to decide, but to anyone familiar with
Chinese and Japanese porcelain the distinction between the Chinese
" Imari " and its island prototype is, as a rule, a simple matter. The
Chinese porcelain is thinner and crisper, its glaze has the smooth
oily sheen and faintly greenish tint which are peculiar to Chinese
wares, and the raw edge of the base rim is slightly browned. The
Japanese porcelain, on the other hand, is whiter in the Kakiemon