Page 306 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

i8o Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

ordinary blue glazes. In this the colour was applied direct to the
body, as in blue and white painting, and a colourless glaze subse-
quently added, with the natural result that the blue seems to be
incorporated with the body of the ware rather than with the glaze.
There were several ways of applying the colour, each producing a
slightly different effect. The cobalt powder could be mixed with
water, and washed on smoothly with a brush, or dabbed on with
a sponge to give a marbled appearance, or it could be projected
on to the moistened surface in a dry powder, through gauze
stretched across the end of a bamboo tube.

The result of the last process was an infinity of minute specks

of blue, a massing of innumerable points of colour. This is the well-

known " powder blue," the bleu souffle, or blown blue described by
Pere d'Entrecolles in his second letter ^ : "As for the souffle blue

called tsoui tsim {ch'ui cKing), the finest blue, prepared in the manner

which I have described, is used. This is blown on to the vase, and

when it is dry the ordinary glaze is applied either alone or mixed

Wewith tsoui yeou {sui yu), if crackle ^ is required." are further

told that as on the blue and white a glaze softened with a consider-

able proportion of lime was necessary for the perfection of the colour.

The " powder blue " seems to have been a new invention in

the K'ang Hsi period. Under the name of chhii ch'ing (blown blue)

it figures in the T'ao lu ^ among the triumphs of Ts'ang Ying-hsiian's

directorate. It is certainly a singularly beautiful colour effect, and

worthy of the homage it has received from collectors and ceramic

historians. Though the blue used was as a rule of the finest quality,

it varied much in intensity and tone with the nature of the cobalt

and amount applied. Probably the majority of collectors would

give the palm to the darker shades, but tastes differ, and the lighter

tones when the blue is pure sapphire have found whole-hearted

Aadmirers. notable feature of the powder blue is its surprising

brilliancy in artificial light, when most other porcelain colours suffer

eclipse.

It was used indifferently as a simple monochrome or as a ground

in which panel decoration was reserved, the panels painted in famille

^ Loc. cit., section xvii. In another place (section iii.) we are told how the Chinese
surrounded the ware with paper during the blowing operation, so as to catch and save
all the precious material which fell wide of the porcelain.

* I cannot recall any example of the powder blue crackle wloich is here described.
» See Julien, p. 107.