Page 319 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

K'ang Hsi Monochromes 189

the olive." The long tsiven is clearly a transliteration of the characters
which we write Lung-cliuan, the generic name of the old celadons

;

but it is odd that Pere d'Entrecolles should not have seen copies
of this glaze before 1722, for its use must have been continuous
at Ching-te Chen from very early times, and we have found refer-
ence to it in various periods of the Ming dynasty. It is evident,
however, that the colour was enjoying a fresh burst of popularity
just at this time. D'Entrecolles gives a few further notes which
concern its composition. His recipe is substantially the same as
that given in Chinese works, viz. a mixture of ferruginous earth,
which would contribute a percentage of iron oxide, with the ordinary

glaze. 1 He also states that sui yu (crackle glaze) was added if a

crackled surface was required, and there are numerous examples
of this kind of ware to be seen. The most familiar are the vases
with crackled celadon or grey green glaze interrupted by bands
of biscuit carved with formal patterns and stained to an iron colour

with a dressing of ferruginous earth. Monster heads with rings

(loose or otherwise) serve as twin handles on these vases, which

are designed after bronze models. These crackled celadons are

evidently fashioned after an old model, but they have been largely
imitated in modern times, and almost every pawnbroker's window

displays a set of execrable copies (often further decorated in under-

glaze blue) which are invariably furnished with the Ch'eng Hua
mark incised on a square brown panel under the base.

The yellow monochromes of the K'ang Hsi period are mostly
descendants of the Ming yellows. There is the pale yellow applied
over a white glaze reproducing the yellow of " husked chestnuts,"
for which the Hung Chih (q.v.) porcelains were celebrated ; and
there is a fuller yellow, usually of browner shade, applied direct
to the biscuit. Yellow is one of the Imperial colours, the usual
tint being a full deep colour like the yolk of a hen's egg, and the
Imperial wares are commonly distinguished by five-clawed dragons
engraved under the glaze. Other glazes ^ used on the services made
for the Emperor are the purplish brown (aubergine) and the bright
green of camelia leaf tint, which with the yellow make up the san
is'ai or three colours. In fact the precise shades of these colours

1 The T'ao lu (see Julien, p. 213) gives this recipe for the kind of celadon known
as Tung ch'ing, and a similar prescription with a small percentage of blue added for
the varietx' known as Lung-ch'uan.

2 See Bushell, O. C. A., p. 316.