Page 338 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

202 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

of the choicer examples of armorial porcelain. ^ There are several

specimens of this in the British Museum, one of which bears the
early date, 1702, while others belong to the Yung Cheng period.

Again there is the highly vitreous ware evolved by T'ang Ying to

imitate the opaque glass of Ku-yueh-hsilan ; but that will be dis-

cussed later. ^ These special bodies were mainly employed for

articles of small size and ornamental design, and they can be studied

in all their varieties in a representative collection of snuff bottles.

The Chinese potters lavished all their skill on these dainty little

objects. Not only do they include every kind of ware, crackled

or plain, translucent or opaque, but they illustrate in miniature

—every variety of decoration monochrome, painted, carved, moulded,

incised, pierced and embossed. Probably the choicest snuff bottles

were made in the Yung Cheng and Ch'ien Lung periods but the
;

Chinese have never ceased to delight in them, and many beautiful

examples were manufactured in the nineteenth century, particularly

in the Tao Kuang period.

The ordinary Yung Cheng porcelain differs but little from that

of the previous reign, though it tends to assume a whiter appear-

ance, and the green tinge of the glaze is less marked. Moreover,

a change is noticeable in the finish of the base rim of vases and bowls.

Bevelling of the edge is less common, and gives place to a rounded

or angular finish, the foot rim being often almost V-shaped while
;

the slight tinge of brown around the raw edge, which is usual on K'ang

Hsi wares, is often entirely absent. The actual potting of the porcelain

displays a wonderful degree of manipulative skill, and the forms,

though highly finished, are not lacking in vigour. They are, in fact,

a happy mean between the strong, free lines of the K'ang Hsi

and the meticulous finish of the later Ch'ien Lung porcelains. The
verdict of the T'ao lu, " extremely refined and elegant," is fully

justified by the porcelain itself no less than by its decoration.

Not the least deserving of this praise, though mainly made for

export, is the important group discussed on page 209, viz. the

saucer dishes, plates, tea and coffee wares, etc., of delicate white

porcelain, painted, apparently at Canton, in the famille rose enamels.
It is an " eggshell " porcelain, white, thin, and beautifully finished,

and the dainty little conical or bell-shaped tea cups, though M'ithout
handles, are the perfection of table ware. This kind of " eggshell "

^ i.e. porcelain services painted with European coats of arms,
» See p. 215.