Page 340 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

204 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

Another type much copied at this period as well as in the suc-
ceeding reign is that in which the blue is mottled and blotched
with darker spots, a type discussed among the early Ming wares.
And similarly such specimens as Fig. 2 of Plate 116, which
bears a Hsiian Te mark, doubtless belong to this period of

imitative manufacture. It is of thick, solid build with smooth,
soft-looking glaze, whose bubbled texture gives the blue a hazy
appearance.

Painting in underglaze red alone, or in combination with under-

glaze blue, was freely practised in the reign of Yung Cheng, and

probably most of the fine examples of this type in our collections
belong to this and the succeeding reign (Fig. 1, Plate 117). There is

a good example with the Yung Cheng mark in the British Museum,

a vase of " pilgrim-bottle " form with central design of the three

—emblematic fruits peach, pomegranate, and finger citron, symbols

of the Three Abundances of Years, Sons and Happiness. The fruits
are in a soft underglaze red, verging on the peach-bloom tint, and
the foliage, together Avith the borders and accessory designs, are
pencilled in dark blue.

The Imperial list alludes to this decoration under the heading
of " red in the glaze " (yii li hung), including (1) red used alone for
painted designs, and (2) red foliage combined with blue flowers.
Examples of both these styles are frequent in large and small objects,
and especially in the decoration of snuff bottles, which often bear
the Yung Cheng mark. They are, however, by no means confined
to the Yung Cheng period, but have continued in uninterrupted

use to the present day.

Other references in the list ^ to underglaze red painting include

designs of three fishes,* three fruits, three funguses, and five bats
(for the five blessings) in the Hsiian Te style, red in a white ground

;

and the same red designs in a celadon green ground, the latter com-
bination being a novelty of the previous reign. Plate 115 is a choice
example of the underglaze colours in a celadon ground ; and similar
designs in a pale lavender blue ground, besides other combinations
of the same colours, coloured slips, and high-fired glazes which

1 See p. 13.
2 See p. 225, No. 45.
3 See p. 224, Nos. 19 and 20.

* A beautiful example of a " stem-cup " in the Eumorfopoulos Collection, with three

fishes on the exterior in underglaze red of brilliant quality and the Hsiian T6 mark
inside the bowl, probably belongs to this class.