Page 346 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

2o8 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

which bear the Ch'eng Hua mark, are painted in this fashion.^

Similarly in the Bush ell collection there are some beautiful repro-

ductions of the Ch'eng Hua "stem-cups," with grape vine patterns,

etc., which are no doubt of the same origin. Larger work in the
same style is illustrated by a fine vase in the Victoria and Albert
Museum with a phoenix design which suggests an Imperial destina-

tion (Plate 117).

Thirdly, there are the reproductions of the enamelled porcelain

of the Cheng Te and Wan Li periods ^ (q.v.), characterised, no

doubt, by the combination of underglaze blue and overglaze enamels.

We have already seen ^ from the note on Nien yao in the T'ao lu

that this combination was conspicuous at this period, and it is
probable that much of the " five colour " porcelain in late Ming
style should be dated no further back than the Yung Cheng revival.

Other types of Ming coloured wares reproduced at this time were
" porcelain with ornament in Hslian Te style in a yellow ground," *
which seems to mean underglaze blue designs with the ground

— —filled in with yellow enamel a not unfamiliar type and porcelain

with designs painted in iron red {ts^ai hung) *' reproduced from

old pieces." ^ But the most prominent feature of the enamelled

porcelains of this time is the rapid development of the famille rose

Wecolours. have already noted the first signs of their coming in

the thick rose pink and opaque white, which made their appearance

in the latter years of K'ang Hsi. The group derives its name from

its most conspicuous members, a series of rose pinks graduating

from pale rose to deep crimson, all derived from gold, the use of

which as a colouring agent for vitreous enamel was only at this

period mastered by the Chinese potters. It includes besides a
number of other colours distinguished from those of the famille
verte palette by their relative opacity. They display, moreover,

a far wider range of tints, owing to scientific blending of the various

enamels and to the judicious use of the opaque white to modify

1 See Catalogue 300-303. " On each is a miniature group of the Seven Worthies
of the Bamboo Grove with an attendant bringing a jar of wine and flowers. The

porcelain is so thin that the design, with all the details of colour, can be distinctly
perceived from the inside." It is only right to say that their learned possessor has

catalogued them as genuine examples of the Ch'eng Hua period.

* See p. 224, No. 25.
3 See p. 201.
* See p. 224, No. 27,

6 See p. 225, No. 3G.