Page 392 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

238 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

illustrated on the border of Plate 120, which is probably a Yung Cheng
piece. Among the gold red monochromes of the the Ch'ien Lung

period one of the most striking is a dark ruby pink with uneven
surface of the " orange peel " type. Mr. S. E. Kennedy has a
remarkable series of these monochromes in his collection.

Speaking generally, the Ch'ien Lung monochromes repeat the
types in vogue in the previous reigns of the dynasty with greater
or less success. Among the greens, the opaque, crackled glazes of
pea, apple, sage, emerald, and camellia leaf tints described on
p. 187 were a speciality of the time, and the snake-skin and cucum-
ber tints were also made with success. There were, besides, beau-
tiful celadon glazes of the grand feu, and an opaque enamel of pale
bluish green eau de nil tint. Underglaze copper red was used both
for monochromes and painted wares, but with the exception of
the liver or maroon colour the former had not the distinction of
the K'ang Hsi sang de boeuf or the Yung Cheng souffle red. There
is a jug-shaped ewer with pointed spout in the British Museum
which has a fluescent glaze of light liver red deepening into crim-
son, and known in Japan as toko. It has the Hsiian Te mark, but
I have seen exactly similar specimens with the mark of Ch'ien
Lung, to which period this colour evidently belongs. On the other
hand, great improvement is observable in the overglaze coral red
monochrome derived from iron, whether it be the thin lustrous
film of the mo hung or the richly fluxed " jujube " red which attains
the depth and fullness of glaze. Fig. 3, Plate 123, is a worthy
example of the iron red monochrome of the period. As a thick,
even and opaque colour this enamel was used in small pieces which

wonderfully simulate the appearance of red cinnabar lacquer.

An endless variety of blue glazes were used, the pure blue in

dark and light shades, souffle or plain, the purplish blues and violets,
the lavenders and clair de lunes. These are mainly high-fired
glazes, but a favourite blue of this period is a deep purplish blue
of soft, fluescent appearance and minutely crackled texture which
is evidently a glaze of the demi-grand feu. The " temple of heaven "
blue is of this nature, though of a purer and more sapphire tint.
It is the colour of the ritual vessels used in the worship of heaven
and of the tiles with which the temple was roofed. Another variety
of this glaze has the same tint, but is harder and of a bubbly, pin-
holed texture, apparently a high-fired colour. The t'ien ch'ing

—(sky blue) has already been mentioned a lighter colour between