Page 423 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

European Influences in Ch'ing Dynasty 255

this kind of porcelain was shipped sometimes to Japan, but that

this commerce came to an end sixteen or seventeen years ago.

Apparently the Japanese Christians took advantage of this manu-

facture at the time of the persecution to obtain pictures of our

mysteries, and these wares, mingled with others in the crates, eluded

the vigilance of the enemies of our religion. This pious artifice

was no doubt eventually discovered and rendered useless by more

stringent investigation, and that is why the manufacture of this

kind of ware has ceased at Ching-te Chen."

These early types, which are rare to-day, have a special interest

because they were decorated at Ching-te Chen, and their general

style indicates that they were made for Oriental use.

After an interval of some years the Jesuit china reappeared in

a more sophisticated form, probably the work of Canton decorators.

The designs, various Biblical scenes, are copied in black and gold

from European engravings, and they occur on plates with rims,

tea and coffee services, and other articles of European use. The

earliest may date from the Yung Cheng period, but they are mostly

Ch'ien Lung, and the same designs are occasionally executed in

enamel colours. In addition to the Christian china there are plates

and dishes decorated with rings of Koranic inscriptions in Arabic,

surrounding magic squares, and destined for the Mussulman markets.

The Franks Collection includes, besides, numerous examples of

profane subjects ^ copied in black or in colours from European

Aengravings and designs. striking instance of the patient skill

of the Chinese copyist is given by two large plates completely

—covered with the designs the Triumph of Mordecai and Achilles

—dipped in the Styx; copied line for line, apparently, from Le Sueur's

engravings. The effect of the fine lines and cross-hatching is per-

fectly rendered, and on^ would say at first that they had been

transfer-printed if this process had ever been used by the Chinese.

It is amusing, too, to find English topical and political subjects
rendered on Chinese porcelain, mugs and punch bowls, with busts
of the Duke of Cumberland, Prince Charles Edward, and John

Wilkes with appropriate inscriptions. There are, too, satirical

pictures in the style of Hogarth, and a few popular but not over-

lAn interesting example of an early eighteenth century service with European
designs is the " trumpeter service," of which several specimens may be seen in the

Salting Collection. It has a design of trumpeters, or perhaps heralds, reserved in a

black enamelled ground.