Page 442 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

270 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

39. Medium-sized bowls witl^ red phcenix medallions in a celadon (tung

ch'ing) glaze.

40. Nine-inch dishes with silkworm scrolls and ju-i ^ ornament in enamel

colours.

41. Tea cups enamelled in colours with mandarin ducks and lotus flowers.
42. Tea bowls (ch'a wan) with chi ch'ing glaze.
43. Tea bowls decorated in colours with the pa pao (eight attributes of the

Taoist Immortals ; see p. 287).
44. Large bowls with the Eight Immortals in blue on red enamelled waves.
45. Medium-sized bowls, blue and white inside, and with coloured lotus

flowers outside.

46. Bowls with the Eight Buddhist symbols of happy augury (pa chi hsiang).
47. Porcelain bowls with green designs and peach yellow ground.
48. Five-inch dishes with purple and green dragons in a yellow monochrome

ground.
49. Three-inch platters with similar ornament.

50. Soup bowls of the fourth size (ssii hao) with green monochrome glaze.

51. Five-inch dishes with phoenixes in clouds.

52. Medium-sized bowls with dragons and phoenixes among flowers in

coloured enamels.

53. Four-inch platters (tieh) with purple and green dragons in yellow mono-
chrome ground.

54. Nine-inch dishes painted in colours with the eight Buddhist symbols
among flowers.

55. Large bowls painted in colours with archaic phoenixes (k'uei feng) among

flowers.

^MKua7ig Hsii (1875-1909)

Marked examples of this modern ware in the Franks Collection

include a saucer with coloured sprays in a cloudy pink enamel

ground a covered cup with spout decorated in red with cartouches
;

of seal characters accompanied by translations in the ordinary

script, and a dish wdth blackthorn bough and pink blossoms in

Tao Kuang style. In every case the ware is coarse-grained and

rough to the touch, while the glaze is of the lustrous surface and
" musliny " texture, which is characteristic of the nineteenth century

porcelains ; and the painting is mechanical and devoid of any dis-

tinction. There are two little saucers of better quality both in

material and painting, with stork and lotus designs in mixed enamels

and marks ^ which show that they are palace pieces made for the

Empress Dowager.

^ Bushell renders ju-i in the general sense, " with words of happy augury " ; it is,
however, applied to ornaments of ju-i staffs and to borders of ju-i heads.

2 See vol. i., p. 225.