Page 81 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

'

Chia Ching (1522-1566) 37

may have been etched with a point in the blue surface, ^ or pencilled

in darker blue on a blue background or reserved in white in a blue
ground. Another kind is more fully described as " round dishes

of pure blue {shun ch'ing) with dragons and sea waves inside, and

on the exterior a background of dense cloud scrolls ^ with a gilt

decoration of three lions and dragons." BushelH speaks of the
" beautiful mottled blue ground for which this reign is also remark-

able," and which, he says, was produced by the usual blend of

Mohammedan and native blue suspended in water.

(3) Wares which were white inside and blue outside.
(4) White ware, plain ^ or with engraved designs under the glaze

{an hua, lit. secret ornament).

(5) Ware with brown glaze in two varieties, tzu chin (golden
brown), and chin Huang (golden yellow), with dragon designs engraved

under the glaze. These are the well-known lustrous brown glazes,

the former of dark coffee brown shade, and the latter a light golden

brown.

(6) Ware with mixed colours {isa se), which included bowls

and dishes decorated in iron red ^ {fan hung) instead of the " fresh

red " {hsien hung) ; others with emerald green colour {ts'ui lii se)
;

bowls with phcenixes and flowers of Paradise in yellow in a blue

ground cups with blue cloud and dragon designs in a yellow
;

ground ; boxes with dragon and phoenix designs engraved under

a yellow glaze ; dishes with design of a pair of dragons and clouds

in yellow within a golden brown {tzH chin) ground ; and globular

bowls with embossed" ornament in a single-coloured ground.

To these types Bushell adds from other similar lists crackled
ware {sui ch'i), tea cups of " greenish white porcelain " {ch'ing pai

tz'u), which seems to be a pale celadon, and large fish bowls with

pea green {tou ch'ing) glaze.

The source of the designs of the porcelain is clearly indicated

^ There are examples of this work in the British Museum, in which the blue seems
to have been sponged on or washed on, and the decoration picked out with a needle-
point, and then the whole covered with a colourless glaze.

* hsiang yiin, lit, felicitous clouds.

^ lA:^, ^ieh chin, lit. stuck-on gold,
' 0. C. A., p. 221.
' Sft fl ^'cn pai, a phrase frequently used in this sense, though it is not quite obvious

how it derives this meaning from its literal sense of " sweet white,"
* See p, 34. The fan hung is an overglaze colour of coral tint, derived from oxide

of iron ; the hsien hung is an underglaze red derived from oxide of copper.
' jang hua, lit. " abundant or luxuriant ornament." Embossed is Bushell's rendering.