Page 38 - Decorative Arts, Part II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings, Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets

gray monochrome wares, as shown by one large vase with "clair de lune crackle glaze, with lizards in bold relief, in pink, red and
blue," but rather could signify any color zone of bluish gray. Bushell, too, uses clair de lune to refer to more kinds of ceramics, such
as some Song stonewares, than would usually be referred to today as clair de lune by collectors of Chinese ceramics, since the
French term is now generally understood to mean fine Qing porcelains of pale blue color. The Chinese themselves do not today
consistently describe Qing-dynasty pale blue wares by the term yue bai; tian Ian is more often encountered.
In considering the rise in popularity of the name clair de lune for these Qing porcelains, which were particularly valued in the
West during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, one cannot help but wonder if Debussy's composition (1905) of the
same name may also have played a role in popularizing the term. However, the cachet of its being French was sufficient to ensure
its adoption by collectors who not only held French culture in high regard, but especially respected French achievements in the
study of ceramics.
Among the more influential publications addressing this complex issue are the following: Bushell 1980, 7,137,139, 368, 375,
388-390; Medley 1964, 65; Beurdeley and Raindre 1987, 281; Julien 1856, 66; Chen 1951, 52; Hetherington 1922, 82,153; Honey 1927,
74; Li 1989; Ayers 1968-1974, 3: 9; Valenstein 1989, 241.
22. Little 1983, 28, 46-47.
23. Bushell 1910, 21. For an eighteenth-century description of this technique, see Jenyns 1951, 4on.4.
24. Zhang 1985,172.
25. See Min Chiu 1977,16. According to Zhang 1985,173, the use of antimony yellow was not introduced until the seventeenth century.
26. Though "celadon" remains the most common translation of the somewhat nebulous Chinese term qing ci, there is controversy
about when, where, how, and even if it should be used. As a color term in Chinese, qing usually refers to greenish or bluish objects,
but when combined with ci in the term for a high-fired (stoneware or porcelain) ceramic ware in China, it may also refer to
ceramics of olive green or beige color, in addition to the gray-green or blue-green that the term celadon usually evokes in English.
Some scholars of Chinese ceramics prefer to simply translate qing ci as "greenware," and only use this and the names of particular
wares, such as "Longquan ware," in their writings. Others use "celadon" in discussing the gray-green glaze color that first appeared
in the Shang dynasty. Still others may refer to such pieces as "glazed stoneware" in early periods, and switch to "celadon" for the
later examples, but here, too, there is variation. For example, in Vainker 1991 the term celadon never appears. Valenstein (1989, 42)
first associates the term with Eastern Han; Medley (1976) uses it selectively for some Song and later wares; Gompertz (1980) uses it
throughout his book.
Indeed, the term encompasses many kinds of Chinese wares, from dark-bodied stonewares to the finest porcelains, those with
thin and thick glazes, and with many disparate colors. It is no wonder that some scholars despair at the continued use of "celadon."
See Kerr 1986, 83. For further dicussion of the term "celadon," see Li and Gao 1986,129-151.
27. D'Urfe's secretary, Balthazar Baro, completed the work after his death, based on his notes. L'Astree was subsequently adapted to
the stage, and it became a popular seventeenth-century drama.
28. For a discussion of the technical aspects of yellow glazes, see Kerr 1986, 91; Wood 1988,15, 62; and Medley 1973, 2, 3.
29. As cited in Zhang 1985; Zhang and Zhang 1980, 33.
30. Medley 1976, 242-243.
31. Medley 1976, 244-245.
32. This is established by the dated Tyson vase in the Art Institute of Chicago, ace. no. 1964.671; see Jenyns 1951, pi. 8.
33. Pope 1974, 87, 88.
34. Pope 1974, 89.
35. The lion is published in Dresden 1978, no. 382.
36. Ayers 1985, no. 115.
37. Kerr 1986, 98.
38. For discussions of the development of the famille rose palette, see Garner 1967-1969,1-16; Kerr 1986,106-109; and Kingery and
Vandiver 1986,10-15.
39. Garner 1967-1969, pi. 59, 2nd object.
40. Jenyns 1951, pi. 59, 2nd object.

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