Page 130 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

readily be mistaken. The glaze is unusually thick

and lustrous, carrying with it an idea of wonderful
depth and richness. Crackle is sometimes present,

but many of the finest pieces are without this addition,
The ware being very solid and durable, examples are

not infrequent. They are chiefly bowls and small

cups, the latter of the choicest description and very

highly valued by Chinese connoisseurs. Imitations

made in the Ming and Tsin dynasties are, however,

tolerably common and not easy to distinguish from
genuine pieces. The chief differences are that the

glaze of the former is comparatively thin, the pate

finer, and the bottom of the specimen more neatly

finished. The connoisseur will of course understand

that when later experts of Ching-te-chen, possessing
all the materials and more than the ability of their

predecessors, undertook to imitate the latter's pieces,

they may have excelled, but were not likely to fall

short of, their originals. It is not by any means to be

supposed that the richly glazed and d"elicately coloured
specimens of so-called " Yuan-tsii offered
for sale

by Chinese dealers are all genuine examples of the
ATuan ware.
majority of them are imitations,

generally more beautiful than the real Tuan-tsu itself.

Although under the Yuan, as well as under the

Sung, dynasty the Chin-te-chen factories continued to

be specially distinguished by imperial patronage, they

did not entirely monopolise the duty of supplying

the palace. Pieces of exceptional excellence appear

to have been either purchased at the ordinary work-

shops or presented by manufacturers in lieu of taxes.

According to the author of the Tao-lo, the nature of

the service required of the official factories was so

onerous that only private kilns enjoyed prosperity.

92