Page 188 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

self should be boldly and clearly executed. On the

best pieces there is generally found a plum tree

painted in its entirety, branches, and flowers.

But an even more pleasing method is to show the
branches and their blossoms hanging down over

the rim of the vase, as though the stem were

within it. The commonest type has clusters of

petals scattered regularly over the surface. In every

case lustre and smoothness of glaze are important

criteria. Spots where the surface has become rough

and the blue verges upon black owing to faulty firing

or an excess of moisture in the pigment, are emphatic

blemishes. Finally the pate should be tolerably fine

and the bottom of the "piHeacwetwheolrl nfi"nisshteydl.e appears to
Decoration in the

have been applied to two classes of specimens only,

pots for sugar or preserved ginger, and vases with

trumpet-shaped necks. It is strange that these limits

should have been observed. No explanation is fur-

nished, but every collector is familiar with the fact.

The finest and most imposing examples are the sugar-

jars. They vary in size, from tiny pieces to speci-

mens fifteen or sixteen inches high. Their shape is

graceful and the swelling contours of the body are

continued appropriately in the lid. It is on these
jars that the beautiful " "
decoration is chiefly
spray

found, and many of them show colour of most ad-

mirable depth and brilliancy. But the comparatively

coarse use to which they have been applied has re-

sulted in frequent accidents. Very rarely indeed

does the collector find a flawless specimen with intact

lid. In at least ninety-nine cases out of every hun-

dred the bric-a-brac dealer is obliged to replace the

original porcelain lid with a cover of carved teak-

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