Page 197 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

PORCELAIN DECORATED

but they are exceedingly rare, and, if without blemish,

command almost prohibitive prices. On smaller

specimens of Kai-pien-yao the Kang-hsi year-mark
frequently occurs, but larger pieces seldom have this

indication. The clear and pure quality of their blue

is the safest and readiest means of distinguishing them

from their successors. Further reference will be

made to this point by and by.

Exceedingly thin, hard-paste porcelain, decorated
with blue under the glaze, was also produced with
signal success by the Kang-hsi potters. This exquis-
itely delicate ware, as thin as paper and nearly as
translucid as glass, stands on the same plane as the
Kai-pien-yao from a technical point of view, but is

artistically inferior, lacking, as it necessarily does, the

dazzling contrast presented by the wax-like white

body and brilliant blue decoration of soft-paste porce-

lain. Chinese connoisseurs, however, set much store

by hard-paste blue-and-white " and it

egg-shell,"

unquestionably occupies a high place among the

chefs-d'ceirore of the period. Cups, bowls, plates,
and so forth, appear to have been chiefly manufac-
tured. Vases, ewers or fish-bowls of any consider-

able size scarcely exist for the ordinary collector.

The year-mark of the era often occurs on hard-paste

egg-shell pieces, but it will be understood from what
has been already said, that such a distinction is nei-
ther essential nor trustworthy. Deception need not
be greatly feared, however, in the case of such speci-

mens. If the decorative design is well executed, the

blue of fine, clear but not necessarily deep tone, the
glaze lustrous, the biscuit thin, and the general tech-

nique plainly excellent, the collector may be confi-

dent that he has to do with a genuine example.

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