Page 204 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

capacity of modern potters to reproduce them as it
is to imitate the Kai-pien-yao itself. Their magnifi-

cent colour, the rich lustre of their glaze, and the

thoroughly satisfactory quality of their beauty have
thus far remained, and will apparently continue to

remain, incomparable. Not infrequently, too, speci-
mens are found which, though not absolutely of egg-

shell thinness, approach it so closely as to be scarcely
distinguishable. These are keramic chefs-dceuisre of
the highest order : even the most fastidious Chinese

connoisseur frankly admits their merits. The more
solid pieces, too, have a charm of their own : to

brightness of effect they add a suggestion of restful-

ness and purity that raises them very close to the rank
of fine monochromes. There can be no doubt that,

so far as porcelains are concerned, the ideal objects

of virtu are monochromes the noble reds (peach-
;

bloom, bean-blossom, sang-de-bceuf, liquid-dawn, pre-
cious-ruby, coral, rouge, jujube, vermilion, and

Rose-du-Barry) ; the strong, soft greens (cucumber-
rind, apple-rind, peacock, and celadon) ; the glowing
and delicate blues (Mazarin, cerulean of the sky after
rain, and kingfisher) ; the shell-like or solid yellows ;

the exquisite satin or waxy whites (above all the

soft-paste, Ting-yao} ; the transmutation tints and the

many other colours at once curious and lovely that

bear witness to the Chinese keramist's inventive

genius and fertility of resource, constitute a catalogue

of masterpieces within the range of which a collector

with ample means and wide opportunity may well be
content to limit himself. But how many amateurs
can afford, how many, even though their resources

permit, can hope, to procure any large assemblage of

specimens so costly and now so rare ? To those not

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