Page 233 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

PORCELAIN DECORATED

Chapter VII

PORCELAIN DECORATED OVER THE GLAZE

decorated with vitrifiable enam-

els of various colours over the glaze has always

PORCELAINbeen a favourite variety with European collec-
tors. Ware of this class naturally attracts at-

tention for the sake of its brilliant appearance. But

among all the keramic productions of China it has

been most subjected to foreign influences. As in Japan

porcelains loaded with ornament were largely manu-

factured at Arita expressly for purposes of exportation,

so in China the potters of Ching-te-chen departed

from their own canons to meet the taste of European

dealers and clients. Thus, among wares of the Kang-

hsi era (16621722), one variety is said to have been
" with
decorated " according to a recent conception

enamels which were used to depict landscapes, figures,
floral subjects, birds, and animals " in the European

fashion." It will presently be seen that the earliest,

and by Chinese connoisseurs the most esteemed, fash-

ions of enamel decoration were comparatively simple,

and that the subsequent demands of the export trade

had probably much to do with those elaborate and

highly ornate styles empirically distinguished by

French amateurs as Famille Chrysanthemo-pceonienne,

Famille Verte, and Famille Rose. The standard for-

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