Page 245 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

PORCELAIN DECORATED

and a visit to any crockery stall in China will show
most of the commonest articles with two marks, a

transparent deception, kept up to the present day."

This criticism, by a connoisseur of unequalled knowl-

e"dMgei,ngcapnonroctelbaeint"oo hasstrlonognlgy emphasised. The term
been applied
with abso-

lute assurance to many imposing specimens of highly

ornamented ware in European collections, though
very few of them probably belong to a period more

remote than the end of the seventeenth century. The

closing periods of the Ming dynasty may, indeed, be
more largely represented, though the nature of their

wares renders this unlikely. Genuine specimens of

Cheng-hwa enamelled porcelain are virtually unknown

outside China, and even in the country of their origin
they cannot be found without great difficulty.

To ware of this class i.e., ware having the sur-

face decorated with independent designs in coloured

enamels the name Wu-tsai-ki, or " five-coloured

porcelain," seems to have been first applied in the

Cheng-hwa period. Thenceforth the designation con-

tinued to be employed even when it had ceased to be
numerically
accurate. The original " five "
colours

were red, green, violet or purple, yellow, and black

or brown. Adding blue under the glaze and gold, it

will be seen that the colours actually at the service of

the decorator were seven.

Another development made by the Cheng-hwa ex-

perts was the application of enamel decoration to

coloured grounds. Two beautiful specimens of this

nature are depicted by H'siang. In each the body
colour is pale yellow and the enamels are green and

brown. The latter are applied in the subordinate

style ; that is to say, they cover leaves, tendrils, and

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