Page 259 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

PORCELAIN DECORATED

The quality of the Kang-hsi enamelled porcelain
is exceptionally good. Neither among wares that
preceded nor among those that succeeded it were

there any of finer pate or more lustrous and uniform
glaze. The exposed portions of the biscuit resemble
soap-stone, so smooth are they to the touch and so
compact in texture. As a rule, with very rare excep-
tions, the bottom of every piece is carefully finished
and glazed. Year-marks occur seldom : they are
commonest upon small and choice specimens. Other
marks are found, but they usually take the form of a

four-footed censer, a leaf, or something equally with-
out chronological significance.

In the majority of elaborately enamelled Kang-hsi
porcelains blue under the glaze is either absent alto-
gether, or plays a very subordinate role. Green is the
most conspicuous colour. " Famille Verte" in short,
is a well chosen epithet, though not applicable to the
egg-shell ware spoken of above. But there was also
manufactured during the same era a class of porce-

lain in the decoration of which blue sous couverte

constituted a feature scarcely less important than

enamels. The fact is interesting because a singular

resemblance, verging on identity, exists between the
style of this ware and that of the celebrated Imari
porcelain of Japan. It is easily conceivable that
Western connoisseurs have often been perplexed to

distinguish the one from the other. M. Jacquemart,
who applies to such porcelains the term " Famille

Chrysanthemo-Pceoneenne" observes: "It is the more
necessary to create a name for this family since it

includes Chinese and Japanese productions empiri-
cally confounded under the false denomination of

Japanese porcelain." M. Jacquemart's theory is

205