Page 262 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

generally three or five which appear upon the
under surface of Japanese pieces, showing where the
tiny pillars of clay that supported them in the oven
were broken off. These scarcely ever occur on Chi-
nese wares, and are therefore a criterion, so far as

they go. But inasmuch as their use was generally
limited to plates, dishes, and so forth, they must not
always be looked for on vases, bowls, or jars. So far
as colours are concerned, the blue of the Chinese

potter is lighter than that of the Japanese, and his
red is semi-transparent, whereas the red of the latter
is strong, full-bodied, and opaque. But even these

differences are not always observable. The pdtey of

course, is the ultimate and unerring guide. When

the connoisseur has learned to discriminate between

the close-grained, oily clay of China and the compar-
atively porous, gritty material of Japan, his difficulties
are at an end. Marks of Chinese eras and factories

are no index. They were freely copied in Japan,
and though the nature of the penmanship may have

significance for ideographic experts, it need scarcely
be discussed here.

After what has been written above, it should not

be necessary to correct a misconception originally due

to M. Jacquemart, that porcelains of the Chrysanth'emo-
Pceoneenne family are the usual ware, the common

furniture of China, seen about houses and in gardens,
and constituting the greater part of the utensils used
at table. Such porcelains have always been, on the

contrary, exceptional in China. Some critics have

inferred that the origin of their peculiar decoration

is attributable to Japan. There are reasons, however,
which forbid the student to accept such a theory in

its entirety. An examination of Chinese paintings

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