Page 272 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

glaze. Indeed many of the Medallion Bowls treas-
ured by European and American collectors belong to

the Chia-tsing (1796-1827) and Taou-kwang (1821

1851) periods. Estimable enough in their line, these
more modern wares are always lacking in delicacy

and finish as compared with their Tung-ching and

Chlen-lung predecessors.

In speaking of the Rose Family no attempt is here
made to distinguish between porcelains dating from

the closing years of the Kang-hsi era and those of the
NoTung-ching or Chien-lung factories.
distinction

can, in fact, be made. And within certain limita-

tions the same may be said of enamelled wares gen-

erally. The Tung-ching era (17231735), as will be

presently shown, is not without titles to independent

fame, but in the matter of porcelain decorated with

vitrifiable enamels its keramists struck out no new

lines. They merely carried the old to an unsurpassed
point of excellence. Coming to the Chien-lung time
(17361795), the Green Family practically disap-

pears, the potters applying themselves especially to
decoration of the Famille Rose type. But in their

employment of full-toned enamels they inaugurated
a virtually new and pleasing departure by means of
delicate tints of green, yellow, and red combined

sparsely with blue under the glaze. This type of
ware is distinguished by its subdued tone and by the
conventional character of the decoration, which con-

sists usually of floral scrolls, arabesques, and 'diapers.

From the latter years of the same era dates also the

custom of covering the inside as well as the outside
of a piece with half-toned, non-vitrous enamels, pink

and green being most common. This fashion belongs

to an inferior type of art : it seems to have been sug-

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