Page 278 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

regarded as a proof. It is not very likely that highly

expert Chinese potters would have carried forgery to

the extent of marking fine porcelains with the date

of a period when nothing of the kind existed.

Nevertheless, Ming specimens of this class are not
now seen in the Chinese market.

The collector must be prepared to encounter many

modern reproductions of the celebrated old " Black
Hawthorn," and still more numerous imitations of

porcelain having decoration in coloured enamels on a

black glaze. To such specimens a general criticism

applies, namely, that their pate is comparatively
coarse, their glaze thin and dull, and their technique
altogether inferior. Still, they have deceived, and

probably will continue to deceive, many an amateur.
The collector whose knowledge is not sufficiently
exact to guarantee him against mistakes, would do

w"eblalrgtaoinsdi"vesmtayhibmeseflofunfdinailnlythoesfe the delusion that
varieties of porce-

lain, or, indeed, in any other fine varieties. Their

value is thoroughly understood by every dealer in

China, and whenever comparatively cheap specimens

are offered with assurances of genuineness, it may be

taken for granted that they are not what their ven-
dors allege them to be. In both China and Japan
the imitator is very active at present. His essays in
the former country are seldom such as to deceive a
connoisseur of experience, but it is worth while to

note an invariable feature of his procedure, namely,

that he offers his pieces at prices mid-way between
the value of genuine specimens and the cost of re-
productions. That the collector is not invariably

proof against such chicanery, may be assumed from

its continued practice.

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