Page 292 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

and he further mentions a little plate painted with a Cruci-

fixion, which, he was informed, had been made to be smug-

gled into Japan at the close of the ijth century.

With regard to porcelain made for the Asiatic market,

there are five specimens in the collection two of these are
;

saucers with Arabic inscriptions from the Koran, incorrectly

written, and resemble a bowl and saucer in the collection of

M. Charles Schefer, of Paris, which are inscribed with the

name of the provost of merchants at Cairo.

Another dish has evidently been made for the Indian

market. Two others are painted from Indian drawings

which have been copied with great fidelity and care. Their

Chinese origin is, however, betrayed by other portions of

the ornaments. As we have already stated, M. Jacquemart

has described a similar specimen as Indian porcelain.

From Pere d'Entrecolles' letters it is clear that even as

early as his time the great manufactory of King-te-chen
specimens with foreign designs ; for instance, " the
made

porcelain," he says, "which is transported to Europe is

generally made on new models, often of a strange form, and

difficult to succeed in making, for the least defect the Euro-

pean [merchants] reject it, and it remains on the hands of

the workmen, who cannot sell it to the Chinese because it is

Henot according to their taste." afterwards speaks of the

models as having been sent from Europe. In his letter of

1722 he mentions that there had just been made large vases

of three feet high and more, without the covers, which rose

in the shape of a pyramid to the height of another foot.

These pieces had been ordered by the merchants of Canton,

who did business with Europeans, and had taken a great

deal of trouble to make, as out of eighty only eight had

succeeded.

In the History of King-te-chen there are numerous notices
of porcelain made in the European taste, and of vases painted
werist,haennimaamlesl,seticn.,th"eoEfumroospteadenlisctaytlee,elxaencdustciaopnesa,ndfigmuarrevse, lflloouws-

perfection."

It is evident, therefore, that in China porcelain was made
for exportation from designs furnished by Europeans, and
if this was the case at King-te-chen, we should naturally find

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