Page 64 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

apparent. In the early days of the manufacture

three varieties were produced ; namely, clair-de-lune,

called by the Chinese Tueh-pai, i.e., moon-white
;

light green, and dark green. The first variety did

not win public esteem, and after a time the typical

Kuan-yao became a celadon, of various shades of green.

The great aim of the potters was to produce that

peculiar delicate greenish blue compared to the tint

of the firmament between rain-clouds. It will be

seen, therefore, that as to colour the Ju-yao and

Kuan-yao potters worked on the same lines. If a

distinction is to be drawn between the results they

achieved, the verdict will be that the Ju-yao showed

a more delicate tinge and verged more closely upon

the ideal cerulean than the Kuan-yao. Moreover, in

richness and lustre of glaze the advantage is said to

have been slightly on the side of the Ju-yao. As a

general rule the Kuan-yao was crackled. The crackle

was large and regular. It is compared by Chinese

connoisseurs to the markings of starred ice. In their

treatment of this crackle, the Kuan-yao potters struck

out a new line. For while the piece was still hot,

after emerging from the kiln that is to say, before

the cracks had entirely contracted in the process of

cooling vermilion was strongly rubbed over the

surface. The pigment thus became permanently

fixed in the main crackle, as well as in the fringe of

subsidiary and almost imperceptible fissures that radi-

ated from its edges ; and in the result the surface of

the piece appeared covered with a vermilion net-

work, bordered here and there by little clouds of red.

The effect was novel and pretty.
The potters of the Kuan-yao adopted the same

models and decorative designs as the potters of the

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