Page 69 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

WARES OF "SUNG 51 DYNASTY

residence and practical experience in China ought to

have rendered his testimony conclusive, described the

ware's colour as " vert-olive." M. Julien, however,

adhering to his original interpretation of the ideo-
La" couleur bleue etait le ca-
graph Ching, writes :

ractere dominant des porcelaines anciennes qui provenaient

de Lung-chuan"

Many specimens of the Lung-chuan-yao were orna-

mented with designs in relief, sometimes copied from

ancient bronzes sometimes consisting of floral scrolls,
;

arabesques, and so forth. Occasionally portions of the

surface were left unglazed, and upon the figure sub-

jects as the Eight Taoist Immortals, the Seven

Gods of Happiness, the Kylin or the Phoenix were
Amoulded in high relief.
very common fashion in

this style of decoration was to mould two unglazed

fishes on the bottom of a bowl or plate. Incised de-
signs are also frequently met with. In them, as well

as in raised designs, nothing is commoner than a scroll

of peonies.

The porcelain stone used in the manufacture of

Lung-chuan ware is said by the author of the 'Tao-

lu to have been fine and white. This description ap-

plies to the condition of those parts of the stone not

exposed to the direct action of heat in the porcelain

kiln. When so exposed, the pate became red, or red-

dish brown, and this change of colour is an essential

mark of genuineness. Beautiful celadons were manu-

factured at Ching-te-chen during the seventeenth and
" red mouth
eighteenth centuries, but they lack the
"
and iron foot of the true Lung-chuan-yao. In the

Kuan-yao also the pate shows these colours, but whereas

the porcelain stone used in the manufacture of the

Kuan-yao appears to have been red originally, that

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