Page 73 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

WARES OF "SUNG" DYNASTY

Among early Chinese wares the Lung-chaun-yao

bequeathed to later generations incomparably the

largest number of specimens. Genuine but inferior

examples are procurable with little difficulty. Plates

and bowls are most common, but vases, censers and

so forth, may often be found. With exceptions so

rare as to be scarcely worthy of mention, these pieces

are of the clumsy thick variety. Their pate is heavy
and dense, well calculated to resist the effects of ordi-

nary accidents ; their glaze is olive or sea-green, and

their decorative designs, whether impressed, engraved,

or in relief, generally consist of floral scrolls and

diapers. They owe their preservation to their solid-
My"
enquiries among the natives," writes Dr.
ity.
Hirth, " have convinced me of one thing, namely,

that whereas with regard to many other antiquities it

is often difficult to find two Chinese that agree, a

most decided uniformity of opinion prevails about

this class of porcelain. There is not an intelligent

native student (connoisseur) in China who is not able

to pick out a piece of Lung-chaun-yao , or a Lung-

chaun-ti, for such is the colloquial designation in the
north, from a large collection of similar objects with-

out the slightest hesitation. Further, there is only

one opinion as to the age of specimens which are not

wanting in any of the characteristics. For, since the

paste is originally white, which may be proved by

examining a broken specimen, whereas all parts of

the surface not covered by enamel have turned red

or brown in the fire, we have before us an earth

possessing a natural quality not possessed by the pro-

duce of other kilns, viz., that of changing colour in

the fire. I understand from my Chinese informants

that this peculiarity cannot be imitated, not even at

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