Page 22 - Chinese Porcelain Vol II, Galland

INTRODUCTION.
272
or even did
particular reign, dynasty, as, of course, the changes
not always take place at the end of a reign, and of necessity
there is a borderland, as it were, between each period, when it
is difficult to say to which particular era certain specimens
very
belong.
The Ming pieces we shall find poor in quality, shape,
as with the and a
and colouring, compared Tsing, beyond
few nien-hao we have little to guide us in marking out the
of one from that of another. The
porcelain Ming reign
Jesuit fathers do not help with regard to Ming wares.
Chinese writers seem to give fairly detailed accounts of the
of the various to some
production Ming periods, according
much than but are
greater praise to others; Ming pieces
now comparatively few in number, and it is difficult to carry
out any general classification or to verify the statements of
these native writers. The specimens we have here in England
may not do full justice to the Ming period, but even compared
with inferior wares of the Tsing, they show a crudeness that
must have run through the whole series ; and no doubt the best
Tsing pieces are as far ahead of the best Ming as the inferior
of the former are to the same of the latter.
superior quality
In the sixteenth century porcelain was so highly esteemed
in Europe that many pieces were mounted in silver, and it is
reasonable to suppose that the best specimens were selected
for this honour. Now, except, perhaps, where historical value
attaches, as in the case of the Trenchard and Warham bowls,
the mountings, as samples of early silver work, are of more
value than the china they were originally designed to protect
and ornament. The reason for this being that much finer
porcelain has since come to hand ; while to give value, artistic
merit is as well as mere ; and in the
necessary, antiquity
former qualification the Ming productions have been greatly
distanced the
by Tsing.
During the interregnum which took place at the end of
the Ming and beginning of the Tsing dynasties, the Imperial
manufactories at seem to have been closed, but
King-te-chin
with the coming to the throne of Kang-he 18 (1661-1722) the
18
There are two ways of pronouncing Kang-he, as there are of Keen-lung,
in North China one way, and South China another Kang-shee and Kang-hee,
Cheen-lung and Keen-lung. T. J. L.