Page 41 - Chinese Porcelain Vol II, Galland

MING. 281

not so as in the next, show
dynasty, being highly glazed up
better in the photographs, and are thus seen to greater advan-
than in is warranted by the of the
tage reality quality pieces.
Blue and White.
Kea-tsing
Thanks to Mr. Burman, who acquired this piece in Shanghai,
we have in No. 492 an excellent example of the blue and white
of this period. If not so highly glazed as in the next dynasty,
the colour of the paste is good, as also the blue, while there is
little to find fault with in the This
drawing. jar (height,
20 inches) shows that they were then capable of turning out
as stated Chinese writers, for there seems no
large pieces, by
reason to doubt the genuineness of the mark as seen on the
neck. The decoration consists of five-claw in the
dragons
midst of a lotus scroll-work, while the character which
the reader will notice in the middle of a seems to
pattern
indicate that it was made for one of the Mohammedan markets,
most probably Persia, where they do not appear to have been
so strict as to object to decoration of this sort. The base of
this piece is unglazed.
"
At 71 Mr. Monkhouse says : The soft but rich
p. peculiar
quality of the ' Mohammedan ' blue, as it was called, and the
boldness of the decoration, are its most
perhaps delightful
qualities." And in the Burlington Fine Art Catalogue, p. xvii. :
"
Powerful as the colour is, and never flat or dead, we miss
that charm of modulation, the in and the
delight gradation,
palpitating quality of colour which we find in later work."
This is to a
great extent correct, but as the same author states,
"
at 91 : the later of the
p. Certainly during part Ming dynasty
at least two tints were used on the same
piece."
LUNG-KING, 1567-1573.
THIS short reign seems to be included along with the fol-
lowing period by Chinese writers, so probably its productions
exhibited no feature. In there seems to be
special Europe
only one instance recorded of the mark having been met with.
In the Journal the Oriental
of Peking Society) p. 99, Dr. Bushell,