Page 9 - Yamanaka co Auction catalog

flight to the owner's shoulder and back again. (Here, it is the
dog that gets the daily exercise.) After the walk some may be
found at the restaurants, enjoying the music of their birds
through the meal-which may be spiced with small wagers on
whose songster voices his feelings loudest or most happily.
One day last summer, at the entrance of the Temple of Agri-
culture, Peking, out in the Chinese City, I came upon a group
of humble Chinamen seated by the roadside in the shade of some
low trees, with caged pets beside them which they had brought
for the customary outing, and a couple of them were induced to
stand before the camera for the sake of their interest in the
birds. The photograph was for my private use; but the sight
of this collection of cages, recalling a pretty trait of the
"heathen," suggested reproducing it here.
As an example of the difficulty of finding the apple-green porce-
lains, it may perhaps be told that a fairly wide canvas of Peking
in June last revealed only one (of worth). Later, in Japan, a
Kioto dealer of prominence, who is also known in New York, told
the writer of seeing what he believed to be that same vase, and
that it was the only apple-green which he had seen, on a spring
exploration trip to China. Yet the small number which appear
in this collection subsequently came to light in the Messrs. Yama-
naka's searches. These and the quality of the clair-de-tune, of
the reds, the turquoise-blue especially in one small example, and
the mirror-blacks-one of the largest vases in this glaze ever
found being here-will not escape notice and study, nor will the
remarkable figure group in "moonlight-white," while among the
luxurious textile fabrics are a few Chinese silk tapestries espe-
cially interesting. The coral statuettes, and the pendants of jade
and tourmaline-the former wedding gifts of mandarins to the
imperial family, the latter also presents from loyal nobles; all,
objects of imperial disposal since the dynastic cataclysm-are
in this character such as have not before been offered at public
sale in New York.
DANAH. CARROLL.
NEW YORK, January, 1915.