Page 141 - Chinese Art, Vol II By Stephen W. Bushell

PORCELAIN. 27

common in collections than any other of the Sung wares. The
bowls and dishes were often fired bottom upwards, and the delicate
rims, left unglazed, were afterwards mounted with co])per rims
to preserve them from injury. Some were clothed in plain white,
the glaze collecting outside in tear-drops : others were engraved
at the point in the paste with ornamental patterns : a third class
was impressed inside with intricate and elaborate designs in pro-
nounced relief, the principal ornamental motives being the tree
peony, lily flowers, and flying phoenixes. Two vases of white
Ting-chou porcelain in my possession are illustrated in Fig. 8, both
fashioned in old bronze shapes, and lightly engraved in the paste
under the minutely crackled glaze of characteristically soft creamy
tone. The one on the left is carved with brocaded grounds and
borders of spiral fret : the other, with two handles moulded in the
form of archaic dragons, is lightly worked outside with sprays of
flowers and foliage.
The Lnng-ch'iian Yao, which comes next for notice, is the far-
famed celadon ware made at this time in the province of
Chekiang, the ch'ing tz'ii, or "green porcelain " par excellence
of the Chinese, the seiji of the Japanese, the martabani oi the
Arabs and Persians. There is a lordly pile of literature on the
"celadon questioa " in all its bearings, and the field, interesting
as it is, can hardly be laboured further here. The Lung-ch'iian
porcelain of the Sung dynasty is distinguished by its bright grass-
green hue, which the Chinese liken to fresh onion sprouts, a more
pronounced colour than the greyish green, or " sea-green," of
later celadons.
The Chiin Yao was a kind of faience made at Chiin-chou, now
Yii-chou, in the province of Honan. The glazes were remarkable
for their brilliancy and for their manifold varieties of colour, es-
pecially the transmutation flambes, composed of flashing reds,
passing through every intermediate shade of purple to pale blue,
which have hardly been equalled since. The great variety of
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