Page 153 - Chinese Art, Vol II By Stephen W. Bushell

PORCELAIN. 31

in the museum, is shown in Fie;. 10, to display some of the character-
istic forms. It includes a figure of Kuan Yin, the divine " hearer
of prayers," seated on rocks attended by a child with hands folded
in attitude of adoration a lion, one of a pair provided with
;
tubular receptacles at the side for holding joss-sticks three wine
;
cups, one tazza-shaped embossed with flowers, bought in Persia,
the second supported by branching stems with sprays of prunus
and magnolia, the third modelled as a tree-trunk with branches
in relief, dragons' heads, a spotted deer, and a crane ; and lastly
a small square lion-handled seal, of the kind which have been
discovered in Irish bogs and have excited some speculation on
that account.*
The old Lung-ch'iian celadon ware is illustrated in Fig. 11 by
two pieces, which are attributed to the early Ming period, but
which are quite in the style of the productions of the antecedent
Sung dynasty referred to on page 27. The round dish before us is
covered with a rich sea-green glaze, spread over an incised decoration
of floral design, consisting of a spray of lotus in a central medallion
surrounded by a band of peonies and wavy foliated borders round the
rim, and floral sprays underneath. The vase is double-bodied and the
external casing is pierced with bold scroll foliage, the details pre-
viously worked with the style in the raw body being brought out
by the varied shading of the celadon glaze in the finished piece.
The pieces were usually twice fired in the Lung-ch'iian kilns, a
preliminary baking being undergone before the glaze was applied.
We now pass on to the consideration of Ming porcelain decorated
in colours {Wu ts'ai.) The earliest specimens of this important
class seem to have undergone a preliminary firing, the raw body
having been worked in relief with defining rims and counter-sunk
cloisons, then baked to the state of biscuit, and finally filled in
with coloured glazes, those known technically as glazes of the
* See " Notices of Chinese seals found in Ireland." By Edmund Getty,
Dublin, 1850.
8941. P