Page 165 - Chinese Art, Vol II By Stephen W. Bushell

PORCELAIN. 35

down to distinguish two glazes, both derived from copper silicates,
the rare apple-green Lang Yao, and the still more celebrated ruby-
red Lang Yao, the sang de bieuf of the French, which was really
" "
a revival of the sacrificial red glaze of the reign of Hsiian Te
and a precursor of the costly peach-bloom, or peaii be p/'che, which
was fired from the same elements later in the reign before us. The
brilliant renaissance of the ceramic art during the reign was mainly,
however, due to Ts'ang Ying-hsiian, a secretary of the Metropolitan
Board of Works, who was appointed in 1683 to be superintendent
of the imperial factories of Ching-te-chen, which had lately been
rebuilt. For all the new monochrome glazes introduced under his
rule and for his other ceramic triumphs there are many books on
Chinese porcelain available for reference, as well as for the char-
acteristics of the famille verte which prevades the reign, and of the
famille rose which ushers in its close. There is only space here
for a few select illustrations.
Beginning with " blue and white " a typical " hawthorn ginger jar "
appears in Fig. 25, decorated with rising and falling sprays of
pranus blossom reserved in white on a marbled blue ground of
wonderful depth and sheen. It was bought (Orrock Collection),
230/., but is in nowise inferior to a companion recently sold (Louis
Huth Collection) 5,900/. These charming jars, originally intended
to hold New Year's gifts of fragrant tea, are paintea with a floral
symbolical design appropriate to the seasop. The pranus flowers
are bursting forth in the warmth of returning spring while the
winter's ice seen through their meshes is just melting. Other jars
are strewn with single prunus blossoms and buds reserved in white
on a pulsating blue ground, cross-hatched with lines of darker
blue to represent cracking ice. A gracefully shaped bottle with a
similar decoration follows in Fig. 26, where the large white prunus
blossoms, drawn with great vigour and freedom, are displayed on a
lighter background of bright blue. A superb beaker (Fig. 27) displays
white branches of magnolia worked in tangible relief, heightened
8941. R