Page 128 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

66 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

called for that reason frog wares (ha ma^ ycLo). Though coarse,

they were of correct form the material was yellowish, but the
;

body of the ware was thin ; and though small, the vessels were

strong. One kind of bowl was white in colour with a tinge of blue

{tai chHng), and decorated in blue with a single orchid spray or

bamboo leaves ; and even those which had no painted design had
one or two rings of blue at the mouth. These were called " white

rice vessels " {pai fan ch'i). There were, besides, bowls with wide

mouths and flattened rims {p'ieh Vanf but shallow, and pure white,

imitating the Sung bowls. All these wares had a great vogue, both

at the time and at the beginning of the present (i.e. the Ch'ing)

dynasty."

Out of the comparatively large number of Wan Li porcelains

in European collections the majority are blue and white. This is

only to be expected, having regard to the preponderance of this

style of decoration in the Imperial lists, and also to the fact that

it was found easiest of all processes to execute. In fact, the censor

pleading on behalf of the potters in 1583 asks that this style may

be substituted for the more exacting polychrome and pierced work.

It has already been mentioned that the supplies of Mohammedan

blue apparently came to an end early in the reign, but there are

enough examples of this colour associated with the Wan Li mark

to show that it was used for part at least of the period. One of

these is a well-potted bowl of fine white porcelain, entirely covered

with Sanskrit characters {chert yen iz'u), in the British Museum :

and another piece* is a dish moulded in the fovm of an open

lotus flower with petals in relief, and in the centre a single

Sanskrit character. Both are painted in a clear and vivid Mo-

hammedan blue, and have the Wan Li mark under the base. A

dark violet blue, closely akin to the typical Chia Ching colour

but with a touch of indigo, occurs on two dishes,* decorated

with a pair of fishes among aquatic plants and bearing the four

characters of the Wan Li mark surrounding a cartouche, which

contains the felicitous legend, " Virtue, culture, and enduring

1 Igt^, apparently referring to the size of the vessels and not necessarily implying
that they were shaped like a frog. On the other hand, small water vessels in the form
of a frog have been made in China from the Sung period onwards.

* To avoid repetition the pieces mentioned here from the British Museum collection
are marked with an asterisk.