Page 156 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

86 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

wares of the Ting type made at this time have been already dis-
cussed. ^ The monochrome surfaces were not infrequently relieved
by carved or etched designs under the glaze, but it must be con-
fessed that monochromes are exceedingly difficult to date. Particular
colours and particular processes continued in use for long periods,
and the distinctions between the productions of one reign and
the next, or even between those of the late Ming and the early
Ch'ing dynasties, are often almost unseizable. At best these
differences consist in minute peculiarities of form and potting, in
the texture of the body and glaze, and the finish of the base,
which are only learnt by close study of actual specimens and by

training the eye to the general character of the wares until the
perception of the Ming style becomes instinctive. But some-
thing further will be said on this subject in the chapter on
Ming technique.

THE LAST OF THE MINGS

M^Tai Ch'ang (1620)

%^Tien Ch'i (1621-162T)

Ch'ung Cheng ^tM (1628-1643)

Chinese ceramic history, based on the official records, is silent on

the subject of the three last Ming reigns, and we are left to infer

that during the death struggles of the old dynasty and the establish-

ment of the Manchu Tartars on the throne work at the Imperial

factory was virtually suspended. The few existing specimens which

bear the marks of T'ien Ch'i and Ch'ung Cheng (the T'ai Ch'ang

Amark is apparently unrepresented) are of little merit. barrel-

shaped incense vase with floral scrolls and a large bowl with four-

clawed dragons of the former date in the British Museum are painted

the one in dull greyish blue, and the other in a bright but rather

garish tint of the same colour ; both have a coarse body material

with blisters and pitting in the glaze, and the painting of the designs

is devoid of any distinction. Similarly, a polychrome saucer dish

with the same mark and in the same collection, decorated with an

engraved dragon design filled in with purple glaze in a green ground,

carries on the early tradition of that type of Ming polychrome,

but the ware is coarse, the design crudely drawn, and the colours

1 See p. 94.