Page 77 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

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Chang Te (1506-1521) 33

in the centre enclosing a dragon among clouds, and two dragons
on the outside, the space between them faintly etched with sea
waves. The ware is usually thin and refined. These dishes are
not uncommon, and it is difficult to imagine that they can all belong
to such an early period. On the other hand, one also meets with
copies of the same design with the Ch'ien Lung mark (1736-1795),
which display unmistakable difference in quality. Another type
has the same green dragon design with engraved outlines set in a
yellow ground, and in most cases its antiquity is open to the same

doubts. It is certain, however, that these pieces represent a style

which was in vogue in the Cheng Te period. A small vase of this

kind was the only piece wdth the Cheng Te mark in the exhibition
at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1910,^ and it had the appear-

ance of a Ming specimen. A good example of this Cheng Te poly-

chrome belonging to the Hon. Evan Charteris is illustrated in

Fig. 2 of Plate 66. It has the designs etched in outline, filled

in with transparent green, yellow and aubergine glazes, the three
colours or san ts'ai of the Chinese ; and the Cheng Te mark is
seen on the neck.- And a square bowl in the British Museum,
similar in body and glaze to the blue and white specimens with
Arabic inscriptions, is painted in fine blue on the exterior with
dragons holding Shou (longevity) characters in their claws, the
background filled in with a rich transparent yellow enamel. This
piece (Plate 66, Fig. 1) has the mark of Cheng Te in four characters

painted in Mohammedan blue, and is clearly a genuine specimen.

H^ Cat, 8. 'A similar vase is in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

—II