Page 101 - Chinese porcelains collected by Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft, Cincinnati, Ohio, by John Getz

POWDER BLUE

One of the most intelligent records dealing with the methods and accom-

plishments of Chinese ceramists is embodied in the letters of P' re d'Entre-

colles, a French missionary who went to China in 1 700. These letters cover

a period of twenty-two years (during the reign of the Emperor K'ang-hsi),
contain much information concerning the technique of objects in porce-
lain, and have been of great utility to all subsequent writers on the subject.

The following information, dealing in part with a class that we have

here before us, is extracted from d'Entrecolles's letter of September, 1712.
Referring to powder blue, he wrote that "the blue used for souffle sur-
faces is very carefully prepared from the time it is mined, and only the
smaller particles of the mineral (cobalt) are selected for the first grade.

"Pieces steeped in this color were not considered as valuable as those
with the color deposited by blowing, a process requiring the utmost care;
and such objects were valued accordmg to the brilliancy of the glazed

result.

"In this process the color is blown, according to the worthy Pere, from

the extremity of a bamboo tube, on which a piece of gauze is attached
to one end, on which the prepared color is put, by dipping, or applied
with a brush; then the tube is directed towards surface on an object to
be decorated, and blown from the other end; the fine powdered bits gradu-

ally cover the required surface uniformly, according to the skill of the deco-

rator.

"If reserved spaces are left, these are painted separately or, after the
glazing, in one variety; the white reserve medallions are also decorated
in cobalt-blue, but before the glaze, and heightened uniformly by the firing
together with the blue souffle.

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