Page 40 - Chinese porcelains collected by Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft, Cincinnati, Ohio, by John Getz

HISTORICAL

In the period of Cheng-te (1506-1521) we find " Mohammedan blue"

again refenred to, and that the Governor of Yunnan succeeded in obtain-
ing it. Some writers give this particular epoch the credit for its discovery.
This famous " Hoe'i-tsing," or cobalt, was by the Emperor's command
used to decorate Imperial porcelain, and during this period was called " great
blue " and also "blue of the head of Buddha." This beautiful color, of
such superior quality that it cost more than twice its weight in gold, is again
referred to in annals as coming from the West and through Arabia (prob-

ably from Persia).

With this material ceramists were again able to produce a blue similar
to that on the pieces produced under the Emperor Hsiian-te, so that "blue
and white " came into fashion once more. Genuine examples are to-day

very rare, and marks of these periods cannot be relied upon, as attempts

Twohave been made in all succeeding eras to reproduce such objects.

brilliant kinds of red-glazed porcelain were also prized, and over-glaze

decoration is also referred to in this era.

In the reign of Chia-ching, or Kia-tsing (1522-1566), it is stated that a

great deal of "blue and white" was made. The blue was preferred if

darker in color, differing from the pale blue of the former period ; and the
authors say that the best was a mixture of the foreign and native cobalt,

as the former was apt to "run " when in the kiln.
The foreign blue, however, failed again in later years of this reign ; and,

finally, is no longer mentioned in Chinese ceramic annals.
Decorated porcelain was characterized by the fine, deep colors employed,

and cobalt-blue (under the glaze) was often used in connection with a bril-
liant red, yellow, violet, and bluish-green (over the glaze) on a white ground
and at the present time designated as "five-color" pieces.

Records of this period enumerate especially sacrificial cups ("Tan-sien")
that imitated white jade and were intended for the palace altars; small
"rouge-boxes" and other cups are also named, and it is stated that single-
color glazes were used, but that one of the supplies (red of copper) failed.
It is also recorded, as in the former epoch, that the Emperor ordered the
decoration of Imperial porcelain to be blue.