Page 96 - Chinese porcelains collected by Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft, Cincinnati, Ohio, by John Getz

A CATALOGUE OF CHINESE PORCELAINS

No. 22

Brilliant Blue "Hawthorn" Jar/ with original dome-shaped cover.

The form is ovoid, and identical in contour with other famous specimens seen in but
few collections, and so highly prized.

The paste is of the purest hard texture, fine-grained, exquisitely white, and flawlessly

clear throughout; its decoration is executed in the most precious cobalt-blue, character-
ized by great depth and intensity, and imposed with special care for variations cuid mot-
tling, as shown by the delicate shadings done before glcizing.

The design consists of four separate branches of the prunus or plum tree, known in

China as " Mei-hwa," alternately spreading from base and neck, loaded with numerous
finely rounded buds and blossoms; the petals and stems are in white reserve and drawn
with great precision, and the remainder of the body is filled in by the undulating and
cumulus blue color that is much enhanced in deepness by reticulation and crossings
with darker lines to represent cracking ice (symbolizing the breaking up of winter) ; the
rim at neck is finished by a narrow dentate or crenulated band generally noted on the
best "hawthorn" jars of this class.

A white band borders the base, bearing a hair-line in blue, and the foot shows the

typical white-glazed paste v^thout mark.

The jar embodies a masterly technical perfection of type that is attributable only to
the period of the Emperor K'ang-hsi (1662-1 722).

Height, 1 ',4 inches.
Diameter, 8' a inches.

^ These faimous jars, so-called "hawthorn" and in which the color will be found either tinged
ginger jars, are remarkable for their richness with violet or of a dull and grayer quality,
and depth of color, seldom found on other blue
and white objects; their clear, strong, and full The jar here under consideration very proba-
azure-blue, bordering on the color of a fine sap-
phire, is easily recognizable from later products bly belonged to the class used as tribute to Im-
and copies of their form and style of decoration. penal favor, cind served also ais royal presentation

pieces,

24]