Page 47 - The art of the Chinese potter By Hobson

AN INTRODUCTION

porcelain. It ranges in quality from the daintily fashioned palace
pieces to the rough wares exported by land and sea to Western
Asia and Europe ; and it is not less varied in the shades of the

blue with which it is painted. The colouring matter is derived

from cobalt ; but the blue produced by the native supplies of this
mineral, if not laboriously refined, had a dull grey or indigo tone,

and the most famous Ming blue was imported from a Mohammedan
country, doubtless Persia. It is, in fact, known as Mohammedan
blue. The supply of this material was irregular, but we know that

it arrived in the Hsiian Te, Cheng Te, and Chia Ching periods.
During the remaining reigns apparently no new importation of it
was made. In use it was blended with the native cobalt in pro-

portions varying according to the quality of the ware desired.

The Hsiian Te Mohammedan blue is extremely rare and even

Chinese writers do not agree as to whether the prevailing shade

was light or dark. But we have many examples of the Chia Ching
blue which is of the dark violet tone seen on Plate CXLVIII. The
more familiar Ming blues are usually tinged more or less with indigo;
but even the least brilliant of the Ming blue and white porcelain is

distinguished by a freshness and freedom of design ; and the skilful
brushwork of the Ching-te Ch£n decorators is seen to the best
advantage in this ware. The actual designs are largely derived from

the patterns on silk brocades, but we hear too of designs painted

by the Court artists and sent to be copied at the Imperial factory.

Another underglaze colour, for which the reign of Hsiian Te was

specially celebrated, is the brilliant red derived from copper. This
was used both as a glaze colour (i.e. in the glaze), or for painting
individual designs under the glaze. Both types are illustrated on

Plate CVIII. The successful development of this colour seems to
have puzzled the potters after the Hsiian Te and Ch'eng Hua
periods, and we are told that they virtually abandoned it for a long

time in the 16th century in favour of an overglaze red enamel.

The Ming polychromes, which include some of the most striking

—and decorative wares of the period, fall into two main groups those

with lead-silicate glazes or enamels applied direct to the biscuit,

or body of the porcelain, and those with enamels painted on the
white glaze. The former class is sometimes called " three colour "
(san ts'ai) porcelain, the trio of colours being selected from the

—following dark violet-blue, turquoise, aubergine (a purplish brown

17 c*