Page 19 - J. P Morgan Collection of Chinese Art and Porcelain

PREFACE

never seen a piece of porcelain bearing the Ch'eng-hua

mark which was made in the reign of that monarch.

We have never seen a piece bearing it that was older

than the beginning of the reign of K'ang-hsi, 1662-1722;

but we have seen a vast number that were even more

modern.

Modern research and study have dispelled many of

the illusions and trade traditions that obscured the

whole history of Chinese porcelains. In fact, at the
end of the nineteenth century it has been found neces-
sary to adopt an entirely different classification. In
all the European collections where there has been any
systematic attempt at classification, the most im-
portant of the decorated porcelains and the best of the

—monochromes were ascribed to the dynasty of the

Mings, that is to say, they must have been made in
or prior to the reign of Wan-li, the Ming emperor,

with whom the industry perished in the Tartar in-

vasion. All the important blue and white pieces were
parcelled out as far back as the emperor Yung-lo,
1403-1424, with a distinct partiality for Ch'eng-hua,
1465-1487, and a leaning toward Hsiiante, 1426-1435.
The fine rare reds, the sang de bceufs, were all Ming
pieces, and by a curious fatuity were called Lang-yao;
a family of potters named Lang being created spon-
taneously for them. These last were really K'ang-hsi
porcelains, 1662- 1722, and were Lang pieces in good
faith, having been produced at King-te-chen under

the prefecture of the great Lang, who gave so wonder-

ful an impetus to the art under the protection of the
peaceful Tartar monarch. The black pieces, the so-
called hawthorns, with varied decorat:ions supported
on a black ground, were all relegated to the dynasty
of the Mings, and it is only at the beginning of the twen-

tieth century that we are able definitely to dispel
all these errors, and straighten out in some degree the

sadly involved chronology of Chinese porcelain.

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