Page 27 - J. P Morgan Collection of Chinese Art and Porcelain

PREFACE

celadon,* which obtained a wide distribution by both
sea and land, as the learned researches of Dr. Frederick

Hirth have shown. The earliest piece known in Eng-
land was celadon, the communion-cup of Archbishop

Warham (i 504-1 532), and it is to be seen in the treasury
of New College at Oxford, it is in an English silver-

gilt mount. It was to celadon that the Persians at-
tributed the marvellous property of denoting, by chang-
ing its color, the presence of poison in the food that was
served in it. it did not possess this power, but its
cost was great, and only great princes could enjoy its
possession, and it was perhaps natural to attribute
some preternatural quality to it to justify a value so

disproportionate to its appearance. Certain it is
that the most archaic remains of true Chinese porce-

lain that are known are celadon.

Other pieces that reached Europe before importa-
tion began were blue and white, and were brought
by travellers as precious curiosities, or were presents
acquired by ambassadors or other distinguished per-
sons. They were commonly deemed worthy of a mount
in the best art of the jewellers of the period, both for
the distinction it conferred and the protection it af-

forded. Some of the most noted of the French metal-

workers of the eighteenth century bestowed their best

*Not a little progress has been made in determining the ex-

tent of the earlier foreign trade of China in continuation of Dr.
Frederick Hirth's admirable work. Thus, for instance, Chinese

bronze mirrors of the Han dynasty have turned up on the Nile,

the polished side engraved with votive inscriptions in Arabic.

One of these is in the possession of that eminent scholar, Dr.

Fouquet, of Cairo. A very interesting occurrence was noted in

Egypt last winter. Permission had been granted to some sebbak
diggers to demolish and remove an ancient mosque. The struc-
ture was known to date from the tenth century. In the stratum
beneath the foundations a Chinese celadon bowl of a perfectly
familiar character was discovered. It is, we believe, in the col-
lection of Professor Sayce,of Oxford, who was spending the winter
on the river, according to his custom for many years.

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