Page 69 - J. P Morgan Collection of Chinese Art and Porcelain

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION

flies or some other natural form, when they are classed

as a variety of yao-pien, or "furnace-transmutation."

The ordinary Yuan t{'ii, or "Yuan (dynasty) porce-

lain" of Chinese collectors resembles generally the

imperial ware of the Sung dynasty, being fashioned

in the same lines, and only differing in comparative

coarseness and inferior technique, so that it need not

delay us further.

The Ko yao of the Sung dynasty was the early

crackled ware fabricated by a potter named Chang

the Elder, a native of Liu-t'ien, in the jurisdiction of

Lung-ch'iian-hsien, in the twelfth century of our era.

The early Ko yao was distinguished especially for

its crackling, looking as if it were "broken into a hun-

—dred pieces" (/)o-5Mi), or "like the roe of a fish" {yii-t{u)
the French iruitee. The principal colors of this

crackled glaze were fen-ch'ing, or "pale purple" due

to manganiferous cobalt, and mi-se, or "millet-col-

ored," a bright yellow derived from antimony. Such

was the original Ko yao; the name has since been

extended to include every kind of porcelain covered

with crackled monochrome glazes in all shades of
celadon, gray, and white. The old crackled ware

was highly prized in Borneo and other islands of the

Eastern Archipelago as far east as Ceram, and it fig-

ures largely among the relics of ancient Chinese por-
celain brought to our museums from these parts.

The Ting yao was made at Ting-chou in the prov-
ince of Chihli. The main out-turn was white, but one

variety was dark reddish brown, and another, very
rare, as black as lacquer. The white was of two classes :

the first called Pai Ting, or Fen Ting, being as white

as flour; the second called T'u Ting, of a yellowish

clayey tint. This porcelain, of delicate resonant body,

invested with a soft-looking fluent glaze of ivory-white

tone, is probably more common in collections than

any other of the Sung wares. The bowls and dishes

Ivii