Page 70 - J. P Morgan Collection of Chinese Art and Porcelain

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION

were often fired bottom upwards, and the delicate
rims, left unglazed, were afterwards mounted with
copper rims to preserve them from injury. Some were

clothed in plain white, the glaze collecting outside in
tear-drops; others were engraved at the point in the

paste, with ornamental patterns; a third class was im-
pressed inside with intricate and elaborate desigrts in
pronounced relief, the principal ornamental motives
being the tree peony, lily flowers, and flying phoenixes.

The Lung-ch'uan yao, which comes next for notice,
is the far-famed celadon ware made at this time in the

province of Chekiang, the cb'ing tfii, or "green por-
celain" ^ar excellence, of the Chinese, the seiji of the
Japanese, the martahani of the Arabs and Persians.
There is a lordly pile of literature on the "celadon
question" in all its bearings, and the field, interesting as

it is, can hardly be labored further here. The Lung-
ch'iian porcelain of the Sung dynasty is distinguished
by its bright grass-green hue, which the Chinese liken
to fresh onion sprouts, a more pronounced color

than the grayish-green, or "sea-green," of later cela-

dons.

The Chiin yao was a kind of faience made at Chiin-
chou, now Yu-chou, in the province of Honan. The

glazes were remarkable for their brilliancy and for their
manifold varieties of color, especially the transmu-
tation flambes, composed of flashing reds, passing
through every intermediate shade of purple to pale
blue, which have hardly been equalled since. The
great variety of glaze colors turned out here in for-

mer times may be gathered from a list of old Chiin-
chou pieces sent down from the palace to be repro-

duced at the imperial potteries at Ching-te-chen in
the reign of Yung-cheng, the list comprising (i) rose

crimson, (2) pyrus japonica pink, (3) aubergine purple,

(4) plum color, (5) mule's liver mixed with horse's
lung, (6) dark purple, (7) yellow-millet color {mi-se),

Iviii