Page 381 - Chinese Porcelain Vol I, Galland

PAINTED IN COLOURS OVER THE GLAZE. 217

has run off, come out without gloss upon the vitreous enamel.
The paintings of shagreen vases is generally fine, but always
crude."
Mandarin
Harlequin.
Although the harlequin class belongs to the mandarin
and to be found in mandarin
period, is generally shapes, it is
not all decorated with mandarin figures, and therefore need
not of necessity belong to the mandarin class. The pieces are
fluted, which admits of the colours being applied in stripes of
and other colours, hence the
pink, green, black, white, yellow,
name.
No. 359 is taken from a jar with cover of mandarin harle-
quin. No mark. The reserves are recessed so as to obtain a
flat surface on which to the flowers and When
paint figures.
the medallions are of various forms, as in this case, instead of
scroll and would
saying leaf-shaped reserves, auction catalogues
refer to them as "
generally shaped panels."
Eggshell.
So called from its to be no thicker than the
being supposed
shell of an The Chinese claim to have
egg. possessed the
art of making it as far back as the fifteenth century, but egg-
shell as we know it is not anterior to the
eighteenth century,
although the Chinese may have used the term to what in
earlier times was considered thin 14 The
very porcelain.
beautiful ruby back plates belong to this section, running
with the famille rose The earliest date
parallel class. to
be found on these 1721.
plates is Eggshell is generally
decorated with mandarin and some of the illustrations
figures,
in that section Nos. are made of
(see 354, 356) eggshell
porcelain, as also No. 340 in the famille rose class; but for
the convenience of the reader, a few of the most usual
types
of eggshell have been grouped together and treated as a
separate class, instead of scattering them through the two
above-named divisions.
14
If a really fine example of eggshell be held between the eye and the
light, the painting on the front of the plate or vase may be seen with wonder-
ful clearness through the back. Fine single specimens of eggshell of the
Keen-lung period have commanded, in 1897, prices from £50 to £75.—T. J. L.
P 2