Page 310 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

though erroneously attributed to Cochin China. Their
pate is hard white stone-ware, its outer surface always
covered with enamels of rich colour, while to the inner

is applied a partial coat of thin paint-like grey glaze.
In nine cases out of every ten these specimens take
the form of small boxes used in Japan to hold in-
cense. Sometimes they are round, with the top

rudely moulded into the shape of an ox or a stag ;
sometimes they are made in the semblance of a bird,

a badger, or a blossom. The enamels are green, yel-
low, purple, and mahogany red. The purple varies
from the colour of ripe grapes to that of light muddy
claret dusted with dark speckles. The green and yel-
low are rich and lustrous, and the mahogany red has

a peculiar wax-like appearance, not seen in any other
enamel. Scroll patterns or other designs in relief en-
ter almost invariably into the decoration, the techni-

cal finish of which is usually more or less rude. In

a manuscript work, entitled Kogo-zuye (illustrations
of incense boxes), compiled by a well-known Japa-
nese virtuoso forty years ago, ten celebrated specimens

of this faience are depicted. The majority of them
are grotesque in conception. One is in the shape of

an archaic badger with yellow limbs, purple face and
breast, and green body. In another the artist has
modelled a purple stag lying on green scrolls and
diapers, and in another a claret-coloured carp plunges

among yellow waves. The redeeming features of

such pieces is the richness and lustre of their coloured

enamels, indicating high technical ability. They are

referred by Japanese connoisseurs to the thirteenth,
fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, and there is no

reason to doubt the correctness of the estimate for
;

though, as has been said, the Japanese are mistaken

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