Page 312 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

Chapter IX

MONOCHROMATIC GLAZES

WHITE

the wares belonging to this section

AMONGthe most important is celadon, but enough
has already been written about this beautiful
though not duly appreciated representative

of Chinese keramic skill.

The earliest white porcelain showing any fine tech-

nical qualities was the Ting-yao of the Sung dynasty.

This, as already seen, was not hard, translucid ware

of the type commonly called porcelain in the West
;

it had soft pate and though very thin, was not trans-

parent. Something of its opaqueness was due to the

nature of the glaze, for even bowls of fine Ting-yao

so fragile as to seem capable of being crushed between

the fingers, refuse altogether to transmit light. The

glaze, though perceptibly thicker than the covering

applied to porcelaine degourdee by the European pro-
cess of absorption, has not more body than a coat of

thin cream, to which, indeed, its soft yet solid appear-

ance and warm tone may not inaptly be compared.

Whether owing to original excellence or to skilled

manipulation, the porcelain earth of the Ting-yao

shows qualities that fully explain the esteem in which
the ware was held by old-time connoisseurs. It has

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