Page 329 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

MONOCHROMATIC GLAZES

Ajecture. special kind of clay found at Ta-u-ling,

and employed chiefly for glazing material, is said to

have been often used for making biscuit by imitators

of old-time ware, one reason for its selection being

that it gave a peculiarly strong, durable pate. This

would indicate that the old-time ware referred to was

of the celadon type, which is wholly different from

the Ting-yao. As already seen, M. d'Entrecolles'

account of biscuit made, wholly or partially, from

steatite, indicates a product closely resembling the

soft paste of blue-and-white Kai-pien ware. The

same remark applies to Ting-yao porcelain, but un-

fortunately this point remains obscure. It is at all

events certain that the potters of the Kang-hsi, Tung-
ching, and Chien-lung eras yielded nothing to their

Ming predecessors in their knowledge of materials

and their skilful methods of combining them so as to

produce both hard and soft pates of perfect quality.

Their hard-paste white porcelain may be conven-

iently classified according the nature of its decoration

incised or in relief. In the choicest type of

incised decoration, the designs usually dragons,

phoenixes, or floral sprays are sunk in the biscuit

so as to be almost imperceptible except by trans-

mitted light. The glaze is of dazzling purity and

lustre, conveying the impression of snow-white oil.

The paste is fine as pipe-clay, and the timbre is sharp

and clear. Nothing distinguishes this beautiful por-

celain so much as the peculiar richness and unctuous-
ness of its surface. The slightest symptom of an

air-bubble, of pitting, of discontinuity, or of dulled

lustre is a fatal mark of inferiority. This class of
ware occurs chiefly in bowls, libation cups, and

plates : the nature of the decoration is not well suited

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