Page 332 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

regard to the use of fibrous gypsum, the same writer
"
says : Designs are traced upon porcelain with

fibrous gypsum as well as with steatite, a white dif-

ferent from that of the body of the piece being thus
obtained. There is, however, one peculiarity about

the gypsum, namely, that before use it must first be

subjected to the action of fire. After this it is

pounded and thrown into a vessel of water, which
is stirred, and the scum that rises to the surface is

gradually removed. Ultimately there remains a pure

mass, which is used in the same fashion as steatite."

It will of course be understood that the designs traced

with these substances vary in degree of relief. Some-

times they stand out prominently from the surface
;

sometimes they appear as a snow-white satiny tracing.

A rare and beautiful method of treating the sur-

face of hard-paste white porcelain is to channel
portions of the biscuit in diapered designs and leave

the sunken parts of the pattern unglazed. This

troublesome tour de force is seldom found upon large

pieces. Occasionally it occurs in combination with

blue decoration sous couverfe.

In yet another highly esteemed and uncommon

variety the surface is cut into lattice-work of marvel-

lous delicacy. Either this reticulation alone suffices

for ornamentation, or it is employed to fill the spaces
between medallions having decoration in blue sous

couverfe or white figures modelled in high relief.
Sometimes gilding is applied to these figures. Curi-

ously enough specimens of porcelain thus reticulated
generally take the form of little cups, which could
never have served for drinking purposes : they were

intended to contain ashes for setting up sticks of in-

cense.

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