Page 333 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

MONOCHROMATIC GLAZES

In addition to lustre of glaze, purity of colour, and
accuracy of technique, the quality of the biscuit is a
useful criterion of period in hard-paste white porce-

lain. The Chien-lung pate, though fine and close, is

softer and more chalky than the pates of the Kang-h'si

and Tung-ching eras. On the whole, the tests of

excellence for hard-paste white porcelain are easily

applied. The features of good specimens thinness,

lightness, velvet-like gloss of surface, pure white
colour, and dexterous finish can be appreciated by
any one.

Marked distinction is to be drawn between the

white porcelains hitherto discussed and the well-

known "Ivory White," or "Blanc de Chine," of

Western collectors. Confusion has hitherto existed

with respect to this latter variety even among the

most painstaking and well-informed European con-

noisseurs. The Ivory White was originally produced

at Te-hwa, in the province of Fuh-kien, and was

consequently called Te-hwa-yao. According to the

Tao-lu, the factory was opened during the Ming

dynasty, so that it dates no farther back than the
second half of the fourteenth century. Like the
celebrated wares of the Sung and Tuan potters,

the Te-hwa-yao owed its beauty to texture and tone

of glaze rather than to thinness of biscuit or to sur-

face decoration. The pate is greyish white, close in
grain, very hard, and carefully manipulated. The

glaze is of wonderful merit. In good specimens it
is at once satiny, lustrous, and indescribably soft.

The white is of a peculiar delicate creaminess,

which, combined with a pinkish tint, conveys such

an impression of ivory that the porcelain may be
identified at once by its European name. Many of

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