Page 353 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

MONOCHROMATIC WARES

According to the Tao-lu, as quoted above, the Chi-
hung monochromes were the work of specialists only,
and it would appear that the revival of their manu-

facture at the commencement of the Kang-hsi era
was due to a potter called Lang. The ware, at all
events, is known in China as Lang-yao, and Chinese

virtuosi explain this term as having reference to a
family of potters celebrated for their skill in achiev-

ing red glazes. All efforts have failed, however, to

discover anything about the exact time when the
family flourished, or the date when its members

ceased to devote themselves to such work. In the

catalogue of a collection presented to the British

Museum by Mr. A. W. Franks, F.R.S., the follow-
"a
ing note is appended to the description of " bottle
covered with a deep but
brilliant red glaze :

This specimen is from Mr. A. B. Mitford's collection,
"Aand is thus described in the catalogue :
bottle : Lang-

yao-tsu, porcelain from the Lang furnace. The Lang family

were a family of famous potters who possessed the secret of

this peculiar glaze and paste. They became extinct about

the year 1610; and their pottery is highly esteemed and

fetches great prices at Peking. The Chinese have never

been able successfully to imitate this ware."

This statement appears to be based on some confusion

between the approximate time when Chi-hung glazes
ceased to be produced by the Ming potters and the
epoch when the last members of the Lang family
worked. At any rate, whatever may be the true

history of the family, it is certain that the fine Lang-

yao known to Western collectors dates, almost with-

out exception, from the middle of the seventeenth
to nearly the middle of the eighteenth century, the
great majority of choice specimens being from the

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