Page 381 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

MONOCHROMATIC WARES

the stoved biscuit. The surface is covered with a

network of fine crackle, and there is an absence

usually of lustre and always of transparency. Many

technically faulty examples of " mustard yellow,"

dating from the Taou-Kwang (1821-1851), and es-
pecially the Hitn-fung, era (1851-1862), have found
their way into European and American collections,

and are valued far above their true merits.

In the Kang-hsl era, under the direction of the

celebrated potter Tang, a peculiar yellow glaze was

manufactured. It ranked among the Imperial Wares

(Kuan-yao} of the time and has always been highly

esteemed. The pate is not porcelain proper, but very

fine stone-ware, always thick and solid, and the glaze
is distinguished as " eel-yellow," Shan-yu-hwang, from

its supposed resemblance to the colour of an eel's

belly. It is an opaque glaze, having comparatively
little lustre and owing its colour to a dust of minute
yellow speckles, so close and fine as to be impercepti-

ble without very careful examination. Beautiful as

this monochrome undoubtedly is, it does not imme-
diately command appreciation, being less remarkable

for brilliancy of surface or richness of colour than for
combined softness, solidity, and peculiarity. It is

never associated with other colours or enamels. It

was manufactured successfully by the Tung-ching and

Chien-lung experts, but potters of a later era seem to

have been quite unable to produce it. Good speci-
mens generally have the mark of their period incised

in seal character on the base.

A colour which, though not strictly monochro-

matic, may be conveniently included in this section,
"
is the Hwang-tien-pan, or yellow." This
spotted

is also of the Kuan-yao, or imperial class : indeed the

37