Page 390 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

after " (u-kwo-tien-ts* ing) has already been spoken
rain

of in connection with celadon. There can be little

doubt that the colour originally conceived under this

name showed a strong tinge of green. But the pot-

ter of the three great eras of the present dynasty pro-
duced a porcelain bearing no resemblance to celadon

which has come to be known as " blue of the sky

after rain." It is a hard-paste porcelain, fine-grained,
excellent in every technical detail, and covered with

a monochromatic glaze of the utmost lustre and

delicacy. The colour is light cerulean. This ware
commands the admiration of Chinese virtuosi. The

year-mark is generally found on the bottom of fine

pieces in seal character, blue sous couverte.

All the above varieties of blue monochromes were

manufactured at the full heat of the porcelain kiln,
the colour being developed and the biscuit fired at
the same temperature. There remains to be noticed

another blue of very great beauty, exceptionally ap-
preciated by Western connoisseurs, which, being
applied to the surface of ware already baked, was
subjected only to the temperature of the enameller's
furnace. This is the colour called "Turquoise Blue"

by Europeans, but in China known as Tsui-se, or the

blue of the king-fisher's feathers. It was obtained

from an oxide prepared by mixing old copper and

saltpetre with water. The manufacture dates from
the Ming dynasty. In one of the imperial requisi-

tions for porcelains to be used at the palace during

the Lung-ching era (15671572), bowls and plates
covered with Tsui-se glaze are included. But the
colour is not mentioned in any record of choice

wares manufactured earlier than the sixteenth cen-

tury. It is certainly one of the most delicate yet

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