Page 406 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

nishes happy accidents. And since the Chinese, as

in the case of craquele, are so sure of their technique

that they can manufacture one pair of vases in which

red predominates, and another of which the almost

blue ground is strewn with red and lilac flames, they

also make statuettes with the flesh colour disappear-

ing under blue or green garments ; or tea-pots in the

shape of a peach, having a blue base, a violet body,

and a bright red top." M. Jacquemart's enthusiasm

carries him a little too far it leads him to class
;

with Tao-pien ware specimens, in the manufacture of

which different glazes were applied to different parts.

Otherwise, his description of the varied effects shown

by this remarable ware is vivid and excellent. In

China the Tao-pien is compared to the variety of jade

called Pih, some kinds of which are bluish and others

have a greenish tinge like the deep sea. The potter's

object was to imitate the cloudy, spotted appearance

of this beautiful stone, and he often succeeded ad-
"
mirably. The author of the " Annals of Fu-liang

compares the Tu-lu or Tao-pien glaze to precious

green jade the brilliant heart of which is flecked

with white. This description conveys a good idea

of the choicest Tao-pien : the glaze seems to be trans-

parent, and clouds or flecks of colour float in its

depths.

Passing from this general description to special va-

rieties, note may first be taken of the Lan-yao-pien, or

blue Tao-pien. This glaze illustrates an interesting

fact namely, that the Chinese nomenclature is sys-
;

tematic. It includes in the Tao-pien class practically

all glazes the colours of which are in any respect due

to accidental conditions of firing. The Lan-yao-pien

is evidently a ware of which the manufacture was