Page 452 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

on the ware itself. Among the latter are figures

of the Virgin Mary, of St. Paul, of St. John, of

the Twelve Apostles, and so forth. These occur

on specimens in the collections of the Duke of

Normandy (1363), of Charles V. (1380), and of the

Duke of Berry (1416). Now it is known that from

the sixth century Nestorian missionaries carried on

the work of propagandism in China that from the
;

beginning of the fourteenth century the field which

they had hitherto monopolised was shared by the

Minorites and that both fell with the fall of the
;

Yuan dynasty of Mongols (1368), not to be replaced

until the rise of the Portuguese settlement at Macao,

in 1 5 1 7. It might, therefore, be supposed that porce-

lain such as that described in the three collections

mentioned above, owed its decorative designs to the

inspiration of Roman Catholic priests residing in

China. But it is almost certain that the Chinese

potters of the Yuan era had not carried the art of
painting in blue sous couverte to a point such as would

be indicated by the representation of saintly per-

sonages. The student is therefore constrained to think
that the examples adduced by M. du Sartel were of
mother-of-pearl, not of keramic ware. The reader

can judge for himself:

INVENTAIRE DU Due DE NORMANDIE (1363).

Un tableau de pourcellaine quarre, de plusieurs pieces, et

au milieu 1'yniage de Nostre-Dame, garny d'argent, dore a
ouvrage d'oultremer.

INVENTAIRE DE CHARLES V (1380).

Un tableau quarre de pourcelaine ou d'un cote est 1'yniage

de Nostre-Dame en un esmail d'azur et plusieurs autres

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