Page 145 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

Ju, Kuan, and Ko Wares 67

to the T*ao lu,^ was a Sung ware made at Yii-hang Hsien, in the
prefecture of Hang Chou. " Its colour was Hke Kuan porcelain

without its crackle, its lustre {jung), and its unctuous richness {jun)y
The wu-ni ware is dark-bodied earthenware, which is discussed
on p. 133.

Ko yao If p^
Ko yao (the elder brother's ware), or Ko Jw yao, as it is some-

times called with the first character repeated, is unanimously

ranked by Chinese writers with the Ju and Kuan wares. Accord-
ing to the traditional accounts, it was first made by the elder of
the two brothers Chang ^, who were potters of Lung-ch'iian

Hsien in the Ch'u-chou Fu, province of Chekiang, each having a
separate factory in the Liu-t'ien district. Most of the Chinese

authorities are content to give the date of these brothers as some
time in the Sung dynasty, but one account ^ narrows the period

down to the Southern Sung (1127-1279 a.d.). Professor Hirth
takes the rationalistic view that the story of the brothers is a myth

embodying the fact that there were two distinct types of ware

made in the Lung-ch'iian district. Be this as it may, the Ko

yao is of considerable interest to us as forming a link between

the obscure Ju and Kuan wares and the well-known Lung-ch'iian

celadon, approaching the latter in its grass green and sea green
varieties and the former in its most highly prized specimens

of bluish green or grey tones.

Of its close resemblance to the Kuan ware there can be no doubt,

for two highly reputable Chinese writers^ describe the two wares
simultaneously and under one heading, enumerating their various
colours in order of merit as fen ch'ing, tan pat, and hui se (see
p. 60), besides mentioning the several kinds of crackle which appeared
in the glaze. The only distinctions which the author of the ChHng

pi ts'ang draws between the two wares are that (1) the Kuan yao
crackle is of the " crab's claw " * type, while that of the Ko is
like fish-roe,^ and (2) the Ko glaze is somewhat less beautiful than

* Bk. vii., fol. 6 verso.

2 The Ch'i hsiu lei k'ao, quoted by Hirth, Ancient Chinese Porcelain, p. 37.

^ The authors of the Po wu yao Ian and the Ch'ing pi ts'ang.

* H/HiKi hsieh chao wen, a debatable phrase, which seems best explained as a large

irregular crackle resembling the tangle of claws seen on the top of a basket of crabs.

A^ iSl-F ^^ ^"' crackle of finer mesh, which French writers describe as truiU,

or resembling the scales of a trout.