Page 157 - 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 75

feit have been confused together. Among men there are very
many who seek for the genuine Sung, but refined and beautiful
specimens are exceedingly few. . . . Ts'ao Chiung, a man of high

birth, secured an incense burner, in height about two inches and
in width proportionate. The cover was beautiful jade carved
with a pattern of sea waves of Tung ch'ing ^ colour, with a handle
in form of a crane, a genuine piece, and exceedingly beautiful.
It came to the ears of the eunuch Mai, governor of the district,
and he put Chiung in prison and subjected him to the inquisition.
His son had no choice but to offer the vessel as a gift. Later
the powerful hand of the superintendent of the Board of Rites

seized it. In the Cheng Te period (1522-66) it was stolen, and,
coming to the district below Wu, it became the property of
Chang Hsin-fu of Tien-shan, Shanghai, who sold it for 200 ounces
of gold. After that it came again into the hands of a connoisseur,

and the Imperial authorities in the end did not succeed in recovering

it. This was a genuine antique Ko vessel."

1 Celadon green ; see p. 82.