Page 176 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

90 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

wares which fulfils the European definition of porcelain. The
glaze is of ivory tint, sometimes forming on the outsides of bowls

or dishes in brownish gummy tears, which were regarded by Chinese

collectors as a sign of genuineness.^ The finer and whiter varieties
are known as pai ting (white Ting) and fen iiiig (flour Ting), as
distinct from the coarser kind, whose opaque, earthy body and
glaze of yellowish tone, usually crackled and stained, earned it the
name of Vu ting or earthen Ting.

In the best period the pure white undecorated Ting ware, with
rich unctuous glaze, compared to " congealed fat " or " mutton
fat," was most esteemed, though ornament was freely used, especially
on the Southern Ting. Designs carved in low relief or etched
with a point were considered best, the moulded and stamped orna-

ment being rightly regarded as inferior. There is a remarkable,
though sadly damaged, example of Northern Ting ware in the
British Museum. It was found in a Manchurian tomb of the twelfth
century, and bears out the current descriptions of the ware with
its fine white body, rich ivory glaze, and " tear drops " on the
reverse. The ornament, a lotus design in bold freehand carving,
displays all the freshness and power of Sung craftsmanship. This

dish has, moreover, a characteristic common to the Sung Ting
bowls and dishes, viz. the mouth rim is bare of glaze. Many of the

early wares were fired upside down, whence the bare mouth rim,
which was usually hidden by a metal band."

Favourite carved designs with the Ting potters seem to have
been the mu-tan peony, the lily, and flying phoenixes. They are, at
any rate, usually singled out for mention by Chinese writers.^ Garlic
• and rushes are also incidentally mentioned as motives, and a few

examples of a beautiful design of ducks on water are known in
Western collections. The moulded ornament is generally more

elaborate, dense peony scrolls with phoenixes flying through them,

radiating panels of flowers, dragons in clouds, fishes among water
plants and wave patterns, etc. To judge from Hsiang's Album,

Ko1 See ku yao lun, bk. vii., fol. 23, " Specimens with tear stains (Zei bin) outside

are genuine."

* Ttie Tao lu, bk. ix., fol. 13, quotes from T'ang shih ssH k'ao the following passage
which bears on this point: "The Ting and Ju ware used by the Court generally have

a copper band on the mouth. This was regarded as destroying their value. But
modern collectors of Tihg and Ju wares have come to regard the copper band on the

mouth as a sign of genuineness. Dealers in curios declare it to be a sign of age."

' e.g. Po wu yao Ian, Tao lu, etc.