Page 242 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

124 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

one of the kaolin producing districts of China. ^ There are, more-

over, many specimens of the Chiin type which hold an intermediate

position between the finer flower pots and the coarse " Yiian "

tz'ii

wares, and these have a decidedly porcellanoiis body, though in-

clined to be yellowish at the base rim. Some of these have glazes

almost as smooth and even as the flower pots, and of a beautiful

lavender grey colour with patches or large areas of aubergine or
amethystine purple, which in rare cases covers the entire exterior
of a bowl. In their finer types they are scarcely distinguishable

from the specimens which we have tentatively classed as Kuan on

p. 65, and in their coarser kinds they seem to belong to the so-
called " Yiian tz'u " which are discussed at the end of this chapter.

Meanwhile, we must consider a very distinctive group to which

the term sha fai, in its sense of " sandy body," applies with par-

ticular exactitude. In the catalogue of the New York exhibition

of March, 1914, I ventured to differentiate this type by the name

of " soft Chiin," which its general appearance seems to justify.
It is well illustrated in Plates 38 and 39. The body is buff and
varies in texture from stoneware to a comparatively soft earthen-
ware not far removed in colour from that of delft or maiolica,

though, like so many Chinese bodies, it has a tendency to assume

a darker red brown tint where exposed at the foot rim. The glaze

is unctuous and thick, but not opaque, often, indeed, showing con-
siderable flow and transparency : it is opalescent, and at times

almost crystalline, and endued with much play of colour. It varies

from a light turquoise blue of great beauty to lavender and occa-
sionally to a strong blue tint, and, as a rule, it is broken by one
or more passages of crimson red or dull aubergine purple, some-

times in a single well-defined patch, sometimes in a few flecks or
streaks, and sometimes in large irregular areas. This glaze usually
covers the entire exterior and appears again under the base, leaving
practically no body exposed except at the actual foot rim. It has

been attributed to various factories. The pure turquoise specimens

have even been called Ch'ai, and a little piece of this kind was

figured by Cosmo Monkhouse - as Kuan ware. On the other hand,
I am told ^ that it is widely known in China as 3Ia chiin,'^ and is

* The modern Yii Chou. See vol. ii., p. 107.

2 Op. cit., Plate 1.

' By Mr. A. W. Bahr,

Ma* The name is supposed to be that of a potter, but the statement is based on

oral tradition only. The character used is ma (horse).