Page 248 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

128 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

to large supplies of vases {p'ing and fan) and Mine jars obtained

from Chiin Chou and Tz'ii Chou in the Hsiian Te period (1426-1436)

and in the year 1553 of the Chia Ching period. We further learn

that in 1563 an Imperial edict abolished both the tax which had

previously been levied on the Chiin Chou wares and the subsidy

which had to a great extent counterbalanced the tax. These docu-

ments prove beyond doubt that potteries of considerable size existed

at Chiin Chou in the Ming dynasty, though their mention in this

particular context seems to imply that the ware was no longer

ranked among the porcelains, and had apparently ceased to be

regarded as an artistic production.

From this time onwards to the present day the ceramic history

of this district is a blank, and we are unable to say whether the

modern Yii Chou pottery is a continuation or only a revival of

Athe ancient art of the place. specimen of this modern ware in

the Field Museum, Chicago, has close affinities with the " soft

Chiin." Its base shows a buff stoneware body washed over with

dark brown clay, and the glaze is somewhat opalescent though

thinner than the old glaze, and its colour is a light blue of a tint

more grey than turquoise. Quantities of this modern Yii Chou

ware are to be found in Peking, and occasionally it is passed off

as old Chiin, but no one with experience of the originals would

be deceived by it.

Finally, there is the important group of Mares obviously belong-

ing to the Chiin family but commonly described as Yiian tz'u or

ware of the Yiian dynasty (1280-1367), although no sanction for

this name is found in the older Chinese books. The M-are, hoM^ever,

is fairly common in the form of bowls, shalloM' dishes, and, more

rarely, vases and incense burners. The boM'ls Mhich are the most

familiar examples are usually of conical form, Mith slightly con-

tracted mouth and small foot, coated M'ith thick fluescent glazes,

which form in deep pools at the bottom Mdthin, and end outside in

thick drops or a billowy line some distance above the base, leaving

a liberal amount of the body material exposed to vicM-. The body

is of the ska i'ai class and usually of coarse grain, varying from

a dark iron grey to buff stoneware and soft brick red earthenM'are,

though, as already noted, there are finer specimens Mhich link it

with the tz'u fai group. It is this roughness of substance which

has caused the M^are to be relatively little esteemed in China, for

the glaze is often of singular beauty. The varieties in colour are