Page 254 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

130 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

seggars or fireclay cases to which they became attached by some

accident in the kiln. These and other spoilt pieces or wasters

would be of immense interest if only the circumstance of their find-

ing had been faithfully recorded. Unfortunately, however, they

passed through many hands before reaching Europe, and we have

only hearsay to support the statement that they were found in the

neighbourhood of Honan Fu. The locality is a likely enough spot

and not remote from Chiin Chou, but we must consider that the

real origin of the Yiian tz'u has yet to be settled, and we must still

remain in doubt whether the ware is a coarse variety of Sung Chiin

Chou ware, a continuation of that manufacture in the Yiian

dynasty, or the production of a different factory. Judging from

amthe character of the glazes, I inclined to accept the first two

alternatives, which are not mutually exclusive, for while many of

the specimens have the appearance of Sung wares, there is every

reason to suppose that the manufacture continued through the

Yiian period. The formula, " Sung or Yiian ware of Chiin type,"'

adopted in the catalogue of the exhibition at the Burlington Fine

Arts Club in 1910, is a discreet compromise which may well be

retained till further evidence from China is forthcoming.

The evidence of Sir Aurel Stein's excavations in the regions of

Turfan, imperfect as it is, points to the existence of this kind of

ware at least as early as the Sung dynasty. Fragments with the

typical glaze of the so-called Yiian-tz'u were found, for instance,

on a site which was thought to have been closed in the Sung
dynasty, and again at Vash-shahri, which was " believed to have

been occupied down to the eleventh or twelfth century." Making

ample allowance for error in calculating the dates -of these buried

cities, we may still fairly consider that some of these finds come

within the limits of the Sung dynasty.

^Chien yao

This ware, which has already been mentioned in several pas-
sages, originated at Chien-an, but the factory was subsequently
removed to the neighbouring Chien-yang. Both places are in the
Chien-ning Fu, in the province of Fukien, and the term Chien yao
derives from the character chien, which occurs in all these place

names. The beginning of the manufacture is unknown, but it
certainly dates back to the early Sung period, being mentioned