Page 276 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

148 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

The quality of translucency which in Europe^ is regarded as

distinctive of porcelain is never emphasised in Chinese descrip-

tions. I can find no mention of it in any of the earlier writings, ^

and the first unmistakable literary evidence of its existence^ comes

from a foreign source. The Arab traveller, Soleyman, who describes

his experiences in China in the ninth century, states that " they

had a fine clay {ghddar) from which bowls were made, and in the

transparency of the vessels the light of the water was visible ; and
they were (made of) fine clay." ^ This statement practically proves

the existence of translucent porcelain in the T'ang dynasty, and

we confidently await the arrival of specimens from Chinese ex-

cavations. Some of the export porcelains of the time have been

actually unearthed at Samarra on the Euphrates by Professor

Sarre,^ of the Kaiser Friederik Museum, Berlin, and they include

(1) bowls of gummy white porcelain wdth unglazed gritty base;

(2) greenish white ware (3) yellowish white with small crackle
; ;

and (4) a pure white porcelain with relief designs, such as birds

^ The European definition of porcelain may be stated thus : " Porcelain comprises
all varieties of pottery which are made translucent by adding to the clay substances

some natural or artificial fluxing material." In China the usual constituents are
kaolin, which forms the clay substance, and petuntse (china stone), which is the natural
fluxing material. I should add that it is doubtful whether we are strictlj' justified in
using the word kaolin as a general name for porcelain earth (0 t'u); but the term has
been consecrated by usage, and has practically passed into our language in this sense.

A slight translucency is observable near the rim on a white T'ang cup in the Eumorfo-

poulos Collection. The body of this piece is a soft white material, and the translucency

is caused by a mingling of the glaze with the body where it is very thin, and it may

be compared with the translucency of the Persian " gombroon " ware. But neither of
these wares can be ranked as porcelain proper.

2 It is, however, mentioned in connection with some of the Sung wares (the Kuan,

for example), but only in relation to the glaze.

^ It is true that Bushcll, in his translation of the T'ao shuo (op. cit., p. 102) implies

this quality in a " brown ware (iz'ii) bowl " sent as tribute by the P'o-hai in 841 a.d.
which is described as " translucent both inside and outside, of a pure brown colour,
half an inch thick but as light as swan's down." The words of the text l^j^'fiifi^
nei wai t'ung jung (" inside and out throughout lustrous ") are in themselves capable

—of suggesting translucence, but the remaining features the brown glaze and the great
—thickness are suflicient to preclude the idea of a translucent ware ; and I imagine

that the quality of lustre or translucency here applies only to the glaze. The P'o-hai
appear to have been a subject state of Corea.

* I am indebted for this literal translation of the much-quoted passage to Mr.

Edwards, of the Oriental MSS. Department of the British Museum. It has been more
freely rendered by M. Reinaud, Relation des voyages fails par les Arabes, etc., Paris,

1845, p. 34.

* See F. Saire, " Kleinfunde von Samarra und ihre Ergebnisse," in Islam, Julj^

1914.