Page 382 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

224 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

(4) Marks of dedication, Jelicitation, etc.

In many cases the place of a date mark, hall mark, or potter's

name is taken by a word or phrase commending or describing the ware

or invoking a benediction on the possessor. Such marks may be con-

veniently subdivided into marks of (a) dedication, (b) felicitation,

(c) commendation ; to which may be added (d) symbols used as marks.

(a) Marks oj dedication indicating the destination or intention

of the ware contain the name of a place or person or some word

suggesting the use to which the vessel was dedicated. This group

naturally overlaps that of the hall marks, there being no essential

difference between a palace hall mark and such a mark as Shu ju

Igjj^ (Imperial palace) which was inscribed on the Imperial

porcelain of the Yiian dynasty.

A few marks of dedication are mentioned in the Po wu yao Ian ^

^ ^e.g.
fan (altar) on the altar cups of the Hsiian Te period ch^a
;

^ ^^(tea), tsao Vang (decoction of jujubes), and
chill (wine),

^^- chiang fang (decoction of ginger), which were inscribed inside

^ ^the altar cups of the Chia Ching period, besides chin lu (golden

^^seal), "jizWi i(^ chiao (great sacrifice), and fan yung (altar

use), which were written beneath them ; all indicating the offerings

and the altars for which the cups were destined.

Dedications to temples, institutions, and even to individuals,

often of considerable length, also occur not infrequently.

{h) Marks oj jelicitation include good wishes such as ch'ang

ming ju kuei (long life, riches and honour), wan ju yu fung (may

infinite happiness embrace all your affairs), both of which have been

noted on Ming porcelain ; words of good omen such as ju, lu, shou,

^ ^separately or together, chi (good luck), chHng (prosperity), etc.

(c) Marks oj commendation are also frequent, especially in the
K*ang Hsi period and on blue and white porcelain. They allude to

the beauty of the ware, comparing it with jade or gold or gems, or

to the subject of the decoration ; and they vary in length from a

^single character such as yii (jade) to a sentence like chH shih

pao ting chih chin (a gem among precious vessels of rare stone).

(d) A sacred symbol or emblematic ornament often replaces the

mark on K'ang Hsi porcelain ; but as these will be found among the

symbols, etc., described in vol. ii., ch. xvii., there is no need to

discuss them any further. The most frequently used are the pa

pao (Eight Precious Things), and the pa chi hsiang (the Eight

Buddhist Emblems of Happy Augury). i Vol. ii., p. 34.