PREFACE

If there is one regret that accompanies the issue of these "Chats on Oriental China" it is that the illustrations could not be given in all the beauty of their magnificent colouring. In a photograph, however fine it may be, it is obvious that only the shape and the decoration can be given. Roughly speaking, the illustrations represent in its Ming and Kang-he specimens about £100,000 in value. The pieces represented are the most admirable and the rarest. The reader is advised to bestow much attention on the reading of the descriptions accompanying each picture. There is no form of instruction more valuable than this analysis, which forms the basis of the sale catalogues of the most recherché collections.

The collector who masters this book may betake himself to the museums with considerable confidence that he will be in a position to understand; in fact, to read the pieces which he wishes to study. Take for example, the unique Salting Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington. To the ordinary visitor interested in porcelain the specimens present an exquisite, if embarrassing, assembly of choice pieces whose colour, decoration, and age cannot be grasped, they can only be admired. The eye may be trained, but the understanding never. The absence of a catalogue handicaps and indeed baffles the amateur. But if the knowledge previously obtained is sufficient to enable him to master the subject, the style, form, and colour, nothing can give more pleasure than the investigation of such a collection which has been brought together at a vast expense of time, money, and knowledge. In the British Museum the descriptive labels are helpful.

In this book the reader will find some statements repeated perhaps over and over again. When we chat about anything we do repeat the points on which we want information, or in which we may be specially interested. The information is concise, so that, section by section, the range of Oriental porcelain will pass before the student, the chief consideration which regulates the letterpress being the space at our disposal.

Naturally the labour bestowed on repression is considerable. When we consider the National Collections of England, France, and Germany alone we find material for many volumes. Perhaps of all the museums that of Limoges, where the Jacquemart and Gasnault collections are so well cared for, is one of the most instructive, and the lover of old Oriental could not do better than spend a holiday at this delightful old French town with the object of really learning what these two friends teach.

With regard to books of reference, all of the recognised authorities have been studied, especially the Jacquemart and Gasnault catalogues and descriptions, and the Petit Guide Illustre au Musée Guimet. The visitor to Paris should make a point of visiting this museum, so little known, so intensely interesting, at the junction of the Rue Boissière and the Avenue d'Iena. Its aim is to propagate a knowledge of the civilisation of the East, to facilitate the study of ancient historical religions largely by means of images, statuettes, or figures. There we see classified methodically, in chronological order, representations of the various divinities in which form and attitude both have a meaning. The specimens are old and rare. The catalogue of the Franks Collection is referred to in the various chapters. Formerly exhibited at the Bethnal Green Museum, the collection is now distributed in the British Museum, where the pieces may be recognised as having a printed description. The two volumes by the late W. G. Gulland are delightful and very helpful, and it was the privilege of the writer to have spent some hours in his company shortly before his lamented decease.

I owe sincere thanks to Mr. Edgar Gorer, of S. Gorer and Son, Bond Street, for his constant courtesy and his kindness in supplying most of the fine illustrations in the book, and for securing permission from other collectors to use their photographs. And more than this, his practical knowledge has been put at my disposal in every way, and specially in reading the proofs. To Messrs. Duveen Brothers, of Bond Street, I am indebted for specimens specially noted. To other friends who have helped recognition is due, especially to Mr. C. H. McQueen, whose knowledge of Chinese porcelain has been altogether at my disposal.

The marks are those given in the Franks catalogue, in Mr. Gulland's books, and in the Guimet Museum guide. The vastness of the subject here shortly treated may bring many collectors into touch with one another, and the author hopes that they will avail themselves of the opportunity of using him as the medium for this intercommunication.

Finally, with regard to the illustrations and the lessons they teach, the reader will note that vases have been selected wherever this has been possible. Generally speaking the vase, being an ornamental and purely decorative object, has received from the Chinese potter that artistic—one is almost tempted to say that reverential—treatment which embodies all that is best in his ceramic art. For the rest, it may be that the mythological aspects of the Oriental decoration, its divinities and their attributes, have received unusual attention. The Buddhist faith, here feebly exposed, embodies the highest truths, and Taoism, the more popular religion, cannot be neglected by any student of Oriental porcelain. The Japanese section is not illustrated. Japanese collectors are keen in collecting old Chinese specimens.

[CONTENTS]

PAGE
PREFACE[5]
SECTION I
CHINESE PORCELAIN
CHAPTER
I.INTRODUCTORY[21]
II.HARD PASTE[29]
III.RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY[35]
IV.A SKETCH SHOWING PORCELAIN CLASSEDACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF THEDISCOVERY OF THE COLOURS AND GLAZES[43]
V. THE FOUR CHIEF FABULOUS ANIMALS ANDTWO GODDESSES[51]
VI.A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE EARLY HISTORYOF PORCELAIN[89]
VII.THE MING DYNASTY AND ITS PRODUCTS[95]
VIII.THE TSING DYNASTY, KANG-HE PERIOD[103]
IX.THE YUNG-CHING PERIOD[109]
X.THE KEEN-LUNG PERIOD[119]
XI.MANDARIN PORCELAIN, YUNG-CHING PERIODAND LATER[131]
XII. KEA-KING, TAOU-KWANG, AND THE LATER EMPERORS[139]
XIII.CHINESE WHITE PORCELAIN[147]
XIV.SINGLE OR SELF-COLOUR GLAZES[153]
XV.CHINESE CRACKLE[175]
XVI.BLUE AND OTHER COLOURS UNDER THE GLAZE[181]
XVII.CLOBBER WARE OR REDECORATED PORCELAIN[201]
XVIII.RETICULATED PORCELAIN[203]
XIX.DECORATED WITH COLOURED ENAMELS[211]
A. THE BLACK FAMILY—"FAMILLE NOIRE"
B. THE GREEN FAMILY—"FAMILLE VERTE"
C. POWDERED AND MAZARINE BLUE WITH ENAMEL COLOURS
D. THE GREEN AND YELLOW FAMILY—"FAMILLE JAUNE"
E. CORAL RED GROUND—"ROUGE DE FER"
F. THE ROSE FAMILY—"FAMILLE ROSE"
G. OTHER ENAMEL COLOURS
XX.PORCELAIN OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY[285]
XXI.IMITATIONS OF ORIENTAL PORCELAIN[291]
XXII.SYMBOLICAL DESIGNS[297]
A. EMBLEMS IN ANIMALS
B. EMBLEMS IN TREES
C. EMBLEMS IN FLOWERS
XXIII.DATE MARKS ON ORIENTAL PORCELAIN[307]
XXIV.SYMBOLICAL MARKS AND ORNAMENTS[323]
XXV.THE IMMORTALS OR CHENS[337]
XXVI.THE DRESDEN COLLECTION[345]
SECTION II
JAPANESE PORCELAIN AND POTTERY
XXVII.JAPANESE PORCELAIN AND POTTERY[349]
IMARI, ARITA, OR HIZEN
HIRADO
NABESHIMA
XXVIII.SATSUMA[357]
KYOTO
AWATA
MARKS, FIRST SET
XXIX.BIZEN OR IMBE[367]
KUTANI
KENZAN WARE
YEIRAKU WARE
XXX.KISHU[375]
BANKO
SOMA
SANDA
SHEBA
VARIOUS
MARKS, SECOND SET
SECTION III
XXXI.SALE PRICES[385]
INDEX[403]

[ILLUSTRATIONS]

VASE, IN PROPER COLOURS, KANG-HE[Frontispiece]
PAGE
PAÔ-YUEH-KOUANG AND TIEN-KONG[40]
THE DRAGON[54]
THE TRUE KYLIN[55]
THE COREAN LION[56]
THE HO-HO OR PHŒNIX[57]
KWAN-YIN, MING[60]
ANOTHER KWAN-YIN, MING[62]
KWAN-YIN, WITH ATTENDANTS[63]
SI-WANG-MU[64]
OD-DPAG-MED AMITÂBHA OR AMIDA[68]
WAN CHONG, THE GOD OF THE LEARNED[71]
KUAN-TI, THE GOD OF WAR[72]
WEN-TCHANG, THE GOD OF WISDOM[75]
PIU-HWO, TAOIST GOD[76]
HAN SEANG-TSE (2) AND CHANG KO-LAOU[79]
BUDDHIST DIVINITIES (2) AND HAN CHUNG-LE[80]
THE TAOIST IMMORTALS (8)[83]
THE DOG OF BUDDHA OR COREAN LION[84]
EMBLEMS IN BIRDS, PHEASANTS[87]
WHITE PORCELAIN, KWAN-YIN[151]
"SANG DE BŒUF," SELF-COLOUR[157]
"CLAIRE DE LUNE" CRACKLE, SELF-COLOUR[163]
TIGER SPOTTED OR SPLASHED GLAZE[167]
PEACH BLOW, WITH WHITE AND CELADON[171]
CRACKLE VASES, &C., MOUNTED IN ORMOLU[178]
BLUE AND WHITE BEAKERS; DISHES AND COVERS[186]
BLUE AND WHITE VASE; WATER EWER AND COVER[189]
BLUE AND WHITE VASES, WITH LANGE-LYSEN[190]
BLUE AND WHITE GINGER JAR, OR OVIFORM VASE[193]
BLUE AND RED UNDER-GLAZE, CONICAL VASE[194]
RED UNDER-GLAZE, ENAMELS OVER-GLAZE, CYLINDRICAL VASE[197]
RETICULATED INCENSE BURNER[207]
RETICULATED VASE[208]
BLACK FAMILY, "FAMILLE NOIRE," TEAPOTS[218]
BLACK FAMILY, "FAMILLE NOIRE," BOWL[221]
BLACK FAMILY, "FAMILLE NOIRE," VASES, TAPERING SQUARE[222]
BLACK FAMILY, "FAMILLE NOIRE," VASES, PEAR-SHAPED[225]
BLACK FAMILY, "FAMILLE NOIRE," VASES, TWO[226]
GREEN FAMILY, "FAMILLE VERTE," VASE, OVIFORM[230]
GREEN FAMILY, "FAMILLE VERTE," LANTERN, EGG-SHELL[233]
GREEN FAMILY, "FAMILLE VERTE," VASES (3), SQUARE-SHAPED[234]
GREEN FAMILY, "FAMILLE VERTE," VASE, BEAKER-SHAPED[237]
GREEN FAMILY, "FAMILLE VERTE," HEXAGONAL, ARROW-STAND[238]
GREEN FAMILY, "FAMILLE VERTE," VASE, GOURD-SHAPED[241]
POWDERED-BLUE, WITH "FAMILLE VERTE," AND BLUE DECORATION[246]
POWDERED-BLUE, WITH "FAMILLE VERTE," DECORATION, PLATES[249]
MAZARINE-BLUE, WITH "FAMILLE ROSE," DECORATION, VASES[250]
GREEN AND YELLOW FAMILY, "FAMILLE JAUNE," VASE, SQUARE-SHAPED[254]
GREEN AND YELLOW FAMILY, "FAMILLE JAUNE," JARDINIÈRE[257]
CORAL RED, "ROUGE DE FER," VASE, CYLINDRICAL[261]
CORAL RED, "ROUGE DE FER," VASE, CYLINDRICAL[262]
ROSE FAMILY, "FAMILLE ROSE," RUBY-BACK PLATES, &C.[266]
EGG-SHELL, "ROSE" "VERTE," VASE[269]
APPLE-GREEN GROUND, MING BISCUIT, TEAPOTS[273]
APPLE-GREEN GROUND, LANG-YAO, VASES[274]
DELICATE GREEN GROUND, VASE, GOURD-SHAPED[277]
DELICATE GREEN GROUND, VASES, KEA-KING[278]
AUBERGINE GROUND, VASES, FLAT-SHAPED[281]
MANDARIN CHINA, VASES, CONICAL, EGG-SHELL[282]
THE IMMORTALS: HAN CHUNG-LE; LEU TUNG-PIN[340]
LE TEE-KWAE; TSAOU KWO-KIU[341]
LAN TSAE-HO; CHANG KO-LAOU[342]
HAN SEANG-TSZE; HO SEEN-KOO[343]
FIVE CLAWS; HO-HO BIRD[354]
DOG OF FÔ; THE KYLIN[355]

[BIBLIOGRAPHY AND GLOSSARY]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The chief books referred to in this volume are:—

Franks, Sir A. W. Bethnal Green Collection. Catalogue of Original Pottery and Porcelain.

Gulland, W. G. Chinese Porcelain. 2 vols. With Illustrations.

The small Guide to the Musée Guimet. Paris.

GLOSSARY

Base. The solid support or bottom of any vessel either simple or ornamentally shaped.

Beaker. The Chinese beaker is a trumpet-shaped vase, having neither handle nor spout nor beak.

Biscuit. Porcelain unglazed, having no gloss.

Body. The part of a vase which corresponds with the body in the human figure. The shape may be simple, or two or more forms combined.

Bottle. A vase with spheroidal body, long neck and narrow mouth. The gourd-shaped Oriental bottle may be double, having three bodies diminishing from the bottom upwards.

Burnt-in. A term used to distinguish the painted from the enamelled porcelain, the first being burnt in with the glaze, the second having the colours laid over the glaze.

Celadon. The soft green colour upon pieces of old Oriental. See further in the section dealing with colours mixed with the glaze and burnt in at the first firing. European glaze is nearly always transparent and colourless.

China or Porcelain Paste is translucid, in pottery it is opaque.

Colours. Five colours:—green, yellow, aubergine, blue, and red. Three colours:—green, a curious shade; yellow, varying from pale to bright; aubergine, also varying in tone.

Egg-shell China first appeared in the Yung-lo period, and later it was as thin as bamboo paper. Under the Lung-king and Wan-leih emperors pure white porcelain of this kind was called "egg-shell." In many pieces the paste is so thin as to appear to be only two layers of glaze.

Enamel. Mixed with a glassy composition were certain transparent or opaque colours which were used in over the glaze decoration. In pottery they are used in the glaze.

Fen-ting. Soft paste, or more correctly, soft glaze porcelain.

Figures, Figurines, Magots, Statuettes, are single, grouped, or attached as ornaments to a piece; such as the eight immortals, etc.

Forms. These are diversified. Cylindrical, globular or spheroidal, egg-shaped or ovoid; apple-shaped or pomiform, pear-shaped or pyriform; cubical, hexagonal, etc.

Glaze. The composition used for coating porcelain or pottery. It literally means covering with glass or any vitrifiable substance having similar properties.

Grand Feu. The kiln at its greatest heat in which the clays were acted upon so as to produce porcelain or pottery. The decoration was often fixed in the "petit feu," or muffle kiln. The hard firing, when less than the maximum heat was required, was done in the "demi-grand feu."

Graviata. This name is given to patterns traced or cut on the porcelain or on the enamel.

"Hundred Antiques." A form of decoration, consisting of utensils, symbols, vases, &c., called "po-ku."

Kaolin. Porcelain or china clay, derived from the decomposition of granite rocks.

Kiln. "Grand feu" first baking, temperature about 4717° Fahrenheit. "Demi-grand feu" for fixing colours which could bear intense heat which were applied before glazing. More delicate enamel colours were applied for firing in the "petit feu" or muffle kiln.

Mandarin. A term applied to Chinese porcelain decorated with a certain class of figure subjects.

Mice China has ornament, in high relief, of the branches, leaves, and fruit of the vine, with squirrels or foxes, so-called mice, also in relief. It is Mandarin eighteenth century as a rule.

Moulds. These are used for figures and for the various ornaments which are fixed upon the piece.

Naga. This word translated means Dragon, which is dealt with under that name.

Neck. In the bottle, flagon, and flask, the neck is of different length and form. The throat may be narrow or wide, inclining inwards or outwards, or even perpendicular.

Ornaments. These are very varied. They may be in relief, reticulated, impressed, engraved in the paste; or they may be arabesque, grotesque; or they may be lines in angles, lozenges, zigzags, ribbons, and paintings of every kind.

Paste. The body of which porcelain or pottery vessels is made. Hard paste cannot be scratched or filed and resists the action of great heat. Soft paste is easily scratched and is melted by intense heat.

Pekin Ware is graviata of the Taou-kwang period. It was never made in Pekin, but the name is still used.

Petuntze. Pulverised "china rock" forming a white paste (pe-tun) made into bricks (petuntze). It melts in the heat of a porcelain furnace into a milky glass.

Pin-points are tiny holes found on the bottom of early Chinese porcelain.

Porcelain. A compound of kaolin and petuntze. The kaolin is not fusible, the petuntze vitrifies and envelopes the kaolin, producing a smooth compact body which is translucent.

Pottery. This is formed of a mixture of clays. Ordinary potter's-clay is used for common earthenware, and a blue clay, of a greyish colour, is much used in making flint-ware.

Saucer. The old Chinese form of the plate is always saucer-shaped. The flattening of the rim produced the dish and plate. Raising the sides gave the bowl, basin, and cup. By adding a handle we have the tea-cup.

Seggar. This is the protective vessel or case in which the pieces of porcelain or pottery are burnt in the kiln.

Slip. The liquid clay which is applied to the piece, under or over the glaze, either by pouring or painting.

Stoneware. Hard pottery which forms the link between porcelain and earthenware. In Chinese products stoneware is used with self-colours applied in the glaze.

Vases. All vessels used for drinking cups and goblets, for ointments or perfumes, for holding, carrying, or pouring wine, oil, or water; and similar or varied forms used solely for ornament.

Willow Pattern. A popular decoration of Nankin blue services. There are several varieties, but all have the weeping willow.

Yao-pien. The Chinese name for splashed, "shot" silk, or variegated glazes.

I