No. 341-1905. See p. [42].
The mark and the medallion inside are reproduced below the elevation of the bowl.
The long-necked vase of celadon ware from the Jones Collection in [Plate 5] may fitly be described here, as it probably dates from the latter part of the Ming dynasty, though the refinement of the form suggests that it may have been made in the earlier years of K’ang Hsi. The surface of the vase is entirely coated with a crackled glaze of bluish-celadon tone, running down in thick waves round the edge of the foot. On this glaze is a design delicately traced in white slip, thick enough to stand out in sensible relief, with details incised by means of a pointed instrument. This decoration, spread over the whole of the vase, is composed of archaic dragons, from the mouths of which issue scrolled stems with leafy terminations having in some cases the outline of the sacred ling-chih fungus. The rich ormolu mounting is characteristic French work of the period of Louis XVI. Below the mouth of the vase hang festoons of drapery, passing through handles which are finished downwards with a bunch of grapes and vine-leaves; the foot is chased with a band of guilloche pattern above a square plinth with incurved corners. This is probably the workmanship of Levasseur, one of the host of artist-craftsmen to whose talent the furniture of eighteenth-century France owes its dignity and refinement. Their taste and judgment was never better displayed than when objects of beauty or rarity were handed to them to be enriched by their skill. The vase before us is a typical case; the porcelain loses nothing of its own loveliness in becoming the medium for displaying the beauty of the metalwork.
* * * * *
The numerous minor factories existing in China before the Ming dynasty were unable to hold their own against the great imperial factory at Ching-tê-chên. Since the time of its establishment there has been only one other factory of artistic standing, that of Têhua in the province of Fuchien. It is devoted to the production of plain white porcelain with a creamy surface, resembling ivory in texture, but varying considerably in shades of colour. Quantities of Fuchien china were brought to Europe during the seventeenth century by the various India Companies. In France, where it received the name of “blanc de Chine,” it provided models for the porcelain makers of St. Cloud, and among the earliest output of many other European works will be found plain white cups and teapots with applied sprays of Chinese plum-blossom in relief, faithfully copying the models of the Têhua factory. Statuettes and groups of divinities always formed a large proportion of its productions; the royal collection at Dresden contains a fine series of such figures, many of them nearly two feet in height, which were among the porcelain collected by Augustus the Strong of Saxony, through the agency of the Dutch East India merchants.
The smaller objects made at Têhua are delightful by virtue of their very simplicity. In the absence of coloured decoration of any kind, the full charm of the soft white surface can be appreciated. The specimen illustrated in [Plate 6] affords proof that this ware was highly esteemed by early European collectors. This piece, one of a pair in the Jones Bequest, was doubtless originally a bottle or rosewater-sprinkler with bulbous body and narrow tapering neck, but it has been cut down and fitted with silver-gilt mounts to adapt it to the purpose of a pastille-burner. The neck has been removed and replaced by a silver-gilt knob of finely-chased foliage. The shoulder has been drilled with holes; lower down the porcelain has been cut away for the insertion of a band engraved with delicate cartouches and rosettes. The foot of the bottle is raised on a tripod silver-gilt base, ornamented with three lions’ heads and three grotesque mascarons exquisitely chased. When the piece is turned up, further enrichment is disclosed underneath it in the form of an engraved design of a type much in favour about 1700, representing, in a half-grotesque manner, a squirrel, birds and a hound among trees. The hall-marks with which the mounts are stamped in several places are unfortunately very indistinct, but from their form it is clear that they are Parisian marks of the early years of the eighteenth century. The initials of an unknown silversmith “P. B.” can easily be made out, while another mark appears to be that of Étienne Baligny, fermier général from 1703 till 1713; but no marks are necessary to show that we have here French work in the finest style of the age of Louis XIV. The care bestowed upon the mounting is sufficient evidence of the value set upon Fuchien porcelain by European collectors of the time. Further testimony of this is afforded by the fact already noticed, that the designs and methods of decoration in vogue at the Têhua potteries were extensively imitated in the earlier stages of several Western factories. In the blossoming sprays of plum applied to the body of the piece in our illustration we recognise the favourite emblem of longevity which is of such constant occurrence on Chinese objects, lending them a felicitous significance appropriate to things destined to be given as presents or tokens of congratulation. The same motive is familiar in the early white china of Meissen, Bow, and Chelsea, and of St. Cloud, Vincennes, and Sèvres.
PLATE 6
Vase of white porcelain of Têhua in the province of Fuchien, mounted in silver-gilt of the period of Louis XIV. as a pastille-burner. Height, 7½ in. Jones Collection.
No. 816-1882. See p. [18].