PLATE 7
Jar, with Cover, Chinese, period of K’ang Hsi (1662–1722), with decoration in panels reserved on a powdered blue ground. Height, 18 in. Orrock Collection.
No. 67-1887. See p. [20].
Unmarked.
To detail all the methods of decoration in vogue in the K’ang Hsi period, many of them then for the first time introduced, would be beyond the scope of such a work as this; it must suffice to mention briefly a few of the most remarkable. Firstly, there are many varieties of the famille verte, the most notable being that in which naturalistic flowers are relieved against a ground of enamel, either straw-yellow, green, or lustrous black. The pieces on which the last-named ground colour occurs form the subdivision known to connoisseurs as the “famille noire”; the Salting Collection includes a splendid series of vases of this category. Dignity of form is combined in them with masterly composition in the painting, while the measure of conventionalism necessitated by the limited palette frees this type from the imputation of excessive naturalism.
The “blue and white” of the time of K’ang Hsi has already been noticed. Beautiful effects were obtained where the cobalt was used in harmonious combination with the other high temperature underglaze pigments, a greyish celadon-green and the soft crimson obtained from copper. Another new type of painted ware dating from this time is that in which the design is entirely carried out in the overglaze iron-red, first seen amongst the pigments of the “five colour” order. The red of the K’ang Hsi period, a pure coral-red of the utmost brilliancy, is generally employed in conventional designs, such as dragons and symbols or lotus-flowers, symmetrically disposed over the whole surface of a vase.
Perhaps the greatest glory of the reign are the single-colour and variegated glazes, reviving and excelling the achievements in this direction of the Sung dynasty. Chief among these are the crimson, or “sang de bœuf,” and the apple-green associated with the name of Lang T’ing-tso, viceroy during the beginning of the reign of the province of Kiangsi, in which the imperial kilns of Ching-tê-chên are situated; further developments were attained, such as the “peach-bloom,” the “kingfisher” turquoise-blue, and the revived “clair de lune,” when in 1683 Ts’ang Ying-hsüan was appointed director of the factories. These wares rank among the most splendid achievements of the potter’s art; in beauty of form and gorgeousness of colour they have never been surpassed, while by their nature they are free from the defect of over-refinement incident to the productions of an age of great technical discoveries, which has been noticed in speaking of the painted porcelain.
Lastly, before passing on to the next reign, a word must be said of the statuettes of divinities and the objects fashioned in the shape of fruit or living creatures, which are another feature of the K’ang Hsi renaissance. Painted generally in the enamel colours of the famille verte, these figures are often masterpieces of modelling, instinct with vivacity and expression.
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