KANG-HE.—After the death of Wan-li, in 1619, there is a long gap in the history of Chinese porcelain. Some twenty years later, the last emperor of the native dynasty was driven out by the Manchu Tatars, and the dynasty which still reigns in the country was founded. But neither during the reign of the first emperor of the new Tsing or ‘Pure’ dynasty, nor indeed during the first part of the long reign of his great successor Kang-he (1661-1722), was much attention given to the imperial factory at King-te-chen. The early years of Kang-he’s reign were occupied with quelling the last efforts of the native Chinese party. We may date the revival of active work from the appointment of Tsang Ying-hsuan,[56] in the year 1683, to the post of superintendent at the porcelain works. It was then, after an interval of more than sixty years—almost a blank in the history of Chinese porcelain—that the great renaissance set in, and we may date from that time the beginning of the last great stage in that history—a stage which was to last for another hundred years. During that period a succession of able and enthusiastic men were in charge of the imperial works. With the support of the great emperors who ruled in China for three long generations, they were able to bring the manufacture of porcelain to a point of perfection reached neither before nor since, and to produce that wonderful series of vases, bowls, and plates that now fill the museums and private collections of Europe and America.
It will perhaps be better to carry on our hasty historical sketch down to the period of decline at the end of the eighteenth century, before turning to the letters of the Père D’Entrecolles and his account of the great city of the potter—King-te-chen. We shall then be in a better position to understand the almost endless series of different wares that were turned out from the kilns of that town in the eighteenth century. We can finally make a rapid survey of the porcelain of China, picking up many threads that have been dropped in the course of our historical review.
We have seen that the Chinese authorities when describing the coloured ware of the Ming period speak of two ‘triads’ of colours. One, the turquoise, purple and yellow group, we have identified with the ware painted on the biscuit and reheated in the demi grand feu; while the other, the green, purple and yellow class may be regarded as one of the earliest forms of true enamel or muffle decoration. These two classes were now in the earlier days of Kang-he brought to greater perfection, and as by this time we have come to a period when the finer wares began to be largely exported direct to Europe, we meet with many specimens of these wares in our collections.
In the first of these groups the Turquoise is the predominant colour—indeed it is often found alone ([Pl. ix].). As a monochrome ware it is distinguished by a fine crackle, which is always present but is often only to be seen by a close examination. How much it is sought after by collectors is shown by the fact mentioned by Dr. Bushell, that in the Walters collection there are more than a hundred specimens of this monochrome blue, and of these the majority probably date from the reign of Kang-he. A combination of this turquoise with aubergine purple derived from manganese was in favour at this time not only for the little magots and for small vases, but also for larger decorative pieces as well as for tables and stands for other objects. It was above all this combination that was copied by Zengoro and others for the ‘Oniwa’ ware of the Princes of Kishiu, and some of this Japanese porcelain is very difficult to distinguish from the Chinese original. The aubergine purple, like the turquoise, always finely crackled, is seldom found alone in Chinese examples, but this is often the case on the Kishiu ware. The third colour of the triad, the yellow, is quite subordinate; there were evidently great difficulties in producing a fine tint under the conditions of the demi grand feu. In like manner in the early Ming ware, that with the ribbed cloisons, the yellow was only used sparingly for the petals of a flower or for a chain of pearls. It should be noted that this ware of Kang-he differs from its Ming predecessor in the absence of the dark blue glaze.
Famille Verte.—In the first triad, that of the demi grand feu, the turquoise blue, as we have seen, is the predominant colour. Its place is taken in the triad of the muffle-stove by the green, which in many shades of intensity, but with a prevailing leafy hue, has come to be especially associated with the enamelled wares of this reign.[57]
PLATE IX. CHINESE
It would be possible to make many subdivisions of this class—the well-known famille verte. In the majority of cases the ground is covered by a wash of one of the colours, so as to resemble a painted glaze. It will, however, always be found on close examination that the wash is superimposed on the true colourless glaze, which may generally be seen at the mouth and foot. A green of greater or lesser strength, sometimes quite a thin wash, is the commonest colour for this ground; at other times it is of a pale straw colour, or, more rarely, a purple of a poor uncertain hue.[58]