At King-te-chin, the classical home of porcelain, a city with 3,000 kilns, the best of the blue and white was made; and although there is a large class called Nankin blue which must not be neglected, the latter, in decoration, is immensely inferior to the products of the Imperial factories. It is quite certain that there were many other factories besides those at King-te-chin which produced porcelain, but history leaves few records of them, so that it would be quite fair to include Nankin blue as a product of King-te-chin perhaps decorated at Nankin. It is quite interesting to note how at first this blue and white, now so valued, was not esteemed by Europeans with the exception of the Dutch. Much of it was redecorated on the glaze and the pattern burnt in so as to hide the decoration.
BLUE AND WHITE.
(a) A pair of tall blue and white trumpet-shaped Beakers. Under the neck are four shield-shaped panels connected with an arabesque design; below this is a broad band ornamented with conventional flowers running round the body. Towards the feet are the stiff leaves of the sweet-flag running down to the base. The whole done in a liquid, translucent blue on a most beautiful white ground. Kang-he period. The sweet-flag is often used for the decoration of porcelain vases, &c., and because its leaves are long and slender and come to a point the Chinese use them to represent swords, which, indeed, they resemble in general shape. On the morning of the first day of the fifth month every family nails up a few leaves of this plant on each side of the doors and windows of the house, so that when the evil spirits come near, they see the leaves, which they mistake for swords, and are thus frightened off. The superstitions of the people as well as their religion are put under obligation to furnish designs for the potter, in which the same idea is represented in a permanent form. In fact, only when we are fully cognisant of Chinese mythology shall we fully appreciate the wonderful stories set out in their porcelain. When will the Chinese connoisseur place before us his stores of knowledge?
(b) A pair of Butter Dishes and Covers in fine quality blue and white. The dishes and lids have the four seasons design, which are separated with a trellis-work diaper pattern. Note the difference between the two diaper patterns. The handles are coming from the mouth of a monster. Kang-he period.
BLUE AND WHITE.
(a) A fine quality blue and white Beaker vase with expanding neck and bulging body. The neck is ornamented with blue bands and flowers; the body divided into four panels and filled in alternately with domestic utensils, flowers, and foliage. Kang-he.
(b) A blue and white Water-ewer and Cover, of fine quality and elegant shape, decorated with "Lange-Lysen," domestic utensils, and landscapes. Seal mark, "Ching-Hwa." Kang-he period.
Blue was employed for under-glaze decoration amongst the Chinese from time immemorial, though scarcely a specimen earlier than the Ming period can be identified with certainty, owing to the copying and recopying that has been continually practised by the Chinese. True, we often see the Ming marks, say of Ching-hwa or Kea-tsing, but probably the best of them are of Kang-he origin. Even if the pieces are really old they will be often found re-decorated with modern colours. Perhaps amongst the blue and white of the Ming period, those pieces decorated with the soft but rich "Mohammedan" blue, as it is called, are the best. Yet, though the colour is never flat or dead, there are certain qualities missing which are quite charming in the later Kang-he. The gradation and modulation of the blue, indeed, even the quality of the blue itself, are all better in the later pieces. Whether, again, the fine Kang-he blue was made early or late in the period, lasting from 1662-1722, is a further matter of doubt. Our readers will remember that in 1677 and for some years after no date marks were allowed to be inscribed, so that only patient study and careful observation will enable any one to place the old blue and white.