CORAL RED GROUND—"ROUGE DE FER."
The piece of coral was an emblem of the official class, and this coral-red ground is, as its name implies, an imitation of this. It is an under-glaze ground, in which the colour was derived from iron. Over-glaze enamels were used for decoration with fine effect, such as the greens, the yellows, and the reds from gold. Blue over the glaze dates from Kang-He, and it is early.
Our illustration shows a very fine cylindrical Jar, with receding neck and spreading lid with knob. The body decorated with formal scroll and leaf pattern, with a double band of conventional white lotus. The shoulder and base decorated with a broad band of Joo-e-shaped reserves, bordered alternately with narrow bands of blue and grey edged with green; the smaller space between edged with a paler green. Red reserves, so formed, decorated with conventional chrysanthemums with brilliant green leaves. On the shoulder above, four circular, green-edged, white medallions, and four oval, green-edged, red spaces ornamented with chrysanthemum flowers. At the base a narrow band of green and red diamond rice diaper on a white ground. The neck decorated with two shaped oval red medallions, edged with grey on a speckled green ground powdered with red chrysanthemum. The reserve decorated with coiled white fire dragons (mang) among white fire-forms on a coral-red ground. Above and below this decoration, narrow bands of scroll and flower diaper patterns. Lid with a slightly decorated white knob, ornamented with similar pattern to that on the shoulder of the vase. Height, 21 in. Period, Kang-he.
CORAL RED GROUND—"ROUGE DE FER."
The dragon is the Emperor's emblem, as the phœnix or Fong-Hoang is that of the Empress. We find the "lung" or "long" dragon of the sky, the "li" dragon of the sea, and the "kiau" dragon of the marshes. There are scaly dragons, and others winged, horned, hornless, and rolled. The four highest ranks of princes are permitted to use the five-clawed dragon, but the fifth rank of the princes and the mandarins use a dragon or serpent with four claws. This, treated conventionally, is the well-known "mang" which is shown in the body and necks of the vase used as an illustration. The expressions, "dragon's seat," "dragon's bed," "dragon's face," "dragon's head," &c., are easily understood when "emperor" is substituted for "dragon."
A tall, rouleau-shaped Vase, containing six circular panels with formal floral design in "rouge de fer," blue, and white, on apple-green; the body of the vase with dragons and formal flowers in yellow, blue, green, white, and aubergine, on deep "rouge de fer." At the base is a narrow band of diaper design with black lines on green ground; this contains four small reserves with a flower and foliage in "rouge de fer" and green on a white ground, the bordering of yellow and blue. The band separating the neck has a running dragon and clouds in blue; yellow, "rouge de fer," and white, on apple-green; whilst the neck is treated uniformly with the body of the vase, excepting that at the top there is a narrow band of diaper pattern in aubergine, green, and black, with four small reserves containing fruit and foliage in "rouge de fer" and green on white ground. Period, Kang-he.
F.—The Rose Family—"Famille Rose."
We noted that the rose enamel was used in decoration by Yung-ching. The same rose decoration was continued by Keen-lung, which had an especial form of decoration consisting of the rose and white peony with the prunus—the so-called hawthorn. Frequently, too, there is a swastika trellis. We have dealt somewhat fully with the ruby-back plates as a branch of the rose family. This ruby and peach blossom rose ground was applied to vases with very telling effect. As, in the black family, the ground was a black covered with an almost invisible green glaze, so in this family we get a peach blossom rose ground often powdered with pale blue, yellow, grey and white chrysanthemum blossoms. The reserves are often fan-shaped, and the decoration in these reserves consists of the usual subjects or emblems in brilliant enamel colours. Similar flowers to those noted before as the emblems of the seasons are frequently found. These include pale rose and blue and white peony, pale rose and white rose, peach blossom, chrysanthemums, the oleander with single rose and white prunus blossom. These rose pieces are extremely elegant and very rare. They date from the Yung-ching period, in which they reached their highest perfection, under Keen-lung the standard of excellence was nearly as high.
