The body of the wares, which are now classed as "Chün type," varies considerably in quality and texture. The choicest examples in Western collections, usually deep flower pots or shallow bulb bowls with lovely glazes of dove grey, lavender, crushed strawberry, dappled purple and crimson, and other tints, are made of a clay which, though dark–coloured on the exterior, shows considerable refinement and closeness of texture within. It is, in fact, a porcellanous ware of whitish grey tone. It is noticed that these pieces are almost always marked with incised Chinese numerals, and there are critics who would confine the Chün wares to this group alone. But it is clear from a passage in the Po wu yao lan[252] that there were other types in which the body was of "yellow sandy earthenware," coarse and thick, and without refinement, with all the characteristics, in fact, of the ware which these same critics habitually relegate to the category of Yüan tz´ŭ, or ware of the Yüan dynasty. But we shall return to this question later. Modern Chinese collectors, we are told,[253] in recognition of these distinctions, classify Chün wares in two groups, tz´ŭ t´ai (porcelain body) and sha t´ai (sandy, or coarse–grained, body).
The Chün glazes are of the thick, opalescent kind which flows sluggishly and often stops short of the base in a thick, wavy roll or in large drops. On the upper edges of the ware they are thin and more or less transparent and colourless, but in the lower parts and the hollows in which the glaze collects in thick masses the depth and play of the colour are wonderful. These irregularities are specially noticeable on the coarse bodies, but even on the more refined specimens where the glaze has a smoother flow and more even distribution, the colour is never quite continuous or unbroken. In the opalescent depths of the glaze, bubbles, streaks, hair–lines, and often decided dappling are observed, and a scarcely perceptible crackle is usually present.[254] Some of these markings which variegate the surface of the Chün wares have been noticed by Chinese writers as "hare's fur marking" and "flames of blue."[255] Others, which appear to be irregular partings in the colour of the glaze, have been named ch´iu ying wên or "earthworm marks." These last rarely appear except on the finer type of Chün wares, and, like the "tear stains" on the Ting porcelains, they are regarded as signs of authenticity.
PLATE 35
Flower pot of Chün Chou ware of the Sung Dynasty.
Grey porcellanous body; olive brown glaze under the base and the numeral shih (ten) incised. Height (without the wooden stand) 5 7/8 inches.
Eumorfopoulos Collection.
Though the beautiful Chün wares of the tz´ŭ t´ai group will always be rare and costly, Western collectors have been fortunate in securing a fair number of specimens, and a wonderful series of them was brought together in March, 1914, in the exhibition held by the Japan Society of New York. The forms of the flower pots vary considerably. Some have globular body with high spreading neck and wide mouth; others are bell–shaped like a deep cup; others are deep bowls with sides shaped in six or eight lobes like the petals of a flower; others are of quatrefoil form; and others of oblong rectangular shape with straight sides expanding towards the mouth. The saucers in which they stood are shallow bowls corresponding in form to the pots, but supported by three or four feet which are usually shaped like the conventional cloud scroll or ju–i head. They are otherwise without ornament, except in the case of the plain rounded saucers, which have two bands of raised studs or bosses, borrowed, no doubt, from a bronze vessel. These flower pots and saucers are almost invariably incised with a numeral under the base, and the fact that when the pots and saucers fit properly the numerals on each are found to tally seems to indicate they are, as suggested below, size numbers. But there is no doubt that the saucers or stands were often used separately as bulb bowls, like the vessels of similar shape which are found in celadon and other wares. Vases of the fine Chün ware are occasionally seen. There is a choice example in the Pierpont Morgan Collection, a small ovoid vase with flat base; and in the same collection is a low beaker–shaped vase with flaring neck and globular body strengthened with four square ribs in imitation of a bronze.[256] No numbers have appeared so far on any of these vases, nor, as far as I am aware, on any Sung Chün wares except the flower pots and saucers. I have, however, seen dishes on which a number has been subsequently cut, and numbers occur on later copies of the Chün types described below.