Fig 1.—Figure of Kuan-yin with boy attendant. Ivory white. Height 10¼ inches. Eumorfopoulos Collection.
Fig. 2.—Bottle with prunus sprigs in relief, the glaze crackled all over and stained a brownish tint. Height 9⅛ inches. Eumorfopoulos Collection.
Fig. 3.—Figure of Bodhidharma crossing the Yangtze on a reed. Ivory white. Height 7½ inches. Salting Collection (V. & A. Museum).
Plate 87.—Ivory White Fukien Porcelain.
Fig. 1.—Libation Cup. About 1700. Length 3⅞ inches. British Museum.
Fig. 2.—Cup with sixteenth-century mount. Height 2 inches. Dresden Collection.
Fig. 3.—Incense Vase and Stand. About 1700. Diameter 6¾ inches. British Museum.
It would be possible to guess from these European copies, if we had no other means, the character of the Tê-hua porcelain of the K’ang Hsi period with its quaintly moulded forms, its relief decoration of prunus sprigs, figures of Immortals, deer, etc., the only conspicuously absent type being the incised[253] ornament which was unsuited to the European ware. But there is no lack of actual specimens of the period of active export which extended from about 1650–1750. Naturally they vary greatly in quality, which depends on the purity and translucence of the ware whether it be cream or milk white, and on the soft aspect and rich lustre of the glaze. A large series, which may be taken as representative of the K’ang Hsi period, was collected by Augustus the Strong, and is still to be seen at the Johanneum at Dresden; or, rather, part of it is still there, for much of that historic collection was given away or pilfered from time to time, and many specimens with the Dresden catalogue numbers engraved are now to be found in our own museums. Many of the figures at Dresden have evidently been coated with a kind of black paint, which probably served as a medium for oil gilding, but this unfired colouring has worn away, and only traces now remain.
Occasionally one finds among the Tê-hua wares a specimen with dry appearance and crazed or discoloured glaze, defects due to faulty firing or to burial in damp soil. Such pieces are surprising in a ware with such apparent homogeneity of body and glaze, and the crazed examples might be easily mistaken for one of the t’u ting (or earthy Ting ware) types.