Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/130

 careful to distinguish from the original Kuan-yao of the Sung dynasty. At this time, also, the custom of using marks to indicate the epoch of manufacture came into general vogue. It will be remembered that the custom originated three centuries previously, in the reign of the Emperor Chin-tsong. Genuine specimens of ware bearing the Ching-tê or other Sung marks are, of course, virtually unprocurable. The marks are found, however, on imitations manufactured at Ching-tê-chên by comparatively modern potters. The same is true of Ming year-marks. Collectors should hold to the general rule that such marks are untrustworthy. Many forgeries exist for one honest mark. Thus, although various marks will henceforth be mentioned in connection with blue-and-white ware, the reader will understand that they are not quoted as true indications. In blue-and-white porcelain the connoisseur has to look first to the nature and quality of the pâte; next to the purity and brilliancy of the blue decoration; thirdly, to the manner in which the design is executed, and fourthly to the texture and colour of the glaze. Thus guided, he can usually form an idea approximating more or less closely to the truth, and is then enabled to decide whether the year-mark may be taken as a final indication. With respect to the four points here enumerated, verbal descriptions cannot be wholly satisfactory. Features permitting such explanation will, however, be carefully noted in their proper place.

The blue-and-white of the Hung-wu era (1368-1399) was still an inferior product. It is not mentioned at all in the "History of Ching-tê-chên Keramics," unless the jars there spoken of as orna-