Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/138

 For while the former, in the vast majority of cases, unless its decoration be of purely conventional or geometrical type, is disfigured by an aspect of patch-work crudeness, the designs on the latter are invariably the work of one hand, and leave little to be desired in respect of conception or execution. Every stroke is firm and distinct, and not infrequently the motive is treated with boldness and fidelity that recall the genius of the Japanese keramist. There are exceptions of course, especially when the painter attempts to depict some mythical animal, as the Dog of Fo or a bushy-tailed tortoise. But the rule, as between the two classes of porcelain, may be accepted in the sense herein indicated. It also holds, though to a less marked extent, with regard to the second class of "egg-shell" blue-and-white porcelain. This is nothing more than hard-paste porcelain of exceeding thinness. Often it is scarcely thicker than a sheet of paper, and so translucid that there is difficulty in conceiving the existence of any pâte at all between the inner and outer coats of glaze. To obtain a pure, brilliant tone of blue in the decoration of such ware is quite beyond the capacity of any but the most skilled expert. The Chinaman, however, succeeded perfectly. Moreover, he was able to stove his cups and bowls on their inferior (and therefore narrow) rims without suffering them to shrivel or warp under the influence of the high temperature necessary to develop the colour of the blue—a feat demanding wonderfully skilled manipulation. These pieces, generally insignificant as to dimensions—tiny cups, rice-bowls, and so forth——are always decorated with minute care. In this respect they rank almost on an equal plane with the beautiful Kai-pzen-yao, though