Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/165

 are of fair quality, heavy, solid, somewhat rudely finished below, and generally having no depression in the under surface; characteristics that render them apt to be confounded with ware of the Wan-li era, especially as the tone of the blue decoration is virtually alike in both periods. The mark of the era is Ta-Tsin Shun-chih nien chi. It is seldom met with.

With the accession of the renowned Kang-hsi (1661–1722), second sovereign of the Tsing dynasty, the keramic art began once more to flourish. Under his enlightened and liberal rule the potteries at Ching-tê-chên developed a degree of excellence and prosperity without parallel. The era has been well called the golden age of Chinese keramics. Tang, an expert of remarkable ability, superintended the factories at Ching-tê-chên. Chinese records say that he held constant communion with the Genius of Pottery, and that the ware made under his direction was necessarily of super-excellent quality. His achievements almost justify this superstition from a Chinese point of view. With regard to the blue-and-white porcelains of his time, it will perhaps seem fit to speak first of the so-called "Hawthorn Pattern," so highly and not undeservedly popular among Western collectors. It need scarcely be premised that the term "Hawthorn" is a figment of Western fancy. The design referred to is really flowers of the plum in white on a blue ground, and porcelains thus decorated are known to Chinese connoisseurs and dealers as Mei-hwa-yao, or "plum-blossom ware." The idea of decoration in white on a blue ground had its origin long before the Kang-hsi era. It had been conceived as far back as the Chêng-hwa epoch (1465–1487), and may be of even greater