Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/174

 were used in manufacturing the porcelain mass—a conclusion consistent with the recorded facts that the clay of the Ming potters was taken from the bed of the river at Ching-tê-chên, and that the supply became exhausted in the second half of the sixteenth century. The Kang-hsi keramists had recourse to some other place, and the change is apparent in the nature of their ware. This does not by any means constitute an inferiority. In fineness of pâte; in wax-like purity and softness of glaze and body colour; in brilliancy and depth of blue pigment, and in boldness, spirit and skill of decoration, Kang-hsi will almost bear comparison with Hsuan-tê. Whatever advantage the latter period possesses in the inimitable quality of its blue—and the advantage, though not to be denied, is trifling—may be fairly matched by the superiority of the former's decorative designs and their highly artistic execution. Some of the landscapes, figures and floral subjects on vases of Kang-hsi Kai-pien-yao are pictures that any master might be proud to have painted, whether on account of the decorative instinct shown in their subtle distribution, or because of the vigour and feeling with which they are limned.

The collector must not expect to find large, imposing pieces of Kai-pien-yao. The choicest specimens are often of tiny dimensions, as might almost be anticipated from the delicate nature of the ware. Little vases, two or three inches high, for holding a single blossom; snuff bottles of even smaller size; vermilion boxes; rice-bowls; cups; plates, and such things, constitute the bulk of procurable examples. Gracefully shaped vases from eight or ten inches to a foot and a half in height may be occasionally found,