Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/202

 cessors of the Hsuan-tê and Chia-ching eras. The Chien-lung potters evidently appreciated this. For instead of relying entirely on brilliancy and intensity of colour, they tried to heighten the effect of their blues by stippling. In many cases the stippled portions assumed a metallic appearance under the action of heat; in others they showed merely as spots of intenser colour. Strength and density were thus obtained at some cost of depth and brilliancy. Opinions will probably differ as to this verdict. It is conceivable that some connoisseurs may see evidences of high artistic instinct in the deep, intense tones of the Chien-lung ware. Certain it is that many grand pieces were manufactured, imposing in size, decorated with admirable care and well directed choice of motive, and altogether highly satisfactory for ornamental purposes.

It is not difficult to distinguish between the blue-and-white porcelains of Chien-lung and those of Kang-hsi and Yung-ching. The stippled or spotted appearance of the colour on specimens of the first-named period, whether a beauty or a blemish, is an easily identified feature. The mark of the era is Ta-Tsing Chien-lung nien chi.

The Chien-lung potters produced all the other varieties of decoration under the glaze enumerated in the above notice of the Kang-hsi era. No further reference is necessary here.

The succeeding eras of the present (Tsing) dynasty may be briefly dismissed. They differ from each other only in degrees of decadence. During the Chia-tsing epoch (1796–1821), which immediately followed that of Chien-lung, the potteries at Ching-tê-chên still sustained something of their former repu-