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 PORCELAIN DECORATED

Chapter VII

PORCELAIN DECORATED OVER THE GLAZE

ORCELAIN decorated with vitrifiable enam- els of various colours over the glaze has always been a favourite variety with European collec- tors. Ware of this class naturally attracts at-

tention for the sake of its brilliant appearance. But among all the keramic productions of China it has been most subjected to foreign influences. As in Japan porcelains loaded with ornament were largely manu- factured at Arita expressly for purposes of exportation, so in China the potters of Ching-té-chén departed from their own canons to meet the taste of European dealers and clients. Thus, among wares of the Kang- Asi era (1662-1722), one variety is said to have been decorated “according to a recent conception” with enamels which were used to depict landscapes, figures, floral subjects, birds, and animals “in the European fashion.’ It will presently be seen that the earliest, and by Chinese connoisseurs the most esteemed, fash- ions of enamel decoration were comparatively simple, and that the subsequent demands of the export trade had probably much to do with those elaborate and highly ornate styles empirically distinguished by French amateurs as Famille Chrysanthémo-pwonienne,

Famille Verte, and Famille Rose. ‘The standard for- 179