Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/218

 this nature: a lamp in the form of a lotus flower, with green leaves and delicate pink petals; a wine-cup in the shape of a magnolia yulan flower, purple outside and resting on a brown stem with green leaves, and so on. But, in addition to these charming fashions, the enamels now began to be used for picture painting. This is well exemplified in a tazza-shaped cup of pure white, round the lobe of which runs a band of green vine-leaves and tendrils with purple grapes. Thus the student is brought into contact with the enamelled porcelains familiar to Western collectors and divided by Albert Jacquemart. into the three families of Chrysanthémo-Pæonienne, Verte, and Rouge. Not yet, indeed, is there any question of those large, elaborately ornamented pieces, fondly ascribed by Occidental collectors to Ming factories. Such things are conspicuous by their absence from H'siang's Catalogue. Nevertheless, the tazza-shaped cup depicted by him, if not actually a member of the Famille Verte, would probably be regarded as a very near relative. Dr. Bushell, commenting on H'siang's Catalogue, says: "One may be disappointed to find among the pictures none of the large vases and jars of the early reigns of this (the present) dynasty of which so many are included in European collections. These are really more modern, and the finest belong to the reign of Kang-hsi, so that one of a pair is often found with a Ming mark beneath, the other with a censer, flower, or other emblem: yet some connoisseurs pride themselves on being able to distinguish the genuine Ming in this class from the false, confessing, however, that it is a difficult matter. The reign of Hsuan-tê has always been celebrated for its blue-and-white, the reign of Chêng-hwa for its paintings in enamel colours,