Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/239

 fact that such colours had not yet been added to the decorator's palette. Independent observation and the direct testimony of Chinese virtuosi establish beyond all doubt the fact that the use of ruby enamel and half-tints, such as rose colour and light pink, commenced in the closing years of the Kang-hsi era, and began to be largely practised in the following reign. Collectors may be assured that, with very rare exceptions, good specimens of the Famille Rose belong to one or other of the two eras Yung-ching (1723–1736), or Chien-lung (1736–1795). To be strictly accurate, the epoch of the family's most highly developed manufacture ought, perhaps, to be extended so as to include the opening years of the Chia-tsing era; say, up to 1810. But such precision is seldom possible or essential.

The presence of ruby enamel passing through rose to very light pink and the prevalence of half-tints or broken colours are sufficiently characteristic of this beautiful porcelain. It is further distinguished by white, or greenish white enamel, which does not appear on other wares. A general and even more easily recognised feature is that many of the enamels of the Famille Rose are not vitreous: they do not show the brilliant transparency that marks the decoration of the "Famille Verte." It was natural that in using the soft, subdued colours, more like the pigments of the Western potter than the original vitrifiable enamels of the Chinese, the Ching-tê-chên artist should vary his decorative fashions. He no longer took figure subjects as his principle models, but sought inspiration rather in the floral kingdom; blossoms and fruits offering a field exceptionally suited to his new palette. More charmingly decorated ware it would