Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/272

 CHINA

great majority of the specimens distinguished by Hsuan-té, Chén-hwé, and Chia-ching dates. The only porcelains of modern (z.e. 1830-1860) manufacture at all are likcly to deceive are those with coloured crackle and comparatively sparse enamelled decora- tion, and the so-called “ medallion bowls,” that is to say, bowls whose outer surface is covered with lustre- less green, yellow, pink, or red pigments, laid over floral scrolls or arabesques engraved in the paste, and interrupted by medallions containing enamelled or painted designs. ‘These bowls probably represent the best achievement of the Taou-kwang and subsequent potters, and in their own inferior fashion doubtless merit admiration.

It must be noted, however, that during the past ten years Chinese potters have succeeded in producing porcelains elaborately decorated with enamels, partak- ing of the character of both the “ Famille Verte” and the “ Famille Rose’ types. Loaded with ornament, in which formal and pictorial styles are hopelessly confounded, these pieces nevertheless have enamels so brilliant and so cleverly applied that the amateur may possibly be deceived if he estimates them by their surface decoration alone. Examination of the pate where it is exposed at the base of the specimen, should at once remove all doubt. It will generally be found artificially discoloured, and its rough, granu- lated character can be detected by the least experi- enced collector. Naturally, if inferiority of pate were the only fault to be laid to the charge of these mod- ern reproductions, they might still possess some claim to admiration. But they are bad in every way, above all in their lack of either artistic feeling or decorative instinct. The surface of the vase has been

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