Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/278



MONG the wares belonging to this section the most important is céladon, but enough has already been written about this beautiful though not duly appreciated representative of Chinese keramic skill.

The earliest white porcelain showing any fine technical qualities was the Ting-yao of the Sung dynasty. This, as already seen, was not hard, translucid ware of the type commonly called porcelain in the West; it had soft pâte and though very thin, was not transparent. Something of its opaqueness was due to the nature of the glaze, for even bowls of fine Ting-yao so fragile as to seem capable of being crushed between the fingers, refuse altogether to transmit light. The glaze, though perceptibly thicker than the covering applied to porcelaine dégourdée by the European process of absorption, has not more body than a coat of thin cream, to which, indeed, its soft yet solid appearance and warm tone may not inaptly be compared. Whether owing to original excellence or to skilled manipulation, the porcelain earth of the Ting-yao shows qualities that fully explain the esteem in which the ware was held by old-time connoisseurs. It has