Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/297

 MONOCHROMATIC GLAZES

jecture. A special kind of clay found at Ta-u-ling, and employed chiefly for glazing material, is said to have been often used for making biscuit by imitators of old-time ware, one reason for its selection being that it gave a peculiarly strong, durable pate. This would indicate that the old-time ware referred to was of the cé/adon type, which is wholly different from the Timg-yao. As already seen, M. d’Entrecolles’ account of biscuit made, wholly or partially, from steatite, indicates a product closely resembling the soft paste of blue-and-white Kaz-pien ware. The same remark applies to T77mg-yao porcelain, but un- fortunately this point remains obscure. It is at all events certain that the potters of the Kang-hsi, Yung- ching, and Chien-/ung eras yielded nothing to their Ming predecessors in their knowledge of materials and their skilful methods of combining them so as to produce both hard and soft pétes of perfect quality. Their hard-paste white porcelain may be conven- iently classified according the nature of its decoration — incised or in relief. In the choicest type of incised decoration, the designs— usually dragons, pheenixes, or floral sprays—are sunk in the biscuit so as to be almost imperceptible except by trans- mitted light. The glaze is of dazzling purity and lustre, conveying the impression of snow-white oil. The paste is fine as pipe-clay, and the timbre is sharp and clear. Nothing distinguishes this beautiful por- celain so much as the peculiar richness and unctuous- ness of its surface. The slightest symptom of an air-bubble, of pitting, of discontinuity, or of dulled lustre is a fatal mark of inferiority. This class of ware occurs chiefly in bowls, libation cups, and plates: the nature of the decoration is not well suited 267