Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/306

 CHINA

white monochromatic class, while another should be included with ware decorated over the glaze. It is the Tsu-chou-yao, so called from a place of the same name originally included in the province of Hénan but now within the Southern boundaries of Pechili. The ideograph ¢su, used in writing the name of this place, being identical in sound and shape with the ideograph signifying ‘‘ porcelain,” some confusion has resulted. This point need not be elaborated. The T'su-chou-yao is undoubtedly one of the old-time wares of China. There is no record of the exact date of its origin, but the factory was certainly active during the Sung dynasty, at which time, according to the Yao-/u, its reputation stood so high that choice specimens com- manded higher prices than even T7zmg-yao. ‘They are further said to have closely resembled the latter ware, but from what is known of their pate it was heavier and slightly coarser than that of the Ting chou prod- uct. The glaze, too, was thinner and less lustrous, but for the rest the two wares may have been easily confounded in the palmy days of the Tsu chou pot- ters. From the Mimg dynasty downwards, however, the Tsu-chou-yao deteriorated in quality of pate and became more or less coarse stone-ware, degenerating finally into faience of a common and unattractive type. Collectors are very unlikely to meet with fine examples of pure white Tsu-chou-yao. If any such exist, they have ceased, apparently, to be identifiable. The best known variety of the ware has decoration over the glaze in pigment ranging from black to light brown. The designs are always of archaic or con- ventional character —rudely traced floral scrolls, dragons, pheenixes, or mythical animals. A special interest attaches to the ware owing to the esteem in 276