Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/315

 MONOCHROMATIC WARES

could possess brilliancy only when applied in a very thin layer.” But in truth this Fan-hung red was altogether a different matter from the C/z-Aung, being in fact an enamel laid over the glaze, fixed at the low temperature of the enamelling oven, and not possess- ing any brilliancy in the sense conveyed by the term as applied to a monochromatic glaze. An opaque coral colour, fine enough in its way, but not for an instant comparable to the C/i-Aung red, was all that the best potter could obtain with the peroxide of iron. If, then, the keramist of the Ming dynasty ceased to be able to work with any other red colouring matter after the year 1522, it might be concluded that red monochromes of the clear, brilliant type were not produced from that time. Such a conclusion would be exaggerated. During the eras of Lung-ching (1567-1572) and Wan-l (1573-1619) Chi-hung glazes were still manufactured, though they are said to have fallen far short of their Hswan-té and Ching-té predecessors. Thus, in the year 1571 —the fifth of the Lung-ching era—it is on record that a Censor memorialised the Throne to permit the substitution of Fan-hung for Hsten-hung (rouge vif) in the wares for imperial use, so as to avoid distressing the manu- facturers who were required to supply porcelains for the palace. Probably owing in part to this remon- strance, which must itself have had its origin in a marked deterioration of expert ability, the list of porcelains requisitioned for imperial use in that year contained the item : — “ Rice-bowls and saucers of the vermilion red prepared from iron oxide instead of the bright copper red.” Indeed, with the exception of special artists like the renowned Hao Shi-chu (1573-— 1619), whose cups are said to have been brilliant as 285