Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/341

 MONOCHROMA'TIC WARES

complete translucidity. Technical skill in the manu- facture of glazes could scarcely be carried beyond the point reached by the makers of these beautiful porce- lains.

Blue monochromes were largely manufactured in the second half of the Ming dynasty as well as in the Imperial workshops of the Kang-Asi and succeeding eras. Some varieties of cé/adon may be placed in this category, since the tint of their glaze approximates to blue rather than to green. But the subject of cé/adon has already been sufficiently discussed. Allusion is made here to blues essentially recognised as such by Western connoisseurs. There are seven principal varieties, namely, souffé blue, azure blue, clazr-de-/une or “lac, lapis blue, Mazarin blue, watered blue and “ blue of the sky after rain.”

The practice of applying colour to porcelain by insufflation undoubtedly dates from a very early period. In certain specimens of Sung dynasty Chiin-yao, it is plain that this process was resorted to. The method has already been described in connection with d/eu sous couverte, and it remains only to note here that some of the finest blue monochromes were thus manufactured. The blue of choice pieces is remark- able for depth and brilliancy, and the mottling of the surface, sometimes so minute as to be scarcely percep- tible, sometimes bold and strong, lends charming softness to the glaze. In monochromes of this class large imposing specimens are quite exceptional, the souffé blue in pieces of size generally serving as a field for coloured enamels, for decoration in gold, or for medallions enclosing designs in blue on a white ground. Bowls, cups, plates, and such objects con- stitute the bulk of obtainable monochromatic exam-

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