Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/371



Both in China and in Japan the idea of manufacturing a glaze that should resemble tortoise-shell was successfully carried out. Specimens of this type are, however, very rare in Chinese productions, being confined to small pieces, as snuff-bottles or miniature vases. A canary-yellow or straw-coloured craquelé glaze with patches of rich brown, manipulated so carefully as to suggest the transparency of tortoise-shell, is applied to porcelain pâte, fine and white but solid. Difference of biscuit alone distinguishes Chinese ware of this class from the well known bekkode of Japanese Satsuma faience. There is no difficulydifficulty [sic] in estimating the merits of a piece, for the technical contrast between the good and the inferior—i.e. between ware prior to 1820 and subsequent to it—can be detected in an instant.

Allusion has already been made to Hu-pi, or Tiger-skin glaze, as a ground for designs in vitrifiable enamels. It remains only to note that this beautiful glaze, the appearance of which is accurately described by its name, is used on choice wares without any decorative addition. It is not crackled, and the points of excellence are lustre and softness of surface, general faultlessness of technique, and dexterity of marbling and streaking. Vitreous crudeness of glaze and muddiness of colour may be at once taken as evidences of inferior and modern work.