Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/41

 faïence, covered with three varieties of glaze, light green, grey, and greenish white. These were apparently of Chinese manufacture, and may, perhaps, be regarded as genuine examples of the Yueh-yao of the Tang dynasty, the principal varieties of which, as stated above, are compared to jade and ice. Theories founded on fragments of ware thus discovered are, however, open to much doubt. More satisfactory evidence is furnished by a book (Ruishu Zatsuyô-shô) in which the ceremonials observed at the Japanese Court during the ninth and tenth centuries are described. There is seen a coloured plate showing seven rice-bowls with covers (called ha-gatame, or teeth-hardeners) which were used on the first three days of the New Year. Nothing is said of the exact nature of the ware, nor does the plate determine it. But the glaze is light green—a céladon monochrome. Yet another and less uncertain piece of testimony is furnished by a celebrated collection in the Shôsô-in, at Nara, Japan. In this collection are articles used in the Japanese Imperial household between the years 709 and 784 Several keramic specimens of Chinese manufacture are included. They are faïence. The majority have monochromatic céladon glaze, but some have two glazes—céladon and yellowish grey—run in tesselated or scolloped patterns. The pâte is very brittle, and has no pretensions whatever to be called porcelain. Here then are unquestionably authentic examples of Chinese ware potted during the Tang dynasty. It may further be presumed that they are fairly representative examples, inasmuch as a very high standard of refinement was observed at the Japanese Imperial Court, and ample facilities existed for