Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/60

 apparent. In the early days of the manufacture three varieties were produced; namely, clair-de-lune, called by the Chinese Yueh-pai, i.e., moon-white; light green, and dark green. The first variety did not win public esteem, and after a time the typical Kuan-yao became a céladon, of various shades of green. The great aim of the potters was to produce that peculiar delicate greenish blue compared to the tint of the firmament between rain-clouds. It will be seen, therefore, that as to colour the Ju-yao and Kuan-yao potters worked on the same lines. If a distinction is to be drawn between the results they achieved, the verdict will be that the Ju-yao showed a more delicate tinge and verged more closely upon the ideal cerulean than the Kuan-yao. Moreover, in richness and lustre of glaze the advantage is said to have been slightly on the side of the Ju-yao. As a general rule the Kuan-yao was crackled. The crackle was large and regular. It is compared by Chinese connoisseurs to the markings of starred ice. In their treatment of this crackle, the Kuan-yao potters struck out a new line. For while the piece was still hot, after emerging from the kiln—that is to say, before the cracks had entirely contracted in the process of cooling—vermilion was strongly rubbed over the surface. The pigment thus became permanently fixed in the main crackle, as well as in the fringe of subsidiary and almost imperceptible fissures that radiated from its edges; and in the result the surface of the piece appeared covered with a vermilion network, bordered here and there by little clouds of red. The effect was novel and pretty.

The potters of the Kuan-yao adopted the same models and decorative designs as the potters of the