Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/89

 taken for a manufacture of the Middle Kingdom. It is light green, passing almost into white. The interior portion of the vase is vertically fluted, and the glaze in the interstices of the flutes assumes the aspect of green streaks. The upper portion is decorated with horizontal flutes and bands, between which are incised leaf scrolls. The piece is artistic, the quality of the glaze good, and the technique of more than medium quality. From this specimen of Siamese ware, manufactured probably in the fourteenth century directly under Chinese instruction, it is possible to judge Siamese capacities in respect of céladon in early times, and to conclude that, though Siam may unquestionably have furnished some of the céladons found in the former Arab possessions, the portion attributable to her is probably very small, and the pieces may easily be distinguished from their Chinese contemporaries and predecessors by the pâte. This is reddish grey, or light brown, and presents a glistening, crude appearance—not unlike that of half-burned tiles—which offers no resemblance to the reddish brown, dense, and close-grained biscuit of the Chinese ware. Dr. A. B. Meyer, as quoted by Dr. Hirth, ably describes the general type of céladon found from Egypt to Borneo:—

The céladon porcelain is extremely heavy. It is of a light green colour, and I believe that, in selecting this hue, the makers intended to imitate the colour of jadestone, and that this was the reason why it was so much appreciated. The articles which have been found in various countries between the island of Ceram on the one hand and Africa on the other, consist in dishes measuring up to about half a metre, covered by green enamel all over with the exception of a ring on the bottom, 1 to 2 centimetres in breadth and from about 10 to 15 centimetres in diameter, and being red