Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/293

 or "Kambutsu" (Chinese thing) to pieces in which they profess to recognise Tōshiro's work and Chinese materials; while others call this variety "Tōbutsu," a term now employed in the sense of "imported article." These subtleties belong entirely to the region of Cha-no-Yu romance.

Tōshiro changed his name in after life to Shunkei, and the pieces he then manufactured are called "Shunkei-yaki." They are accounted his chefs-d'œuvre.

It would be difficult to convey to the reader an adequate impression of the esteem in which choice specimens of Tōshiro-yaki are held in Japan. They are swathed in coverings of the costliest brocade and kept in boxes of superb lacquer. There is scarcely any limit to the prices paid for them, and the names of their fortunate owners are spoken of with respect by Chajin of a proper spirit. Kaempfer tells a wonderful tale about an island called Mauri-ga-shima, in the vicinity of Formosa, where in ancient times there was found a porcelain clay of fine quality. Enraged by the wickedness of the inhabitants, the gods caused the island to sink beneath the sea, and with it all its keramic treasures disappeared. But the beauty of its porcelain was so well remembered that in after years men were wont to search the depths of the ocean for a vase. When they found one, they would remove with infinite care the shells that encrusted it, and sell it for a fabulous sum in Japan, where this ware of Mauri-ga-shima was so much esteemed that none but the Emperor might possess it. Of course this is all a foolish fable. Kaempfer credited it, and Jacquemart gravely made it the basis of a general theory with regard to the keramic productions of the Far East.