Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/44

 curious, though perhaps significant, that at the very time—the Cheng-hwa era (1506–1521)—when the Japanese keramist visited China, the workmen of the Imperial Factory at Ching-tê-chên are said to have secretly sold the precious mineral to outsiders, the consequence of which fraud was that specially severe rules were enacted by the governor of the district during the next reign. In subsequent times the potters of Hizen imported all their choice cobalt from China; but, in the first place, it was not the same mineral which lent such exceptional beauty to the porcelains of the Ming dynasty; and in the second, the Japanese, of deliberate choice, used it so as to produce a delicate, rather than a deep, full colour. On Shonzui's best pieces there is found a blue of great brilliancy and fulness, rivalling the best efforts of his Chinese predecessors or contemporaries. This alone is almost sufficient to distinguish his productions from Japanese ware of a later period. And the point is worth noting, for counterfeits were numerous. In comparatively modern times—(1825–1840)—a kiln was specially erected at a place called Shishi-dani-yama, in the province of Yamato, to imitate the celebrated potter's pieces; but neither in quality of glaze nor purity of colour were these reproductions capable of deceiving the connoisseur. They were not the only attempts of such a nature. Like the tea-jars of Tōshiro of Seto, Shonzui's cups, water-holders, plates, and so forth ultimately derived an extravagant value from the fact that they represented Japan's first porcelain, and their successful imitation became a pecuniary object to many experts. Even the workmen at Ching-tê-chên are said to have employed all the resources of their art, during the