Chats on Oriental China

Bottles, pair, with oviform bodies and long slender necks, entirely painted with formal flowers and arabesque foliage, and with dark blue bands round the shoulders, containing s...

During the first seven years of the reign of this Emperor there was but little variation in the character of the porcelain manufacture at King-te-chin. In 1743, however, a new d...

The section of porcelain which deals with decoration in colours is a revelation of the ingenuity, art, and industry of the Chinese potter. The difference between the Chinese pro...

Following the white in order is the remarkable series of single colour glazes of various hues, beginning with the sea-green or Celadon, which is a pale green, or even a greyish...

The Yung-Ching period (1723-1736), though only thirteen short years, was peculiarly noteworthy, because the Emperor himself took a personal interest in the Imperial factories at...

We have already remarked how the Chinese employed ornament to their works in porcelain, not alone to please the eye, but to elevate the mind at the same time. It is evident that...

The story of the overthrow of the Mongol dynasty by a rebellion headed by a native named Hung-woo, the son of a labouring man, introduces the great Ming dynasty. This man, a for...

The chief objects made at Bizen were vases, incense-burners, and numerous figures of animals and persons. Amongst the last are found a number of mythical divinities illustrating...

A mandarin is a Chinese official, either civil or military, but the word itself is not Chinese. It is a name given indiscriminately by foreigners to designate any Chinese offici...

There was no regular method employed in either China or Japan for indicating either the time or place at which the porcelain was made. Neither was there any mark by which the wo...

Both porcelain and pottery were made at Wakayama, and are known as Kishu ware. The ornamentation consisted of formal patterns in low relief, the intervening spaces being filled...

We have noted previously that the decoration of Oriental porcelain is largely bound up in mythology, nay, more, it is largely connected with religion. The religions of China mus...

Whilst in porcelain Japan copied Chinese patterns, in pottery native talent had full scope for its original and personal character, so ably shown both in shape and decoration. A...

This book does not pretend to do more than to indicate to the collector the lines on which collections could or should be made, for "Chats on old Oriental China" scarcely imply...

Our first task will be to classify the porcelain according to the order of its discovery, and in this relation we shall be largely guided by form and colour, which in the oldest...

"Every picture tells its story" is true when applied to Oriental decoration where history and mythology furnish many of the designs, and almost every flower and colour has its o...

When any country is disturbed by internal divisions or by external invasion, the inhabitants pay less and less devotion to art. The reign of this king was certainly disturbed. T...

Bearing in mind the struggle between the Mings and the Tartars, which lasted, as we have seen, from 1616 to 1644, we may take Shun-che (1644-1661) as the first real Tsing Empero...

M. Gasnault, the friend and pupil of M. Jacquemart, has put on record the results of their united work in the Museum at Limoges. The collector is able to see how he has tried to...

Although we do not possess any complete documentary evidence on Ceramics in Japan, and although much of what we do know has been obtained by Englishmen in that country, there is...

We have dealt shortly with the religions of China, and it is necessary to note in this connection how the emblems of the various religions became embodied as part of the decorat...

Nearly the whole of Oriental porcelain is hard paste. By this we mean it cannot be cut with a file. Both paste and glaze are hard, and although some people speak of soft-paste O...

After having passed in review the different products of purely Chinese taste in which the shapes, the style of decoration, and the painting were all local and national, we will...

The _Pa Sien_, or eight Immortals, were followers of the Taoist religion founded by Lao Tsze, who lived about the time of Confucius. They seemed to be noted for a combination of...

Perhaps what we have said will inspire our readers with the desire to know something of the origin of the potter's art in China. This cannot be definitely fixed. It is lost in a...

Chinese potters imitated Chinese potters and their productions for hundreds of years, but it has remained for later times to produce such imitations in hard paste as to be almos...

Many collectors are immensely attracted by what is known as the old blue and white. It is such a widely distributed product, extending over a long series of reigns. We noted bef...

The Dresden Collection of porcelain is probably the most ancient in Europe as far as the Oriental portion is concerned. According to its learned Director, Dr. Theodore Graesse,...

Many lovely specimens of blue and white with the Kang-he marks, with the double rings or with the leaf symbol inside the double rings under the glaze, genuine specimens of old K...

The crackle porcelain is a distinct class, though it will be found that many of the pieces having a single glaze are also crackled. They are covered with a clay or enamel which...

The porcelain called reticulées comes into the category of blue and white because some of it was decorated with blue under the glaze. The pieces have double walls, of which the...