CHAPTER XIX

DECORATED WITH COLOURED ENAMELS

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 productions and European china are striking; in fact, they cannot be compared. With the Chinese, the porcelain manufacture was a matter of custom, almost of religion. The gift of a piece of porcelain marked every solemn ceremony--the new year, the birthday, the marriage never passed without the presentation of a cup or vase which bore an inscription or a symbol of good wishes, or a character meaning either longevity or earthly happiness. Indeed, the visitor to the Chinese home could see not only cups and vases, but teapots, dishes, and plates with varied decoration and brilliant colouring, each telling its own story. Sometimes the teapots were made in the form of Chinese characters. On some pieces were the familiar scenes of the home life or of the public life which give us glimpses of the manners of a people, still imperfectly known and less understood, who for centuries opposed the strongest barriers to the curiosity of Europeans. On other pieces were depicted subjects drawn from the sacred legends or from the principal scenes of well-known wars.

Then the birds and animals each with its meaning, each a symbol! The peach blossom, the lotus, the dragon of the Emperors or of the princes appear side by side with the kylin, the Korean lion or dog of Fô, the sacred Ho-Ho birds, or Fong-Hoang, &c. On the plates and dishes specimens of the Oriental flowers were spread out in all the glory of vivid colour--peonies and chrysanthemums, lotus and azalea, with insects and butterflies no less gorgeous and certainly no less emblematical. Other specimens had for decoration rocks and trees with birds of rich plumage, and fishes with scales of golden hue.

Amongst these dazzling enamel colours four are most attractive and seem to dominate over all the others. Arranging them in families and placing them in order of age, we should take the black family, the green family, the yellow family, and the rose family. These all show the brilliant tones of a perfected production, and singularly enough they were, with one exception, ascribed to the Tsing dynasty; they began to be made in the Kang-he period of that dynasty. Such was the generally received opinion. Further investigation has shown that, with the exception of the "_famille rose_," most of these were made during the Ming dynasty, and attention is being drawn to this fact more and more as time reveals many undoubtedly fine pieces of the older dynasty. It may be objected that these fine pieces are later Chinese copies with the old dates, and the objection has certainly some grounds, but we must remember that the invention of translucid porcelain and its decoration was quite fabulous with regard to its antiquity, and we must further bear in mind that the regulations of the social and political life of the Chinese, the organisation of the family, which scarcely permitted the son to follow any other profession than that of his father, perpetuated the trades of a calling or trade. The routine practice, if this expresses the idea better, forbade all initiative in the mere worker. Inspiration creating new forms and colours depended upon the genius who presided over the Imperial manufactories. These and other causes brought this result, that art and industry rested almost stationary, reproducing the same types, the same forms, the same decoration, which responded to the demands, habits and customs of a people whose needs scarcely varied. Under these conditions, which furnish food for reflection, when we inquire, "Is this old china or not?" we must note that the mere inspection of hard porcelain made of kaolin, which is almost unalterable with time, will never reveal to the most expert the date of its creation. It is true that certain pieces bear an inscription indicating this or that date, but the number of these is very limited, for the use of date marks does not appear to have been adopted by the Chinese before the end of the fifteenth century. Although it may be objected that these marked specimens are later Chinese copies, and that similarly decorated specimens have simply the old dates recopied, it is quite possible that many of them which are thought to have been imitations may be really old. It will be difficult even for the expert to be certain in his differentiation between fine old Ming and Kang-he.

Coming in the same period as the three Kang-he enamel colours are the two underground glaze grounds powder-blue and coral-red. True powder-blue is Kang-he, but it has been copied, and badly, right on to our own times, whilst in coral red--"_rouge de fer_"--the later Keen-lung specimens can fairly be said to rival those of the earlier period. It is doubtful whether this rivalry would apply to any other class of porcelain.

_A._--THE BLACK FAMILY--"_FAMILLE NOIR_."

This magnificent production, of which we give examples in our illustrations, is usually ascribed to Kang-he, possibly it may be earlier. Its characteristic quality was a black ground covered with almost invisible green glaze. The body of these pieces was decorated with flowers in yellow, green, and white, and with butterflies. A common form of decoration--if any can be called common in dealing with such a rare product--was that the panels were decorated with emblems of the seasons. A tree of peony with green, white, and grey blossoms appears to us to be fantastic, but the peony in China grew to the height of 12 ft. The chrysanthemum with flowers of similar colours formed a second panel, the guelder rose with green and white blossoms made the third, whilst the fourth had the lotus flower with tall green and grey flowers growing at the foot of green rocks at the edge of a green lake. The prunus blossom in white or pale green was often used for floral decoration, and yellow finches with green wings, white storks, white butterflies and bees are often found. So, too, is a green-faced dragon with a long brilliant green body in coils, sporting itself in mid-air. Reference to our illustrations will bring out other forms of decoration treated at some length.

_B._--THE GREEN FAMILY--"_FAMILLE VERTE_."

The green family in its finest form is undoubtedly a Kang-he production, but all of the decoration was not in green. Brilliant enamel colours were combined with gilding, and flowers such as the white chrysanthemum, the lotus, the prunus are frequently found in conjunction with black speckled diapers and large panels decorated with various subjects with small reserves decorated with fishes, crabs, and prawns. Figure painting in the green family is not uncommon. Si-Wang-Mu on the borders of the Lake of Gems, mounted warriors in a battle scene or simply marching, and various other military subjects are not uncommon. The ancient pine-tree and the peony are frequently met with, but it is the green, one of the most beautiful enamel colours ever used, which constitutes the attraction in this "_famille verte_" class, to which family belong many of the figures now known as Ming figures, such as the dog of Fô, having a white body with yellow, green and gold protuberances, green head and green, grey, and red mane and tail. The bases of such figures are usually in diamond or other diapers, which may be further decorated with a single red peach blossom. The earlier Ming figures as a rule have the flesh, face, arms, and hands unglazed.

_C._--THE POWDERED BLUE, WITH ENAMEL COLOURS.

The powder or powdered blue family has been referred to already and the manner in which the blue is applied has been explained. Though this colour, like the others, had perhaps its rise, and its greatest perfection, in the Kang-he period, yet many specimens of extremely fine quality are ascribed to Yung-ching and Keen-lung. There are, however, no specimens of true powder-blue that belong to any other than the Kang-he period. The art was evidently lost, and when it was attempted, in the reign of the Emperor Keen-lung, the nearest approach was what is known as mazarine blue, which is entirely different, being much heavier in tone and not powdered, and it is these pieces which have "_famille-rose_" decoration, and this places beyond all doubt the period to which they belong. Where the powder-blue has reserves, as is almost always the case, they may be filled with decoration in blue under the glaze, or with "_famille verte_" applied over the glaze. Or again, and in the later periods of Yung-ching and Keen-lung, the various shaped white reserves may have "_famille rose_" decoration. Similar flowers were used in decorating these pieces in reserves, as we have mentioned before. A general test of the older pieces is the presence of the joo-e head, which either ornaments the rims in small panels or is the shape adopted for the large panels. These are decorated with garden landscapes with figures, and official emblems in various colours such as green, yellow, grey, red, and even other blue enamel colours. Other scenes represent the god of longevity presenting the red peach of long life to a child held by a person of rank. Generally, however, the subjects used have decorations varying comparatively little, although the treatment of these subjects differs considerably in the colour scheme.

_D._--GREEN AND YELLOW FAMILY--"_FAMILLE JAUNE_."

An elegant combination is found in this early product, where the two prominent colours are green and yellow. Sometimes the body may have a black ground covered with almost invisible green glaze, but the main decoration is green, aubergine, and yellow, although other colours such as red, especially red triangle work, is frequently found. These pieces probably originated in the Ming period, but were recopied later. They have reserves such as those mentioned before, decorated with Buddhist emblems or with subjects such as a prince and princess of the Imperial house walking in a garden with two Ho-Ho birds, and a landscape where ladies are conversing and men are in attendance. Amongst the symbols are to be found the official one of the branch of coral with the peacock's feathers. The diapers are very varied and the joo-e-head decoration is frequently found. The frontispiece gives a good idea of this form of decoration, and its description should be noted.

In speaking of the rare examples, yellow-ground, as well as black and green, could be ranked quite in the first order; in fact, they are almost the rarest kind. Specimens of these families were made at the end of the Ming period, and it is a very moot point to-day whether the fine examples, which we know, belong to the end of the Ming or the beginning of the Kang-he.

_E._--CORAL RED GROUND.

If there is another class which deserves mention it is that having a coral red ground thickly powdered it may be with white chrysanthemum leaves and flowers, decorated with joo-e-head ornaments or ornamented with deep rose, grey and white, yellow and white, pale blue and white, prunus blossom powdered upon a golden iced diaper, the emblem of the coming spring. This coral red ground--"_rouge de fer_"--differs from all the others in this class because it is an under-glaze decoration. It is essentially a Kang-he production, although some very fine specimens have the Keen-lung mark.

The reader has no doubt noticed the rivalry between these periods, and the values of coral red specimens are more affected by quality than perhaps by age.

_F._--THE ROSE FAMILY--"_FAMILLE ROSE_."

We noted that the rose enamel was used in decoration by Yung-ching. The same rose decoration was continued by Keen-lung, which had an especial form of decoration consisting of the rose and white peony with the prunus--the so-called hawthorn. Frequently, too, there is a swastika trellis. We have dealt somewhat fully with the ruby-back plates as a branch of the rose family. This ruby and peach blossom rose ground was applied to vases with very telling effect. As, in the black family, the ground was a black covered with an almost invisible green glaze, so in this family we get a peach blossom rose ground often powdered with pale blue, yellow, grey and white chrysanthemum blossoms. The reserves are often fan-shaped, and the decoration in these reserves consists of the usual subjects or emblems in brilliant enamel colours. Similar flowers to those noted before as the emblems of the seasons are frequently found. These include pale rose and blue and white peony, pale rose and white rose, peach blossom, chrysanthemums, the oleander with single rose and white prunus blossom. These rose pieces are extremely elegant and very rare. They date from the Yung-ching period, in which they reached their highest perfection, under Keen-lung the standard of excellence was nearly as high.

_G._--OTHER ENAMEL COLOURS.

The decorations of the green family are rather severe in character. They might be termed Chinese classical, because they are so largely influenced by religion. The same remarks apply to the black family. The rose family, on the contrary, with its lovely borders and varied designs, generally represents familiar Chinese subjects and scenes from social life.

The enamel colours which follow are amongst the rarest and most beautiful products of China, taking rank with those pieces which are never dear, though the prices at which they are sold may be astonishing.

XX

PORCELAIN OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY