172 Beginnings of Porcelain 



source as that found in the West. Both are identical as to mechanical 

 construction, even in minor points, and as to effect. 



A comparatively great antiquity of the potter's wheel may be 

 assumed also for India. Allusion has been made to the early mention 

 of it in the Q atapatha Brahmana (p. 157). The jar employed for the 

 ritual, as described by Katyayana, 1 was solely formed by hand after 

 the fashion of coiled pottery. This does not prove that the wheel 

 was not in use at that time, for jars serving religious purposes were 

 made by hand likewise in Rome and Japan, even after the intro- 

 duction of the wheel. The case merely goes to show that hand- 

 made ware preceded the wheel-made fabric also in ancient India, 

 and that the concept of a fundamental difference between the two 

 was maintained, the hand-made product being reserved for religious 

 worship. 



The potter's wheel is twice mentioned in the Jataka. 2 In one story 

 it is told how a Bodhisatva went to the king's potter and became his 

 apprentice. One day, after he had filled the house with potter's clay, 

 he asked if he should make some vessels; and when the potter answered, 

 "Yes, do so," he placed a lump of clay on the wheel and turned it. 

 When once it was turned, it went on swiftly till mid-day. After mould- 

 ing all manners of vessels, great and small, he began making one espe- 

 cially for Pabhavati with various figures on it. The potter's work is 

 a favorite simile in Buddhist scriptures. 3 



In this respect the following story is of particular interest: "In 

 the town of Revata, in the north-west of India, there lived a master- 

 potter, who prided himself on his dexterity. He was waiting for the 

 objects which he manufactured to dry on the wheel, and only at this 

 moment he withdrew them. Knowing that the time of his conversion 

 had arrived, Bhagavat (Buddha) transformed himself into a master- 

 potter, and, chatting with the other potter, asked him why he did not 

 withdraw from the wheel the plates and utensils. The potter replied 

 that he would do so, when they were perfectly dry. The Buddha 

 transformed into a man said, 'Also I withdraw them, when they are 

 perfectly dry. You and I follow the same procedure. I, however, 

 have a special method. I withdraw the objects only after they are 

 completely baked on the wheel.' The master-potter retorted, 'You 



1 A. Hillebrandt, Ritual-Lit., Vedische Opfer, p. 8; L. D. Barnett, An- 

 tiquities of India, p. 176. 



2 Nos. 531 and 546 (Cowell and Rouse, The Jataka, Vol. V, p. 151; Vol. VI, 

 p. 188). 



* For instance, Dlghanikaya, II, 86 (R. O. Franke's translation, p. 79); T. 

 Suzuki, Acvaghosha's Discourse on the Awakening of Faith, pp. 74, 75. 



