July, 191 2. Chinese Pottery. 23 



at the same time by different glazes, and it may be surmised at the out- 

 set that they originate from different kilns. 



The three jars on Plates VI-VIII exactly agree with one another 

 in shape and glaze (evidently an iron glaze) the color of which moves 

 from a light-yellow to a dark-brown. In the form of rim, neck and 

 shoulders, the identity is perfect. The shoulders are decorated with 

 five massive lion-heads l formed in separate moulds and stuck on to the 

 body of the vessel, perforations running horizontally through the jaws. 

 The designs, wave-bands and a couple of dragons with the usual cloud- 

 ornaments, are incised in the body of the clay and in the two specimens 

 on Plates VI and VII not covered by the glaze, while in the case of the 

 specimen in Plate VIII the outlines and scales of the dragon have been 

 overlaid with a glaze of darker tinge, resulting in a flat-relief design. 

 The dragon-jar in Plate V differs from those three in form and technique, 

 and is an extraordinary specimen. The clay walls are of much thinner 

 build and covered with a fine dark-greenish slip. Six ears (two of which 

 are broken off) rest on the shoulders; they are shaped into the very 

 frequent conventional form of elephant heads ending in curved trunks. 

 The two dragons are turned out in moulds and playing with the pearl 

 (not represented in the illustration) designed as a spiral with flame. 



In this connection, attention should be drawn to the dragon-jars 

 of a similar type discovered in large numbers on Borneo. The Tung 

 si yang k'ao, an interesting Chinese work describing the far-eastern 

 sea trade of the sixteenth century and published in 1618 (Ming period) 

 relates that the people of Bandjermasin on Borneo at first used banana 

 leaves in the place of dishes, but that, since trade had been carried on 

 with China, they had gradually adopted the use of porcelain ; that they 

 liked to bargain for porcelain jars decorated with dragons on the sur- 

 face; and that they would keep the bodies of the dead in such jars in- 

 stead of burying them. 2 Despite everything that has been written on 

 the subject of these jars, their descriptions, from a ceramic and historical 

 point of view, are still rather unsatisfactory. The illustrations referred 

 to below are made from sketches, not from photographs. A. B. Meyer 

 and Grabowsky describe the glazes as brown or mottled brown, on e 



1 A. B. Meyer (Altertumer aus dem Ostindischen Archipel, p. 7, Leipzig, 1884) 

 describing similar jars from Borneo speaks of five Rakshasa or lion-heads. They are, 

 according to Chinese notion, nothing but lion-heads. The Rakshasa heads are quite 

 different in style, are always characterized by long protruding tusks, and never occur 

 as decorations on Chinese pottery. 



2 Hirth, Ancient Chinese Porcelain, p. 182. — The Dayak designation rangkang 

 for these jars seems to me to be suggested by the Chinese name lung kang ("dragon- 

 jar"). — For illustrations of Borneo dragon-jars see F. S. Grabowsky, Zeitschrift 

 furEthnologie, Vol. XVII, 1885, PI. VII, or A. R. Hew, Die bildenden Kunste bei den 

 Dayaks auf Borneo, p. 133 (Wien, 1890). 



