338 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



softly lined with padded silk." Four specimens of these cups are con- 

 tained in the collection— Nos. 300 to 303. 



From this period also are supposed to date many of the large vases 

 which form so prominent a feature in the European collections, dec- 

 orated with historical scenes, in the coloring of which green plays so 

 large a part, and which have in consequence been termed b}^ French 

 writers "la famille verte." They are really, however, more modern. 

 "The finest," as Doctor Bushell truly remarks, "belong to the reign 

 of K'anghsi, so that one of a pair is often found with a Ming mark 

 beneath, the other with a censer, flower, or other emblem (of the 

 K'anghsi period); yet some connoisseurs pride themselves on being 

 able to distinguish the genuine Ming in this class from the false, con- 

 fessing, however, that it is a difficult matter."^ 



This period is also noted for its eggshell porcelain. It was not, 

 however, invented at this time, but, as we have already shown, first 

 manufactured during the Yunglo period. The four small plates of 

 this ware (Nos. 296 to 299) are worthy of special note, not only for 

 their extreme thinness and transparency, but for the very unusual style 

 of their decoration — landscapes in enamel colors above the glaze. 



From 1488 to 1505. 



During the succeeding period (Hungchih, 1488 to 1505), while enamel 

 colors were still used, a very pale yellow glaze of the color of a newly 

 husked chestnut was the tint most highly prized, the two kinds of 

 decoration being at times combined. If the uniform yellow glaze was 

 employed, ornamentation would be at times engraved in the paste or 

 molded in relief beneath it. So little is said regarding the ware of 

 this period by Chinese authors that it is worth while recording the 

 descriptions of two choice specimens given by Hsiang Tzu-ching: 

 (1) A wine pot "molded in the form of a gourd contracted in the mid- 

 dle, the brown stalk forming the handle of the cover, a winding branch 

 the tapering handle, from which spring green tendrils and leaves 

 and a miniature gourd, all worked in relief in the yellow body, a second 

 miniature gourd being fashioned into the spout. Light yellow was 

 the color most highly valued in this reign, but enamelling in color was 

 also employed, as in this piece, which reminds one of the porcelain of 

 the reign of Ch'enghua; " (2) a teacup "in the form of a hibiscus flower, 

 covered outside with a delicate yellow glaze imitating the natural tint 

 of the flow^er; white inside. 1 have seen many specimens of Hungchih 

 porcelain, but nothing to surpass these little cups."^ 



^S. W. Bushell, Chinese Porcelain before the Present Dynasty, p. 99. 

 ^ Idem, Nos. 7, 42, 46, 66. 



