CERAMIC ART IN CHINA. 343 



and bring- prices ridiculously above any value to which they could 

 justly la}' claim on the .score of either rarity, color, or Avorkmanship. 

 A small vase only S inches high, of a dull white-pink shade upon an 

 underground of pale sea-green, which has been dignified by the name 

 of "peach blow" (in some specimens this underground forces itself 

 into notice in the form of splotches on the pink), was offered to the 

 writer in Pekin for less than $200 gold, and, having been purchased b}'^ 

 a foreign dealer, was eventually sold in New York for $15,000. With 

 Nien Hsi-yao was associated in the management a year later a Man- 

 chu officer in the lord chamberlain's office named T'angying, who 

 fifteen years later succeeded to the sole direction. Possessing an inti- 

 mate knowledge of the different varieties of cla}' and of the effects of 

 fire upon them and on colors, he exercised the greatest care in the 

 choice of materials, and every article made under his orders was 

 remarkable for delicacy of workmanship, purit}' of form, and brilliance 

 of coloring. He imitated with wonderful precision the most beautiful 

 of the ancient designs, and his efforts at reproducing the most cele- 

 brated glazes were crowned with equal success. In addition, he is 

 credited with the invention of several new styles of decoration, of which 

 the most remarkable were: The use of European blues and violets, a 

 ground of enamel black, white flowers or designs in gold upon a black 

 ground, the French method of painting, and the yao-pien or flamhe 

 style. In a word, "under his direction," Chinese writers state, "the 

 products of the imperial factories attained their highest perfection.^" 



The work translated hy M. Julien distinctly states that the introduc- 

 tion of the black grounds dates from the earh' part of Chienlung's 

 reign. Treating, as this work does, of events of such comparatively 

 recent occurrence, its reliability would at first glance seem scarcely 

 open to doubt. I am, however, strongly of opinion that the statement 

 is erroneous, and that black grounds originated some decades earlier. 

 I have seen specimens which, the black ground apart, have all the 

 characteristics of the K'anghsi period, and far inferior in delicacy of 

 execution to specimens which were undoubtedly manufactured under 

 the direction of T'angying, such as No. 93 of this collection. The 

 accurac}^ of the statement in other respects is, however, confirmed by 

 experience. The use of violet, or of magenta with a violet tone, with 

 most happ\" effect, especialh^ for grounds, is one of the characteristics 

 of this period, while the best blues fully equal anything in that color 

 produced during the best periods of the Mings. 



Special attention, as has been seen, was also paid at this time to the 

 production of yao-pien., of which Chinese writers distinguish three 

 kinds — two due to celestial agenc}'; one, the_/i?f//>//^ef glaze, to human inge- 

 nuity. As regards the latter, oxydulated copper, it is well known, fur- 

 nishes vitrifiable painting with a fine red. This, thrown in a body on a 



' S. Julien, L'Histoire et la Fabrication de la Porcelaine Chinoise, pp. 108 et seq. 



