THE CEKAMIC ART IN CHINA. 413 



is said to have cost the owner 200 ingots of silver in paper notes, a sum 

 Dr. Biishell estimates to be equivalent to about £600. 



Another style of decoration much esteemed at the time for open ves- 

 sels was " three red fish on a white ground pure as driven snow, the 

 fish boldly outlined and red as fresh blood, of a brilliant red color daz- 

 zling the eyes." Occasionally these fish would be represented on the 

 outside swimming on waves engraved in the paste, with two more on the 

 inside. Though no less than four vessels so decorated are described 

 by Hsiang Tzii-ching, they are stated to have been even then "precious 

 specimens of this rare kind of porcelain " — they are certainly so now. 



A rarer kind of decoration still was three pairs of peaches in red on a 

 white ground — of these " only two or three were then known to exist 

 within the four seas," i. e., the empire. 



A still rarer decoration, found on a wine-cup, is described as " the 

 white ground decorated inside and outside with cloud scrolls engraved 

 in the paste, a scroll border above colored, crimson: the handle a dragon 

 of bold design moulded in high relief coiled round the top, with teeth 

 and four claws fixed in the rim, enamelled vermilion red." (Vessels 

 with a dragon moulded in relief upon the brim are, it may be added, 

 always highly esteemed by the Chinese when intact, partly because of 

 the artistic ability required to successfully execute the design, and 

 partly because old specimens are seldom met with undamaged.) "Only 

 one or two of these beautiful little cups remain throughout the empire, 

 and 100 taels ($150 gold) is not considered too much to pay for a spec- 

 imen." Hsiang Tzii-ching states that the brilliancy of this crimson 

 glaze was obtained by the addition of powdered red gems from the 

 west to the ordinary materials. Dr. Bushell, commenting upon this 

 statement, says "this is impossible, and the colors being painted on 

 under the glaze shows it to have been a copper silicate, the same doubt- 

 less that gave the bright red {hsien hung) to the monochromes of the 

 period.* M. Julien states that among the colors for porcelain painting 

 brought from China by M. Itier (an employe in the minstry of finance, 

 who accompanied the French ambassador to that country) and pre- 

 sented in 1844 to the manufactory at Sevres, was one named pao-shih- 

 hung, " precious stone red", which when analyzed by M. Salvetat proved 

 to be merely " oxyde de fer avec du fondant." t 



A decoration first met with in the productions of this period is 

 obtained by the entire excision of a delicate pattern, by some sharp 

 instrument, from the biscuit of which the cup or bowl is formed. When 

 the vessel is dipped in the glaze, the latter fills up the excised open 

 work with a thin film sufficiently thick after baking to retain the 

 liquid in the cup, though so thin that the pattern is thrown out as a 

 transparency upon the more opaque body. This decoration is com- 

 monly known among English collectors as "lace-work," and the French 

 term pieces so decorated reticulees. 



'' * Bushell: Op. cit., Nos. 6, 10, 40, 54, 56, 58, 60, 69, 71, and p. H7, ^ 



t Julien: 0^. cit., p. 9 J, 



