'60 CHINESE IDEAS OF ANTIQUES 



The Ts'in Han (%fc H) wares are inferior to the "San 

 Tai " (S^) the " T'ang Sung ' * (JBf 5f5) are again inferior to 

 the Ts'in Han (f& W) and so, the deterioration continues in 

 the succeeding dynasties. The reason why these latter periods 

 failed to reach the perfection of their predecessors is to be 

 attributed not only to inferior craft but also to poorer raw 

 material. 



The Ts'in Han (t^ Wk) artizans were admittedly stupid, 

 and quite unable to copy the fine models of the " San Tai " 

 period. The artisans of the T'ang Sung (Ji£ 515) period were 

 better craftsmen and attempted to modify the " San Tai " 

 models. This accounts for some of the imperfections found 

 in some of the so-called " San Tai " wares. Some of those 

 show signs both of crudity as well as of consummate skill. 

 From the "Tang Sung" (Jif 5Jc) periods onwards, the more 

 the workmen strove, the more they seemed to lose the pure 

 elegance of the ancients. 



The genuine antiques in the possession of the people 

 originally had no distinguishing character marks engraven 

 on them, but certain fraudulently disposed persons have 

 scratched imitation seal characters on such articles as urns 

 and bells. Taken at their original face value they probably 

 were genuine antiques, but the attempts at falsification has 

 seriously discounted them. These forgers when attempting 

 to obliterate all traces of the knife scratches, applied a 

 chemical glaze to the articles thereby spoiling their original 

 •excellency. 



There is a class of copper wares known as Keo Yung 

 (^ ??) wares. In order to understand this term it is neces- 

 sary to know that (from the T'ang dynasty, and the reign of 

 T'ien pao (5S H) until the end of the Southern T'ang 

 dynasty (J5F 113)), there was an official foundry for the fusing 

 of metal and the casting of copper wares situated at Keo 

 Yung Hsien. These wares generally bear the official seal 

 of the foundry and are thus easily recognised. 



During the leign of Cheng Ts'ung (Wk f?) of the Yuen 

 (7C) dynasty there lived a certain woman named Kiang 

 Niang Tse (i i ?). And during the same period there was 

 also a man named Wang Y^en (3c. W) who lived at P'ing 

 Kiang (^CC). These persons were both famous moulders 

 and their fame has been handed down to the present age. 

 They excelled in the art of wax spreading (JS Jfif) which made 

 their wares pure in colour, fine in grain, and elegant in 

 shape. The whole exterior was ornamented with flowers. 

 The ensemble appealed to fancy and taste at first sight. 

 Some had a gold embossed ornamentation, some were of a 

 cerulean colour, and still others of a nature green colour. 



