CHINESE IDEAS OF ANTIQUES 71 



The saucers were seven inches wide, and were adorned 

 with the picture of a newly born baby. The centre of the 

 saucer was made of artemesian clay iffli St #£)• The variations 

 of the foregoing pattern and ornamentation are somewhat 

 as follows. Some had the painted figure of a flying dragon 

 executed in a red sand ground, while around the rim and 

 sides are figures of the dragon secreted within the body of 

 the porcelain. The base was of sand but the hollow in the 

 base was glazed. The composite ingredients of this por- 

 celain were white and glistening, and the exterior had the 

 appearance of being enveloped in a fatty covering. In the 

 hollow of the foot the following inscription was secreted in 

 the body of the porcelain: " Yuin Loh NiewChih (zkl^¥i2!h 

 Manufactured in the reign of the emperor Yuin Loh (4ctfi)." 

 These wares are all of excellent quality, elegant in shape 

 and attractive in form. 



There was also a plain saucer of the T'o T'ai (3&Jtu) or 

 new born child pattern which was about six inches in 

 diameter. Its composite ingredients were fine, the glaze 

 good, the pattern elegant, and the inscriptions secreted, 

 but its exterior was plain and unadorned. 



The Suen Teh (!a &.) Porcelain. 



The best specimens of porcelain produced by the Suen 

 Teh potteries are those known as the tsih (Ua), red porcelain, 

 which are red through and through. The second rate 

 quality is that known as the moh (££) red. These latter 

 wares are only glazed with a red pigment, and are not the 

 same through and through. The ancient writers described 

 the tsih (Jfe), red porcelain, somewhat as follows. Its colour 

 resembled freshly drawn blood, transparent like a mirror. 

 A white line encircled the mouth, which was clean cut like 

 a piece of iron, and when tapped it rang like a bell. Its 

 composite ingredients were precious stones ground to 

 powder and moulded into porcelain. This explains the 

 reason why the lustrous red penetrated to the very core of 

 the porcelain, and dazzled the eye when gazed upon. It 

 also explains why such fabulous prices were paid for these 

 articles. The moh (£fc), red wares, did not require such 

 expensive material for their production; but when com- 

 pared with the tsih (Ife), red wares, they are very inferior in 

 quality; the tsih red being likened to heaven, and the moh 

 red to earth, so great was the contrast between them. 



The tsih red porcelain had several variations both in 

 colour and quality. Some had a red exterior with a white 

 core. Others had a white exterior and a red core. Others 



