-DiiAi*. V. ANCIENT ENAMELS. 85 



^iid minute. In colouring these examples are 

 exquisite, and in this respect they throw our 

 finest specimens of European porcelain quite into 

 the shade. The green and turquoise crackle 

 made in China at the present day are very 

 inferior to the old kinds. Perhaps the rarest and 

 most expensive of all ancient crackles is a yellowish 

 stone-colour ; in my researches I have seen only 



Oviform Bottle of rare turquoiss colour. Gourd-shaped Bottle of yellowish 



stone-colour Crackle. 



one small vase of this kind, and it is now in my 

 collection. 



Of other ancient porcelain (not crackle) prized 

 by the Chinese, I may mention the specimens 

 (generally vases) with a white ground, enamelled 

 with figures of various colours, as green, black, 

 and yellow. It is a curious fact that the attempts 

 made at the present day by porcelain manufac- 

 turers to fix such colours invariably fail. 



