90 



MR. MEDHURST'S REMARKS. Chap. V. 



These are a few of the principal ancient works 

 of art met with in the cabinets of the Chinese and 

 in the old curiosity-shops which we find in all 

 large towns. 



According to the united testimony of my Chinese 

 friends, most of the porcelain I have noticed is of 

 a date much more ancient than those bottles which 

 have been found from time to time in Egyptian 

 tombs. I have in my possession examples of these 

 bottles found in China — generally in doctors' shops 

 — identical in form, no doubt of the same age, 

 and having the same inscriptions on them as those 

 found in Egypt, and from all that I can learn 

 they are not older than the Ming dynasty. An 

 article on the proceedings of the " China branch 

 of the Royal Asiatic Society," by W. H. Medhurst, 

 Esq., her Majesty's Consul at Foo-chow-foo, proves 

 this most satisfactorily, by showing that the in- 

 scriptions are portions of poetical stanzas by stand- 

 ard and celebrated Chinese authors who flourished 

 about that time. As the concluding part of Mr. 

 Medhurst' s paper bears somewhat upon the matters 

 I have been discussing, I shall take the liberty of 

 introducing it in this place. 



" I have not been able to ascertain anything 

 equally satisfactory regarding the discovery of 

 porcelain. The earliest notice of its existence, as 

 a ware, that I can find, occurs in a poem by one 

 Tsow-yang, a worthy who lived in the reign of 

 Wan-te, of the Han dynasty, 175-151 B.C.; but it 

 is only casually mentioned as ' green porcelain.' 



