480 



ORIENTAL COMMERCE. 



[China. 



gine, from the finest sort made in China. It is stated that in general the 

 glazing of the true Japan is whiter, and has less of the blueish east than 

 the porcelain of China; that the ornaments are laid on with less profusion ; 

 that the blue is brighter, and the patterns and flowers are not so whimsical, 

 and more closely copied from nature ; and some writers tell us, that the 

 Chinese who trade to Japan, bring home some pieces of China that make 

 more show than their own, but are not so solid ; and that they serve to 

 ornament their apartments, but that they never use them, because they will 

 not bear the fire well: all China glazed with coloured varnish, whether 

 sea-green, blueish, or purple, is said to be Chinese. All the Japan brought 

 into Europe comes from the Dutch, who are the only Europeans that are 

 suffered to come into that empire. Possibly they may have chosen it out 

 of the porcelains brought there every year by the Chinese, or they may 

 have purchased it at Canton : in either case the distinction between the 

 porcelain of Japan and that of China would not be founded on fact, but 

 merely on prejudice. From this opinion, it is plain that what is sold in 

 Europe for Japan, is only very fine China. 



IV. China Porcelain. — The glazing of this sort has a bluer cost than 

 that of Japan, u more highly coloured, and the patterns arc more whimsi- 

 cal ; the paste is in general whiter, and more compact ; the grain finer and 

 closer, and the China thinner. Among the several sorts made in China, 

 there is one that is very ancient ; it is painted of a deep blue, a beautiful 

 red, or a green like verdigrease, and is coarse, thick, and very heavy. 

 Some of this is trouted, and the grain is often dry and hvown ; that which 

 is not trouted, has a clear sound, but both want transparency ; it is sold 

 for old China, and the finest pieces are supposed to come from Japan. The 

 essential difference between this and other China is, that it is made of a 

 shorter paste, and is very hard and solid ; the pieces of this China have 

 always at the bottom the marks of three or four supporters, which were 

 put to prevent its giving way in baking. Iiy this contrivance the Chinese 

 have succeeded in making very large pieces of porcelain. The China which 

 is not of this sort, and which is called modern China, is of a longer paste, 

 finer grain, higher glazed, whiter, and clearer ; it seldom has the marks of 

 the supporters, and its transparency has nothing glassy in it. All that is 

 made with this paste is easily turned, so that it is visible the workman's 

 hand is glided over it, as over a fine smooth clay ; there is an infinite 

 variety of this sort of China, both as to form, colouring, workmanship, 

 and price. 



V. Chinese Japan. — So called because it unites the ornaments of the 

 porcelain, which is thought to come from Japan, with those that are more 



