IlERAMIC STUDIO 
* ! * < P«3L^ 
SALES OF GREEK AND CHINESE POTTERY 
THERE was an important sale of Greek and Chinese pottery 
a short time ago at the American Art Galleries in New 
York. 
The collection of Greek pottery and glass was imported 
by Mr. Henry de Morgan and contained some extremely rare 
and valuable specimens. Among interesting pieces were 
twenty-five to thirty terra cotta statuettes, some of the most 
remarkable being the Leda from the Lecuyer collection, dat- 
ing from the third century B. C, the group of Niobe and her 
daughters from the same collection, and an Aphrodite of the 
fourth century from the Castellani collection. There were a 
large numbrf of decorated vases, including very early speci- 
mens, such as an Ionian amphora and a kylix of the seventh 
century B. C, most of them, however, dating from the sixth, 
fifth, fourth and third centuries. Not less remarkable was 
the collection of old glass, Roman and Greek, dating mostly 
from the fourth century B. C, to the second century A. D., 
and including some marvelous iridescent pieces. We doubt 
if the sale was much of a financial success, as prices were gen- 
erally low. 
The collection of Chinese potteries and porcelains was 
partly formed from the collection of Yang Lin Sang, late 
treasurer of the Pekin government, partly of specimens chosen 
by Takee, the Shanghai connoisseur, others being from the 
stock of T. B. Clarke, the New York dealer. As is always the 
case there were together with a number of very fine genuine 
old pieces, many modern imitations, the latter being from an 
artistic standpoint as interesting as the real old pieces, but 
not so to the collector. There are in New York to-day some 
of the finest collections of old Chinese porcelains in the world, 
and it must be said that New York collectors as a rule are far 
from being inexperienced novices and know old Chinese as 
well as some of the best experts. 
But where is the expert on old china who does not make 
mistakes sometimes, especially in the case of old Chinese por- 
celains so cleverly imitated by the Chinese themselves. The 
writer knows of a beautiful blue and white vase with the 
mark of the Kang-he period which was pronounced by all ex- 
perts as a genuine old piece. The inspection of the base of 
the vase showed that it was the real old paste without any 
doubt, and nobody would have suspected the piece of being 
an imitation, if by mere chance the owner had not discovered 
that the base could be unscrewed. This base was the bottom 
of a genuine old vase, but the vase was an imitation, and the 
work had been so cleverly done that it might have remained 
undetected forever if the owner in handling his vase had not 
accidentally felt that the bottom moved. 
In all sales of this kind it is certain that a number of 
counterfeits are sold for genuine pieces, but also that many 
genuine pieces which are suspected of being counterfeits sell 
at bargain prices. Prices were generally low in the Clarke 
sale. The top figure $1,700 was paid for a soft paste enamel 
vase 16 inches (Yung-Ching). We noticed also a peach blow 
bottle Syl inches (Kang-he) at $1,400, a blue and white temple 
jar 14^ inches (Kang-he) $1,250, a sang de bceuf vase i6}4 
inches $1,125. 
Among the most interesting and unusual pieces of the 
collection were about a dozen vases of the Han period (220 
B. C. to 200 A. D.), glazed pottery of a greenish color, the 
glaze having almost disappeared under silvery incrustations. 
It seems difficult to imagine that these pieces were not really 
of the greatest antiquity. Has the art of counterfeiting been 
carried so far by the Chinese that modern vases may seem to 
be 1,000 years old? It is doubtful. However all these Han 
vases sold at comparatively low figures, the highest price paid 
being $625, most of them selling for only $200 or $300. It is 
worthy of notice that they were all bought by a dealer. 
Among other pieces which sold at low figures we noticed 
some splashed red vases, especially a tall gallipot vase, crimson 
and deep purple, a wonderful piece from the potter's stand- 
point, but for some mysterious reason of little interest to col- 
lectors, which sold at the ridiculously low price of $55. 
Another, a beautiful amphora, of large crackle grey ground, 
with remarkable splashes of deep red on both sides and near 
the handles, too symmetrical to be kiln accidents, brought 
$30. Anybody who is familiar with the difficulty of produc- 
ing these deep red glazes (in fact the secret is entirely lost to 
modern potters), will wonder at these absurdly low figures. 
It Will be interesting to collectors of Chinese porcelains to 
know that one of the finest collections in England has been sold 
to Duveen Bros, to be imported to this country. The day is 
not far off when the student of old pottery, instead of going 
to China or to the European museums, will have to come to 
New York to find the finest specimens of the old Chinese art. 
TREATMENT FOR STUDY OF MILKWEED 
Henrietta Barclay Paist 
THE coloring of this plant is most restful and harmonious, 
a combination of greens and browns. It would be well 
to model the green of outside of the pods with Copenhagen 
for the first fire and wash with Moss Green, modeling with 
Brown Green and Dark Green for the second. The inside of 
the pods should have a delicate wash of Yellow Brown, mixed 
with Yellow, and the little inner pod the same color, stronger, 
and shaded with a Dark Brown, the stems are Green touched 
with Brown, the older ones entirely Brown. For the seeds 
use a rich Dark Brown, and the silk of the plant may be wiped 
out of the fresh background with a sponge or pad. By treat- 
ing the background with the same shades as used in the plant, 
viz., Brown Green, Yellow Brown and White Rose (in place 
of Moss Green), a soft harmonious effect is the result. 
Etching. The process of eating away the glaze, or a part 
of it, which is afterward covered with gold and gives a relief 
effect. 
