Meanwhile, we must consider a very distinctive group to which the term _sha t´ai_, in its sense of "sandy body," applies with particular exactitude. In the catalogue of the New York exhibition of March, 1914, I ventured to differentiate this type by the name of "soft Chün," which its general appearance seems to justify. It is well illustrated in Plates 38 and 39. The body is buff and varies in texture from stoneware to a comparatively soft earthenware not far removed in colour from that of delft or maiolica, though, like so many Chinese bodies, it has a tendency to assume a darker red brown tint where exposed at the foot rim. The glaze is unctuous and thick, but not opaque, often, indeed, showing considerable flow and transparency: it is opalescent, and at times almost crystalline, and endued with much play of colour. It varies from a light turquoise blue of great beauty to lavender and occasionally to a strong blue tint, and, as a rule, it is broken by one or more passages of crimson red or dull aubergine purple, sometimes in a single well-defined patch, sometimes in a few flecks or streaks, and sometimes in large irregular areas. This glaze usually covers the entire exterior and appears again under the base, leaving practically no body exposed except at the actual foot rim. It has been attributed to various factories. The pure turquoise specimens have even been called Ch´ai, and a little piece of this kind was figured by Cosmo Monkhouse[271] as Kuan ware. On the other hand, I am told[272] that it is widely known in China as _Ma chün_,[273] and is usually thought to be of the Ming dynasty, but no reason is assigned for either the name or the date, and both seem to be based on traders' gossip to which no special importance need be attached. A fine vase of this kind in the British Museum has been much admired by Chinese connoisseurs, and they have, as a rule, pronounced it to be Sung. The important specimen (Plate 39) in the FitzWilliam Museum, Cambridge, was obtained from a tomb near Nanking,[274] a circumstance which is in favour of an early origin. In other respects this class of ware seems to answer to the aubergine and "sky blue" Chün types described by Chinese writers, and I regard it as one of the Sung varieties of Chün Chou ware, with "yellow, sandy earthenware" body of which the _Po wu yao lan_ makes mention.[275] [Illustration: PLATE 39 Two examples of "Soft Chün" ware. Fig. 1.--Vase of buff ware, burnt red at the foot rim, with thick, almost crystalline glaze. Found in a tomb near Nanking and given in 1896 to the FitzWilliam Museum, Cambridge. Probably Sung dynasty. Height 8⅛ inches. Fig. 2.--Vase of yellowish ware with thick opalescent glaze. Yüan dynasty. Height 13⅜ inches. _Alexander Collection._ Fig. 1 Fig. 2 ]