Chinese pottery and porcelain; vol. 1. Pottery and early waresHobson, R. L. (Robert Lockhart)
History
Chinese pottery and porcelain; vol. 1. Pottery and early wares
Hobson, R. L. (Robert Lockhart)
Porcelain, Chinese; Pottery, Chinese
The next mention occurs in the _T´ao lu_, which gives a short account of
the wares under the heading _Kuang yao_, but beyond the statement that
the industry originated at Yang-Chiang, it gives no information as to the
date or circumstances of its commencement.[380] For the rest this account
is very confused and unsatisfactory, and seems in part to refer to the
porcelain decorated at Canton (see vol. ii., p. 211), or more probably to
the Canton enamels. It is only in the last passage that we come into touch
with a ware which is readily recognised as the familiar Canton stoneware.
This is a hard-fired ware, usually dark brown at the base, but varying
at times to pale yellowish grey and buff, with a thick smooth glaze
distinguished from other ceramic glazes by its characteristic mottling
and dappling. The colour is often blue, flecked and streaked with grey
green or white over a substratum of olive brown, or again green with grey
and blue mottling. At times the brown tints predominate, but the most
prized varieties are those in which the general tone is blue. These were
specially selected for imitation at the Imperial factories under T´ang
Ying, and they are highly valued in Japan, where the ware in general goes
by the name of _namako_.[381] In other specimens the glaze has a curdled
appearance, and sometimes it seems to have boiled up like lava. The
mottled glazes at times have a superficial resemblance to the dappled Chün
wares, and there is no doubt that in recent times these imitative effects
have been studied.
The dating of the mottled Kuangtung wares, or Canton stonewares as they
are commonly named, is always a difficult matter. They are still made and
exported in large quantities, but it is certain that they go back at least
to late Ming times. Sir Arthur Church exhibited a tray of this ware at the
Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1910[382] which bore a date corresponding to
1625, and the name of the maker, Chin-shih. The glaze of this interesting
piece is remarkably deep, rich and lustrous, and it may be regarded as
typical of the finest period of the ware. The tray illustrated by Fig.
1 of Plate 48 closely resembles it in colour and quality. Stamped marks
occasionally occur in these wares, the most frequent being the seals
used by two potters, apparently brothers, named Ko Ming-hsiang and Ko
Yüan-hsiang (see p. 221). It was formerly said that they lived at the end
of the Ming period, but Dr. Bushell in his _Chinese Art_[383] reduced
their antiquity to the reign of Ch´ien Lung (1736-1795). No reason is
given for either of these dates, but their work is familiar, and as some
of the examples have a decidedly modern aspect, I am strongly in favour of
the later attribution. Plate 47 is a fine example of a Kuangtung glaze, in
which the blue is conspicuous.[384] It is probably of seventeenth-century
date.
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