[Footnote 444: In the section _T´ao kung pu hui k´ao_, fol. 9.] [Footnote 445: _Catalogue spécial de la Collection Chinoise_, op. cit., pp. 10-12. The exhibits from Amoy included "carreaux de pavage, tuiles pour toitures."] [Footnote 446: See _Catalogue B.F.A._, 1910, L. 1.] [Footnote 447: See Dr. Voretzsch, _Catalogue of Chinese Pottery._] CHAPTER XVII MARKS ON CHINESE POTTERY AND PORCELAIN THE custom of placing on works of art the name of the maker, the date of manufacture, or some sign or symbol indicating the intention with which they were made, dates back in China at least as far as the Han dynasty. Such marks occur on pottery and porcelain rarely at first, but with a frequency which increases in proportion as we draw nearer to modern times. They are incised or stamped in the soft body of the ware, or painted under the glaze (usually in blue) or over it in enamel colours or gold; and they are generally placed on the base of the ware, though there are fairly numerous instances in which the mark is written along the mouth rim or in some other more or less conspicuous position. The earliest marks, as far as I am aware, are incised, and those on the Han, T´ang, and Sung potteries, not to mention the intermediate dynasties, should be scrutinised with the greatest care to make sure whether the incisions were made before the pottery was baked or afterwards. There should be no difficulty in determining this point, for the lines cut with a sharp instrument in the fired ware are necessarily harder and less free than those incised in the soft clay, and the edges of the incisions will present obvious differences in the two cases. Unfortunately the early date-marks which I have seen up to the present have almost all been cut after the firing. It does not necessarily follow that such inscriptions are modern additions. Indeed in many cases they are in a style which is clearly old. But their value as evidence is very small, for it is impossible to prove the exact time of their carving; and at best we can only regard them as representing the opinion of some former owner as to the date of the vessel in question. At their worst, they are deliberate frauds added by modern vendors with intent to deceive. Incised or stamped marks have always been common on pottery, but porcelain is usually marked by painting with a brush, and for this purpose underglaze blue is the commonest medium, red and other on-glaze colours being used chiefly on the relatively modern wares decorated in _famille rose_ enamels. Similarly the ordinary script is usual in marks, and seal characters are quite exceptional on porcelain earlier than the eighteenth century.