lions (sometimes called the dogs of Fo), usually in pairs, one with a cub, and the other playing with a ball of brocade, mounted on an oblong base, to which is attached, in the smaller sizes at any rate, a tube for holding incense sticks. Other familiar objects are four-footed or tripod stands for manuscript rolls, boxes for brushes colours, etc., ink screens, water pots of fanciful shape for the writing table, picture plaques (Plate 100), supper sets made up of a number of small trays which fit together in the form of a lotus flower[307] or a rosette, perforated boxes and hanging vases for fragrant flowers (Fig. 2 of Plate 98), “butterfly cages,” and “cricket boxes.” Another well-known specimen represents the famous T’ang poet, Li T’ai-po, the Horace of China, reclining in drunken stupor against a half overturned wine jar, the whole serving as a water vessel for the writing table. Instances of the combination of on-glaze and on-biscuit enamels in the same piece also occur. Thus on the splendid black-ground potiche in the Franks Collection (Frontispiece) passages of white glaze have been inserted to receive the coral red colour which apparently could not be applied to the biscuit. And conversely in the ordinary _famille verte_ decoration on the glaze there are sometimes inserted small areas of on-biscuit enamels on borders, handles, base ornaments, etc. Such combinations give an excellent opportunity for observing the contrast between the softer, fuller tints on the biscuit and the brighter, more jewel-like enamels on the white glaze. In rare instances we find passages of blue and white decoration associated with the on-biscuit enamels as on the curious ewer illustrated by Fig. 1 of Plate 94. Blue and white is similarly combined with decoration in coloured glazes on the biscuit in a late Ming jar in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Case 9, No. 4396–57). [Illustration: Plate 98.--K’ang Hsi Porcelain with on-biscuit decoration. _Dresden Collection._ Fig. 1.--Teapot in form of a lotus seed-pod, enamels on the biscuit. Height 2¾ inches. Fig. 2.--Hanging Perfume Vase, reticulated, enamels on the biscuit. Height 3½ inches. Fig. 3.--Ornament in form of a junk, transparent _san ts’ai_ glazes. Height 11½ inches.] [Illustration: Plate 99.--K’ang Hsi Porcelain with on-biscuit decoration. Fig. 1.--Ewer with black enamel ground, lion handle. Height 8¾ inches. _Cope Bequest_ (_V. & A. Museum_). Fig. 2.--Figure of the Taoist Immortal, Ho Hsien Ku, transparent _san ts’ai_ glazes. Height 10⅛ inches. _S. E. Kennedy Collection._ Fig. 3.--Vase and Stand, enamelled on the biscuit. Height 8¾ inches. _Cope Bequest._] [Illustration: Plate 100.--Screen with Porcelain Plaque, painted in enamels on the biscuit. Light green background. K’ang Hsi period (1662–1722). Total height 22½ inches. _In the Collection of the Hon. E. Evan Charteris._]