There is another and an intermediate method of polychrome decoration in which the low-fired enamels (_de petit feu_) are applied direct to the biscuit, as in the case of the _demi-grand feu_ colours, but with the difference that they are fixed in the muffle kiln. This method was much employed on the late Ming and early Ch’ing porcelains, and it will be discussed later; but it is mentioned here because there are several apparent examples of it in Hsiang’s Album, one[47] of which is dated Hsüan Tê. The example in question is a model of the celebrated Nanking pagoda, and it is described as _wu ts’ai_, the structure being white, the roofs green, the rails red, and the doors yellow, while the date is painted in blue. I have hesitated to assume that this is intended to represent an on-glaze painted piece, though there is much in the description to indicate such a conclusion; but it is certainly either this or a member of the class under discussion, viz. decorated in enamels of the muffle kiln applied to the biscuit.[48] In either case it proves the knowledge of vitrifiable enamels at this period to all who accept the evidence of Hsiang’s Album. Examples of Hsüan Tê polychrome porcelain enumerated in the _T’ao shuo_ included wine pots in the form of peaches, pomegranates, double gourds, a pair of mandarin ducks and geese; washing dishes (for brushes) of “gong-shaped outline,” with moulded fish and water-weeds, with sunflowers and with lizards; and lamp brackets, “rain-lamps,” vessels for holding bird’s food, and cricket[49] pots (see vol. i, p. 188). Specimens of on-glaze painted porcelain with the Hsüan Tê mark are common enough, but I have not yet seen one which could be accepted without reserve. Perhaps the nearest to the period is a specimen in the Franks Collection, a box made of the lower part of a square vase which had been broken and cut down. It was fitted with a finely designed bronze cover in Japan, and it is strongly painted in underglaze blue and the usual green, yellow, red and purple on-glaze enamels. The mark is in a fine dark blue, and the porcelain has all the character of a Ming specimen. There is, in the same collection, a dish of a different type, but with the Hsüan Tê mark in Mohammedan blue and other evidences of Ming origin. The glaze is of a faintly greenish white and of considerable thickness and lustre, and the design consists of lotus scrolls in gold. Painting in gold in the Hsüan Tê period is mentioned in the _T’ao shuo_[50] in connection with the pots for holding the fighting crickets alluded to above. CHAPTER III CH’ÊNG HUA [chch 2] (1465–1487) AND OTHER REIGNS