The custom of minutely subdividing the work in the porcelain factories so that even the decoration of a single piece was parcelled out among several painters existed in the Ming dynasty, though perhaps not carried so far as in the after periods. It is clear that under such a system the individuality of the artists was completely lost, and we never hear the name of any potter or painter who worked at the Imperial factory. In the private factories probably the division of labour was less rigorous, and it is certain that many of the specimens were decorated by a single brush. But even so, signatures of potters or painters are almost unknown; and only one or two private potters of conspicuous merit at the end of the Ming period are mentioned by name in the Chinese books. Mr. Ts’ui, for instance, has already been mentioned in the chapter on the Chia Ching period, and three others occur in the annals of the Wan Li period. [Illustration: Plate 75.--Ming Porcelain. Fig. 1.--Tripod Bowl with raised peony scrolls in enamel colours. Wan Li mark. Height 5¾ inches. _Eumorfopoulos Collection._ Fig. 2.--Blue and white Bowl, Chia Ching period. Mark, _Wan ku ch’ang ch’un_ (“A myriad antiquities and enduring spring!”). Height 3 inches. _Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin._ Fig. 3.--Ewer with white slip _ch’i-lin_ on a blue ground. Wan Li period. Height 9 inches. _Eumorfopoulos Collection._ Fig. 4.--Gourd-shaped Vase with winged dragons and fairy flowers, raised outlines and coloured glazes on the biscuit. Sixteenth century. Height 8¾ inches. _Salting Collection._]