[117] See the South Kensington handbook on Japanese pottery, p. 86. In the chapter on Japanese ceramics contained in the magnificently illustrated _History of the Arts of Japan_, published in 1901 in connection with the Paris Exhibition, a little further light is thrown on the history of porcelain in that country. But in this work and in the other guides published at the time of our American and European exhibitions (and the same may be said of the Japanese report contained in the South Kensington handbook), the same scanty materials are served up again and again. [118] _Ambassades Mémorables de la Compagnie des Indes Orientales des Provinces Unies vers les Empereurs du Japon_, Amsterdam, 1680, Part II. p. 102. I take the reference from Marryat, but I have not been able to find the book. [119] We know of no Chinese type to which we can refer this decoration. Certain points of resemblance have been found with the work of the great contemporary Japanese artist Tanyu. The most characteristic _motifs_ are the tiger, the dancing boy with long sleeves, and the straw hedge. [120] The ‘old Japan’ was at one time closely copied at King-te-chen for exportation to Europe. (_Cf._ PL. XXIV. 1.) [121] The composition of the Owari porcelain is more normal, the silica only amounting to 65 per cent.; but as the paste contains little or no lime, it comes nearer to the hard porcelain of Berlin than to the milder Chinese type. [122] Much, however, of the china-stone of Cornwall differs little in composition from the Imari stone; but the latter contains, as we have said, soda, in place of the more usual potash. [123] It is to this _Koransha_, I understand, that we are indebted for the historical notices on Japanese porcelain that have appeared on the occasion of our successive international exhibitions (see above, p. 183 note). [124] Captain Brinkley speaks of the lower edge being serrated, but I have never seen any specimen of this serration. [125] Another seal was granted to Zengoro with the inscription (reading in Chinese) _Hopin chi liu_ (PL. B. 24). This refers to an old tradition that Shun, a Chinese emperor of very early date, had, before his accession to the throne, made pottery at a place called Hopin, in Honan. This story is told by Ssuma Chien, the ‘Herodotus of China,’ and would be well known to scholars in Japan. These characters are sometimes found on Japanese ware. (_Cf._ Bushell, chap. i., and the Franks catalogue, fig. 191, where, however, the words are wrongly interpreted.) Yeiraku, I should add, may be also rendered ‘long content.’ [126] This question of the relation between the Kishiu, the Kochi of the Japanese, and our class of old Ming wares with coloured glazes, is full of difficulties. It remains for some Japanese connoisseur, who is at the same time both an expert in ceramics and a good Chinese scholar, to clear it up.