Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/323

manufactured to take a high place. Preserving the same features as to absence of crackle, presence of white glaze on inner and under surfaces, careful technique and fine pâte, the Chien-lung Chi-hung passes through innumerable shades of colour, many pieces being of the liver-red class, while others approach the colour of light peach-bloom. The miscrosopic dappling disappears in the glazes of light tone. All these porcelains are satisfactory from a technical point of view, but they vary greatly in beauty according to colour. Their glaze never assumes the green tinge so often seen in Lang-yao specimens, from which alone it may be inferred that the colouring material differed from that employed by the Lang potters. Their manufacture continued as late as the Taou-kwang era (1821–1851), but in general it may be said that the younger the specimen the more clumsy its finish and the less pure its tone.

The commonest and least valuable Chi-hung—manufactured, with rare exceptions during the nineteenth century—may be placed in a separate class. It is distinguished by three points, the coarse mottling and poor tone of its colour; the thin, vitreous appearance of its glaze, and the presence of scratch-like crackle. In the worst examples a colour approaching brick-red is seen; the lower rim of the piece is clumsily finished, often indeed rough or jagged, and the pâte, instead of being white and close, is dark and coarse, an inferior stone-ware. When such features are present the amateur can be at once certain that he has to do with a worthless specimen. Unfortunately, however, guides so distinct are not always present. Some examples are tolerably rich and strong in colour, and not a few pieces dating