Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/431

colour au grand feu, sometimes pale, sometimes deep. According to the quantities added and the cobaltiferous richness of the mineral employed, blues of a character more or less violet are obtained.

"When one examines attentively the manner in which black glazes were produced on Chinese porcelain, one sees that all are not simularly manufactured. In some cases the black results from the thickness of the coloured glaze; in others the superposition of various colours of different shades produces a tint of such intensity that it appears black. Sometimes the black is obtained by superposing brun de aque on a blue ground: sometimes, again, it is produced by the inverse process of superposing blue on brun de laque.

"I conclude here my examination of the principal fonds de grand feu which characterise Chinese porcelains. Evidently the manufacture comprises processes which give products very interesting, original, and beautiful. But these processes are often only modifications of those in more general use. At the same time, it is to be observed, inasmuch as the fact establishes another point of divergence between European and Oriental manufacturing methods, that among the colours peculiar to China, some have evidently been applied to biscuit, that is to say, to porcelain already stoved. Looking closely at these colours, they are seen to be cracked, and the crackle, which is very fine, forms a net-work with very small meshes. The analysis of these colours, or the simple test of touching them with fluor hydric acid, shows that there is a considerable proportion of oxide of lead in their composition. This naturally places them in the catalogue of colours used for decorative

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