Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/214

the glaze was not practised by Chinese potters even at so late a period as the Hsuan-tê era. He bases this conclusion on the hypothesis that red was the only colour then known, capable of being used for such a purpose. He is further guided by the term Ten-pai-ki, which, according to the "History of Ching-tê-chên Keramics," designated vases having a white surface intended to be covered with painted decoration. In the case of such pieces, he says, the decoration was applied directly to the surface of the biscuit, and glaze was not used at all. It is impossible to endorse this conclusion. Ten-pai-ki was simply a technical appellation for pieces of white-glazed porcelain destined to be decorated with surface colours. It was, in fact, the "common" ware spoken of above. Even though no other evidence were forthcoming, the "Illustrated Catalogue" of H'siang alone would suffice to upset M. du Sartel's theory as to the date of the first use of enamel decoration over the glaze. In Japan specimens of this inferior ware are to be met with at rare intervals. Their enamels are brilliant; their colours rich and full. But their technique indicates a certain want of care on the potter's part; a feature entirely consistent with the rule formulated above, that in most of the choice enamelled porcelains of the early Ming eras the enamels were an accessory, not a principal, element of the decorative design.

It was during the Chêng-hwa era (1465—1487) that the art of enamelled decoration received its most remarkable development. The "History of Ching-tê-chên Keramics," speaking of the wares of the Chêng-hwa period, says:—"Thin porcelain was most esteemed, and pieces decorated with enamels were