CHINA
MONOCHROMATIC WARES
GREEN.
At the head of green monochromes stands cé/adon, at once the oldest and most prized ware in the Orient. To this variety, however, it is unnecessary to refer again in detail. Distinct from it is the 7a-/i, or deep green, which, according to the records, was manu- factured in considerable quantities during the twelfth century. Specimens of this early period Ta-/i do not appear to have been preserved in China, but in Japan examples are found that may be regarded as fairly typical. They are chiefly in the form of tiles used for roofing the palace at Kyét6 at the time of its reconstruction after a conflagration in the twelfth century. The tiles are of pottery, having red péte over which is run green glaze of considerable lustre and brilliancy. By the Japanese such ware was ascribed to Cochin China and known as Kéchz-yakz, but that they misconceived its origin there can be no doubt. It is plain, of course, that the Chinese keram- ist would not have put his best work into tiles. The Ky6t6 specimens serve only to show that the potters of the Sung dynasty understood the production of couleurs de demi-grand feu, for the green glaze was evidently applied to the biscuit after baking and de- veloped at a comparatively low temperature. Even the most carefully manufactured pieces of this ware cannot have possessed value in the eyes of Chinese connoisseurs. It is not classed among the choice pro- ductions of the Ming era, and its representative of the present dynasty is a porcelain of little merit, hav- ing a glaze that often lacks uniformity and purity. The Ta-/i, whether ancient or modern, had no crackle, properly so-called, though the glaze occa-
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