CHINA
POR CELA DECORATED
these, the results hitherto obtained with cobalt blue or cop- per red, applied sows couverte, are so imperfect that there is no danger of confounding them even with the commonest porcelains of China and Japan.
The reader will observe that no detailed note has been taken of enamelled porcelains manufactured dur- ing the ninteenth century. The fact is that, with the exception of pieces dating from the early part of the century, the collector will find few specimens possess- ing decorative or artistic merit. The products of the Chia-tsing era (1796-1821) are often scarcely distin- guishable in technique and style from those of the Chien-lung workshops. But from the close of this era and the commencement of the Taou-kwang period (1821-1851), a steady deterioration set in, marked, as might be expected, by the profuse use of pigments and easily applied enamels. henceforth a prevailing trick of the decorator was to cover large portions of the surface — frequently the whole interior of a piece was thus treated — with a thick coat of lustreless green or pink, generally roughened, more or less irregularly, like the skin of an orange. Much gilding and unsparing application of ill-assorted half-toned pigments became the fashion, and it apparently ceased to be possible to produce a pure white, lustrous porce- lain. The greenish or bluish tinge pervading the glaze of these modern wares, the chalky appearance of their pare, the irregularity of their surface and the generally clumsy nature of their manufacture, are tests which the amateur should have no difficulty in applying. In proportion, too, as the merits of former potters ceased to be imitable, the transparent device of employing false year-marks came into vogue, so that these periods of decadence may be ascribed a
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