The Japanese now produce a crackle under the glaze, and also a very fine crackle in the glaze itself; which last is probably much the easiest to do.

Fig. 113, copied from M. Jacquemart’s work, represents a rather clumsily-shaped vase with the larger crackle, which is less prized. Fig. 114 is finely crackled, and is most subtile in form. It is in Mr. Avery’s collection.

At the end of this chapter will be found some of the most important marks for dates, etc.

These few are used by the Chinese as symbolic:

The Pearl is the symbol of talent, and was sometimes used to mark pieces intended for poets and literary men; the Sonorous Stone was for high judicial functionaries; the Tablet of Honor for men in official positions; the Sacred Axe for warriors; the “Cockscomb” promised longevity; and the “Outang or Leaf,” the “Shell,” the “Precious Articles,” had each a significance, and often indicate pieces of china intended as presents or as expressions of honor.

It is probable that many of the best examples of Chinese porcelain date from the Ming dynasty, some of which are to be found in our public and private collections. The history of the manufacture there since that time is thus summed up by Mr. Franks:

“The troubles of the later emperors of the Ming dynasty, who succeeded one another rapidly, and were constantly at war with the Tartars, probably caused the porcelain-works to fall into decay; we hear, at any rate, nothing of their productions, nor have any dated specimens been seen.

“With the accession of the Tsing dynasty of Tartars, still occupying the throne of China, a new period of activity commenced. Under Kang-he, the second emperor of the dynasty (1661 to 1722), a great impulse was given to the ceramic arts. The long and peaceful reign of this emperor, extending to sixty-one years, his great understanding, and the assistance perhaps of the Jesuit missionaries, led to many improvements in the porcelain-manufacture, and to the introduction of several new colors. It is probably to this reign that we may refer most of the old specimens of Chinese porcelain that are to be seen in collections, even when they bear earlier dates. The wares made under his successor, Yung-ching (1723 to 1736), do not appear to have been remarkable.

“The fourth emperor, Keen-lung (1736 to 1795), reigned for sixty years, when he abdicated. A large quantity of fine china was made during his long reign, much of it exhibiting very rich and minute decoration. Under his successors the manufacture appears again to have diminished in excellence; and the destruction caused by the rebellion of the Taipings not only greatly interfered with the extent of production, but caused the downfall of the most celebrated of the fabrics—that of King-te-chin.

“As we have already said, however, the native accounts do not furnish much information that can be rendered available; but they show very clearly that at all times the porcelain-makers were in the habit of copying the works of their predecessors, and instances are given where they have even succeeded in imposing upon the best judges of their own country.

“The places at which manufactories of porcelain have existed or still exist in China are very numerous, no less than fifty-seven being recorded in the ‘History of King-te-chin.’ They extend to thirteen of the eighteen provinces into which the country is divided, but are especially numerous in Honan, Chihkiang, and Kiangsi, probably owing to the presence of the materials for the manufacture in these provinces. The following is a summary:

“Of all these manufactories, the most famous appears to be that of King-te-chin, in the province of Kiangsi. It has long been the site of a fabrique, as in A. D. 583 the then emperor ordered the inhabitants of the district now called King-te-chin to send him porcelain vases. The old name was Chang-nan-chin, and the present one was assumed in the period King-te (A. D. 1004 to 1007), whence its name. In 1712 Père d’Entrecolles states that there were three thousand porcelain furnaces in this town, which found employment for an immense multitude of people. The manufactory has suffered severely, as we have already stated, during the rebellion of the Taipings.

“Porcelain is termed by the Chinese Yao, a name which seems to have been brought into use at the commencement of the Tang dynasty (A. D. 618), before which it had been called Tao. The word ‘porcelain’ is European, possibly Italian, and is supposed to have been derived from the similarity of the glazed surface to that of the cowrie-shell (porcellana), which itself took its name from its form (porcella, a little pig). Marco Polo employs the word in both senses. In French mediæval inventories the word ‘pourcelaine’ is often found, and evidently denoted a substance which could be sculptured. M. de Laborde has collected a number of quotations, in the valuable ‘Glossaire’ appended to his catalogue, of the enamels in the Louvre, and has come to the conclusion that mother-of-pearl was intended; it will, however, be safer to consider that the word was used for any kind of shell, the cowrie and other shells being as well, or even better, adapted for carving than mother-of-pearl. In later inventories the word seems to have been used both for shell and Oriental porcelain.

“The claim of greatest antiquity that has been hitherto put forward for specimens found out of the limits of the Celestial Empire have been in favor of the little Chinese bottles, which were stated by Rossellini and others to have been found in undisturbed Egyptian tombs, dating from not less than 1800 years B. C. This claim has, however, been disallowed. The bottles are of good white porcelain, painted in colors, and bearing inscriptions. Now, we have seen that the Chinese themselves do not claim a greater antiquity for the invention of porcelain than between B. C. 206 and A. D. 87. Color-painting must have been introduced at a much later date. The inscriptions are in the grass-character, which was not invented till B. C. 48, and contain passages from poems which were not written till the eighth century of our era. They are, in fact, identical with snuff-bottles still for sale in China. Their introduction, therefore, into Egyptian tombs must have been due to the fraud of Arab workmen. The whole subject has been gone into by M. Stanislas Julien, in the preface to the ‘History of King-te-chin,’ as well as by others.

“The next claim has been made on behalf of the murrhine vases of the ancients, which are described as ‘cooked in Parthian fires.’ Now, it is probable that, at the commencement of our era, Chinese porcelain was not far advanced beyond pottery or stone-ware, and little superior to the so-called Egyptian porcelain. No fragments of Chinese vases have been found with Greek or Roman antiquities, nor of imitations of them in other materials, so as to correspond with the false murrhine of the ancients. It is therefore far more probable, as has been suggested by Mr. Nesbitt, in his notes on the ‘History of Glass-making,’ that the murrhine vases were made of agates and other hard stones, of which the colors had been modified in the East by heating and staining. The false murrhines would then be the glass bowls imitating hard stones, but with various strange tints not to be found in natural stones.

“In 1171 we first find any distinct mention of porcelain out of China. In that year Saladin sent to Nur-ed-din various presents, among which were forty pieces of Chinese porcelain.

“Marco Polo, traveling in 1280, visited one of the sites of the porcelain manufacture, and mentions that it was exported all over the world. It is probable that he may have been the means of calling the attention of his countrymen to this production of the far East. Many other notices from travelers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries might be cited. It was probably through Egypt that it reached Europe; at any rate, a present of porcelain vases was sent by the Sultan of Egypt, in 1487, to Lorenzo de’ Medici. To the Portuguese is no doubt due the first direct importation of Chinese wares into Europe, in which they were followed by the various India companies of Holland, England, France, Sweden, etc.

“It may be convenient shortly to describe the mode of making porcelain in China, as derived from the letters of Père d’Entrecolles (1712 to 1722), and the ‘History of King-te-chin,’ in which M. Julien has reproduced the Chinese plates illustrating the processes.

“Porcelain in China is usually formed of two materials: the one, termed in Chinese Pe-tun-tse, is a white, fusible material—a mixture of feldspar and quartz, obtained from a pounded rock by repeated washing, and formed into cakes or bricks, whence its Chinese name, ‘white-clay bricks;’ the other, termed Kaolin from its locality, is infusible, being a hydrated silicate of alumina, derived from the decomposed feldspar of granite; this is also formed into cakes. These two materials, having been thoroughly cleansed, are kneaded together in varying proportions, and form a clay ready for the potter. The wet clay is turned on the wheel or potter’s table, and, after passing through the hands of several workmen, who add handles and other accessories made in moulds, smooth the surface, etc., the vessel is put out to dry, the foot still remaining a solid mass; any decoration in blue, or other colors which require to be highly fired, is then added. The glaze is next applied, either by dipping, or by blowing it on with a tube. This strengthens the vessel sufficiently to enable the workmen to fashion the foot on the wheel, and to inscribe any mark; this being likewise coated with glaze, the vessel is ready for the furnace. The pieces of porcelain are packed in clay seggars to protect them from injury, and placed according to the degree of heat which each specimen requires. The furnace is then lighted, the entrance walled up, and it is kept supplied with wood during a night and a day, when it is allowed to cool and the porcelain removed. If enamel-colors are to be applied, it then passes into the hands of the painters, who are very numerous, and each confined to his own special detail; any gilding or silvering is added at this stage. It is then baked again, at a much lower temperature, in a small muffle or an open furnace. It should be mentioned that the glaze is formed of Pe-tun-tse, mixed with fern-ashes and lime, but other materials are occasionally used; for instance, Hwa-chi (steatite) is employed, sometimes mixed with the glaze, as well as sometimes with the paste of the porcelain. Any colors which will bear to be highly fired, and are required to cover the whole surface, are mixed with the glaze before it is applied.

“There is considerable difficulty in distinguishing glazed vases of Chinese pottery from true porcelain, as the colored glaze in many cases conceals the material, and the thickness prevents their being translucent—a distinguishing quality of porcelain. The substance of many of the vases is coarse, sometimes gray or even red, and such as would, in European fabriques, be termed stone-ware. By Chinese writers, however, no distinction seems to be made, and even enamels on copper are included in the term they use for porcelain. It has, therefore, been thought best to class together glazed Chinese pottery and porcelain, though some of the specimens are undoubtedly stone-ware.”

The key to Oriental decoration may be expressed by the word individualism. The artist did draw from the “depths of his moral consciousness,” and did not copy blindly. He seems to have expressed what he felt, rather than what he saw. His perception and arrangement of color seem to have been inspired, not learned. He is daring; he does not hesitate to hang his ladies in a balcony up in the air above the procession passing beneath, as may be seen in a very ancient vase belonging to Mrs. Gridley Bryant, of Boston; he does not fear to put blue leaves to his trees, or to make a green horse; his butterfly is as large as a man, if he wishes to show a figure or a mass of color; his boats are smaller than the passenger, if that suits his fancy; he attempts little perspective, and it is, we may say, impossible on a china bowl; symmetry he abhors; pairs do not exist.

What is the result? We see it in the porcelain of China and Japan, the shawls and carpets of India, the pottery of the Persians and the Moors, the architecture of Karnak and the Alhambra, all of which are satisfying to the eye and to the taste.

I believe they had no schools of art; they were not taught to do what some one else had done, to copy a master or to copy Nature, or to think symmetry beauty, or the circle the perfect line.

The artist was, as he ought to be, a law to himself; he saw what he saw, and felt what he felt, and he expressed these in his own way; not in Titian’s way, or Rembrandt’s way, or Giorgione’s way. There is, therefore, a freedom, a freshness, an abandon about this work that we find nowhere else, and a charm which never tires.

We are intellectualists rather than artists; and, moreover, we are ruined by cheap and incompetent criticism, the whole gospel of which is, “Always condemn, never praise.” Too much writing about art and too little doing it, is the fashion of to-day; and he who does least finds most fault with him who creates. The artist is the creator, the critic the destroyer; and yet the last values himself most! The “third estate” did not rule in China.

If we are to have a true and high artistic expression, our artists, must dare; and we must allow them to dare; we must encourage rather than discourage.

We must, above all, get rid of the base old notion that head-work is divine and “gentlemanly,” hand-work ignoble and vulgar: both are divine, and when the two are combined we shall see the finest possible man—an artist, whether he works with paint, marble, wood, clay, or metal.

Marks, etc.—The following copies of marks, as translated by Mr. Franks, will be found useful:

CHAPTER XI.

THE PORCELAIN OF JAPAN.

Japanese porcelain is a more difficult subject for study than the Chinese, owing to this circumstance: About the year 1211 or 1212, a Japanese artist crossed over to China, to study the processes by means of which the Chinese had reached such surprising excellence. His name, according to Dr. Hoffman, was Katosiro-ouye-mon. Through him the art received in Japan a new impulse, new knowledge, new methods. It may be of service to us to know that the wonderful perfection achieved by the Japanese in this art was due not only to the skill of her artists, but also, and more, to the fact that the government gave direct, persistent, and liberal pecuniary aid to the industry.

Genius will, of course, work its miracles; but, if we in the United States are to reach excellence in art-work, it will be, must be, only fitful and short-lived, if it is to depend upon individual effort or chance patronage: only by means of the persistent and intelligent fostering of a state, whose life is perennial, can the greatest things be accomplished. There are fanatics who hold to free trade in poetry, invention, art, patent-right, copyright. No doubt they mean well, but the nation may beware of them.

The art-museums now being established cannot fail to do good; but they will fall lamentably short of their aims if they are not directly and powerfully aided by the state. To illustrate this, let me refer to the fine collections known as the Kensington Museum and the British Museum, in England. Both are the creations of the state, and both have been generously treated. It would have taken a hundred or a thousand years of individual contributions to accomplish what the Kensington Museum has done in twenty.

Already, it is a great and noble school—teaching by example—of art applied to the uses of life; and already it has placed some of the manufacturers of England in the first place of the world.

I wish, then, to repeat that the work which Katosiro did would not have been done—could not have been done—by his own individual effort.

He not only added vastly to the satisfaction and delight and riches of his own people, but he has given us cause to bless the Government of Japan for the satisfaction and delight we, too, are enabled to draw from his work.

Pennsylvania is taking the lead here. With a keen perception and a profound wisdom, that State, I am told, has united with the city of Philadelphia to found and maintain a school of applied art, which cannot fail to be an incalculable good to the industries and the happiness of her people.

Depending upon individual contributions, Boston and New York must struggle far behind, and finally dwindle away.

We need, in every great industrial centre, a “Council on Instruction,” which shall provide models of art-work, and teaching enough to make these models plain to industrial seekers.

We have tried free schools, free trade, free press, and no one is happy. I pray we may for a century fairly and fully try household art: that is the art which shall make the home the most attractive place on this footstool of heaven.

In this work all sects and sexes may unite. Every man and woman can and will agree that his or her home shall be a page from the book of paradise; one on which they can write, and one from which all may read.

According to the best authorities we are able to get, we conclude that the Japanese have from the earliest days been great potters, and that the Chinese discovery of porcelain was carried to Japan probably in the century before our era.

It appears from the researches of Dr. Hoffman, of Holland, that in 662 a Buddhist monk introduced the secrets of translucent porcelain into the province of Idsoumi, and a village then became famous as To-ki-moura, “village for making porcelain.”

In the year 859 the two provinces of Idsoumi and Kavatsi went into a violent quarrel over a mountain which contained clay and firewood.

But the vast wants of such a tasteful and teeming people as the Japanese advanced this most useful and beautiful industry until the time of Katosiro (in the 1200’s), when it went forward to perfection, and rivaled or excelled the best work of China.

In later years the great centre of porcelain-production has been the island of Kiushiu.

Upon the Idsoumi-yoma (or Mountain of Springs), where was found the kaolinic clay, Dr. Hoffman numbers some five-and-twenty shops famous for porcelains.

From the recent work of Messrs. Audesley and Bowes, it seems that the province of Hizen has produced the finest examples of Japanese porcelain. The first number of this work has just reached us, and gives great promise. The authors are Mr. George Ashdown Audesley, architect, and James Lord Bowes, President of the Liverpool Art Club. No work upon the ceramic art has appeared superior to this, especially in its decorations.

While the fine, delicate perception and touch of the Japanese have given an added grace and finish to most of their work, as a whole their porcelain may be said to be a following (rather than a copying) of the Chinese: in China porcelain was indigenous; in Japan it was an importation. In China, then, we shall find more original invention and greater variety; in Japan, more finish. The best work of Japan is often superior in the paste and in the glaze to the Chinese. As to classification, it is found that the two styles of China porcelain called “The Chrysanthemo-Pæonienne” and “The Famille-Rose” are the two which most prevail in Japan; and it is not easy to distinguish the fine work of the one country from that of the other.

In the rose family is to be found much of the best work of Japan. In Figs. 115 and 116 are two good examples of this work.

The “Famille-Vert,” or green, was not made there.

We cannot do better than to quote from Jacquemart:

“A radical difference separates the two countries as regards drawing. At Niphon the figures, though affected, and too much resembling each other not to be the produce of ‘pouncing,’ have a simple grace and softness, the evident reflex of Oriental manners. Certainly, it is not an imitation of Nature; it is not art, such as we understand it, with its complex qualities; but it is a dreamy act, a first manifestation of thought under form. A scene of frequent occurrence represents two women standing, one upon a rose, the other upon a leaf, and thus floating upon the waves in an aureole of clouds: the first, elegantly attired, holds a sceptre; the second is her attendant, and carries a basket of flowers passed through a kind of lance or instrument for ploughing. According to the indications of the Japanese Pantheon, it is the goddess of the seas or patroness of fishermen. It matters little which it may be; but, by the modest grace of the attitude, the easy elegance of the draperies, this painting approaches the graceful vellums of our artists of the middle ages. The birds and plants partake of these merits, and are truthfully drawn, the details most delicately rendered. Nothing is more beautiful than these venerated silver pheasants, the proud-looking cocks perched upon the rocks or lost among the flowers; nothing more charming than certain crested blackbirds with rose-colored breasts, and other passerine birds of beautiful plumage.”

While it is true that the Japanese flower-painting approaches nearer to Nature than the Chinese, it does not seem correct to say that it approaches to, or is, a copy of Nature. It is difficult to see anything which is not treated freely and strongly rather than naturally.

Some of the decorations peculiar to Japan may be mentioned as follows:

The kiri, or flower of the paulownia.

The imperial three-clawed dragon.

The noble bird.

The sacred tortoise.

The pine, the bamboo, and

The crane.

The crane and the tortoise are emblems of longevity.

Two marks were the official signs of the Mikado: first, the kiri-mon, or flower of the paulownia; and, second, the guik-mon, or chrysanthemum; while to the temporal prince, or Siogoun, belonged the three-leaved mallow.

The vase here given (Fig. 117), from Mr. Avery’s collection in the New York Museum of Art, is a good illustration of the way the Japanese used natural forms artistically rather than naturally.

The description is as follows:

“Vase, of elegant form, a ground of white, a branch of a tree in violet color running around the body, from which depend the fruit and flowers of the peach of longevity in rich colors. Storks delicately outlined in black, their bodies being filled in with dead-white enamel, peck at the fruit or blossoms, or disport through the air. The neck is ornamented with a band of yellow, scrolls, fruit, bats, and honorific designs.”

We give in Fig. 118 a bottle of square form painted delicately on each side with groups of figures, most likely representing incidents in Japanese history. It is a fine example from Mr. Avery’s collection. The colors are green, blue, and yellow, and are very rich and harmonious.

A style of decoration found among the Japanese rather than the Chinese might be described as a sort of medallion-painting: the round spaces are distributed over the pot regardless of symmetry, and the effect is charming. Fig. 119 shows one of these, belonging to Mrs. Rockwell, of Boston. It is modern work, and, while not expensive, is very satisfactory. An impression prevails that it is very creditable to pay dear for and to own antique work—not so modern work. But, if we are to do any good ourselves, we must believe in our own modern work when we can, and be glad to buy and pay for it. Also, we must praise our artists. Let us do so, and let us not forget that what is old and good now was once new and good; none the less good because it was new.

The Japanese blue is exquisite, certainly, but it lacks the deep vivid brilliancy of the Nanking. It is believed that the blue is applied over the glaze, and it has a melting softness which is most pleasing. Many of these pieces bear the six marks, as with the Chinese.

Another blue, which is a deep or mazarin color incorrectly called “celestial,” is quite a different thing, but very choice and beautiful. The color is applied as an enamel, and in relief, and with wonderful skill. I have never seen any pieces of this which were supposed to date far back; and it is certain that it is among the fine productions of to-day, but none the less beautiful for that.

A porcelain with very marked decoration and coloring has been somewhat of a puzzle, and has been called Indian, being so very distinct from anything produced in China. Jacquemart thus describes it:

“A particular decoration which we call variegated-leaved is very brilliant, and might have found grace even in the eyes of the Puritan Wagenaar. The principal subject is a group of pointed leaves, some in blue under the glaze; others of a pale green, or of a pink and yellow enameled; at the base of the tuft expands a large ornamental flower, with notched pink petals lined with yellow; the heart, forming a centre, is yellow or greenish streaked with pink; notwithstanding the indentations which overload it, it is easy to recognize the flower as an anona or custard-apple. The leaves would lead one to suppose them, by their form and size, to be those of a chestnut-tree, while their color recalls the tricolor plane-tree so beloved by the Orientals, and which decks itself with tufts, varying from light green to red, passing through the intermediary tints. Behind these leaves, and upon the edge of the pieces, appear light and delicate small enameled flowers of iron-red, yellow, rose, or blue.” (Fig. 120.)

This porcelain was made in Japan, and was brought by the Dutch into Europe at a time when their trade was so great. The Dutch East India Company was formed in 1602. In the year 1664, forty-four thousand nine hundred and forty-three pieces of rare porcelain were carried into Holland from Japan, and sixteen thousand five hundred and eighty pieces of the same work were sent from Batavia.

In some way not known, this peculiar work has been called “Indian.” I found two pieces of it in Holland, one of which is in Mr. Wales’s collection, and one piece, my own, is figured here. It is not easy to see anything more perfect.

The Japanese have excelled also in the production of “crackle,” also of the “egg-shell” porcelain, neither of which differs enough from the Chinese to need description.

In the loan collection at New York is to be seen a crackled bottle, which has broad bands running around it, that are not crackled. More remarkable than this is a crackle vase belonging to Mr. H. Dwight Williams, which contains reclining figures delicately painted, that are not crackled. Technical skill can go no further, it would seem.

The Japanese lacquer far exceeds anything made in China, and is among the most beautiful of human work. We know but little of the processes of its manufacture, and only introduce it here because the Japanese have applied it to the decoration of porcelain. Very charming and surprising effects are produced. The lacquer is laid on as a varnish made from some vegetable gum or gums, but in what way or how applied we know not. It is exceedingly hard and durable, and takes a variety of colors exquisitely. It is applied mostly to wood, sometimes to porcelain.

Mr. George James, of Nahant, has a very fine porcelain figure which is finished with lacquer.

“Cloisonné” work applied to porcelain has been made in Japan. How the delicate metal lines can be fastened to the surface of the porcelain, and how the vitrifiable colors can be melted into the spaces with such perfection, can never fail to surprise. To see such perfect and delicate workmanship is a satisfaction: what pleasure must the artist himself not enjoy!

The “mandarin china” (Fig. 121), as it is termed, was made in Japan rather than in China. This term is applied to such vases and pieces as bear the figures of mandarins wearing the toque or cap topped with the button which marks their grade. It appears that the Thsing conquerors, when they overcame the Ming dynasty in China, attempted to efface the old customs and dress, and among other things they ordered was the adoption of the toque or cap. Hence, to protest against their conquerors, no such designs appear on the old Chinese porcelain; but only on the Japanese, which was carried to China and sold.[13]

This variety is not to be confounded with a gayly-colored kind of heavy porcelain made in China, which often goes under the name of mandarin.

On this Japanese mandarin-ware, gilding is likely to be found, and indeed the Japanese were much more inclined to its use than the Chinese.

European and Christian subjects were sometimes painted upon the Japanese porcelain to meet the wants of the Dutch exporters. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art at New York are some of these pieces belonging to Mr. Avery’s collection: one has a portrait of Luther; another has the baptism of Christ, another a Dutch landscape with figures. They are most curious, and upon the Scripture subjects hangs a tale:

As early as 1534 we know that the Portuguese had established a trade with Japan, and, with the aggressive spirit of all Occidentals, had attempted to introduce their religion into Japan, against the usages and prejudices of the Japanese, which were potent then. They pushed it to an irritating point, and it is asserted that their meddling with the decorations in the porcelain factories at last led to their expulsion, and to the massacre and destruction of some forty thousand of their Christian converts in 1641.

The Dutch then persuaded the Japanese to allow them the privileges of trade, which they held for some two hundred years; and it is through them that most of our fine examples have been brought to Europe and here.

Besides the porcelain productions of Japan are two varieties of pottery or faience, which are remarkable for richness of color and decoration: the one is called “Kaga Ware,” the other “Satsuma,” from the districts where they are produced. Most of the Kaga ware brought to us is of a thick, heavy body, and colored with a dark sort of Indian-red, touched with lines of gilding. Some of the finer specimens, however, like the vases shown in the recent work of Messrs. Audesley and Bowes, are in polychrome, and very beautiful.

The Satsuma faience is made of a rich, creamy paste, and is thicker than most porcelain; but it is delicious in tone and delightful in decoration. There are a few pieces in this country; and more, but not large quantities, in Europe. Some of the finest pieces I have seen are in the collection of the eminent English artist, Mr. Frederick Leighton, whose house, as well as works, can only give pleasure.

The old Satsuma has peculiarities which, added to its rarity, make it exceedingly valuable and desirable.

Fig. 122 is one of the pieces pictured in the Audesley-Bowes book, as an example of the old Satsuma, and is very curious in form.

The modern Satsuma is much of it very beautiful, but of course it commands no such prices as the older. Most of it shows the glaze broken throughout into a most delicate network of crackle, which is peculiar and interesting.

The small teapot here shown is not only perfect in tone, glaze, and decoration, but also in form. It is modern work, and was imported by Mr. Briggs, of Boston. (Fig. 123.)

Mr. Franks thus writes: “The princes of Satsuma have founded a manufactory from which have issued some very remarkable products, much esteemed by collectors; the paste is of a pale yellowish tint, not unlike Wedgwood’s queen’s-ware in color, and is slightly crackled; over this are thrown sprays of plants, with rich diapered borders, the effect of which is enhanced by the delicacy of the colors and the richness of the gilding. This ware is probably not very ancient. Mr. A. B. Mitford has informed me that he does not remember seeing any specimens more than fifty years old, and that the oldest were undecorated.

“Another beautiful ware is that made near Kioto, in which the colors are much stronger, and the paste of a darker tint. Some of the specimens seem to be of considerable antiquity.

“At Kutani (the Nine Valleys), in the province of Kaga, is made another fine ware, some of which appears to be porcelain. The most characteristic products of this factory are bowls and dishes decorated only in red with gilding.

“Another peculiar fabric has produced very thin teapots of a gray stone-ware, showing the marks of the workman’s hands. Mr. Mitford has furnished me with the following note respecting them: ‘For some thirty years past a man named Banko Insetzu, of Kuana, in the province of Isé, has been famous for producing a curious kind of pottery, which, being finished off with the finger and thumb before being subjected to the fire, shows the lines of the skin of the hand upon its surface. No teapots equal those of Banko for producing a delicate infusion of tea, and all lovers of tea patronize them; they are fragile to a degree, the paste being as thin as a wafer.’ ”

The peach, or, as the Japanese term it, the “peach of longevity,” is a favorite decoration with the Japanese; we can appreciate its value, as one of the finest fruits of our temperate zone. We give here (Fig. 124) a teapot showing the fruit with some of the leaves. This is copied from Jacquemart; but the curious may see a better example at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, from Mr. Avery’s Oriental collection.

Japanese art is still more marked than the Chinese in that it is as free and yet more delicate. The artist clearly was a close observer of Nature, and saw and felt its infinite variety; saw, too, that Nature was never square, or round, or double. Nothing in Nature need duplicate any other thing.

We Occidentals have delighted in the use of—

The square,

The circle, and

Of pairs, or a symmetrical arrangement of ornament, or of columns, or openings.

We have also found a crude satisfaction in the use of strong, glaring colors.

We have delighted to copy and to tell a common story in a common way in our decorations.

I believe this is wholly wrong. The Japanese artist never uses the square, or the circle, or the pair.

Nor does he use crude and glaring colors; always the most subtile and fascinating shades and vanishing tints.

He suggests the story; he never tells it as Watteau did.