Chinese porcelain bowl, Wan^li period, 1573' 161 9. Mounted in fine silver gilt From the Pierpont Morgan collection on loan at the Victoria and Albert Museum. London WOMAN'S HOME lO evidence of an Arab traveller (translated by M. Reinand), who said : " There is in China a very fine clay, with which they make vases which are as trans- parent as bottles, water is seen through them. These vases are made of clay." From its earliest days the history of Chinese porcelain tends to show an almost reverent devotion in the attitude of the potter towards his art. This was only equalled by the interest of the reign- ing sovereign — one of whom, the Emperor Chin-Tung, issued in 954 ^^ edict that all porcelain made for the Imperial household should be "as the colour of the blue of heaven seen between the clouds after rain." A description of this wonderful porcelain has been handed down to us. It was " blue as the sky, thin as paper, shining as a looking-glass, and giving out a sound like a musical instrument when struck." It is quite possible that fragments of this beauti- ful ware may still exist. The Chinese have always been ■ardent collectors of their own antiques, and it is said that small pieces of this were so highly prized that in after years • they were used as ornaments on caps set in gold, or as jewels strung upon silk. The work of the old Chinese potter is remarkable for its poetic individuality, no two pieces are exactly alike. The workman had an absolute love for his art, and the great mandarins and others who managed the factories fostered this spirit, and laid down rules for his guidance, which are most interesting reading. Some of these rules have been trans- lated by the iate Dr. Stephen Bushell. What could be more elevating to the worker than to be taught that, " for painting of flowers and of birds, fishes, and water plants, and living objects generally, the study of nature is the first requisite " ? Or, again, that " colour should be taken from a garden as seen in spring time from a pavilion " ? Then, too, the Chinese signed A magnificent example of Chinese porcelain valued at £5,000 and dedicated their porcelain with inscriptions both poetic and beautiful, all of which tend to show veneration and love for their art. It is strange when, after many years of fruitless struggle and research, the English potter did discover the ingredients of porcelain, that he al- most at once degraded it by applying decoration whic h was mechanical and in- artistic. It would seem that having attained his desire to discover the secret, his ambition carried him no further, for within a few years of their establishment we find the owners of manufactories in this country decorating their wares with transfer printing and other crude designs. Of the romantic finding of china clay in England I hope to write another time ; needless to say, the hint which eventually led to the elucida- tion of the mystery came from China. We cannot fail to marvel in these days that an art which had flourished in the East for many centuries should have been a sealed book in England till almost the middle of the eighteenth century. This leads me to say a few words on the sub- ject of the age of old English china, and I commend them to all women lovers of china, be they collectors or not. Owners are apt to state that their Worcester or other English porcelain has " been in our family over 200 years." Indeed, I was on one occasion asked to identify a piece which was " known " to have been in its owner's family 150 years, and which bore the mark of a Staffordshire manu- factory established in 1850. Many people own china which is 200 years old, but it is of Chinese origin, the earliest known date on English por- celain being 1745. The Dresden factory dates back to 1 712, the secret having been discovered by Johann Friedrich Bottger, a chemist, who, in consequence of his experiments in Berlin, fled from that city, being persecuted as a votary of the black art. This exhaustive series will he continued in Every Woman's Encyclopaedia
