CHINA
PORCELAIN] DECORATED
fact that such colours had not yet been added to the decorator’s palette. Independent observation and the direct testimony of Chinese vzrtuosz establish be- yond all doubt the fact that the use of ruby enamel and half-tints, such as rose colour and light pink, com- menced in the closing years of the Kang-Asi era, and began to be largely practised in the following reign. Collectors may be assured that, with very rare excep- tions, good specimens of the Famille Rose belong to one or other of the two eras Yung-ching (1723-1736), or Chien-lung (1736-1795). To be strictly accurate, the epoch of the family’s most highly developed manufacture ought, perhaps, to be extended so as to include the opening years of the CAza-tsing era; say, up to 1810. But such precision is seldom possible or essential.
The presence of ruby enamel passing through rose to very light pink and the prevalence of half-tints or broken colours are sufficiently characteristic of this beautiful porcelain. It is further distinguished by white, or greenish white enamel, which does not ap- pear on other wares. A general and even more easily recognised feature is that many of the enamels of the Famille Rose are not vitreous: they do not show the brilliant transparency that marks the decoration of the “ Famille Verte.’ It was natural that in using the soft, subdued colours, more like the pigments of the Western potter than the original vitrifiable enamels of the Chinese, the Ching-té-chén artist should vary his decorative fashions. He no longer took figure subjects as his principle models, but sought inspiration rather in the floral kingdom ; blossoms and fruits offering a field exceptionally suited to his new palette. More charmingly decorated ware it would
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