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and white china.of- the Ming | vessels ‘catrying ©27,000. ©
‘Dynasty (1368-1644) 1 toreach soldiers to explore many of .
Europe... probably. were’ the: islands of the West
o ought by the Portuguese i - Indies'as well as India itself. -

<. G ° “In -response, several. in-
century. | However, . quan=- " dependent states sent envoys

tities “of. the Oriental por:

, celain' did not reach Europe.
until... the beginning of. the
A7th’-centu

The > first exaniples of blue

- with’ tributes in token of»
submission. «- Among . these:.

were.. ambassadors . from

fleet of ee large.” sailing _ by many , Western e

Dynasty, the body of the
porcelain deteriorated’

‘because’ the local supply of

clay fromthe Ma. An hills.
declined... ~

_ Near: the end. of. the 16th. _
during «. War-lii’ ss-

century,
reign, the china clay of the—

perts to -
-be the ‘finest’ of the. Ming.

: en—the
Dutch took. over. from. the
Portuguese as ‘the - most
powerful traders. eo

- 'Fhese- swares were -of. the
Wan-li period (1572-1620),
after the quality. oF Mine.

‘MING BLUE AND WHITE teapot decorated with five lions playing with em-
broidered balls, bronze ‘handle, early 16th century, approximately 19.68 cm. high,

Sumatra who vi visited China
throughout the Hsuan-te
period (1426-1435) bringing
quantities of Sumali blue. |

Chinese experts “bélieve

that the. blue and white
produced: during. this. period:

valued at $800. (Toni Dabbs photo)

blue and white had begun to
decline, but they were fine
by European standards and
caused a great deal of ex-
citement among the wealthy
who could afford such exotic
items,

Before the European
traders arrived in China,
craftsmen from 17 reigns of
emperors had produced
ceramics for the Celestial
Empire. The introduction of
porcelain decorated with
blue under a transparent
glaze was made shortly after
1279, when the Yuan
Dynasty of Kublai Khan
began. The technique was
copied from the Persians at
Kashan, who are believed to
have discovered it.

The method of
manufacturing Ming  por-
celain was both difficult and
dubious compared to
modern technology.

The crude firing kilns had
to be supplied with pine
boughs in proper quantities
and with proper frequency
to maintain an even tem-
perature for many days — a
minor miscalculation, and
the ‘work of weeks could be
ruined.

Also, the quality of the
cobalt-derived blue coloring

varied considerably
throughout the Ming
Dynasty, because — the

supplies of imported cobalt
were uncertain and the
locally mined cobalt was
inferior. ’

In 1405, the emperor
Yung-lo (1403-1424) sent a

' scriptions.

was the finest of the Ming
Dynasty.

By the time Ch’eng-hua
ascended the throne in 1465,
the supplies of
brought by the Sumatran
envoys were exhausted and
the somewhat thinner local
cobalt had to be used.

Peculiar to the Cheng-te
period (1506-1521) were the
many quality examples of
blue and white china
decorated with Arabic in-
Apparently a
liberal emperor, Cheng-te
maintained a court that
included many Muslims of
Near Eastern origin and was
rumoured to have converted
to the Muslim faith himself.
Although this rumour is
without foundation, his
relationship with the
Mohammedans was good
enough to bring his kingdom
fresh supplies of cobalt from
the Near East.

The Arabic emblems
disappeared during the reign
of the less tolerant Chia-
ching (1522-1566). However,
production gencrally  in-
creased even though costs
were high — partly because
of the time required to refine
and grind the imported
cobalt and partly because
corruption was rampant and
pilfering was prolific.

Potters, laborers and
lower ranking officials stole
many of the finished pieces,
while higher ranking officials
pocketed part of the
government grant.

Though the purplish bluc
of this period is considered

cobalt |

Ma An mountains was finally |

exhausted, and-supplies. had

to be brought: twice. as far
from the Wu Men T’o.

’The imported Moham- |

_medan . blue also gave out
Suring Wan-li's reign, but by

now it was possible to purify
the local cobalt sufficiently
to produce good colour,
though paler than that of the
Chia-Ching period.

This is the time when
Chinese porcelain began to
appear in Europe, and one
still can find many examples
of Wan-li blue and white in

older European country
homes.

Though blue and white
Chinese porcelain generally
is associated with the Ming
Dynasty, it continued to be
produced into the Ch’'ing

ynasty. In fact, the blue
and white of the K’ang-hsi
period (1662-1722) is con-
sidered to be the finest in
technical achievement that
China ever made.

To acquire a complete
understanding of blue and
white china, the collector
must submerse himself in the
history of the Ming Dynasty
— and then spend money.

Experts claim that reading
and even looking cannot
bring one close enough to
the pieces to create the
sensitivity necessary for
distinguishing the minute
variations in products of
different reigns.

This does not mean that
one has to start big. Con-
cerned dealers can assist the
beginner in selecting lesser
pieces which he can ex-
change for larger or better

quality pieces as_ his
knowledge and collecting
standards gradually = im-
prove.

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