There is another position in which these five enamel colours may be found together--in the decoration of the white reserves left between grounds of _bleu poudré_ and _fond laque_. This was a form of decoration much admired in Europe, and one of the earliest imitated. This _fond laque_ ware of various shades, with reserved panels decorated with flowers or figures, has retained among dealers the designation of Batavian porcelain, a name which, like our old terms Gombroon and East Indian, throws light on the route by which it reached Europe. The deep blue vases covered with elaborate designs in gold were also exported before the end of the seventeenth century; of these large specimens have been sometimes found in India. There is a tall vase of this ware in the Indian Museum at South Kensington--the gilding, as is often the case, has almost entirely disappeared.
In the historical development of our subject, which we are now following with greater or less strictness, we are only concerned with important developments and fresh types as they from time to time arise. We have therefore little to say for the present of the blue and white and of the wares with monochrome glazes of which we
have so many superb specimens dating from the reign of Kang-he. We must, however, mention in passing the brilliant _sang de bœuf_ vases especially associated with the early years of this emperor. As in the case of the ‘transmutation’ or _flambé_ glazes, the deep red colour of this ware is produced by the action of a reducing flame upon a silicate of copper. It is known in China as Lang yao, and there has been some misconception as to the origin of the term. If, as the best authorities tell us, we are to derive the name from Lang Ting-tso, the famous viceroy of the Two Kiangs (the provinces of Kiangsi and Kiangnan) at the time of the accession of Kang-he, the earliest form of this Lang yao must be associated with a period (say about the years 1654-1668) which is otherwise quite sterile in the annals of Chinese porcelain.
YUNG-CHENG (1722-1735).--When in 1722, after a reign of more than sixty years, Kang-he,[61] perhaps the greatest of all the emperors of China, died, we find a note of alarm sounded by the Jesuit fathers. Unlike his father, Yung-cheng the new emperor was regarded as a supporter of the most conservative traditions, and no friend of the Christian missionaries. What, however, is important to us is the fact that as crown-prince he was known not only as a patron of the works at King-te-chen, but as himself an amateur potter of distinction. The Père D’Entrecolles, writing before Yung-cheng’s accession to the throne, tells us that it was his habit to send down from Pekin examples of ancient wares to be copied at the imperial factory. This influence, exercised in a conservative direction, is reflected in the porcelain produced during his reign.