The question has been raised as to whether transfer printing as a mechanical process was ever applied to Oriental porcelain. In England, Dr. Wall, of Worcester, is said to have invented transfer printing as early as 1751, and Sadler and Green, of Liverpool, lay claim to the honour of its discovery at about the same time, whilst on the Continent a similar honour is claimed for the factory at Marieberg in 1760. There is no proof that any blue and white Oriental china, except during the most recent times, was ever decorated on a transfer-printed ground. All of the blue and white Nankin and Canton ware was painted by hand under the glaze. When we consider the immense amount of labour necessary to keep up the supply of porcelain to Europe, and also to the United States early in the nineteenth century, it is astonishing that no process work showing transfer printing can be discovered, although the invention must have spread to China before 1796 when Keen-lung died.
We shall treat of "_blanc de chine_" later, when we discuss the colours of Oriental china, but it must be remembered that most of the Chinese ware of this type was made during this period. Such were the statuettes of Kwan-Yin and many other gods and goddesses. This cream-white porcelain may date from any period even before Kang-he. The earliest specimens are distinguished by being transparent, although thick, and by the creamy smoothness of their glaze. Some authors, however, ascribe the origin of this ware to the Keen-lung period.
KEA-KING, TAOU-KWANG, AND THE LATER EMPERORS
KEA-KING, TAOU-KWANG, AND THE LATER EMPERORS
When any country is disturbed by internal divisions or by external invasion, the inhabitants pay less and less devotion to art. The reign of this king was certainly disturbed. The people suffered from misrule, and though the traditions of the Chinese potters did still keep up, in a measure, the high standard of the previous reign, the neglect of the governing bodies, of the Emperor and Court, took away much of their devotion to the development of the porcelain so conspicuous in Keen-lung's reign. The porcelain, however, remained good in the quality of its paste, and now and then it reached excellence with regard to the decoration, which became characterised by conventional designs. Coloured enamels and gold were largely used for ornamentation, the turquoise blue, "_famille rose_," and a good blue-green were conspicuous. Mandarin china still continued to be made, though the modelling was comparatively clumsy and the paste thick, still, however, having the wavy surface always noticeable in Mandarin china, which was, as we have said, largely made for the European market. The influence of Western art made itself felt in the decoration. Many scenes were painted with European subjects, especially in the small reserves or vignettes. Some of the finest forms, too, of the early Sèvres and early Wedgwood and Adams' styles were copied and decorated with festoons of raised husks with a landscape in a medallion. This wavy porcelain seems to be specially connected with a comparatively thick blue enamel and a style of decoration usually called Lowestoft. Of course it is not Lowestoft. Lowestoft was a soft paste porcelain imitating early Bow and Worcester. The porcelain of the Keen-lung period, then, might be named the porcelain of commerce. European forms of pieces not used by the Chinese themselves are often found. The process seemed to have been something like this. The East India Company, all the captains and officers of the East India Company's ships, when visiting China took with them orders for services to be decorated with crests or armorial bearings, with English landscapes, or with sporting or religious subjects. Blue and white was made in vast quantities owing to the demand from Europe. It needs but one sentence of description. It was poor. About this time the Chinese potters copied the Japanese. Imari ware, with its flowers in conventional forms, various Celadons in blue, lilac, grey-white on good fine porcelain, are traced to this reign. Perhaps it was most celebrated for the reproductions of the porcelain of earlier periods in which both pattern and mark were constantly recopied.