Telegram-herald., 1890-05-17
ABOUT CERAMIC COLORS.


CAia@ Green "a. Th4s osaafsy'. In
Pssial Coiar.
The origin ~ the ceramic colors, thelT
lHe and slguIhcance. are s9blects u
much interest and vel worthy fhe study
OF poCters a. vel a. professional and
amateur decorators Ia Chimes ceram-
les the col0rs are divided into families,
knd many are curiously sYm boiical.
owlng their orgn often " some pecullAr
~ reIaaTsaDie occurrence II q past age
II Il vel known oy every one that blue
has always been . fzyorite color with
Lne Chllese potter o. decorator bus that
each shade II blue has Its own particu-
"a ass and 81 siynlhcance which give lE
10 name Is al unfamiliar fact. The
same is true, Ia lass degree, however,
II The greens and other colors.
The brlhaney of the blues invented
during the Tsin dynasty. about s65
A d. Is remarkabls, and II the first
color demonstratIng any great success
after the celad0ns one Of these blues,
c@Lled blue II the sky after rain, be
cAIns very popular Aad By tho command
" Ae emperor Wzs adopted Tor every
article or porcelain used In the palace.
The date " rs adoption a. the royal
color Is placed al boa bur 10 Is not known
exactly how long this particular shade
continued he exclusive Use IA the impe-
rial household lt Is assumed, however.
that II remained Ia favor through sew
erAl generations u emperors.
Again in 800 blue wa adopted for
the royal porcelains. the shade being Of
Adeeper hue. Previous % this date a
oartAiu rich. deep blue became very Ia
nous. The hrst pOrcelaIns brought into
Europe were blue and white, the blue
beng IN various shades. The blues Of
thar time are nearly al OF Chinese on
glu, many II which have never been ex-
ceiied and rarely approached by Euro
pean chemists. The Chinese blues are
also IN greater variety than the blues Of
kny other nation: one OF them Is 70
markable for its rarity, appearing quite
green when contrasted with other blues,
but an unmistakable blue when con-
trasted with green.
The greens produced by the Chinese
about the year 600 were particularly
wa the special favorite Of any dynasty.
It Is known however. that green was the
exclusive imperial color for over 200
years anil that IL was not confined 70
pOrCeltu- but obtained IN every hing
connected with the court. Some beauti-
ful speciueuso IF porcelains OF this period,
decorltel u the finest greens, are still
In eustsrce. and their value IS almost
beyond price
The porcelains Of each family OF indi-
vidual bore the signs Of rank % which it
belouged anl colOrs OF shades Of color
selected by them were kept exclusively
for their use. some Of these colors bear
names that seem ludicrOus. but are new
ertheless appropriate One Is red called
the "coior of precious stone probably
the ruby. another red, 'colOr OF Japan
pear blossom a violet, color Of egg
plant. color Of mules liver. color OF
horse lung etc
Owng to The unrehability IF gold col
ors in firing they have been a subject Of
continual study and experiment. with
both the chemist and decorator, bat after
al these centuries Of research the color
remains as unreliable "A ever. meanwhile
remaining the most charming and fasci-
mating of al the mineral colOrs. The
colors desi gnated a. the rose family come
under the head II gold coiors. and in
clude all the rich rose. crimson and viO-
let shades The date ~ the discovery Of
these colors IL not known Amateurs Of
the present day are disappointed with
hstr-
nther dun and lusterless OF quite purple
after firing and indeed. they never seem
- - twice alike
This Is probably why carmine Is con
sidsred a test color. and the amateur
who can successfully use 10 Is said d
have conquered the mysteries If mineral
colors The popularity Of the gold col
ors is nor confined to the Oriental. they
have always been prime fav0rites with
al nations. Our rose Pompad0ur and
rose uu Barry prove the estimation in
which they were held az Sevres IN ths
time ~ THESE two women. from which
they derive -heir names. and evidence "A
their popularity in an the world Is a. Old
a. the history IF the decoration ~ Ce
rsmics.
Probably the difficulty Of procuring
satisfsctorY results with colors ~ ths
rose family accounts For the value ~ old
specimens i.c0rsted with these Colors.
The royal color &C China at one tim'
Essa brilliant yellow known as eEg yel
low. which stil continues o. b. the al
mirahou ~ connoisseurs and the specia
AMBITION of amateurs. It - NOT CERTAIN
that th,s color was at any time devote,
to the exclusive use ~ the mpera
househo'7 t1t i- is assumed that 80 was
The imposition ~ many If the ename
-olors br vh5ch IS understood al over
xlara .n'.rs aS-eut the matt colors. IS
secret carefully guarded and transnltte'
a. An Interference from father to son. bu
in wrs v ~ Julian. an efniren
authcrtr sstern ceramics. many Ta.
nabla -saut- fr the man1fRcrure @
mineral r.t.rs are gwen. which are q
thp greatest interest In the Erht @
~9rrsreu Undoubtedly tha Chiuese
In tte ~sttar ~ MINERAL colr-s and th
sa-ra- rorceiains stand hig