Los Angeles herald., 1910-11-13
HOW TO KNOW OLD CHINA

old" china and haunt the curiosity
shops and art stores for rare speci-
mems, it is best to have knowledge
of the appearance, manufacture, and
composition of the most noted kinds OF
old porcelain and ceramics. The Ii
braries furnish abundant information,
but if you would save yourself from
wading through lot OF Verolage TO
get to the proper conclusions when
you need them on the spur of the
moment, the following facts and de-
scriptions might be of interest to you:
In the first place, you cannot al
ways get genuine pieces of old china
in the curiosity shops; neither is that
the place where you can get them
cheaply. The trademark which you
find on the old imported china as we'll
as the modern makes would be your
first guide, but trademarks are easily
duplicated, and there is, as we all
know a pseudo species of old china
on the market as there is of old or
otherwise noted pictures.
Most all guide books and histories
of china reproduce the trademarks of
such of the old makes as are no longer
manufactured, and if you hunt for
old china it is essential that you sup
ply yourself with a list But at the
same time it is important that you
have in your minds eye the general
description and distinguishing points
of the different makes.
OF old LoweStoft china the teapots
are favored most because of their
quaint simplicity. They are cylindri-
cal in shape like Canton china bowls,
but only about five inches in diameter.
Laterally they are perpendicular for
about six inches and then slant quite
abruptly to a small and dainty lid.
The spout is unusually long and slen-
der, being set close to the base at an
angle of about thirty degrees and ex-
tending about half an inch above the
lid. Perhaps Lowestoft is the most
simply decorated of old English ware.
A small floral design in dim blue,
gold or umber is centrally applied on
opposite sides of the teapot, and this
is practically all the decoration that
exists. There is little blending or COM
bining of color to produce novel effects.
The spout and lid are rarely decorated.
The designs, it is said, are put on
after the glaze, so an extra firing as
with our modern hand-painted china
was necessary.
Bow china, which was first manu-
factured in England up to 1857, is dis
tinguished by its profuse decorations
and ingenious blending of colors.
China connoisseurs tell us, however,
that the most important guide to gen
uine Bow china, which is now getting
to be exceedingly rare, is the fact that
all is handpainted and never stamped
or printed, and that the colors are ap-
piled after the enamel or slip" which
is the term used in the technical par
lance of the potteries, or before the
final glazing.
Bow china does not show any par
ticular preference to certain colors;
in fact, almost all colors are intro
duced in many unique decorations, and
the designs are chiefly nature studies,
such as flowers, bees, birds and but
terflies. Some specimens show deco
rations in relief and the resemblance
to our modern specimens of Wedgewood
vases is often commented on by peo-
pie who are interested in such themes.
OF course it must be remembered that
in looking for any stray specimens of
old china your must expect to find
the tinge of age, no matter how care
fully preserved, and often the glaze
is perceptibly cracked in places. If
you examine closely the truly old spe-
cimens you will find the glaze consid-
erably cracked
Delft ware was imported to the New
England states as early as the seven
teenth century, particularly to the
Dutch settlements of Connecticut and
Long Island and also New York. Some
of the oldest pieces of china in Amer
lea are said to be delft. Most all of this
ware was decorated in that shade of
deep blue which we now refer to as
delft. The chief particular of delft de-
signs was the use of inscriptions in
German or old Dutch lettering Mot
toes and couplets inscribed in round or
oval spaces We're surrounded by de-
h1nn W cd