. Glass. h prized. Of the mottled red and yellow glass, madeit would seem in imitation of tortoise-shell, there aremany examples in our collections. We are reminded byit of some of the effects of the flamM glazes; the pre-vailing colour given to this glass is, however, of anorange rather than a blood-red tint (PI. xlix. 2). But in spite of these early technical triumphs, blownglass has always remained something of an exotic inChina. To the Chinese mind, glass—a material neverheld in much esteem—is above all a substance to beemployed in the imitation of precious marbles and itself
. Glass. h prized. Of the mottled red and yellow glass, madeit would seem in imitation of tortoise-shell, there aremany examples in our collections. We are reminded byit of some of the effects of the flamM glazes; the pre-vailing colour given to this glass is, however, of anorange rather than a blood-red tint (PI. xlix. 2). But in spite of these early technical triumphs, blownglass has always remained something of an exotic inChina. To the Chinese mind, glass—a material neverheld in much esteem—is above all a substance to beemployed in the imitation of precious marbles and itself all classical and literary associations, glasscan only find a reflected honour from these more noblesubstances. With this object in view, the skilled Chinesecraftsmen were soon able to produce the most marvellousfours de force, and indeed to develop an entirely new 1 Dr. Bushell hints that such inscriptions may in cases have been added bymodern curio-dealers in Pekin, as a bait to European CHINESE GLASS treatment of the material—a method of handling which,at all events since the best Roman times, had been else-where completely neglected. Their aim above all wasthe imitation of jade : half-molten masses of glass, of twoor more colours, were worked up and dragged throughone another; the glass was then carved into the oldtraditional forms. Objects of the native stone were thusimitated with the most marvellous accuracy. This was aprocess much resembling that adopted by the AlexandrianGreeks and the Romans for one class of their agate glassbodies; but the Chinese showed greater restraint in theblending of the colours, and were at greater pains toimitate closely the natural stones. As I have said,the forms taken by this glass follow those into whichthe Chinese had been wont from time immemorial tocarve their jade, their agates, and their milky chalcedonies ;but we may note that their carvings in rock crystal werenot copied in glass. Besides the little tripod bowls
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