The rarest and most valuable kind <br />of Chinese porcelain is known as Ju, <br />a word which those who truly are refined, <br />might care to know should be pronounced as Rue. <br /> <br />Glazed always with a lustrous green-tinged shade <br />of blue it sparkles faintly, rose embossed, <br />a color made from agate, not from jade–– <br />forgotten the technique for this, quite lost. <br /> <br />More special is Ju ware to Chinese than <br />were cats in ancient Egypt; it is fairer <br />than odalisques who used to lie on a divan <br />in sultans’ harems, and it is far rarer. <br /> <br />The Chinese watch the vases as if they <br />were models on a runway, connoisseurs <br />of ancient beauty from a bygone day, <br />and everyone who is not praying purrs. <br /> <br />12/28/06,5/4/07<br /><br />gershon hepner<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/connoisseurs-of-ancient-beauty/
