transparent white, extremely brilliant, and as pure as a precious
stone; and others of a beautiful blue, and equally pure. In Egypt and
Syria, no difference was known between the real and artificial Yeschm,
the latter being of the same form, thickness, and specific gravity as
the former. It is even asserted, that in Cairo, and other cities, the
artificial vases were as highly valued as those of the real Yeschm, and
that enormous prices were given for them. The Chinese have also equally
imitated their
Ju* stone, which was too costly for
persons of moderate fortune. It is a coloured Glass of rich appearance,
and greenish tint, and of such hardness and weight, that it frequently
surpasses the real Ju. Fragments of it are often to be met with in the
shops of the venders of curiosities, and some are erroneously denominated
rice composition. A square solid pedestal of yellow tinged glass,
of Chinese manufacture is preserved in the Museum of Economic Geology,
in London: it is surmounted by a small lion, carved by the engraver's
mandril tool, at the lathe, out of the upper part of the solid pedestal,
at great labour and cost. (
See
PLATE 5, fig. 5.)
This was, probably, made from English Glass, re-fused in China with an
increased quantity of lead. Small coloured vases, figures, and almost
every description of ornament sculptured in stone, have been imitated in
opaque Glass, by the Chinese. A specimen of artificial Ju stone may be
seen at the British Museum: it is of a bluish-white colour, resembling
enamel, of an octangular form, and about the size of a snuff-box; it is
extremely hard, and, in proportion to its size, of astonishing weight.
Notwithstanding the Chinese