Trade in Blue and White

At first trade in blue and white Chinese porcelain centered along the Silk Road and with the Near East and Southeast Asia. But by the early 16th century, Portugal made direct contact with China and began participating in the silk, tea, silver, porcelain, and pepper trade. King Manuel I of Portugal is credited with stimulating the European taste for blue and white when he offered the porcelains as diplomatic gifts to other European courts. While blue and white had been actually used in China and the Near East, upon reaching Europe its beauty and exoticism was so admired it quickly reached object d’art status.
In the 17th century the Dutch, particularly through the Dutch East Indian Company (Verenigde Oostindische Companie) came to dominate European trade with China. Porcelain grew in status and value even surpassing gold at one point, and spurring a race to reproduce the vitreous luminous ceramic body. Not until the 1709 did a German alchemist, Johann Fredrich Böttger, succeed, leading to the foundation of a porcelain industry at Meissen.
Understanding Chinese Ceramics
Collectors and historians date and discuss Chinese porcelain in relation to the dynasty it was produced in and when possible the emperor it was produced under as well as the type of decoration, which is also called the family (blue and white, celadon, wucai, etc.). There are stylistic differences and developments that affect the colors used, the shapes of the vessels, and the motifs used in decoration as porcelain production was impacted by the different governing dynasties and interaction with the Near East and West.
The three main dynasties to concern yourself with in regards to blue and white:
For a full listing of dynasties and emperors head here.
Another important point to understand is that Chinese porcelain falls within 3 distinct groupings, particularly after the Imperial kilns were set up in Jingdezhen during the Yuan dynasty:
- Porcelain made for the Imperial court (Guanyao)
- Porcelain made for the Chinese people (Minyao)
- Porcelain made for the export market (the West, the Near East, Japan, and South East Asia)
The difference in these 3 types is found in the shapes of the porcelain bodies and the decoration. Porcelain made for the domestic market (imperial or people) was made in the “Chinese taste” and that made to export was made with the stylistic tastes of that culture in mind as best understood by the Chinese potters.

Imperial porcelain is almost always marked with a 4 or 6 character period mark/reign mark, while export porcelain is usually not marked (except when we get to 1892 and “made…” in marks are required to certain Western markets). Imperial Ming porcelain is the crème de la crème of blue and white and it commands 5 figures and up. Since it was made for the emperor and his court, these porcelain wares are extremely refined and of high quality, so you should not see any firing flaws or kiln grit.
Flaws were more acceptable on minyao or export pieces. Peoples ware is much more common and available at more affordable prices as is export porcelain.
Consequently, pieces with fake Imperial marks are common and have been produced according to some scholars from day one, so you could very well have a vase created during the Ming period but with a fake Imperial mark, and many pieces were made by Chinese potters in homage to periods past, which may have a retrospective mark.
It is very difficult to date Chinese porcelains only by their marks!
Blue and White Designs
Chinese Taste
By the Ming dynasty the philosophies of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism were well established and most practiced some combination of the three. Commoners and emperors alike supported temples and honored devotional images in their homes. China had a highly literate society that greatly valued poetry and brush-written calligraphy, which, along with painting, were called the “Three Perfections,” reflecting the esteemed position of the arts in Chinese life.
Blue and white porcelain was part of these artistic endeavors and influenced by the brush and ink calligraphy and painting techniques as well as the three philosophies. It was particularly admired by the Imperial court, and it is interesting to trace the shapes and motifs preferred by different emperors, many of whom ordered huge quantities of porcelain from the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen. The porcelains were used domestically, given as gifts, served in temples offerings, and at burial sites.
For a look at early blue and white in the Chinese taste watch this video on the David Vases:

Some hallmarks of Chinese taste include the interplay of contrasting light and dark tones and manipulation of the white and blue. Two ever popular themes are the lotus pond with ducks and fish among water plants and the “Three Friends” – a pine, bamboo, and prunus intertwined. Narrative scenes with figures were also to the Chinese taste, alluding to stories from literature of the time.
The most popular motifs were:
- Florals- chrysanthemum, peony, and lotus
- Animals- dragon, phoenix, pheasant, leonine figure, and peacock
- Fruits- pomegranates, peaches, grapes, and melons.

In terms of becoming a true connoisseur who can date Chinese porcelains knowing when certain motifs were introduced and popular is important. For further study see my sources section.
Export Patterns

Like the Persians before them the Portuguese, the Spanish, the Jesuits, and then the Dutch influenced the design and production of blue and white. By the 1520s ewers, bowls, and plates were being painted with Portugal’s Manuel I’s own armillary sphere, the Hapsburg eagle shows up on a jar from 1575, and Christian iconography of crosses and the inscribed Ava Maria was making an appearance by the 1540s.
Kraak

The first truly distinct design of blue and white porcelain produced for Europe in large quantities starting at the end of the 16th century and continuing to the middle of the 17th. It features radial panel decoration around a central design in a blue-grey tone. The panels are filled with fruit, flowers, auspicious emblems, and the center often shows a landscape with figures or birds or deer. Varying diaper borders are used. This style was produced on a range of porcelain bodies from plates to vases.
Kraak ware is named after the Portuguese ships that carried so much of the blue and white from China to Europe. The porcelain body is typically fine-grained, dense, and pure white although prone to firing flaws. The bases tend to have grit attached around the foot rim and often shallow radial marks (chatter-marks) are evident. For more on Kraak ware read this.
Canton
This is an export porcelain appearing at the end of the 18th century decorated in cobalt blue with a central panel of houses, mountains, figures, and bridge within a landscape in a typically Chinese style. Most Canton was made for tableware and was very popular in England and America. It was somewhat of an “everybody’s” china, gracing the tables of prominent citizens and the less affluent. We know George Washington owned a several large sets, and this pattern inspired transferware Blue Willow.
Early Canton ware usually had a rain and cloud border, was thick and heavy, finials in the form of a strawberry, and cross handles. Later pieces have a straight line border and are thinner.
Canton varies widely in quality with coarser pieces showing firing flaws, grit, and careless decoration. Some scholar suggest it was useful as ship ballast and was packed first thus refinement wasn’t necessary rather speed of packing. It is called Canton (Guangzhou) after the port it was decorated and shipped out of. Throwing and firing of the pieces still occurred at Jingdezhen.
Nanking

Also a popular 19th century tableware porcelain in cobalt. Generally, this pattern was darker blue and showed much more refined decoration. The borders were more detailed with a diapered section and inner ring of spears and posts. The central decoration of Nanking resembles Canton, but it is usually more detailed with a figure on the bridge.
FitzHugh

This is another 19th century export pattern that consisted of four geometric sections around a central medallion. The designs consist of vegetation, butterflies, honeycomb, and florals. It was produced in blue as well as green, orange, purple, and yellow.
Exploring the Debate About Reproductions/Knock-offs/Fakes
Imitation blue and white porcelain has been created almost since the very beginning as consumers came into contact with it, fell under its spell, and tried to reproduce the effect with the materials and techniques available to their domestic potters. Imitation blue and white was being produced in:
- Vietnam by late 1300s
- Ottoman empire by end of the 1400s
- Puebla, Mexico by the late 1500s
- Japan by second half of the 1600s
- Holland by the 1620s
Some of these imitations, such as Delftware and Turkish Iznik, came to have intrinsic and unique value in their own right, deviating in creativity and design enough to become their own original styles. Others never distinguished themselves from Chinese blue and white and the goal was always to replicate. As I mentioned earlier, even within Chinese production itself porcelains were made to replicate earlier styles as tribute.
This gets us to the interesting and long standing debate over what is a reproduction versus a fake… what is homage and what is trickery?
Intention lies at the crux of this debate, and for me if a piece was made, sold, or altered with the sole intention to deceive and command an outrageous price then it is a fake.
Most reproductions can be detected by an expert, and don’t intentionally set out to fool anyone. They may use modern materials and even have identifying labels. In terms of technique and skill, though, some may well be made on par with antique porcelains. Sometimes you will see these called designer or decorator porcelains.
Others are clearly not! Take a stroll through your local Hobby Lobby or click around on Amazon and you will find cheap blue and white ceramics. Let’s call these knock-offs. They follow the same aesthetic principle of combining crisp white with brilliant blue and parroting popular Chinese motifs.
But they lack in painterly finesse and proportion, and many of them are in fact not hand painted and the ceramic body is thin and insubstantial. These are meant to capitalize on the centuries old craze for blue and white. I don’t consider these fakes, but I don’t consider them quality either.
Many people find them perfectly appealing in look, but know what they are and how they compare to the antique porcelains.
If you are looking for quality reproductions, I recommend vintage Chinese porcelains from the 20th century as well as Mottahedeh for dishes, The Enchanted Home and Danny’s Fine Porcelains for jars and decor.
How To Tell If It’s Modern or Antique:
No. 1 Is it porcelain?
Listen for a clear ringing or singing sound when struck not a dull ding. Try the light test if it is a plate or thin body by holding the piece up before a light source and if you can see shadows on the other side chances are good it is porcelain.
No. 2 Look for stenciled decoration or transferware printing.
Instead of being entirely hand painted many modern pieces use stencils to apply the decoration. Look closely at the designs for breaks in the stencil where it would have been moved or adjusted.
No. 3 Truly unique forms are rare and usually museum quality.
Interestingly, there is often a rash of reproductions of unique forms when an authentic piece sells at auction for hundreds of thousands.
No. 4 Pay attention to the blue hue.
An even very vivid blue color is indicative of a modern piece, and its achieved with synthetic pigments not possible when hand grinding pure cobalt. Or modern blues may appear very flat without depth.
No. 5 Examine the base and foot rim.
If it lacks grit, is totally flat, and/or smeared with a brown wash chances are it is later or faked. The treatment of the base and foot rim varies by workshop, but generally an authentic piece has an inset base and could have kiln grit in the glaze. The foot rims themselves are shapely with clean edges. Collected dirt or grime maybe evident but it should look like natural accumulation over years.
No. 6 The genuine antique jars were cast in two parts.
One upper and one lower part were then fitted together horizontally with wet clay as glue in a way that left a clay ring or at least a fire crack clearly visibly on the inside and often at least discernible on the outside, like a welt.
No. 7 A mix of anachronistic decorative motifs.
Motifs from different periods on one piece is a sign it is a later reproduction. As I mentioned earlier recognizing and understanding what motifs occurred when takes serious study.
No. 8 Heaped and piled cobalt.
A characteristic of 15th-century blue and white porcelain is the ‘heaped and piled effect’, in which the cobalt-blue underglaze was concentrated in certain areas, bubbling through the surface of the glaze and turning a deep blue-black. This can be copied these days, so it is only one check among several.
No. 9 Wear to glaze is usually evident in older pieces.
It should be concentrated in the areas most likely to be touched or bumped, and the glaze over all should not be super shiny rather more of a soft luster.
No. 10 A pristine surface is a bad sign.
As I mentioned minyao and export pieces often have firing flaws where something gets in the glaze and these can appear as little dimples or divots in the surface or full on gouges.
To understand the process and tests a Chinese porcelain piece goes through to be authenticated read this on Ming reproductions.
Watch this:
“Tips on How to Identify Authentic Antique Chinese Porcelain vs. Modern Copies and Fakes – Part 1” Chamberlain Antiques
“Dating Chinese Ming to Qing Porcelain and Learning About Footrims” Peter Combs
General Info on China & Chinese Art
Arts of Asia from Smarthistory – great overview and introduction to Chinese art and culture
On Authentication
“Tips on How to Identify Authentic Antique Chinese Porcelain vs. Modern Copies and Fakes – Part 1” Chamberlain Antiques
“Dating Chinese Ming to Qing Porcelain and Learning About Footrims” Peter Combs
Advice on collecting antique blue and white Barneby’s
“The Story of Fake Chinese Ceramics” Chalré Association
History & Production
Books
Blue & White Chinese Porcelain Around the World by John Carswell 2000
The City of Blue and White: Chinese Porcelain and the Early Modern World by Anne Gerritsen 2020
How to Read Chinese Ceramics by Denise Patry Leidy 2015
Websites
“Chinese Export Porcelain for the West” Gotheborg.com
“Porcelain Frenzy” National Museum of Asian Art
“Shades of Blue” Christie’s
On Production Process Gotheborg.com
“Blue and White Chinese Ceramics” The V&A
Chinese Export Art Featuring the Hodroff Collection, Part IV, Christie’s – Mesmerizing examples of Chinese export porcelains