SLOW BOAT FROM CHINA

For a long time, porcelain existed as nothing more than a rumor in Europe, one that stemmed from Marco Polo's journal entries about the wonderful ceramic products he had seen when visiting the town of Tingui in China. He named this mysterious material porcellana after the Italian name for the cowries, the shiny yellowish-white shell of which it reminded him. Polo's interest aptly foreshadowed the rest of his country's desire: When the European trade ships first returned from China in the sixteenth century, people clamored for the rare porcelain.

Following the establishment of the India Companies at the beginning of the seventeenth century, increasing quantities of porcelain found their way to Europe, which was soon in the grip of an almost manic enthusiasm for all things Chinese as well as a passion for collecting. Princely courts furnished rooms just for the pleasure of adorning the walls with costly items from East Asia. But as the princes' privy purses dwindled, they decided it was time to learn the mystery of porcelain manufacture themselves, so that the dependence on the expensive imports could come to an end. However, all attempts to reconstruct the composition of Chinese porcelain produced nothing more than very ordinary imitations. [continue...]