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- The 15th and 16th century Vietnamese (Annamese) underglaze blue porcelaneous stonewares were largely made in imitation of imported Yuan and Ming blue and white porcelain of the 14th and 15th centuries from China. The quality of materials such as paste and glaze on the Vietnamese imitations were inferior to their Chinese counterparts and the underglaze blue was duller. Even though the Vietnamese potters borrowed such floral motifs as the lotus, peony, chrysanthemum, prunus and bamboo, as well as fish, birds and animals from the Chinese pieces, there was little or no direct copying, and as a result there is a great deal of originality and inventiveness.
The imitation of Chinese blue and white began in Korea fairly soon after the establish�ment of the Yi dynasty (1392-1910), especially at the ceramic centre of Punwon. Korean blue and white porcelains of the 15th and 16th centuries show some designs that follow those on Ming blue and white prototypes, such as the lotus petals on the shoulder and base, but the Koreans often changed the shape and designs to suit their own taste. Korean pieces are rather coarse greyish-white porcelains with greyish blue underglaze decorations, and are not of the technical quality of Chinese wares. Apparently, the use of cobalt blue was so costly that in 1754 one of the Yi kings prohibited its use except for pieces made for his court and the nobility.
Japanese blue and white porcelain, which derived its style from Chinese originals, is thought to have first been produced in the early 17th century by Koreans working at kilns in Hizen province. By tradition it is believed that in 1616 a naturalized Korean named Ri Sambei discovered the clay necessary to produce porcelain near the town of Arita. Soon after this discovery, high fired blue and white porcelains were being produced in Kyushu. These early underglaze cobalt blue wares were called sometsuke in Japan and were influenced in particular by the blue and white porcelains produced during the reigns of the last two Ming emperors, Tianqi and Chongzhen. These Japanese wares are somewhat thicker, heavier and coarser than their Chinese counterparts, and the underglaze blue decorations are inferior to contemporary Chinese ones. The cobalt designs are greyish blue in colour and had a tendency to run badly during firing. However, eventually some kilns were able to make very fine copies of the earlier Chinese wares.
When the Ming dynasty collapsed in China in the mid-17th century, the main European traders, the Dutch, turned to Japan for export porcelain. This event brought about the rapid development of the Japanese porcelain industry, which saw Japan produce millions of porcelain pieces for export in a period, which lasted less than forty years until the Chinese kilns recovered in the 1680's.
In the early 16th century, the Portuguese became the first Europeans to commercially bring Chinese blue and white porcelains to Western Europe in ships called �carracks. Portuguese potters began imitating Chinese blue and white ware at least by the late 16th century. From 1580 to 1640, Spain ruled Portugal and some of their pottery also came to echo Chinese blue and white. Spanish galleons, sailing from from Manilla, also arrived in Mexico with Chinese blue and white, and this stimulated some Mexican blue and white ceramic imitations.
In the 1580's, the Medici potters of Italy attempted to imitate Chinese blue and white porcelain, and succeeded in producing a noble �soft paste' porcelain. Only about 50 or so of these, the earliest Occidental porcelains, have survived. In Italy prior to the Medici ce�ramics, potters of the 15th century also sought to simulate the decorative effect of Chinese blue and white wares on their Majolica wares.
In 1602 and 1604, the Dutch captured Portuguese carracks, laden with Chinese blue and white. The subsequent sales of the booty in Amsterdam caused a great sensation, and was to have a tremendous impact on European culture. From this point on the Dutch dominated the Oriental porcelain trade for the next century through the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The Dutch called the type of Chinese blue and white ware, found in the cargo of the carracks, kraak porselein, and it was to have a profound effect on the development of
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