Editing Porcelain (section)

=== Chinese porcelain ===
{{Main|Chinese ceramics}}
[[File:Fonthill_Vase_in_National_Museum_of_Decorative_Art,_Dublin_(cropped).jpg|left|thumb|The [[Fonthill Vase]] is the earliest Chinese porcelain object to have reached Europe. It was a Chinese gift for [[Louis the Great of Hungary]] in 1338.]]
Porcelain was invented in China over a centuries-long development period beginning with "proto-porcelain" wares dating from the [[Shang dynasty]] (1600–1046 BCE). By the time of the Eastern [[Han dynasty]] (25–220 CE) these early glazed ceramic wares had developed into porcelain, which Chinese defined as high-fired ware.<ref name=kelun>{{cite book|last=Kelun|first=Chen|title=Chinese porcelain: Art, elegance, and appreciation|year=2004|publisher=Long River Press|location=San Francisco|isbn=978-1-59265-012-5|page=3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zOEfZtcSaFEC|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528183403/http://books.google.com/books?id=zOEfZtcSaFEC|archive-date=2013-05-28}}</ref><ref name="columbia" /> By the late [[Sui dynasty]] (581–618 CE) and early [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907 CE), the now-standard requirements of whiteness and translucency had been achieved,<ref>Vainker, 66</ref> in types such as [[Ding ware]]. The wares were already exported to the [[Islamic world]], where they were highly prized.<ref name="columbia">{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/porcelain.aspx#3|title=''Porcelain''|publisher=[[Columbia Encyclopedia]] Sixth Edition. 2008|access-date=2008-06-27|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302182136/http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/porcelain.aspx#3|archive-date=2009-03-02}}</ref><ref name=cheng />

Eventually, porcelain and the expertise required to create it began to spread into other areas of East Asia. During the [[Song dynasty]] (960–1279 CE), artistry and production had reached new heights. The manufacture of porcelain became highly organised, and the [[dragon kiln]]s excavated from this period could fire as many as 25,000 pieces at a time,<ref name="temple">Temple, Robert K.G. (2007). ''The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery, and Invention'' (3rd edition). London: André Deutsch, pp. 104-5. {{ISBN|978-0-233-00202-6}}</ref> and over 100,000 by the end of the period.<ref>{{cite book|author-link1=Rose Kerr (art historian)|last1=Kerr|first1=Rose|author-link2=Joseph Needham|last2=Needham|first2=Joseph|last3=Wood|first3=Nigel|title=[[Science and Civilisation in China]]: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 12, Ceramic Technology|year=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|ISBN=978-0-521-83833-7}}</ref>  While [[Xing ware]] is regarded as among the greatest of the Tang dynasty porcelain, Ding ware became the premier porcelain of the Song dynasty.<ref name=Wood>{{cite book |last=Wood |first=Nigel |title=Chinese Glazes: Their Origins, Chemistry, and Recreation |publisher=A. & C. Black |location=London |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4081-4025-3}}</ref>  By the [[Ming dynasty]], production of the finest wares for the court was concentrated in a single city, and [[Jingdezhen porcelain]], originally owned by the imperial government, remains the centre of Chinese porcelain production.
[[File:Room 95-6753.JPG|thumb|Porcelain wares, such as those similar to these Yongle-era porcelain flasks, were often presented as trade goods during the 15th-century [[Treasure voyages|Chinese maritime expeditions]]. (British Museum)]]
By the time of the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644 CE), porcelain wares were being [[Chinese export porcelain|exported]] to Asia and Europe. Some of the most well-known [[Chinese ceramics#Types of Chinese porcelain wares|Chinese porcelain art styles]] arrived in Europe during this era, such as the coveted "[[blue-and-white]]" wares.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cohen|first=David Harris|title=Looking at European ceramics : a guide to technical terms|year=1993|publisher=The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal|location=Malibu|isbn=978-0-89236-216-5|page=59|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PLAh5fomv2cC|author2=Hess, Catherine|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706213557/http://books.google.com/books?id=PLAh5fomv2cC|archive-date=2014-07-06}}</ref> The Ming dynasty controlled much of the porcelain trade, which was expanded to Asia, Africa and Europe via the [[Silk Road]]. In 1517, Portuguese merchants began direct trade by sea with the Ming dynasty, and in 1598, Dutch merchants followed.<ref name=cheng>{{cite book|last=Te-k'un|first=Cheng|title=Studies in Chinese ceramics|year=1984|publisher=Chinese University Press|location=Hong Kong|isbn=978-962-201-308-7|pages=92–93|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3die4xQmNzQC|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202180418/https://books.google.com/books?id=3die4xQmNzQC|archive-date=2017-12-02}}</ref>

Some porcelains were more highly valued than others in imperial China. The most valued types can be identified by their association with the court, either as tribute offerings, or as products of kilns under imperial supervision.<ref name=Rawson>Rawson, Jessica "Chinese Art", 2007, publisher:the British Museum Press, London, {{ISBN|978-0-7141-2446-9}}</ref> Since the [[Yuan dynasty]], the largest and best centre of production has made [[Jingdezhen porcelain]]. During the Ming dynasty, Jingdezhen porcelain had become a source of imperial pride. The [[Yongle emperor]] erected a [[Porcelain Tower of Nanjing|white porcelain brick-faced pagoda]] at [[Nanjing]], and an exceptionally smoothly glazed type of white porcelain is peculiar to his reign. Jingdezhen porcelain's fame came to a peak during the Qing dynasty.