Precious porcelain

The exhibition also shows Japanese, Korean and British ceramics, reflecting the influence of China's porcelain-making techniques in local industries.

Overseas commissions also influenced the appreciation of Chinese ceramics.

A typical example is the production of cobalt blue-and-white plates, often measuring more than 35 centimeters in diameter, beginning in the Yuan Dynasty. Some experts believe that plates of that size were ordered by merchants from West Asia and were thereafter introduced to Chinese people, who typically used smaller ceramic plates.