Blue-and-white ware is named for a cobalt blue pigment used in its decoration. The pure white body provided by porcelain serves as a brilliant contrast for varying shades of striking cobalt blue paint, which is applied directly on the body; when fired, the vitrified surface looks as if it has been coated with a clear glaze. This technique was first developed at the Jingdezhen kilns in southeast China in the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), when trade routes with western Asia were active and cobalt could be imported from Persia, although indigenous sources were later discovered. Jingdezhen has continued to dominate the production of Chinese blue-and-white ware down to modern times. These beautiful wares were later replicated in other Asian and European ceramics.
Much of the earliest Chinese blue-and-white pottery has been found outside the country with decoration that suggests it catered to foreign rather than domestic tastes, supporting the theory that it was at first created primarily for export. Making its way to Southeast Asia in the fourteenth century, blue-and-white ware informed Vietnamese pottery traditions. It became popular in Japan during the seventeenth century, when Arita porcelain factories located on the Southern island of Kyûshû produced much of these wares. Like in China, many Japanese porcelains were made for export to Western markets through the Dutch East India Company. Later, as domestic demand increased, designs drew more heavily on Japanese themes and tradition. Chinese blue-and-white ware has also informed Thai (Sawankhalok) and Dutch Delft ceramic traditions.
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