Ming Export Blue-and-White Porcelain

Timeline

1. 1510–1570Jingdezhen and southeastern coastal ports · ChinaIn the first half of the 16th century, blue-and-white porcelain from Jingdezhen imperial and private kilns was shipped to Southeast Asia and the Middle East through tribute, smuggling, and private trade. The Portuguese entered the Indian Ocean–China route from the early 16th century, bringing blue-and-white into European elite collections and forming early adaptations of export shapes and motifs.
2. 1571–1580Yuegang, Fujian, and Jingdezhen kiln sites · FujianBetween 1571 and 1580, trade at Yuegang with Portugal, Spain, and Southeast Asia was active, and Jingdezhen private kilns mass-produced blue-and-white plates and bowls for overseas markets. After the Longqing relaxation of the maritime ban in 1567, trade was institutionalized, and the Kraak style—paneled reserves, dense ornament, and shapes adapted to European tables—appears in large quantities in archaeological and shipwreck finds, marking the entry of export blue-and-white into a phase of large-scale production.
3. 1580–1620Jingdezhen–Malacca–Lisbon trade route · Strait of MalaccaDuring the Wanli reign, the output and variety of export blue-and-white expanded further, and the Dutch East India Company later joined the competition. Shipwreck archaeology (such as the Wanli shipwreck) shows that export wares of the 1570s–1620s formed a stable aesthetic system in shape, cobalt, and brushwork, profoundly influencing ceramic decorative traditions in Europe, Persia, and Japan.