This little Chinese bowl once belonged to Queen Elizabeth the 1st. It’s made of a material which was unknown in Europe until the 1500s. And when that material arrived, it caused a sensation. In the 16th century, porcelain became a cult item amongst the very wealthy. “The intelligentsia and the aristocracy kept porcelain in their cabinets of curiosity.” By the 18th century, the fever had spread to the middle classes. “People are so mad for it that they are going into debt; they are going bust, they are wasting their family’s wealth.” The making of porcelain was shrouded in mystery. European potters tried in vain to copy it. “Chinese porcelains were probably the most misunderstood material in ceramic history.” The insatiable demand created a global trade; the blue and white imagery on the west changed our idea of what was beautiful; the British dining table would never be the same again. “I have porcelain fever for most of my life, and the best way to tell the story of how blue and white porcelain arrived in the west from china is to go there.” I am going to the source, to one of the world’s first industrial cities. I’ll follow the route taken by millions of cups, plates, and bowls to try to find out why these pots were so prized then and now. “It’s a story right for the telling because now it’s the Chinese who got the fever. The new emperors are buying back their history, making Chinese porcelain some of the most expensive art ever to come under the hammer. "
