Adventures in Antiquity

Temperature is the difference between ordinary pottery and porcelain, as noted in the UNESCO Courier in Oct 1988. Ordinary pottery is “baked in a kiln at temperatures rang, from 500 degrees C to 1150 degrees C, and is called earthenware”. Porcelain is an utterly different animal and that difference rests entirely in the temperature at which it is fired, around 1280 degree C. Between 1369-1644, the Mung Dynasty developed the best quality blue and white porcelain.
Although the date has not been confirmed for these particular chinese blue & white porcelain jars, they have been hand painted.

Although these particular pieces of Italian porcelain were made in the 19th century, Italian porcelain showed signs of the influence of the Chinese as early as the 15th century.