Together with silk and lacquered objects, blue-and-white porcelain was perhaps most admired by European collectors. Painted in underglaze cobalt blue, the shapes of the wares and their decoration were characterized by finesse and aesthetic impressiveness. In its single-colour decoration, this type of porcelain resembles ink painting; it was therefore popular also among the Chinese literati, who saw it as a painting medium worthy of expressing thoughts. Individual wares are rather complexly decorated in a manner common in painting genres, especially landscape, figures and flowers-and-birds themed painting.
