The art of ceramics had a key place in Chinese courts. In the 8th century, statuettes (Mingqi) from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) rivalled each other for elegance and originality. There was a wide variety of subjects: court ladies, public officials, dancers, traders travelling in caravans, etc. Porcelain, manufactured in China since the first centuries of our era, became an exceptionally high quality ceramic due to its durability, its whiteness and above all its translucency, obtained from the 11th century. Under the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), it was covered with cobalt blue and was increasingly manufactured in order to be sold to other countries (Korea, Japan, Iran, etc.).
In Europe, this ceramic is only mentioned from the 13th century, following the travels of the famous Marco Polo. From the 15th century, its blue and white decorated pieces would be admired and envied by numerous countries who would try for centuries to imitate it, to find the secret of this “white gold” which would only be revealed in the 18th century.
The Byzantine Empire produced glazed ceramics. The Islamic world invented faience (in Mesopotamia in the 8th or 9th century). It covered every surface, from the floor to the walls. Decorated with geometrical and floral motifs, as well as people, it was sometimes produced in metallic colours to imitate silver and gold and would spread to the whole of the Mediterranean basin. Also produced in Spain, where it is referred to as Hispano-Moorish ceramic, it was the inspiration for the first Italian majolicas of the Renaissance.
