Plate with pseudo-Chinese script
Plate with sheet and pseudo-Chinese script in Chinese Kraak style, with pseudo branding on the ground in Chinese style, Iran, Safavid dynasty, 17th century, Quartz frit, cobalt blue under the glaze faience.
Courtesy of Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
Chinese porcelain was traded throughout Eurasia and in some places was even worth its weight in gold.
A Persian ceramic bowl helps illustrate the tremendous value Chinese porcelain then had. It feigns to be blue-and-white porcelain, and its “pretending-to-be” nature also includes the Chinese characters in its center: no Chinese person can read them; they are just a Persian imitation.