Exhibition of Chinese porcelain plates opens in Lisbon

A woman visits an exhibition of porcelain plates of ancient China's Ming and Qing dynasties at the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon, capital of Portugal, May 9, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

Portuguese traders became the first Europeans to bring back tons of crockery by sea, and Portugal has been the main source of oriental ceramics in Europe.

The Portuguese also borrowed techniques and inspiration from Chinese porcelain manufacture for making their own potters and these ceramic products became the first globally consumed European earthenware by Portuguese traders when they were exploring the world by sea since the last decades of the 16 century.

"They represent many stories which have to do with the relations between Portugal and Europe, and between Portugal and the east," Conceicao Borges de Sousa, curator at Portugal's National Museum of Ancient Art, told Xinhua.

"Portugal was the first Western country to get to China by sea and establish commercial and diplomatic ties. That was important in the 16th century because the Portuguese introduced the West to the great Chinese empire."

She added that there are only two such fabulous collections of such quality and quantity in the world, in Istanbul and in Tehran.

The exhibition, entitled Blue on Gold, started on February 27 and ends on May 24.