ALMOST a thousand years ago the Chinese discovered porcelain. Prior to discovering the pure white clay, its prime raw material, they used sandstone.
Marco Polo was one of the first Europeans to set eyes on porcelain : he chose this name to reflect its similarity to very white and translucent shell.
In the fifteenth century Vasco De Gama brought back the first porcelain objects to Europe. While the East India Company went on to become one of the most famous traders of porcelain.
