Porcelain styles, and there are several modern industrial manufacturers. These exported Chinese porcelains were held in such great esteem in Europe that in English "china" became a commonly–used synonym for the Italian term "porcelain". The first mention of porcelain in Europe is in "Il Milione" by Marco Polo in XII sec. Apart from copying Chinese porcelain in "faience" (tin glazed earthenware), the soft-paste Medici porcelain in 16th-century Florence was the first real European attempt to reproduce it, with little success. Early in the 16th century, Portuguese traders returned home with samples of kaolin, which they discovered in China to be essential
Chinese ceramics terms used to classify Chinese porcelain by the dominant element in its colour palette. Famille verte (康熙五彩, "Kangxi wucai", also 素三彩, "Susancai"), adopted in the Kangxi period (1662–1722), uses green and iron red with other overglaze colours. It developed from the "Wucai" (五彩, "Five colours") style. Famille jaune is a variation using famille verte enamels on a yellow ground. Famille noire (Chinese: 黑地素三彩, "Modi susancai") uses a black ground (although some clobbered wares had the black added in the 19th century). Famille rose (known in Chinese as "Fencai" (粉彩) or "Ruancai" (軟彩, simplified 软彩), meaning 'soft colours', and later as