China painting paintings, engravers, enamels and even the painters themselves to the Imperial court, and these designs found their way into porcelain decoration. Colorful enamel paints, used in German tin-glazed pottery, gave rise to new techniques such as famille rose coloring in Chinese porcelain. Designs of European origin found their way onto many porcelain items made in China for export to Europe. At least 60 million pieces of Chinese porcelain were imported to Europe in the 18th century. A first attempt to manufacture porcelain in Europe was undertaken in Florence, Italy in the late 16th century, sponsored by Francesco I de' Medici,
Edmé Samson well as plates in the manner associated with Bernard Palissy. Also copied by the Samson firm were the early Qing dynasty famille rose and famille verte Chinese porcelains and the so-called "Imari wares", named for the Japanese port where a type of richly decorated porcelain made at Arita was shipped. The firm exhibited at the International Exposition (1867) and the Exposition Universelle (1889). Samson, Edmé et Cie did not set out to produce copies with the intention to deceive, and claimed all reproductions the firm produced would be distinctly marked to avoid confusion with the originals. However, many of its