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
Porcelain trade in Qing China private kilns. Once again the porcelain trade was thriving, and helped to boost the economy of the early Qing empire. There is a difference in the way the Qing porcelain was created and why it was thriving in the trading atmosphere. The Ming, prior to the overthrowing by the Qing, were using two color glazes for their porcelain. The two color porcelain was something that many connoisseurs from Europe sought after, but at one point were done buying. Once the Qing came into power and began to change the artistic aspect of the porcelain there were experiments and techniques to