Since the 1500s Europe has been swept by increasing waves of “China Mania” – those sudden fevers for that most exotic of materials: porcelain. The victims of these epidemics – monarchs, merchants and the lowly collector in his garret – openly confessed to being afflicted by the maladie de porcelaine. Meanwhile, those immune to China’s charms either stood by in bemusement or launched into moralistic diatribe, inveighing against the decadence of the times.

Using several pots which have crossed his path, Lars Tharp investigates the rise and resilience of these porcelain epidemics, comparing European notions of material beauty and desire with those of China.

Lars Tharp is Director of the Foundling Museum (London) and ceramics consultant on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow.

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