This porcelain stone has a pure white body with a granular texture likened to sugar. Porcelain glaze of tian bai ware contained very low levels of limestone (calcium oxide) and were thus translucent. This example is finely thrown and evenly glazed. Also known as sweet white ware, tian bai was made in the Jingdezhen official kiln during the Yongle reign (1403-1424) of the Ming dynasty. Tian bai means 'filling white' as the white body of such wares can be filled in with colourful designs. Similar white-glazed ware have been fired during the reigns of Xuande (1426-35), Chenghua (1465-87), Hongzhi (1488-1505), Zhengde (1506-21), Jiajing (1522-66) and Wanli (1573-1619) but the quality of Yongle tian bai ware was far superior to these. Imitations were also made during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).
