The delicacy, purity, and exotic beauty of Chinese and Japanese porcelain captivated all of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. European potters strove to imitate and adapt these Asian imports. This impact on European ceramics is superbly illustrated by the collection donated to the Asian Civilisations Museum by Mr and Mrs Toshio Egawa. The individual objects, of fascinating design, represent a slice of history and reveal the economic and artistic interactions of the period.