Our story
Azure Blanc
A window into Chinese porcelain.
Why we began.
We founded Azure Blanc with a belief: Chinese porcelain deserves a place in contemporary life that reflects its place in the world’s cultural history.
Chinese porcelain has crossed oceans, furnished palaces and changed the way the world makes ceramics. Its masterpieces are treasured at the British Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Musée Guimet. Collectors such as Sir Percival David devoted their lives to studying it; rare imperial pieces command extraordinary prices at auction.
But admiration for the past is only the beginning.
Beyond the museum case, the private collection and the auction room, there are people still shaping clay, painting vessels and tending kilns. Their work belongs in the story, too. We are here to connect the curiosity inspired by the past with an understanding of what is being made today.
Chinese porcelain should have a place in everyday life, not only in the world’s great collections.
A cup held each morning. A vase filled with the season’s branches. An object that becomes familiar without ceasing to be beautiful. This is the relationship we hope to make possible: an appreciation of Chinese porcelain that grows through living with it.
Why we are here
To open a window.
To deepen the view.
A beautiful object can catch the eye. Knowing how to look can change what we see.
We want Chinese porcelain to have a distinct voice in contemporary living: recognised for its places, people and craft, not simply its country of manufacture.
We bring together the histories, places and techniques that give Chinese porcelain its character: why a painted motif matters, how a glaze finds its colour, what a maker’s hand contributes to a form. We look at historical works to understand where these ideas began, and at contemporary work to see how they continue.
Our Journal, kiln guides and collection belong to that same purpose. Reading should make the objects more meaningful; living with them should make the knowledge more personal.
Whether you arrive with a collector’s curiosity or encounter Chinese porcelain for the first time, we want this to be a place you return to, each time seeing a little more.
Enter the JournalThe past is still being made.
There is no single Chinese porcelain tradition. Its richness lies in different places, materials and ways of working, and in the people who continue to give them form.
Jingdezhen: knowledge in every stage
Behind Jingdezhen’s painted porcelain is a history of specialised hands: throwing, trimming, glazing, painting and firing. Blue beneath the glaze and enamels above it call for different kinds of judgement. The history matters to us because these are still skills to practise, not simply styles to reproduce.
Explore Jingdezhen
Dehua: expression in white
In Dehua’s white porcelain, expression can rest in the smallest decisions: a lowered gaze, a fold of drapery, the edge of a petal. The sculptor’s attention brings character to the material. We value the patience behind that work as much as the finished figure.
Discover DehuaLongquan: the knowledge beneath the green
Longquan’s celadon tradition reaches back through the Song dynasty. Its quiet surface carries a demanding history of clay, glaze and fire.
A curve is thrown and refined; a pattern may be cut into the body before the glaze is applied. Iron in the glaze and the conditions of firing help produce the greens for which Longquan is known. The apparent simplicity depends on decisions made long before the kiln is opened.
UNESCO recognised Longquan’s traditional celadon firing technology in 2009. What we want to share is the living knowledge behind that recognition: the judgement of makers who continue to work with clay, glaze and heat.
Ru ware: a continuing search
Ru wares made for the Northern Song court hold a special place in ceramic history. Their restrained forms and subtle blue-green glazes continue to invite close looking.
Today, makers return to those qualities through their own work with clay, glaze and firing. We are interested in that continuing search: how an old ceramic ideal can ask new questions of the people working with it.
Explore Ru wareThe future of a craft needs
more than admiration.
Hand throwing, intricate hand painting, carving, modelling and wood firing take time to learn. For that knowledge to be passed on, there must be people who practise it, people willing to learn it, and people who value the work it produces.
This is why bringing porcelain into more homes matters to us. A living audience gives makers a reason to continue, and another generation a reason to begin. Understanding, choosing and using contemporary work can all be part of that continuity.
We do not see traditional handwork and modern production as opposing worlds. Chinese ceramics have always developed through experiment and exchange. We welcome that future while making room for the slower skills that cannot be separated from experience.
Look beyond the finished surface.
From clay to a wood-fired kiln in Jingdezhen.
In 2026, the Jingdezhen Handicraft Porcelain Industry Sites joined UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Their significance belongs both to the history they preserve and to the continuing life of porcelain making.
To know it.
To live with it.
Azure Blanc brings a point of view to Chinese porcelain: history gives it depth, making gives it character, and living with it gives it a place in our own lives.
Our collection is one expression of that belief. As an independent selector and retailer, we look for contemporary pieces whose form, surface and workmanship reward attention, and whose presence makes sense in a home.
You do not need to own an antique to begin a meaningful relationship with Chinese porcelain. You can begin with curiosity, and a piece you want to see, hold or use every day.
Chinese porcelain belongs to the world’s history.
We want it to belong to more people’s lives.
The team behind your order.
For questions about a piece or an order, our Client Services team is your point of contact before and after purchase.
Azure Blanc is the trading name of Xiamen Daji Import & Export Co., Ltd., which owns and operates www.azureblanc.com. The company handles orders, customer service and payment processing for all purchases made through this website.