In the 1500s and 1600s, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean porcelain was coveted by maritime merchants who transported examples to European courts, where porcelain conveyed global knowledge and status. Only Asian workshops knew the recipe for porcelain prior the 18th century. To own works of “true porcelain,” Europeans ordered objects and dinner services, adorned with coats of arms or depictions of Europeans, that had been decorated by women and men in Asian studios. However, even after Europeans deciphered the formula in the early 1700s, porcelain from Asia was an essential possession for aristocrats who, by this time, were reaping the wealth of global conquest.