The ceramic traditions of Vietnam, which date back to the first century AD, were strongly influenced by those of its omnipresent northern neighbour, China. The so-called 'golden age' of Vietnam - the Ly and Tran dynasties - commenced with Vietnam's independence from China. During a subsequent and short-lived Chinese incursion in the fifteenth century, the great innovation of blue and white porcelain came to Vietnam with migrant potters from the north. Characteristic of the Vietnamese style is the unglazed rim, suggesting that it was fired upside down, and the speckled grey-blue colour of the painted design. The design - a crane amid bamboo and pine (traditional symbols of longevity), with scrolling floral motifs - also echoes the Chinese style.

Art Gallery Handbook, 1999. pg. 299.