A pair of wucai cups. [Photo/ artron.net]

Wucai porcelain is a kind of overglaze decorative porcelain that is made by firing an already-fired plain base painted with a few colorful patterns in the kiln at 770 - 800 degrees Celsius. It features rich colors, such as red, yellow, green, blue and purple.

Wucai was a new variety of the Jingdezhen Kiln during the Ming and Qing dynasties. As blue paint did not exist in the Ming Dynasty, blue-and-white took its place when blue should be presented.