Fat Lava pottery first appeared after the Second World War. It was primarily made in West Germany and the style became synonymous with the earthy colours and natural textures of mid-century modernism.

Until the dawn of the 18th century, the secret of porcelain production was known only in Asia. For 1,000 years, the only source in the West was the caravans that came from the place whose name beca… ...

Porcelain: A History from the Heart of Europe. By Suzanne Marchand. Princeton University Press; 544 pages; $35 and £30. IT SOUNDS LIKE a fairy-tale. A visionary alchemist, arrested by a ...