In the Yuan dynasty China was under Mongol rule. During that period the production of porcelain and pottery continued and basically followed the Song heritage. There were some developments and improvements in manufacturing methods made, though.
Porcelain tiles:Although "possibly" existing since the Tang dynasty, the oldest porcelain tiles known to have existed for sure, are from this period. The decorated Yuan porcelain tiles (Yuan dynasty: 1206-1367) had various shapes and were embedded in the wood of furniture as decoration.
Shufu porcelain plate
Shufu porcelain (Shufu ware) Shufu wares are a type of porcelain specifically made at the Hutian kiln during the Yuan dynasty. This type of porcelain has an appearance similar to Qingbai porcelain, but with a very opaque glaze. Together with an impressed porcelain decoration that is protruding from the base material, these features allow for easy recognition of Shufu ware. The name itself comes for the characters for "Shufu", which can be found on some of the porcelain ordered by the court. There are also items without characters, and such with other characters known. Generally it is thought that these all were made exclusively for the upper classes during this time. Porcelain items with the Shufu characters are considered imperial porcelain. The majority of Shufu items are smaller items for daily use, like plates, bowls, etc. Vases, jars, etc. are less frequent.
During the Zhizheng reign (1341-1370) of this dynasty (1271-1368) underglaze blue painted decorations were developed further at the Jingdezhen kiln. At the same time development of underglaze red decorations met technical difficulties and only limited quantities of these were produced.
Note:polychrome decorations existed already, but they mostly were not painted pictorial decorations; they were just an application of different color glazes. Opinions of the actual beginnings of underglaze blue decorations differ as archaelogical and other proof is still insufficient.
Export of blue and white porcelain Quantities of these wares were exported to more than a dozen places in SE Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and possibly East Africa.
While in the Song dynasty celadon wares were probably the most favored ceramic wares, and were heavily exported to the Middle East, the Mongol rulers took a liking to the still uncommon blue and white ceramics. This is considered one of the causes for a major decline of celadon producing kilns, overall, in the Yuan dynasty. Only the Longquan kilns in the south were an exception. While production of other celadon kilns generally declined, production of the Longquan kilns increased, paradoxically, due to huge export orders.
Today, Yuan blue and white porcelain is highly priced. It was rare enough, speaking of numbers, at the time. Rare enough that during the following Ming and Qing dynasties neither the imperial government nor general population were aware of the previous existence of blue and white porcelain in the Yuan dynasty. Yuan porcelain was rediscovered only in the 20th century.
Yuan jarlet in blue and white porcelain
Worth mentioning is also that painted (pictorial) on-glaze decorations in the colors red and green also reached new levels during this period. They now already had the quality of Zhaozhou wares (aka Swatow wares) that were exported to Japan throughout the Ming dynasty, until the 17th century.
Shufu porcelain plate
Today, Yuan blue and white porcelain is highly priced.