Piecing together the precious porcelain past

He also mentions about a couple of restored blue and white ceramic cricket jars from the time of Emperor Xuande. He says that only two other such objects are known to exist today, one is now in the Suzhou Museum in Jiangsu province, and the other is in a gallery in Japan.

"The one in Suzhou doesn't have a lid, and the lid on the one in Japan doesn't match the rest of the jar very well. As a result, the jars we've found at the Imperial Kiln are extremely precious. We have found dozens that can be restored, in a variety of patterns, and most of the jars and lids are quite complete," says Wang.

"Emperor Xuande had good taste in art, and many of his paintings are now in the collection of the Palace Museum. The patterns on the cricket jars of his era stand out among all the porcelain produced at the time. Some experts even believe the emperor himself may have designed some," he adds.