On arrival in Europe, Asian porcelain wares were sometimes over-decorated to make them more appealing to Western buyers. These white Chinese cups have been painted in red, yellow, blue and green enamels to mimic the fashionable 'Kakiemon style' of high-quality Japanese porcelain made at the time. Numerous workshops in Holland and England were established to over-decorate blue-and-white porcelain with more colourful enamels in this way.