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Why were Dehua porcelain figures of Guanyin exported in large numbers?

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Neolithic Banshan pottery: funerary urn — Chinese pottery Painted Pottery funerary urn, Neolithic Banshan phase, c. 3000 bce, from Yangshao, Henan province, China; in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm. Height 13.2 inches (33.5 cm).

Dehua porcelain figures of the Buddhist goddess Guanyin were exported in large quantities due to the high demand for Chinese ceramics in international markets. During the Ming dynasty and subsequent centuries, these figures—often referred to in Europe as blanc de chine—became a characteristic product of the Dehua kilns in Fujian province.123

The popularity of these pieces was driven by a significant increase in trade between East Asia and the West, facilitated by organizations such as the Dutch East India Company. Beyond their aesthetic appeal, which featured a thick, lustrous white or ivory-toned glaze, these figures were highly valued as artistic subjects. Their influence was so profound that European factories, including those in Meissen, Chelsea, Bow, and Saint-Cloud, actively sought to copy and imitate Dehua forms and vessels throughout the 18th century.4231