 Hand painted Chinese porcelain dinner wares became the height of fashion in Europe and North America during the 18th century as a way showing off wealth and status in society. The porcelain was ordered through different East India Companies and later independent American traders; all Western trading companies with ships sailing to China. The porcelain was decorated with a combination of Chinese patterns and Western motifs selected by its commissioner. The Chinese manufacturers sent porcelain samples of decorations to their prospective clients in Europe and the United States and their clients provided the porcelain painters in China with paintings, drawings or sketches for their orders. These dinner wares are categorized into familles (French for "families") mainly by the colors they are painted in such as famille verte, noire, jaune and rose.
