Catalogue for the exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Global by Design: Chinese Ceramics from the R. Albuquerque Collection", focusing on Chinese ceramics of the late 16th to the 18th century, a period during which they became a global luxury, transforming both the European ceramic industry and also the styles of dining and drinking. The exhibition comprises 48 entries with 60 exquisite and unusual pieces from an important Brazilian private collection, never exhibited before, exploring the way in which 18th-century artists, when faced with the global idioms that had developed at the time, made artistic choices that allowed them to create an endless range of spectacular and visually imaginative works. Besides exploring the trade in Chinese ceramics within Asia, the exhibition focus on the development of shapes and designs that reflect the history of exchange between China and the Islamic world as well as the period - the late 16th century - when works reflecting both the Chinese and Islamic traditions were introduced and incorporated into Europe and the Americas. Introduction by Denise Patry Leidy, Brooke Russell Astor Curator of Chinese Art, of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, and entries by Maria Antónia Pinto de Matos, director of the Tile Museum in Lisbon and expert in Chinese export ceramics. The same author, Maria Antónia Pinto de Matos, has written The RA Collection: A Collector's Vision published by Jorge Welsh Books in 2011. The reference book on Chinese export porcelain, a three-volume boxed set of hardcover books containing more than 900 illustrations, is a work of art in itself. The 1200 pages include chapters on earthenware, stoneware, porcelain of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, works with Western shapes and decoration and armorial Chinese export porcelain in the RA Collection.