A study showed that Europeans started to copy Chinese porcelain ware some 300 years ago, Yangtze Evening News reported on Thursday.

An exhibition of porcelain ware produced in Europe in the 18th to 19th centuries opened on Thursday at Nanjing Museum, showing the development of porcelain craft in the West. The exhibition will run until Jan 15, 2014.

The European pieces were collected by the Shanghai History Museum. Zhang Lan, director of the museum, said a study the museum undertook showed Europeans started to make porcelain by first copying Chinese work, and then created their own features and styles.