Most export quality Kangxi blue and white porcelain is marked either with symbolic objects (Taoist and Buddhist), for no very clear reason but probably to identify the originating kiln; or with a apochryphal reign-mark of a Ming emperor, very often Chenghua, the product of whose 'official' kilns had clearly acquired legendary status by the time that the early Qing kilns were looking for novel designs. It is therefore more unusual to find officially-marked wares, bearing the appropriate Emperor's reign mark, when the wares were clearly intended for the revived trade with Europe, through Batavia under the auspices of the Dutch East India Company (V.O.C.)