What does the writing on this piece say?
The characters on the very top of this little water pot are reign marks and indicate the emperor under which this was made. This one says "Made during the Xuande reign of the Great Ming" (Da Ming Xuande nian zhi).
Tell me a little about this.
This is a blue and white porcelain work from the Ming dynasty. By the end of the Ming dynasty, after these wares had become popular in China among the elite, they began to be exported for European buyers.