Three hundred years of China “nuts”.   From the moment Chinese porcelain started to reach Western Europe in the 1500s the craze was on, kings and princes vying for the finest pieces and even trying to manufacture their own.  In the 18th century it was referred to as the “Maladie de Porcelaine” – and in the Victorian century the sickness had spread – as “Chinamania” -  to the moneyed middle classes, famously encouraged by Oscar Wilde and then ridiculed in the pages of Punch by George du Maurier.  But just how nutty were these collectors?  And who are their 21st century successors?

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