Chaos caused by wars at the end of the Ching dynasty, and a prevailing lack of knowledge about the value of art, resulted in many valuable Chinese ceramics finding their way overseas, either through plunder or sale at bargain prices.
清末民初，由於戰亂，也由於少數國人的不知珍惜，不少極其珍貴的我國古文物，或遭外人掠奪，或被國人變賣，相繼流落海外，致使後人無緣得見。