In the context of this artwork, explain the Dating of the Significance.
The inscriptions on the vases that gives the dates are important for the much-discussed question of when the blue-and-white style was introduced. The date has been given as 1351 (11th year of the Zhizheng era), towards the end of the Yuan dynasty. According to the British Museum they are the earliest dated blue-and-white porcelains. The date suggests that the blue-and-white technique was already sophisticated enough by the late Yuan period for works of such quality to be produced. At the time they were collected by Percival David, the blue and white style was thought to have been invented during the next Ming dynasty, and the vases played a role in overturning that assumption and placing it under the Yuan dynasty. However, some scholars now push the date even further back, to the Song dynasty.  Isolated examples of blue-and-white ceramics from the Tang dynasty have also been found, for example, a blue and white stoneware plate with floral motif (cobalt-blue pigment over white slip), manufactured in kilns in Gongxian, Henan, was found in the Belitung shipwreck, dated ca. 825–850 during the Tang dynasty.
Song dynasty Zhizheng era Ming dynasty Belitung shipwreck Percival David a blue and white stoneware plate with floral motif Zhizheng British Museum Tang dynasty Yuan dynasty Gongxian, Henan blue-and-white