When did nonporous ceramic become widespread?

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Porcelain originates in China. They were able to reach the 1,200C needed to vitrify pottery as far back as the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 CE) and there was much earlier proto-porcelain (it had been around since 1,000BCE). Based on this, it's reasonable to infer that nonporous ceramic was relatively widespread in ancient China.

Chinaware then slowly made its way westwards. It became somewhat more common in Europe after Europeans started sailing to the far East. That said, it remained a luxury item outside of East Asia. The Chinese weren't too open about sharing their knowhow, as illustrated by how and when the Japanese learned how to make it: they picked up the knowhow from captives brought back home during their Korean invasions in the late 16th.

By the 8th century, the Muslims had figured out ceramic glazing as already noted by Tom. I'm not sure it became common in Europe then, considering Muslims and Christians were primarily trading blows at the time. But Europeans were salt glazing stoneware by the 15th century.

A key inflection point occurred in early 18th century. At around the same time, Germans figured out how to produce porcelain, and a Jesuit monk published Chinese knowhow on the topic. Factories were producing porcelain across Europe by the end of the 18th century, and by then the economy was becoming ever more global and industrialized.

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Ceramic glaze became "prevalent" in Islamic art about the 8th century CE. It also became popular in China and Japan through the introduction of "colored" glazes in the 6th to 8th centuries CE.

So I would say 8th century CE, or slightly before. The caveat is that Europe at the time was in the Dark Ages (except for certain parts, such as Spain), so this idea did not reach most of Europe until early in the second Millennium, in some cases as late as the Renaissance.

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