Note 1 — HENRY S. SIMMONDS. (continued 2)
Reading edition
In 1518 the Portuguese obtained their settlement at Macao, and through them Europe obtained its first specimen of china ware. "And because the cowrie shells which represented Oriental money, resembled as they thought, the backs of little pigs, they called them porcellana; and because the transparent and beautiful texture of china ware resembled that of the delicate cowrie shell, the same name was applied to it; whence we get, it is said, our English designation—porcelain."—See Marratt's History of Pottery.