thinning over small ridges or ribs, while later pieces have more elaborate floral scrolls or animals in relief. Religious figurines and shrines were rare before the Yuan, and never a large part of production; as in Qingbai, these sometimes mix biscuit, for the flesh or figure, with a glazed background. Markets and later collecting Unlike Northern Celadon, Longquan ware does not seem to have been used by the imperial court under the Song, although Longquan kilns were used to make the "official" Guan ware, apparently when the Guan kilns could not cope with orders. An important market seems to have been the literati or scholar-gentleman class. As well as wares for ordinary use, they were used on altars and sometimes in burials. Many shapes, especially in the early period, were based on ancient ritual bronze shapes, which were considered appropriate to religious functions, though these lacked the complex surface decoration of the bronze originals. These were also exported in great numbers and, at least in South-East Asian countries such as Japan and Korea, these associations could also be appreciated by local literati, and indeed clergy, as many of the best survivals are in temples. Japan was a large-scale and enthusiastic importer, and the beach at Kamakura, the capital during the height of Longquan production, had some 50,000 Longquan sherds, thought to have been broken pieces dumped at the end of the voyage from China. Japan soon began to imitate Longquan wares, and has continued to do so, both in mass-produced and studio pottery versions. There were also large quantities exported west to the Islamic world, and one of the most important collections today is the 1,300 pieces surviving from the collection of the Ottoman Emperors, most now in the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. Their worth was increased by a belief in the Middle East and Europe that the pieces would break or change colour if poison was placed on them. Fragments have also been found along the East African coast, as far south as Kenya and Tanzania. A very few pieces reached Europe by trade or diplomatic gifts from Islamic countries, and were sometimes given elaborate metalwork mounts, turning them into goblets. Only three surviving Chinese ceramic pieces can be documented as reaching Europe before 1500. Of these, the earliest is the Fonthill Vase (now Dublin), which is qingbai porcelain, but the other two are Longquan celadon. In 1487 Lorenzo