Delftware is Dutch tin-glazed earthenware, mostly blue and white, named after Delft, the city that was its major centre of production. Its look descends from blue-and-white pottery with plant patterns that began in Abbasid Iraq and reached Europe through Chinese porcelain. The white tin glaze is decorated with metal oxides, and cobalt oxide gives the trademark blue because it withstands high firing temperatures and can be painted under the glaze. The style appeared around 1600 and peaked from about 1640 to 1740, when it was a major export industry across Europe. Production continues today, and English delftware follows the same tradition.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.