Photographing china is notoriously difficult, especially if it has a glaze. You have something white to the point of burning out the highlights and yet the markings can be dark enough to lose shadow detail. Worse, the reflective nature of the china itself makes it difficult to keep flare at bay. Here's a solution. Make a light tent. A white pillowcase is ideal. Place the china inside the pillowcase, put the camera at the mouth of the pillowcase and place a light (an anglepoise is ideal) close to one of the sides of the pillowcase; not so close it scorches it, but close enough to deliver good light levels. Now take a custom white balance reading using a piece of white card (or similar). You will need a method to immobilise your camera (a mini tripod is ideal) because you might have a long exposure. Put everything on the camera in manual mode... even the focus. And if you do this regularly, consider buying something like a Lastolite ePhotomaker kit.
