I'm a historical archaeologist rather than historian, but since ceramics are in our wheelhouse I hope I can at least partially answer your question.

The simple answer for why blue and white ceramics are so popular in the West is because Chinese porcelain was mainly white with blue decoration and it has been seen as the pinnacle of ceramics since the late medieval period and early modern period. The answer to why Chinese porcelain was mainly blue and white (as well as red) will have to be answered by someone more familiar with Chinese history.

While there had been trade with China for centuries across the silk road and there was a minimal amount of Chinese porcelain in Europe since at least 1300 coming from the Middle East (Whitehouse 1972), European exploration beginning in the 16th century vastly increased the amount of Chinese porcelains on the European market. The Dutch East India Company and later the British East Indian Company both brought these wares to Europe.

At the time, European potters did not have the ability to make porcelain of the same quality as that coming from China as they had not yet discovered the needed sources of pure kaolin clay (the kaolin they did have was used to make tobacco pies). The white color comes from the kaolin clay it is made from and a white felspathic mineral, pé tun tse (pegmatite). The glaze was also feldspathic and rarely crazed (formed tiny little cracks) like tin and lead glazes do (Colonial Williamsburg Artifact Identification Guide). Kaolin was able to be fired to a very high temperature and achieved a sort of glass-like texture and hardness. The blue decoration is cobalt. Because Chinese porcelains had to be imported and were seen as exotic they were some of the most highly prized and expensive ceramics in Europe.

So European potters began trying to imitate Chinese porcelain as best they could with a goal of making a pure white ceramic. English made porcelains would not become pure white until the mid-19th century, and even then archaeologists call these porcelaneous rather than porcelain (the same material your toilet is made of). Bone china, another popular European porcelain has a yellow tint.

These imitations of Chinese porcelain were popular because they were more affordable versions of the stylish pottery of the wealthy. I'm going to focus mostly on refined earthenwares as I would need to do a lot more research into German stonewares to feel confident in bringing blue and grey Westerwald jugs and mugs into this history. They began being produced in the late 16th century but I've never seen them included in the discussion of Chinese porcelain imitation.

For refined earthenwares, it began with the Dutch making Delftware (tin enamel pottery) with Chinoiserie designs in blue when trade with the Chinese was disrupted in the early 17th century and the English also began producing similar wares. English and Dutch tin enameled wares are indistinguishable (at least archaeologically).

Part of the issue the Europeans faced was they were not able to create a white body like Chinese porcelain had. Tin enamel wares were able to somewhat fix that by using a white or bluish-white glaze, but the glaze was thick, the paste soft and the glaze easily separated from the body.

In the 1720s a new form of stoneware, white saltglazed stoneware appeared in England. It had a white enough body that a colored glaze was not needed. While most of these objects were undecorated, the most popular decoration is called "Scratch Blue." Incisions were made in a design and filled with blue dye before firing. However, stonewares were more expensive than refined earthenwares and attempts continued to be made to create an earthenware imitation of Chinese porcelain.

Creamware, or Queensware was invented by Josiah Wedgewood in 1762. It had a cream colored glaze and was rarely decorated. As far as I'm aware it almost never had blue decoration so it is only being mentioned as a stepping stone in the development of English pottery.

Next was Pearlware in 1775. It was also invented by Wedgewood. "This ware was made with a homogenous refined earthenware clay body that was made whiter than creamware by the addition of calcined flint (Derbyshire chert) to the clay body. The natural yellowish clear glaze used on creamware was made bluish-white by the addition of a small quantity of cobalt oxide" (Colonial Williamsburg Artifact Identification Guide). Pearlware commonly had blue decoration, first handpainted and then transfer printed as well as the still commonly seen shell edge decoration. While there were other colors as well for handpainted wares, blue was generally the cheapest and thus most popular.

The final step in this evoluation was whiteware, which appeared around 1800. It is the pure white plate we are familiar with today. Ironstone, a variation that is more highly fired, is still considered whiteware and might be a ceramic name you are familiar with. While multiple colors were available over time in transfer printed designs, blue was still the most affordable and most popular. And it has generally remained so. It is now the traditional color and pattern due to the 17th and 18th century attempts of European potters to produce an equivalent to Chinese porcelain. Some of the patterns developed during the 19th century are still popular today, including Willow Pattern which is probably the most common design.