Chinese Export Celadon Plate with ‘German Flowers’ in Famille Rose Enamels, Qianlong Period, c. 1750-1775

A scallop-edged celadon glazed Chinese Export plate featuring a bunch of flowers and floral sprays in imitation of Meissen or Sèvres. Painted in Famille Rose colours with overglaze red, green, pink, yellow and blue with a touch of gold.

The plate has a couple of surface frits at the rim. Otherwise it is in very good condition with no cracks or restoration. The enamels are in very good condition for their age – whites in particular are prone to rubbing. As is usual with Chinese Export wares, it is unmarked.

Famille rose refers to Chinese porcelain decorated with predominantly pink coloured enamel, made from colloidal gold. These colours were known to the Chinese as yangcai ("foreign colours") because they were first introduced from Europe around 1685. These enamels, primarily an opaque red, pink and white, became available to the Imperial factory from around 1710. They were used on private factory porcelain from the early 1720s.