18th Century Chinese Famille Rose Plate, Yongzheng Period 1723-35

An early 18th-century Chinese plate, finely painted with peonies, chrysanthemums and flowering branches in famille rose enamels. The border is richly decorated with cartouches and gilt highlights. The scrolling floral sprays in iron red on the unmarked underside of the plate are indicative of an early date.

The plate is a fine example of early Chinese export ware. Very finely potted, there is some fritting to the edges and a very fine hairline crack visible from the back. There is also some rubbing to the glaze, with very small enamel loss to the painted branch.

Famille rose enamels became available to the imperial factory from around 1710 and were used for private factory porcelain from the early 1720s. Typical for this early famille rose are the bright, opaque red, pink and white, with a translucent green carried over from Kangxi famille verte.