Four Chinese Famille Rose Coffee Cups with Pseudo Tobacco Leaf design, Qianlong Period, 1770-95

Four coffee cups in underglaze blue with over-glaze famille rose enamels in a pseudo tobacco leaf design. It features a hibiscus flower and poppy with a rosette, thought to be a stylized cross-section of a pomegranate.

The enamels are in excellent condition with the gilding still intact. There is evidence of kiln grit and a kiln crack to the base of one of the cups. Two cups have a couple of tiny frits.

The main period of the tobacco leaf and pseudo tabacco leaf designs is between 1765 and 1795. The pattern is believed to be derived from Indian fabric patterns, which were the fashion in Europe at the time. Another theory is that the pattern was created for the Portuguese and Brazilian markets.