Chinese Early Republic Turquoise Butterfly Cup, marked Jiaqing but c. 1910-19

Finely potted early Republic cup. It is hand-painted with butterflies and gourds in famille rose enamels on a turquoise ground. Gourds and butterflies together have an auspicious meaning of "Guadie Mianmian" - "may there be ceaseless generations of sons and grandsons".

It bears a neatly-painted iron red six character Jiaqing mark (1796-1820). Apocryphal Jiaqing and Daoguang reign marks were not used until the very end of the Qing dynasty (circa 1910). The word "CHINA" has been faintly incised on the bottom. This came into use after 1891 when US federal law required all imports to be marked with their country of origin. From 1919, a "made in China" mark was required.

A high-quality small cup with the enamels in excellent condition. The cup has no chips or cracks, although there are a couple of lines in the glaze on the inside.