Lot 301: A famille rose celadon-ground 'birds and butterflies' dish, Qing Dynasty (19th century)

A Chinese export porcelain dish of shallow circular form with a slightly flared rim. The piece is decorated in the famille rose palette against a pale celadon-green glaze. The enamel decoration features a scattered arrangement of auspicious motifs including a long-tailed pheasant perched upon a flowering branch, a smaller songbird in flight, and two large butterflies with detailed wing patterns. The composition is further embellished with sprays of pomegranate and peach fruit, symbols of fertility and longevity, and various floral clusters. The enamels are applied with moderate thickness, creating a slight relief on the surface. The rim is finished with an iron-red and gilt band. The reverse of the dish is finished in a matching celadon glaze. The unglazed foot rim reveals a light-coloured, slightly gritty clay body. The underside bears a blue underglaze square mark containing a grid of stylized linear geometric patterns resembling a seal script; this is an illegible pseudo-seal mark common to 19th-century export wares. The front of the plate bears a rectangular purple adhesive label and a small white rectangular adhesive label with the handwritten number ‘501.’ in ink.