Lot 322: A famille rose celadon-ground 'birds and butterflies' dish, Qing Dynasty, 19th century

A Chinese export porcelain dish featuring a shallow circular form with a slightly upturned rim. The interior is finished with a pale celadon-green glaze, providing a ground for a dense composition executed in the famille rose palette. The central decoration depicts a long-tailed bird perched upon a flowering branch, flanked by two large butterflies with detailed wing patterns. The surrounding field is filled with various flora, including flowering peonies and prunus branches in shades of opaque rose-pink, blue, and yellow enamels. The rim is decorated with a thin band of iron-red enamel. The underside of the rim continues the celadon glaze, while the base is white-glazed. Centred on the base is a stylized four-character seal mark painted in underglaze blue within a square frame; the mark is composed of geometric linear bars and a central circular element and is not legible as a specific name or reign. The dish exhibits a tactile enamel quality and visible kiln grit to the unglazed foot rim.