Chinese blue and white plate with peony and butterfly – Qianlong, 18th c.

A Chinese blue and white plate from the Qianlong period (1736–1795), probably c. 1760–1790. In the centre a peony with flowering branches, a butterfly and an insect; the rim has a diaper band with ruyi clouds. This kind of 18th-century Chinese export porcelain came to the Netherlands in large quantities with the VOC (Dutch East India Company). The plate sits in an old copper plate hanger with a pewter centre piece and three clips, so it can go straight on the wall. No hairline cracks visible in the visible parts; brown discolouration in pinholes and glaze bubbles in the centre, iron spots, a few small frits on the rim on the reverse. The rim under the three clips and the part of the reverse under the copper strips cannot be assessed.