Plate - Porcelain - Tobacco Leaf Plate

Chinese Export Porcelain Tobacco Leaf Plate, Qianlong Period, 18th Century

An attractive Chinese export porcelain plate decorated in the celebrated Tobacco Leaf pattern, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, 18th century.

The plate is richly enamelled with scrolling foliage, exotic flowers and bold leaf motifs in iron red, pink, yellow, green and aubergine enamels. The Tobacco Leaf pattern is widely regarded as one of the finest and most technically accomplished designs produced for the eighteenth-century Chinese export porcelain trade.

Produced for the European export market through the Canton trading system, these wares were highly prized by affluent collectors and merchant families in Britain, Portugal, Brazil and Colonial America. Unlike ordinary blue and white export porcelain, the Tobacco Leaf pattern required a complex overglaze enamelling process, using numerous enamel colours and multiple firings, making it one of the most labour-intensive and costly decorative patterns of the period.

Diameter: 22 cm.

Condition: One small rim chip, one visible hairline crack, and an old traditional staple repair to the reverse. The restoration is clearly visible and shown in the photographs. Historic staple repairs are often encountered on eighteenth-century Chinese export porcelain and form part of the object’s long history.

Despite its restoration, the plate retains strong colour, excellent decorative impact and remains a highly collectible example of the iconic Tobacco Leaf pattern.