Multi-lobed porcelain plate with enameled decoration of a European oboe player seated on pierced boulder with flowers. Flowers and Rococo border. Outer rim interspersed with birds and flowered branches China, Qianlong Period (1735-1796) This model illustrated by Hervouët & Bruneau (La porcelaine de la compagnie des indes à décor occidental , Paris, 1986, figs. 4.29, 6.62, 8.3 and 8.10) was known with different central figures whether musicians, lady holding a flower bouquet or young man holding a bird in his hand One plate of the same pattern can be found in the collections of the Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels and was exhibited in Hong Kong in 1889 (Chinese Export Porcelain, Hong-Kong, 1989, pp. 126-7, n°39. Another from the Mottahedeh Collection, was published in Howard and Ayers (China for the West, London and New York, 1978, vol. II, p. 359, n348). A plate for the same series of musiscians is shown in Howard & Ayers - China for the west With shaped rim, and decorated in rich famille rose enamels; the border in six panels, each with a flower and the figure of a European dancing or playing an instrument. Inside a gilt spearhead well is a band of rich rose-pink scroll-and- shell pattern, and a scene of a European on a mat playing a fiute. There is a series of such plates with different musicians, but the meaning is obscure, and because there is little realism it seems probable the Chinese painters were copy- ing a series of sketches, which may have originated in the East rather than from any Western source. Such porcelain may well have been as popular within China as it was for export. (See also the section on famille rose). - For one identical plate, see Sotheby’s Monaco, Collection François Hervouët, Porcelaines de Chine à décor occidental, June 22, 1987, lot 1621 - For two platters and one plate, see Christie’s London, Chinese Export Ceramics from a European Private Collection, Christie’s, May 11, 2004, lot 70. - For one large platter, see Tajan, April 25, 2005, lot 13 - For one pair of boxes, see Christie’s London, November 13, 2001, lot 282 Condition Overall Condition Very good, just total of 4 or 5 small frits/fleebites to rim, mainly underside. Size 230x37mm Period 18th century Qing (1661 - 1912) All will be packed neat and sent track and trace and insurance. Registered airmail. Packages are always shipped on the next wednesday. If there is a specific hurry please contact us. #Printemps2023