A Chinese blue and white porcelain 'Fitzhugh pattern' shallow bowl / big dish. China, 18/19th century, Qing dynasty (大清), Jiaqing period (1796-1820 ,嘉慶), late 18th c. Rare example in such size and excellent condition! Finely painted with figures at the centre medallion depicting an interior scene with two persons; all surrounded by a double circle and a wide band on the border with four flower-reserves on a dense diaper ground. Base with mountain-landscape and flower sprays t the border. Inscribed to the base with apocryphal six-character underglaze blue Chenghua mark. Daylight pictures included. Dimensions: diameter - 28,2 cm; height - 4,9 cm. Weight - 568 g. Provenance: private collection, Uppsala, Sweden. References: same pattern porcelain sold in major auction houses, last pictures. Conditions report: very good condition, short (1,8 cm), hardly visible hairline from the rim only. Minor firing faults. Strong white light tested. Check pictures for details. Early formalized four paneled decoration on Chinese export porcelain. The name Fitzhugh for this pattern derives from an association with a blue and white service ordered around 1780 by Englishman Thomas Fitzhugh, who served from 1786 to 1800 in Guangzhou (Canton) as a director of the British East India Company. The most detailed decorations seems to be dating to the last decades of the 18th century. It occurs in several different colors. This decoration can also be found with different center decorations copied from export prints, such as a pagoda, or various armorial crests. Bibliography: - J.B.S. Holmes "Antiques" magazine, Jan 1966, pp. 130-1; - Spodes 'Willow Pattern and other Designs after the Chinese', Ch. 14, - 'The Chinese Trophies and Fitzhugh Patterns', Robert Copeland, 1990. Worldwide delivery with online tracking.