Six identical dishes on footring, narrow, flat ‘pie-crust’ rim. Famille verte, decorated in various shades of green, yellow, blue, aubergine, iron-red and black enamel on the glaze. In the centre a medallion with a bird on a branch, cherry blossoms, pine branches and clouds. Touching the medallion above and below rocks decorated with flowering plants and trees. Above and below a phoenix, around the sides wavy panels with flowers on a light iron-red ground. The sides with cherry blossoms on a speckled ground separated by four lobed panels with a flower spray combined with a fish or a prawn. Each of the small lobes of the modelled rim has a stylised lotus-petal motif. On the reverse three flower sprays. These dishes show traditional decorative elements of both China (the decoration on the rim and sides) and Japan (the centre decoration). The medallion with the cloud-banks and the bird on a branch, the wavy panels, and the shape and placing of the phoenix have striking similarities to representations on Japanese Imari porcelain of the same period. Chinese imitations of Japanese Imari are mostly produced as Chinese Imari (see cat. 81); such an obvious influence in famille verte is ...