This copper dish with metal-bound rims is painted in enamels, with a central medallion containing finely-rendered insects and flowers, surrounded by pale-blue tessellation. Roundels and flower panels punctuate the green, white, and yellow diaper ground on the curved walls. Dragons, with gold highlights, eddy through clouds on the underside of the dish. This forms a dramatic contrast to the central design on the base, which sees a pink peony set against a yellow cracked ice pattern.The decoration uses the famille rose palette of pink, green, blue, yellow, and aubergine enamels; the graduated tones allowing for the creation of more naturalistic designs. The application of enamels in the famille rose palette was especially popular during the reigns of the Yongzheng emperor (1723–35) and the Qianlong emperor (1736–95). The dish was likely made in Canton for the growing export market with the West at the time.
