This blue-and-white porcelain plate is rather rare and is a treasure of China. There are only three of this kind of blue-and-white porcelain plates still available, one in the Beijing Palace Museum, one in the Osaka Municipal Museum of Oriental Ceramics in Japan, and one in the Tianjin Museum. It could represent the top technology of porcelain and it is a first grade Chinese cultural relic.

History of the Object

This blue-and-white porcelain plate, which was designed by an Imperial painter has a very beautiful colour which is a little bit dark. This is because the pigment was imported smaltum. The Paradise flycatcher bird has the meaning of “generous love”, according to "The Book of Birds". Painting a paradise flycatcher on a plate meant that the Emperor wanted to show his belief in generous love.