Object Description
Late Qianlong c1790 Cantonese Chinese export porcelain oval drainer painted with the Chinese version of the ‘Willow Pattern’ obviously based on the European ‘Willow Pattern’.
the pattern is painted to show island retreats in a river with fishing boats, a bridge and pagodas with fringed willow trees. The side is painted with a blue border in filled with a hatched pattern
The main part is white with a geometric design of holes to drain the meat which was placed on top of it.
It was and according to potters still is very difficult to fire a flat large piece of porcelain so that it does not warp or acquire firing flaws. This is flat and minus flaws. To fire this in the 18th century with the technology at the kilns was remarkable