A massive Chinese famille rose 'mille fleur' dish, Republic (1912-1949).
Fully decorated in famille rose colours with mixed flowers including chrysanthemum, peony, daylily, magnolia etc. The reverse with a seal mark in red. Diameter 47.5 cm.
Chips.
Provenance
Property of a private Finnish collector.
Literature
The dense arrangement of various flowers decorating this dish is known as wanhuajin (myriad flower brocade), as well as baihuadi (ground of one hundred flowers), and, according to T. T. Bartholomew in Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 2006, p. 146, during the Qing dynasty the design conveyed the hope that the Qing dynasty "would last as long as flowers continue to bloom."
More information
The 'mille fleur' decoration, meaning the "thousand flowers design" first appears in the late Yongzheng period - and becoming extremely popular during the Qianlong era, and was carried on throughout the Qing dynasty and well in to the Republic period.
The design is thought to symbolize "all the flowers bestow their blessings".