A delicate Chinese export saucer executed in the fine black line style known as en grisaille or encre de Chine, 
highlighted with rouge de fer enamel and gilding. The translucent near eggshell-thin porcelain is decorated with a finely painted domestic scene of a lady sewing at a table with a friend, as a half-dressed little boy cavorts near the servant who brings tea. Atop the table are books, a brush pot (bitong), and a wooden stand bearing a censer and a vase containing coral branches and ruyi sprig. A band of gold and black fruiting and flowering vines frames the scene beneath a black double band to the rim.

Produced early in the 乾隆 Qianlong reign, the exquisite painting quality exhibits a mastery of drawing, from the detailed rouge de fer wood grain of the table, to the graceful poses of the women, as well as superb shading technique shown in both the flowing robes and subtlety of the skin tones. Interior scenes such as these were done purely in Chinese taste, but proved very popular with Western consumers, even if they must have been puzzled at some of the furniture shown.
清代 Qing Dynasty, 乾隆 Qianlong Period (1736-1795)
Diameter:  4-1/2" (11.5 cm)
Condition: Excellent,  with a 0.6 cm glaze frit to the rim and slight wear to the rim gilding, 
and one flake to the child's coat.
Reference: For matching border decoration and domestic scenes see 
China for the West, Howard and Ayers, London and New York, 1978, vol.I, page 168, nos. 158-159.
Please refer to item #EX-222 when inquiring.