Famille Verte Plate for the Islamic Market

Jingdezhen, China, Late 18th century/ Early 19th century
Porcelain
26cm diameter
Provenance: Sold by P. Kyticas, Cairo, in the first half of the 20th century
Hannah Fielding Collection
Stock no.: A5709

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An unusual famille verte plate made for the Islamic market, dating from the reign of Qianlong or Jiaqing. Contained within a circle of fret, the Basmala is written in cobalt blue in the central medallion, whilst the four cartouches on the rim contain the following dhikr in red:
سُبْحَانَ اللهِ وَالْحَمْدُ للهِ وَلا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَاللهُ أَكْبَرُ
Glory to God, Praise be to God, There is no God but Allah, God is Great.
The Arabic is poorly written, suggesting it was copied by someone with little knowledge of the language.

The dish is decorated with typical motifs of famille verte porcelain. The rim is decorated with a green trellis diaper pattern with pink flowers. It is broken up by the four cloud-shaped cartouches. Examples of trellis rims can be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession nos 14.40.233a,b and 24.80.202), both of which date to the reign of Qianlong. A border of key fret on a green background surrounds the central roundel, which can most commonly be found on foot rings of bowls or the necks of vases, such as an early 19th-century vase in the Metropolitan Museum (accession no. 14.40.222). The cavetto is left plain but for 8 red blossoms. The reverse is decorated with four sprigs of bamboo leaves in red, and the foot is left blank. This decoration is typically seen on plates with the Qianlong reign mark.

Famille verte was mainly produced during the Kangxi era (1662-1722) in Jingdezhen. However, it continued to be produced in small amounts in subsequent reigns. It is thought to have developed from Swatow-ware, a group of export porcelain made in Zhangzhou and characterised by its limited range of colours, particularly iron red and green. Though famille verte porcelain for the Islamic market was produced in Jingdezhen, examples with Arabic inscriptions from this period are extremely rare.

A label reading ‘P. Kyticas Antiquités Objets d’Art’ is stuck on the reverse of this dish. Panayotis Kyticas was a dealer based in Cairo. On his death in 1924, the business retained the name P. Kyticas and was run by his son, Denis P. Kyticas. This dish, part of a set of three, was inherited by the author Hannah Fielding, who grew up in Alexandria, Egypt.

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