x H: 2 cm
This porcelain plate of shallow form has an underglaze blue decoration in transfer print.During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, imported dinner services from Europe became popular among the more affluent families in Southeast Asia. Transfer decoration was an innovation introduced to the British ceramic industry in the mid 1750s. The process involved a mass-production method of printing an image onto porcelain. The designs of leafy floral sprays that often include wild flowers such as poppies, thistles, daisies and roses, were in keeping with the tradition of drawing inspiration from nature and would have had an exotic appeal in Southeast Asia. These mass-produced designs would have often complemented other European household items of the early 20th century such as lampshades, fabrics and the colourful wall tiles that graced the Peranakan homes. English dinner services including dishes like this example would have been used for formal gatherings such as wedding banquets.
