This Chinese porcelain dish was hand painted during the Kangxi period, circa 1710.
At the center, a Kylin is painted in famille verte enamels within a fenced garden with flowering branches and low green hills.
The qilin is an auspicious but fearsome mythical creature in Chinese tradition, associated with justice, virtue, and good fortune for the righteous.
Painted in warm iron red, the mythical creature is animated and expressive, its large head turned upward, its mouth open, teeth bared.
Four fan-shaped reserves surround the center, painted with birds, insects, flowering plants and grasses.
They are set against a rich powder-blue ground decorated in gilt with scrolling foliage and stylized floral blooms.
The contrast between the deep mottled blue ground, the white reserves and the famille verte enamels makes the dish especially lively.
The surviving gilding further defines the decoration.
The reverse is decorated with iron-red flower sprays.
Dimensions: 8.35 inches diameter
Condition: Very good. There is light wear to the gilding on the powder-blue ground. A half-inch flat flake on the reverse has been invisibly restored.
Decoration: Powder-blue ground with gilt decoration and famille verte reserves
Material: Porcelain
Origin: China
Period: Kangxi, 1662–1722
Date: Circa 1710