Over-Grown: The Conservation of a Qing Dynasty Famille Rose Dish

Conservator Sarah Hoynes and I co-authored a magazine article for the 2024 summer issue of Arts of Asia, entitled ‘Over-Grown: The Conservation of a Qing Dynasty Famille Rose Dish’. The article was part of a special issue focusing on Fitzwilliam curator James Lin’s ongoing Thirteen Hongs project.

The article focused on MAR.87-1912, a porcelain dish fired in Jingdezhen and decorated in Canton for export between 1723 and 1735. The dish is decorated with a voluminous flower filled lantern, and a subsequent owner over-painted a crack with their own floral design in imitation of this motif.

We highlighted how complex threads of desire and imitation pervaded the dish’s making and repair. Famille rose was itself an imitation of European enamel colours; Missionary Matteo Ripa complained in 1716 that he was confined to the Imperial workshops by Emperor Kangxi with the charge of imitating the pink of this pallet. In parallel, the dish is export-ware, and the repair itself is a European owner’s attempt to work in sympathy with the Chinese subject.

Sarah and I showed the need to draw together conservation decision-making and historical research in complex cases like this, and showcased the final treatment. Sarah consolidated the floral over-painting, cementing it as an intervention worthy of preserving within a Museum context, while stabilising the crack it concealed to return the dish to display condition.