Chinese blue and white porcelain 'boy dish' with Ming mark to base, 19th century

A super cute porcelain plate with Ming dynasty markings, although more likely late 19th or early 20th century. The hand painted motif is of a boy ratting in a farmyard. 

‘Reign marks’ are often found on the base of artworks and they record the dynasty and emperor during which the piece was made. However, ‘apocryphal marks’ are found very often on Chinese porcelain – Chinese potters routinely copied reign marks from earlier dynasties, not necessarily to fool any buyers, but simply out of a respect and reverence for these earlier periods. 

14.8 cm diam.

Wallpaper swatch: Papyrus by Lewis & Wood