A very attractive Chinese export porcelain hot water serving dish, decorated in Famille Rose enamels with a central Mandarin scene of what appears to be a scholar and his assistant on a garden terrace, the servant presenting a letter to a rather dodgy-looking messenger with a rather menacing-looking staff. The nuances of this meeting are lost as one is distracted by the totally charming fish-decorated border where koi and crayfish and crabs cavort amongst foam-green flower-strewn waves. Measuring 10 1/2″ spout to spout and in very good condition. Circa 1820.