This graceful design, with its leaves, berries and butterflies, was derived directly from antique Chinese Palace porcelain. At a time when porcelain was valued because of its rarity, highly prized examples found their way to Europe, and into the hands of avid collectors. Often fitted with mounts of precious metal, they became gifts fit for kings. Many porcelain pieces produced in China during the Kangxi Period (1662-1722) had famille verte decoration — painted in transparent enamel colors, predominantly in shades of green and red. Mottahedeh’s collection is true to the eighteenth century spirit of this pattern.