Mottahedeh Tobacco Leaf Dessert Plate

Tobacco Leaf, one of the most prized of Chinese Export patterns, was developed circa 1780. The design shows the leaves of the flowering Nicotiana (Tobacco) plant upon which a small phoenix perches bearing a flowering twig in its beak. The joyous exuberance of the Tobacco Leaf pattern is undiminished by time. Tobacco Leaf is an authorized reproduction for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.