Antique Chinese and Japanese Porcelain collector's help and info page

GLOSSARY

Butterfly

Considered in China as also a bird. Symbol of conjugal bliss, of joy and of summer. From its homophony with the Chinese word die meaning "the age of seventy or eighty", it is also an emblem of longevity. In Straits Chinese porcelain specifically, a pair of butterflies symbolizes the spirits of the forefathers. A butterfly or bird approaching a peony = a young man and the woman he loves.

See also:Bird

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