Franz Porcelain Collection | Papillon Butterfly | Butterfly Spoon | FZ00142 | Designed by Jen Woo | Sculpted by Ming Lei | c.2003

Small things rarely carry this much intention.

The spoon is formed as a slender, gently tapering stem that opens into a shallow oval bowl at one end, rising at the other into a fully sculptural grouping. A narcissus bloom, rendered in cream with a yellow centre, supports a butterfly poised mid-rest, its wings spread in warm orange-peach tones with brown veining and white-spotted tips.

The stem is glazed in soft green with fine incised veining, shifting through celadon into ivory at the bowl. The interior graduates from ivory to a pale celadon-blue wash at the tip. The underside carries the underglaze blue Franz mark together with the red seal stamp.

The piece is in mint, unused condition. There are no chips, cracks, or losses of any kind. All sculptural elements remain crisp and intact. The original Franz presentation box is included.

Key Details

• Maker: Franz Porcelain Collection
• Series: Papillon Butterfly
• Design number: FZ00142
• Designer: Jen Woo
• Sculptor: Ming Lei
• Form: Spoon
• Material: Porcelain
• Date: c.2003
• Weight: 12g
• Dimensions: Available on request
• Condition: Mint, unused
• Box: Original Franz presentation box, included

Collector Appeal

Within the Franz Porcelain Collection, smaller sculptural forms such as this spoon are rarely kept as standalone pieces — they are acquired as part of building out the Papillon Butterfly series. Early designs from this range remain among the most recognisable and consistently collected Franz output, and examples in mint condition with original packaging are increasingly held rather than re-entering the market. Pieces of this kind tend to be purchased not only for their own detail, but for their role in completing a broader, cohesive grouping.

The smallest pieces often leave the clearest record of how carefully something was made.