Franz Porcelain Collection | Papillon Butterfly | Butterfly Tray | XP1694 | Designed & Sculpted by Jen Woo | c.2001

There are pieces made to be used, and pieces made to be kept — this one makes the distinction feel unnecessary.

Franz Collection was founded in Taiwan in 2001 by Chen Li-Heng, building on nearly two decades of OEM porcelain production through Seagull Decor. From the outset, the company positioned itself apart from conventional tableware manufacturers — producing porcelain that functioned as both object and sculpture. Production in Jingdezhen, China’s historic porcelain centre, ensured technical consistency, while design remained under the direction of Franz’s in-house artists.

The Papillon Butterfly series — among the earliest and most celebrated of Franz’s collections — established the visual language that would define the brand: naturalistic forms, three-dimensional modelling, and a palette drawn from botanical observation. The series received international recognition, including Best in Gift at the New York International Gift Fair in 2002, and remains among the most widely collected of Franz’s output.

The tray is of broad, shallow oval form with gently rising sides, its scale immediately setting it apart from smaller functional pieces within the range. The interior surface graduates from warm ivory at the centre through soft celadon toward the rim, creating a quiet ground for the applied decoration.

To one side, a sculpted handle rises organically from the body in the form of a looping leaf blade — green at its base, softening to pale yellow-cream at the tip, with fine linear striation lending it structure and realism. Across the interior, an open lily bloom are applied in relief: white petals with a soft pink flush at the centre, accompanied by long, arching green leaves that sweep across the surface in a controlled, naturalistic composition.

At the opposing rim, a fully three-dimensional butterfly perches as the focal point of the piece. Its wings are spread and slightly raised, painted in graduated tones of orange-peach and yellow with brown veining and white-spotted tips. A slender tail extends below the body, completing the sense of movement held in suspension.

The underside is plain white porcelain. The base carries the underglaze blue Franz mark, the red seal stamp, design number XP1694, and the hand-applied signature of Jen Woo. The original Franz presentation box is present.

There are no chips, cracks, crazing, or restoration. All applied sculptural elements — including the handle, floral composition, and butterfly — are intact. Condition is consistent with unused storage.

• Grade: Mint / Unused
• Maker: Franz Porcelain Collection
• Series: Papillon Butterfly
• Design Number: XP1694
• Designer & Sculptor: Jen Woo
• Form: Butterfly tray / ornamental platter
• Material: Hand-painted porcelain
• Date: c.2001
• Dimensions: 36 cm (L) × 21 cm (W) × 4 cm (H)
• Weight: 1,108 g
• Marks: Underglaze blue Franz mark; red seal; XP1694; Jen Woo signature
• Includes: Original Franz presentation box

Collector Appeal

This is one of the larger and more visually commanding forms within the early Papillon Butterfly range, produced at the point where Franz was establishing its international identity. Trays of this scale and complexity were made in lower volumes than core service pieces and are less frequently encountered in unused condition with original packaging. The combination of size, sculptural ambition, and early production date positions it firmly as a display-led collector’s piece rather than a purely functional object.

What Franz achieved with pieces like this was not to elevate tableware, but to quietly remove it from that category altogether.