Franz Porcelain Collection | Orange Butterfly | Spoon | FZ00491 | Designed by Jen Woo | Sculpted by Ho Shun | c.2003

Some objects resist being put away — this is one of them.

The spoon is formed as a long, sinuous handle that curves from a small hanging loop at the top down into a shallow oval bowl. The upper section is glazed in a dusky rose-mauve, scattered with raised white dots that suggest the surface of a wing. As the handle widens, it transitions through amber-yellow and soft lavender, opening into a butterfly wing form with finely modelled vein detail. At the junction of handle and bowl, a fully sculpted butterfly body in brown anchors the composition, with orange-amber wings extending outward in low relief.

The bowl is ivory-white, graduating to soft celadon at the tip, finished with a narrow pink-mauve band at the rim. The underside carries the underglaze blue Franz mark and red seal stamp.

The spoon is in mint, unused condition. There are no chips, cracks, or loss of any kind. All sculptural elements are intact. The original Franz presentation box is included.

Key Details

• Maker: Franz Porcelain Collection
• Series: Orange Butterfly
• Design number: FZ00491
• Designer: Jen Woo
• Sculptor: Ho Shun
• Form: Spoon
• Material: Porcelain
• Copyright date: 2003
• Weight: 14g
• Dimensions: Available on request
• Condition: Mint, unused
• Box: Original Franz presentation box, included

Collector Appeal

Within the Franz range, smaller sculptural pieces such as this are often acquired as part of a broader series rather than as standalone objects. Early 2000s designs from the butterfly groups remain among the most recognisable of the production, and boxed examples in unused condition are increasingly retained in collections, with fewer returning to the secondary market.

A spoon shaped as a butterfly is an unlikely idea — until it is made well enough to feel inevitable.