Pattipan on footring, hexagonal ribbed sides, lobed rim. Decorated in encre de chine, iron-red and gold with an interior depiction showing a man wearing a hat removing the shawl or veil from the shoulders of a woman. In the background a bed with curtains. Around the rim a spearhead border. The base is smooth and unglazed. The Western engraving or etching that served as a model for this chine de commande representation is unknown. The subject with obvious erotic connotations conforms to the European fashion for such risqué portrayals. There are a number of widely different variations of this decoration (Hervouët). A pattipan is a porcelain drip-pan for a teapot or milk jug and thus always forms part of a tea or coffee service with the same representation. The pattern around the rim is generally called a 'spearhead’ border, the shape resembling a spearhead; in fact they are stylised ruyi motifs.