The Waterdance service features delicately-colored carp, catfish and chong gue chong fish interpreted from Chinese watercolors originally created for export between 1790 and 1850 for the British market. Watercolors featuring flowers, fruits, birds and fish, painted by anonymous Chinese artists were highly sought after by Europeans and Americans for their fine quality and life-like character. The fish that inspired the design for the service are from a set of watercolor drawings now in the Winterthur Library.
