The present dish is exquisitely painted in the refined taste and style characteristic of the Qianlong period, using a beautifully balanced and harmonious palette. Depicted on its surface is the Daoist immortal Magu, elegantly rendered and accompanied by a deer and an attendant as she stands atop rolling waves. Magu is a central figure in Chinese mythology, celebrated for her longevity and famed for witnessing the “three times the sea turned into mulberry fields,” an idiom symbolizing vast cosmic transformation. As a key deity in birthday celebrations, she is often shown presenting auspicious gifts such as peaches of immortality or lingzhi fungus to the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu). The inclusion of the deer, whose name, lu, is a homophone for “official’s salary”, further enhances the theme of prosperity and long life. The unique portrayal of the figures traversing waves likely alludes to Magu’s legendary connection with the Eastern Sea, evoking her divine passage between the celestial and mortal realms. A slightly smaller painted enamel dish with related design sold at Bonhams London, 7 June 2021, lot 663.