Chinese Qing Dynasty Period, Qianlong blue & white phoenix and floral motif porcelain plate. The porcelain potted in shallow vessel form, thick and large, with broad wide central interior, rounded cavetto gently tapering to open wide, with a straight open lip, raised with round shallow draft, slight concave base. All reserved in hand painting ornamentations, rendered in clean white under glazed ground color which contrast against the blue fine color. The center interior medallion adorned with couple flying phoenix among big lotus flowers blooms interspersed with scrolling tendril and foliage, banded and enclosed with double fine rings on the middle and on the outer mouth rim. The Chinese phoenix is considered the representative of all feathered creatures. The phoenix is such an important bird in Chinese symbolism that we have a separate section dedicated to it, it is is put in the same section as dragons as the phoenix and dragon are paired, the dragon represents the Emperor and yang, the phoenix the Empress and yin. To use the name phoenix is a bit misleading as there is no legend in China about reincarnation from ashes as there is about the Egyptian mythical bird. In China it was a god of the winds. The vermillion red phoenix represents the most important of directions - south. In symbolism the dragon and phoenix together represent a married couple. The phoenix alone is a symbol of joy and peace, it heralds the coming of auspicious days just like the qilin. The Lines of the drawings are clear, the light and dark shades are subtle. The colors are harmonious, elegant and exquisite, the composition is sophisticated, simply a feast for the eye. The clay is very fine, with a brilliant glaze finish that was applied by a meticulous, the shape is uniformly proportioned. Mark on under base, a six under glazed blue seal script characters reign mark, QianLong Reign Period of Great Qing Dynasty. Dimensions: 8.125"L x 1.5"H