Chinese Yuan Dynasty Period, blue & white qilin plate. The Porcelain potted in shallow vessel form, with broad wide central interior, rounded cavetto gently tapering to open wide, with a flaring opening lip, and raised with round shallow draft, slight concave footing. All reserved hand painted ornamentations are rendered in clean white underglaze base color which contrast against the cobalt blue fine color. Blue and white porcelain in Chinese it is called Qing Hua Ci. It is the most important variety of China’s porcelain. It was originated in the Yuan Dynasty. Its color does not easily fade and durability is longer. It used cobaltous oxide as the colorant. Patterns were directly painted onto the inner body and burnt after glaze was applied on it. The Center interior medallion adorned with flying qilin above rocky hill, among flowers blooms and bamboo tree. The mid interior body decorated with flowers blooms interspersed with scrolling tendril and foliage. The outer rim decorated with geometric and auspicious pattern. Each section banded and enclosed with double fine blue rings. Qilin are extraordinarily beautiful creatures, sparkling like gems and adorned in flames. With their scaly bodies and horned heads, they resemble Chinese dragons, but their legs terminate in delicate hooves, rather than the dragon’s vicious paws, and their tails are lion-like instead of serpentine. Whatever their special attraction, they always move gracefully and dazzle the mortals who see them. Qilin are thought to be a symbol of luck, good omens, protection, prosperity, success, and longevity by the Chinese. Qilin are also a symbol of fertility, and often depicted in decorations as bringing a baby to a family. A characteristic heaped and piled effect, the underglaze grayish-blue concentrates in certain areas, bubbling through the surface of the glaze and turning a deep blue-black. This inadvertently gave texture, energy, and shading to the design. The Lines of the drawings are clear, the light and dark shades are subtle. The underside unglazed, revealed the pale-creme ground revealed and dark grayish brown spotted firing marks and edge-cut foot rim. The clay is very fine, with a brilliant glaze finish that was applied by a meticulous, the shape is uniformly proportioned.Height:2 inWidth: 11.25 inDepth: 11.25 in