Antique Chinese plate decoration from Legend of the white snake 19th c #1273

A spectacular and rare plate decorated with a scene from the famous folklore story” The Legend of the White Snake” (白蛇传). You can google the full story but in short it tells the love story between a human and an immortal snake spirit. The scene on the plate is depicting the episode when the snake spirit try to get to her husband who is at the Golden mountain temple. This particular episode of the legend is called” flooding the Golden Mountain Temple” (水漫金山寺). The details of the decoration are simply amazing depicting every part of this episode in such vivid manner. 

Around the rim there is a decoration with alternating pink and green dragons chasing the flaming pearl.

Checked with UV Light. The plate has got two firing cracks to the base. From each of the firing cracks there are glaze lines going in each direction. Only one of these glaze lines can be seen without uv light. The glaze lines are NOT going through to the front side (checked with uv light). Manufacturing flaws and general wear.

Measurements:

Diameter: 25,3 cm

Weight: 541 g