This lovely porcelain (from Clars Auction House dating from the Republic period) ) shows us a phoenix (actually there are a couple you can see, one is hidden on the far right) standing near a peony, a common theme on porcelains.

 

Another standing phoenix with peony, this time from Christies.

But here we have a lovely French Ivory standing phoenix, with peony, sent to us by reader Laurie!

It's a lot of detail to fit on one small tile.

 

 

This fabulous Mahjong box is inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Isn't it magnificent? You will notice the two phoenixes up at the top, surrounding an irregular round shaped object. I would venture to guess that the brass is a stylized peony. Peony brass hardware similar to that is still made today, so it may not be as wild a guess as it would seem! On top of the brass, of course, is a bat. The bat also appears on the bottom of the cabinet, probably between two plum blossoms. Plum blossoms can be recognized by their five petals.