This plate is a splendid example of the fusion of Chinese and Japanese tastes that is sometimes found in Chinese ceramics produced during the early years of the eighteenth century. A distinctive five-claw imperial dragon chasing a flaming pearl, which exemplifies early-eighteenth-century Chinese dragons at their finest, commands the center of this impressive porcelain. The creature is improbably juxtaposed with an unmistakably Japanese-style border design, in which undulating lines form cloud-shaped cartouches containing bold kiku chrysanthemum sprays.

The preeminent Jingdezhen kiln complexes in China's Jiangxi Province had been challenged by the commercial success of the so-called Imari porcelains that were being exported in quantity to Europe from kilns in Arita, Japan. Accordingly, they appropriated the Imari palette of underglaze blue, overglaze iron red, and gold, as well as many of the Imari designs, for the decoration of their own "Chinese Imari" porcelains.

In a further step enamels from the Chinese famille verte palette were occasionally added to the primary colors of Imari porcelains to create a new category of "Chinese Imari"–style wares. In still another variant of this type of decoration, seen here, the gold of the original Japanese palette could be completely omitted.