blue and white plate with iron red color

[Stan]

I Have a pair of plates that are 24.3 cm wide, this is one of them, the decoration looks primitive, I think they are red squirrels, I would like to know how old these are, thank you.

[peterp]

Hi Stan,
This could as well be mine! It resembles it very much, even down to the red stamps on the bottom.
This type of plate is fairly common, some have other motifs. They were probably made for the common people; the bottom usually remains unglazed.

This is generally attributed to the Yongzheng reign, the brown color in the underglaze blue decoration is underglaze red, turned brown due to lack of control in the kiln. And no, these are not squirrels, they depict magpies and the background shows plum blossoms.

One thing that can be said about non-export Chinese ceramics like these is that the decoration objects often depict items, figures or motifs that have an auspicious meaning in Chinese culture. Magpies represent 'happiness' ( 喜 ), due to the meaning of the first character  in their Chinese name.   

I don't think squirrels appear in any decorations, by the way.

[Stan]

Yongzheng period, that great thanks Peter, and thanks for the correct animals Magpies.