The vase is carved in rock crystal in the form of a vase set on top of a phoenix, which in turn is set on a carved giltwood base. The giltwood base, set on scrolling acanthus-leaf form feet, was probably made later than the vase. The vase dates from around 1800, in the period known as the Jiaqing period, after the Jiaqing Emperor who ruled between 1796 and 1820.