Plate, 10 inches diameter. Blue transfer. Printed maker's mark for Davenport. The pattern name most likely is a reference to the 1869 opening of the Suez Canal, dating this piece to c. 1869-1887. The pattern features a central image composed of a patch of pond with waterlilies. A scraggly tree with small blooms and leaves, and a bird perched on a twiggy branch, grows behind this patch. Another bird in flight swoops down towards a flying insect to the right. The asymmetrical border consists of a ribbon twisted around a cattail stalk. The rim is decorated with a narrow, continuous rope.

John Davenport was an apprentice to Thomas Wolfe at Stoke and then worked in partnership with him as a china manufacturer in Liverpool. In 1793 Davenport took over John Brindley's pottery factory at Longport. John Davenport died c. 1830 and the business was continued by his sons Henry and William who extended the works. When Henry died, the business name was changed to W. Davenport & Co. After William died in 1869 the business was continued by his son Henry (grandson of the original founder John Davenport) until its closure in 1887.