Here for a brief visit and logging on
I wonder whether this piece is not actually a Han Chinese piece? The style of the horned dragons and their depiction reflects a strong Han Chinese influence along with the associated flaming pearl (寳珠)commonly found amongst the Han Chinese to this day. To answer a couple of Ann's questions directly:
1. The "B" symbol appears to be the Chinese character for 'sun'.
2. The 'circle motif enclosing diamonds' distributed through the piece may quite possibly represent old coinage and is also not a specifically Tibetan or Yi motif.
3. Regarding the motifs on the black border: these appear to be a combination of the symbols used to represent the Daoist Eight Immortals 八仙 (Baxian) on the left, namely a fan to represent 鐘離權 (Zhongli Quan) and a gourd to represent 铁拐李 (Tieguai Li). The symbol on the top right black border may possibly be a pair of castanets used to represent 曹國舅 (Cao Guojiu) but the lower right symbol has no counterpart to represent a further member of the Eight Immortals. The symbols on the right may then possibly depict two of the Eight Treasures as follows: top right a pair of rhinoceros horns used to denote happiness and, lower right, a book used to denote good fortune.
I cannot see the "tiger" on this particular piece (usually either very obviously depicted with stripes or in other less direct representations by the character 王 (wang).
The mythical creature on the left is actually a qilin, whilst I think the two animals represented at the top are actually a pair of fu lions.
'Sika' deer are widely distributed across East Asia and are commonly associated with longevity.
I am uncertain as to the distinction between the two birds as crane and phoenix and likewise the attribution "Yi flowers".
It is interesting that all animals are represented in pairs except for the qilin where, in Han Chinese art, it is typically depicted as solitary. Furthermore in this piece the qilin is depicted, unlike all the other animals above/on some flowers and leaves: In Han Chinese folklore, the qilin is the believed to be able to walk on plants and yet not to crush them.