A good chinese porcelain blue and white deep dish. Ming Dynasty, Jiajing period (1522-66). Photo Gibson Antiques

painted to the centre with a central winged dragon within a border of flying cranes and cloud scrolls, the rim with precious objects, the underside with a four-character mark `chang ming fu gui' (long life with wealth and honour). 31cm - Price on request

A similar deep dish is illustrated by Maria Antonia Pinto de Matos, Chinese Export Porcelain, from the Museum of Anastacio Goncalves, Lisbon, 1996, p52-53, cat.7. The author also mentions `there is a very similar plate on the ceiling of the `Porcelain Room' in the Santos Palace, the present residence of the French Ambassador in Lisbon'. Other similar examples may be found in the Topkapi Saray Museum.

Gibson Antiques. Telephone: 0044 (0) 7831 645 468 - Fax: 0044 (0) 207 900 6337 - www.gibsonantiques.com