Lobed box with dragon. Porcelain with underglaze cobalt-blue decoration. Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province 江西省, 景德鎮. Ming dynasty, Longqing mark and period, AD1567–72. H: 77 mm. D: 124 mm. PDF A656. On loan from Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art. British Museum. © Trustees of the British Museum

Small covered porcelain box. Seven rounded lobes with star-shaped top and foot. Underglaze blue with dual fruit and flower sprays. Narrow band of classic scrolls above and below central junction. Frontal five-clawed dragon amid clouds on top. There is an inscription on the base.

Government kilns had access to the finest raw materials including imported cobalt. Imported cobalt is far superior to the blue pigment found locally to Jingdezhen in, for example, Leping 樂平 and Ruizhou 瑞州. After grinding for a long time, it appeared almost deep purple when fired beneath a transparent blue-tinged glaze. The form of this box is very unusual. Longqing (AD1567–72) ceramics are particularly rare as the emperor only reigned for six years. Stylistically they relate closely to Jiajing and Wanli imperial wares. 

Bibliographic reference: Medley, Margaret, Volume 7: Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 7 of 12, Tokyo, Kodansha ltd, 1975

Pierson, Stacey, Designs as Signs: Decoration and Chinese Ceramics, London, Percival David Foundation, 2001 

Scott, Rosemary and Kerr, Rose, Ceramic Evolution in the Middle Ming Period, London, Victoria and Albert Museum and Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 1994 

Medley, Margaret, Illustrated Catalogue of Underglaze Blue and Copper Red Decorated Porcelains, London, University of London, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, School of Oriental and African Studies, 1976 

Pierson, Stacey, Illustrated Catalogue of Underglaze Blue and Copper Red Decorated Porcelains in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, University of London, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, School of Oriental and African Studies, 2004 

Scott, Rosemary, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art: A Guide to the Collection, London, SAOS, Univeristy of London, 1989 

Pierson, Stacey, Blue and White for China: Porcelain Treasures in the Percival David Collection, London, Percival David Foundation, 2004