Imperial blue and white deep bowl. The base with six-character mark of Jiajing within a double ring in underglaze blue and of the period, 1522-1566. Photo courtesy Marchant

with upright sides and slightly inverted foot, painted with four lobed medallions, two with dragons, two with swooping phoenix between lingzhi clouds, the interior painted in the well with a ruyi-head and floral medallion within a double ring beneath a band of interlocking branches at the rim. 12.8cm diameter. Price on request

• From the collection of Helen and Peter Thompson, collection no. 141.
• A similarly painted cup is illustrated by Peter Y. K. Lam and Li Sukyee in Enlightening Elegance, Imperial Porcelain of the Mid to Late Ming, The Huaihaitang Collection, 2012, no. 26, pp. 150/1.

Marchant. 'Chinese Ceramics Tang to Qing' exhibiting tuesday 6th may - friday 30th may 2014 - http://www.marchantasianart.com/