An underglaze blue-ground and yellow-enameled 'Dragon' dish, Daoguang seal mark and period. Estimate 8,000 — 12,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's

the center medallion well-painted with a writhing dragon in pursuit of a 'flaming pearl' amid flames and cloud scrolls, the cavetto with two further striding dragons, repeated on the exterior all on a rich cobalt blue ground, seal mark in underglaze blue. Diameter 9 7/8  in., 25.1 cm

Provenance: Collection of Stephen Alexander Hunter (1851-1923), acquired while serving as a missionary in China from 1879-1891, and thence by descent.

Note: This dish comes directly from the fourth generation descended from Rev. Stephen Hunter. The Rev. Hunter received a medical degree in 1878 and the next year was sent to Shandong province to engage in missionary work.  Among his accomplishments, he established a church in Jinan in 1881. During his thirteen years in China he mastered the language and exchanged views on medical practice with local doctors. Upon his return to the United States he undertook the translation of Peter Wyatt Squire's Companion to the British Pharmacopeia, entitled Wanguo yaofang, translation by Hong Shiti (Stephen Hunter). He also brought home a large collection of hundreds of artifacts and souvenirs from his stay and arranged the exhibition of some of his collection in 1895. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 15 sept. 2015