Lot 837. An iron-red-decorated blue and white 'dragon' dish, Wanli six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1573-1619). Estimate USD 15,000 - USD 25,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.

The dish has shallow, slightly rounded sides, and is decorated on the interior with an iron-red, five-clawed dragon chasing a flaming pearl as it leaps amidst crashing waves. The exterior is decorated with a band of eight dragons above crashing waves. 6 ½ in. (16.7 cm.) diam.

Provenance: Mary Clark Thompson (1835-1923) Collection. 
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accessioned in 1923.

Literature: S. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989 ed., p. 188, no. 184.

Note: Compare the similarly decorated Wanli-marked dish of smaller size (14.5 cm.), from the Pilkington Collection,  sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 6 April 2016, lot 43.

Christie's. Collected in America: Chinese Ceramics from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 15 September 2016, New York, Rockefeller Plaza