Lot 657. A large blue and white 'dragon' dish, Jiajing mark and period (1522-1566). Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 USD. Lot sold 68,750 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

with gently rounded sides rising from a slightly tapered foot, boldly painted to the center with a five-clawed dragon leaping amidst clouds, all framed within three single line borders, the exterior with two further dragons striding in pursuit of 'flaming pearls', the six-character reign mark inscribed in a horizontal line within a rectangular cartouche beneath the rim, the base unglazed, Japanese wood box (2). Diameter 17 1/4  in., 43.7 cm

Note: Compare a slightly larger dish of this design in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, illustrated in An Exhibition of Blue-Decorated Porcelain of the Ming Dynasty, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1949, cat. no. 109. Another example, of the same size as the present dish, was sold in our London rooms, 5th December 1995, lot 397. A third smaller dish, formerly in the collection of M.S. Whitehouse was included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition of Chinese Blue and white Porcelain, 14th to 19th Centuries, London, 1954, cat. no. 152, and was later sold in our London rooms, 9th June 1992, lot 234. 

Blue and white 'dragon' basin, Jiajing mark and period (1522-1566) © 2017 Philadelphia Museum of Art

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 15 Mar 2017, 10:30 AM