Lot 306. A green-enamelled ‘dragon’dish, Zhengde mark and period (1506-1521); 22.5cm., 8 7/8 in. Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 GBP. Lot sold 27,500 GBP . Photo Sotheby's.

the shallow rounded sides supported on a short foot, decorated to the interior with a central medallion enclosing a five-clawed dragon writhing among stylised clouds, its head, scaly body and limbs finely incised, reserved on the biscuit and covered with a green enamel, their claws and spikes picked out in green enamel over the glaze, all within a green circle repeated at the rim, the exterior incised with two five-clawed dragons striding above crested waves and rocks, similarly reserved on the biscuit and painted with a green enamel against the white ground, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double-circle.

Provenance: Varr Family Collection, Sweden, acquired in Japan in the 1950s.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, London, 06 Nov 2013