Lot 2115. A blue and white 'dragon' dish, Zhengde four-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1506-1521); 8¼ in. (21 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 30,000 - USD 50,000. Price Realized USD 81,250. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014. 

The dish is well-potted with shallow, rounded sides, and is decorated in the center with a five-clawed dragon leaping amidst flower scroll within a double-line border below similar decoration of two racing dragons in the well, which is repeated on the exterior above a band of ruyi heads on the slightly tapered foot ring.

Note: Compare an almost identical Zhengde-marked dish of comparable size (19.9 cm.), illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 11, Yuan and Ming dynasties, Tokyo, 1977, no. 91. Compare a slightly smaller Zhengde-marked dish of the same design in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1987, p. 155, no. 155. A slightly larger Zhengde-marked dish of the same design is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated by S. Valenstein in A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1975, p. 166, no. 161.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 20 - 21 March 2014