A blue and white 'dragon' dish. Ming Dynasty. Photo Sotheby's

the deep rounded sides rising from a tapering foot to an everted barbed rim, decorated in bright cobalt-blue tones with a winged dragon and a flaming pearl surrounded by mountains and foaming waves, the well with interlocking scrolls topped with pomegranate finials, encircled at the wide rim with a trellis border, all separated by line borders, the exterior similarly decorated with a frieze of four pacing winged dragons, all below a foliate scroll the base with a four-character Zhengde mark within a double circle. 31.7cm., 12 1/2 in. Estimate 6,000-8,000 GBP

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. London | 09 Nov 2011 www.sothebys.com