Blue and white 'Dragon' dish, Ming dynasty, Zhengde mark and period (1506-1521). Height: 24.8 cm, Diameter: 4.5 cm. Bequeathed by Sir John M Addis, 1984,0202.8 © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

Porcelain dish with underglaze blue decoration. On first glance this dish appears to be identical to BM Franks.303+, but in fact its potting, shape and the execution of its decoration are all different. This dish is much thicker and heavier. It has a distinct profile with rounded sides, a flaring rim and a generous tapering foot. The blue decoration is paler and the dragons fatter and more comical than menacing. Its rim is repaired. The dish has a glazed base bearing a four-character Zhengde reign mark within a double ring.