Lot 108. A green-enamelled incised 'dragon' dish, Chenghua six-character mark (1465-1487); 20.3cm (8in) diam. Estimate £10,000 - 15,000. Sold for £ 879,062 (€ 1,003,553). © Bonhams 2001-2019

Enamelled in the interior within a circle with a writhing five-clawed dragon in pursuit of the 'flaming pearl', the exterior with a further two striding green dragons on an incised ground of crashing waves and flaming pearls.  

Provenance: an English private collection, acquired in the 1920s, and thence by descent.

Note: Compare with a related dish with dragon design in green enamel on a white ground, Chenghua mark and period, in the Percival David Foundation (PDF 707), illustrated by R.Fong, Ming Colours: Polychrome Porcelain from Jingdezhen, London, 2006, pp.94-95, no.38. See also a similar dish with Hongzhi six-character mark and of the period, illustrated by J.Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p.185, no.7:17. Another similar dish, with Hongzhi six-character mark is also illustrated by J.Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, Geneva, 1999, no.67.