Lot 593. A square white jade 'dragon' belt plaque, Ming dynasty; 5.6cm high. Sold for HK$ 37,500 (€ 4,452). © Bonhams.

The square frame enclosing a centralised dragon with carefully incised scales against a heavily reticulated ground filled with intense floral sprays, intertwined branches and leafy sprays, the translucent matrix of fairly even milky white hue with minimal natural fissure lines along the extremities.

Note: The nature of the decorative theme of the present lot has their preceding prototypes originating from the Yuan dynasty. See a comparable square white jade dragon plague in the British Museum collection, illustrated by Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jades from the Neolithic to the Qing, Chicago, 1995, p. 341, no. 25:21.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 24 Nov 2012, Hong Kong, Admiralty