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Dish of saucer shape with rounded sides, the base with the six-character mark of Hongzhi. On the interior between bands a five-clawed dragon amidst lotus scrolls. Around the well eight floral medallions, the rim with two bands. On the exterior two dragons amidst lotus scrolls. The well with smudges of copper-red.
The dish shows a dragon prancing on its forelegs, its five-clawed feet referring to the emperor. Dragons prancing on their forelegs appear already on ceramics of the Song dynasty (960-1279). From the Chenghua reign (1467-1485) onwards dragons are found prancing amidst lotus.That this dish with an imperial mark has left the Jingdezhen kilns is remarkable. The copper red smudges obviously make it a faulty product. With this kind of imperfections an imperial porcelain object usually faced destruction. The dish was acquired in the late twenties in Peking. Dishes of this type are in several western collections. A dish with a rare design of a prancing dragon amidst water plants and a Xuande mark is in the British Museum.
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