AN UNDERGLAZE-BLUE AND YELLOW-ENAMELED 'DRAGON' DISH Daoguang seal mark and of the periodPROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTIONAN UNDERGLAZE-BLUE AND YELLOW-ENAMELED 'DRAGON' DISHDaoguang seal mark and of the periodCentered with a five-clawed dragon writhing amidst clouds and flame scrolls in pursuit of a flaming pearl within a single-line border, the theme repeated with two further dragons at the cavetto and again with two dragons to the exterior, the dragons, clouds, and flames all picked out in overglaze yellow enamel against an underglaze-blue ground, the base bearing the six-character mark in underglaze blue.9 3/4in (24.7cm) diam. Provenance:Dr. Stephen Alexander Hunter (1851-1923), thence by descent.Dr. Stephen A. Hunter (1851-1923) was an American physician, Presbyterian minister, translator, and author who lived in Jinan, Shandong province with his wife and children from 1879 to 1891, during the reign of the Guangxu emperor (r. 1875-1908). Before arriving in China, he earned a bachelor's degree from Washington and Jefferson College (1876), a master's degree in divinity from Western Theological Seminary (1876), and a doctorate in medicine from Jefferson Medical College (1878). Shortly after finishing his studies, Dr. Hunter moved to Shandong, where he attended to the physical and spiritual health of the community as a Presbyterian medical missionary. While there, he learned the language and went by the name Hong Shiti 洪士提. Under this name, he wrote a Chinese language translation of Peter Wyatt Squire's Companion to the British Pharmacopeia, entitled Wanguo yaofang 萬國藥方, Shanghai: Meihua shuguan, 1890, which included a preface by the renowned viceroy and statesman Li Hongzhang 李鴻章 (1823-1901). He also published on theological topics, including Analysis of Hebrews (c. 1890, Chinese language) and Studies in the Book of Revelation (1921, English language). Upon their return to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dr. Hunter and his family brought hundreds of artworks and objects from Asia, and exhibited and published them four years later in Chinese and Japanese Curios Collected by the Rev. S. A. Hunter, LL.D., Missionary to China, South Side Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, 28 October - 2 November 1895. Parts of the collection have remained in the family for four generations.