A BLUE AND WHITE 'DRAGON' PORCELAIN SHARD Early Ming DynastyA BLUE AND WHITE 'DRAGON' PORCELAIN SHARDEarly Ming DynastyDepicting the head of dragon with large bulging eyes below swirling clouds, the shard forming a section of a large jar.21cm (8 1/4in) longThe dragon bears a resemblance to that depicted on the Xuande mark and period jar illustrated in Valenstein, Suzanne G. A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975, pl. 82. Compare also to a shard from a large jar with masks and dragons excavated from the Xuande strata at the site of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, illustrated in Chang Foundation, Xuande Imperial Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1998, no. F-17.