Lot 216. A rare and large famille rose porcelain plaque, Daoguang period (1821-1850). Estimate £3,000 - 5,000. Sold for £31,250 (€36,943). Photo: Bonhams.

Finely enamelled with The Five Ancients gazing at a handscroll depicted with the taiji symbol as young attendants prepare tea, carry books, cups and a zither, below the Hehe Erxian floating in the clouds, all amidst a mountainous landscape with craggy rocks and pine trees, inset within a huanghuali frame on stand. With stand: 114.3cm (45in) high (2).

Note: Delicately enamelled with mythical Daoist imagery and a variety of auspicious flowers and birds, the plaque is imbued with symbolic significance and would have probably been intended as part of a large screen gracing the interior of an Imperial hall. The five figures gazing at the handscroll may symbolise the Five Elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water of the Chinese cosmology, which together with the yin and yang forces, depicted on the handscroll, generated all changes and animated the cosmos.

The brilliant enamels and highly naturalistic facial expressions noted on the present plaque are features characterising porcelain dating to the Jiaqing and Daoguang emperors. Compare with similarly depicted famille rose plaques, inset in a twelve-leaf hardwood screen, Jiaqing/Daoguang, sold at Sotheby's New York, 30 March 2006, lot 190 and the famille rose plaques inset in a twelve-leaf huanghuali screen, Jiaqing, sold in these rooms, 15 May 2014, lot 88.