A rare Meissen octagonal plate, circa 1740. Photo: Bonhams.

Painted in Famille rose style with scholar's objects in the centre and a foliate-edged border of flowers reserved against a ground of scrolls, 24cm diam., crossed swords mark in underglaze-blue, impressed 22 (very minor flaking). Estimate £4,000 - 6,000 (€5,000 - 7,500)

A similar plate was in the Hoffmeister Collection, Hamburg; see D. Hoffmeister, Meissener Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts (1999), vol. I, no. 184 for other examples of this rare 'Famille Rose' decoration. Other examples are in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (Liackhova 2007, no. 55), and in the Schneider Collection, Schloss Lustheim, Munich (J. Weber, Meißener Porzellane mit Dekoren nach ostasiatischen Vorbildern (2013), vol. II, nos. 414 and 415).

Bonhams. FINE EUROPEAN CERAMICS. London, New Bond Street, 18 Jun 2014 - http://www.bonhams.com/