53. * RARE VASE EN PORCELAINE DE LA FAMILLE ROSE Marque et époque Daoguang (1821-1850) A RARE FAMILLE ROSE 'BOYS' JAR Daoguang six-character seal mark and of the period The ovoid, slightly tapered body finely enamelled around the exterior with a group of boys, an older boy dressed in a pink-enamelled robe and wearing a gold official's cap, holding a large golden helmet above his head, four younger boys leaping excitedly, all set within a continuous scene of rockwork and pines continuing onto the reverse decorated with a flowering pomegranate branch laden with two heavy fruit bursting open and one unripe fruit, all beneath turquoise-ground ruyi-head borders containing double-seeded lotus scrolls enclosing four bats around the neck, and a band of simple lotus scrolls around the foot, the interior and base glazed turquoise, a six-character seal mark in iron-red to the base. 19.7cm (7 7/8in) high. 清道光 松石綠地粉彩「五子奪魁」圖罐 「大清道光年製」款 The charming scene on the present vase depicting five boys fighting for a helmet is a very popular motif in later Chinese art, representing 'five boys competing for distinction', expressing the wish for one's son to achieve outstanding results in the Civil Service Examinations. A helmet (kui 魁) is a pun for 'leader', which also indicates the wish to succeed in first place in the Palace examinations. The 'five boys' refer to the children of Dou Yujun (竇禹鈞), the scholar, educator and official during the Five Dynasties period (907-960 AD), whose eminent sons achieved remarkable success in the Civil Service Examinations, earning him lasting reverence as the ideal parent. Compare with related Daoguang vases, but decorated with a ruby ground around the elongated neck and foot, such as one depicting children in a Dragon Boat Race, and another decorated with fruiting pomegranate trees, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille-Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pls.189 and 194. A famille rose bottle vase with a Daoguang mark and period, similarly enamelled with four boys in a garden around an older boy wearing a gold official's cap and holding a golden helmet over his head, was sold in Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7 October 2010, lot 216.