A FINE AND HIGHLY AUSPICIOUS TURQUOISE-GROUND FAMILLE-ROSE 'EIGHT BOYS' PORCELAIN BOTTLE VASE, TIANQIUPING China The vase is richly adorned with numerous symbols in the famille rose palette on a turquoise ground. Hundred iron-red bats are flying amidst a turquoise sky. Eight boys in total are depicted in the round / ronde-bosse. Three of them are climbing up the vase with the assistance of a laced red knot while four others are either seating or standing on the shoulder of the vase. H: 35,5 cm Notes: 1. The depiction of five boys on the shoulder of our vase is particularly auspicious, as it signifies the saying wu zi deng ke, referring to the supreme achievement of one family whose five sons passed the civil service examination. 2. The vase is also an auspicious symbol, as the word for vase, ping, contains the homophone for the word for peace, ping an. 3. Hundred bats are also highly auspicious as a picture of a bat (fu 蝠) can be a visual pun for good fortune or happiness (fu 福) because both characters are pronounced fu. 4. A laced red knot is also a symbol of good luck and fortune. 5. For a related vase at public auction, though dated to the Qianlong period, see Christie's London, 2016/05/10, lot 78, sold for GBP322.500. 6. For a Qianlong mark and period imperial vase with only three boys form the Qing Court Collection in the Palace Museum in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 39 - Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 158, pl. 140. 精致吉祥绿松石粉彩“八童”瓷花瓶，天球瓶 中国