A RARE PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE PLAQUES Qianlong (2)A RARE PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE PLAQUESQianlong One delicately painted in bright enamels with the Three Star Gods, Fu Lu Shou, engaged in various pursuits within a fenced garden with pine trees, rockworks and rivers, the other with the Five Gods of the Wufang, Wu Lao, admiring a scroll painting of a Taiji diagram held by two attendants, all in front of a small waterfall set within a rocky landscape, all finely detailed in pink enamel with gilt details, the faces of each Immortal realistically rendered in fine detail with subtle shading, the central panel within a gilt border on a finely-engraved green sgraffiato ground. Each, 53cm (20 7/8in) high x 38cm (15in) wide. (2).清乾隆 粉彩仙人獻壽圖瓷板掛屏一對The 'Five Gods of Wufang' (Wulaojun ) are the five-fold manifestation of the Supreme God of Heaven in Chinese mythology. They are considered to be the physical manifestation of the Daoist creator and theological concept, Tian, 'heaven'. Each of the Five Gods is represented by a particular colour: Huangdi as the Yellow Deity, Cangdi as the Blue-green Deity, Heidi as the Black Deity, Chidi as the Red Deity, and Baidi as the White Deity. The concept of the Five Gods was important in early Chinese culture and philosophy, concerning ideas about the night sky and beliefs about the afterlife. They represented the five sacred Chinese mountains, the five most important planets in the solar system, the five directions of space, and the five major constellations that rotate around the North Star. The description of the 'Five Gods of Wufang' admiring a scroll with a Taiji diagram (symbolising the centre of the universe) became a popular theme in Song dynasty literature and later in decorative arts.The Three Star Gods, Fu, Lu and Shou are the gods of the three constellations and the embodiment of Wealth (Fu), Prosperity (Lu), and Longevity (Shou). As exemplified by the present lot, the God of Wealth is shown in the red robe of a state official with a ruyi sceptre in his hands; the God of Prosperity is shown in the robe of a ministerial vice director holding a boy in his arms; and the God of Longevity as an old man standing next to a deer, holding a peach branch.See a closely-related famille rose 'Eight Immortals' plaque, Qianlong, with similar meticulous execution of the details, which was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29 November 2018, lot 424.