A RARE IMPERIAL FAMILLE ROSE 'BOYS' JAR Daoguang seal mark and of the periodA RARE IMPERIAL FAMILLE ROSE 'BOYS' JARDaoguang seal mark and of the periodThe ovoid body finely enamelled with an older boy clothed in a pink-enamelled robe and wearing a gold official's cap, holding aloft a large golden helmet above his head as four younger boys leap excitedly to reach for it, all set within a 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 at the neck and simple lotus scrolls at the foot, the interior and underside glazed in turquoise. 19.1cm (7 1/2in) high.清道光 松石綠地粉彩「五子奪魁」圖罐 礬紅「大清道光年製」篆書款Provenance: an English private collection 來源：英國私人收藏The charming scene on the present vase depicting five boys fighting for a helmet is a very popular motif in China, meaning 'five boys competing for distinction', which symbolises the blessing for one's son to achieve outstanding results in the Civil Service Examinations. Helmet (kui 魁) is a pun for 'leader', which also indicates first place in the Palace examination. 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 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, 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 at Sotheby's Hong Kong on 7 October 2010, lot 2162.