A "FAMILLE ROSE" PORCELAIN RETICULATED LANTERN China, Republic period Hexagonal section, the upper side with a moulded profile, the whole external surface richly enamelled with a background of "thousands flowers", an open-worked rectangular panel on each of the six sides with a round medallion to the centre, alternatively painted with a flowers and birds composition or a scene with a child playing, wooden base. 29 cm high Provenance: ambassador Francesco Rausi. Similar porcelain lanterns with the same type of decoration were realized already during the Yongzheng period (see S. Pierson, Chinese Ceramics, Londra 2009, p. 37, fig. 40, for a mid Qing dynasty porcelain lantern in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London).