A Chinese Famille Rose Plaque set in an original carved wood frame, circa 1900

A Chinese Famille Rose Plaque set in an original carved wood frame, circa 1900

the porcelain plaque delicately enamelled the story of Diao Chan worshipping the moon in garden from the Romance of the Three Kingdons. The plaque painted with Diao Chan and Wang Yun, her adoptive father standing on a veranda, a lady attendant behind them holding a fan, with narcissus trees in the foreground and background and a crescent shape moon in the distance, the contemporary hardwood frame fret carved with a border of stylised scrolling lotus.

The back of the plaque has a calligraphy inscription of the Biography of the Song of Unending Sorrow (Chang Hen Ge Zhuan) by Chen Hong in Tang dynasty. The signature of the writing "Painted by Zhang Pinzhai" (Zhang Pinzhai hui) at the end of the inscription indicated Zhang probably was the artist who painted the porcelain plaque. The content of the writing is about the love stroy between Emperor Tang Xuanzhong and Yang Yuhuan (also Yang Guifei), one of the four beauties in Chinese history.

Three large characters underneath the title of the inscription are Gong Hua Li.