Vase; China, Qing Dynasty, Daoguang Period, 1821- 1850. Porcelain. Measurements: 58 x 26 cm. Porcelain vase of hexagonal structure that presents ornamentation in relief. This type of ornamentation is known as "Hundrez antieues", it is a miscellaneous or general collection of emblematic forms that includes the Eight Treasures, the Four Treasures, the symbols of the Four Fine Arts (music, chess, calligraphy and painting) along with numerous conventional representations of sacrificial vessels, flowers, animals. Some of the elements included in this ornamentation are; Books: symbols of learning and one of the Four Signs of the Scholar, Brush Holders, Brushes: one of the four signs of the scholar, coral carving, longevity, official promotion. Second grade officials wore a coral button on the hat, Flowers - beauty and harmony, Hand Drum or Daogu, Incense Burner, Lute or Qin - marital happiness, suppression of lust. One of the four signs of the scholar, Palm Leaf (Chiao Yeh) - self-education and peacock feathers: represent official rank among others. Emperor Daoguang, also known by his temple name Emperor Xuanzong of Qing, personal name Mianning, was the seventh emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the sixth Qing emperor to rule China proper, reigning from 1820 to 1850. His reign was marked by "external disasters and internal rebellions." These included the First Opium War and the start of the Taiping Rebellion, which nearly ended the dynasty. Historian Jonathan Spence characterizes Emperor Daoguang as a "well-meaning but ineffective man" who promoted officials who "presented a purist vision even though they had no say in the internal and external problems surrounding the dynasty."