Lot 20. A blue and white ‘sanduo’ garlic-mouth bottle vase, Daoguang seal mark and period (1821-1850). 28 cm, 11 in. Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 GBP. Lot sold 75,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

the pear-shaped body supported on a spreading foot, tapering to a tall slender neck with a garlic-head mouth and straight mouth rim, the body finely detailed with branches of sanduo (The Three Abundances), fruiting and blossoming sprigs of peach, pomegranate and citron, all above a band of waves and upright lappets at the foot, and below a border of suspending ruyi heads and key-fret bands at the shoulder, the lower waisted neck decorated with a border of double trefoil motifs encircled by pendent lappets, the mouth detailed with a composite floral scroll beneath a key-fret border at the rim, the base with a seal mark in underglaze blue.

Note: This elegant design is inspired by a Yongle period (1403-24) motif depicting branches of flowers and fruit, which has been cleverly adapted to suit the Qing dynasty shape, particularly evident in the floral sprays decorating the cover of the Yongle original to adorn the bulbous head of the Qing version. A closely related vase is published in Illustrated Catalogue of Tokyo National Museum. Chinese Ceramics II, Tokyo, 1980, pl. 568; one, from the collection of Simon Kwan, was included in the exhibition Imperial Porcelain of Late Qing, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1983, cat. no. 1; and another, from the Edward T. Chow and Yangzhitang collections, was sold in these rooms, 19th May 1981, lot 459, and again at Christie’s Singapore, 30th March 1997, lot 201.