Lot 3674. A famille-rose 'three goats' vase, Seal mark and period of Daoguang (1821-1850). Estimate 600,000 — 800,000 HKD. Unsold. Photo: Sothebys.

of baluster form with a globular body rising to a tall waisted neck flanked by a pair of elephant-head handles, the body painted in pastel tones with three goats in a garden amid peonies, camellias and trees, set between two bands of stylised trefoil ruyi lappets, the neck detailed with a pair of formal lotus flowerheads with scrolling offshoots reserved on a lime-green ground, the splayed foot with a narrow green band with similar lotus scrolls, the turquoise-enamelled base with an iron-red six-character seal mark within a white cartouche; 32 cm, 12 5/8  in.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 11th April 2008, lot 3025.

Note! The 'Three Rams' (sanyang) design represents a change of fortune with the arrival of Spring and the New Year. The three rams are often shown together with the rising sun (taiyang) to form the rebus for 'three goats (yang) bring prosperity'. The Yijing [Book of Changes] first mentions the phrase sanyang referring to the three male lines, called tai, that symbolise heaven. The tai is positioned under three female lines called kun that represent earth. Hence the phrase sanyang kaitai which means the New Year brings renewal and a change of fortune. See a larger vase with very similar composition except with a Shendetang mark (Daoguang period) and bamboo handles, sold in our New York rooms, 30th March 2006, lot 354.

Sotheby's, Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 Oct 2016