清乾隆 青花折枝「三多」花果紋蒜頭瓶 《大清乾隆年製》款

the pear-shaped body rising from a spreading foot to a tall waisted neck with a garlic-head mouth and straight lip, painted in bright cobalt-blue tones in the ‘heaped and piled’ effect, the body with alternating flowering and fruiting branches of the sanduo ('The Three Abundances'), pomegranate, citron and peach, arranged in two registers, all above band of upright lappets, the neck encircled by a band of pendent lappets each enclosing double trefoil motifs above a key-fret band and pendent ruyi-heads, the mouth decorated with a floral scroll below a key-fret band at the rim, the foot skirted with a band of waves, inscribed to the base with a six-character seal mark

香港蘇富比1987年5月20日，編號63

The vase is in overall good condition, with particularly strong and attractive cobalt-blue.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The elegant design of branches of flowers and fruit of the present vase is inspired by a motif created in the Yongle period (1403-24), in which six or ten fruiting sprays were painted on meiping. Meiping depicting ten branches were larger in size, painted with ruyi panels on the shoulder and lappets at the foot and potted with matching covers while their smaller uncovered counterparts featured six branches between a lappet band and stiff leaf border at the shoulder and foot respectively. This Qing vase combines the two slightly varying designs by placing the two registers of branches between lappet bands. Moreover, the floral sprays decorating the cover of the larger meiping have been cleverly incorporated by the Qing craftsmen to adorn the bulbous head.

 A closely related example, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated in Blue and White Ware of the Ch’ing Dynasty, bk. II, pl. 5, one is published in Geng Boachang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 118, fig. 157; another, included in the exhibition Ming and Qing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat. no. 91, was sold in these rooms, 18^th November 1986, lot 81; and a fourth example was sold in our New York rooms, 30^th March 2006, lot 314. Vases of this type were first produced in the Yongzheng period and continued to be made throughout the Qing dynasty; for the Yongzheng prototype see one sold in these rooms, 29^th November 1978, lot 234; a Jiaqing version sold at Christie’s New York, 19^th September 2006, lot 308; and Daoguang vase, from the Edward T. Chow and the Yanzhitang collections, sold in these rooms, 19^th May 1981, lot 549, and again at Christie’s Singapore, 30^th March 1997, lot 201.

For a pair of Yongle meiping decorated with six fruiting branches see one included in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, vol. 2, London, 1986, pl. 624; and a meiping with cover,  decorated with ten sprays, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Geng Baochang, Gugong bowuguan cang Ming chu qinghua ci, Beijing, 2002, pl. 15.