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A RARE MING-STYLE BLUE AND WHITE ‘THREE
ABUNDANCES’ SOFT-PASTE VASE, MEIPING
18th century
The ovoid body rising from a slightly splayed foot to broad shoulders,
well painted in bright cobalt blue tones ‘heaped and piled’ effect, the
body with alternating flowering and fruiting branches of pomegranate,
citron and peach,’The Three Abundances’, all above a band of upright
lappets and beneath a ruyi fringe, the shoulders and foot with stylised
floral blossoms on scrolling foliage, the neck with three floral sprays to
the neck, the white body with craquelure throughout.
35.6cm (14in) high

£30,000 - 50,000 CNY280,000 - 460,000
HK$330,000 - 550,000

十八世紀 仿明青花三多折枝紋梅瓶

The elegance of the branches and fruits depicted on this vase are
reminiscent of designs found on meipings manufactured during the
Yongle period. Similarly, the subtle use of the blue and white palette
imitates the early Ming dynasty imported cobalt blue, high in iron
content, that resulted in dark blue spots on the surface, also known as
the ‘heaping and piling’ effect.

Citrons (yuan 櫞) hints at the title conferred on the scholar who came
first in the highest imperial examination (known as a zhuangyuan 狀
元). Pomegranates (shiliu 石榴), symbolise progeny. The citron and
pomegranate occurring with the lotus (lian 蓮), which is a homophone
for ‘continuously’ (lian 連), underscore the blessing: ‘May you
have many sons who will continually come first in the Civil Service
examinations’ (duozi lianyuan 多子連元).

The present vase contains further puns. The Buddha’s Hand citron,
which can be interchangeable with other citrons, together with
the peach and pomegranate, are known collectively as ‘The Three
Abundances’ (sanduo 三多), which express the wish for abundant
blessings, long life, and many sons. Painted together with the wish-
granting ruyi heads (ruyi 如意) on the border, the Three Abundances
point to the added blessing of: ‘May you also be blessed with the Nine
Similitudes’ (sanduo jiuru 三多九如), referring to the the felicitous wish,
mentioned in the Classic of Poetry: ‘May you be as the mountains and
the hills, as the greater and the lesser heights, as the streams which
flow in all directions, having constancy of the moon, like the rising sun,
with the longevity of the Southern Mountain and the green luxuriance
of the pine and cypress tress’.

A related blue and white soft-paste meiping, Yongzheng, is illustrated
by A.Du Boulay, The Taft Museum: Chinese Ceramics And Works of
Art, New York, 1995, p.594.

A blue and white porcelain meiping, Qianlong mark and period, sold at
Christie’s, Hong Kong, 27 November 2007, lot 1686.

66 | BONHAMS