Page 354 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Chinese Art

3696

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE
COLLECTION

A CARVED RHINOCEROS HORN
‘LOTUS LEAF’ LIBATION CUP
17TH – 18TH CENTURY

naturalistically modelled in the form of a finely
veined lotus leaf with furled edges, the exterior
carved in high relief with a smaller leaf, lotus
flower, arrowheads and a curved stem bearing
budding and flowering three-petalled blooms,
set on one side with an openwork handle formed
from intertwining stems issuing an arrowhead
and a blossoming flower extending over the
rim onto the interior, the base later added and
worked as a lotus bloom bursting with pod seeds,
the horn patinated to a chestnut-brown colour
with a lighter golden-honey tone around the
edges, wood stand
length 14.1 cm, 5½ in.

◉ HK$ 250,000-350,000
US$ 32,000-44,800

Skilfully fashioned in the form of a large lotus
leaf adorned by further flowers and leaves, this
vessel has successfully incorporated the natural
markings of the rhinoceros horn into the overall
design to give it an added naturalism, particularly
the stems that form the handle.
The lotus leaf itself is possibly one of the most
popular decorative themes in the rhinoceros
horn carver’s repertoire, symbolising purity and
associated with the pure and virtuous character
of the gentry and scholar-literati.
A slightly larger cup modelled in the form of
a lotus leaf and also carved on one side with
similar three-petalled blooms, from the Qing
court collection and still in Beijing, is illustrated
in The Palace Museum Collection of Elite Carving,
Beijing, 2004, pl. 194.

十七至十八世紀 犀角雕荷花盃

352 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比