Page 356 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Chinese Art

3697

PROPERTY OF AN ENGLISH LADY AND
GENTLEMAN

A RHINOCEROS HORN ‘GRAPE
VINE’ LIBATION CUP
17TH – 18TH CENTURY

the broad shallow cup formed by a furled grape
leaf, finely carved on the exterior in high relief
with gnarled vines issuing large leaves and
clusters of plump grapes, the handle and base
formed by gnarled twisted vines, the horn of a
golden-honey tone darkening towards the base
14.6 cm, 5¾ in.

◉ HK$ 600,000-800,000
US$ 77,000-103,000

Fashioned as a large grape leaf with finely
rendered veins, the grapes adorning this vessel
are skilfully carved in high relief to capture the
three-dimensionality and succulence of the fruit.
A bunch of grapes also falls into the interior of
the cup which heightens the sense of abundance
and thus amplifies its symbolic wish for many
children and ceaseless generations of sons and
grandsons, a theme that was particularly popular
in the Ming and early Qing periods.

A cup carved with this motif in the Staalisches
Museum für Völkerkunde, Munich, is illustrated
in Jan Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn
Carving in China, London, 1999, pl. 222; three
were sold in our New York rooms, the first, from
the collection of Cyrus Jasperse, 13th June 1979,
lot 133, the second, 25th September 1986, lot
273, and the third, of slightly larger size, 10th/11th
April 1986, lot 296; and two were sold in these
rooms, one, 11th November 1982, lot 777, and the
other of larger size and signed Zi Zhen, from the
collection of Edward and Franklin Chow, 8th April
2011, lot 2716. For an earlier example of the grape
vine motif, see a cup also carved with a chilong
handle, attributed to the early Ming dynasty, in
the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The
Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
Museum. Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros
Horn Carvings, Shanghai, 2001, pl. 114.

十七至十八世紀 犀角雕葡萄葉式盃

354 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比