Page 150 - 2019 September 10th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art Jades, Met Museum Irving Collection NYC

71 AN ARCHAISTIC RUSSET AND
CELADON JADE ‘HEAVENLY
㶭 曺 BIRD’ RHYTON
⋩ 䌱 QING DYNASTY, 17TH / 18TH CENTURY
ᶫġ 晽
İġ ầ of oval section with deep U-shaped sides bending slightly to Rhyton cups in the form of an animal or an animal’s head
⋩ ⎌ imitate the natural curvature of a horn, one side carved in high appeared in China as early as the Western Han dynasty. There
ℓ ⣑ relief with the upper body of a ‘heavenly bird’, its chest swelling was a resurgence of interest in this form in the Song dynasty,
ᶾ 沍 at the base of the cup, the long S-curved neck rising to the head and the enthusiasm was sustained through the subsequent
䲨ġġġ 妍 peering forward with alert eyes and the beak carved in the round, Yuan, Ming and Qing periods.
the wings rendered in low relief wrapping around each side of the
Later jade rhytons, including the present example, are typically
rhyton, the feathers with archaistic ß ourishes, the low-relief legs
decorated with archaistic motifs including mythical creatures
tucked under the base, the stone a creamy color with a swath of
and ground patterns derived from ancient bronze vessels.
deep russet ß ecked with gray near the tips of the wings and legs, Compare a Ming dynasty gray jade rhyton with chilong in high
wood stand (2)
relief and openwork in the collection of the Asian Art Museum of
San Francisco, illustrated in Michael Knight et al., Later Chinese
Height 3⅞ in., 9.5 cm Jades: Ming Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century from the Asian
Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, 2007, pl. 151;
another with chilong attributed to the latter half of the Ming
PROVENANCE dynasty in the collection of the Musée Guimet, Paris, exhibited
Oriental Rarities (Alan Hartman), New York, 20th May 1981. in Jade: From Emperors to Art Deco, Musée Guimet, Paris, 2018,
Collection of Florence (1920-2018) and Herbert (1917-2016) cat. no. 97; a Song dynasty example with an S-curved handle
Irving, no. 213. similar to the present, formerly in the Cunli% e Collection and
sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 9th October 2012, lot 3137; and
a 17th/18th century example carved with taotie and a handle
similar to the present rhyton, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th
October 2013, lot 3201.
$ 20,000-30,000

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148 SOTHEBY’S