Page 301 - Bonhams May 12 16 London

296 Y The present lot’s unique design stems from archaic bronze vessels
A RARE RHINOCEROS HORN ARCHAISTIC LIBATION CUP with octagonal sides. This enthusiasm for archaism and unusual taotie
Carved You Kan two character mark, 17th century mask designs was prompted by archaeological discoveries of ancient
Carved in high relief around the handle and body with seven powerful bronzes and a desire to return to the perceived golden age of the Zhou
and dynamic chilong dragons, the exterior with a band of stylised dynasty. Compare a similar octagonal cup with various archaic chilong
dragons on a leiwen ground, the foot encircled by a double-cord illustrated by T.Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in
design, key-fret borders around the inner and outer lip and base, the China, Hong Kong, 1999, p.67, pl.20. For another rhinoceros horn
handle with the carver’s mark ‘You Kan’ in raised seal script. with You Kan seal mark, see ibid., p.151, pl.101.
13cm (5 1/8in) long
You Kan was a native of Wuxi in Jiangsu. During the middle of the
£20,000 - 30,000 CNY180,000 - 280,000 Kangxi reign, You Kan was a highly praised artisan and carver of
HK$220,000 - 330,000 rhinoceros horn in the imperial workshops. According to Thomas Fok,
he was ‘the best carver of the region in the early Qing period’ and ‘his
十七世紀 犀角仿古夔龍紋八方蟠螭盃 carvings are meticulous and forceful’. See ibid., p.37.
「尤侃」篆書款

FINE CHINESE ART | 299