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133 Y
A VERY RARE RHINOCEROS HORN ‘ZHANG QIAN’
LIBATION CUP
17th/18th century
Superbly carved to the interior with a high-relief seated figure of Zhang
Qian holding a book in his right hand within the deep lotus-leaf shaped
cup, the exterior carved in relief with two confronted winged luduan
amidst musk mallow reaching over the rim and borne on gnarled
branches, with two bamboo also forming the reticulated circular foot
ring, the horn of dark amber-brown tone.
12cm (4 3/4in) wide

HK$200,000 - 300,000
US$26,000 - 39,000

十七/十八世紀 犀角雕葵花瑞獸人物杯

Provenance:
An important European private collection

來源：
重要歐洲私人收藏

Zhang Qian, born in Chenggu district in the north central part of
Shaanxi Province, was an official and diplomat who served as an
Imperial envoy during the Han dynasty under Emperor Wu. He was
reputedly the first diplomat to have brought back reliable information
about Central Asia. He played an integral role in the conquest of the
region now known as Xinjiang, and is credited with playing a key role
in opening China to the world of commercial trade and major trade
routes such as the Silk Road.

It is exceptionally rare for a high-relief figure to be carved in the interior
of a rhinoceros libation cup as this would have required a particularly
thick-walled horn and a significant loss of the prized horn carved
around the figure; however, for a related example with a Zhang Qian
figure carved within the cup, see J.Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros
Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, pl.293.

Figures of Zhang Qian in rhinoceros horn are more prevalent within
the form of a raft and occasionally in brushrest form, examples of
which can be found in important museum and private collections:
see four examples from the Qing Court collection, late Ming dynasty,
two of which are carved with the marks of You Tong and You Leifu,
illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
Museum: Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong
Kong, 2002, pls.118-120 and 122; see also the Shanghai Museum,
the Harvard University Art Museums, the collections of Dora Wong,
Angela Chua and Franklin Chow, illustrated by T.Fok, Connoisseurship
of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, pls.70-74;
and from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Gerard Levy
collection, Paris, the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, the Kneib
collection, the Gerard Arnhold collection, Brazil, and Durham University
Oriental Museum, illustrated by J.Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros
Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, pls.48, 50-52, 105 and 293.

A rhinoceros horn ‘log raft’ vessel, 17th century, carved with Zhang
Qian, was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 October 2013, lot 3239.

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