Page 164 - Bonhams Hong Kong The Skinner Moon Flasks

135 Y The carving of the present lot is particularly bold in the large portrayal
A VERY RARE RHINOCEROS HORN ‘SCHOLAR AND of the figures and meticulous attention to the depiction of their
ATTENDANT’ LIBATION CUP facial expressions and clothing. The contrasting scene is set by the
17th century comparison between the scholar, seated with legs crossed, his robe
Of tall and well-hollowed flared form, carved in high relief with two raised to avoid getting it wet, cooling his feet dangling in the nearby
gnarled pine trees, their branches forming the handle and extending stream, whilst his attendant, going uphill, is shouldering what appears
over the rim carved with crags, flanked to one side by a sage seated to be a heavy bundle of firewood.
with legs crossed cooling in a flowing stream below the overhanging
pine and by a wutong tree, gazing in the distance at the rocky The humorous design, seen through the eyes of the literati for whom
outcrops covered with vine tendrils, the other side with an attendant this exceptional cup would have been made, demonstrates an
carrying a bundle beside a bridge over a swirling stream flowing from unusually large degree of freedom of creativity practiced by the master
the base, the horn of amber-brown tone. carver.
14cm (5 1/2in) high
Compare two related rhinoceros horn libation cups, 17th century,
HK$400,000 - 700,000 with figural sage carvings, from the Angela Chau and Chun-hung Li
US$51,000 - 90,000 collections, illustrated by T.Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn
Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, pls.150 and 166.
十七世紀 犀角雕山水人物杯

Provenance:
An important European private collection

來源：
重要歐洲私人收藏

106 | BONHAMS