Page 178 - Bonhams Hong Kong The Skinner Moon Flasks

140 Y
A RARE CARVED RHINOCEROS HORN ‘DRAGON’ SEAL
17th/18th century
Of oval form, surmounted by a sinuous coiled five-clawed dragon with
its head raised high, its left front claws grasping a flaming pearl, the
base deftly carved with a four-character zhuanshu seal mark.
5.3cm (2 1/8in) high

HK$80,000 - 120,000
US$10,000 - 15,000

十七/十八世紀 犀角雕龍鈕圓形印章 「華封三祝」印面

Provenance:
Roger Keverne Ltd., London, Summer Exhibition, 2002, no.142
A European private collection, and thence by descent

來源：
Roger Keverne有限公司，倫敦，《夏季展覽》，2002年，編號142
歐洲私人收藏，後由其家族繼承

The seal mark reads huafeng sanzhu and is an auspicious Chinese 「華封三祝」典出《莊子·天地》，意為華州人對上古賢者唐堯的三個
idiom, which means ‘as far-reaching as the edges of Chinese heritage, 美好祝愿，此典故後亦被宮廷及民間引用，並據以此典繪成吉祥圖案。
bearing three auspicious wishes of longevity, wealth and many male
offspring’. 參看瑪麗及莊智博舊藏一件犀角雕瑞獸鈕橢圓形印章，著錄於
J.Chapman，《The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China》，
Among all forms of rhinoceros horn carvings, scholarly seal carvings 倫敦，1999年，頁117，編號118，後由蘇富比售出，2005年10月
are very rare. Compare a rhinoceros horn seal carved with a mythical- 23日，拍品82。另見一例犀角雕印章，著錄於Sydney L. Moss，
beast finial, Ming dynasty, illustrated by J.Chapman, The Art of 《Documentary Chinese Art in the Scholars’ Taste》，倫敦，1983年，
Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p.117, no.118, 編號139。
which was later sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 23 October 2005, lot
82; see also a related example illustrated by Sydney L. Moss, Ltd., 香港蘇富比曾售出一件明十六/十七世紀犀角雕獬豸鈕印章，可資比
Documentary Chinese Art in the Scholars’ Taste, London, 1983, 較，2010年10月8日，拍品2210。
no.139.

Compare a related rhinoceros horn seal with a xiezhi finial, 16th/17th
century, which was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 October 2010, lot
2210.

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