Page 127 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art December 2014

8263 8263 (reverse)

8263Y
A rhinoceros horn libation cup carved with a groom and horses
17th century
Of irregular oval section, carved in high relief and deep undercutting to the exterior walls with
three horses grazing along a stream under a willow tree on the left and front sides while a room
rests on leans to rest on another tree trunk to the right side, the handles also worked as two
trees with branches extending into the deep well; the recessed base carved in shallow relief
the the two seal-script characters Zi’ang enclosed within a square.
3 3/8in (8.5cm) high
5 7/8in (15cm) long
$50,000 - 70,000

Zi’ang was the fancy name used by the renowned calligrapher and painter Zhao Mengfu 8263 (detail)
(1253-1322), famous for his horse paintings. For a similar composition illustrating the
‘Eight Horses of Mu Wang’ on a rhinoceros horn cup bearing the signature of the carver
Zhengqing, see Thomas Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong
Kong, 1999, cat. no. 168, pp. 228-29, as late 17th century (12.5cm high, 17.2cm long), in
the collection of the author.

This object has been in the United States since the 1960’s

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