Page 216 - Important Chinese Art Hong Kong Sotheby's April 2017

3644

PROPERTY FROM AN ENGLISH PRIVATE COLLECTION

A RHINOCEROS HORN ‘LOQUAT’ LIBATION
CUP
QING DYNASTY, 17TH – 18TH CENTURY

skilfully carved in the form of a furled loquat leaf with a
serrated rim, one side of the leaf depicted borne on a gnarled
branch extending downwards to form the handle and base,
the branch issuing branches of loquats and leaves enveloping
the exterior of the vessel, the smoothly patinated surface of a
honey-brown colour
18.6 cm, 7¼ in.

Rhinoceros horn libation cups modelled in the form of a loquat
leaf and carved with loquats on the exterior are unusual and
only two examples appear to have been published; one in the
Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, illustrated in Jan Chapman, The
Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, pl. 224;
and another from the Montague Meyer Collection, sold in these
rooms, 26th November 1980, lot 432, possibly the same cup
that sold in our London rooms, 30th June 1964, lot 108.

Loquats (pipa) in China are symbolic of the four seasons,
as they bud in autumn and flower in winter, while their fruits
appear in spring and ripen in summer.

◉ HK$ 400,000-600,000
US$ 52,000-77,500

清十七至十八世紀 犀角雕枇杷盃

3645

PROPERTY FROM AN ENGLISH PRIVATE COLLECTION

AN ARCHAISTIC RHINOCEROS HORN
‘CHILONG’ LIBATION CUP
MING DYNASTY

well patinated and carved with a quatrefoil rim tapering to an
oval splayed foot, the exterior decorated in low relief with a
frieze of taotie masks against a diapered ground below a key-
fret band, one side of the vessel with three clambering chilong,
the reverse with a handle modelled as two sinuous chilong, one
depicted clambering onto the interior, facing a further mythical
beast on the other side, the base with an apocryphal two-
character Xuanhe seal mark
10.5 cm, 4⅛ in.

The seal on the base reads Xuanhe, which is the reign mark of
Emperor Huizhong of the 12th century; the penultimate ruler
of the Northern Song dynasty. Huizhong was a keen collector
and connoisseur of arts and is known to have sent his officials
all around the country to find pieces for his imperial collection.
The Xuanhe reign mark can be found on a number of
rhinoceros horn vessels which are discussed by Jan Chapman
in The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999,
pp. 217-224. Chapman notes that the seal was widely used
on examples of decorative art from later periods in Chinese
history.

◉ HK$ 200,000-300,000
US$ 25,800-38,700

明 犀角雕仿古螭龍紋盃
《宣和》仿款

214 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比