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A large carved full-tip rhinoceros horn libation cup, 19th…
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Sydney
Date:
27-Oct-2015
Lot No.
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Description:
A large carved full-tip rhinoceros horn libation cup, 19th century the full length of the horn intricately carved in the form of a deep lotus leaf, borne on a long curved stem within an openwork arrangement of further sinuous stems bearing lotus flowers and leaves and reeds with clusters of fruits, all issuing from a further cupped lotus leaf at the tip, the horn of light caramel tone shading to brown at the tip, 60.5 cm long. Provenance, Sotheby's Belgravia, 14 July 1977, lot 57, The Zorich Collection, Adelaide, thence by descent, Show Catalogue Notes, Catalogue Notes, The present cup is impressive for its deeply undercut form and large size. The carver has made use of the entire length of the horn.The lotus plant is one of the most popular decorative themes in rhinoceros horn carvings. Homonymous with the word for peace the lotus (he) is symbolic of the pure and elevated character of virtuous gentlemen which appealed to the gentry and literati., For examples of related full-tip rhinoceros horn cups see one on loan in the Durham University Oriental Museum, illustrated by Jan Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p. 73, pl. 38, where the author notes that the majority of these extravagant full-tip cups were produced during the 19th century and almost certainly in Canton and suggests the cup may have been commissioned by a European who demanded the largest and longest possible horn with the maximum amount of bravura carving. An early example that may have served as inspiration for later pieces, from the Qing court collection and still in Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros horn Carving, Shanghai, 2001, pl. 131 attributed to the late Ming period, Compare with a similarly decorated cup sold Sotheby's London,11 May 2011, lot 20, another carved with lotus and magnolia, sold Christie's South Kensington, 14 May 2010, lot 693, and a pair of cups carved with lotus, iris and reeds, sold Sotheby's New York, 19 March 2013, lot 361
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Oriental: Ivory