Lot Essay
Bao Tiancheng of Suzhou was a well-known Ming dynasty carver of not only rhinoceros horn, but ivory, wood and seals. He is listed in Zhongguo Yishujia Zhenglue, an anthology of different craftsmen, published in 1915. He is known to have carved in simple as well as more ornate styles. One of his signed, more ornate rhinoceros horn vessels is in the Shanghai Museum and represents Zhang Qian in his log boat. A signed ewer with cover in the collection of Dr. Ip Yee was illustrated in his article, "Notes on a Collection of Chinese Rhinoceros Horn Carvings", Catalogue of the International Asian Antiques Fair, Hong Kong, May, 1982, no. 1