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Lot Essay
This rare ear-cup belongs to a very small group of fine rhinoceros horn carvings, and there appears to be only three other examples known. The first is in the collection of Mr. Thomas Fok, carved by the master carver You Kan, who worked in the Imperial Court under the Kangxi Emperor. The second, sold at Christie's New York, 18 September 2003, lot 75, bears the seal mark of Bao Tiancheng beside an inscription on the base in relief seal script. The third (fig. 1 and 2), in the collection of Ms. Angela Lau, also has a seal mark of Bao Tiancheng and the same text inscribed on the base, but incised and in cleric script. The present cup, like the Lau and Christie's examples, bears a signature of Bao Tiancheng and an inscription. However, both the inscription and the signature are carved in relief songti style, and the inscription is a shortened version of the text that appears on the Lau and Christie's examples. It is smaller in size than the other three, but all are similar in shape and with simple and elegant lines exquisitely carved to achieve perfect proportion.
Lacquered ear-cups, or yu shang, first appeared in the Warring States, such as the example excavated from a Chu tomb in Jiangling County in Hubei (illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji - 8 - qiqi, Beijing, Wenwu Chubanshe, 1989, p. 20. no. 20). However, the rhinoceros horn ear-cups are much closer in shape with examples from the Han dynasty, such as the one excavated from the Han tomb in Jiangling (illustrated in ibid, p.45, no. 44), and are a clear reference to that most revered period. This reverence of the past is a recurrent theme in Chinese art and was particularly prevalent in the Ming and Qing period. This is clearly indicated in the text inscribed on both the Christie's and the Lau example, which can be translated:
Using the rhinoceros horn from Tianzhu (India),
this ornament is carved and fashioned.
Following shang cups as a prototype,
it is polished and refined, to form a vessel of correct proportion.
(Vessels) of the Han dynasty are appropriate in design,
And follow the (law of) heaven.
It exudes fragrance, expels evil and neutralises poison.
It is indeed a treasure of great rarity.
The text has been shortened on the present lot but retains the gist:
(A vessel) of the Han dynasty, appropriate in design and form, exudes fragrance.
It expels eveil and neutralises poison, and is indeed a treasure of great rarity.
Rhinoceros horn has long been thought to possess magical properties. Ge Hong in the 4th century wrote in his famous Daoist treaty Baopuzi (The Master of Embracing Simplicity):
The rhinoceros lives deep in the mountains. At dawn and dusk, it glows brightly like a torch. Take its horn and make it into a fork. And use this fork to stir in a bowl of poisonous broth. White foam will arise, and the broth will be poisonous no more.
The text carved on these three rhinoceros horn cups reinforces the popular belief in the horn's powerful magic. It is also believed that this magical property is transferable, and using a rhinoceros horn cup to drink wine will imbue the liquid with a myriad of benefits.
It is without coincidence that all three cups bear the signature of Bao Tiancheng. The Yangzhou carver was recognised as one of the best, if not the best, rhinoceros horn carver of his day. In a late Ming text Taoan mengyi (Memoir of the Clay Studio), the author Zhang Dai wrote:
Among the unparalleled craftsmanship of Wuzhong...the rhinoceros horn carving of Bao Tiancheng...can be safely regarded as unmatched in the hundred years past and to come.
It is evident that his name was already well known in the late Ming period. However, surprisingly few pieces that survive bear his signature. Jan Chapman lists six in The art of rhinoceros horn carving in China, which does not include the three ear-cups. All six pieces are different subject-wise, and the signatures can also differ in style and form. The style of the seals on the Christie's and the Lau example is quite similar, but one is in relief while the other incised. The signature on the present lot is carved in a very unusual way, and is unlike the signature on any of the other cups. The form of the characters used in both the signature and the inscription is influenced by woodblocks, and is commonly known as songti, "Song style". This style was developed in the Song dynasty with the advent of woodblock printing. As the woodblocks normally have horizontal grains, the vertical strokes are much weaker structurally and therefore thicker than the horizontal strokes, and the ends of each stroke are also carved thicker to withstand wear. It is much more rigid in appearance than the normal kaishu characters. The songti characters can be seen on two other rhinoceros horn carvings, in both cases appearing as reign mark and in relief. One is a cup with Wanli mark, illustrated in Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carvings in China, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 98, no. 50; the other a three-string vase with Kangxi yuzhi mark (fig. 3), both in the collection of Mr. Thomas Fok.
Lacquered ear-cups, or yu shang, first appeared in the Warring States, such as the example excavated from a Chu tomb in Jiangling County in Hubei (illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji - 8 - qiqi, Beijing, Wenwu Chubanshe, 1989, p. 20. no. 20). However, the rhinoceros horn ear-cups are much closer in shape with examples from the Han dynasty, such as the one excavated from the Han tomb in Jiangling (illustrated in ibid, p.45, no. 44), and are a clear reference to that most revered period. This reverence of the past is a recurrent theme in Chinese art and was particularly prevalent in the Ming and Qing period. This is clearly indicated in the text inscribed on both the Christie's and the Lau example, which can be translated:
Using the rhinoceros horn from Tianzhu (India),
this ornament is carved and fashioned.
Following shang cups as a prototype,
it is polished and refined, to form a vessel of correct proportion.
(Vessels) of the Han dynasty are appropriate in design,
And follow the (law of) heaven.
It exudes fragrance, expels evil and neutralises poison.
It is indeed a treasure of great rarity.
The text has been shortened on the present lot but retains the gist:
(A vessel) of the Han dynasty, appropriate in design and form, exudes fragrance.
It expels eveil and neutralises poison, and is indeed a treasure of great rarity.
Rhinoceros horn has long been thought to possess magical properties. Ge Hong in the 4th century wrote in his famous Daoist treaty Baopuzi (The Master of Embracing Simplicity):
The rhinoceros lives deep in the mountains. At dawn and dusk, it glows brightly like a torch. Take its horn and make it into a fork. And use this fork to stir in a bowl of poisonous broth. White foam will arise, and the broth will be poisonous no more.
The text carved on these three rhinoceros horn cups reinforces the popular belief in the horn's powerful magic. It is also believed that this magical property is transferable, and using a rhinoceros horn cup to drink wine will imbue the liquid with a myriad of benefits.
It is without coincidence that all three cups bear the signature of Bao Tiancheng. The Yangzhou carver was recognised as one of the best, if not the best, rhinoceros horn carver of his day. In a late Ming text Taoan mengyi (Memoir of the Clay Studio), the author Zhang Dai wrote:
Among the unparalleled craftsmanship of Wuzhong...the rhinoceros horn carving of Bao Tiancheng...can be safely regarded as unmatched in the hundred years past and to come.
It is evident that his name was already well known in the late Ming period. However, surprisingly few pieces that survive bear his signature. Jan Chapman lists six in The art of rhinoceros horn carving in China, which does not include the three ear-cups. All six pieces are different subject-wise, and the signatures can also differ in style and form. The style of the seals on the Christie's and the Lau example is quite similar, but one is in relief while the other incised. The signature on the present lot is carved in a very unusual way, and is unlike the signature on any of the other cups. The form of the characters used in both the signature and the inscription is influenced by woodblocks, and is commonly known as songti, "Song style". This style was developed in the Song dynasty with the advent of woodblock printing. As the woodblocks normally have horizontal grains, the vertical strokes are much weaker structurally and therefore thicker than the horizontal strokes, and the ends of each stroke are also carved thicker to withstand wear. It is much more rigid in appearance than the normal kaishu characters. The songti characters can be seen on two other rhinoceros horn carvings, in both cases appearing as reign mark and in relief. One is a cup with Wanli mark, illustrated in Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carvings in China, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 98, no. 50; the other a three-string vase with Kangxi yuzhi mark (fig. 3), both in the collection of Mr. Thomas Fok.