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Lot Essay
The two-characters Shang Ming may be translated as 'Carved by (Master) Shang'. The craftsman's name does not appear to be recorded in Chinese literature.
As early as the Southern Song period, the imagery of boys at play, set in a garden scene became a favoured theme in paintings popularised by the Southern Song court artist, Su Hanchen, who was active during the early 12th century. An example of Su Hanchen's painting is in the National Palace Museum collection, Taipei, entitled 'Boys at Play in an Autumn Garden', illustrated in Zhongguo Huihua Quanji, vol. 3, Zhejiang renmin meishu chubanshe, p. 140, no. 100. The theme of 'a hundred boys' became symbolic of progeny and fulfillment of Confucian ideals in education, and the advancement of sons. As such, this type of pictorial image was propagated on a wide range of decorative objects throughout the late Ming to early Qing periods, including porcelain, jade, textile and lacquerware.
It is interesting to note the craftsman's consumate ability in portraying an image of a substantial spacial distance by the varying depth of the relief carving, and to provide a sense of inter-action between the various groups of figures. In this instance, the size of the figures themselves are small, particularly when set against a varied landscape of rocks and tall pine tress. Compare a cup of the same theme but where the figures are rendered relatively larger in size than those portrayed on the present cup, from the J.J. Witsenburg collection, illustrated by J. Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p. 214, no. 297. Compare also related examples with the 'boys' theme, illustrated ibid.: no. 298, from the collection of Dr. Ip Yee, decorated with three boys climbing a tree; no. 299, from the Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt am Main, designed with a boy climbing into the interior of a cup; no. 300, from the Casals Collection, with a boy climbing on the interior well of the cup; and no. 301, a cup carved with a boy punting a raft from the R. Blumenfield collection, sold at Christie's New York, 25 March 2010, lot 847. A 'boys' cup carved in openwork dated the early 18th century from the Songzhutang collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, Important Chinese Rhinoceros Horn Carvings from the Songzhutang Collection, 27 May 2008, lot 1706.
As early as the Southern Song period, the imagery of boys at play, set in a garden scene became a favoured theme in paintings popularised by the Southern Song court artist, Su Hanchen, who was active during the early 12th century. An example of Su Hanchen's painting is in the National Palace Museum collection, Taipei, entitled 'Boys at Play in an Autumn Garden', illustrated in Zhongguo Huihua Quanji, vol. 3, Zhejiang renmin meishu chubanshe, p. 140, no. 100. The theme of 'a hundred boys' became symbolic of progeny and fulfillment of Confucian ideals in education, and the advancement of sons. As such, this type of pictorial image was propagated on a wide range of decorative objects throughout the late Ming to early Qing periods, including porcelain, jade, textile and lacquerware.
It is interesting to note the craftsman's consumate ability in portraying an image of a substantial spacial distance by the varying depth of the relief carving, and to provide a sense of inter-action between the various groups of figures. In this instance, the size of the figures themselves are small, particularly when set against a varied landscape of rocks and tall pine tress. Compare a cup of the same theme but where the figures are rendered relatively larger in size than those portrayed on the present cup, from the J.J. Witsenburg collection, illustrated by J. Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p. 214, no. 297. Compare also related examples with the 'boys' theme, illustrated ibid.: no. 298, from the collection of Dr. Ip Yee, decorated with three boys climbing a tree; no. 299, from the Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt am Main, designed with a boy climbing into the interior of a cup; no. 300, from the Casals Collection, with a boy climbing on the interior well of the cup; and no. 301, a cup carved with a boy punting a raft from the R. Blumenfield collection, sold at Christie's New York, 25 March 2010, lot 847. A 'boys' cup carved in openwork dated the early 18th century from the Songzhutang collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, Important Chinese Rhinoceros Horn Carvings from the Songzhutang Collection, 27 May 2008, lot 1706.