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Lot Essay
The Three Friends of Winter, pine, prunus and bamboo, flourish even under adverse conditions and are a common subject in Chinese painting, calligraphy and works of art. Together they are symbolic of longevity, perseverance and the virtues of the scholar-gentleman.
Rhinoceros horns carved with this motif include an inscribed libation cup decorated with a continuous landscape and dated to the 17th century, in the Songzhutang Collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1707. Another example is a libation cup dated to circa 1700, formerly in the Nils Nessim and Dr. Ip Yee Collections, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 19 November 1984. See also an example carved with similar motif but of different shape, in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, and illustrated by Jan Chapman in The Art of Rhinoceroes Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, pl. 197.
Rhinoceros horns carved with this motif include an inscribed libation cup decorated with a continuous landscape and dated to the 17th century, in the Songzhutang Collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1707. Another example is a libation cup dated to circa 1700, formerly in the Nils Nessim and Dr. Ip Yee Collections, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 19 November 1984. See also an example carved with similar motif but of different shape, in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, and illustrated by Jan Chapman in The Art of Rhinoceroes Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, pl. 197.