MING-QING DYNASTY, 16TH-19TH CENTURY

Archaistic jade rhytons of this type have their antecedents in jade rhytons of Han date, such as the example from the Han dynasty tomb of the King of Nanyue illustrated by J. Rawson in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, 1995, p. 70, fig. 61. This Han vessel (18.4 cm.) is in the shape of a horn that rises from a twisted, bifurcated tail-form handle at the bottom, and is incised around the sides with scroll decoration. The author notes that this vessel is a Western shape, most likely first made in silver or a precious stone, and then copied in jade. By the Song and Ming dynasties this shape was somewhat modified and the sides were carved with bands of decoration inspired by that found on bronzes and jades of Eastern Zhou, as well as Han, date, with the addition of chilong carved in high relief. These features can been seen on a jade rhyton of smaller size (12 cm.) in the Musée Guimet that is similar in shape, archaistic decoration and clambering chilong to the Dongxi rhyton, illustrated by J. Rawson and J. Ayers in Chinese Jade throughout the ages, Oriental Ceramic Society, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1975, p. 97, no. 308., where it is dated 13th-15th century.