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Lot Essay
Archaistic jade rhytons of this type have their antecedents in jade rhytons of Han dynasty 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. By the Song and Ming dynasties, and into the Qing dynasty, this shape was modified and the sides were carved with bands of decoration inspired by that found on bronzes and jades of Eastern Zhou dynasty, as well as Han dynasty, date, often with the addition of chilong carved in high relief. This type of later rhyton, is exemplified by the example in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, Avery Brundage Collection, and is illustrated by J. Rawson and J. Ayers in Chinese Jade throughout the ages, Oriental Ceramic Society, 1975, p. 97, no. 309, where it is dated Song or Yuan. A number of design elements of the present rhyton are very similar to those of a dark green jade rhyton in the Palace Museum, Beijing, which has a Qianlong mark, illustrated by Yang Boda ed., Chinese JadesThroughout the Ages - Connoisseurship of Chinese Jades, Vol. 11, Qing Dynasty, 1996, no. 38. The shape of the vessel is similar, and although the head of the makara/dragon is carved in higher relief on the present rhyton, the finely incised crosshatching on the scales, the scrolling wings and sharp claws are quite similar, as are the narrow rope and key-fret bands which also border a wide band of archaistic scroll below the rim. Unlike the present rhyton, the Palace example does not have a chilong-form handle.