**A RARE WELL-CARVED LOTUS-FORM RHINOCEROS HORN LIBATION CUP

VARIOUS PROPERTIES

Details

**A RARE WELL-CARVED LOTUS-FORM RHINOCEROS HORN LIBATION CUP
ZHAI MARK TO BASE, MING DYNASTY

Of lotus shape, the sides carved with eight flaring bi-lobed petals rising from a pedestal foot of conforming outline, one side carved with an intricate handle formed by scrolling and delicately carved intertwined branches and leaves centered by a coiling chilong clambering to the lip of the cup, its chin resting on the edge and the beard trailing to the interior, the center of the cup unusually carved in high relief with a circular lotus pod with seven seeds surrounded by eight upright lotus petals, the foot interior also unusually carved to mirror the rim and centered by the intaglio mark, zhai
5 1/8in. (13cm.) across

Further details

See illustration and details

Lot Essay

For another rhinoceros horn cup, of more simple lotus shape, bearing the same zhai mark on the base and sold in these rooms, see Important Chinese Works of Art from The Arthur M. Sackler Collections, December 1, 1994, lot 13

The zhai mark on both of these vessels is possibly a studio mark of Hu Jianzhong. The same mark appears on a rhinoceros horn cup in the Ostasiatiska Museum, Stockholm

Interestingly, the treatment of the lotus pod in the interior of this vessel is very similar to that on small cinnabar lacquer cosmetic boxes of Ming dynasty date. A box of this type is illustrated by Fritz Low-Beer, " Chinese Lacquer of the Early 15th Century", B.M.F.E.A., no. 22, 1950, pp. 145-163, pl. 2, no. 2