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Lot Essay
Archaistic jades were especially prized by the Qianlong Emperor, and the shape of the present vessel is based on that of a rhyton which first appeared in China around the sixth or seventh century. The horn-shaped rhyton reappeared around the Song dynasty and proliferated until the Qing dynasty, as an expression of archaism. As with some vessels produced in this genre of archaism, the present example is not an exact copy of an original, but rather shows the Qing interpretation of the original form. Occasionally this incorporates ancient bronze elements, such as the taotie masks seen on the present vessel, or bands of stylized dragons, as seen on a white jade rhyton in the collection of the Palace Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji, Hebei, 1994, p. 23, no. 40. Other examples can be far more elaborate, such as the white and russet jade rhyton carved with a phoenix body and chilong handle, also in the collection of the Palace Museum, illustrated ibid., p. 21, no. 37. However, perhaps the most similar in carving style and stone is the white and russet jade rhyton in the Qing Court collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Jadeware III, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 167, no. 135. (Fig.1) While the Palace Museum example is slightly smaller (15 cm.), the style of carving and choice of decoration is quite similar, suggesting that the two may have even come from the same workshop.