MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)

The carving seen on the present jade rhyton, and the use of the stone and russet color, is quite similar to that seen on another Ming dynasty rhyton in the collection of Alan and Simone Hartman sold at Christie's New York, 15-16 September 2011, lot 1393. The shape of the present vessel is based on that of jade rhytons that started appearing during the Song dynasty as an archaism of those of Han dynasty date. This type of vessel continued into the Ming and Qing dynasties but, unlike the Han rhytons, the Song and later vessels often include chilong clambering across the surface. A Ming dynasty jade rhyton of this type is illustrated by J. Rawson in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 396, no. 29.