.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This fine carving may represent the legendary Han dynasty explorer Zhang Qian shown floating down the Yangzi River in a hollowed log-boat. According to legend, Zhang is said to have traveled in search of the source of the Yangzi River, and found himself floating on the Milky Way (River of Heaven) where he caught sight of the Weaving Maiden and the Cowherd, the two mythical lovers separated by that galaxy.
The most famous representations of this theme are the silver figures in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and the one formerly in the collection of Sir Percival David, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art, both illustrated by Jan Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p. 263, nos. 382 and 383. Both silver examples are inscribed with the seal of the 14th-century silversmith, Zhu Bishan, but according to Chapman, p. 264, the Cleveland raft is generally accepted as being made in the Ming dynasty, probably in the 16th century, while the Taipei raft is generally accepted as dating from the 14th century.
The most famous representations of this theme are the silver figures in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and the one formerly in the collection of Sir Percival David, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art, both illustrated by Jan Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p. 263, nos. 382 and 383. Both silver examples are inscribed with the seal of the 14th-century silversmith, Zhu Bishan, but according to Chapman, p. 264, the Cleveland raft is generally accepted as being made in the Ming dynasty, probably in the 16th century, while the Taipei raft is generally accepted as dating from the 14th century.