A CARVED ALOESWOOD ‘DRAGON AND PHOENIX’ LIBATION CUP

Compare to a very similar aloeswood libation cup dated to the Qianlong period in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Uncanny Ingenuity and Celestial Feats: The Carvings of Ming Qing Dynasties, Taipei, pp. 119-122, no. 28 (fig. 1). The design is derived from Western Han dynasty jade cup carved with dragon and phoenix, see one in the National Palace Museum collection, illustrated in Possessing the Past: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, New York, 1996, p.52, pl.14 (fig. 2).