Footnotes

十七/十八世紀 犀角雕蟠螭獸面紋杯 陽文「如玉」篆書款

Provenance:
An important European private collection

來源：
重要歐洲私人舊藏

The present lot draws its inspiration in form and in the taotie-mask design from archaic bronze vessels of the late Shang and Western Zhou dynasty, symbolising the virtues of ancient times.

This rhinoceros horn libation cup demonstrates the consummate skill of the carver, with the multi-layered carving and naturalistic chi dragons. The adult dragon is unusually carved with twin horns, his prowess demonstrated in the clawed feet holding onto the rim. The bronze-inspired form is superbly carved with elegant raised ridges around the foot and in the interior. Rarely are rhinoceros horn libation cups carved with inscriptions; in some instances, such inscriptions denote the name of the carver or (as in the case of the present lot) a commendation mark is carved.

Related archaistic rhinoceros horn libation cups are in important museum and private collections: see the example from the Qing Court collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong Kong, 2002, p.151, pl.133 (late Ming dynasty); see another libation cup also from the Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde, Munich, illustrated by J.Chapman, The Art of the Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p.152, pl.184; and another example, 17th century, illustrated by T.Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, pls.18 (with Shang Ming mark), and 41 (with Hu Xingyue mark); while a further example, late Ming dynasty, is illustrated in Ming and Qing Chinese Arts from the C.P. Lin Collection, Hong Kong, 2014, pl.167.

Compare a related archaistic rhinoceros horn libation cup, 17th century, sold in our San Francisco rooms, 20 December 2011, lot 8171; two other related examples, 17th/18th and 18th century, respectively, sold in our London rooms, 10 November 2011, lot 433 and 16 May 2013, lot 361; and a further related libation cup, 17th century, was sold in these rooms, 26 May 2014, lot 122.

此犀角杯採用鏤雕、浮雕、圓雕等技法，並融合商周青銅爵或匜的因素仿古創新。其杯身及杯口螭龍刻畫生動，姿態各異，雕工嫻熟、技藝複雜，紋飾非常考究，杯底刻陽文「如玉」篆書款未見著錄，此為孤品一例，是仿古器中佳作。

此式仿古獸面螭龍犀角杯為宮廷角雕中較受歡迎類型之一，見北京故宮博物院清宮舊藏明晚期犀角雕蟠螭紋耳六口杯，著錄於《故宮博物院珍藏文物珍品全集：竹木牙角雕刻》，香港，2002年，頁151，圖133；另見慕尼黑國立民族學博物館藏一例，著錄於《The Art of the Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China》，倫敦，1999年，頁152，圖184；帶有款識的例子，見霍滿堂先生舊藏十七世紀一例，著錄於霍滿堂，《中國犀角雕刻珍賞》，香港，1999年，圖18，其底鈐「商銘」款，以及圖41，底鈐「胡星岳製」款；另見長青館藏一例，著錄於《長青館藏明清瓷、玉、角、竹、畫琺瑯》，香港，2014年，圖167。

舊金山邦瀚斯曾售出十七世紀一例，2011年12月20日，拍品8171；十七/十八世紀之例，見倫敦邦瀚斯售出兩例，2011年11月10日，拍品433以及2013年5月16日，拍品361。香港邦瀚斯曾售出十七世紀仿古杯一例，2014年5月26日，拍品122。