A fine light amber rhinoceros horn libation cup with four immortals and prunus, bamboo and pine with magnolia and rocks, 17th ce

Lot 264. A fine light amber rhinoceros horn libation cup with four immortals and prunus, bamboo and pine with magnolia and rocks, 17th century. L.14/H.12,6(20,6 cm). Estimate 20,000/30,000 €. Lot sold 40.000 €. Courtesy Nagel

finely carved wood stand. Polished chips to mouth rim, very slightly chipped, fine age cracks. 

Provenance: Property from an old German private collection, bought prior 1990.

Note: Cf. T. Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 207, no. 151 - g.

The decorative theme rendered on the present cup depicting a naturalistic landscape inhabited by scholars clearly illustrates the influence of contemporaneous paintings and the subject-matter was popularly adopted by master craftsmen for decoration on rhinoceros horn carvings.