A RARE RHINOCEROS HORN 'LOG RAFT' VESSEL 17TH CENTURY

superbly carved in varying relief with the figure of the great Han statesman and explorer, Zhang Qian, perched in a small nook at the stern of a raft, exquisitely formed as a long hollowed segment of a gnarled tree trunk, pierced and carved with naturalistic knots and twisting boughs issuing from the sides and jutting out from each end of the boat, the broad central cavity tapering to a pointy end at the prow forming the spout, atop swirling waves deftly carved in low relief to the underside and rising up from the base to crest gently against the sides, the animated figure of Zhang Qian reclining against thick knotty branches at the stern, wearing a small cap and loose fitting robes fluttering in the breeze, his face with softly modeled features and pointed beard gazing forward in serene contemplation, his left hand placed atop an open book on his raised knee, the other tucked beneath his robes beside a double-gourd wine container attached to curling strings looping delicately over the edge of the raft, the polished horn of honey-brown colour deepening in areas to a rich reddish amber tone, wood stand in the form of swirling waves

John Sparks, London, 1977.
Collections of Edward T. Chow and Franklin Chow.

One Man’s Taste. Treasures from the Lakeside Pavilion, Galleries of the Baur Collection, Geneva, 1988, cat. no. R10.
Craving for Carvings: Rhinoceros Horn from the Chow Collection, Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore, 2003, cat. no. FC10.

Jan Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, pl. 51.
Thomas Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 74.

There are tiny bruises to the underside of the vessel, with corresponding minor losses to the tips of the waves, and a small loss to a branch on the reverse. There are minor losses to the extremities of the raft on each side, where the tips may possibly have been slightly polished in places where there were small chips. Otherwise it is in overall in good condition. The colour of the vessel does not have so much of a red tinge as shown in the catalogue illustrations. In reality, the colour is a more attractive and rich honey-brown.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present carving of a log-raft with the figure of Zhang Qian is a particularly fine example of vessels belonging to a special small group of rhinoceros horn carvings. This piece is also exceptional because it is the only known example without a spout and thus could not have been intended as a wine container as they generally are. Its function is a matter of speculation, but judging from the depth of the interior of the raft and its shape, it may have been made as a brush washer for the scholar’s desk. The carver has used a fine piece of Asian horn with an exceptionally thick lip which he skilfully carved into the figure of the famous Han dynasty explorer and official envoy Zhang Qian. Zhang, often depicted like a Daoist immortal, was the first official diplomat to bring back information about Central Asia to the Han court. According to legend, his travels were in search of the source of the Yangzi River, the origin of the Milky Way, and the means of making wine from grapes. Hence the popularity for making wine-pouring vessels using this subject matter. On the present piece, he is rendered with a smiling face gazing up in content with his open book resting on his lap. Perhaps he has been drinking from the double-gourd container filled with wine which hangs from a tree branch beside him. The carver has manipulated the rest of the horn into the shape of a long hollow tree trunk to form Zhang’s raft. Log-rafts of this type are technically amongst the most challenging and complex forms to create. Jan Chapman in The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, pp.101-105, explains in detail the work involved with the making of rafts and concludes that ‘it is scarcely likely that any but the most skilled carver would have attempted them’.

The largest single collection of rhinoceros horn raft vessels can be found in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, which has four examples, one included ibid., pl. 47. Others can be found in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, which interestingly shows Zhang with a fly whisk in his hand, published ibid., pl. 48; three in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Shanghai, 2001, pls. 118-20; and a further raft in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, illustrated in Jan Chapman, ‘The Use of Manipulation in Chinese Rhinoceros Horn Cups’, Arts of Asia, July-August 1982, fig. 6. Another raft, now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, bearing an Imperial Qianlong inscription datable to 1782, was exhibited on loan by the then Chinese Government in the famous Royal Academy of Arts, London, exhibition in 1935; see Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Government Exhibits for the International Exhibition of Chinese Art in London, Beijing, 1936, no. 60 (or no. 2948 in the standard London version published) and also included in the exhibition Jiangxin yu xiangong. Ming Qing diaoke zhan / Uncanny Ingenuity and Celestial Feats: The Carvings of Ming and Qing Dynasties, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2011, cat. no. 30.

Compare also four carvings of raft cups published in Thomas Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, pl.70, in the Shanghai Museum; pl. 71, in the collection of Harvard University Art Museum, Cambridge, Mass.; pl. 72; from the collection of Dora Wong; and pl. 73, formerly in the Arthur M. Sackler collection. A raft from the collection of Kenyon V. Painter was sold in our New York rooms, 21st September 2006, lot 8; and another from the collection of W. Felischer, Stockholm, is illustrated in Bo Gyllesnvard, ‘Two Yuan Silver Cups and Their Importance for Dating of Some Carvings in Wood and Rhinoceros Horn’, Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, no. 43, 1971, pl. 5, together with two others, in the collection of His Majesty the King of Sweden , included pl. 4, as well as a silver raft of the Yuan dynasty, pl. 3. The silver raft represents the iconographic prototype for ‘Zhang Qian on a log raft’. Three silver rafts bearing the seal of Zhu Bishan and dated to 1345 are in the National Palace Museum, in the Palace Museum and in the Cleveland Museum of Art, published in Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, op.cit., pls. 382-4.