A rare jade archaistic 'dragon' rhyton, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng / Qianlong period | 清雍正 / 乾隆 玉龍首形角盃

German Private Collection, acquired in China between 1894 and 1922. 

Sotheby's Paris, 10th June 2015, lot 92. 

德國私人收藏，於1894至1922年之間得於中國

巴黎蘇富比2015年6月10日，編號92

Masterfully carved, the present piece playfully depicts a lively chilong in pursuit of a flaming pearl, clambering up sides of a vessel that terminates at the base with a protruding dragon's head. The vessel is imbued with dynamic vitality yet also references the rich stylistic elements of China's past, a sublime example of the ingenious creations of the craftsmen working during this period. 

The basic form of the vessel derives from jade rhytons produced during the Han and Tang dynasties. The form was introduced to China during the Han dynasty when trade with Western and Central Asia was active and Western luxuries were popular at court. See a Western Han prototype, a celadon jade rhyton carved with a kui dragon below its mouth, the base with a bifurcated and striated tail but lacking the dragon head of the present piece, excavated from the tomb of the Nanyue King Zhao Mo located in Guangzhou, and illustrated in Gems from the Relics of the Museum of the Western Han Tomb of the Nanyue King, Museum of the Western Han Tomb of the Nanyue King, Guangzhou, 1999, p. 49. Beginning in the Song dynasty, rhytons were carved with a mythical animal head at the base, perhaps as a later intervention to provide a visual explanation for the source of the bifurcated tail; see a later Ming dynasty example of an ox head carved at the base, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the exhibition Through the Prism of the Past: Antiquarian Trends in Chinese Art of the 16th to 18th Century, Taipei, 2003, cat. no. III-26. 

For closely related jade rhytons of the same period, see a russet jade example, carved to the exterior with elaborate archaistic decorative design and inscribed to the interior with a Qianlong imperial poem, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30th November 2011, lot 2963; and another white jade rhyton, similarly carved with chilong clambering to the sides, attributed to the 17th to 18th century, previously in the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, sold at Christie's New York, 20th March 2019, lot 804.