A SMALL 'PINE' RHINOCEROS LIBATION CUP 17TH CENTURY

the wide shallow cup of irregular form carved on the exterior with a reticulated pine tree handle with branches extending over the rim and onto the interior, the surface further textured with low-relief ovals resembling the bark of the tree, resting on a flat base, the patina of smooth golden amber tone, wooden stand

Collections of Edward T. Chow (purchased in London, 1963) and Franklin Chow.

Craving for Carvings: Rhinoceros Horn from the Chow Collection, Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore, 2003, cat. no. fc21.

Thomas Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 121.

An age crack to one side of the horn has an old repair by adding two pieces of rhinoceros horn, one on the interior and one on the exterior covering the crack. The repair work seems to match the horn in color and in carving style and may have been done at the same time as the original carving or shortly thereafter. A few other short age cracks to the handle have been filled in to prevent further cracking. The polish of the horn is quite glossy and well preserved.
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Fashioned in the form of the bark of the pine tree with its characteristic scales and nodules, the present exquisitely carved cup is in the taste of the Chinese scholar-literati. The craftsman has formed the handle to represent a pine branch which climbs over the lip of the cup. Rarely seen on designs of this type is the small pine cone visible inside the well. The pine needles are meticulously rendered, consistent with the naturalistic detail of the whole piece.

The subject matter of the pine tree was much favoured by the literati who saw it as the symbol of their unyielding character. The rugged pine represents venerability and is an important symbol of longevity. While there are many pine-decorated rhinoceros horn cups, the present example is an especially fine one. For further cups in this group see one in the British Museum, London, included in Derek Gillman, 'A Source of Rhinoceros Horn Cups in the Late Ming Dynasty', Orientations, December 1984, p. 12, fig. 4; another from the collection of Dr. Ip Yee, published in Dr. Ip Yee, 'Chinese Rhinoceros Horn Carvings', International Asian Antiques Fair, Hong Kong, 1982, p. 40, pl. 38; and one with a strongly modelled pine tree with a gnarled and twisted trunk rising to form the handle, from the collection of Thomas Fok, illustrated in Fok, op.cit., pl. 160.

Cups of this type have been sold at auction; for example see one, from the estate of Nils Nessim, Stockholm, sold in our New York rooms, 27th February 1981, lot 320; and a cup sold in these rooms, 23rd May 1978, lot 84.