AN IMPRESSIVE RHINOCEROS HORN ARCHAISTIC LIBATION CUP BY HU XINGYUE QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

masterfully carved in the form of an archaic bronze gong vessel, rising from a splayed foot to a flared rim, set with a channelled spout opposite a mythical animal's head projecting a 'D'-shaped handle and resting on a hollow base of square section, the body finely decorated with a central protruding register of taotie masks, between two stylized kui dragon forming another taotie under the spout and a frieze of confronted archaistic dragons encircling the stem, the inner rim and foot picked out with a band of leiwen, the square base with slightly domed sides similarly decorated with taotie, the austere form interrupted by a large chilong carved in openwork clambering through the handle, with a powerful writhing body and muscular limbs, its head emerging at the rim, the horn of a rich amber colour darkening to a deep coffee tone, the base engraved with a four-character recessed seal mark of the carver Hu Xingyue, fitted wood box

There is an old 2.2 cm age crack at the the back of the rim that has been secured with some wax fill and another thin crack (approx.1 cm) similarly secured to the rear side of the foot, but overall the rhinoceros horn libation cup is in excellent condition and finished to a beautiful patina.
"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 finely carved rhinoceros horn cup belongs to a small group of vessels fashioned in the form of the archaic bronze gong. Although a number of examples from this group are known from museum and private collections, this cup is of documentary importance as it bears the carver’s mark in seal script on the base. Jan Chapman in The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p. 129, mentions that there are eight cups known by Hu who invariably signed his works by adding a square four-character seal on the base of his cups which are all decorated in the archaistic style. Chapman lists two cups by Hu in the collection of the Aberdeen Art Gallery, ibid., p. 129, and others in the Minneapolis Museum of Art and in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. See an illustration of a seal by Hu inside the foot of an archaic jue, in the Museum voor Volkenkunde, Rotterdam, included ibid., pl. 134. Compare another cup by Hu, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Bamboo. Wood. Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Shanghai, 2001, pl. 134.

For examples of gong form rhinoceros horn carvings see one, from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, published in The Palace Museum Collection of Elite Carvings, Beijing, 2004, pls. 216-219; another in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, included in Chapman, ‘The Chester Beatty Library Collection of Chinese Carved Rhinoceros Horn Cups’, Arts of Asia, May-June 1982, p. 83, pl. 23; and a third example, from the collections of Edward T. Chow and Franklin Chow, sold in these rooms, 8th April 2011, lot 2705, bearing the signature of another famous carver called You Yiliang.