An extremely rare carved rhinoceros horn tripod vessel, jue. 18th century

Very finely carved from one horn in the form of an archaistic bronze ritual jue, the body delicately carved in high relief with lotus flowers borne on undulating stems rising up the body, supported on three slender curved legs incised with additional foliage details, paper label to base (tight crack to rim and minor chip to foot). 14cm (5½in) high. - Estimate: £10,000 - 15,000

Provenance: S Gorer & Son, London, 21 June 1908 - An English private collection

Footnote: For a similar vessel, see Jan Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, p.75, where the author comments that such vessels were extremely laborious to produce; the legs are usually cut from the narrow end of a long wide horn and then pulled apart when the horn is made pliable through soaking.

Another rhinoceros horn carved in the form of a jue in the Palace Museum collection, Beijing, is illustrated Zhu Mu Ya Jiao Diao ke, Bamboo, Wood and Horn Carvings, p.154, pl.136.

Edgar Gorer was one of the greatest early dealers in Chinese art, based in London and New York during the late 19th and early 20th century. Amongst the many clients and collectors Gorer sold to were John Pierpont Morgan, Nellie Ionides and Henry Clay Frick. He died in 1915 when travelling with Frank Partridge from New York to England on the Lusitania, which was torpedoed by a German U-Boat.

Christie's London. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART INCLUDING EXPORT ART. 6 November 2007, 10:30 am. 8 King Street, St. James's, London - www.christies.com